Parresia · Boldness to Love the Truth

Transcript/ notes from Session 2, “Boldness to Love the Truth”

Introduction

Welcome to Session 2 of the revival series. This session is entitled, “Boldness to Love the Truth”

At first, I named this message “Boldness to Share the Truth.” But I changed it to “Boldness to Love the Truth,” Because before you can have boldness to share the Truth, you have to love the Truth. Before you can love the Truth, you must know the Truth. 

John 8:32 – “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” [My hope for today is that we are going to be filled with such love for the Truth the we are compelled by love to share the truth that will set a generation free.]

Turn the hearts

I want to begin with the last words of the Lord to mankind at the end of the Old Testament. These very words were the first words from the Lord in the New Testament.

Malachi 4:6, NASB – [God said He would send Elijah the prophet who would – ] He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers. [Restore is the Hebrew word shuwb. It means “to return, turn back, refresh, repair, bring back, be brought back.”]

Between the last words of the Lord spoken in the Old Testament and His first words in the New Testament, God was silent for 400 years.

During that time the people were miserably divided. Animosity caused civil wars. They were divided into religious, political factions, mainly led by the Sadducees, who were the party of the high priests, aristocratic families, and merchants; and the Pharisees, who were the philosophical, bureaucratic, legal, scholarly class.

The Sadducees were the elite oligarchs of their day, and the Pharisees were the elite academic and judicial class. Does that sound familiar?  The leaders of these factions alienated and separated families from each other. Families were broken. Does this sound familiar?

After 400 years, when God finally spoke through the angel Gabriel, He foretold of the revival of their day that would prepare the way for the first coming of our Lord Jesus.

The foundational element of that revival would be the restoration of families. I believe that before the second coming of Jesus, we will see the same thing.

In Luke 1, the angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah, the priest, to tell him that he would have a son, and he would name him John, who would become known as John the Baptist.

Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth, the cousin of Mary who would become the mother of Jesus, were past the age of childbearing but had prayed for many years to have a son. While Zechariah was in the temple praying, the angel Gabriel appeared to him telling him he would have a son –

Luke 1:17, NIV – “And he [John] will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, [In other words, the angel was telling Zechariah that his son would be the messenger prophesied in Malachi. He would prepare the way of Jesus with the same integrity, courage, and fervor of Elijah, with the same uncompromising to truth. He would] to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and [And then the angel of the Lord interprets the prophesy of Malachi 4:6 – Instead of “he will turn the hearts of the children to their parents,” He said, “He will turn] the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” [Speaking of the coming of Jesus]

John would turn the parents and the children to one Master (Jesus). “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin the of world,” and in so doing all their differences would be forgotten, and they would be brought into unity in the faith. Peace would be restored to families.

The angel said he would “turn the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous.” The Greek word translated “disobedient” from Strong’s concordance means “not compliant, impersuasible, contumacious.”

Impersuasible means nothing will move them. They cannot be persuaded. They are inflexible. Does this sound familiar?

Contumacious means headstrong; insolent; resisting legitimate authority; stubbornly disobedient or rebellious. Does this sound familiar?

Today we are living in an era of history where this describes the situation in many families. Parents and children are divided. But we can know for sure that it is God’s will for parents and children to turn to Jesus and for parents to turn to their children, and children to return to their parents and to the wisdom of the righteous.

The word wisdom there is a different Greek word than is commonly used. The more common word is “sophia.” But this is a different word that means “knowledge and holy love of the will of God.” That is what’s coming! Can you imagine a lost generation with a holy love of the will of God? And not to go on to much of a rabbit trail, what is the will of God? Jesus said,

Hebrews 10:9-10, 17-20 – “Behold, I have come to DO YOUR WILL, O God.” [Then He tells us what the will of God is: ] He takes away the first that He may establish the second. [Jesus took away the first covenant of law to establish the new covenant of grace. He takes away the Old Covenant of law that says you are what you do, and you are doomed, and you will never be accepted, and you will  never measure up. And He ushers in the New Covenant of grace, where our identity is not in our flesh. Our identity is in Jesus, and we are set free from sin and death.] 10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. [sanctified means “made holy,” separated unto God ONCE FOR ALL! ] … 17 then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” 18 NOW where there is remission of these [in other word, forgiveness of sins and lawless deeds], there is no longer an offering for sin. [there is nothing left for you to do to to be forgiven!] 19 Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus 20 by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh…. [Jesus became the barrier between God and man so the barrier could be removed, opening a new and living way to God. So this is the will of God! Imagine a revival where the children have a “knowledge and holy love for the will of God”!]

