DRY AND EMPTY...
GLOOM, DESPAIR, AND AGONY ON END...
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
I do this in 3 parts...
I. CAN WE CLEARLY UNDERSTAND THAT DRY AND EMPTY CAN POSE MANY
DANGERS TO OUR DAILY LIFE?
Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit
drieth the bones.
A. DRY:
Destroy, dry up, no moisture, dried out, shrivel
Life drained away, no enough,meager,parched
B. EMPTY:
HOLLOW, insincere, without purpose, to pour out and not refill,
Containing nothing, unoccupied, deserted, barren, shallow
Matthew 12:43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through
dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.
[44] Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he
is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.
[45] Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than
himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse
than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.
C. We know there are many LITERARY TOOLS used in writing.
One LITERARY TOOLS IS THE TOOL OF REPETITION...
To make sure major lessons are clearly understood major points are often restated.
Luke 11:24 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through
dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house
whence I came out.
[25] And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished.
[26] Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than
himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is
worse than the first.
D. THE NEW TESTAMENT WARNS EACH BELIEVER OF THE DANGER OF DRY
AND THE DANGER OF EMPTY...
E. EVER SING THIS MODERN ATHEM?
Gloom, despair, and agony on end...
Deep dark depression, excessive misery...
If weren't for bad luck, I've have no luck at all...
Gloom, despair, and agony on me...
II. PROBLEM RIDDLE: CAN YOU SOLVE IT... GETTING OUT OF THE BOX...
Proverbs 10:24 The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him: but the desire of the
righteous shall be granted.
A. A man and his son were driving down the road and had a terrible car accident...
Father and son both survived the wreck. The son was quickly removed from the
wreckage, but the Father had to be slowly extricated from the mangled steel.
When the son arrives at the hospital he needs immediate surgery.
The surgeon says: "I CAN NOT OPERATE ON THIS BOY, HE IS MY SON!"
B. How can this be? The Father is still in the wreckage at the scene?
C. HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF "LATERAL THINKING?"
LATERAL THINKING IS TRAINING TO TEACH US PROBLEM SOLVING AND
TO SHAKE OFF THINKING IN PRECONCEIVED PATTERNS ....
D. THE SURGEON IS THE BOY'S MOTHER... We tend the think of surgeons
as men...
E. TODAY WE NEED SOME PEOPLE TO ARISE AND THINK OUT OF THE BOX...
Often we develop THINKING and BEHAVIOR PATTERNS...
F. We can let rumors drive our fears... FEAR IS A POOR DICTATOR!
Proverbs 1:26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
[27] When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a
whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
III. EVERY PROBLEM HAS AN EARTH SIDE?
BUT DO WE KNOW EVERY PROBLEM HAS A HEAVEN SIDE... ???
THERE ARE TEMPORAL ISSUES AND THERE ARE ETERNAL ISSUES...
2 Cor. 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which
are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are
not seen are eternal.
A. We tend to see the HUMAN SIDE of every issue...
We focus on WHAT THE EYES SEE...
B. There is A BABY BORN AT THE WRONG TIME...
God's people are SLAVES and their work load is so heavy...
There are enemies on every side...
C. The baby is THE WRONG SEX...
The King has given clear orders kill every BABY BOY...
D. DOES GOD KNOW WHAT HE IS DOING?
BY LOOKING THROUGH THE EYES OF MAN GOD COMES TO MINISTER
AT A SEASON OF TROUBLE, GLOOM AND GREAT PROBLEMS...
Let us look at this problem in the light of eternity and a GREAT
OPPORTUNITY FOR AN ALL POWERFUL GOD.
IV. DO WE UNDERSTAND WHAT HOREB MEANS?
IS THIS MOUNTAIN THAT IS DRY AND EMPTY BAD?
HUMAN EYES SEE A TERRIBLE VISION 40 YEARS LATER...
