Transcription
I had a favorite pastor. I listened to him until the other day. I heard a clip and I said, "What?" Here's what he said. He was telling his congregation about a man, a man in the congregation that everybody knew and had known for a long time. He had served in the congregation, but he walked away from the Lord. I don't know. People blame tragedies and all kinds of stuff on leaving the church and going back to an old lifestyle. And he was saying they found this brother the other morning. His car was wrapped around a tree and when the police got there, he was considered totally drunk. The car was full of the smell of alcohol. It reeked of that.
And that pastor said, "But at least he's in heaven today, not having to struggle with that anymore. I got a problem." Paul said, "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God." What do I do with that verse? This says drunkards will not inherit the kingdom of God. And don't be deceived.
So, I told you last week that I was going to be preaching on repentance today, and I think it will fit in just right, especially with all the music that was prayed over and chosen today about the mercy of God and the mercy seat. So, what is repentance? I tell you this, you won't get to heaven till you repent. You're not ready to meet Jesus Christ and hear him say, "Welcome," until you repent. Until you repent, you are destined for the flames of eternal hell. So, repentance is very key. This is a, what do they call it? A hinge, a lynchpin, if you will.
I know that when John the Baptist came out of the wilderness after 430 years or 400, uh, of God not speaking to people between the testaments. The first thing they heard John the Baptist say was, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." The axe is laid at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not bear fruit is cut down and cast into the fire. Repent. Jesus taught repentance, preached it. Uh, he gave an illustration one time. He was telling people that there had been this calamity in a city called Siloam and several tragedies. And Jesus said, "Do you people think that tragedies hit them because they were sinners?" He said, "Oh no. Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."
Repentance is commanded when Paul stood in front of philosophers and debaters in Athens. In that great presentation to them, he said there was a time when God winked at all of this foolishness. God kind of let it go, all the pagan worship, but now commands every man everywhere to repent, because there's coming a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he has chosen, even Jesus. And he has proven this to us by raising him from the dead. And then just go through the book of Revelation. The Spirit is telling the churches to repent. John is telling how that the world is unrepentant. Even with the calamities and the wrath of God, the world does not repent of their sins, their idolatries, their whoredoms.
Repentance is a big deal and it's not stressed very much today in the American church. What is repentance? Let me make it as simple as I know how, because that's the only way I know how to live and preach. Repentance means you turn around. You go in the opposite direction. You stop doing what you're doing. You stop loving what you love. You stop chasing and pursuing what you are now chasing. You go the opposite direction. Foolish Christians are no longer fools. They become your family. You become enlightened. Your eyes are opened. And the stuff you used to make fun of, you don't anymore because you realize it's the truth in Jesus Christ. You stop sinning. When you repent, you stop living a life of sin. And I didn't say you don't stumble and have troubles, but your life is no longer a sinful life. You no longer practice sin. John said, "He that practices sin is of the devil and he has never known the truth."
If you're looking for an example, you know, we've, I, I just like a doctor studies medicine and everything that's happening in the medical world, and just like lawyers do that, and every profession, I study what people preach and teach. I study doctrine. I observe the church world. And there's a movement. I don't know that it's new, but it's becoming alive again there. It's hyper-grace. And these people believe that you're saved by grace by doing nothing except calling on the name of Jesus. And after you call on the name of Jesus, it doesn't matter how you live anymore because grace covers you. It's called hyper-grace. And if you're a hyper-grace person, you're going to say to me after this message today, "You're preaching works," because they think that repentance is a work. And we're not saved by works. We're saved by grace. But repentance is not a work. It's a command. And I just gave you the reasons that it is a command. It comes from the mouth of Jesus himself.
