You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.
Our passion is to experience and express grace. Join us.
Thank y'all so much. I love the words of that song.
What a great confession of the desperation of sin that cries out for Jesus to rescue.
Hosanna! Oh, save us!
That's really the whole story that we're talking about for these three weeks in terms of confessions.
The nature of sin, the heart of repentance, and finding then a God of forgiveness.
We're learning together from David's confession in Psalm 51 what true repentance looks like.
Because that's to be a regular part of all of our lives.
Seeing our sin and turning to God.
Sin deserves death.
And we see it and realize what we deserve.
And then we turn to Jesus who has beaten death at death's own game.
And we praise Him and rejoice in that.
If you weren't here with us last week, part of the context of this series is the session of Southwood making corporate confession of our sin.
Particularly in light of a season of church conflict here several years ago.
We were telling you that God has shown us several things.
Shown us our failure to love well.
Shown us how our offense is against His glory.
And also shown us at least some of the hurt that our sin has caused to many others.
For more of that context and the particulars of that confession, you can go back and listen to last week's sermon and the comments made by some elders afterwards.
And that's all online.
So as branches, our magazine which addresses that further.
But I'm thankful for people who have already reached out to talk with me and other elders even this week.
Let me say again that you or someone you know may have questions or concerns or hurts that need healing.
Please, please let us know that.
We would love to talk with you.
That's our heart.
That's our great desire in this.
The elders will be down front again at the end of the service this morning to make them a little bit easier for you to find if you're looking for them.
But as we talk more about what God teaches all of us about repentance, let's look back to Psalm 51 and read a couple more verses.
This morning, verses 16 and 17.
And then we'll pray.
This is God's holy word.
For you will not delight in sacrifice or I would give it.
You will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.
A broken and contrite heart.
Oh God, you will not despise.
Pray with me.
Father, we ask this morning that you would open our eyes.
That we might behold wonderful things in your word.
All of us are sinners.
The one who speaks is a great sinner.
We all have a greater Savior.
Show him to us.
We pray in your word, by your spirit.
For your glory and for our good.
We ask it in his name.
Amen.
Last week, as we discussed the nature of sin, we saw that sin involves both our hearts and our actions.
That God created us for relationship with himself.
To be in this wonderful relationship where we trust him.
Where we rest in him.
Where we find our enjoyment and our fulfillment in him and in this relationship.
That's God's design.
But by nature, we are bent away from God.
And by our actions, we walk away from God towards sin.
We look for our own methods of fulfillment.
We spurn the relationship with God that he created us for.
And we turn our backs to him and walk away.
That's what sin is.
Kids, this is the picture that you should draw this morning if you're working on one of those bulletins.
And you want to draw a picture of what it means for us to sin.
It's for us to walk away from a relationship with God and look for what we're supposed to find in him somewhere else.
Chasing after maybe we'll find trust or rest or joy in another place.
David says that to God, right?
Against you and you only have I sinned.
You're the one over here and I've walked away from you.
Walked away from my relationship with you to pursue my own agenda.
Our hearts wander in search of fulfillment in someone else or something else.
And that's sin.
We see it pictured here in David's adultery with Bathsheba.
The context of this particular psalm.
The prophet Hosea uses that same picture of God's relationship with his people.
That they go looking for things they need in another lover and leave God behind.
Distancing themselves from the beautiful intimate relationship with God that he created them for.
We can also see it certainly in terms of a human marriage.
Where one spouse walks away from relationship looking for fulfillment elsewhere.
And sin like that devastates relationship, right?
It distances us from the God we were meant to be in close fellowship with.
Finding deep satisfaction and delight in.
So this morning we're talking about repentance.
In other words, how does God recommend addressing this problem?
What is he looking for when we find ourselves time and again,
even as his people wandering away, distancing ourselves from him and going after sin?
Our own desires, wandering away from God.
And David says, you will not delight in sacrifice, in burnt offering.
That's not what God's looking for.
But instead, what?
Verse 17.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.
A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
The heart of repentance is an issue of the heart.
What's going on here?
A repentant heart.
We'll see this morning as one that is both sorrowful and joyful.
But first sorrowful.
A broken and contrite heart, God says.
That's where it begins.
Repentance begins with our hearts breaking.
The sorrow of the repentant heart is mourning relational distance.
That's what's breaking our hearts.
In other words, godly sorrow over our sin grieves the damage that is done to our relationship with God.
The broken and contrite heart is one that is heartbroken over walking away from rather than toward God.
It's easy to be saddened by the consequences of sin, right?
