Repentance (part 2)

Posted by David on April 2, 2006 under Sermons

Genesis 15:1-6 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great.” Abram said, “O Lord God, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.” Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.” And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Psalm 32:1-7 How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit! When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away Through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found; Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him. You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance.

Romans 4:1-1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, And whose sins have been covered. “Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.” Is this blessing then on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say, “Faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.” How then was it credited? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised; and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them, and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while uncircumcised.

1. One of the reasons we think religious acceptance is so tough today is this: We have a poor understanding of how tough religious acceptance was in the first century.
   1. Jewish Christians simply could not accept as truth and fact that God could accept idol worshippers in a forgiveness relationship without going through Judaism, the law, and proselytism.
      1. If you will consider a little insight into a huge problem, listen to the difficulty voiced in these three statements from the Bible.
         1. Acts 11:1-3 Now the apostles and the brethren who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those who were circumcised took issue with him, saying, “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.”
            1. This was the manner in which Peter was greeted by Christians when he returned to Jerusalem after baptizing the non-Jew Cornelius.
            2. Cornelius was a god fearer–a devout man who feared God, gave alms to poor Jews, and prayed to Jehovah God daily. This was not a man who worshipped idols and did not know who God was!
            3. The issue was more fundamental than baptism: “You had table fellowship with him–you know no Jew can do that!”
            4. If Jews cannot even associate with them, how can God forgive them?
         2. Acts 15:1-5 Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” And when Paul and Barnabas had great dissension and debate with them, the brethren determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders concerning this issue. Therefore, being sent on their way by the church, they were passing through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and were bringing great joy to all the brethren. When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them. But some of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses.”
            1. Paul and Barnabas returned from their 1st missionary journey [which God directed them to go on] in which they converted gentiles.
            2. They returned to a huge argument in the gentile church who sent them out: the argument was from Jewish Christians from Judea [likely Jerusalem] with Christians [the church] in Antioch [likely the first gentile congregation].
            3. Paul and Barnabas could not settle the argument!
            4. The matter had to be referred to the apostles in Jerusalem.
            5. When the matter was discussed, some Pharisee Christians said gentile Christians must be circumcised and keep the law of Moses! Such compliance was not an option!
         3. Acts 21:17-26 After we arrived in Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. And the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. After he had greeted them, he began to relate one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. And when they heard it they began glorifying God; and they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law; and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs. What, then, is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. Therefore do this that we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow; take them and purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads; and all will know that there is nothing to the things which they have been told about you, but that you yourself also walk orderly, keeping the Law. But concerning the Gentiles who have believed, we wrote, having decided that they should abstain from meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication.” Then Paul took the men, and the next day, purifying himself along with them, went into the temple giving notice of the completion of the days of purification, until the sacrifice was offered for each one of them.
            1. Paul and his company were well received by the leadership of the Jerusalem church–the leader obviously had an understanding of evangelism among gentiles that many of the typical members did not have.
            2. The leaders also had a problem: how were they going to dispel false rumors about Paul’s work among gentiles?
            3. They encouraged Paul to demonstrate his Jewish ways [which he did not bind on gentiles] to try to dispel false accusations believed by the Christian community among the Jews and in Jerusalem.
            4. Paul did as they requested, and there is no note of objection.
            5. Jews did not have to stop being Jews and gentiles did not have to stop being gentiles [culturally] for either of them to be Christians.
   2. In his letter to the Christians living in Rome, Paul affirmed there was [and always had been] a relationship with God in which God ignored some people’s sins.
      1. That had been the case in the lives of two of the most prominent Israelite ancestors the Jewish nation celebrated.
         1. It was true in Abraham’s life before he was circumcised.
         2. It was true in King David’s life when he had his affair with Bathsheba.
         3. It was true in David’s life when he had Uriah killed.
            • Leviticus 20:10 If there is a man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, one who commits adultery with his friend’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
            • Leviticus 24:17 If a man takes the life of any human being, he shall surely be put to death.
         4. Yet, the prophet Nathan told David:
            • 2 Samuel 12:13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has taken away your sin; you shall not die.”
            1. “Wait a minute! We are talking about adultery and murder here!”
            2. Yes, but it clearly stated God took his sin away, and he would not die.
            3. Were there consequences from his act? Absolutely! And they were severe!
            4. Yet, God forgave him.
            5. God can forgive an offense against Him [and does!] but the offense can set in motion consequences in the world that continue even when forgiveness is given.
         5. If you doubt God’s ability to forgive by refusing to acknowledge sin, take note of two facts.
            1. David kept Bathsheba as a wife.
            2. The next king of Israel was Solomon who was the son of David and Bathsheba.
      2. There is a relationship with God in which God ignores a person’s sins [which is what forgiveness is basically about!]
         1. Rules keeping is not relationship.
         2. Relationship is much deeper than rules keeping.
         3. Obedience involves much more than keeping some rules.
      3. Repentance is about relationship.
         1. Repentance involves the realization of an injustice that hurts and offends the God who loves you.
         2. Repentance involves returning love to Someone who loves you dearly.
         3. Repentance is not about ‘jumping through hoops’ to complete some divine obstacle course.
         4. Repentance is about loving enough to regret offenses, about redirecting life because ‘I have been offensive to Someone who has treated me kindly.’

