True Repentance

Well, brethren, repentance is certainly a very religious word. I suppose just about all preachers of all denominations talk about repentance to some degree or another. Lots of hellfire and brimstone sermons have been given about the subject of repentance.

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all talked about repentance. The Apostle Paul talked about repentance. Peter talked about repentance. Jesus Christ certainly talked about repentance. Even Mark Smith talked about repentance a little bit in the sermonette today. So guess what we're going to be talking about in the sermon? What is true repentance? How do you know that you've repented? Does true repentance mean that you will never repeat a particular sin again?

Brethren, the Bible reveals what true repentance is and what it isn't. As the Passover quickly approaches, we all need to understand true repentance. So let's talk about what is true repentance. Brethren, we all know that sin is the transgression of the law. Most of us can probably quote 1 John 3, verse 4, that sin is the transgression of the law. It's the breaking of God's law.

That's what sin is. To repent means to turn away. In this context, it means to turn away from your sins, to turn away from breaking the laws of God. It means to change from disobeying God's laws to obeying them. That's in essence what it means to repent. It's really not that complicated. There's a bit more to it, and we'll certainly talk more about it, but in essence it simply means to turn away from sinning, to turn away from breaking God's laws.

The Hebrew word that is often translated to repent is the word shub, S-H-U-B. It's a primitive root. It's Strong's 7725, by the way, if you want to write that down. It's a primitive root, which means to turn back or to turn away. It can also mean to reverse, to send back, those types of meanings. In Joel 2, this word is used. Let's go to Joel 2 in the Old Testament, where this Hebrew word is used.

Joel 2. Joel 2, verse 12. Now therefore says the eternal turn to me. This word that's translated turn is a word that's also translated repent. Turn to me or repent to me with all of your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. It shows that true repentance is oftentimes accompanied with fasting, with weeping, with mourning. So rend your heart. So your heart is involved. If you're truly repentant, your heart is very, very much involved. Rend your heart, not your garments. God's looking at something that comes from within. Not an outward show, but something that comes from within that affects one's heart.

Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger. Why would we not want to turn to such a God? Why would we hold back and not return to such a God who's slow to anger, who's of great kindness, and He relents from doing harm? God doesn't want to do harm to us. Now He will, if we continue in our sins, then be sure your sins will find you out. You will be punished. If you continue in your sins and don't repent, then God is bound to punish you, to correct you as a good Father would.

But He doesn't want to do that. He says He relents from doing harm. God very much wants to forgive and to wipe away those sins and not have you necessarily pay the consequences. We know that the wages of sin is death. We know that's the final consequence.

God certainly doesn't want us to be cast into the lake of fire. He wants us to repent of our sins. He wants to give us eternal life. He wants to give you eternal life. So remember that God is a loving and a merciful God, and there's no reason why we ought not want to turn back to Him. If we've gone astray, that's exactly what we need to do.

We need to turn back to God. We need to seek God's blessing, His approval, His direction, His guidance. Now in Ezekiel 14, this Hebrew word shub is used specifically, and it's translated to repent here. Ezekiel 14. Therefore, say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God, repent. That's the word shub. Repent or turn away. Thus says the Lord God, repent. Turn away from your idols. Actually, the word is used twice.

It's used and translated repent, and then it's used and translated turn away. Same word. It's 77.25. So repent and turn away. That's the same word. Turn away from your idols and turn your faces away from all your abominations. For anyone of the house of Israel or of the strangers who dwell in Israel who separates Himself from Me and sets up His idols in His heart.

Again, God looks on the heart. He's concerned about the heart. Sets up His idols in His heart and puts before Him what causes Him to stumble into iniquity. God does not want us to make provision for the flesh. That's what the New Testament tells us. It's basically telling us the same thing here. We have to be careful what we allow in our hearts and minds. We don't want to set up idols in our hearts.

And put before us what will cause us to stumble into iniquity or sin. If we put something in our heart that's wrong and we cling to it, then we set up an idol, no matter what it is. If there's something that you desire doing that's wrong, that has become an idol in your life. God says, turn away from all idols. Turn away from anything that distracts you or takes you away from the true worship of God.

God wants your wholehearted devotion to Him. He doesn't want it divided in a hundred different ways. He wants you to put Him first and to seek Him first. So put away anything that would cause you to stumble into iniquity. He says, then comes to a prophet to inquire of Him concerning me. I, the Lord, will answer Him by myself. I will set my face against that man and make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people. Anyone who refuses to turn from their sins. Anyone who refuses to turn from their idols will eventually be cut off.

