Repentance.

Steve Gentry

[0:08] Alright, go ahead and have a seat. Welcome to Village Church. If this is your first time here. [0:13] My name’s Steve, one of the pastors here at Village Church, and as always, I’m thankful and grateful [0:18] to see each and every one of you. If you have your Bible, go ahead and open it to Luke chapter 24. [0:23] That’s where we’re going to be camped for most of this morning. [0:26] But if you came in and sat on a piece of paper, there were two different types. [0:30] The first one is an invite card. That’s because we’re starting our Christmas series next week.

[0:36] After we’re done with all the turkey and dressing and gravy hangovers, we’re going to head into the Christmas season [0:42] and we’re going to go through a series in which we teach through the different carols that we sing, [0:48] really the Christmas story and how they relate to scriptures that teach us those things about the coming of Jesus Christ. [0:57] And so this is a great time of year to invite someone to come with you, to join you, to worship Jesus with you. [1:05] And so use those invite cards to make those invites. The second thing is a card for our building fund. [1:11] Those are pledge cards. As we’ve talked over the past couple of weeks, and if you don’t know,

[1:15] you can check Village Church online for the drawing of what we want to do to the inside of this building. [1:23] And those pledge cards are to help with the great costs that are going to come along with that. [1:28] And so if you haven’t had time to really think about that and pray over that, [1:32] we ask that you continue with your family or with your bank account to pray as to what generosity God would have you to give [1:40] towards that goal of making this a more usable space to get the gospel to more and more people so that we can, [1:46] as a church, make more disciples. That is always the goal.

[1:50] But we’re finishing this week a series on the topic of regeneration. [1:55] And what it’s really been is a really an explanation as to what it looks like to become a follower of Jesus Christ, [2:03] that God takes this great initiative to come and really what Jesus calls in John 3, [2:09] make us born again so that we can come alive to have faith in Jesus Christ. [2:15] And so this work of regeneration is great initiative of God to take us from our spiritual death to spiritual life [2:22] and so that we can have faith and we can repent of our sins.

[2:27] Now, I know for some of you, last week we got to the issues of faith and repentance [2:34] and you were excited because you were like, oh, finally my part, the part that I play in this, [2:40] something that I can do in this great story of God’s faith. [2:44] And I understand the sentiment behind that. [2:47] But I do want to warn you against going too far in that direction, [2:52] where the only thing that you are ever concerned about are the things that you do in the process of growing as a follower of Jesus Christ.

[3:02] Because the important aspect of what regeneration entails is not just some backlog of information, [3:10] but instead it is the foundation upon which the whole of Christianity is built upon. [3:15] And if all that you ever focus on is your will and the choices that you make and the actions that you take, [3:24] you will inevitably build your faith on a foundation of sand and the house will ultimately crumble [3:32] because you did not focus on the vitality of the life that God wants to work into your own life. [3:40] And so that is why the order that we’ve been talking about for the past few weeks is vital in understanding the how of becoming a Christian.

[3:50] And so last week, when we began to talk about faith, we talked about this vital aspect of believing the facts about Jesus Christ, [3:58] but then also of leaning our life into the life of Jesus Christ in trust. [4:03] But sometimes we kind of try to point it down and say, OK, which one is the cart and which one is the horse? [4:10] Because I don’t want to get the cart before the horse. Is it faith or is it repentance or is it repentance? [4:14] And then faith. And here’s what I want you to understand is that they work totally in partnership with one another [4:19] and that you cannot have one without the other.

[4:23] That if you were to try to have faith without repentance, [4:26] what you would reduce faith to is a mere agreement with the facts about Jesus Christ with no life change. [4:34] And the book of James actually tells us that this is not good faith at all because this is what the demons have. [4:39] They believe in Jesus. [4:41] They even shutter at the thought of his name, but it has not impacted their lives at all. [4:48] And likewise, if you have repentance with no faith in Jesus Christ,

[4:52] then you may be turning from something to another thing, [4:55] but you will not ultimately get the life of God. [4:59] We turn from our sin to faith in Jesus Christ. [5:03] And so both of them are vital aspects to the life of becoming a Christian [5:09] and then being and growing as a follower of Jesus Christ. [5:13] You can’t have one without the other.

[5:16] They do not serve as a detriment to one another. [5:18] Instead, they serve as partners in building your life for Jesus Christ. [5:25] And in Luke chapter 24, what we have is a final discourse [5:30] of what Jesus is talking to his disciples about when he’s telling them to go and share the gospel with the entire world. [5:38] But the Bible is very interesting because both in the Old and in the New, [5:41] the Bible is obsessed with the aspect and topic of repentance.

