WEBVTT 00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:05.019 Hosea 6 verse 1 reads, Come, let us return to 00:00:05.019 --> 00:00:08.359 the Lord, for he has torn us and he will heal 00:00:08.359 --> 00:00:13.039 us. He has wounded us and he will bind up our 00:00:13.039 --> 00:00:17.179 wounds. He will revive us after two days, and 00:00:17.179 --> 00:00:20.219 on the third day he will raise us up so we can 00:00:20.219 --> 00:00:23.760 live in his presence. Let's strive to know the 00:00:23.760 --> 00:00:26.339 Lord. His appearance is as sure as the dawn. 00:00:26.539 --> 00:00:29.920 He will come to us like the rain, like the spring 00:00:29.920 --> 00:00:34.679 showers that water the land. What am I going 00:00:34.679 --> 00:00:37.460 to do with you, Ephraim? What am I going to do 00:00:37.460 --> 00:00:39.979 with you, Judah? Your love is like the morning 00:00:39.979 --> 00:00:43.960 mist and like the early dew that vanishes. This 00:00:43.960 --> 00:00:46.979 is why I have used the prophets to cut them down. 00:00:47.079 --> 00:00:49.619 I have killed them with the words from my mouth. 00:00:49.700 --> 00:00:53.100 My judgment strikes like lightning, for I desire 00:00:53.100 --> 00:00:57.060 faithful love and not sacrifice. The knowledge 00:00:57.060 --> 00:01:01.960 of God rather than burnt offerings. This is God's 00:01:01.960 --> 00:01:06.879 word. Have you ever made a promise, maybe a promise 00:01:06.879 --> 00:01:09.420 that just rolled off of your tongue without any 00:01:09.420 --> 00:01:12.140 thought as to whether or not you intend to actually 00:01:12.140 --> 00:01:15.480 keep it? If you have kids, you've probably heard 00:01:15.480 --> 00:01:17.700 that before, right? You get them in trouble for, 00:01:17.780 --> 00:01:20.180 you caught them doing something and they say, 00:01:20.280 --> 00:01:22.700 oh, I'll never do that again. I promise, I'll 00:01:22.700 --> 00:01:26.439 never do it again. Or maybe as an adult, you 00:01:26.439 --> 00:01:28.819 said something like, man, I'm so sorry, I'll 00:01:28.819 --> 00:01:33.239 do better next time. But deep down, you knew 00:01:33.239 --> 00:01:36.280 nothing had changed and nothing was really going 00:01:36.280 --> 00:01:39.799 to change. The words may have sounded nice to 00:01:39.799 --> 00:01:43.120 the moment. They may have appeased the person 00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:45.980 you wounded, but they were hollow as it pertains 00:01:45.980 --> 00:01:50.280 to what you intended to do. And that's the picture 00:01:50.280 --> 00:01:53.040 we're kind of given here in Hosea 6, that Israel 00:01:53.040 --> 00:01:56.280 is under God's discipline, and they feel the 00:01:56.280 --> 00:01:58.519 weight of his hands, and so they say the right 00:01:58.519 --> 00:02:02.939 things. Come, let us return to the Lord. But 00:02:02.939 --> 00:02:08.180 their words, their love is like morning dew that 00:02:08.180 --> 00:02:11.340 evaporates when the sun comes up. Their words 00:02:11.340 --> 00:02:15.960 vanish. They are motivated more by escaping consequence 00:02:15.960 --> 00:02:22.080 than by genuine grief over their sin. And that 00:02:22.080 --> 00:02:24.539 raises the question for us, what does true repentance 00:02:24.539 --> 00:02:28.360 actually look like? Because it's not just saying 00:02:28.360 --> 00:02:31.159 the right words and it's not just showing up 00:02:31.159 --> 00:02:33.919 to church or going through the motions of religion. 00:02:34.439 --> 00:02:38.219 God himself tells us in verse six, I desire steadfast 00:02:38.219 --> 00:02:42.780 love. and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God 00:02:42.780 --> 00:02:49.259 rather than burnt offerings. The prince of preachers, 00:02:49.259 --> 00:02:52.520 Charles Spurgeon, he once said, the proof of 00:02:52.520 --> 00:02:56.840 true repentance is a changed life, not merely 00:02:56.840 --> 00:03:01.860 a regretful heart. And this morning, we're going 00:03:01.860 --> 00:03:04.939 to see that repentance is more than a ritual 00:03:04.939 --> 00:03:07.500 we go through or a duty we perform. It's more 00:03:07.500 --> 00:03:10.800 than lip service that we pay. It's a heartfelt 00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:15.780 turning to God. And Hosea 6 shows us not only 00:03:15.780 --> 00:03:18.500 the emptiness of superficial repentance, but 00:03:18.500 --> 00:03:22.419 also the beauty of genuine repentance, a repentance 00:03:22.419 --> 00:03:29.150 that God receives, forgives, and restores. And 00:03:29.150 --> 00:03:30.810 so we're going to walk through the text and I 00:03:30.810 --> 00:03:33.610 would invite you to ask yourself, am I going 00:03:33.610 --> 00:03:37.870 through the motions or am I truly returning to 00:03:37.870 --> 00:03:42.229 the Lord? I have three points today. If you're 00:03:42.229 --> 00:03:44.430 taking notes, the first point you can write down 00:03:44.430 --> 00:03:50.610 is superficial repentance. Verse one through 00:03:50.610 --> 00:03:53.389 three, Israel cries out, come let us return to 00:03:53.389 --> 00:03:56.349 the Lord for he has torn us that he may heal 00:03:56.349 --> 00:04:00.090 us. He has struck us down and he will bind us 00:04:00.090 --> 00:04:04.969 up. And two days he will revive us. And on the 00:04:04.969 --> 00:04:07.509 third day, he will raise us up that we may live 00:04:07.509 --> 00:04:11.710 before him. And now on the surface, this sounds 00:04:11.710 --> 00:04:14.150 wonderful, doesn't it? This whole section actually 00:04:14.150 --> 00:04:17.610 sounds like the right words to say. Like if you're 00:04:17.610 --> 00:04:20.129 going to say anything, if you've fallen away 00:04:20.129 --> 00:04:22.850 or fallen into sin or trusted in other things, 00:04:22.970 --> 00:04:26.670 these are the words you should say. This is the 00:04:26.670 --> 00:04:29.389 call that should go out. It sounds like a revival 00:04:29.389 --> 00:04:32.170 hymn, like throw up the tent, let's get saved. 