Pressing into His Presence

Five Steps of Repentance

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Shelley Quinn

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Series Code: PHP

Program Code: PHP000006


00:01 Hello, I am Shelley Quinn.
00:02 Do you know the joy of repentance?
00:05 Yes, I said, joy of repentance.
00:09 Please join us today on "Pressing in to His Presence"
00:12 and we will see how God can empower us
00:16 to walk away from our sin problem.
00:41 Welcome to "Pressing in to His Presence."
00:43 This series is dedicated to learning
00:47 how to draw near to God in prayer
00:50 to seek His face and not just His hand.
00:55 We are flushing out the acronym
00:58 for the praise prayer.
01:00 P-R-A-I-S-E each of these letters
01:03 standing for different segment of our prayers.
01:06 And in our last couple of programs
01:09 we considered the "P"
01:11 which stands for the praise segment.
01:14 We learn the benefit to us when we enter into His gates
01:18 with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise.
01:22 Today, we will contemplate the "R"
01:25 which stands for repentance
01:27 and our resource for this series
01:30 is a book I was privileged to write
01:32 also titled "Pressing in to His Presence."
01:34 So if you're following along today in your book
01:37 today, we begin on Chapter 4.
01:41 When I was first learning how to pray
01:44 in a more intimate fashion I was completely aware
01:48 of my total dependence on God to teach me.
01:51 I remember the first day as I was sitting at my computer
01:54 because I was trying journaling writing up my prayer to God
01:59 which isn't absolutely necessary
02:02 but it is greatly beneficial
02:04 to maintaining focus during you prayer
02:06 and if we increase our focus it increases our intimacy.
02:11 But anyway, as I contemplated in what I was to do
02:17 after I completed the praise prayer
02:20 I knew well, it's time to see God again
02:23 for the next step to press into His presence.
02:26 So I said Holy Father, what shall I do now
02:30 to come closer before You?
02:33 In King David's words from Psalm 24:3, 4 came to my mind.
02:40 Here's what David wrote.
02:42 "Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?
02:46 Or who may stand in His holy place?
02:50 He who has clean hands and a pure heart."
02:55 You know, there is no doubt about it
02:57 sin erects a barrier of separation
03:00 between us and Holy God.
03:03 Sin hinders prayer.
03:06 Psalm 66:18 says,
03:10 "If I regard iniquity in my heart,
03:13 the Lord will not hear me."
03:16 And please take note the symptoms one have to be
03:19 what we mortals would categorize as major.
03:23 For example, in 1 Peter 3:7, Peter warns husbands
03:27 that if they don't honor their wife
03:29 as a cool air of the grace of life
03:32 dwelling with their wife and understanding.
03:35 Well, he's warned the God won't hear his prayers.
03:39 His prayers will be hindered.
03:40 Worse yet unconfused sin causes spiritual drought.
03:45 Please consider these words of David from Psalm 32:3-6.
03:51 He said, "When I kept silent Your hand was heavy upon me,
03:57 my vitality was turned into the drought of summer.
04:01 I acknowledged my sin to You,
04:03 and my iniquity I have not hidden.
04:05 I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,'
04:08 and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.
04:12 For this cause everyone who is godly
04:16 shall pray to You in a time when You may be found."
04:21 So to overcome to his spiritual drought David just confessed
04:24 and said God forgive him,
04:26 so then he compress into the presence of God.
04:30 So here I am asking God what's the next step
04:32 of pressing into His presence
04:34 and He made it abundantly clear.
04:37 Of course, I needed to seek forgiveness from my sins
04:41 to draw near to my holy and righteous Father.
04:44 I must confess all the ways I had miss the mark
04:47 of His righteousness in repent if I did not
04:51 sin would spoil my success in seeking God's face.
04:55 So, what is repentance?
04:59 It is more than just remorse and mere confession of sins.
05:05 How do we truly repent?
05:07 It is crucial that we understand God's guidelines
05:10 and let's consider the process of repentance.
05:14 Repentance begins when-- with recognition of sin
05:20 and as we examine ourselves in this light of God's word
05:24 the character of our conduct is exposed
05:27 and under Holy Sprits conducting power
05:30 will begin to think differently
05:32 recognizing the foul essence of sin.