[5:46] The New Testament specifically begins in Matthew chapter 3 [5:49] talking about the need for repentance from John the Baptist standpoint. [5:53] But then even in the book of Revelation, it ends with this point [5:55] that the future is going to be all about turning from your sin and trusting in Jesus Christ. [6:00] And in between every single author and every single book in the New Testament [6:04] is just all about repenting from sin, turning to Jesus.

[6:09] And where you find more sin, you need more Jesus. [6:11] And when you need more sin, you’re going to have to turn. [6:13] Excuse me, when you need more Jesus, you’re going to have to turn from a little bit more of your sin. [6:18] And so talking about this in one session is difficult. [6:23] But I think what Jesus says in Luke chapter 24 is extremely helpful [6:27] because he summarizes and then gives us the life of repentance into our lives.

[6:34] In verse 44 of Luke 24, Jesus looks to them and he said, [6:39] These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, [6:43] that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. [6:50] And I want to pause there. [6:51] What Jesus is doing here is he is recounting that the work that he did in this world [6:57] was something that God had been working towards through all of human history.

[7:01] And it was something that was recorded in all of the scriptures. [7:05] So often when we want to make a life change, we look somewhere other than the Bible. [7:12] We look to some new self-help book. [7:15] But here’s what I want you to understand according to Jesus’s point of view. [7:19] Everything about life is to be built on what Jesus talks about in his life [7:23] is the authority of Scripture and the sufficiency of Scripture

[7:27] to get you the life of Jesus into your own life. [7:31] And so most of the self-help material that we will read, that we will invest our lives in, [7:36] some of them even sold unfortunately in what we call Christian bookstores, are worthless. [7:41] Because all that they will do is tell you, [7:43] here are five steps to changing into the you that you need to be for you. [7:48] And so all that you get is you.

[7:50] But that is not what repentance is about. [7:52] What Jesus is pointing to them here is, [7:54] He’s saying you need the life of God and God has been the point of every step of this process. [8:01] Verse 45, [8:02] Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. [8:06] Another important thing, and that’s why regeneration precedes faith.

[8:10] Jesus has to open your minds so that you can have the power of God to understand the word of God. [8:17] And Jesus said to them, verse 46, [8:18] Thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, [8:24] and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. [8:32] You are witnesses of these things, and behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you, [8:38] but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.

[8:44] Number one this morning, repentance is pure gospel fruit. [8:51] Repentance is pure gospel grace. [8:54] Sometimes on the third one I change the words.

[8:57] Now, I would love to say that I’m poetic enough to come up with such a great sentence, but I’m not. [9:02] That’s from Thomas Watson, the great Puritan author who wrote a book called The Doctrine of Repentance, [9:07] which is what that sentence comes out of. [9:09] But the reason that I included as our first point is because I know of no other sentence that gets us a greater theology of what repentance is. [9:20] And what I mean by that is, is that it hones in on the aspect of God’s work of repentance, [9:26] rather than immediately focusing in on your work of repentance,

[9:31] which is why so often our attempts to turn from our sin are so lackluster, [9:39] because what we seek to do is turn from an activity, and we don’t know what it is that we are turning to. [9:47] Repentance is more about what God has already done than what you need to do. [9:55] Repentance is more about what God has already done than it is about what you need to do. [10:02] The catalyst for repentance is the gospel of Jesus Christ, and that’s what Jesus was talking about here in this passage. [10:11] He was giving them the orders.

[10:12] He’s saying that the gospel is not just about the activity that Jesus produced in his life. [10:18] It’s not reduced to your lifestyle either. [10:21] Repentance is something that God has been building towards through all of human history [10:27] so that everyone could understand their need for the work of God in their own lives. [10:33] Luke 24 bears a record of Jesus’s final dialogue with the disciples, [10:39] and in this dialogue he gives them the basis for repentance, which is the work of God in their own lives.

[10:47] He begins with the Old Testament, the note where he moves. [10:49] He says that he had to fulfill the law. [10:54] He had to fulfill everything that they would ever need to do in their lives and with their lives. [11:02] Jesus has done it, and here’s the big key for what we get wrong with repentance. [11:06] We look at God’s law, unless you choose one of them, don’t lie, okay? [11:11] Because you’ve all done it.