A. MOSES IS IN A MESS...
B. Moses has been raised in a life of wealth and EASE.
C. MOSES' HANDS KILL A MAN IN GREAT ANGER...
D. Moses thought he got away with the MURDER... to find out there were several
WITNESSES to his TEMPER FIT...
E. There is an APB (All points bulletin) put out for this HEBREW THAT KILLED
AN EGYPTIAN...
F. NOW MOSES IS RUNNING FOR HIS LIFE...
G. THE BACK SIDE OF THE DESERT IS A LONELY PLACE...
H. EARTH'S SIDE OF THIS PROBLEM IS TERRIBLE...
HEAVEN'S SIDE OF THIS PROBLEM SEES THINGS MUCH DIFFERENT...
V. MOSES FINDS GOD IN A DRY PLACE... THIS MOUNTAIN HAS A PURPOSE...
THIS MOUNTAIN IS HERE TO CLIMB AND OVERCOME...
A. HOREB... MEANS ALL DRIED UP, little hope,
A DESERT MOUNTAIN...
Exodus 3:1 Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian:
and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God,
even to Horeb.
B. HOREB IS ALSO KNOWN AS SINAI OR THE MOUNTAIN OF GOD...
C. IN THE DRIEST PLACE OF MOSES' LIFE HE FOUND THE MOUNTAIN OF GOD...
THE PLACE OF GOD... The very spot where GOD TAKES OVER THE DRY...
V. MOSES OFFERS MANY EXCUSES THAT COULD HAVE KEPT HIM IN THE
TRAP OF DRY PLACES...
A. MOSES FEARED THE PEOPLE'S REACTION...
B. Moses claimed he was personally not what God was looking for...
C. Moses told God he had a speaking impediment...
D. Moses told God to pick SOME OTHER PERSON...
VII. GOD HAS A PLAN FOR THE DRY PLACE...
Moses comes to many dry places in his ministry.
A. EACH DRY SPOT HAS A DIFFERENT EARTH SIDE AND HEAVEN SIDE...
THE SOLUTION... WILL VARY...
B. ONCE GOD SAYS: HIT THE ROCK...
Exodus 17:6 Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou
shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink.
And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
VIII. WE APPROACH ANOTHER DRY TIME... THIS DRY TIME CARRIES A DIFFERENT
ORDER AND A DIFFERENT APPROACH... THE FLESH OR THE EARTH SIDE BRINGS
DISAPPOINTMENT TO THE GOD SIDE... DRY TIMES TEND TO PRODUCE ANGRY
MINISTRIES...
A. We tend to see this is a GOD TRANSFER...
God really moved when we sang POWER IN THE BLOOD, therefore God has to move
every time we sing it?
B. ONCE GOD SAYS: SPEAK TO THE ROCK...
We can tend to LOOK AT THE SITUATION AND LET THE SITUATION OF THE DRY
TIME DRIVE US...
Numbers 20:8 Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron
thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his
water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the
congregation and their beasts drink.
C. MOSES IS ANGRY AND DISAPPOINTED WITH THE PEOPLE...
MOSES ALLOWS HIS ANGER TO DRIVE HIM...
D. I know how to handle this problem of DRY! HIT THE ROCK?
IX. WE ARE BEFORE A DRY TIME AGAIN...
HOW TO APPROACH DRY TIMES BY ANGER, BITTERNESS, AND BY THE EARTH/FLESH
METHODS CAN BE VERY COSTLY... WE SEE TODAY THE CHURCH BEING RAN
MORE AND MORE BY THE EARTH SIDE... WE NEGLECT THE HEAVEN SIDE.
A. ONCE GOD SAYS: SPEAK TO THE ROCK...
We can tend to LOOK AT THE SITUATION AND LET THE SITUATION OF THE DRY
TIME DRIVE US...
Numbers 20:8 Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron
thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his
water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the
congregation and their beasts drink.
B. MOSES IS ANGRY AND DISAPPOINTED WITH THE PEOPLE...
MOSES ALLOWS HIS ANGER TO DRIVE HIM...
