Jeremiah 7:28
“But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.”
What a powerful statement, “truth is perished.” The word “perished” means: to wither or decay; to waste away; to come to nothing; to be rendered useless. In other words, God was saying that Israel didn’t suddenly die, but they died a gradual death. Israel didn’t go from being the most powerful nation in the world to a nation that perished overnight; no, it was a gradual death. For God to say that truth perished, He is saying that there was no more hope for Israel. Hope is gone when “truth is perished.”
A Christian never suddenly dies spiritually. Every Christian who has died spiritually has died a slow death. They died slowly by allowing truth to perish. The Christian died a slow death when truth wasted away in their lives and became nothing to them. There are five steps Christians, churches and nations take that lead to the spiritual decay.
First, no conscience leads to spiritual decay. Verse 10 shows Israel’s lack of conscience. They stole, murdered and committed adultery, and the next day went to church and declared that God wanted them to do these things. When a Christian comes to the point where sin doesn’t bother them, they are beginning to walk down the road to destruction. You must ask yourself, does your sin bother you? You are on dangerous ground when you can sin and it doesn’t bother you.
Second, no conviction leads to spiritual decay. Israel wasn’t convicted of their sin. A lack of conscience always leads to no conviction. If you can sit through preaching or read the Scriptures and are never convicted of sin, you have started the journey of spiritual decay, which will lead to spiritual death.
Third, no response leads to spiritual decay. It is sad that God sent preachers to Israel, “But they hearkened not…” Someone has to be able to tell you what to do. There has to be someone who can look at you like Nathan looked at David and say, “Thou art the man.” To say that nobody is going to tell you what to do is to reveal the spiritual decay that has set into your life. Friend, don’t harden your neck to truth but respond to it.
Fourth, no boundaries leads to spiritual decay. Israel walked “in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart.” You can use Scripture to justify your wicked actions, but that doesn’t change the truth of Scripture. Stop justifying sin and start repenting of it. Without the boundaries of God’s Word, you will walk down the road to spiritual decay and eventual death.
Fifth, no direction leads to spiritual decay. Israel “went backward, and not forward.” When your direction is worldly instead of godly, you are headed down a road to death. When you look to the world for your direction of holiness instead of the Scriptures, you are spiritually withering away.
Is truth perishing in your life? Friend, you never suddenly die spiritually. It will always be a slow death through decay. Don’t let truth perish in your life. Keep God as your focus, and respond and repent when He reveals your sin through the Scriptures or preaching.