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Henk Frijters
- 9 North Park Street
Belleville,
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There is ANOTHER chance
Intro:
1. When the angel announced Jesus' birth to the shepherds, he said,
"Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy
which shall be for all the people; for today in the city of David
there has been born for you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord" (Lk.
2:10-11).
2. The good news is that Jesus came into the world and died on the
cross for our sins--for every one of us and all of our sins. In
Jesus Christ we may have forgiveness of sins, right standing with
the God of heaven, and hope of eternal life. There is no news
better than this. Unless . . .
3. Unless it is that even for believers who have fallen away there is
another chance! One day there will be no more opportunities. The
bridegroom will come and those who are ready will enter the house
with Him and the door will be shut (Mat. 25:10). But right now, on
this side of eternity, there is another chance.
4. "Please give me another chance," pleads the young athlete to his
coach who has moved him from the field to the bench. "Please give
me another chance," cries the distraught man whose anger has again
damaged his relationship with the woman he loves. There are times
we all wish we could have another stab at a job, a relationship, a
challenge. We believe one more chance would make the difference.
The good news is that with God we have another chance!
5. For those who have fallen away or who are on the brink of doing so,
for those who are thinking about coming back to God and haven't
done so yet, for those who are struggling with themselves about
what to do, I announce to you the good news of another chance. I
must tell you first, however, that there is . . .
I. THE NOT-SO-GOOD NEWS OF THE POINT OF NO RETURN
A. Falling away from God is very serious and dangerous. The
Bible issues some stiff and stern warnings about it.
1. We read of those who blasphemed against the Holy Spirit
and that "it shall not be forgiven him, either in this
age, or in the age to come" (Mat. 12:31-32). This is the
strongest possible language. They saw what Jesus was
doing through the Spirit and they said it was Satan doing
it (12:22-32). Jesus said this is not only ridiculous
(because it put Satan casting out Satan), but it is also
very, very serious.
2. They defiantly refused to acknowledge the Source of what
Jesus was doing. Theirs was a problem of wilful
spiritual self-blindness. To see obvious evidence of the
Spirit of God and call it demonic was inexcusable and
unforgivable. Jesus warned that they were perilously
close to setting themselves against God to the extent
that they would exclude themselves completely from Him.
3. From a historical standpoint, the specific situation
Jesus address cannot be repeated. Jesus is not in our
world casting out demons by the Holy Spirit, so we can't
blaspheme the Spirit in the same way they did. From an
attitudinal standpoint, however, it is a different
matter. Their hearts were of such nature that when they
saw light they called it darkness. They had deliberately
hardened themselves against God and were defiantly
resisting Him. This attitude of heart may be developed
today and we need to be warned that an irreversible
hardening may result. There is a point of no return.
B. In at least five places in the New Testament we are warned of
this point. When this point is reached, we are not in a
position to tell with certainty. What we must face is that
the point of no return exists; it is a possibility.
1. The warning of Heb. 6:4-8 warns that "it is impossible to
renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify
to themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open
shame." What is envisioned is a rejection of the only
basis on which repentance is motivated and extended.
They have "known" and then knowingly refused and fell
away. When what is known is rejected, there is nothing
else to touch a heart and renew faith. It is a dangerous
condition. This person has set out on a way that will
result in his "being burned."
2. The warning of Heb. 10:26-31 is similar. To go on
sinning wilfully is to reject the once-for-all sacrifice
for sins. It is to trample under foot the Son of God, to
regard as unclean the cleansing blood of the covenant,
and to insult the Spirit of grace. This is open,
intentional, calculated rejection and apostasy. All that
awaits the person who deliberately sets out this way is
"a certain terrifying expectation of judgment."
3. In Heb. 5:15-17 the writer urges us to be careful and not
be like Esau who traded the heavenly for the earthly, who
focused attention on the immediate instead of the
eternal. Later, when Esau saw his folly he desired the
blessing, but "he was rejected, for he found no place for
repentance, though he sought for it with tears." Esau
did something the consequences of which could not be
undone.
4. Peter (2 Pet. 2:20-22) warned that the last state of
falling away is worse than the first state of being an
alien sinner. It is "worse" because a deliberate,
decisive rejection has occurred--they have known the way
of righteousness and then wilfully turned away from it.
This makes the condition extremely serious and dangerous,
even repulsive.
5. John (1 Jn. 5:15-16) distinguished a sin not leading to
death from a sin leading to death. For one we are to
pray on behalf of a brother or sister; for the other we
are not to pray. There is to be no prayer for forgive-
ness for one who has made no move toward repentance. The
sin leading to death is the sin for which there is no
repentance; "I do not say that he should make request
for this."