And of course, the final conclusion would be cut off in the lake of fire if we do not repent of our sins. He says, then you shall know that I am the Lord. So it is important to know who God is. God is a loving and a merciful God. We've already read that. He's slow to anger. He's full of kindness and compassion and mercy, but God does expect you to repent.

He expects you to turn from your sins. He expects you to change your life. He expects you to continue to fight the good fight every day of your life. Not give in to sin. Not give in to Satan's ways. And to continually fight back to turn away. In Jeremiah 18, again we find this word, Shub, used, Jeremiah 18.

Jeremiah chapter 18. Another one of God's prophets, Jeremiah. Jeremiah, it's not surprising that Ezekiel and Jeremiah would talk about repentance. God sent them to show Israel their sins to preach repentance to them. Jeremiah chapter 18. And let's begin in verse 1. The Word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause you to hear my words. So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was. He was making something at the wheel. Probably a lot of you have seen vessels being made like this.

My wife and I have been to a number of places where they've made pottery. We've seen the potter's wheel. So there he was. He was making something at the wheel, and the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter. And you've probably seen that as well. You've seen them cast off the pottery that isn't any good, that has flaws. Or fashion it again into something which it talks about now. So he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.

Then the Word of the Lord came to me, saying, O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter? Can I not do the same thing with you as this potter just did with this clay? He says, Look, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand. Now really, that's a good thing. It's a good thing to be in God's hands. Because God is a loving and merciful and faithful God, so it's wonderful to be in His hands. He is the potter. We are the clay. Verse 7, The instant I speak concerning the nation and concerning a kingdom to pluck up, to pull down and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns, that's the word, shub, turns or repents from its evil, I will relent.

That's, I believe, the same word there. I will relent of the disaster that I brought to bring upon it. I will turn back myself, God says. If God sees a nation that has gone astray and it refuses to repent, then God is bound to bring disaster upon it eventually. But if that nation turns from its sins, then God will turn from the evil or the destruction that He was intending upon a nation that would not repent.

He says, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. In the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom to build and to plan it, if it does evil in my sight so that it does not obey my voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it. So the reverse is also true.

If God, you know, God wants to bless all of us, that is His desire, that is His plan. But if a nation refuses to obey Him, the good that He meant for that nation, He will turn back.

He will repent of doing that. Instead, He will bring disaster upon it, even when He at first intended to bring good. The same thing is true for us individually. God wants to bless all of us. He wants to give us wonderful things. He wants to help us to ride on the high places of the earth. That's what Isaiah 58 talks about when we observe the Sabbath and keep it as a delight to Him.

And we do it properly and honorably. God wants to bless us and give us every good thing. But when we refuse and we break the Sabbath or any of God's commandments, then the good that He had desired to do, He will not do. And we will pay a price for our sin. So it's important to realize that God is a very merciful and loving God, and He's a very forgiving God.

He knows we're going to sin. God understands that. But He also expects us to turn from that sin. When we have sinned, we need to turn from that sin. We need to be overcomers. We need to put sin out of our lives. Sure, it's better to have never sinned, right? But we all know that we all have sinned. But when we sin, that's the time to seek God with even greater diligence in one sense.

I mean, it's better not to have sinned. It's better to seek Him diligently so that we don't have sin. But we're all human, and we'll let down. We'll let down at times. When we do, that's when we really need to go back to God and repent and change and turn from our sin.

Verse 11, Now therefore speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus says the LORD, Behold, I am fashioning a disaster and devising a plan against you. Return now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good. Now we know that the house of Israel went into captivity first because they would not repent of their sins. God gave them ample time, plenty of time, to repent of their sins. But they refused, so they were taken into captivity in Assyria.

The house of Judah seen the example of what had happened to the house of Israel was better at times, especially when they had good kings, to lead and guide them. But they also refused to turn from their sin, and God brought disaster upon them, and they were taken captive into Babylon. The examples are clear in the Bible. The history is before us. We're to learn from history. We can learn from the history of the Bible so that we don't make the same mistakes individually that these nations made.

