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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/bruce-rodgers/true-life-springs-or-cistern/
Jeremiah chapter 2. Let's start at verse 1. Moreover the word of the Lord came to me saying, go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem saying, thus saith the Lord, I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals.
When thou wentest after me in the wilderness in a land that was not sown, Israel was holiness unto the Lord and the first fruits of his increase. Verse 5, thus saith the Lord, what iniquity have your fathers found in me that they are gone far from me and have walked after vanity and are become vain?
Neither said they, where is the Lord that brought us up out of the land of Egypt? Verse 8, the priests said not, where is the Lord? And they that handle the law knew me not. The pastors or shepherds also transgressed against me.
The prophets prophesied by Baal and walked after things that do not profit. Verse 11, has a nation changed their gods which are yet no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit.
Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this and be horribly afraid. Be ye very desolate, saith the Lord, for my people have committed two evils. They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water.
Now this passage has always been a challenge to my heart and I don't want to be harsh with anyone here tonight, although this seems to be a rather harsh passage. But it is very challenging for us to assess where we really are at with God.
The Lord is remembering. He says, I remember you. I remember when you were young, when you fell in love with me, when you pursued me, when you were completely taken up with me. Israel was holiness to the Lord.
He says, what have I done? What have I done that you have gone so far from me and you're pursuing things that will not profit you? So this might be a good time for us as we anticipate meeting together over this weekend to seek God, to desire that God might speak to us.
Maybe we need to ask ourselves, where am I now compared with a few years ago, compared with when I was first saved? Am I in love with God? You know, it's an interesting thing that this passage presents God as the fountain of life, the fountain of life.
A spring. You know the difference between a well and a spring? A well, you have to pull the water up. A spring, it's bubbling up because there's a pressure, there's a source that is always flowing and you don't hardly have to work at it.
It's right there for you. And so it is such a tragic thing to think of someone abandoning a spring and going and digging out a cistern, not even a well, but just a cistern where you have to put the water in and then to find out that the well won't even hold water.
What is the Lord getting at? He is getting at the sad reality that so many people live their lives without him, and involved in that, he says, are two evils. My people have forsaken me. The fountain of living waters, the real source of life, and of hewing out, that's, you know, to cut it out of the rock, now that's hard work.
A lot of effort to end up with a cistern that you have to keep filling the water up, and then you come back and it's all run dry again. You know what that really represents today? It represents many lives, and I'm wondering if it represents any of our lives, where we are dissatisfied, where we are empty, and we are seeking satisfaction, life, everywhere but God.
I think our culture is expressing this to such an extreme today. You know, there always has been entertainment, there always has been a certain amount of pleasure, but it has never become the dominant industry, and where people are more willing to pay for their entertainment and for their communication capabilities than they are for the basic necessities of life.
It's because they've lost sight of the source, the true source of life. And so my challenge tonight is to have a little bit of a self-exam, to ask, is my heart, is my life corresponding to the broken cistern that's empty, that I keep having to find more pleasure, more satisfaction, more fulfillment, or is my heart and my life the expression of a flowing spring?
You know, in 1st Timothy chapter 6 it says that godliness with contentment is great gain. This is real profit, real progress, real wealth, godliness with contentment. And so I don't want to leave you with the negative, but you can see that the secret to it is the love that was once drawn towards God, but now is being drawn towards other things.
I want to take you back to the Proverbs to read a few of the beautiful Proverbs that speak to us about a fountain of life and a tree of life. Proverbs 11 and 30, there's a number of them here. Proverbs 11 and 30, the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he that winneth souls is wise.
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life. Chapter 12 and verse 28, in the way of righteousness is life, and in the pathway thereof there is no death. Chapter 13 and verse 14, the law of the wise is a fountain of life to depart from the snares of death.
Chapter 14, verse 26, in the fear of the Lord is strong confidence, and his children shall have a place of refuge. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life to depart from the snares of death. Chapter 15 and verse 4, a wholesome tongue is a tree of life.
Chapter 16 and verse 22, understanding is a wellspring of life unto him that has it, but the instruction of fools is folly. Finally in chapter 19 and verse 22, the fear of the Lord tends to life, and he that has it shall abide satisfied.
