Sermon Mark S. Aites 5/27/12 A.M. REPENTANCE (Special thanks to the late Wendell Winkler for material for this outline: taken from Studying Sin Seriously) Text: 2 Cor. 7:10 INTRODUCTION: I want to begin by sharing with you 3 brief accounts: 1. There was a cartoon several years ago in the Saturday Review of Literature in which little George Washington is standing with an axe in his hand. Before him lying on the ground is the famous cherry tree. He has already made his smug admission that he did it -- after all, he "cannot tell a lie." But his father is standing there exasperated saying, "All right, so you admit it! You always admit it! The question is, when are you going to stop doing it?" 2. Some years ago a murderer was sentenced to death. The murderer s brother, to whom the State was deeply indebted for former services, besought the governor of the State for his brother s pardon. The pardon was granted, and the man visited his brother with the pardon in his pocket. What would you do, he said to him, if you received a pardon? The first thing I would do, he answered, is to track down the judge who sentenced me, and murder him; and the next thing I would do is to track down the chief witness, and murder him. The brother rose, and left the prison with the pardon in his pocket. 3. A soap manufacturer and a preacher were walking together down a street in a large city. The soap manufacturer casually said, "The gospel you preach hasn't done much good has it? Just observe. There is still a lot of wickedness in the world, and a lot of wicked people, too!" The preacher made no reply until they passed a dirty little child making mud pies in the gutter. Seizing the opportunity, the preacher said, "I see that soap hasn't done much good in the world either; for there is much dirt, and many dirty people around." The soap man said, "Oh, well, soap only works when it is applied." And the preacher said, "Exactly, so it is with the gospel." 4. Each of these illustrations is dealing with a response that we make to the Gospel, a response which we refer to as repentance. 5. Little Mary was at her first wedding and gaped at the entire ceremony. When it was over, she asked her mother, "Why did the lady change her mind?" Her mother asked, "What do you mean?" "Well, she went down the aisle with one man, and came back with another one." 1) Changing our mind is not always a bad thing. In fact, it's the essence of repentance - "a change of mind leading to a change of life." 2) It's so true; before we can change our lives, we must first of all have a change of mind about what we have done. 6. In this lesson we want to examine the subject of repentance and note its importance. 7. Repentance is an unpopular subject. It is unpopular because it involves a change, and it involves a change which is perceived as being restrictive. 8. In this lesson we are going to investigate the idea of repentance: and I am going to approach it with five words all beginning with the letter R.
- 2 - DISCUSSION: I. RECOGNITION. A. This deals with the ability to recognize sin. 1. People need to recognize they ve sinned before they do something about it. 2. Difficult: living in time: 1) No moral absolutes; right/wrong is left up to the individual. 2) As previously noted - Homosexuality: alternative lifestyle. 3) People seek to justify their sins to sooth their conscience. 4) Putting it bluntly: sin is a dirty word. 3. But this is not a new problem. B. The prophet Jeremiah dealt with Judah who thought they had done nothing wrong (Jer. 2:35; 8:6). (It was 1 of 2 things: either they could not, or would not recognize their sin.) C. Recall for a moment the parable of the sower (Luke 8). 1. The parable is based upon how a person hears the word of God. 2. The Word was productive only in good and honest hearts. D. In the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32): 1. One of two sons demanded his inheritance. 2. He went into a far away country and squandered it in riotous living. 3. When things got rough hungry (watching the pigs eat) -- he came to himself. 4. i.e. he recognized that he had sinned. He was honest with himself! E. We may fool ourselves, and justify our sins, but until we recognize our sins there will not be repentance. 1. There are far too many today, like Jeremiah s day, asking, What have I done? 2. Part of the blame lies with the church -- failure to teach/preach about sin. 3. Sin is what is going to keep people out of Heaven. 4. It is wonderful to preach about love, but not to the exclusion of sin. 5. We must be able to recognize sin that repentance will follow. F. Without repentance we cannot please God. 1. On Mars Hill, Paul said it was a command. 2. Peter: that all should come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9). 3. That can only happen with honest hearts. II. REMORSE. A. When a person realizes they have sinned, then there must be remorse or regret. 1. If a person does not regret their sin, then there will not be repentance. 2. cf. Paul (2 Cor. 7:10). 3. In other words, when one realizes he has sinned, he should be ashamed; moving one to change.