00:04:34.850 --> 00:04:37.589 Sounds like Israel's finally woken up and is 00:04:37.589 --> 00:04:41.290 ready to turn to God. But if you keep reading, 00:04:41.350 --> 00:04:44.170 God's response in verse four reveals something 00:04:44.170 --> 00:04:47.889 else, doesn't it? What shall I do with you, O 00:04:47.889 --> 00:04:51.589 Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your 00:04:51.589 --> 00:04:55.259 love. is like a morning cloud, like a dew that 00:04:55.259 --> 00:04:59.939 goes early away. In other words, their repentance 00:04:59.939 --> 00:05:04.000 is superficial or shallow. It looks good in the 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:06.519 moment, but it vanishes quickly. Their words 00:05:06.519 --> 00:05:09.620 are right, but their hearts remain unchanged. 00:05:11.399 --> 00:05:14.259 And this is what we might call superficial repentance. 00:05:14.980 --> 00:05:19.740 So what does repentance mean? Well, it really 00:05:19.740 --> 00:05:23.970 just means turning away from something, and by 00:05:23.970 --> 00:05:26.850 necessity, turning towards something else. Turning 00:05:26.850 --> 00:05:29.089 away from something, and in turning away from 00:05:29.089 --> 00:05:31.930 something, you're turning toward something else. 00:05:32.209 --> 00:05:34.870 And in a biblical context, it usually means turning 00:05:34.870 --> 00:05:37.769 away from things that are contrary to who God 00:05:37.769 --> 00:05:42.410 is and what he wants for humanity, and instead 00:05:42.410 --> 00:05:45.629 turning toward living out who he is and living 00:05:45.629 --> 00:05:47.629 in a manner that accords with his design for 00:05:47.629 --> 00:05:51.350 us as humans. In other words, to truly live, 00:05:51.870 --> 00:05:55.250 As true humans, in light of God our creator and 00:05:55.250 --> 00:05:58.730 who he is. And so if that's repentance, well, 00:05:58.790 --> 00:06:01.709 what is superficial repentance? It's not driven 00:06:01.709 --> 00:06:04.370 by sorrow over sin. Instead, it's driven by a 00:06:04.370 --> 00:06:12.050 desire for relief. Israel feels the pain of God's 00:06:12.050 --> 00:06:15.110 discipline. Anyone ever been disciplined before? 00:06:15.209 --> 00:06:23.319 As a child, as an adult, as an employee? Israel 00:06:23.319 --> 00:06:25.720 feels the pain of God's discipline, and so they 00:06:25.720 --> 00:06:27.879 mouth the right words in hopes that the pain 00:06:27.879 --> 00:06:33.399 will go away. But it's temporary. And the problem 00:06:33.399 --> 00:06:36.800 is they don't actually want God. They want relief 00:06:36.800 --> 00:06:42.379 from God. And friends, there's a world of difference 00:06:42.379 --> 00:06:47.220 between those two, isn't there? Think of a child 00:06:47.220 --> 00:06:50.220 caught red -handed in disobedience. He says, 00:06:50.259 --> 00:06:52.500 I'm sorry, I won't do that again. But what he 00:06:52.500 --> 00:06:54.639 really means is, I don't like being punished. 00:06:54.680 --> 00:06:59.100 I want to get out of this trouble. That's regret 00:06:59.100 --> 00:07:02.500 over consequences, but that is not repentance 00:07:02.500 --> 00:07:07.540 over sin. And that's exactly where Israel seems 00:07:07.540 --> 00:07:12.040 to be in Hosea chapter 6. This is why Scripture 00:07:12.040 --> 00:07:15.660 warns us that not all sorrow is the same. Paul 00:07:15.660 --> 00:07:19.240 writes in 2 Corinthians 7 -10, godly sorrow, 00:07:19.339 --> 00:07:20.839 there's two kinds of sorrow that he writes here. 00:07:20.899 --> 00:07:23.959 Godly sorrow, on the one hand, brings repentance 00:07:23.959 --> 00:07:27.660 that leads to salvation and leaves no regret. 00:07:29.079 --> 00:07:35.560 But worldly sorrow brings death. Worldly sorrow 00:07:35.560 --> 00:07:43.720 says, I hate the pain my sin caused me. Godly 00:07:43.720 --> 00:07:47.100 sorrow says, I hate the sin that caused this 00:07:47.100 --> 00:07:51.660 pain to God and to others. Worldly sorrow wants 00:07:51.660 --> 00:07:54.600 to escape consequences. Godly sorrow wants to 00:07:54.600 --> 00:08:03.160 escape sin itself. Thomas Watson, a Puritan pastor, 00:08:03.420 --> 00:08:07.079 said, worldly sorrow shows itself in tears, but 00:08:07.079 --> 00:08:11.800 godly sorrow shows itself in change. And here's 00:08:11.800 --> 00:08:15.160 the danger. We go through religious motions, 00:08:15.399 --> 00:08:18.639 we sing songs, we pray the prayers, we show up 00:08:18.639 --> 00:08:24.759 on Sundays and still don't actually repent. We 00:08:24.759 --> 00:08:27.420 can say the right words with no intention of 00:08:27.420 --> 00:08:30.899 ever really changing. And that's superficial 00:08:30.899 --> 00:08:37.179 repentance. It evaporates like dew. And so I'll 00:08:37.179 --> 00:08:40.490 ask you, when you confess your sin, Is it just 00:08:40.490 --> 00:08:44.070 to ease your guilty conscience? Or is it because 00:08:44.070 --> 00:08:47.509 you're truly grieved that your sin grieves God? 00:08:49.549 --> 00:08:53.309 Do you want him or do you just want relief from 00:08:53.309 --> 00:08:59.909 him? That's the diagnostic question Hosea presses 00:08:59.909 --> 00:09:03.590 on us. Because God is not fooled by superficial 00:09:03.590 --> 00:09:07.809 repentance. Instead, he desires something deeper. 00:09:08.620 --> 00:09:13.820 Something real. And we'll look and see what that 00:09:13.820 --> 00:09:15.720 looks like as we continue. Number two, if you're 00:09:15.720 --> 00:09:19.779 taking notes, God's desire is for genuine devotion. 00:09:22.259 --> 00:09:25.799 After exposing the shallowness of Israel's words 00:09:25.799 --> 00:09:29.120 in verse four, God explains what he actually 00:09:29.120 --> 00:09:32.360 wants from his people in verse six. For I desire 00:09:32.360 --> 00:09:36.799 steadfast love, faithful love, and not sacrifice. 00:09:38.379 --> 00:09:41.340 The knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. 