[11:13] And if you’re sitting there and you’re saying, not me, gotcha, you just lied, all right? [11:17] You are all liars, and you’re taking it really poorly, all right? [11:24] Now, the key with understanding, man, tough crowd, [11:30] but the key with understanding repentance, when the crowd’s bad, I never blame me, it is your fault.

[11:39] The key with lying is that when you find yourself in a lie, [11:42] what we would default mode say about repentance is repentance is that I should stop lying. [11:49] I need to go to the law, it says don’t lie, so if I lie, the answer is I’m turning towards not lying. [11:55] That’s not real repentance. That’s not helpful repentance. [11:59] The reason is the law gives you no hope of change. [12:02] The law gives you no hope of repentance.

[12:04] Here’s the key with repentance is that you need change, but the law condemns. [12:09] The law says you have lied, therefore you will die. [12:14] But the key with repentance is that it is a turning from your sin [12:18] to the one who has fulfilled the law and paid the penalty for your disobedience. [12:25] So if you find yourself as a liar, the answer is not to stop lying according to the scriptures. [12:32] The answer is to seek forgiveness for those lies

[12:35] in the one who’s worthy to pay the penalty and give you a new life after forgiveness, and that is Jesus. [12:44] You cannot turn from sin to not sin, you turn from sin to the one who paid the penalty for your sin, Jesus Christ. [12:52] And so repentance ultimately is always going to be about turning to Jesus Christ. [12:59] Repentance is also not about just wanting change. [13:03] Because all of you are entering into a season where you’re going to prepare for change. [13:10] You see, Thanksgiving is a time of feasting, and all of you have been feasting on turkey, dressing, gravy, cranberry sauce,

[13:19] hot wings, ice cream, pumpkin pie, chocolate pie, pecan pie, apple pie. [13:25] I mean, you’re probably at this point even nauseous at the thought of all of it, or you’re getting ready for round four. [13:30] And I don’t know what is more dangerous. [13:33] But then you’re like, OK, Monday’s coming. [13:35] But then you realize Christmas parties are headed their way. [13:38] So that ain’t going to happen either.

[13:40] And so now you’re saying January 1st. [13:42] That’s when it’s going to happen. [13:43] And you know what we call those? New Year’s resolutions. [13:47] New Year’s resolution stands as a testament that you know you need to change. [13:52] And the number one New Year’s resolution every year is I need to lose weight. [13:58] Some of you, it’s 10, 20, 30, 40, 50.

[14:03] Stop judging me. [14:05] But if you notice, if you are a gym member, gyms are always full in January, empty by February. [14:14] Why? [14:15] Because we are incapable of ultimately keeping our commitments for change. [14:22] And that we’re capable of some change. [14:24] I mean, I do have the ability to change a lot of things about me.

[14:29] And I have the ability to get them. [14:31] But the greatest my efforts for change will ever produce is human centered. [14:40] But that’s not the aspect of change that God wants to bring into my life. [14:44] God wants to bring supernatural change into my life. [14:47] He wants to change me from the inside going towards the outside. [14:50] And that’s why repentance is necessary for each and every one of us.

[14:57] And so if we talk about this repentance at the base level, [15:02] what would it look like for somebody that’s not a Christian becoming a Christian? [15:05] I mean, how much repentance is necessary? [15:07] How much do you have to change in order to become a follower of Jesus Christ? [15:13] And I think theologian J.I. Packer is extremely helpful here. [15:16] Here’s what he writes.

[15:17] He says,

[15:30] And that’s why Luke 24 is so helpful. [15:35] Jesus gives the disciples a ground level view at what repentance is necessary. [15:41] He begins by saying God has shown you through history. [15:46] You need a savior to fulfill the law for you. [15:50] So you are a sinner. [15:52] You need a savior.

[15:53] And then he writes, [15:54] And so we know that we need to know that we’re a sinner. [16:10] We need to know that God has provided a savior and we need to know that he has done all of the work in order to give us salvation. [16:18] But here’s the kicker. [16:20] As your understanding of God and of your sin and of yourself grows, [16:27] so will your need to have faith in him.

[16:30] And so will your understanding of just how much sin you have to repent of grow as well. [16:37] And that’s why when you meet people who have been Christians for many years, [16:44] you do not find someone who believes that they have just a little sin to repent of. [16:50] You know, it’s been interesting in my life is that I’ve had the opportunity to be around a lot of very seasoned followers of Jesus. [16:58] And by that, I mean, they are really old people. [17:01] But they have been people who have been seasoned in their faith over the decades.

