No matter how far

Come Thou Fount: A Man Who Lost His Song

Many of you wouldn't have heard of a man called Robert Robinson. He was a hymn writer way back in the day, and we used to sing his hymns when I got saved. We've written so many contemporary songs today that we no longer sing some of these old, profound hymns. The language is a bit out of date, but he wrote a profound hymn called Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing — in other words, "come, fountain that brings mercy and grace and blessing."

That song has been sung for literally hundreds of years. But the strange thing about Robert Robinson is that he lost his faith. He backslid. He became depressed and negative, and he started to drift far from God. In that state, he couldn't overcome it, and though he tried several things, he decided, "I'm going to travel." He didn't really know where he wanted to go — he just decided to travel.

On his travels, he accidentally bumped into a lady. No romantic attachment — he just began to chat to her, and she chatted to him. She felt she wanted to share some of her spiritual life with him. One day she said, "Tell me, Robert, what do you think of this hymn that I've just read?" He didn't want to talk about hymns, so he avoided the topic. The next day she approached him again: "No, I want you to look at this hymn."

He turned to her and said, "I wrote that hymn." Can you believe it? He said, "I'm the man who wrote that hymn many years ago. I'd give anything to experience again the joy I knew then."

She was shocked, but she began to share with him — from his own hymn — the mercy and forgiveness and grace that the Lord could offer him. And he began to believe again. He began to go to church again, to read his Bible and call on God. Though he was once far off from the Lord, he was brought back to his salvation.

Do you know you can be an established Christian and drift very far from God, and no one can even know what's happening in your heart? You can end up trapped in sin, in depression, and in discouragement. But I want to tell you today: no matter how far you go, there's a fountain of blessing and mercy that is still available for you.

Maybe you've had a tough year — a number of disappointments, sickness, illness. Things went wrong and you wondered why God could allow it. "The Lord loves me. How come this happened, and that happened?" Your heart can go cold, you can begin to drift, your expectation can be dulled, and the great faith you had at the beginning of the year can wane until you end up in a bad place.

No Matter How Far

In the book of Nehemiah, I read a verse that jumped out at me — that's why I'm speaking on what I'm speaking about today.

By way of background, the book of Nehemiah is about a man who went back to the city of Jerusalem and organised people to begin rebuilding the walls. The city had been desolate, burned by fire, invaded 70 years earlier. The people of Israel had been captured and taken to Babylon — actually, by the will of God; He brought punishment on them. They were far away from their homeland, and they began to return. Before building the walls, Nehemiah prayed something profound, focusing on one of the promises of God:

"Please remember the promise you made to Moses. You told him that if we were unfaithful, you would scatter us among foreign nations. But you also said that no matter how far away we were, we could turn to you and start obeying your laws. Then you would bring us back to the place where you have chosen to be worshipped." (Nehemiah 1:8)

No matter how far away, you would bring us back.

I've entitled the message today, "No Matter How Far." And here is the truth you need to remember:

From prodigals to persecutors to doubters and wanderers, Scripture and history prove one thing: no matter how far a person runs, God always leaves the door open for their return.

You might be far from God today, but if you turn to Him, He will welcome you back — because He promised. He might scatter you; He might allow certain things to happen. But He also promised that no matter how far away you are, He will bring you back.

John Newton: From Wretch to Amazing Grace

Many of you would know John Newton. He was born in England in 1725. His mother was very devout — she served the Lord. His father was a seafaring man, away much of the time. When John was six, his mother died, and that Christian influence was gone.

He grew into an aggressive young man with a foul mouth — anti-Christian, anti-God. People who knew him knew him as a nasty man. He decided to go seafaring like his father, and he became quite significant in the seafaring trade. Because he was a seafarer, he got dragged into the slave trade, transporting slaves from Africa to America. His life went down such a bad road that one of the slave traders captured him and kept him prisoner. That's how bad it got.

Eventually he was released, and one day he was on a ship in a storm so severe that he feared for his life. He thought he was going to die, so he called on God: "Lord, I need you to save me. Bring me through this and I'll serve you." God delivered him from that storm, and he ended up following the Lord — reading his Bible, going to church, becoming anti–slave trade and campaigning against it. He mentored a man called William Wilberforce, who was key in abolishing slavery in Britain. Later he studied and became an Anglican priest. We mostly know him because of his song, Amazing Grace.

Here was a man once a wretch and a sinner, far from God, brought near — and even used as an influence for good. I don't know where you find yourself today, but no matter how far you are, God can use your life. He's always working to draw people back to Himself. Don't stay where you are.

