Participants: Shelley Quinn
Series Code: ASHF
Program Code: ASHF000124A
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00:20 Hello, I'm Shelley Quinn,
00:22 and we welcome you 00:23 to our live Wednesday night Bible study 00:26 here at Thompsonville, Illinois. 00:28 We are coming to you from the 3ABN Worship Center, 00:31 and we are just so glad that you are joining us 00:33 for this Bible study. 00:35 This program is called A Sharper Focus, 00:37 and tonight we are going to be taking a sharper focus 00:41 on the joy of repentance. 00:44 Just want to welcome all of you as well. 00:47 And how many of you think of repentance and joy 00:52 in the same sentence. 00:55 I'm seeing some confused faces. 00:57 Sometimes people say, 00:58 "What do you mean the joy of repentance?" 01:00 Well, there is joy in repentance 01:03 and we are going to look at it tonight. 01:05 But first, let us begin, 01:06 we are not going to sing our song. 01:08 I asked about the theme song, and they said, 01:11 "Well, usually it's just Pastor Lomacang's mike 01:15 that you hear going along with the track." 01:17 And I said, "No." 01:19 If Pastor Lomacang were here, we'd sing, 01:21 but they don't pay me to sing, they pay me not to. 01:26 Let's go to the Lord in prayer. 01:28 Heavenly Father, we come in the name of Jesus, 01:31 and Lord, thank You for everyone 01:32 who has come out tonight. 01:34 It has been a rough week, and we just are looking 01:38 for a breath of fresh air, Father. 01:39 We ask that You would send Your Holy Spirit, and Lord, 01:43 as we open Your Word, it is alive and active, 01:47 and I pray in the name of Jesus that by the power of Your Word, 01:51 You will sanctify us. 01:53 Lord, set us apart from sin. 01:55 And, Father, help my tired mind to think, 02:00 just get me out of the way 02:02 and speak through me is my prayer, 02:04 in Jesus' name, amen. 02:06 How many of you agree... 02:08 Has this been a rough week for everybody? 02:10 It has been. I don't know. 02:11 Everybody I've talked to had said the same thing, 02:14 and I for one I'm not getting any sleep, 02:17 I'm kind of having to walk around like this 02:18 trying to keep my eyes open. 02:21 But what I like you to do is open your Bibles 02:23 to Matthew Chapter 5. 02:27 Matthew Chapter 5. 02:29 And as you're turning there, 02:30 I want to tell you a story that's found 02:33 in 2 Samuels 11 and 12, 02:35 you all will be very familiar with it. 02:38 This is the story about King David. 02:43 David was a man after God's own heart. 02:48 That's what the Lord said about him. 02:50 He was a man after his own heart. 02:53 But David was in the wrong place 02:56 at the wrong time. 02:58 The time when king 02:59 should have been going out toward, 03:01 David stayed back. 03:04 He kind of just took it for granted, 03:06 and let his people do what he thought they could do, 03:11 and he got bored. 03:13 So he goes out for a walk on the palace roof, 03:16 and what happens? 03:17 He sees Bathsheba, and she is bathing, 03:23 and his heart is inflamed with torrid lust. 03:29 And here we have a man 03:31 after God's own heart 03:33 who suddenly, unexpectedly finds himself 03:39 racing toward the cliff of spiritual death, 03:42 but he becomes blinded to his own condition. 03:45 First, what does he do? 03:47 He sends for Bathsheba, he takes Bathsheba. 03:51 Then, once he's kind of like, "Oh, my goodness. 03:55 This is, you know, 03:57 something bad could happen here, " 03:58 he calls for her husband, brings him in. 04:01 And what does he do? 04:03 When the husband will not... 04:05 Bathsheba's husband 04:07 was more honorable than King David. 04:10 And when he would not accept bribes 04:13 or go down to see his wife, 04:15 then David plots his murder, doesn't he? 04:19 And so now we find King David 04:22 who is blinded to his own condition, 04:25 and I think that the thing 04:27 that makes this alarmingly glaring 04:33 is that David was a man after God's own heart. 04:37 He was sensitive to sin, he understood what it meant, 04:41 what sin meant, but here we have this man. 04:44 So the next chapter in 2 Samuel Chapter 12, 04:47 God in His mercy sends the Prophet Nathan, 04:50 and Nathan tells David the story about a man, 04:56 a rich man who owned many, many flocks of sheep. 05:00 But when he has someone, a stranger 05:02 who comes for dinner, what does he do? 05:05 He goes to a man 05:06 who only has one little ewe lamb, 05:11 a lamb that was his special treasure, 05:14 and he goes and he takes this man's lamb 05:19 and he serves it up for supper. 05:21 Well, when David heard about this, 05:24 he was enraged, 05:26 and he was ready to have the rich man put to death. 05:30 But can you imagine 05:32 the abrupt reversal of David's rage 05:35 when suddenly Nathan looks at him and says, 05:38 "You are the man." 05:41 Well, David thought he was a good man, 05:44 but he was blinded to his own condition. 05:46 Now I think I'm a good person. 05:49 I try to be a good person. 05:52 Do you think you are a good person? 05:54 For the most part, don't we? 05:55 Maybe we think we are better than David 05:57 because we've never committed murder or adultery, 06:02 or have we? 06:04 Let's look at what Jesus said in Matthew Chapter 5, 06:07 and we are going to begin with verse 22. 06:11 Matthew 5:22. 06:15 Jesus says, "But I say to you that who is ever..." 06:20 Am I in the right place? Nope. 06:22 Matthew Chapter 5:27. 06:25 Excuse me. 06:26 "'You have heard that it was said to those of old, 06:29 'You shall not commit adultery.' 06:32 But I say to you 06:33 that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her 06:37 has already committed adultery with her in his heart.' " 06:45 Wow. 06:46 Do you realize what Jesus is saying? 