Good morning. Good morning. I don't know whose
idea it was to have a special day for the pastor,
but this one doesn't deserve your affection.
It was there. I appreciate it. But God is good
to us. And I appreciate very much your love and
your care. I know every time we meet together
that I'm weighted on hand and foot just about.
Only time people don't perform is when Alabama's
playing. They won yesterday. I know they did.
They sound like a good team. Yeah, they do. I'm
gonna let you guys do some of the talking today,
but I have a bunch of scriptures that I'll get
you to read, so I'm gonna have you look it up
and we'll read it together. But before we do
that, let's have a word of prayer. Father, we
just thank you for your infinite mercy and grace.
Thank you that you put up with shallowness in
my life, that you, I don't mean to say that you
let it go, you don't, you deal with it, but I
thank you that you don't give me or us what we
deserve. You are so, so good to us, and I really
thank you for that. Thank you for the privilege
that we have to look at the subject of repentance
this morning. We heard our brother Bruce talk
about that the other night. It's in our text
this morning. It's a reminder that our lives
are messed up, that we are aiming so often in
the wrong direction and pursuing the wrong goals.
and are excited about things that we shouldn't
be so excited about. I do thank you for the scriptures
and thank you for how they expose our shallowness.
I guess there's not been a verse that has spoken
to me more than the text that says if anyone
wants to come after you, we must deny ourselves,
take up our cross and follow you. That's just...
a clear way of saying that it's not us first,
it's going to be you. And so I know that. And
yet, that's not what we want. We want ourselves
first. We want our own pleasure first. There
are things we don't want to give up. That's true
in my life. I know that from experience. And
yet, you've called us to put you first, and you
work in conjunction with that to enable us to
do it. and to enjoy the peace and the comfort
we mentioned this morning. Joy is a by -product
of that. I just thank you. Thank you for your
goodness to us. I ask your blessing upon the
study this morning, and I pray in Jesus' name
with thanksgiving. Amen. And in that little verse,
two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine,
the word sin appears nine times. Sin coming from
homotheus, I believe is what it's pronounced
correctly, which means missing the mark. It's
a term that was used at archers and things like
that when they were shooting at a target. And
the arrow missed the balls, I missed the mark.
Scripture says, Romans says, all have sinned
and fall short of God's glory or miss the mark
of God's glory. That's not a little thing to
the Lord. We're His children and He wants us
to be pleasing to Him and to live in a way that
honors Him. I'm going to get some coffee on the
side of you because I need it. But anyway, we
struggle. I know I do. We're putting and seeking
God's will first and one to do what he wants
us to do Yet His way is best and his will is
best and so I want to look at some of these things
in our text We read and everyone who sins also
does lawlessness and sin is lawlessness And you
know that he was manifested in order to take
away sins and in him there is no sin. No one
who abides in him sins. No one who sins has seen
him or has come to know him. Little children
or beloved, let no one deceive you. All right,
here's a very important statement here. John
is writing to these people here about sin. And
in that culture, the Gnostics, they placed a
higher value on spiritual things, the low value
on physical things. They thought the physical
things didn't matter. You could do whatever you
wanted to in the flesh. And so they took lightly
the spiritual aspect and took lightly taking
God seriously in the physical realm. And you
know, the human heart, if you just let go and
do what you want to do in the flesh, you've got,
pardon me, you've got corruption that's gonna...
be pretty serious and so this church was struggling
with that and John is writing them now about
this topic of sin and he says let no one deceive
you. Why do you think he says that? I was wondering
if maybe he said that because he knows they need
to go on a diet and they're overweight. Probably
doesn't have anything to do with it. Maybe he's
saying that because he thinks they've been speaking
a different language. No, probably he says that
because it was an area where there is easy deception.
It was an area where we can think that we can
do what we want to do. It's not a big deal. We're
living in days like that where sin doesn't matter,
where you live how you want to live, you do what
you want to do. And John says, don't be deceived.
Don't let the influence of the Gnostics which
they take lightly, the things of the flesh. You
need to take seriously these things. Don't ignore
sin. Don't ignore the things in the physical
realm. Let your life point to the fact that you're
committed to the Savior. Let it be that what
you do matters. People pick this out. I use illustration,
I don't like to keep using illustrations from
personal life, but this one was at Billmore Press.
We had a guy that came to work there, he was
a preacher, and he worked in the binderage section.
And one of my friends, I've talked to you about
Don Denmark, was kind of an agnostic, and he
loved to laugh and stuff like that, but he was
loud. And he was kind of antagonistic. He had
a chip on his shoulder about the things of the
Lord, and he didn't like to discuss it too much.
He came to me one day and says, Peter, do you
think that preachers ought to say the blessing
when they eat before a meal? I said, well, I
think we need to be thankful for it, and I like
to do it because it's just a physical, tangible
way of giving credit to God and thanking him
for the food. And he said, well, so and so the
preacher goes and dances down and starts eating.