And I turned over to 2 Corinthians chapter 7. All the verses will be on the screen today, all the references. And I found the perfect example of repentance. There are many, but this one works here today. Paul is writing to the Corinthian church and he is chastising them. He has blistered their hide. They had gotten loose and laxed. Let me tell you something. Let me be a little more, uh, professional. Let me tell you something. When churches don't pray, they get loose. When pre-, when preachers don't preach the truth, people live carnally. When the truth is not lived out, people allow sin to move into the congregation and they're okay with it. They normalize sinful living, and that's what the Corinthians had done. There was a sin going on in that church and neither the leadership nor the fellowship cared. They didn't do anything about it until Paul wrote this letter and he let them have it. He essentially said, "I cannot believe that you have become so unspiritual, so carnal, so worldly that you would let this thing go on in the church. And I'm telling you right now, you straighten it up. You deal with that person. You get rid of that person because that person is, is poison in your life. If they don't repent, get them out."
Then Paul writes in 2 Corinthians and says this in the 10th verse of the seventh chapter, "for godly sorrow." Here's what he's saying. The church did straighten up. They did deal with the man. They did get back on their knees. And Paul said, "For godly sorrow produces repentance." It's when you realize it's not about you and your sin and them, but you've sinned against a holy God. Sin against God. So that's called godly repentance. We're sorry, God. And it produces repentance. It produces a turning around, a change of life, a change of mind, and it leads to salvation. You can't get to salvation without being led by a repentant, broken, contrite, determined spirit. Paul says this kind of repentance is not to be regretted. You, you won't regret ever saying I'm sorry to God. But the sorrow of the world produces death. The sorrow of the world means you got caught and now you got to pay a penalty or some sort. The sorrow of the world says, "I'm sick of the way I'm living. I, I get, I'm tired of this." But you don't change. And when you don't change, you stay on the same road. And that road leads to death.
You know, all my ministry, I've heard people talk about people they love and relatives and friends and saying, "Well, they're not walking with the Lord right now." Well, who are they walking with? If they're not walking with the Lord, they're walking in sin. I don't know what comfort that brings to anybody. Well, you know, they're just not walking with the Lord right now, but like, like they're kind of over there under a tree sulking and everything's all right spiritually for eternity. Wrong. You better be walking with the Lord if you plan to get to heaven. And if it's your son or your daughter and you, you're trying to give them some breathing space and, you know, not be so hard on them, you better start praying for their salvation if they're not walking with the Lord right now.
So Paul says, "You did it, you repented," and he defines it. Next verse, "For observe this very thing that you sorrowed in a godly manner. What diligence it produced in you." I got to say this before I go too far. America, well, it's all over the world now, the whole thing of having crusades and people come down front. We do it in this church. People come down front. I don't have, I can't even imagine in all the years I've pastored this church how many people have come down front and they will come down and stay for a minute or two, wipe a tear or two, go back to their pew and that's it. And I said it before, it upsets people. The sinner's prayer is sending people to hell. When you say, "Repeat after me," and all they do is repeat after you. And you say, "Praise the Lord. Welcome to the family." That's what all the mega churches do. And I don't care who you are, what you've done. Come down, repeat this prayer. And they do. Doing. And they say, "Welcome to the family." And there's no repentance preached and no brokenness and no humility and no thought of changing lifestyles completely. That's what Paul is saying here.
"What diligence it produced in you." Meaning you got down to business. You said, "I got to do something about this state I'm in, this mindset I have." You can't be passive when you repent. You can't just stand there and say, "I feel better now." Because repentance doesn't make you feel better now. Repentance changes you for the rest of your life and takes you to heaven.
