Attendants of Repentance

The Indispensable Attendant: Making Right Our Wrongs

0:02 We come tonight to the tenth in a series of studies on the biblical doctrine of repentance. In Hebrews 6.1, the writer to the Hebrews lists as one of those very elementary doctrines of Scripture and one of the very basic facets of Christian experience, this matter of repentance. He speaks of not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, etc.

0:33 And in the midst of an exhortation to profess Christians to go on to maturity, he simply states by way of passing that this doctrine of repentance is one of the facets of the true foundation of Christian experience and Christian truth. Therefore, any thinking of the Christian life that is not straight in the area of repentance, any attempt to change the figure to build a superstructure of Christian experience on a defective foundation of repentance is doomed to fail for no superstructure is any more stable than its foundation. And so, because of the great importance of this doctrine in the revelation of God and in the experience of a true Christian, we are spending this amount of time dealing with it. We have considered the importance of repentance, the soil of repentance, the grace of God, the two roots of repentance, conviction of sin, and a revelation of Christ crucified, the main trunk of repentance, a change of mind in those four branches, a change of mind to God, to sin, to self, and to righteousness. And in our last study, we considered together the fruit of repentance, the fact that if repentance is genuine in the heart, it must of necessity express itself in the life and in the conduct.

1:59 And any profession of repentance that brings forth no fruits is a repentance which indeed needs to be repented of. Now tonight, I want to consider with you from Scripture some of the inevitable attendance of true repentance. I don't know where to put it in terms of the tree. I thought of saying it might be the leaves, or it might be more of the fruit, and so it might be more of the fruit.

2:23 But if you come up with something that will help me to know where to put it under the figure of the tree, for the benefit of those who are with us for the first study, we've used the extended figure of a tree to try to collate this biblical material on the subject of repentance. So this could be leaves, or it could be a part of the fruit. I don't know where to put it, but I dare not complete the series without mentioning these necessary attendance of true repentance, and I'm calling them, or it, the making right our wrongs wherever possible. The making right of our wrongs wherever possible is an indispensable attendant of true repentance.

Biblical Foundation for Restitution and Forgiveness

3:05 There are three texts of Scripture that I want to read to you, and then we'll be referring to them in detail further on in our study. But to couch the entire study in a biblical setting, will you consider with me first of all the 19th chapter of the Gospel of Luke, Luke chapter 19. The very familiar story of Zacchaeus. This chief of the publicans, since his name is a Hebrew name, we have every right to assume he was a Jew, but like most tax collectors, and especially the chief of the tax collectors, he had the reputation and apparently well-founded of being guilty of thievery and using his position under the Roman Empire or Roman government of a tax collector for personal gain, and for graft. And so the Lord Jesus is caused quite a stir, and he enters the city of Jericho. And now I read from verse 2, And behold, a man called by name Zacchaeus, and he was a chief publican, and he was rich. And he sought to see Jesus, who he was.

4:10 And he could not for the crowd, because he was little of stature. And he ran on the floor and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and he said, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must abide at thy house. And he made haste and came down and received him joyfully.

4:36 And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, He is gone in to lodge with a man that's a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood and said unto the Lord, Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have wrongfully exacted all, not of any man, I restore fourfold. Jesus said unto him, Today is salvation come to this house, forasmuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.

5:11 And now just back a chapter, two chapters, to Luke 17, verses 1 through 4.

5:20 Luke 17, 1 through 4. And he said unto his disciples, It is impossible but that occasions of stumbling should come. But woe unto him through whom they come. It were well for him if a millstone were hanged about his neck and he were thrown into the sea, rather than that he should cause one of these little ones to stumble.

5:43 Take heed to yourselves. If thy brother sin, rebuke him. And if he repent, forgive him. And if he sin against thee seven times in the day, and seven times turn again to thee, saying, I repent, thou shalt forgive him.

6:03 And then one other passage, Ephesians chapter 4,

6:08 verses 25 to 32.

6:14 Ephesians 4, verses 25 to 32.

6:23 Wherefore, putting away falsehoods, speak ye truth, every one with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be ye angry and sin not, let not the sun go down upon your wrath, neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing that is good, that he may have whereof to give to him that hath need. Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but such as is good for edifying, as the need may be, that it may give grace to them that hear.

6:59 And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and railing be put away from you with all malice, and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave you.

The Horizontal Dimension of Repentance

7:26 One of the necessary attendants of true repentance is this matter of making right our wrongs against our fellow men wherever possible. Our sins have not only had a vertical perspective, but a horizontal one as well. In this entire study on the doctrine of repentance, we have sought to put the emphasis where Scripture puts it, namely that the main element of sin is to be found in its vertical perspective. David, guilty of the sins of adultery and murder, yet prays against thee, O God, and thee only have I sinned.