He never prays, never bows his head or anything.
And what that made me aware of is that people
watch you. They're looking at your life. And
what comes out of your life is, to a large degree,
a reflection of what's in your heart and how
you respond to things. So in the text that we're
looking at this morning, We're looking at the
subject of repentance Repentance has to do with
turning around It's a missing of Bruce's right.
It's a missing topic in most churches for a long
time as a new believer I didn't give credit to
it. I was I had my Scoville Bible and some other
notes that were a big thing and but I did not
I Did not place a high value on repentance, I
felt like that you could come to the Lord and
trust him as your savior. And then later you
could come to him and trust him as your Lord.
And those two things were not sound, not biblically
sound. And before I really come to trust him
as Lord, I don't think I was saved. I was religious.
That's why I mentioned this morning in our context
here that people who seem to be a Christian.
But not only do they deceive the church, but
a lot of times they deceive themselves, which
is infinitely worse. And so the words of our
Lord, at the Sermon on the Mount, near the end
of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew, I believe
it's seven, words of our Lord, told the believers,
they said, when they came to him, he said, depart
from me, for I never knew you. And what was their
response? Their response was, Lord, haven't we
done all these religious things? And we could
say, haven't we taught Sunday school? Wasn't
that faithful to church? Didn't I give some money
on a regular basis for your work? And Jesus said,
yes, you've done all these things. However, I
never knew you. Get out of my sight or depart
from me. He didn't say, get out of my sight but
depart from me. Which is a very... To me, and
I pray about this, I don't want to hear those
words. It's really interesting. There's a utter
to people that think they're in the church and
are not. They may be in the church, but they're
not saved. So it's a serious thing. So repentance
is the topic and I want to give you some verses.
Starting with Matthew 4 .17, this is a... Somebody
can look this up Matthew 417. Who's gonna look
that up? IP 11 Matthew 11 20 and 21 somebody
look that one up. Who will look that up? Okay
flesh Mark 612. All right. Okay, and then Luke
532 will stop there for a minute and coming take
a little bit later on Luke Luke 532 Okay there
At the beginning of Jesus ministry these water
words Matthew 417 Were uttered regarding repentance.
What does it be? From that time Jesus began to
preach saying repent for the kingdom of heaven.
Is it? All right. He's telling them from that
time Don't go down the same road as usual. There's
a turning around. There is a dedication of doing
something My way, not your way. What about Matthew
11, 20, and 21? Okay, 11 and 21. Matthew 11.
Okay. Truly I tell you, among those born of women,
there is not risen anyone greater than John the
Baptist, yet whoever is least in the kingdom
of heaven is greater than he. Okay. Is that Matthew
11? Then 21. There's 11, 20, and 21. Okay. Woe
to you, Chorazin. Woe to you, Bethsaida. For
if the miracles that were performed in you had
been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would
have repented long ago and sat clothed in ashes.
Okay. The point there is that he said, is it
not repent? And he's saying that this should
be their response. They should see the kingdom
of God. They should see the Savior coming. They
should know who he is. They should make a difference.
You should be prepared for that. Mark 6 -12.
and they went out and preached that men should
repent. Okay, and Luke 5 .32. I have not come
to call the righteous the sinners to repentance.
Okay, all of these are words of the Lord talking
about the need for turning away, turning around,
going in a different direction. Let's do some
more verses and then we start all over again.
Luke 13 .3 and 5, we'll do that. All right, Brian.
Luke 15, seven through 10, who can do that? You
can do one or the other that you've done before.
Luke 15, seven and verse 10 as well. Luke 24,
46 to 47. Luke 24, 46 to 47. Okay. and then we'll
do one more here. This is now out of the Gospels
in the Book of Acts, and that's Acts 2, verses
38. You'll be familiar with that part of Peter's
sermon. Who will read there? I will. All right.
Okay, Luke 5, 32. Who has a Brian you have that
Okay, yeah, it's a 13. I'm sorry 13 3 & 5 Says
I tell you no, but unless you repent you will
all likewise fish Okay, first five says I tell
you no, but unless you repent you will all likewise
All right Luke 5 Luke 15 who's got Luke 15 7
& 10 Okay. Just so I tell you, there will be
more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents
than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance.
Okay. Then verse 10 says, just so I tell you,
there is joy before the angels of God over one
sinner who repents. All right. You see, these
are, this is, this is, he's talking about righteous
persons. These are people that are religious.
And they think of themselves as religious, but
they're not saved. And he says, there's a joy
over one sinner who repents than all the religious
people who are doing religious stuff. God is
not pleased in a certain amount. He talked about
that. He said that people pray long prayers and
they do all these religious things. That is the
only reward they're going to get because I'm
not just looking for the external. I'm looking
for the heart. And when the heart is touched,
it causes a turning around, a commitment to the
Lord's will in your life. All right, so what
was your verse? Luke 24, 46 and 47. Who's got
that? I got it. Okay. and that repentance for
forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his
name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem.