Do you know someone who is impersuasible and contumacious? Does it seem impossible that they could ever turn to Jesus and or return home to their families? Nothing is impossible with God.

Paul, the apostle who wrote 2/3 of the New Testament said that at one time he had been a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man. (1 Timothy 1:13) He said he had done everything he could to oppose the very name of Jesus. (Acts 26:9)

No one is beyond the reach of God’s grace. It is God’s will for families to be restored and for a rebellious, confused, lost generation to turn to Jesus so we can pray boldly for this without hesitation.

1 John 5:14-15 – Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

The effective, fervent prayer of the righteous

James 5 says, 

James 5:16-18 – The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. [Who are the righteous? We are! That is our position in heavenly places in Christ. Our effective, fervent prayers avail much. Avail means “to have power as shown by extraordinary deeds; to exert, wield power, to have strength to overcome”] 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, [He was just human] and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit. 

This is a reference to 1 Kings chapter 18 and the story of God telling Elijah the prophet that there would be a drought for a 3 1/2 years, and then the rain would come. Elijah told the King Ahab that a mighty rainstorm was coming, but still Elijah prayed earnestly. 

He went to the top of Mount Carmel and squatted (as if in childbirth) with his face between his knees and prayed for the rain. He told his servant to “Go look out toward the sea” for rain clouds.

1 Kings 18:43-45, NLT – The servant went and looked, then returned to Elijah and said, “I didn’t see anything.” Seven times Elijah told him to go and look. 44 Finally the seventh time, his servant told him, “I saw a little cloud about the size of a man’s hand rising from the sea.” Then Elijah shouted, “Hurry to Ahab and tell him, ‘Climb into your chariot and go back home. If you don’t hurry, the rain will stop you!’” 45 And soon the sky was black with clouds. A heavy wind brought a terrific rainstorm.

Rain in the Bible speaks of the Holy Spirit. As we pray for the rain of revival, we are praying for the Lord to pour out His Spirit on our sons and daughters and on all people. And we know the rain will bring the harvest.

James 5:19-20 – [Elijah “prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.” The next verse in James 5 tells us what the fruit is – ] Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

Did you realize that the reference in James 5 to the effective, fervent prayers of Elijah praying for rain was in the context of turning sinners from the error of their ways and back to the truth?

What does it mean to turn a sinner from the error of his way? It means you unveil Jesus to him. It means that you turn him to the One who doesn’t expose his sin, but takes it away. 

It means that you cover his sin to protect him from people. The word “cover” means “to hinder the knowledge of a thing.” 

1 Peter 4:8 – And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”

Unconditional love doesn’t deny sin, it covers it because unconditional love despises shame.

About 10 years ago, when I was shopping with one of my daughters at the Summit, and I was standing in the middle of some clothing racks, the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart, “When the lost and wandering younger generation comes to your door and ask, ‘What must I do to be saved?’ I want you to nip condemnation in the bud.”

Yesterday as I was remembering that moment, I recalled a young girl about 21 years old who came up to me close to 20 years ago for prayer at one of our retreats in the old days. And she told me that she had slept with over 100 men. I think I have heard it all. My heart has been broken over and over and over again from the things that I have heard. 

But what is happening with young people today is not like anything we have ever seen. The Lord told me that when they are saved, the spirit of legalism and religion will try to steal their freedom with condemnation. Are we ready to nip condemnation in the bud? There is no condemnation in Jesus.

Colossians 2:6 – As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him…

How does anyone receive Christ Jesus? By grace through faith. How to they walk it out? By grace through faith. Legalism has never worked and never will. Only grace works. We need to nip condemnation in the bud.

