Let us read now our sermon text from the book of 2 Corinthians, chapter seven and verse 10.
We'll look at a few passages this this morning. We'll begin here in 2 Corinthians, chapter seven, verse 10. And as we come to the reading of God's word, please bow with me in prayer, Almighty God, please work that grace of repentance in each of our hearts that we may know the grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who loved us and gave himself for us, open our hearts to hear his voice now from his word, and follow after the Great Shepherd of the sheep we ask in His name. Amen, Hear now the Holy, inspired and infallible Word of God. 2 Corinthians seven, verse 10,"For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death". The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God shall stand forever.
You may be seated.
Over the next two weeks, I'd like us to consider the doctrine of repentance. This morning, we'll look at what repentance is, and next week, we'll look at what repentance is not at first, repentance is unpleasant and offensive because we are sinners. We do not care how glorious God is or how wicked we are, and the fact that we need to repent is an offense against our pride.
But repentance is not only bitter, it also brings with it the sweetness of peace with God, through Jesus Christ, that we may glorify and enjoy him as we were created to do. And along with this, repentance brings the sweetness of reconciliation with neighbor that we may love one another earnestly from a pure heart. With this in mind, let us look at a few Bible words that show us what true saving Repentance means and looks like first of all, first aspect of repentance is Regret. Regret.
Repentance involves regret that you have offended God by what you have done, said or thought.
There is an emotional aspect of repentance where you are grieved that you have broken God's law and offended God's glory. You wish that what you have done could be undone. You realize that your course of action, your attitude, your thought life was self centered and not God centered, and you regret bringing dishonor upon God's glory and grace.
This element of repentance means you are in sorrow over your sin, that you are saddened by your sin because your sin is a personal offense against God.
Look there at our sermon passage. Focus for now upon the godly grief involved in true repentance. Paul's language here is striking. There is an appropriate sadness that characterizes the sinner who is converted, who truly trusts in Christ, Christ, that sadness, as Paul puts it, there is godly grief. What does this mean? What does Paul mean when he talks about godly grief? Well, that statement could also be translated, grief in relation to God, grief with respect to God, that's showing that the regret involved in true repentance is personal, the grief we must have over our sin is oriented first and foremost to God himself and not to our neighbor. That is why we are to grieve over our sin, because we realize that we have rebelled against His Lordship and lived contrary to His abundant grace and mercy.
Since sin is a personal offense against the personal God, True Repentance means we are personally saddened over offending the God who created us for himself. The appropriate kind of grief we should have over our sin. Is a God word grief. It is, as has been translated, a grief that is agreeable to God's will, a grief that is unto God and a grief approved by God, a grief born in God's way or experienced as God intends. It is a sadness that is before God's face, and that is concerned first and foremost with God's glory.
Charles Hodge comments helpfully on this point when he says that sorrow on account of sin, which arises from proper understanding of God and our relation to him, necessarily leads to that entire change of the inward life, which is expressed by the word repentance, which is connected with salvation.
So that's the first thing.
Secondly, the second element of True Repentance is a change of mind, a change of mind when we talk about.
How Repentance involves a change of mind. It is not merely an intellectual change.
This aspect of repentance emphasizes how our entire attitude towards sin is changed before your repentance, all your thinking and living disregarded God and his glory. Your life revolved around you, what you wanted, what you thought was best, what you desired, what you felt like. But repentance brings a reversal. Repentance means all of your thinking and living is now for God and unto God. Your life revolves around his glory and what He has revealed in his word. So this aspect of repentance shows that there will be a change in our entire attitude. There will be an intellectual change. Before repentance, your mind operates in futility, your understanding is darkened, and you suppress God's truth by your unrighteousness. Think of Ephesians four and Romans, one.
You think you are wise, but you are actually a fool, because your thought life revolves around you and not the glory of God. Repentance brings intellectual change. You will understand that your sin, no matter how small, is of eternal danger and eternal consequence.
You will understand that your sin, no matter how small, earns for you eternal punishment at the hands of a holy God in hell fire, where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched, and in that place there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.
You come to see your sin differently. No longer is something enjoyable, but as the odious offense to a holy God that it truly is you come to see your sin as as God sees it, a repulsive rebellion against his glory and grace. You no longer live independently from God's glory. You rather submit to His wisdom as he's revealed Himself in His Word. Repentance involves submitting your thought life to the glory of God, in communion with God according to the Word of God.