06:48 He is saying that 06:50 the thoughts of lust are the sin, 06:54 adultery is the fruit of sin. 06:57 Let me repeat that. 06:59 The thoughts, 07:01 the lustful thoughts are the sin, 07:03 adultery is simply the fruit of the sin. 07:07 And you know in our day and age, 07:11 it's very difficult, 07:13 especially I think for men, to control their thoughts. 07:20 You know, I think if there's anything 07:21 that we need to teach our young women, 07:24 we need to teach them to dress modestly. 07:27 You know, it's amazing to me 07:29 when you can go to a church function 07:30 and see someone show up in short shorts 07:33 or, you know, tank tops that are pretty revealing. 07:38 Women don't understand how men are visually wired 07:44 and they respond to that. 07:46 But a man has to take responsibility. 07:50 If you are tempted, you have... 07:52 You know, you've heard of the old saying that, 07:54 "It's one thing if a bird flies over your head, 07:57 but it's another thing if he nests in your hair." 08:01 So you've got to take control of those thoughts. 08:04 But now I did want to go to verse 22 as well. 08:10 The Lord says, "But I say to you 08:12 that whoever is angry with his brother 08:15 without a cause 08:17 shall be in danger of the judgment." 08:22 Thoughts of hatred are heart murder. 08:28 Did you catch that? 08:30 If you hate someone, 08:31 it's like you are committing heart murder. 08:34 But the act of taking someone's life 08:37 is simply something that grows out of an unclean heart. 08:41 So when we start looking into scripture for what sin is, 08:45 we can realize 08:47 we are in the same condition that David's in, 08:49 and we need to open our eyes, 08:52 and let the reflection pool of our conscience 08:56 help us inspect our hearts and confess our sins 09:00 because without confession, without repentance, 09:03 we can't have confidence that God is going to hear us 09:06 or accept our worship. 09:08 Turn to Psalms 24, 09:14 and we are going to look at a very important verse 09:19 that sometimes I think we forget about. 09:22 Psalms 24, and let's look at verse 3 and 4. 09:27 Psalms 24:3 and 4. 09:30 "Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? 09:33 Or who may stand in His holy place?" 09:36 Who is it? 09:37 He who has a clean heart and... 09:41 A pure heart and clean hands, 09:44 or clean hands and a pure heart. 09:47 To us, a fountain 09:50 has been opened to wash away 09:54 the impurities of our heart, 09:56 to wash way the filth of our hands. 10:00 The guilt of sin is washed away by the blood of the lamb. 10:03 Amen? 10:04 And I'm so thankful 10:06 that it's not by works of righteousness, 10:07 not by anything 10:08 that we have to do that we are saved, 10:10 but according to God's mercy, 10:12 we are saved by the regeneration 10:15 and renewal of the Holy Spirit. 10:17 And when we receive His grace of forgiveness, 10:22 we are spotless before the Lord, 10:25 we are clean from this, the pollution of our sin. 10:28 Now let's go back to our story just a second. 10:32 How did David react to Nathan's statement, 10:37 "You are the man." 10:39 You know, if he had been a hot headed king, 10:41 he could have easily said to the prophet, 10:44 "Off with your head." 10:46 But no, David's eyes were open to his lawlessness. 10:50 He recognized what his sin was. 10:54 And he said, "I have sinned against the Lord." 10:59 And then we find the most precious, 11:01 and we'll get into it just a moment, 11:03 but the most precious book for repentance is Psalm 51 11:08 which we'll look at in just a moment. 11:09 He confessed his sin against the Lord, 11:12 and he repented, 11:15 and even to the point that 11:16 he said to the Lord in Psalm 51:4, 11:19 "Against you and you only have I sinned." 11:23 Isn't that an interesting statement? 11:25 You know, 11:26 I think if we recognize it every time we sin, 11:29 no matter what we do, if we are hurting someone else, 11:32 it's God who we are sinning against. 11:36 Isn't that amazing? 11:37 So what is repentance? 11:39 What is repentance? 11:41 It's more than just a mere confession of our sins. 11:45 It's more than just feeling remorse. 11:48 We have to know how to truly repent 11:51 according to God's pattern. 11:53 And we are going to look at five steps of repentance. 11:57 Let me tell you what those are very briefly, 11:59 and then we'll go over them. 12:01 The first is recognition of sin. 12:04 The second is godly sorrow. 12:07 The third is confession. 12:09 Then we must receive God's forgiveness, 12:13 that's the fourth step. 12:15 But the fifth step is that we change our conduct. 12:18 So let's look at these five steps of repentance, 12:23 and then, by the time we finish, 12:25 you will understand the joy of repentance. 12:29 So number one is the recognition of sin. 12:34 Repentance begins with this recognition. 12:37 David would never have repented if he hadn't recognized his sin 12:41 for what is was. 12:42 And when we examine ourselves in the light of God's Word, 12:45 the character of our conduct is exposed. 12:48 The Holy Spirit 12:50 by His convicting power helps us to think differently 12:53 and recognize how foul our sin is. 12:56 I think of the word sin as an acronym 13:01 that really aptly explains 13:05 what lies at the root of it. 13:07 S is for Selfishness, I is for Ignorance, 13:12 N is for Neglect. 13:15 Selfishness, Ignorance, and Neglect. 13:18 Selfishness, if we have self-centered behavior, 13:21 this is what causes us to commit sins intentionally. 13:27 This is when we know that doing something is wrong 13:30 but we do it anyway because it pleases us. 13:33 Now ignorance is when we commit sins 13:37 that are unintentional. 