Laura

A few years ago I listened to an interview of a mom who told the story of her lost daughter coming home.

She had prayed earnestly for her daughter to be delivered from a false identity, an extremely dark lifestyle, and an impersuasible heart.

The young woman had every surgery and medication available to try to change her identity from female to male. Her name was Laura, but she legally changed her name to Steve. She was so manly that people she worked with never knew she was actually a woman.

But her parents always called her Laura. Her mom told how she never backed down with the enemy, never took the path of least resistance, and never compromised on what God had said concerning her daughter. 

She never entertained the lies of the devil, and never accepted the daughter’s false identity out of a fear of losing her. Instead, she loved her unconditionally and always treated her with gentleness, kindness, and grace.

Nine years into the mom’s prayers, Jesus shed the light of the gospel into her daughter’s heart in a miraculous encounter. Her daughter was gloriously delivered, and she returned home at age 34.

In the interview, the mom said, “when they come to the end of themselves . . . They always return to the people that spoke truth to them.”

This mom dared to disagree with her daughter because she loved her too much to compromise on God’s plans. It takes boldness to disagree in our world today.

Disagreement

The enemy has done something diabolically clever in our culture: he has made truth relative, and he has made disagreement a sign of devaluing the worth of another person, when in reality, truth is objective and disagreement is actually a sign of showing a person’s value to you because you care enough to refuse to agree with destructive lies.

In our culture today, we are conditioned to believe that disagreement leads to intolerance which leads to violence. It’s either fight or flight. Therefore we avoid disagreement at all costs.

But avoiding disagreement doesn’t bring people together, it actually keeps them apart because it creates invisible walls of distrust. “Safe spaces” are constructed where disagreement is not allowed. But safe spaces are anything but safe! You aren’t safe if you are locked in deception!

In the Bible, deception is called a prison of darkness. God’s will is that we be delivered from the prison of darkness so we can see the truth – light.

Psalm 146:7-8, NLT – The Lord frees the prisoners. [How?] 8 The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are weighed down.

Isaiah 35:4-6 – “He will come and save you.” [How?] 5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, [to see the Truth] and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. [to hear the Truth] 6 Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.

Isaiah 42:6-7, 16 – [God said to His Son – ] “I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles, 7 to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house.… 16 I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, and not forsake them.”

When Jesus began His earthly ministry, He stood up in the Temple and read from Isaiah 61 which prophesied of His coming: 

Isaiah 61:1 – “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.”

The phrase “opening of the prison” is a double Hebrew word (“PĔQACH-QOWACH”) which literally means “the OPENING of the EYES (wide).” 

Jesus came to open the eyes of the blind to the truth – the Truth about God and His love. Jesus is the Light – the revelation of the God of grace and mercy – who overcomes the darkness of deception.

Acts 26:17-18, NLT – [After Paul had encountered Jesus in a bright light on the road to Damascus, Jesus commissioned him saying – ] “I am sending you to the Gentiles 18 to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s people, who are set apart by faith in me.”

But imagine a blind person who does not know he is blind. In fact, his deception is that he thinks he sees perfectly. He doesn’t know his need for Jesus. That’s the state of our world right now.

So how does sharing the Gospel work in a world like this? We are not allowed to disagree or else we will be called intolerant, and we are warned that the next step is violence. 

If you cannot disagree with someone who is blind, lost, and on a path of destruction, how will they ever change their minds and turn to Jesus?

First of all, we must know the truth, love the truth, and be compelled by love to share the truth – at all costs. I wrote the following blog for my website after I named my ministry Parresia. 

Are You a Parrhesiastes?

“Are you a Parrhesiastes?”

Has telling the truth cost you something? You may be a parrhesiastes. 

