Repentance

Repentance
Zechariah 12:9-14

In a time when Israel has endured incredible suffering at the hands of her enemies God sent a prophet to turn His chosen people back to him.

Zechariah was a prophet of God to the nation of Israel.
He was a priest and of a priestly family.
He had the distinct privilege of giving Israel God's messages, which he received in the way of visions.

In these visions, Zechariah saw Israel brought out of captivity and into her homeland.
He saw Israel and the capital city of Jerusalem besieged by enemy armies.
He then saw God intervene as so often He has on behalf of His beloved Israel.
The armies of Israel's enemies would all be destroyed, but this is not the greatest of miracles that Zechariah predicted.

Our text begins a portion of Zechariah's vision that has not yet come to pass.

This morning I want you to notice the miraculous event that has occurred in this vision from Zechariah.
Hard hearted Israel has repented and turned back to God.
Not only this but, in her repentance she has recognized her Messiah.
This is a great day that is to come; there is such great sadness that comes with it.
Imagine the turning of an entire nation to God and the great remorse for sin that comes with it.
Such is the situation in the nation of Israel when she realizes she has been wrong about Jesus.

The national revival of which we read here is fantastic!
Imagine an entire nation coming back to God.

We pray for just such a revival to happen in America.
We speak of it as if it is a national movement that we are seeking, when it is a personal movement that must take place.
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When Pastor Joe Wright was asked to open the new session of the Kansas Senate, everyone was expecting the usual politically correct generalities. But on January 23, 1996, what they heard instead was a stirring prayer, passionately calling our country to repentance and righteousness.

Heavenly Father, we come before You today to ask Your forgiveness and seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, " Woe on those who call evil good," but that´s exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values. We confess that:

We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it pluralism;
We have worshipped other gods and called it multi-culturalism;
We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle;
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery;
We have neglected the needy and called it self-preservation;
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare;
We have killed our unborn and called it choice;
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable;
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem;
We have abused power and called it political savvy;
We have coveted our neighbor´s possessions and called it ambition;
We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression;
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, O God, and know our hearts today; try us and see if there be some wicked way in us; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent here by the people of Kansas, and who have been ordained by You, to govern this great state. Grant them Your wisdom to rule and may their decisions direct us to the center of Your will. I ask it in the name of Your Son, the Living Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
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We long to hear this prayer in our country from the lips of thousands, not just one brave man.

If any kind of spiritual revival is going to take place in our country or our city, we must know something of revival and how national repentance takes place.

Our text reveals this in a powerful way:

1.) Repentance is a work of the Holy Spirit. V.10
When people come back to God it is the work of God.
When people's hearts change from hard and prideful to soft and humble, it is the Holy Spirit of God working.

2.) Repentance involves great sorrow for sin. V.10,11
The first and foremost sin is the rejection of Christ.
Our hearts must be broken over the horridness of our sin.
Ro 7:13 Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.

3.) Repentance is an individual experience. V.12-14
As much as we long for a national revival and as much as we long for a local movement towards God, it is only ourselves that we can truly change.
If you are waiting for a movement of repentance so that you can be swept along in its flow, you will never repent.
We must repent now and for ourselves.
It is our sin that condemns us, and it is our lives that must change.

Now that we have learned something of repentance, we should see some practical steps toward a national revival:

1.) Mourn and repent for your own sin.
2.) Recognize the Messiah.
3.) Pray for God to convict others.