3. Rep. is more than just feeling bad about our sins & confessing our sins.

Transcription

1 VISIBLE SIGNS OF REPENTANCE #1 (2011 Congregational Theme: Daily Disciples: Repentance) 3. Rep. is more than just feeling bad about our sins & confessing our sins. A. Two weeks ago we introduced the subject of repentance: Daily disciples repent - daily. 1. We began by showing that God demands rep. from everyone. a. It s learning how to avoid sin; a road-map around it. 4. We learned that no one is so good he does not need to rep., but neither is one so evil that he cannot rep. a. It was the 1 st topic preached by John, & Jesus, & it was the 1 st command of the gospel preached by Apostles of Christ. b. And, it was the last topic Jesus discussed in the Book of Revelation. 5. Rep. is more than a decision, it is a direction, & to be credible it must be visible. a. Example: John s message to the Jews, Zacchaeus, Two Sons, Peter. 2. We dispelled the myth that rep. was just a step we take to become a Christian. a. Instead, rep. is about constantly aligning our lives to the will of God. B. How do we make those visible changes? 1. The gospel is the most powerful tool FOR CHANGE the world has ever seen (Rom 1:16). 1

2 a. No one, who has been influenced by the gospel, can stay like he is, he will be CHANGING all the time (Rom 8:29: 12:1:2). 3. Rep. means to think differently: to change one's mind and once a person does that he can turn to the Lord. b. And the NT is a textbook full of cases showing how people rep., changed their character & habits with God s help. C. Today, we ll take a look at the change made by the 1 st century Christians. 1. When they came to Christ, they were no longer products of their families or cultures; they were new creations in Christ. [In each case of rep. in the Bible, there were certain actions taken. And if we will take those actions, then the gospel will make visible changes in us too. The first visible change of rep. is ] I. ACCEPTING THE TRUTH ABOUT YOUR ACTIONS 2. The phrase used to describe that change is, they turned to the Lord (Acts 9:35; 11:21). A. Every case of rep. starts with one s willingness to accept to the truth about his actions. a. That phrase is translated from the same Greek word Peter used in Acts 3:19 when he commanded the Jews to Repent & be converted 1. The Ephesians accepted the truth about their practice of magical arts, & they rep. a. They burned their books in the sight of all the word of the Lord grew mightily & prevailed (Acts 19:11-20). 2

3 2. The Thessalonians accepted the truth about their idolatry, & they rep. a. They turned to serve the living & true God, & to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers from the wrath to come (1 Thess 1:9-10). B. There is no shortage of people who want to tell us how to change our lives for the better, but only One who can actually do it. 1. If the Bible came with recommendations on the cover, like most books do, it would read (Matt 17:5). b. And why did they do that? Because, they received & welcomed Paul s word not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God (1 Thess 2:13). 3. But most people do NOT want to accept the truth about their actions (John 3:19-21). a. Most would rather accept the idea that their actions seem right (Prov 14:12; 16:25). b. And Satan s purpose is to deceive as many people as possible into accepting what seems right, but what is NOT AT ALL RIGHT (Luke 8:12). [The second visible change of rep. is ] II. ACCEPTING THE TRUTH ABOUT YOUR-SELF A. Once a person accepts the truth about his actions, THEN he can accept the truth about himself. 1. Seeing ourselves as others see us, can be an unpleasant experience (mirrors, recordings). 2. But it can be even more unpleasant to see ourselves as God sees us (cf. Isa 6:5; Rev 1:17). 3

4 B. Rep. is not possible until we take off the mask, drop all pretense, stop making excuses, & accept what God tells us about ourselves (Rom 3:23; 6:23; Gal 3:22). 1. Several thousand people did just that, & received the remission of their sins & the promise of life everlasting (Acts 2:38). III. CHANGING HOW YOU TALK A. Accepting the truth about our actions & about ourselves will change how we talk. 1. Paul taught extensively (Eph 4:29 5:6; Col 3:8-17). 2. You see, God already knows the truth about us, & so now He waits to give us time to accept the truth about ourselves. Psa 33:13-15 From heaven the Lord looks down & sees all mankind; 14 from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth 15 he who forms the hearts of all considers everything they do. 18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy, 19 To deliver their soul from death, & to keep them alive in famine (cf. Heb 4:12-13). Eph 2:12-13 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel & strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope & without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 1 John 1:8, 10 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, & the truth is not in us. (Quote verse 9). 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, & His word is not in us. [The third visible change of rep is.] 2. Simon learned the hard way (Acts 8:18-23). 3. But the change in our talk that I wish to emphasize is two-fold. Confession of sin: 1. When the Jews said, Men & brethren, what shall we do (Acts 2:37)? they were beginning to change how they talked new verbiage for them. a. They were confessing their sinful rebellion against God by crucifying His Son, & admitting that Jesus is both their Lord & their Christ. 4

5 2. When the Ephesians came confessing & telling of their deeds (Acts 19:18) they were beginning to change how they talked new practice for them. a. They were confessing their sinful ignorance of God, & admitting that Jesus Christ in the sole power of the Heaven & Earth (not Dianna or some other imaginary spirit conjured up in their magical exercises). 3. Why is it that we keep our sins to ourselves most of the time, rather than confess them to one another (Jas 5:16)? a. It is not because - if we tell someone about them, then we have to do something about them? b. There s just something about confessing our sins to others that forces us to come clean, to be honest; confession creates a group to whom we are accountable for change. 4. In that great revival in Nehemiah s day, the people came together to celebrate (Neh 8). a. They had just rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem; they were feeling very good about themselves. Surely, the LORD must be pleased with us now! b. But then Ezra opened the Book of the Law of the Lord & read about the sacrifices they had ignored, the feasts & Sabbaths they hadn t kept, & the marriages they had defiled. Neh 9:1-3 Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, in sackcloth, & with dust on their heads. 2 Then those of Israelite lineage separated themselves from all foreigners; & they stood & confessed their sins & the iniquities of their fathers. 3 And they stood up in their place & read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for one-fourth of the day; & for another fourth they confessed & worshiped the Lord their God. c. The people accepted the Truth about themselves & about their actions; they saw themselves as God saw them, & it moved them to confess their sins. c. So if we re going to rep. then we must openly confess those behaviors that need to cease/change. d. They were on the road of rep. - they went home a totally changed people forgiven & restored back to God! 5

6 Profession of faith: 1. But changing how you talk is not just about confession, it s also about profession. 3. So both Confession & Profession are visible signs of rep. a. We use our tongues to confess who we are, & to profess the great truth we ve discovered. a. In Antioch, A great number of people believed & turned to the Lord (Acts 11:21). b. After Barnabas arrived, A great many people were added to the Lord (11:24) c. After Saul came, they assembled with the church & taught a great many people (11:25). d. What caused this success? Profession: Men from Cyprus & Cyrene [were] preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them (11:20-21). 2. When we ve found something as important as the gospel of Christ, rep. demands that that we not keep that message to ourselves. CLOSING A. There s more to say on this subject, & we ll get to that at another time if the Lord wills. B. But no matter how far we go with this lesson on the Visible Signs of Repentance, it all begins with 1. Accepting The Truth About Your Actions. 2. Accepting The Truth About Yourself. a. Have you done that? C. Has your belief in Jesus Christ reached the point that you are willing to Repent? 1. If it has, then we invite you to Your Savior, Your Lord & Your God today. We implore you to give your heart & your life to Him now. Confess your faith in Him before this audience, & be buried with Him through baptism into His death that He may raise you to life. 6