Leviticus chapter 26, verses 40 through 46. This is the word of the Lord. But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers and their treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me, so that I walked contrary to them, and brought them into the land of their enemies. If then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac, and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. But the land shall be abandoned by them and enjoy its sabbaths, while it lies desolate without them. And they shall make amends for their iniquity, because they spurned my rules and their soul abhorred my statutes. Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not spurn them, neither will I abhor them so as to destroy them utterly. and break my covenant with them, for I am the Lord their God. But I will for their sake remember the covenant with their forefathers, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God. I am the Lord. These are the statutes and rules and laws that the Lord made between himself and the people of Israel through Moses on Mount Sinai. This is the word of the Lord. In Leviticus chapter 26, we read of the blessings and the curses of the covenant. Blessings for obedience, curses for disobedience. In Leviticus chapter 26, we have seen the necessity of Christ's obedience for us. And we have also seen the necessity of our obedience in Christ. The obedience of Christ was necessary for the accomplishment of our salvation. And our obedience in Christ is a necessary consequence of our salvation. A necessary consequence of our union with Christ. a necessary consequence of our being conformed to His image. In Leviticus chapter 26, we have seen the necessity of Christ's suffering for us. And last Lord's Day, we also saw the necessity of our suffering in Christ. The suffering of Christ was necessary for the accomplishment of our salvation. And our suffering in Christ is a necessary consequence of our salvation, a necessary consequence of our union with Christ, a necessary consequence of our being conformed to his image, to his likeness, in his suffering and in his glory, in his death and in his resurrection. And now as we reach the end of Leviticus chapter 26, we see the necessity of repentance. But we see not only the necessity of our repentance in Christ, we also see the necessity of Christ's repentance for us. We see not only the necessity of repentance and our receiving the blessings of salvation in Christ, But we also see the necessity of repentance and the accomplishment of our salvation by Christ. Now we need to take care here. For it may sound strange to speak of Christ's repentance. And in speaking in this way, in speaking of Christ's repentance for us, we are not suggesting that Christ ever needed to repent of his own sin. He was without sin. He was without sin. But that is exactly why he was able to bear our sins. That is why He was able to become sin for us and for our salvation. And so before we consider the necessity of our repentance in Christ, this morning we want to consider the necessity of Christ's repentance for us. For our own repentance is a gift given to us by him. Our own repentance is inadequate, imperfect, incomplete. But in Christ, we have a perfect repentance. In Christ we have a complete repentance. Our own repentance is a gift given to us by Him, and He is able to give it to us because of what He has done for us. So what then is this repentance that was necessary for our salvation? In Leviticus chapter 26, verse 39, the Lord says that the people shall rot away because of their iniquity. That was the consequence of their sin. That was the curse for their sin. But in verse 40, we hear the announcement of hope Verse 40 announces that there is hope beyond the curse. The Velikis chapter 26, verse 40, but if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers that they committed against me, then I will remember my covenant. In verse 40, The Lord promises to be gracious to His people if they repent. And this repentance begins with a confession of their sins and the sins of their fathers. Repentance begins with confession of sin. Repentance begins with the acknowledgement of an offense committed against the Lord. But that is not the end of repentance. It is not the end of repentance in Leviticus chapter 26. For what do we read in verse 41? Not only if they confess their sins and the sins of their fathers, But if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled, then I will remember my covenant." If their heart is humbled, one could acknowledge that one has sinned against God, that one has committed an offense against God, but then boast in pride for having challenged God. That is not true repentance. That is not complete repentance. True repentance requires not only confession of sin to God, but a humbled heart before God. One cannot truly repent without a truly humble heart. But even this is not the end of repentance. It is not the end of repentance in Leviticus chapter 26. It is not the end of the repentance required by Leviticus chapter 26. And we see that end in the second half of verse 41. If they make amends for their iniquity, then I will remember my covenant that I might be their God. Here is the end of repentance. Here is the end of the repentance required, the making of amends. to make amends for iniquity. Not only is a confession of sin required, not only is a humbled heart required, but also required is the making of amends, to make amends for iniquity. What does that mean? What does it mean to make amends for iniquity? To make amends for sin? It means to pay for iniquity. It means to pay for sin. The repentance required in Leviticus chapter 26 for the sins of God's people requires not only the confession of sin and a humbled heart on account of sin, but also payment for sin. The making of amends for sin. Now we have seen such an act of repentance before in Leviticus. We have seen such an act of repentance before in Leviticus, one that includes confession of sin, one that includes being humbled over sin, and one that includes the making of payment for sin. Where have we seen that before? We've seen it in the middle of Leviticus. at the climax of Leviticus. In Leviticus chapter 16, on the Day of Atonement. The Day of Atonement. It was a day of affliction. A day of humbling. A day of being humbled. And on the day of atonement, Leviticus chapter 16 verse 21, what did the high priest do? But he confessed all the iniquities of the people of Israel and all their transgressions, all their sins. The high priest confessed the