Today, we are going to talk about “REPENTANCE.” More than 90% of the people you see in Church today are experiencing some problems because they have never truly repented. The will of such people has never been reached and changed.
In Matthew 3:10 Jesus said, “And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore, every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.”
God says, “Every son that is mine, I chastise.” In other words, God is saying that if He cannot correct you, then you are not His son.
Here is the truth: The wrath of God is waiting for those who practice sin (Gal. 5:19-21; Rom. 1:28-32).
In Matthew 3:1-3 Jesus said, “Turn from your sins and turn to God.” “Turn from your sins and turn to God, so you can be cleansed of your sins” (Acts 3:19).
Jesus said, “There is forgiveness of sins for ALL who turn to Me” (Lk. 24:47).
Peter’s words convicted the people so deeply that they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” “Each of you must turn from your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:37-38).
Refusal to turn away from your sins will bring God’s judgment on you. Then Jesus began to denounce the cities where He had done most of His miracles, because they hadn’t turned from their sins and turned to God. . . . “You people of Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to the place of the dead” (Matt. 11:20-24).
Repentance is not an emotion. It is a decision. Repentance springs from your will.
Repentance is changing your mind about how you have been living. You have been living according to your own desires, and not according to the will of God. But now you say, “From now on I am going to live according to the Word of God.”
Many of the conversions we see in the church today are not genuine because the will of the person concerned has never been reached and changed with the undiluted Word of God.
Such people simply had an emotional experience. They got excited and maybe they felt wonderful for a while, but in the end, they don’t have what it takes to stand for Christ because their will has never been touched (reached).
Have you been living to please yourself by doing things the way you want or have you been living to please Jesus by doing things the way He wants?
For your repentance to be genuine, you MUST decide to live your life according to the Word of God.
There are two types of repentance: 1) True repentance, and 2) False repentance. The parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-30 is a very good example of “true repentance.”
In this narrative, the second son of a wealthy father collected his inheritance from his father, and went off to a far country, and there he wasted all his money on riotous living. When his money finished, famine came to the land and the only job he could get was the job of feeding pigs.
Remember that he was Jewish, and so to take care of pigs was as low as he could ever come.
Now, here he is in rags, wretched, hungry, feeding the pigs, and wishing he could quench his hunger by filling his stomach with the food meant for the pigs.
At a point he came to himself, and said, “How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!” (Lk. 15:17).
And that’s the point: You must come to yourself after you have heard the raw and undiluted Word of God.
He took a decision to return to his father. “I will arise and go to my father,…” (Lk. 15:18).
Can you see that he made a quality decision, and he turned around to go to his father? That is true repentance – making a decision, forsaking his old evil ways (Prov. 28:13) and making a U-turn to go to his father.
When you discover, after listening to a raw and undiluted Word of God, that you have been offending God, you change your mind, you forsake those evil ways, and turn around to go back to your Maker saying, “I have made a mess of my life, I can’t run my own life any more, I need You, my Father! Please accept me back.”
One wonderful thing he did was deciding what to say to the father. “…and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, 19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants” (Lk. 15:18-19).
But while he was still a distance away from home, his father sighted him and ran to go and welcome him back with a warm embrace.
Precious saints, that’s how our God is. When He sees that you have realized your sin, turned around to come back to Him, the Bible says that He rejoices greatly in the presence of His angels in heaven (Luke 15:10).
Realize that the father never gave him the opportunity to say those things he had planned to say to him.Rather he commanded his servants to bring the best white robe, put a ring on his finger, sandals on his feet, and kill the fattest calf in the house for them to celebrate, because this his son was lost but he’s now come back to him. That’s the result of “true repentance.”
Notice that he actually got up, left the place he was and went back to his father. That is “true repentance” in action.
2. False repentance. We also have a false repentance, which is called “REMORSE.” Remorse is a worldly sorrow that does not produce repentance, but leads to death (2 Cor. 7:10).
Judas Iscariot manifested false repentance (Matt. 27:3-5). Judas was remorseful, but not repentant.
Therefore, he departed, but did not go back to God to ask for forgiveness, but he went and hanged himself.
Genuine repentance will never lead you to go and commit another sin. For instance, you discovered that your immoral act has resulted in you being pregnant, though you are sorry, but you don’t go to commit abortion as the next step.
The correct thing to do is to go back to God and tell Him that you have missed it. Ask Him for forgiveness, and then decide to take care of the pregnancy, no matter the cost. Judas was remorseful because of what he did, but he did not take a decision to change. Repentance that produces no lasting change in your life is insincere.
When you hear His raw and undiluted Word, the Holy Spirit urges you to repent. And if you despise His counsel by saying to Him, “I am not interested now, maybe later,” the Bible says that you will perish.
What will happen if you refuse to repent? Jesus said, “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Lk. 13:5).
Just know that there is no guarantee that God will deal with you in that wise again.
God offers us His grace freely, but if you despise it, He turns in anger towards you and what may follow is eternal damnation in hell.
Conclusion: Won’t you consider giving God the chance to take you back and make you what He wants you to be?
The choice is yours! “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19).
Watch out for the next edition of Good News from the Pulpit.
Your friend, I. I. Madubunyi (Senior Pastor, HOG) 18.02.2024
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