WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.700 If you'd like to turn in your Bibles to page 466, the reading is from 2 Chronicles 33 verses 1-20. 00:00:13.480 --> 00:00:20.000 Manasseh was 12 years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for 55 years. 00:00:20.400 --> 00:00:28.199 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. 00:00:28.199 --> 00:00:32.960 He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had demolished. 00:00:33.700 --> 00:00:37.600 He also erected altars to the Baals and made Asherah poles. 00:00:38.519 --> 00:00:42.579 He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshipped them. 00:00:43.519 --> 00:00:47.640 He built altars in the temple of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, 00:00:47.899 --> 00:00:49.939 My name will remain in Jerusalem forever. 00:00:50.759 --> 00:00:56.379 In both courts of the temple and of the Lord, he built altars to all the starry hosts. 00:00:56.380 --> 00:01:04.500 He sacrificed his children in the fire in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, practiced divination and witchcraft, 00:01:05.200 --> 00:01:09.159 sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists. 00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:13.879 He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger. 00:01:13.879 --> 00:01:21.780 He took the image he had made and put it in God's temple, of which God had said to David and his son Solomon, 00:01:22.420 --> 00:01:28.780 In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever. 00:01:29.599 --> 00:01:34.840 I will not again make the feet of the Israelites leave the land I assigned to your ancestors, 00:01:34.840 --> 00:01:43.260 if only they will be careful to do everything that I commanded them concerning all the laws, decrees, and regulations given through Moses. 00:01:44.340 --> 00:01:48.000 But Manasseh led Judah and the people of Jerusalem astray, 00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:53.480 so that they did more evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites. 00:01:53.480 --> 00:01:59.079 The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention. 00:02:00.040 --> 00:02:03.939 So the Lord brought against them the army commanders of the king of Assyria, 00:02:04.400 --> 00:02:12.280 who took Manasseh prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon. 00:02:13.280 --> 00:02:17.180 In his distress, he sought the favor of the Lord his God, 00:02:17.659 --> 00:02:20.780 and humbled himself greatly before the God of his ancestors. 00:02:20.780 --> 00:02:27.520 And when he prayed to him, the Lord was moved by his entreaty, and listened to his plea. 00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:31.319 So he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. 00:02:32.280 --> 00:02:35.280 Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God. 00:02:37.000 --> 00:02:42.479 Afterwards, he rebuilt the outer wall of the city of David, west of the Gihon Spring in the valley, 00:02:42.960 --> 00:02:48.900 as far as the entrance of the fish gate and encircling the hill of Aphial also made it much higher. 00:02:48.900 --> 00:02:54.319 He stationed military commanders in all the fortified cities in Judah. 00:02:54.939 --> 00:02:59.340 He got rid of the foreign gods and removed the image from the temple of the Lord, 00:02:59.780 --> 00:03:03.360 as well as all the altars he had built on the temple hill and in Jerusalem, 00:03:04.040 --> 00:03:05.620 and he threw them out of the city. 00:03:06.620 --> 00:03:12.300 Then he restored the altar of the Lord and sacrificed fellowship offerings and thank offerings on it, 00:03:12.740 --> 00:03:15.580 and told Judah to serve the Lord, the God of Israel. 00:03:15.580 --> 00:03:22.740 The people, however, continued to sacrifice at the high places, but only to the Lord their God. 00:03:23.780 --> 00:03:29.720 The other events of Manasseh's reign, including his prayer to his God and the word the seers spoke to him 00:03:29.720 --> 00:03:34.500 in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, are written in the annals of the King of Israel. 00:03:34.500 --> 00:03:42.000 His prayer and how God was moved by his entreaty, as well as all his sins and unfaithfulness, 00:03:42.840 --> 00:03:48.460 and the sites where he built high places and set up asher poles and idols before he humbled himself. 00:03:49.319 --> 00:03:51.939 All these are written in the records of the seers. 00:03:53.039 --> 00:03:57.479 Manasseh rested with his ancestors and was buried in his palace, 00:03:57.479 --> 00:04:01.359 and Amon, his son, succeeded him as king. 00:04:04.179 --> 00:04:06.359 Great, thank you for reading for us, Amy. 00:04:07.159 --> 00:04:11.959 There's an intriguing promise in Acts chapter 3. 00:04:12.039 --> 00:04:13.579 This isn't the sermon, by the way. 00:04:13.799 --> 00:04:16.439 This is just a bit of waffle before I start. 00:04:16.439 --> 00:04:19.980 But there's an intriguing promise in Acts chapter 3, 00:04:20.639 --> 00:04:24.379 where Peter is preaching to a crowd in Jerusalem. 00:04:24.379 --> 00:04:27.439 And he says this, let me just read what he says. 00:04:27.560 --> 00:04:28.879 He says to the crowd, he says, 00:04:29.000 --> 00:04:33.420 Repent then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, 00:04:34.180 --> 00:04:36.439 that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, 00:04:36.500 --> 00:04:40.240 and that he may send the Messiah, who's been appointed for you, even Jesus. 00:04:42.620 --> 00:04:45.779 I mean, I said that's not our passage for this morning, but just have a look at it. 00:04:47.079 --> 00:04:51.920 Look at the blessings, the wiping out of sins. 00:04:51.920 --> 00:04:56.220 I don't know how you feel when you sit there this morning, but I would love that. 00:04:56.939 --> 00:05:01.960 Would you not love for your sins to be not just temporarily or partially covered, 00:05:02.060 --> 00:05:04.100 but totally wiped out? 00:05:04.879 --> 00:05:07.259 Your moral guilt gone before a holy God? 00:05:08.280 --> 00:05:09.319 Times of refreshing. 