Date: Sunday Evening – September 20, 1992

Come with me once more to Mt. Calvary. Gather close around the foot of the cross. Look now, God help you to look, upon the crucified Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.

• That Man who is hanging there is God incarnate.
• He is suffering all the agony, terror, and honor of the wrath of Almighty God.
• He is made to suffer all the infinite, indescribable wrath of God because he was made to be sin for us.
• At last, he dies!

Not as a martyr, or as a helpless victim in the hands of an angry mob, but willingly, by an act of his almighty will. When he had suffered all the wrath of God, when he had drunk the last bitter dregs from the cup of divine justice, when he had endured all the horror of hell in the place of his people, he cried, "It is finished!" Then he said, "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said this, he gave up the ghost." This is not a scene of defeat, but of victory, triumph. The Son of God died the painful, shameful, ignominious death of the cross but he died so by his own will!" He gave up the ghost!" The sword of justice slew him; but it was his own hand that thrust the sword into his soul! God the Father gave him up to be sacrificed; but he laid down his life himself!

Why, why was Christ made to be sin? Why did he suffer so? Why did he die such a death? The cross of Christ can never be explained or understood apart from this fact—

• Christ died that sinners might be spared the wrath of God, that we might live forever with the holy Lord God (John 3:14-16).

Now I want you to stay right here, at the cross, and hear what the Son of God who died upon the cursed tree, has to say to you. Are you listening? Are you interested? If God has given you ears to hear, these words are spoken from the lips of Jesus Christ himself to you – "I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee."

My message today is not my message at all. It is the message of Christ himself. I am only the messenger; but I have given the message this title: Redemption the Motive for Repentance.

Proposition: The motive and basis of repentance is the redemptive work of Christ.

Divisions: I call your attention to four things in this text.

1. An Implication of Need.
2. A Declaration of Forgiveness.
3. An Invitation of Grace.
4. A Motivation for Repentance.

1. An Implication of Need.

Though it is not directly stated in the text itself, the text implies that those to whom it is addressed are a needy people, a people in great need of mercy, grace, and forgiveness. The implied need arises from two things: sin and straying. Jacob had sinned against the Lord. Israel had strayed from her God.

1. We are all Sinners in Need of Forgiveness.

Sin is our nature. Sin is the plague of our hearts. Sin is the leprosy of our souls. Sin separates you from God. Are you aware of your need? Has God shown you your sin?

• Are you aware of the utter depravity of your heart? (Mk. 7: 21-23).
• Do you feel the weight of guilt crushing your soul down to hell? (Rom. 7:9, 25).
• Do you know how completely helpless you are before God? Do you sense your utter inability? (Rom. 3: 19-20).
• Can you justify God in your own condemnation? (Ps. 51:4).
• Do you see your desperate need of mercy, grace and forgiveness?

If you do, I have a message from God for you. This message is intended for you. Christ came to save sinners! If you see yourself guilty before God, if you know yourself to be a sinner, God has done something for you. No man knows these things by nature!

1. All of us, by nature, have Strayed from our God.

Sinning and straying always go together. Straying leads to sinning, and sinning leads to straying. We have all departed from God. "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way" (Isa. 53:6).

• In the Fall of Adam (Ps. 14:3).
• From Birth (Ps. 58: 3).
• All the Days of our Lives.

One strayed into a path of licentiousness, and another into a path of religious self-righteousness, and another into a path of philosophical morality; but we all have gone astray from God. We have lived unto ourselves.

Note: Sometimes even true believers are found straying from God and must be returned

To him – (Lot – David).

Prone to wonder, Lord, I feel it,

Prone to leave the God I love;

Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,

Seal it for thy courts above.

Have I described you? Are you a sinner, straying from God? Then listen to the Lord Jesus Christ. He here makes….

1. A Declaration of Forgiveness-

"I have blotted out as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and as a cloud, thy sins!"

1. Our Sins and Transgressions are here compared to Clouds.

They are compared to clouds because of their number. Like the fleeting clouds of the air, they are many. And they are compared to clouds because of their nature.

1. As the clouds arise from the earth and the sea, so sin arises from the earthly heart of man, which is as a troubled sea.
2. Like the clouds, our sins reach up to heaven.
3. As clouds separate the earth from the sun and cause darkness, so our sins separate us from Christ, The Sun of Righteousness, and cover us with darkness- (Isa. 59:2; Lam. 3:44).
4. As clouds in the sky threaten the earth with a storm, so our sin are forerunners of the wrath of God—But—

1. Hear What The Lord God, Our Savior, declares. "I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and as a cloud, thy sins!"