Numbers 20:10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before
the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out
of this rock?
[11] And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and
the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.
C. WE SAY: NO BIG DEAL... THE DRY TIME WAS APPROACHED BY THE EARTH
SIDE OF THINKING AND BEHAVIOR.
Numbers 20:12 And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me
not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this
congregation into the land which I have given them.
X. WE CAN FALL INTO HABITUAL, RITUAL TRADITIONS AND BYPASS THE REAL
HEART OF WORSHIP AND PRAISE. MOSES HAD IT DOWN BUT HE MISSED
SOMETHING...
Deut. 34:7 And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye
was not dim, nor his natural force abated.
A. We can have polished programs and professional staff selling sweet pleasant things
to the flesh... we even call it GOSPEL ENTERTAINMENT...
Let me ask was Jesus entertaining?
B. We even see whole church bragging about their special fastings that appeal to
the flesh. The New Testament warns don't make a SHOW/CIRCUS out of fastings...
May it be private between GOD AND MAN!
C. Please don't take issue with me... read the Bible...
THE FIERY SERPENTS HEALED BY THE BRONZE SERPENT BECOMES A DOWN
FALL WHEN THE PEOPLE END UP WORSHIPPING THE BRONZE SERPANT...
D. WE SEE IMPATIENCE AND PRESUMPTION LAUNCHED IN THE CHURCH TODAY...
This presumption is leading us to DISOBEDIENCE and going into the DRY TIMES
BY EARTHLY MEANS...
E. MOSES HAS ASCENDED MANY MOUNTAINS OF DRY PLACES...
HE CLIMBS MOUNT NEBO FOR ONE LAST TIME...
MOSES LOOKS OVER THE PROMISE LAND...
MOSES WAS A BLESSED MAN... .
E. GOD HAD AN HOLY EXCLUSION, HE SHUT OUT THOSE THAT REFUSED
TO LEARN IN DRY TIMES...
Numbers 20:24 Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into
the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against
my word at the water of Meribah.
F. CAN WE AFFORD GOD TO EXCLUDE US?
XII. WE SERVE A GOD OF THE SECOND CHANCE...
MANY SAY MOSES NEVER MADE IT TO THE PROMISE LAND...
THEY ARE SO WRONG, FOR THE GOD OF THE DRY PLACES KNOWS HOW TO
DELIVER...
A. MOSES' TEMPER CAUSED HIM SOME PROBLEMS...
B. GOD WAS MERCIFUL AND MOSES STEPPED INTO THE PROMISE LAND...
WITH JESUS...
Matthew 17:3 And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.
C. The real joy of salvation is not merely because God made us a promise...
but the JOY THROUGH THE DRY TIMES ARE BECAUSE OF GOD'S PRESENCE...
2 Peter 2:9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve
the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:
XIII. MOSES HAD TO COME TO GOD SEEKING A NEW VISION.
THE DRY AND EMPTY SPIRIT OF THE WORLD CAUGHT UP WITH THE MAN
OF GOD...
A. Moses came by faith...PIT BULLDOG FAITH VS POODLE FAITH...
Exodus 33:18 And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.
[19] And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the
name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will
shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.
[20] And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.
[21] And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:
[22] And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift
of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:
[23] And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face
shall not be seen.
B. OUT LOOK?
XIV. TEXT FOR THIS SERIES:
Romans 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us,
who can be against us?
Isaiah 54:17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every
tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is
the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me,
saith the Lord.
GREAT IS THE YIELD OF A FERTILE FIELD...
WHAT VISIONS ARE WITHIN THAT COULD LAUNCH INTO MIRACLES?
Big, broad rivers produce abundance and fertility ...
Proverbs 12:25 Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good
word maketh it glad.
Proverbs 15:13 A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of
the heart the spirit is broken.
Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit
drieth the bones.
XV. WE REMEMBER THE FISH AND GARLIC --- DISTORTED MEMORIES WILL ALWAYS
DRY UP ANY VISION AND LEAVE THE INDIVIDUAL EMPTY...