00:05:10.240 --> 00:05:11.580 Don't you long for that? 00:05:12.300 --> 00:05:15.660 Don't you long for experiences of the blessing of the Lord, 00:05:15.740 --> 00:05:19.240 to know, to see, to experience his love and his presence with us? 00:05:19.240 --> 00:05:20.020 Don't you long for that? 00:05:20.019 --> 00:05:23.419 And then what's the other one? 00:05:23.519 --> 00:05:24.919 The return of the Messiah. 00:05:26.079 --> 00:05:30.560 That he may send the Messiah, whom heaven has received for a while, he goes on to say. 00:05:31.759 --> 00:05:34.319 Now, those are the three great blessings that Peter talks about, 00:05:34.419 --> 00:05:36.579 but to whom does he give them? 00:05:38.219 --> 00:05:42.199 The question, to whom are those blessings given? 00:05:43.839 --> 00:05:46.839 Maybe you think, which you really think, well, he would give those to the deserving. 00:05:46.839 --> 00:05:48.159 He would give them to the good. 00:05:48.259 --> 00:05:49.379 He would give them to the moral. 00:05:49.500 --> 00:05:50.519 He would give them to the religious. 00:05:51.500 --> 00:05:52.879 Or maybe you think, oh, no, that's not right. 00:05:52.899 --> 00:05:53.779 He gives them to everybody. 00:05:53.939 --> 00:05:55.159 Anybody gets those blessings. 00:05:55.379 --> 00:05:56.060 It doesn't matter who you are. 00:05:56.060 --> 00:05:57.079 Your sins will be wiped out. 00:05:57.179 --> 00:05:57.939 It doesn't matter who you are. 00:05:58.279 --> 00:05:59.579 You'll receive times of refreshment. 00:05:59.639 --> 00:06:00.319 It doesn't matter who you are. 00:06:00.859 --> 00:06:02.039 The Lord will be sent for you. 00:06:03.839 --> 00:06:05.099 No, Peter doesn't say that, does he? 00:06:05.100 --> 00:06:12.080 He says that those blessings are for those who repent, who turn to God. 00:06:14.060 --> 00:06:14.980 You just need to be careful. 00:06:15.060 --> 00:06:17.520 As you look at it, repentance isn't a work that earns the blessing. 00:06:17.720 --> 00:06:19.400 Repentance is the opposite of work, right? 00:06:19.420 --> 00:06:20.300 We're going to find that in a moment. 00:06:20.300 --> 00:06:24.320 But repentance is the sort of antithesis of work. 00:06:24.540 --> 00:06:28.240 Not because it does nothing, but because it's the recognition that works are hopeless. 00:06:28.540 --> 00:06:30.780 Everything I've done is hopeless. 00:06:30.779 --> 00:06:38.059 And so it's not the deserving, but the repentant that receives the blessings that we long for. 00:06:38.699 --> 00:06:45.139 To know God, to experience God, to have our sins wiped away, to be rescued from darkness for light, all things made new. 00:06:45.819 --> 00:06:47.159 That's for the repentant. 00:06:48.219 --> 00:06:51.399 So I want to suggest to you this morning, and this is the waffle before I start. 00:06:51.659 --> 00:06:57.559 I want to suggest to you this morning, there is nothing more important for you as an individual, 00:06:57.560 --> 00:07:05.300 or for us as a church, then you understand what repentance is and do it. 00:07:07.180 --> 00:07:11.199 And so that's been the idea behind this kind of little mini-series that we're doing over the summer. 00:07:11.579 --> 00:07:15.139 Picking up stories of repentance in the Bible. 00:07:15.279 --> 00:07:20.220 And we're starting this morning with 2 Chronicles 33 as a story of repentance. 00:07:20.399 --> 00:07:23.939 I'm going to pray and ask the Lord's help as we look at this passage together. 00:07:24.019 --> 00:07:24.480 Let me pray. 00:07:24.480 --> 00:07:38.879 Father, we acknowledge that the blessings of forgiveness, of times of refreshing, of the Lord Jesus coming to restore us, 00:07:38.960 --> 00:07:40.800 those are for the repentant. 00:07:42.120 --> 00:07:51.700 And so we want to pray this morning that you might bring in us repentant hearts that turns from their sin and trusts in you. 00:07:51.699 --> 00:07:58.819 And we pray that you might even do that work in our hearts right now as we open your word together. 00:07:59.300 --> 00:08:05.539 As you speak, may you be at work by your spirit in our hearts, drawing us to love and trust you. 00:08:05.980 --> 00:08:07.319 As we pray in Jesus' name. 00:08:08.019 --> 00:08:08.319 Amen. 00:08:08.319 --> 00:08:13.480 I want us to begin by sort of walking through the story. 00:08:13.579 --> 00:08:16.899 So if you've got 2 Chronicles 33 open in front of you, that's going to help you. 00:08:17.199 --> 00:08:18.839 And we're going to work through the story together. 00:08:19.560 --> 00:08:24.339 I hope as it was read by Amy, you got a sense just of how wicked Manasseh is. 00:08:25.219 --> 00:08:29.420 It's hard, I think, to imagine a worse king than King Manasseh. 00:08:29.959 --> 00:08:34.519 In fact, I think it's hard to imagine a worse person than King Manasseh. 00:08:34.519 --> 00:08:40.399 And the way the story is told is meant to deliberately underline that for you over and over again. 00:08:41.000 --> 00:08:49.419 You're meant to see that Manasseh is effectively taking God's law and God's rules and ripping them up word by word. 00:08:50.159 --> 00:08:56.639 You don't have to turn to it, but in Deuteronomy 18, God says this to the people before they enter the promised land. 00:08:56.799 --> 00:08:58.600 He says this through Moses. 00:08:58.600 --> 00:09:05.920 When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. 00:09:06.680 --> 00:09:21.399 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft or casts spells, or who is a medium or a spiritist who consults the dead. 00:09:21.399 --> 00:09:29.980 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord because of the same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you. 00:09:31.759 --> 00:09:41.639 And when you read 2 Chronicles 33, if you've got that sort of echoing in your mind, you realise that that list of don'ts has become the list of do's for Manasseh. 00:09:41.639 --> 00:09:59.779 So much so that in verse 9 of our passage, you're told that Manasseh's Jerusalem is not just as wicked as the nations that occupied the land before Israel, but more wicked. 