Opening: Hello, I’m Ish, and I’m a sinner.
I. Defining our terms
a. Repaint Joke
i. Churched used too much thinner God said, “Repaint and thin no more.”
b. In the words of Archibald Asparagus “Stop it!”
c. Remember: Sin is breaking relationship with God
d. Repentance is:
i. Websters:
1. to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one’s life
2. to feel regret or contrition b : to change one’s mind
ii. Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms
1. Hebrew Shub :Greek metanoia
2. The act of expressing contrition and penitence for sin. Its linguistic roots point to its theological meaning of a change of mind and life direction as a beginning step of expressing Christian faith. (See Acts 26:20)
iii. Acts 26:20
1. MKJV -- But to those first in Damascus, and Jerusalem, and to all the country of Judea, and to the nations, I made known the command to repent and to turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance.
2. CEV -- First I preached to the people in Damascus, and then I went to Jerusalem and all over Judea. Finally, I went to the Gentiles and said, "Stop sinning and turn to God! Then prove what you have done by the way you live"
Transition: So we know what it means to sin, and what repentance means. But why should we do it? Is it just to appease God, like in Ninevah? Isn’t there more to it? I’ve often found that knowing what something is, is not the same as knowing why its important. Let’s look at why this is important.
II. Why is it important to repent?
a. (Mat 19:16-22) A man came to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to have eternal life?" Jesus said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? Only God is good. If you want to have eternal life, you must obey his commandments." "Which ones?" the man asked. Jesus answered, "Do not murder. Be faithful in marriage. Do not steal. Do not tell lies about others. Respect your father and mother. And love others as much as you love yourself." The young man said, "I have obeyed all of these. What else must I do?" Jesus replied, "If you want to be perfect, go sell everything you own! Give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come and be my follower." When the young man heard this, he was sad, because he was very rich.
b. This man’s problem was “self-love”
i. He wanted to keep his comfort
ii. How often do we not give of ourselves to others for fear that it “might hurt”?
c. Pro 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
d. (Pro 29:23) A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.
e. Not pride only:
i. Adultery: Marriage is a threesome (man, woman, GOD)
ii. Greed: love of money over God.
iii. Sloth: not caring enough about God or others to do for them.
iv. Idolatry: elevating other gods over God (be it time, money or cattle).
Transition: Sin breaks relationship. Sin pushes us further from God. God will not run from us though. The only time you’ll seem Him run is when He runs to you. But, he can’t do that if you don’t turn back to him. That is repentance, turning to God so that He can take you in His arms. Here, I think we can learn something from our brothers and sisters in AA.
III. Twelve step repentance
a. Looked at the AA 12 steps – they are right on
b. Step 1 – admit you can’t overcome sin on your own.
i. (Mar 14:38) All of you must stay awake and pray that you won’t come into temptation. The spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak."
ii. Rom 2:12 For all who have sinned apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.
c. Step 2. Believe God can overcome sin (and HAS!)
i. 2nd Peter 2:9 So God knows how to rescue the godly from evil trials. And he knows how to hold the feet of the wicked to the fire until Judgment Day.
ii. 1st Cor 10:13No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.
d. Step 3. Make the decision to let God take over
i. Romans 10:13 For whomsoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved
ii. Hebrews 2:18 And now that Jesus has suffered and was tempted, he can help anyone else who is tempted.
e. Step 4. Find the reason for your sin (no matter how deep inside it is buried)
i. Is there a deeper sin?
ii. Is it love of self?
iii. Is it love of money?
iv. Let God help in the search
f. Step 5. Confess to God and a good, trustworthy friend
i. 1Jo 1:9 But if we confess our sins to God, he can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away.
ii. James 5:16 If you have sinned, you should tell each other what you have done. Then you can pray for one another and be healed. The prayer of an innocent person is powerful, and it can help a lot.
