Return to the Lord

Speaker: Steve Anderson

Passage: Return to the Lord (Daniel 9:1-9)

We have been in the Book of Revelation for a few months now, and the question is, Will Jesus come back before we finish? However, we should not be in any hurry to get through the Scriptures. It’s been a blessing.

You know, one of the very first things that John tells us in Revelation is that there is a blessing attached to the Book of Revelation. Always remember that as we’re going through these Scriptures, as we’re being obedient to what God is saying in these Scriptures to us, there’s a blessing attached to it. That blessing may look different for everybody in this room, but it’s a blessing regardless.

So, as we go through these Scriptures verse by verse, just remember that God is speaking to us, as He said to the seven churches, “He who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.” We need to constantly be focused on that, spending time alone with the Lord and listening to what His voice is saying.

We’ve been in Revelation 6 and 7 for a few weeks now. These are the chapters that go over the seven seals. Actually, the seventh seal begins at the very beginning of chapter 8. We’ve been looking at the first six seals, and the Lamb of God is the one that opens that scroll and breaks the seals.

Many of those seals have been broken and let loose on the earth, and we’re living in the midst of the seals today: false prophets, war, famine, mass death, martyrdom, earthquakes, and terror, and then the seventh seal brings forth the seven trumpets. It’s bad, and it’s going to get worse.

MATTHEW ADDRESSES TRIBULATION ON EARTH

In Matthew chapter 24, Jesus addresses the breaking of these seals. He’s talking to His disciples about the end of the age and the signs of His coming. They want to know when these things are going to happen. He begins to talk about the false prophets, and He talks about the famines and the earthquakes. And then He says this in verse eight, “…but all of these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs”.

How many moms do we have in the room? When those contractions start to increase and get closer to the date and the time, it’s a whole different ball game. And all the women said amen. All the men are going, Yeah, I was there. I didn’t feel the pain, but I felt the chaos.

I talked about this last month when I told you that the chaos would only get worse. In the previous month all you have to do is go back and go, Yep, there’s a lot that has happened. And it’s only going to get worse. The issues, the situations in this country, everything we’re going through, especially as we cycle towards an election in November—it’s going to get crazy.

The world is getting crazy. We’re seeing things that we’ve never seen in our lifetimes. The contractions are increasing, and as that happens, it’s going to get more intense. Jesus warns that these will happen, and when they do, things will change. Listen to what He says in verse nine: 

“Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. At that time, many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and mislead many. Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. This Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come”.

Later on in verse 33, He says, “Recognize that he is near, right at the door.” And then in verse 43: “Be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will”. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

We need to be ready. We need to be ready for anything because things can change in an instant. Our situation might be pretty good right now. We live in a great country. Everything’s good. I’ve got a nice home, I’ve got a nice family, I’ve got a good job, I’ve got things, but what if something happened and everything was taken away? 

Things can change drastically, and Jesus tells us things are going to change. People are going to kill each other, hate each other, and betray each other. More and more pastors are going to rise up and mislead more and more people. The love of most will grow cold because of the increase of lawlessness.

Here are some of the main points I believe we’ve learned while studying Revelation so far.

• Number one, Jesus is speaking to His church. “He who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying.”
• Number two, we need to keep our focus on the Lamb that was slain and keep our focus on Heaven, constantly being in a state of mind of worship. Our worship today was Heaven-centered, Lamb-centered, and God-centered. That’s what we need to start every day with, and we need to end every day with that.
• Number three, things are going to get progressively worse.
• And finally, number four, Jesus’ message to the seven churches was, Return to me, repent, and you will overcome.

THE FOCUS FOR THIS MESSAGE

My message today is going to have a dual purpose. The first is strength and conditioning, and the second is position and posture. If you’ve ever competed in athletics at any level, especially at a high level, you know the importance of strength and conditioning, and you also know the importance of position. Any good athlete will tell you you can be strong, conditioned, and ready to go, but you will fail if you’re not in the right position at the right time.

That’s why our position and posture are important. Our posture of worship, prayer, and submission to the Lord is crucial, and the place that we do it from is standing before the throne at the right hand of God. Remember, in Ephesians 2, Paul says, “You have been raised with Christ and seated with Him in the heavenly places at the right hand of God.”

That’s who you are, and that’s your position. That’s where we need to remind ourselves: That’s where I am, and as long as I’m right there with Him, interlocked, I’m fine. I’m good. I’m anchored. See, our job as pastors and teachers is to equip you, to give you the strength and the conditioning, and to give you the tools that you need, sometimes with a hard message.

This is not an easy message. A lot of the things I’ve said already are not easy because they require you to hear what the Lord is saying and say, Okay, maybe there are some things I need to shore up and make sure that I’m anchored in. To make sure that if those winds of the hurricane come, I’m okay. I’m not going to be whipped and whisked away. 