00:09:59.779 --> 00:10:10.799 The parallel account in 2 Kings 21 tells you that Manasseh filled Jerusalem with innocent blood from one end to the other. 00:10:12.399 --> 00:10:15.240 And notice the detail of what's going on here in verse 3. 00:10:15.379 --> 00:10:17.740 Manasseh is leading people into idolatry. 00:10:18.240 --> 00:10:25.279 We're told that he rebuilds the places of worship outside the temple to offer sacrifices to gods other than Yahweh, the God of Israel. 00:10:25.980 --> 00:10:28.120 The high places, the writer calls them. 00:10:28.120 --> 00:10:31.120 The high places that Hezekiah had pulled down. 00:10:32.139 --> 00:10:36.860 As well as those high places, Manasseh also builds altars to false gods inside the temple. 00:10:37.700 --> 00:10:45.860 In 2 Chronicles 4, we're told that King Solomon builds the temple and he makes an outer court for the people and an inner court for the priests. 00:10:46.600 --> 00:10:54.860 And in verse 5 of our passage this morning, you're told that Manasseh has built altars to the starry host in both the inner and the outer courts. 00:10:54.860 --> 00:11:09.460 Verse 7 tells you that he put an image in Asherah pole, according to 2 Kings, inside the temple, encouraging priests and people to worship the stars and the Baals instead of Yahweh. 00:11:09.460 --> 00:11:15.120 But really the horror of all of this is in verse 6, isn't it? 00:11:16.139 --> 00:11:17.180 Look at verse 6. 00:11:17.980 --> 00:11:23.379 He sacrificed his children in the fire in the valley of Ben-Hinnom. 00:11:23.379 --> 00:11:33.279 The valley of Ben-Hinnom was along the southwestern edge of the city of Jerusalem and it was notorious for pagan worship. 00:11:34.480 --> 00:11:40.639 And here, notice Manasseh sacrificed not a child, but children. 00:11:41.820 --> 00:11:42.240 Plural. 00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:49.399 We're told in other Bible passages that it was Moloch to whom the children were sacrificed on an installation called a tophet. 00:11:50.500 --> 00:11:59.200 Now, we're not really exactly sure what that looked like or what that involved, but church history suggests that it was a giant brass statue with its arms held out. 00:11:59.200 --> 00:11:59.860 Look at this. 00:12:00.740 --> 00:12:04.080 Below the statue was a great fire pit. 00:12:04.080 --> 00:12:10.980 And worshippers would light a fire in the pits so that the bronze statue was heated up. 00:12:12.500 --> 00:12:19.720 And so that then, when the worshippers put their children in the arms of the gods, the children were burnt to death. 00:12:20.860 --> 00:12:26.540 The ceremony was accompanied by loud drums designed to drown out the screams of the children. 00:12:27.639 --> 00:12:30.600 And that, you're told, is Manasseh's Jerusalem. 00:12:30.600 --> 00:12:34.120 And it's a horrible image, isn't it? 00:12:34.159 --> 00:12:40.720 But what I think we really need to see here is this link between Manasseh's idolatry and Manasseh's immorality. 00:12:41.620 --> 00:12:52.340 I think most of us, probably in our kind of city and culture, we have been conditioned to think, kind of pluralistically, that all religions are basically the same. 00:12:52.580 --> 00:12:52.700 Right? 00:12:52.759 --> 00:12:55.480 That it doesn't really matter what or who or if you worship a god. 00:12:56.100 --> 00:12:58.440 You know, religion is like a private thing. 00:12:58.680 --> 00:12:58.840 Right? 00:12:58.879 --> 00:13:00.300 It has very little effect. 00:13:00.299 --> 00:13:04.139 You can worship no god or any god and you can still be a good person. 00:13:04.199 --> 00:13:04.659 It's fine. 00:13:05.759 --> 00:13:15.199 And then you come across 2 Chronicles 33 and you see, don't you, that the Bible says, no, actually, what you worship, who you worship, is linked to how you live. 00:13:15.379 --> 00:13:17.419 Intimately linked to how you live. 00:13:18.719 --> 00:13:25.339 And so, who we are morally, says the Bible, reflects what or who we worship. 00:13:25.340 --> 00:13:30.180 You know, what or who we worship is seen in our moral actions. 00:13:31.620 --> 00:13:33.240 Perhaps it helps to put it another way. 00:13:33.240 --> 00:13:38.860 If the God or perhaps thing that you worship is false. 00:13:38.860 --> 00:13:41.639 That is, the thing that you worship is not true. 00:13:41.639 --> 00:13:42.980 It's not a true God. 00:13:43.019 --> 00:13:44.720 It's not the true God. 00:13:44.759 --> 00:13:45.519 It's not there. 00:13:45.879 --> 00:13:47.960 Or it's not really just worthy of our worship. 00:13:47.960 --> 00:13:49.259 It's not true. 00:13:49.259 --> 00:13:50.379 It's not true. 00:13:50.379 --> 00:13:52.180 It's not true. 00:13:52.179 --> 00:14:00.739 of that heart of worship will also be unworthy, untrue, false, fake. 00:14:02.459 --> 00:14:08.699 You know, if you, Calvin used to put it this way, if you lose God, if you don't know the 00:14:08.699 --> 00:14:12.439 God who is real, the God who has made you, you also lose yourself. 00:14:13.659 --> 00:14:14.639 You lose yourself. 00:14:14.639 --> 00:14:22.879 And so Manasseh here has lost the real God, swapped him out for Molech, and has lost himself 00:14:22.879 --> 00:14:23.899 in the process. 00:14:25.199 --> 00:14:28.199 So Molech says to him, do you know what, Manasseh, you are more important than your children. 00:14:29.500 --> 00:14:31.220 Your children's lives are cheap. 00:14:32.679 --> 00:14:38.659 What really matters, Manasseh, is your fertility, your power, your strength. 00:14:39.159 --> 00:14:42.159 What really matters, Manasseh, is that you prosper. 00:14:42.159 --> 00:14:48.759 And say, the idolatry of Molech fuelled the immorality of child sacrifice. 00:14:49.819 --> 00:14:54.159 And while we find that deeply offensive, it's not actually that unlike modern Western materialism, 00:14:54.159 --> 00:14:55.480 is it? 00:14:56.259 --> 00:14:59.899 Modern Western materialism says, sure, there is no God. 00:15:00.939 --> 00:15:02.219 Life is about you. 00:15:03.559 --> 00:15:07.879 Your rights, your achievements, your prosperity, your wholeness. 