It is good to worship the Lord together, isn't
it? In the month of January, I took four Sundays
to express to you the vision that I believe God
wants us to have as a local church. We tried
to bring into focus during those Sundays what
I think will be necessary in the decade of the
90s in terms of ministry. If a local church is
going to succeed in its ministry, its God -honoring
ministry, during those weeks we laid out eight
principles that I think we need to seek to follow
in the ministry here at Grace Church. We of course
began with the foundational principle, that fundamental
principle, that the Bible is the Word of God
and that we need to teach it and apply it to
everyday life. We also talked about ministry
needing to be simplified because of the rat race
of our culture. And yet, in the midst of simplifying
ministry, we need to provide options for people
to choose from in terms of their own involvement.
We talked about the functions of a local church,
that those functions don't change from generation
to generation. They're the same. They are the
God established functions of every local church
and every age and every culture. But we said
that we needed to adapt the forms that we use
in carrying out those functions so that our ministry
is effective in our own generation. We talked
about the importance of everybody having ownership
and commitment to the mission that God gives
to us as a local church. A mission that can be
focused best if we think of cultural key kinds
of ministries. Those kinds of ministries that
God would raise up in our midst through us that
would enable us to penetrate the culture in which
we live. Those kinds of things that God would
have us to do to build bridges in the lives of
people. so that we can then earn the right to
present to them the only message in the world
that can help them, that can save them, and that
is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The emphasis
I was trying to make is that we can't expect
to do ministry in the next ten years like we've
always done it in years past. because culture
has dramatically changed and is changing in the
midst of rapid change. And we need to adjust
our methods in the light of that if we want to
get the job done that God's given us to do. Having
said those things that I think are fundamental
to us as we head into the next 10 years, I feel
led this morning to talk about some old truths
that are essential for this new decade. Because,
you see, there's another matter that we need
to address. It's part of the equation also for
effective ministry. As we think about change,
that's important to consider. But there are some
things that do not change. It's possible to have
the right philosophy of ministry, the right attitude
toward it, and still come short of seeing the
glory of God realized in our work. In the midst
of the excitement that God gives us with a new
decade with its challenges and with new visions
of possibilities of what God might do and with
some new ideas and new methods, there are some
old truths that we need to hold on to if we want
to see our lives mean something, if we want this
ministry to succeed, if we do not want to fail.
And so this morning I'd like to draw our attention
to some of these old truths for a new decade.
These are not difficult to get a hold of. In
fact, they are elementary. They are the ABCs,
so to speak, of ministry. But I think it's important
as we look ahead and we think about doing things
in a different way. Proclaiming the same gospel
in a way that's effective for our generation,
we need to keep hold of the elementary principles
about ministry if we want the blessing of God.
I think you would agree with me that attitude
is far more important than aptitude when it comes
to serving Jesus Christ. Attitude is far more
important than aptitude. The quality of the heart
is more vital than the quantity in the mind.
And so as we talk about some of the old truths,
I want to focus on the heart and especially heart
attitudes. The first truth I'd like to remind
us about this morning is the truth about repentance.
Repentance. Repentance is something we often
hear in connection with those who are not Christians
at all. In fact, it is important that those who
do not know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord repent.
The Lord Jesus said himself that unless you repent,
you will all likewise perish. Repentance is an
important truth in relation to those without
Jesus Christ, but it is likewise important for
those who know Christ. You see, when we repent
of our sin, we come in faith to Jesus Christ
We do not repent once and for all time, for all
of life. Repentance is an attitude that needs
to be cultivated in the heart of the believer.
The Christian needs to keep hold of this thing
that we call repentance. Now you say, what is
it? Fundamentally, repentance is a change of
mind. It involves the way that we think with
regard to those that are unsaved. It means that
a person changes the way that he thinks about
his sin. Instead of loving it, desiring it, and
enjoying it, now he says in repentance, I changed
my mind. I no longer want it. I desire to live
the kind of a life that's pleasing to God. He
changes his mind regarding God whereas before
he was hostile toward God and rebellious toward
God. Now he changes his mind and he comes to
God yielded and surrendered to him. He changes
his mind about himself before he saw himself
as pretty good. As one who well wasn't perfect
but surely good enough to get to heaven somehow.
I mean God is a God of love. That's all that
counts isn't it? I'm better than other people.
But he changes his mind about that and he sees
himself as a sinner, desperate, without hope.
And he sees in himself no longer any worth, any
reason that God would save him, for he is a sinner.
