Are You Ready?

Repent

People in this day knew that they were not right with God. They also knew that Judaism was not the way to salvation because no one could uphold the law. They knew that they were sinners with out hope. John preached a message of hope. This message was you could be redeemed from your sin through repentance. So what is repentance?

Repent in the Greek is Metenoia. It means. to have an inward change. In the context by which John is using it one must not only turn from sin but desire not to sin. This is a change of the will. This is not something that we can facilitate on our own. It must be facilitated by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit convicts a person of their sin.

8 And He, when He comes, will convict the world regarding sin, and righteousness, and judgment: 9 regarding sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 and regarding righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you no longer are going to see Me; 11 and regarding judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. John 16:8-11

The Holy Spirit Convicts people that they are sinners. It is our sin that separates us from God and causes us to be creatures of His wrath. God’s wrath causes an uneasiness of our soul. There is no peace apart from God.

Not only does the Holy Spirit convict us of sin but regarding righteousness. The Holy Spirit not only reveals what we are doing wrong, but also reveals what is right. For example, He changes our hate to a heart of love, He changes our lying tongues to ones that proclaim truth, He changes our selfish hearts to hearts of compassion for others, and many more ways that you can probably testify to. The Holy Spirit changes our personhood through repentance.

Finally, the Holy Spirit calls a person to a point of decision. We must believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God or reject the idea that He is the Son of God. There will be judgement based on your decision. For those that trust in Jesus they are promised eternal life in Heaven. Fro those that reject Jesus Christ as their Savior they are promised judgment in the lake of fire for eternity.

Repentance is simply allowing the Holy Spirit to do the work of transforming your personhood from a sinner to a saint. Repentance is not merely feeling bad for something that you have done. Your conscious can make you feel bad for something you have done. Repentance is a change of your being by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 2 Cor. 5:17

The Holy Spirit will not force you to repent. This is a decision that a person must make. You must be willing to accept the change that the Holy Spirit is going to make in your life!

Go!

People were going out to the wilderness to hear John’s message. there had not been a prophet of God for over 400 years. Malachi was the last prophet that spoke the words of God. The people were intrigued and excited that God had sent a prophet to proclaim the words of God.

The Bible says they were coming from Jerusalem, Judea, and all the district around the Jordan. They were leaving the comfort of their homes and families to go hear the words of God. There was a hunger for God.

When they heard the words of God they were struck to the heart and began confessing their sins and were baptized. This baptism was simply symbolic of God washing away their sins. It was a foreshadow of what Christ would do on the cross of Calvary.

We too must Go to Jesus. We cannot go to friends or family to seek forgiveness from our sins. We cannot read the latest self-help book to get forgiveness of our sins. We cannot even trust in ourselves to self-improve from our sins. Only Jesus can forgive us of our sins and sanctify us.

2 And they brought to Him a paralyzed man lying on a stretcher. And seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man who was paralyzed, “Take courage, [a]son; your sins are forgiven.” 3 And some of the scribes said [b]to themselves, “This man is blaspheming!” 4 And Jesus, perceiving their thoughts, said, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 6 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then He *said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, pick up your stretcher and go home.” 7 And he got up and [c]went home. 8 But when the crowds saw this, they were [d]awestruck, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men. Matt.9:1-8

Bear Fruit

We are called to manifest our change in the bearing of fruit. What does this exactly mean? It means that our personhood or character reflect the fruit of the Spirit.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Love- True, biblical love is a choice, not a feeling. It deliberately expresses itself in loving ways and always seeks the welfare of others. Biblical love is dependent on the giver’s character, not emotion. For instance, a mature believer demonstrating love will not exercise his or her freedom if that action might harm another Christian in some way. Rather than risking the possibility of causing the immature Christian to question and stumble, the mature believer will not exercise his freedom out of love for his brother (Romans 14:1-15). Love chooses to set aside one’s own preferences, desires, and sometimes even needs to put the other person first (Philippians 2:1-3).

