repent

Falling 

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Hebrews 6:4-6
“For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.”

When Jesus was in the wilderness he faced three severe temptations from the devil. Through His experience we learn a lot about how the devil seeks to trip up the Christian. One of his most effective tools is to twist the Scriptures into saying something they do not mean. This passage in Hebrews carries a very strong warning to all, concerning the danger of falling away from the Lord. But the devil has used it to fill numerous Christians with fear over their past failures, or current struggles. Let’s take a minute or two to examine its content.

First, notice the text is clearly describing a believer. The person being warned is one who has been enlightened, has tasted the heavenly gift, and been a partake of the Holy Spirit. The words enlighten and partake are used elsewhere in Hebrews referring to believers. To “fall away” is an idiom used to speak of returning to the sins from which we have been delivered. Earlier in the chapter, we were told one of the elementary principles of Christianity is repentance, or turning from our sins to follow Christ. The person described here, has turned from Christ and gone back into sin. Finally, notice the word “impossible”. It is a compound word, meaning able, with a negative prefix. It means there is no way for something to be accomplished. it does not mean that it is unlikely, or difficult, but that a person who goes back to sin, cannot return again to the Lord.

As I mentioned, this is both a strong warning, as well as a text that the devil has used to beat down the struggling believer. On many occasions, I have been approached by believers who had once walked with the Lord, only to backslide for long periods of time. They have now come back to the Lord, but come across this verse and begin to doubt their salvation. I think the key to this text is the word “impossible”. It is employed because of the gripping nature of sin, and the deceitfulness of the human heart. Falling away is not something that happens suddenly; but something that is the result of neglecting the Word, prayer, fellowship, and service. It is something caused by sowing little seeds of sin over a long period of time. When we first begin the downward slide, the Spirit of God speaks to us, warning us, and convicting us. It is only when we ignore the warnings and harden ourselves against conviction, that we can continue to sin. The problem with hardening our hearts, is that our hearts become hard. Soon, we cannot hear the voice of God, or sense the conviction of the Spirit. We have seared our conscience with an iron, and the voice of God is lost to us. At that point, even when confronted directly by others, we are so hardened, we keep going on in sin, unwilling to listen or repent. For that person, renewal is impossible. Before fear strikes you, keep in mind, it is not the only thing that is impossible.

Jesus said it is impossible for the rich to be saved because they trust in riches, yet many wealthy men and women have laid down their riches to trust in Christ alone. Salvation itself is impossible. There is no way sinful man could ever be restored to fellowship with a holy God. But Jesus reminded us that,

“The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” Luke 18:27

While it is true, sin will harden our hearts; we are capable of becoming so hardened we will not listen to the conviction of the Spirit, the warnings of the Word, or the pleas of others. It is also true, the Bible is filled with stories of those who have fallen into sin and returned. One of the most well-known of all the parables Jesus told, is the story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-24). It is the story of falling away and returning. It is so well-known because it strikes a chord in all of us. We might go so far as to say, the whole Bible is the story of falling away and returning.

If we are to properly apply this text, we must take serious the warning against sin. We must examine ourselves to see if we have been hardening ourselves against the warnings of God, and we must repent. If we have returned to the Lord, we must accept the grace of God and not think we are destined to live as second class Christians, unable to ever truly experience His grace or be used by God.

Pastor Jim

 

Perpetual 

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Jeremiah 8:5
“Why has this people slidden back,
Jerusalem, in a perpetual backsliding?
They hold fast to deceit,
They refuse to return.”

Like a doctor who has carefully examined a patient and given his diagnosis, Jeremiah declares the sickness of Judah to be perpetual backsliding. Backsliding is a biblical term that refers to a follower of God who has returned to his pre-conversion lifestyle. Perpetual is a term wnich means continual, like a pendulum. The perpetual backslider is the person who makes a commitment to the Lord, falls back into sin, makes another commitment, followed by another fall, and this becomes the cycle of his life.

God designed the human brain to develop patterns. These patters can be extremely helpful. I recall my first attempts to learn chords on the guitar. It was a pain staking process, my brain would tell my fingers what to do, but they seemed incapable of following orders. I can remember times when I had to use my right hand to bend my left hand into the proper shape to make a simple ‘D’ chord. After some time however, a pattern developed, and I could contort my fingers to the proper position, seemingly without thought or effort.

While these patterns can be positive, they can also lead to perpetual bad behavior, and great effort must be taken to break the pattern. This is particularly true of someone whose Christian life has become cyclical. The solution is not to give up or to think that is just how things have to be. Instead, it is time to make some changes in how you approach walking with Christ. It is already clear that you love the Lord deeply, or you would not continually come back to Him, so the focus must be on things that will create permanence. Jesus explained that the secret to a fruitful life is to abide in Him. The Psalmist proclaims, this is done by daily delighting  in the Word of God. To delight in the Word means we read it, study it, meditate upon it, and do what it says. The key to breaking the pattern of perpetual backsliding is to make daily investments in God’s Word.

