Then Will I Hear from Heaven and Forgive Their Sin

Again tonight I'll ask you if you would to take out your copy of the Word of God and open again to the Old Testament book of Second Chronicles if you would please chapter 7 and this has been our text all week and Lord willing Will will conclude with this also tomorrow night Second Chronicles chapter 7 verse 12 through verse 14 and the Lord appeared to Solomon by night and Said unto him I have heard thy prayer And have chosen this place to myself for a house of sacrifice If I shut up the heaven that there be no rain Or if I command the locust to devour the land or if I send pestilence among my people If my people which are called by my name Shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and Will heal their land Tonight we come to the second part of this Great revival passages a matter of fact.

I believe it may be the greatest revival passage in all of the Word of God Tonight we come to the division we leave the realm of man's responsibility if my people and Tonight we tread upon the ground of God's sovereignty then will I We've seen what we God's people must do if we humble ourselves if We pray If we seek God's face and if we turn from our wicked ways But so few will ever Enjoy the revival of then Because they're never willing to fulfill the conditions of if are you willing?

To do what God said to you when he said if? my people but if in genuineness if Insincerity before the Lord we humble ourselves and pray and seek the Lord's face and turn from our sin then God has made a promise to us his people Look at the first part of this promise God says then and it could be translated then and only then then will I hear from heaven This word here is a very very powerful word It's one of the most powerful words in all the Old Testament here when God wanted to describe to his people His chief attribute who he is He gave the great Shema passage in Deuteronomy 6 4 and 5 This is Israel's statement of monotheism Here Oh Israel the Lord our God is one and Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy strength Theologians call that the Shema Because of the word here in the Hebrew Shema or Shema We always try to teach this to our four girls and our one son The word here in the Hebrew it means to listen With a view toward obedience.

It's not just your eardrum fluttering. It's not just listening and Recognizing a sound the word here is a certain kind of hearing it means to hear with a view toward obedience and I've got to tell you that the first time that I Seriously studied through this passage of Scripture. This was the breakthrough word for me This was the point at which God began to move in my heart in a reviving way Literally, this means that God hears our prayers, but it's more than that Not does God just simply hear our prayers But it's a kind of hearing God is promising us here that he will hear us with a view toward action That's what the word Shema means God says I will hear my people with a view toward reviving them healing them repairing them and restoring them God is bound to his word God will never Violate his word and Paul said to Titus Paul a servant of God an apostle of Jesus Christ According to the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth, which is after godliness in hope of eternal life Which God who cannot lie promised before the foundation of the world?

Titus 1 1 and 2 God Paul says cannot lie He's promised eternal life to us before the world began and as surely as God cannot lie about his promise of salvation We can trust God in his promise that he will hear us when we pray in a way That is in a view toward action when we humble ourselves when we Pray when we seek God's face when we turn from our wicked ways in obedience to our Father's Word He has promised us in his same word.

I will hear you from heaven I will hear you with a forgiving action I will hear you and move to repair you and restore you and revive you what what a comforting thought God's not merely listening as we pray God is listening from heaven fully intending to move to heal to forgive to repair to restore and to Revive this is God listening to us with a view to awakening us again to the glory of God and the presence of God that we knew before we allowed sin and and self and other gods to steal our hearts away from him these then statements listen our Promises of a God who cannot lie these then statements are promises they are assurances their guarantees that upon the character and the nature and the Integrity of the very word of God and the God of the word that God will do what he promised listen to what he said again then will I I will is what he's saying I Will do this if you humble yourselves if you pray if you seek my face if you turn from your wicked ways then I will hear you I'm approaching this text this way I'm approaching this text with this kind of faith I'm approaching this text with this kind of expectation and I'm calling upon you church to do the exact same thing I Decided not to allow unbelief to qualify these promises of God I'm literally taking God at his word and I'm living my life in expectation and in belief of the healing promises that God has promised to pour out on us if we obey his word Will you join me?

That's what this is all about I Fear that in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ too often were passive listeners we come to church and sure enough our Eardrums vibrate and we hear a sound but are we listening with a view toward obedience? And do we believe the very nature and character of our God who has promised to hear us the exact same way? and to move and to heal and to revive If you can't trust a God who says I will Then how can you trust anything he says and God says I?

