2-13-11 Sorrell AM The Mechanics of Repentance

The Mechanics of Repentance

Text: Acts 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

I.          First Reaction when man sins e.g. A Child who gets into Mom’s lipstick

A.        Cover It

B.        Try to avoid the one we disobeyed

C.        Minimize our part in it

II.        They got it from us and we got it from our parents

A.        Cover your sin and

Genesis 3:7-13 ⁷And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

B.        Hide from God, the only One who can fix it

⁸And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

⁹And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? ¹⁰And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

C.        Minimize your part in it

¹¹And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? ¹²And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. ¹³And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

III.       Sooner or later the Child

A.        Her fix is not working

B.        It was all her fault

B.        She can’t get it fixed until she goes to Momma

IV.       These are difficult truths to embrace

A.        Admitting our failure

B.        Admitting our helplessness to fix it

C.        Facing the unknown – How will Momma react

D.        Hurting the one we love with the Truth of our actions

V.        What quickens our repentance

Luke 15:11-19 And he said, A certain man had two sons: ¹²And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. ¹³And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. ¹⁴And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. ¹⁵And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. ¹⁶And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. ¹⁷And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! ¹⁸I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, ¹⁹And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.

***When the consequences of not dealing with our sin becomes more grievous than the process of dealing with it

VI.       For the saved

VII.     For the Lost