Self-Examination and Repentance, An Ongoing Process

Well, brethren, this is a very exciting day because not only is it the Sabbath day, which makes it a very special day, we have the extra special joy of a baptism that will take place today after services. We're going to wrap up probably about a half hour after services and head over to the Frickies' home, and we're going to witness Sally Conway solidify her covenant with God through that ceremony of baptism. And again, there are certain things as a pastor that I get to do that are particularly gratifying and fulfilling. Other things, maybe not so much, but necessary anyway.

But the fact is baptism is one of those things that really, for me, ranks at the top of joy, of things that I have the opportunity to share in with that individual. So we're looking forward to that very much. As a result, this week my mind has been geared towards baptism and elements surrounding that, and I would say probably more so here on Thursday as I popped the back hatch of the car and I slid that portable six-foot galvanized tank into the back of the car. It looked like it belonged out in Crystal's garden beds, actually, as if you've been to Crystal's place. So the flowers in the gardens are growing in the galvanized tanks, but a few on the circuit have experienced the tank, and I think it's pretty cool. It just slid right into the back, right against the back of the front seat, and I could just close that rear hatch. So it was along for the ride.

As Darla and I were heading down the road today, I glanced into the rearview mirror, and here's this tank right over my ear there, and I said, we're on a tour! It felt like a baptism tour.

So again, a very wonderful and a joyful event. So I'm thinking this week on the concepts of baptism and a run-up to that, and one of the specific points of study that I go through, and a big portion of the counseling for baptism is a discussion on the topic of repentance.

You know, in the run-up to that time, there's quite a bit of self-examination that goes on and repentance, and brethren, a repentant heart is absolutely critical to the process of baptism, because God sees the heart. We understand. As told Samuel, he's out to go anoint the next king, and he sees the sons of Jesse, and it's like, not this one, not this one. You know, God doesn't see as man sees. Man looks on the outward appearance. God sees the heart, and he knows the heart.

So a repentant heart coming into that process of baptism is critical, and in fact, one of the questions right up front is, have you repented of your sins? Okay, that's part of the baptism ceremony, and assuming the individual responds positively, then you move forward with that process.

Now, running right alongside that, and my thoughts this week on repentance and baptism have been thoughts pertaining to the upcoming holy days as well. We're fast approaching the Passover and the Days of 11 Bread, just a little over five weeks away now, and as I thought about baptism and I thought about the holy days, and honestly I was kind of tugging back and forth, trying to decide what direction do I want to go, I realized actually the fundamental principle that I was thinking about for both topics is the same, and that is self-examination and repentance.

Breadland repentance isn't just a one-time event in the life of a Christian. It is true, it is something that we do as we come up to baptism, okay, but it doesn't stop there. It must not stop there. Indeed, what the holy days show us is they come around year after year, is that in fact this is a regular cycle to a Christian's life. Self-examination, measuring ourself against the standards that God has set for us to measure ourselves against, and where we fall short, then again it's followed with repentance. And I think sometimes when we hear the word repentance we maybe kind of tense up a little bit, because it's like, all right, it's time for some self-flogging and some, you know, just beat yourself up. That's not the point at all.

Actually, repentance is a blessing. The Bible describes it as a gift that God gives to us, like when we can see, ah, I need to change this. The blessing comes in, I was going this way, away from God in this aspect of my life, but now I've turned and I'm moving towards him, and that relationship, then, it's a blessing. So the outcome, even though maybe the trail there might be a little hard to plow along the way, the outcome, the result of repentance, is very much a blessing, because we move from where we are going ever closer to being like God the Father and Jesus Christ. And so when you evaluate the start of the Holy Day season, you can't help but notice that God has built a mechanism of preparation into those days, just like baptism. You're preparing as you walk up to that. It is the same as well for the Passover and the Days of 11 bread, the start of this Holy Day season. God's built in a mechanism of preparation where self-examination and repentance is part of that ongoing process. And there's a reason we don't keep these days just once. Like you're baptized in the first year, you keep the Holy Days and you never do them again. God brings us around year after year for these wonderful lessons that He has us to learn, and the opportunity is for growth. As it pertains to the Passover, the Apostle Paul admonishes us in 1 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 28, he said, let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. And so self-examination is a part of the run-up to the Passover, you know, considering the sacrifice that was made, the life that was laid down for us, and what is our response? You know, how do we respond to so great a sacrifice? Well, it should be to be in alignment with God. So, taking that service, we want to come up to it in a very reflective manner.

