In Danger of Falling Away

2 Chronicles 7:12–14 ESV

Then the Lord appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Generations of Falling Away

Looking through the OT we see times in which the people of God seem to have finally pieced it all together, then a massive falling away. Each time the Lord brings a stern warning and then gives them promise.

Noted in the exchange between Solomon and God the Lord had been looking for His people to return to Him. In the return they would have to leave behind the ways of Old, the things of this world.

What we also see in this exchange is there were people who appeared to be doing the will of the Lord and yet were so removed from Him that the Lord had to take action to prompt them to action.

In the work of return to right worship to the Lord there is a danger of becoming so complacent we begin to slip back into the ways of old, yet, the greatest danger is when there is when foreign traditions have made there way in and as a body we become so oblivious to them we completely accept these falsities as truth.

When we look at what the Lord says in this exchange there is a promise of healing and restoring of what the devourer has attempted to destroy.

This generation of worshipers is called to abandon the things of this world to see this people healed.

The End of InterMarriage

Ezra 9:1–2 ESV

After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands with their abominations, from the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. For they have taken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands. And in this faithlessness the hand of the officials and chief men has been foremost.”

The People had not separated from the peoples of the land and their abominations

Problem# 1- Syncretism

they were still acting like they belonged to the things of this world

The very priest that were charged with caring for the people were #livingtheirbestlife

It was done in the name of God

Problem# 2- the greater problem Intermarriage

The holy race has mixed itself

More than marriage its about what would be accepted tolerated and how it would hurt those called to serve the Lord

Problem# 3- This assault on the congregation was perpetrated by the leaders.

The leaders sold out, then the congregation leaving this restoration effort void.

Rejecting the Mixture to Keep the Priesthood Preserved

Revelation 2:14 ESV

But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality.

The stumbling block was

idolatry

consuming the instruction of idols

more than sexual immorality (marrying their spirit to the false teachings)

Revelation 2:20 ESV

But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.

Revelation 2:24 ESV

But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden.

In the first its the leadership that has failed

In this statement we come to find the congregation that has accepted it

1 Pet 2:9-10 reminds us we are a royal priesthood… we can no longer tolerate being so married tied to this world that we have forgotten our royal calling

The Road to Healing

Called by His Name

Humble the Self

Ezra 9:3–4 ESV

As soon as I heard this, I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled. Then all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the faithlessness of the returned exiles, gathered around me while I sat appalled until the evening sacrifice.

All who are called leaders must make way to acknowledge the wrongdoing from the pulpit

Humility brings us to the point of acknowledging where we have allowed for the mixture of beliefs to impact our lives

get rid of the mixing of “well this is ok”

xchurch Youth Halloween Party Kids dressed as witches ghost zombies… literally worshiping the things of Satan in the name of God

Turn to God

Ezra 9:5 ESV

And at the evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God,

It wasn't a turn to slam everyone, Ezra turned to the Lord and restated what was before Him

Its a turn to the Lord for help…

Repenting from the Syncretism

Ezra 10:11 ESV

Now then make confession to the Lord, the God of your fathers and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives.”

Call to repentance is made for the Nation

The agreed to forfeit everything if they did not repent

Acknowledged it would take more than a day to untangle the mess of having such a mixture

The call to untangle this mess of mixed beliefs that have plagued the church is louder than ever before. We cannot pretend to worship the God of heaven and earth and continue to allow this mixture to exist within the body of Christ. Yes its going to take time to do so… but as we read in Ezra the work is not impossible.

We say we want revival, we want to see the Lord’s power pouring out for us, we want the people of God restored, it starts with us. No doubt we have lived in a spiritual drought… the rain has ceased. The locusts are actively devouring the church and the church is fast asleep.

Notice what 2 Chron states that He will send pestilence to His people… the church is dying and there is only one way to see it restored....

…if my people who are known by name would humble themselves, and pray, and seek His face, and repent from the wicked ways, He will hear us from Heaven, He will forgive our Sin, and He will heal our land....