1 Sam 12:16-25 Getting Right and Staying Right CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
Have you ever gotten out of fellowship with the Lord and then come back to him? I have. Are you out of fellowship with him now? Well, let me tell you that there are some definite things involved in getting right and those things are listed in order in this passage.
The best way to get right and to stay right is through:
The Chastening Hand of the Lord – v.17-18 – you have to recognize those things that have been done against you that the Lord was doing to get you back to him. Not all things are the chastening hand of God; but those things that are need to be recognized as such because they get you looking at yourself from God’s perspective
The Fear of God – v.18 – as we have discussed in recent lessons, the fear of God is vital to the quality of your spiritual life
The Confession of Sin – v.19 – you have to acknowledge your sin and confess and forsake it 1 Jn 1:9, Prov 28:13
True Repentance – v.20-21 – which is a lot more than just sorrow; it involves:
- Submission to God – v.20 – turning not aside from following him and serving him with all your heart
- Elimination of Vanities – v.21 – which involves turning away from and ridding yourself of those idols and things that cannot profit you or deliver you and which keep you from serving the Lord – could be religious or worldly in nature
The Assurance of Salvation – v.22 – it helps to remember that he never leaves us forsakes us and that because of the assurance of salvation we can get going for him right away; we don’t have to grovel around trying to “make it up to him” for months or years before we can serve him
The Counsel/Intercession of a friend – v.23 – it really helps to have someone praying for you to stay right and it really helps to have their counsel when you are getting right
The Remembrance of God’s goodness – v.24 – this leads to further repentance [Rom 2:4] and it also reminds you just how good God is – that’s an encouragement to you to keep from straying again
An Admonition against doing it again – v.25 – we need to be soundly warned against returning to those old ways that caused us to fall out with the Lord in the first place – this reinforces the fear of God in our lives