God Of Another Chance

Introduction- Reasons to Give Someone a Second Chance

When you’ve been hurt, betrayed, or disappointed by someone you care about, it’s hard to imagine giving that person another chance….

According to Psychology Today writer, Susan Krause Whitbourne Ph.D

Forgiveness makes a difference in the preservation of harmony

There is a Positive relationship between the average well-being of people in a culture and the extent to which they value forgiveness

Forgiveness ranks 8 out 18 on a list of values & virtues beat out by

honesty

responsibility

loving

but outranked:

imaginative

obedient

US ranked #4 among 30 countries citing forgiveness as a value

Egypt #1

Poland, Chile, India, & Israel came in at the bottom

Why Israel at bottom?

Reasons forgiveness- and the associated willingness to give second chances- can benefit you

1. the factor of subjective well-being

2. people can change

3. it’s practical & saves emotional energy

4. you’d like people to treat you the same way

Transition To Body

The prophet of God demonstrating faithfulness while living among/amidst faithless people i.e. Micah, the prophet who did not give up on God.

Micah is lamenting social upheaval within the community of God’s people:

Micah 6:6–8 ESV

6 “With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” 8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

By the time we arrive in chapter 7 of the book of Micah

Micah 7:5–6 ESV

5 Put no trust in a neighbor; have no confidence in a friend; guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms; 6 for the son treats the father with contempt, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.

The LORD is light in darkness

Micah 7:8–10 ESV

8 Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. 9 I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my cause and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light; I shall look upon his vindication. 10 Then my enemy will see, and shame will cover her who said to me, “Where is the Lord your God?” My eyes will look upon her; now she will be trampled down like the mire of the streets.

The LORD shall Shepherd his people through difficult times

Micah 7:11–14 ESV

11 A day for the building of your walls! In that day the boundary shall be far extended. 12 In that day they will come to you, from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, and from Egypt to the River, from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain. 13 But the earth will be desolate because of its inhabitants, for the fruit of their deeds. 14 Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, who dwell alone in a forest in the midst of a garden land; let them graze in Bashan and Gilead as in the days of old.

God Over the Nations- hearkening the current generation to self-identify with their ancestors deliverance from Egypt

Micah 7:15–17 ESV

15 As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, I will show them marvelous things. 16 The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might; they shall lay their hands on their mouths; their ears shall be deaf; 17 they shall lick the dust like a serpent, like the crawling things of the earth; they shall come trembling out of their strongholds; they shall turn in dread to the Lord our God, and they shall be in fear of you.

Micah’s name in hebrew means “Who is like God?”

Body- God Of Another Chance

How should I know that God if the God of another chance?

God’s Incomparable Loving Mercy (v18)

Micah 7:18 ESV

18 Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love.

God’s present work

Looking beyond your faults and seeing your need

The needs of the remnant that is

Remnant chosen by grace

Romans 11:1–5 ESV

1 I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? 3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” 4 But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5 So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.

God’s inheritance

God’s not angry forever

Psalm 30:4–5 ESV

4 Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name. 5 For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.

James 1:2–4 ESV

2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

God’s Assured Compassionate Response (v19)

God’s future work

Micah 7:19 ESV

19 He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.

Illustration: God triumphing over Egypt (Pharaoh) on behalf of his people

Humble yourself before the LORD

2 Chronicles 7:13–15 ESV

13 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, 14 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. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place.

Get back in the race

Proverbs 24:15–16 ESV

15 Lie not in wait as a wicked man against the dwelling of the righteous; do no violence to his home; 16 for the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity.

God’s thoughts are not your thoughts

Isaiah 55:6–11 ESV

6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; 7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

God’s Unwavering Covenant Loyalty (v20)

Micah 7:20 ESV

20 You will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.

God’s personal work

Numbers 23:19 ESV

19 God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

God does not vacillate

2 Corinthians 1:17–22 ESV

17 Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to the flesh, ready to say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time? 18 As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No. 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. 20 For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. 21 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, 22 and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

God’s commitment level to you

Philippians 1:6 ESV

6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

Transition To Close

Illustration: Everybody Get’s A Second Chance (1991) by Mike & The Mechanics

Oh, baby A single failure, a little slip A misdemeanor, a little trip Does this condemn me, lock me away? Before you turn the key, I have one more thing to say To make amends, maybe be friends

Everybody gets a second chance Circumstance to say I'm sorry I'd like to tell you in advance Take my chance and tell you I'm sorry too

A little stumble, a little fall Inconsequential, nothing at all Now there was someone, I heard him say That the best laid plans sometimes go astray So don't be surprised if I offer you no alibis

Everybody gets a second chance Circumstance to say I'm sorry I'd like to tell you in advance Take my chance and tell you I'm sorry

scene of being in a jail cell in the music video

filmed in black and white

God’s steadfast love for you ought to blow your mind!

Lamentations 3:22–24 ESV

22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”

John 8:36 ESV

36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

From the fall of Adam & Eve to Jesus Christ

Close- And you were dead

Colossians 2:13–15 ESV

13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

So it was good that I was afflicted

Psalm 119:71 ESV

71 It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.

Because I am in the family of God

Hebrews 12:7–11 ESV

7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Let’s talk a little bit about God’s grace

Romans 5:1–3 ESV

1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,

Hope does not put us to shame

Romans 5:5 ESV

5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Romans 8:26–30 ESV

26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Philippians 4:19 ESV

19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Illustration: As a child I was taught to pray, “God is great. God is good. Let us thank him for this food. By his hands we all are fed. Give us, Lord, our daily bread. Amen.”

Matthew 6:7–13 ESV

7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom!

the power!

And the glory!

forever!

Post-lude

Why “God of Another Chance” vs. “God of Second Chances”