RETURN TO THE LORD

PROCLAMATION

“Go, proclaim this message toward the north: ‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares The Lord, ‘I will frown on you no longer, for I will not be angry forever.  Only acknowledge your guilt …’ ”  Jeremiah 3:12-13 (NIV)

EXPLANATION

These are the words of The Lord God which were spoken to the prophet Jeremiah and proclaimed to the people of Judah.  In this chapter, the sins people of Israel and Judah are exposed, and their idolatry is compared to a prostitute. (Jeremiah 3:1-10)  The Lord God tells them to return to Him, but first He wants them to acknowledge that they have sinned.

APPLICATION

Our biggest problem today is the lack of confession of sin.  Some people won’t confess because they do not consider that what they have done is wrong.  Unless a man knows he has sinned, and has been convicted of it, he will not turn away from it or confess it.  There are also those people who enjoy their sins to the point that they refuse to let go of them.  Without a change of heart by The Lord God both of those groups are lost.  The rest of us believers need to humble ourselves, and confess our sins, and turn from our wicked ways. (2 Chronicles 7:14)  For if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just, and He will forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

COMING BACK HOME IS NOT ALWAYS EASY

PROCLAMATION

“King David sent this message to Zadok and Abiathar, the priests: ‘Ask the elders of Judah, Why should you be the last to bring the king back to his palace …?’”  2 Samuel 19:11 (NIV)

EXPLANATION

David had defeated all of the neighboring enemies of Israel under King Saul, and again as the King of Israel after the death of Saul, but he fled the country to escape from his son Absalom.  Now that Absalom had died in battle while leading Israel’s army against him, David was ready to return to Israel and to his throne.  First, he had to get over the death of his son and remember who he was. (2 Samuel 18:33-19:8)  Then, he had to win over the hearts of the people.  The problem was that the people of Israel had anointed Absalom as their king, and they had rebelled against David.  He had just defeated the Israelite army but now he had to deal with the people who had turned on him.  He had to remind some of them that they were his blood relatives (2 Samuel 19:11-14) and some he had to forgive for how they treated him. (2 Samuel 19:19-20)

APPLICATION

Many years ago, I was taught that the way you leave home determines whether or not you can ever come back home.  I also learned that it is possible to be accepted back into the house but that does not mean that you are accepted back into their heart.  Thanks be to God that our Heavenly Father is not like that.  Once we are saved and accepted into the body of Christ as a child of God, we are always accepted. (John 10:28-29)  We may backslide and turn our back on Him and break our fellowship with Him, but we never break our relationship.  Once we confess and believe, we are saved. (Romans 10:9-10)  When we pray and ask to be forgiven for our sins, The Lord God forgives us, (Acts 8:22) and we are fully restored into the family and the fellowship. (1 John 1:6-7)

BECAUSE OF THE LORD GOD WE LIVE MOVE AND EXIST

Proclamation:

“For in Him we live and move and have our being.  As some of your poets have said, ‘We are His offspring.’”  Acts 17:28 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written by Luke, the physician, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  Luke records that Paul and Silas had to leave Thessalonica because after they preached that Jesus was the Messiah, the non-believing Jews had formed a mob there and were looking for them. (Acts 17:1-10)  They went to Berea but the non-believing Jews from Thessalonica heard that they were preaching there and came to Berea and stirred up the crowd against them. (Acts 17:10-15)  Paul then went to Athens and noticed that the city was full of idols and was disturbed. (Acts 17:16-18)  While there he found an altar with the inscription, “To The Unknown God”, and he preached to them about Him. (Acts 17:22-23)  While he was speaking to them he said that it was because of The Lord God that we live, move, and have our very being.

Application:

There are a lot of intelligent and well educated people who believe in scientific things but do not believe in Jesus, The Christ, or His death, burial, and resurrection.  They do not believe that God created the earth and all things therein. (Revelation 10:6)  They do not believe that man was made from the dust of the earth and God breathed into him the breath of life and he became a living soul. (Genesis 2:7)  It is because of The Lord God that we live, move, and have our being.  When we die, our soul will return to The Lord (2 Corinthians 5:6-8) and our bodies will return to the dust from which it came. (Genesis 3:19, Psalm 104:29, and Ecclesiastes 12:7)  Our souls will not die but will spend eternity somewhere. (Matthew 25:46)  Where will you spend eternity?

Repentance Of Sin And Faith In Christ

"I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus."  Acts 20:21 (NIV)

Luke, the physician travelling companion of the Apostle Paul, recorded these words which Paul spoke to the elders of the church at Ephesus.  Paul told them that he had preached to both the Jews and to the Greeks, that they all must repent of their sins, and turn to God, and have faith in The Lord Jesus.  Paul was on his way to Jerusalem where, as The Holy Spirit had warned him, he knew that prison and hardship awaited him. (Acts 20:23)  However, he wanted to warn the elders that after he left, men would come and distort the truth which he had preached. (Acts 20:29-30)

Today, we need to be mindful of the fact that as Christians, repentance of sin and faith in Jesus Christ are our sacred duties.  That was the point that Paul was making, we must turn from sin and turn to God, and have faith in Christ. (Acts 20:21)  If we do not repent of our sins, then sin will be our downfall when we are judged by The Lord. (Ezekiel 18:30)  Because we are believers, it is by our faith in Jesus that we have a relationship with God. (Galatians 3:26)  Repentance is an importance part of the gospel, it is the message which Jesus preached. (Matthew 4:17, Luke 5:32, and Luke 24:46-47)  Belief and faith in Jesus, The Christ, is essential for our salvation.  We must accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, for only through Him is it possible to gain access to God and heaven. (John 14:6)  Jesus is The Way, The Truth, and The Life.  For this reason we should give Him all glory, honor, and praise.  He is worthy of our worship.

Get Your Heart Right

" 'Even now,' declares The Lord, 'return to Me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.' Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to The Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and He relents from sending calamity. Who knows? He may turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing ..." Joel 2:12-14 (NIV)

In the midst of a description of the destruction of the land and the suffering of the people, Joel tells them to return to The Lord. He says that if they would demonstrate genuine repentance, that God would forgive them and bless them. Tearing their outer garments, a Jewish way of showing grief, was meaningless the heart is broken in repentance and contrition.

When things are going all wrong for us, there is an opportunity for us to turn or return to God. There are those of us who believe that some times, God allows bad things to happen to us in order to get our attention. Only after making a mess of things, trying to handle it ourselves, do we realize that we need God's help. We must learn the error of our ways, confess and repent, and follow His way.