g. Step 6. Open yourself to God’s love and grace
i. Psalm 32 (A special psalm by David.) Our God, you bless everyone whose sins you forgive and wipe away. You bless them by saying, "You told me your sins, without trying to hide them, and now I forgive you." Before I confessed my sins, my bones felt limp, and I groaned all day long. Night and day your hand weighed heavily on me, and my strength was gone as in the summer heat. So I confessed my sins and told them all to you. I said, "I’ll tell the LORD each one of my sins." Then you forgave me and took away my guilt. We worship you, Lord, and we should always pray whenever we find out that we have sinned. Then we won’t be swept away by a raging flood. You are my hiding place! You protect me from trouble, and you put songs in my heart because you have saved me. You said to me, "I will point out the road that you should follow. I will be your teacher and watch over you. Don’t be stupid like horses and mules that must be led with ropes to make them obey." All kinds of troubles will strike the wicked, but your kindness shields those who trust you, LORD. And so your good people should celebrate and shout.
h. Step 7. Ask for forgiveness
i. (Psa 51:17) The way to please you is to feel sorrow deep in our hearts. This is the kind of sacrifice you won’t refuse.
ii. 1Jo 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
i. Step 8. Figure out who has been hurt by your sin (apart from God and yourself)
i. IRS note:
“I felt so guilty for cheating on my taxes I had to send you this check. If I don’t feel any better, I’ll send you the rest.”
ii. Most sins affect someone else, too
j. Step 9. Make amend to them (if possible) (This is penance!)
i. Matthew 3:8 “produce fruit in keeping with repentance.”
ii. J. Edwin Orr, a professor of Church history has described the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit during the Welsh Revivals of the nineteenth century. As people sought to be filled with the Spirit, they did all they could to confess their wrong doing and to make restitution. But it unexpectedly created serious problems for the shipyards along the coast of Wales. Over the years workers had stolen all kinds of things, from wheelbarrows to hammers. However, as people sought to be right with God they started to return what they had taken, with the result that soon the shipyards of Wales were overwhelmed with returned property. There were such huge piles of returned tools that several of the yards put up signs that read, "If you have been led by God To return what you have stolen, Please know that the management forgives you and wishes you to keep what you have taken."
k. Step 10. Conduct a “soul search” – what leads me to sin?
i. Find the area in your life that isn’t God centered.
ii. Where do you put God lower in your life?
l. Step 11. Seek, through prayer, Bible study and discussion to change patterns in your life which lead you to sin.
i. Set your eyes on Jesus
ii. Rom 10:9-10 So you will be saved, if you honestly say, "Jesus is Lord," and if you believe with all your heart that God raised him from death. God will accept you and save you, if you truly believe this and tell it to others.
m. Step 12. Carry the gospel message of hope and salvation out to the world.
i. Mat 28:19 Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
Conclusion: Repentance is turning from sin and turning to God. It is restoring relationship with the One who loves you not because you are loveable, but in spite of the fact that you are hateful. Repentance is more than just saying your sorry. If I’m heading north on I-44, and my wife says turn left to go to Amarillo, and I turn right toward Tulsa, saying I’m sorry doesn’t do much good. I have to actually turn the car around and head to Amarillo.
Receiving mercy because of repentance is a limited time offer – Nineveh had forty days, and then it was over. God is extremely patient with us, much more patient than I would ever be, but even his patience runs out. If we fail to heed the word of God and continue in our wrong ways, the consequences of our actions will eventually catch up to us.
Revelation 3 has this image of Jesus knocking on the door of a church in Laodicea. This is what Gary Moyer says about that passage:
"We can be thankful that Jesus still loves Laodicea and is still knocking. In fact, He has been knocking on some of our hearts so long that his knuckles must be calloused. I think he’s worn impressions of his knuckles on our heart’s doors! How many times has God been knocking on our doors, pleading with us to open up to Him, and the only response he sees to his knocking is the shades going down, and blinds closing. Isn’t it time we get zealous and repent? He promises that if we will simply open the door, he will come in.
No mater how far we run from God, Jesus continues to knock at the door of our heart, to be let in. He doesn’t stop knocking, but we can stop hearing the knock – just like I don’t even notice the bumps and groans this old building makes when the heat comes on anymore. My brain tells my ears that it is not an important sound and I take no notice of it. The longer we ignore the knock, the harder it is for us to respond to it.
Is Jesus knocking on the door of your heart?
Is there something in your life that you need to repent of?
Confess your wrong doings, demonstrate your regret, and stop doing the things that you used to do. We have God’s promise that when we repent, that He will forgive us and bless us with His Spirit.”
