Repent For The Kingdom Of Heaven Is Near

Good morning. Welcome to Community Christian Church. Hard to believe that on Wednesday of this week at 12:05 pm…not that I am counting....Nevada R5 will be on Christmas break!!!!! Teachers are super excited about that....kids really excited…parents....sorry they are yours for two weeks!

I am looking forward to family time and down time to recharge and prepare for the things of the new year.

This morning we will continue with our That You May Know sermon series but I am breaking from I John for a week to explore something God has been laying on my heart very heavily these past few weeks. I felt Him lead me to chase it this week and bring it to you this morning.

Repent. I know just a couple weeks ago we looked as Is Repentance Your Lifestyle, if you missed it I encourage you to go to rightnow media or our youtube channel and check that out but I felt like God wanted me to go deeper. So that is my intent this morning

PLAY MINI-MOVIE THE KINGDOM

Let’s Pray

START OBS

This week in my secret place time I was lead to Matthew 3:1-12 which is our scripture for this morning if you would like to be turning there now. I was lead there this week and God brought to light things that He had been pressing in on me. I knew God was taking me somewhere but I did not have the correct words until this week.

Repentance is a huge topic. I looked at about 48 different scriptures on repentance this week and there are more.

Repentance is so vital....in fact without repentance one cannot have salvation or a relationship with God through Jesus!

Comfort is a huge enemy of repentance

That is why most modern Christians…probably many here today at CCC struggle with repentance

Most want to completely ignore it. Refuse to talk or preach about it

Push it under the rug and go on

Away from me I never knew you is what they will hear one day from Jesus!

Like the opening video showed you and I can easily be focused on the world and not God’s kingdom!

Repentance changes a lot....it shifts the focus form self and world to God and His Kingdom

I will be honest with you as I always try to be this is still pretty raw for me. I am still coming through this and am not that far ahead of you guys here this morning.

A few weeks ago I defined repent and repentance but will here again this morning

Repentance is the act whereby one turns from his or her sin, idolatry, and creaturely rebellion and turns to God in faith”

Repentance is not an apology....God I am sorry I sinned.....You should be sorry you sinned and you should confess that sin to God but repentance is much more than that

Matthew 3:1-12

_______________________

Matthew 3:1–12 ESV

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’ ” Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

John begins his ministry “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near”

Matthew 4:17

_____________________

“From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.””

Jesus also began His ministry with “Repent for the kingdom of heave is at hand”

Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near. Praise God the kingdom of heaven is near!

So clearly repent and kingdom of heaven go hand in hand

I will say this....unless repentance happens one cannot be saved and will not enter into the kingdom of heaven!

Luke 5:32

_____________________

“I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.””

WE know from II Corinthians 5:17 you are a new creation in Christ, the old has passed away, the new is here

so no longer a sinner…that is the old…repentance leads to salvation and new creation there is no other way than Jesus and when you truly meet Jesus you repent which leads to salvation

How many times have you sinned

either you realized right away for later through God’s conviction and just said sorry God

God I am sorry I looked at him or her with lust in my heart please forgive me

Now again…confess is important and necessary but so many confuse confession with repentance

Repentance is when conviction comes and you are grieved

You hurt

You realize you chose that sin over God

You realize it was for that sin that Jesus was beaten and died on the cross for you to pay that debt

2 Corinthians 7:9–10

_____________________

“As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.”

Godly grief produces repentance and that repentance leads to salvation without regrets!

Praise the Lord for godly grief.....repentance and salvation!

That is why we open the altar every Sunday at the end of the the service.