8:08 And so we've sought to put the emphasis there. But that's not the entire statement of biblical truth. For not only is sin a rupturing of our vertical relationship, but oft times it involves the rupturing of horizontal relationships. And everything that is said tonight must be in the context of what has preceded.

8:30 If anyone were to take tonight's message and wrench it out, out of the context of everything that's preceded, you'd come up with an overemphasis, an imbalanced perspective that would be of the essence of heresy. The main thrust of the biblical teaching concerning sin is that it is rebellion against the Creator. And the main concern of our hearts must be dealing with our sin in the light of His countenance. But that's not the only concern.

8:58 For when man is not right with his God, it will show up in his relationship to his fellow man. And conversely, when he gets right with God, it must show up in making right relationships on the horizontal plane as well. Now this is not just some strange conclusion to which I have come, but as usual, I like to check out my conclusions from Scripture with some of the old standard statements of faith and confessions. And when I was re-reading the section on repentance in the Westminster Confession, I came across this statement that states so comprehensively what I am saying by way of introduction.

9:36 As every man is bound to make private confession of his sins to God, praying for the pardon thereof, upon which and the forsaking of them he shall find mercy, so he that scandalizes his brother or the Church of Christ ought to be willing by a private or public confession and sorrow for his sin to declare his repentance to those that are offended who are thereupon to be reconciled to him and in love to receive him. Beautifully stated. Not only are we to confess our individual sins to God and have assurance of pardon when there is true repentance, but we must be willing where we have wronged our brother or the Church by a private or public confession to declare that repentance and therefore upon that declaration to be accepted by the brother in true forgiveness and to be reconciled to him. Now the Bible teaches that this principle is to meet us not only at the threshold of our Christian experience as it did with Zacchaeus, but that it's to be a continual part of our Christian experience. Just as all the other facets of repentance are true in initial repentance, so they grow and develop in the continued grace of repentance. Now this whole matter of making right our wrongs to our brethren

Three Areas of Making Right Our Wrongs

11:05 wherever possible as the fruit of repentance breaks down, at least in my present understanding of the teaching of Scripture on the subject, into three main areas. The restitution of property, the confession of our wrongs and seeking of forgiveness, and thirdly, a definite attempt to cultivate a positive virtue in the very area of our failure. First of all then, it will involve the restitution of property. Now turn please to the Luke 19 passage, which is the classic passage in the New Testament, along with the passage in Philemon, on this whole matter of true repentance being expressed in making right our wrongs to our brother in area number one, the restitution or the paying back of that which was taken wrongfully.

Restitution of Property: Zacchaeus and Old Testament Law

12:01 When the Lord Jesus summons Zacchaeus, there seems to be, if you read between the lines, clear lines, clear indication that somewhere between the summons and his entrance into the house, the grace of God and the saving mercy of Christ was revealed to this man whose reputation was a terrible reputation and who, as I indicated earlier, rightly earned that reputation. And as the Lord Jesus comes into his house, the first expressions of this man's newfound faith in the Lord, the Lord Jesus, are these. Verse 8. And Zacchaeus stood and said unto the Lord, Behold, Lord, the half of my goods, now notice what he says, not I will give to the poor. And I never found this out until doing a little parallel reading even later this afternoon. It's in the present tense, not the future. This could be literally translated, Behold, the half of my goods I am giving to the poor, and if I've wrongfully exacted all of it, any man, I am restoring it fourfold.

13:08 This was not merely a pledge that he was going to do this sometime out here in the future. He puts it in the present tense. He's saying, in the purpose of my heart and for all intents and purposes, I'm already accomplishing it. Everything in me is moving out to make right my wrongs.

13:24 And though the order here is restoring fourfold and then giving away, I mean, giving away half of his goods and then restoring, in the actual outworking it probably worked the other way. For he wouldn't want to be giving away someone else's goods, so he probably went through his records and discovered all those whom he had wronged, paid them back, and whatever was left was truly his, and he takes of that and he gives half of it to care for the poor. Now, because he was a Jew, Zacchaeus' mind was at least in some measure acquainted with the Old Testament law concerning restitution. Where did he get this idea that if he has truly repented of his past and embraced the Lord Jesus as his own Messiah and Savior, that he ought immediately to make right his wrongs to his fellow men? Well, he got it from the Old Testament. Will you turn with me, please, to Deuteronomy. First of all, Exodus.

14:18 I'll try to start as far back as possible and move through so we don't need to slip back and forth. In Exodus chapter 22 and in verse 1,

14:34 God says, If a man shall steal an ox or a sheep and kill it or sell it, he shall pay five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep. If a man is guilty of outright thievery and there cannot be a paying back of that thing because he's taken it and sold it or it's been slain, he's to restore it fivefold if it's an ox, fourfold if it's a sheep. In Deuteronomy chapter 22, you have perhaps the clearest, most extensive statement of the laws of restitution.

