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I will arise and return to my Father. I renounce the lie that I am too far gone. God’s covenant love outruns my failure. His call is clear: “Return.” His promise is sure: “I will heal your backslidings and love you freely.”

I will come through the Door who is Jesus Christ. I will bring words of repentance. I will take hold of mercy, receive cleansing, and be planted again in the courts of the Lord. I choose today to sing again, to walk again, to bear fruit again, for the Lord is my God.

Listen to the hope for the backslider sermon

Hope For Backsliders

Discover the depth of God’s love for you

A Word To Your Heart

Friends, praise the Lord for His kindness. Brethren, this is not theory. This is God speaking to real people with real messes who stand at a crossroads. You may feel wrecked, numb, or ashamed.

You may be sitting in church yet drifting inside, or you may be far away in open rebellion. Hear this: God still calls, God still heals, God still restores. Will you listen?

Why Hope Matters

Faith is mighty. Yet faith reaches for what hope holds out. Lose hope and you stop reaching. That is why the Lord lays a living hope in front of the backslider. See His heart in Scripture. Let it pull you home.

The Picture In Hosea: God’s Broken Heart, God’s Boundless Love

Read Hosea 1–2 slowly and let it talk to you. God tells Hosea to marry a wayward woman so Israel might see what their spiritual adultery feels like to the Lord. This is weighty. It is not light to backslide.

God announces judgment through the children’s names: Jezreel signifies the breaking of Israel’s bow, Lo-ruhamah “no mercy,” and Lo-ammi “not my people” (Hosea 1:1-2, 3-4, 7-9, KJV). That lands hard, doesn’t it?
Yet right in the shadow of judgment comes a promise that shocks the soul: “In the place… Ye are not my people, there it shall be said… Ye are the sons of the living God.” And Judah and Israel will be gathered under one Head. We know who that is. Christ (Hosea 1:10-11).

Question: Who talks like this after being betrayed? God does. His justice is real, yet His mercy keeps opening doors.

The Wilderness And The Door Of Hope

Backsliding chases other lovers and calls them “my bread… my wool… my flax” (Hosea 2:5). God exposes the lie. He hedges the path with thorns so the counterfeit cannot be caught, because chasing idols never satisfies (Hosea 2:6-8, 9-13). That sounds like our stories, right? The party fades. The laughter thins. The joy dries up.

Then the turn: “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.” He gives vineyards there and opens “the valley of Achor for a door of hope” so she will sing again like the early days (Hosea 2:14-15).

Friends, thank you Lord for such patience. Have you felt the thorns? Good. They are mercy. They are steering you to the Door.

From Master To Husband

Hear the tenderness: “Thou shalt call me Ishi” which means “my husband,” and not “Baali” which means “my master” (Hosea 2:16-17).

This is covenant relationship, not cold religion. The Lord breaks war, secures peace, and makes you lie down safely (Hosea 2:18). He betroths you forever “in righteousness… in judgment… in lovingkindness… in mercies… in faithfulness.”

Then “thou shalt know the LORD.” The harvest of corn, wine, and oil returns. Lo-ruhamah becomes Ruhamah. Lo-ammi becomes Ammi. You say, “Thou art my God,” and He says, “Thou art my people.” Praise be to God for this full-circle grace (Hosea 2:19-23).

How To Come Back: God’s Simple Path

“O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.” Here is the way: “Take with you words, and turn to the LORD.” Talk to Him. Confess.

Ask, “Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously” and offer “the calves of our lips” which is the sacrifice of praise (Hosea 14:1-2).

Drop the backup plans. Asshur will not save you. Horses will not carry you out. Idols cannot answer. “For in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.” Then comes the promise that lifts the heaviest soul: “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely.”

Let that sentence sit inside you. God Himself treats backsliding like a sickness He heals (Hosea 14:3-4).

What does healing look like? Dew on you. Lily beauty. Lebanon roots. Olive strength. Vine fruitfulness. Those who dwell under your shade return and revive. The fragrance of your life changes (Hosea 14:5-6).

You will say, “What have I to do any more with idols?” and become like a green fir tree whose fruit is from the Lord (Hosea 14:8-9). Friends, is this not the future you want?

Jeremiah’s Plea: “Return… And I Will Not Keep Anger For Ever.”

