PRINCIPLES OF REPENTANCE

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PRINCIPLES OF REPENTANCE
II CHRONICLES 29-31

(background)
Hezekiah’s story is remarkable. He was the son of wicked king Ahaz, and the daughter of Abijah. The Northern tribe of Israel had already been carried off into captivity. The tribe of Judah was left by itself. It was another 140 years until Judah would be destroyed. The last part of Chronicles tells us about those kings.

We’re going to look at Hezekiah’s story and examine principles of repentance that might parallel our own lives, church, and nation.

We’ll read small sections at a time. As we read each passage, look for principles that we can glean.

29:1-11

Facts: reigned age 25-54
He did what was right in God’s eyes
He began the purification of the temple immediately

What did you do in the first month and the first year of your conversion? Did you throw out the old stuff? Did you remove the defilement?

Hezekiah recognized why their relatives to the North had fallen.
What was the reason?

PRINCIPLE:
RECOGNIZE THE OFFENSE: WE HAVE OFFENDED GOD

(v 10) MAKE A COVENANT (REPENT)


29: 12-19

What happened in this passage? They cleaned house.
They cleaned house quickly, thoroughly, with diligence. When God deals with me, I need to take action. There should be no room for compromise, no hidden rooms, no locked closets.

There were a lot of Levites cleaning the temple. It took 16 days. Why do you think the writer divided the time into two 8 day increments?

CLEAN HOUSE

29: 20-24

Describe this passage. They get to work, using the temple, making restitution for the whole nation.
What did their sin offering focus on? (v21)
Who ordered it? The king.
Notice this repentance is “top down.” How is our salvation different today from the days when they offered sacrifices? (Heb 10:14)

MAKE AMENDS

29: 25-31

What was the next phase? Worship & Praise

Worship & Praise are a natural outgrowth of repentance. And it is done in a spirit of gladness & joy.

Who participated? All whose hearts were willing. Did they have any holdouts? Yes. Where were they? Where are they today?

WORSHIP AND PRAISE ARE A NATURAL RESULT OF REPENTANCE.

29: 32-36

What type of offerings are dedicated in these verses?
Sacrifice offerings, thank offerings, fellowship offerings, drink offerings that accompanied burnt offerings.

V 34 There were too few to skin all the animals, so they worked together to get the job done.

As we respond to the Lord, we will respond to the needs of the body. We will help each other.

FELLOWSHIP IS A RESULT OF REPENTANCE

30: 1-9

Hezekiah took the initiative. What about taking the initiative?
James 4:8 draw near to God and He will draw near to you

What else did they do right? (invited others)

WE NEED TO BE ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN RESTORING OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD AND BRINGING OTHERS WITH US

30: 10-12

What was the attitude of the people? How many joined? What was their attitude?

How about Judah? God gave them unity of mind.

What is unity of mind?

REPENTANCE REQUIRES HUMILITY AND RESULTS IN UNITY

30: 13-14

What “altars” do we cast into the valley?
(pride, time, affections, ….)

30: 15-16

They were “ashamed.” What does that mean? Why were they ashamed?

REPENTANCE PRODUCES SHAME FOR PAST AFFECTIONS

We pull away from worldly affections and draw towards God.

30: 17-20

What is God’s attitude toward those who were not doing it “right?”

How essential was the prayer of the King for the people? (God healed them)

How essential is your prayer for your children?

GOD RESPONDS TO INTERCESSORY PRAYER

(The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man…)

30:21

Describe the feast. (great joy)

HUMILITY AND OBEDIENCE RESULTS IN GREAT GLADNESS AND JOY

What does v. 22 tell us about the positive role of leadership?
Leaders encourage learning
Leaders inspire others

v. 23 They all agreed to do it again!
Do you see any modern day parallels?
(Sunday school, Wed eve, Sat night services, etc)
Our current traditions are born out of past revivals.

v. 24-27

Leadership models:
Unrestrained giving
Faith
Boldness
Self control
Love

The people respond. God heard their prayers!!