With this change of mind, there is also an emotional aspect.
Repentance means that your affections change. What You Love changes. You now Hate the sin you once loved. You now don't want the things you once delighted in, because you now see your sin as the rebellion against God that it is. You are now against your sin in a holy hatred and opposition.
So on the one hand, you now Hate the sin you once loved, but also on the other hand, you now love the things of God you once hated, before repentance, the things of God, His word and worship, communion with Him, merely to be with him, not just to get things from him, his glory, His law. These things were dry and boring and uninteresting.
Or if you did find them interesting, it was perhaps because of your desire to satisfy his curiosity with facts or ancient customs. Repentance brings emotional change. You no longer stand cold or indifferent to the things of God. You're no longer disgusted by the things of God. You no longer make use of the things of God merely to make yourself a good citizen or merely to help you carry out your idea of what social good should be. Instead, you now love God for his own sake. You now delight in him personally as Lord and Savior, rock and refuge, head and husband, friend and reward. The Word of God is no longer boring stories or oppressive commands. In repentance, you now love the Word of God because it has it is God's speech to you, revealing to you the glory of His grace.
Your love for God's word is like the psalmists. It is "More to be desired than even the much fine gold, sweeter than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb".
Psalm 19:10.
And God Himself is no longer your Butler, the guy you call on when you want something, even though you don't want anything to do with him.
Instead, in repentance, your desire is to have God to glorify and enjoy him. It is the delight of the psalmist in Psalm 16, to know the fullness of joy in His presence. Or Psalm 27 to seek God's face, dwell in his house and gaze upon his beauty and glory. Or Psalm 73 to have God whether you have anything or anyone else or not. This is an emotional change brought in repentance.
And this change of mind also involves a change in will, along with the intellectual and emotional change, true repentance brings a change in what you choose, what you desire, what you go, what you go after, what you decide. But.
For repentance, our impulse is self seeking. And it's not that we're self seeking because we don't know any better. We don't know about God's glory, or that we're not very interested in God's glory. It is rather that we are self seeking because we hate God and are actively against his glory. Repentance brings this change in our will, what we decide and go after.
It is not merely an outward change, a change in action, but the change in outward action comes from a changed heart.
Repentance goes all the way down into the depths of our hearts.
It means that we are fundamentally reoriented away from self and toward the glory of God. So the whole direction of life is now changed. There is now New intention to glorify and enjoy God instead of satisfying selfish desires. You are now motivated not to live for self, but to glorify and enjoy God as highest good, as blessedness and reward. It's what Peter says to Simon, the magician in Acts Eight, your heart is not right before God repent, therefore of this wickedness of yours and pray to the Lord that if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you in repentance, even our intentions must be changed, as God graciously redirects us away from sinful desires to love and serve Him above all, so in These aspects of change, in intellect, emotion and will. Repentance means we are consciously opposed to our former life of sin. It means that we know that before repentance, we were living in the foolishness and ignorance and darkness of our sin against God. And it means that we now see that before repentance, we love the things that God hates, and hated the things that God loves, and we have deep sorrow over that previous life of sin against Him. It means that we now see that before repentance, we are motivated against God and his glory, and that we want to be motivated now to glorify and enjoy him out of a heart of faith and love and reverence for him, think of this helpful description of this aspect of repentance from Gerhard as Voss, he says it is a true, deep seated knowledge of and a strong aversion, an act of abhorrence toward our earlier relationship toward God.
Thirdly, the third element of true repentance is turning, turning. We can think of this as a more positive aspect of repentance. It means not only turning away from sin, but just as, just as importantly, turning toward God, we are now reoriented toward him and fundamentally away from self, we are now inclined to live for God's glory and not our selfish desires. There is a reversal in life, an about face, a change in direction. This aspect of repentance emphasizes that we turn to a new goal, a new goal that is opposite of our old sinful goal, and our new supreme goal in all things, is to bring glory to the living and true God. That's what Peter said in Acts three that we saw last week, what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets that his Christ would suffer. He thus fulfilled, Repent therefore and turn back that your sins may be blotted out. Repentance means you return to the God you once ignored and hated and ran from to now instead receive His forgiving and cleansing grace to serve him faithfully, as Calvin well summarizes, repentance is thus well defined, the true turning of our life to God, a turning that arises from a pure and earnest fear of him, and it consists in the mortification of our flesh, putting old ways to death, and the vivification of the Spirit stirring up and making use of the means of grace.