13:39 We don't know what God's Word says, 13:41 we don't know that what we are doing is sin. 13:46 Neglect is when we... 13:49 This is another intentional act of sin. 13:52 This is when we know what is right 13:56 but we fail to do it, 13:58 sometimes perhaps just because we are too busy. 14:01 So Selfishness, Ignorance, and Neglect. 14:06 Now turn to James Chapter 4. 14:12 We are going to look... 14:14 In order for us to recognize our sin, 14:16 we have to know what the Bible says sin is. 14:21 So we are going to look at several categories of sin. 14:26 This is by no means an exhaustive study, 14:29 but we're going to look at 14:31 what the Bible talks about is sin. 14:34 The first one is to miss the mark 14:37 of God's righteous requirements. 14:41 This is like, if you were to think 14:42 that we had over here a bow and arrow, 14:47 and we've got the target, 14:48 if you were to pull back this bow 14:50 and release the arrow, it's to miss the bull's eye. 14:54 We are not doing what God requires us. 14:57 So let's look at James 4:17. 15:00 James 4:17. 15:04 Here's what the Bible says. 15:07 "To him who knows to do good and does not do it, 15:13 to him it is sin." 15:17 Wow. 15:18 This is a sin of omission. 15:20 This is when we know what God requires of us, 15:24 yet, we refuse to do it, and that is sin. 15:30 Now turn to 15:32 Romans 14:23. 15:38 Romans 14:23. 15:45 We know that if we know to do good 15:47 and we don't do it, that means we are sinning. 15:52 Well, I'll give you an example. 15:54 Let's say that we know that the Sabbath is the Sabbath, 15:59 it's God's holy day, but we refuse to do it, 16:03 we are sinning, all right? 16:04 But look at what Romans 14:23 says, 16:07 "Whatever is not from faith is sin." 16:13 Whatever is not from faith is sin. 16:16 So let's say that 16:19 we are getting ready to do something 16:22 and we kind of have this... 16:25 You know, do you ever get that check 16:27 where it's kind of like, 16:28 it holds you back for just a minute, 16:30 "Should I do it or shouldn't I do it? 16:31 Is this right to do or is this wrong to do?" 16:34 If we go forward and do it not knowing by faith 16:40 that it is in agreement with God's Word, 16:43 we are sinning. 16:44 So when you get that check, when you get that red flag, 16:50 go to the Word of God, go to godly counselors, 16:53 find people who can help you find 16:55 what the Bible says about it 16:57 because if you do something that is not from faith, 17:02 it is sin. 17:04 Now turn to 1 John Chapter 3. 17:08 1 John Chapter 3. 17:12 So that first category of sin 17:15 is to miss the mark of God's righteous requirements. 17:19 Let's look at a second category. 17:24 This isn't a sin of omission, this is a sin of commission. 17:29 1 John 3:4, "Whoever commits sin 17:35 also commits lawlessness, 17:38 and sin is lawlessness." 17:41 You know, it's so interesting to me 17:43 that people have, 17:46 some people in some denominations 17:48 have such a negative view of God's Ten Commandments. 17:53 It is so amazing because to me what God has done, 17:56 we've been studying on our worship, 18:01 we've been talking about the love of God, 18:04 and God in His love gave us Ten Commandments. 18:09 It's kind of like... 18:11 I remember when JD and I 18:12 were going somewhere up in Colorado, 18:14 and we were going up to a very high mountain, 18:17 and there was no railing along the road. 18:21 You know, as we are going up this kind of winding road 18:24 up the mountain, and when you looked over, 18:26 and I'm on the driver side... 18:27 I mean, I'm on the passenger side 18:29 and I can look over, 18:30 you know, 1,000, 2,000 feet down 18:33 and you are thinking 18:34 "Ah! Oh, please don't let us..." 18:37 You know, don't let there be anything wrong. 18:40 You feel so much more secure when there's a railing there, 18:42 don't you? 18:44 Why do parents fence in a backyard 18:46 for children to play? 18:48 Why did they put a fence up? 18:50 To keep their children from getting into trouble, 18:52 to keep stray dogs from getting in, 18:54 to keep their kids 18:56 from getting out into the highway. 18:58 This is something that is important 19:00 that God has given us the Ten Commandments 19:04 for our protection 19:06 and they are ten promises of what he'll do. 19:09 But when we commit lawlessness, when we break the law of God, 19:15 this is what this is, is an iniquity, 19:18 is an intentional, or get this, an unintentional, 19:23 intentional or unintentional offence against God's law. 19:28 Now a third category of sin is, 19:32 turn to 1 John 5, 19:35 you are right there and just turn a couple of chapters over. 19:37 1 John Chapter 5, 19:41 and we are going to look at verse 17. 19:44 This is the one that gets me more than anything. 19:47 1 John 5:17. 19:51 "All unrighteousness is sin." 19:57 You know what that's saying? 19:59 Any deviation from God's holy 20:03 and righteous character is sin. 20:07 All unrighteousness, righteousness is simply 20:09 to do things in the right way that God has prescribed. 20:14 All unrighteousness is sin. 20:17 The reason I thought 20:19 it was important to talk about this, 20:20 and we could talk about the sins 20:22 against the Holy Spirit, 20:23 how we can grieve the Holy Spirit, 20:25 how we can resist the Holy Spirit, 20:28 how we can quench the Holy Spirit. 20:30 The reason I think it's important, 20:32 if recognition of sin 20:34 is the first step to repentance, 20:38 it is so important for us to know what sin is, is it not? 20:43 I had a young man, I was teaching, 20:46 this is probably 12 years ago before I became an Adventist. 20:49 But I was teaching about repentance 20:53 and our daily need to examine our self, 20:56 and he came to me after this meeting 20:59 and he said, 21:00 "You don't understand the good news of the gospel. 21:04 Once you've invited Christ into your heart, 21:06 you don't have to confess your sins anymore. 