So, self-examination is a part of that process, but you know, it doesn't stop with the Passover, does it? So, we follow on the heels of the Passover with the days of unleavened bread.

And what do those days require of us? I'll take some audience participation. What is required of us in the run-up to the days of unleavened bread? What do we do every year? Right, we put the leavening out, right? That's a physical activity we do. We look around our house for, you know, the cookies, the bread, the various things that contained leavening. As I think of our home, as Mike Eimes would say, it's a first world problem. So, the first world problem that many of us have is we have two refrigerators in our house, and we have a chest freezer, and we have a pantry, and we have multiple cupboards. So, this is a little more tough than maybe Israel in the wilderness. You toss the crust out and shake out the tent, and you're on your way. I mean, this is a little more involved, again, first world circumstance, I suppose, but we go through those things, and whatever is leavened that we find in our cabinets, it represents sin during those days of leavened bread. We put it out before it even starts. Okay, and what is the principle we're focusing on as we remove the leavening? Removing sin. Removing sin from ourselves. Right? It's self-examination, isn't it? And it is, to a degree, if we respond appropriately to what we see, repentance. So, the title for today's message is Self-Examination and Repentance, an Ongoing Process. Again, I'm combining these thoughts I had in my head this week. Baptism and the Holy Days, and the fact is it's not a one-shot deal, and you're done. God has given us opportunity throughout our lives to continually to grow more and more in His likeness. So, as you're seeking out the leavening to remove from your house, it reminds us that although we've come into a covenant relationship with God, through baptism there's still things we're battling to overcome. Right?

There's still things we need to work out in our own nature with our own relationship with God.

And we understand, just like you throw the cabinet open and you read the ingredients, you go, aha!

We understand there's still places in our own life that we say, sin remains, and I need to do what it is I can to purge it out.

So, as we come up to the run-up of these holy days, brethren, I encourage you to open up the cabinet doors on different parts of your life, to peer inside, to examine, to see what's there. And if there's things that I'm still carrying around with me that are a part of my carnal nature, then the lesson we're learning through this physical process is to put it out and to walk into the days of unleavened bread, not now deciding to put out the leavening. No, you're unleavened when you walk into the days of unleavened bread. That's the principle. So, we've come through the Passover, but in the run-up, we are making the preparations to, as best as we can, be clean before God and say, what is it that I still need to overcome? Preparing for the Passover in the days of unleavened bread reminds us that repentance is an ongoing process, and it shows that repentance is foundational. It's a foundational element to our salvation. Right? The Holy Days begin with repentance, and then we walk through the cycle of that year, and it ends with salvation, right? Each in their own order, but salvation is the ultimate result of this Holy Day cycle. And so, repentance then is the foundational element. Let's go to 2 Peter chapter 3 today as we begin. 2 Peter chapter 3, as we understand that, you know, it is God's plan and desire to give us every reasonable opportunity to align ourselves with His will and His purpose, and to see who it is that we are inside, and to align ourselves with the character of God in Christ. 2 Peter chapter 3 and verse 9.

Here, Peter says, the Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but He's long suffering towards us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. You know, God's made certain promises to mankind, salvation, being a big part of that. So He's built in a means and a mechanism, and He's built in a process by which, you know what, people might say, why is God taking so long? Well, God will take as long as God needs to take to accomplish what God is accomplishing. And we can be grateful that He is long suffering towards us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. I thank God that He is patient with me, well beyond what I deserve. And He is with all of us. But we also have to understand there's limits to that patience. It exists because He wants mankind to come to repentance and receive salvation, but He also wants us to understand on the flip side that there is a day of judgment coming in which the ungodly will be dealt with, actually, in His righteous mercy. So although we've been through this many times, at least many of us have, some this is their first, right? It'll be their first Passover in Days of Unleavened Bread.