15:13 Deuteronomy chapter 22 and beginning with verse 1 and going down through to verse 4, you have these regulations concerning restitution. Thou shalt not see thy brother's ox or his sheep go astray and hide thyself from them. Thou shalt surely bring them again to thy brother. And if thy brother be not nigh unto thee or if thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it home to thy house and it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after it and thou shalt restore it to him.

15:46 And so shalt thou do with his ass and so shalt thou do with his garment. So shalt thou do with every lost thing of thy brother's which he hath lost and thou hast found. Thou mayest not hide thyself. Thou shalt not see thy brother's ass or his ox fallen by the way or hide thyself.

16:02 Thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again. Here the responsibility to restore that which was found, not to remain apart or to keep it apart of your own possessions when it is not the rightful possession of another. But now there's an interesting addition to this law of restitution in Leviticus chapter 6.

16:25 Here it's connected with sacrifice for the sin connected with taking that possession.

16:34 And I read now from Leviticus 6, 1 to 7. And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, If any one sin and commit a trespass against the Lord and deal falsely with his neighbor in a matter of deposit or of bargain or of robbery, or have oppressed his neighbor, or have found that which was lost and deal falsely therein and swear to a lie in any of these things that a man doeth sinning therein, then it shall be, if he hath sinned and is guilty, he shall restore that which he took by robbery or the thing which he hath gotten by oppression or the deposit which was committed to him or the lost thing which he found or anything about which he hath sworn falsely, he shall even restore it in full and shall add the fifth part more thereto unto him to whom it appertaineth shall he give it in the day of his being found guilty and he shall bring his trespass offering unto the Lord a ram without blemish out of the flock according to thy estimation for a trespass offering unto the priest and the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord and he shall be forgiven concerning whatsoever he doeth so as to be guilty thereby now do you notice the connection as he comes with his trespass offering to receive from the priest the pronouncement of forgiveness it must be in the context of making the issue right by way of restoration

18:04 for him to come confessing the sin of betraying the trust the money that was loaned to him or the property to come seeking forgiveness from Jehovah while not repaying that which he owed to man he would have no grounds to believe the promise of forgiveness the way of coming in sacrifice had to be joined with the way of restitution you find essentially the same thing in the book of Numbers chapter 5 Numbers chapter 5 I hope you don't find this tedious we're trying to find out why in the world Zacchaeus ever said what he did and this is why his mind was in some measure steeped in or exposed to these concepts of the Old Testament Numbers 5 verse 5 and the Lord spake unto Moses saying speak unto the children of Israel when a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit so as to trespass against the Lord and that soul shall be guilty then he shall confess his sin which he hath done and he shall make restitution for his guilt in full and shall add to it the fifth part thereof and give it unto him in respect of whom he hath been guilty but if the man have no kinsmen to whom restitution may be made for the guilt the restitution for guilt which is made unto the Lord shall be the priest besides the ram of the atonement

19:32 whereby atonement shall be made for him now the same concept you see that if he comes seeking forgiveness by way of atonement it was to be joined with full purpose to make restitution and if he tried to track down the man and he died or had moved elsewhere God says take the amount plus a fifth and bring it into the treasury of the Lord and give it unto the priest now how does this relate to Zacchaeus here's a man who's been guilty of fraud here's a man who's been guilty of taking that which was not rightfully his a man who's been guilty of being indifferent to the cries of the poor and the Lord Jesus has revealed himself to him in sovereign grace and by his effectual call the voice that said come down for I must spend this day at your house was the voice that reached his heart and subdued his will and brought him captive to the Lord Jesus and the first expression then of that faith in the Lord Jesus as the one who would indeed bear his sin away who would freely accept him who would bring him nigh to God sinner that he was so much a sinner that these Pharisees stood about and accused the Lord of being something less than a good prophet because he dared to hobnob with the likes of Zacchaeus this man knowing full forgiveness and full pardon also knows that that pardon comes in a way

21:01 of full purpose to make right his wrongs because this is a necessary attendant of all true and genuine repentance Bishop Ryle has an interesting comment and I want to read that comment in his expository thoughts on the Gospels I restore fourfold this expression deserves notice it shows how thorough and complete was Zacchaeus' repentance it was restitution far exceeding what the law of Moses required one commentator remarks Zacchaeus imposed upon himself the severest measure enjoined by the law concerning anyone convicted of theft you notice how these last two passages said restore the full measure plus a fifth and it was only in the case of willful thievery that it was to be fourfold he puts himself under that most extreme injunction it is written he shall restore four sheep for a sheep but even this was exacted only of him who had made away with the property he had stolen if the theft be found in his hand alive he was only to restore double Exodus 22 4 but with respect to him who confessed his crime it is only said he shall recompense his trespass with the principle and add the fifth part Zacchaeus judged himself most severely let us do likewise if we truly repent now this is why Zacchaeus did what he did now what is our Lord's response to it