Then he said, "What clearing of yourselves?" You were saying, "I want my name back, my reputation back. I've brought a reproach on the Lord. I've ruined my testimony. I want it fixed. I'm going to live in a way that makes people see Jesus in me." Then he said, "What indignation?" He's saying, "You are saying, I can't believe I did it. How could I be so dumb? How could I let myself go so long without prayer and study? How could I get tangled up with those people again? How did this happen to me? I'm indignant myself that I didn't take care of my soul." "What fear?" "I could do that again. It could happen again. If I don't read and pray, if I don't run with the family of God, if I don't stay on my knees, this could happen again in my life." And it frightens you. "What vehement desire?" Not just a, "Hey, I'm glad to be here," but it's a, it's a hot, drawing hunger, a hunger that can only be fulfilled by Jesus. It's vehement desire. I want more of Jesus. I, I've got to have more of Jesus. I want to know Jesus. It's like Paul saying, "I, I want to know him in the power of his resurrection. I want Jesus." "What zeal?" It means you get down to business. You do something. Get busy about God's work, about a Christian life, a Christian walk. "What vindication?" Meaning by showing all of these things, you have shown that you have truly repented.
And I want you to know, brothers, sisters, friends, and family, until these attributes and actions are evident in your life, you have not repented. I don't care what altar you went to, what crusade you attended, what papers you filled out. If you did not walk away with brokenness and even some tears and some thankfulness that God saved your wretched soul, if you didn't walk away with a greater desire to serve God and stay out of sin than you've ever been, you have not repented of your sins.
One of the passages of scripture that nobody wants to deal with is in Hebrews chapter 6. I'm going to read it to you today. It says, beginning with verse one, "Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary princi-, principles of Christ, that means it's time to move on, let us on perfection. Stop being an immature person in the faith. Stop attending church just when you want to. Stop showing up for special events. Not laying again the foundation of repentance, in and out, up and down. Saved this week, you don't know where they are next week. Gone for two months, but now they're back. Ah, you know, I'm just trying to work it out. I'm trying to work my way through it." He said, "It's time to stop all of that foolishness. You don't have time to be working things out. You don't have time to be experimenting with your eternal soul. Get in church. Get involved. Stay in church. Quit being blown about with every wind of doctrine. Quit having occasional spiritual surges and show up at church and then go back to the way you were living." "From dead works and of faith toward God. Be done with the doctrine of baptisms." Now, keep in mind, he's talking to Hebrew believers here. These were Jewish believers who had all kinds of washings and abolutions. He said, "You're done with Judaism. You're done with all that stuff. Let's move on." "In Jesus, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead." That's a given. We know that there's going to be a resurrection of the dead. Why argue about it? "And of eternal judgment." We know judgment's coming. "And this we will do if God permits." Paul's saying, "I'm moving on. What are you going to do? I'm tired of playing around on the bottom. I'm tired of the fundamentals. I'm ready to move on to higher heights in Jesus Christ."
But then he says, "For it is impossible, impossible for those who were once enlightened. They know who Jesus is. They know the truth that's in Christ and have tasted the heavenly gift. They've sat right in the church. They've felt the goosebumps. They've seen the Lord at work. They've lifted their own hands and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit. They felt the Spirit draw them. They, they feel the wooing of God in their life and have tasted the good word of God. You've heard it from the pulpit. You know what God says. You've read it in your devotions and the powers of the age to come. You know about heaven. You know we're not going to be here very long. Jesus is coming. We're going to heaven. If they fall away, if after all of that they leave Jesus, if they fall away, walk away, enjoy all of that and then say, 'Nah, I'll live my own life.' To renew them again to repentance, it's impossible. If you walk away from Jesus and all this, it's impossible for you to repent because Jesus is the only reason to repent, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God. Put him back on the cross. Put the nails back in his head, as far as your life is concerned. His blood was never shed and put him to an open shame. Put him to an open shame."
When people who live in the world know you go to church, they know you've been baptized and all of the other stuff. And yet there you sit half drunk with them talking foolishness. There you lay in a bed of adultery. There you lay in a bed of homosexuality. You've just brought Jesus Christ to an open shame. They've said because of you it must not have taken or it must not work. And so you have not repented. I don't know how to say this any stronger. I don't know how to be any more aggravating. I wish to God I could make somebody so mad that they will actually hear me today and fall down and repent. If you are still living in sin, you have never repented and you will never see heaven. You are destined for the flames of hell. I don't know any other way to say it.