And he sees himself in need of a Savior. You
see, repentance is essential for the man who
is without Jesus Christ. It means he changes
his mind about some of the very basic, essential
things in life. But repentance is also essential
for the Christian. For you and I also need to
have a heart that is bent toward repentance.
And I need to say too that repentance is not
just a change mentally, but repentance affects
the way that one acts. John the Baptist commanded
the people that he preached to to repent. And
he said, bring forth the fruit. repentance. In
other words, if they genuinely had a change of
mind, he said, you will bring forth evidence
that there's repentance in you. Repentance produces
something. Genuine repentance leads to a definite
life change. We see this for example in Luke
chapter 15. I invite you to open your Bible to
that chapter. Jesus has been preaching repentance.
And there are some who hear Him. That is those
who were tax gatherers and sinners. They knew
that they were bad. They knew they needed something.
And when they heard Jesus talk about repentance,
they responded. And they came to Him. On the
other hand, there were others who heard Jesus.
These were primarily the religious leaders of
the day, the scribes and the Pharisees. And they
felt themselves pretty good. They felt that they
did keep the law of God. They were self -righteous.
And they felt there was no need in them for repentance.
As Luke chapter 15 begins, we see that the tax
gatherers and sinners were coming near Him to
listen to Him. And both the Pharisees and the
scribes began to grumble, saying, this man receives
sinners and eats with them. You see, they were
criticizing Jesus because of the company that
he kept. And so Jesus told them three parables.
These are three very well -known parables. Of
all the parables Jesus told, these would be among
the most familiar. The first one is about a shepherd
who had a hundred sheep and one of them was lost.
He went out and he found that sheep that was
lost and brought him back. And Jesus applies
that parable in verse 7 by saying, I tell you
that in the same way there will be more joy in
heaven over one sinner who repents than over
99 righteous persons who need no repentance.
And we might add, or who think they don't. You
see, Jesus was speaking directly here to the
scribes and Pharisees who felt they needed no
repentance. Jesus says there's greater joy in
heaven over one sinner who repents than over
99 self -righteous ones who think they're okay.
And then he told a similar story, this one dealing
with a coin that a woman lost. And she searched
and swept until she had found that coin. And
she went to her neighbors and said, rejoice with
me, I found that which I had lost. In the same
way Jesus says in verse 10, I tell you there
is joy in the presence of the angels of God over
one sinner who repents. And so this is a chapter
about repentance. Jesus is driving home the point
that we need to repent. And then he tells the
story of the lost son, the prodigal son, who
wished that his father were dead. As far as he
was concerned, his father was hanging around
too long. He wanted the inheritance. And so he
went to his father and requested it. And the
father generously, graciously divided his inheritance
before his death, gave it to both of his sons,
for he had two. Well, this son left home, went
out and wasted all that he had in loose living,
immoral living. He had lots of friends as long
as he had the money. But when the money ran out,
so did the friends. And he found himself ultimately
lower than the low for a Jew. He was working
among swine. And he was so hungry that he even
ate their food. Then it says in verse 17, but
when he came to his senses, he said, How many
of my fathers hired men have more than enough
bread, but I am dying here with hunger? I will
get up and go to my father and will say to him,
Father, I have sinned against heaven. and in
your sight. I am no longer worthy to be called
your son. Make me as one of your hired men."
And he got up and came to his father. Jesus doesn't
use the word repent here, but he does illustrate
what it means. This young man had a change of
mind and of heart, whereas before he enjoyed
the kind of living that his money bought him.
that was entailed with his friends. Finally,
he came to himself and he changed his mind. And
he said, my father feeds his hired servants more
than I'm getting here. He recognized the love
of his father. And he said, I am going back to
my father and I will acknowledge that I've sinned
against him and I've sinned against heaven. And
while I'm not worthy anymore to be a son, I've
already had the inheritance and I've spent it.
At least he can make me one of his hired servants
and I'll have enough to eat. And so he got up
and he went to his father. There's the proof
of his change of mind. The evidence of his repentance
is in what followed. Jesus is here illustrating
the importance of repentance and while it is
true of the one outside of Jesus Christ, I want
to say to you this morning that one of the old
truths that we must keep hold of in this new
decade is our need to cultivate a continual attitude
of repentance in our lives. We must have a an
attitude that says to God, God, wherever my thinking
is wrong, show it to me and I will change my
mind and my life will change accordingly. A Christian
needs to practice repentance as a way of life
to remain useful to God. Else, the tendency is
for our hearts to harden. to the Holy Spirit
and for us to become self -directed and self
-justifying just like these religious leaders
in that day who felt they were beyond the need
for repentance. What was the problem? With their
lips they were near to God but with their hearts
they were far from Him. They had lost the meaning
of repentance in their lives as religious people.