21:09 You don't..." 21:10 And I'm thinking, mercy sakes, there is no repentance 21:15 if there is no recognition of sin. 21:18 Romans 2:23, you don't have to turn there, 21:21 you are going to know this one. 21:22 Paul said to the Romans, 21:24 "All have sinned 21:27 and fallen short of the glory of God." 21:30 Actually, this in the original Greek is... 21:35 The fall short is a continuous action. 21:40 So a more appropriate translation would be, 21:44 "All have sinned 21:46 and keep falling short of the glory of God." 21:51 What is God's glory? 21:53 It's His character. 21:55 Let me ask you this. 21:57 Did you fall short of God's character today? 22:00 How about yesterday? 22:02 You know, I know that day by day, 22:05 I'm falling short. 22:07 We all fall short, we all keep falling short. 22:11 And if day by day, 22:13 I'm falling short of God's character, 22:16 then day by day 22:18 I need to confess my sins, don't I? 22:21 I need to repent. 22:23 And this is something that 22:25 I just want to encourage you. 22:28 And people don't... 22:30 Sometimes this doesn't equate in our brain, 22:32 but when you recognize your sin, rejoice. 22:37 You know, don't beat yourself up 22:39 when you recognize your sin. 22:41 That's actually the Holy Spirit with His convicting power 22:44 is showing you, 22:46 and that's your first step of repentance. 22:50 So recognize your sin and rejoice 22:54 in recognizing your sin there 22:55 because God delights in mercy 22:58 and He stands ready to forgive you. 23:00 You know, his heart is filled with love and pity 23:05 for the penitence sinner 23:07 and He won't leave you with your head hanging low. 23:10 When you recognize your sin, 23:11 it's time to cry out for God's mercy, right? 23:14 Turn to Micah. 23:18 This is the little book, 23:20 one of the minor prophets over there 23:21 between Jonah and Nahum, 23:26 Micah, 23:28 and I love this verse, one of my favorites. 23:33 Micah Chapter 7... 23:37 Micah Chapter 7. 23:42 We are going to look at verses 18 and 19. 23:48 Micah 7:18. 23:53 Listen what Micah has written. 23:57 "Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity 24:01 and passing over the transgressions 24:04 of the remnant of His heritage? 24:07 He does not retain His anger forever, 24:11 because He delights in mercy. 24:15 He will again have compassion on us, 24:18 and will subdue our iniquities." 24:23 By the power of the Holy Spirit, 24:25 by the blood of the lamb, 24:26 he's going to subdue our iniquities. 24:29 Now he's saying to the Lord again. 24:31 "You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea." 24:36 Hallelujah. Hallelujah. 24:40 There is joy in repentance. 24:42 When we recognize our sin, 24:45 we have made the first step 24:50 of the process of repentance. 24:53 So I had a lady today 24:56 that I was talking to on the phone, 24:58 and she'd made a mistake on Sabbath, 25:01 she felt really bad about it, 25:02 and she'd been beating herself up about it. 25:05 And we can't do that. 25:06 When we recognize our sin, fall to your knees 25:09 and just say, "Oh, Lord. 25:10 Thank you for showing me this. 25:13 Thank you, Holy Spirit, 25:14 for opening my eyes just as you did with David 25:18 so I don't go over the cliff here." 25:21 So that's your first step. 25:23 The second step is godly sorrow. 25:27 Turn to 2 Corinthians Chapter 7. 25:32 2 Corinthians Chapter 7. 25:35 You know, as we begin to interpret 25:36 God's marvelous love, 25:39 we see how we have sinned against Him, 25:42 and then godly sorrow ceases our hearts. 25:46 We regret our sins and godly sorrow 25:49 produces a change of heart 25:51 that leads us to salvation and repentance. 25:54 2 Corinthians 7:10, 25:59 "For godly sorrow 26:01 produces repentance leading to" what? 26:04 "Salvation." 26:06 Leading to salvation. 26:08 Godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation 26:14 not to be regretted. 26:17 But the sorrow of the world produces death. 26:22 You know, there are so many people 26:25 who have guilty consciences. 26:26 There are so many people 26:28 who are weighted down with guilt, 26:31 the sorrow of the world, 26:33 and they don't know about our Lord 26:35 and Savior Jesus Christ. 26:37 And all that produces is death, it produces spiritual death. 26:41 But when we have godly sorrow, 26:45 that's something to rejoice about, 26:48 because godly sorrow 26:51 brings us to that point of repentance 26:54 leading to salvation. 26:56 Paul wrote to the Romans, and he said this in Romans 2:4. 27:03 Romans 2:4. 27:08 I love the Book of Romans, it's probably my favorite book. 27:11 If there were only one book in the Bible, 27:13 if I had nothing but the Book of Romans, 27:15 that would be the book I would choose. 27:18 Romans 2:4. 27:20 Paul says, "Do you despise 27:24 the riches of His goodness, 27:28 His forbearance, 27:30 and His longsuffering, or patience, 27:32 not knowing that it is the goodness of God 27:37 that leads you to repentance?" 27:40 It is the goodness of God that produces 27:44 that godly sorrow in your hearts. 27:46 It is the goodness of God 27:48 that will lead you to repentance. 27:51 He is constantly wooing us and drawing us by His love. 27:56 So godly sorrow, we recognize our sins, 28:00 then godly sorrow, 28:01 two things that should bring joy to our hearts. 28:06 Joy, sounds like that's, 28:10 you know, a juxtaposition of sorrow and joy, 28:15 it sounds like those are two thing, 28:17 but when it's godly sorrow, 28:18 it should bring joy to our heart. 28:20 All right. Number three. 28:22 Our third step. 28:25 Confession. 28:27 Confession is the next critical step 28:30 because sin hinders prayer, 28:34 sin erects a barrier between us and our holy God. 28:39 Turn to Psalms 66:18. 28:46 Psalms 66:18. 