05:36 And as we begin to interpret God's marvelous love
05:40 and see how we've sinned against Him,
05:43 godly sorrow seizes our hearts, we regret our sins
05:47 and then this godly sorrow produces a change of heart
05:52 which leads us to repentance and unto salvation.
05:55 Confession is the next critical step.
05:58 This demonstrates that we have had a change of mind
06:02 regarding our sin sick behavior and through confession
06:05 we seek forgiveness, forgiveness of our sins
06:09 acknowledging our need for our Savior.
06:12 So when confession is accompanied
06:15 and then with God like sorrow and our sincere desire
06:20 to change God forgives us and He cleanses us
06:23 of all unrighteousness, hallelujah.
06:26 Our challenge is to learn to receive God's forgiveness.
06:31 This is how we disarm the devil and extricate ourselves
06:35 from this quick sand trap of condemnation.
06:39 And now, we are ready to do a 180 degree turn around
06:42 but we can't achieve this by human willpower alone.
06:46 It is God who gives us the power
06:49 to change our conduct.
06:51 Repentance is a gift granted by God to the penitent.
06:56 It is His power working mightily within us
06:59 that enables us to turn back to Him and to do His will.
07:04 Now let's sum up this five step process of repentance.
07:09 The first step is, recognition of sin.
07:15 We recognize and think differently
07:18 about ungodly behavior.
07:20 This second step is, Godly sorrow
07:23 causes us to regret our sin.
07:26 Our attitudes are altered.
07:28 We confess our sins asking for forgiveness.
07:33 And then the forth step is we receive God's forgiveness
07:37 applying His healing balm to our wounded souls
07:40 and finally step number five, we receive God's power.
07:46 This is the most important step.
07:48 We receive god's power to change our conduct
07:51 and make a "U" turn in the right direction
07:54 straight toward Him.
07:58 There is real joy in true repentance.
08:01 It wasn't until several months after the Lord taught me
08:03 the joy of repentance that I recognize
08:06 His continual leading
08:08 in this continuation of the sanctuary theme
08:11 and that's how the prayer pattern was being laid out.
08:15 Before the priest of old could enter into his holy place
08:18 drawing near to God they first encountered
08:22 the altar of burnt offering in the outer court
08:25 where the sacrifice for sin was offered.
08:28 And in the book Pressing into His Presence
08:30 I provide a brief overview as a matter of observation only
08:34 of the similarities between each prayer segment
08:38 in the ancient sanctuary theme.
08:41 So with that in mind let's take a brief look
08:45 at the altar burnt offering
08:47 that's first article of the outer court
08:49 and consider how it relates to repentance.
08:53 The outer court was enclosed with linen hangings
08:56 and there were 150 feet long by 75 feet wide.
09:01 As the worshipers entered the court
09:03 the most conspicuous item in front of them
09:06 was the impressive site of the altar of burnt offering.
09:11 It was centered midway between the gate
09:13 and the door of the tabernacle.
09:16 It was overlaid with bronze, four square form
09:20 seven and half feet on each side,
09:23 four and half feet high
09:25 and it was up on a large platform
09:28 and large horns projected from each corner.
09:32 The blood stained exterior witnessed against the guilt
09:37 and hoer of sin which deserve the rapt of righteous God.
09:42 Smoke ascending from a continuously burning fire
09:47 served as a manifestation of God's mercy
09:49 and forgiveness secured through a subsidiary sacrifice.
09:54 Man did not kindled the flame for this fire.
09:58 Leviticus 9:24 explains that the altar had been
10:01 supernaturally set ablaze when fire came out
10:05 from before the Lord to consume the very first offering.
10:09 And this divine flame was never allowed to go out,
10:12 it was transported in a fire pan.
10:14 So when the portable sanctuary moved the fire went with it.
10:19 This testified to the fact that only God has the power
10:23 to consume the sacrificed and absolve the sinner.
10:27 The altar of burnt offerings was also called
10:29 "the Table of the Lord" upon which
10:32 no imperfect sacrifice could be offered.
10:36 As part of the daily service
10:37 the priest made an offering for the nation
10:40 that consisted of two male lambs
10:43 each in their first year without blemish.
10:47 One was sacrificed at the dawn of the day
10:50 and the second in the evening.
10:52 This was a confirmation
10:54 of the nation's concentration to God
10:58 and it was a constant dependence upon Him
11:01 before atonement from sin.