Parresía: a Greek word that mean freedom in speaking, unreservedness in speech; openly, frankly, without concealment; free and fearless confidence, cheerful courage, boldness, assurance [Strong’s Concordance] 

Parresia [par-uh-see’-ah]: boldness to tell the truth

Parrhesiastes [par-uh-see’-ist]: one who boldly tells the truth

Description of a parrhesiastes [written in “she” because the author is a “she”; however, men can be parrhesiastes’s, as well]:

A “teller of truth” doesn’t hide anything, but opens her heart and mind completely to other people through her speaking. In parresia, the parrhesiastes gives a complete and exact account of what she has in mind so that the audience is able to comprehend exactly what she thinks. The parrhesiastes always says what she knows to be true; there is always an exact correlation between belief and truth. If there is a kind of “proof” of the sincerity of the parrhesiastes, it is her courage. The fact that she says something dangerous — different from what the majority believes— is a strong indication that she is a parrhesíastes. The parrhesíastes is someone who takes a risk. Parresia, then, is linked to courage to speak the truth in the face of danger. And in its extreme form, telling the truth can cost the parrhesiastes her life. She would risk death to tell the truth instead of settling in the security of a life where the truth goes unspoken. She prefers herself as a truth-teller rather than as a living being who is false to herself. No one forces her to speak; but she feels that it is her duty to do so. 

The parrhesiastes uses her freedom to choose: 

• frankness instead of persuasion,
• truth instead of falsehood or silence,
• the risk of death instead of life and security,
• criticism instead of flattery,
• moral duty instead of self-interest and moral apathy.

John 8:32 – “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

Regard no one according to the flesh

If we are going to turn the lost and deceived from the error of their way and turn their eyes upon Jesus, we must have His mindset.  We must pray from the perspective of our position in heaven. We must see beyond the flesh to the spirit. 

2 Corinthians 5:16 – Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. [We don’t regard people by the way the look, the way they act, or the way they speak. We regard with according to the spirit. What does God see when He looks at them? What is God’s heart for them?]

We aren’t in a battle against flesh and blood. We are not in a debate with human beings. We are not trying to convince someone to join our team. We are praying for eyes to be opened. Paul said to young Timothy – 

2 Timothy 2:23-26, NLT – Again I say, don’t get involved in foolish, ignorant arguments that only start fights. 24 A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people. 25 Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth. [Who does it? God does.] 26 Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil’s trap. For they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants.

There’s no better prayer for the lost, blind, and deceived than to pray that God will change their hearts and they will learn the truth.

Pray that they come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil so that they are no longer held captive by him to do his will.

No one was ever saved because they lost a foolish, ignorant argument. Those only start fights.” We are saved when Jesus is revealed to them.

Titus 3:4-7, NLT – When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, 5 he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.  He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. 6 He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. 7 Because of his grace he made us right in his sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.

God’s love does not “tolerate”

The enemy has convinced us that we should “tolerate” others by not disagreeing with them. But think about it: we tolerate people who annoy us. We tolerate people we must co-exist with, but would rather not engage with. We tolerate people we hate.

Did God tolerate us? Are we just “tolerable” to Him? No. Toleration would never have motivated God to give His Son, His Only Son as a sacrifice for our sins. Only extravagant love would have sent Jesus to the cross. 

God loved us too much to leave us in the condition of sin and death, darkness and deception.

Romans 5:6-8 – For when we were still without strength, [TLB – “When we were utterly helpless, with no way of escape”] in due time Christ died for the ungodly. [What does “ungodly” mean? The Greek word is “asebēs” (as-eb-ace’), and it means “destitute of reverential awe towards God, treating God with contempt or scorn, despising God, impious; irreverent, wicked; a vehement condemnation of God as low, vile, feeble, or ignominious; pouring scorn on God; to value God at little or nothing.” In a word, the ungodly are the enemies of God. So “in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” verse 7 – ] 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

This proves that God’s love cannot be earned, and it can’t be lost because it was given first – while we were still sinners Christ died for us.

The natural mindset is that if anyone knew us completely, they wouldn’t be able to love us completely. So we have to hide the truth about ourselves to find love.

But God doesn’t ask us to make that choice. He loved us before we loved Him. 

1 John 4:10, 16, 19, NASB – In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation [the self-sacrifice] for our sins….  16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love…  [His love isn’t something He does or feels. It’s who He is.] 19  We love because He first loved us. [His love isn’t a response to our love, but a love that we respond to.]

God isn’t surprised that we have betrayed Him. He knows us inside and out. He isn’t drawn to us because of our outward performance. Our fig leaves don’t fool Him.