It is not for numbers

It is not for some kind of confirmation that I preached a good sermon

It is not for show

It is because of truths like this one

Listen when you truly seek God in His Word

When you hear the Word of God proclaimed

When you look at yourself through the Word of God

You will always realize you don’t measure up

You fall short

You have sin in your life that is standing between you and God

When that happens you should have godly grief that leads to repentance

That repentance leads you to the altar to talk with God

To agree with Him that you have sinned

That you fell short

That you are repenting and through the Holy Spirit changing

Confession and praying for forgiveness

Sure you can do that at your seat but you can also ignore it at your seat

The devil wants you to sit right where you are so when you start to pray your mind wanders

You begin to justify and instead of repenting you accept it and move on and are in just as bad if not worse shape with God than when you walked in

If God is calling you to the altar this morning come

satan and your pride want you to sit and ignore

Jesus and God through the Holy Spirit are moving you to come

The choice is yours

Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand

Turn from your sin

your idols

your rebellion

your illusion of control

your attitudes

your beliefs

and turn to God in faith.....REPENT!

So many Christians today are like the Pharisees and Sadducees…brood of vipers John calls them

Why?

They relied upon mans laws.

tradition

physical bloodline

yet never repented

never had a relationship

never were new creations

never had salvation

Looked the part....tried to show the world they played the part.....they were religious but that is all they were religious....religion is man made Jesus is interested in repentance that leads to salvation that leads to true relationship!

They never had a heart change

That is really what repentance is truly all about

Heart change

That is what God really laid upon me this week.....I needed to repent......I needed to have the Holy Spirit change my heart

I was on auto pilot.

Cruising through life thinking I had it all under control

i was trying to call the shots

I was trying to dictate the schedule

I was leading the way

I

I

I

I

Wrong

I needed to repent and give God full control.

I get it I am a Pastor and that is supposed to always happen, giving God full control, but I am also human just like you

I still have a sinful nature that I can choose to surrender to the control of the Holy Spirit or choose to sin and try to take control myself

You are in that same boat by the way with the same choice

Today

Cell phones control our every waking and even sometimes sleeping moments

Mom and Kenny have kept my Grandpa Ed’s New Theater season tickets

Tuesday night Melody and I were blessed to go with them to the show

One thing that shocked me was how many people had some sort of headphones in their ears or around their heads so they could still be connected to their phones

This theater is wonderful and the food is 5 star....it is designed to give you a great show and wonderful fellowship with those you came with

What could be so important that they had to be connected in the middle of that

Nothing.

The problem is just like a lot of you they are addicted to their phones and worldly ideas and sin

It is control.....you have to have your phone so you can check the news

check the social media

take selfies

post selfies

stay in constant contact with friends and others text etc

Control

You feel in control but in reality it is controlling you

That is what sin does....it makes you feel like you are in control but it always takes you further than you are ever willing to go

Pride

Greed

Money

Sports

Sex

Hobbies

Ministry

you name it and we serve it as humans

Repentance is moving from the world to God

Repentance is leaving the physical for the spiritual

Would your entertainment choices…movies....music…games…tv.etc would they change if God was sitting next to you watching with you

He is by the way so repent of the sinful choices you make in your entertainment

Look at

Matthew 3:8

_____________________

“Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.”

This is really what God has been laying on my heart recently

I have never hid from the fact that I struggled with a pornography addiction for many years 20 plus in fact

God delivered me from that addiction…All praise to Him

I repented and confessed and have been forgiven of that and set free from that addiction......I have no doubt about that fact

However, God revealed to me there was so much more I had to repent of that stemmed from that sin

I was so comfortable living in sin for so long that it penetrated everything I did, thought and said

As I said earlier I felt like I was in control

I felt like I was calling the shots

I felt like I was making the decisions

Like most of you I went to God when I thought I needed Him

Okay lets be honest, our pride or at least my pride can make me wait to go to God when I have no other choice because everything else has failed and God is my only way out

When things were good I felt I could handle it on my own

God showed me I felt like I was in control

Before God showed me that I would have never told you that and thought I was being honest

If you would have asked if I was allowing God to be in control I would have told you yes.....again not lying about it but I really felt that I was surrendered but God said no son you are not

He began to show me thoughts

beliefs

standard reactions.....being judgmental not loving

looking out for me not others

things I just naturally did that were not bringing him glory and honor and were leading me to sin and away from Him

One of the things he showed me was just how sporadic my prayer life really was

That leads to a weak faith

That leads to a weak relationship

That leads to sin and falling to temptation very easily

True faith in God is very weak because you are depending on you and not God so therefore your faith is really in you not God

I pray if you are here that II Corinthians begins to happen in your life right now

I pray godly grief fills your heart and that God through the Holy Spirit shows you where you need to repent

You are putting so many things before God

You are calling the shots

You are making the decisions

You are living in sin and you must repent!