11:03 So on this altar offerings for individual sin were also made.
11:10 The death of the animals demonstrated
11:13 that sinners deserved to die for their sins,
11:17 but were reconciled to God by transferring their sins
11:20 to a sacrificed victim which served as a substitute.
11:24 A guilty party could also flee to the blood smeared horns
11:28 of this altar and cling to them for asylum.
11:32 Today, Hebrews 13:10 tells us this.
11:35 It says, "We have an altar from which
11:40 those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat."
11:45 The altar had burnt offering
11:47 pointed to Calvary's blood strained cross.
11:51 Our New Testament altar which is witness of our guilt
11:55 and our great need to be reconciled to God.
11:58 The sacrificial animals were a type of Christ.
12:02 The lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world.
12:05 "The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."
12:08 Isaiah, 53:5, 6 tells us
12:12 that "The chastisement for our peace was upon Him.
12:15 "The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all."
12:20 Christ is both our substitutionary sacrifice
12:24 and our priest.
12:25 He died the death that we deserve
12:27 so that we might live the life that He deserves.
12:31 And Hebrews 7: 25 promises that as our high priest Jesus Christ
12:38 ever lives to make intercession for us
12:41 and He is able to save to the uttermost.
12:45 Hebrews 12:28, 29 says this,
12:49 "Let us have grace by which we may serve God
12:54 acceptably with reverence
12:57 and Godly fear for our God is a consuming fire."
13:02 Because we know God has a loving Heavenly Father.
13:06 I think perhaps we take for granted
13:08 the Holiness of His character.
13:11 Yes, God loves the sinner
13:13 but sin is an abomination to Him.
13:16 Without the Blood of Christ covering us,
13:19 sinners like us could not stand in the presence of a Holy God.
13:23 We would be consumed by His brightness.
13:26 In 1 Corinthians 10:21 Paul warned
13:30 that we can not partake of the Lord's table
13:32 and of the table of demons.
13:34 He said, "What fellowship or what partnership
13:37 has righteousness with lawlessness?"
13:40 What fellowship has light with darkness
13:43 to enjoy communication in prayer
13:45 in the presence of our Lord we must first stop
13:49 at the cross our New Testament altar.
13:53 1 Peter 1:18, 19 requires our serious contemplation.
13:59 It says, "Knowing that you were not redeemed
14:03 with corruptible things, like silver or gold,
14:06 from your aimless conduct
14:08 received by tradition from your fathers,
14:11 but with the precious blood of Christ,
14:15 as of a lamb without blemish and without spot."
14:21 Our communion with God is through the blood of Christ,
14:24 we are accepted in His beloved Son
14:27 and in Him we receive the riches of God's grace,
14:32 the redemption through His blood
14:34 and the forgiveness of sins.
14:36 Our daily sacrifice of confession and repentance
14:40 is the process of applying the blood of Christ
14:44 who offered Himself without spot to God
14:46 that we might be cleansed,
14:49 our consciences might be cleansed
14:51 to serve the living God.
14:53 In this way, it's like we're grabbing
14:56 hold the horn of our salvation.
14:58 We make peace through the blood of His cross
15:01 and Christ presents us holy and blameless
15:04 before the Almighty.
15:06 Hallelujah this is the true joy of repentance.
15:10 In our next program we're gonna take a closer look
15:14 at repentance but today we will first spend
15:17 a few moments in the study of sin.
15:20 Now, don't sigh, I know this is something
15:23 you might not eagerly embraced
15:25 but I promise it will serve a great purpose
15:28 and it will offer a personal benefit to you.
15:31 Why?
15:32 Because the recognition of sin is the beginning of repentance
15:37 and repentance brings times of refreshing.
15:42 I fully expect the combine teaching of today's program
15:45 in the next to make your heart leap for Joy.
15:48 But I want to give you fair warning
15:50 this will correspond with the joy of child birth.
15:53 It's-- we'll go from solemn recognition
15:55 of our pitiful sin condition
15:57 followed by the joy and learning to receive
16:00 God's forgiveness and recognize His power to change us.
16:05 But don't let the devil discourage you
16:07 as we examine the nature of sin.
16:10 Don't tune out until you get through the good part,
16:13 the God part, He does have a solution
16:16 for our sin problem and He will deliver us.
