When God Departed

I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early. (Hos 5:15)

If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (1 Jn 1:9-10)

Sometime in the 1980’s the late Leonard Ravenhill quoted a Christian professor who predicted that by the year 2000, “Christianity will be a conscious minority surrounded by an arrogant militant paganism.” If we were surrounded in 2000, in 2016 they launched a full-scale attack! Every moral standard is under attack. I’m reminded of the language of the prophet Daniel, “He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, Shall persecute the saints of the Most High, And shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand For a time and times and half a time.” (Daniel 7:25 NKJV) One may change right and wrong around so that good is evil and evil is good, but this does not alter God’s attitude towards sin. I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence (…). When God departs there is nothing left to do but entertain the people.

I have chosen two passages from both the Old and New Testament to capture the essence of our times. We live in a nation of people who refuse to acknowledge sin as SIN. In the last 24 months we have seen an acceleration of “normalizing” behaviors that God’s word ranks as damnable sin. That is to say, sins that unless repented of will deprive the practitioner of entering heaven. Paul put it more directly:

“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9–11 NKJV)
Although multitudes would like to treat the bible like liberals treat the US Constitution (a “living document”), nobody has the authority to alter God’s position on sin. People may do it, but it carries absolutely no authority. God’s unalterable word is the authority and it is from this word that we will be ultimately judged — not by man, but by God Himself. In another place Paul went on to tell the people that he has “told them before” about this fact.
“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19–21 NKJV)
Paul must have sounded like a broken record warning the people over and over again about the danger of practicing these sins. Nevertheless, he kept telling them no matter who was offended. Why? The same reason God gave Israel the law. As it is written, “He came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them. Yea, he loved the people (…).” (Deuteronomy 33:2–3a KJV) Sin is incompatible with the nature of God and His nature cannot change. God simply is not going to change to agree with man. The only hope is for man to change his  mind and agree with God. Otherwise, there will eventually be a final and eternal separation and judgment.

Normalizing Damnable Sins
The worlds strategy is to wait out the opposition (people who stand for truth) until they get tired of resisting and then slowly insert the compromise as if it were normal. Politicians know that as time passes resistance to immorality cools. They know they have stacked the school system with educators influenced by devils, with only a hand-full of faithful believers sprinkled in the mix. The largest generation in history is growing up with a Godless and immoral secular education and few of them are attending Sunday schools — learning God’s word. Beloved, we are on the road to Sodom and Gomorrah.

The first step to getting right with God is to agree with God. No people who excuse their sin can find redemption or forgiveness. 1 John tells us that “If we say we have not sinned we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.” We must acknowledge our sins.

When a person marginalizes and condones sin, their is no hope for them. Why? It is the oldest attitude in the book. God spoke to Israel thousands of years ago through the prophet with these responding words, “I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offense…” God and man can’t even talk about a way forward until man acknowledges his offenses. It is the first step. Can two walk together who are not in agreement.

In this crisis hour we have to be willing to let God be true and every man a liar — no matter who it is. We have to say the same thing that God says about sin. It is the key to forgiveness. 1 John 1:9 tells us, If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The key word in this verse is “if”. It is conditional. Our Greek word for acknowledge (confess in the KJV) is homologeo. This is two words: homo and logos and means literally “same word.” We have to say the same thing about sin that God says about sin. Until we do, God will “return to His place.”

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