By getting caught by the ways this is going to impact me and the difficulty this is going to bring into my life that I've been caught in sin.
It can be painful.
It can be inconvenient.
Godly sorrow, the sorrow in a repentant heart is focused not on the consequences but rather on the relationship.
Puritan Thomas Watson calls this sorrow a holy agony.
It's a deep sense of the wrongness of my actions, the wrongness of the attitudes of my heart,
before the righteousness of God.
How wrong I am.
It sounds like our hearts crying out,
look how I've defaced the image of God.
Look how I've mocked the law of God.
Look how I've neglected the things that God loves.
How I've longed for other things more than I've longed for God.
And what an affront that is to my Father who loves me.
It is to be something we feel deeply.
And David even describes earlier in this psalm his bones being crushed and broken in his sin.
Have you felt that holy agony?
How could I have done this to my God?
To the one who loves me?
To the holy and perfect one?
How could I have treated him who wanted that relationship with me?
How could I have run away from that?
Typically to feel that requires meaningful contemplation of our sin on our part, right?
We're not really good at that, most of us.
We've been willing to slow down and take the time to consider my own sin
and contemplate the offense against God.
I've needed recently to sit and listen to others tell me how my sin impacted them.
Those are not easy conversations.
Those are often difficult things to hear.
But an important part of true repentance is hearing and understanding the ways I've offended someone.
So that I can grieve that with them.
I can confess my sin against you much more thoughtfully and much more meaningfully
if I've actually genuinely tried to understand how I hurt you.
That's part, y'all, of why our session is inviting those difficult conversations, particularly right now.
Genuine sorrow over our sin and over how we've harmed the image of God and others
is a significant part of genuine repentance,
particularly when we're thinking of our relationship with God.
Our hearts must mourn the relational distance.
Because we said repentance is a heart issue.
And here's the heart of true repentance.
What's at the essence of it?
It's seeking that relationship.
From the heart.
From everything I am.
All that we are.
Let's go back to the example in the human relationship first.
I think it will help us understand this in our relationship with God.
Imagine again that husband who walks away from his wife
and seeks fulfillment and joy and rest in the arms of another.
Then imagine he comes to his senses.
Caught in his sin, he offers his wife this proposal.
I'll stop being with her.
And I'll wash the dishes for the next 100 days.
I'll do the next 100 loads of laundry.
I'll buy you some really nice jewelry.
I'm going to quit doing the bad things
and do some really good things.
I'll start sacrificing more around here.
I'll do my part.
Now those are nice things, right?
But what would you say may be missing in that?
Where has he missed the point?
He seems to have forgotten what?
The heart.
The damaged relationship.
The broken trust and the joy that's been lost
between the two that was promised to be there.
And that needs to be restored with his wife, doesn't it?
If you're the wife, you're thinking,
if there's ever any hope for us here,
don't just turn from bad deeds to good deeds.
You need to turn from her back to me
in our relationship, right?
Right?
That's absolutely essential.
Listen, jewelry and laundry are nice things, right?
Those are great ideas.
Don't get me wrong.
The changed actions,
the sacrifices that he would make
could come
and likely should come.
But they are the fruit of repentance.
Not the root.
Repentance is to have fruit.
We're to bear fruit in keeping with repentance.
But at the root of repentance,
at the heart of what it is,
is the relationship.
It's the relationship that's the heart of repentance
that we're turning back to God.
So listen, this is where it really matters.
Where does that make a big difference for us?
In much the same way,
God says to us,
I'm not primarily seeking the things you can do.
Remember, he says,
I'm not just seeking the sacrifices
that you might make,
but rather a broken and contrite heart
that mourns the distant sin
has created in our relationship
and wants to turn back to me.
Wants restoration there.
This is the way the Bible pictures repentance.
It's turning back to God.
Just one example, Acts chapter 26.
Paul's talking about repentance,
that they should repent and turn where?
To God.
Performing deeds in keeping with repentance.
The relationship priority first,
and then the deeds follow.
Our catechism says the same thing about repentance.
Question 87, what is repentance unto life?
Repentance unto life is a saving grace,
whereby a sinner out of a true sense of his sin
and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ
doth with grief and hatred of his sin
turn from it where?
Unto God.
With full purpose of and endeavor after new obedience.
The deeds still there,
but the relationship priority first.
When we turn from our sin in repentance,
we turn back to God himself.
Not from bad will over here,
to good will over here,
but rather to our gracious God,
who forgives will,
and then remakes will in his image.
And that may seem like a small distinction to you.
Really?
Yeah, you're just splitting hairs.
