← ArchiveSunday, January 21, 2018DateJanuary 21, 2018Speaker—Text—Passages in this sermonJonah 22:24Jonah 18:33Acts 311:22Acts 111:30Acts 211:55John 317:52Genesis 329:262 Thessalonians 1:830:38Matthew 2732:02Psalms 20:938:30Psalms 35:638:38Psalms 138:338:51Romans 10:1339:01Romans 1039:21TranscriptMachine transcribed. Click any line to jump there.0:00*Dramatic music*0:30*Dramatic music*1:00*Dramatic music* *Dramatic music* *Dramatic music* *Dramatic music* *Dramatic music* Well, this is sermon number three, part three of our Jonah series,1:30God's Relentless Grace. And some of you, this is your first Sunday here this year because it's been very, very cold. And so as you've thawed out, you have now spread your wings, and so we're glad you're back. But if you will join me if you have a copy of God's Word in the book of Jonah. Jonah is what we call one of the minor prophets, not because it has no significance in our lives, but because it is short in length.1:58In the Old Testament, about two thirds of the way through, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, and then as I thought as a young child, tobacco. And every time I heard that in church, I would go, ugh. So it is not tobacco, it is Habakkuk. So if you find Habakkuk, just back up several books and you will find Jonah. Jonah chapter two today, and we will look at the power of repentance.2:24The power of repentance. Researcher Christian Smith wrote a book called Soul Searching about our youth. I know you'll love to hear the implications of that youth. So this is what he found. He found that American teenagers today, this is several years ago, have a faith characterized by what he calls moralistic therapeutic deism.2:47Now let me unwrap that. I mean, you don't realize how smart our youth are. They believe in moralistic therapeutic deism. And it's basically this thought that if we are good, kind people, then God will do for us what we want. So if I'm good and I'm kind, if I work hard, then I can pray3:12and God will make my life easier. Whether it's exam, whether it's in a relationship, whether it's next steps of going to college. And before we point fingers and say, I can't believe they feel that way, who do they get it from? Us. Because how many believe that God is nothing more than Santa Claus? Right? He's watching when you're good.3:40And don't you end up on the naughty list. And if you're good, you will have good rewards. And if you're bad, not good. Lumps of coal for you. Eternal lumps of coal for you. And sadly, that is what many people believe in. And so Smith dug into this and he thought, and he found this about our teens. So I want to give you hope, guys. He found that American teens pray frequently.4:0840% of our teens pray daily. That is more than the average of adults. Shame on you, adults. Shame on us. I guess I put myself in that category today. Shame on us. And only 15% do not pray on a daily basis. But the prayers are self-serving. And this is what he found. Smith concluded that young Americans' prayers lacked any sense of repentance or adoration.4:35And he found that this, their religion, is not a religion of repentance from sin. He said, American teenagers believe that God is distant. That he is not demanding. Because his job is to solve problems and make people feel good. And you want to know why there are struggles that we have today.5:01Because we have taught, we have taught that God's job is to make you and I feel good. If this is what we teach, church, we have failed. And I just want to apologize, if that's what we've modeled to you, our teenagers, if you believe God's only job in his realm is to make you happy, I'm sorry because we have failed you.5:21That is not what the Bible teaches. And if that is what you believe, I'm sorry because the church has failed you. That is not God. That is an idol. And so how we unpack this today, we're going to see why repentance is important. Why adoration of God is important.5:50So here's a short answer. Is repentance necessary in our lives? The short answer? Absolutely. Yes, it is. So how do we define repentance as we move forward today? Poetically, Gorham Abbott defined it this way. He said repentance is a tear of love dropping from the eye of faith when it fixes upon the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. It is the tear of love falling from the eye of faith when it fixes upon Christ crucified.6:19More specifically, repentance is an inward change. It literally means turning from something to something else. You see, we often decry in religious church services and worship experiences, we decry believe, believe, believe, believe. But we forget a necessary component of belief and faith.6:46If we do not add repent, repent, repent, that is not faith. And we're going to see today why repentance is so necessary. Now, I see some blank stares. You're thinking, well, how does, so what is repentance? How can we bring it home? I have a great illustration. Some of you might have watched this movie before, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. And if you remember the end of the movie, Indiana is walking to find the Holy Grail.7:12And he's walking through one of the last obstacles and he walks through this place where there are all these dead skeletons. And he's repeating this