The Nature of Repentance, Part 2

Introduction: Repentance and Faith as the Hinge of Salvation

0:02 The following sermon was delivered on Sunday morning, August 7, 2005, at Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now, as we did last Lord's Day, let us turn together to Acts chapter 20, the 20th chapter of the book of the Acts.

0:29 And please follow as I read, beginning with verse 17 and read through verse 24. Luke, writing the account of Paul's activity toward the end of his third missionary journey, informs us,

1:09 All the time, serving the Lord with all lowliness of mind and with tears, and with trials which befell me by the plots of the Jews, how I shrank not from declaring unto you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks. Repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, I go bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there, save that the Holy Spirit testifies unto me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But I hold not. I hold not my life of any account as dear unto myself, so that I may accomplish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

2:27 And now, behold, I know that you all, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, shall see my face no more. Wherefore? I testify unto you this day that I am pure from the blood of all men, for I shrank not from declaring unto you the whole counsel of God. Take heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to feed or to shepherd the church of the Lord, which he purchased with his own blood.

3:10 I read on beyond twenty-seven. I got carried away with Paul's full heart with his Ephesian elders. We're at twenty-four. Let's pray and ask God's help in the preaching of the word.

3:29 Our Father, once again we stand in present need of present supplies of the Holy Spirit. If your servant is rightly to preach the word, and if those gathered in this place are to hear to the prophet of God, we must have, O Lord, we must have present supplies of the Spirit. And we thank you for your promise. If we who are evil know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more will you give the Spirit to those who ask you?

4:06 We are asking, Lord, and out of the largeness of your fatherly heart, O God, give us what we need, we plead. In Jesus' name. In Jesus' name. Amen.

4:22 We come this morning to the second of a brief series of sermons on the subject of repentance and faith, the hinge on the door of salvation. In our initial message last Lord's Day, we noted, first of all, the setting of the passage that I've read in your hearing. Paul is coming to the end of his third mission, and he has a brief layover in the town, the coastal town of Miletus. And knowing that he will never see the Ephesian leaders again, he summons them to Miletus, that he might open his heart and speak specifically to them as the pastors of that church. And then we noted the main thrust of this sermon, this passage. When the elders come to him, he reviews with them the leading features of his three years of ministry among the Ephesians. He first of all addresses the manner of his ministry, humility, with tears, with trials, the method of his ministry, publicly, house to house.

5:43 Then the matter of his ministry, and he indicates that it was a proclamation of the gospel of the grace of God , a proclamation of the gospel of the kingdom of God , it was a proclamation of the gospel of repentance and faith . Now these are not three different gospels, but one gospel viewed from differing perspectives. He solemnly then charges these elders in verses 28 to 32 to 45, and then he gives them the responsibility to fulfill their responsibility to that church in which the Holy Spirit has constituted them overseers. And then as a capstone to the entire address, he makes an appeal to his own example as being normative for these elders in verses 33 to 35. We focused our attention particularly on verse 21. It is clear from this passage that though the Apostle's message was a message of proclaiming the grace of God in Jesus Christ, that is, a message that set forth the grand indicatives

7:05 of the gospel, what God has done objectively in the person and work of Christ, the Apostle was not embarrassed to remind them that on the heels of the confidence and constant proclamation of the grand indicatives of the gospel, he solemnly and continually emphasized these grand imperatives of the gospel, namely, repentance towards God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. In his preaching of the kingdom, he made it plain that none enter the kingdom except they enter through that door that hangs upon the hinges of repentance and of faith. And I noted with you in our introductory concerns that repentance and faith are not only indispensable, but they are inseparable. They are indispensable, except you repent, you shall all likewise perish, said our Lord Jesus in Luke 13, 3. Faith is indispensable.

8:17 He that believes not the wrath of God abides upon him, John 3, 36. But not only are repentance and faith indispensable if we would be saved, they are inseparable. Here in our text, Paul did not preach repentance apart from faith or faith apart from repentance. And we noted that all true repentance is permeated with faith, and all true faith is permeated with repentance.

8:49 I tried to set it before you in this way. Repentance is the tear in the bright eye of faith. Faith is the gleam of hope in the wet eye of repentance. And any saving look upon the Lord Jesus has both the bright eye of faith and the wet eye of repentance.