Of course, we live in a nation now that has turned away from God, and is increasingly turning more and more away from God. We've had many rich blessings in this country, but if we don't repent, disaster will come upon this nation. We know the Scriptures even prophesy that. So, brethren, it's very important that we realize that God does want us to turn from our evil, from any wrong thoughts. If you have 60,000 thoughts in a day, it does take a lot of diligence to monitor those thoughts and to bring those thoughts into captivity.

The Bible says, bring every thought into captivity unto the obedience of Jesus Christ. Christ had just as many thoughts as we have, but He brought everyone into captivity. And He obeyed perfectly. That's the wonderful sacrifice that we have in Jesus Christ. Now, this reminds me of a story of a man. His name is John Becket. He wrote a book. His book is entitled Mastering Monday. This is from page 157 and 158.

He's a businessman, also a professing Christian. Author John Becket shared this story in his book. He says, I was in a dental chair being prepped for the replacement of a filling. Just as my mouth was filled with dental hardware so I could only mumble, the dental technician said out of the blue, you're Mr. Becket, aren't you? I grunted a scent. Well, I want to thank you for firing my husband. I was stuck. I couldn't move. I couldn't speak. I could only listen to the ensuing monologue.

It happened ten years ago, she said. A few days after your company hired my husband, he was notified that he had failed a drug test.

You may not recall, she continued, but you called him into your office before he left.

You said, I realize I don't have any choice but to terminate you, but I want to tell you something.

You are at a crossroads. You can keep going the way you are, and the results are very predictable. You can continue using drugs, and the results are very predictable. Phew! Predictable! There you go. Or you can take this as a wake-up call. You can take this firing as a wake-up call. You can decide you're going to turn your life around. In other words, he could have said, you can decide whether or not you're going to repent of this kind of behavior or not.

I'm sure the technician couldn't see the beads of perspiration on my forehead under all the paraphernalia as she continued. I want you to know my husband took your advice.

Today, he's a good father, a good husband, and he has a fine job. Thank you for firing my husband.

Beckett concludes by saying, I wish I could say that all of our terminations have turned out this way. Regardless of the outcome, however, we must be prepared to take action when a situation can't be brought around. In a strange way, it's an aspect of our care for people. Sometimes it's needful to fire somebody, to wake them up, to get their attention. God had to do the same thing with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, and it's all written down for you and me.

It's written down for us so that we can learn from the mistakes that have been made in the past.

And we've made the same mistakes in our own lives. We know that our sins do find us out.

We know that we're much happier when we're walking with God, and doing those things that are pleasing and right and good in His sight. When we go off on our own tangents, doing our own thing contrary to God, we know that doesn't bring happiness. If it does, it's only for a short time. It doesn't last. Obviously, in order to repent of sin, you have to understand what sin is. You have to understand the laws of God. Coming to church is one way to help understand God's laws more faithfully and more perfectly. Being here, hearing the Word of God expounded, but it takes much more than that. It takes you getting into your Bible, studying your Bible, asking God to write His laws in your heart and in your mind. There's no substitution for your own personal Bible study.

We all need to be studying the Bible, reading it, studying it, meditating on it, reflecting on it. Even if we just read a couple of chapters a day, that will help tremendously in helping us focus our lives. So the first step is to know what sin is, to know what God's law is.

When we know what God's law is, we know what sin is because sin is breaking any of the laws of God.

We need to be educated in the ways of God. We need to be eager to learn. We need to be diligent in our study of God's Word. The person must first know what the letter of the law is before you can really grasp and comprehend the spirit of God's law. The spirit of the law is magnified. Christ came to magnify the law of God. This is an amazing book and it needs to be studied for a lifetime.

And even then, we won't get it all. We won't grasp everything that's written there for us. We won't see all the precious jewels that are there. The spirit of the law is magnified. It goes beyond the letter to the real heart of God's law. We know that the Scripture tells us that God is love and that love is the fulfilling of the law. God is love and love is the fulfilling of the law.

Jesus Christ is God and He never sinned. He fulfilled the law perfectly. Jesus Christ set that example for you and me. God must be working in a person's mind and heart through the power of the Holy Spirit before He can even begin to grasp the magnitude of God's law of love.

It takes a long time to really understand the love of God and to grasp it. I'm sure that even those of us that have been around a long time, we fall short. We don't fully comprehend the love of God. We're lacking. We need more of God's inspiration and truth in our lives.

Some people have studied the Bible diligently from cover to cover, but they have never understood God's law of love. They know the Bible. They can quote it.