For some others it's their fifth. For others it's their 55th, okay? Some of us have been at this for a very long time. We're still reminded that we fall short in one way or another. We still stumble in our adherence to God's ways, and so seeking the leavening, again, as we run up to these days and putting it out, serves as an important annual reminder for us. And it reminds me, Paul Moody, you still have work to do in your life. Hopefully it's different than last year and year before.

Maybe it's a continuation. I hope it's not the exact same thing over and over and over. You've just not made progress here. I pray not, but the point is it reminds me through this process, here's something in this cabinet, here's something in this cabinet, I still have work to do in various aspects of my life to come in alignment with who God is, and God is patiently allowing me the opportunity to do so. So that's the message. And all through the Bible repentance is the message.

It's the message that God sent through the prophets to Israel, repent, return to me. It's the message that God sent through John the Baptist, who was preparing the way of the ministry of Jesus Christ. John taught a message of repentance, and more than just teach, he followed it up with a baptism of repentance. And again, that was to soften people's hearts to prepare them for Jesus Christ who would come, and actually be the ultimate fulfillment of what all of that pointed to.

But again, repentance was the model of preparation all along, and it was the foundation of Jesus' ministry as well. Let's go to Mark chapter one. Mark chapter one, again, Jesus' ministry would be the things that he taught. But he came to reveal how he came to bring people along. In Mark chapter one, and beginning in verse 14, it says, now after John was put in prison, okay, so John now has been removed from the ability to conduct his ministry, Jesus Christ has stepped into the scene. When John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and he's saying the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel. So he taught repentance as the foundational portion of his message. He says the kingdom is coming, and you can be a part of it.

You want to be a part of it, he says. So repent. Turn from your ways. Believe in the gospel.

And that will form the foundation of essentially everything that he taught.

By definition, repentance means a change in direction. Okay, it's like I was walking this way, merrily on my way, full stride, and suddenly I realized I'm going in the wrong direction, and God is that way, and I made a U-turn, and now I'm heading towards him. That's literally what repentance means. It's a turning. It's a turning of direction.

Repentance involves multi-stages, though. It involves seeing our sins, and that's where we come back to self-examination. We have to take an honest look at ourselves. Who am I truly?

You know, open those cabinet doors in various aspects of our life. We examine ourself. That's where it begins. Then when we acknowledge these things, it moves then to confessing them to God, asking for his forgiveness, and then we graduate to as well turning. Actually, these things are happening together, but U-turn, that's the essential part of the process, actually. It's not just, oh, I see I have a sin. You know, we can all see what we do. Maybe not everything. We need God to show us things, but I think some of the most glaring things we see. You know, I know what I need to work on in certain aspects, and I assume you do as well. We see these things. We come to God with these things, but the actual turning, the actual taking it a different direction, you know, that's the hardest part of all, I would say. That's the hardest part of all, but that is truly what repentance is. So for me, a short, easy definition for repentance is in these stages is seeing, confessing, and turning. That's a three-step process. Seeing, confessing, and turning.

And for us, that does begin with our baptism, but by no means ends there. We can find all throughout the New Testament writings that self-examination and repentance is an ongoing expectation of God's people for as long as they live this life. 1 John chapter 1 verse 5. John says, This is the message which we have heard from him and declare to you that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

And we can be thankful for that. God is pure in all that he is. He is pure righteousness. Verse 6, if we say we have fellowship with him and we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, I have to say it's good. I was baptized. Wash clean. And as said done, the book is closed.

Well, hang on. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

This is pretty strong. But understand who's John writing to? John's writing to the church. John's writing to people who have already been converted, gone through the baptism process, received the Holy Spirit of God. And he says, if you say you have no sin, you're calling God a liar.

Okay, that's pretty strong. And you're deceiving yourself, and he says the truth of God is not in you. If you say, I'm clean, I'm good, he says go and look again. And this is why we must walk through this examination process each and every year, and why we must focus on self, right? That was the call prior to the Passover, let a man, let a woman examine themselves at this time of the year. It's not our spouse that we examine. It's not our neighbor that we examine. It's not our friend, and it's not even our enemies. We are looking towards ourselves in this focus, because you see, Paul Moody still needs to de-leaven certain aspects of his life. Because the last time I looked, it's the stature of the fullness of Christ. I'm not there. Actually, I'm quite a bit farther from there than I would like to be, but this is a process, and he is the goal. But I think if we ever said, here he is, here's what he looks like, I'm there, I think the answer would be, you might want to go back and work on that pride issue just a little bit. Okay, so this is an ongoing process in our life. So this isn't a message of, you can sin with impunity, you're under grace. This is a message of God's desire to forgive you and to release you from the death penalty through the grace that he extends to you, okay? But you still have to do your part. See, confess, and turn.