Hosea and Gomer: The Picture of Redemption

Before I unpack this practically, I want us to look at the book of Hosea, because the story of the prophet Hosea is fascinating.

To summarise it: God tells Hosea to go and marry a woman called Gomer.

"When the Lord first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him, 'Go and marry a prostitute, so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the Lord and worshipping other gods.'" (Hosea 1)

This is a very unusual, one-off word — not a word for everyone. But notice we are likened to adulterers and prostitutes when we end up far from God.

Hosea has two children with her, but when the third child comes along, it becomes painfully clear this child is not his — it comes from another man. Eventually Gomer leaves him. He doesn't drive her out; she goes of her own accord. She begins to live with this man and that man and that man.

One day Hosea sees her living with a poor man who cannot even feed her. She's bedraggled. He sees her from a distance — and here's what he does. He goes with bread and wine, gives it to that man, and says, "Would you please feed Gomer?"

That's what God does when He sees us in our sin and our mess — where we've walked away from Him and embraced other gods, other belief systems, and turned our back on Him. He sees us from a distance and sometimes still makes sure we are sustained. That's the mercy and grace of God.

But it gets even more profound:

"The Lord said to me, 'Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods.' So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethech of barley. Then I told her, 'You are to live with me many days. You must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will behave the same way toward you.'" (Hosea 3)

The word redemption means bought with a price. Fifteen shekels — that's all she was worth. And then the Lord says:

"Afterward the Israelites will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the Lord and to his blessings in the last days."

Do you know what God is saying? He wants to bring back those who are far away into a marriage with Him — not a loose living arrangement that our world is so used to. We are married. When you sign the piece of paper, that's when you're married. And someone says, "But it's just a piece of paper." Try telling the bank that's "just a piece of paper" when you buy your next car — you ain't getting the car. There's a tie there.

God says, "I want my people back. I don't want them at a distance. They are far from me. I'm reaching out to them — but they must come back into a marriage with me." Not a casual thing. He wants intimacy, and He's drawing us back.

Three Things That Happen When We Are Far From God

1. We Sink Into Lethargy

You can tell you're far from God by a lethargy that comes over you. You don't have the wherewithal to come back. You get into a comfortable, sinful space where you have a certain attitude: "Well, this is me. This is what I'm like."

No — don't settle for less than intimacy with God and God's best. When you're intimate with God, that's where you experience life change. You don't just have theory in your head; you have the experience where the Holy Spirit is working.

"When my soul slumbered away from the Lord, I slept for a short time in the lethargy of those that sleep far from God." (as attributed to Solomon)

You get into a comfortable place and think, "Well, some people are spiritual — I'm almost there." No, you're far from God, and you've got used to it.

2. We Waste Our Lives

You cannot be productive and serve the purposes of God when you're far from Him. Without even intending to, you will waste your life — your resources, your energy, your thinking.

In Luke 15 we read about the prodigal son who went away from his father and wasted his life:

"Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country. There he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need." (Luke 15:13–14)

When you are far from God, you might have food. You might eat the best steaks, go to the finest restaurants, drink expensive champagne — but you will be empty in your soul. There's a famine that comes on you that only God can satisfy. No income, profit, or company allowance will make up for that. In the far country, we waste our lives. We spend; we don't invest. We end up having squandered and ruined our lives.

3. It Imprints Our Souls

Something happens on the inside where your soul is imprinted with negativity and fear instead of great faith.

A man was talking to a woman one day and noticed a tattoo on her wrist. He asked about it, because the name wasn't one he recognised. She said, "That tattoo is my former boyfriend. He asked me to do it. He was an abusive alcoholic." The man never recognised the name because the woman was now married to someone else, extremely happy, with children. However, every day when she washed her hands, she would remember her abusive boyfriend and her abusive past. She'd love to have the tattoo removed, but it was burnt into her skin in a very sensitive place.

There are many people whose past is burnt or imprinted into their soul. They'd like to move on, but they've ended up far from God because of the impact it's had on them. Now they're at a distance, not living fruitfully, caught in a lethargy — something has been imprinted.

But never get to the place where you lose sight of the fact that you can start again. Every day is a new beginning with the Lord. No matter how far, you can come back.

A poem written many years ago by Louisa Fletcher Tarkington expresses how many of us might feel:

"I wish there was some wonderful place called the land of beginning again, where all our mistakes and heartaches and all of our poor selfish grief could be dropped like a shabby old coat at the door and never put on again."

Today — and it is called today — you can make a new beginning. Right here, right now. No matter how far, we can start again.

