“Thank You, Lord Jesus, that You are a God of great compassion and mercy. In the midst of all the frightening events that are happening in our world today, You are longing for man to repent and come to a full surrender of our lives to You. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.”
Acts 2:19-21 I WILL SHOW WONDERS IN HEAVEN ABOVE AND SIGNS IN THE EARTH BENEATH: BLOOD AND FIRE AND VAPOR OF SMOKE. (20) THE SUN SHALL BE TURNED INTO DARKNESS, AND THE MOON INTO BLOOD, BEFORE THE COMING OF THE GREAT AND AWESOME DAY OF THE LORD. (21) AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS THAT WHOEVER CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD SHALL BE SAVED.’
We have been considering that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. He is God, who is of great love and compassion. When we, in brokenness, cry out to Him, He longs to forgive and restore us to Himself. It is not His intention that anyone should perish in the lake of fire but that ALL should come to repentance to Him and be co-rulers with Him in His habitat.
Yet, when man continues to rebel and reject God, then the wrath of God will fall on that person and He will have to spend eternity in destruction.
Micah 7:18 Who is a God like You, Pardoning iniquity And passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in mercy.
God considers us as His heritage. We are precious to God. He created us to be one with Him and carry His authority over all His creation. This was the high position in which He created us but look at the low level to which man has brought himself. Even at this point of total fallenness, we do not have the mind to turn and seek our Creator, who has created us with such great love.
God’s heart breaks over us. Why are we keeping ourselves aloof from Him? If only man would turn and seek God, He will rush in to forgive and restore us. He delights in mercy.
Let us look at the prayer of Daniel.
Daniel 9:8-9 “O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. (9) To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him.
Daniel was in Babylon, in a comfortable position, but though he was far away from his land and his people, he was heartbroken for his nation.
Daniel was taking the sin of the people, the land, the leaders and even that of the fathers, on himself, and he repented and sought forgiveness from God.
One of the critical functions of the church is to repent on behalf of our people. We must take the sin of our nations and of our people on ourselves and we must repent before God, for the sins of our land. We, the church, must identify, specifically, with the sins of our cultures and of our societies and we must seek God’s forgiveness.
Our people are not repenting but the church must repent for the sin of our people. We do not know what the Lord’s response will be to our nations but since He is God, who forgives, we must repent on behalf of the sins of our nations.
Joel 2:13 So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm.
The Jews made every prescription of the Law into a ritual. They would sincerely have a day(s) for mourning and fasting, in sackcloth and ashes. They would rend their garments. Prophet Joel is calling the people to come to God in true repentance and not as a ritual.
People need to acknowledge our sin of rejecting God and going our own way. We do not see the need to be God surrendered and God-dependent. We are self-sufficient. This is our sin and our wickedness. Instead of being in His kingdom, as His subjects, we have become enemies of God by rejecting the rule of God over our lives. This is where we must repent and return to His fold.
Isaiah 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.
When unrighteous man repents and returns to the Lord, He longs to forgive us of our rebellion. He delights in restoring us to the full position of being His co-rulers with Him, in His kingdom.
Psalms 130:4 But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared.
The forgiveness of the Lord cannot be taken for granted. There is forgiveness with God, that He may be feared. Yes, He is loving, gracious and merciful but He is God, who is the Almighty, All-wise, eternal God. All things consist in Him. Therefore, He must be always feared.