Christ's Affirmation and Paul's Example of Restitution

22:30 and this is most most necessary for our understanding of the passage did our Lord say in response to these words I restore fourfold the half of my goods I give to the poor now Zacchaeus you are still a legalist you are hoping somehow to earn grace Zacchaeus no no no no you don't need to do that at all if I have forgiven you that is all that is necessary was that our Lord's response not on your life look at his response our Lord says in response to the words of Zacchaeus turning back now to Luke chapter nineteen and verse nine and Jesus said unto him today is salvation come to this house Zacchaeus received a word of assurance from the lips of the Son of God upon the expression of this intent and purpose to make right his wrongs that's how our Lord looked upon it as a proof positive of the genuineness of his repentance and his faith and then he goes on to say for behold the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost Zacchaeus I came to impart the kind of salvation that I see operative in you a salvation which not only takes a publican and all of his past and blots it out but so changes the heart of the publican that from the very

23:59 impartation of the life which I give he longs to make right his wrongs even at great personal expense and personal humiliation that's the kind of salvation I came to bring I came to seek and to save that which was lost with the very salvation that I see manifested in your life no rebuke of legalism no rebuke whatever but every encouragement to believe that this is one of the true attendants of what God all genuine repentance and faith alright the second key passage Philemon the little letter to Philemon now you remember the setting of this letter Onesimus was a slave of this man Philemon who apparently lived at Colossia and was a part of the church of the Colossians and as slaves would often do in that day they'd go to the master's cupboard and load up a hobo's bag and if he had a little safe around put some shekels in his pocket so he'd have enough money to get the bus to Rome and they'd go off to Rome which was the center of iniquity agreeing of being a great metropolis he could get lost in the crowd indulge himself in every form of sinful pleasure be least apt to be found the same way people do now teenagers run away from home where do they go L.A. Chicago New York

25:26 get lost in the crowds be able to indulge to the full their appetites people who drop out of society as mature adults they'll do the same thing human nature hasn't changed this is what this Onesimus did but somehow while he was at Rome he was brought into the presence of the apostle Paul and while there the apostle preached to him and he was born of the spirit so that Paul says he's the child I have begotten in my bonds now that he's come to know the Lord it's only right that he should go back to his lawful master so Paul is going to send him back to his lawful master but now he's entreating his master in the light of the change that's come to Onesimus to receive him in a different manner so he asked him to receive him as a brother but then he says this very interesting thing in verse 18 of Philemon but if he hath wronged thee at all or o'eth thee ought put that to mine account I Paul write it with my own hand I will repent pay it now again if ever there was a time when it would not be necessary for someone who had done something wrong in this case it was stealing of a man's material goods if ever it would be right to overlook it it would be here consider the wealth of Philemon a man wealthy enough

26:55 to own and keep slaves whatever that slave took when he left wasn't going to stand between him and poverty if ever you could plead on behalf of a man well what he kept was so insignificant it isn't necessary to make restitution it would be here yet he says if he owes thee anything charge it to my account he doesn't have anything to pay charge it to my account I'll repay it consider in the second place by contrast not only the wealth of Philemon but the poverty of this slave he's obviously been transformed willing to go back to the master from whom he had revolted and whose government he had bolted willing to go back to the master and be a submissive slave but he's so poor he can't pay back himself so if ever it would be right to say now look in the light of his poverty forget it but he doesn't then the added consideration now that this man's a brother you don't expect him to pay back what he took when he was unconverted doesn't the grace of God blot out the past he's a brother now that's what he said in the previous verse look verse 16 receive him no longer as a servant but more than a servant a brother beloved specially to me but how much rather to thee both in the flesh and in the Lord with these three powerful considerations if ever there was a time when it would be right not to make right your wrongs done to your fellow man it would be here wouldn't it the wealth of Philemon the poverty of Onesimus and then the recognition

28:24 of him as his brother and the whole context of grace who understood it more fully than the apostle Paul who was a greater preacher and exponent of the grace of God than the apostle Paul he calls his ministry in a summary statement in Acts 20-24 the ministry of the gospel of the grace of God a mind suffused with the concepts of grace a spirit permeated with the glories of grace and yet he says if that slave that took that money in his state of impenitence and unregeneracy if he took that money he owes it to you charge it to my account it must be paid one of the most powerful passages in all of scripture as far as I'm concerned the most powerful passage showing that the genuineness of repentance must be expressed in this matter of making right our wrongs first of all in the restitution of property that has been wrongly taken now what does this say to us well it says that often the acid test of the genuineness of our repentance is right here because it's a very real sense in which you can kid yourself that you're confessing your sins to the Lord honestly and from the heart and it doesn't cost you anything but a few moments and one of the most telling test