Will hear you I'm approaching this text like that And I try to approach every text like that that it is the literal word of God and that God will do What he said he would do I pray I don't have the power to make it happen But the Holy Spirit does I pray that God through his spirit through the power of his word Would allow this promise to dawn on your heart that you could see it that you would believe it and that you would begin to live Your life in light of it that when you humble yourself When you pray when you seek God's face when you turn away in repentance from your sin Your God is hearing you with a kind of hearing That you can rest assured is going to bring action God is going to move it's time for us to get over saying maybe or perhaps or I hope and Believe that God will do exactly what he said he would do I will hear You this is one of the benefits of being his child This is one of the benefits of being saved This is the benefit the great benefit of God toward his elect that we can call out to God and God Almighty hears us with a view to Reviving us restoring us healing us Repairing us and notice the second part of this promise God says then I Will hear and There's another one of those conjunctions and I will forgive their sin Notice several things about this promise of forgiveness.

I've started them all with a P to help me remember them Notice several things about God's promise of forgiveness And this is part of the healing. This is part of the restoration This is part of revival is us being forgiven of our sins Notice the promise of forgiveness Obviously the promise of forgiveness God says then I will forgive their sins This is a direct promise from God.

He's the eye making the promise in this verse This forgiveness comes obviously directly from the only one who can grant forgiveness and that's God God is making a promise that he will forgive his people What a privilege what a privilege we have this afternoon to cry out to our Heavenly Father who hears us and forgives us of our sins This word forgive is a beautiful word salak in the Hebrew It literally means to pardon. Are y'all listening to me? Would you say amen?

Pardoned people listen Pardoned people are guilty people That's why they've been pardoned The fact that you've been pardoned Means that you've been guilty of a crime pardoned people are guilty people They're guilty of a crime and the one and the only one who's able to hold their sin against them Rather chooses to pardon them and no longer hold them accountable for their sin To be pardoned by God even though you're guilty is to be treated as innocent To be pardoned by God even though you're guilty means to be treated as if you never even committed the sin Hallelujah, hallelujah when I was in elementary school we used to come home every day after school and Like you turn on the television and boy, I hated this as a kid every day I came home from school between 1972 and 1974 all I heard was Watergate Watergate Watergate does anybody else remember that the Watergate scandal?

It took place between as I've said 1972 to 1974 it's a crime in which ordered by the president of the United States the Republicans spot on and stole information from the Democratic National Committee President Nixon tried to cover it up and he was found to be guilty and he was about to be impeached He resigned his office those that are my age can remember him on the White House lawn given the peace sign boarding the helicopter flying off and He was about to be impeached and when he resigned Vice President Gerald Ford Became the president of the United States and you remember the story President Ford issued to President Nixon a Presidential pardon and that was a full pardon.

It meant that Nixon's slate though He was 100% guilty. It means that his slate was completely Wiped clean and he couldn't be held accountable and he couldn't be punished for his crimes That's exactly what God has done for us in Christ Jesus Every single one of us are guilty every single one of us are worthy of the wrath of God Every single one of us should be under the judgment of God But what has God done God has pardoned us through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross God has punished Christ instead of us our reproaches fell upon Jesus and Christ righteousness was placed to our account and we get to go free because of the glory of Pardon the Bible is absolutely crystal clear about this The Bible is absolutely crystal clear that God Promises look are y'all listening if God? would forgive you and Pardon you of your sin When you were a guilty lost rebel Will he not much more now pardon you when you're his child and you belong to him and you're a Christian?

Absolutely. He will listen to some of these promises written to Christians Not to lost people if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness first John 1 9 God says for I will be merciful unto your unrighteousness And your sin and your iniquities. I will remember no more Hebrews 8 12 I'll tell you one of the most damaging things a wife can do to her husband is throw his past sins up in his face and The worst thing a husband can do to his wife and children is to constantly throw their past failures up in their face look When you come before God and God pardons you he throws it into the sea of forgetfulness He remembers it no more Hebrews 8 12 Listen to this great passage of Scripture on Aviation Psalm 103 says as far as the east is from the west so has God removed our transgressions from us Praise the Lord Isaiah says God loves us and he's delivered us from the pit of corruption and God has taken our sin Listen and cast it behind his back He's cast our sin behind his back Isaiah 38 17 The book of Micah says God will turn again.

He will have compassion on us God will subdue our iniquities and God will cast all of our sin into the depths of the sea Micah 7 19 this evening Every single one of us including the preacher Every single one of us is guilty of sin and we need to be pardoned Every one of us has sinned and we've allowed things in our lives to take position over allegiance to Christ We've let our hearts grow cold. We've moved away from our first love We've allowed other gods to take positions in our hearts and minds where Christ alone should be enthroned.