00:15:07.879 --> 00:15:13.019 Life is about getting what you want, doing what you want, and being who you want to be. 00:15:14.820 --> 00:15:16.960 Worship you, it says. 00:15:17.939 --> 00:15:23.740 And if we worship ourselves, we necessarily sacrifice others in the act of that worship, 00:15:23.840 --> 00:15:24.139 don't we? 00:15:25.200 --> 00:15:28.059 Even children in the pursuit of glory. 00:15:28.059 --> 00:15:33.579 You know, so think about the person who spends endless hours at work, achieving goals, getting promoted, 00:15:34.039 --> 00:15:39.899 living their best life, and gives no time to their friends, their family, or even their children, 00:15:40.619 --> 00:15:41.339 when they need them. 00:15:42.759 --> 00:15:47.279 Or think of the advice that we give to a pregnant woman who is distressed at the prospect of having a child. 00:15:47.839 --> 00:15:48.919 You choose, we say. 00:15:48.919 --> 00:15:51.620 Your life is more important than theirs. 00:15:53.159 --> 00:15:54.500 Modern child sacrifice. 00:15:56.000 --> 00:16:00.799 The bars and the asteroid poles of Manasseh's day were linked to fertility and ritual prostitution. 00:16:01.500 --> 00:16:05.120 The gods kind of promised power and legacy and influence and dominance. 00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:16.000 And so the idolatrous acts of worship took then what has been created as intimacy between a man and a woman in the institution of marriage 00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:19.679 and used it as currency, power, and abuse. 00:16:21.299 --> 00:16:24.940 And we think, oh, we're way too modern to worship Baal or Asherah. 00:16:25.539 --> 00:16:28.879 But instead we worship pleasure and fun and experience. 00:16:29.180 --> 00:16:30.379 We're hedonists, aren't we? 00:16:30.379 --> 00:16:39.960 But we too divorce sex from marriage and we too use what was made sacred for our selfish pleasure with little regard for the consequences. 00:16:41.580 --> 00:16:42.439 And so here's the point. 00:16:42.919 --> 00:16:44.720 Idolatry doesn't just offend God. 00:16:44.799 --> 00:16:45.980 It does offend God. 00:16:46.700 --> 00:16:49.580 But it also damages us and those around us. 00:16:49.820 --> 00:16:52.159 Because it makes us less than who we were meant to be. 00:16:52.980 --> 00:16:57.120 And so when you read in our passage in verse 6 that the Lord's anger is aroused by Manasseh, 00:16:57.120 --> 00:16:58.500 you're supposed to go, well, no. 00:16:58.500 --> 00:17:04.440 Now, obviously, a good God would have to be angry at that. 00:17:05.460 --> 00:17:08.900 And graciously, God tells Manasseh that he is angry, doesn't he? 00:17:08.920 --> 00:17:13.000 In verse 10, we find that the Lord sends messengers to Manasseh and the people to warn them, 00:17:13.380 --> 00:17:15.640 you're going the wrong way, you're doing the wrong thing. 00:17:16.059 --> 00:17:17.160 But he pays no attention. 00:17:19.079 --> 00:17:24.259 He's immoral, pagan, proud, unjust, selfish, idolatrous, murderous. 00:17:24.259 --> 00:17:28.920 And to top it all off, verse 1, I think, is probably some of the most harrowing words, isn't it? 00:17:29.420 --> 00:17:32.640 He was king for 55 years in Jerusalem. 00:17:34.079 --> 00:17:35.220 Longer than any other king. 00:17:36.180 --> 00:17:42.099 Year after year after year after year after year of idolatry and immorality. 00:17:42.099 --> 00:17:47.099 Now, I think you're meant to read all that and you're meant to see the bleakness of it. 00:17:47.319 --> 00:17:50.319 But let me ask you a question just as we pause at this point in the story. 00:17:50.799 --> 00:17:53.179 What hope do you think there is for someone like Manasseh? 00:17:54.399 --> 00:17:56.359 Can people like Manasseh change? 00:17:57.339 --> 00:18:00.799 Should there be any hope for people like Manasseh? 00:18:01.839 --> 00:18:04.399 Now, we know the rest of the story because Amy's already read it for us. 00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:09.900 But I guess if we hadn't heard the rest of the story, we might imagine that there was no hope for people like Manasseh. 00:18:10.440 --> 00:18:13.140 Manasseh is really too far gone, isn't he? 00:18:13.220 --> 00:18:14.220 Surely for the Lord. 00:18:15.160 --> 00:18:16.720 His record is too bad. 00:18:16.820 --> 00:18:17.980 His sin is too deep. 00:18:18.080 --> 00:18:22.500 His commitment to idolatry and immorality has gone too far and gone on far too long. 00:18:23.640 --> 00:18:26.300 And perhaps you're sitting here this morning and you feel the same about you. 00:18:26.660 --> 00:18:28.580 Oh, you know, you might not be as bad as Manasseh, 00:18:28.580 --> 00:18:32.519 but still the patterns of false worship and immorality are all over your life. 00:18:32.519 --> 00:18:35.519 And you assume, well, it's all lost. 00:18:36.319 --> 00:18:38.359 I am way too bad for God. 00:18:39.319 --> 00:18:41.420 God can't fix someone like me. 00:18:42.359 --> 00:18:43.799 Maybe somebody else. 00:18:44.440 --> 00:18:45.839 But he's not interested in me. 00:18:46.980 --> 00:18:51.180 Let me tell you, if that's what you think, 2 Chronicles 33 is in the Bible for you. 00:18:52.680 --> 00:18:53.639 For me. 00:18:54.579 --> 00:19:00.799 To show us that if God can save Manasseh, he can save you as well. 00:19:00.799 --> 00:19:02.859 Whoever you are and whatever you've done. 00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:05.419 No one is beyond God's reach. 00:19:06.319 --> 00:19:09.259 Now, for Manasseh, this big change starts in verse 11, doesn't it? 00:19:09.639 --> 00:19:12.079 In verse 10, he's ignoring the prophets who speak God's word. 00:19:12.200 --> 00:19:14.919 In verse 11, God sends the army of the king of Assyria, 00:19:15.299 --> 00:19:18.339 who capture Manasseh and take him prisoner, marching him to Babylon. 00:19:19.259 --> 00:19:22.399 Now, we know from the Assyrian carvings at the British Museum 00:19:22.400 --> 00:19:25.320 that the Assyrians' technique for humiliating their captives 00:19:25.320 --> 00:19:27.880 and making sure they didn't escape or run off 00:19:27.880 --> 00:19:31.060 as they dragged them back to Assyria or to Babylon 00:19:31.060 --> 00:19:35.660 was to string a hook through their cheek or through their nose 00:19:35.660 --> 00:19:37.440 and chain it to the person next to them. 00:19:38.400 --> 00:19:40.480 And that's what happens to Manasseh in verse 11. 