9:17 I then went on to inform you that in seeking to open up this subject of repentance and faith as the hinge by which the door of salvation opens, I would be doing three things. Scripture would be the source of our authority, the shorter catechism would be our organizing framework, and the picture of a tree would be our visual aid. We then began to take up the subject, the nature of repentance unto life. What is it, and do I possess it?

Review of the First Taproot: A True Sense of Sin

9:53 The definition of the shorter catechism is this. Repentance unto life is a saving grace whereby a sinner out of a true sense of his sin and an apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ does, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it, come to God with full purpose of and endeavor after new obedience. And I'm going to take those various phrases from that definition and organize them under that visual aid of the tree. The soil in which the tree grows, the two tap roots by which the tree is sustained, the main trunk of the tree, and then the main branches of the tree. Last week, we looked at the soil of repentance. Repentance unto life is a saving grace. Not a saving merit, not a saving work, but a saving grace.

10:59 And so we examined three texts in the New Testament which clearly teach that repentance is the gift of God. Acts 5.31, Acts 11.18, and 2 Timothy 2.25.

11:15 Then we began to look at the tap roots and we had time only to look at the first of the tap roots. We'll look at the second this morning. What is the first tap root of true repentance? Well, listen to the Shorter Catechism again.

11:29 Repentance unto life is a saving grace whereby a sinner out of you see it grows out of first tap root a true sense of his sin. Not a mere admission of sinfulness generically, but out of a true sense of his sin. And I rephrased it this way. The first tap root of true repentance is a felt awareness of one's own personal sin and sinfulness.

12:09 It is coming to the place where the words of David in Psalm 51 are words that we not merely parrot but they constitute the disposition of our hearts against sin and done that which is evil in you. And then David goes on to say, Behold, gaping in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. There is a felt awareness of his particular sins but also of his sinfulness. Which is why he says, O God, look upon me. Look upon me in terms of what I've been from my conception in my mother's womb. What I did when I looked from the rooftop upon Bathsheba and then I seduced her and then I murdered her husband. What I did as a middle-aged man in what I am from my conception.

13:19 An awareness of sin and of sinfulness. It is the prodigal coming to himself and where there is no mention of God or heaven when he comes to his dad and says, Pop, I want my portion of the inheritance and goes off into the far country and wastes his substance with harlots and riotous living. When he comes to reality his first words are, I have sinned against heaven. All that I have done has its fundamental reference point not with Pop's rules and with society's consensus of decent living has to do with sin against the God of heaven. The first repentance is coming to this felt awareness of one's own personal sin and sinfulness. And I concluded the message by trying to answer the question how much of this felt awareness must there be? And I answered by saying, Enough to make salvation the one thing needful in your life.

14:41 Enough to make salvation the one thing needful. And we saw that with the prodigal. We saw it with the Philippian jailer. We could trace out many other examples.

14:54 When everything else has failed and I see that my sin and my sinfulness is such I dare not in this state with the wrath of God over my head what must I do to be saved is the burning issue of my soul. Secondly, there must be enough to make us despair of saving ourselves. We must come to the place where we despair like that publican of doing anything to forgive our own sins to make ourselves acceptable to God. We are ready to go out of ourselves and say, God merciful be propitious to me the sinner. Coupled with that enough to drive us out of self and into Christ. As one man said from another generation the last place a convicted sinner goes is the one place he needs to go. It's the last place.

16:06 He'll try fixing up himself he'll try I'm going to read my Bible I'm going to pray I'm going to go to church. The last thing the one thing he needs is the last thing he does is to throw himself in the helpless state of mind and soul upon a welcoming and a mighty and a willing Savior. Now we come this morning to take up the second taproot of true repentance. What is it?

The Second Taproot: An Apprehension of God's Mercy in Christ

16:37 Listen to the Catechism. Repentance unto life is a saving grace whereby a sinner out of a true sense of his sin taproot number one and an apprehension of the mercy of God in, I'm going to rephrase it and say, a belief grasp of God extended to us Christ by the Gospel. That's the second taproot of true repentance. A believing grasp on the mercy of God extended to us in Jesus Christ by the Gospel. Now we start with the definition of the phrase an apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ. The key word is apprehension. What did the writers of the Confession mean and what biblical perspectives were they trying to highlight by the use of that term?