28:53 If anyone knew about sin and the barrier 28:57 that it could erect between them and God, 29:03 it was certainly David. 29:05 And in Psalms 66:18, 29:10 here's what he writes. 29:13 "If I regard iniquity in my heart," 29:16 what's going to happen? 29:19 "The Lord will not hear." 29:22 When you have a cherished sin 29:26 that you continue to repeat, 29:29 don't think for one second 29:32 that you can go to our holy God 29:35 and He is going to listen to you. 29:38 Now if you are asking for forgiveness, yes, 29:41 of course he is, if it's a spiritual request, 29:44 but we've got to understand that 29:47 regarding iniquity means that we love this iniquity, 29:51 we are holding on fast to it. 29:53 There was a man, 29:56 I'm not going to tell you what country this happened in. 30:01 It was a most unfortunate situation 30:03 because a speaker came through to talk to them 30:08 about grace and he did a series on grace, 30:13 but he gave a very lopsided series on grace, 30:17 an incomplete series on grace, and he left. 30:23 He delivered a message 30:25 and he left everyone with impression 30:27 that grace gives you license to sin. 30:32 What a tragedy? 30:33 That is a travesty. 30:35 I mean, that is the saddest thing 30:37 I've ever heard because grace is God's divine power 30:40 and His supernatural assistance for salvation. 30:43 And when we think about 30:44 the three greatest gifts of grace, 30:46 Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Word, 30:48 you can see that grace is not... 30:53 It frees us from pharisaical legalism 30:56 but it is not a license to sin. 31:00 What grace does for us is it... 31:04 We can only obey by grace. 31:07 Do you realize obedience is by grace 31:09 because it's God who is working in you to will 31:12 and to do His good pleasure 31:13 by the power of His Holy Spirit. 31:16 So this was something that 31:19 this man who was in the church 31:23 and held a position in the church. 31:25 After the speaker left, 31:27 you know what he said to someone? 31:29 "Hallelujah. 31:31 I can come out of the closet, I can enjoy my pornography 31:35 because I'm saved by grace." 31:40 He was regarding iniquity in his heart. 31:44 What does Psalms 66:18 say? 31:49 God wasn't going to hear him. 31:52 Now I want to be certain that I don't leave someone 31:56 who's watching today by television 31:59 or who's listening by radio, 32:01 I don't want to leave you with a wrong impression 32:05 that if you are ready to confess your sin, 32:08 if you want help in changing, 32:10 God is anxious, he is there to hear you. 32:13 But if you think that you can live like the devil 32:16 and then go to God 32:17 like He's some Santa Claus in the sky 32:20 and He's going to listen to your prayers, 32:22 you are wrong. 32:24 So let's turn to Hosea and we'll see a little bit more 32:27 what God says about shutting His ears 32:31 to those who are unrepentant. 32:34 Hosea Chapter 5, 32:38 Hosea's right after Daniel, 32:41 Hosea 5:15. 32:48 Hosea 5:15. 32:51 It shows us that God shuts His ears 32:53 to the unrepentant sinner 32:54 and requires that we acknowledge our offences 32:57 toward Him. 32:58 Hosea 5:15 says this. 33:01 "I will return..." 33:02 This is God speaking. 33:04 "I will return again to my place 33:06 till they acknowledge their offense. 33:10 Then they will seek My face, in their affliction, " 33:15 when God's turned away from them, 33:17 when He's turned His face from them 33:19 and let whatever happen to them 33:21 that comes along, he says, 33:23 "Then in their affliction 33:24 they will earnestly seek Me." 33:30 So once again, what is God saying? 33:32 If you are not going to acknowledge your offense, 33:36 then I'll just... I'm not going to... 33:39 I'll turn my face from you, 33:40 I'm not going to have ears to hear. 33:42 But boy, as soon as you are ready to demonstrate 33:47 that you trust God for salvation and change, 33:50 then He will come along. 33:53 So confession is a critical step. 33:55 It demonstrates our change of mind 33:59 about our sin-sick behavior. 34:02 And through confession 34:03 we seek forgiveness of our sins, 34:05 and it helps us acknowledge our need for a savior. 34:09 We had a woman 34:10 who came to 3ABN with Cheri Peters, 34:13 and this precious woman 34:15 who is a beautiful Christian woman, 34:17 said, she's been in the church for 30 years, 34:20 and she said, 34:23 "I didn't have any passion for Christ." 34:26 As a matter of fact, she said, 34:28 "People would talk about Him dying on the cross," 34:31 and she said, "And I would think 34:33 I don't really understand 34:35 what the big deal is about all of this. 34:37 I've never broken any of the Ten Commandments. 34:40 I've been raised in the church. 34:41 I have been a good person. 34:44 I've never broken any of the big Ten." 34:47 See, if we don't understand our need for a savior, 34:52 we are not going to have any passion and love for God. 34:56 It was only as God opened her eyes 34:59 and she recognized her sin 35:02 that he produced godly sorrow, that she confessed her sin, 35:06 and that God totally changed her life. 35:10 We know that when confession is accompanied, 35:14 turn to 1 John Chapter 1 35:18 because the good news is 35:20 when confession is accompanied by godly sorrow 35:24 and a sincere desire to change, 35:27 God forgives us of all of our sins, 35:30 and He cleanses of all unrighteousness. 35:33 1 John 1:8. 35:37 John writes, "If we say that we have no sin, " 35:42 what are we doing? 35:43 "We are deceiving ourselves," self deception. 35:47 "If we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, 35:50 the truth is not in us. 35:54 If we confess our sins," and again, 35:57 this is the present active condition in the Greek, 36:01 so he's saying, 36:02 'If we keep on confessing our sins,' 36:06 He, God, is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins 36:11 and cleanse us of all unrighteousness." 