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Has The LORD Been Trying To Correct You?
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Greetings:
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Please turn with me to Proverbs 3:11-12, [11]“My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor detest His correction; [12] For whom the LORD loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights” (NKJV).
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Prayer:
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Opening: We live in a world that is under the control of a deceiving spirit; a spirit that is able to control our thoughts and actions by speaking lies into our hearts and minds. This makes correction from the LORD God a necessary part of life. We need God’s correction for our own good and for the good of society. This morning, the title of my message is, "Has the LORD been trying to correct you?”
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Body: Proverbs 3 comforts us with the words “whom the LORD loves He corrects,” and it warns us not to detest the LORD’s correction. Job 5:17 says, [17]“Blessed are those whom God corrects.” When we accept the LORD’s correction, and follow His ways, it means that we have repented; we have obediently turned away from doing wrong to doing what is right, and the truth of God is with us. On the other hand, if we hate the LORD’s correction and persist in doing wrong, there is no blessing, only punishment and sorrow. Proverbs also warns, [17]“…whoever ignores correction leads others astray” (Pr 10:17), and [10]“those who hate correction will die” (Pr 15:10). Has the LORD been trying to correct you?
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During the time they lived in the Promised Land, the nation of Israel provoked the LORD’s anger because they detested or hated His correction. Over and over again, they refused to be corrected. The LORD would send His prophets to correct them, to turn them back to Him, but many resisted and did not repent. In the Old Testament, we can read about the people of Judah and the people living in the city of Jerusalem (tribe of Benjamin, mostly). They were the last people from the nation of Israel living in the Promised Land. The prophet, Jeremiah complained about them,
[3]“LORD, do not your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain; you crushed them, but they refused correction. They made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent” (Je 5:3).
Has the LORD been trying to correct you?
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In the Books of Jeremiah and Zephaniah, the LORD Himself said about them:
[30]“In vain I punished [Judah] your people; they did not respond to correction” (Je 2:30).
[28]“This is the nation that has not obeyed the LORD its God or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips” (Je 7:28).
[2]“She [Jerusalem] obeys no one, she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the LORD, she does not draw near to her God” (Zep 3:2).
[6]“I have destroyed nations; their strongholds are demolished. I have left their streets deserted, with no one passing through. Their cities are laid waste; they are deserted and empty. [7]Of Jerusalem I thought, 'Surely you will fear me and accept correction!' Then her place of refuge would not be destroyed, nor all my punishments come upon her. But they were still eager to act corruptly in all they did” (Zep 3:6-7)
Has the LORD been trying to correct you?
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Judah became so far removed from the LORD as they rejected His correction and persisted in wrong doing that, in their hearts and minds they elevated the temple Solomon had built in Jerusalem above the LORD. They trusted in the temple instead of God. And now, coming to the end of His patience with them, the LORD had sent Jeremiah to tell them what He was about to do. And He knew exactly where He wanted Jeremiah to position himself to deliver the message. He instructed Jeremiah to,
[2]“Stand at the gate of the LORD's house and there proclaim this message: “`Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the LORD. [3]This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. [4]Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!” [5]If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly [6]…and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, [7]then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors forever and ever. [8]But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless. [9]“`Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, [10]and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe”--safe to do all these detestable things? [11]Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the LORD...[13]While you were doing all these things…I spoke to you again and again, but you did not listen; I called you, but you did not answer. [14]Therefore, what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that bears my Name, the temple you trust in, the place I gave to you and your fathers. [15]I will thrust you from my presence, just as I did all your brothers, the people of Ephraim.' (Je 7:2-15 TNIV).
Has the LORD been trying to correct you?
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We need to be aware that, before the nation of Israel had entered the Promised Land, the LORD had warned the people,
[23]“ ‘If…you do not accept my correction but continue to be hostile toward me, [24]I myself will be hostile toward you and will afflict you for your sins seven times over” (Lev 26:23-24 NIV).
And now, the LORD had had enough from the descendants of Israel! They had been listening to the lies of Satan, the deceiving spirit, and God’s truth had vanished from among them. Their life was a lie. The LORD did what He said He would do, thrust them from His presence. He exiled them from the Promised Land and sent them to Babylon. He destroyed the temple they trusted in, and as their battle with Babylon raged on, some were killed. But some survived the exile to return home 70 yrs later. They survived because while God is just in what He does, He is also merciful. They survived because nothing can stop the plans of God, He would keep the promise He had made to Abraham, their chief ancestor. The LORD had promised to make Abraham a great nation and bless the nations of the world through him (Ge 18:18). Centuries later, because He loves us, God sent His Son, Jesus, as a human descendant of the nation of Israel, to save the world and people from every nation, who believe in the name of Jesus, will not face eternal punishment away from the presence of God.
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Conclusion: You might ask, what has that got to do with us, that’s part of Israel’s history? Well, Has the LORD been trying to correct you? He is watching us too. He sees when we’re doing wrong. He knows if we are worshiping other gods, and He knows if we’re trusting in Church buildings instead of Him, deceiving ourselves that we are safe because we attend Church or we have a Church, and we can skip from Church to Church. God does not change, and to be sure, what He expected from Judah and Jerusalem, or the nation of Israel, is the same thing He expects from us; that we listen to Him and accept His correction. We have the Bible, His Word, to correct us, for He declares in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, [16]“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, [17]so that all God’s people may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Therefore, let us purpose in our hearts not to be hostile towards God, but to accept His correction. And let us be ready like Jeremiah to position ourselves in the strategic places He has for us so that we can take His message, His truth, to this nation and other nations.
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If you want to live a correct and godly life; a holy life of truth, God can make things right for you today.
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Ask Congregation to stand: The doors of the Church are open to you, and we are standing here to give you spiritual support. Come and repent of your sins, turn your life over to Jesus, come and pray for strength to accept God’s correction. Whatever it is, come and let God thoroughly equip you for every good work through Jesus, His Son.
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(July 24, 2016).
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