Have you ever experienced God?
Sometimes it's an unsettling question, isn't it?
As born again Christians, we often bristle when people accuse us of being religious. At least I do. When they say something like that, I'm quick to explain to them that I don't think of myself so much as having a religion or being religious, but having a relationship, a personal relationship with God.
In fact, that's what we advertise, isn't it? That you can have a personal relationship with the living God through faith in Jesus Christ.
But if I were really honest, I would have to admit that there have been times in my relationship with God when I wondered where He was. There were too many times when things seemed a little dry, or everything seemed academic, or scholastic. And maybe you have felt that way. Or maybe you're wondering whether you have ever had an experience with God at all.
On the other hand, there are times I Have Had an Experience of God! God has shown up in ways that absolutely blew my mind. After about 50 years of being a believer, I have absolutely no doubt that there is a living God who does the same things he did in Bible times now in this present time, and that He is working every day in our lives to bring us closer to Him, if we're interested.
So over the next several weeks we're going to talk about ways we often unintentionally sabotage our own relationship with God. I'm convinced that without even thinking about it, we set up roadblocks which prevent us from experiencing God as both He and we would like.
So before we go on, let me ask you something which I very honestly want you to answer, if only to yourself. Do you really ever experience God?
What I've discovered is that part of the problem is that we are interested in experiencing God, but often it's only on our terms. Now that's an issue in a relationship with God, because you can hardly be the captain of your own soul, the master of your own fate if you acknowledge who God really is. I mean, by definition, God is in charge!
And so this morning we're going to address an issue that I believe in a lot of people's lives causes them to miss God altogether—to never ever make a connection in the first place, even though they believe they have.
Now it's described by a word that I always hated when I was a non-Christian. I always thought it was associated with religious fanatics. I remember our family driving from Southern California up to the Mammoth Lakes area on vacation and as we would get just a little north of Bishop, there would be some rocks jutting out toward the road, and emblazoned on those rocks in big red messy letters was the word: "Repent!" I always thought whoever was responsible for that un-needed reminder just had to be a wild-eyed Bible-thumping religious nut, and I wanted nothing to do with it, or him whatsoever. I was afraid that if I actually repented I'd end up looking and acting something like him—which was absolutely the last thing I ever wanted to have happen to my life.
But when you really look at the underlying Greek for this term when it's found in the Bible, it actually has a much tamer meaning, at least on the surface. The Greek word metanoia simply means to change your mind about something or someone. Seems simple enough and tame enough. You don't have to become a fanatic, if that's all that's involved. And one Greek dictionary actually summed up the meaning of the word repentance very simply and aptly when it defined the word as "a change of mind which results in a change of life(style) "
Since we often change our minds, especially if we are women—that's a joke!—since we change our minds often in life, that doesn't seem too threatening.
But what is really surprising about this word is where it shows up in the New Testament. It shows up in the darndest of places, and it seems to be the pivotal action that someone must engage in to experience God, His forgiveness and eternal life.
One such place is Luke 24, in verses 44-49. Now in terms of important occasions, this passage records events that were perhaps among the most important of all time, the most important event to happen in all of the Bible. It deals with Christ's resurrection.
Now let me set the stage for you. The Lord Jesus Christ has been crucified, has died and was buried for parts of at least three days. During this entire course of events, His faithful disciples had been acting strangely—they had been anything but faithful. When Jesus asked them to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane, instead they fell asleep. When they claimed they would never abandon Jesus, no matter what, that's exactly what every last one of them did when He was arrested. And when He repeatedly told them he was going to be killed, crucified, and raised again on the third day, they inconsistently believed the part about him being killed, but they most definitely did not begin to believe the part about him being raised from the dead on the third day!
That's why they ran for their lives in the Garden of Gethsemane; that's why they abandoned Jesus. They absolutely did not believe He would be raised from the dead. In fact, they obviously felt it was much more likely that not only would He die, but that they would die as well for being associated with Him.
So now it's the third day. And incredibly, against all odds, it now appears that maybe, just maybe, this Jesus, who claimed to be the only begotten Son of God, had actually risen from the dead, just as He predicted. And there all of his remaining 11 disciples except for Thomas have met secretly in Jerusalem to discuss this amazing series of events and try to get their head around what may just have happened. When, all of a sudden, in their midst, the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ appears—to every one of them! They all see him, they all hear him, they are all invited to touch him, He shows them His hands and feet and there they are, the very scars that had to be there if this is truly the person they saw nailed to a cross just 72 hours earlier. And He even takes a piece of fish and eats it, and it disappears into his body, indicating this is not an apparition, that He is not merely a spirit, leaving them with the only astounding conclusion anyone could come to—that the tomb was empty because Jesus Christ had been physically and bodily raised from the dead.