- 3-4. Wabush, a town in a remote portion of Labrador, Canada, was completely isolated for some time. But recently a road was cut through the wilderness to reach it. Wabush now has one road leading into it, and thus, only one road leading out. If someone would travel the unpaved road for six to eight hours to get into Wabush, there is only one way he or she could leave; i.e. by turning around. Each of us, by birth, arrives in a town called Sin. As in Wabush, there is only one way out--a road built by God himself. But in order to take that road, one must first turn around. That complete about face is what the Bible calls repentance, and without it, there's no way out of town. -Brian Weatherdon. B. Judah had no remorse or regrets (Jer. 3:3; 6:15). 1. Webster: blush -- a reddening of the face esp. from shame, modesty. ( ashamed, embarrassed. ) 2. Judah was not troubled by what they d done. C. It should be noted that there is a vast difference between sorrow and godly sorrow. (following from Hobbs) 1. e.g. Suppose a person robs a bank and gets caught, He is sorry for getting caught, but not for robbing the bank. (Worldly sorrow, not godly sorrow) 2. Suppose a couple have a child born out of marriage. They respond by saying, We do not like the consequences of what we have done. We should have been more careful. We are sorry for the way things turned out. (Worldly not godly) 3. Suppose a man is drunk. In the sole fear of his wife leaving, he sobers up. (Worldly not godly) D. Biblical examples: 1. Judas Iscariot: Based on Matt. 27:3 He was remorseful or sorrowful; took the 30 pieces of silver back to the chief priests/elders, but his sorrow was worldly for he went out and hanged himself. 2. In contrast there was Peter who denied the Lord 3 times, wept bitterly (Matt. 26:75); allowed that remorse to lead him to repent. E. When the prodigal son came to himself, and recognized that he had sinned, he felt remorse. 1. He knew that he had done wrong. 2. He remembered what he had left behind (Luke 15:17). 3. With that remorse he took action in repentance. 4. This is better understood with the word Resolve. III. RESOLVE. A. The Greek word for repent in Scripture means a change of mind. 1. It is the resolve to do things differently; hence to cease going in the wrong direction to the right one which leads toward God. 2. This is the key that separated the actions of Judas and Simon Peter.
- 4-3. Judas returned the silver, but lacked the resolve to turn again to God. 4. Peter, on the other hand, resolved in his heart to turn again to God. B. If we again look at the prodigal son in Luke 15, we can read of the resolve (Luke 15:18-19). 1. Notice then the beginning of vs 20: "And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 2. We observe the things which he said that he would do, and then he took action. B. It is unfortunate, that some know that they need to repent, back lack the resolve to do it! C. When the apostle Paul appeared before Felix, the Roman governor of Judea, Paul spoke to Him about several matters (Acts 24:24-25). Felix was truly disturbed by what he heard, but lacked the resolve to truly repent. D. Paul also appeared before king Agrippa and governor Festus (Acts 26): 1. Paul had given a statement, and had heard Festus denounce him as being mad. 2. Paul then addressed Agrippa (Acts 26:27-28). 3. Paul knew that Agrippa was familiar with the teaching of the prophets. 4. There was a Bible base to work with in teaching this man of authority. 5. But Agrippa lacked the resolve to yield to the truth. E. The world of our own day is not much different. 1. Many people know that they have sinned, and purposely continue to live in sin. 2. Sadly, they lack the resolve to turn from that sin; thus dooming themselves, and likely their children. F. Thankfully, in such a gloomy picture, there are those through the years that have shown resolve. 1. The Ninevites resolved to repent at the teaching of Jonah (Jonah 3:1-10). 2. The Jews on Pentecost showed their resolve. 1) When they learned they had crucified the Messiah they asked: Men and brethren what shall we do? (Acts 2:37). 2) With the knowledge of truth they wanted to make a correction; and they did (Acts 2:41). 3. The Ethiopian eunuch showed his resolve in his statement: See, here is water... (Acts 8:36). G. With such resolve comes then the step of Reformation. IV. REFORMATION. A. Reformation deals with a change of life. 1. Now this, in and of itself, is not sufficient, for it must be a complete turning to God.