[17:05] And I’ve had a few decades of being able to be around guys like this. [17:08] And what I’ve noted about them is that their maturity and following Jesus Christ has not led them to think, you know what? [17:16] The more mature my faith is, the less sin I have to repent of. [17:21] I’ve never met someone like that. [17:23] I’ve only been around people and these are people that are mature in their faith. [17:26] I’ve met a lot of old people that aren’t mature in their faith as well.

[17:28] But I’ve met some that are very mature in their faith that as they grow older in their faith, [17:33] they understand that they need more faith and they need more repentance in their lives all of the time. [17:40] And the key is an understanding that when you live the type of life where you see, I just don’t have much to repent of, [17:48] I have very small need for repentance. [17:50] Other people may have need for repentance, but I don’t have a great need for repentance. [17:55] What you’re seeing there is a person whose faith is immature, whose faith is less than.

[18:04] You see, number two this morning, repentance is turning from life without God to life with God. [18:11] Repentance is turning from life without God to life with God. [18:16] And the more you grow in your faith in Jesus, you begin to understand that there is always more of God [18:25] that you can have in your life because he is inexhaustible. [18:29] That’s how big God is. [18:32] So your need for repentance will never grow smaller and smaller as you grow.

[18:37] It will grow larger and larger. [18:40] But the key is that repentance is not just ceasing from sin. [18:44] Repentance is not just ceasing from sin. [18:47] See, for some of you, that’s why you think your need for repentance is small. [18:51] You think it’s just stopping doing something. [18:53] And you might think in your mind, there’s not much more I can stop doing.

[18:56] If I keep stop doing things, then I won’t be doing anything. [19:01] But that’s because you only have half of the equation in your life. [19:05] See, you need a full view of repentance and you might be living by a reduced view. [19:09] And I think most people are. [19:11] See, repentance is a turning from sin and a turning to God. [19:18] Repentance is a turning from sin and it is a turning from God.

[19:22] For many people, repentance is just a turning from sin and they don’t go on to the second half. [19:28] And so what you do is, is oftentimes you’ll be convicted of something. [19:31] You’ll feel guilty of something. [19:32] You’re like, I need to stop doing this thing. [19:34] This is a sin. This is wrong. This is disobedience. [19:37] Or you’ll find a bad habit in your life.

[19:40] And you’ll say, I need to stop this habit. [19:42] And so what you do is, is you’ll try to stop doing something, [19:45] but you will then create a void in your life. [19:48] When you stop doing a thing, that creates a void. [19:52] And if it’s one thing that I have realized about all people everywhere, [19:57] no one can live with voids in their life.

[20:00] You will try to fill it with something every single time. [20:05] And so when you just say, I need to stop sinning, [20:10] you will inevitably move on to something else to fill that void. [20:15] And the problem is, we normally do find something that is at least more attractive [20:22] in our eyes to fill that void. [20:25] And that’s why I find self-help books completely useless.

[20:29] Completely unhelpful. [20:31] Because what they usually do is, is you will find something that you’re doing wrong, [20:35] or you will find something that you are not doing a good job at, [20:38] and you will stop doing that thing, [20:41] and a self-help book will just put another thing in its place. [20:44] And if it’s more attractive than the last thing that you had,

[20:48] you will convince yourself that it’s good. [20:52] The problem is that Biblical repentance is not about replacing bad things with good things. [20:57] It is about replacing bad things with God. [21:01] And if you replace it with any other thing, [21:04] it is still a less than thing than God. [21:09] Because Biblical repentance is turning from your sin

[21:12] and filling the voids of sin with the life of God. [21:17] Because sin is the absence of God, [21:20] and God is not satisfied with anything less than faith in Him. [21:25] And so you have to put it in Him. [21:27] That’s why so many people in January, [21:30] they’re going to start that weight loss program,

[21:32] they’re going to lose 40 pounds, [21:34] and then they’re going to give in to the religion of fitness. [21:39] Because you took the sin of gluttony, [21:42] and you filled it with the God of me being fit. [21:45] That’s why for so many people, heaven is a flat stomach.

[21:51] You don’t need God for heaven, [21:53] you just need physical fitness. [21:56] Anytime you simply seek to stop sinning, [22:00] you might replace it with a prettier God, [22:02] but it’s still a false God, [22:05] and every false God is sinful.