one phrase to himself. You remember what he's repeating? The penitent man, the penitent man. He's thinking, what does that mean? The penitent man, the penitent man, the penitent man. And at the last second, he realizes repentance means kneel. And when he kneels, the blaze of death go over his head and he is spared.7:42If you will call that salvation. You see, repentance requires us to bend our knees and bow in submission to the King of Kings. Do you want a power filled life through God's spirit? If you do, the only way is to say the penitent man will pass. And as we think of repentance and the need for that in our lives, let's read the book of Jonah.8:10I want to remind you that Jonah is not about a whale, not about a fish. You think it is. The word fish is only used three times in Jonah and it's all around this section. So we're going to begin in verse 17. We're going to look at repentance and the power of that in our lives. Verse 17 of Jonah chapter one. The Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah.8:37And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish. This is his prayer. I called to the Lord in my distress and he answered me. I cried out for help deep inside shield.9:04And you heard my voice. You threw me into the depths into the heart of the seas and the current overcame me. All of your breakers and all of your billows swept over me. But I said, I have been banished from your sight. Yet I will look once more towards your holy temple. The water engulfed me up to my neck.9:32The watery depths overcame me. Seaweed was wrapped around my head. I sank to the foundations of the mountains. The earth's gates shut behind me forever. Then you raised my life from the pit, Lord my God. As my life was fading away, I remembered the Lord. And my prayer came to you, to your holy temple. Those who cherish worthless idols abandoned their faithful love.9:59But as for me, I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving. I will fulfill what I have vowed. Listen to this. Salvation belongs to the Lord. Then, then the Lord commanded the fish and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.10:21And you thought your morning was rough. Let's pray. Father, burn within our hearts today. A deep desire to repent of any sin that might linger within us. And Lord, we pray that you would pour out your spirit. That there would be a heavy sense of repentance in this place.10:49That we would hit our knees and bow our heads. That we would long for you to remove anything that hinders us from pursuing righteous. Knowing that only the penitent man will pass. Because salvation belongs to the Lord. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. And amen. There is power in repentance.11:17There is power in repentance. There is power in repentance. So today we pick up in act three of Jonah. So here's how we have traced what the Lord is doing through the life of this prophet. In act one, Jonah in chapter one is called by God to go to Nineveh to bring the gospel, the good news. That God changes lives. This is the best news that any prophet could hear. Go speak to a people about the good news of God.11:45And when they hear, they will listen. And Jonah said, No. Act two, Jonah runs from God. He runs from Nineveh. He runs to a ship. He runs to Tarshish. He runs into a storm that God had given. And then he runs into the stomach of this fish. Which brings us to today. We find Jonah now praying.12:14So we need to look not only at the place of Jonah, but his posture. I believe that you would agree with me that Jonah is in a horrible situation. If he doesn't like sushi, this is his worst nightmare. Wrapped in seaweed. In the belly of a fish. And we see in this, he is praying. Jonah is trying to figure out, Lord, what are you doing in my life? See, this is where we begin in repentance.12:43Repentance is a spiritual response to God's spiritual pursuit of you. Repentance is a spiritual response to God's spiritual pursuit. Jonah has already seen that God is pursuing him. God has called him. By the way, God has called us. God has given him good news. God has given us good news. Jonah runs from God. We run from God.13:12God sends obstacles and pains to bring him back into repentance. Jonah feels the pain. And now Jonah is crying out and saying, God, I've tried everything. Now I'll do it your way. Repentance is a spiritual response to God's spiritual pursuit. Let me put it another way. The world says, God, I'm sorry, I'll do better. That is not repentance. Repentance says, Lord, I'm sorry, and you have done it all for me.13:38Praise the Lord, as we sang earlier. Praise the Lord. My sin is nailed to the cross. That is repentance. God, I am sorry, and you have finished the task. Repentance is a bowing of the wheel to ask God to forgive and deliver. The only right response to God's spiritual pursuit and call in your life is repentance.14:02That is the right spiritual response. Any other response, any religious response is not faith. It is not true belief. If you have responded to God's calling in your life by jumping into baptism without repenting of your sins, that is not the right response. If you have walked an aisle because you have felt sorrow for your sin, that is not the right response if you have truly not repented.14:28We