Let us turn again to the Word
of God and to the chapter that we read in the second book of
Chronicles, chapter 7 and verse 14. In the second book of Chronicles,
chapter 7 and verse 14, 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." The second
book of Chronicles, chapter 7, verse 14, If my people which
are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray,
and seek my face, and turn from their wicked way, Then will I
hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their
land. As I said, this is the answer
to Solomon's prayer, that long prayer that we have in chapter
six, that he prayed at the completion of the temple. And it's easy
to overlook the fact that that was a, it took him a long time
to build the temple, it was a seven year work, And as you read through
this part of the Word of God, you get an idea of how magnificent
that building was, of the scale of it, of all the gold and silver
that was used in the construction of it. Seven years in building,
and then in the fifth chapter we read, thus all the work that
Solomon made for the house of the Lord was finished. And then
Solomon assembles all the elders of Israel, And all the heads
of the tribes, the chief of the fathers, and all of the children
of Israel, they come up to Jerusalem to bring up the Ark of the Covenant
of the Lord out of the city of David and put it in that temple
that Solomon had made. And then they dedicate this new
temple that Solomon has built. And you can read Solomon's prayer
there in chapter six. And really his prayer was for
mercy, wasn't it? As you go through that prayer,
there's some repetition in it. Solomon prays that the Lord would
have mercy upon the people of Israel when they were put to
the worst before their enemies, in verse 24 in chapter 6. He prays that the Lord would
hear them when they prayed in times of drought, when there
was no rain, in verse 26, in times of pestilence, There in
verse 28, he speaks of the stranger coming and dwelling amongst the
Israelites in verse 32. He says, concerning the stranger
which is not of thy people Israel, but is come from a far country,
for thy great name's sake, and thy mighty hand, and thy stretched
out arm, if they come and pray in this house, then hear thou
from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, and do according
to all that the stranger calleth to thee for, He prays about times
of war in verse 34. He prays about times of captivity
in verse 36. And each time, he prays for mercy,
doesn't he? For forgiveness. We could summarise
his prayer really as asking that whatever situation the children
of Israel get themselves into because of their sin, And wherever
they find themselves because of their sin, he says to the
Lord, if they turn, if they pray, then hear, hear from the heavens,
even from thy dwelling place, their prayer and their supplications
and maintain their cause and forgive thy people which have
sinned against thee. That's the substance of Solomon's
prayer. Whatever situation the children of Israel get into,
no matter how far off from God they may find themselves, No
matter what sins they may commit, he says, in essence, if they
turn, if they pray, then hear, then forgive. Forgive thy people
which have sinned against thee. And God answers his prayer, doesn't
he, in a very remarkable way. We read about it at the beginning
of the chapter. The fire coming down from heaven, a miraculous
fire. which came down from heaven and
consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory
of the Lord filled the house. And the priests could not enter
into the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled
the Lord's house. And we read about the children
of Israel, when they saw the fire come down, when they saw
the glory of the Lord filling the house of the Lord, they fall
on their faces and they worship and they praise the Lord, saying,
for He is good, for His mercy endureth forever. And then the Lord appears to
Solomon by night, here in verse 12. And what does he say to him? I have heard thy prayer. I have
heard thy prayer. Solomon's prayer was according
to the will of God. Solomon was not asking for something
that God was not willing to give. He wasn't praying for something
that was opposite to God's purposes, but his prayer was according
to the will of God. And why was his prayer according
to the will of God? It was because he prayed for
mercy. And you remember what Micah tells
us, what the Lord tells us through Micah at the end of Micah's short
prophecy. He tells us that the Lord is
one that delights in mercy. Who is a god like unto thee?
He says. that passeth by the transgression
of the remnant of thy heritage. He says he retaineth not his
anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. He delights in it.
Not something he gives grudgingly, not something he gives unwillingly,
but he is a merciful God. I have heard thy prayer. I have
chosen this place to myself for a house of sacrifice. And so he says to Solomon, if
I shut up heaven, if I command the locusts to devour the land,
if I send pestilence, whatever situation the children of Israel
find themselves in, if they humble themselves, if
they pray, if they seek my face, if they turn from their wicked
ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and
will heal their land. It's a prayer that centres in
the mercy of God and this answer that the Lord gives to Solomon
is really an answer which is full of mercy. We read about
the mercy of God time and time again as we go through the Bible.
