“True Repentance” – FBC Morning Light (3/26/2024)

Well, good Tuesday morning to you. Again, I want to remind you this week of some.

Maundy Thursday, Easter Sunday, and Upcoming Worship Services

Special events. Thursday night at Faith Baptist we're having a Maundy Thursday service at 7 o 'clock. I'll be looking at that night before the crucifixion, the night of the betrayal of the Lord. I'll be having the Lord's Table together and walking through some of those events that take us to the cross.

And then of course Sunday, looking forward to Easter Sunday, Resurrection Sunday, as we have a sunrise service early in the morning at 8 o 'clock, and then followed by brunch or Sunday Bible study time at 9 .30, morning service at 10 .30, a good day of worshiping the Lord on Resurrection Sunday.

Israel’s Sin and Oppression in Judges 10

Well today we're jumping back into the book of Judges, reading chapters 10 through 12, and I want to just focus on one section in chapter 10, because once again, Israel is oppressed and it's says in verse 6, the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord.

They served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the people of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines. They forsook the Lord and did not serve him.

Consequently, the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel. He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and the hands of the people of Ammon. And they're being harassed, it says, for 18 years, verse 8, this is going on, under this terrible oppression and bondage, and it's because of their sin.

And they finally, they come to realize that, they finally recognize it's because of their sin, that they're in such oppression, and they cry out to the Lord, they want to be delivered from that oppression.

What True Repentance Looks Like

But in the course of this, they need to come to a place of genuine repentance, and that's what I want to look at for a minute here. What does true repentance look like? And I think we get some insight from this particular incident and phase in Israel's history in the book of Judges.

True repentance will, in the first place, own my sin, like they do in verse 10. It says, the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, saying, we have sinned against you. All right, there's the statement of fact, but how?

So I think it's important not only to just say, I've sinned, but here's how I've sinned. I have sinned against you by forsaking you and serving another God. They did this, they said, we have forsaken, we have both forsaken our God and served the Baals.

So when you are convicted of sin, if you're going to truly confess it, you're going to say the same thing about it that God says about it. You're not only going to acknowledge that you have sinned, but you're going to name it.

What is that sin? And that's agreeing with God. You say, yes, that outburst of anger against my son or against my spouse, that was sin. I have sinned against you by this sinful outburst of uncontrolled anger, for example.

Repentance Includes Acknowledging Chastening and Asking for Mercy

Well, it not only will do that, but true repentance will also acknowledge the deserving of chastening. So in verse 15, the children of Israel said to the Lord, we have sinned, do what seems best to you.

Do what seems best to you. I acknowledge my sin, I recognize that I'm deserving of chastening, and then Lord, do what you think is best. And yet, there's also an appeal for mercy. Do what you seem is best.

Only, they say, deliver us this day, we pray. Deliver us from the enemy. Deliver us from the oppressor. So while acknowledging the deserving of chastening, there is an appropriate appeal for mercy. Have mercy upon me.

This is what the publican did in that parable the Lord told between the publican and the Pharisee in the New Testament, the Gospel of Luke, the publican, he wouldn't lift up his eyes to heaven, but he smote upon his breast, and he said, Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner.

And he went home justified. But then, there's one more step here in true repentance, in verse 16. True repentance puts away the sin. Verse 16, so they put away the foreign gods from among them, and served the Lord.

They turned from idols to God. And that's an essential component of true repentance. It's not enough just to say, I've sinned, this is what I did in my sinning, I deserve to be chastened for it, have mercy upon me.

I can't then hold on to that sin. I need to turn away from it. I need to get rid of it, and I need to turn to the Lord, put away the idol, whatever it is, and worship and serve the one true God. So here's a pattern of genuine repentance, and the Lord honored that.

They put away those foreign gods, and God then eventually gave deliverance from the Ammonites in the man that we're going to look at, well, you're going to read about in chapter 11 and 12, Jephthah. So our Father and our God, I pray, when your Spirit convicts us, give us the gift of true, genuine repentance, we pray, in Jesus' name and for his sake, amen.

All right, have a great Tuesday. May the Lord bless you in it.