Thank you for listening to this sermon from Seven Springs Presbyterian Church. If you want to learn more about us, please find us on Facebook or visit us at sevenspringspresbyterian.com. Like I said, we'll be in Chapter 21 of First Kings. Coming to the close of the chapter, we've spent up to a couple of weeks looking at this chapter and We began by looking at the abhorrent events that Ahab did and Jezebel who murdered Naboth merely just for this vegetable garden that Ahab wanted to plant his veggie garden in. And so we saw how wicked Ahab acted breaking Lot 5 at least to the Ten Commandments if not more. So that was the first week and then last week we saw the prophet Elijah respond to Ahab's wicked deeds. He confronted him without even Elijah knowing to begin with but he went and confronted Ahab And so as we are looking at these sections in chapter 20 and 21 we are really trying to look at how Ahab responds to the prophets. That prophets will come to Ahab based on certain events of Ben-Hadad in chapter 20 and this war that happens. How he responds with that and eventually in the end he makes a covenant with Ben-Hadad. Instead of killing him, putting him to destruction like the Lord had commanded then what he does is he makes a covenant with him and instead of worshiping God and renewing his covenant with God he makes a covenant with Ben-Hadad and so instead of making Ben-Hadad his friend and so This prophet hides on the side of the road and rebukes Ahab. And then the king was vexed and sullen and he came to Samaria. So this is how his first response is. He hears this news from this first prophet and he goes vexed and sullen back to his house in Samaria. And now in chapter 21, We see the conclusion of this prophet interaction with what is his response. Now again we need to be reminded where we began this adventure all the way back in chapter 16 about Ahab the son of Omri as he began to reign, in Samaria he reigns 22 years in verse 30, and Ahab the son of Omri did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. Now this is something that we have heard before but the author underneath the inspiration of the Holy Spirit expresses the extremeness of Ahab more than all who went before him. and as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. He took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Esbaal king of the Sidonians and went and served Baal and worshipped him. He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal which he built in Samaria and Ahab made an Asherah. did more to provoke the Lord the God of Israel to anger than all the kings who were before Him." And so we saw right at the very beginning that the horrible English but perfectly summarizes His reign that He is the wickedest of the kings. He is the worst of all of them. And so God and His chosen people, the King who was chosen by God to be able to serve His chosen people. And who he commands to be able to have no other gods before him. He acts just like a pagan king in a pagan nation, but not merely just like that. What we see in verse 25 is this refrain of reminding us how wicked he is. In verse 25 of chapter 21 we see, There was none who sold himself to do more what was evil in the sight of the Lord, like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited. He acted very abominably in going after idols, as the Amorites had done, whom the Lord cast out before the people of Israel. So again, we're reminded about who Ahab is in this very opening passage here before we get to the actual response to Ahab to the prophet. And we're told two things about him in this. We're told the first thing is that he sold himself to do more evil in the sight of the Lord than any others. Again Ahab when he is compared to people is always put at the top of the list if it is the most wicked, at the bottom of the list the most good. Here he is he is put in an extreme that he sold himself to do what was evil in sight of the Lord. There was none, you put him in a separate category there is an individual category for Ahab. And Ahab chose fame and wealth in this world. He appears to this point to have obtained it. Finally, he has Naboth's vineyard, being able to put himself above the law, so he thinks. But we also are reminded about Jezebel. that we are told right at the very beginning in chapter 16 that here he married Jezebel the son of Ethbaal king of Assyria. And so here we are reminded again that here Jezebel incited him to be able to do these things. Now Jezebel is accountable for her sin and Ahab is accountable for his sin. They cannot be blamed for each other's sins. They are both accountable for their own sins. So this is no way some biblical author trying to justify Ahab and say Jezebel made me do it. But we are reminded that Jezebel is the one who really acts out a lot of these horrid tasks, killing the prophets, seeking to be able to murder Elijah, killing Naboth. This is how she acts. And so we need to be able to see this. But the Bible clearly says here that here Ahab acted abominably. It is not merely that Jezebel did but Ahab did as well. married Jezebel and so that could be a response. But here Ahab and Jezebel are both responsible. And so if Proverbs 31 was written about Jezebel, the wicked queen who shall you find who can bear her presence? She is more treacherous than the stairs of deceit, the heart of the king ensnared by her schemes. He will suffer loss, she brings him harm not good all the days of her reign. You know, she acts