Faith & Repentance (Mark [1]14-15)
Faith & Repentance
Text: Mark 1:14-15
Place Preached - (Mississauga International Baptist Church)
Date Preached - (08/26/01)
Introduction:
REVIEW FROM PREVIOUS LESSONS
During this study we have been looking at things the way God sees them. In First Samuel 16:7 God says, "Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart." Many people are preparing for eternity by basically ignoring it, thinking that somehow, when they die and stand before God, they will be able to talk their way into heaven.
As we looked at the Ten Commandments, we concluded that there is no way that an honest man, understanding what God says, can say, "I'm not guilty."
The Bible tells us that when we stand before God, if we have offended in one point of the law, we are guilty of it all.
Then we saw how the Bible says God sees two different kinds of men. The first group is those who have no relationship with Him, the second group is those who have a relationship with God.
Those with a relationship do not get a relationship by what they do. It is not according to our works of righteousness, or good deeds we do, because God says those are nothing more than filthy rags in His sight. Our only hope is the mercy of God. We must be changed!
God has provided for that change to take place by the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. He died as our Substitute. He died in our place. He took our punishment that we might be forgiven by God. He paid for the sins of the whole world when He died on the cross. But even though it is true that Jesus died for all, all do not have a relationship with God.
We want look at what we must do to make the work of Christ personal. We will see how a person takes what Jesus Christ has done on the cross and receive it as their own, thereby receiving pardon and forgiveness of sin from God.
TWO INGREDIENTS OF SALVATION
Mark 1:14-15
The word Gospel means good news, and refers to the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. It was all according to a plan that God had revealed starting in Genesis chapter three.
We see here in Mark 1 that Jesus came preaching the Gospel, the good news.
How does a man receive the Lord Jesus? How does a man get right with God? How does a man prepare for eternity? The answer is found here in the words of the Lord Jesus when He said, "Repent ye, and believe the gospel.
Let's look a little closer at those two ingredients of salvation.
I. REPENTANCE
First we are going to look at a description of repentance as it is found in the Bible. We are going to just look at a few of the passages that deal with it.
1. Repentance causes a person to abhor themselves
Job 42:6
Job realized he was in the presence of a holy God and he didn't have the answers for the simple things of life, let alone his own complicated life. In response, Job fell down in front of God and repented in dust and ashes.
When a person repents, they realize that they are not right before a holy God and they hate, they abhor what they are.
Now that I see myself in the light of God's Word, I see how God looks at me and I can't stand what I see.
2. Repentance brings a deep sorrow for sin
II Corinthians 7:9-10
A deep sorrow is a sorrow that reaches into the very heart of the individual who realizes they are not right with God.
What is the difference between godly sorrow and worldly sorrow?
Worldly sorrow comes when a person realizes what they are doing isn't right. Maybe they have been caught and know they are in trouble, so they say they are sorry, and they are willing to turn around from it.
Down the road they decide that maybe it wasn't so bad after all and consequently, they turn and run right back to it again. That is worldly sorrow.
Worldly sorrow is when a person runs down an aisle one night, then one morning they wake up and say, "You know, I don't think I want to go back to that church. They expect me to live the Bible, and I don't really know if I want to be like that.
Worldly sorrow leads a person to say, "I'll be a Christian one day," and tomorrow they are willing to turn their back on Christ. That is not Bible repentance at all.
Bible repentance is a godly sorrow. A person realizes, "I have sinned against God, and I'm sorry for my sin." They are not just sorry because they have been caught.
Godly sorrow for sin causes them to desire to walk for Christ the rest of their life, no matter what the outside circumstances become. It is a sorrow that they do not turn away from.
3. Repentance causes a person to turn from idols
1 Thessalonians 1:9-10
Most people in North America think they don't have any idols in their house. Oh, but you probably do. Maybe it is a television set. Maybe it is skis, or a gun, or a fishing rod, or the people in the house you love more than Christ. Maybe it is the car you park in your garage. Maybe it is your job. These are all things you can love more than Christ and they become an idol in your life.
When you love something more than God, that is idolatry.
A person who has godly repentance is willing to give anything up if it comes between him and His Savior.
4. When true repentance is in a person's life, it causes a difference in a person's life
Matthew 3:8
Now what are these fruits meet for repentance?
It is an outward change that evidences itself in that person's life so people know they have truly repented.
If a man has not changed, he has not repented. Nothing can be plainer from the Word of God.
5. Repentance evidences itself when a person wants to make things right
Luke 19:1-10
Zacchaeus not only said, "I am sorry" to those he had wronged, but he paid them back four times more than he had stolen from them.