We need pardon We need forgiveness and God says if You will humble yourself If you will pray If you will seek my face if you will turn repent shoot you remember that from your wicked ways. I Will hear you I will hear you with a certain kind of hearing. I Make a promise to you that I'm gonna hear you With a motive to do something about it Here's what I'm gonna do I'm gonna offer you a full sovereign pardon I'm gonna completely pardon you of your sins if that truth if the fullness of that truth Could truly fall on your heart in your mind this afternoon you would have revival that in and of itself Or to make the worst backslidden Christian among us shout hallelujah That our God has promised us the promise of Forgiveness, but I got news for you gets better than that as again I said I started them all with a P so I could remember them not only the promise of forgiveness Brother look at the providence of forgiveness God's providence is on clear display here God says in verse 13 if I shut up the heavens that there be no rain Sometimes God does that if I command the locusts to devour the land and God has the prerogative to do that.

He's God Or if I send the pestilence among my people God Who is all knowing and God who is all seeing God could see? their coming Disobedience sure the temple has just been dedicated the fire of God's glory has fallen the presence of God is so strong The priests can't even enter into the temple the people are celebrating the people are worshiping but God looks forward in time and God can see in advance that a season of sin a season of declension a season of rebellion is coming and in advance God warned the nation of Israel of the destructive power of their rebellion in their lives But at the same breath he promised a way of forgiveness listen God help you to listen God promised a way of forgiveness before the sin even came If my people Which are called by my name Will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then Will I hear from heaven and forgive their sin that was written before they sinned?

Providence Here we see God's sovereignty Here we see God's omniscience on full display That God sees the end from the beginning God sees the beginning from the end and listen God has the solution before the problem ever arises God's forgiveness was offered before the sin was committed Again consider the context of second Chronicles 6 and 7 Solomon's temple has been constructed Solomon's pray to dedicatory prayer dedicating the temple and the sacrifices to God The fire of God's Shekinah glory has filled the temple Israel was in a revival God was moving among his people and they were all captivated and in all of the splendor of Jehovah God in his providence though looked ahead in time and God saw a season coming in which the nation would forget him He would have to withhold the rain He would have to send the locust God would have to send the pestilence to shake them up and awaken them to their sin problem but in doing that God promised that in response to the withheld rains and the Locusts and the pestilence if the people would humble themselves and pray and seek God's face God says I will forgive your sin in God's providence The promise of forgiveness came before the sin was ever even committed think about it God always has the supply before the demand Jesus Christ was the lamb slain before the foundation of the world God had the supply Before the problem ever arose and think about this God knew we were sinners and he knew of every sin you would ever commit before he decided to take you as his people Forgiveness of our great sin is available It was provided before we ever sinned God's forgiveness is stockpiled God's forgiveness is presently on hand God's forgiveness is waiting for his people to simply seek his face for it the providence of God's forgiveness and I also see the goodness of God in this That God promises forgiveness in advance of our failure God promises forgiveness in advance of our sin God specifically knew what your sin was before he promised forgiveness So obviously look are you listening?

Obviously he's willing to forgive You don't ever need to question that God is willing to forgive you. Is it not comforting? Is that not good news to someone who's wayward tonight? Is that not good news for someone who's locust eaten? Is that not good news for someone who's suffering from? Pestilence of disobedience that God is not only willing he's able to forgive you Right where you are. You don't have to break coke bottles and crawl over glass. You don't have to take a Trip to Mecca you you don't have to offer Piercings in your body. You don't have to slit your wrist.

You just have to call on the name of the Lord and He will abundantly pardon the promise of forgiveness the providence of forgiveness notice a third element of this Forgiveness God speaking about the power of forgiveness the power oh the power of forgiveness If you could grasp this tonight Look this way for just a second look this way You could have walked in here tonight an enemy of God and You could leave here a child of God You could have walked in here this week having committed adultery and you could walk out of here as clean as a virgin You could have walked in here tonight a blasphemer and you could walk out of here Right with God.

Oh the power of God's forgiveness We don't even understand the power of God to forgive Paul said to the church at Rome listen to this where sin abounded grace what? Much more abounded. Did you hear that? Where sin abounded grace much more abounded. Thank God Richard sibs said this about God's forgiveness. I Never will forget This was one of those things that God led me to quote that changed one of my daughter's lives This was this little phrase Was one that one of my daughters listened to and it radically changed her life and I could only pray that would be true for someone here tonight Richard sibs said this quote have this in your life for a foundational truth There is more mercy in Christ than there is sin in you The power of forgiveness say brother John Oh You don't know what I've done.