16:20 You know, I view the word sin, "S-I-N" as the perfect acronym
16:26 for what lies at the root of it.
16:29 S is for Selfishness, the I is for Ignorance
16:33 and the N is for Neglect.
16:37 Self-centered behavior causes us to commit sins
16:41 intentionally to carry out ungodly conduct
16:44 even though we know in our hearts it's wrong.
16:47 Now ignorance is the root of all unintentional sins,
16:53 but neglect is another intentional act of sin.
16:56 We know what it's right but we fail to do it,
16:58 perhaps because we're overly busy.
17:01 Our great adversary Satan
17:04 has calculated sin to a science.
17:07 You know, during my school days
17:09 math and science were my two favorite subjects,
17:12 I enjoyed the critical thinking those classes required
17:15 but I had never thought to apply similar analysis to sin.
17:21 Sin is the most serious of humanities problems.
17:25 Don't you agree that we should explore
17:28 the inner workings of it more carefully
17:30 so that we may be on guard against it?
17:33 James 1:14-16 spells out the anatomy of sin for us.
17:39 James writes, "Each one is tempted
17:42 when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.
17:47 Then, when desire has conceived,
17:50 it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is full-grown,
17:55 brings forth death.
17:57 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren."
18:02 You know, we frequently apply this passage
18:05 to so called heathens, the people that we think
18:09 don't know the Lord but I hope that you noticed
18:11 that James was addressing his beloved brethren.
18:15 Christians were not immune to Satan's devices.
18:17 He is masterful at using secular influences
18:21 to seduce the complacent.
18:23 In 1 Peter 5:8 tells us that Satan roams around
18:28 like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.
18:32 Sin crouches at the door ready to pounce.
18:36 Why would we open the door to temptation
18:38 that we might be trapped in the devil's teeth of tyranny,
18:42 in one word, pleasure?
18:46 Yes, pleasure.
18:48 Don't be shocked this is biblical.
18:51 Unlike the stereotypical picture that we paint
18:54 with broad strokes to illustrate sin
18:57 as an event bankrupt of enjoyment.
19:00 the Bible refers
19:04 to the passing pleasures of sin.
19:08 Satan is stalking us, offering us his sin candy,
19:14 providing testimony of sins pleasure through the media
19:17 and our peers.
19:19 If we don't recognize the nature of sin,
19:22 how fleeting the pleasure,
19:25 how devastating the destruction,
19:27 we will be unprepared to resist the devil's temptation
19:32 and we will yield to Satan's suggestions.
19:35 Please consider this as you counsel with your children,
19:39 tell them the truth of sin.
19:42 Satan is out to squelch the sacred deposit
19:46 that Christ has placed in our hearts,
19:48 he schemes to catch us off-guard
19:51 luring us by deceit and doubt
19:54 and beguiled by our own selfish desires,
19:57 we might blindly choose to follow
20:00 the downward path of brief pleasure.
20:03 Just consider King David, God called him a man
20:06 after my own heart.
20:08 Surely it can be said that the Lord bore him
20:12 on eagle's wings and brought David to himself.
20:15 Yet, David, inflamed by torrid lust
20:20 plummeted to the pit of disgrace
20:22 when he took another mans wife Bathsheba to lay with her.
20:27 A series of wrong moral choices escorted him further down
20:31 the path of disobedience and degradation.
20:35 And in an attempt to cover his sin,
20:38 he plotted to have Bathsheba's husband killed.
20:41 David was headed straight toward the cliff
20:45 of spiritual death blinded to his own condition,
20:50 but God in His mercy send the prophet Nathan
20:55 to sound the alarm.
20:57 Nathan told the king the story of how a wealthy man
21:01 with many flocks of sheep had taken a poor man's
21:04 only little ewe lamb,
21:07 his cherished position and served it up for supper
21:11 and enraged David was ready to have the rich man put to death.
21:16 Imagine the abrupt reversal, when his fury
21:21 must have really just gone--
21:23 when Nathan said you are the man.
21:28 We will consider this further in a moment.
21:31 You know, you and I share a common problem.
21:34 It was common to David and it's common to us.
21:38 All too often, we hastily judge the transgressions of others
21:42 are being slow to identity our own sin tainted condition.
21:47 Who will save us from our blindness?
21:50 Who is able to deliver us from the sway of sin?