In one of the Psalms we read that the Lord is good to all
and his tender mercies are over all his works. He is merciful
to all. In that provision that he makes
for us day by day in our lives, we don't deserve it, do we? It's
not that we do anything to earn it. When we're born into the
world and he gives us life and he gives us all our strength
and all our wisdom and all those provisions that he makes for
us day by day, it all flows from his mercy. It's not given to
us because we deserve it. If we receive more than another,
it's not because we're better people. It all flows out of his mercy.
And, you know, we see that mercy primarily in his Gospel, don't
we, in the life, in the ministry of Jesus Christ? He came to reveal his Father
as a God of mercy. You remember how he spoke of
his Father in that parable of the prodigal son? How did that
Father deal with the returning son? He dealt with him in mercy,
didn't he? He didn't give him what he deserved.
He gave him much more than he asked for, much more than he
could ever expect. The son comes back just hoping
that he might be made a hired servant. The father says, no,
you're still my son. Bring forth the best robe, the
ring, the shoes, the fatted calf. This is what my father is like,
says Christ to those Jews. This is what you haven't understood
about him. This is why I came to eat and to drink with publicans
and sinners, because there is joy in heaven over sinners that
repent, because my Father is a God of mercy. Then will I hear from heaven
and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. But you
notice what the Lord says about this mercy. There's a pathway
to this pardon, isn't there? What does he say? 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. There is a pathway to pardon. And of course this verse was
spoken to Solomon concerning the Jews but we're not to imagine
that it has nothing to say to us in our day. He's the same God today as he
was then. He still deals with sinners today in the same way
that he dealt with sinners then. And you know the promises here,
they don't just extend to the Jews, do they? Solomon has already
prayed concerning the stranger, which is not of the people of
Israel. He says, if such a person comes from a far country for
thy great name's sake, If they come and pray in this house,
then hear thou from the heavens and do according to all that
the stranger calleth to thee for. That was part of Solomon's
prayer, that was part of the prayer that the Lord speaks of
here. I have heard thy prayer. Don't imagine then that this
verse is a verse that speaks only to the Jews and has nothing
to say to us. He still delights in mercy and
he still is a God of mercy. And as you go through the New
Testament, don't you see how the promises that God speaks
in the Old Testament concerning the Jews, they are, as it were,
opened up. So the Jew and Gentile are now
found in the Kingdom of God. Well, there's four characteristics
of this pathway, aren't there, that the Lord speaks of in this
verse. And I want to go through each
of those four this morning. Four characteristics of this
pathway to pardon. If my people which are called
by my name in the first place shall humble themselves, shall
humble themselves, he speaks of humility. And then he speaks
of prayer in the second place, and praise. He speaks of a seeking
of his face in the third place, and seek my face. And then in
the fourth place, he speaks of a turning, a humbling, a praying,
a seeking, and a turning. And you notice that it's not or, it's and. He doesn't say, if my people
shall humble themselves or pray, or seek my face, or turn from
their wicked ways, they all come together, these things. They
all have to come together. And really it's impossible to
do any one of these four things without doing all of them. Why
are we looking at these things? Well, yes, it's a word to the
Jews, but isn't it something that sets before us the way of
salvation in the gospel? It sets before us something of
that forgiveness that the Lord Jesus Christ came to work out.
And again, he came to seek and to save that which was lost,
but there is a pathway to that salvation. He spoke of a broad
way which leads unto life, and he spoke of a broad way which
leads to destruction. He spoke of a narrow way which
leads unto life. Well, these are the characteristics
of that narrow way. And if you're concerned to know
whether you're in that narrow way, well, here are some of the
ways by which you can test yourself. Which of these four do you know
anything about? They all come together. If my people which are called
by my name shall humble themselves, humble themselves. This is the
first of those four things. There's no forgiveness without
humility, says the Lord. There's no pardon without humility. What is it to humble? What is
it to be humbled? The word really comes from a
word which carries with it the idea of a bowing of the knee,
or of a bending upon the knees. It's a word that we have often
used when we read about a battle between two armies, and one army
wins and one army loses. And you read about the king of
the losing army coming before the king of the winning army,
and he bows before him. What is he saying? He's essentially
saying, well, I submit to you. I acknowledge that you have power
over me. I acknowledge that you're greater than I am. This is the
kind of humility that the Lord speaks of here to Solomon. Well, when you think about what
we are and when you consider what God is, it's very obvious
there ought to be humility, oughtn't there? He is the Almighty Creator of
all things, and we are individually very tiny parts of His creation. There ought to be humility, because
He does have power over us. He is greater than us. And when you consider that not
only are we His creatures, but that we are sinful creatures, ought to be even more humility
oughtn't there? You know that children should respect their
parents. It's a terrible thing for the child to lift themselves
up against the parent and to speak to the parent as an equal
or even to look down upon the parent and speak down to them
as though the child is in charge. That would be a terrible thing
at any time. But think about how much more terrible it would
be when the child has just broken some rule of the parent, or done
some terrible sin in front of the parent. Well, you'd think
it would be a dreadful thing, wouldn't you, if in that situation,
under those circumstances, the child was to speak down to the
parent. There ought to be humility. But what is our attitude towards
God as we're born into the world? How do we think of Him? Well, we really have it set before
us again in that parable, don't we? Here is the son. What does he say when he comes
to the father? Give me the portion of goods that falleth to me.