And our hidden sin doesn’t repel Him. Nothing is hidden from Him. He is drawn to us because He is love, and we are His beloved.

The woman at the well ran to the people in the city and said – 

John 4:29, NLT – “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?” [The truth is that God knows everything about us, and He loves us anyway.]

And instead of holding the truth of our sin over our heads, He allowed the truth of our sin to be held over His head. He became sin with our sinfulness. He identified with the truth about us so that we could identify with the truth about Him!

Jesus could have stayed in heaven and kept the two realms of heaven and earth separated. He could have let you be you. He could have kept to Himself and just created another world. 

When satan deceived Adam and Eve in the Garden, God could have said, “Fine. Devil, you can have them.” But He couldn’t do that because He loved us too much.

God disagreed with us by sending Jesus

We tend to think that the only truth God is interested in is the truth about our failures. 

When in reality, the Truth that God is focused on is Jesus because Jesus is His very image and nature. You want to know what God is like? Look at Jesus. The Truth God wants us to know is the Gospel. The Truth that God is interested in is that He didn’t send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save it.

You know how valuable something is by how much someone is willing to pay for it. You know how much you are loved by what someone is willing to give up for you. 

1 John 3:16, NIV – This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.

Sin and condemnation tell us that we are unworthy. Shame tells us that we are unlovable. The cross was Jesus’s greatest expression of love because it was His greatest expression of disagreement with the lie that we are unlovable and unworthy.

Everything about Jesus’s life on earth expressed God’s disagreement with the way things were. The enemy says, “Everything is great!” God disagreed by sending Jesus.

• Jesus healed because people were sick, and that was not ok!
• He delivered because people were in bondage, and that was not ok!
• He saved because people were dying, and that was not ok!
• He touched the untouchables because isolation was not ok.
• He accepted the rejected because shame was not ok.
• He forgave the guilty because condemnation was not ok.
• He brought near those who were far away because separation from God was not ok.

And He brought us near through His own blood. 

Everything about His life disagreed with the mindset of this world.

Matthew 20:27-28, NLT – “Whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. 28 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

The gospel is the power of God

When we are afraid to disagree with the Sadducees and the Pharisees of our day, I think it’s because we have forgotten how powerful the gospel is. It’s not just words on a page. It is the power of God to salvation.

Romans 1:16 – For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, [the “euangelion” – good news that seems to be too good to be true. The gospel of Christ -] for it is the [dunamis] power of God to salvation for everyone who believes…

Why is it so powerful? Because it is the Truth. The truth is more powerful than the lies! Truth always wins.

The gospel of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is the light  – the revelation of God – that overcomes the darkness of the world. 

• The Truth of the gospel overcomes death with life. 
• The Truth of the gospel overcomes hopelessness with joy. 
• The Truth of the gospel overcomes shame with honor. 
• The Truth of the gospel turns a sinner into a brand new creation, holy, blameless, and righteous. 

The gospel is the power of God to salvation.

1 Corinthians 1:20-21, 24 – Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through [its] wisdom did not know God, [God saw to it that the world would never know Him through human wisdom] it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. … 24  Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

The phrase “the message preached” is the Greek word “kerygma.” [kā’-rüg-mä] It’s a kind of announcement that when it is proclaimed, it happens. It’s  has the power for its own fulfillment.

The gospel is not just ordinary words! The gospel is the living word of God.

1 Peter 1:23-25, NIV – For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, [not of human origin] but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, 25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you. [What is “THE WORD” – “He gave Himself for her.” And that phrase “the word that was preached” is the Greek word “euangelizō”, the verb form of Gospel – “euangelion”] 

Romans 10:17, NASB – so faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

What is the “word of Christ?” Like I said last time: “Hear ye! Hear ye! God is not counting your sins against you. God loves you unconditionally! All of your sins were counted against Jesus! Do you believe this?!! Will you receive His forgiveness and grace today!”

That is a totally different sound than the sound of revenge and unforgiveness and competition and comparison and resentment and blame and bitterness that people are hearing in the world.