Now after he had done everything to convince them that He had actually been raised from the dead, whatever He says next is going to be of vital importance. Why. 1.) Because all men die. And 2.) This is the only man in all of human history to have predicted His own resurrection to the day and to accomplish it. 3.) Therefore, there is one critical piece of information he must have that would be of monumental importance to the rest of mankind: is it possible for the rest of us to live again—is it possible for the rest of us to be raised from the dead, as He was and experience immortality. And then, if so, how?
Now at this point all of creation should have paused, and all of creation should have leaned into that room that night to hear whatever this man, who claimed to be God in the flesh, would have to say. Because whatever He would say would likely be the secret to coming back to life, being raised from the dead, and living forever. Whatever He would say could solve mankind's biggest problem—universal mortality.
And so what does He say? Listen carefully, for your eternal life depends on this: After reviewing all the prophecies of the Old Testament that predicted all these things would happen to the Messiah, in verse 46: "Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day and repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem."
In other words, Jesus recognizes the universal significance of what has just happened, and what it means to the world—that all the nations should hear about His death to pay for their sins and His resurrection—because these are the very events that lead to forgiveness of sins and resurrection. But did you notice the placement of that little word repentance once again. It comes at a vital juncture. It is inextricably associated with that little matter of the forgiveness of sins which seems to be necessary for resurrection. In fact, truth be told, Jesus is using it as though it is the one absolutely necessary condition on the part of humankind for the forgiveness of their sins: repentance—a change of mind which results in a change of life-style.
Now if you're like me with an extensive Christian background, maybe you're asking why in the world, in such a critical context, Jesus chose to use that word—repentance—as the condition necessary for forgiveness of sins and resurrection. Why not the word "believe" or "faith" or "trust" like we find in other things he said, like John 3:16, which seems to indicate that all we've got to do is believe in Him to have eternal life.
And so maybe you're saying to yourself, now which is it? Is it repentance, or is it faith? Is it repentance, or just believing in Jesus? They kind of sound like two different things don't they? Haven't we been taught that forgiveness of sins and heaven comes through faith, and faith alone, and not as a result of works? In a way, it almost sounds like its works. But that would be heresy—because Ephesians 2:8-9 specifically says salvation is by grace, and not by works, right?
So what is it that saves, what is it that results in the forgiveness of sins? Is it faith alone, or repentance? That truth is that it's not either or, but it's both/and. It is faith and repentance. It is a faith in Jesus that results in a change of mind about life, and our life-style. It is a repentant faith.
The connecting truth is this: what you really believe determines what you do. If you believe turning the key on in your car as you leave this morning, will start your car, you will turn the key. If you believe that putting gas in your car will keep it going, you will put gas in your car. And if you believe that Jesus is God and your Savior, you will believe what He says is best for you and you will begin following him. True faith in Christ results in turning from doing our thing, to doing His thing—and it is indeed the faith that saves, but it is the works that demonstrate the faith.
That's precisely why the book of James talks about two different kinds of faith—the kind of faith that saves, and the kind of faith that does not. James 2:14: It asks, "What use is it, my brethren if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?"
Good question! We don't have time to read his entire discussion in James 2 this morning. But we do have time to hear his answer as we find it in verse 17, 19 and again in verse 26: Verse 17: "Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself." In other words, if faith does not result in works, faith, itself does not really exist. Verse 19: "You believe God is one. You do well. The demons also believe, and shudder." The demons believe intellectually in the fact God exists, but there is no repentance. Therefore, they shudder at the thought, rather than repent at the thought, because of the judgment which surely awaits them. And then verse 26: "For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead." In other words, the kind of faith that saves is not mere intellectual agreement with the facts about God or that Jesus died for your sins and rose again. It's the kind of faith that trusts in those facts as good for you, and responds with a repentant attitude—a turning from living life the way you've always lived, or everyone else lives, to the way Jesus wants you to live.
And the Apostle Paul is so emphatic about the necessity of that change taking place in a true Christian's life that He says, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, "If any man is in Christ (read that, if any man is a true Christian, forgiven and headed for heaven,) He is a new creature, old things are passed away, and all things have become new." In other words, according to God's Word, categorically, the absolute proof that someone is a Christian, is forgiven, and will be raised from the dead is a change, a big change, so much of a change in character and in lifestyle that He's called a new creature, and if that change, which the Bible calls repentance hasn't occurred, then neither has that person been saved.
So guess what happened to the apostles after they saw and believed Christ had risen from the dead. There was a complete change in behavior from the way they had acted after his arrest. Instead of running from him, they were following him, and instead of fearing for their lives, they were ready to give their lives in order to do exactly what Jesus told them needed to be done—that repentance for forgiveness of sins be proclaimed in all nations.
What I'm saying this morning is this: Repentance, a change in attitude and action, is required to experience forgiveness & resurrection. Repentance, a change in attitude and action, is required to experience forgiveness & eternal life. If you believed, so to speak, but haven't also repented, you're not saved!