One of our problems in North America is that the brand of Christianity we have is too easy. We think, "I'll just say I'm sorry, and it will be okay." But when people really get saved they want to make things right.
6. Repentance causes a person to acknowledge the truth
II Timothy 2:25-26
One of the marks of a man or woman without the Savior is that they are self-willed.
But when a person gets saved, they don't trust their own views anymore. I have opinions, but I can't trust my opinions, unless they are founded on the Word of God. I go to the Word of God to find out what God wants, and what God says. Then I change my opinions and ideas to fit with the Word of God.
Repentance causes a person to acknowledge the truth. It causes a person to admit their own bankruptcy, their lack of spiritual understanding, and to acknowledge the truth of the Word of God.
True repentance then will include these six things.
II. FAITH
The second ingredient that Jesus spoke about was faith. Repentance and faith work hand in hand, but you are in no position to exercise faith in the Lord Jesus as your Savior until you first have come to a place of repentance.
James 2:14-24
In this passage we see three kinds of faith. Only one is real.
A. DEAD FAITH
James 2:14
This person has no works that accompany this belief. They don’t live for God. They aren't interested in attending church. They aren't interested in reading the Word of God. They aren't interested in following the Lord.
James 2:15-16
The point that James is trying to make is that if a man says, "I believe in Jesus," but his life isn't any different, does he truly have faith? Can his kind of faith save him?
James 2:17
Faith, being alone is dead. It produces nothing.
James 2:18
I have absolutely no reason, no confidence at all to trust that someone knows Christ whose life does not change.
B. DEVILISH FAITH
James 2:19
This is the kind of faith the devils have. The devils know that Jesus is God. They know it beyond any doubt. The devils look at Jesus and they tremble, knowing that one day they will bow before His throne and be judged and cast into Hell for all of eternity.
Some people know the Bible is true, and it bothers them. But they walk away and don't do anything about it.
It is kind of like a lot of people when they think about death. They know it is going to happen. They just don't want to even think about or acknowledge it.
James 2:20 "But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?"
It doesn't matter whether you have a dead faith or a demonic faith. Neither one is of any value to you. Faith that doesn't change your life is of no value at all.
C. DYNAMIC FAITH
The third kind of faith is dynamic faith. It is illustrated in the life of Abraham in James 2:21-24
Genesis 15:6
That word counted is a bookkeeping term. It means the same as the word imputed which we read in James, and that word accounted that we read in the book of Romans.
Spiritually, we are on the minus side. When we go to God and He imputes His righteousness to us, it is in essence like adding a positive figure to balance the books, so we don't owe anymore. When Abraham put his faith in God's promise, it was at that moment that Abraham was counted righteous by God.
How did Abraham get to be counted righteous with God? How was he made right with God? How were his sins forgiven? He very simply believed God. He didn't get circumcised, he didn't get baptized to get right with God. He didn't turn over a new leaf. Abraham believed God!
In Genesis 22, Abraham obeyed just what God told him to do. He was even willing to take his only son and put a knife through his bosom because God had told him to. Why? He trusted God and believed what God said. When God saw that Abraham was willing to obey, he stopped him from killing Isaac.
Here is the point I want to drive home. To believe God means to put our faith and trust in what God has said. It means to depend on what God said instead of what we can see, instead of what we can do, instead of what we can understand or reason out on our own. God said the only way of salvation is by what Jesus Christ has done on the cross of Calvary. That is the only way to have your sins paid for.
If you really believe something, you act upon it.
ILLUS: I was taught something as a young child. It is the law of gravity. I still live as if that law of gravity is in effect.
What does that have to do with faith? When you have faith that Jesus Christ died for you on the cross of Calvary, it becomes something that will order your life for the rest of your days.
Your attitude is, "Lord, You died for me. You bought me with a price. I belong to You. What do You want me to do?"
He becomes the One who orders your steps, the One who calls the shots to determine which direction to go. He tells you what is right and what is wrong. He becomes the Lord of your life.
A person who has dead faith or devilish faith will live a selfish life. They will want their own way. They will make their own choices based on their desires. They will do their own thing and not be worried about what God says.
Roman 4:l-5
These verses plainly teach us that we are saved by faith, not by our works. If we earned our way to Heaven, then when we got to Heaven, we would have the right to walk around boasting about what we had done.
All the good works we do don't get us any closer to heaven; Therefore, we have nothing to glory in. How do we get salvation?
First there must be repentance. Deeply sorrow for our sin, hatred of our sin as it is. Yet realizing we cannot change ourselves. Reformation will not work.
When a man recognizes all that, then his only hope is to rest on what Jesus Christ has promised by dying on the cross of Calvary. THAT IS FAITH - If he believes, if he has faith in the Word of God, faith that God has done what He said He would do, he will be saved.
