Untitled Sermon (153)

GRACE FOR A BACKSLIDER.

INTRODUCTION:

THE BOOK THE OF ISAIAH CHAPTER 40 REFLECTS ON GOD’S LOVE AND FAITHFULNESS TO HIS PEOPLE ISRAEL. FROM CHAPTER 1 THROUGH 39 GOD HAD TO DEAL WITH ISRAEL SIN DUE TO THEM WORSHIPPING IDOLS. GOD WILL NOT SHARE HIS GLORY WITH NO ONE.

OUR GOD IS HOLY AND HE WILL NOT ALLOW SIN TO GO UNPUNISHED. GOD CALLS US TO BE HOLY LIKE HE IS.

CHAPTER 40 SHOWS GOD’S GRACE AND COMFORT FOR A SINNER WHO IS WILLING TO TURN TO HIM.

TODAY I LIKE TO TALK ABOUT

COMFORT FOR A BACKSLIDER.

STRENGTH FOR A BACKSLIDER.

RENEWAL FOR A BACKSLIDER.

A. COMFORT FOR A BACKSLIDER.

Isaiah 40:1–2 “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, That her warfare is accomplished, That her iniquity is pardoned: For she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.”

SIN COMES WITH CONSEQUENCES AND SOMETIMES IT ENDS IN DEATH, BUT IN THIS SITUATION GOD REVERSE THE PENALTY OF SIN AND ALLOWED ISRAEL TO EXPERIENCE HIS GRACE.

GOD’S GRACE SHOWED HIS LOVE FOR ISRAEL AND HIS COMMITMENT TO HIS PROMISES. GOD PROVIDED HOPE FOR HIS PEOPLE EVEN WHEN THINGS SEEM TO BE HOPELESS. GOD SAID HE WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU.

BUT WHEN WE BECOME A SLAVE TO SIN, THE DEVIL WILL HAVE YOU THINKING THAT GOD HAS ABANDON YOU, BUT IN REALITY GOD WANTS YOU TO RETURN TO HIM.

ISRAELITES TURNED TO IDOLS BY WORSHIPPING OTHER GOD’S. THEY FAILED TO LVE BY GOD’S LAWS OR TAKE HEED TO THE TEACHINGS OF THE PROPHETS. THEY WORSHIPPED A STATUE MORE THAN THEY WORSHIPPED THE CREATOR.

WE ARE GUILTY LIKE THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL, WE VALUE THINGS MORE THAN WE VALUE GOD. WE NEED TO REPENT.

SUPPOSE GOD DECIDED TO TURN HIS BACK ON YOU WHEN YOU NEEDED HIM THE MOST, HOW WOULD YOU FEEL. BUT THAT’S WHAT WE DO WHEN GOD IS NOT FIRST IN OUR LIVES.

THE COMFORT OF GOD ONLY COMES IN A BELIEVER LIFE IS WHEN HE PUT HIS TRUST IN GOD AND BE OBEDIENT TO GOD’S WORD.

Isaiah 49:13 “Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; And break forth into singing, O mountains: For the Lord hath comforted his people, And will have mercy upon his afflicted.”

B. STRENGTH FOR A BACKSLIDER.

Isaiah 40:29–30 “He giveth power to the faint; And to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall:”

THE ONE THING WE MUST REALIZE AS PEOPLE OF GOD THAT IN OUR OWN STRENGHT, WE DO NOT HAVE THE POWER TO OVERCOME SIN. BUT WHEN WE KNOW WHO IS THE SOURCE BEHIND STRENGTH, EVEN IN OUR WEAKNESS HIS STRENGHT IS MADE PERFECT IN OUR WEAKNESS.

OUR OWN STRENGTH IS LIMITED CONCERNING SIN, THAT IS THE REASON WHY MOST OF US GIVE IN TO IT, BECAUSE WE DO NOT POSSESS THE POWER TO OVERCOME IT.

BUT GOD;S POWER DISPLAYED INWARDLY THAT MAKES US MORE THEN CABLE OF OVERCOMING SIN. GOD STRENGHT IN US NEVER GETS TIRED OR WEARY. GOD WILL NEVER GIVE YOU ANYTHING THAT WILL MAKE YOU LESSER THAN YOU’RE, BUT HE WILL GIVE YOU STRENGTH THAT WILL MAKE YOU MORE THAN.

Psalm 73:26 “My flesh and my heart faileth: But God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.”

C. RENEWAL FOR A BACKSLIDER.

Isaiah 40:30–31 “Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings as eagles; They shall run, and not be weary; And they shall walk, and not faint.”

THE KEY TO RENEWAL IN A BACKSLIDERS LIFE IS WAITING. WAITING IS TO STAY WHERE ONE IS OR DELAY ACTION UNTIL A PARTICULAR TIME OR UNTIL SOMETHING ELSE HAPPING. WAITING SHOWS DISCIPLINE AND HOPE. WAITING BRINGS ABOUT A FUTURE AND TOTAL RELIANCE OR TRUST IN GOD.

WAITING SHOWS YOU YOUR JOURNEY IN THE LORD, YOU MAY START OUT SOARING IN THE LORD, THEN AS YOU BEGIN TO GROW, YOU ARE UP AND RUNNING, BUT ONCE YOU BECOME MATURE IN THE JOURNEY, YOU BEGIN TO WALK IT OUT WITHOUT GETTING TIRED. SIN WILL MAKE YOU WEARY, BUT I ENCOURAGE YOU TODAY DO NOT GET WEARY IN WELL DOING, FOR IN DUE SEASON, WE SHALL REAP, IF WE FAINT NOT.

Psalm 103:4–5 “Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; So that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”