Real Repentance Pt 2 The urgency of repentance
Real Repentance Pt 2- The Urgency of Repentance
I. Me-
(ILLUS) I’ll never forget graduation day at Teen Challenge 15 years ago….I was given a week off prior to starting my internship with them. Grisel picked me up on graduation day and we headed to the Valley to spend the week together. One of the things I was looking forward to was giving my testimony at Grisel’s home church the following day. She picked me up on Saturday and I was giving my testimony on Sunday. Our journey together started out great as we talked about the Lord and all the wonderful things He was doing in our lives and we talked a lot of scripture and it was great. When we hit the grade on I-8 and started our descent into Ocotillo all of the sudden we started to argue. I’m not even sure to this day what triggered it or what it was about, but we started to argue and it began to get more heated the further we went until I was so angry I couldn’t see straight. And now we’re going back and forth and I’m raising my voice so Grisel says, “Just pull over and let me out, I’m going to walk home……
There was no way I was going to his church the next day and stand before a congregation and testify on how God has changed my life…
I felt like the biggest hypocrite on the face of the planet. I hadn’t seen Pastor Brewer in years and all he heard about was the change that God had made in my life and now his first glance of me was throwing my wife out of the car on the highway in Ocotillo in the middle of June
II. We-
Now I know something like that has never happened to you before- not!!! We’ve all messed up a time or two and felt like nothing more than a hypocrite- It could have been after reading Ephesians chapter 5 on loving your wife as Christ loves the church and then right after that going off on her or maybe you just read in 1 Timothy 6:10 the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil and the next thing you found yourself doing some unscrupulous thing to gain a buck, or maybe you recently read Colossians 4:6 where it says, “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt that you may know how you are to answer each one” and found yourself yelling or screaming or using the most ungodly language towards someone else- we’ve all encountered those waters before where we messed up and felt like nothing but a hypocrite with God…
It’s one thing to feel like a hypocrite with God, but it’s another thing to actually be a hypocrite with God. A couple of weeks ago on Sunday you heard Michael Rozell of the Potter’s Field talk about his own life as a hypocrite. He said he was in church for three and a half years when an elder took him to breakfast and flat out told him he was a hypocrite and that’s when he examined his own heart and quit playing games with God and surrendered his life to Him. There is nothing more dangerous in this life than being a hypocrite when it comes to God.
III. God-
Our passage this morning is directed towards a group of people who are hypocrites- we know that because John the Baptist’s preaching is directed at the Pharisees and Sadducees- look at verse 7….
Now Jesus calls them hypocrites in chapter 23 and verse 23……and that’s what hypocrisy is, going through the outside motions but inside there has been no change- outwardly there’s an appearance of being right with God, but inwardly there is no connection with God…
So John is preaching repentance and in his message there carries with it the sense of urgency and we’ll see that in the passage as we continue in verses 10 through 12 this morning, but to get into the flow we’ll read verses 7 through 12…..
John’s preaching is directed at those who are being hypocritical in their relationship with God and the primary point of his message is repent and in it we see that there is an urgency to repentance, that repentance isn’t something that should be put off to a point when you just feel like repenting or procrastinating until it is too late, you can procrastinate in a lot of things in life, but you don’t want to procrastinate in getting right with God.
A. The urgency of repentance is seen in two statements that John makes in two analogies he uses.
In verse 10 he says….And in verse 12 he says….
1. The first analogy John uses is that of a worthless fruit tree. (v10)
Now in those days the farmers would clean their fields at the end of harvesting season……
2. The second analogy John uses is that of the cleansing process of wheat.
Winnowing is a step in the processing of grain whereby the grain is separated from the inedible parts. The stalks are thrown into the air with a wooden shovel or a wooden fork having two or three prongs and a handle three or four feet long. The wind blows away the chaff and the straw, letting the heavier pure grain fall back to the ground. As a rule this was done in the evening or during the night, when the west wind from the sea was blowing, which was a moderate breeze and fitted for the purpose.
B. In verse 11, John speaks of two aspects of Christ’s ministry.
1. Baptizing with the Holy Spirit.
2. Baptizing with fire.
Now there has been controversy concerning what fire means here- may equate it to the Holy Spirit because of the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out….
But I don’t believe that’s what it’s referring to here…..
Fire most often speaks of judgment in the scriptures and it’s best to see it as this in the current passage. The previous verse and the following verse also use the word fire and it’s in the context of judgment.
There is the believer and the non-believer in view here, the repentant person and the unrepentant person. Jesus will baptize those who are believers with the Holy Spirit, but those who don’t repent will have nothing to look forward to except the judgment of God.
3. God’s judgment is immanent- it will happen to the unbeliever without expectancy.
That’s why there is urgency to repentance. Most people don’t expect God’s judgment and the one’s that believe there may be the possibility of it think that they’re OK until the end of the world or something. But every unrepentant person who dies will face the judgment of God.
Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,
Nobody knows when they’re going to die. The old think they have a few more years and the young think they have forever, but both the old and young die and one thing’s for sure about death- it can be totally unexpected.
This is why there’s an urgency to repentance- you don’t have forever to get right with God, you may not even have until the end of the day. Every day 232,000 people fulfill their appointment with death, whether it’s from natural disasters or natural causes, or accidents 232,000 people die and then the judgment.
IV.You-
So if repentance is so urgent and critical in your relationship with God then what does it involve?
