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Finding Your Way Back to God
Calvary Baptist Church
9/20/2009
Jeremiah 29:13
Portions from Secrets of Christian Living, F.B. Meyer, Chapter 1.
Jeremiah 29:10-15 For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. 14 And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.
OPENING:
• America is in a desperate situation today, economically, militarily, politically, morally.
• Sometimes it seems as if God is not interested.
• But the issue is not with God!
• He is as powerful as He ever was, for God does not change.
• The problem is with His people.
• The church is anemic, weak, and powerless.
• The church is weak because our families are weak.
• Families are weak because individual believers are weak!
• Any observant Christian who has been around for any amount of time ought to be alarmed.
ILLUS: The rebuilt Temple of Zerubbabel. The young men rejoiced, the old men wept. We are living in the day of the old men weeping and the young men rejoicing.
ILLUS: Big Ben clock look alikes. You can tell by the weight, but you would have to have an old one to compare.
ILLUS: The frog in the kettle. The water warms a little at a time, the frog does not notice until it is too late!
• We have accepted 2nd rate Christianity as the norm.
• If we are honest, we will admit that we are not reading our Bibles, praying, inviting others as we once did.
• Just the name of the Lord used to bring a tear.
• We wept over souls.
• We studied and marked our Bibles.
• We have family prayer and private prayer.
• Is it any wonder that our churches have become so dead, dry, cold and formal?
• We are in sad shape.
• But all is not hopeless.
• If you will listen, if you will act, you can find your way back to God.
INTRODUCTION (Deut. 4:29-31; 1 Kings 8:47-50)
• The title of today’s sermon may seem unusual or even heretical to some.
• But as we look into the Word of God, we will find that this truth is solidly biblical.
• Would you, in your mind’s eye, travel with me to a group of people that seem to have lost everything.
• They lost their land, their place of worship, their freedom … all that was precious to them.
• What would you do in such a time?
• These people, in captivity, go back to the promises of God that had been written some 800 years earlier.
Dt 4:29-31 — But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. 30 When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; 31 (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them. (Cf., 30:1-20)
• Perhaps many recalled the words of Solomon as he had dedicated the Temple some 400 years earlier.
1Ki 8:47-50 — Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness; 48 And so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name: 49 Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause, 50 And forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them:
• The very word repent (Heb., shuv) means to turn back. (391X translated as “return”)
• If you are satisfied with the status quo in your nation, your church, your family and your life, then just treat this message like you do all of the others.
• But if you have come today to do more than be entertained by music and sermon …
• If you long for a deeper walk with God.
• If you long for the blessings, the peace, the testimony that you once had …
• Then listen to the Word of God as it will show you how to “Find Your Way Back to God.”
ILLUS: The Lost Chord, Meyer, p. 8.
Where is the blessedness I knew
When first I saw the Lord?
Where is the soul-refreshing view
Of Jesus and His Word?
What peaceful hours I then enjoyed!
How sweet their memory still!
But they have left an aching void,
The world can never fill. (Meyer, p. 10)
SERMON
• What are the steps to finding your way back to God?
Jeremiah 29:13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
I. Remember the Heart of God (Is. 55:7; Hos. 11:8; Jer. 3:12)
• Satan wants you to view God as an angry judge.
• The Bible picture of our God is that of the father of the prodigal son.
• He is waiting at the window, watching the road, waiting for his son to come home!
Isaiah 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
• Hosea has been called the backslider’s gospel.
• Hear the pleading of Jehovah for His people:
Hosea 11:8 How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? [Admah, Zeboim – cities destroyed with Sodom] mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together.
• After Judah and Israel had committed whoredom, hear the pleading of the LORD.
Jeremiah 3:12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever.
ILLUS: Look at our Lord’s tenderness with the denying Peter!
• God asked that man forgive his sinning brother 490 X.
• How much more does He want to forgive you!
• Remember how much God wants you go come back home!
• Do not picture your God with crossed arms.
• Picture Him with open arms and a pleading look!
II. Remove the Barrier between You and God (Is. 59:1-2; Psalm 139:23-24)
• The loss of the Lord’s shining face upon you was not lost accidentally.
• The loss of His blessings, His provision was not a device of His choosing!
• You have allowed something to break that fellowship with Him!
Isaiah 59:1-2 Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: 2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
• You do not need to pray in general terms, “Lord, if I’ve done anything.”
• You KNOW you have done something.
• You may have allowed the list to grow so long that you cannot remember everything.
• Start with what you know.