sins of the people for the people. Then the high priest made amends for those sins. He made payment for those sins. He made payment for those sins through sacrifice. The repentance of Leviticus chapter 26 It is the repentance of Leviticus chapter 16. The repentance required for atonement. The confession of sin. The being humbled on account of sin. The payment for sin. On the day of atonement, the payment of sin required one goat to suffer death. and another to suffer desolation. The goat who bore the sins of the people, he was driven out into the desolate places. He was cast away from the dwelling place of God into the wilderness. And that is also how in Leviticus chapter 26, The land paid for its Sabbaths that were not observed by the people. Leviticus chapter 26, that is how the land paid for the Sabbaths that had been profaned by the people. Leviticus chapter 26, verse 34. Then the land shall enjoy its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate. That word translated as enjoy in verse 34, it is the same word translated in verse 41 as make amends. The land shall enjoy its Sabbaths The land shall make amends for its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate. The land shall pay for its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate. And so there again we see that as in Leviticus chapter 16, as on the day of atonement, the making of amends for sin. The payment for sin, it requires desolation. It requires being removed from God's presence. Leviticus chapter 26, It ends with the requirement of a true and perfect act of repentance. The requirement of a true and perfect act of repentance for the accomplishment of salvation. This requirement was part of the statutes, rules, and laws, verse 46, that the Lord made between himself and the people of Israel. And so as Leviticus chapter 26 ends by looking into the future, it ends with the need for a truly penitent Israel. It ends with the necessity of a truly repentant people. The necessity A true and complete act of repentance. And this need becomes all the more real. This need becomes all the more evident after the temple is destroyed. After the people are exiled from the land on account of their sin. And when that happens, the search begins. The search for a truly repentant Israel begins. The search for a true and perfect act of repentance begins. And we seem to find it At the end of the Old Testament, we seem to find it in Nehemiah. The book of Nehemiah, it begins, Nehemiah chapter one, verse six, with Nehemiah confessing the sins of the people of Israel. Let your ear be attentive and your eyes be open to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel, your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you, even I and my father's house. Nehemiah begins with Nehemiah confessing the sins of God's people. Their own sins and the sins of their fathers. Nehemiah begins with the hope of the fulfillment of Leviticus chapter 26. But how does Nehemiah end? It does not end with a true and perfect act of repentance, but rather it ends with an act of faithlessness on the part of Israel. Nehemiah ends with an act of faithlessness, with Israel again profaning the Sabbath day. The very cause for exile in Leviticus chapter 26. It is repeated again at the end of Nehemiah. And so we read in Nehemiah chapter 13 verse 17, we read of Nehemiah confronting the people. Then I confronted the nobles of Judah and said to them, what is this evil thing that you are doing profaning the Sabbath day? Did not your fathers act in this way? And did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Now you are bringing more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath. Nehemiah begins with the hope of the fulfillment of Leviticus chapter 26. The fulfillment of this perfect Complete repentance required for the salvation and blessing of God's people. But it ends instead with the people incurring more wrath on account of their sin. And so the Old Testament ends with this repentance unfulfilled. and the need for a truly penitent Israel remains. The Old Testament ends with this repentance having gone unfulfilled. And so how should we expect the New Testament to begin? The search for this true act of repentance. And how does the New Testament begin? At the ministry of John the Baptist. And a call to what? A call to repentance, as John prepared the way of the Lord. And what was the baptism of John called? Mark chapter one, verse four. A baptism of repentance. John prepared the way of the Lord with a baptism of repentance. But when the Lord comes, something strange happens. Matthew chapter three, verse 13. Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be baptized by him. And John tries to prevent him, saying, I need to be baptized by you. And do you come to me? But what does Jesus say? Let it be so now. For thus it is fitting to fulfill all righteousness. Why did Jesus, the Lord, submit himself to a baptism of repentance? To fulfill all righteousness? To fulfill the requirement of Leviticus chapter 26? to offer the repentance required for the salvation of his people. And being baptized with a baptism of repentance, Jesus identified himself with his people, and he took upon himself the sins of his people. And so what happens after his baptism? He is led into the wilderness. He is driven out into the desolate places. And being baptized with a baptism of repentance, Jesus identified himself with his people And he took upon himself the sins of his people that he might offer to God a perfect act of repentance for the salvation of his people. As our great high priest, he has confessed our sins to the Lord. And on account of our sin, he has humbled himself before the Lord. And to make amends for our sins, he offered himself to the Lord. For our sake, he made him to be Sen, who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. In Christ, in Jesus, we find at last a truly penitent Israel, a perfectly repentant son. This was the repentance of Christ for you. you have a perfect repentance in him. If you wonder, is my repentance good enough? The answer is no. But do not despair. In Christ, you have a perfect repentance. And so in Christ, your repentance is perfect. This was the repentance of Christ for you. And so he is able to give to you the gift of repentance. He is able to give to you the grace of repentance. And you are now able to repent in him. And God is able to accept your repentance in him. This is why even your repentance is to the praise of His glory and grace. So repent and give Him the praise. Amen. Let us pray.