And that's an ongoing process for us, brethren, for as long as we live our lives.

We need God's help in that. We need God's help in that. I need his help for me to change from who I am into what he wants me to be. We all need that help. And it started, though, with this foundation, the repentant heart, so that I could be baptized. So that my sins could be washed away. The death penalty that was on me could be removed through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Sins can be forgiven, God's Holy Spirit could be given, but it didn't end there for me. It's simply the place where we all start. It is from there now I am enabled to move forward to become in the image of God and Christ, making that real progress he wants us to make. Because, you see, he gives us his Spirit.

But you have to walk through the process. Baptism isn't the finish line. Baptism is the starting point of our ability to truly turn and live. How many times in the Old Testament did it say, you know, what was God's desire for Israel? That you would turn and live. Right? That's repentance. Turn. And the result is life. Okay? But the equipment to do that, the spiritual tools we need, we need that penalty lifted off of us because you're dead in your sins from day one.

And if you sin on Sunday, no perfect lawkeeping Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday is going to wipe away the penalty of death. Only the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. All right? But we have to carry forward as obedient children of God in this process. And the forgiveness, the mercy, the Spirit of God give us the tools we need in order to carry forward with that.

So pray for that help. Pray for God's guidance and pray for his Spirit.

So what is, then, the spiritual leavening that each of us need to be looking out for in our lives?

We know what it is, usually, in our pantry, right? But sometimes there are surprises.

What is it in our lives? Romans chapter 7. You know, what defines what it is we need to put out?

What it is we need to put out. Romans chapter 7 and verse 7.

Romans chapter 7 verse 7, what shall we say, then, is the law sin? Well, certainly not, Paul says.

Certainly not. On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law, for I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, you shall not covet. Right? Stuart gave us a sermon a couple weeks ago on the 10th commandment, you shall not covet. Clearly defined in the law, right? So what we come to understand is the law is the measure of sin. You want to know what sin is?

How does this measure up against the law of God? And to know the law of God, then it helps to define for us what is sin and what it's not. And it helps us to ask, am I living up to the standard of how God wants me to live? And Paul here says, I would not have known sin except through the law. And John says in 1 John 3 verse 4, sin is lawlessness. And so understand the law is still the standard by which we live, by which we judge ourselves in comparison of how am I doing? God says, here's a framework to live by. And it's not like that old burdensome, tiresome, weighty law washed away. What was set aside through the sacrifice of Christ was the penalty of death. The law that said you must die for sin. That has been set aside through that sacrifice. But the law itself has not.

And we live according to that standard. So the need for repentance comes when we examine our lives, and we come to the understanding that some element of it doesn't line up with the law of God.

But here's how we should look at the law of God, and I think James put it beautifully. It is the perfect law of liberty. Right? It's not set free from the law. It is freedom in the law.

You know, if God's commandment says, you shall not commit adultery, and I keep it, is that going to be a blessing to my marriage? Is that going to be freedom to my marriage? It is. It's the perfect law that sets us free when we live it, and we line our lives up according to it. The times that we need to turn is when we look at that standard and recognize, I'm going the wrong way. I need to turn, and I need to live. It's amazing how many times we can find certain things if we're willing to look for it. Have you ever read the ingredients list on a product just before the days of an leavened bread and discovered it contained leavening, and you thought, wow! Who'd ever thought?

You know? And by the way, I think this has been in there the last 20 years I've been keeping the days of an leavened bread, and I just happened to read the label this year because I, you know, nothing better to do. I don't know. I just always thought it was clean, and I never looked there.