need a spiritual response to God's spiritual call, and that begins, church, with brokenness. That begins here with brokenness, and we see that Jonah begins in brokenness, and then he cries out this way. Lord, verse 2, I call to you in my distress.14:53And we don't get God's answer here, but I believe God's answer is, duh. I sent the fish, Jonah. I sent the storm, Jonah. Quit running from me, and God's response to us is the same. And now, lest I lead you to believe that the Christian life is only sorrow and darkness, I want you to look at the heart and the root of repentance.15:19Let's go now to verse 9. Jonah says this, But as for me, this is the end of his prayer. I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving. The root of repentance is a thankful heart. The root of repentance is, why is it thankfulness?15:45Because I know if I repent of my sins, God will hear and God will forgive. Now think about this. At what point in Jonah's life has, is he praying this prayer of thankfulness? Where is he? He's in the fish. Has he been delivered? Is Jonah praying, God, thank you that you have delivered me? No, Jonah is saying, God, I own my sin.16:15And God, whether you deliver me or not, I will look to your holy temple one more time and I will be thankful because you are gracious. The root of repentance is a thankful heart. Why? Because Jonah knew this. God desires family, not slaves. God desires family, not slaves. God does not force us to repent.16:44God does not say you will repent. You have no choice. God says, Jonah, if you repent, I will bring you back as a father brings his son. And that is the same promise he offers us right now. That's why Ephesians says that God through his son, Jesus Christ has adopted us as sons, not as slaves. This is thankfulness that God wants family.17:10He wants sons and daughters and the heart of thankfulness is found through repentance. And that brings me great joy to know that if I humble myself in brokenness of sin, God will redeem me through his son, Jesus Christ. The root of repentance is a thankful heart. But look at this repentance is an inward response.17:37What does Jonah do here in verse two? He's in this belly of the fish. Another translation could say womb, meaning Jonah is not being born again. I'll let you draw that out later. But a lot of implications to John three. Okay. By the way, Jesus says to those that are listening, I will give you the sign of Jonah. That'd be great reading tonight. But repentance is an inward counterpart to faith.18:06Jonah says in verse two, I call to you. If faith is saying, I believe, repentance is saying, God, I don't believe in me. That's necessary in our lives. What is Jonah crying out for? Look at, look at what he says here in verse two. I call to the Lord and I cried for help because you threw me in verse three into the depths. And I say in verse four, I have been banished.18:35Repentance is required for true belief. It is not enough to say, I believe in God. We have to say to God, God, I believe in you and I don't believe in me. Jonah is not telling God, God, if you just give me a knife, I'll cut myself out of here. Yeah, I'm an Olympic swimmer. Jonah was literally in the world's first submarine. And Jonah realizes he says, I call to God for what?19:04I call for God, to God for help. That is repentance. And the reason churches across our nation and across Europe are empty is because we have empty worshipers. Because we have come to God and we say, God, I believe, but Lord, I'm going to do it on my own. And God is saying, Jonah, you don't believe. Jonah, did you not get it? You've already run from me.19:32You must not only believe in Christ, but we have to say, God, I don't believe in me. That is repentance. Repentance is us saying, Lord, this is the other side of the coin to my faith. Because if I have not repented of my sins, I don't have faith to believe God as he says he is. Have you repented? Have you repented? We see this. Spurgeon says this about repentance. That while we walk by faith and not by sight, the fear of repentance glitters in the eyes of faith.20:01Repentance is the other side of the faith coin. Repentance glitters in the eye of faith. This is the power and the beauty. The greater my faith, the greater I understand my sin and the greater I repent. Have you noticed the odd peculiarity with those that are close to Christ? Those that are closer to Christ have a deeper understanding of their sin.20:31It's not the opposite. We think sometimes that those that are closer to Christ have the biggest halo. But those that are closest to Christ repent the most. Why? Because they realize. They realize that the more I repent, the more God builds my faith. And the more I have faith, the more I realize my sin and the necessity that God removes that. Have you repented of your sin?20:57A.W. Pink says it this way. I love what he says. Repentance is the hand releasing the filthy objects that it has previously clung to so tenaciously. Listen to this. So repentance is us opening our hands to the things that we have clung to our sin and faith. Now he says faith is extending an empty hand to God to receive his gift of grace.21:24If repentance is us opening our hands, faith is saying, God, now give me your grace. And we see this in Jonah. You