00:19:40.880 --> 00:19:41.780 He's humbled. 00:19:41.980 --> 00:19:42.640 He's captured. 00:19:42.900 --> 00:19:45.240 He's shackled on his hands and his feet, probably. 00:19:45.240 --> 00:19:49.259 And also through his nose, he has a hook chain to the person next to him 00:19:49.259 --> 00:19:50.960 so he doesn't run off. 00:19:52.420 --> 00:19:54.380 Notice the Lord has not abandoned him. 00:19:54.880 --> 00:19:56.740 This is God's judgment in verse 11. 00:19:56.900 --> 00:19:58.400 It's God who's brought the army. 00:19:58.859 --> 00:20:01.980 And this judgment is used by God to wake Manasseh up. 00:20:02.339 --> 00:20:05.620 And verse 12 tells you that he humbles himself and seeks the Lord. 00:20:06.519 --> 00:20:09.559 And notice verse 12 that God is the God of his ancestors. 00:20:09.720 --> 00:20:10.839 That's what he sees. 00:20:11.259 --> 00:20:12.500 Oh, God is the creator. 00:20:12.720 --> 00:20:13.680 God is the rescuer. 00:20:13.680 --> 00:20:15.120 God is the promise keeper. 00:20:15.500 --> 00:20:17.000 God is the God I should worship. 00:20:17.900 --> 00:20:21.900 And he prays, calls out to God in repentance, and the Lord hears. 00:20:22.319 --> 00:20:23.200 Look at verse 13. 00:20:23.940 --> 00:20:27.079 And when he prayed to him, the Lord was moved by his entreaty 00:20:27.079 --> 00:20:28.740 and listened to his plea. 00:20:29.400 --> 00:20:31.839 So he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. 00:20:32.480 --> 00:20:35.400 Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God. 00:20:36.839 --> 00:20:39.579 If you're in any doubt how deep the change was in Manasseh, 00:20:39.640 --> 00:20:41.059 the rest of the passage spells it out. 00:20:41.059 --> 00:20:43.079 He rebuilds the city in verse 12. 00:20:43.079 --> 00:20:47.139 He protects the temple and the city with bigger walls and bigger fortifications. 00:20:47.819 --> 00:20:50.500 He gets rid of the foreign gods from the temple in verse 15. 00:20:50.619 --> 00:20:53.859 He tears down the altars and throws the rubbish out of the city. 00:20:54.359 --> 00:20:58.740 In verse 16, he rebuilds the altar of the Lord and worships with fellowship offerings 00:20:58.740 --> 00:21:01.720 and thank offerings, telling the people to serve and worship the Lord. 00:21:01.720 --> 00:21:05.519 Now, here's the story in a nutshell. 00:21:06.339 --> 00:21:14.279 God takes the worst sinner in the Bible and makes them a saint, a leader of worship. 00:21:14.279 --> 00:21:19.180 And he does that through repentance. 00:21:19.960 --> 00:21:24.440 And the point is that if God can do that for Manasseh, he can do that for you, he can do it for me. 00:21:24.519 --> 00:21:30.420 He can take us with all our sin, our mess, our dirtiness, our failure, 00:21:30.420 --> 00:21:41.500 and he can make us saints, people who worship, praise, lead others even. 00:21:42.460 --> 00:21:45.840 And he can bring to us a repentance that changes everything. 00:21:46.880 --> 00:21:49.680 So just notice with me, sort of as we finish, but not really finished, 00:21:50.039 --> 00:21:51.940 as we finish, four things about repentance. 00:21:52.160 --> 00:21:53.140 Let me just show you them quickly. 00:21:53.779 --> 00:21:55.960 Notice firstly, repentance is a work of God. 00:21:55.960 --> 00:22:00.380 It is a big mistake to read 2 Chronicles 33 and go, 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:03.539 wow, Manasseh did a pretty good job of turning over a new leaf. 00:22:04.799 --> 00:22:06.480 No, he didn't come to his senses. 00:22:06.660 --> 00:22:09.200 It wasn't that he pulled his moral socks up or he got his act together, 00:22:09.519 --> 00:22:10.640 and so God blessed him. 00:22:11.360 --> 00:22:14.420 It's easy to read the story like that and just to assume that we need to do the same, 00:22:14.819 --> 00:22:16.860 that somehow the power to change relies within us. 00:22:16.900 --> 00:22:18.160 But that's not the story, is it? 00:22:18.700 --> 00:22:20.900 The whole of the Bible points in the opposite direction. 00:22:21.019 --> 00:22:24.920 The story of Manasseh here is to show you just how bad Manasseh is, 00:22:24.920 --> 00:22:28.420 so far gone that it would be impossible for someone like him to change. 00:22:28.880 --> 00:22:31.720 Instead, this is a death-to-life story. 00:22:32.080 --> 00:22:33.620 It's a miracle story. 00:22:34.060 --> 00:22:38.480 A blind person receiving their sight, a dead person receiving resurrection life. 00:22:39.039 --> 00:22:41.320 And you can see that because all the way through the story, 00:22:41.900 --> 00:22:44.480 God is pursuing Manasseh even in his sin. 00:22:44.900 --> 00:22:48.640 Manasseh is going in that direction and God is chasing him down. 00:22:49.680 --> 00:22:51.160 You see it, don't you, in verse 6. 00:22:51.160 --> 00:22:54.240 His evil is seen by the eyes of the Lord. 00:22:54.240 --> 00:22:56.140 What is God doing looking at Manasseh? 00:22:56.380 --> 00:22:57.700 Well, he's after him, isn't he? 00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:01.220 In verse 10, the Lord speaks to Manasseh and reaches out to him. 00:23:01.519 --> 00:23:04.200 In verse 11, the Lord brings the army against them. 00:23:05.740 --> 00:23:08.319 But we can say a bit more about it as well, can't we, than just that. 00:23:08.660 --> 00:23:11.339 We can say not only that repentance is a work of God, 00:23:11.380 --> 00:23:14.539 we can say how God goes about bringing repentance. 00:23:15.599 --> 00:23:21.940 Notice that he does it through a revelation of just how sinful sin is. 00:23:21.940 --> 00:23:24.460 Manasseh was warned, but he didn't listen. 00:23:24.539 --> 00:23:27.720 But then he tasted God's judgment at sin. 00:23:29.240 --> 00:23:31.500 And then he was brought to his senses by the Lord. 00:23:33.840 --> 00:23:37.180 So for repentance is a work that God does in us. 00:23:37.620 --> 00:23:43.160 And he does it by revealing to you the horror of your sin. 00:23:43.160 --> 00:23:46.920 Often in the taste of its judgment. 