Series:  The Way to Godliness

The 2nd Step toward Godliness - Repentance

January 18, 2009

Isaiah 1:10-20

Introduction

We began, last week, a mini-series from the 1st chapter of the Book of Isaiah addressing discipleship and sanctification.  We began like this:  since we await, longingly, our Lord’s physical return to earth; and Since our Lord has commanded us clearly…..He has given us the Great Commission – that the church’s mission is to make disciples of all the nations….How are we to live and serve as we wait?

So, we looked at the question posed by the Apostle Peter following his description of the Return of Christ to receive His own and to bring judgment to humanity:

2 Pe 3:11-12a

11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, …….

How are we to live as God’s people?  We are to live as holy, righteous, godly people…we are to live the gospel that has saved us! 

But Paul adds to this thought in his challenge to Timothy… “….train yourself for godliness, for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”                             1 Tim.4: 7b-8

How are we to live as holy people?  [mini-series – The Way to Godliness!]

Last week we took the first step in our pursuit of training in godliness – a training in understanding who we really are……who we are in light of our Holy Creator God!  That first step was to look at our sin and our need to be rid of it before we can accept God’s best for us!  We looked at God’s gracious gift of conviction – learning our weakness is ever before us – yet God’s strength and glory shines most beautifully through our weaknesses!  Our first step is a recognition that it is God’s unwavering grace and steadfast love that sustains us….it is His power that saves and keeps us….and that the life God has for us in not a life of spiritual mediocrity or continued bondage to sin…..but it is a life of freedom in Christ and, as a result, a relationship with our heavenly Father that is glorious….and beautiful….and all encompassing! 

Repentance

So…..this morning we come to the next step in our pursuit of godliness.  If our first step is conviction of sin – the realization of our brokenness and God’s grace; that in the gift of conviction, we have the Holy Spirit piercing our hearts with the surgical precision - -bringing Transformation…..change!  But what is the target of our change?  It is to be like Christ!  To be re-made in His image!  [just as we bear Adam’s fallen image now….we are being transformed into the image of the second Adam – Christ!]  The second step toward godliness, is found in Is. 1:10-20 – it is the step of repentance.  In this text, God  speaks…links two things at once:  worship and repentance!  God puts them together this way: “I want you to repent of your worship.  Your worship is unacceptable unless it flows from repentance.” 

          Turn with me to Is. 1:10-20 READ

Repentance from sin involves the whole person and is:

Ø     the knowledge or awareness of the holiness and majesty of God and our woeful state of lawless rebellion;

Ø    The great sorrow of our heart over sin (NOT over the consequences of our sin!)  This sorrow is comes from the great offence of sin to our Holy God! 

Ø    The turning of the whole person – from sin to God; This is an inward change in turning from sin….but also it is a change in purpose and motivation.

Repentance only comes from a growing hatred of sin!  And although there must be a definite repentance with our saving faith at the time of salvation, repentance is a lifelong fleeing….from sin to Christ…..from selfishness to Self-LESS-Ness!! 

Martin Luther showed this as a priority….in the first of his 95 thesis – he states, “Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance.”[1]

Repentance and transformation (just like repentance and faith in salvation) really cannot be separated.  They are different in substance, yet both must be present to accomplish God’s purpose in us….to change us to reflect His image….the image of Christ!  As one theologian put it, “Repentance is a pilgrimage from the mind of the flesh to the mind of Christ.”[2]

Last week, Isaiah in vv. 2-9 showed us our problem – we live in rebellion to God….and now, in vv. 10-20, that true worship (or coming in to the presence of God) requires that we be authentic….that we be real.  Isaiah exposes the hypocrisy of any other kind of worship in 4 steps:  confrontation (1:10)….accusation (1:11-15)…invitation (1:16-18)…and decision (1:19-20).

Confrontation

     10     Hear the word of the Lord,

you rulers of , Sodom!

          Give ear to the teaching of our God,

you people of Gomorrah!

In v.9, Isaiah made it clear that if it were not for the preserving grace of God, we would all end up like Sodom an Gomorrah…..both found guilty and both being destroyed!  You can imagine that perhaps this wasn’t received with open arms by Isaiah’s contemporaries!  “What do you mean, Isaiah?  We aren’t rebellious!  We worship Yahweh!!  We worship according to His Laws….how can you say we are like Sodom and Gomorrah!

At this point, we come to v.10….and Isaiah thinks their comments over and says…. “you’re right…you’re not like S & G - you ARE S&G!  Isaiah intensifies the sermon….he confronts them because he desperately wants them to really, really HEAR the Word of the LORD!

Application – We see God’s grace in this confrontation….when all of us….leaders and people….rulers and others….begin asking ourselves questions about our lives – Are we really living lives that bear witness of Jesus Christ?  Even in our deepest, most personal thoughts….are we becoming more like Christ?  Do our lives bear spiritual fruit?  Are we salty and reflecting light into the darkness around us?  Are we willing to hear a word from the LORD?

Accusation  (v.11)

Here’s God’s evaluation of worship!  We want to argue over hymns or praise songs….drums or organs…But God’s evaluation goes SO MUCH DEEPER! – Read v.11  I like the way the NLT puts it…. “I am sick of your sacrifices.”  But aren’t they worshiping in the correct form?  Aren’t they following all of the Temple rituals of Leviticus?  So why has God had enough of their offerings?  We don’t know yet….but the explanation is coming!

 12     “When you come to appear before me,

who has required of you

this trampling of my courts?

This is the heart of worship:  When you come to appear before me.  This IS worship….coming into His presence….coming before our Holy God!  What a beautiful privilege…..but that beauty can be marred!  When His court is trampled underfoot!  Jesus condemned such abuse of worship when he drove away the money changers from the Temple (Mk 11.15,16). 

