"FACING OUR SINS AGAIN!"  Jeremiah 14:7-9

1.      Jeremiah said, "our iniquities testify."

2. What a sad state the people of Judah were in when this was written.

3.      There was a famine in the land until men fell in the streets of the city exhausted with hunger.

4. Invasions of the enemy kept them in perpetual fear.

5. No springs were bubbling up from the earth, and no rain dropped down from heaven.

6. There was no need to plow because the soil was parched.

A} This was a sad picture, but in many ways it is like

the church of today.

B} There is a spiritual famine in the church today. The

congregation is not getting much bread to digest.

C} Men, women, and young people are falling down right in front of everybody.

D} The devil has invaded our ranks until the pastor and leaders wonder who is going to be next.

I.                 Nothing shocks us anymore--We hear of all kinds of stuff happing to people today. From one sin to another!

A} There are no springs of living water bubbling up, no showers of blessings falling down.

B} Some faithful souls are trying to plow, but little fruit is seen.  Scripture:  Jeremiah 14:1-6

C} Look at this crowd. Nothing could help them. None of their idol gods could cause rain, and without it they must all perish.

1} Driven to their wits-end, they wised up.

2} They prayed, but it was their last resource.

3} The church people are like that today. When it looks like trouble has come then we want to get religious.

4} So many wait until sickness has come, the surgeon's knife is about to be applied, then they will come to church.

5} Just about to get caught up with and they fall on their knees.

6} "When Sin Begins To Talk."

7} Then we want the help of God and the church.

8} We treat God as if He were only to be called upon in our emergencies.

Some Things: Jeremiah said, "O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us."

A} I want God to help me today. I'm still troubled to no end that we are not seeing people saved.

B} and that our attendance is falling off instead of growing. There are three things that happened to Judah that we are missing.

I. THE PROBLEM WE CAN'T HIDE

Jeremiah 14:7 - O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name's sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee.

a. They begin by pleading guilty. Let me tell you something,

1.      As if you didn't already know it, it is hard to get

men to do this.

b. I doubt if there is one soul in this congregation that would cherish the thought of standing up and, out loud, tell what you are guilty of.

c. We don't have to tell it, the Scripture says that sin tells on us,

d. "Sin testifies against us." This puts us in a strange position.

1. THERE IS NO DENYING IT:

a. You can't hide it.

b. It has robbed you of your joy,

c. It has robbed you of your testimony,

d. It has robbed you of your faithfulness.

2. THERE IS NO EXCUSING IT:

a. This Word says, "for our backslidings are many."

b. If we could have excused ourselves of our first faults,

c. Because we were new in the Lord: but we have grown now, so there is no excuse.

3. THERE IS NO MEASURING IT:

a. The indictment says, "we have sinned against the Lord,"

b. But how do you measure the damage a Christian does to the cause of Christ?

c. How many souls have slipped into hell because of our iniquities?

d. Is your sin talking? What is it telling you? Are you listening?

II.             THE PERSON WE CAN'T SEE:

Jer:14:8: O the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night?

A.     It‘s amazing what Israel said of God & yet they couldn't see Him.

B. They said two great things about the God of Israel.

1. They Said God Was "The Hope of Israel:"

a. They acknowledged that there was no other hope for this nation of backslidden people.

b. Their gods couldn't help them.

c. Why can't we see that the only good things we ever had has come from the Lord?

2. They Said God Was "The Saviour:"

a. All they had to do is

b. remember Egypt,

c. remember the Red Sea,

d. the manna,

e. the quails,

f. the water from the rock.

h. Everytime they got in trouble it was

i."God the Saviour"who got them out.Why can't we see?

j. It was Him who caught hold of you when you were

sinking down to the pit of hell.

3. Look at it now, though He was "The Hope Of Israel, The Saviour thereof,"

This same verse indicates that He was "a stranger in the land." Is Jesus a stranger to you? He doesn't want to be.

III. THE POSITION WE CAN'T CLAIM:

Jeremiah 14:9: Why shouldest thou be as a man astonied, as a mighty man that cannot save? yet thou, O LORD, art in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name; leave us not.

WHEN GOD LEAVES GOD IS GONE !!

Ver.9b.Yet thou, O Lord, art in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name; leave us not."

a.The questions placed before God here certainly was not a charge that God was incapable of doing anything.

b.It’s the fact that they,because of their sin,couldn’t claim the promise

c.They admitted that "the Lord was in the midst of them."

d.They knew that they "were called by His name," and yet they had no right to claim Him.

e.Mark it down brother and sister, God has not changed

1. His position. He hasn't closed up camp and moved out.

2. Just because you can't get in touch, doesn't mean that God has departed.

3. He hasn't given up on us. He is still "in the midst of us."

4. Knowing that He is in the midst of us gives me something to close this message with.

Conclusion: First, He is in the midst to restore that Christian, Second, He is in the midst to redeem that lost soul.