00:23:48.380 --> 00:23:51.880 And it's not because he hates you or because he hates Manasseh, 00:23:52.140 --> 00:23:55.500 but because he is pursuing us, chasing us down. 00:23:56.920 --> 00:23:58.040 Perhaps that's you this morning. 00:23:58.140 --> 00:24:00.120 Perhaps you see the horror of your sin. 00:24:00.519 --> 00:24:03.000 Perhaps you're tasting its consequences in your life. 00:24:03.400 --> 00:24:06.779 Well, don't think that that means that you're way too bad for God. 00:24:06.779 --> 00:24:14.160 Knowing and seeing the horror of your sin is a tool that the Lord uses to bring repentance to us. 00:24:14.480 --> 00:24:22.399 Because the repentance that is a work of God starts by us seeing and acknowledging how horrible our sin is. 00:24:23.039 --> 00:24:24.559 What an offence it is to God. 00:24:24.559 --> 00:24:35.960 God sends, doesn't he, Manasseh to Babylon with a ring through his nose, being dragged along. 00:24:36.919 --> 00:24:43.519 And I guess that the king of Assyria thought, you know what, I've captured the king of Israel. 00:24:44.480 --> 00:24:50.799 But really what is going on is that the king of Israel is not being dragged to Babylon. 00:24:51.679 --> 00:24:53.919 But really it's God, isn't it? 00:24:54.559 --> 00:24:59.039 With his ring through Manasseh's nose, dragging him back to himself. 00:25:00.059 --> 00:25:02.179 Come, follow me. 00:25:02.859 --> 00:25:03.740 Turn back to me. 00:25:04.480 --> 00:25:06.039 Drawing faith and repentance. 00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:09.000 Transforming him from the inside out. 00:25:10.200 --> 00:25:11.179 Maybe that's you this morning. 00:25:12.759 --> 00:25:17.359 Maybe you know that God's got a ring through your nose and is pulling you back. 00:25:17.519 --> 00:25:19.440 Because you see the horror of your sin. 00:25:20.519 --> 00:25:21.559 How you've been living. 00:25:22.220 --> 00:25:23.200 What you've been worshipping. 00:25:23.200 --> 00:25:25.319 Don't ignore the poor. 00:25:26.700 --> 00:25:28.900 Secondly, notice that true repentance is humble. 00:25:29.180 --> 00:25:30.279 True repentance is humble. 00:25:31.000 --> 00:25:33.880 Told twice in the story that Manasseh humbles himself. 00:25:34.000 --> 00:25:36.900 Once in verse 12 and again in verse 19. 00:25:37.580 --> 00:25:40.120 Literally, he bows down or is made low. 00:25:40.920 --> 00:25:45.980 Suddenly the one who is so proud to think that his life and his wealth mattered more than anyone, 00:25:45.980 --> 00:25:50.259 even his children, now sees that he's a sinner. 00:25:51.259 --> 00:25:53.360 And notice he's not making a bargain with God, is he? 00:25:53.360 --> 00:25:57.259 He's not saying, listen God, if you get me out of this mess, I will be so kind to give you my worship. 00:25:58.700 --> 00:25:59.819 He's not saying that, is he? 00:25:59.819 --> 00:26:04.599 Instead he's saying, I don't deserve anything from you, Lord. 00:26:05.019 --> 00:26:06.419 I deserve your judgment. 00:26:08.099 --> 00:26:09.319 Please show me mercy. 00:26:10.099 --> 00:26:11.359 He sees his helplessness. 00:26:12.319 --> 00:26:13.960 And again, this is so important for us to see. 00:26:14.079 --> 00:26:18.119 Real repentance begins when self-confidence ends. 00:26:18.119 --> 00:26:21.359 Repentance is not a commitment to change ourselves. 00:26:21.759 --> 00:26:23.819 Repentance is a commitment to humble ourselves. 00:26:25.239 --> 00:26:29.459 In the 1689 London Baptist Confession, it says this about repentance. 00:26:29.619 --> 00:26:33.099 It says, this saving repentance is a gospel grace. 00:26:33.379 --> 00:26:36.719 In other words, it's given to us by God, which we've already seen. 00:26:37.179 --> 00:26:42.319 In which those who are made aware by the Holy Spirit of the many evils of their sin, 00:26:42.919 --> 00:26:47.259 by faith in Christ, humble themselves for it with godly sorrow, 00:26:48.119 --> 00:26:50.319 hatred of it, and self-loathing. 00:26:51.359 --> 00:26:53.619 Now we read that and we shy away from self-loathing. 00:26:53.700 --> 00:26:56.660 That sounds like someone who needs counseling, right, for low self-esteem. 00:26:57.339 --> 00:26:58.240 Please get the counselor. 00:26:59.200 --> 00:27:05.400 But self-loathing in the Confession, it doesn't mean hating oneself in that sense. 00:27:05.960 --> 00:27:10.859 It means, you know, I realize I have nothing to offer you, Lord. 00:27:10.859 --> 00:27:17.359 Anything that I would have put before you, Lord, as a reason that you should show me mercy, 00:27:17.479 --> 00:27:19.639 or forgive me, or be kind to me, or accept me. 00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:22.639 Anything that I would put before you, I loathe it now. 00:27:22.640 --> 00:27:26.360 Because I can see that it's hollow and empty and worth nothing. 00:27:29.800 --> 00:27:31.340 And so that's Manasseh, isn't it? 00:27:31.600 --> 00:27:35.420 He looks at the horror of child sacrifice and the worship of the fertility gods. 00:27:35.820 --> 00:27:37.700 He sees the wickedness of it and he says, 00:27:37.700 --> 00:27:39.440 that was me. 00:27:40.019 --> 00:27:40.759 I did that. 00:27:41.600 --> 00:27:42.559 That was my sin. 00:27:43.360 --> 00:27:46.180 And I hate the fact that I did it. 00:27:47.400 --> 00:27:50.279 I hate myself for doing it. 00:27:51.039 --> 00:27:52.120 Because I did it. 00:27:52.119 --> 00:27:56.619 Interestingly, the 17th century reformers who wrote the London Baptist Confession 00:27:56.619 --> 00:27:59.959 and the Westminster Confession go on to point out two other things about repentance. 00:28:00.699 --> 00:28:03.399 One, is it's supposed to be specific, right? 00:28:03.419 --> 00:28:05.679 It's not a general malaise of the sinfulness of our hearts. 00:28:05.739 --> 00:28:09.259 It's a specific hatred of the sins that we're guilty of. 00:28:10.019 --> 00:28:11.019 We looked at that with the kids. 00:28:11.879 --> 00:28:16.579 The second thing it points out is that because it's like this, 00:28:17.239 --> 00:28:19.979 repentance goes on throughout the life of the Christian. 