17:44 Well if you look up in a current dictionary the word apprehend you will find that there are two basic definitions given. To lay hold of, to seize the police apprehended so and so on such and such a date and booked him at such and such a police station. It means officially to seize with authority. The second meaning is this.

18:12 To grasp with the understanding to seize with the mind. So and so apprehended what such and such was saved. To apprehend then is to seize literally as the police may apprehend a criminal or to seize or lay hold of with the understanding and with the mind. And as I looked up the word in its usage in an older, older dictionary I believe it is this second meaning that the framers of the Catechism had in mind.

18:51 That is, it would be an understanding of the fact that there is no real repentance when there is total ignorance of the Gospel and no spirit understanding of the suitableness of the Gospel to one's need. To apprehend to seize with the mind means there has to be something there to seize. In other words, these old men understood that apart from the proclamation of the Gospel there can be no true repentance but it is more than merely hearing the facts of the Gospel there must be some spirit wrought insight so that the mind apprehends the suitableness of Christ to my need as a sinner and so to some degree goes out to him at least in incipient actings of faith for all true repentance is permeated with faith all true faith is permeated with repentance. Now that is the definition of the phrase apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ. Now secondly what is the scriptural evidence for this second taproot? It is all well and good I hope I have accurately conveyed what the framers of the catechism meant but where did they get those

Scriptural Evidence for the Second Taproot: Gospel Context for Repentance

20:18 notions if they aren't embedded in the Bible, ignore them throw them out. What is the scriptural evidence for this second taproot? Well I want to lay two categories of evidence before you. Number one repentance is to be preached only in the context of Gospel proclamation and explanation.

20:43 According to the New Testament repentance is to be preached only and always in the context of Gospel proclamation and explanation. In other words it is not enough to come to men and based on the scriptures and the affirmation of their own conscience to declare to them you are a creature accountable to God. You have the law of God you stand under the condemnation of God and then say you must turn from your sin and turn to God. No, no, no no, no, no, no between the proclamation that men are God's creatures, men and women are accountable to God men are sinners who stand under the judgment of God, there must be the proclamation of that message which tells them how as guilty sinners they can be made right with God and only context is repentance to be preached. And I want you to look at a couple of passages that clearly demonstrate this. Luke chapter 24 Luke chapter 24 Our Lord Jesus has risen from the dead

22:10 this is part of his post resurrection ministry to the apostles we come to 24 44 and he Jesus said unto them the apostles these are my words which I spoke unto you while I was yet with you that all things must needs be fulfilled which are written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the Psalms concerning me. Then he opened their mind that they might understand the scriptures and he said unto them thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in name unto all the nations beginning from Jerusalem you are witnesses of these things. You see the significant relationship our Lord opens up the scriptures and demonstrates to these men that from the Old Testament scriptures they must understand that Messiah Jesus the Christ the anointed one had to die had to be raised from the dead why did he have to die what is the significance of his resurrection our Lord gave them insight to the very nerve centers

23:38 of the gospel not merely the facts but the significance of those facts he died the anathema and curse of God he bore the sins of his people the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all what must it have been like to have Jesus expounding Isaiah 53 the servant of the Lord who is bruised for our iniquities who is beaten and who is scourged under the anathema of God and then he affirms the significance of his resurrection why he had to be raised from the dead what the resurrection implies and what the resurrection ensures and then he says only against the backdrop of this declaration of his suffering his resurrection is repentance unto remission of sin to be preached in his name that is in the light of the revelation of God's salvation in the person and work of Jesus repentance is not to be preached as a bare duty of sinners though it is a duty of sinners if someone doesn't hear the gospel it's still his or her duty to turn from sin and to serve and worship the living God but it is morally and spiritually psychologically

25:08 emotionally impossible to repent and turn to a God whom you see only as the God of wrath and of judgment who has a controversy with you and so our Lord makes it plain that as they go out into all the world as they go out to proclaim him they are to preach repentance only against the backdrop and with the foundational proclamation and explanation of the gospel and I saw something in my preparation that I had never seen so clearly before this was even true of John the Baptist when you think of John the Baptist what word do you think of to characterize his ministry repentance he preached a baptism of repentance but that's not all he preached I want you to turn with me to the gospel of John chapter 1 John chapter 1 John the Baptist is preaching and it is called a baptism of repentance calling people to repentance but in what setting look at verse 29 on the he sees Jesus coming to him and said behold the Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world and they would fully understand what that imagery of lamb meant this is God's sacrificial lamb