Simply, Repentance involves all of you, the whole person, your mind, will, and emotions.
Theologian Erich Sauer, in The Triumph of the Crucified, says that repentance is a three-fold action: “In the understanding it means knowledge of sin, in the feelings it means pain and grief, and in the will it means a change of mind.” And all three have to be there
A. It involves the Mind. (Intellectual)
Repentance begins when there is a knowledge of sin. There first has to be an understanding of sin. John confronts the people with their sin because there has to be that personal feeling of guilt, there has to be that personal feeling of defilement. This is becoming increasingly more difficult today merely because what used to be deemed as sin is no longer so. David said in Psalm 51, I acknowledge my sin.
That understanding includes recognizing who the primary offended party is and that is God…
B. It involves the emotions. (Emotional)
This is where we go from the understanding to the feelings, this is where the emotions are involved. This is where there is an overwhelming sense of guilt in the emotions. There is a deep recognition that sin is against a Holy God and this produces a brokenness inside of us. David said: Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise.
All true acts of repentance must include this feature, it has to be there. It’s not a sorrow over the consequences, it’s not a sorrow over getting caught, it is a sorrow over offending a holy God.
C. Thirdly, It involves the Will. (Volitional)
For true repentance to take place it must include this final element and that is a turning around, a change of mind that implements a change of action. This is an act of the will. It is one thing to recognize the sin, it is another thing to be broken over your sin, but it is the greatest thing to turn from that sin and that’s what makes repentance complete.
There is a biblical illustration of this entire process in a parable that Jesus told. turn to Luke 15. The first 2 parables illustrate the joy of heaven when a sinner repents, the parable of the prodigal son illustrates what repentance looks like.
You know the story of the prodigal son……After suffering the pain of his choices he turns from those pleasures of sin. I was with the pastors and other staff this last week for a couple of days and as you know I had gout so bad I couldn’t even make last Sunday service. Gout is diet related- if you’re prone to it you can get it simply by eating too rich of foods…..They had tri-tip and eggs and sandwiches, Chicago style hotdogs, etc….I ate fruit the whole time. That’s not me, I would normally be jumping in with both feet partaking in the pleasure of the food but I knew that great pain would follow it, but I didn’t I abstained from it because of the pain in my left knee- pain is a great motivating factor let me tell you. When someone has experienced the pain that follows the pleasures of sin they are more motivated to repent- prodigal son….
1. We see the intellect involved in verse 18.
The phrase “I have sinned.” appears eight times in Scripture…
• “I have sinned,” said Pharaoh (Exodus 9:27). “I have sinned,” said Balaam (Numbers 22:34). “I have sinned,” said Saul (1 Samuel 15:24). “I have sinned,” said Judas (Matthew 27:4).
Each of these men acknowledged their sin, but none repented from it. But there are four more.…
• “I have sinned,” said Job (Job 7:20). “I have sinned,” said Achan (Joshua 7:20). “I have sinned,” said David (2 Samuel 12:13). “I have sinned,” said the prodigal.
And each repented. It’s not enough just to say, “I have sinned.” True repentance takes place at the point the sinner, like the prodigal, changes direction and heads toward the Father.
2. We see his emotional brokenness in verse 19.
He is so broken inside that he feels absolutely worthless to be in the Father’s house..
3. We see his will involved in verse 20.
So in the parable of the prodigal son we see an illustration of what it means for true repentance to take place. And what the sinner who repents finds is Jesus, the physician who heals and a Heavenly Father who can’t wait to celebrate the homecoming of the sinner.
V. We-
A. Repentance will never bring regret, only blessings.
The blessings of repentance are seen in the statement the father makes in verse 31, Christians are the most privileged of all the peoples of the earth, notice two rich privileges Christians have.
1. Unbroken fellowship with the Father.
“Son, you are always with me..”
God is always near us; we can dwell every hour of our lives in His presence. In the Old Testament, Enoch and Noah walked with God (Gen. 5:22; 6:9). God told Jacob, “Behold, I am with you” (Gen. 28:15). He told Moses, “My presence will go with you” (Ex. 33:14), and God’s presence with Israel distinguished them from other nations. Our Savior promised He would be with us always and that the Father and Son will make Their abode with us. Christians should live every moment in fellowship with God. That presence is with us wherever we go; and in all kinds of trouble, we have undisturbed repose and peace.
2. Unlimited blessings from the Father.
“All that I have is yours…”
In Matthew 7:11, Jesus said, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” John 1:16 says, “From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another” (niv). Ephesians 1:3 says that God “has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.”
(ILLUS) We have access to blessings that can only be found in heaven. Think about the blessings- Forgiveness from God, salvation, sanctification, peace, contentment, joy, love, freedom from the bondage of sin- blessing after blessing comes from above to the child of God.
God chose us to bless us with the blessings which are to be found only in heaven. There are certain things which a man can discover for himself; but there are others which are beyond his obtaining. A man by himself can acquire a certain skill, can achieve a certain position, can amass a certain amount of this world’s goods; but by himself he can never attain to goodness or to peace of mind. God chose us to give us those things which he alone can give.
Yes, there it is. That is the life of the children of God, as He Himself has pictured it to us—unbroken fellowship and unlimited blessings.
B. Can you imagine what things would be like if people grabbed the concept of repentance?
Imagine what your life would be like if you lived a life of repentance. Imagine what the church would be like if we lived in the light of repentance. If every time we sinned against a brother or sister in Christ and repented…