36:15 Never become calloused to this idea 36:20 of confessing your sin. 36:23 Confession is the clearinghouse of the conscience, isn't it? 36:26 And this is God's prescribed manner to purify us. 36:31 This confession is where the place 36:34 or the place where misery meets mercy. 36:38 And when you bring your sins into His light, 36:41 don't think you're telling Him anything that He doesn't know. 36:44 He knows everything, doesn't He? 36:46 So you can't keep anything. 36:48 But what he says in Hosea, 36:50 I should have told you to keep your finger in Hosea, 36:53 if you want to flip back over there to Hosea again. 36:56 I love what he says in Hosea Chapter 14, 37:01 Hosea 14. 37:06 God says come to Me and bring words with you. 37:11 Hosea Chapter 14, we'll look at verse 1. 37:15 It says, "Return to the Lord your God, 37:20 for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. 37:24 Take words with you..." 37:27 What are those words? 37:28 Words to confess your sin. 37:30 "Take words with you and return to the Lord. 37:33 Say to Him, 'Take away all iniquity. 37:37 Receive us graciously.' " 37:39 Now jump down to verse 4 and look what God says. 37:43 When you come to Him, bringing words 37:47 asking Him to forgive you of your iniquity, 37:50 to receive you graciously. 37:52 Here's what God says in verse 4, 37:54 "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, 38:00 for My anger has turned away." 38:03 If we walk in the light as He is in the light, 38:06 the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us of all of our sins. 38:11 And one great reward of confession is confidence 38:17 because 38:20 confession will give you a clear conscience. 38:23 And we don't have to turn there, 38:24 but in 1 John 3:21, John said, 38:28 "Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, 38:31 we have confidence before God." 38:35 So let's review the steps. 38:37 Recognize your sin, second, godly sorrow, 38:42 three is confession, and here's number four. 38:46 It's to receive God's forgiveness. 38:49 Now that's easier said than done for some. 38:53 You know, it is a challenge for some people to receive 38:56 God's forgiveness. 38:58 I've had people who've called here at 3ABN 39:02 who are still remorseful and miserable about a sin 39:08 that they've committed maybe 30 or 40 years before, 39:13 and they keep confessing the same sin over and over. 39:17 But if we would just receive God's forgiveness, 39:20 this is how we disarm the devil and we extricate ourselves 39:26 from his quick sand trap of condemnation. 39:30 Turn to Luke Chapter 7, Luke Chapter 7. 39:34 While you are turning there, 39:36 I'm going to set up a story that Jesus is telling. 39:38 He is sitting at a feast 39:43 and at this feast that was in Simon's house, 39:48 a Pharisee's house, 39:50 he tells the story of a creditor and two debtors. 39:56 One debtor owed the creditor just a little amount 40:02 and the other owed him quite a lot. 40:05 Neither one could pay. 40:07 But in the story, 40:08 the creditor freely forgives both debts. 40:12 Now turning to the Pharisee, Jesus says, 40:15 "Who do you think is going to love him more?" 40:18 Well, the Pharisee says, 40:20 "Well, I suppose the one who had the greater debt, 40:24 relieved, the debt was forgiven." 40:26 He says, "That's probably the one." 40:28 And Jesus says to him, "You are absolutely right." 40:32 But here's the punch line of the story. 40:36 The reason Jesus told this parable 40:40 is because the Pharisee had recoiled 40:45 from an act of a woman who came into his home. 40:48 She was a woman of ill repute and she was at Jesus' feet 40:53 weeping and washing His feet with her hair. 40:58 And she had taken an alabaster box, 41:02 and she'd broken, 41:03 and she was anointing Jesus' feet and His head, 41:06 and this Pharisee is sitting there, 41:08 thinking, "Ah, who is this man 41:11 that He would let her touch Him?" 41:14 Jesus knew what his thoughts were 41:17 and so he's telling this story. 41:20 "Who's going to love more?" 41:23 Look at Luke 7:47. 41:27 This woman who had been filled with unspeakable shame 41:32 and of sins of unutterable, unworthiness knew 41:38 what Jesus had done in forgiving her sin debt. 41:42 She could not contain her 41:44 overflowing love for the Savior. 41:46 Luke 7:47, Christ concluded telling this story 41:50 to the Pharisee by saying, 41:53 "Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, 41:58 are forgiven, for she loved much. 42:01 But to whom little is forgiven, 42:05 the same loves little." 42:08 That's the story I was telling you 42:09 about the woman who came with Cheri Peters. 42:12 She didn't feel like 42:13 she needed any great forgiveness. 42:16 "I haven't broken the Big Ten." 42:19 So she didn't feel like... 42:21 She didn't appreciate her need for the Savior. 42:25 That's why recognizing our sin debt is so important 42:28 because the more we recognize what God has done for us 42:33 in forgiving this great sin debt, 42:36 the more we are going to love Him. 42:38 We'll be like Mary here 42:41 who could not contain her overflowing love. 42:45 You know, the more I understand, 42:47 and study the Bible, and understand sin, 42:50 the more I recognize how much God has had to cast off of me, 42:55 and it makes me love Him more. 42:57 The closer I get to Him, the more I realize 43:01 how sinful I really am. 43:04 The closer you get to the brightness of His being, 43:07 the more you'll see your filthy rags, 43:10 I guarantee it. 43:12 And God will open our hearts 43:14 to receive the gift of forgiveness 43:19 if we will just ask Him to. 43:21 He wants to give us forgiveness and liberty of sins 43:25 because Lamentations 3:23 says that 43:28 He is the God of new beginnings. 