They memorize large portions of it. I remember when Barb and I were on the Mediterranean cruise, and we went to the island of Patmos, and there was a priest there that could just quote huge portions of the Bible. I don't know if he had memorized the entire Bible, but he had memorized a lot of it. But whether or not he truly understood the law of love is another matter.

Again, God looks on the heart. A person must first be called of God, and they must then begin to respond to God's calling. God does the calling. God is the one that has to call people. We're here today because God called us. We have a special calling, a personal calling.

We have to respond to that calling if we are going to be chosen by God.

We must learn to forsake our own ideas, our own wrong thoughts and attitudes, our wrong traditions, the wrong teachings of this world's religions. We had to reject the wrong teachings of the world in terms of the holidays and the various traditions that they keep.

We had to accept what God was revealing to us.

And again, that makes the difference between being called and chosen. It's whether we respond to God's calling, whether we listen, and then act on it. If we don't act on it, then what good has it really done us? We need to act on what we know. We need to act on what God is showing us.

And don't be fearful. Don't be afraid because God is a loving and a merciful God, and it makes sense to turn to Him. It makes good sense for your well-being to turn to God. Step by step, as a person shows themselves faithful and willing to submit to God, God is going to lead them into more and more of His truth. Then He will convict them of their need to be baptized. God may be working with some of you right now. God may be drawing you to Him.

He may be leading you to baptism. If He is, then don't resist Him.

Don't resist what God is doing in your life, but instead accept it and turn to Him.

God will give you what you need. God will give you the help that you need. God will convict you of things that you need to repent of. He will show you that through His love and His grace, you will be forgiven of all your sins. He will grant you repentance for your sins. So again, if God is calling any of you, then certainly you would be wise to respond to His calling. The Scripture says many are called, but few are chosen. We've all seen many, many people come through the doors of the Church of God over the years. Not all of them are still here.

Many have come and were never baptized and left. Certainly too many have come and were baptized and have left. Hopefully they'll be back. Hopefully God will bring them to repentance and they will see where they need to repent fully of their sins.

In Acts 17, it talks about God's will and God's desire for all men. Acts 17. Acts 17, verse 29.

Acts 17, verse 29. Obviously we're breaking into the thought here, but that's okay. If you want to read the context further, you can go back later. Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the divine nature, the divine nature, notice it's capitalized, it's speaking of God Himself. We ought not to think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man's devisings. Man has their own idea of God, who God is, or many don't even believe in a God. Truly, these times of ignorance, God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent. God had sent the Apostle Paul to the Gentiles.

He was preaching the truth of God to the Gentiles. He was saying to them that God commands all men everywhere to repent because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the man, of course speaking of Jesus Christ, by the man whom He has ordained.

He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.

When they had heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, we will hear you again on this matter. Some mocked what Paul was saying about the resurrection. They didn't believe in the resurrection. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection, and so there was a widespread teaching that was extant at that time. So Paul was mocked, and many ministers of God have been mocked for what they say about the truth of God. But God is calling men everywhere to repent. He's calling all of us here today to repent. I can assure you that if you're here, God is calling you to repent. There's no question in my mind that God is working with everyone in this room, and He's calling all of us to repent. We must repent of any wrong actions, thoughts, desires, attitudes, approaches. We must repent of all these things if we are to really draw close to God. In Job 42, Job came to see his nature. Let's go back to the book of Job.

Job was an amazing man. Job was the most upright and righteous man on earth, and God used him as an example. Job let his light shine, and I guess some have said, no good deed goes unpunished.

You heard that expression? Well, in this case, in a way, it's true, because Job was the most righteous man, and God used him as an example. He basically allowed Satan to unleash his evil ways upon Job to a degree. He would not allow him to take his life, but he certainly did allow him to mess with his family, to kill members of his family, to take away all of his riches, to take away his good health, to bring upon him tremendous trial and suffering. After all of this, in chapter 42, and obviously Job didn't know why this was all going on, and he was struggling with why God was allowing this to happen in his life, in verse 1 of chapter 42, Job answered the Lord and said, "'I know that you can do everything, and that no purpose of yours can be withheld from you.' You ask, who is this who hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand." Certainly, Job had his problems, and even though he was the most upright and righteous man on earth, because of that he had tendencies toward self-righteousness, toward thinking too highly of himself.