21:54 We find the answer in Hebrews 7:25
21:58 which promises there is therefore also--
22:05 "Therefore He is also to save to the uttermost
22:09 those who come to God through Him,
22:12 since He always lives to make intercession for them."
22:18 Oh, Christ is able.
22:21 He is able to sound the alarm to arrest our attention
22:27 and bring us to Godly sorrow that produces repentance.
22:31 He is able to wash away the stain of sin
22:35 with His cleansing blood,
22:38 able to save us completely from the sway of sin.
22:43 If we will abide in His everlasting arms of love,
22:47 He will rescue us and throw us out
22:50 our arch enemy claiming destroy.
22:55 You know, I think of myself as a good person.
23:01 Well, most likely you consider yourself
23:04 to be basically good as well.
23:06 But Jesus said, there is none good
23:11 but one and that is God.
23:15 Perhaps our limited understanding
23:16 of His view point on sin causes us to think of ourselves
23:21 more highly than we ought.
23:24 Many will be refused entrance into the Kingdom of God
23:28 because they failed to recognize their sin
23:32 and their great need for the Savior
23:36 to better appreciate our need to repent.
23:40 It is important that we dwell a little deeper.
23:44 And let me share a portion with you of an eye opening study
23:48 through which the Lord lead me.
23:51 Numerous words in the original language of the Bible
23:53 are used to define sin,
23:56 but rather than subjecting you to a lesson
23:58 in Hebrew and Greek,
23:59 we'll review the English translations
24:02 of some sin categories.
24:04 To sin is to miss the mark of God's righteous requirements.
24:10 It's like shooting an arrow from a bow
24:12 and missing the bullseye of the target.
24:15 To Sin is to transgress or to trespass
24:20 to step over the line.
24:22 To sin is to commit iniquity, its lawlessness,
24:26 which means an intentional or unintentional
24:30 offense against God's law.
24:33 To Sin is to commit wickedness, evil.
24:38 To sin is to be unclean or impure
24:42 and these words describe sexual sins.
24:46 To Sin is to be unrighteous,
24:51 any deviation from God's character.
24:56 Wow.
24:57 I don't know about you but at this point in my study
25:02 I was already swarming under the scrutiny of my own sin.
25:08 You know, our own sin is not something enjoyable
25:12 to consider but this helps us to recognize
25:15 how much we need our Savior Jesus Christ.
25:20 Let me tell you this quick story.
25:22 I met a woman who had been in the Church all of her life
25:28 and she was close to my age, in her 60s and she said that
25:35 I'm a third generation Adventist
25:39 and she said but I never got it.
25:42 I never understood why I needed a Savior.
25:46 I didn't do any thing bad, she said.
25:50 I wasn't out carousing and drinking.
25:54 I wasn't doing things that I felt like
25:57 I really needed forgiveness for.
25:59 You see, she had not even really been born again yet,
26:05 she couldn't recognize her own sin.
26:08 And that's why I said this is an important step
26:11 because recognition of sin is what gets us to that place
26:17 where we are ready to confess our sin
26:21 and then God can do a work in our hearts.
26:27 Oh, I praise God for the Godly sorrow
26:30 that He puts in our hearts
26:32 that will lead us to repentance.
26:36 I praise God that once we confess our sin
26:41 and we call out on Him in full dependence,
26:45 He is the one who will work in us to will
26:49 and to do according to His good pleasure.
26:52 He is the one when we're headed in the wrong direction,
26:55 He is the one who will turn us that 180 degree
27:00 because repentance is a gift.
27:04 I thank God for His five step process of repentance
27:10 because it is by His power that He can walk us
27:16 out of the sin problem
27:18 and we all still have areas of sin
27:23 that we need to call up on Him with earnestness
27:26 and just saying, Lord, open my eyes,
27:29 I want to come before You
27:31 with clean hands and a pure heart.
27:35 Lord, I want to be able to know what my sin is
27:39 so that I can confess my sin
27:41 and receive Your gift of repentance.
27:44 I hope you will join us on our next program
27:47 as we consider how confession
27:50 is the clearing house of the conscious.
27:54 Now our prayer is that the grace of our
27:57 Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the love of the Father and the
28:01 fellowship of the Holy Spirit will be yours always.
28:06 Please remember God is waiting for you
28:09 to Press in to His Presence.
28:12 Bye-bye.


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Revised 2014-12-17