What's the whole point of that?
It's actually the essence of Christianity.
We are so used to penance in practice,
which is very different from true biblical repentance.
Penance and repentance sound a little bit the same.
I'll say them a few times so you hear the difference.
They're very different things
for some very important reasons.
Penance says we turn from bad deeds
to good deeds.
We often live this way.
This is often what Christianity looks like,
as though it's stopping bad things
and doing more good things.
You've thought it before.
God, if you just get me out of this jam that I'm in,
I'll always, what?
Go to church.
I'll never go there again
or click on that again.
Just keep me from getting caught in this.
Get me out of this just this one time.
Those things we promise God in the face of our sin,
when we're afraid we might get caught
and we wanna escape that happening
or maybe just we're facing some other difficulty in life,
we promise God things we will do or not do, right?
And what does that show us
about what we think God values?
What do we think he's looking for?
We think he values what we do or don't do most.
I'll sacrifice this or that,
God, if you'll come through for me.
That's penance.
We've messed up, right?
So we pile our arms full of sacrifices
and march back over to take them to God
and say, see all the things I've done to make up for it?
See what I'm willing to do?
I'll do better.
I'll be different.
I won't let you down again.
That's penance.
I've sinned, but I'll make it up to you.
And God says, you're missing the point.
I want your heart broken and contrite.
I love you.
I want relationship with you,
not performance from you.
That's what I value, you.
Penance, coming to God with your arms full of sacrifices
is what most Presbyterians do naturally, isn't it?
But you must hear me.
That way of relating to God fits Islam.
It fits Mormonism.
It does not fit biblical Christianity
because it leaves out two absolutely essential things.
The relationship with God
and the all-sufficient sacrifice of Jesus.
They're not at issue in that model.
Christianity is nothing in my hands I bring.
Simply to thy cross I cling.
As we sang earlier,
that's true repentance.
I don't need a second chance
to see if I can perform better for God this time.
I need a substitute to perform better for me.
That's Christianity.
If sin is walking away from God
against you and you only have I sinned,
then true repentance is turning back where?
To God.
To God Himself.
It's not from bad deeds to good deeds.
It's from my back is turned to God.
I am moving in the other direction,
turning back to my face is towards God.
In humility, in worship,
in desire for restoration.
When we turn in repentance,
you know repentance has turning involved.
It's God Himself that we're turning back to.
Because I've begun to mourn
the relational distance in my heart,
my desire is to seek the person Himself
and the healing of our relationship.
And hopefully you begin to see
where the joy in repentance comes from.
I said earlier,
a repentant heart is both sorrowful and joyful.
How's that possible?
That seems a little bit odd.
Sorrow maybe fits with repentance in your mind,
but where would joy show up?
And is that even appropriate?
Well, if we're mourning the relational distance
and we're seeking that relationship
to be restored to the trust and rest and joy
that it was designed for,
our joy comes in celebrating relational nearness
and being close to God, you could say.
We don't rejoice primarily in our reformed behavior,
although that will come.
We don't rejoice primarily even in the forgiveness of sin,
as big a deal as that is,
and that's something certainly to be celebrated,
but it's not primarily where our joy comes from.
We rejoice in the God we trust
and the fulfillment that we find in Him,
in God Himself.
As we repent of our sin
and turn brokenhearted back toward God,
we find in Him,
how does God respond?
He doesn't kick us while we're down,
does He?
He doesn't turn up His nose at our sorrowful state
and just say,
stay there, cry a bit longer,
you deserve it.
Pathetic.
You've turned away from me.
What happens when we turn broken
and brokenhearted to God?
Verse 17.
A broken and contrite heart,
O God,
You will not despise.
You will never despise it.
In fact,
in context,
You will delight in it.
I love the picture of the prodigal son's father,
don't you?
What's He like?
He doesn't despise the lowly condition
of His unclean,
pig-feeding son
who's come running back to Him
and doesn't deserve anything from Him.
What does He do?
He runs to Him
and throws His arms around Him
and celebrates the relational restoration
that has happened,
that His Son is home.
That's the joy of the Father,
isn't it?
It may feel odd to you
to seek joy
as a part of repentance.
You may feel you don't deserve
to be joyful
after what you've done.
I'm just going to stay
in the sorrowful part.
That's all I ever deserve.
Look at how clear David is
about this part of repentance
as he confesses to God.
Verse 12,
one you may be familiar with.
Restore to me what
the joy of your salvation
and uphold me
with a willing spirit.
Make me joyful again
in your salvation.
What is the joy
of His salvation
in this context?