cannot extend your hands to God's grace if they are clenched. And we have worshipers around the world that are coming to God saying, God, I believe, but I will not release my sin. And God says, but if you give it to me, I will take it away.21:54And when I take it away, you can receive my grace. Have you opened your hands to God? This is the power of a repentant life. Repentance is not a sign of lack of faith. A repentant life is a sign of a faithful life. Look at the Jonah. Look at the example set by Jonah. Not only are we to be repentant people, but repentance is simply voicing and ownership of my sin.22:23Look what Jonah says here. I want us to pick up on this language. Verse two. Jonah says, I called to the Lord. Who called? He did. We missed that. Jonah called. Verse two. I cry for help.22:51Verse four. I said, I have been banished. Verse six. I sink to the foundations. Verse nine. But as for me, I will sacrifice to you because I will fulfill what I have vowed. Repentance is saying, God, my bad. It is my voice of my sinful ownership.23:17My parents have let have given me the sin gene as your parents have. We have a sin nature in all of us, but you know whose fault it is not. My sin is not my parents fault. I have to own my sin. That is repentance. And we live in a world. I don't have to tell you this. It drives me crazy. We live in a world where we apologize with non-apologies. Look, if you are sorry for your sin, saying I apologize is not an apology.23:48It's not. And repentance is me telling God, God, my bad. It's not your fault. It's not your fault. My sin is not the Walmart's fault or the traffic's fault or the speed limit's fault. It's not my parents fault. God, my sin is my fault. And until I get to that point, I will not repent of my sins. One horrible example of a bad apology was found in 2010 in one of our bills that Congress has passed.24:17They passed a resolution apologizing to the American Indians. Listen to this. Here is the apology. By the way, the Indians were treated by years and years by ill-conceived policies of the federal government. And tucked away in page 45 of a 67-page spending bill, the first ever admission by the United States was given of guilt.24:43This is what it said. This is what it said or did not say. The final spending bill omitted any specific reference to any heinous act like the Trail of Tears or Wounded Knee. And it even added a clause that said nothing in this apology authorizes or supports any claim against the United States or serves as a settlement of any claim against the United States.25:08What is wrong with a one-sentence bill saying this? We did wrong and we are sorry. Our repentance doesn't need to be stuck in a 67-page bill. We don't need to come to God and say, God, I'm sorry, but I want to tell you what this person did to me.25:37You don't realize how difficult of a neighbor they are and the vengeance that they have spewed at me constantly. And, Lord, you don't realize my upbringing, how I have been unmercifully abused. And, Lord, you know it's not my fault, but I want you to know if it is my fault, I would apologize. Is that not the way we go to God with our sin? Instead of just going to God and saying, God, I'm sorry. God, it is no one else's fault.26:08It is mine. My bad. John Flavel says this. It is easier to cry against 1,000 sins of others than to kill one of your own. It is easier to cry out against 1,000 of your sins than to kill one of my own. John MacArthur says this about sin. He said, repentance must be as loud as our sin. I can't sin loudly and repent quietly.26:37And Jonah is here crying, calling out to God. And I believe he's calling from his gut because he's in the gut of a fish. I believe he's screaming. God, if you hear me, I'm sorry. God, if you would let me look one more time at your holy temple. God, I will vow to you and your salvation. I believe. And I wronged you.27:06This is his sin. Recently, I had two people that are close to me come to me publicly and say, look, we're coming to you. We want you to pray for us. And we want to ask forgiveness publicly because we have sinned and erred publicly. I love the picture that our repentance should mimic and mirror the loudness of our sin. We live in a culture that when we sin loudly, we want to repent quietly.27:31And God says that we must with boldness come before our throne. This is the significance of baptism. Baptism is me crying loudly. I am dying to my sin and I am raised in new life. There's a reason baptism must be public. Because my sins are public. And the death of Christ was public.27:58And one day there will be an audience of one. And I will stand before God and Jesus Christ will not hide. He will look at his father and he will say, Father, I died publicly for him. And now he has confessed me publicly. And now before you publicly, Father, forgive him. Forgive him. This is the power of repentance. But we see this also in Jonah's life.28:28Repentance is recognition. Not only is it internal, but repentance is a recognition that the worst thing that could ever happen to us in our life is that we be banished from God. Repentance is a recognition that the worst thing that could happen in my life is that God would banish me from his sight. Look at what Jonah says in verse four. He says, but I