Let’s get started today.

Pastor Jim

 

Should I Pray? 

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Jeremiah 7:16

“Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them, nor make intercession to Me; for I will not hear you.”

The Bible is filled with commands from God, which place requirements upon man. Bible scholars tell us there are over 600 distinct commands in the Old Testament alone. On one occasion, Jesus was approached by a man who was seeking to list these commands in order of importance. He asked “which is the greatest commandment?” To which Jesus replied, “love God…” (Matthew 22:26—37)

Of all the commands, this one in Jeremiah has to rank among the strangest. The prophet was instructed NOT to pray for the people. It is easy to understand commands such as: have no other gods, no graven images, or do not steal. But what could be the reason God commanded his prophet not to pray?

Keep in mind, Jeremiah had been calling upon the people to turn from their wicked lifestyles and return to the Lord. He exhorted them time and time again to “amend their ways”; which means to make things right. Sadly, the people ignored the Word of God and the pleas of the prophet. Despite the fact that they were living in sin, they expected to receive the blessing and favor of God. Jeremiah was instructed not to pray for blessing on their lives. Living outside the will of God, takes us outside the favor of God; we cannot expect His promises to apply to us.

The Bible is filled with conditional promises. These promises are reserved for those who have received Christ and walked away from their former lifestyles. If we refuse to give up our sin, we cannot expect to be filled with the fullness of God.

Pastor Jim

 

Backsliding 

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Jeremiah 3:22
“Return, you backsliding children, and I will heal your backsliding.”

Paul warned against having an attitude toward grace that encourages sin. Some were suggesting, since God is gracious, it is okay to sin, knowing we will receive forgiveness. He put it this way,

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” Romans 6:1

This attitude not only cheapens the grace of God, but also leaves a door open for sin to damage our lives. I think we often forget that sin is not bad because God forbids it, but that God forbids it because it is bad.

Jeremiah alludes to the dangers of sin when he declares, if we return to the Lord, He will “heal our backsliding.” Jeremiah understood that backsliding has grave consequences and will do us much harm. Some of the most common scars on the backslidden Christian include, shame, defeat, a shattered witness, broken families, lost years and even addictions. If we think we can toy around with sinful behavior without any consequence, then we are failing to understand the danger of sin, or the purpose of Grace.

Judah failed to heed the warnings of the prophets. They thought they could continue down a road of compromise without any lasting impact. It was not long after Jeremiah uttered these words that the nation collapsed. It would do us good to examine our lives and see if we are allowing compromise to keep us from complete commitment to Christ.

Pastor Jim

 

Time For A New Path

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Jeremiah 3:3
“Therefore the showers have been withheld, And there has been no latter rain.”

Difficulties in life are not always the result of personal sin, but sometimes they are. Sometimes our struggles could be alleviated by getting things right with God. Haggai wrote, the people in his day were ignoring the Lord and their relationship with Him, and as a result he wrote, “You have sown much, and bring in little; You eat, but do not have enough; You drink, but you are not filled with drink; You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; And he who earns wages, Earns wages to put into a bag with holes. ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts’: “Consider your ways!'”” (Haggai 1:6&7) It is possible that the hardships you are enduring are not actually trials or even the natural results of living in a fallen world. It is possible that you are facing the consequences of certain behaviors, or even the chastening of God. The solution to alleviate those types of difficulties is through what the Bible calls repentance; a word meaning to change both your mind and your direction.

A few years ago, I was involved in taking a group of high school students to the mountains for a retreat. We decided to take them on a hike that led to a deep water creek. As we ventured down the path, we realized that it was much more difficult and dangerous than we expected. Instead of walking, we were forced to sit down and “scooch” our way down the hill. Once we finally reached the bottom, we saw some local teenagers who informed us that we had taken the wrong path. They pointed us to a much easier and safer way in and out.

Perhaps the solution, for the troubles you are facing, is to get on a different path. Instead of living like those in Jeremiah’s day, who “followed the dictates of their hearts” (which is a fancy way of saying they did whatever they wanted), we need to turn to Christ and live pleasing to Him. Don’t take another step down the road of self will. Stop, surrender to Jesus, and start following Him.

Pastor Jim

Double Agent

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Titus 1:16
“They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.”

  • The church in Crete was like most churches. It had a pastor, who was seeking to minister to the spiritual needs of the people, while facing many struggles from within and without. It had members who were growing in the Lord and seeking to serve Him, and members whose growth was stunted, due to a variety of lingering and tolerated personal sins. Then there were others, who only pretended to be Christians. Paul describes this group as ones who claim to be followers of Christ, yet they fail to really follow Him.