The Acid Test of Repentance: Willingness to Restitute

29:53 of the genuineness of our repentance is right here am I willing like Zacchaeus at any cost to me financially at any cost to me in terms of my reputation at any cost of personal humiliation to make right my wrongs to my fellow men in the realm of restitution of property I'm convinced in my own counseling with people has confirmed this that many times a festering sore in the conscience of an individual has its roots in this matter of restitution where in the flush of their new faith and joy and the tenderness of conscience there were issues that came to mind but instead of saying like Zacchaeus behold I give and I restore present tense they said I will give and will restore and as the flush of their new found faith receded and the tenderness of their conscience gave way to somewhat of an indifference and callousness those issues were never dealt with and there's almost a fear to press on in any deeper with God because there's that instinctive knowledge if I do with that deepening of my spiritual life will come a resensitizing of conscience and I instinctively know that those issues are going to flash before me again

31:19 come before me blessed is the man blessed is the woman who in the flush of new repentance deals with the issues that must be made right I can never forget when the hand of God began to be heavy upon me about my cheating in school now I'm not saying this is the way the Lord will deal with you I'm only telling on myself I feel this kind of thing it's easier to tell on myself than anybody else and I can't be accused of betraying confidence the Lord didn't deal with me about it when he saved me as a senior in high school never remember once pushing down any prickings of conscience he didn't deal with me about it in my freshman year of college nor my sophomore but in my junior or senior year of college every time I'd get down on my knees to pray suddenly it began to come to me I don't know what I was reading something some flash of light some pro-goodness things with God that French class where you deliberately willfully continually cheated there in your record books is a B and on the basis of that B you've got a record in your college course and you've got this that's a standing lie you better restore fourfold you better make it right ah but Lord that's ridiculous if this was your spirit dealing with you you'd have dealt with me a long time ago that's just the devil troubling me

32:47 Lord I claim deliverance and on my knees the next time there it is ah this is ridiculous the Lord doesn't deal with you this way I mean why would the Lord let three years go and not deal and deal with me now God this can't be you just the pressure of studies and just forget it until there's only one thing to do it was to either deal with that festering sore and have the sliver pulled out or gloss it over and forget it and sear the conscience and be fearful of ever honestly praying again from the heart search me oh God and see if there'd be any wicked way and go on and put up a good front but oh the blessed peace when the letter was typed and full and honest confession made and willingness to make restitution send back the diploma if necessary take any kind of penalty necessary I couldn't have cared less about the consequences but the sheer joy of knowing that the issue was dealt with some of you could bear testimony I'm sure areas that perhaps to the world would seem ridiculous and silly when you get into the realm of dealing with a holy God and with an absolute law nothing silly

34:15 that is a violation of that law or an affront to that holy God I ask you tonight have you been willing to be honest and thorough in this area of your professed repentance when Zacchaeus says the half of my goods I give to the poor if I've taken wrongfully I go not just the minimum but the full amount all this measure beyond what's even legally required of me I restore it for a whole salvation's come to this house that's the kind of salvation I've come to bring that so overhauls a man that he's willing to deal with his sin not only honestly with me but thoroughly with his fellow man would our Lord have occasion to say that of you concerning your professed repentance behold salvation's come to this house are you as was Zacchaeus in evidence the kind of salvation he brings this matter of this attendant fruit whatever you want to call it that's found with true repentance of making restitution to our fellow man of things that have been taken areas of wrong is a necessary accompaniment of true repentance secondly it will also involve a confession of our wrongs and seeking forgiveness of our fellow man and now again two key points in these passages first of all Matthew 18

Confession and Seeking Forgiveness from Fellow Men

35:43 and I'm not expounding either of these passages I want you to see something that is assumed in both of them that we can so easily overlook when we're grasping at the main thrust and the main teaching of the passage we miss the assumptions and many times God's truth comes to us most powerfully in little assumptions that are contained in the midst of other truths Matthew 18 15 if

36:44 sins against God but some sins are more than sins against God they are also sins against Him and such sins can only be made fully right if we go to the one that has wronged us or I'm sorry in this case whom we have wronged if thy brother sin against thee go show him his fault between thee and him alone if he hear thee thou hast gained thy brother that is if he acknowledges his wrong and seeks forgiveness you've gained him there's no more barrier there's reconciliation and I'll show from Luke 17 that that we have a right to infer that this is the meaning in this passage but if he refused to hear you take the witnesses if he won't hear them bring them before the church but the one principle that we're seeking to extract from this passage is that there is such a thing as a sin against my brother and that sin against my brother cannot be dealt with by merely going to the Lord I've got to go to my brother now if you will please turn to Luke chapter 17 passage which we read earlier this evening Luke chapter 17 our Lord says in a world full of sin and with all the remaining corruption in the hearts of God's children it's impossible but that occasions to sin shall come then he pronounces a warning upon those who are the occasion of sin