It took us a few years to discover that airborne had leavening in it, you know, baking soda, but you've got to make it fizz somehow, I guess. I don't know how that process works, but okay. Well, I took that during the days on leavened bread on more than one occasion, but now it goes out, and our Costco purchase is timed with, you know, let's not try to throw out three bottles of that because it's expensive stuff.

Bottled water? I've started looking at bottled water. You know, if you pick up a bottle of bottled water, some of them say water, maybe filtered water if you get a long ingredients list, right, but some of them will say filtered water, sodium bicarbonate for freshness. For freshness. And you say, well, you know, you're not going to cook with that, are you?

I'm certainly not going to want to drink it during the days on leavened bread. The instruction is for seven days, no leaven shall be found within your houses, right? So put that out. I actually discovered a few years ago, on the last day of unleavened bread, that the water under the lectern, not here, Spokane, the water under the lectern, filtered water, sodium bicarbonate. So everyone who spoke that year for the days of unleavened bread, if they got thirsty, they got to, you know, you learn these things as you go along.

And it's like, wow, who'd have thought? Certain products can surprise us because we never thought of looking there, and it's an important lesson for our spiritual lives as well. And so I would say, take time between now and the holy days to open up the cupboards of your life and to examine closely what's in there, and read the ingredient labels on the character of your life.

What's my character consist of? Am I still dealing with anger issues? Well, no, I think I got the lid on that. Except behind this cabinet door, that's the one that says, walk out of the grocery store and you see the shopping cart on the side of the door of your car, right? Whatever it is, whatever it is, you know, we have things that are our button issues, I suppose.

Impatience, greed, lust, selfishness, the Bible lists so many of these things. Unforgiving, unthankful, unloving, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, fill in the blank, whatever it might be. There's things we're searching the cabinets of our life for, and you know, we may be good here, but maybe it's way back in the cupboard over here, and you know, in a certain packaging that we would never think there's even a reason to read the label until one day there is.

This is all a part of the ongoing self-examination and repentance process and asking ourselves, are there ingredients of my carnal nature that are still left, that have not yet purged from my life? And when we find them, we need to toss them. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 17. Once again, the apostle Paul writing Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 17. Paul says, "'This I say therefore, brethren, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk in the futility of their mind.'" Understand the Gentiles in this case, you know, by general definition, they're these nations outside of Israel, but God began calling them in.

But as a national culture, they didn't walk as Israel and Judah did, so they're a likeness for essentially those who God has not called. They're not a part of the household of faith, and they live according to their own desires, Paul said, being taken wherever that desire takes them. Paul says, don't be like them. Don't order your life in that way, because it's futility that takes you away from God, not towards Him. Verse 18, it says, "...having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart, who being past feeling have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness, but you have not so learned Christ." Who's he talking to?

He's talking to the church. He says, but you haven't learned these kind of things in Jesus Christ. This is a different calling, a different way of life than how the Gentiles walking according to their the lust of the flesh. We've been called to a different way of life, which is the standard set by Jesus Christ. And day after day, we're called to reach after that high mark for ourselves and to evaluate ourselves against that standard. Verse 21, it says, if indeed you have heard him and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus, that you put off concerning your former conduct the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lust and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, that you put on the new man which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness.

Therefore, putting away, right, this is what we do when we find leavening, and for the days of 11 bread, put it away, toss it out, remove it from your life. Therefore, putting away lying, let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Who's he talking to? He's talking to the church, right? Still an ongoing process. Be angry and do not sin, do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil.

Let him who stole still no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give to him who has need.

Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Again, these are baptized and converted members with God's Spirit. That he says, you need to be putting these things out of your life. Verse 31, let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God and Christ forgave you. So we live under this incredible mercy from God. We should extend in a godly manner that which has been extended to us. And these are the guidelines, though, by which we examine ourselves.

Again, not our neighbor, not our spouse. We were singing the opening songs, and I leaned over to the Darla. I said, my sermon's about self-examination. I forgot to put a belt on today.

So, you know, usually she's like, how do I look? You're walking out the door, and you're like, does this outfit match? Does the back of my hair look okay? So I probably, I think I spent more time examining her than myself. Examine yourself from time to time, you know. Keep your pants up, put your belt on. This is, you know, the point to me is we can miss something glaring in our own life if we're focused on what's glaring maybe in somebody else's. It's self-examination.