Okay, so here is the subject of the Gospels,
both with Jesus and John the Baptist. Repentance
is the message that he gives. It's not a forgotten
topic. It's a very serious topic. And let me
give you some more verses. Did anybody get, you
got asked to, didn't you? Well, you got, there
I read it. And Peter said to them, repent, and
we baptize every one of you in the name of Jesus
Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and
you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
That's being the sermon on the Pentecost. Repentance
is the request. All right, let's do it one more
time. Let's look at, saw it all over, Acts 3
.19. Who can do that? Oh, you got it, Brian?
I'll get it, yeah. Okay. Acts 3 .19. Acts 11
to 18. He said that he will give you the Holy
Spirit. He'll give you wisdom, because wisdom
comes through the Holy Spirit. Amen, that's right.
You're exactly right. With the Holy Spirit, the
endowment of the Holy Spirit, there's gifts and
abilities. You have to be repentant. All right,
so Brian, you got Acts 3 to 19, is that right?
Yes, sir. Okay, who is going to do Acts 11 to
18? I'll get it. Okay, Caleb. Acts 17 and 30.
This is Paul's message on Mount Mars Hill. Who
can do Acts 17 and 30? Okay, Fletch. What about
Acts 20 and 31? Okay. All right, Larry. Thank
you. And then two more in the epistles. Second
Corinthians 7. Nine through 10, who can read
that? Second Corinthians, seven, nine through
10. All right, Pete. And then the last one is
Paul's letter to Timothy, in Second Timothy 2
.25. Somebody read that. Second Corinthians,
Second Timothy 2 .25. Who? Okay. All right. Acts
3 .19. Acts 3 .19. Repent therefore and be converted,
that your sins may be blotted out, so that times
of refreshing may come from the presence of the
Lord. to the leadership in Jerusalem when they
were surprised that he was preaching the gospel
to the Gentiles. And he went back and gave a
defense of that. All right. What was the next
one? Act 1730. In the past, God overlooked some
of the ignorance, but now He commands all people
everywhere to repent. Amen. Acts 20 and 21. I've
got it here if you want me to read it. Okay,
yeah. Acts 20 and 21. 21 or 31? 21. Acts 20 and
21. Solemnly testifying both Jews and Greeks
about repentance toward God and faith in our
Lord Jesus Christ. Alright, 2 Corinthians 7,
9 through 10. As it is, I rejoice not because
you were grieved, but because you were grieved
into repenting. For you felt a godly grief so
that you suffered no loss through us For godly
grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation
without regret whereas worldly grief produces
death Okay worldly grief and godly grief interesting.
All right one more. That's the second Timothy
225 With gentleness correcting those who are
in opposition if perhaps God may grant them repentance
leading to the knowledge of the truth. All right.
All right, this exercise which we've gone through
just points out the fact that in every, anybody
of significant identity in preaching or in ministry,
whether it be Jesus or John the Baptist or Peter
or Paul, the message is always the same, repent.
Because we're on the wrong road, we're living
for self. I know what it's like to live for self.
And you know what it's like to live for yourself.
And when the Lord tells you, maybe the man wants
to come after me and deny himself, that bristles
my spirit. I want to indulge myself. I want to
do what I want to do. But the Lord calls us to
put him first. He has to change the heart. You
can't just do it in the flesh. He has to change
your heart. So you need to spend time with him
and his word and let his word generate a submission
in your heart, in your life, and in your Lord
because that's really very important. Bruce preached
the other night on that subject and I thought
it was very good that repentance is the missing
message. in our teaching so often today. And
the reason is because we're in such trouble.
The reformers talk about the depravity of the
flesh, total depravity. I think it was Luther
who wrote the book on depravity. very serious
because the private is called total. It means
that everything we touch in our lives gets stained
with sin, with self -indulgence. I think of Dennis,
when I ask him, I say, how you doing Dennis?
He says, better than I deserve. That's true,
all of us, better than we deserve. All right,
let me close in prayer, because I'm gonna sit
down. Father, thank you for your mercy and your
grace, and thank you for your care. Boy, that
is absolutely true. You treat us so much better
than we deserve. And I know that. And I thank
you for it. And it's a disturbance to me that
I can be so casual about my hypocrisy and other
things that really need to follow my face before
you all the time and just repent. And I know
it's important. And the reason I preach about
it is because it's hard. It's a call that's important.
I don't want to put you first. I end up wanting
to put myself first. And yet I end up coming
on my face before you and ask for mercy. I want
to thank you for that because you wouldn't that
that passion and that desire would not be generated
in the flesh. It comes from you. And so I. I
thank you for that and thank you for this church
and for these people. I don't know why we're
having a day of pastoral recognition, but I do
thank you for their love and their care and their
concern. And you're just very, very good to all
of us. And I ask your blessing upon this day.
And I pray in Jesus' name with thanksgiving.
Amen. Brian, you closing us up. Oh, we have pizza
in it, okay.