38:12 now verse 3 take heed to yourselves if your brother sins rebuke him and if he repents forgive him well how do I know if my brother repents can I read his heart if you say an ugly word to your wife how does she know you've repented I don't mean to be facetious you can go into your room and spend an hour with God and thoroughly repent before the Lord but unless she had her ear to the door she wouldn't know you've repented for all she knows you might be in there snoring how does she know you've repented well the next verse tells us if he sinned against thee seven times in the day and seven times turn again to thee here's the key word saying I repent thou shalt forgive him the clear inference being the only way you can read the repentance of his heart is when it gets out in his lips and when his lips are close enough to your ears for you to hear him saying I repent I'm sorry I was wrong and so in both the Matthew 18 passage and the Luke 17 passage the clear teaching is that when our sin has not only been a sin against God but in some direct sense a sin against our fellow men our repentance is not sincere or genuine or extensive until our confession has been extended to the one

39:39 whom we have wronged now by way of application let me ask some questions of you sitting here tonight hearing these principles have you faced this in your own life how about you young people you probably have not professed to have come to repentance and faith in the past year two years three years have you ever gone down and sat down with mom and dad and honestly acknowledged your lie and earnestly sought their forgiveness have you sat down with them and honestly acknowledged the stench and the rottenness of your hellish rebellion you've seen it in God's eyes as a thing despicable and worthy of hell you've gone to that mom and dad the only reason who for the rest of your life you've gone to that who for the rest of your life for the only reason they discipline you and try to guide you is because they love you and you've fought them tooth and nail you've seen what a rotten stinking dirty thing it was and you've sat down with them and honestly said mom and dad will you forgive me for the way I've been have you done that have you you haven't your repentance isn't worth a nickel isn't worth a nickel your repentance isn't real how could you live constantly in the very in the presence of the very people against whom you've rebelled and sinned and not say I repent I repent will you forgive me

41:09 couldn't do it if you had a conscience that had anything of the warmth of the spirit's influence and the light of the spirit's influence you'd be miserable until you went and made it right now let me turn the tables how about you parents have you been able and who among us will not have to confess this has been our sin some of us even more than others have you been able to carry out all the duties of a parent without at times being quick of temper evil passions when you've disciplined lack of understanding lack of sympathetic identification with your kids and indifference to whether or not you really could get behind their eyeballs and look at the thing as they did just as it were pulling rank on your kids and saying I'm the pope or I'm the queen listen to me and follow and the Lord shows you what an ugly rotten thing that is an abuse of that high and holy calling of a parent and you've seen that thing in the light of God's confidence and you've cried to him for forgiveness you can't help it but gather those kids together as soon as possible and just bare your heart and tell them look I've seen have you done that as parents do you do that as parents do you if not let me say to your parents your repentance isn't worth a nickel at least in that area it isn't worth a nickel if your kids turn out hypocrites from a human standpoint I don't blame them if they reject

42:38 your Christ I don't blame them because they instinctively know that if they've sinned against you and there's a restlessness until they've made it right with you you ought to feel the same way to them what about you husbands in relationship to your wives I don't care who started it that's not the issue the words of my dear mother come back to me again and again it takes two to make a fight whenever one of us would come yelling mama mama mama so and so did this and so did yeah but he started she'd stop and say wait a minute if one or the other you backed off and went the other direction there'd be no fight it takes two to make a fight so you're both going to get it and so we'd both get it it takes two to make a fight well that's true it takes two to make a marriage it takes two to make a fight I don't care who started it who provoked it if you've allowed the acid of anger and petulance to rise up and to find expression upon the lips you are guilty of sin not only against God but against your mate and your repentance is not sincere or genuine or thorough until the confession is not only gone vertically but horizontally and I say to you husbands who are too big to honestly and from the heart sincerely plead for the forgiveness of your wives

44:08 when you've been irritated and angry your repentance isn't worth a nickel and if I were your wife I'd find it awfully hard to be submissive to you as Christ is to the church because I'd find I couldn't respect you how about you wives I don't care what things you say and your husband provoked it when you've used your tongue to cut and to wound when you've used your whole womanly influence which you know is quite powerful with your husband when you've used it to hurt instead of to heal to tear down instead of to build your repentance is not worth a nickel until the sin has been openly acknowledged to them this is true at the place where we work there's those unconverted people you work with and oh do they hide get under your hide don't they and so you let them get under your hide and some of the hides have broken out those hives of anger and sarcasm are just downright pouting you know adults pout you kids are not the only ones that have problems with that adults pout you've seen it so you pout or you had more grace or more self-respect to blow off you just let the pressure build up so much that you just stuck out all over with the hives of irritation