43:30 His mercies are new every morning. 43:33 Hallelujah. 43:34 So once we confess our sins 43:38 and then we'll receive His forgiveness, 43:40 we're no longer confined to wandering around 43:46 in the wasteland of our own sin. 43:48 Turn to Isaiah 43. 43:54 We gonna have to go just a little bit faster here. 43:58 Our time is running so quickly. 44:00 Isaiah 43... 44:08 18 and 19. 44:13 Isaiah 43:18 and 19. 44:16 The Lord says this. 44:18 And this is God speaking. 44:20 He says, "Forget the former things, 44:26 do not dwell on the past. 44:29 See, I am doing a new thing! 44:32 Now it springs up, do you not perceive it? 44:36 I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." 44:42 God doesn't want us focusing on our past mistakes. 44:48 He says, "Forget the former things. 44:51 Don't dwell on the past. 44:52 I am doing a new thing in you. 44:54 I am the God of new beginnings. 44:56 I am the God who is here to save you, 45:00 to make you righteous, to sanctify you, 45:03 and I will make a way in the desert 45:06 and streams in the wasteland." 45:10 Don't you love what He said when He told Isaiah, 45:12 "Come let us reason together 45:15 though your sins be like scarlet, 45:17 I will make them white as snow." 45:21 Now turn to Psalm Chapter 51. 45:28 This as I said trying to figure where, 45:33 we're going to have to finish this next week, 45:35 we're not going to finish. 45:37 I'm trying to figure a jumping off point here. 45:42 We're going to go through this. 45:44 Psalm Chapter 51. 45:48 If you look at verse 4... 45:50 No, excuse me. Yeah. 45:51 Psalm, I'm in the wrong Psalm. 45:54 Psalm 51:4. 45:56 This is 46:00 David's written record of his repentance 46:05 after Nathan the Prophet came to him. 46:08 In verse 4, well, let's start with verse 2. 46:12 Let's start at the beginning. 46:14 Huh. 46:15 Why not? 46:17 He says, "Have mercy upon me, O God, 46:20 according to Your lovingkindness, 46:21 according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, 46:25 blot out my transgressions." 46:27 Oh, how we can all pray for that. 46:30 "Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, 46:34 and cleanse me from my sin. 46:35 For I acknowledge my transgressions, 46:37 and my sin is always before me." 46:40 Now look at this. 46:41 "Against You, and You only, have I sinned, 46:45 and done this evil in Your sight." 46:47 What? 46:49 Are you saying he hasn't sinned with Bathsheba 46:53 and killing her husband, committing adultery? 46:56 But he says, " Against You, and You only, 46:57 have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight. 47:00 That You may be found just when You speak, 47:02 and blameless when You judge." 47:07 Now look at verse 7. 47:08 "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean." 47:14 Do you remember the significance of hyssop 47:17 during the Passover? 47:19 What did God tell them to do during the Passover? 47:24 They were to take the hyssop, they were to dip it 47:27 in the blood of the sacrificial animal, 47:30 and they were to apply it to their doorposts. 47:34 What David is saying is purge me 47:37 by the blood of the lamb. 47:40 "Purge me by the blood of the lamb 47:43 and I will be clean. 47:45 Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow." 47:50 When you wash me through regeneration, 47:52 rebirth, and the renewal of the Holy Spirit, 47:55 and I put on that rope of righteousness, 47:58 I am going to be whiter than snow. 48:01 "Make me hear joy and gladness, 48:03 that the bones You have broken may rejoice. 48:06 Hide Your face from my sins, blot out all of my iniquities. 48:10 Oh, Lord, create in me a clean heart, 48:13 and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 48:16 Do not cast me away from Your presence, 48:20 do not take Your Holy Spirit from me." 48:24 Oh, what a precious prayer. 48:26 Anytime you feel like you don't know how to repent, 48:29 just go to Psalm Chapter 51. 48:32 He says, "Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, " 48:36 and that is the end goal of repentance, 48:39 "And uphold me by Your generous Spirit." 48:42 Then what is he going to do? 48:44 Then, when that joy is restored, 48:47 "Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, 48:50 and sinners shall be converted to You." 48:53 Isn't that precious? 48:55 I absolutely love this. 48:56 Now David understood God's repentance process 49:02 and he yearned for the blessings 49:05 that God would bring. 49:06 He yearned for the joy of his salvation 49:09 to be restored. 49:11 Here's something that I think David knew. 49:17 If we get what we deserve, that's justice. 49:22 When we don't get 49:24 what we deserve, that's mercy. 49:29 But when we get what we don't deserve, 49:33 that's grace, that's grace. 49:37 So turn to 1 Kings 'cause I want to show you, 49:40 after David prayed this prayer, 49:44 and I know I've shared this before 49:46 but I just... 49:47 This just excites me. 49:49 1 Kings Chapter 14, 49:53 let's look at what happened 49:56 after David prayed this prayer 50:00 because this scripture will prove 50:03 that God forgives and forgets when we have confessed our sin. 50:08 1 Kings Chapter 14, 50:12 and let me set this up. 50:14 There was a prophet named Ahijah. 50:19 God went to him and said, "You tell King Jeroboam 50:23 that I'm going to bring his house down. 50:25 I'm going to destroy his house 50:27 because he has not been like my servant David." 50:31 So look what he says. 50:32 1 Kings 14:8. 50:35 This is the Lord speaking and this is what he told 50:38 Ahijah to tell King Jeroboam. 50:42 "You have not been as My servant David, 50:46 who kept My commandments and who followed Me 50:50 with all of his heart, 50:53 to do only what was right in My eyes." 50:58 Now wait a minute. 