[22:08] Stop trying to fill the voids of your life [22:12] with the things of this world. [22:15] You were not designed to find fulfillment in the things of this world. [22:21] You were designed to find your fulfillment, [22:24] your identity, your completion, [22:27] and your life in the life of God.

[22:31] You see, in the Old Testament, [22:33] there are two words for repentance, [22:35] and in the New Testament, [22:36] there are two words for repentance. [22:38] In the Old Testament, [22:39] the first word for repentance literally means

[22:42] to be sorry or moved to pity for wrongdoings, [22:46] and the second term means to turn back or to go in the opposite direction. [22:51] You see, to change direction goes beyond stopping something. [22:55] It means to start something new or move towards something. [22:58] But then in the New Testament, [23:00] the language gets even more specific through Christ.

[23:04] In Luke chapter 24, [23:05] the term that Jesus uses for repentance [23:07] is sorrow for sin that leads to inner change. [23:11] The second term stresses the change in one’s outward life, [23:16] which then gives expression to the inner change. [23:20] And so this inner change is commonly referred to

[23:23] with the expression of that change seen through outer actions. [23:28] You see, God doesn’t just want to change your activity. [23:31] He wants to change the motivation behind that activity. [23:34] God doesn’t want to just change your actions. [23:37] God wants to change the reason for those actions. [23:40] He wants to be the reason for those actions.

[23:43] And in the book of Matthew, [23:44] Jesus over and over goes to the Pharisees, [23:47] and he says, [23:48] You’ve tried to clean the outside of your life [23:50] without paying attention to the faith that is destroying you inside, [23:54] because they did not have faith in the true God.

[23:58] The work that Jesus wants to do in your life [24:01] starts inside of your life. [24:04] It begins with your faith. [24:06] It begins with him. [24:07] It begins with the work of God, [24:09] and then it is expressed through your actions and your attitudes,

[24:13] but it doesn’t begin with them. [24:16] You see, the inner change that God wants to do [24:19] is what he talks about in verses 48 and 49. [24:23] Repentance in the biblical sense [24:24] means the making of a new man by the life of God. [24:29] And everyone needs this repentance.

[24:32] Everyone. [24:32] Have you ever met a person, [24:33] I talk to people like this all the time, [24:37] who want to tell you about everyone else’s need for repentance? [24:41] How much change these other people need? [24:44] You see, the Scripture covers that as well.

[24:45] In Luke chapter 13, [24:46] Jesus is talking to a crowd who were talking about a tragedy [24:50] that took place amongst a bunch of Galileans. [24:53] And he looks to them in Luke chapter 13, and he says, [24:56] Oh, do you think that what happened with the Galileans [24:58] means that they had greater sin that you have?

[25:01] He says, No! [25:03] Unless you repent, you will likewise perish. [25:06] And then he uses a current event of that day. [25:08] A tower in Siloam fell on about 18 people, [25:12] crushing them and killing them. [25:13] And he looks to them and he says,

[25:15] Unless, again, he doubles down. [25:16] He says, Unless you repent, you will likewise perish. [25:21] In Acts chapter 17, the Apostle Paul is speaking to a non-Jewish crowd. [25:26] And he looks to them and he says, [25:27] Look, you’ve ignored God, you’ve created false gods, [25:30] and because of Jesus, God is overlooking your former ignorance.

[25:34] But because Jesus has come to this world, [25:36] now he commands all people everywhere to repent. [25:42] And he will hold them accountable to that repentance. [25:45] See, what is the point of all that? [25:47] The point is, repentance is something that you need [25:50] more than someone else needs.

[25:53] Repentance is something that you need [25:54] more than someone else needs. [25:56] If you spend all of your time [25:59] focused on everyone else’s need for repentance, [26:03] friend, you are not helping yourself, [26:05] nor are you helping them.

[26:08] The people that I know are the most helpful [26:11] in the discipleship of other people’s lives for repentance [26:14] are people who are obsessed with an island of repentance. [26:17] Are people who are overwhelmed by their own need for repentance. [26:20] Are people who understand that they need to repent [26:24] more and more every single day.

[26:27] It’s been my experience that people [26:30] who are continually talking about everyone else’s need for repentance [26:35] with no focus on their own need for change [26:38] are actually the types of people who need the most repentance. [26:43] Friends, there is typically some secret sin [26:46] that they don’t want exposed.

[26:48] Friends, God is interested in your life. [26:53] God wants you to grow in your faith. [26:57] God wants you to turn from your sin. [27:00] So begin to focus in on how this is working out in your life [27:05] before you try to find how it needs to work out [27:09] in everybody else’s life.