said, God, I have been banished from your sight.28:51Yet, look what he said, yet, God, I will look just one more time. You see, sin banishes us from a presence of God. And we must realize that's the worst thing that could ever happen to us. We see in Genesis, and this is a repetitious theme throughout scripture.29:19This is what we call the meta narrative. We see in Genesis three that when Adam and Eve sin, what happens to them? Yes, they will die. Yes, they have their found that they are naked. And for some of you, that's the worst thing that could ever happen to you is realize I am in public and I am naked. I'm just going to die right now. But that's not the worst thing that could happen to Adam and Eve. What is the worst thing that happens in Genesis three, verse 24?29:46We see that the Lord drove the man out and stationed the cherubim and the flaming cherubs before them. Whirling the sword east of the Garden of Eden to guard the way of the tree of life. That God removed them from his presence. You see the fall and your sin has banished you from the presence of God.30:11It is the worst thing that could happen to us. There is nothing worse. What is the horror of hell? We see this in scripture. The horror of hell is not that it's hot. The horror of hell is not that it's dark or that there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. The reason hell is so horrific is found in 2 Thessalonians 1:8 and 9.30:38This is what scripture says. They will pay the penalty of eternal destruction from the Lord's presence and from his glorious strength. This is the consequence of our sin. This is realizing, God, I am banished from your sight. And God, I realize there is nothing else that could be worse than that. What does Jonah recognize here in verse four? God, because of my sin, I have been banished.31:08You see, because of our sin, we don't have a right to go to God anytime we please. We cannot come to God and say, God, here I am. Me, Josh, am gracing you with my presence. I know I've sinned. I know about all that, but I want you to know I'm back. Better than ever. God, this is a new year. God will not ignore our sin. And the worst thing that could ever happen to us is when we sin once, we are banished from his presence.31:36You see, this is the power of repentance. That Jesus Christ took our place and our punishment and our abandonment. Yeah, I believe one of the horrors of the cross was not the pain. It was not the nails driven in his hands. It was not the thorns on his head. Listen to Matthew 27. Jesus on the cross from noon until three in the afternoon.32:06Darkness came over the whole land. About three in the afternoon, Jesus cried out with a loud voice. The same language used here in verse four by Jonah.32:19God, I have been banished. Church, this is the consequence of our sin. And this is the power of repentance.32:49It's encapsulated in the song that I love so much. How deep the father's love for us. How great the pain of searing loss. The father turns his face away. As wounds which mar the chosen one. Bring many sons to glory. The power of repentance is that Jesus was abandoned so that you and I never have to be.33:13Jesus was banished. Jonah, Jesus was banished so that if we turn to him and turn from ourself, we never have to be. Christ cried out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He cried that out so he could say, my God, my God, never forsake Josh because he believes in me.33:38He has repented of his sins and he has turned in faith and believed through my blood. This is what Jonah recognizes. And in the midst of this desperate situation, Jonah realized his sin for what it really was. Your sin and my sin is a rejection of God's mercy.34:02Look what he says here in verse eight. Those who cherish worthless idols abandoned their faithful love. The words hesed. Those who sin, God have abandoned your faithful love. You see, sin means that God, you have given me mercy. My sin is saying, God, you have given me mercy in return. I have rejected it.34:31God has poured out his mercy on every single person here. God is merciful. And repentance is a recognition to God. God, I have abandoned your mercy and I am sorry. Ray Ortlund says this, the motive for repentance is not only sorrow from sin, but the sense of the mercy of God in Christ.34:51We have zero motivation to repent unless we see the mercy of God waiting on us. So I know some of you are thinking, well, why should I even repent? I know God's about to smoke me. Like, I am Jonah. I deserve the fish. I know, I know I'm going to get everything I deserve in hell. I have had people tell me I deserve hell and I am okay with that.35:20I want to comfort you today with repentance. The slap of God is not awaiting you, but the embrace of God. If you repent, the slap of God is not awaiting you, but it is the embrace of God and repentance is that recognition of God. I have abandoned you and I will never do it again. God, I will not abandon you. In the midst of this tragic abandonment of God's grace.35:49Look what Jonah does. Look at verse nine. Jonah is still in the well. But as for me, I will sacrifice to you with a voice of thanksgiving. I will fulfill what I have vowed and salvation belongs to the Lord. How can someone cling to the God who they have rejected?36:15How