Power of Repentance 1

Matt 4:12-13, 17 “When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. 13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum...17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

I want to begin a new series today on the subject of repentance.

Repentance is not a popular theme in today’s church world—to the church’s (and the sinner’s) great loss.

We kind of equate the word “repent” with ignorant, back-woods, hell-fire and brimstone preaching, and frown on it.

We don’t want to “offend” people by suggesting they need to be forgiven of sin.

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In 1988 a bestselling book was written called, Whatever Became of Sin?

It could easily have included a sequel, Whatever Became of Repentance?

If we no longer talk about sin, then how can we use the word “repent” since sin is what we’re supposed to repent of?

In order to not offend people with the command to repent, we’ve watered down the gospel and turned it into just another self-help, motivational type message, which it is NOT.

Leave it to the devil to sully a word that is literally the key to all that God has for us!

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The word “repent” is literally everywhere in the New Testament, starting with the ministry of John the Baptist.

Mark 1:4 says, “John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”

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When Jesus began His ministry, the Bible records:

“From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt 4:17).

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When the Holy Spirit fell upon the church on the Day of Pentecost, a convicted and electrified crowd asked Peter, “Men and brethren, what shall we do (to be saved)?” (2:37).

Peter replied, “Repent!”

Speaking of the Holy Spirit, Jesus taught that one of the ministries of the Holy Spirit in the earth would be to “convict the world of sin” so that a person can repent of it and be forgiven! (John 16:8)

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When Paul the Apostle was speaking to the intellectual elites of Athens, he told them, “God...now commands all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30).

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When addressing the 7 churches at the beginning of John’s Revelation, Jesus commands 5 of the 7 churches to repent.

And Jesus also informed us of the impact repentance carries in heaven, saying that “there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repents” (Lk 15:10)

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When asked about a natural disaster where a tower fell on eighteen people and killed them, Jesus used it as a warning sign to the living...

“Do you suppose that...those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell...were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Lk 13:4-5).

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Now....What is repentance?

DEFINITION: Repentance is the divinely given way to repair our broken relationship with God.

To repent means to change, or “have a change of mind.”

It involves both a turning FROM sin and a turning TO God.

This change of mind results in a change in behavior.

True repentance involves surrendering your entire life—your whole being, both mind and body—to God’s will as revealed in His Word.

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Now, with that in mind, there are TWO KINDS of repentance—FALSE repentance and TRUE repentance.

False repentance is when we assume that responding to an altar call has saved us, or having an emotional moment in a church service is evidence of salvation.

But if there’s been no PERMANENT CHANGE in your lifestyle—if you’re still living the same life of sin as before, you have experienced FALSE REPENTANCE.

John writes, “He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:4).

Someone may say, “I am a Christian; I am on my way to heaven; I belong to Christ.”

But if you’re not striving to live the way Jesus taught, if your life hasn’t changed, you may be deceiving yourself about being saved.

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The Bible is crystal clear, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation, the old things have passed away. Behold, all is become new.” (2 Cor. 5:17).

When you’ve truly repented and genuinely been saved, you will become a brand new person inside...

You’re not the same anymore...

You won’t be perfect but you will be clearly a changed person with new motivations and a new, more Biblical lifestyle!

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The Bible teaches that true repentance is the necessary key to unlocking the door to salvation.

Without repentance there can be no salvation.

ILLUS: Let’s say you’re in a burning house that is quickly being consumed.

All around you the flames are getting closer.

There is no way out but through one door and that door is locked.

Right about then a person appears from nowhere and hands you the key to that door.

Does it matter what the key looks like? Feels like? Whether or not you like what color it is or how it’s shaped?

No! If it gets you out of the burning house, it’s a beautiful key!

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Likewise, the key to escaping the burning house of hell, and to one day step through heaven’s gates is REPENTANCE.

We may not like the word, but it’s a beautiful word because it is the key that unlocks the door to salvation.

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Now, when writing to the Corinthian church, the Apostle Paul distinguishes between true and false repentance by talking about two different kinds of sorrow:

He writes, “Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner...10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.”

So there is “godly sorrow” and there is “worldly sorrow.”

What’s the difference?

Worldly sorrow is when a person is sorry over the loss, or disappointment, or shame, or ruin, or sickness caused by their sin, but they’re not sorry for the sin itself.

This is illustrated by the false repentance of Judas, Jesus’ betrayer.

We’re told that “Judas...seeing that He (Jesus) had been condemned, was remorseful (worldly sorrow) and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 saying, ‘I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.’ And they said, ‘What is that to us? You see to it!’ 5 Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself” (Matt. 27:1-5)

Notice: Though he was remorseful, it doesn’t say he repented...He didn’t once take his sin to God for forgiveness.

So...Worldly sorrow is grief for the consequences rather than for the sin itself.

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On the other hand, Godly sorrow is first,

I. God conscious

That is, it is sorrow over having sinned against God.

When David was repenting of his adultery and murder in the matter of Bathsheba, he wrote in Ps 51:

“Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight” (Ps 51:4).

David was deeply sorrowful that his sin had grieved a holy God.

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Second,

II. Godly sorrow agrees with God’s verdict.

David writes, “...so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge” (51:4b).

Godly sorrow comes into agreement with what God says about our sin.

Godly sorrow says, “I deserve your judgment Lord...your assessment of my sin is right.”

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Third,

III. Godly sorrow seeks God’s forgiveness

David prayed, “Sprinkle me with the cleansing blood and I shall be clean again. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow...Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity” (Ps. 51:7, 9).

True repentance says, “Lord, please forgive me, please take my sin away.”

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And finally,

IV. Godly sorrow leads us to forsake our sin

Paul to the Corinthians says, “For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation” (2 Cor. 7:10).

So true repentance is 1.) conviction over having sinned against God, 2.) agrees with God’s verdict, 3.) seeks forgiveness from God, and 4.) leads you to forsake your sin and pursue the Lord.