Look back up one verse
to verse 11.
What's the joy
of His salvation?
Cast me not away
from your presence.
Parallel there,
not being cast away
from God's presence
is having joy
in His salvation
in the relationship
with Him.
Restore me to joy
near you,
relationship with you.
It means that
the sorrowful heart
of repentance
is actually the pathway
to the joy
of our salvation,
isn't it?
David prays again
in verse 8.
Let me hear joy
and gladness.
Let the bones
that you have broken
rejoice.
Charles Spurgeon says
this verse right here
is a preposterous prayer.
What a great word,
preposterous.
It's a preposterous prayer
that a sinner
should request joy.
Spurgeon says
it's preposterous
except
that the Father of Heaven
is throwing a party.
Spurgeon writes this,
if when prodigals return
the Father is glad
and the neighbors
and friends rejoice
and are merry
with music and dancing,
what need can there be
that the restored one
himself
should be wretched?
Do you hear
what Spurgeon's saying?
Who is it
that gets to define
this relationship?
It's the Father,
isn't it?
He's the one
who could have said
get away,
don't come back
and the Father says
I tell you what
this relationship is,
you're not an outcast,
you're not a slave to me,
you're my son.
Come into the party
and rejoice
in our relationship.
The Father defines
the relationship
and what does he not
delight in?
He does not delight
in your sacrifices.
He's not looking
to see how full
your arms are
of all the things
you can do
and how hard
you promise to work
to pay off the debt
that you've incurred.
No, listen.
Listen to what he did
to define
your relationship
with him
because every priest
stands daily
at his service
offering repeatedly
the same sacrifices
which can never
take away sins.
But when Christ
had offered
for all time
a single sacrifice
for sins,
he sat down
at the right hand
of God
for by a single offering
he has perfected
for all time
those who are
being sanctified.
Y'all, that's why
God's looking
for empty-handed sinners.
Not the ones
with all their sacrifices
with them
because he has made
the one
all-sufficient
sacrifice
for you
and he wants
those who come
empty-handed
clinging only
to the cross
of Christ.
That's how you turn
back to God
in repentance.
He has made
the one sacrifice
that already
makes you perfect.
Hebrews 10, 14.
I love that.
Don't you love that?
Those who are still
struggling,
those who are not
yet sanctified
already made perfect.
How?
By their arms
full of sacrifices?
By the ones
the priests did
over and over
and over
for generations?
No.
By one sacrifice.
By the one sacrifice
of his son,
those still struggling
are made perfect
in their relationship
restored to the Father.
That only happens
through the cross
of Jesus.
The sacrifice
of the son
in our place.
Let me tell you
one thing this means
for us
both corporately
and individually
as we prepare
to come to this table
where we're going
to celebrate
that sacrifice
made for us.
First, corporately.
Southwood,
we've talked
in the last couple
of weeks
about a particular
chapter in our story.
It's a significant
chapter marked
by our sin
and our failures
and in many respects
well deserving
of sorrowful hearts.
That's very appropriate.
But it is not
and cannot be
the defining chapter
of our story.
This morning
we're also talking
about another chapter
in our story
where our Savior
came
and lived
and died
for us.
Where he pursued
relationship with us
at the cost
of his own life.
Where he called us,
Southwood,
to be his people,
a part of his
universal church.
One
where our sin
and the gates
of hell
themselves
cannot prevail
against
her,
his church.
And our Heavenly Father
says this morning,
I get to tell you
which chapter
defines your story
in our relationship.
It's that one.
Do it often,
he says.
And remember
with great joy
my love for you
in the midst
of your sin.
I hope we always
learn
from our past.
I hope we always
take time
to listen to
and to pursue
healing with
people impacted
by our sin.
but I'll be
honest with you,
you're not likely
to hear a lot
of corporate
public talk
about that
difficult chapter
beyond next week
because it's not
the one that
defines us.
Next week,
we will celebrate
our risen
Savior
who lives
and reigns
and calls
Southwood
his beloved bride
and says,
you're perfect
because of my love
for you.
We will rejoice
in that relationship
and in that
great God
and I promise you,
you can expect
to hear a lot
about that chapter
of our story
that has a cross
and an empty tomb
every week
from here
forever.
You'll hear about
that one.
That's the one
that defines
who we are.
God gets to make
that choice.
Now, personally,
personally,
for each of us
as sinners,
you need to know
that same reality
is true.
God gets to define
the terms
of the relationship.
Many of us,
if you're anything
like me,
you've felt
or feel today
broken
in your sin
for whatever
it is for you.