He just wants. Give, give, give. That's all
he's interested in. And he takes the gifts that his
father gives to him. He takes that provision that
his father provides and he turns his back upon his father. And he wanders away from him
into that far country. There's no humility there, is
there? There's no humbling of himself. He speaks to his father almost
as a servant. Give me the portion of goods
that falls to me. Well, how do you speak to God?
What's your attitude towards Him? Do you look down upon Him? Do
you think of Him as one that is there just to do what you
want? What's your attitude towards
His decisions? That's really where humility
is seen, isn't it? It's very easy to give the impression
that we're humble when everything goes the way that we wanted it
to. Just like it's very easy for
children to respect their parents when the parents do what they
want. But when do we see whether the children really respect the
parents? Well, it's when the parents say, no, isn't it? It's
when the child says, can I do this? Can I have that? And the
parent says, no, you can't. It's then that that humility
really is seen, whether it's there or not. Well, isn't it
the same in the way that we behave to our Creator? How is it with you when your
hopes and your expectations are crushed? When you've been praying
for something and the answer comes back, no. Well, that's
when it's difficult to be humble, isn't it? And if we complain
about his decisions, if we live with our backs turned towards
him, that's not humility. That's not this pathway to pardon
that the Lord speaks of to Solomon here. If that's our attitude,
we really have to ask ourselves whether we are in the broad way
that leads to destruction. If we think like that, if we
speak like that, are we not more like that Pharisee in the parable
that the Lord Jesus spoke concerning those two men that went up to
the temple to pray? And here is the Pharisee and
he strides up to the front and he speaks to God almost as if
God is his equal or as if God is even his servant. I thank thee, he says, that I
am not as other men are. And what's he essentially saying?
Bless me now because I am worthy of it. That's not humility, that's pride,
isn't it? That's lifting up of himself above God. And the Lord says, well, I won't
hear if you come like that. Those are not the circumstances
in which I will hear prayer. Well, if we're like that when
we're coming to the world, very clearly we need a dramatic change,
a drastic change, don't we, if we're to know this humility.
We need that change that the Lord spoke of to Nicodemus. You
must be born again. You need to start again from
the beginning, he says. That pathway that you're in,
Nicodemus, is not the right pathway. And it's no good just going back
a few steps and then taking another. You need to go right back to
the start. You must be born again. We must be born again if we're
to know this true humility. If we're truly to recognise what
we are in the sight of God. The new birth is essential. How did the Jews treat the Lord
Jesus Christ when he was here? Well, they were not humble before
him, were they? It's not that they even spoke
to him as equal. They looked down upon him, didn't they? Who
is this man? They said, he's not one of us.
He wasn't brought up as a Pharisee. He's just the son of the carpenter.
He came from Nazareth, of all places. And so they say, we will not
have this man to reign over us. We don't want a Messiah like
that. We don't want that kind of Christ. We don't want a Saviour
that saves publicans and sinners. There was no humbling. There
was no humility. If my people which are called
by my name shall humble themselves, what if we know nothing of that
humility? And we have to ask whether we're
in that narrow way which leads unto life. What does the Lord
speak of then in the second place? He speaks of prayer, doesn't
he? And of course, you can't pray
without being humble. What does the word prayer mean?
Well, really it carries with it the idea of a looking up.