Numbers 11:[5] We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the
cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:
[6] But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna,
before our eyes.
XVI. DRIED UP VINE... ANGRY HEARTS OF ANGRY MINISTERS?
WILL GOD HAVE TO DRY UP YOUR COMFORT ZONE TO TRY AND REACH YOU?
Jonah 4:1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.
Jonah 4:3 Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech thee, my life from me;
for it is better for me to die than to live.
Jonah 4:4 Then said the Lord, Doest thou well to be angry?
Jonah 4:7 But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day,
and it smote the gourd that it withered.
Jonah 4:8 And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a
vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted,
and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.
XVII. CAN YOU DRY UP BY A RIVER?
Psalm 137:1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when
we remembered Zion. [2] We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst
thereof. [3] For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song;
and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs
of Zion. [4] How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?
XVIII. A DRY/EMPTY SPIRIT GROWS WHEN FEAR BECOMES THE ACCEPTABLE NORM...
Job 9:28 I am afraid of all my sorrows, I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent.
Psalm 73:1 A Psalm of Asaph.Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as
are of a clean heart.
[2] But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped.
Psalm 73:16 When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me;
Job 9:27 If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my heaviness, and
comfort myself:
XIX. DON'T YOU KNOW I AM THE ONLY ONE SERVING GOD FAITHFULLY?
MY HIDING PLACE IS DRIED UP...
A. THE EARTH SIDE IS I AM FACING AHAB AND JEZEBEL AND THEIR GOD...
B. BAAL THEIR GOD CLAIMS TO BE THE WEATHER GOD GOD...
C. GOD WILL SHOW THE EVIL KING... GOD WILL DRY UP EVERYTHING...
D. THE PREACHER MUST OVERCOME FEAR...
E. GOD HAD A HAVEN OF REST, A SOURCE OF WATER IN A DRY TIME...
1 Kings 17:7 And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up,
because there had been no rain in the land.
F. GOD CAN ACTIVATE ANOTHER MIRACLE AND SEND THE PREACHER TO
THE WIDOW AT ZAREPHATH.
1 Kings 19:5 And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched
him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.
G. 7000 IN ONE CITY THAT HAS NOT BOWED...
XX. A MOTHER GOES IN DESPAIR AS HER WATER SOURCE GROWS DRY AND EMPTY.
THE MOTHER THOUGHT THE CANTEEN WAS HER SOURCE, SHE FORGOT ALL
ABOUT GOD ... HE WAS THERE ALL THE TIME...
A. Hagar allows the situation to dictate to her heart...
B. Hagar looses all hope...
Genesis 21:16 And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off,
as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she
sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.
[17] And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called Hagar out
of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath
heard the voice of the lad where he is.
[18] Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great
nation. [19] And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she
went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.
[20] And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness,
and became an archer.
Genesis 40:6 And Joseph came in unto them in the morning, and looked upon
them, and, behold, they were sad. [7] And he asked Pharaoh's officers that
were with him in the ward of his lord's house, saying, Wherefore look ye so
sadly to day? [8] And they said unto him, We have dreamed a dream, and
there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations
belong to God? tell me them, I pray you.
XXI. JACOB WHEN JOSEPH WAS GONE... JACOB HAD 11 OTHER SONS IN WHICH
TO INVEST AND TRUST GOD BUT HE WAS SATISIFIED TO DRY UP WHEN
HIS FAVORITE SON DIED...
Genesis 37:34 And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins,
and mourned for his son many days. [35] And all his sons and all his daughters
rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will
go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.
XXII. LET US COME TO THE VALLEY FULL OF BONES, VERY DRY BONES...
THERE IS HOPE OF THE VERY DRY...
Ezekiel 37:1 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the
Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,
[2] And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many
in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.
Ezekiel 37:4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them,
O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.
Ezekiel 37:11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel:
behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.
His servant, Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
I do this in 3 parts.
Pass it on...