wickedly. Charm is deceitful and beauty is fleeting, she would say. But queen who fears not the Lord is to be despised. And so we're reminded about Ahab and what he has done, who he is, that he is wicked. He has a wicked wife. But we're also reminded here in these passages in verses 25 and 26 that Ahab was just like the Amorites. the wicked Amorites, the very wicked people that we're reminded of in Genesis chapter 15 when God makes a promise to Ahab. Abraham and tells him of the coming of promises of the blessing of a family and the blessing of land. But here he says in verse 15, As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace. You shall be buried in a good old age, and they shall come back here in the fourth generation. This is those who have gone into Egypt and taken as slaves. For the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete. And so here this wickedness, this building that God is going to finally judge them. And then once that promised land they have completed that in the Amorites then God through His conquest would wipe them out, casting them out of this promised land. And so here they are known for their sin. They are known for God's judgment specifically being cast out of the land that God has promised to Abraham. And here Ahab is compared to them. Here he is, the king of God's people of promise, in God's promised land, and they were cast out for acting abominably, and now Ahab is doing the exact same thing. That God is going to cast Ahab and his family out. So, we have this disclaimer about who Ahab is, so how does he respond? This is the interesting part. We see in verse 27 he responds to the prophet's words of Elijah of this warning rebuke in verse 27. And when Ahab heard those words, the words of Elijah, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his flesh and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly. That's quite surprising when we think about it. He hears the words of Elijah, and the immediate thing he does is not try and justify himself. He doesn't try and say, well, Jezebel did it. He doesn't say, I plead the fifth. But he tears his clothes, puts on sackcloth. He fasts. He lays in the sackcloth. He goes about dejectedly. So the question is, does he repent? That's the real question that we'll kind of focus on the rest of our night tonight. Does he repent? Great question. The answer is simple. Yes, he repents. But that's not the question at the core. I heard someone say the other day, I thought it was quite well, is that we often ask a question, but we're not asking the question we want the answer to, but you know the question that I'm asking. The example they used was, if I'm looking around a pen for a pen to be able to write something, and I turned to you and said, do you have a pen? I'm not asking if you have a pen. That's a simple, you could say, yes, I have a pen. What I'm asking is, can I borrow your pen? May I borrow your pen? And so we're asking a different question than what we actually want. So the question is not, does he repent? Yes, this is repentance. But the question is truly, is it true repentance? This is where I think it's very helpful for us to be able to turn back to other times and eras. Because often when we think about these, we don't have clear categories to be able to place things on. Does he repent? Well, what is repentance? Well, we might have a definition, but we don't have a clean understanding of how we unpack a lot of these ideas. And this is where I think the Puritans really come in help, to help us. Actually, there's a great book, Thomas Watson, in his book, The Doctrine of True Repentance, actually gives us hundreds of pages of unpacking this idea of repentance. And so you could really do a whole series on repentance. looking and tracing of what the core is and what it's understanding. But here Thomas Watson in his book describes repentance as this, a grace of God's spirit whereby a sinner is inwardly humbled and visibly reformed. Inwardly humbled and visibly reformed. This is how he defines the doctrine of true repentance. Not merely just the doctrine of repentance, the doctrine of true repentance. And I think this is really helpful because often what we actually think about is outward humility and no visibly reformation in our lives. The kid's catechism puts it this way quite simply, what is it? To repent, to be sorry for sin and to hate and forsake it because it is displeasing to God. That's a great definition. to be sorry for our sin, to hate and forsake it because it is displeasing to God. So repentance is not mere just sorrow, but the inward hate of our sin and the outward fruit of turning and forsaking it with the understanding that it's not merely with the understanding that it displeases God. We'll come back to this first time and time again, but 2 Corinthians 7, 9, and 10 says, as it is, I rejoice not because you were grieved, but you were grieved into repenting. So here we see Paul connect not merely just grief, emotional response, but repentance as different from grieving. you felt godly grief." There again He merely separates not merely just grief but there is godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret. Whereas worldly grief produces death. So here we see the Apostle Paul separate what actually leads to true repentance. Or Joel chapter 2 verse 12 to 13, Yet you know, declares the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and with mourning, and rend your hearts and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, for he relents over disaster. Ezekiel 18. for I will judge you, O house of Israel, everyone according to his ways, declares the LORD. Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin. Cast away from all your transgressions that you have committed, and make yourself a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? Or Isaiah chapter 55, Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." So Watson explains that this inward humility with this outward reform is what repentance is. But Watson actually goes further to be able to unpack, as many of the Puritans do, they put it so succinctly, so sharply at the beginning, you go, that's great, I understand it. But then they poke harder, they dig deeper, they unpack it all the more. And he goes further to be able to say, what are the true ingredients for this repentance? He states that repentance is a spiritual medicine made up of six special ingredients. It goes for sight of sin, sorrow for sin, confession of sin, shame for sin, hatred of sin, turning from sin. These six ingredients are needed for true repentance. And he actually goes through and unpacks it even more with these six. A lot of them he says, here's the eight things that make up this six key ingredients. And he unpacks it all the more and goes deeper and deeper. And then you can start to be able to see the overlap that we see in the Westminster larger catechism. What is repentance unto life? Repentance unto life is a saving grace, wrought in the heart of the sinner by the spirit and the word of God, whereby out of the sight and sense, you see his sight of sin there, not out of only of danger, we'll get into that danger thing later, but also out of the filthiness and odiousness of his sins, So the sorrow for his sins and upon the apprehension of God's mercy, the confession of sin, the shame of sin, in Christ as such are penitent. He so grieves and hates his sin, the shame and hate again, that he turns from them all to God, turning from sin, purposing and endeavoring constantly to walk with him in all the ways of new obedience. So we see all of these things that Watson says, these are the key ingredients unpacked here in this Westminster larger catechism. The sight and sense. Not because of worldly danger, but because of this filthiness and odiousness of your sins. The apprehension of God's mercy in Christ that are penitent. Grieves, hates his sin, turns from them, and endures purposely endeavoring to walk in those ways of this new obedience. Again, this is why you can look at this and go, this is such a great answer and question, that there's a whole doctrine to how it was summarized in these short, succinct catechisms that are so helpful. And again, you see, not all of those six key ingredients, I think a lot of them are merged together, but again, in that children's catechism, what does it mean to be able to repent? to be sorry, to hate and forsake your sin because it is displeasing to God. Now you don't have the big words of odiousness and heinousness for the kids to be able to try and stumble along, but you see in clear and concise fashion they sum up this doctrine of true repentance quite well. So let's look at Ahab's response again, how he responds to the prophets. In verse 27, Ahab heard these words He tore his clothes, put on sackcloth on his flesh, fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went about dejectedly." What do we see? We see repentance, right? But it's not true repentance. I think the author gives us clues for us to be able to take note of. He hears the words. He doesn't necessarily see or understand the sin. He tears his clothes. He puts sackcloth on his flesh. Fast as he lays in sackcloth, he goes about dejectedly. What do we see? That inward humility, that outward reform. Do we see a hatred of sin? Do we see a shame of sin? A sorrow of sin? A confession of sin? A turning from sin? I would say you almost see none of that in this. So again, this is where Puritans are not only helpful for us to be able to understand what true repentance is, they would also have other categories to be able to help us understand what are the other types of repentance that we see. They often would break them up, it depends on who you read, but I'm gonna use three examples here. We're gonna use natural repentance, legal repentance, and then evangelical repentance. Those three categories are the three that we're gonna use. Sometimes they'll only use two of where they merge the natural, the legal. I think there's much overlap, but I think that it's helpful for us to be able to see various forms of repentance. So let's start with natural repentance. What is natural repentance? The natural repentance is that is common to all humans. Then an individual might feel sorrow or even regret for an action. They do this because of social limitations. You know, if you put a tattoo on your face, you might regret doing that one day and there might be implications in which you feel sorrow and shame for doing that because of one foolish decision that you made. And so this might be what we would call natural repentance. It often isn't driven by the decision itself, it's often driven by the consequences of those decisions. But often what you see is that it has no relationship to God at all. Often it is because of human society and what we deem that way. Richard Baxter puts it this way, it is one thing to be troubled for sin because it troubles us or troubleth us, and