Well, you can't look up to someone if you think that you're above
them. You can't look up to someone if you think that you're equal
with them. If my people shall humble themselves
and pray. And of course there's more to
prayer than words. You know that. We all know that. Anyone who
has ever tried to pray. Anyone who has ever known real
prayer will know that it's more than just words. It's not something
that just comes from the lips. It comes from the heart. And
true prayer only comes from humbled hearts. if they shall humble
themselves and pray to look up. How did the Lord Jesus teach
his disciples to pray? Well, he taught them to begin
their prayers by saying, Our Father which art in heaven. As
if he says, you need to remind yourselves of who it is that
you're praying to. Hallowed be thy name. That's
the first thing that's to be asked for in the Lord's prayer.
Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. It's a looking
up. It's a prayer that comes from a place of humility. And it's a difficult work prayer,
isn't it? I'm sure all of us have found
prayer sometimes to be a difficult thing. You know how it is when
you come to your knees sometimes and suddenly there's so many
things that seem to flood into your mind and you can spend 10,
15 minutes on your knees and suddenly realise that you've
not really been praying. How do the hymn writers speak
about prayer? Well, they don't speak of it in terms of fine
words, do they? Or eloquent phrases? They speak
of it as a sighing, as a groaning. The sinner born of God, says
William Gadsby in hymn 725, to God will pour his prayer in sighs,
or groans, or words expressed, or in a falling tear. Even the
apostle found that his prayers were like that. Groanings which
cannot be uttered. He says, we know not what to
pray for as we should. Prayer is a difficult thing.
Prayer is not a simple thing. Why is it difficult? Well, it's
because Satan hates us to pray. There's another hymn, isn't there,
that says, Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon
his knees. Satan hates us to pray. We have
hearts that really naturally are averse to prayer. That's why the disciples had
to ask Jesus to teach them to pray, because they didn't found
it came naturally. But prayer is an essential thing.
If we don't pray, we're not in this pathway. If we never pray,
we're not in the narrow way. If there's never been any real
prayer, any heartfelt prayer, any honest prayer, any sincere
prayer, then there's no life. Where there
is spiritual life, there will be prayer. Remember what Martin
Luther said about prayer? He said, the fewer the words,
the better you pray. Prayer is not just words. It's
something much deeper, something much. Something that comes from within
a man. But there must be prayer. He
forgives those who ask. Ask and ye shall be given. Seek
and ye shall find. Knock and it shall be opened
unto you. We believe in election, don't
we? We believe that God has a chosen people that he will save. But
if we sit back and we say, well, not much I can do about it then.
Well, we've not really understood the doctrine at all. If we shrug
our shoulders and say, well, if I'm one of the elect, I will
be saved, and if I'm not, I won't be. So there's not really any
point praying about it. Well, we immediately show ourselves
to be very far from that narrow way which leads unto life. Where God is working, there won't
be apathy about sin, there won't be apathy about salvation, there
will be prayer. There will be a coming like that
public, and God be merciful to me, a sinner. Just a short prayer.
a far better prayer than the prayer of that Pharisee who was
there in the temple with him. If my people which are called
by my name shall humble themselves and pray, they come together.
Humility and prayer. If we're humble, we will pray. If we never pray, we're not humble. And in the third place, he speaks
of a seeking, doesn't he? And again, doesn't it carry with
it the idea of difficulty? Doesn't it carry with it the
idea of a struggle? When do we use the word seek?
Well, we say that we're seeking something when it's difficult
to find. To seek to search something out,
it implies effort, it implies diligence. Seek my face. But you know there
is encouragement, isn't there? He is there to be sought. He
is there to be found. He is a God that has said, hasn't
he, seek ye my face? And he hasn't said it in vain. This is one of the characteristics
of this narrow way. If we're in this narrow way,
we will seek his face. We will want to be near him. If we don't want to be near him,
we'll never seek his face. Again, think of it in terms of
that parable. Think of that prodigal. Didn't
he seek the face of his father? He didn't just shrug his shoulders
in that far off country and say, well, I've sinned and maybe I'll
never see my father again. No, he wants to go back to him.
