BIBLICAL REPENTANCE II CORINTHIANS 7:4-11 ROMANS 2:4 II PETER 3:9 There are many today that do not appreciate or desire Preaching about repentance. They claim that they want to hear about the goodness of God, not judgment. But Romans 2:4 tells us that the goodness of God leads us to repentance. We are not to despise His goodness. When you reject the teaching and Preaching of repentance, you are rejecting the goodness of God. His forbearance and long-suffering is given to us for the purpose of bringing us to repentance. We are told again in II Peter 3:9 that the Lord is faithful and long-suffering because He is not willing that we perish, but that all, everyone one of us, should come to repentance. This is a missing element in the lives of most people today. Our whole world is reeling under a heavy load of guilt and trouble because of our refusal to repent. We do not want to even hear those that say that there are consequences for our actions and we will be held accountable for our every deed. But, like it or not, that is the truth. We are sinners in need of repentance, every one of us. It s time to set aside our wicked pride and see ourselves as God sees us. The best Christian in this room today has something in your life that you need to repent of. When the man of God Preaches the Word of God and it pricks your heart, don t get defensive and try to run him down or get mad and try to find fault in others, fall on your knees before God in repentance and ask Him to help you search your heart, root out any and every sin. The fault is not in the Preacher or in the Word of God, it is in our wicked heart and we need to repent; we need a Heavenly dose of Godly sorrow. Sorrow that will work repentance in our lives. Not the sorrow of the world, that is what you get when you don t repent, that works death. Our Churches are filled with people that need to search their hearts and repent of every sin, before it brings them to the place of destruction and produces the sorrow of the world in their life.
If that does not happen, the day will come when it cannot happen:...repentance shall be hid from mine eyes. (Hosea 13:14). The world is filled with people today that have lives filled with sin and they will not repent. They don t even know they need to repent because they have gone so long without it, it is hidden from them. They excuse sin, over look sin, defend sin and even enjoy sin, they are not interested in old fashioned, life changing repentance. But, if we really desire to be right with God, if we desire to be all that He wants us to be, we will repent. It is what He has commanded us to do: Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: (Matthew 3:8). Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance... (Luke 3:8). There is much Preaching and teaching on the fruit of the Spirit, and that is right, but what about the fruits of repentance? Doesn t that teaching come from the same Bible? We like to hear about how we ought to love each other and help each other, but what about repentance? Jesus said:...for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. (Matthew 9:13). He is calling us today to repentance. What are you going to do with the sin in your life? Are you planning to carry it to your grave? If so, it just might be an early grave. You can get rid of that sin today. It will not just go away, you must repent of it....i came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. (Mark 2:17). Doesn t the Bible say that we are all sinners. There are not any perfect, sinless people here today. There are lost sinners, on their way to Hell and saved sinners, saved by the grace of God. Both need to repent.
I am not a new commer to repentance fighters, I have faced them for many years. The repentance fighters are not fighting me, they are fighting themselves: In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; (2 Timothy 2:25). God brought you here today to be exposed to the truth, your acknowledging of that truth will be proven by repentance. We talk about the great need for Revival in the Church today. It is a great need, but Revival will not come apart from repentance. And I am not talking about the rank sinner, the God hater that never darkens the door of the Church. I m talking about God s people: If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14). When was the last time you saw someone publicly repent? When was the last time you were in a service where sinners repented and there was visible evidence of people getting right with God. People will do everything but that. They will get re-saved, they will rededicate their lives, they will make a new decision, but very few will truly repent. God help us to fall on our faces and get right with God and pled for a powerful presence of the Holy Ghost that will cause others to do the same. Let s look at some things that repentance will do in your life: For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter. (2 Corinthians 7:11).
1 - REPENTANCE WILL MAKE YOU A GODLY SORT It s time to clean up our lives, we have played around in the Devil s hog pen too long. I believe some need to get down here on this altar, confess your dirty rotten sin to God, call it what it is and ask God to clean you up and make you a Godly sort. The Godly sort will not pick the sermon apart and try to find a reason they don t have to obey the clear instructions of the Bible. If the Holy Ghost knocks on your door, repent and get it right. Don t fuss at me, don t make me your enemy, I m just trying to get you to be a Godly sort. It is sad that the Preacher is expected to tip-toe around the sins of those in the Church. They just might get mad, they just might start trouble, they just might leave the Church. None of those things are right and none of them will make anyone a Godly sort, the only thing that will do that is repentance. It would be much better if we worried about what God expects of us more than what we expect of the Preacher. Repentance Preaching will not hurt you, cause you trouble or hurt you, it will help you. Being a Godly sort will help you and help you to be a blessing to those around you. All through this Bible we are told to guard our testimony. Those that don t repent will not be able to do that, their testimony will be ruined and everyone will know that they are not a Godly sort. Repent of those worldly habits, you can t quit them until you repent of them. Repent of those wicked thoughts. Repent of that anger. Repent of that laziness. Repent of that unfaithfulness. Repent of that rebellion. You can t change a thing until you repent. 2 - REPENTANCE WILL MAKE YOU CAREFUL There are some in this room that are living careless lives. You do as you please, never giving the consequences a thought. I wonder how many thought about their actions this week and about the fact that you will give account for every one of them.