STANDING STRONG IN TRUTH

See, chaos and tribulation are increasing, and things can change suddenly. And we, every single one of us, must ask ourselves, Am I ready? Ephesians 6 is the Armor of God passage that the Apostle Paul relays to the church at Ephesus. Starting in verse 10, it says: 

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm”. 

David Mitchell talked about taking a stand last week. Our stand is at the throne. Our stand is next to the One who saves us and redeems us. Our stand is right there with the One who cannot be shaken, in the place that cannot be shaken. See, we have a choice. We can stand firm, or we can run for the hills.

A big problem today in the church and the world is this little thing called cancel culture. It’s winning out in the church. Unfortunately, it has captivated many churches. The world’s already embraced it fully. My concern is that in the church, many are running from the truth instead of embracing it. They are afraid of the consequences of losing friends or losing influence, perhaps losing a job, or, if you’re a pastor, maybe losing members in your congregation because the truth offends.

The truth isn’t tolerant. The truth is narrow-minded. It’s supposed to be. Jesus said, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me”. That’s narrow-minded. But God, in His mercy and His love for us, did that for a reason. He simplified it. He says, You cannot work your way into My favor, into My presence, into My Kingdom. I’m going to send you the way. I’m going to narrow the way. 

Is Jesus Christ narrow-minded? Yes. Is being a Christian narrow-minded? Yes, because God created it that way to make it easy for us. It’s offensive to people when we say that, but in our love, we have to share it. It’s the Gospel. God loves us. He loves everybody. If I don’t love you, I can’t share what the truth is: the Gospel of Jesus Christ. See, we have a choice to run with the mob or stand with the Lord. “But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” 

EXAMPLES FROM THE LIFE OF PETER

The apostle Peter experienced both sides of that. His story is a roller coaster. I can relate to Peter, as I’m sure many in this room can, too. Peter was an obscure fisherman in Galilee, plucked out of nowhere by Jesus, who said, I want you to be one of my disciples. I want you to follow me. Peter’s probably going, Who am I? But Jesus said, I pick you. And all of us in the room have been chosen by the Lord as well. God says, I choose you. You matter to Him. 

Peter had ups and downs. He had prophecies spoken to him by Jesus. Peter said, Jesus, You are the Christ, the Living One, the Son of God. Jesus looked at Peter and told him, You are correct, Simon Bar-Jonah, and your name is now Peter, which means rock. On that rock, on your statement of faith, I’m going to build My church. He prophesied over Peter at that moment about the church that was going to be built on Peter’s statement of faith and the ministry that Peter was going to carry forward.

But then, as Jesus is getting ready to be delivered and arrested, Peter says, I’m going to take a stand, and I’m going to stand with you, Lord. Jesus prophesied over him again, saying, You will deny Me three times before this night is over. Jesus told Peter, Satan has asked for permission to sift you like wheat. You’re going to run away and deny Me, but when you return, you will strengthen your brothers.

I love it when Jesus speaks prophecies over people. Yes, Peter did deny Jesus, and he ran away in shame. But Sunday came, and the resurrection happened, which changed Peter’s life. And because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, it changed every single one of our lives because now we have hope, just as Peter’s hope was restored.

Another time, after Jesus rose from the dead, the disciples are in a boat on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus is on the shore getting breakfast ready, and they don’t know He’s there. Then, John recognizes that Jesus is on the shore. What does Peter do? He jumps out of the boat, and he starts swimming to shore because his Savior is there: the man he betrayed, the man he denied, the man who restored his hope. All he could think about was being back in His presence.

PETER STANDING FIRM IN FAITH

What a roller coaster ride Peter was on. In Acts 2, 3, and 4, we see Peter filled by the Holy Spirit, strengthened by the Holy Spirit, strengthened by the Gospel message, and preaching his brains out. Because of this, thousands and thousands of people are coming to know the Lord. 

In Acts chapter 3, Peter and John are on their way to the temple, and the lame man looks at them and says, Do you have something that you can give me? They look at him and say, We don’t have silver or gold or anything of monetary value that we can give you, but what we do have, we will give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. The lame man then rises and starts not just walking but leaping and running around, creating this stir in Jerusalem. So much of a stir that Peter looks at the moment, starts preaching the Gospel again, and five thousand more people become Christians that very day.

But then the same people that arrested Jesus, the same people that crucified Jesus, arrested Peter and John. Now, we’re back to a critical moment for Peter. Probably just a couple of months have gone by since Jesus rose from the dead, since that fateful night when Peter denied Jesus three times. Not much time had passed, and here we are again. Same people, same situation. 