We who profess Jesus Christ as Savior need to
develop within ourselves a heart that is bent
toward repentance. What do we need to repent
about? Well, that list could be very long. I
suppose we could all add our own lines to it,
couldn't we? But this morning I'd like for you
to go with me to the book of the Revelation as
we see Jesus speaking to seven churches in Asia
Minor. These are seven churches that literally
existed in his day, in John's day, toward the
end of the first century. But it's interesting
that as Jesus dictates these letters to John
to deliver to the churches, what he says represents
difficulties that believers have in all ages.
And so in that sense these are representative
churches. For what they struggled with, what
they experienced, what their defeats were, what
their victories were. are experienced in all
of this age in local churches like them. It is
interesting that in four of these churches the
message of Jesus boiled down to one word was
repent. Someone has said the last commission
of Jesus to the church was not go into all the
world. The last commission of Jesus to the church
was repent. Change your mind. I notice that we
begin in the first part of chapter 2 with a letter
to Ephesus where Jesus commends this church for
its many, many strengths. This was a great church.
This was the kind of church that would be written
up in Christian periodicals and pointed to as
one of the super churches of the day. One of
the effective ministries in that generation.
Many positive things to be said about it. But
in verse 4, Jesus says, but I have this against
you, that you have left your first love. Remember
therefore from where you have fallen and repent.
and do the deeds you did at the first, or else."
Yes, Jesus at times pulled out that little phrase,
or else, and he did here. He said, or else, I
am coming to you and will remove your lamp stand
out of its place unless you repent. Now I want
you to understand, again I repeat, this was a
model church in nearly every respect. Read about
it in those earlier verses. Jesus underscores
their strengths, but so serious was this matter
of having lost their first love, that Jesus said,
I would rather come and pull your lampstand away,
take away your witness and your testimony. than
to have you go on doing those good things having
lost your first love. Having lost love is not
immediately apparent, is it? It's not in a marriage,
is it? A marriage can go on for months and sometimes
even years with people fooling one another. regarding
their true feelings. It's a tragedy when that
happens, but it can happen. But the fact is that
inevitably, ultimately, it will show up. It may
show up in small ways, or it may show up in some
gigantic blunder, but inevitably the loss of
love will show up in a relationship. Here, the
loss of love had not yet shown up. But it was
there. And because Jesus examines the heart,
He knew it. And despite the fact that all of
these good things were happening in their midst,
He said, look, there is a serious problem here.
You have lost your ardor for Me. You don't love
me like you used to. You have fallen away from
the intensity of your devotion to me, your affection
to me. He says change your mind and bring forth
those first works again. Those works that came
out of genuine love and heartfelt devotion. affection
for Christ, or else. Or else you're done. You're
finished. I don't know about you, but I find
that awfully serious. Awfully serious. Because
you see, it's possible for a church to go on
for years. And sometimes even decades doing good
things. being up to date in its methodology,
being on the cutting edge of its philosophy of
ministry, attracting attention from all over
the country with people coming to see how they
do it. If that church has lost its first love
for Jesus Christ, it's finished. Unless it repents.
Now that's true of a church. It's true of us
as individuals too. We can go through the motions.
We can sing the worship songs. We can like our
contemporary worship or our traditional worship,
our liturgical worship. We can read our Bible.
We can be a part of a flock. We can be a ministry
pastor in a small church. We can be doing all
of the right things. But if we have lost the
fire of love for Jesus Christ, we need to repent.
I look ahead down the chapter to the church of
Pergamum. Another church that had its difficulties.
We'll pick it up in verse 14. After commending
them for some things, Jesus says in verse 14,
I have a few things against you, because you
have their Some who hold the teaching of Balaam,
who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block
before the sons of Israel, to eat things, sacrifice
to idols, and to commit acts of immorality. Thus
you also have some who, in the same way, hold
the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Repent therefore,
or else. I am coming to you quickly and I will
make war against them with the sword of my mouth."
Again, Jesus warns, repent. What is the difficulty
here? It was an accommodation in the church of
Pergamum to false teaching and false lifestyle.
If we boil it down, that's basically what it
amounted to. They allowed in their presence some
who took liberties with the doctrine of God's
Word, and who as a result of that took liberty
in their lifestyle. They did not consider sin
very serious. And the church did nothing about
it. They apparently had the kind of an attitude
that Corinth had about it. We're broad -minded.