WHERE DOES FAITH COME FROM
Romans 10:17
God's way of you and me coming by faith to Jesus Christ is by first hearing what God has to say. It isn't going to matter on Judgment Day what you or I think. If God says it is true, then it is true!!
ILLUS: Imagine someone denying the Law of Gravity!
We can either believe God's law and be prepared for eternity, or we can be ushered into eternity unprepared and suffer the consequences.
FAITH IS BELIEVING
John 3:16
It is by faith, it is by believing, that a person is delivered from perishing, from eternal Hell, and translated to a relationship with God which gives him everlasting life.
Most people see themselves as pretty good people. They are doing the best they can, and they think that when they get to heaven they will be able to work out a deal with God.
Proverbs 14:12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
FAITH BRINGS JUSTIFICATION
Romans 3:21-28
Everyone who comes to Christ is saved the same way, and that is by believing. It doesn't matter if you are a pastor of a church or if you are the worst sinner in town.
The way God justifies us, makes us right, is by redemption. The word redemption means to be bought back. The redemption that is in Christ refers to the fact that Christ paid for our sins.
What did Jesus do to make you right with God? He died on the cross of Calvary to pay for your sins. He died on the cross of Calvary to take your place.
Sin had to be paid for, and the only way it can be paid for is either you die and go to Hell for all eternity, or you accept the payment that Jesus Christ has made on the cross of Calvary.
You must admit that your sin is what caused Jesus Christ to have to hang on that cross.
John 3:36
We are going to look at the first part of this verse. It can be broken into two sections. There is God's part and man's part. We are going to look at each of these parts.
GOD'S PART
God's part is found in the words, "hath everlasting life." The word hath means to possess right now.
LIFE - Life is not just existence, but it is a relationship. It is a reason for living. It fills life up. It is not, "Okay, I'm here. I'm taking up space. I'm using up food and air, polluting the planet all on my own." Life gives a person a reason for living.
Jesus Christ came so that we can have eternal life, right now.
John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
Everlasting - But this eternal life is also permanent. How long is everlasting? It is forever, eternal, never ending. It is not like the "permanent" that ladies get at the beauty shop. Three months or six months later, she is back at the same shop again for another permanent.
When God gives life, it is everlasting. It is permanent. It never ends.
Some teach that after God gives you eternal life you can sin and lose it. That is a teaching that comes from man, not from the Word of God. He is the One who said it could never be taken away (John 10:28-29). Do you think God is going to lie?
OUR PART
But what is our part? It is found in the words, "He that believeth on the Son."
He - Who is he referring to? It is a universal term. It means any man, any woman, anyone that believes. He doesn't say what color your skin has to be. He doesn't say what religious denomination you have to be. He doesn't say where you have to live, or where you have to be.
That believeth - The word believe is a word which means to commit, to trust, to have faith
A person who understands they are lost and deserve to go to Hell, understands that Jesus Christ died on the cross for their sin, understands that the only thing God will accept as payment for their sins is the death of Christ. They know that accepting Jesus is their only hope of making heaven.
On the Son - This is the key to it all. Your belief must be on the Son, on Jesus Christ. In order to be saved you must know who Jesus is and what Jesus has done.
TIMELINE
I want to draw what we will call a timeline. This line is a representation of your life. There was a day when you were born. There was a day when most of you graduated from high school. There was a day when you went to college, or you began your first job. There was a day when some of you got married. Eventually, there will be a day when you will die. We will put it far enough out to plan on life being long for you. But no one really knows, do they?
Somewhere on the line of life, there must be a time and a place when you were born again.
That day came for me July 3, 1977, the Lord Jesus came into my heart and into my life. I acknowledged I was a sinner. My life has been altered visibly ever since.
Romans 10:9
You must with your mouth call on Him as Lord. It is not just enough to say you believe in Jesus. We are talking about believing in the sense that your life course is altered. We are talking about a change of life that happens.
It is a momentary thing. It doesn't happen over a long period of time. You don’t grow into salvation. There is a point in time when Jesus Christ comes into your heart and life.
Has God ever saved you? Has He ever rescued you? When did it happen? Draw your own timeline. Do you remember the experience? You may not remember the date, but you ought to remember the experience, where you were and what happened.
Then ask yourself what happened? Was there genuine repentance? Was there a change? Was there genuine faith in Jesus Christ alone to save you and take you to Heaven? If it is a true salvation experience, those ingredients will be there. If I called on you right now, could you explain it? If there has never been a time like this in your life, then I invite you right now to come to the Savior, turn your back on your sin and your selfishness, receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, your only hope of Heaven. I invite you to come.