another thing to be troubled for sin because it is against God. So natural repentance is that it affects me. This is a bad decision because I have to bear the punishment. So natural repentance then is only focused on self. Regret, remorse, basically because of the outcomes that we see. Doesn't lead to any change, any true action, any true repentance as we talked about, is what we see with Judas. When Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind. brought back the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders saying I have sinned by betraying innocent blood they said what is it to us see it to it yourself and throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple he departed and he went and hanged himself so we see this this remorse for his action what does Judas think solves the problem what do you think the core of his problem is He thinks his problem was the transaction of the money. That's what he thinks his sin really is. If I just give back the money, then that undoes this, what I've done. But it goes far deeper than that. He slightly bears a confession. I have sinned by betraying innocent blood. But you see, none of those real shame of sin, hatred of sin, None of it turning to how he has displeased God. And this is what I think Paul might have in mind when he speaks about this worldly grief in 2 Corinthians chapter seven as we read before. You see godly grief which turns us to repentance that leads to salvation without regret. Or you see this worldly grief and what does worldly grief produce? Death. So Judas has this worldly grief about what he has done. And so this is natural repentance, just what we see in our lives. The second category the Puritans would explain is legal repentance, legal repentance. This is where a person does, they feel sorrowful. Again, not because of that sin itself, but it's outside of their feeling of remorse inwardly. There is an external factor that makes them feel this way. And often it is, it includes this relationship towards God. So natural repentance is based basically on self, but that self in relationship to others, whereas legal repentance then focuses on not merely just how we relate to others, but God is included in this. they might understand something that they violated God's law but really what they seek to be able to do is not to be able to turn from their sin there they they want to turn from that punishment they want to turn from the effects of this rather than turning away from their sin itself again Thomas Watson's great legal repentance is not so much to turn from sin as to turn from hell What does he mean there? Well, this legal repentance is they're not really turning because it displeases God. They're turning because they don't want to suffer the consequences. They don't want to turn to God. They want to turn from hell. They don't want to get the punishment of this. It's driven by fear, self-preservation, rather than that true sense of a love of God, a chain word, a changed heart, a desire to be reconciled by Him. they hate punishment not sin itself you see this in kids all the time they'll rebel right in front of your face and you say okay now's the time your grace is up and oh they've had a swift change of heart suddenly they're obedient now is it really a change of heart that has happened well no They've gone into self-preservation mode where they're not seeking to obey, to honor their parents. They're seeking to be able to avoid the punishment. That is not true obedience. And so this is the same with legal repentance, is what we see with Pharaoh. The Pharaoh actually repented to Moses. He was actually sorry for what he had done. see this in Exodus chapter 9 that here Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron said to him this time I have sent the Lord is in the right and I and my people are in the wrong Wow if you had someone come up to you and say these words would it not blow you away that I have sent the Lord is right that I and my people are wrong Wives, if your husband said that to you. Husbands, if your wife said that to you. Wow, what an astonishing state of fact. Plead with the Lord, for there has been enough of God's thunder and hail. I will let you go and you shall stay no longer. It seems that he said all the right words. It seems that he shows this repentance, but does he repent because he has displeased God, as the children's catechism said? To feel sorry for your sin? Yeah, I think he felt sorry for your sin. Did he hate his sin? Maybe. Hate the consequences of his sin? Yes. Did he forsake his sin for a very short time? But really, it wasn't in relationship to God, it was in relationship to the punishment that God was giving to him. Or the author of Hebrews puts it in chapter 12, verse 17. For you know that afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears. This is Esau. And what we see, he felt sorrow. He had tears. He cried. But yeah, it was just merely legal. He didn't want the consequences of losing his birthright or his blessing. So then what is that third category of this evangelical repentance, as they call it, or true repentance, is where it changes. That it's not merely about self. not merely about avoiding the consequences of what God has commanded or required in his law. Evangelical repentance is moved into the inward being of the heart. And rather than being self-centered, it's God-centered. That it's nothing that we can do of our own accord, that it's through the work of the Holy