That simply means that he has forgiven sin!

1. Clouds can be blotted out by two things:

• The Sun breaking through them and dispersing them- Christ The Sun of Righteousness has risen and dispersed out sins by the satisfaction of divine justice!
• The Wind scattering them – The Spirit of God applying the blood!

• Not by the Eye of God’s Justice – (Jer. 50:20).
• Not by the Eye of The Believing Conscience – (Heb. 9: 14).

1. When the clouds are gone, the sky is clear, the sun shines in its brightness, and everything is pleasant – When sin is pardoned, when we know that sin is pardoned. God is seen in Christ as the God of all grace, mercy and love, the light of grace shines in the soul, and the comforts of the Holy Spirit fill the heart with pleasantness! He takes the things of Christ and shows them to us. (Eph. 1).

None can blot out clouds, and none can forgive sin, but God (Isa. 43: 25). Our Savior is God (Mk. 2:5).

Note: The thickness of the cloud is no hindrance to God’s power; and the greatness of your sin is no hindrance to his grace!

1. The forgiveness of sin is not conditioned upon something you do. It is already done!
2. The forgiveness promised is unqualified forgiveness of all sin!
3. The forgiveness of sin is here used as an argument, or motive for obedience to Christ – (I John 2:1-2).

1. The third thing I want you to see in this text is An Invitation of Grace.

The Lord Jesus says, "Return unto me!" Some might object to my use of the word "invitation." If you prefer, call it a summons, a call, or a command. It is all of that. But as the words stand in our text, I think the word "invitation" is better. In these words, "Return unto me," I hear tenderness, kindness, gentleness, pathos, love, and grace. Yes, this is an invitation of grace! (Matt. 11:28-30; John 7:37; Rev. 22:17).

The gospel comes as a command because you are responsible to obey it; but it also comes as an invitation because the Savior wants all who hear his voice to come to him and come to him willingly. He will have none but willing servants. He says, "Return to me."

1. In Repentance – (Pro. 28:13).

"Except ye repent, ye shall al perish!" Repentance is essential. If you would come to Christ you must come:

• Like the Prodigal (Lk. 15:18-19).
• Like the Publican (Lk. 18:14).
• Like Job (Job 42:6).

Someone said, "Repentance is…

• A Change of Mind!
• A Change of Masters!
• A Change of Motives!

1. In Faith – (Rom. 10: 9-13).

Do not come to Christ doubting either his ability or his willingness to save you. Trust him (Heb. 7:25). If you will believe, you will see the glory of God (John 11:40). "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved!"

"Return unto me" in repentance, in faith and…

2. In Love – (Luke 14:26).

The Lord Jesus Christ will have no servants but willing servants. If you come to him, you must come to him as he came for you, saying, "Lo, I come; I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart" (Ps. 40:7-8).

Illus: The Bondslave!

"Ye jes’ gets to be willin!"

"Our readiness and determination of heart to obey his will is the only true test of our repentance, our faith, or our love" (C. Simeon) (See Lk 6:46).

1. In the last sentence of our text our Savior gives sinners A Motivation for Repentance.

"Return unto me; for I have redeemed thee!" What a word of grace! He does not say, "Return unto me, or I will slay you!" No; he speaks in tenderness, to the heart. He does not say, "Return unto me, and I will redeem you," as though his work of grace needed some finishing touches by your impotent hand! The Savior says, "Return unto me, for I have redeemed thee!"

• If he calls you, he has redeemed you! Is he calling?
• If you come to him, he has called you!
• If he has redeemed you and called you, you may come to him being assured that he will receive you!

Behold the crucified Son of God and hear his call, "Return unto me, for I have redeemed thee."

• By My Blood! (I Pet. 1:18-20)
• From Sin and all Its Consequences!
• From the Law and all Its Curses! (Gal. 3:13).
• From Death, and Hell, and Wrath to come.

1. May God cause these words to ring in your ear until you obey the Savior – "Return unto me, for I have redeemed thee!"
2. Straying saint, obey this word- "Return unto me, for I have redeemed thee" (Rom. 12:1-3).