[27:12] But this universal need is something that God wants to fill [27:17] with his own life. [27:20] He doesn’t want you to fill it with anyone but him. [27:23] You see, the truth of repentance is that it is about loving God [27:27] more than you love this world. [27:30] It is about loving God more than you love the things of this world.

[27:34] And what’s interesting is that in Romans chapter 2, [27:38] the apostle Paul uses a different language [27:40] than I think many people in our world and maybe even you understand repentance [27:44] because if I ask, why would you ever repent of sin? [27:47] Well, many people would say, oh, it’s because I’m afraid of God. [27:50] It’s because I’m afraid of his wrath.

[27:51] It’s because I’m afraid of what he’s going to do. [27:53] But when you talk about the experience of repentance [27:56] and the way that the authors of scripture talk about repentance, [27:59] they are more invested in talking about how they’re growing in their affection for God [28:03] and how they’re growing in their love for God [28:06] and how they’re growing in their desire to have more of God in their own lives.

[28:10] And so they are sacrificing what is less than so that they can have more of God. [28:14] And that’s why in Romans chapter 2, verse 4, [28:16] the apostle Paul writes that it is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance. [28:23] Do you view God that way? [28:26] Do you think about God in terms of how kind he has been to you? [28:30] Or do you view God as a taskmaster?

[28:33] You see, that might be a problem with the way that you’re viewing your relationship with God. [28:37] How can he talk about God in such a kind way? [28:40] The reason that he talks about it this way is the reason that Jesus talks about the gospel [28:44] in a way that God has done this work for the disciples. [28:49] Jesus has come to give of his love into the lives of the disciples [28:52] through his life, death, and resurrection.

[28:55] God has worked history in order to be a savior for God’s people. [29:01] You see, Jesus wants us to understand that it is the love of God [29:05] that causes us to turn to him as children who have need to a gracious father [29:10] who is always going to fill that need. [29:14] See, but I understand that that is not the relationship that some of you have with God. [29:19] Some of you need to turn from your faulty view of God

[29:23] to a true view of God that Jesus gives us in this passage. [29:27] God is not holding hell over your head every single day, [29:33] saying turn or burn, turn or burn, turn or burn. [29:36] Now your sin will get you that, but God is holding Jesus Christ over your head [29:41] saying, trust in him because he’s done absolutely everything [29:45] that will ever need to be done to forgive you of your sin

[29:48] and give you an eternal relationship with the God who loves you. [29:52] See, one motivation builds a relationship, the other one just builds a life of guilt. [29:57] And some of you need to turn from your guilt because of the kindness that God has [30:02] to remove it and give you eternal forgiveness for your sin. [30:08] As your knowledge of God’s, God grows, and your knowledge of his works grow for you, [30:15] you will understand repentance in a brand new way.

[30:18] Therefore, anything that would prevent you from experiencing more of the life of God [30:22] in your own life is sacrificed so that you can experience more of God. [30:28] See, repentance is not a loss to the lover of God. [30:32] Repentance is ridding your life of anything that would prevent you from [30:37] attaining more of experiencing the life of God in your own life. [30:44] Then thirdly, repentance is turning towards God’s purposes.

[30:48] Repentance is turning towards God’s purposes. [30:52] You see, repentance is the fruit of the gospel’s power. [30:55] You see, repentance is about wanting God more than anything else in this world. [31:02] Repentance is about wanting more of God than you currently have. [31:08] And see, that’s something that many of you should take inventory of right now. [31:12] Are you living a life? Are you being honest with yourself?

[31:16] Do you want more of God than you currently have? [31:20] Or are you satisfied with the amount of God that you have right now? [31:26] See, if you’re totally satisfied, but you say, I’ve got plenty of God because I’ve got a lot going on. [31:30] And if I get more of God, well, that’s going to challenge all the other stuff that I’ve got going on. [31:34] Friend, do you have a faith problem? [31:36] You love the things of this world more than you love God.

[31:39] See, the lover of God cannot get enough of God in his or her life. [31:44] The lover of God looks at him and says, I want more of you than I currently have. [31:48] And so you are constantly taking inventory, saying, how can I get more of God in my life? [31:53] What barriers, what boundaries, what do I have in my life that is keeping me and preventing me from having more of God in my life than I currently have? [32:04] See, in Luke 24, 49, Jesus tells the disciples to wait until they have more of God. [32:12] He says, wait until you have the power of God to do the work of ministry.

