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Tag Archives: Repentance
The Lord’s Day Sermon Manuscript for November 17, 2024
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The Lord’s Day Sermon Manuscript for October 20, 2024
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Lord’s Day Sermon Manuscript for September 29, 2024
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The Lord’s Day Sermon Manuscript for August 25, 2024
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The Lord’s Day Sermon Manuscript for June 30, 2024
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Thanksgiving Day
What is giving thanks?
—it’s a response to someone who gave things to you. And the things given were not earned. (For example, our paycheck is something you shouldn’t give thanks for because you worked for it).
—the response is vocalized which should be accompanied by a particular disposition toward the person who gave to you.
—the response of thanksgiving does not require that the person who gave to you be superior to you. Most certainly God is worthy of our thanksgivings everyday but other people who have given to you ought to receive a thankful response too.
—thankfulness requires that you notice these things. You must be aware of what you have been given was undeserved.
—because to be generous here, we can possibly forget. An opposite response to someone who gave is to forget the response of thanksgiving. This could be due to not stopping to think about what has occurred or there’s just too much going on in life therefore you did not remember the kind deeds done to you.
—while forgetfulness is a possibility for not being thankful, more often than not it is out of pride. We think we deserve everything and the world ought to take notice. They ought to be thankful for the opportunity to give to me kind of attitude. On a more subtle note of pride, we might abhor the gift and in doing so we abhor the giver. Now, we will likely respond with the words of thanksgiving but they are just words. The gift isn’t what I wanted or needed and we think there’s no benefit from it.
—though we could breakdown piece by piece the steps from pride to unbelief I don’t think that’s necessary. The major problem with not having a heart of thankfulness is unbelief in God. This is the root of unthankfulness. Because if we trust in the Lord, we of all people know and understand that God has been gracious and merciful to us in every respect throughout our entire life. When we turn our attention on the fact that we deserve the consequences of our sin—the miseries of this life and eternal death itself. But Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners like us. He took the death that we deserved and we get forgiveness and counted righteous by faith in him. To all who have turned from their sins and trusted in Jesus, we will be saved. From that understanding, we of all people ought to be thankful!
Daily Encouragement
Lament is a necessary action among God’s people. In a day that we forbid anything that’s not positive we wrongly cut off the means to praise and thanksgiving. Until we have grieved over our sin that has offended the Holy God of the universe we will likely not be moved to repentance and faith.
As I read the book of Lamentations, I’m thinking the glorious verses of chapter 3…
Lamentations 3:22-23 The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.
…do not come to mind without a thorough lament. And the book does not begin with the sentiments of 3:22-23, it begins with observing what merely has happened.
Lamentations 1:1-2 How lonely sits the city That was full of people! She has become like a widow Who was once great among the nations! She who was a princess among the provinces Has become a forced laborer! She weeps bitterly in the night And her tears are on her cheeks; She has none to comfort her Among all her lovers. All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; They have become her enemies.
There’s no repentance in the beginning chapters BUT it was necessary to weep in the selfish reality of the consequences first. It’s not until verse 8 of chapter one that any mention of sin comes up. And a telling phrase pops up in that acknowledgment in verse 9–She did not consider her future.
When you live merely for the present you cannot live in light of the future. To trade living it up in this short and temporary life for eternal life just doesn’t make sense when you actually think about it. But that’s the problem, we find it hard to consider when sin is so much fun.
I mean the one lamenting doesn’t even mention God’s name until verse 9. And when the writer brings it up they are still not in the right place of repentance—See, O LORD, my affliction.
My question is how does one get from that statement which leads to chapter two’s rightful claim that God is their enemy in 2:5 and then to this posture of chapter 3–Let him give his cheek to the smiter.
The one in exile is now willingly receiving God’s just judgment against them in hope of redemption…in hope of God’s vengeance on the enemy he used to punish them by the end of chapter 3.
My conclusion? Do not bypass lamenting, even selfish lamenting because it is often the process we go through to bring our hearts into glad submission to the Lord and the hope of forgiveness through repentance and faith.
Giving your cheek to the smiter is a clear expression of faith in the Lord. It says I deserve this and more but I will wait upon my Savior because I’m banking my life on the Lord’s steadfast love and mercy.
This language of giving your cheek to the smiter shows up again in Isaiah 50:4-9 which I believe is describing the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53. Jesus is the only one who continued to offer his face like a flint in perfect obedience to the Father. He obeyed to the point of death even death on a cross. Therefore this is what that obedience accomplished:
Hebrews 5:9-10 And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.
You can be made right with God through repentance and faith in Christ alone. Will you have him?
The Lord’s Day Sermon Manuscript for October 1, 2023
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The Word Is Not Imprisoned 