He says, "'I have uttered things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. Listen, please, and let me speak. You said, I will question you, and you shall answer me. I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you through all the suffering and the trials.' And then through God challenging Job in chapter 40 and 41, God revealing himself to Job in a way he had never seen him before.

Job says, "'I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you. Therefore I abhor myself, and I repent in dust and ashes.' I turn away. I repent in dust and ashes." He realized that he wasn't perfect, that he wasn't God. God is perfect. Job wasn't perfect. I'm not perfect. You're not perfect. God is perfect. Jesus Christ is perfect, but the rest of us, we need to repent in dust and ashes.

And the Scripture talks about our flesh. We have a problem. It's the flesh. This is our big problem.

True repentance involves recognition of our carnal nature and its opposition to God.

And His laws. We may as well admit it. We're all flesh. And so we have an inherent problem.

Romans 8 verse 7. Romans chapter 8 verse 7.

Romans chapter 8 verse 7. Because the carnal mind or the fleshly mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.

The carnal mind is enmity against God. It is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.

So then those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.

Obviously, that is the key. Having God's Spirit dwelling in you and yielding to that Spirit.

Yielding to the Spirit, not yielding to the flesh. Just because we have God's Spirit in us doesn't mean we can't still yield to the flesh, does it? We all have experienced, when we have yielded to the flesh, even though we knew God had given us His Spirit.

But there are times, thankfully, when we do yield to the Spirit, we do submit ourselves, we do bring our bodies into subjection, we do the right thing.

But always remember that the carnal mind is enmity towards God. It's hostile towards God.

It's something we fight and battle with all our lives.

And in Jeremiah 17 verse 9, it talks about the human heart, and it says, it is deceitful above all things. It is desperately wicked. The human heart.

Thankfully, with God's Spirit, and with God's direction and God's guidance, then we can turn to God with all of our heart, with all of our soul, with all of our mind.

And that's how we can change with God's help. With God dwelling in us and motivating us and directing us, we can make changes. We can turn from sin. We can turn from the carnal flesh.

In Romans chapter 2, it talks about how it is God's goodness that leads us to repentance. It's not our goodness. Job was right when he said, I abhor myself.

It's not our goodness that leads us to repentance. It's God's goodness that leads us to repentance. Romans chapter 2 verse 1, Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge. For in whatever you judge another, you condemn yourself. For you who judge practice the same things.

He's talking about someone who has a condemning attitude, a self-righteous attitude toward others. He says, you practice the same things. So for you to be accusing other people of various things, take a look at yourself. Take a good look at yourself.

Verse 2, But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? So we have to be very careful, don't we, when we correct others? We have to be very, very careful when we try to correct others that we're not guilty of the same exact things. Because then it's hypocrisy.

First, take care of yourself. Clean up yourself. Then you can go help another person.

Verse 3, And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? Don't think that you will escape God's judgment. Remember, last time I was here, we talked about how God forgives according to how we forgive others.

And if we're not forgiving people, then God's not going to be forgiving toward us.

Verse 4, Or do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and long suffering, or patience, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?

It's the goodness of God that leads a person to repentance. It's not something that we do of and by ourselves, but in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart, your hard-heartedness, this heart of stone that we have to fight. You know, the Scripture says, write God's laws in your heart and minds so that you might have a heart of flesh, so that your heart would be changed from stone to something soft and malleable and teachable.

In accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart, you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each one according to his deeds. Remember, we reap what we sow.

Eternal life to those who by patience, continuance in doing good. That's the kind of life that we need to be living. A life of continual seeking God's goodness, his glory, his honor, and his immortality.

Eternal life will be given to those who by patient continuance. In other words, those who continue to fight the good fight, those who do not give up, those who continue to struggle with themselves, who are continually seeking to change, to grow, to overcome, to put sin out, to be better, to be different.

Verse 8, notice, but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness. To them comes indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish on every soul of man who does evil. God doesn't change. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever.

In the Old Testament, he clearly showed that be sure your sins will find you out. There are blessings for faithfulness and obedience. There are curses for disobedience.

God hasn't changed. He says the same thing here in the New Testament.

For those who do evil, whether you're Greek or Jew, it doesn't matter. Gentile, it doesn't matter.

