Spiritual Dry Rot

Dry Rot

August 19, 2018 Morning Service

Immanuel Baptist Church, Wagoner, OK

Rick Boyne

Message Point: We must prevent spiritual dry rot in our lives in order to remain useful to God and His Kingdom.

Focus Passage: Luke 13:6-9

Supplemental Passage: Again He said to me, "Prophesy over these bones and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.' "Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones, 'Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. 'I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the LORD.'" (Ezekiel 37:4-6 NASB)

Introduction: When I was returning from Children’s Camp, I had a blowout. I was unable to get my spare to release from under the truck and had to call a tow truck to come and help. He couldn’t get it either and we ended up towing my truck back to the closest town. The men at the tire shop worked and worked and finally gave up. I instructed them to cut off the mechanism which holds the tire in place, so that we could use the spare. When they finally got the spare loose, we found that it was unusable. It had dry rot so bad that I was afraid to even try to make it the last 30 miles home. I had to buy a tire. Yet, the spare LOOKS like it is ok, at least at first glance. It was still full of air. But it hadn’t been used in more than 6 years and was only taking up space. But when the time came to use it, it was if I did not have a spare at all. For many in the church, you have relegated yourself to simply being a spare. You look good on the outside, but you are unusable for a variety of reasons.

Some of the most common causes for dry rot in tires are under inflation, UV rays, and disuse. [https://wheelzine.com/what-causes-dry-rot-in-tires-how-to-fix-it] The same can go for “church people.”

I. Under Inflation

a. Not being filled with the Holy Spirit daily

i. "Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." (Matthew 26:41 NASB)

ii. "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. (John 6:63 NASB)

b. Not reading/studying God’s Word

i. Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You. (Psalms 119:11 NASB)

ii. How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers. (Psalms 1:1-3 NASB)

II. Harmful Ultraviolet Rays

a. Unrepented sin

i. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? (Romans 6:1-2 NASB)

ii. Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. (1 Corinthians 15:34 NASB)

iii. and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, (2 Corinthians 10:5)

iv. For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES. (Hebrews 10:26-27 NASB)

b. Unconfessed sin

i. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9 NASB)

ii. Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. (James 5:16a NASB)

III. Disuse of the Tire

a. Decided to retire earlier than what God requires

i. And the Lord said, "Who then is the faithful and sensible steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants, to give them their rations at the proper time? "Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. "Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. "But if that slave says in his heart, 'My master will be a long time in coming,' and begins to beat the slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk; the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers. "And that slave who knew his master's will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes, but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more. (Luke 12:42-48 NASB)