The reason you lived so carelessly this week is because you have not repented. You did not repent of your failure to read your Bible and pray. You did not repent of your failure to fulfill your duties to God and the Church. You did not repent for the sinful and unkind words you spoke. You did not repent for the shameful way you dressed or the wrong places you went. You did not repent for stealing God s tithe. And guess what? You will do the same thing next week that you did last week, because you are living carelessly. That careless living will lead you to destruction. You will soon become a casualty, a trophy for the Devil. All because you did not repent. Our Churches are filled with careless people, living careless lives. They dress carelessly They talk carelessly They act carelessly They play carelessly They attend Church carelessly They worship carelessly They raise their families carelessly That is no way for the Christian to live. Our life and our walk in this life must be a careful walk. A walk that will lead us to safety, not destruction. 3 - REPENTANCE WILL CLEAR YOU I m talking about a clear conscience. This room is filled with guilt, those that are carrying their sins around instead of repenting of them. That will make you mean and bitter and it will lead you farther and farther away from God. It will give you a jealous spirit and steal all your joy. It is especially sad to see folks like that, because it is so easy to fix. The cure is repentance! Not shallow sorrow where you and God both know that you are not going to forsake your sin, you are just sorry that it is making you feel so bad. That will not clear you, that will kill you. You will walk out of here with a clear conscience when you fall on your face at that altar and pour out your heart to God. Tell Him all about your sin and cast them on Him. He will take the stain of them from your soul and the memory of them from your mind.
There are homes in here that would be much better places to live if those in that home would repent and get their consciences clear. Daddies would be better Daddies. Moms would be better Moms. Children would be better children. And all of them would be better Christians. The Church would be a better Church if the members would repent and get a clear conscience. There would be better Sunday School Teachers, Bus Workers, Soul-winners, servants, etc. You can serve better, sing better, work better, love better, and worship better, when you have cleared yourself, when you have repented. 4 - REPENTANCE WILL PRODUCE INDIGNATION That is a hate and a bad taste for sin. Too many love sin and too many are attracted to it. They are holding on to their sin instead of repenting of it. What those that claim to be saved need today is an old fashioned hate for sin. We watch it on TV and we have grown used to it, we don t hate it. We see it in the lives of those we associate with and we have grown used to it and we don t hate it. We have talked about it in nice ways for so long that it is not as bad as it used to be, in fact, we could have a little of it in our lives, it couldn t be as bad as the Preacher says it is. If your child got a bottle of drain cleaner from under your sink and drank it in the morning, you would repent of the day you allowed that to be available to him, you would not ever want it in your house again, you would hate it. But, rock music is not so bad, wicked TV is not so bad, the movie house is not so bad, ungodly dress is not so bad. Yes it is bad and those that love God ought to hate sin!!!! Even those that are hurt by sin today, still don t hate it. As our children are rebellious and wasting their lives, we still can t make ourselves hate the music that is causing much of it.
As our homes are breaking up and our lives are stained and scarred, we still can t put away the music, TV and movies that cause much of it. Our testimonies are shot, the world laughs at us and walks all over us, and we still can t repent of the sin that is stealing our power and hindering our walk. Our Churches are powerless and are not impacting our communities and we still can t repent and return to old time holiness. All of that is because of the sin in our lives and our refusal to repent. We don t hate sin, we have no holy indignation for sin, in fact, many are in love with their sin. But, may I tell you that the day is coming when we will wish that we had repented. When that which we love turns on us like a poisonous snake, strikes at that part of us that we hold most dear. It will ruin our lives, break our hearts, destroy our future and kill our relationship with a Holy God. There are those all around us today that are filled with indignation toward the Church, God s people and God Himself, all because they loved their sin too much to repent. Their sin turned on them and now they have no love for anything. 5 - REPENTANCE WILL LEAD YOU TO A HOLY FEAR OF GOD AND A HOLY DESIRE FOR GOD Go ahead and join that crowd that has the sticker on their cars that says they have No fear. Go ahead and live as though you will never stand before the Judge of all the earth. That will lead to a tragic end. There are those today that hate Preaching on the fear of God, that is because they have no fear of Him. God is not a mean and terrible God, unless you don t fear Him. Our God is not a God that desires to punish us, unless we don t fear Him. Our God is not someone that we need to fear His presence, unless we have had no fear before He arrives. The fear that we need to have for our God is a fear that leads us to repent and live a clean and holy life before Him. That is the key, to know that our lives are lived BEFORE HIM!