[32:15] And what’s interesting is what he says in verse 47. [32:20] He says, that repentance and forgiveness of sins, you need to take that and you need to proclaim it to the entire world. [32:30] When he says all nations, he’s talking about everyone, beginning from Jerusalem. [32:36] So Jesus has given this great vision. [32:38] He’s given them this great pep talk that’s furthered in Acts chapter one. [32:42] He says, I want you to go to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria to the ends of the earth.

[32:47] You will be my witnesses. [32:48] And what happens in a pep talk? [32:50] We’ve got the vision. [32:51] We are excited. [32:52] You’re saying, let’s go. [32:54] Let’s do this.

[32:54] We’ve got a mission. [32:56] Let’s be urgent about it. [32:57] Let’s get as far and as fast as we possibly can. [33:01] And then Jesus says something that is completely counterintuitive to the way that all of us tend to view our lives. [33:08] He says, wait.

[33:13] He says, not so fast. [33:17] In verse 49, he says, behold, I am sending the promise of my father upon you, but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.

[33:31] I’ve come to understand that true repentance forms a desire and dependence on God rather than self-trust. [33:40] And the problem with many of our attempts at repentance is that they are filled with self-trust that doesn’t create a dependence on God. [33:49] See, our repentance needs to be fast. [33:52] It needs to be bold. [33:53] It needs to have instant gratification. [33:55] It needs to feel a certain way or I didn’t do it right.

[33:58] Everything that God tells us to repent towards actually makes us slow down, actually makes us look at what we are filling our lives with and will probably tell you, fill it with less because less is always more with God. [34:16] See, that’s why the spiritual disciplines are often so irrelevant in so many of your lives. [34:22] Did you realize that that’s a repentance problem? [34:24] I mean, when I look at the Bible, when I think about prayer, when I think about the corporate gathering, when I think about personal discipleship in small group, then in smaller groups, then in even smaller groups, they all take so much thinking time. [34:40] And they take years to flesh out. [34:43] I mean, the Bible is a really long book.

[34:46] I mean, this is a thin line Bible and it’s still about 1200 pages. [34:51] And in a culture where we struggle to read a blog post that takes us more than five minutes, well, 1200 pages. [35:00] That’s a big ask, God. [35:02] But then the key with the Bible is by the time you read it from cover to cover, you’ve forgotten some of it and it’s time to start all over again.

[35:10] The thing about prayer is that it requires me to take time away from an already overcommitted life and challenge the notion that my personal activity can accomplish more than time alone with the Lord. [35:31] And I think that’s counterintuitive to everything that I’ve ever learned. [35:35] I’ve got to do in order to accomplish, to slow down and spend time with the Lord. [35:40] What is that accomplishing in my life? [35:44] When I think about the corporate gathering, it is God saying, cease from the commitments of this world. [35:50] Gather with the church as a whole.

[35:52] Sing praises to God. [35:54] Learn from his word. [35:56] Pray with one another. [35:57] And then when I think about the relationships that God calls me to build within the congregation, when he says, get together with them, eat meals with them, learn the word personally with them, have a group that you get together with for discipleship. [36:13] And then when I think about the relationships that I might build in that community group that might ask me to meet outside of that community group to teach them the Bible, I’m forced personally with the realization that God hasn’t just called me to gather before hundreds of people. [36:26] He’s called me to gather with two or three people to actually say, are you growing in your relationship with God?

[36:31] And they might look at me and say, Steve, are you growing in your relationship with God? [36:36] And I realize that God’s call for repentance is usually slowed down because God can do more in my slowness than I can accomplish in my fastness. [36:48] Because slowness usually requires faith that what God has told me to do with my time will accomplish more than my wisdom or the wisdom of this world will ever call me towards.

[37:04] See, friends, the irrelevance of the spiritual disciplines in your life do not point out a problem with God. [37:12] The irrelevance to the spiritual disciplines in your life show a drastic need for repentance in your life. [37:21] That you have filled your life with so many things that you are unwilling to part with that they are crowding out the very things that God says will give you real life.

[37:38] And so I simply ask you this morning.

[37:44] Are you growing in affection for God? [37:47] Are you growing an affection towards the things of this world?

[37:53] In Second Corinthians seven, the apostle Paul looks to the church at Corinth and he tells them two things. [38:02] He says, Godly grief. [38:05] Produces repentance.

[38:08] But worldly sorrow. [38:11] Is the road to death.