00:28:19.980 --> 00:28:25.299 Repentance isn't just a thing that you do at the start of the Christian life, 00:28:25.360 --> 00:28:30.259 but it is the ongoing work of the Christian as we continue to battle with indwelling sin. 00:28:31.620 --> 00:28:33.380 The confession concludes by saying, 00:28:33.960 --> 00:28:38.500 that means that the constant preaching of repentance is necessary for God's people. 00:28:40.059 --> 00:28:42.759 We need to continue to humble ourselves before God. 00:28:44.079 --> 00:28:47.339 So perhaps I can ask you gently, and I know these are sensitive things, 00:28:47.380 --> 00:28:48.620 so I'm trying to hold them gently. 00:28:48.619 --> 00:28:54.439 Can I ask you, if you're a Christian this morning, what is it that you should be repenting of? 00:28:55.359 --> 00:28:56.959 What is it that you should be repenting of? 00:28:58.839 --> 00:29:02.459 What is it that you humbly need to bring to God, not in general, but specifically, 00:29:02.639 --> 00:29:03.899 and say, Lord, this is mine. 00:29:05.139 --> 00:29:06.139 I did this. 00:29:08.059 --> 00:29:12.519 Let me say to you, that is, it is really, really hard to do that. 00:29:12.519 --> 00:29:17.599 And it gets harder, I think, the longer you go on as a Christian. 00:29:18.559 --> 00:29:23.240 I mean, if you're a pastor, or a leader, or a parent, or a Sunday school teacher, 00:29:23.740 --> 00:29:26.500 people start to think that you don't need to repent anymore, 00:29:26.500 --> 00:29:28.059 because you must know enough by now. 00:29:28.879 --> 00:29:30.299 You must be better than that by now. 00:29:30.339 --> 00:29:31.660 You must be beyond that by now. 00:29:31.660 --> 00:29:35.000 Some churches even teach Christians that, don't they? 00:29:35.580 --> 00:29:39.380 And then churches end up being places where you have to come and pretend that you're better than anybody else, 00:29:39.380 --> 00:29:43.580 because you don't want to show anybody that you actually need repentance. 00:29:43.579 --> 00:29:48.119 But that's the very opposite of the Bible's teaching on repentance. 00:29:48.279 --> 00:29:53.539 The Bible's teaching on repentance is that we are continually humble before the Lord. 00:29:54.179 --> 00:29:55.319 I'm sorry, Lord. 00:29:55.819 --> 00:29:57.119 I thought that. 00:29:57.619 --> 00:29:59.339 I'm sorry, Lord, I did that. 00:29:59.659 --> 00:30:01.879 I'm sorry, Lord, I said that. 00:30:01.980 --> 00:30:03.000 I went there. 00:30:03.139 --> 00:30:03.960 I did that. 00:30:05.159 --> 00:30:07.460 Because repentance is humble, not proud. 00:30:08.579 --> 00:30:10.119 Thirdly, repentance is active. 00:30:10.839 --> 00:30:12.519 We're going to consider this more in weeks to come. 00:30:12.519 --> 00:30:14.039 So we're going to just see it quickly. 00:30:14.200 --> 00:30:19.440 But notice that repentance here for Manasseh was not just a humble acknowledgement that he's done something wrong. 00:30:19.759 --> 00:30:21.839 It's also an eager desire to put it right. 00:30:22.539 --> 00:30:24.420 So he tore down the Asherah poles. 00:30:24.539 --> 00:30:26.779 He removed the idolatrous altars, didn't he? 00:30:26.779 --> 00:30:30.500 He led the people to worship the living and true God instead of the idols. 00:30:31.359 --> 00:30:34.839 And really, in a way, that's how you know that his repentance is real and not fake. 00:30:35.400 --> 00:30:37.480 Anybody can be sad at their sin. 00:30:37.480 --> 00:30:48.180 But real and genuine repentance is earnest in the unpicking of it, in the eagerness to walk away from it, to change. 00:30:48.559 --> 00:30:52.660 Real repentance comes with God's power to change. 00:30:53.160 --> 00:30:59.299 And so repentant faith that humbly acknowledges its sin takes hold of the Spirit's power to change, 00:30:59.299 --> 00:31:04.779 to give up its idolatry, to break its sinful habits, to take radical action against its sin. 00:31:05.559 --> 00:31:09.460 Jesus says that you should cut out your eye, chop off your hand, he says. 00:31:10.220 --> 00:31:12.899 Where does the strength and power to do that come from? 00:31:12.940 --> 00:31:14.500 It comes from the Lord's. 00:31:14.500 --> 00:31:27.799 The power to lose the smartphone, to cancel the subscription, to leave the friendship group, to be open to accountability, to seek help, to be reconciled in a broken relationship. 00:31:28.900 --> 00:31:31.759 That is the mark of real repentance. 00:31:33.160 --> 00:31:35.079 Real repentance is active. 00:31:36.299 --> 00:31:40.819 So we need to ask, don't we, what is the fruit of repentance in my life? 00:31:40.819 --> 00:31:49.220 What is it that I am doing as a Christian because I am turning deliberately and specifically from sin? 00:31:51.279 --> 00:31:55.359 Fourthly, finally, true repentance is accepted by God. 00:31:56.960 --> 00:32:02.299 I think probably the greatest line in this story is the Lord was moved by his entreaty. 00:32:02.379 --> 00:32:03.259 Again, it gets repeated. 00:32:03.799 --> 00:32:04.839 It's amazing, isn't it? 00:32:05.240 --> 00:32:09.819 God, the holy God, the one who dwells in unapproachable light, 00:32:09.819 --> 00:32:20.359 who has made everything, who is holy, holy, holy, listens to the prayer of the wickedest man in all the Bible. 00:32:22.539 --> 00:32:24.599 It's an amazing story, isn't it? 00:32:26.000 --> 00:32:29.439 And that is really the power of repentance, if you can put it well. 00:32:29.500 --> 00:32:30.619 It's not our power, is it? 00:32:30.619 --> 00:32:38.079 It's rather that God, this God-given awakening to the horror of sin, is the means by which God hears and answers. 00:32:39.339 --> 00:32:44.099 It's why I notice in verse 16 that when Manasseh gets back to Jerusalem and sets about rebuilding the altar, 00:32:44.799 --> 00:32:51.179 you know, what do you think that Manasseh would do if he didn't know this about God, right? 00:32:51.179 --> 00:32:53.639 If he didn't know that God listens to the prayer of the repentant. 00:32:53.640 --> 00:32:58.020 When he got back to Jerusalem and rebuilt the altar, what would be the first sacrifice that he'd make on the altar? 