Verse 10, but glory, honor and peace to everyone who works what is good. To the Jew first, and also to the Greek. To those who are chosen by God, but all who will call upon God and seek to serve him, whether Jew or Gentile, will be known of God, and God will grant them glory, honor and peace if they will live godly and righteous lives. For there is no partiality with God. For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law. Again, it's referring to the Jews and the Gentiles and the fact that those who were Jewish had God's law from the beginning. The Gentiles have been given God's law and an understanding of God's law and that they should keep God's law.

So it is important for all of us to realize that it is God's goodness who leads us to repentance.

To God goes the glory. Our job is to humble ourselves and submit ourselves and surrender ourselves and allow God to work in us. Galatians 2.20 talks about Christ living in us.

That is the key. That's the only way we can bring every thought into captivity, is to allow Jesus Christ to live in us. It takes a lot of humility in seeking God's direction and guidance in our lives. God looks on our heart. He knows whether or not we're sincere. He knows how hard we're trying.

God looks on the heart. He judges us according to our hearts.

Man can't always tell a person's heart. You know, we can see certain things that indicate certain things, surely. We are to judge righteous judgment, but we also have to realize that we can't see everything. We just can't see everything. God sees it all. In 2 Timothy 2, too often we judge from limited understanding, from limited facts. We make judgments, and oftentimes we find ourselves to be wrong in those things. So God is the ultimate judge, and of course, we have to realize that and reserve our own judgment in that sense.

2 Timothy 2. Let's go there and look a moment.

2 Timothy 2, verse 24. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but be gentle to all, able to teach patient in humility correcting those who are in opposition. Again, it's humility. It's being humble that will allow us to actually correct someone. When we're humble, we see our own weaknesses. We see our own sins, and we're certainly more careful to go to someone else and try to correct them.

When we're humble.

In humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance.

Repentance is a gift from God. God grants repentance depending on our attitude, our approach, our humility, our submission to Him. God will grant repentance if there is true godly sorrow for what we have done and a true desire to change and to repent.

God will grant repentance so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.

We all need to escape the snare of the devil.

Because we've all been taken captive by him, as it says here.

We've all yielded to Satan and done his will, rather than the will of God.

God's will is that we walk faithfully and righteously.

Satan's will is that we disobey God.

Satan's will is that we rise up in pride like he did against God.

God grants true repentance based upon one's heart, based upon one's attitude and frame of mind.

In 2 Corinthians 7, let's go there. This is the repentance chapter, you might say. If you're going to call any of chapter a repentance chapter, this one might qualify. It talks about true repentance. It talks about godly sorrow, as opposed to a worldly sorrow. 2 Corinthians 7.

Now, if we notice a little bit the context, in the last part of chapter 6, Paul is instructing the Corinthians to not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers.

He says, what accord, in verse 15, what accord has Christ with Belial, or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?

And he talks about how we are to come out from among this world and be separate, says the Lord.

We are not to touch that which is unclean.

And then God will receive us. I will be a father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Almighty God. That's the context of chapter 7. Notice verse 1, Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness. We have the promise that God wants to be our Father, and He wants us to be His children, children of God. Therefore, having these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. Satan has a spirit. That's what it's talking about there. Satan's spirit. You know, Satan is also projecting his spirit. So we must cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Perfecting holiness. Becoming holy. Be you holy, even as I am holy, God says.

Perfecting holiness in the fear of God. And then he goes on to talk about the Corinthians' need for true repentance. Let's start reading in verse 8, chapter 7, 2 Corinthians 7, verse 8. For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it. Though, I did regret it. For a time, he's saying. For, I perceived that the same of the same of the same of the same as of the same of the same of the same of the same of the same of the same of the same of the same of the same. And he says, 1 Corinthians 7, 1 Corinthians 8, 2 Corinthians 7. And he also wrote another letter that's referred to in 1 Corinthians. Whether or not it was actually 2 Corinthians that he was referring to, we don't know. There could have been It's talking about a worldly sorrow that they had for a short time.

Not to be regretted, but the sorrow of the world produces death. There is a worldly sorrow that produces death. There is a certain sorrow when a person does something evil and is caught in an evil act. Then there's a certain sorrow, a worldly sorrow, that goes along with that. Especially if we're restrained, punished, or fined, or some discipline or punishment for what we've done. It's easy to be sorry in a worldly way for those evil things that we do when we pay a price for it and when it hurts. That is a worldly sorrow that actually leads to death. If that's the only kind of sorrow that we have, then we become more deceptive. We try to get away with things even more so that we don't get caught. If we don't learn our lessons, then we just become more evil in our attempts to keep from getting caught and from being punished. But if we are godly and with a godly sorrow, it's a different matter. It produces something else in us altogether. In Hebrews 6, I believe it is, it talks about how Esau says he sought repentance with diligence. In fact, let's go there. I'm not sure exactly what verse it is, but it's in Hebrews 6, I believe.