We accept everybody just the way they are. to
the point that they never dealt with sin. Jesus
says to them, look, repent, or else I will come
and make war against them. Isn't that a remarkable
statement? As we move into the 90s, and we by
the grace of God want to put in place the kind
of a ministry that is going to be effective We
must keep the attitude of repentance when it
comes to doctrine and a lifestyle. Now granted
in some areas of doctrine there can be minor
differences among us. We're not all going to
cross every T and dot every I just the same way.
But when it comes to the essential message of
the Word of God, we dare not allow false teaching.
to be propagated in our midst. Nor dare we allow
false living to be propagated in our midst. That
is the failure to take sin seriously. For if
we accommodate ourselves to that, we fall under
the condemnation of our Lord who examines our
candlestick too. And who will deal with us unless
we repent. Wherein I as an individual have allowed
false teaching to come into my life. Or I have
accommodated myself to the world. And I have
let down the standards of my living. And I do
things that a few years ago I wouldn't have done.
Or I put up with things that I would not have
put up with. Wherein I have compromised myself
in holy living, I need to repent." That's one
of the old truths we need in the new decade.
I look in chapter 3 and I see again Jesus calling
a church to repentance. It's the church at Sardis.
He says in verse 1, I know your deeds, that you
have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.
Wake up and strengthen the things that remain
which were about to die. For I have not found
your deeds completed in the sight of my God.
Remember therefore what you have received and
heard and keep it and repent. If therefore you
will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and
you will not know at what hour I will come upon
you." What is the problem here in Sardis? It
is the lack of spiritual life and power. Here
is a church that had a reputation. Here is a
church that had a name about itself. But Jesus
says, Though you have the name that you are alive
in fact you are dead And so he says wake up repent
It is good for a Church family to be genuinely
complimented from time to time and I think we
pastors and other evangelists and so on fail
to do that as often as we should. But there is
also a danger in hearing too often and taking
too seriously compliments by well -meaning people.
I think of a church that I know well that has
for decades been told, you are a great church.
evangelists come through, you are a great church.
And the same statement is made over and over
again with varying vocabulary with the same idea,
you are a great church. But knowing the church
better than some who just passed through, I would
have to say that to some degree, What is said
here to Sardis is true of that church. It has
the name that it's a great church, but it's dead.
You and I can have a reputation as being a wonderful
Christian too. We can have a reputation that
causes people to take notice when we walk in
a room. And sometimes we take care to build that
kind of a reputation. But it's possible to have
a name and be dead. To have no spiritual life
or power about oneself. It's possible to be the
leader of a Christian organization and to have
no spiritual life or power. It's possible to
be known far and wide, to be up in front of people
ministering, and to have no spiritual life or
power. It's possible to be a Sunday school teacher.
It's possible to be an usher. It's possible to
lead a Bible study, to be a disciple of others,
and to have no spiritual life or power. It's
possible to be a student in a Bible college.
a Christian college, a liberal arts college.
It's possible to be a member of a campus Christian
group and to have no spiritual life or power.
Jesus says, remember, go back to what you received
or what you heard in the beginning. Go back to
the foundation. Remember, wake up and repent.
Change your mind and go back to those things
that you learned earlier. Let me just point out
one more church. This chapter again is the church
at Laodicea. Verse 15, Jesus says to this church,
I know your deeds, that you are neither cold
nor hot. I would that you were cold or hot, so
because you are lukewarm, neither cold nor hot,
I will spit you out of my mouth. Because you
say, I am rich and have become wealthy and have
need of nothing, and you do not know that you
are wretched and miserable and poor and blind
and naked, I advise you. To buy from me gold
refined by fire, that you may become rich, and
white garments that you may clothe yourself,
and that the shame of your nakedness may not
be revealed. And I serve to anoint your eyes,
that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove
and discipline, be zealous therefore, and repent.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone
hears my voice and opens the door, I will come
into him and will dine with him and he with me."
Jesus is there giving an invitation, not really
to the unsaved, though we often use that verse
in that context, but He's given the invitation
to the church in Laodicea. He's outside the door.
and He's calling upon them to repent and to repent
in the sense that they change their mind and
they invite Him in. This church needs to repent
of its materialism, its contentment with material
things and its attainments. How often churches
measure themselves by what they own, what their
offerings are. How many missionaries they support.
And I'm not saying those things are unimportant.
They have a place. But they aren't the final
measure. The measurement is where Jesus is. Is
He in the church? Is He involved in the church?