And as we put the living out of our homes this year, brethren, don't become consumed with the physical activity and so consumed with it that you neglect the spiritual application of the process. Okay, this is what I'm trying to tie in. We're gonna, we're gonna do 11 of our homes in the upcoming weeks, and in our house it's about time to start saying, oh, I found this in the pantry. We have a section on our countertop. It's like, if you're gonna eat something in the next two weeks, eat that, you know. And what's left is gonna get tossed out. But, you know, we can have a tendency sometimes to get off-kilter in our cleaning methods as well. Some people, this is a deep spring cleaning. Well, if you want to do that great, that's not the biblical mandate for the days of the leavened bread. It's put the leaven out of your home. You know, it's not get down with a toothbrush at the floorboards and scrub all around. So, you know, you can make a determination what the scale is on that in your home. The principle is put the leavening out, but I want us to remember the meaning is spiritual. The main meaning. The physical points to the spiritual. So don't become so consumed with the physical to the point that you're too exhausted to even reflect on the spiritual. If you have bad health and you can barely get out of bed, I would say take the loaf of bread out of your cupboard and the crackers off the shelf and throw them in the garbage can and anything else you're aware of that has leavening and beyond your way. But don't miss the lesson. More than anything, we want to be ready for these days spiritually. And let me say to the men, because I'm one, so I'm talking to me, this is not just ladies work, right? And I hope we share in those things. Maybe you divide it up in your household.

Maybe someone cleans the kitchen and somebody does the vehicles and the kids do their rooms.

You know, however we're going to do this, but this needs to be a spiritual lesson for us all, and we need to work together in this D. Leavening process.

2 Corinthians chapter 13 gives us additional insight into what we should be looking for in this examination.

And we're talking spiritual examination.

2 Corinthians chapter 13, and picking up here in verse 5, Paul says, examine yourselves. Okay, so we know who the focus is on. Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourself that Jesus Christ is in you, unless indeed you are disqualified? So we examine ourselves for evidence, right? There's got to be evidence. Evidence that says, I'm in the faith. Evidence that says, I have God's Spirit. I'm living according to these words. And he even says, you know, put yourself to the test. Is there spiritual fruit that's being born in my life? Do I just say that I'm in the faith, or do my words and actions actually reflect that reality so that those around us could say, there's a brother, there's a sister in the faith. Examining ourselves as to whether we're in the faith also includes our relationships with God and with one another. We examine how are those doing, and are there any stumbling blocks or deficiencies to those relationships? Because reconciliation through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is the point of the Passover, right? He says, you are one bread and one body as you take of that symbol together. So Paul says, test yourselves for these things. And then he gives the standard by which we're to compare what we find, and that's Jesus Christ. Galatians chapter 2 verse 20.

Galatians chapter 2 and verse 20.

Paul says, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, in the life which I now live in the flesh. I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. So at our baptism, that's what symbolizes we're crucified with Christ.

We go down into a watery grave. It's full immersion, and that water closes over the top of us, and it's symbolic of being dead. The old man, the carnal man, dead in the grave, but you know, the minister doesn't hold you under there until the bubble stopped, right? You come back up.

There's more symbolism with this. You come back up out of that water, symbolizing resurrection to newness of life, life in the likeness of Jesus Christ. That's the point. I've been crucified with Christ, but it's no longer I who live. He lives in me. We have to examine ourselves and say, is he truly there? Am I truly letting him show forth through my life?

The examination process we go through each year includes asking the question, you know, does my life look like Jesus Christ? And I have to admit, well, year after year after year, the assessment and the determination I come to at the end is not quite. For me, not quite, which means I still have work to do. And that's the test. That's the process. And the areas that we don't measure up, we need to respond through repentance because, again, the admonition, turn and live, indeed, is what this whole holy day cycle is about. Turn and live.