Jeremiah holds up a mirror. Backsliding is spiritual adultery. Israel chased every high place and every green tree. The rain stopped. Shame was gone. Sin was brazen. Still God cried, “Turn thou unto me.”

Judah watched and did religion “feignedly,” not with a whole heart. The Lord says something startling: “The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.” Why? Because hypocrisy is worse than open wandering (Jeremiah 3:1-7, 8-10, 11).

Then hear the gospel in Old Testament clothes: “Return, thou backsliding Israel… for I am merciful… and I will not keep anger for ever.” “Only acknowledge thine iniquity.” Say the truth about your sin. Turn, O backsliding children, for I am married unto you.”

He promises shepherds after His heart to feed you with knowledge and understanding, and He speaks of days so full that the ark itself fades from the center because God Himself will be among His people (Jeremiah 3:12-16, 20-22). Friends, that is restoration with substance, not just sentiment.

The Cross And The Cure

Now lift your eyes to Calvary. “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree… by whose stripes ye were healed.” Healed of what? Yes, bodily sickness has its place in God’s mercy, but Peter drives the arrow deeper: “For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.” The stripes of Christ heal backsliding hearts and lead wandering sheep home (1 Peter 2:24-25, KJV). This is the fulfillment of Hosea and Jeremiah. This is how Lo-ammi becomes Ammi. This is how the Door in Achor becomes the Door in heaven. Jesus is that Door. Enter.

The Church’s Holy Assignment

Brethren, if you catch a brother drifting, do not gawk, do not gossip, do not grind them down. Go get them. “If any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him… he… shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.”

That is not soft on sin. That is obedience to Jesus and love that acts with urgency and meekness (James 5:19-20). Friends, praise the Lord for any who came after you. Now be that person for someone else.

Warnings That Save, Comfort That Strengthens

Let’s be honest. Backsliding makes you God-forsaken in experience, desolate, oppressed, inconsistent like a cake unturned, cowardly, selfish, unsatisfied, and vain.

Sin takes your money, your time, your peace. The devil is a thief. Yet in Christ, the years the locust has eaten are not the last word. God can replant you, re-root you, and make you sing again. Will you let Him?

What To Do Right Now

Return with words. Say it plain to God. No excuses. “Only acknowledge thine iniquity” (Jeremiah 3:13).
Come through the Door. Stop waiting to “fix yourself first.” You cannot. Come now.
Plant your life again in His house. Receive the shepherding God promised. Open your Bible. Pray. Rejoin the brethren.
Offer the calves of your lips. Praise before you feel it. It opens the door for dew.
Refuse the old idols. Ask the Spirit to break their power and to restore your first love.
Help another wanderer. Step into James 5:19-20 and go after a brother or sister.

A Pastoral Appeal

Friends, praise be to God, you are not the one exception to mercy. You are not the rare case that grace cannot reach. The Lord who said “I will heal their backsliding” means you. Will you answer Him today?

A Prayer Of Return

Lord Jesus, Door of hope, I return. I bring words and ask, take away all iniquity and receive me graciously. I renounce my idols. I cannot save myself. Heal my backsliding and love me freely as You promised.

Plant me again like Lebanon. Make me fruitful like the olive and the vine. Put a song back in my mouth. I say, “Thou art my God.” And I hear You say, “Thou art my people.” In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Scriptures Woven Through This Message

Hosea 1:1-2, 3-4, 7-9, 10-11; Hosea 2:1-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-13, 14-15, 16-23; Hosea 14:1-2, 3-6, 8-9
Jeremiah 3:1-7, 8-10, 11-16, 20-22
1 Peter 2:24-25
James 5:19-20

Friends, thank you Lord for such a gospel. Return. The Door is open. The Father is waiting. The Spirit is ready to heal. And you will sing again.

Call to Action: The Question That Demands an Answer

In Acts 2:37 Peter and the Apostles were asked the question – What Shall We do?

And in Acts 2:38 Peter answered, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

Do you understand this? After hearing the gospel and believing, they asked what should would do. The answer hasn’t changed friend, Peter clearly gave the answer. The question for you today is, Have you receieved the Holy Spirit Since you believed?

If you’re ready to take that step, or you want to learn more about what it means to be born again of water and Spirit, visit:
👉 revivalnsw.com.au

Come, and let the Spirit make you new.