That is why people will challenge the Preacher and the Word of God, they have no fear of God. That is why some will not change and say silly things like, No one is going to tell me how to live, they have no fear of God. That is why some in the Church are shaking their fist in the face of God, defying Him with their lips and their life, disobeying His Word and His will, they have no fear of God. They have spent no time on their face in real repentance and I stand on the authority of this Bible and say today, God will show them fear one of these days and it probably won t be long. It s time for the proud hearts in the Church to bow before God and repent of their sins and be led to a holy fear of a Holy God. There are those that claim to be saved, yet they have no desire for God. They can take the Church or leave it. They can serve the Lord or stay at home. They can pray or skip it, they can read their Bibles or read the newspaper. A Revival meeting means nothing to them, they have no desire for God. If they can be here without too much inconvenience, they will come, if not, they will stay home or go somewhere else. They have no desire for Godly music. They have no desire for the teaching of the Word of God in Sunday School or on Wednesday night. Their desire for God is gone, because they have no repentance in their lives. Their minds are carnal and filled with the world because they have no repentance. Their homes are carnal and filled with the world because they have no repentance. Their children are carnal and filled with the world because they have no repentance. Their friends are carnal and worldly because they have no repentance. God help us to return to old time religion, the time when we feared the Lord and lived holy lives. We lost that when we turned away from Biblical repentance.
6 - REPENTANCE WILL LEAD YOU TO A ZEAL FOR GOD There are many today that are wondering where the zealous servants for God have gone. I wonder that myself many times. I long for the day when the few will not have to do the work of the many. But, I realize that it will not happen until there is real and true repentance. Some will want to serve the Lord, but because they do not repent, they walk away from the Church and forget about serving the Lord until the next time they show up and the Lord deals with them. Some that do serve will not show up on time, they are not prepared, they are not excited about the opportunity to labor for the True and Living God. They have no joy, no zeal and no fruit, because they have no repentance. Some of them will jump from one Church to the other, blaming the Preacher and the members for their lack of fruit and fulfillment. The real reason for their unrest and lack of Godly zeal, is the absence of repentance. 7 - REPENTANCE WILL LEAD YOU TO REVENGE ON THE DEVIL The Devil has torn up so many lives, he has destroyed so many homes, he has crippled so many servants of God, and he has stirred up strife in so many Churches. It seems that he is having his way and there is no way to stop him. I came here today to tell you that there is a way, repentance. When we fall on our faces before God, repent of our sins and get right with Him, He will visit us in a mighty way and run the Devil out of town. Testimonies can be reclaimed and broken lives can be mended by repentance. Homes can be restored and children brought back into the fold by repentance. Ministries can be revitalized and God s servants can be encouraged and empowered again by repentance. Churches can be revived and Preachers can be set on fire in the holy unction of God by repentance. Are you tired of the Devil having his way with you? Get your revenge this morning by repenting.
Are you weary of him tearing your life and your home to shreds? Get your revenge today by repenting. Are you tired of a fruitless life, never seeing anyone saved? Get your revenge today by repenting. Are you sick of seeing so many go the wrong way and seeing our nation fall under the wicked hand of Satan? Get the revenge we need today by kneeling at an old fashioned altar in repentance. Do you want to leave this place today with victory and the ability to look the Devil in the eye and not be afraid? It will not happen without real, Godly, Biblical, repentance. 8 - REPENTANCE WILL LEAD YOU TO APPROVAL WITH GOD This verse says we can be approved in ALL THINGS! We have settled for approval in just a few areas. That seems to be enough for some. If they can just be a good Christian is a few areas of their life, that is OK. But, the truth is, it s not OK. Not with you or with God. Prayers will not be answered without His approval Souls will not be won without His approval Homes will not be safe from the Devil without His approval Things will not go well in your life without His approval The Church will not be strong and exciting without His approval Hey! It s not OK today and we know it. What can we do, how can we get the approval of God? We are given the answer right here, repentance! I am not here today to ask you if you are satisfied with your life, I m here to ask you if God approves. I am not here today to ask you if you are satisfied with your home and your marriage and your relationship with others, I m here to ask you if God approves. Does He approve of the way you claim to be saved? Does He approve of the way you worship? Does He approve of the way you live? Does He approve of the way you give? We need some old fashioned repentance today: For salvation, for holiness, for power. Are you ready and willing to repent? Pray!