Repent!

Call to Worship

John 1:1–5 NKJV

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

Giving

Acts 20:35 NKJV

35 I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

Repent!

Matthew 3 NKJV

1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” 3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.’ ” 4 Now John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him 6 and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, 9 and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 10 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 I indeed baptize you with water unto 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. 12 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” 13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. 14 And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” 15 But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him. 16 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. 17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

1) In those days… the prophetic fulfillment

Isaiah 40:3 NKJV

3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert A highway for our God.

Malachi 4:5–6 NKJV

5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. 6 And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”

Luke 1:16-17 is what tells us that John the Baptist is the fulfillment of these Scriptures.

Luke 1:16–17 NKJV

16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

2) His message was ‘repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’

Matthew 3:2 NKJV

2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

What does it mean to repent?

there is much more to repentance than the mere feelings sorrow.

3340 μετανοέω [metanoeo/met·an·o·eh·o/] v. From 3326 and 3539; TDNT 4:975; TDNTA 636; GK 3566; 34 occurrences; AV translates as “repent” 34 times. 1 to change one’s mind, i.e. to repent. 2 to change one’s mind for better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one’s past sins. Additional Information: For synonyms see entry 3338, metamellomai.See entry 5862 for comparison of synonyms.[1]

[1] Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship.

Theologians make a distinction between two kinds of repentance. The first is called attrition. Attrition is a false or spurious kind of repentance. It involves remorse caused by a fear of punishment or a loss of blessing. This was the kind of repentance Esau exhibited (Genesis 27:30–46). He was sorry not because he had sinned, but because he had lost his birthright. Attrition, then, is repentance motivated by an attempt to get a ticket out of hell or to otherwise avoid punishment.[1]

Contrition, on the other hand, is true and godly repentance. It is genuine. It includes a deep remorse for having offended God. The contrite person openly and fully confesses his sin with no attempt to excuse it or justify it. This acknowledgment of sin is coupled with a willingness to make restitution whenever possible and a resolve to turn away from sin. This is the spirit of repentance that David exhibited in Psalm 51. “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.… The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Psalm 51:10, 17).

When repentance is offered to God in a spirit of true contrition, He promises to forgive us and to restore us to fellowship with Him: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).[2]

Repent means more than ‘be sorry’ or even ‘change your mind’; it echoes the Old Testament prophets’ frequent summons to Israel to ‘return’ to God, to abandon their rebellion and come back into covenant-obedience. This radical conversion is necessary in the light of the coming of the kingdom of heaven (see pp. 48–50), which here means the establishment of God’s rightful sovereignty in judgment and in salvation, i.e. the Messianic age. This time has now come: is at hand does not do justice to the perfect tense of engizō, which means literally ‘has come near’. The perfect is used also in 26:45 and 46 (cf. Luke 21:8, 20) and introduces a state of affairs which is already beginning and which demands immediate action. Even AB’s ‘is fast approaching’ is too remote. John’s summons is urgent: the time for decision has already come.[3]

[1] Sproul, R. C. (Ed.). (2015). The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (2015 Edition) (p. 1964). Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust. [2] Sproul, R. C. (Ed.). (2015). The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (2015 Edition) (p. 1964). Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust. [3] France, R. T. (1985). Matthew: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 1, pp. 95–96). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

3. What does this mean.