Well, with that foundation of what repentance is laid, let us think now about some ways biblical repentance is different from the shallow, superficial changes that you and I can tend to make. Let's make four contrasts.
First of all, repentance is comprehensive, not partial.
Comprehensive, not partial.
One reason you and I can have a shallow view of why we would need to change is that we have a shallow view of sin.
Sin is.
Anything that is against God's law, whether inwardly or outwardly, whether what we think or say or desire or do, it is not merely a matter of outward action. Is a matter of our entire person, intellect, Will, desires and action. We need to appreciate how desperately wicked we are by nature, and only then can we appreciate how God's command to repent includes every aspect of who we are.
Turn now with me in your copies of God's word to the book of Jeremiah.
Jeremiah chapter 17, and think of that familiar description of our hearts there in verse nine, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick. Who can understand it?
Think about what God is saying about our sinful hearts here.
Our hearts are not to be trusted. They are deceitful. And the word that God uses here to say that our hearts are deceitful is a word that shows that our hearts are subtly harmful. We can easily convince ourselves that we are not as evil as God's Word says that we are, and our hearts stubbornly refuse to acknowledge and admit the truth felt desperately wicked we are. Our culture encourages you to follow your heart, but God's word is clear that your heart is a deep pit of all kinds of corruption.
Verse nine also shows us that our hearts, as it says, there, are desperately sick.
Now that translation could lead to a misunderstanding. Let me give you a bit of a better one.
The heart is deceitful above all things and incurable. Who can understand it incurable? You know what that means? It means that the disease of sin infects every aspect of who you are, and there is no health in us. Our condition apart from Christ is not that we are a little sick.
Our condition apart from Christ is hopeless, incurable, corruption and defilement. Our condition apart from Christ is not that we have some weaknesses or blind spots. Our condition is that we are so ruined in our sin, that everything about us, every desire, thought, inclination, every word and every action comes from a heart that hates God and loves self, and as verse nine goes on to show you, cannot begin to comprehend the depths of your sin or the extent to which Your sin is ruined, your mind, your will, your desires or your motivations, because sin has comprehensively infected every aspect of who we are. We must repent comprehensively. We must have a godly regret over every aspect of our sin, every thought and desire and motivation and word and action, and in all these areas, we must turn away from the glory of self and turn toward the opposite goal, the glory of the Triune God.
Repentance involves that complete reversal of our entire life inwardly and outwardly to a fundamentally new goal, to bring glory and honor to the Father Son and Holy Spirit.
Second contrast, repentance is for all people, not some people. Repentance is for all not some.
Another reason you and I can have a shallow view of why we would need to change is that we think that we are not as sinful as others.
We can convince ourselves that we are better than others, or that we are not as sinful as others because we have not done the specific things they have done.
But this is foolishness and self righteousness. God's word is clear. None is righteous. No, not one. No one understands. No one seeks for God. There is no distinction. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Romans, chapter three, this is you and this is me.
Jesus commanded that repentance for the forgiveness of sins be proclaimed in his name to all the nations. Luke 24 you look throughout the Gospels, you see how Jesus addresses both the self righteous Pharisees and his own disciples who trust in Him in the same way all of us are evil, whether you trust in Christ or not, whether you have led a decent life or have been openly rebellious, conservative, liberal, aware of it or not, you are evil and need to repent no matter who you are, God commands you to regret your offense against him, change your mind about your sin and turn to him.
Him to find forgiveness and cleansing of your sin by His amazing grace.
We do not need to worry primarily about who else needs to repent.
All we need to worry about now is that we repent of our sin and trust in Christ to escape his wrath and curse that we deserve and find eternal salvation in Jesus, Christ, thirdly. Third contrast, repentance. Is God centered and not man centered? It is God centered and not man centered.
Another reason you and I can have a shallow view of why we would need to change is that we think in terms of what we want and what would make our lives go well, rather than the glory of God and what He requires in His Word. We'll talk more about this later on, but for now, think about how repentance revolves around the glory of God.
The reason our sin is sinful, it's not because our sin makes us live less pleasant or comfortable lives. It's not because our sin contributes to the decay of society. It's not because our sin damages family or friendship or reputation.