00:09:41.580 --> 00:09:43.919 And that's a stunning statement because God is 00:09:43.919 --> 00:09:47.080 not dismissing sacrifices. He himself commanded 00:09:47.080 --> 00:09:50.539 them in his law. He gave the law. It was a good 00:09:50.539 --> 00:09:53.960 gift to his people. But instead he is saying, 00:09:54.080 --> 00:09:58.679 I'm not after some empty ritual. The law was 00:09:58.679 --> 00:10:01.639 always to point your heart, reorient your heart 00:10:01.639 --> 00:10:04.100 back toward God. It was never the thing in and 00:10:04.100 --> 00:10:09.100 of itself. It was to point you back to God because 00:10:09.100 --> 00:10:12.480 God ultimately wants your heart. He wants your 00:10:12.480 --> 00:10:19.759 covenant love. He wants you to know him. Some 00:10:19.759 --> 00:10:22.519 folks who are outside of the faith or just coming 00:10:22.519 --> 00:10:24.200 in sometimes can have a little problem. One of 00:10:24.200 --> 00:10:28.100 the common apologetics questions is something 00:10:28.100 --> 00:10:30.220 to the effect of, man, if I read the Bible, God 00:10:30.220 --> 00:10:33.620 kind of seems egotistical. He's kind of all about 00:10:33.620 --> 00:10:35.820 himself. It's like, I don't know, what's up with 00:10:35.820 --> 00:10:39.559 that, right? You serve an egotistical God. He 00:10:39.559 --> 00:10:43.659 gets accused of that often. He's a needy deity 00:10:43.659 --> 00:10:49.019 who demands devotion to feed his own pride and 00:10:49.019 --> 00:10:53.000 to feed his own insecurities. But to that, I 00:10:53.000 --> 00:10:55.340 want to say, I think that accusation overlooks 00:10:55.340 --> 00:10:58.600 a crucial question, and that is, what if relationship 00:10:58.600 --> 00:11:05.379 with God is humanity's ultimate good? What if 00:11:05.379 --> 00:11:08.659 there is no greater joy, no higher flourishing, 00:11:08.740 --> 00:11:11.720 no greater satisfaction than knowing and walking 00:11:11.720 --> 00:11:16.039 with a perfectly good God? If that's the case, 00:11:16.059 --> 00:11:19.240 then God's desire that we would walk with Him 00:11:19.240 --> 00:11:22.740 and know Him and love Him and His active work 00:11:22.740 --> 00:11:25.620 to that end to bring us into relationship with 00:11:25.620 --> 00:11:28.019 Himself, if that was the case, it's not egotistical 00:11:28.019 --> 00:11:33.669 at all, is it? It's actually pure love. His love 00:11:33.669 --> 00:11:37.370 for you compels him to tell you to come to him, 00:11:37.450 --> 00:11:40.230 the only source, the only true source, the well 00:11:40.230 --> 00:11:44.009 that never runs dry. This is not ego, this is 00:11:44.009 --> 00:11:49.950 love. And that's the difference between religion 00:11:49.950 --> 00:11:52.669 and relationship. Religion says, man, if I do 00:11:52.669 --> 00:11:55.250 the right things, God may be pleased with me. 00:11:55.429 --> 00:11:57.370 Or if nothing else, if I do the right things, 00:11:57.450 --> 00:12:00.970 God will get off my back. I can find some relief 00:12:00.970 --> 00:12:04.190 from God. But relationship says, man, I want 00:12:04.190 --> 00:12:08.129 to know. I want to love and walk with the God 00:12:08.129 --> 00:12:14.210 who knows, loves, and pursues me. And the Israelites 00:12:14.210 --> 00:12:15.950 thought, man, their religious activity, that 00:12:15.950 --> 00:12:21.549 was enough. They brought sacrifices. They paid 00:12:21.549 --> 00:12:25.730 their tithes. They kept the feast. They said 00:12:25.730 --> 00:12:29.299 the right words. But their devotion was thin 00:12:29.299 --> 00:12:35.220 and fleeting. It was like the morning dew. They 00:12:35.220 --> 00:12:39.159 gave God ritual, but they refused to give God 00:12:39.159 --> 00:12:45.039 their hearts. The reformer John Calvin said, 00:12:45.139 --> 00:12:49.820 God has no regard for heartless worship. He looks 00:12:49.820 --> 00:12:55.350 not at the pomp of worship. Scream louder. yell, 00:12:55.509 --> 00:12:57.950 dance harder, right? He looks nothing at the 00:12:57.950 --> 00:13:02.070 pomp of worship. He looks past it at the sincerity 00:13:02.070 --> 00:13:06.809 of the heart of the worshiper. And isn't this 00:13:06.809 --> 00:13:09.870 still a temptation for us, man? We can sing the 00:13:09.870 --> 00:13:12.870 worship songs. We can drop something into the 00:13:12.870 --> 00:13:15.690 offering plate. We can sit through another sermon 00:13:15.690 --> 00:13:21.570 week after week and still leave unchanged. We 00:13:21.570 --> 00:13:25.159 can check the box of religion without, cultivating 00:13:25.159 --> 00:13:32.080 a heart that loves God. We can't solve all that 00:13:32.080 --> 00:13:36.720 with more programs, more things to do, but we 00:13:36.720 --> 00:13:39.139 can facilitate those who hunger after it. And 00:13:39.139 --> 00:13:42.059 here at Village, we facilitate this kind of discipleship 00:13:42.059 --> 00:13:44.679 culture around small groups because we believe 00:13:44.679 --> 00:13:47.100 that there is so much more to our journey with 00:13:47.100 --> 00:13:49.500 Christ than could ever be accomplished on a Sunday 00:13:49.500 --> 00:13:52.419 morning. You guys may not have noticed this, 00:13:52.460 --> 00:13:57.899 but I don't let you talk a whole lot, do I? It's 00:13:57.899 --> 00:14:02.120 a whole lot of me. But small groups, man, small 00:14:02.120 --> 00:14:05.879 groups are an opportunity where we get in a room 00:14:05.879 --> 00:14:09.779 together, where we're renewed by the grace of 00:14:09.779 --> 00:14:12.740 God as we speak to one another in truth and in 00:14:12.740 --> 00:14:17.659 love, where we show grace to one another while 00:14:17.659 --> 00:14:20.549 we're face to face with the weaknesses. That 00:14:20.549 --> 00:14:23.830 we see so apparent in each other. Wow, you're 00:14:23.830 --> 00:14:29.690 kind of rude. Wow, you smell. I don't like you 00:14:29.690 --> 00:14:32.669 a whole lot. But what am I going to do with you 00:14:32.669 --> 00:14:34.889 because of all the grace that's been shown to 00:14:34.889 --> 00:14:38.610 me? It's hard to do that when we're in rows facing 00:14:38.610 --> 00:14:41.370 forward and just absorbing a monologue, isn't 00:14:41.370 --> 00:14:45.629 it? But get in a circle. You're face to face 00:14:45.629 --> 00:14:49.960 with whether you're going to love or not. And 00:14:49.960 --> 00:14:55.000 so we kind of, we facilitate as best as we can. 00:14:55.019 --> 00:14:56.500 Again, it's not an end all be all. It's just 00:14:56.500 --> 00:14:59.000 a tool. It could be misused. It can become a 00:14:59.000 --> 00:15:00.899 ritual. It can become something you check off 00:15:00.899 --> 00:15:04.600 your box as well. But small groups is the way 00:15:04.600 --> 00:15:06.240 that we do that. And in fact, our small groups 00:15:06.240 --> 00:15:07.899 have been taking a break through the summer and 00:15:07.899 --> 00:15:10.700 we're about to relaunch those small groups in 00:15:10.700 --> 00:15:13.019 September. If you're not currently involved in 00:15:13.019 --> 00:15:14.700 one, I really do encourage you, get involved 00:15:14.700 --> 00:15:18.500 in a small group. Get in a circle. Get face -to 00:15:18.500 --> 00:15:20.720 -face with some smelly, weird Christians and 00:15:20.720 --> 00:15:23.320 some other people, too, that you invite in and 00:15:23.320 --> 00:15:25.840 see if maybe God doesn't stretch and grow your 00:15:25.840 --> 00:15:28.600 love when you're face -to -face with weakness 00:15:28.600 --> 00:15:30.320 and they're face -to -face with your weakness. 