He wants to be near him. He wants to see his face. And
where do we see the Lord's face? Well, it shines in the face of
Christ, doesn't it? It's there that we see Him. It's
in Christ that God and man are brought together. He is the mediator
who lays His hands upon both and makes peace where there is
hostility. He is to be found if they shall
seek my face. And then the Lord speaks of a
turning. There's no forgiveness without
humility. There's no forgiveness without prayer. There's no forgiveness
without seeking. And there's no forgiveness without
turning. Turning is essential. This is why the Lord Jesus, this
is why John the Baptist, this is why the apostles speak so
often of repentance. Because that's what repentance
is, isn't it? It's a change of mind. And I know we use the word
very casually, don't we? We say, well, I was going to
do such and such a thing, but then I changed my mind. It's
not that kind of change. It's something fundamental. It's
the new birth. It's the old mind being taken away. It's the new
mind being given. That's what it needs if we're
to turn in the way that the Lord speaks of it here, if they shall
turn from their wicked ways. And again, see how they all come
together. You can't humble yourself without
turning. You can't humble yourself without praying. You can't humble
yourself without seeking. You can't humble yourself without
turning. If we say that we're humble, but we don't seek his
face, well, we're deceiving ourselves. If we say that we're humble,
but we don't turn from our wicked ways, we are deceiving ourselves. You might be ready to say, well,
does this mean that the Lord forgives those who make themselves
perfect? Is the Lord saying, well, I won't
hear sinners, I will only hear those who have turned from their
wicked ways? Well, that wasn't the way that
the Lord Jesus was when he was here, was he? Who was it that
drew near to him? It was the publicans, it was
the sinners. It wasn't those who came and said, well, I've
dealt with my sins and I've conquered my sins. It was those that came in their
need. If we say that we have no sin, says John, we deceive
ourselves and the truth is not in us. When the Lord speaks of
a turning from their wicked ways, it's not saying that you have
to make yourself perfect before he will forgive your sin. He's not speaking of perfection,
but he's speaking of sincerity. He's not speaking against sin
as such. He's speaking against hypocrisy. He's speaking against the attitude
whereby a man comes to the Lord and says, well, I want to be
forgiven for my sins, but secretly he wants to hold on to those
sins. An attitude whereby a man comes
to the Lord and says, well, I'm a sinner, but secretly he's determined
to go on in that way of sin. And he doesn't really hate it. Surely it's that idea that the
Apostle John is speaking of towards the end of his first epistle,
when he says, we know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not. He's
not saying that the Christian is sinless. He's talking about a life of
sin. He's talking about living in sin. We have to make the distinction,
don't we, between sin, living in the Christian, and the Christian
living in sin. How was it with Paul? You remember
his confession there in the seventh chapter of Romans? He spoke about
his attitude towards sin. He spoke about his experience
of sin. And he doesn't say, well, I used
to be a sinner, but then I turned from sin and then God forgave
me. No, he says, even after that great
change, even after he'd forgiven my sin, I still found that the
law was spiritual but I was carnal, sold under sin. And he says,
that which I do, I allow not. For what I hate, that do I not. For what I would, that do I not.
But what I hate, that do I. It's not that he's free from
sin, but he has a very different attitude towards it than previously,
doesn't he? Look at what he says there in
verse 18, I know that in me, that is in my flesh dwelleth
no good thing. He would never have said that
when he was a Pharisee, would he? To will it present with me,
but how to perform that which is good I find not. He would
never have said that as a Pharisee. Something has changed in the
experience of Paul. And it's the change really that
the Lord speaks of here. He's turned from his wicked ways. He's no longer in that broad
way that leads only to destruction. He's in the narrow way which
leads unto life. It was a great change. It was
dramatic in the life of Paul, wasn't it? It was a very sudden,
a very obvious turning. There he is on the Damascus road
going on his way to persecute the church and to throw them
into prison and to death. And then the Lord Jesus appears
to him and his life is changed in a moment, isn't it? And he turns into the way of
life. Well, you may not be able to
look back on such a dramatic change as that, but there must
be a turning. It doesn't always happen in the
same way in the experience of every Christian. Sometimes it's
very sudden, sometimes it's very dramatic, but there are those
in whom it's more gentle, in whom it's more gradual. It's not so much the nature of
the change that's important, it's the reality of it. The question
is, are you facing in a different direction? If we have turned, our faces
will be in a different direction, won't they? It's impossible to
say that we've turned if we're still facing the same way. Well,
it's the same spiritually. As we're born into the world
and our backs are turned towards God, if there's no change, if there's
no turning of our faces towards him, if there's no prayer towards
him, if there's no looking up to him, if there's no seeking
of his face, well, there's not been any turning. turned from their wicked ways.
