INTRODUCTION:

1. Up by the Niagara Falls, there is a sign that says, "Point of no return."
2. If a boat goes beyond this point, it is too late and the people in the boat will perish because the rapids are too swift and the current is too strong to turn back. Those who pass that point are carried over the falls to their death.
3. It is at that point that no one could turn back -- they have reached the "Point of no return."
4. In the book of Jeremiah we see that Judah had reached the point of no return.
5. We have noted that the prophet Jeremiah was a great intercessor (cf. 14:7-9, 20, 21).
6. However, the people of Judah had reached the point of no return (cf. 7:16; 11:14; 14:11).
7. Here in chapter 15, the LORD refers to two of the great intercessors in Scripture, Moses and Samuel, and tells Jeremiah that even if these two great intercessors stood before Him, His mind could not be favorable towards the backslidden people of Judah (15:1, 6).
8. The LORD'S decision was final.

I. PRAYERS WOULD NOT BE ANSWERED

1. Often times sinners reach the point of no return.  They can call on God but God will not answer (15:1; cf. Proverbs 1:24-33; I Sam. 28:3-6).
2. Jeremiah's unpopular job was to tell the people they had reached the point of no return. The false prophets preached a popular, upbeat message (14:13-16), but Jeremiah had to give it to them straight -- death, the sword, famine, and captivity were what they were to expect (15:2).
3. Their punishment would be terrible -- the sword to slay, dogs to tear, and the fowls and wild beasts to devour and destroy (15:3).

II. THE SIN OF KING MANASSEH HAD TO BE JUDGED (15:4).

1. God was going to judge them and scatter them all over the earth because of King Manasseh, the son of King Hezekiah, for the wicked things he did in Jerusalem (15:4).
2. King Manasseh reigned for 55 long years, and most of his reign was marked by wickedness and idolatry.  In fact, II Kings 21:9 says that King Manasseh seduced the people of Judah "to do more evil than did the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel."
3. This reminds us how one man can cause much evil, and the effects can last for many generations (II Kings 21:1-16; 24:1-4).
4. Regarding Jeremiah 15:4, Merrill Unger wrote, "It is not implied that that the people were responsible for Manasseh's sin, or that they were not responsible for their own sin.  They were responsible because they followed in Manasseh's footsteps" (Unger's Commentary on the Old Testament).

III. MANASSEH REPENTED BUT THE DAMAGE WAS DONE

1. Second Chronicles 33 tells us that though King Manasseh was the most wicked king that ever sat on the throne in Jerusalem, he did repent.  However, the damage was done (33:10-25).
2. We see this happen often.  Sinners get right with God but they cannot undo the past.

CONCLUSION:

Many parents get saved late in life but their children never get right with God (cf. II Kings 21:18-26).