It's not because sin makes relationships difficult.
The reason our sin is wicked is that it is offense against a holy God and a violation of his requirements. In his word, sin is against God. It is inherently and always in relation to him.
And true repentance recognizes that every aspect of our sin is an offense against him, and for that reason, we turn to him in regret that we have dishonored his lordship over us.
Repentance means returning to the Lord and acknowledging that he is supreme in all things. It means turning away from selfishness and turning to glorify and enjoy Him as He gives us His very self and his word.
At every point, our consuming attention is upon the grace and glory of the One True God, and only then will true love of neighbor follow fourthly, fourth contrast Repentance means we subject all of life to God, not some of life, all of life for God, and not some of life.
Another reason you and I can have a shallow view of why we would need to change is that we think that there are some areas of life, however big or small, they're just for me, not for God. But the truth is, there is no secret, private area where we get to be or do whatever we want, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do do, all to the glory of God.
First, Corinthians, 1031, no creature is hidden from His sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account Hebrews 413, repentance does not turn to God briefly to give a half hearted apology, only to return to our own agenda.
Repentance recognizes that God is Lord over every area of life, and that all of life is for him.
Repentance means we are constantly bringing our thought life, our desires, our motivations, our words and our actions before him. We want to bring every aspect of ourselves and every area of life under His Lordship, to obey and serve Him and promote his glory.
Jesus is very clear that we are to have a single minded devotion and zeal for the glory of God.
Think of Jesus striking words in Matthew 18.
If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire.
And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes be thrown into the hell of fire.
This is one place where we need to be exceptionally careful in our sin. We can hear Jesus make this statement and say something like, Jesus, don't tell me that I literally have to mutilate my body.
Sadly, when we hear Jesus call us to extreme devotion to God's glory, our natural response is to say, but not really, right.
We cannot minimize what Jesus is saying. We are to use our entire life, in this case, every part of the body for complete devotion to the glory of God.
There is no sacrifice too great to avoid sin.
Sin and to pursue God's glory, we must avoid anything that distracts us from God's glory.
Any and every occasion of sin is to be avoided, and we are always to live before God's face, to worship and serve Him.
So will cutting off your hands and gouging out your eyes help you to do this.
Keep in mind, Jesus is not saying that your hands or your eyes are sinful. If that were the case, we'd have to get rid of every part of our bodies.
The issue is how we use our hands, our eyes, our bodies. God made all of you to serve Him always and fully. Don't use your body for selfishness and sin.
Use your body for complete devotion for the glory of God.
Again, we cannot minimize what Jesus is saying. He is using this extreme language for a reason. He is telling us that our complete devotion to the glory of God will be costly. It will be painful, at least at times. Repentance means you will have to give up things that your sinful heart wants. Repentance recognizes that even if there is something in your life not inherently wrong, your sinful heart will find a way to use it sinfully, even when it hurts.
Any sacrifice we make to avoid sin and pursue God's glory is worth it. That's what Jesus is talking about. Temporary, painful sacrifice for the glory of God now is worthwhile because of the eternal reward of life that such sacrifice brings. It may feel like death to get rid of all occasions to sin, because our hearts love sin, but it is actually the beginning of eternal life, the beginning of God's grace. Living in sin now leads to an eternity of punishment in hell fire, but repentance now turning from sin to trust in the life giving grace of God leads to eternity of life in the joys of God's presence in heaven. True saving.
Repentance recognizes that all of life is for God's glory and true. Repentance constantly renounces all that is displeasing to God and constantly pursues him in devotion and adoration and worship.
Three Bible words, four contrasts. Let's simplify all this and see how Jesus shows us what true repentance is in one short prayer. And as we close, let's turn to the book of Luke in chapter 18.
Luke chapter 18, let's read of the Pharisee and the tax collector, beginning at verse nine.
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt.
Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, who's standing by himself, prayed Thus, God, I thank You that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get, but the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast saying, God be merciful to me, a sinner.
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.
Here is a picture of true repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus.
Think of the Pharisee verse 11.
Notice the Pharisees pride he is standing in the temple. He presumes that he can confidently come into God's presence. He is self righteous. He trusts in his performance to make him earn right standing with God in heaven. He is under the delusion that his works are inherently valuable to a holy God. He thinks he deserves eternal life.