Okay, back to your answer to my original question. Maybe in your heart of hearts you were unsure whether you have ever experienced God. Could it be that there's a critical missing element in your relationship, or lack thereof with God. Could it be repentance?
You know a strange thing has happened among self-professed American born-again Christians recently. Survey after Survey shows that with 80-90 percent or so of the people who self-identify as born again Christians, there is absolutely no difference between their life-styles and their non-Christian neighbor next door—in terms of divorces, use of illicit drugs, alcohol, pornography, sex outside of marriage you name it.
And I find myself wondering if evangelical Christians haven't ignored something Jesus Himself said was vital to the forgiveness of sins, and a right relationship with God—that little word repentance. I wonder if we haven't been so focused on making it easy for people to come to faith in Jesus, and explaining that it's by faith, and not by works, that we've created an entire generation of so-called Christians who have turned the grace of God into a license to sin rather than as a way to be free from sin and it's awful consequence, death.
And I’m concerned if you're here, and you've never experienced God, or become a new creature, you may be one of those so-called Christians, who as a consequence of never having changed your mind or your life-style, have not changed your eternal destiny from eternal destruction into eternal life.
Better to think about this now than later, when it's too late. Right?
Now let's look at just one more passage this morning. Acts chapter 2. The Day of Pentecost. The Church of Jesus Christ is born as the Holy Spirit comes upon the Apostles in Jerusalem.
A large crowd of Jewish people who are attending the Feast of Pentecost in Jerusalem is attracted to the assembly of the Apostles by the sound of the Holy Spirit coming, as a mighty rushing wind. They see tongues of fire alight on the head of the Apostles, and they hear the Apostles speaking in tongues—that is the native languages of all these pilgrims who have come from all over the Roman Empire to attend this feast. It's a miracle, a great manifestation of God. And in the midst of all the excitement the Apostle Peter gets up and explains to everyone what’s going on, beginning with the Good News—that Jesus, a man attested to by miracles and signs and wonders, was indeed the Messiah. That He has been raised from the dead. And then He makes this incredibly convicting statement in verse 36: "Therefore, let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified."
Now can you imagine the panic that these Jews felt upon hearing this? Verse 37: "Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Brethren, what shall we do? In other words, we have just committed the most colossal horrendous crime against God in the annals of history—we have murdered the very Messiah, the Son of God, who came to save us. God's great wrath is going to be against us! Brethren, Peter, disciples of Jesus, what shall we do?
Now at this point, what you've got to know is that every one of the Jews who is saying this now believes that Jesus is the Messiah, and that they crucified Him and He had been raised from the dead. Notice what Peter doesn't say. He doesn't tell them, "It's okay, you clearly have already believed, therefore you are forgiven." No, what does He say to them? He says this, the very thing that Jesus had told him to say in Luke 24:46-47, with an addition from the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20: "Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
In other words the condition for forgiveness, resurrection and eternal life is not just faith that Jesus was the Messiah and Savior, but repentance as well, a turning away from the sin of their generation in rejecting and crucifying the Messiah, and now a choice to receive Him as their Messiah and Savior and follow Him. And when you repent inwardly, you will show it outwardly by being baptized—that is you will be willing to say to everyone that you have died to your sin and you're now living for Jesus.
What conclusion can we draw from this? Mere faith in Jesus, the kind of faith that says the same thing the demons say—I believe Jesus is the Son of God—and results in their shuddering--is not enough to save. It is a repentant faith, and an ultimately obedient faith that saves. Not perfection, but definitely a change in direction. Yes a faith that saves apart from anything we can do to save ourselves, but a faith that produces good works. A change in direction so radical that we can be described as new creatures altogether, because we're no longer about self and sin, but we're now about following Jesus Christ.
So maybe you've been wondering why you haven't experienced God any more than you have. Why He hasn't answered your prayers? Could it be that your sins have not been forgiven? And that your sins have not been forgiven because there has been only an intellectual agreement with the facts about Jesus rather than a repentant faith in light of His self-sacrificing death on your behalf? Could it be that you are among the many in our nation who have perhaps taken God's grace for granted, and have turned it into a license to sin, rather than a freedom not to sin.
Then, this morning, I invite you to the ultimate experience of God—knowing His forgiveness, His salvation, a right standing with Him, a guarantee or resurrection and eternal life. Not by merely giving assent to the facts about Jesus, but trusting in them as good for you, and showing it by how you live. In a word, I invite you to experience God's forgiveness in the very way that Jesus emphatically said it could be experienced as He was resurrected for all to see—by repentance.
Ewe! There's that word again. But what it means is this—a change of mind about Jesus and your sin, and how you live that results in a change of life-style. Because Jesus loves you, now you're going to demonstrate you love him too by living according to your faith—a repentant and obedient faith.
Let's pray.