00:15:32.820 --> 00:15:35.100 This verse out of Hosea chapter 6 that we're 00:15:35.100 --> 00:15:38.600 looking at, I desire... Faithful love, not sacrifice, 00:15:38.720 --> 00:15:40.460 the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. 00:15:40.580 --> 00:15:42.960 Jesus himself actually in the gospels quotes 00:15:42.960 --> 00:15:45.679 it two times. In Matthew chapter nine and in 00:15:45.679 --> 00:15:48.700 Matthew chapter 12, he tells the Pharisees, go 00:15:48.700 --> 00:15:52.220 and learn what it means. I desire mercy and not 00:15:52.220 --> 00:15:56.220 sacrifice. See, the Pharisees, they were experts 00:15:56.220 --> 00:16:01.460 at religion. You can't outdo a Pharisee. You 00:16:01.460 --> 00:16:03.220 could try and try and try, but the Pharisees 00:16:03.220 --> 00:16:07.320 were experts at religious performance. But their 00:16:07.320 --> 00:16:10.500 hearts were far from God. These guys were skilled, 00:16:10.600 --> 00:16:13.480 man. They believed so much in the tithe. Tithe 00:16:13.480 --> 00:16:16.620 is just a fancy word for 10, 10%, the 10th, right? 00:16:16.919 --> 00:16:19.139 Giving the first 10th of anything that they had 00:16:19.139 --> 00:16:22.139 to the Lord as an offering to show that it ultimately 00:16:22.139 --> 00:16:24.799 came from him initially, everything that we have, 00:16:24.840 --> 00:16:26.940 and so we give back to him this 10th idea, right? 00:16:27.039 --> 00:16:28.919 Well, they were such an expert at it that they 00:16:28.919 --> 00:16:32.820 went down to their spices. They got spices from 00:16:32.820 --> 00:16:36.350 the field, right? They got mint. They got dill, 00:16:36.429 --> 00:16:38.590 they got cumin, and they would go out and portion 00:16:38.590 --> 00:16:43.450 out a tenth of their spices and bring it. But 00:16:43.450 --> 00:16:48.889 Jesus says, you tithe your spices, your mint, 00:16:49.070 --> 00:16:51.789 your dill, your cumin, but you neglect the weighty 00:16:51.789 --> 00:16:55.070 things like justice and mercy and faithfulness. 00:16:55.110 --> 00:16:59.330 In other words, you fail to image the character 00:16:59.330 --> 00:17:06.160 of God. You fail to live the life. of God through 00:17:06.160 --> 00:17:10.019 your life to the world. But you can perform all 00:17:10.019 --> 00:17:14.960 the duties. You can do all the things. You can 00:17:14.960 --> 00:17:19.579 tithe your mint, dill, and cumin, but you neglect 00:17:19.579 --> 00:17:23.779 the life of God that expresses itself in a devoted 00:17:23.779 --> 00:17:28.880 life of justice, mercy, and faithfulness. And 00:17:28.880 --> 00:17:32.180 so superficial repentance ties the use of religion 00:17:32.180 --> 00:17:35.519 and makes it into a bargaining chip. If I do 00:17:35.519 --> 00:17:40.119 this ritual, maybe God will bless me. Whereas 00:17:40.119 --> 00:17:43.400 genuine devotion, genuine repentance says, Lord, 00:17:43.500 --> 00:17:46.940 I don't want to play games anymore. I want to 00:17:46.940 --> 00:17:50.859 love you. I want to know you. I want to respond 00:17:50.859 --> 00:17:54.700 to your pursuit of me. I want to show love to 00:17:54.700 --> 00:17:56.500 you. And that's what God wants from his people. 00:17:56.640 --> 00:17:59.539 Not empty sacrifice, but steadfast, faithful 00:17:59.539 --> 00:18:03.740 love. He doesn't want religious ritual. He wants 00:18:03.740 --> 00:18:09.299 a heart that is captivated by him. And so here's 00:18:09.299 --> 00:18:12.460 a question. What does your walk with God look 00:18:12.460 --> 00:18:19.140 like right now? Is it just a checklist of rituals? 00:18:20.640 --> 00:18:28.769 Or is it a living? of covenantal love. Do you 00:18:28.769 --> 00:18:35.329 know about God or do you know God? Because the 00:18:35.329 --> 00:18:38.750 call of Hosea 6 is clear. God isn't looking for 00:18:38.750 --> 00:18:42.910 more religion. He's looking for repentance that 00:18:42.910 --> 00:18:49.059 leads to relationship. And so, I want to just 00:18:49.059 --> 00:18:51.440 kind of take a little sidestep in the context 00:18:51.440 --> 00:18:54.240 of this and talk a little bit more about repentance. 00:18:55.660 --> 00:18:59.380 Because devotion to God actually looks like repentance. 00:18:59.660 --> 00:19:04.019 We tend to think of repentance as this kind of 00:19:04.019 --> 00:19:06.440 like a tool in our tool belt we can whip out 00:19:06.440 --> 00:19:09.740 really quick if we do something really bad. And 00:19:09.740 --> 00:19:11.819 we'll do some repentance and then we'll put that 00:19:11.819 --> 00:19:13.539 tool away and we'll just kind of live our life. 00:19:13.680 --> 00:19:16.160 But the life of a Christian is a life of repentance. 