In other words, he says to them, beware of hypocrisy in your approach
to me. Beware of coming before me with
your lips, whilst your hearts are far off from me. Though there
must be sincerity. This is the pathway to pardon.
This is the narrow way which leads unto life. This is the
way in which God forgives. Then will I hear from heaven
and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." Well, you might say, surely this
is preaching some kind of works religion. Are you saying that
we are able to humble ourselves and pray and seek his face and
turn from our wicked ways and then as a reward he'll give us
forgiveness for our sins? Am I preaching some kind of free
will by which a man can do these things independently by his own
decision? No, I'm not preaching that. That's the very root of
man's problem, isn't it? That's the very root of your
problem and my problem as we're born into the world, that we
can't do these things. We can't humble ourselves. We
can't pray. We can't seek His face. We can't turn from our
wicked ways because we don't want Him. And we love sin more
than we love Him. It's not something that we achieve
independently. It's not something that the Lord
sets before us and says, we'll go away and do these things and
come back when you're finished and then I'll think about it. His forgiveness here is not given
as a reward for their repentance. And forgiveness of sins today
is not given as a reward for repentance. It's not given as
a reward for faith. but repentance and faith are
the pathway to it. Well, you might say, isn't that
the same thing? Well, of course it's not the same thing. You think
of an illustration. We came along the M275 to get
here this morning. That doesn't mean we're here
as a reward for coming on the M275, does it? If you think of
an island and there is the bridge, and you're invited to a great
dinner on that island and you cross the bridge and you go onto
the island and someone says to you, what did you do to deserve
this? Well, you wouldn't say, well, I crossed the bridge, would
you? If you're invited to Buckingham Palace to eat with the Queen
and you travel there on the train, you wouldn't say, I came here
as a reward for coming on the train. This humbling, this praying,
this seeking, this turning, it's the pathway to salvation, but
it's not something that we do to earn salvation. This forgiveness, this hearing,
this healing, it can't be earned because it's given freely. Then will I hear, then will I
forgive, then will I heal. These things are not given as
rewards. Do you remember how Isaiah spoke of this? He spoke
of it as wine and milk that was given without money, without
price. And you remember the words of Christ, He said, Come unto
me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest. He said, If any man thirsts,
let him come unto me and drink. The drink is not given as a reward
for the coming, but the drink is given to those
that come. This hearing, this forgiveness,
this healing is not given as a reward for the humbling, for
the praying, for the seeking, for the turning. But in the way that God works
in the Gospel, it's the only pathway to those
blessings. That prodigal son, don't you
see all these things in that parable? You look at his attitude after
he came to himself, and again, that wasn't something that he
decided to do. If you'd gone to him the previous day and said
to him, what do you expect to do tomorrow, he wouldn't have
said, well, I'm hoping to come to myself, and then realise certain
things and return to the house of my father. It was something
that happened to him. It was the opening of his blind
eyes. It was the unstopping of his deaf ears. And he suddenly
sees and understands things that he never saw or understood before. He realizes that he's perishing
with hunger. He realizes that in his father's house there is
bread enough and to spare. And so he says, I will arise
and go. Of course he did. But look at his attitude as he
returns. There's humility. And there's a humbling of himself.
He doesn't come back to his father and say, well, yes, I did make
a mistake, but here I am, I've come back. Can we just overlook
it and perhaps be as we were before? No, he says, I'm not
worthy to be called thy son. He realises what he's done. He
thinks that he's given up of any hope of
being called a son, hasn't he? He says, all I can hope for now
is to be made a hired servant and just to be allowed a little
bread so that I don't perish with hunger. And that's what
he comes back to his father looking for. He humbles himself. No longer
is he that proud younger son who had almost looked down upon
his father and said, father, give me the portion of goods
that falleth to me. Now his attitude has changed.
I'm not worthy to be called thy son. I have sinned against heaven
and before thee. Make me as one of thy hired servants. There is humility. You see prayer
also. Real prayer. Heartfelt prayer.
