| Repentance: The Divine 'U turn' (Part 2 of 'The Way of Salvation') |
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| Written by David Charlton |
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Scripture
Mark 1:14-15 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel."
Luke 13:1-5 There were some present at that very time who told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered thus? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen upon whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish."
Psalm 51 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy steadfast love; according to thy abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in thy sight, so that thou art justified in thy sentence and blameless in thy judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Fill me with joy and gladness; let the bones which thou hast broken rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners will return to thee. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of thy deliverance. O Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall show forth thy praise. For thou hast no delight in sacrifice; were I to give a burnt offering, thou wouldst not be pleased. The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. Do good to Zion in thy good pleasure; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, then wilt thou delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on thy altar.
Summary and Purpose
We progress from the bad news to the 2nd good news by receiving God’s forgiveness and trusting Jesus as Savior and Lord. The life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ made it possible for us to simply receive this forgiveness. We don’t have to do anything, it’s a free gift. When we receive God’s forgiveness, however, we are also acknowledging our need for forgiveness and our need to change. Along with freeing us from the guilt of sin, God’s forgiveness will also change us. So, we receive God’s forgiveness only if we truly desire to change. This sincere desire to change is repentance.
Purpose: To help the congregation understand repentance and to encourage the congregation to be in continuous repentance.
The Sermon
I. Introduction: My first day as an Army Officer
1. It was Feb. 7, 1994. At approximately 2AM I was driving north on Highway 95. I was on my way from Jacksonville, Florida to Lexington, Virginia to report to my 1st duty station as a Gold Bar recruiter. Visibility was low due to darkness and fog.
· I was listening to ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ as loud as it would go. I had the rear view mirror flipped up and the side mirrors flipped in so there would be no glare from the vehicles behind me. I was also going 95-100 MPH. (What can I say? I was a not so bright 2nd lieutenant.) · I passed the weigh station just south of the Florida/Georgia border. A police officer began to follow me but I didn’t notice (Listening to loud music and keeping the mirrors flipped inward decreased my situational awareness.) · I crossed the Florida/Georgia border. Three to five more cop cars from both states began to chase me. · Approximately 3 miles north of the border I looked directly into my rear view mirror and finally realized there was a cop with lights on following me. I pulled over expecting a big ticket. Instead, the cops arrested me and charged me with speeding, driving to fast for the conditions and attempting to elude.
2. The main problem with this story….
· Is not that I broke the law and endangered the lives of other motorist, as bad as those things are · The main problem with this story is that, at the moment I was arrested, I was not truly repentant. · Instead of realizing I had put other motorist in danger, I became aggravated at the police for having the audacity to arrest me. In my mind they should have simply given me a ticket. (How selfish is that?)
3. It’s vitally important that we develop a repentant attitude. In order to receive God’s forgiveness and move into a restored love relationship with God, we must repent.
II. Repentance is vital to our salvation. Jesus says so.
1. Mark 1:14-15: Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel."
2. Luke 13:1-5: There were some present at that very time who told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered thus? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen upon whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish."
3. We must repent in order to be saved. Here’s how it works.
III. Repentance and the ‘way of salvation’
1. Last Sunday we discussed good news, bad news and good news. · The 1st good news: God created us to have a love relationship with us. · The bad news: We separated ourselves from God by sinning. This separation made death a reality. · The 2nd good news: God still loves us even though we don’t deserve it and made a way for us to have a restored love relationship with Him. (This undeserved love is called grace.)
2. We progress from the bad news to the 2nd good news by receiving God’s forgiveness and trusting Jesus as Savior and Lord. · As God in the flesh, Jesus was able to live the perfect life and become the one sacrifice to wipe away our sins. Jesus paid the penalty for our sins. · The life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ made it possible for us to simply receive this forgiveness. We don’t have to do anything, it’s a free gift. Jesus already paid the price by dying on the cross. · When we receive God’s forgiveness, however, we are also acknowledging our need for forgiveness and our need to change. Along with freeing us from the guilt of sin, God’s forgiveness will also change us. · So, we receive God’s forgiveness only if we truly desire to change. This sincere desire to change is repentance.
IV. Proper understanding of repentance
1. As stated earlier: Repentance is a sincere desire to change · Sincere desire because we can’t change ourselves. We cooperate with the Holy Spirit so that the Holy Spirit can change us. · A great example of this is Psalm 51. This Psalm is King David’s prayer of repentance. In verse 10 King David asked God to change him. He stated, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. “ Without this request to be changed, King David would not have truly repented.
2. We can think of repentance as a divine ‘U turn’. · Sincere desire to turn from a life of sin to a life of holiness and love. · One way leads to death while the other way leads to eternal life with God.
V. Two aspects of repentance we must understand
1. Initial repentance: Occurs at the point of conversion. This is when we first admit we’re sinners, accept God’s forgiveness and trust Jesus as Savior and Lord. · This initial repentance is absolutely necessary to move on into a restored love relationship with God. · Have you made this initial repentance?
2. On going repentance: Continues throughout a Christians life. In other words, repentance doesn’t stop at conversion, · As we walk with Christ, the Holy Spirit reveals the sinful attitudes and desires within our hearts. · As we become aware of these attitudes & desires, we must repent of them. We must ask God to cleanses our hearts of them and replace them with God’s holy love. · This is the transformative process that the Holy Spirit uses to make us more like Christ.
VI. Conclusion
1. As stated earlier, when I was arrested for going approximately 100 MPH during limited visibility, I was initially unrepentant. · Since then, however, the Holy Sprit has been working on my heart · I now attempt to obey the traffic laws. Not because I can get into trouble but because I do not want to inadvertently hurt someone.
2. What do you need to repent of? · Is it pride? · Is it hate? · Is it some type of prejudice? · Is it jealousy? · Do you need to make the initial repentance? |