He shall not be visited with evil. Now just seeing these contrasts that are drawn here to us, what I would like you to think of and enjoy tonight is this important truth, that there is a source of life that is pure, that is entirely healthy, entirely beneficial, it is wholesome, it is life-giving, and that source of life is God himself.
And if we are properly connected with him, if we are in communion with him so that the fountain is not being damned up, it is not blocked, but it is flowing into our beings, we will begin to express a fruitfulness that these Proverbs speak of, so that not only will our lives be blessed, happy, content, fruitful, satisfied, but we will become a source of blessing and health and well-being to others.
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life. See the problem with the self-centered, pleasure-oriented life is that we are mistaking the true source of life. We're seeking for life and satisfaction where it isn't, and we're losing our life, we're wasting our life, and we are probably corrupting our life.
Whereas if we enjoy God and experience fellowship with God, we will find within ourselves a life being produced which will not only bless us personally, but will enable us to become a true source of life and strength to others.
And that makes you valuable, that makes you worthwhile. And so these Proverbs are teaching us this way of life. So you have both the idea of a tree of life and a fountain of life emphasized. I want to notice particularly in chapter 14 and verse 26.
Connected with this capacity to be a source of strength and life to others is this important expression, the fear of the Lord. This is a very well-known expression in the Old Testament, the fear of the Lord.
I would suggest that it corresponds to the New Testament term godliness. What is the fear of the Lord? Well the word fear sometimes suggests being afraid of someone, and you could allow some element of that in the same way that a child is to have a healthy respect for his or her parents.
In that if you are disobedient, if you are disloyal, if you are rebellious, you can expect punishment, you can expect discipline, you can expect trouble. And so there is that sense in which fear in a healthy sense is intended.
But it has primarily the meaning of reverence, regard for, honor, awe, in which we have such an appreciation of God and what he is, that this controls us, that this governs our attitudes, governs our behavior, governs our life.
And so this teaches that the fear of the Lord, in the fear of the Lord it says, is strong confidence. In other words, if you let God determine your life, your life is going to be solid. Your life is going to be built upon secure principles, righteous principles, holy principles, and that makes for strength and stability.
I remember speaking on this passage at the wedding of my own son, my firstborn son, and I think this is a great theme to take up at the beginning of a marriage, as well as the beginning of our individual spiritual lives.
In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence. You don't have to live your life in all kinds of anxiety and confusion if you live in the fear of God, because his principles, his truth, his character imparts strength and stability of life.
And not only does it bring a strong confidence in facing life and living life, but it also brings blessing, security for those who are under our care. So there's mention made of his children shall have a place of refuge.
Is your marriage a place of security? Is it strong? Even Christians are failing in the most important relationship on earth, because we're getting away from the true foundation, the true source of our strength in life.
So it comes back again, what is the strength of your personal relationship with God? Can you honestly say, he is my spring of life? He's my source of life. I turn to him for life. Well, I guess we could check ourselves by just asking, what do we spend our time at?
What do we gravitate to beyond the necessities of life? What do you put your interest into? That will really tell you whether you're drinking at the fountain or whether you're working on a cistern. In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence, and his children shall have a place of refuge.
The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life to depart from the snares of death. As this contrast is drawn through the Proverbs, it's very clear that death is being used here in a moral sense, not just physical death or final judgment, but death as it is used in Romans 5, 6, and 7, and 8, as the contrast to the life that we are to enjoy in Christ.
Sin brings moral death. Sin brings the breakdown, the destruction of true life, and so we need to challenge our hearts in the presence of God. Is he still our first love? Is he our greatest attraction?
Or have other things become substituted for him? My people have committed two evils. They have forsaken me. As the Lord looks upon my heart and upon your heart tonight, what does he say? Can he say, I remember your love?
I enjoy your zeal, your desire for me. You were holy unto me. You sought me. I was everything to you. Can he say that of you tonight? And if in honesty, you would have to admit that is not true, and God help you to seek his face tonight, to open your heart so that his truth throughout this weekend might be able to be received, to again dig out the hindrances so that the wellspring of life may flow into our hearts.