2. Who needs this forgiveness in which God does not hold us accountable for a sin committed?
   1. We all do!
      1. Do you actually think you are aware, fully knowledgeable of every way available to you to offend God?
      2. Have you never learned something in which you did evil that previously you did not realize any evil was involved?
   2. John acknowledged God’s solution to our sinfulness in 1 John 1:5-10 when he declared that God cleanses us from ALL sin through Jesus Christ and cleanses us from ALL unrighteousness if we confess our sins (that which we know to confess).
      1. Who needs God’s solution?
         1. We all do!
         2. Thank God He forgives me of matters I am yet to realize! If He did not, none of us would stand a chance!
      2. Does that give me a license to knowingly be irresponsible in matters of evil?
         1. No!
         2. It gives me hope as I seek to follow God’s will.
         3. I cannot be perfect, but I can be honest when I fail God.
   3. To whom does God attribute righteousness?
      1. To the person who in faith repents!
      2. We do not live as we please deliberately remaining in ignorance so we can do as we please!
      3. We seek God’s will!
      4. Life for every Christian is a constant redirection as we understand more completely what a godly life is about.
      5. Only people who understand God brings the best out of them repent!

God has a special appreciation for the man or woman [Christian] who: (1) assumes a sense of personal responsibility when he or she fails [guilt]; (2) is honest about his or her failure [confesses the mistake!]; and (3) learns from the failure [redirects life, repents]. That special appreciation from God is expressed in His forgiveness that refuses to acknowledge the sin.

Our commitment must be to develop that type of relationship with God!

Depending on the Holy Spirit

Posted by Chris on under Sermons

Prayer – what is prayer?
We don’t like to think that we are dependent. It doesn’t seem good to be a dependent. We don’t have any problems having dependents – especially at this time of year – but to be dependent means that we are a bit helpless.

And yet, the reality of life and especially the Christ-life is that we depend on much more than our own abilities.

2 Corinthians 4 – ⁷But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. ⁸We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. ¹⁰We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

Idolatry is so tempting because it puts us on a level playing field with God. We think that God actually needs us. We think that we sit at the table with our God and negotiate a contract. “So then God, we see that you have called us and we feel really great about that. We accept your gracious proposal and we would like to discuss some of our terms with you – just some things that we think are fair. Now in return for these blessings we promise to do the following.”

That doesn’t sound right, but idolatry actually makes us that bold before God. We need to recapture the meaning of the word prayer. Rather than a list of wants, prayer once meant a request made by a person of lower social station to a more powerful person. Sometimes it was highly structured and carefully ordered, but sometimes it was less formal. One thing was consistent – it was an appeal. Luke 18 – ²“In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. ³And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ “

The one who prays is completely dependent on the goodwill and the power of the one to whom the plea is addressed. When we bow in prayer it isn’t for the sake of meditation and focus. It is because we are expressing humility before a mighty and powerful God. He is the greater one to whom we appeal.

There are times in our lives when we feel this way about prayer, but how often do we come before God as a church with the same sense of dependence? Do we ever stop and realize how we depend entirely upon God’s goodwill and power for the determination and continuation of all ministry and mission?

Depending on God … Why this matters for the mission.
Unfortunately our prayer life and our participation in ministry and mission are sometimes fueled by contradicting assumptions. Privately and personally we may pray with a keen awareness of our weaknesses and limitations, but publicly and as a church we pray and act as if we are self-determining and as if we have all the resources and influence we need to effect change and respond to problems.

Case in point: Some of us remember the “if only everyone would save two” plan. The proposal was that if everyone would make two disciples, then in a very short number of years the entire world would be saved. It was sort of like compounding interest. It was an exponential accumulation. But what does the plan depend upon? Our efforts! It seems blasphemous to challenge this model of evangelism since many of us devoted so much time and passion to seeing it done, but we need to recognize the assumptions inherent in this plan …

1. It assumes that evangelism and salvation are ultimately dependent on our efforts.
2. It treats people as numbers rather than real people with real problems that seem to get in the way of mission – For example, What do you do when #48 starts drinking again? What do you do when #212 loses his job and his family (#213-#215) are in a financial crisis? What do you do when #457 gets frustrated with the congregation and its leaders and convinces #688-#773 to begin a new congregation? Do you keep telling them to “get their two”? This may work in door-to-door sales or mutual fund interest, but is this really how the mission of God works?

The mission is not about math or multiplication. It is about dependence on God and his Holy Spirit. It is about faithfulness and endurance through trials.

Read Matthew 10:1-16
Consider how Jesus sent out his disciples. What did they depend on? But what authority did they have?

Would we do ministry the way Jesus proposes? Doesn’t it just seem too risky? What and who do we have to depend on for this teaching of Jesus to become reality?

We can become so distracted by implementing our plans that we neglect to pray to God.

Chris Benjamin

West-Ark Church of Christ, Fort Smith, AR
Morning Sermon, 2 April 2006