51:01 Now just wait a minute. 51:03 David is dead and buried. 51:06 These were the words of the Lord 51:09 recorded in the Bible and He's saying, 51:14 "David kept all of My commandments 51:18 and did only what was right in My eyes." 51:22 God can't lie. 51:26 So how could he say that David, who is guilty of adultery, 51:30 David, who is guilty of murder, 51:32 David, who numbered the troops 51:33 when he told him not to number the troops 51:35 did only what was right in His eyes? 51:38 Because David repented. 51:43 He recognized his sin. 51:45 Godly sorrow grabbed his heart. 51:49 He confessed his sin. 51:51 And God, when we confess our sins, 51:54 God is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins 51:57 and cleanse us of all unrighteousness, 51:59 and suddenly, 52:01 he is looking at David when he said, 52:03 'Purge me with hyssop..." 52:04 he's looking at David through the blood of the lamb. 52:07 He's forgotten what David asked him to forgive. 52:12 Now let me see if I can find this. 52:15 This gives me great, great assurance 52:18 that the Bible was written 52:21 by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. 52:24 The reason I say that is because 52:28 any man's account written, 52:33 we would say something like, 52:39 "David, after he repented 52:42 from his murder and his adultery, 52:45 then he did everything that was right in my sight 52:49 and kept all of his commandments." 52:51 I mean, that's just the way we would write it 52:53 if we were writing an accurate account. 52:55 But the writer here was recording God's words. 52:59 So the writer, 53:00 when he records God's words says, 53:04 "You have not been as My servant David, 53:06 who kept My commandments, 53:08 who followed Me with all of his heart, 53:10 to do only what was right in My eyes, " 53:12 showing that God had forgiven what he forgot. 53:14 But now turn to 15:5. 53:19 Because now the writer 53:22 still inspired by the Holy Spirit 53:25 is giving a detailed account. 53:27 Let's compare the writer's detailed account 53:33 compared to what God's words were, 53:37 the direct quote of God's words. 53:38 He said in verse 5, 1 Kings 15:5, 53:42 "Because David did 53:44 what was right in the eyes of the Lord, 53:47 and had not turned aside from anything 53:50 that He commanded him all the days of his life, 53:54 except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite." 53:59 That's still inspired, don't take me wrong. 54:03 The Bible was inspired Word of God. 54:05 This writer was giving the accurate full account. 54:09 But what proves to me that this is all inspired 54:15 is because he could actually record God's words saying, 54:20 "David did only what was right in My eyes. 54:22 He kept all of My commandments." 54:24 'Cause you and I can't look at it that way, 54:27 that had to be God's quote. 54:28 And that proves to me 54:30 that God forgets what He forgives. 54:33 We are going to end on this scripture, 54:35 Psalms 103:12. 54:40 Psalm 103:12. 54:47 Ah, I love the Word of God, don't you? 54:50 It brings such hope and it gives me great joy. 54:56 Psalm 103:12. 55:01 The Psalm says, "As far as the east is from the west, 55:06 so far He has removed our transgressions from us." 55:11 East never meets west. 55:14 "As far as the east is from the west, 55:17 so far has He removed our transgressions." 55:21 God is not a man that He could lie. 55:24 The only reason that He declared David 55:26 was totally righteous 55:29 is because he forgot 55:33 what David asked him to forget. 55:38 So if you've got something in your heart 55:41 that you have prayed about... 55:42 I had a lady call me, she was in her 80s, 55:47 and she had had an abortion when she was like 16 years old. 55:53 And she lived for the Lord... 55:55 I mean, once she grew up, she lived for the Lord 55:58 all of her life, 56:00 but she couldn't believe God would forgive her for that. 56:05 And so she had beat herself up, for 64 years, 56:10 she had beaten herself up. 56:14 And as I took her through these steps, 56:17 it was the hardest thing. 56:19 She recognized her sin, she had godly sorrow, 56:23 she had confessed her sin, 56:26 but her difficulty was in receiving God's forgiveness. 56:31 I just want to encourage you at home. 56:33 No matter what you've done, if you've confessed your sin 56:36 before the Lord... 56:37 Now this isn't our final step, we still got one more step 56:40 that we're going to look at, 56:42 and we'll continue this next week, 56:44 and that is the fifth step is to change our conduct. 56:48 But let me clue you, the joy of this is that 56:52 it's nothing that we can do on our own, 56:55 it is only by the power of the Holy Spirit, 56:58 it is only as God works in us to will and to 57:02 do that repentance 57:04 the Bible says is a gift from God. 57:09 So when you're praying for forgiveness, 57:12 also pray that God will give you 57:15 the gift of repentance, that He will turn you around. 57:19 And we're just... 57:20 We're out of time now, so we'll continue next week. 57:23 We want to thank you so much for joining us 57:26 and let's close with prayer. 57:28 Heavenly Father, how we praise You 57:30 and thank You for grace, 57:32 how we praise You and thank You for the power of grace 57:35 and what you do in us, Lord, 57:37 please help us to recognize our sin, 57:40 give us godly sorrow. 57:41 Oh, Lord, help us to be quick to confess 57:44 when we're not pleasing You, 57:47 and let us receive Your forgiveness, Lord. 57:50 Now bless us, Father God, go with us through this week, 57:54 and bring us back again next week, 57:55 in Jesus' name, amen. 57:57 Thank you. 57:59 Thank you so much, and good bye. |
Revised 2018-12-06