[38:15] And that challenges me because it makes me say, OK, what am I sorry for?

[38:22] Because being sorry is never enough. [38:25] He says that godly grief, what this thing is when he teases out, he says, it is realizing that ultimately every time you disobey God, every time you disbelieve him and believe yourself, every time I disbelieve him and I believe the things that this world tell me will build a successful life. [38:45] It is about what it causes between him and me. [38:50] And when my sin causes a fracture in our relationship, I need to turn from my sin. [38:58] I need to trust the sacrifice of Jesus to forgive me of my sin, and I need to live the new life that Jesus has gained me in his resurrection.

[39:08] Worldly sorrow doesn’t work that way. [39:11] Worldly grief produces death because it is not sorrow because of the effects on your relationship with God. [39:18] Instead, it is sorrow for being caught. [39:22] Sorrow for being embarrassed. [39:25] Sorrow for how it affected your worldly position and gain and a self centered effort to make it right so that you don’t lose anything.

[39:39] But the reason he says godly grief produces repentance is because repentance always has hope on the other side. [39:47] Worldly sorrow doesn’t.

[39:51] Worldly sorrow is just going to keep leading you down the path of perpetuating sin after sin, godlessness after godlessness, less of God, more of me, death.

[40:05] But godly grief produces the life that Jesus wants you to have. [40:11] Godly grief looks to God and looks at the grandeur of the gospel of Jesus Christ, looks at everything that he has ever said. [40:19] And you look and you say, if I will sacrifice this thing that is preventing me from having more of the life of God, he will be faithful to his promises. [40:30] He will give me more of himself.

[40:34] The New Testament, like I said, it begins with a call to repentance. [40:38] John the Baptist in Matthew chapter 3, he says, bear fruit with repentance. [40:44] And then just a couple of chapters later, what’s interesting is that Jesus actually explains what that means. [40:50] In Matthew chapter 7, Jesus is unpacking the Sermon on the Mount. [40:55] He’s bringing it to conclusion. [40:57] And then in Matthew chapter 7, verses 18 through 20, Jesus continues the thread and he tells us that we will know those who are truly repentant by the fruit that they bear.

[41:11] He says, good trees bear good fruit, bad trees bear bad fruit. Seems simple enough. [41:16] But he says, a good tree won’t produce bad fruit and a bad tree won’t produce good fruit.

[41:23] And I’m just going to ask this morning that you just take a moment to think about your life.

[41:30] What are you producing right now? [41:33] Are you experiencing more of the life of God in your life today than you were a year ago?

[41:41] If you are, friend, that’s great fruit. [41:47] Don’t stop. Keep going. Keep repenting. Endure.

[41:55] But if you look at your life and you’re honest with yourself and you say, I’m not experiencing more of the life of God today than I was a year ago.

[42:06] Repent.

[42:08] Ask God to show you what the barrier is. [42:11] Ask God to reveal you what practice, what attitude, what habit, what commitment is keeping you from having more of the life of God. [42:25] Than you’ve ever had before.

[42:29] And bear fruit in keeping with repentance. [42:34] And he will forgive you because Jesus always does, and he will grow you because he always will.

[42:41] Friend, if you’re in here this morning and you may be thinking, I’ve never started the path to repentance. [42:49] What do I do? [42:51] Friend, turn from your sin today and trust the gospel of Jesus Christ is enough to forgive you of your sins and give you the new life that God designed you for. [43:03] And he will give it to you. He always does. [43:07] And then keep following Jesus for the rest of your life. [43:11] But some of you are in here and you would say, I’m a follower of Jesus.

[43:16] I repented of my sins, but I know I need more. [43:21] You and me both, friend. [43:24] For you, continue every day to do the work of repentance where you say, God, show me my sin because my life is going to be about repenting of more. [43:34] It’s never going to be about repenting of less because there is always more of God that he is willing to give me. [43:42] What a gracious God.

[43:45] But the bread on these tables around me represents the broken body of Jesus. [43:50] The cup represents his shed blood. [43:54] And when we eat and when we drink, what we profess to everyone around us is that we believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. [44:02] See, there was a barrier between your life and a relationship with God that would allow you to share a meal with him. [44:09] And Jesus has torn that barrier down. [44:12] And when we eat and when we drink, that is a picture that God has made our relationship so right that he says, come share a meal with me.

[44:23] But when you eat and drink, you profess to everyone that you have faith in Jesus. [44:27] So only eat and drink if you do. [44:29] When you’re ready, come.