Maybe it's not in Hebrews 6. It had to do with where Esau... okay, Hebrews 12.

Hebrews 12 verse 16, that's right. Hebrews 12 verse 16.

Lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau. Profane, in this case, my margin says godless person. Esau was not a converted man.

Lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. It showed very clearly that Esau did not hold his birthright in high esteem. He, in that sense, didn't honor his calling. He was the firstborn. He should have honored his father and respected the birthright, but he didn't do that. He sold his birthright for a morsel of food. Verse 17, for you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing... See, that's it. He wanted to inherit the blessing. He wanted something for it. He wanted to get something out of it. He wanted the blessings of the birthborn. He wanted the land and the riches that go with being the firstborn.

For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears. This was a worldly sorrow. He was sorry that he was missing out on the blessings of the birthright.

But it wasn't a godly sorrow where he would have realized that he had sinned against his family, he had sinned against his parents, against God himself, by not counting that birthright as the honor that it truly was. So there is a godly sorrow that we can have, but God is looking for a true godly sorrow, and that's what true repentance is. It must have a godly sorrow. So let's not be mistaken about this. Let's go back and read again, verse 9. Now I rejoice that you were made sorry, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance, for you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you may suffer loss from us in nothing, for godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation. Not to be regretted, but the sorrow of the world produces death, the kind of sorrow that Esau had, it just produced death. It didn't produce eternal life. Verse 11, for observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner. What diligence it produced in you. Now this is the real kind of diligence that really matters. Diligence based on a godly sorrow, not based on a worldly sorrow. There's a lot of diligence in the world. People can be very, very diligent about a lot of things in the world. I'm amazed sometimes at just how self-controlled and diligent a lot of people are in the world. They seem to have an easier go of it than some of us in certain ways. But there is a diligence that is produced by a godly sorrow. What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, being able to admit fully that you have sinned, and that you repent of that sin, and turn that over, and turn away from it, and no longer walk in it, what a clearing of yourself there was. What indignation, indignation against yourself for the sin that you committed, indignation against Satan the devil, who is the accuser of the brethren, and is the tempter of the brethren.

We should have a righteous indignation against Satan and his influence and his ways. We should want him away from us. Scripture says, resist the devil and he will flee from you. We need to resist Satan, keep him away. What indignation, what fear, what godly fear it produces, true godly sorrow produces a godly fear.

Realizing who God is, and that God will judge righteously, and unless we are repentant, we will certainly pay a price for our sins. What indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, a vehement strong desire to do that which is right and good and pleasing to God, to turn again from the sin that we've committed. What zeal, what vindication.

We all need to be vindicated, and the only way we can be vindicated is to be forgiven.

To be forgiven are sins through true godly sorrow and repentance. Satan is the one that's behind our sins. He is to blame. Of course, we take some of the blame as well, as we yield to him and as we follow him. But it is true repentance that leads to forgiveness, to having those sins washed away in the blood of Jesus Christ. So there is a godly sorrow that leads to true repentance, and true repentance brings about peace of mind. It brings about faithfulness and diligence. There's nothing like true repentance, because then we are motivated to do well, to do good, to grow and to overcome, to put sin out and to be different. True repentance is known by changes in one's lifestyle, by spiritual fruit that's being born.

What we read in verse 11 is spiritual fruit, zeal and indignation and vehement desire, diligence. That's all fruit. And godly sorrow will bring about that kind of fruit in our lives. It'll bring about repentance. God is the one who grants repentance. It's not something that we are able to bring upon ourselves, but it's only through seeing ourselves and admitting that we've sinned, confessing our sins before God and praying for forgiveness, and being sorry that we disrespected God, being sorry that we dishonored God, being sorry that we brought reproach upon Jesus Christ. For we are called Christians. We are to be followers of Jesus Christ. Christ never sinned.

So whenever we sin, we bring reproach upon a Christian, that way of life.