Look at Acts chapter 4, starting in verse 7: “On the next day, the rulers and the elders and the scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem; and Annas, the high priest was there, and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of high priestly descent. When they had placed them in the center, they began to inquire, ‘By what power, or in what name, have you done this?’ Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit said to them, ‘Rulers and elders of the people, if we are on trial today for the benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made, well, let it be known to all of you and to all the people in Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health…there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under Heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved’. Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed…”

How many ordinary people do we have in the room today? That’s who was in front of these people: untrained, ordinary men. They looked at them and said, This happened through you guys. And then they saw the man that had been healed standing with them, and they had nothing to say in reply.

Verse 18: “And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, ‘Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard’”.

When faced with trials, our options are to stand or run. The first time Peter ran. Now he’s standing. He put his foot down and his stake in the ground and said, I’m not going anywhere this time. Not this time, devil, not this time. This man, Jesus, has changed my life. His resurrection has changed my life. I will no longer kowtow to the mob. I will no longer run away because I’m fearful of anything. I will make my stand instead of being affected by the mob.

Peter created a mob of his own. Eight thousand people got saved through two sermons. Now that’s a mob. See, we need to share the Gospel boldly and without shame because we don’t know what it’s going to do. You don’t know the impact that you’re going to have. I don’t care if it’s a small crowd, one-on-one, or a larger crowd; we cannot be afraid to share the Gospel.

The world wants us to be afraid to share the Gospel, to be fearful of what might happen if we share the Gospel. I’m sure it went through Peter’s head. The last time somebody was in this situation, they got crucified, and Peter says, That doesn’t matter. His message to the people that he preached to in Acts 2, 3, and 4 was to repent and return, repent and return. 

The Day of the Lord is getting closer, folks; it’s getting closer. The contractions are increasing. It’s getting more intense. As these things begin to happen, we need to understand it’s going to get worse, and we need to go through it a little bit stronger than we were before.

RENDING OUR HEARTS

There are two Old Testament prophets who teach us what it means to have the proper posture and position: the prophet Joel and the prophet Daniel.

Joel chapter 2 talks about the Day of the Lord. It’s the chapter that Peter quotes in the Book of Acts when the Holy Spirit is poured out. He quotes Joel chapter 2, and in verse 11, it says this:

“The Lord utters His voice before His army; surely His camp is very great, for strong is he who carries out His word. The Day of the Lord is indeed great and very awesome, and who can endure it? ‘Yet even now,’ declares the Lord, ‘return to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, weeping and mourning; and rend your heart and not your garments’”.

In a time of prayer, repentance, and going before the Lord for the people, the priests would tear their garments as a sign of grief and mourning. And God is saying, I don’t care about the outside. I don’t care about the exterior. What I do care about is your heart. I want you to tear open your heart and allow Me in so that I can fix what I need to fix and point out the things I need to point out. 

“Now return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness and relenting of evil. Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children and the nursing infants. Let the bridegroom come out of his room and the bride out of her bridal chamber. Let the priests, the Lord’s ministers, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, ‘Spare Your people, O Lord, and do not make Your inheritance a reproach, a byword among the nations. Why should they among the people say, Where is their God?’” Then the Lord will be zealous for His land, and will have pity on His people”.

We have a role to play here. We want the Lord to move, but we have to move the hand of God. This is for all of us. I’ve been pastoring for a long, long time in this region. This is for pastors, leaders, congregants, everybody: “Return to Me with all of your heart” because the times require it; “Rend your heart and not your garments.”

To church leadership: we must have leaders willing to leave their position of preacher and become men and women of repentance and intercession. Leaders who will establish their position between the porch and the altar, in the midst of the people, interceding and crying out for the people, Oh Lord, have mercy on every single one of us.

My position is not up on stage. Pastor Greg, Pastor Gary, Pastor Dustin, and David, our position is not here. It’s there with you, and we’re together in this thing, weeping to the Lord on behalf of the people.

A MODEL OF POSTURE AND POSITION

I want to close by giving us what I believe is the posture and position that we all need to not just embrace but to live out daily, and that’s the example of the prophet Daniel. Daniel stands out in the midst of the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of Israel and Judah at the hands of the Babylonians and the Medo-Persian Empire. He was part of that captivity, but as we read the Book of Daniel, we see a man with incredible faithfulness.

We see a man who was dedicated to prayer. He prayed three times daily, and it was that commitment to prayer that got him apprehended and thrown into the lion’s den. But God rescued him and delivered him in the midst of that. Daniel was a righteous man. He was probably the most righteous man on the planet at the time. We need to take his lead as we go forward during these times of tribulation. 

Jeremiah had prophesied many years earlier that Israel was going to go into captivity, and it was going to last seventy years. Daniel knew that time was coming to an end, but it did not stop him from delivering one of the most powerful and effective prayers ever given by one of God’s leaders.

He takes personal ownership of all of the sins of Israel, and he leads from humility. I pray that all of us, leaders and people, can set aside time to pray like this for our lives, for our families, for our church, for our country, and for the world that we’re living in.