We need to ask God for his help in doing that. We need to seek his guidance. We need to seek the wisdom he provides through his Holy Spirit. God can often reveal things to us that we have difficulty seeing for ourselves because we're good at blinding ourselves, often, to the reality of our own situation. That's why maybe God gave us spouses. Spouses are good at pointing out the deficiency in the others, but hopefully they're good at strengthening as well, right? But the blessing is when we do see things and we improve on it and go the other way, God pours out that blessing in response. But, again, God sees us clearly. God sees the heart. Notice King David's example in this regard. He sought God's help in bringing to light before his own eyes what it was he needed to change, and this is a bold move. Psalm 139 in verse 23.

Psalm 139 in verse 23 in Psalm of David, and he says, Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my anxieties, and see if there's any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. That's a bold prayer. I would just ask, how comfortable are we with praying that? That we would say to God on our knees before him, God, you search me. You get the flashlight out and the magnifying glass, and you probe deep, and you know every every square inch of the thoughts and the intents of my heart. Search me, try me, see what's there, know my anxieties, and see if there's any wicked way in me. You know, that's that could be an uncomfortable prayer. I think sometimes our response, our human response, is to when we know we've done something, is to actually want to go hide from God for a time. But that's not what we're called to do. We're called to bring it to him on our knees. The blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sins. God grants forgiveness upon sincere repentance. We can't run, but see, we don't want to say either, you're okay, I'm okay, it's all okay, because we can deceive ourselves and hide from ourselves. If you say you have no sin, you deceive yourself, and the truth's not in you. So God, search me, test me, show me. That's deep.

But that's what we're called to do. And then we're called to respond. David here is expressing a true understanding of what it means to root sin out of his life. He's asking God to reveal those things to him, and then direct him to the solution. He says, lead me in the way everlasting. And we need to be willing to ask God to examine us as well. Show us what it is that we need to grow in, and then we need to be like David. We need to be willing to act on what he reveals. Because the ultimate purpose of this examination, again, is to repent and change. Turn and live. Life is always the end goal as it comes from God. Psalm 119, verse 57.

Psalm 119 and verse 57. David says, You are my portion, O Lord. I have said that I would keep your words. I would keep your words. It says, okay, God, your law is the standard, and I have said, I will keep that. He said, I entreat your favor with my whole heart, be merciful to me, according to your word. Verse 59, he said, I thought about my ways. Actually, stopped and reflected upon my ways. He says, and turned my feet to your testimonies.

Well, that's repentance, isn't it? Your word is the standard. I thought about my ways, and I turned. I turned my feet to your testimonies. In verse 60, he said, I made haste and did not delay to keep your commandments. Which means, whenever David acknowledged sin within himself, he didn't delay to change. He didn't say, well, it's okay. Fine. I'll worry about that someday. He said, I made haste and I did not delay. That must be our response to God as well. That must be the response to leavening in our life. Put it out today. Verse 97, still in Psalm 119, verse 97, David says, oh, how I love your law. It's my meditation all the day. It's what I think about. It's what I process as I'm going about my day. It directs my steps. You through your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they're ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers for your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients because I keep your precepts.

I've restrained my feet from every evil way than I may keep your word. I have not departed from your judgments, for you yourself have taught me. It says, how sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth. Through your precepts I get understanding, therefore I hate every false way. To hate every false way doesn't mean that we'll never sin.

But it means we have a heart for God. It means we have a desire to turn to Him again, and one that is repentant when we do stumble. David made a lot of mistakes during his life, but he was also called the man after God's own heart. And that's interesting to think about because we can read David's life laid out there for all of us to see David sinned big.

To take Uriah's wife, Bathsheba, to himself. Uriah was one of his mighty men, one of his fighting men. Uriah had David's back in the years in the wilderness on the run from Saul. This is someone David trusted with his life. And that's the story which shows us he's out fighting for David. This is his king, and he is loyal to his king. And while he's gone, that war David sees, and David takes his wife. That's a big sin. And then David gets her pregnant, and he tries to cover up the sin then. And when that didn't work, he has Uriah killed. Murder. Blood is on David's hands. He sinned big. He sinned big. But you know when David confronted those sins, when he came to the point that he was willing to acknowledge them, he repented big as well. And I believe that's what made him a man after God's own heart. He always desired to be right with God. He made big mistakes.

But you know, David was a passionate man, but he cried out in passion to God for forgiveness as well.

So let's conclude today in Psalm chapter 51.