26:36 and in calling people to repentance he is calling them behold the lamb of sin you don't get rid of your sins by your repentance your repentance is the disposition of heart with which you must embrace God's provision in the lamb who alone takes away the sin of the world and again in verses 35 and 36 again on the morrow John was standing and two of his disciples and looked upon Jesus as he walked and said behold the lamb of God and the two disciples heard him speak and they followed Jesus followed him in the knowledge yes they must turn away from their sins but they must see in him God's lamb God's provision for sin and when we turn to Acts 19 this perspective is validated in spades remember Paul comes upon these disciples at Ephesus and asks them if they received the spirit when they believed and they say we've not so much as heard whether the spirit was given now look at verse 4 and Paul said Acts 19 4 John baptized with the baptism of repentance saying to the people that they should believe on

28:05 that should come after him that is on Jesus and this little summary of the essence of John's ministry makes it abundantly clear John did preach naked repentance he preached repentance saying that they should believe on him that should come after him that is on Jesus and how did he preach Jesus behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world so for those who truly embrace the message of John their repentance was permeated with faith in the lamb and their faith in the lamb was permeated with repentance so the word of God is clear the commission of Jesus Jesus great forerunner it is clear that repentance is to be preached in the context of the gospel of the grace of God the gospel of the lamb of God the gospel of the death and the resurrection of Jesus and then secondly repentance is impossible without some knowledge of the mercy of God in Jesus Christ hear me again repentance is impossible without some knowledge of the mercy

Scriptural Evidence for the Second Taproot: Repentance Impossible Without Mercy

29:34 of God in Jesus Christ as we shall see in the subsequent message the very trunk of repentance what is it whereby a sinner out of a true sense of his sin and an apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ does with grief and hatred of his sin turn from it unto God the essence of repentance is turning from sin unto God here in Acts 20 21 Paul describes it as the unto God repentance if you were to give a literal translation of the original it would be the unto or unto God repentance it is God word repentance it is God focused repentance it is the wandering prodigal coming home to the rightful father and what I am saying is such repentance is impossible without some knowledge of the mercy of God in Jesus Christ in conviction of sin that first tap root we see God as against us in his righteous anger God is angry with the wicked every day the wrath of God abides on him that believes not and if that is all we see we will not draw near to him rather we will run him to see God as against us because of the broken

31:04 law is to be terrified for our is the consuming fire who fire if he has his marbles only men do it we would not run into the raging fire that is God in his fury and anger against us in our sin to see God as he is toward us because of the broken law is to be terrified is to run from him but to see God for us in the light of the cross is to know that we can draw near to him remember the prodigal Luke 15 and verse 17 look at it what was it that effected his repentance not only the awareness there was nothing satisfying in the far country I perish here with hunger and awareness of the utter emptiness of the life he was living but what disposed him to return home look at Luke 15 17 but when he came to himself he said how many hard servants of my father have bread enough and to spare and I perish here with hunger I'll arise and go to my father and say father I've sinned against heaven and in your sight no more worthy to be called your son make

32:32 me as one of your hired servants what drew him home it was the confidence there was mercy father wasn't waiting over the brow of the hill with a shotgun to blow his head off he said even the way my father treats his hired servants shows his heart he does that to his hired servants what a fool I've been to have such twisted views of him as my father are treated with I'm going back to him because there was the confidence there would be mercy and reception look at Psalm 130 Psalm 130 the same principle trying to establish that repentance is impossible without some knowledge of the mercy of God in Jesus Christ the Psalmist 130 verse 3 if you Lord should mark iniquities oh Lord who could stand oh God if you're going to mark iniquities so as to hold me accountable for all of them who can stand before you if you can't stand before him you don't want to run in his presence if he's going to consume you if he's going to zap you with his righteous anger

33:59 you want to keep at a distance from him but he goes on to say but there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared I wait for the Lord my soul does wait and in his word do I hope what was it that gave him a disposition to wait in expectation the confidence that there was forgiveness with God the same thing with David in Psalm 51 the opening words have mercy upon me oh God according to the multitude of your tender mercies blot out my transgressions it was the confidence that there was mercy in God and then when Paul writes to the Corinthians in his second letter notice how this note comes through so clearly in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verses 20 and 21 we and the we is Paul and the other apostles we are ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ as though God were in treating by us we beseech you on the behalf of Christ be reconciled to God turn towards God turn towards him look at verse 21