Four Ways to Come Back to God

Whoever's hearing my voice today, here are four things you need to do if you want to come back.

1. It's Not Too Far to Come Back

"I've gone so far. I think God has given up on me." No — it's not too far to come back. A prayer will bring you close.

During COVID, during the curfew, a man and his wife had a raging argument. Fed up, he stormed out — "I'm going for a walk." And walk he did — 450 km, from the north of Italy nearly to the south. The police picked him up: "What are you doing?" "I had an argument with my wife." They took his ID, typed it in, and found out his wife had reported him missing. They phoned her: "We found this man wandering around at 2 a.m. Apparently you had an argument." "Yes, we did. I'll come and fetch him." She made the journey all the way south, picked him up, and took him back. That's the grace of God.

But here's the thing: when you stray far from God, there are always consequences. They fined him 400 euros for being out during curfew. While God has mercy and it's not too far to come back, sometimes there can be some fallout from what you've done.

Someone here today knows they have done things that will have consequences. But don't say, "Because of the consequences, I can't come back." It's not too far to come back. God loves you today and wants to restore you.

Tony Evans said, "God will meet you where you are in order to take you where He wants you to go."

Here is the promise Nehemiah held onto:

"Then he will stop punishing you and treat you with kindness. He may have scattered you to the farthest countries on earth, but he will bring you back to the land that had belonged to your ancestors. And he will make you even more successful and powerful than they ever were." (Deuteronomy 30)

When God restores you, it's better than it was before. And we need to come back.

2. No One Is Too Bad to Come Back

The devil is very clever to say, "There's no point going back. Look at you." But no one is too bad to come back — drugs, sex, whatever you've done, whatever sins you've committed.

We are capable of sin. As one comedian said, "I don't know if you've noticed, but human beings aren't very good people." We have a propensity, and God knows that. But we have to walk with Him to restrain that propensity. When we're far away, we need to come back, because no one is too bad to come back.

"If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you." (Psalm 130)

When we come back, God isn't like our parents standing at the kitchen door with hands on hips, "I told you so," or wagging a finger. Erwin Lutzer put it this way: "God is not waiting to club wayward sinners who dare to stagger into His presence." You can stagger back today. You're not too bad.

Speaking of staggering back — a two-year-old collie dog went on a road trip with a couple, from Silverton, Oregon, all the way to Wolcott, Indiana. When they stopped for petrol and went into the shop, some wild dogs chased the collie. When they came back to the car, he was gone. They waited and waited, put adverts in the papers, but heard nothing.

Six months later, that two-year-old collie had walked 4,000 km and found his way home — ragged, dirty, scrawny, with the toenails completely worn away. The dog knew the way home, and the owners were glad to receive him back despite his condition, because they still loved him.

No one is too far and too bad to come back to God.

3. Come Back Home With Humility

The road back to God is always with humility. If we humble ourselves, God responds.

When the prodigal son decided to return, he humbled himself, and it got his father's attention:

"I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.'" (Luke 15)

Some fathers would say, "At least you've come back — but look at you." But look what it says:

"And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him."

That's the Father in heaven we serve. He sees us far away, and the minute He sees a change in attitude, He begins to move toward us — He wants to bless us. The father put on his son:

• A robe — dignity.
• Sandals on his feet — restoring his status.
• A ring on his finger — authority.
• The fatted calf — fellowship.

That's what Father God wants to do for you when you're far away — to re-clothe you and reinstate you into all you've lost.

"So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you." (James 4)

Don't stay far away. Begin to move toward Him — but do it with humility.

4. Come Back Quickly

What often happens is that we realise where we are — we recognise the drift or the sin that caused it — but we take our time and end up in denial. "No, it was their fault. It wouldn't have happened if... I was in a bad place... I was younger." We bring all the reasons why we're far from God. God says, "Just come back quickly."

"Think how far you have fallen. Turn from your sins. Do what you did at first." (Revelation 2)

Recognise your distance, turn from your sins, and don't delay. Get going, and get going now. When we do, no matter how far we are, God begins to move toward us, and things can change in our lives.

Archibald Alexander, a professor of theology at Princeton Theological Seminary in the early 1800s, said:

"However long you may have continued in rebellion, and however black and long the catalogue of your sins, yet if you will now turn to God by a sincere repentance and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you will not be cast out."

No matter how far away you are, God will turn toward you if you decide, "I'm coming home."

Coming Home Today

I want to encourage everyone in the room today — and anyone watching — to say, "No matter how far away I am, I can come back, and I'm coming back now."

Can you say amen? Amen.