He doesn't realize what a miserable sinner he is, and so he prays, telling God how great he is and how worthy of heaven he is. He exalts himself in pride.
Notice in verse nine, why Jesus tells this parable.
He told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, is that you are you trusting in yourself that you are righteous in your performance? If that is you, then you fail to see how even your best works are as filthy rags before a holy God, and you fail to see that you need the forgiving, cleansing grace of God.
Jesus Christ. That is why Jesus tells us about the tax collector.
Notice how the tax collector humbles himself before the Lord.
Verse 13, he approaches the Lord in a radically different way from how the Pharisee approaches the Lord.
The Pharisees stands in the temple. The tax collector stood far off. Why? Because the tax collector realized he was a miserable sinner. He offended a holy God, and he had no right to come into God's presence.
The Pharisee praises himself before God. The tax collector condemns himself before God. You can see in verse 13, the tax collector can't even look up to heaven because he is aware of how sinful he is and is filled with shame and regret over his sin against God. That is why the tax collector in verse 13 beats his chest repeatedly. He is filled with grief because he knows he has offended God's glory.
But perhaps most importantly, you can see how the Pharisee and the tax collector approach the Lord in radically different ways. In this the Pharisee asks nothing of God. The tax collector begs God for mercy.
The Pharisee doesn't see his need of a Savior. The Pharisee, in so many words, tells God, I'm not a sinner, I'm all good on my own. Why would I need mercy?
I've taken care of everything.
But the tax collector knows the truth, doesn't he? He knows he's offended a holy God, and he has nothing to appeal to. In Himself, He identifies Himself correctly there in verse 13, God be merciful to me, a sinner.
The Pharisee thinks he is better than everyone else, that he has something in his own contribution to stand on. In God's sight, the Pharisee compares himself to everyone else and thinks he's righteous, and maybe in a sense, he is.
But the tax collector doesn't compare himself to other people.
He compares himself to God.
And when you see yourself in light of who God is, you will see yourself as the miserable sinner that you are. Regardless of others, you will see there is no possible way you could ever earn right standing before such a holy and majestic God, the tax collector, realizes he is a sinner. He knows that his sin is exceedingly sinful, and knows that any good deed he has done could never open the gates of heaven to him.
That's why the tax collector offers nothing to God, but instead begs everything from God. That's his prayer there in verse 13, God be merciful to me, a sinner. He knows that he's a sinner, and he knows what he needs from God, Mercy.
He's not asking God to take it easy on him. He's not really asking God to take away his punishment.
The tax collector's prayer is much richer than that. His prayer is asking God to forgive him of his sin, to be restored to right relationship with Him.
That's what he's praying there in verse 13, so that he can have relationship of peace and friendship with this Holy God to glorify and enjoy him. That's what his prayer is all about, begging God to remove all the obstacles that he has put in between him and God for for reconciliation and relationship.
He realizes he has offended a holy God, but he also realizes that this Holy God is a God of grace and mercy who forgives everyone who comes to Him in repentance and faith. You can see there in verse 14, it was not the Pharisee, it was the tax collector that went home justified the Pharisee thought he was righteous, and he left the temple guilty and corrupt and hell deserving, because he exalted himself in pride.
The tax collector knew he was a sinner, and he left the temple forgiven, clothed in the spotless robes of God's righteousness in Jesus Christ, because He humbled Himself and cast himself upon the free mercy of God in the Lord Jesus, and you can go home justified today as well.
Don't compare yourself to others, but see how awful your sin against a holy God is.
Lament the fact that you have offended him inwardly and outwardly. Change your mind.
Acknowledge before God that your sin is repulsive and eternally hell deserving, and turn to God because he.
Is merciful and gracious. Ask Him to forgive and cleanse you.
Ask him to restore you to fellowship with Him, that He would work in you what is pleasing in His sight, that you would be able to glorify and enjoy Him. Ask Him to give you the desire to walk in new obedience to Him, by His grace and for His glory, when you grieve your sin and hate your sin and turn to God for grace, you can be absolutely assured that eternal life in Jesus Christ is yours because God has promised If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. First John one nine, Almighty God, Add now the bless your blessing to the preaching of your word and work repentance in our hearts, to the praise of your glorious grace. We ask in Jesus name, amen.