“They profess to know God…”

The word “profess” is a very important word. It is used in Romans 10 to describe personal responsibility in salvation. We are told, in order to be saved, we must “confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus” (Romans 10:9). The word “confess” is the same word translated profess in our text. It is used again in 1 John 1:9 where we are told “If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us”, and is also used in Hebrews 11 to describe those who lived lives committed to the Lord. Those individuals are also described as men of whom the world was not worthy. Paul is suggesting there are people in the church who look like they are believers. When we see them on Sunday mornings we assume they are living lives committed to Christ. They say all the right things, speak the language, know the songs, maybe even lift their hands in worship, or hand out bulletins at the door. The problem is, their lives from Monday through Saturday don’t back up the profession of their lips. They are only pretending, play acting, putting on a show in order to hide the fact that they have never surrendered all to Christ.

“in works they deny Him…”

The word “deny” is also a very important Biblical word. Jesus used it in Luke 12:9 when He said, “But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.” Paul also used the word when writing to Timothy stating “If we deny Him, He will also deny us.” (2 Timothy 2:12) The word “deny” means to reject, and was used to describe those, who on Palm Sunday raised their voices in praise, but on Friday cried out “crucify Him.” Paul explains in this verse, the word means more than a simple statement. While it is necessary to confess Christ with our lips, it is also necessary that our lives back up our profession. Coming forward at the altar call is an important step in your Christian life, but it does not stop there. We must move on to walking after Jesus in our daily lives. If you are putting on your best Christianity to show up at church each week, only to live a double life throughout the week, you are not only in sin, but in grave danger. Deception is always dangerous, but self-deception is deadly.

Don’t wait another minute to lay down your sin and get things right with the Lord.

Pastor Jim

 

Look What I Made 

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Isaiah 44:10
“Who would form a god or mold an image that profits him nothing?”

When archeologists discovered the remains of the ancient city of Jerusalem, which had been destroyed by the Babylonians, they discovered hundreds of small graven images or household gods. These images shed light on the fact that during the days Isaiah lived, idolatry ran rampant throughout the land. People filled their homes with images representing the gods they created with their own imaginations. Isaiah writes of the folly of idolatry. He describes a man planting a tree, waiting for it to grow, cutting it down, using a portion to build a fire to cook his meal, and the rest to shape into an image he will later bow down and worship. The gods that were created were the product of the imagination, and took the shape of the world in which they lived. The folly of idolatry is that we are both making god and worshipping god.

While our garages may not be factories producing idols, and our homes may not be filled with graven images, we are often guilty of the same actions which Isaiah described. We tend to allow our culture to affect our view of God, rather than our view of God to affect our culture. We trim things or add things to the God of Scripture, until He becomes a god we like. Sadly, when this happens, He is no longer the God of Scripture, nor is He capable of delivering us in time of trouble.

Rather than attempting to change God to fit our taste, we should be getting to know God as He describes Himself. The better we get to know Him, the more we will benefit when things in life become overwhelming.

Pastor Jim

 

Shipwreck

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1 Timothy 1:19-20
“. . . having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck, of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.”

As Paul traveled the world to preach the Gospel, he had the great joy of seeing many come to Christ. Sadly, however, he also had the difficult experience of seeing some fall away from the Lord. Here he mentions two such individuals and describes their backsliding as being shipwrecked. They once had sails unfurled on course for the Kingdom, but had drifted off course and were no longer serving or following Christ. He mentions them as a warning to us of the dangers of falling away from Christ. A shipwreck is an appropriate analogy for the Christian because of the dangers we face on our journey towards what John Bunyan called “The Celestial City.” Unfortunately, shipwrecks, like backsliding, have a variety of causes.

A few years ago, Hollywood produced a movie called “The Perfect Storm” about a fishing vessel lost at sea due to extreme weather. There are times when the conditions we face are like a turbulent sea, tossing us to and fro. If we are not careful, we will find we have run aground and are no longer pursuing the Lord. These trying times can even leave us bitter and disenchanted regarding Christ. It is crucial that we learn to take refuge from life’s storms in the safe harbor of Christ and the promises of His Word.

Just a couple years ago, a large cruise ship ran aground in Europe. The news sites were filled with images of this mighty vessel being battered by the waves, and it was reported that many had lost their lives. The initial reports alluded to the captain being intoxicated, and as a result, had drifted off course and into the shallows. It is not uncommon to hear of Christians who have done the same thing. Not being careful to remove ungodly influences from their lives, they find themselves tripped up by the sins of their past. They are usually filled with shame and guilt because of the mess they have made of things. This guilt may keep them on the rocks, being beaten by the waves of life. If that describes you, allow me to encourage you. Whatever your sin may have been, there is forgiveness. David described the condition of the one who finally accept the forgiveness available to him, regardless of the severity of the sin committed:

Psalms 32:1 “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.”