- 5-2. The late Wendell Winkler gives an illustration: A man may stop drinking because of sclerosis of the liver; but, he has not repented. A man may stop smoking, because of emphysema; but, he has not repented. A man may stop stealing because the law is clamping down on him; but, he has not repented. A man may stop immorality because he is fearful of disease; but he has not repented. A man may stop all of his meanness to improve his image in the business community; but he has not repented. (Book, Studying Sin Seriously) 3. You may ask why? Because in each case, with a change, there was no turning to God. 4. In Hosea 7:16, the prophet said of the people of his day: They return, but not to the Most High. B. Having qualified then the concept of reformation, reformation of life does need to be stressed. 1. A person must repent of all of his sins, not just part of them, or he has not really changed his life. 2. In another words, if one stops being a drunkard, but continues to use profanity, there is not a complete change of life. 3. If a tree is rotten, and needs to be cut down, what good is it to cut off a branch or two? 4. Illustration: If I find holes in my fishing net, of what value is it to mend just one of them? C. Regretfully, some have equated repentance with coming forward and answering the invitation. 1. That is only beneficial when there is the resolve to reform your life. 2. One writer observed: How disappointing and alarming to see one respond at the morning service and not return that evening... or, to respond during the gospel meeting only to see him miss consistently the subsequent services! 3. John the Baptist admonished: bring forth fruits worthy of repentance (Matt. 3:8). 4. Don t misunderstand me: I am not discouraging responding to the invitation: - If you choose to respond, seek out a genuine change! D. There are 11 men recorded in Scripture who said, I have sinned. 1. The one that said it more than others, even David, was Saul, 1st king of Israel. 2. Even so, Saul never really changed. 3. And even in the end, stripped of his kingdom, defeated by his enemies, he took his own life. E. Illustration: a lady who was an alcoholic. 1. She would respond frequently to the invitation, but return to her drinking. 2. She could admit that she had a problem, but she lacked the resolve to truly reform her life.
- 5 F. Repentance is not truly achieved unless one truly reforms their life and turns to God. V. RESTITUTION. A. We again consider the words of John the Baptist: to bring forth fruits worthy of repentance. B. To illustrate restitution: let s suppose someone steals some money. 1. He recognizes his sin, feels remorse/regret, has the resolve to reform his life, but keeps the money which he has stolen. 2. Where is the repentance? C. One of the great biblical examples of restitution, comes from Zacchaeus (Luke 19). 1. Having climbed the Sycamore tree to see Jesus passing by, and having been called by Jesus and informed that Jesus was coming to his house (Luke 19:6-10). 2. Zacchaeus was among the most hated men in his day for he was a tax collector. 3. Tax collectors, as a general rule, were not honest men, and would exact great taxes upon the people. 4. Zacchaeus vows before Jesus to give 1/2 of his goods to the poor; and to restore to those he had cheated 4-fold. 5. The repentance is genuine for it involved restitution. D. It is said that Robert Ingersoll once spoke out against, the doctrine of repentance: 1. If I rob Mr. X and God forgives me, how will that help Mr. X? (Winkler) 2. Ingersoll failed to understand that God would forgive one who had stolen providing there was restitution. E. Again citing bro. Winkler: If one has stolen $1,000 and repents, he will return that which he has stolen. If this was followed, the government would receive a lot of back income tax money, a lot of tool chests would be depleted, and a lot of linen closets would be bare. F. He also states: If one is living in adultery, and repents, he must separate himself from his unlawful companion. Being baptized a hundred times, or walking down an aisle a dozen times, will not take care of this sin. CONCLUSION: 1. It is easy to see why preaching biblical repentance is not a popular subject. 2. People need to recognize that they have sinned and need to repent. 3. If there is no recognition of sin, there will be no true repentance.