00:19:17.289 --> 00:19:19.130 Because remember, what does repentance mean? 00:19:20.369 --> 00:19:24.230 Turning to God. Turning away from something and 00:19:24.230 --> 00:19:26.089 turning towards something. Turning away from 00:19:26.089 --> 00:19:28.049 that which doesn't bring life towards something 00:19:28.049 --> 00:19:30.109 that brings life. We just sang a song earlier 00:19:30.109 --> 00:19:32.450 about abide, and it talks about, I am the branch 00:19:32.450 --> 00:19:36.410 and you are the vine. Yet how many times do we 00:19:36.410 --> 00:19:39.529 unplug that thing and go and try to plug it into 00:19:39.529 --> 00:19:48.099 something else? Feed me! Satisfy me! Yeah, I 00:19:48.099 --> 00:19:51.059 don't know about you, man. I've got to consistently, 00:19:51.400 --> 00:19:56.599 constantly return to the Lord. And so what does 00:19:56.599 --> 00:20:00.680 repentance look like? What does it look like 00:20:00.680 --> 00:20:04.519 to walk with God in this way? And we can't forget 00:20:04.519 --> 00:20:09.599 the horizontal dimension because God has intertwined 00:20:09.599 --> 00:20:12.680 our love and devotion for him with an expression 00:20:12.680 --> 00:20:17.619 of how we love one another. And I don't know 00:20:17.619 --> 00:20:19.660 about you, but probably on a weekly basis, there's 00:20:19.660 --> 00:20:21.640 something I need to repent from one to another 00:20:21.640 --> 00:20:24.220 too, right? Something that I need to turn away 00:20:24.220 --> 00:20:26.359 from because I've introduced something terrible 00:20:26.359 --> 00:20:30.980 into a relationship or into walking with someone. 00:20:33.500 --> 00:20:35.420 Sorry, my wife started smiling at me and she's 00:20:35.420 --> 00:20:37.539 really cute, so I got distracted for a second. 00:20:38.039 --> 00:20:45.619 Yeah, my son's putting his head down, like embarrassed. 00:20:53.319 --> 00:20:56.859 Your repentance isn't just saying sorry. It's 00:20:56.859 --> 00:21:00.220 a consistent returning in faithfulness to God. 00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:03.380 And that produces the fruit of a changed life. 00:21:04.099 --> 00:21:07.460 There's a story of a wee little man named Zacchaeus. 00:21:09.019 --> 00:21:11.960 Zacchaeus in Luke chapter 19, he was a wee little 00:21:11.960 --> 00:21:14.039 man and he climbed a tree so that he could see 00:21:14.039 --> 00:21:18.390 Jesus, right? He was actually more than just 00:21:18.390 --> 00:21:21.029 a wee little man. He was a chief tax collector. 00:21:21.890 --> 00:21:23.930 In other words, he had tax collectors that worked 00:21:23.930 --> 00:21:26.369 for him, and everything they extorted from other 00:21:26.369 --> 00:21:29.890 people, he got a little cut of that. He was abusing 00:21:29.890 --> 00:21:32.970 his own people by collecting taxes against them 00:21:32.970 --> 00:21:37.789 and pocketing whatever he wanted. He was a sinner. 00:21:37.869 --> 00:21:40.670 He was looked down on, not only in society, but 00:21:40.670 --> 00:21:47.859 he was a lawbreaker. He hears that Jesus is passing 00:21:47.859 --> 00:21:49.900 away. So he climbs, passing that way. So he climbs 00:21:49.900 --> 00:21:52.259 a tree to catch a glimpse of this man named Jesus. 00:21:52.440 --> 00:21:56.119 And Jesus, man, he picks him out. He pursues 00:21:56.119 --> 00:21:58.480 Zacchaeus. He sees him in the tree and he says, 00:21:58.519 --> 00:22:05.500 you, I must go to your house today. I need to 00:22:05.500 --> 00:22:08.180 go to your house today. And Zacchaeus is like, 00:22:08.279 --> 00:22:11.099 whoa, like cool. And he hops down and says with 00:22:11.099 --> 00:22:15.819 joy and took him to his house. And it's really 00:22:15.819 --> 00:22:17.599 weird because the narrative then just like jumps. 00:22:18.019 --> 00:22:20.160 And the very next thing is they're at the house, 00:22:20.180 --> 00:22:22.400 I guess, after a couple of the people who are 00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:25.480 around who are religious say, man, look at Jesus. 00:22:26.400 --> 00:22:28.579 He's going to go have a meal in the house of 00:22:28.579 --> 00:22:33.980 a sinner. And the very next thing is Zacchaeus 00:22:33.980 --> 00:22:39.480 says, I'm going to repay four times the amount 00:22:39.480 --> 00:22:43.069 of anything that I've stolen from anyone. I'm 00:22:43.069 --> 00:22:45.529 responding to your pursuit of me, Jesus. I'm 00:22:45.529 --> 00:22:48.049 responding to you picking me out and my heart 00:22:48.049 --> 00:22:50.329 is so filled with gratitude. I'm gonna respond 00:22:50.329 --> 00:22:52.730 to this and I'm gonna repay anything. I'm gonna 00:22:52.730 --> 00:22:55.329 make amends for anything that I have stolen here. 00:22:55.490 --> 00:22:57.650 And it's after that that Jesus says, salvation 00:22:57.650 --> 00:22:59.789 has come to this house, right? And the very last 00:22:59.789 --> 00:23:01.609 part of that section is where Jesus says the 00:23:01.609 --> 00:23:04.990 famous, I have come to seek and save the lost. 00:23:08.039 --> 00:23:11.299 And so Zacchaeus is an example of what repentance 00:23:11.299 --> 00:23:14.039 looks like when our heart is truly captivated 00:23:14.039 --> 00:23:18.319 by the grace of God. And so there's an article 00:23:18.319 --> 00:23:20.759 that the Gospel Coalition put out a little while 00:23:20.759 --> 00:23:22.819 ago, and it had eight signs of true repentance, 00:23:23.119 --> 00:23:26.799 things that mark a repentant heart. And I think 00:23:26.799 --> 00:23:28.200 these are really helpful. We're going to go really 00:23:28.200 --> 00:23:29.859 quickly through these. We're not going to stay 00:23:29.859 --> 00:23:31.740 long on them because we've got to keep moving 00:23:31.740 --> 00:23:34.259 here. But you can write down really quickly or 00:23:34.259 --> 00:23:36.119 take a picture of the board if you want to reflect 00:23:36.119 --> 00:23:38.640 on them a little bit more. Eight signs of true 00:23:38.640 --> 00:23:40.680 repentance, things that mark a repentant heart, 00:23:40.799 --> 00:23:44.299 because true repentance always comes with evidence. 00:23:47.759 --> 00:23:50.440 Number one, a repentant person is appalled by 00:23:50.440 --> 00:23:55.059 sin. All sin is first and foremost against a 00:23:55.059 --> 00:23:57.720 holy and good God. David got this because David 00:23:57.720 --> 00:24:00.480 sinned against Bathsheba. David definitely sinned 00:24:00.480 --> 00:24:03.619 against Uriah, Bathsheba's husband, when he sent 00:24:03.619 --> 00:24:07.359 him out to ultimately die because David had committed 00:24:07.359 --> 00:24:12.759 adultery and slept with his wife. David sinned 00:24:12.759 --> 00:24:15.539 against a lot of people in that scenario, and 00:24:15.539 --> 00:24:17.880 yet when he's writing his lament in Psalm 51, 00:24:18.039 --> 00:24:21.059 he states, against you and you alone have I sinned. 00:24:21.609 --> 00:24:24.730 Because David understood that, yes, we sin against 00:24:24.730 --> 00:24:27.329 one another in terrible ways, but ultimately 00:24:27.329 --> 00:24:31.630 sin is an affront to God. Affront to God's goodness. 