Spirit changing the heart of the believer. is characterized by genuine, true sorrow for sin. Not because it offends someone in society, not because it harms you at some point, but it offends God. It dishonors His holiness. John Owen put it this way and said, Evangelical repentance is a gracious and sincere turning unto God, accompanied with hatred and dissertation of sin, that is a true sense of sinfulness, to be able to see your sin as it truly is. The nature of what they had done, not merely just the consequences, but the offense against God and His holy nature. It's that godly sorrow, not merely outward tears, but tears of the heart. Thomas Watson puts it one way and says that, you know, there's two types of tears you can cry. You can cry inward tears of the heart and outward tears. And does true repentance always have include both? He says it always includes the first. Doesn't mean it includes external tears from our eyes, but it has to include at least the heart tears of our sorrow and our grief. Again, not for the consequences, but how we have sinned against God. Not turning to God. Turning away from sin. That's exactly what repentance actually means. To be able to repent is to do a U-turn, a 180. To go one way and realize you're going in the complete wrong way and you stop and you turn around and go the other way. Head towards it in the right direction. Again Thomas Watson elaborates, this further true mourning for sin flows from the love of God and is the most humble way of acknowledging how much we have offended God. See this in Acts chapter 2 as Peter goes up and expresses and tells the gospel and what happened to Christ. What do we notice in the very beginning in verse 37? And they were, as they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, brothers, what shall we do? Now here, they're cut to the heart. It's not that they're worried about the consequences. It's not worried about how people are viewed or self-preservation. The deep inward sense of the heart Peter turns to them and says, repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Again, back to that main verse in 2 Corinthians chapter 7. As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. for godly grief produces repentance and leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. And so we see this inward nature of this inward humility and this visible reform of turning from our sin. See, if you notice that you don't start in the right spot of that true heart tears of sorrow, then we'll just go back to doing the exact same things. The shame will pass upon society. But unless we truly understand what sin is, not a mistake, not our brokenness, but true sin, turning lawlessness against God our creator, our redeemer. It has to begin with that sorrowful heart, that inward humility. For David in Psalm 51, you could study the whole Psalm to be able to understand how David, through his actions against you, Lord, have I sinned. And you alone. Think of all the other people that has wronged. Uriah is up in heaven and he says, hey, hey, he didn't mention me. You remember he got me killed. Bathsheba, all these people he'd wronged and yet he says against you. He understood the inward aspect of what sin is. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit and a broken and contrite heart. Oh God you will not despise. So then what is Ahab's response? What type of repentance is it? Does he repent? Yes. But what's the question we're truly asking? Does he truly repent? Does he repent in an evangelical repentance with a broken and contrite heart? I think it's one of the other two. Most likely natural, if not legal. What he has heard is that his house will be wiped out. And he's moved towards either self-preservation or merely just trying to avoid the consequence of what he has done. But then how do we understand the next verses? If it's merely one of those two responses, how can God then respond in the way that he does? In verses 28 and 29, we're told, And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days, but in his son's days, I will bring disaster upon his house. Well, we're told now, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that here Ahab humbles himself, not merely all these external things that he does, but he actually humbles himself before God. And does God forgive Ahab? I think that what we've got to be careful here is we're not mixing the two. Forgiveness is not the same as merely because he humbled himself. There's no denying, the Bible clearly says that Ahab humbled himself before God. But is that really, how do we understand that humility? Many people can humble themselves externally, or even for a short time, as we'll see. Because one of the things of repentance is then, how then do you live following your conviction, that visible reform, not merely the inward humility, but also the visible reform in the life. And what we have is chapter 22, which is a whole nother story. But listen to how Josiah, in 2 Kings chapter 22, verse 18 and 19, the king of Judah, who's sent to inquire to the Lord, he, thus shall you say to him, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, regarding the words that you have heard, because your heart was penitent and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard how I spoke against the place and against its inhabitants. that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before me. I have also heard you, declares the Lord. Not merely, you see the intricate