Psalm chapter 51. This was written in the aftermath of David's sin with Bathsheba, and it's instructive in terms of what a repentant heart looks like and also how God responds to that in forgiveness. I'm going to read rather quickly through it, but I encourage you before Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread take time to study through Psalm 51 with more detail and with repentance and forgiveness in mind. Psalm chapter 51 verse 1. Again, to the chief musician of Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him after he had gone into Bathsheba, he says, Have mercy on me, O God, according to your loving-kindness, according to the multitude of your tendered mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. He says, For I acknowledge my transgressions. That's where it starts.

I acknowledge them. I've examined. I see them. They're here. You bring them to God. He said, And my sin is always before me, against you, and you only have I sinned and done this evil in your sight, that you may be found just when you speak and blameless when you judge. So all sin is ultimately against God. Now, the impact of that, frankly, the fallout of that is oftentimes against other people as well. But understand, when we sin, it is the righteousness of God that we are imposing in our actions. And David made a huge, huge mistake in this way. He sinned against God, but he sinned against Uriah as well. But we repent to God first and foremost. We seek to be right with God again. And I can't help but think about this story every time without considering the fact that, you know what, there's still a conversation that David and Uriah have to have.

One day, David's going to be raised up in glory. Okay, he's going to sit on the throne as king of Israel. Uriah will come up in a resurrection, and he'll face David, and he'll find out actually what happened. Because the last thing Uriah knew, he is fighting for his king on the front lines, and the troops fall back, and he dies. But he was a faithful, loyal man to David all these years, and he's going to find out what David did. That David took his wife, that David had him murdered, and he's going to have to somehow come to terms with that, and come to terms with David, who did repent and is on the throne, right, a king in Israel in that day. And I just think, you know, Uriah is going to have to be a pretty big man to let that go, to forgive David, and also to acknowledge what God can work out when God will work things out. Through David and Bathsheba came Solomon, came eventually Jesus Christ. Okay? So David's sin was a sin, but God has the ability to work out his purpose anyway. But it's just interesting to me to consider this whole process.

There's still unfinished business in this story, but David is laying himself out before God for his mercy. Verse 5, "'Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.'" Doesn't mean his mother was adulterous. It means sin is the human condition we are all born into in this world. This is what mankind has subjected themselves to. "'Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part you will make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be wider than snow. Make me hear joy and gladness, that the bones you have broken may rejoice. Hide your face from my sins. Blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me by your generous spirit.' He says, "'Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners shall be converted to you.'" He says, "'God, if you send this mercy upon me and wipe my sin away, I proclaim your name to the mountaintops. Proclaim your goodness and your glory.' Verse 14, "'Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips and my mouth shall show forth your praise. For you did not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it. You do not delight in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart. These, O God, you will not despise.'" God doesn't see as man sees. God looks on the heart, and he sees a repentant spirit, when indeed there is one there to be seen. God's forgiveness of David came from a clear understanding of the thoughts and intents of his heart. David was humble, he was contrite, and his expression of remorse over his sin, and God could see that. And you know what? That is the same God you and I worship. And he sees our heart as well. And he sees our spirit of repentance towards him.

And as such, he stands ready to extend forgiveness to those that he truly sees that heart of repentance. But to get there, we have to examine ourselves, right? That's where it starts. We have to examine ourselves honestly. We have to be willing to respond to what we find. And like David, when we find it, we respond in haste. Don't delay. Don't delay. Repentance, brethren, is not just a one-time event in the life of a Christian. It is something we do prior to our baptism, but it does not stop there. In fact, it must not stop there. Indeed, repentance is an ongoing process day after day, year after year, for as long as you and I draw breath. And it is a blessing.

Please understand that. This is designed to be a blessing because it takes us from where we are heading, and it moves us closer into the likeness of God the Father and Jesus Christ. And that is the greatest of blessings that could come from that. So let us keep these principles in mind as we prepare for the Holy Days. Once again this year, let's recognize that we still have some housework to do, right? And right alongside that, we have some heart work to do. But you know that's okay.

That's okay. It is time well spent because the time we spend reading ingredients in our cupboards and in our life ultimately end in the blessing that God desires to extend to us, children, in His likeness.