00:24:31.890 --> 00:24:34.609 Affront to God's created order. Affront to what 00:24:34.609 --> 00:24:37.410 God intended for humanity. It's a distortion. 00:24:39.009 --> 00:24:44.289 And a repentant person is appalled by sin. Not 00:24:44.289 --> 00:24:50.210 just convicted of sin, but a growing hatred of 00:24:50.210 --> 00:24:55.559 sin. Number two, a repentant person makes amends. 00:24:55.559 --> 00:24:59.019 Like Zacchaeus, they take steps to repair what 00:24:59.019 --> 00:25:04.140 they broke. Number three, a repentant person 00:25:04.140 --> 00:25:07.380 accepts consequences. They stop making excuses. 00:25:07.500 --> 00:25:11.380 They stop blaming. And instead, they bow under 00:25:11.380 --> 00:25:15.759 God's discipline. I remember a situation as a 00:25:15.759 --> 00:25:19.779 kid, me and my siblings. I have an older brother 00:25:19.779 --> 00:25:22.039 and two younger sisters. And we had done something. 00:25:22.099 --> 00:25:23.759 I can't remember what we did. I just know we 00:25:23.759 --> 00:25:26.160 did something that merited. I came from a house 00:25:26.160 --> 00:25:30.900 that spanked. So sorry if this triggers anyone. 00:25:31.720 --> 00:25:33.480 But yeah, I came from a house that spanked. My 00:25:33.480 --> 00:25:35.400 parents spanked us. Now, it was only two or three 00:25:35.400 --> 00:25:37.519 times probably in my whole life that I got spanked. 00:25:37.599 --> 00:25:39.839 But I probably remember all of them. I don't 00:25:39.839 --> 00:25:41.599 remember exactly what I did, but I remember getting 00:25:41.599 --> 00:25:44.640 spanked. And this particular situation, we were 00:25:44.640 --> 00:25:47.700 sent to the laundry room to wait until, you know, 00:25:47.720 --> 00:25:51.000 our punishment was executed on us. And so me 00:25:51.000 --> 00:25:52.960 and my siblings are sitting in the laundry room, 00:25:53.000 --> 00:25:55.079 you know, fretting and sweating and crying and 00:25:55.079 --> 00:25:57.740 like, what do we do, right? And my older brother 00:25:57.740 --> 00:26:00.910 who had, As I've told stories before, he's usually 00:26:00.910 --> 00:26:02.970 the evil one in my stories, and he's not here 00:26:02.970 --> 00:26:04.490 to defend himself, so today he's going to be 00:26:04.490 --> 00:26:11.390 the evil one again. He has this brilliant idea 00:26:11.390 --> 00:26:13.829 as we're all sitting there fretting the impending 00:26:13.829 --> 00:26:16.829 discipline that we're going to endure. He goes, 00:26:16.930 --> 00:26:18.410 you know what, guys? We're in a laundry room. 00:26:18.970 --> 00:26:22.309 There's clothes all around us. Start stuffing 00:26:22.309 --> 00:26:25.539 clothes in your pants. And so we're just stuffing 00:26:25.539 --> 00:26:27.220 clothes in our pants. Like we're like, that's 00:26:27.220 --> 00:26:30.460 a great idea. Like we are going to get the spanking, 00:26:30.460 --> 00:26:32.720 but we're not going to feel a thing. And we're 00:26:32.720 --> 00:26:34.400 stuffing, stuffing, stuffing. And pretty soon 00:26:34.400 --> 00:26:36.279 we hear mom coming and she comes in the door. 00:26:36.700 --> 00:26:38.420 And I can't even imagine what she thought. She 00:26:38.420 --> 00:26:40.380 walks in the door and like, everyone's got big 00:26:40.380 --> 00:26:43.400 booties now. So what's going on in this place? 00:26:46.040 --> 00:26:48.539 Well, she caught on very quickly, what we had 00:26:48.539 --> 00:26:51.299 done. And all those clothes came out. Now, I 00:26:51.299 --> 00:26:53.299 did remember, as I was thinking about it, because 00:26:53.299 --> 00:26:55.599 I didn't say it in the first service, but I do 00:26:55.599 --> 00:26:58.619 remember that one shirt, I think, was left in 00:26:58.619 --> 00:27:01.279 my pants. So I felt like I didn't feel the full 00:27:01.279 --> 00:27:04.119 weight of that discipline that time. And I was 00:27:04.119 --> 00:27:06.180 probably grateful for it, too, that I left that 00:27:06.180 --> 00:27:09.660 shirt tucked in there somewhere. But, no, it 00:27:09.660 --> 00:27:11.980 was a situation where we knew we had done wrong. 00:27:12.059 --> 00:27:14.319 Mom had told us, and we were about to get our 00:27:14.319 --> 00:27:17.730 consequences. But we were not prepared. We were 00:27:17.730 --> 00:27:20.869 not prepared to endure those consequences. And 00:27:20.869 --> 00:27:23.470 so we were not yet at the stage of repentance. 00:27:23.670 --> 00:27:28.450 We hadn't yet understood what our error had done, 00:27:28.609 --> 00:27:31.210 what it had meant. Instead, we were trying to 00:27:31.210 --> 00:27:33.869 avoid consequences. Well, true repentance accepts 00:27:33.869 --> 00:27:37.410 consequences. We don't make excuses. We stop 00:27:37.410 --> 00:27:40.410 blaming and we bow under the discipline that 00:27:40.410 --> 00:27:44.450 God brings in our lives. Number four, a true 00:27:44.450 --> 00:27:47.930 repentant heart doesn't demand forgiveness. You 00:27:47.930 --> 00:27:52.630 ever been in that situation? It's not entitled 00:27:52.630 --> 00:27:58.329 to forgiveness. It marvels at grace. You ever 00:27:58.329 --> 00:28:00.470 been in a situation where it's like, man, I did 00:28:00.470 --> 00:28:01.930 all the right things. I checked all the right 00:28:01.930 --> 00:28:04.029 boxes. I said the right things. Now it's your 00:28:04.029 --> 00:28:08.789 turn. Like, say it. Say it to me. John, I forgive 00:28:08.789 --> 00:28:12.130 you. Come on, like, aren't you a Christian too? 00:28:12.190 --> 00:28:15.430 What's wrong with you? That's not a sign of a 00:28:15.430 --> 00:28:19.470 repentant heart. A repentant heart doesn't demand 00:28:19.470 --> 00:28:22.789 forgiveness. It doesn't see it as an entitlement 00:28:22.789 --> 00:28:25.109 because I did everything right or I responded 00:28:25.109 --> 00:28:27.829 right. Instead, it marvels at grace when grace 00:28:27.829 --> 00:28:31.970 is extended. A repentant heart will feel the 00:28:31.970 --> 00:28:34.230 pain they've caused and they acknowledge that 00:28:34.230 --> 00:28:38.880 sin hurts other people. A repentant heart will 00:28:38.880 --> 00:28:42.140 change