     13     Bring no more vain offerings;

incense is an abomination to me.

          New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations—

I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.

Isaiah is bringing us to the root of the problem…..and there are two hints in v. 13 – in the first line – God doesn’t want vain offerings! (Literally, “offerings of nothing”)  Hollow, self-centered worship offends God! But then, look at the last line – “I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.”  The key here is in the conjunctive “and”……it is their sins and worship!  God is saying, “Your unconfessed sins make your worship unendurable to me….because your sins show what you really think about me!”  Living in perpetual, habitual sin and coming to worship is offensive to the holiness of God!  Where is our sense of urgency…which is more important – the form of worship or the quality of our lives?  Is it the form of worship or the heart of worship that matters?

     14     Your new moons and your appointed feasts

my soul hates;

          they have become a burden to me;

I am weary of bearing them.

What is repulsive to God?  Yes, our sins….all sin is offensive to God…but here God says He hates unrepentant worship!  We need to see that this worship is following his commands in form!  This is not pagan worship….it is being practiced within the Covenant of Law.  God gives us the answer in v.15:

 15     When you spread out your hands,

I will hide my eyes from you;

          even though you make many prayers,

I will not listen;

your hands are full of blood.

God brings His harshest charge…..His greatest rejection in their worship through prayer!  God says, bloody hands turn His face away!  So, are our hands bloody?  Jesus taught us that murder can take many forms, including anger, hurtful words, and unresolved conflict within a relationship. 

Matt 5:21-24

21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

Character assassination, backstabbing, gossip, and “dividing walls of hostility” (Eph. 2:14) within the church……hostility toward others is hostility toward God!  This is pretty heavy stuff from God!  Why is God so blunt with us?  Because in His grace, God doesn’t want us to wallow in the mire of sin……for as His forgiven and redeemed saints, He wants to see us / / / He WILL see us Transformed into the beautiful image of His Son!  It’s a matter of repentance!

Invitation

READ vv.16-17

Here we have a picture of repentance!  For the Hebrews (Isaiah’s original congregation – this was a call back to God’s covenant!  Back to not only the practice of the Law….but the heart of the Law!  For us, as Believers and members of the New Covenant – it means repenting of our fleshly walk….a rejection of living dead (as our old self) and embracing the new life in Christ!  It means walking daily in and by the Spirit! 

Notice that repentance and walking in the Spirit is more than, “removing the evil of your deeds from before my eyes” …it is “ceasing to do evil” ……Repentance is an inward and outward change – but God says it also addresses the damage done.  True repentance – and godliness - means we don’t settle for sin in our lives ruling us….AND we can’t tolerate it’s fallout all around us!

Illustration – USA after WWII.  Spent 5% of GNP to rebuild Europe under the Marshall plan.  The evil devastation of WWII on innocents in Germany, Italy, etc. was addressed.  This was a righteous undertaking.  Same idea here….Sin (ours or others) creates a blast zone of pain and poverty….poverty of the spirit and poverty of the body!  The church is called to seek justice as it faces oppression.  Being salt and light means we must attempt to right the wrongs…..but always in the context of the gospel……READ V.18

Here’s the promise…..Here’s the gospel!  The word “reason” in Heb. is a term of the court….it’s a legal term meaning to “render judgment” or, in its form here in v.18, “to argue in court….your position”. 

When things seem the most dire and we wonder how we can accomplish all that God demands of us……to live clean lives….to correct injustice and to care for the most innocent and unprotected around us (orphans and widows in days of Isaiah)……….God’s grace appears – we have the Good News of Christ and what He accomplished for us on the cross!  God invites us to come into His presence washed white as snow…..not by our doing…but by our believing!  Believing in the name of the only Son of God (John 3.18)……the only name under heaven that brings salvation – for believing in anyone or anything else is worthless (Acts 4.12)! 

Decision (vv.19-20) - READ

First, for those of us who are Believers in Christ – God calls us to godliness……and godliness comes through the power of the Holy Spirit transforming us….changing us from who we were into the image of Christ!  BUT – too often when convicted of deeply rooted sin…..of pride or selfishness or any host of sins that have been wed to our very psyche – we are afraid to expose those areas to Christ!  And this fear grips us and enslaves us to the very sins God desires to rid us of…..the very sins that Christ has already set us free from…..and this leads to change…REAL CHANGE in us!

Rom 6:22

22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.

As believers we should absolutely hate sin!  But listen…..we should hate our own sin worse than other people’s!  And that, my beloved, is repentance! Recognizing that all of our sin has been forgiven….our judgment laid upon our Savior at the Cross….our sins, as the Puritan pastor Thomas Watson said, “God has cast your sins into the depths of the sea. How?  Not as cork (to bob back up into your life), but as lead…”  Take the 2nd step toward godliness….toward living out the gospel…..living holy before the LORD….worshiping in holiness before the LORD! 

Let us all, together, hate sin and flee to Christ!

Pray      

Most Holy Righteous God……We come and assemble in this, your house, each week in order to adore you…..to offer up to you…in your courts…..our praise, our prayers, and our service to YOU.  But Father, help us to come with clean hands and a pure heart – always as we enter into worship.  Father, we recognize that all of our life is to be a life of worship….not just Sunday’s – so help live worshipful lives!  By your Holy Spirit, bring about conviction in our lives……lead us to repentance – that we are able to live who we are…..to live as who you have already made us to be – holy in our lives! (1 Peter 1.15). 

Invitation – Gospel….

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[1] from Hoekema, Saved by Grace, 130.

[2] William Chamberlain, quoted in Hoekema Saved by Grace, 126.