So true repentance is known by changes in one's lifestyle, by spiritual fruit that's being born. In Isaiah chapter 55, verse 7 and 8, it says, God will abundantly pardon those who return to Him. That's the message in the Old Testament and many, many other verses that we could go to.

But the same story is true in the New Testament.

God is very merciful and He will forgive us. Let's go to a few verses in the New Testament. Let's go to Matthew chapter 3.

Matthew chapter 3.

Matthew chapter 3, verse 1.

So John baptized many.

In verse 7 he says, He called them a brood of vipers. He says, Basically, he's saying, you are hypocrites. You come down here to be baptized, but you are not repentant because your fruits, the fruits of your lives show differently.

Christ said the same thing about the Sadducees and the Pharisees. He called them all hypocrites. Bear fruits worthy of repentance. And do not think to say to yourselves, we have Abraham as our Father. For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. And even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Obviously, this is speaking spiritually as well.

Everyone who does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the lake of fire if they won't repent of their sins and change. Verse 11, When we are baptized, when we go under the watery grave, we come back out and we have hands laid upon us. The minister asks that God grant us His Spirit. We do so in the name of Jesus Christ.

And a person is baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Of course, the Father and the Holy Spirit as well.

But it's showing that it's through Christ that the Holy Spirit is granted. When we accept Christ as our personal Savior, when we accept Him, when we repent of our sins, then we are granted the Holy Spirit.

Now, if we don't repent of our sins, then it shows that we will be cast into a lake of fire. A lot of people really don't like to hear that, but that is what the Scripture says. Those who don't repent will be cast into a lake of fire. True repentance is required.

It's required. Now, being perfect isn't required, but true repentance is required.

Verse 12 says, "...his winnowing fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly clean out his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into the barn." The wheat represent those who are truly repentant. They are the wheat.

But he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. With those who refuse to repent, they are the chaff.

They will be burnt up with unquenchable fire.

Notice it says they'll be burnt up. They'll be consumed with a fire that won't be quenched as long as there's fuel for the fire.

So true repentance, brethren, is required for salvation.

It's important that we talk about true repentance before Passover.

You know, the Scripture says there's great joy in heaven when a sinner repents. Great joy.

It talks about leaving the ninety-nine and going after that one who has gone astray.

God cares for those who are sinners.

He goes after those who are sinners. We're all sinners. We know that.

God goes after all of us. There's great joy in heaven when a sinner repents.

In Luke 24, it shows that we have a commission to go to sinners.

Luke 24. We'll wrap this up here in just a moment. Luke 24.

Luke 24. Verse 47. Luke 24. Verse 47. And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name, in Christ's name, to all nations beginning at Jerusalem.

Repentance and remission of sins. Repentance and the forgiveness of sins.

That is the commission that we need to be preaching.

The Gospel of the Kingdom of God is a Gospel of repentance.

If we're going to be in the Kingdom of God, we must repent of our sins.

We must have true repentance.

God expects us to bear fruit, the fruit of the Spirit.

You can go study that in Galatians 5. It talks about the fruit of God's Spirit.

It contrasts it with the works of the flesh.

Before Passover, take a look at that and ask yourself, am I really yielded to God?

Am I truly repentant? Or are there way too many works of the flesh that are still extant in my life?

Am I producing the fruit of God's Spirit in abundance?

Are you abundantly producing the fruit of God's Spirit in your life?

In Acts 2, when on the day of Pentecost, those who had crucified Christ heard the sermon that Peter gave.

It was an inspired sermon, powerful sermon.

Verse 37, Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? What shall we do?

We have just crucified the Savior of the world.

Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, what shall we do?

O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death?

Then Peter said to them, Repent, and let every one of you be baptized, every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the promises to you and to your children and to all who are afar off as many as the Lord our God will call.

God is calling people today. Many are called, but few are chosen.

This Passover season demands that we once again ask ourselves this question, Have you repented of your sins?

Now is the time for soul searching. Now is the time for self-examination.

Surely we all must repent of our sins.

Repentance is not something that we can work up ourselves.

It is indeed a gift from God.

So, brethren, seek the goodness of God.

Seek the love of God. It is His goodness that will lead you to repentance.

Go before God and pour out your heart to Him.

Seek His goodness and know that He will grant you repentance.

Ask Him to forgive you your sins. He surely will.

This Passover is a yearly reminder of that wonderful fact.

It is a fact. It is the truth.

That Jesus Christ shed His blood.

That your sins and my sins may be forgiven.