Not just coming and saying things that he thought he ought to say. Not just coming and asking for
things that he thought that he ought to ask for. but coming
and asking for things that he couldn't do without. I'm perishing with hunger, he
says. I can't do without this bread. Well, again, think about
your attitude towards the bread of life. When you pray for a
revelation of Christ, when you pray for faith in him, when you
pray to feed upon that bread and to drink upon that water,
are you praying for those things because you can't do without
them? That will lead to you coming
as that prodigal came. You see prayer. You see him seeking
his father's face. You see him turning from his
wicked ways. And you see that forgiveness,
don't you, that he was granted much more than he asked for,
as he turns back towards his father's house. It's not that
he comes to the door and has to knock and convince his father
to let him in. It's not that the father opens
the door and says, well, I suppose you may as well come in now you're
here and you can be a servant as long as you take the lowest
place. What does he see as he runs, as he comes back to his
father's house? He sees his father running towards
him. And his father had compassion
and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And he doesn't even get to ask
to be made a hired servant, does he? His father doesn't even want
to hear it. No, he says, bring forth the
best robe, put it on him. Put a ring on his hand and shoes
on his feet. He receives far more than he could ask for, far
more than he could ever hope for. Yes, says Christ, this is
how my father deals with sinners. This is how my father receives
them. The Pharisees and the scribes and the rest of the Jews, they
condemned Christ for receiving sinners and eating with them.
But Christ says, not only do I receive them, I go and look
for them and I bring them to myself. I show them that they're
perishing. I show them that I am the bread
enough and to spare. And I bring them to myself and
they come with humility and they come with prayer and they come
with seeking and they come with a turning from their wicked ways.
And how are they received when they come in that way? Well,
they're received in the same way that that prodigal was received,
with joy. There is joy in the presence
of the angels of God over one sinner that repented. If my people, which are called
by my name, shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and
turn from their wicked ways, well, you may be ready to say,
well, my problem is that I can't do these things. I'm not humble
and I don't pray and I don't seek his face. And my turning
is often so insincere and half-hearted. Well, it is his work. It's his work to humble sinners.
It's his work to give prayer. It's his work to give an appetite
for him so that there's a seeking of his face. It's his work to
open the eyes so that there's a turning from wicked ways and
he does these things in his own way and in his own time. But it's not something in which
the sinner is passive. It's not something that just
happens to them and they wake up one morning and find that
all these things are done and they look at it and say, well,
I'm humble now. My prayers are good now. My seeking is good
now. I've really turned from my wicked ways now. though there will always be sin
to confess. The question is, is that confession
unto Him? Is there a coming to Him? Is
there a praying to Him? This humbling, this praying,
this seeking, this turning is His work, and sometimes it's
only seen looking back. You remember the words of that
hymn, I saw the Lord, and afterwards, I knew He moved my soul to seek
Him, seeking me. He moved my soul to seek Him. Something that He does. The hymn
writers, they realise it, don't they? And they have to pray for
it. We're going to sing about it
in a moment, our closing hymn. What did Samuel Medley say? And
remember he was a Christian when he wrote these words. He speaks
of himself being deceived by self and pride. He speaks of
himself as being like Jonah, as fleeing from God. And he has
to pray, bring a wretched wanderer home and to thy footstool let
me come and tell thee all my grief and pain and wait and look
and look again. Yes, he speaks of himself as
a sinner. But look at what he says about himself in the first
verse. He says, his soul is encouraged by thy word. Is your soul encouraged
by the word of God? When you see that sin within
yourself, when you find that lack of humility, and that lack
of prayer, and that lack of seeking, and that lack of turning, and
you have to confess that all these things are so imperfect,
is your soul encouraged by his word? The hymn writer says, at Mercy's
footstool I would remain, and there would look, and look again.
And you know that looking, and that remaining, that really is
this turning, isn't it? Yes, he has to confess his sin,
but look at where he's, look at what his face is at. Look
at what he's facing, Mercy's footstool. That's what's represented
by this temple, isn't it? This temple that Solomon built,
it represents Christ. That's why the Lord says, mine
eyes shall be open and mine ears attend unto the prayer that is
made in this place. Come to the temple, he says,
pray there, there I'll hear you. Well, carry it over into the
New Testament and put it in gospel language and what does he say? Well, he speaks of an asking
in the name of Christ and a coming in the name of Christ and a believing
into Christ. and are trusting in Christ and
are resting upon Christ. And what was the promise of Christ?
He says, He that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out,
I will hear, I will forgive, I will heal. Yes, the door of His mercy, it
stands open all day, says the hymn writer, to the poor and
the needy that knock by the way. And no sinner shall ever be empty
sent back that comes seeking mercy for Jesus' sake. 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. Amen.