Perhaps there's a
chapter in your story
that's marked
by sin
so strongly
that the shame
you feel
from that
many days
defines your
relationship
with God.
You're not even
willing to go
towards Him
for fear
and shame
of how He
must feel
about you.
Perhaps you've
come back
so many times
in repentance
that you're
beginning to feel
God must be
tired of you.
You're tired
of you
failing
and having
to go
back
again.
You just
feel broken
in your
sin.
Listen to me.
If you're
broken
in your
sin,
God does
not despise
that condition.
He delights
in it,
right?
In the
broken
and contrite
heart.
He wants
to restore
the joy
of your
salvation.
In fact,
when you
here in your
sin,
look back
to Him
and I
know how
you're
wondering
how He
feels.
What's
He gonna
think?
How's
He gonna
respond
to me?
I want
you to
know,
you need
to know
that the
Father
runs off
the front
porch
where He
was out
looking for
you,
throws His
arms around
you,
and throws
a party
in His
great joy
that His
Son has
come home.
He calls
you His
beloved Son.
He celebrates
the restored
relationship
that you
have with
Him.
This is
that party,
that feast
that He
throws for
you this
morning.
He spread
it before
you at
the cost
of His
body
and blood
and God
says,
He defines
the relationship.
This is the
defining chapter
in your story,
in your
relationship
with Him.
You're His
child.
Always
seated
at His
table
because
He
has made
you clean.
Oh,
listen,
come,
come weeping
over your
sin.
That's
appropriate.
But come
weeping
over your
sin.
Run back
in repentance
to the
forgiving
arms
of your
Father
and find
that those
tears
that were
full of
sorrow for
you
become
in His
arms
tears
of joy
because
you're
near
to your
God
again.
May that
be the
joy of
your
salvation
and the
joy of
your
heart
this
morning
as you
come
to this
table.
Remember
what Paul
tells us
about how
Jesus
instituted
this
supper
for us.
He says
I
received
from the
Lord
what I
also
delivered
to you
that
the
Lord
Jesus
on the
night
he
was
betrayed
took
bread
and
when he
had
given
thanks
he
broke
it
and
said
this
is
my
body
which
is
for
you
do
this
in
remembrance
of
me
in the
same
way
also
he
took
the
cup
after
supper
saying
this
cup
is
the
new
covenant
in
my
blood
do
this
as
often
as
you
drink
it
in
remembrance
of
me
for
as
often
as
you
eat
this
bread
and
drink
the
cup
you
proclaim
the
Lord's
death
until
he
comes
friends
this
is
not
the
table
of
Southwood
or
of
the
Presbyterian
church
this
is
the
Lord's
table
he
he's
the
one
who
sets
it
and
he's
the
one
who
invites
all
of
those
who
truly
are
willing
to
turn
from
their
sin
and
to
trust
Jesus
alone
who
have
made
that
profession
and
joined
themselves
to
a
church
that
preaches
that
gospel
he
invites
all
those
to
come
we
would
love
to
celebrate
with
you
this
morning
if
you
know
this
morning
that
you're
not
willing
to
turn
from
your
sin
if
you're
not
willing
to
let
go
of
it
the
fulfillment
that
you're
seeking
there
it's
too
appealing
or
perhaps
if
you
feel
some
sorrow
over
your
sin
but
you're
still
at a
place
where
you
feel
like
you
have
to
balance
the
scales
with
God
and
come
back
arms
full
of
your
own
deeds
if
that's
where
your
heart
is
don't
come
to
this
table
this
morning
that
way
this
is a
table
where
we
come
empty
handed
we
don't
want
to
say
outwardly
something
that's
not
true
of
us
inwardly
if
you're
willing
to
let
go
of
the
sin
and
self
that
you
would
find
hope
in
and
come
back
empty
handed
to
cling
with
both
hands
to
the
cross
of
Jesus
and
his
sacrifice
on
your
behalf
then
come
running
you're
going to
find a
father
who's
running
to meet
you
and
delighted
to have
you
as
his
child
back
at
his
table
let's
pray
and
then
we'll
do
that
together
father
for
your
love
and
grace
on
display
before
us
this
morning
we
are
most
grateful
we
confess
we're
those
who
don't
deserve
it
we
deserve
the
death
that
your
son
has
taken
for
us
we
deserve
no
chance
at
being
welcomed
back
into
relationship
with
you
and
you've
insisted
on
it
and
so
we
come
at
your
invitation
to
rejoice
in
your
love
to
us
in
Jesus
name
amen
for
more
information
visit us
online
at
southwood.org