45:36 and everybody could see it every time they looked at you just as obvious as though you'd blown your stack well when the Lord gets you back into line and you've acknowledged your sin before Him and you've truly repented do you know what it is to go to those people that work with you and tell them look I sinned again by that display of temper of irritability you know my profession as a Christian I was not living as one of Christ will you forgive me do you know what it is to do that if you don't my friend your repentance isn't worth a nickel now have I applied it sufficiently to give you the idea of what this means in practical everyday life when we've sinned against our brother our sin is not only against God but against Him and just as there is no forgiveness from God until there's repentance and confession heavenward there's no forgiveness from our brother no matter how much he may extend the spirit of forgiveness he cannot confer forgiveness until I have repented Luke 17 makes that very clear if he come to thee seven times in the day saying I repent thou shalt forgive him but not a word about conferring forgiveness if he's unwilling to say I repent oh yes extend forgiveness from the heart even as God does even as our Lord does

47:03 may I say it reverently his heart is full of forgiving grace to his children when they've sinned but he doesn't confer forgiveness until we confess and repent if we confess our sins he's faithful and just to forgive and we're to be like him in our relationship one to another well so much for the application in this second area I should perhaps just touch on the matter of within the church this is where it needs to be most operative do we know what it is here in the assembly of God's people we're enough of a family because of our size and because of the climate of our fellowship that we're going to see enough of each other that's going to mean not too many moons go by but what we sin against one another and unless we know a continued and increased spirit of this kind of thing there's going to be a log jam that's going to clog up the river of blessing the spirit of God will be breathed and quenched one of the attendants of true repentance is making right our wrongs to our fellow men restitution of property confession of wrongs and seeking forgiveness from our fellow men and then last of all and we'll just touch upon this briefly because I want to close with some cautions in this area the cultivation of the positive virtue

Cultivating Positive Virtues

48:32 in the area of our sin against men and I know that sounds awful wordy and complex but I didn't know how to come up with anything else the cultivation of a positive virtue in the area of our sin against men it's better stated by the apostle and I might say more simply stated in Ephesians chapter 4 the passage from which we read earlier here's a man who's a notorious liar so what is he to do in his relationship to his fellow man well he's not only as an expression of true repentance to put away his falsehood in his line and then say nothing but he's to gain the reputation for one who positively speaks the truth wherefore putting away falsehood speak ye truth be known as a man who's constantly running to the side of truth where before you were known to run from truth in your relationship with people now be known as the person who's ever planting the flag of truth in every situation possible here's a man who's been known to be a thief verse 26 let him that stole steal no more but don't let him stop there let him cultivate the opposite virtue but rather let him labor working with his hands that he may have enough to give to others let the man who's been known to continually take from others now gain the reputation as being a giver of the truth to others on the basis

50:02 of honest labor you see this is making right our wrongs to our fellow men by seeking to cultivate the very opposite virtue or the virtue that's just the opposite of the vice that is marked verse 29 let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth here's a person who's been known for their sarcasm for their double meaning jokes for their cutting speech he says don't let that mark any of you let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth but something better than that that which is good to the use of edifying that it may minister grace to them that hear cultivate the opposite virtue gracious words so that where people before shuddered when you opened your mouth because they knew out would come some barbs of sarcasm or something tinged with a double meaning now he says so cultivate this opposite virtue that they'll hang upon your every word because they know it's a word that's going to minister grace see if you've been marked by angry words by a sullen temperament by chicanery and deceit with your parents you kids your repentance is genuine you're going to say oh god let me gain the reputation and rightly so in this home of being honest judgment day honest no matter what it costs even if it means three extra lickings even if it means a few nights

51:30 deprived of certain privileges honesty is worth any punishment that may come it's one of the things we continually preach to our children why were you not honest well I was afraid if I was I'd get a spanking all right what would you rather have a spanking now and burn in hell forever for being a liar you tell your kids that I sure do of course I do I'm obligated as a parent to tell them then the bible say all liars shall have their part in the lake of fire isn't that what it says is that what it says that means if mom says where were you and you don't tell her the truth we say it's a little thing if you lie and that's an expression of a spirit of deceit not just a sin into which you've fallen as a true child of God but it's part of your pattern of life God says the lake of fire is for you oh I'd far rather be tied down to the house and have no social privileges for a thousand years if that's the price of being honest than burn in hell forever small comfort that week or two of privileges of being out of the house will be in the lake of fire every time you're tempted to cheat at school kids remember that that's what cheating is it's a form of lying I'd rather bear the reproach and any consequences of a failing grade it meant I had to