• God will give more light.
Psalms 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
ILLUS: Achan in the camp. The search was by tribe, then by clan, then by family, then by person!
ILLUS: Jawbreaker. One layer is consumed and another appears.
• As God brings to light each sin, admit the awful rebellion against God, confess it to Him, forsake it.
• And do not quit until all the sludge is gone and you can see the bright shining bottom of your bucket!
TRANSITIONAL THOUGHTS: Remove the Barrier. But we do not do this by human effort. It is by divine forgiveness! What about wrongs that cannot be undone? What if the person I wronged is dead? Do the best you can to make amends with the person wronged, then leave it to God! David could not undo the adultery, death of Uriah, etc. But he confessed TO GOD!
III. Receive God’s Forgiveness (1 Cor. 13:5; Luke 15:7; Is. 1:18; 1 John 1:9; Is. 43:25; 44:22)
• There is something that you absolutely must realize about God’s forgiveness.
• That truth is that genuine repentance brings instant, complete forgiveness.
ILLUS: One reason we have such a hard time accepting God’s forgiveness is because human forgiveness is often incomplete. We say, “I forgive,” but we act as if we have not. And then we bring up the charge again.
HUMOR: Every time we fight, my wife gets historical. Hysterical? No, historical. She brings up everything …
1 Corinthians 13:5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
1 Corinthians 13:5 (AMP) Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong].
ILLUS: One of our church members had an issue with a family member. That family member had been so unkind and hurtful for so long, that it seemed things would never change. Our member prayed to God for help. Another family member spoke to the hurtful relative. Soon, a phone call was made. Our member wept as he heard on the other end of the line, “I have hurt you and I want to ask for your forgiveness.” I tell you, our member did not make them wait. Nor was the matter held over the caller’s head. No, a thousand times no! The forgiveness was instant and complete and the relationship was restored. My dear brother or sister, you will find it that way with God.
• At times, when we pray, God may keep silent or make us wait.
• But friend, there is one prayer God will always answer, and always instantly!
Luke 15:7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.
• However dark your sin may be, it will not go from black to gray, but to white!
Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
• God has promised to forgive us.
• He has placed his faithfulness and justice as a pledge.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
QUOTE: There is not a moment's interval between the humble and sad telling of the story of sin, and God's forgiveness. As soon as a penitent -appears in the doorway of God's throne-room, the golden sceptre of His royal forgiveness is stretched out for him to touch. You may not feel forgiven. You may have no ecstasy of joy. But you are forgiven, in the thoughts of God. The angels hear him say: Child, thy sins, which are many, are all forgiven thee; go in peace. If we confess, and as soon as we confess, He is faithful and just to forgive. He never says, Go thy way, and return to-morrow, and I will see whether I can forgive. He hates the sin, and is only too glad to sweep it away. He loves the sinner, and is only too happy to receive him again to His embrace. And He is able to do all this so quickly and so entirely, because Jesus Christ our Lord bare our sins in His own body on the tree. (Meyer, 15)
Isa 43:25 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.
Isa 44:22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS FOR PART ONE
• Forgiveness is all of God, but God will not forgive until you make the move.
ILLUS: Rope lowered into a well must be grabbed. The victim cannot extract himself. He can grab the rope!
• REMEMBER the heart of God!
• REMOVE the barrier of your sin.
• RECEIVE God’s forgiveness. Reckon it done. Accept that you have been completely forgiven! Live by truth, not by feelings (we will deal with this in a few weeks).
ILLUS: The lady “bad to shout.” Dr. Sightler’s story. The geography book.
FORGIVEN My pastor for most of my life, Dr. Harold Sightler, used to tell of a woman bad to shout. (He would stop there and say, I mean "good" to shout.) When they mentioned Jesus in sermon or song, she would say, "Hallelujah, praise the Lord." The dead, dry church she attended didn't like this. One day in the midst of one of her "praise fits" they ushered her to the vestibule and told her to stay there. Finding nothing else to occupy her time, she asked if she could see a child's geography book someone had left behind. Soon, they began to hear her shouting out, "Praise Jesus!" Wondering what could make her shout in the geography book, the rushed to ask her. "Look here," she said, "It says here that the ocean is 7 miles deep at places. My Bible tells me that this is where the Lord has buried my sins. Hallelujah, praise the Lord, I'm forgiven!" Oh the joy to know that our sins are forgiven. I wonder if that church that put her out understood this. I wonder if you do. Really, I wonder if I do. Forgiven! Amen!