Let me tell you something. You don't know what I've done You don't know what I've said and We're not Catholic. I don't have to You don't have to tell me Aren't you glad you don't have to tell me your sins? I don't I'm glad I don't have to tell you mine Tell them to Jesus you go straight to God through Jesus Christ and the power of forgiveness is That though you may have wasted as the old hymn says many precious years if you now repent with bitter tears You can come home This very evening you could come home Some of you just need to come home No matter how far you've fallen no matter How far you've strayed no matter how long you've been away Have this for a foundational truth.

There's more mercy in Christ Than there is sin in you and let me tell you I'm clinging to this You're gonna run out of sin and mercy is gonna win I'm telling you I pray that for my son. I beg God every day There is no pain and parents know this in the heart of a parent than a child Who's in rebellion and away from the Lord? But I want to say this to any parents struggling I want to say this to anyone struggling tonight in any form fashion of sin and that is this The mercy of Christ far exceeds the sinfulness of sin.

Thank God Thank God the power the power of forgiveness but notice the last thing the passion the passion of forgiveness It's seen in two words my people We're God's people We're chosen The word the Bible uses is elect We're highly favored by God We need to accept this concept he loves us Maybe he shouldn't but thank God he does God loves us Chris brother Chris quoted it tonight even while we were still sinners Look if God doesn't love you with us while you're a sinner.

He won't ever be able to love you My people You know sometimes when we start out We tend to be legalistic and we tend to view Christianity as rules and rulekeeping and I've got to do this and I've got To act like this and I've got to say these words and I've got to be like this and I've got to act this way And I've got to do these things But here's what you learn Here's what you learn the further you follow Christ You don't need those rules anymore because you have a new heart and you want to love him and you want to serve him and you want to please him and It breaks your heart when you don't and you quickly turn and you quickly repent.

Oh the passion of forgiveness Oh if I don't have the power to do it. I'm just a man I only have words, but if the Holy Spirit could help somebody grasp these two words this evening my people Why would a God you know what? I believe one of the most blasphemous blasphemous gospel tracts that's ever been created says These gospel tracts used to say something like this God Needed fellowship. So God created man to fill that border. You listening to me? God was completely happy just being God He didn't need you and he doesn't need me. But for some reason God chose to let us in my people my people you are highly favored Man, we are highly favored.

I just thought Sunday when His name is Miles. We have a name now. I Just thought Sunday when Miles was born Why does Emily get to be at Rutherford County Hospital? with air conditioning and my wife there and her husband there and medicine and drink and Gatorade and food and warmth and Billy Rubin tests and vitamin K and I say of when the woman in Ukraine is in labor and delivery ward and they blow it up highly favored Not deserved not deserved Highly favored and I think crime of crimes is that God went to such lengths to redeem us through the sacrifice of his own son He promises his forgiveness even before we sin and we come to church It's just another sleepy Sunday down at the church house You see why we need repair You see why we need restoration?

We've gotten comfortable with the holy things of God We've gotten comfortable with the high price that God paid to redeem us from our sins The passion of God's forgiveness if it could dawn on you tonight if it could dawn on me tonight we are God's people if my people called by my name personal ownership love God's the initiator here God's the one making the promise and God's the one making the provision for the forgiveness that he has promised God is the one that's calling us to seek him.

God is the one that's calling us to turn from our sin God is the one that's promising complete pardon if Will but agree with him God stands this evening With outstretched hands full of full pardon available Who will seek his forgiveness Who will turn from their wicked ways and can I ask you one question before I finish we're just seconds from finishing Why I'll never I this is the question that haunts me as a gospel preacher. I'm gonna go to my grave With my heart troubled Why in heaven's name? Wouldn't you come to him right now? Why would you not come to him? Right this minute. Why would you delay? Why would you wait?

Why would you presume that you'll have another opportunity? Why would you not run to Jesus? Who will seek his face Who will pray and Who will be forgiven and Who will be restored how would it be? You say this is utterly ridiculous. That's the point What would we all have been thinking in? 1972 1974 if Gerald pardon would have offered a full presidential pardon to Richard Nixon and Richard would said I just don't think I'm interested But that's what people do every time they come to church Here stands God with a full much more powerful than a presidential pardon The sovereign God of the universe through his sinless son Jesus Christ offers you a full and final Pardon and you say ah I'm just not too interested Who will be forgiven That's that word if who will be restored Who's tired of dryness Who's tired of deadness who is sick of lukewarmness well, then if my people My people Which are called by my name my name shall humble themselves and pray and Seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then I Will hear their prayers.

I will forgive their sin and Tomorrow night I Will heal their land Don't wait till tomorrow night Come and be healed Come to Christ and be restored Receive full pardon this very evening son's about to go down What a beautiful thing it would be if the Sun would go down this evening on your forgiveness Let it be God let it be