sf1026 - Removing Roadblocks To Repentance (Jeremiah 5 3)
Jeremiah 5:3
Introduction
We have seen the need for and the necessity of repentance in the life of both the lost and saved.
Without genuine repentance there is no hope of being in right standing with God.
God’s holiness and justice demands that we repent!
Acts 17:30 (NASB) "Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent,
Yet as Jeremiah proclaims and as our experience often affirms, men do not always repent.
Indeed we often do not repent as we should.
Why is this true?
What are these roadblocks?
Ten Roadblocks to Repentance
1A. We Think We Have Nothing for Which to Repent.
Revelation 3:17 'Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,
Sin not only makes us sick in makes us senseless.
Our problem is we use the wrong standard to judge our sin.
1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
Matthew 5:48 Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
2A. We Believe We Can Repent Anytime We Like.
James 4:13 - 17 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit." 14 Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. 15 Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that." 16 But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. 17 Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.
2 Timothy 2:25 with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth
Remember:
Sin is a great weight on the sinner that is not easily removed.
Sinners love their sin.
3A. We Presume upon God’s Mercy
For some the mercy of God motivates them to repentance for others it is a motive to continue in sin.
2 Corinthians 2:15-16 For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; 16 to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things?
Romans 6:1-2 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?
4A. We Do Not Recognize the Urgency of Repentance.
“(Men) had rather go sleeping to hell than weeping to heaven.” (Watson, 101)
2 Corinthians 6:1-2 And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain-- 2 for He says, "AT THE ACCEPTABLE TIME I LISTENED TO YOU, AND ON THE DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU." Behold, now is "THE ACCEPTABLE TIME," behold, now is "THE DAY OF SALVATION "—
5A. We Delight in the Pleasure of Our Sin.
Hebrews 11:25 choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin
The danger of our sin does not terrify us as much as the delight of sin tempts us.
Delighting in sin hardens our heart.
We will never grieve over our sin as long as we love it.
6A. We Believe That if We Repent We Will Loose Our Joy.
“Repentance does not crucify it clarifies our joy.”
Isaiah 61:2-3 To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, 3 To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.
7A. We Feel That God Cannot Forgive Us
Joel 2:13 And rend your heart and not your garments." Now return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness And relenting of evil.
“God’s anger is not so hot but mercy can cool it, nor sharp but mercy can sweeten it.” (Watson, 103)
No matter what we have done, Christ’s atonement is sufficient to cover it.
8A. We Think That God Will Not Judge Us.
We believe that God’s mercy thus far insures his mercy forever.
Sins against the patient mercy and grace of God will make hell that much hotter!
9A. We Fear Man More Than God.
Luke 12:4-5 "I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. 5 "But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!
“It is better that men should reproach you for repenting than that God should damn you for not repenting.” (Watson, 105)
10A. We Love The World More Than We Love God
1 John 2:15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Our affection for this world and the things of this world cause us to undervalue the worth of God!