35:27 him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in him you see what he is saying I appeal to you to turn to God because God has turned to you the God who has mercy with you that would press you into hell in Jesus Christ he is reconciled to sinners in the person and work of his son there is no obstacle for your turning unto him our repentance is predicated upon God's repentance God's mind and heart are changed toward rebel hell deserving sinners as evidenced in the person and work of his own beloved son so I make the assertion and I believe the old framers of the catechism understood this well that repentance is to be preached only in the context of gospel proclamation and explanation because repentance is impossible without some knowledge of and at least a fledgling emerging belief in the mercy of God in Jesus Christ

36:54 isn't that true you see the logic of that you don't want to run into the face of consuming fire and that's what God is outside of Christ and outside of the work of Christ that's what he will be to you if some of you go on in the state you are in but I'm telling you this morning almighty God in the person and work of his son be reconciled to me I set before you a willing and adequate and able savior in the person of my own dear son and there will be no turning unto God with full purpose of and endeavor after new obedience turning from your sins until you see God in Christ turning toward you without stretched hands with genuine compassion with genuine love and mercy and pity calling you to repent not as the God who sits upon his throne as judge incensed and angry at your arrogance your pride your stubbornness your violation of his law all of that outside of

38:22 Christ but in Christ coming to you as the God of mercy the God of pity the God who says I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that he turn turn for why will ho everyone who thirst come to the waters and he who hath no money come buy wine and milk without money without price why do you spend your money for that which is no true food and that which does not profit God can stoop to the role of a street hawker and plead with you why because he doesn't stand before you armed with his arrows and with his thunderbolts ready to consume you there is a day he will don't trifle with him in this day of salvation in which he calls you to repentance it is a repentance that has the tap root not only of the felt awareness of your sin and your sinfulness but whereby a sinner out of a true sense of his sin and an apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ a repentance that has its tap root soaked in gospel mercy

Application: How Much Understanding and Faith are Necessary?

39:51 in gospel overtures in gospel entreaties in gospel facts well I want to summarize and apply what I've tried to establish from the scriptures having demonstrated I trust from the scriptures that this second tap root is indeed essential to the very existence of repentance unto life let's consider several very practical questions that must be addressed number one how much understanding and grasp of the gospel is necessary for the exercise of repentance we asked last week how much sense of sin and sinfulness is necessary how much understanding and grasp of the gospel in other words how much apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ is necessary for the exercise of true repentance I answer enough enough to have hope that God can and will forgive your sins because of who Jesus is and what Jesus has done enough to have hope may not be solid confidence it may not be an unshakable conviction but enough to have hope if you turn to the God who so loved the world that he gave his only

41:18 begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life you must have enough understanding and grasp of the gospel to believe there's hope for sinners like you I doubt when Jesus said to that man in Mark 2 5 who was let down through the roof son your sins be forgiven you he didn't have a clear understanding of substitutionary atonement that Jesus was on his way to die on the cross and it was only on the basis of the death of Jesus on the cross that his sins could be forgiven but he saw nothing in Jesus there is mercy for a sinner like me dear children young people don't get all hung up well I'm not sure if I understand enough do you see enough in the Lord Jesus to believe there's hope for you as a sinner then apprehend that reality lay hold through Jesus in whom alone there is mercy and forgiveness second question how strong a faith in Christ as revealed in the gospel is essential to true repentance how strong a faith in Christ must there be enough to draw near to God

42:45 for true repentance is forsaking sin and returning unto God forsake his way in the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord for he will have mercy and to abundantly pardon the very terminus of repentance is returning to the God who over you the God who can fill the God shaped hole in your soul and bring satisfaction to your inner being how strong a faith in Christ is revealed in the gospel is essential to true repentance enough to draw near to God through him and say oh Lord Jesus there's a lot I don't understand but I do believe you came from heaven by way of Mary's womb and from Mary's womb you lived that life of obedience that I should have lived but I haven't and you went to the cross willingly voluntarily there you bore the wrath of your father and you rose from the dead Lord Jesus there's a lot I don't understand but I believe when you said no man comes to the Father but by me you meant what you said and when you said him that