can we cling to God when we have rejected his grace? Because Jonah is now clinging to the promise of God. Here is the promise of God. He knows that God is gracious and he knows there is something about our repentance that stirs God's heart. And Jonah is crying out and saying, God, hear me one more time because I know if there is any chance at salvation, God, it is in you.36:41Repentance is merely us clinging to God's promise. It is us knowing that, God, you have died for me and I don't deserve it, but I need it. And God, I am clinging to the promise. As the seaweed clings to my head, I will cling to your promise.37:06God, I don't know a way out of the situation, but I will cling to the promise that if I believe and if I trust, you will save me. You see, Jonah was a man who is intimately familiar with God's words. And Jonah knew this. Jonah knew that his repentance would stir the heart of God.37:32Jonah knew that his repentance would stir the heart of God. As we are reading this text, I was thinking about these Psalms. Look at verse two. I called to the Lord in my distress. Over and over and over again in Scripture, we see that if you call to God in your time of need, he will hear. He will hear.38:02You say, well, I'm a sinner. I have been running from God. And God sent a storm in my life and I know the storm is from God and I am still not repenting. I would rather die than repent. And Jonah is saying to us this morning, if you cry to God in repentance, he will hear. He will hear. Psalm 20:9 says this, Lord, give victory to the king.38:30He may answer us on the day that we call. Psalm 35:6 this poor man cried and the Lord heard him and delivered him from all his troubles. Psalm 138:3 says on the day that I called you answered me. You increased strength within me.38:58Romans 10:13 for everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Let's put that in Jonah terms. I called the Lord. I called the Lord. Verse 9: salvation belongs to the Lord. Romans 10: whoever calls upon the name of the Lord in verse 2 will find salvation in verse 9.39:21Praise be to God that he hears the cry of the repentant, not the arrogant, not the proud, not the religious, not the bold. He hears the calls of the repentance. So how do we answer the Lord?39:49Jonah might not have known it, but the word that he used here when he said salvation belongs to the word Lord is the word Yahoshua. The same man in the name of the sixth book of the Old Testament Joshua, which means salvation belongs to the Lord. If you were Greek speaking at that time and you wanted to name your child Greek version of Joshua, you would have named him Jesus.40:11Which means God saves. And when Jonah cried out salvation belongs to the Lord. He was crying out Jesus. Salvation is from the Lord. You see, repentance is voluntary. God will not force us to repent.40:39Augustine says it this way. He said, God has promised forgiveness to your repentance, but he has not promised tomorrow for your prep, your procrastination. Some of you are here right now and you think, well, there's always tomorrow. I know God is calling me to repent and find forgiveness, but there's always tomorrow. God has not promised tomorrow for your procrastination. But this is what he promises.41:08God promises us if you call right now in repentance through faith in Jesus Christ. What does Jonah say? If we call to God, he will categorically hear us. And I pray today would be the day that you would call. And God would hear you. And you can put your faith in Christ right now where you sit. Through repentance and say, God, I know I have sinned, but I know you have made a way.41:34And God, I believe. Only do I believe in you, but I don't believe in me. And I am turning to you and you alone. Because I believe that you have made the way in Jesus Christ. And God's promises, whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. And that includes today. Are you the whoever? Do you need to call out to him? I pray that today will be the day of your salvation.42:04And maybe you're a believer of Christ, a follower, and you have struggled and wrestled with sin. And you're here and you think, and I get it, I've been there. You think, well, I've confessed this sin yesterday and here I am again today. Same sin. How can God forgive me? And Jonah's answer would be this. The root of repentance is a thankful heart. And God hears the cry of those who humble themselves before him.42:35And I beg you, come to the altar where you sit, spend time in repentance and say, God, wash me clean again. And God's answer to you would be, I thought you'd never ask because I've made a way. And Christ has washed you clean and made you righteous like never before. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you.43:05We thank you for sorrow of sin. Lord, I thank you as I have read your word, you have worked in my heart that I would never be comfortable with my sin. Lord, my prayer right now, if there is someone here today that has not trusted in you. They're religious, but they have not trusted in Christ, that they would repent today. That they would give up their sin and with open hands for the first time they would receive grace.43:33And that they would boldly declare and make that public. Lord, if there is someone wrestling with you,