See, the problem is we don't know the difference between repentance and remorse. Remorse. Do you know how many people have come to this altar because they're full of remorse? They wish they hadn't lost their marriage. They wish they hadn't gambled their life savings away. They wish they hadn't done the heroin. They wish they hadn't gotten, just on and on. "I'm remorseful. I feel so bad right now. I'm just coming down to the altar," and I've seen a tear or two shed and people give you a Kleenex and you stay about a minute at the most, two minutes. Then you walk out and everything's fine. You see, when you cry, you feel better. It relieves the pressure. Ask any woman in here. Problem is when they cry, my pressure builds up. Can everybody hear this preacher this morning? When you come down and cry and feel better and leave and do what you were always doing, you did not repent. You are not saved. If you die today, you will go straight to hell.
Such as the case with Esau. Remember Esau who sold his birthright? That means he gave up spiritual riches for a bowl of soup because his flesh wanted soup more than his spirit wanted truth. And so when he gave it up and after he got full, see, you always want to go on a fast after you're full. "Oh, I want to seek God now." But he, once his flesh got satisfied, he then realized, "Wait a minute, I just gave up my spiritual inheritance, my walk, my relationship with God, my, my gift from God through my father is gone." But Hebrews 12 said, even though he cried and shed tears, repentance was not found in him. It meant he wasn't sorry that he was giving up his spiritual riches. He was sorry that he couldn't have all the gold and the inheritance. And the inherit-, the repentance there is not about him repenting. He wanted his father to repent. "Change your mind, Dad. Come on, Dad. Change your mind about this and give it to me. It's mine." And Dad said, "No, I've already blessed." You gave it up. He was remorseful, but he was not repentant.
And the classic example is Judas. Judas, Judas betrayed the Lord. Matthew's 27, somewhere in Matthew 27, it says Judas repented. Oh, King James, Judas repented himself. Meaning he was sorry for the trouble he caused the Lord. But he was not sorry that he betrayed the Lord. He wished he hadn't done it. That's why he took the money and threw it back in the temple at the Pharisees and then he went out and hanged himself. He was remorseful, but he was not repentant. You know who was Peter? I don't know of a guy in the, in the line of the apostles that had a greater failure than Peter did three times in one night. He went out and wept, too. But after he wept, he changed. See, that's the difference between remorse and repentance.
Jesus said to a man that he healed one time, "Go your way and sin no more." Oops. Is that possible? Jesus doesn't ask you or tell you to do anything that is impossible. Amen. If Jesus said do it, it can be done. Jesus said, "Go away and don't sin anymore, lest a worse thing come upon you." Pastor, is it possible not to sin anymore? I'm about to take you to Romans chapter 6 and prove to you from the Holy Scripture that you now have the power to say no to the flesh. The problem I, let me say this first. The problem that American Christianity is dealing with and pastors is that we've got it in our heads now that the addictions of today are stronger and worse than they were in yesteryear. That somehow addictions today can't just be delivered. They've got to be counseled out of one's life. Do you think sin is worse today than it was in Noah's day? There was addiction in Noah's day. People drank strong drink. People took drugs. People laid in beds of adultery and fornication and homosexuality. People looked at other people's wives. It's not any worse today than it was. It's just that we've come to the place today we are so prayerless, so powerless, and it's not preached that the power in the blood of Jesus is greater and stronger than any addiction or any power in the flesh.
But I want to tell you something. I said it last week. If the blood of Jesus is not stronger than a cocaine habit or a liquor habit or anything else, I ought to just quit right now. I ought to just walk away, walk out the door, and never do this again. Because my whole ministry, I've been telling people that the risen Jesus, because of his shed blood, can wash away every sin and break every chain and every power. And I know it, 'cause he did it for me. We've gotten to the place now that people can't just be delivered. They got to go to counseling. Got to have two years of this and that and a workbook and walk through it. No. I, I, I will tell this again at the expense of people thinking that I'm senile. When my daddy was a drunkard and everything else that a sinner man was, and he fell across an altar down in Louisville, North Carolina in a little Baptist church and he said, "Lord, save me." He got up. He went home. He poured his beer out. He never had another one. He never used a bad word. He prayed and served God the rest of his life.