Is He in the heart of the church? Or is He outside
knocking on the door saying, let me in? It's
possible for you and me to be content in our
Christian life with material things. To think
that because we have now prospered, God surely
must be blessing me. Thank you, Lord. And that
prosperity, whatever its source, causes our heart
to stray from God. For we have attainments. We
think, I have need of nothing. And Jesus knocks
on the door and he says, say, can I come in?
Repent, he says. You know the problem we have
today is the kind of churches that are described
here we think are normal. We think this is normal
Christianity. It's not normal. Normal Christianity
is the kind of Christianity that keeps repentance
right up there on the front burner. And when
something happens, when there's some change of
heart and mind that leads away from the Lord
and there's conviction about it, there's a change
and repentance brings that person back, that
church back. That's normal Christianity. Vance
Havner said that our form of Christianity is
so subnormal that if anybody gets normal, we
think he's abnormal. He's right. Repentance leads
us to conversion. To turn around again. The word
conversion literally means just to turn around.
To be going this way and turn around. That's
the result of repentance. You say, conversions
for the unsaved, yes. But it's also for the saved.
The saved man or woman needs to be converted.
We see this, for example, in Peter. Jesus warned
Peter that he was going to fail him. But he said,
Peter, I've prayed for you. And he says, when
you are converted, strengthen your brethren.
Peter was a believer, but he was going to go
through a conversion experience. He was going
to walk away from Christ. But he was going to
repent of that. And with bitter tears, he did.
And he was converted. He went back the other
way and met Christ on his resurrection morning.
James says, let the one who converts The sinner.
There at the end of the fifth chapter of his
book. What's he talking about? Well, he's talking
about a Christian in the first place who sins.
He's talking about brethren. And he says the
brethren who are in sin need to be converted
to deliver them from the judgment of God. I believe
strongly in what I talked about in January. I
wouldn't have devoted four Sundays to it if I
didn't believe in it strongly. And I know that
many of you believe in it too. To the extent
that you comprehend what I have said because
it's hard to grab a hold of all that stuff in
just four weeks. Many of you have said, look,
I believe in that. I'm behind you. I want to
be a part of this kind of a church. I thank God
for that. As we get into the new decade, let's
not forget the old truths like repentance. Let's
not think that just by putting a philosophy in
place or by creating new forms or doing this
or doing that, that solves everything. It doesn't.
We have to come back to the old truths like repentance.
Say, Lord, keep my heart tender. When I have
gone wrong, show me so I can change my mind and
turn around and be converted again. That's our
need. Let's pray. This morning as we talk about
this theme, I wonder if there are others who
would join me. I want to say, Lord, that's the
kind of a heart I want to keep. Lord, I want
the kind of a heart that is willing to repent.
Lord, deliver me from hardness of heart. Make
me a repentant Christian. One that can be easily
converted and brought back to the right way.
Lord, correct the attitude of my heart. Keep
it right. Lord, bring me to the old truth of
repentance." If that's your hard attitude, in
the sense that this morning you need to repent
of something, an area of your life where you've
been thinking wrong, perhaps there's been stubbornness
and rebellion and you've heard Jesus knocking
at the door and you refuse to go to the door,
and you've heard him say, do this or else, and
you have ignored it. Let today be the day when
you repent and you change your mind and agree
with Jesus and give that area of your life to
Him. If you want to do that this morning, I'm
going to invite you in a moment to stand where
you are. But with you, I want to invite to stand
those who may not need point of repentance this
morning, but who are saying out of their hearts,
Lord, that's the kind of a heart I want to maintain.
Lord, that's the kind of a heart I want to cultivate
a repentant heart. And I stand because that's
my heart desire. Now for either one of those
reasons, because of a point of repentance or
because you want to pursue that attitude in your
heart, If you'd be willing to stand, I invite
you to do that right now with your head bowed.
God knows why you're doing it. And don't do it
if you don't mean it. It's meaningless. But oh
God, that's the kind of a heart I want. Oh God,
this is an area that needs to be changed. God
bless you. Let's pray together. Father in heaven,
I pray that you will seal to our hearts What
the spirit has said this morning and may we be
an open repentant humble people Who listen to
the voice of the spirit We do not want our testimonies
as individuals or as a church to be removed We
do not want to come under condemnation rather
We want our lives to be well pleasing to you.
And so we stand before you to say, here we are.
We would be repentant. Repentant. Work in us,
now the works of repentance. Let's all stand
together and let's sing with our heads bowed.
I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back
No turning back Amen.