Bear fruit in keeping with repentance!

What does that look like to bear fruit in keeping with repentance?

Acts 8:9-24

_____________________

Acts 8:9–24 ESV

But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.” And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed. Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

Great example of what repentance doesn’t look like

Great example of why so many will hear away from me I never knew you when they meet Jesus

Simon believed

He was even baptized but he never repented

He never changed

he never became a new creation

Had he repented he would have changed and would have never dreamt of offering to buy the Holy Spirit

He just took a dip but never repented

Repentance is on full display in Paul

Before he was Paul he was Saul

Acts 9:1-22

_______________________________________

Acts 9:1–22 ESV

But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; and taking food, he was strengthened. For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?” But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.

Saul was on his way to kill more Christians and Jesus shows up

asks why he is persecuting Him

and blinds him

Saul’s response shows repentance

He completely changed

the old is gone

the new is here

He was a completely different person

That is repentance

That is repentance that leads to salvation

He went from killing those who believed the Gospel to preaching the Gospel

Why

Because he met Jesus and that repentance lead to salvation and a new creation!!!!!

If it happened to Saul it will happen to you as well!

Proverbs 26:11

_____________________

“Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly.”

How many times do you return to your vomit and folly

How many times do you return to your sin over and over and over again

God showed me I had not done the work of repentance

He showed me I was not bearing the fruit of repentance

I had not completely changed on the inside

There was so much world still in me that I was fighting to hold on to not fighting to give to Him

God showed me that yes

I felt conviction

I confessed and asked for forgiveness of the sins but God showed me were in my life but I kept returning to my vomit

As I prayed....I got real with God and I felt a godly grief and truly asked God to change my heart

Change my dependence

Change my perspective

I repented and I felt Him do just that ....now I have a choice....continue to chase that change through Jesus or return to my vomit

It is so easy to look at the world and see our kingdom

I don’t ever want that again

What I want is to look at the world and see God’s kingdom

I want to look at the world through God’s perspective as a new creation in Christ

As a spiritual being and see His kingdom!

Friends

Brothers and sisters in Christ

it is all about intent of the heart

You don’t accept Jesus for fire insurance

You don’t accept Jesus to stay out of hell

No

You see Jesus

You see the love in His eyes and hands and feet and side

You see the perfect Son of God fully God and fully man being beaten and rejected and spat upon

You see the perfect sacrifice willingly climbing on the cross to die for YOU and ME and the whole world

You see Him paying YOUR price.......satisfying YOUR sin debt

Taking YOUR place

You want to know that man

You want to give everything to Him because He gave everything to pay your sin debt!

REPENT!

Give up the world

Give up your sin

Run from it

Stop justifying it

It is only a song

It is only a game

It is only a movie

It is only a thought

It is just what I am

It is how I will always be

I am addicted I can’t defeat it

It is only ________

IT IS SIN!!!!! RUN!!!!!!REPENT!!!!!!

Ask God to show you your heart here....the true intent of your heart

Ask God to show you where repentance is needed in your life and then sprint to Him to repent right here right now

Turn from your sin

Turn from your idols

Turn from your rebellion

Turn to God in Faith.>>>>>REPENT!

I beg you come

Meet with God

Repent

Repentance is a realization God is bigger

Bigger than your addictions

Bigger than your adultery

Bigger than your pride

bigger than your greed

bigger than your idols

Bigger than you!

Repentance is a realization that world and satan want to kill, steal, and destroy you

Jesus comes to give life and life abundantly

Jesus comes to heal

Jesus comes to mend

Jesus comes to offer salvation

Repentance is how you access that salvation

Come.....just as you are

STOP OBS

Invitation

Just As I Am