their behavior because repentance is turning, 00:28:42.240 --> 00:28:47.359 not just talking. A repentant heart will give 00:28:47.359 --> 00:28:51.759 space to heal. They won't rush others or force 00:28:51.759 --> 00:28:56.700 quick reconciliation. They allow God time to 00:28:56.700 --> 00:29:01.759 restore. And a repentant heart is awestruck when 00:29:01.759 --> 00:29:07.150 forgiveness is given. They respond with worship 00:29:07.150 --> 00:29:12.289 and joy whenever grace is extended. This is what 00:29:12.289 --> 00:29:18.009 God is after. Not ritual, not empty words, not 00:29:18.009 --> 00:29:21.970 heartless sacrifice or mere duty. He desires 00:29:21.970 --> 00:29:25.670 repentance that leads to relationship, repentance 00:29:25.670 --> 00:29:28.430 that looks like this, repentance that flows out 00:29:28.430 --> 00:29:31.150 of love for him and results in real change in 00:29:31.150 --> 00:29:34.680 our life. He desires this in our relationship 00:29:34.680 --> 00:29:37.079 with him, but he also desires this in our relationship 00:29:37.079 --> 00:29:39.440 with one another. Anyone we've sinned against, 00:29:39.680 --> 00:29:43.559 we pray for a repentant heart and not just lip 00:29:43.559 --> 00:29:49.059 service. And this can be very useful because 00:29:49.059 --> 00:29:51.299 some of you have been hurt really bad by some 00:29:51.299 --> 00:29:54.359 people. And they've said all the right things. 00:29:54.960 --> 00:29:57.440 And you've wondered whether or not they really 00:29:57.440 --> 00:30:04.950 meant it. And you can take this eight things 00:30:04.950 --> 00:30:07.809 or so and begin to look and go, where are we 00:30:07.809 --> 00:30:12.750 at? Where are you at in your heart? Not as a 00:30:12.750 --> 00:30:14.829 way to bang them over their head, but for you 00:30:14.829 --> 00:30:16.869 to have context so you can pray, so that you 00:30:16.869 --> 00:30:18.529 can extend grace, so that you can understand 00:30:18.529 --> 00:30:23.230 the circumstance that you're in. God desires 00:30:23.230 --> 00:30:27.750 repentance, turning to him, turning from our 00:30:27.750 --> 00:30:32.200 sin. And all true repentance has evidence. And 00:30:32.200 --> 00:30:34.359 the final thing, point number three, the power 00:30:34.359 --> 00:30:36.380 of returning. So we're gonna circle back to the 00:30:36.380 --> 00:30:38.660 opening verse where it says, come, let us return 00:30:38.660 --> 00:30:42.900 to the Lord for he has torn us that he may heal 00:30:42.900 --> 00:30:45.640 us. He has struck us down and he will bind us 00:30:45.640 --> 00:30:48.440 up. After two days, he will revive us. And on 00:30:48.440 --> 00:30:51.160 the third day, he will raise us up that we may 00:30:51.160 --> 00:30:56.759 live before him. Let us know, let us press on 00:30:56.759 --> 00:31:00.240 to know the Lord. So even though Israel's words 00:31:00.240 --> 00:31:03.759 were shallow, the imagery is profound. They remind 00:31:03.759 --> 00:31:07.160 us that returning to the Lord is not just about 00:31:07.160 --> 00:31:10.859 sorrow. But returning to the Lord is not just 00:31:10.859 --> 00:31:13.059 about living under a dark cloud of repentance. 00:31:13.640 --> 00:31:16.200 But returning to the Lord is ultimately about 00:31:16.200 --> 00:31:19.900 our healing. God's discipline is never meant 00:31:19.900 --> 00:31:22.819 to destroy his people, but to draw them back 00:31:22.819 --> 00:31:26.400 to himself. And you notice the language, he has 00:31:26.400 --> 00:31:30.690 torn us. that he may heal us. What a picture, 00:31:30.789 --> 00:31:36.690 right? God wounds in order to restore. And we 00:31:36.690 --> 00:31:39.049 got a living picture of this recently. My mother 00:31:39.049 --> 00:31:41.849 -in -law had a heart attack and she goes into 00:31:41.849 --> 00:31:45.569 the hospital and ultimately they decide that 00:31:45.569 --> 00:31:50.470 she needs a five -way bypass, heart bypass. And 00:31:50.470 --> 00:31:52.890 you know what the surgeon did to my mother -in 00:31:52.890 --> 00:31:56.660 -law? The surgeon cut my mother -in -law open, 00:31:56.799 --> 00:32:04.160 separated her ribcage, cut veins from places 00:32:04.160 --> 00:32:09.740 on her body, sewed them in other places. It was 00:32:09.740 --> 00:32:15.359 violent, bloody guts. Why? So that he could heal 00:32:15.359 --> 00:32:21.549 her, so that he could make her whole. Hebrews 00:32:21.549 --> 00:32:23.490 chapter 12 says the same thing. God disciplines 00:32:23.490 --> 00:32:26.349 those he loves. And though it's painful, it will 00:32:26.349 --> 00:32:30.710 yield a fruit of righteousness in our lives if 00:32:30.710 --> 00:32:34.930 we will be trained by it, Hebrews 12 says. If 00:32:34.930 --> 00:32:39.789 we will be trained by it. And there's this promise 00:32:39.789 --> 00:32:43.410 in that initial verse. It says, after two days 00:32:43.410 --> 00:32:46.450 he will revive us. And on the third day he will 00:32:46.450 --> 00:32:54.619 raise us up that we may live. With him. Hosea 00:32:54.619 --> 00:32:56.539 may not have seen it in full, but for us, these 00:32:56.539 --> 00:32:59.059 words can't help but echo the resurrection of 00:32:59.059 --> 00:33:03.400 Christ, can they? On the third day, Jesus was 00:33:03.400 --> 00:33:08.339 raised up. And in him, we are raised to new life. 00:33:09.720 --> 00:33:12.539 And that's the ultimate power of returning. The 00:33:12.539 --> 00:33:14.960 ultimate power of repentance is that God doesn't 00:33:14.960 --> 00:33:17.299 just forgive our past. He gives us resurrection 00:33:17.299 --> 00:33:21.390 life in Christ Jesus. It's not just about a dark 00:33:21.390 --> 00:33:24.569 shadow of doom and gloom hanging over us, but 00:33:24.569 --> 00:33:26.509 instead it's about passing through that into 00:33:26.509 --> 00:33:28.789 life, through the valley of the shadow of death 00:33:28.789 --> 00:33:34.690 into green pastures, life and resurrection with 00:33:34.690 --> 00:33:40.259 assurance. That he will surely come as the dawn, 00:33:40.480 --> 00:33:43.920 as the rising sun. That he will come to us like 00:33:43.920 --> 00:33:47.259 the spring showers. He will water the earth. 