I'm not finished. Sandra's daddy was a bootlegger in Texas. I saw a bullet hole in his leg. He still had it. Where the sheriff shot him trying to catch up with him. They left him in a ditch for dead on a cold, uh, winter's night in at, at Christmas time. He was a drunkard. He was a fighter. He was a brawler. And somehow, some way, somebody found him, took him to church. He laid across the altar, altar. He gave his heart to Christ. He never drank again. He never cussed again. He never fought again. And he ended up preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't tell me God can't set sinners free.
I'm running out of time. And I could go across this congregation right now, couldn't I? And I could, I can show you people who used to do it, but they don't do it now. Who used to be slaves to sin, but they aren't slaves now. Why? The blood has not lost its power. The power of God unto salvation.
So let's do it this way. Let's read it. Let's read the Bible. Paul says, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?" Certainly not. "How shall we, who died to sin, live any longer in it?" Let's go down. "Therefore, we were buried with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." "For he who has died has been freed from sin." Watch this. "Likewise, you also reckon yourselves, decide on it, come to this conclusion. Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body." You decide. You didn't have a choice before Jesus came in. You were a slave of sin. You just sinned because you were a sinner. But Jesus came. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Jesus came. The blood made the difference. The resurrection gave you power. And now you get to decide. You can decide to say no. And you can decide not to say no to the flesh. It's up to you. But the devil cannot make you do it. He said, "Do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin." Don't give your chance self a chance to sin. Stay away from him. Stay away from her. Stay away from it. Stay away from that. Turn it off. Throw it away. Be done with it. Don't let your body members become instruments of sin because you are alive to God from the dead and sin shall not have dominion over you. For sin shall not have dominion over you. For you are not under law but under grace." Does everybody understand it now? It's your decision. You make the decision. Don't you ever again, if you're saved, say the devil was strong. No. The devil's been defeated in your life. But I'll say, if you're still sitting though and still giving in, you're not saved.
Pastor, now, that right there is the reason I won't bring my neighbors to this church. Pastor Luran, that's the reason I will not bring mama to church. I can't bring my kids here. You'll scare them to death. You'll make them feel horrible. I don't get it. Sorry, this is parenthesis. I don't get it. I would think that instead of you being afraid that your family's going to be scared about a loud preacher, that you'd be thankful for the loud preacher telling them, "Hey, there's something worse than listening to a loud preacher, and that's standing before a holy God. And you're going to stand before a holy God one day." No, I, I see he's up. I think you ought to just run up here and hug my neck and say, "Oh, thank you, preacher. Thank you for telling my children what I've been trying to tell them. Thank you for telling my neighbors the truth." Folks, I'm here to tell the truth. I'm not here to get the pews full. I'm here to make sure people understand you don't have to be a slave to sin. Jesus Christ has set you free. And if you're free, you are free indeed.
Wait now. Can you give me just four more minutes? You've heard this before, but it's so beautiful to me. The blood of Jesus sets you free from the penalty of sin. The Spirit of God sets you free from the power of sin. Heaven will set you free from the presence of sin. Did you hear that? The blood of Jesus cleanses you from all unrighteousness. If you're saved, you'll never face your sins again. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. The Holy Spirit sets you free from the power of sin. I decide if I have victory or not today. I decide whether or not I will do something that will grieve the Holy Spirit. I decide. And if the Lord is at work in your life and you are listen-, you are reading your Bible and you have a prayer life and a church life, brother, you don't have to worry about falling away. 'Cause I, I tell you something, if any man is in Christ, he's a new creation. Old things have passed away and behold, all things have become new. And what I'm trying to say is if you're a new creation in Christ, you won't be in and out of sin, up and down. Nope. You will have made your calling and election sure because Jude or 2 Peter says, "If you do these things, add to your faith virtue, virtue, knowledge, knowledge, brotherly kindness, brotherly love. If you do these things, you will make your calling and election sure."