THE PRAYER OF DANIEL

I’m going to read Daniel 9:1-19. As I’m reading this, I would like you to bow your heads and pray with me. I would like you to hear the words that I am reading to you, and as we get to the part where Daniel is praying, I want you to insert yourself into Daniel’s shoes.

I want his words to become your words. I want his prayer to become your prayer, whether it’s for your family situation, whether it’s for our church, whether it’s for this country, whatever it’s for whatever God’s putting on your heart. Let Daniel’s words be your words today.

“It was the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede, the son of Ahasuerus, who became king of the Babylonians. During the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, learned from reading the Word of God, as revealed to Jeremiah the prophet, that Jerusalem must lie desolate for seventy years. So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with Him in prayer and fasting. I also wore rough burlap and sprinkled myself with ashes.

I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: ‘O Lord, You are a great and awesome God! You always fulfill Your covenant and keep Your promises of unfailing love to those who love You and obey Your commands. But we have sinned and done wrong. We have rebelled against You and scorned Your commands and regulations. We have refused to listen to Your servants the prophets, who spoke on Your authority to our kings and princes and ancestors and to all the people of the land.

Lord, You are in the right; but as You see, our faces are covered with shame. This is true of all of us, including the people of Judah and Jerusalem and all Israel, scattered near and far, wherever You have driven us because of our disloyalty to You. O Lord, we and our kings, princes, and ancestors are covered with shame because we have sinned against You. But the Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against Him. We have not obeyed the Lord our God, for we have not followed the instructions He gave us through His servants the prophets. All Israel has disobeyed Your instruction and turned away, refusing to listen to Your voice.

So now the solemn curses and judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured down on us because of our sin. You have kept Your word and done to us and our rulers exactly as You warned. Never has there been such a disaster as happened in Jerusalem. Every curse written against us in the Law of Moses has come true. Yet we have refused to seek mercy from the Lord our God by turning from our sins and recognizing His truth. Therefore the Lord has brought upon us the disaster He prepared. The Lord our God was right to do all of these things, for we did not obey Him.

O Lord our God, You brought lasting honor to Your name by rescuing Your people from Egypt in a great display of power. But we have sinned and are full of wickedness. In view of all Your faithful mercies, Lord, please turn Your furious anger away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain. All the neighboring nations mock Jerusalem and Your people because of our sins and the sins of our ancestors.

O our God, hear Your servant’s prayer. For your own sake, Lord, smile again on Your desolate sanctuary

Oh my God, lean down and listen to me. Open Your eyes and see our despair. See how Your city—the city that bears Your name—lies in ruins. We make this plea, not because we deserve help, but because of Your mercy.

O Lord, hear. O Lord, forgive. O Lord, listen and act. For your own sake, do not delay, O my God, for Your people and Your city bear Your name’”.

That prayer by Daniel moved the hand of God and caused Heaven to come down. Right after he prayed that prayer, the angel Gabriel appeared to Daniel and gave him one of the greatest prophecies in the entire Bible. This prophecy talked about the return to Jerusalem, it included the time of the Messiah, a time when you’re going to be looking for that Messiah to come, and it also included what to look for in the time at the end.

Can you imagine what would happen if every pastor in every church in this nation that professes Christ as Lord led their people in that prayer for their church and for our country? There would not be enough seats to satisfy. I’m not calling us into a time of weepy repentance, but I am challenging all of us, myself included in this, to think differently, act differently, and pray differently.

IN CONCLUSION

Pray with a sense of urgency, which is what the times require. Don’t wait until tomorrow to do it. Do it right after you get out of church today. Do it when you go to your next meal, and you’re about ready to say grace. Take a couple of extra minutes. Your food is going to be warm still, don’t worry about it.

Take a couple extra minutes and pray as God is telling you to pray when you lie down tonight. Put your head on the pillow and, whether it’s with your spouse or by yourself, just take a couple of moments and say, Lord, how do You want me to pray?

Go to the Book of Daniel, chapter 9. Strengthen yourself in the Lord and take your stand. Set your face to the Lord and pray. Change will happen, but it needs to happen one circle of influence at a time. 

Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your Word. We thank you for the prophets, Joel and Daniel, and the instruction that they give us and the words that are there, Father. We thank You for Your mercy, for Your forgiveness. Yes, Your judgments are real, and we’re living within the time of Your judgments as these seals continue to be broken and Your judgment is poured out.

But Father, we pray that we are strengthened and encouraged through the power of Your Holy Spirit and through the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. We pray that we are not ashamed to share the Gospel and that we will go wherever it is that You lead us to advance this Kingdom because the times require it. 

As Daniel prayed, Lord, lean down now and hear us as we pray these things in the precious name of Your Son, Jesus, amen.