Mentoring Men for the Master

THE MOST “FAVORITE” AND THE MOST “FORGOTTEN” WORD IN OUR CHRISTIAN VOCABULARY

THE MOST  “FAVORITE” AND THE MOST  “FORGOTTEN” WORD IN OUR CHRISTIAN VOCABULARY

Listen Music Files – Upload Audio – 04/12/14 The Tenth I

What is the Favorite Word?  It is “Confession.”  What is confession?  It is to admit or name our sins.  Thus 1 John 1:9 has become the “Protestant Confessional,” for many until at night millions name the sins they have done that day and arise the next day to repeat the same sins.  Such is what I call “Satan’s Great Cover-Up.”  Concerning this practice, please note the warning of the wisest man in the Bible in Proverbs 28:13, “He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.”

What is the “Forgotten” Word? It is the word “Repent.”  The word repent is strangely absent today.  It has been relegated to some tent revival in the country in the past.  Why is it Forgotten?  Simply because

  1. Human kind wants to go on sinning and many preachers and teachers don’t have the courage to spell out repentance to their listeners.
  2. Also many substitute confession and religious activities for true repentance.
  3. Some attend liberal churches where sin is not mentioned and repentance is not needed in their opinion.

Repentance is not only Forgotten, but it is one of the most misunderstood words in the Bible.  So in understanding true repentance, we must ask four important questions:

  1. What Repentance is not:
    1. Repentance is not just admitting your sins.
    2. Repentance  is not being sorry for our sins.  The rich young ruler went away “sorrowful” but did not repent (Luke 18:23).
    3. Repentance  is not remorse, or merely wishing the deed had not happened.  Pontius Pilate, who betrayed the Lord, washed his hands in regret but would not repent (Matthew 27:24).
    4. Repentance  is not resolve, like a New Year’s resolution when we resolve to take on new moral standards.
    5. Repentance  is not turning over a  new leaf or being reformed.  Judas Iscariot took thirty pieces of silver, the payment for his betrayal of Jesus, and flung them down the corridors of the temple, but did not repent and went to hell (Matthew 27:3; Acts 1:25)
    6. Repentance is not doing church work.
  2. What Repentance is:  Repentance comes from the Greek word MetaNoia, which means to change one’s mind that changes one’s will and in turn brings about a change of action (life-style).

Illus:  This process is beautifully illustrated in the old and oft repeated story of the prodigal son in Luke 15.  After finding himself “broke financially” and “broken spiritually”, in the company of a bunch of pigs in a pig pen, the son “came to himself” (Luke 15:17) and, please note, he did not just “confess” his sin, but the very next verse  reveals he changed  his mind and changed his action, saying, “ I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, 19 and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’ (Luke 15:18-19).  Note: First the Prodigal commanded his father, “Give me,” but having repented he requested, “Make me one of your “hired servants.”  Repentance accompanied with trust in the Lord (Master) Jesus (Mediator), and Christ (Messiah)  the saving name of Jesus,  admits us to heaven and without which one ends in hell.  (Luke 13:3,5).

  1. How Does Repentance Fit into Salvation?  “ Repentance and faith are both gifts of God’s grace.  They are different sides of the same coin.  Charles Spurgeon, author of the classic devotional “Morning and Evening”, says they are ‘Siamese twins…vitally joined together.’  Repentance and faith are inseparable.  Repentance alone will not get you to heaven, but you cannot get there without it.  Jesus’ personal mandate commands it: ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”[1]
  2. What is the Great Benefit of Repentance:  I noted a bumper sticker which read “Turn or Burn.”  However, fear of punishment should not be the primary motivation for calling people to repent.  Jesus said, “Repent so you can enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 4:17) on earth and the eternal kingdom of heaven at death.  Paul was right on target when he said, “The GOODNESS of God leads you to repentance.” (Romans 2:4).
  3. Repentance is a Three-Fold  Change.
    1. REPENTANCE is a CHANGE.  (180 degree turn)
    2. REPENTANCE  is a COMPLETE CHANGE. Partial Repentance is terrible sin. (1 Samuel 15:23).
    3.  REPENTANCE is a CONTINUAL CHANGE. One must FIRST Repent to be saved, but he as a true Christian must also practice “INSTANT CONFESSION AND REPENTANCE OF ALL KNOWN SIN” (the 10th I) in order to remain in fellowship with Jesus Christ and obey the commands of His Lord and Savior.  Ex:  My personal testimony.
  4. Repent or Perish.  When all is said and done, what difference does it make if we live in a mansion, drive a Mercedes, wear expensive designer clothing, sleep on a name-brand mattress, eat vitamin-enriched food and elected to “Who’s Who,” and buried in a mahogany casket in a cemetery as lovely as the Sarah P Duke’s Gardens at Duke University  – ONLY TO RISE UP IN JUDGMENT TO MEET A God we do not know and hear His words, “I never knew you, Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.” (Matthew 7:23).
  5. Example: of one who experienced three stages of repentance and saved him from self-destructing and laid the foundation for world-wide ministry – Rick Renner.
  6. Soul Search Through the Scriptures.  “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; 24 And see if there be any thing in me that makes God sad, And lead me in the life everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23-24).

 

  1. FIRST OF ALL THINK ABOUT THE NEED FOR BROKENESS:  It comes as shock to  many Christians to see one day that God, not the devil, is resisting them.  James 4:6. “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” The Lord Himself closes doors, causes things to be unfruitful, keeps us from disciplining our lives.  So much time and effort are wasted because we proceed on our own stubborn way.  We spend most of our time wrestling with the Lord instead of cooperating with God and then attribute all our difficulties to the devil, to other people, circumstances or our environment and fail to see that the Lord Himself is resisting us.  Brothers, this is a serious matter when we find ourselves on the wrong side of the Lord.  So confess this terrible sin and repent by the power of God and He will give you grace.  What is Grace?  More than a theological term.  It is God’s power at work in my life to do what cannot be done in my own strength.
  2. Ephesians 4:32
  3. Eccles.  5:5
  4. 1 Cor. 4:2
  5. Psalm 66:18
  6. James 4:2-3
  7. Luke 9:62

 

[1] O. S. Hawkins, The Joshua Code, Thomas Nelson, Nashville, Tennessee, 2012, pp. 82-83.