Joy- Sometimes we Christians tend to downplay the meaning of joy. But, the Greek word translated as “joy” in Galatians 5 means “gladness and delight” – basically the same thing the world means when it talks about joy. It is a feeling of gladness based on our circumstances. Sadly, the world’s joy cannot last because it is based on fleeting, physical circumstances. But the joy of the Lord is established in our spiritual, eternal circumstances. As we cling tight to Jesus, abiding daily in our saving relationship with Him, we will experience the fullness of joy He promised (John 15:4-11).

Peace-The world doesn’t offer much peace. Just look around. The world cannot give it because the world doesn’t know the One who is peace. But for those who have the Spirit of peace within us, the peace of Christ is possible, no matter our circumstances (John 14:27). We can reject the chaos of the world and embrace God’s peace. The book of Philippians tells us how (Philippians 4:4-9). First, choose to rejoice in God and who He is. Second, bring all your worries, fears, and concerns to God in prayer. Third, fill your mind with God’s truth. And fourth, choose to think about the things of God.

Patience-We don’t see much patience in the world today, not even in the church. Maybe part of the reason is our fast-paced, want-it-now culture. But Christians have everything we need to be patient because we have the Holy Spirit living in us longing to display His character to those around us. Patient people put up with circumstances and other people, even when severely tried. Patient people display endurance, longsuffering, and perseverance. The New Testament also specifically connects patience with sharing the Gospel. God is patient as He waits for the lost to come to Him (2 Peter 3:9) and He calls His people to be patient as we extend the offer of salvation in Christ to others (2 Timothy 4:20).

Kindness & Goodness -The characteristics of “kindness” and “goodness” are closely related. Together they present the picture of one who not only possesses moral goodness and integrity, but also generously expresses it in the way they act toward others. This “goodness in action” reflects God’s kindness and goodness toward us. God demonstrated His kindness and goodness to us in our salvation (Titus 3:4) and will continue to “show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us” for all eternity (Ephesians 2:7)!

Faithfulness-To be “faithful” is to be reliable or trustworthy. For the Christian, this is faithfulness specifically to the Savior who redeemed us. Christian faithfulness therefore, is continued and consistent submission and obedience to the same Spirit who provides the ability for us to be faithful. This attitude is in direct contrast to our previous “faithfulness” to our own sinful desires and ways. The word also describes someone willing to suffer persecution and even death for Christ’s sake. “Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring." (2 Thessalonians 1:4)

Gentleness- Closely linked to humility, gentleness is grace of the soul. It is not weakness, but instead it is strength under control. For instance, in Paul’s second letter to Timothy, he wrote that the “Lord’s servant” will “correct his opponents with gentleness” (2 Timothy 2:25). And in Paul’s letter to the church in Galatia, he wrote that those who have been caught in sin should be restored in a “spirit of gentleness” (Galatians 6:1). Gentleness, being the opposite of self-assertiveness and self-interest, is also a key ingredient in unity and peace within the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:2).

Self-control-The last characteristic in Paul’s description of the fruit of the Spirit points us back to his list of the “works of the flesh” in Galatians 5:19-21. Those of us with the indwelling Holy Spirit has the strength to control our sinful desires, to say “no” to our flesh. Self-control gives us the power to say “yes” to the Spirit and foster a beautiful, bountiful harvest of spiritual fruit!

Is your life a reflection of these fruits. This is what John is referring to when He is speaking about bearing the fruits of repentance.

Recognize Judgement

John tells the people that Jesus is coming and that He will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. He also mentions that He will gather His wheat into the barn and burn up the chaff with an unquenchable fire. This is the judgment.

The wheat that Jesus will gather are those who trust in Him as their Savior. The barn is heaven. The chaff are those who reject Jesus Christ and live for themselves. The unquenchable fire is the lake of fire.

There is a judgment coming regardless of what you believe. You cannot avoid it just by not believing it. All of us will stand before God and give an account for our life. All of us will stand guilty before him as sinners. The only difference is some will be redeemed and others will be damned. The choice is yours this morning. I will end the way that I started the message and ask ARE YOU READY?