00:33:47.380 --> 00:33:49.680 There's assurance that God's faithfulness is 00:33:49.680 --> 00:33:52.359 as certain as the sunrise. That his mercy is 00:33:52.359 --> 00:33:55.380 as refreshing as spring rain on a dry ground. 00:33:55.579 --> 00:33:58.720 And when his people genuinely return to him, 00:33:58.859 --> 00:34:01.619 he will come. He will forgive. He will restore. 00:34:03.059 --> 00:34:07.500 And that's the hope for us today. Genuine repentance 00:34:07.500 --> 00:34:12.659 is never met with rejection, ever. When we turn 00:34:12.659 --> 00:34:15.360 to God with broken hearts and surrendered lives, 00:34:15.500 --> 00:34:18.639 he meets us with healing. He revives us. He renews 00:34:18.639 --> 00:34:20.860 us. He restores us. And that's why repentance 00:34:20.860 --> 00:34:24.900 is not something to fear. It's something to embrace. 00:34:25.119 --> 00:34:28.880 The other side of repentance is restoration. 00:34:30.360 --> 00:34:36.190 The other side of returning to him is joy. The 00:34:36.190 --> 00:34:39.969 other side of confession of sin is resurrected 00:34:39.969 --> 00:34:45.469 life. And our invitation today is, will you return 00:34:45.469 --> 00:34:51.269 to God? Not in ritual, not in empty words, but 00:34:51.269 --> 00:34:54.329 in genuine repentance that says, Lord, I don't 00:34:54.329 --> 00:34:59.949 just want relief from you. I want you. And the 00:34:59.949 --> 00:35:02.769 promise of Hosea 6 is that when we return to 00:35:02.769 --> 00:35:05.599 him, he will meet us. He will meet us with healing 00:35:05.599 --> 00:35:11.880 grace. So in conclusion, I remind that God says, 00:35:12.139 --> 00:35:18.000 I don't want empty sacrifices. I want faithful, 00:35:18.159 --> 00:35:27.219 steadfast love. I want you to know me. Examine 00:35:27.219 --> 00:35:32.820 your heart for superficial repentance. Is your 00:35:32.820 --> 00:35:37.030 walk with God, built on ritual, doing the right 00:35:37.030 --> 00:35:40.030 things and saying the right words while your 00:35:40.030 --> 00:35:44.969 heart drifts from him. True repentance is not 00:35:44.969 --> 00:35:47.570 about escaping consequences. It's relational. 00:35:47.730 --> 00:35:50.289 It's about turning from sin because we've seen 00:35:50.289 --> 00:35:53.070 how it drives a wedge between us and God. It's 00:35:53.070 --> 00:35:56.389 about longing to know him, not just to use him. 00:35:59.449 --> 00:36:02.230 And then embrace the promise of restoration through 00:36:02.230 --> 00:36:08.159 Christ. Hosea says that he has torn us that he 00:36:08.159 --> 00:36:10.699 may heal us and that on the third day he will 00:36:10.699 --> 00:36:15.860 rise up that we may live before him. What Israel 00:36:15.860 --> 00:36:18.679 could only catch a glimpse of we can see clearly 00:36:18.679 --> 00:36:21.539 now and that this promise is fulfilled in Jesus. 00:36:23.019 --> 00:36:25.980 He was torn for our transgressions. He was struck 00:36:25.980 --> 00:36:28.400 down for our sins. And on the third day, he was 00:36:28.400 --> 00:36:31.320 raised so that all who repent and believe might 00:36:31.320 --> 00:36:36.360 live before God forever. That's why repentance 00:36:36.360 --> 00:36:39.239 is never something to be feared. Because when 00:36:39.239 --> 00:36:41.599 we turn to God through Jesus Christ, we don't 00:36:41.599 --> 00:36:44.500 find condemnation. There is therefore now no 00:36:44.500 --> 00:36:46.920 condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 00:36:48.039 --> 00:36:50.900 We don't find condemnation. We find healing. 00:36:53.260 --> 00:36:56.500 We don't find rejection. We find a welcome open 00:36:56.500 --> 00:37:01.119 door. We don't find death, but we find new life. 00:37:03.260 --> 00:37:08.039 The reformer Martin Luther once said, repentance 00:37:08.039 --> 00:37:10.480 is not something we do merely at the start of 00:37:10.480 --> 00:37:14.320 the Christian life. It is the Christian life. 00:37:16.559 --> 00:37:22.380 Return to the Lord. Turn to the Lord. Turn to 00:37:22.380 --> 00:37:25.659 the Lord. Do it again and again and again and 00:37:25.659 --> 00:37:29.099 again. Every day you wake up and you say, I've 00:37:29.099 --> 00:37:31.039 turned a little bit to the right or to the left. 00:37:31.059 --> 00:37:36.239 I must return to the Lord. It's no different 00:37:36.239 --> 00:37:38.559 than what we sang earlier. Teach us to abide. 00:37:40.280 --> 00:37:45.619 Teach us to abide. Don't settle for ritual. If 00:37:45.619 --> 00:37:48.500 you've settled for ritual, if you think, I checked 00:37:48.500 --> 00:37:50.539 the Sunday morning box off, I'm going to go on 00:37:50.539 --> 00:37:52.199 with my life and pursue everything else that 00:37:52.199 --> 00:37:55.440 I think will bring satisfaction. It's not anger, 00:37:55.500 --> 00:37:58.480 it's sorrow that you would trade your life. I 00:37:58.480 --> 00:38:00.539 think it was C .S. Lewis who talked about how 00:38:00.539 --> 00:38:07.219 we are content to play in mud puddles while the 00:38:07.219 --> 00:38:10.260 vast ocean of God's goodness is just over the 00:38:10.260 --> 00:38:16.449 horizon. If you've built your life, your hope, 00:38:16.610 --> 00:38:20.889 your ritual around mud puddles and making mud 00:38:20.889 --> 00:38:24.869 cakes, there's a whole ocean. And I don't know 00:38:24.869 --> 00:38:27.510 if you know much about the ocean, but that sucker's 00:38:27.510 --> 00:38:30.570 pretty deep. It's got a lot of life that we're 00:38:30.570 --> 00:38:33.550 still discovering down in there. It's teeming 00:38:33.550 --> 00:38:35.989 with life. Any square hundred miles you look 00:38:35.989 --> 00:38:39.070 at. You have no idea what's beneath the surface. 00:38:39.349 --> 00:38:42.150 Your life in Christ, your life with God, your 00:38:42.150 --> 00:38:44.690 walk with God, your journey could be like that. 00:38:45.429 --> 00:38:48.989 New every morning, teeming with life, deep and 00:38:48.989 --> 00:38:55.010 wide. Don't settle for a mud puddle when you 00:38:55.010 --> 00:38:59.510 can dive into the ocean of God's goodness. When 00:38:59.510 --> 00:39:04.190 we return to the Lord, we find grace that is 00:39:04.190 --> 00:39:08.780 as sure as the sunrise. and mercy that refreshes 00:39:08.780 --> 00:39:09.619 like the spring rain.