C. I want us to feel the full force of these stern warnings.
These are frightening words. There is a point of no return.
This is not the impossibility of forgiveness, but the impossi-
bility of repentance. We can so far as to experience an irre-
trievable loss. The not-so-good news is that falling away
from God is very, very dangerous and the way back to God is
very, very treacherous. If you are away from God, come back
immediately. It only gets harder and more dangerous, never
easier. In addition to warning us, these stiff and stern
warnings serve to heighten our appreciation of the good news
of another chance.
II. THE GOOD NEWS OF ANOTHER CHANCE
A. God has made every provision for our salvation and for our
security in Christ. We may go away from God, but the good
news is that we may also come back. God is graciously willing
to give us another chance. There are at least two ideas that
convey this good news:
B. The character of God
1. In pleading for God's continuing presence with His
rebellious people, Moses asked God to show His glory (Ex.
33:12-18). Apparently, Moses' needed reassurance that
God would abide with His people in spite of their
rebellious spirit. God's response to this request was to
make His goodness pass before Moses and proclaim His name
before Moses. God's glory is seen in His goodness and
His name, which characterizes God's basic nature.
2. God revealed Himself by descending in a cloud and
standing with Moses on Mount Sinai (34:5). God passed by
in front of Moses and proclaimed His self-description:
34:6-7. Chosen men had many things to say on behalf of
God and about God, but it is significant that this is the
way God revealed Himself. What did God say about
Himself?
3. God is compassionate, signifying a deep love rooted in a
special bond. God is gracious, describing a heartfelt
response by someone who has something to give to one who
has need. God is abounding in loving kindness and truth,
referring to His merciful, relational love and His utter
reliability. What do these terms mean on a practical,
personal level? In moving words we can readily compre-
hend and apply to our own situations, God is slow to
anger, One who keeps His loving kindness for thousands,
who forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin. The
piling up of terms is an attempt at a comprehensive
statement about God's essential nature and His inclina-
tion to love and forgive.
4. This moving description of God's love is balanced by the
sobering addition: "Yet He will by no means leave the
guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on
the children and on the grandchildren to the third and
fourth generations." Sin will be taken into account by
God and it has long-term ramifications. Left unaddressed
and unforgiven, sin will be punished. The good news is
that God doesn't want to punish us. He will indeed, but
He doesn't want to. He is slow to anger; He loves us; He
will forgive all our sins if we want Him to and ask Him
to.
5. The tremendous importance of this self-revelation is seen
in the fact that it is repeated frequently and regularly
in the Old Testament (at least 12 more times plus other
allusions writers recite God's self-description): Num.
14:18, 2 Chron. 30:9, Neh. 9:17, Pss. 86:15, 103:8,
111:4, 112:2, 116:5, 145:8, Joel 2:13, Jonah 4:2, Nahum
1:3! (cf. Ex. 20:5-6, Deut. 5:9-10). When New Testament
writers encouraged repentance and confession of sins,
they rooted their encouragement in the character of God:
God is patient and does not want any to perish but for
all to come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9). If we will
confess our sins God "is faithful and righteous to
forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrigh-
teousness" (1 Jn. 1:9). We have a chance because of the
kind of God God is.
C. The comprehensive and continuing work of Christ
1. The writer of Hebrews, who issues stiff warnings about
falling away, is equally emphatic about the once-for-all
sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sins. Jesus appeared
once at the consummation of the ages to put away sin by
the sacrifice of Himself (9:26). He "offered one
sacrifice for sins for all time" and "by one offering He
has perfected for all time those who are sanctified"
(10:12-14).
2. The saving work of Christ at the cross addressed the
problem and penalty of sin for every sinner for all time.
John makes a point of the fact that Jesus is the compre-
hensive atoning sacrifice "for our sins; and . . . for
those of the whole world" (1 Jn. 2:2). Jesus abides
forever and holds His priesthood permanently. Hence, "He
is able to save forever (completely) whose who draw near
to God through Him" (Heb. 7:24-25).
3. The great promise and the good news is, "If we walk in
the light as He Himself is in the light . . . the blood
of Jesus cleanses us from all sin." And when we fail to
walk in the light, "If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 Jn. 1:7, 9),
where the cleansing is again through the blood of Jesus.
Simply put, the good news is that there is no sin of
which we repent that God will not forgive. Jesus'
comprehensive sacrifice for sins paid the penalty for the
blackest, worst, most abhorrent sin. Now that's good
news, and it should bring us to God.
D. The character of God is such that He wants us to come back to
Him. The saving work of Christ is such that we can come back:
Deut. 4:25-31. Finally, I ask as Paul did, "Or do you think
lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and
patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to
repentance?" (Rom. 2:4). There is good news of another
chance! Won't you come back to God now?
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