Another common cause of shipwreck is being ill-prepared for the conditions we face. Not long ago, I watched as a boat attempted to navigate its way through one of Florida’s more challenging inlets. Standing there, unable to do anything but watch, myself and a few other onlookers, stared in dismay as the vessel was tossed into the rocks. His failure was not for lack of trying, but because he was simply a novice and did not have the proper training for such difficult conditions. All too often, Christians fail for the same reason. Not taking advantage of the present calm to develop deep foundations in the Christian walk, they find themselves unable to withstand the trial and temptation that is just ahead. Don’t let that happen to you. If life is somewhat calm at the moment, use that to your advantage to become a disciple of Christ. Don’t wait until you are being battered against the rocks before you begin to invest in the Word, fellowship and prayer.

Pastor Jim

 

That Will Fix It

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Isaiah 33:22
“For the Lord is our Judge,
The Lord is our Lawgiver,
The Lord is our King;
He will save us”

Israel, in Isaiah’s day, was in dire straights. The Assyrians were on a rampage, overthrowing any nation that stood in the way of their desire for global dominance. Israel watched as their neighbors were defeated and enslaved to the most bloodthirsty nation the world had ever known. In the midst of these threatening conditions, people began to offer solutions. The most common was to make an allegiance with Egypt to withstand the Assyrian invasion. Isaiah offered an entirely different remedy. He encouraged the people to understand, it was God who could save them. But in order for this to happen, they would have to look at Him very differently than they had been doing. He used three words to describe a proper relationship with God.

First he refers to God as the Judge. This word was used in Israel for those who ruled over the people. If Israel was to be delivered, they must return to allowing God to rule over them, instead of following the dictates of their own hearts. Today, it very common for people to assume there is no absolute standard of right and wrong, and each person must do what is right in their own eyes. This is not a new concept, it was prevalent in Isaiah’s day and led to the collapse of the nation. The first step to deliverance is to allow God to be our judge.

Second, Isaiah refers to God as the Lawgiver. This word means exactly what it says. God is the one who sets the laws for mankind to follow. He has given moral laws to keep us in check and to lead us to His provision for our salvation. What we call the Ten Commandments, are a set of standards that will create a healthy living environment for mankind. However, they will also show us, we are unable to keep them on our own. Their purpose is to lead us to Christ, the one who forgives all sin, and makes us right with God. Today, there are those who are passionately oppose to the law of God. They are attempting to remove His commands from schools, courthouses, and other public places, as though these laws were dangerous and destructive. Imagine for a moment what our nation would be like if we kept them. No murder, dishonesty, theft or destroying of families through sexual misconduct. I wonder why people are so opposed to the law of God?

Finally, Isaiah refers to God as King. A king sits on a throne and rules. Jesus was asked if He was a King, to which He responded, “that is the reason I came into the world” (John 18:37). Jesus did not come to be our personal advisor or friend, as much as He came to rule over us. He is a beneficent ruler, but He is a ruler none the less. The proper place for Him in our life is not as co-pilot, but as king. Deliverance will be found when we allow Him His rightful place.

I think Isaiah’s prescription for Israel is as necessary today as ever.

Pastor Jim

Don’t Go Back 

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Isaiah 23:17
“And it shall be, at the end of seventy years, that the Lord will deal with Tyre. She will return to her hire, and commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth.”

Tyre was an ancient coastal city situated on the Mediterranean, just north of Israel. Like all people, they were answerable to God for their actions, and would soon face the consequences of ignoring Him, and living by their own standards. Isaiah describes a time coming, when the Chaldeans, also known as Babylonians, would attack and drive them into the sea.

About one hundred years after Isaiah’s prophecy, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, led his troops against Tyre, driving the people to flee to an island just off the coast, where they rebuilt the city. Since Nebuchadnezzar did not have a navy, Tyre, though defeated, was saved. Rather than turning to God, they went right back to their own ways, which finally led to their destruction.

Unfortunately, this is a very common story. I often meet people going through great difficulty, who begin to cry out to God. They realize they have been living wrong, make some immediate changes, and plead for God’s assistance. Sadly, when things settle down, they go right back to their former conduct. It is only a matter of time before things begin to unravel again.

It is important to remember that tragedy will not change your life. Losing your job, wife, or family, may grab your attention and turn your eyes upward, but your life will only change when you surrender to Christ, and begin to make daily decisions to live pleasing to Him. If you have wandered from God. and are facing hardship as a result, use that as a driving force to get your eyes back on Jesus. Start making decisions to grow in Christ. The first step is to surrender all, the next steps involve getting into a healthy church and establishing daily time with Christ in His word.

Pastor Jim