00:32:59.380 --> 00:33:00.759 He'd make a sin offering, wouldn't he? 00:33:01.240 --> 00:33:02.220 For sure he would. 00:33:03.060 --> 00:33:04.640 Well, I've got to put it right. 00:33:05.440 --> 00:33:06.400 But he doesn't do that, does he? 00:33:07.080 --> 00:33:11.140 The first sacrifice that he makes on the altar he's rebuilt is what? 00:33:12.500 --> 00:33:15.800 It's a fellowship and thanksgiving sacrifice in verse 16. 00:33:16.600 --> 00:33:17.360 Why is that? 00:33:17.359 --> 00:33:24.139 Because Manasseh knows intuitively, what we know clearly because we read it in the light of the Lord Jesus Christ, 00:33:24.500 --> 00:33:27.719 is that forgiveness has already been paid for by God himself. 00:33:29.419 --> 00:33:34.059 It's why when King David repents from his sin with Bathsheba in Psalm 51, 00:33:34.619 --> 00:33:37.619 he says, sacrifices and offerings are not what you want, Lord. 00:33:38.399 --> 00:33:40.799 Why does the Lord not want sacrifices and offerings? 00:33:40.799 --> 00:33:41.879 Why does he not want sin? 00:33:42.039 --> 00:33:44.639 Because he himself has paid the price. 00:33:44.640 --> 00:33:49.400 And instinctively, the forgiven sinner knows that God has paid the price. 00:33:50.040 --> 00:33:50.860 He must have done. 00:33:51.660 --> 00:33:55.700 Because the repentant sinner knows there's nothing that we could do, nothing that we could give. 00:33:56.320 --> 00:33:57.820 Only thanks and praise. 00:34:00.420 --> 00:34:04.880 Now we know that, don't we, even more clearly, that God accepts the truly repentant sinner, 00:34:05.780 --> 00:34:09.019 not because we offer him anything that is worthy of our forgiveness, 00:34:09.019 --> 00:34:13.559 but because he gave us his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:34:14.639 --> 00:34:21.699 And he sacrificed himself in his body on the cross that we might be forgiven. 00:34:22.559 --> 00:34:30.139 And so the convicted, humble, changed sinner is more than anything thankful, joyful. 00:34:30.920 --> 00:34:34.579 I once was lost, but now I'm found. 00:34:34.579 --> 00:34:41.059 I wonder if you found Manasseh in glory, right? 00:34:42.840 --> 00:34:48.599 And you say to him, listen, Manasseh, this has been a burning question. 00:34:49.219 --> 00:34:57.000 I've always wanted to ask you, how do you feel about the fact that you are the worst person in the Bible? 00:34:57.000 --> 00:35:06.579 You know, it must be a great honour to have been included in the word of God, but you were terrible, right? 00:35:07.420 --> 00:35:12.119 When the writer of Kings recorded your story, he didn't even include your repentance. 00:35:12.800 --> 00:35:14.659 He just included all the bad stuff that you did. 00:35:15.039 --> 00:35:16.079 He didn't even end it. 00:35:16.699 --> 00:35:17.519 How do you feel about that? 00:35:17.579 --> 00:35:18.860 That must be awful, isn't it? 00:35:18.920 --> 00:35:20.719 Are you a bit embarrassed to be here? 00:35:21.719 --> 00:35:23.000 What do you think Manasseh would say? 00:35:25.319 --> 00:35:34.379 He'd say, you know, I know that the way that that story was written means that you get to see how I went through all of God's laws and ticked them off, breaking all of them. 00:35:35.099 --> 00:35:39.099 He says, but now I see, I read those lists of the things I did. 00:35:39.099 --> 00:35:41.599 And again, idolatry. 00:35:43.819 --> 00:35:44.339 Forgiven. 00:35:46.759 --> 00:35:47.279 Divination. 00:35:48.959 --> 00:35:49.299 Forgiven. 00:35:49.300 --> 00:35:52.480 Sacrificing my children. 00:35:53.960 --> 00:35:54.340 Forgiven. 00:35:55.539 --> 00:35:57.820 And so, you might think I'm a bit embarrassed. 00:35:58.700 --> 00:36:00.060 I love it. 00:36:00.880 --> 00:36:05.580 Because that list is a list of how much my father loves me. 00:36:06.320 --> 00:36:08.380 How great his mercy is to me. 00:36:09.320 --> 00:36:11.180 It's a sign of his forgiving power. 00:36:12.260 --> 00:36:13.920 And he'd say to you something like this. 00:36:14.039 --> 00:36:15.039 He said, do you know what? 00:36:15.039 --> 00:36:18.860 The more I know I don't deserve to be here. 00:36:19.360 --> 00:36:21.159 The more I enjoy it. 00:36:21.159 --> 00:36:35.699 And so, for you, for me, for us as a church, when we come to the Lord in repentance, convicted that the list of our failures can really be the list of his forgiving power. 00:36:35.699 --> 00:36:41.819 That really, we grow in joy and delight in the Lord Jesus. 00:36:41.819 --> 00:36:46.719 And that times of refreshing come to us personally and corporately. 00:36:46.719 --> 00:36:51.879 Because we're trusting in him and his forgiving power. 00:36:52.439 --> 00:36:53.599 And not ourselves. 00:36:54.179 --> 00:36:57.000 As we see the horror of our sin and our brokenness. 00:36:57.759 --> 00:36:59.099 Let's pray together. 00:36:59.099 --> 00:37:07.199 Let's take a few moments, just of quiet, in our own hearts, to pray to the Lord. 00:37:07.199 --> 00:37:07.259 Let's pray together. 00:37:07.259 --> 00:37:07.259 00:37:29.099 --> 00:37:51.599 Heavenly Father, thank you that you love us enough to reveal to us the horror of our sin. 00:37:52.599 --> 00:37:56.360 So that we might experience the forgiving power of the Lord Jesus. 00:37:56.360 --> 00:37:56.659 Let's pray together. 00:38:00.059 --> 00:38:05.420 Lord, there might be people in this room this morning who have your hook in their nose. 00:38:07.259 --> 00:38:09.139 Showing them the horrors of what they've done. 00:38:10.460 --> 00:38:12.839 Lord, we pray that you would bring them to repentance. 00:38:13.860 --> 00:38:17.319 To trust in the one who alone can forgive their sin. 00:38:18.940 --> 00:38:25.480 And Lord, we pray for each of us this morning that this wouldn't just be how we begin our Christian lives, but how we go on living them. 00:38:25.480 --> 00:38:31.039 Not so that we sort of wallow around in sorrow, saying how terrible we are. 00:38:31.760 --> 00:38:37.599 But so that we delight in joy, knowing how forgiven we are in the work of the Lord Jesus. 00:38:37.599 --> 00:38:40.980 And so we praise you in his name. 00:38:40.980 --> 00:38:42.019 Amen.