REPENTANCE - 2/4/07
Introduction: Many years ago my wife and I were invited to hear a prominent businessman give a talk to a small group we were priviledged to be a part of. Instead of talking about his own accomplishments our speaker talked about simple things that everyone could relate to. One of the points we'll never forget is how he told about a problem he had with one of his sons coming in way too late at night past the curfew time. He told about pacing the floor waiting to see the headlights coming up the driveway and when his son would finally come in he would brush past his dad and mumble a weak "sorry". This continued for a while.
Corrective measures were taken, but the point the speaker was making was that there was no real remorse exhibited. His boy thought "sorry" would take care of it. "Dad" went on to make the point that what he wanted to hear was "Forgive me, I'm sorry, I was wrong and it won't happen again" and then see a changed behavior.
What does the Bible say about repentance? Jesus preached repentance -Matthew 4: 17; 9: 13; 11: 20; 12: 41; Luke 24: 44-47. John the Baptist did also. - Matthew 3: 1 - 2. Both Peter and Paul preached repentance - Acts 2: 38; Acts 3: 19; 5: 31; 13: 38; 17: 30; 20:20-21; 26: 19-20
A. Wrong Ideas About Repentance
1. Simply being sorry - many are "sorry"
2. Is a "converted life". Is it a "converted" life? What did Peter say? Acts 3: 19 If repentance and
conversion are the same then Peter was redundant.
B. Proper Concept
1. Vine says it's a "change of mind that involves both a turning from sin and a turning to God"
2. It's a decision we make to have a change of mind where we turn from sin and turn to God
C. Proper Production - 2 Corinthians 7: 9 - 10
1. It's produced by sorrow -7: 9a
2. But sorrow itself is not repentance
3. It's a godly sorrow, 7: 9b - 10 directed towards God, not a worldly one that's selfish - prisons are full
of people who are sorry they got caught.. David was sorry - but not in the right way - Psalm 51: 4
4. Look at Nathan's rebuke, 2 Samuel 12: 7 - 12. It's an appeal to God's love, a revelation of sin and a
warning of the consequences.
5. The Gospel of Christ, when correctly taught, produces the same thing. It's more that just the
"commands" and more than the "promises" (remission of sins, eternal life, etc.). It's also the "facts"
(man's sin, the coming judgment, etc.) Romans 2: 4; 3: 23; 2: 5 - 11 (God's love, a revelation of sin,
and the consequences)
D. Proper Manifestation
1. 2 Corinthians 7: 11 - a truly changed life will be manifested by a diligence, a proper fear,
a fervent desire and zeal, etc. - works that are truly befitting of repentance - Acts 26: 20,
such as confessing Jesus and being baptized into Christ - Acts 8: 36 - 38; walking in works ordained
by Christ - Ephesians 2: 10
2. Is a half-hearted, apathetic attitude indicative of true repentance?
3. Here's the proper order
a. Godly sorrow
b. repentance
c. a changed life (conversion)
E. Examples - Right and Wrong
1. Those who came to hear John the Baptist - Matthew 3: 1 - 12
2. Some that Jesus pointed out - the "religious elitists" didn't have a penitent attitude. Others did...
3. Peter and Judas - great examples of different types of sorrow and the outcome
a. Judas - John 18: 1 - 4; Matthew 27: 3 - 10
b. Peter - Luke 22: 54 - 62
INVITATON
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