put out of his head; and he was bound in fetters of brass and cast into a dungeon in Babylon. (2 Kings 25:7). That is the way he reaped what he had sown. Surely it is an evil and a bitter thing to backslide, but the Lord would win you back with the message of His Work.
In Jeremiah 8:5, we read: “Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden by a perpetual backsliding? They hold fast deceit; They refuse to return .” That is what the Lord brings against them. “ They refuse to return .” “I hearkened and heard; but they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? Every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle. Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but My people know not the judgment of the Lord.”
Now look: “I hearkened and heard; but they spake not aright.” No family altar! No reading the Bible! No closet devotion! God stoops to hear; but His people have turned away! If there be a penitent backslider, one who is anxious for pardon and restoration, you will find no words more tender than are to be found in Jeremiah 3:12: “Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not cause Mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger forever.” Now notice: “Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the stranger under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed My voice, saith the Lord. Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you”—think of God coming and saying, “ I am married unto you! —and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion.”
“Only acknowledge thine iniquity.” How many times have I held that passage up to a backslider! “Acknowledge” it; and God says I will forgive you. I remember a man asking, “Who said that? Is that there?” And I