Cautions: Over-Scrupulousness, Legalism, and Gracelessness

52:59 dig ditches the rest of my life and burn in hell forever to get a passing grade those are the issues those are the issues and if you've been known for dishonesty and cheating it's not enough if your repentance is genuine to cease that but to apply yourself to cultivate the opposite virtue of honesty and uprightness and so I submit that scripture lays before us as one of the indispensable attendants of true repentance this disposition to make right our wrongs with our fellow men restitution of material things confession of our wrongs the cultivation of positive virtues in the areas of our weakness now may I close with several cautions every every truth every duty of scripture is fraught with dangers and this perhaps more than many others is surrounded with dangers may I mention three of them briefly in closing number one beware of the danger of becoming over scrupulous in this area for that will only result in bondage some people the devil can't freeze us out one has said he'll burn us up and they become so over scrupulous that they come into bondage and at the end of the day they have nothing but torment and bondage oh did was that word a little bit angry and maybe I ought to confess that to this one maybe I ought to confess that one and they get into such bondage to where they spend

54:29 the entirety of their days wondering who should I track down next and make my confession to the Holy Ghost will never lead you into that kind of bondage where the spirit of the Lord is there's liberty and the more you have your mind saturated with scripture and here we come back you see to the necessity of feeding upon the word and the more you're obedient to the light that God gives you in every other area the more you'll be able to recognize the voice of the spirit applying the scripture in this area and know when you ought to fess up and when you ought not to you say can you give us some good hard fast rules no this is one of the areas where the leading of the spirit of God within the general framework is the only safe part but beware some of you by temperament and nature could very easily become over scrupulous and this will result in bondage and if you find yourself in bondage so that instead of at the end of the day being able to look up into the face of your redeemer God and say thank you Lord that your grace has been with me today thank you for your cleansing from all my sin Lord are there any things that yet need to be made right and be able to trust him to put his finger on those issues if you find you've come to the end of each day tormented that maybe you haven't made everything right out here that you ought to somewhere along the line you've missed it and you need to pray Lord show me where I'm over scrupulous and over sensitive I give that word

55:58 of caution over scrupulous attempt to be obedient here will lead to bondage secondly this can be done legalistically and it will lead to a sense of condemnation this is what I mean by legalistically I can't have the joy of God's forgiveness until I get everything right with my fellow man ah listen Zacchaeus had the full joy of the Lord's word of pardon long before he ever got all his records straightened out a man who was chief of the publicans had a lot of seniority which means there was a good many years when he was wrongfully taking things and my own conviction is he probably was weeks and months restoring four fold what he had taken you mean to tell me all during that time he went around with heaviness of heart from house to house what are you doing here Zacchaeus oh trying to get rid of this bird and the mice no no what are you doing here Zacchaeus all the most wonderful things happened to me oh yeah what happened you made chief chief of the publicans no no no no something far more wonderful you know the great prophet ah yes he's come came to town he called me and when his voice reached my ears something happened in my heart you know the reputation I've got don't you yeah we sure do you old skin flinch well I'm not that way anymore that Jesus of Nazareth did something for me here I've got something for you and he pulls out the check in the joy of his forgiveness

57:26 he carried out the obedience of true repentance my friend this is not to be approached legalistically if you go to man before you go to God thinking that until things are made right there I can't have the joy of the Lord's forgiveness this will be legalism and it will lead to a sense of condemnation and the catechism of the confession states this so beautifully a man is bound to make private confession of his sins to God praying for the pardon thereof upon which and the forsaking of them he shall have mercy then if he scandalized his brother he's to go and make it right with him but we go to God first and in the joy of forgiveness and full acceptance by God then we make the issue right with our brother or our sister so beware of being over scrupulous and coming into bondage beware of being legalistic and coming into condemnation and then it's possible to be absolutely grace less and to be led into self-righteousness and self-deception I had an article that I clipped out but I can't remember where I put it it was one of those times I wish I had a better filing system it was in the paper about a year ago of a man in this area who turned himself into the police authorities after 17 years committed a murder and he said he could stand it no longer he just had to get peace of

58:55 conscience so he finally came and told them about the murder and he told certain things about the crime and details that the officer said there's no explanation but that he actually did it now there was nothing in the article now maybe things were said that we know nothing of maybe the man was converted but there was nothing in the article to indicate it and the quotes from his own lips were after carrying around this gnawing of conscience it was worth it more to get it off my chest and have peace of conscience than to have freedom without it well you see this was purely legalistic it had no reference Godward it was purely a matter of getting the thorn out so he could feel better no indication that he cried with David against thee and thee only have I sinned and so even in the life of the child of God there can be a kind of graceless restitution where just to feel better we pay back what we owe we confess our wrong without any real sense that this is the obligation of love owed to my savior who has forgiven me the greater sin no , all such confession on a horizontal level all such restitution must be rooted in the hearty acknowledgement that our sin is against God it must be rooted in the hearty embrace of God's free forgiveness in Christ then in the obedience of faith and in the joy of the spirit with a conscience

60:24 cleared heavenward we go out to clear the conscience landward