differences here of how Josiah acts compared to how Ahab acts. Not merely that he humbled himself, but his heart was merely humbled. But then why does God then show mercy to Ahab? If he truly didn't repent, if it merely was a natural repentance or a legal repentance, then why does God show mercy to him? Well, that's because that's who God is. God showed mercy to Pharaoh. Even knowing what was to come, he still showed mercy to Pharaoh. This is exactly who God is. When Moses was there in the cleft of the rock, how does God reveal himself in Exodus chapter 34? The Lord passed before him and said, The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression of sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty. visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children to the third and fourth generation. That often when we think about mercy, we merely think about mercy in a salvific sense. That God's mercy is something that brings about salvation for us. But it's both mercy and grace. Mercy is not getting what you deserve. Now God shows everyone mercy. He shows mercy to all people. It's not saving grace. But it's mercy. In Matthew chapter five, we find out that here Jesus says, so that you may be sons of your father who is in heaven, he makes the sun rise on the evil and on the good. He sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brother, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? And here Jesus points out that here, where does rain fall? Rain is a sign of God's mercy towards us and yet it falls on the unjust. The sun rising over the horizon. that every time that sun rises over the horizon, we should think about His new mercies every day. And that's true, even if you're not saved. God has shown you mercy in bringing about you through that night, giving you this other day. Again, John 1 makes this clear distinction about these two types of mercy. He says, mercy is eminently and transcendentally seen as the work of redemption. Here's a great manifestation of his special mercy. But then general mercy of God is the daily and hourly visitation of the whole world. But his special mercy is reserved for his church and his people. So we see general mercy that he shows towards the whole earth. What does every sin deserve? Every sin deserves the wrath and punishment of God. Every sin deserves that right at the very moment. Yet God is slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, but by no means will clear the guilty. We should never see his slow list to anger as a sign of his saving grace. It's a chance for us to then repent. We look at how God acts out his promises, He's not slow in carrying out his promises, as some count slowness, but so that people may repent. He gives that chance, that slowness, that mercy, so that we might see his full mercy. And here God's natural essence of who he is, he is merciful. And so he acts out of mercy, is quick to show mercy. He shows mercy to even those who are not his special people. And so Ahab is shown mercy in this time and it doesn't then mean it's salvific mercy. And again, I think this is why this passage is found here in chapter 21 because then we have chapter 22 to be able to see how Ahab takes this. We who are saved. should seek God's willingness to see humility in the unregenerate and show him mercy. And how much more does God do for us? Now again, we can read this passage and we can point at Ahab and say, look at Ahab. Look at him tearing his clothes, lying around in sackcloth, walking about dejectedly. Doesn't he know how to truly repent? But isn't that our problem? Do we actually truly repent? Or do we more act like Ahab with a fear of natural repentance or legal repentance? Do we truly, in the sense of our sin and our abhorredness, do we truly get down on our knees with our weeping hearts and see how abhorrent our sin is towards God? Do we take His mercy for granted? Do we think that we deserve His grace? Yet repentance is something unique. Christ had no need to repent. Yet we do. That repentance leads us to our mediator. And so when we read passages like this, we should be understanding of this error of this false repentance, this outward repentance, but we should be driven to God's mercy. Not merely because we have general mercy, but we as true believers have special mercy. I love the song, His Mercy is More. Begins by saying, what love could remember, no wrongs we have done. Omniscient, all knowing, he counts not their sum. Thrown into the sea without bottom or shore, our sins they are many, but his mercy is more. You could go through the whole song. What riches of kindness he lavished on us, his blood was the payment, his life was the cost. We stood near the debt we could never afford, our sins they were many, his mercy is more. that here repentance should drive us to God because of his mercy. And we should be very cautious to be able to live out a sense of repentance like the Pharisees or Judas or Ahab, but have a true sense, godly grief that produces this true repentance. Thank you for listening to this sermon from Seven Springs Presbyterian Church. If you want to learn more about us, please find us on Facebook or visit us at sevenspringspresbyterian.com. Seven Springs Presbyterian Church began in 1874 and is a congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America located in Glade Spring, Virginia. Please join us for worship on Sunday at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. for His glory and His gospel.