What am I saying that's so caustic here this morning? I'm saying there are a lot of people who think they're saved, who pretend they're saved, but they're not because saved people don't practice sin.
Now, I'm going to close with this. Thank you, Joe. I appreciate that so much. Thought I needed a little help there, didn't you? I want you to listen very carefully. I realize this is not just for here. There's no telling how many are watching that screen right now from anywhere today. You've heard gospel preaching and there are many pastors preaching the gospel and many evangelists preaching the gospel and they are saying the door is open, but one day every opportunity is going to be gone. One day you won't get a chance like this anymore. Jesus taught about it in a, in a parable. He said a great man threw a wedding feast and invited people to come in and some did and then they, watch this, shut the door. But there were some people who said, "Oops, I guess we should have been a little quicker on the draw here. Let's go knock on the door and they'll let us in." They knocked on the door. Person on the inside said, "Nope. Door's closed forever. We don't know you." Noah. Do you know how many in 120 years? Can you imagine how many people pass by that boat and watch that man and workers building an ark in essentially a barren desert? And he preached and he preached and he didn't give up preaching and he didn't stop building. And of course they laughed at the old fool. And right at the end there when he finished the door on the ground, and I told you before it was too heavy for Noah to lift, so he had to build it on the ground. Just lay it on the ground. Only one could close that door. And so all these people laughed at old Noah. And they went on down to the bar and had some cocktails. They went to their gay bars. They went to their, uh, ball games. Oh yeah, we hear the old man preaching. It sounds pretty good, but there's a game tonight. Let's go. And they found them new men and women to have sexual trysts with and their language was vile and foul and they made so much fun of Noah. So they're sitting there sipping on their cocktails and talking stupid stuff and suddenly there's a rumble. What is that? It's thunder. And all of a sudden they hear these thumps on the roof. Huge drops of rain pummeling the building and splashing on the ground. And they go, "This, what is this?" And so they drop their cocktails and run outside only to see the sky as black as anything they've ever seen. And now rain is beginning to fall and there's lightning and there's thunder. And there's the ark right down there. Let's go, guys. They got there and the door was closed. For one moment, I wish somebody could imagine the feeling of running up there and the water's already up to your ankles now and banging on that gopher wood door. Noah, Noah, open, open, open. Couldn't hear a thing. Noah and his family are closed in. And these people are destined to die. Am I being dramatic? What about the people that will one day miss the rapture of the church because they love sin more than they love righteousness? What, what when they find out that you don't just get to run to church after the rapture takes place, the Spirit of God through the church has been removed and violence and darkness is not like anything they've ever seen in their lives. You see, one day the door is going to close. And when that happens, I want to be in heaven. And I want to hear Jesus say, "You did your best. You told them. You warned them. Come on in, son. I've got a reward for a faithful shepherd."
Stand with me, please. I would like for those wonderful people in the back to put 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 25 on the screen. Second Timothy chapter 2 verse 25. That's right. Second Timothy. There you go. Let me read something to you. Right before that, he's telling Timothy, "Do the best you can to preach the truth to everybody you can." Now, read it with me, church. "In humility, correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them 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." Ever so often it hits me hard. God grants repentance. I don't just flit around and say, "I think I get saved." There has to be a divine action in your life. But I can pray for God to move on somebody. We can pray for God to grant repentance to people you know and I know to be saved. Amen.
I'd like for you to fill up the altar, come down the steps, just move in some direction. As a church, we're going to pray for God to grant re-. Come on. Grant repentance.