44:13 comes to me I will in no wise cast out Lord Jesus I am determined to apprehend to lay hold of the mercy of God Lord Jesus receive me as I come to you that I might return to the Father and thirdly this question is so critical what is the most effective way to bring men and women boys and girls to true repentance what's the most effective way is it to set forth the searching light of God's law well that may give them a sight of how much they need the Lord Jesus but it's not the searching application of the law that is the most powerful instrument to bring men and women boys and girls to true repentance is it to proclaim the horrors of judgment in hell God uses that there's some of you sitting here today who've been converted because a man preached faithfully and searchingly the doctrine of hell but that's not often the way God works is it to describe in great detail the marks of grace and turn people inward upon examining themselves no it's to do what Paul did he went to Corinth and he said I determined to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ

The Power of a Crucified Christ to Break Hearts

45:41 in him is crucified it is the proclamation of a crucified Savior the opening up of the wonders of the love of God in Christ that breaks the heart and gives hope to that broken heart that there is a way of access a number of the old writers that I read in preparation for this morning there are a number of old writers who've made commentaries on the charter catechism almost everyone quotes Zechariah 12 10 they shall look on him whom they pierced and they shall mourn for him and they underscored it's a sight of a crucified Christ that God uses most frequently to break the heart showing on the one hand how terrible and ugly sin is that God would plunge his son into the abyss of forsakenness and yet and yet in that plunging showing how thirsty he is for our salvation that he would subject his son to that treatment it's an old hymn by John Newton in the collection of his hymns that I have I wish it were in our hymn book it captures this very truth listen to it in evil long I took delight

47:09 remember the old slave trader in evil long I took delight I shamed till a new object struck my sight and stopped my wild career I saw one hanging on a tree in agony and blood who fixed his languid eyes on me as near his cross I stood sure never to my latest breath can I forget that look it seemed to charge me with his death though not a word he spoke my conscience felt and owned the guilt and plunged me in despair I saw my sins his blood had spilt and helped to nail him there alas I knew not what I did but now my tears are vain where shall my trembling soul be hid for I the Lord have slain a second look he gave which said I freely all forgive this blood is for your ransom paid I die that you may live thus while his death my sin displays in all its blackest hue such is the mystery of grace it seals my

48:38 pardon too with pleasing grief and mournful joy my spirit now is filled that I should such a life destroy yet live by him I killed I couldn't get away from this phrase pleasing grief and mournful joy what is that the two eyed look upon the savior its repentance suffused with of one stands over him pleasing grief and mournful joy unconverted friend there will be no pleasing grief nor mournful joy do you come unto God through Jesus Christ and see in his cross there your sins are revealed in all of their native uncleanness use your imagination to think of what it was for the only perfect man who ever to be hanging on that cross from the rough blows of the soldiers blood streaming

50:06 down from the crown of in pale dripping from his holy cry my God why have you forsaken me that's what sin is that's what sin does that's the ugliness of sin and yet wonder of wonders in that crucified savior is your only hope for forgiveness for he has made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might be the righteousness of God in him I call you to repentance today standing before that sight a bleeding savior another poet wrote a bleeding savior I have viewed and now I hate my sin if you can still love your sin standing before the cross it'll be right for God to send you to hell if you in that sight there is nothing of what Newton says pleasing grief and mournful joy God have mercy on you God have mercy on you if you are ever to come to true repentance both

Conclusion and Prayer: The Necessity of Both Taproots

51:34 tap roots must be there repentance unto life is a saving grace whereby a sinner out of a true sense of his sin and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ does with grief and hatred of his sin turn from it unto God with full purpose of and endeavor after new obedience let us pray our father when we speak of these things we feel like we babble such profound heavenly mysteries yet you've revealed them and you said to your apostles and through them to the church that these are the things to which we must bear witness to the ends of the earth and so take our babblings take our poor our pathetic efforts to set forth such wondrous truth and make them effectual take the weakness of men and make it the instrument of your strength for have you not said in the wisdom of you our God when the world through its wisdom did not know

53:01 you it was your good pleasure through the foolishness of the thing preached to save those that believe oh God take that which the world calls foolishness and make it your instrument of power to save some even this morning to refresh the souls of your saints who perhaps some many years decades ago were brought to repentance because by the mighty working of your grace these tap roots were placed in their hearts and they have and continue to be penitent believing sinners seal your word to our prophet everyone we ask in Jesus name Amen