The gospel is seed that we sow, but not seed we produce. It is God’s living word. We water it with our prayers, our tears, and our love, but only He can cause it to grow. We aren’t responsible for the results. We sow, we sleep, and we reap.

Mark 4:26-29 —“The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, 27 and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. 28 For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. 29 But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

One day we will see the harvest, and our prayers will be transformed into joyful praises and thanksgiving.

Psalm 126:6 – He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again [“Doubtless come again” is the same Hebrew word twice “bô’ bô”, meaning “it will come it will come!” It’s emphatic, like when Jesus would say, Truly, truly – the Greek word Amen. He would say, “Amen Amen, so be it, so be it!” You shall come again- ] with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. 

Psalm 30:5 – Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

Jeremiah 31:9, 13-17, NLT – Tears of joy will stream down their faces, and I will lead them home with great care. They will walk beside quiet streams and on smooth paths where they will not stumble.…13 I will turn their mourning into joy. I will comfort them and exchange their sorrow for rejoicing… 15 “A cry is heard in Ramah—  deep anguish and bitter weeping. Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted—for her children are gone.” 16 But now this is what the Lord says: “Do not weep any longer, for I will reward you,” says the Lord. “Your children will come back to you from the distant land of the enemy. 17 There is hope for your future,” says the Lord. “Your children will come again to their own land…” 

Let’s go back to the last verse of the Old Testament: 

Malachi 4:6 – “He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, [and the last phrase which I didn’t read earlier] lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”

Those are the very last words of God under the Old Covenant. The very last words of the New Testament are – 

Revelation 22:21 – The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

The old is gone. The new has come!

John 14:6 – [Jesus said,] “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Truth is a Person, and His name is Jesus. If truth is a Person, then Truth is personal. If Truth is a Person, and if that Person is love, then we never have to doubt that Truth loves us. 

We think Truth can’t love us. We remember the Old Covenant scriptures like,

Numbers 32:23, NIV – You may be sure that your sin will find you out!

But under Grace, under the New Covenant, our sin doesn’t find us, Jesus found our sin and washed it away in His blood. That’s the Gospel truth.

Truth is a Person who is inviting every single other person on earth into a personal relationship with the God of grace and mercy – a God who welcomes the impersuasible and contumacious home with compassion, falls on their necks and kisses them, removes their sin as far as the east from the west, and remembers their sin no more. 

Now that’s the Truth you can love. That’s the Truth you can boldly share. 

Amen?

Prayers

Lord Jesus, You have taken all of our sins into Your body on the cross. You took them in the grave and rose again without them. We stand righteous before Your throne of grace. We lay our requests before You knowing that when we pray according to Your will You hear us and give us the requests we have asked of You. You have kept every prayer and every tear in Your bottle and recorded them in Your book. You are the Promise Keeper. Once again, we pray that You awaken and deliver this generation. Rescue all the children from the power of darkness and bring them home to You and to their families. Will You restore everything that has been lost or stolen from every family, including our own families? In Jesus’s name we pray. Amen

Lord, we know how this story ends: the children of this generation will return to You. But while we wait, we pray like Elijah, with courage and fervor – as in the pains of childbirth – until we see Jesus fully formed in this younger generation. Will You turn the hearts of the parents back to their children? Will You turn the hearts of the disobedient to the holy love of Your will? Will You remove all of the obstacles the enemy has laid for them and make the path straight and level? Will You make the darkness light before them and lead them home? All of Your promises are YES in Jesus. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. In Jesus’s name, AMEN.

Lord, will You flood the hearts of this generation with Your Light? Will You pour out Your Spirit on this generation? Will You wash away the years of shame, destruction, and deception? Will You renew every mind and quicken every spirit? Will You send revival and bring life to every lost of son and daughter? Will You restore hope to parents? I pray for the sound of praise to our Lord Jesus Christ and singing in the streets and from the mountain tops. I pray for every confused son and daughter to come to their senses and return home to You and to their families. I pray for the greatest restoration of families that the world has every seen!

Copyright info: All scriptures in the New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

• (NKJV) New King James Version. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
• (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
• (NLT) Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
• (NASB) Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)