- READ 1 Sam 4:1-11
- This is an interesting story- A few weeks ago we talked about Hophni and Phineas two brothers who were doing very bad things in the temple of God- And now, Israel is going out to battle the philistines. Israel seems to always be fighting with the Philistines in the OT. The philistines were descendants of Noah’s son Ham, and they occupied territory that God had promised to the Israelites- so the Israelites had to rout them out to get their land from them
- Huge battles with tons of death of both sides- The end result is that the philistines will be defeated (not in this battle) but Israel is going to learn that they will not win against the philistines without God. God will eventually defeat them, and Israel will learn that they cant depend on themselves- They must depend on GOD and him alone for their victories
- SO- This battle they carry the ark into battle, and they lose royally. 30k Israelites die, they lose the ark and Hophni and Phineas die.
- They were not repentant- Don’t ignore correction
- So they go to battle, lose 4k, think ““Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shiloh to us, that when it comes among us it may save us from the hand of our enemies.”
- It’s a great question- but what they are forgetting is the promise of 1 Sm 2:31 “behold the days are coming that I will cut off your arm and the arm of your fathers house, so that will not be an old man in your house”
- Now- Some would say that this was set in motion and it was- but H and P haven’t died yet- there was still a chance at repentance- 4K died in the initial skirmish, but they didn’t come back and look at themselves- They didn’t repent- they tried another way
- “why has the Lord defeated us” is a great question! They should be asking that!
- the answer is that because you were told you were doing wrong and you didn’t do anything about it. You didn’t REPENT and turn to God!
- Its called true repentance- Realizing that you’ve done GOD wrong- and turning to him for forgiveness
- Repentance is real and tangible- its an act of the will and the heart
To Understand repentance-
- FIRST There is a one time act of repentance- When we turn from death to life- we are justified before God and are totally forgiven of our sins- Saved, born again, set free, alive
- Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus,
- Romans 3:24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
- Romans 10:13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
- John 5:24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
- SEOND We must live a life of repentance- if we sin we don’t lose our salvation- we lose our awareness of our forgiven state and our fellowship with God
- You cannot actively sin and fellowship with God at the same time- its impossible
- Repentance is the way back to fellowship- active unrepentant sin ends in apostasy
- 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
- Psalm 32:5 I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
- Proverbs 28:13 He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.
- The Bible is full of admonitions for people to repent and turn to God. Paul in the NT admonished the churches to repent and turn to God- it wasn’t to restart the relationship. One sin doesn’t cast you into the depths of Hell
- Jesus challenged the churches in revelation
- Revelation 3:3 Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent.
- Revelation 2:5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.
- THIRD We are commanded to ask for forgiveness
- Luke 11:4 And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.”
- James 5:16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another,
- Matthew 6:14 “ if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
- What does false repentance look like?
- Overconfidence in your own abilities “They lifted up a loud shout”- Posturing- a show of force-
- I’m going to go to church, bible study, clean out the house, prayer plan,
- Excuses- ‘this is the reason why I did this’. These are the reasons why I did this.
- Faith in a symbol- They thought that the symbol of the ark would be enough
- Gathering of lots of people- 30k died. They all agreed they didn’t need repentance. The unrepentant always gather as many people as they can to justify their wickedness
- Desire to ‘do better’ ‘try harder’ ‘work more’ ‘hide it better’
- Talk about all the people who were an contributing factor to their sin- not owning it
What does true repentance look like
- Acknowledgement
- Psalm 51:3 For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me.
- You must realize that you have sinned and that God has every right to do whatever he wants with you
- Luke 15: 17 “But when he came to himself,- The prodigal son became AWARE of what he had done
- Psa 51: 4 Against You, You only, have I sinned And done this evil in Your sight—
- Any person that has repented- understands what they have done and that they sinned
- And you must identify it- You can’t just say “sorry”. Say to God- “ I did this”
- Sorrow towards GOD
- Jeremiah 31:19 Surely, after my turning, I repented; And after I was instructed, I struck myself on the thigh; I was ashamed, yes, even humiliated, Because I bore the reproach of my youth.’
- 2 Corinthians 7:9-10 Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. 10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.
- Acts 2:37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”
- Repentance is a visceral response. –its not merely words. Sorrow is emotional and physical
- Direction change
- Ezekiel 18:28 Because he considers and turns away from all the transgressions which he committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die.
- Acts 3:19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,
- Psa 51: 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
- Isa 45:22 “Look to Me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth! ForI amGod, and there is no other.
- When paul got converted he stopped crucifying Christians. He stopped attacking Christ
- He didn’t say “I love Jesus but I still crucify Christians, have hatred in my heart or live according to the flesh”
- Lack of demands
- Luke 15: 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
- Biblical repentance demands nothing of God and others. It wants relationship with God above all else and understand there are no demands.
- Psa 51: 4 Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight— That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge.
- “that you may be found just” A realization that God’s righteous judgment demands holiness and if the destruction of me is what it takes to make you and word right, then so be it.
- Luke 18:9-14 READ Parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector “13 And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’”
- One of them had reasons why they should be justified, but the other one had none- Mercy
- Hatred of Sin
- A repented convert will hate evil in every form. They will not accept it, justify it, or accept it.
- Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverse mouth I hate.
- Psalm 97:10 You who love the Lord, hate evil! He preserves the souls of His saints; He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.
- The repentant always hate sin because they know the destructive nature of it!
- They don’t hate they were caught- they hate that they have hurt God and others
- Hebrews 1:9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.”
- Revelation 2:6 But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
- Bear good Fruit
- A repentive person will show fruit of repentance. You can see it..
- Matthew 3:8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance,
- Gal 5:19-26 Good fruit v bad fruit
