Live with Lon-God's Plan of Salvation - The Four Steps to Godly Repentance

Good morning everybody. This is long and I'm so happy you joined us for life, with long this week and were to be continuing in our study of the Gospels and the before we begin when we take a moment and pray. I know this is been crazy this week.

I hope you been safe and I hope your loved ones have and I don't know why this is happening and God's chosen to do this either to you, but I do know God is sovereign and I know his ways are above our ways and his thoughts are above our thoughts and that as high as the heavens are above the earth so high, or his thoughts above our thoughts and his ways above our ways. Isaiah 55. So right now want us to take a minute and this sad, frustrated, unhappy, confused as we might be left so surrender our hearts to the sovereignty of God and be at peace with that, here we go spray or Jesus. We need the peace of God that passes all understanding. Philippians chapter 4, you tell us to bring our request to you and make him known to you, with thanksgiving, and you will give us that piece like Jesus is not like the world do I do piece. I have my peace I give that's what we need. So Lord Jesus, we come to you with thanksgiving, not Thanksgiving for what's happening in our world but Thanksgiving that sovereign omnipotent God is running all of this and that, whether we understand it or not and whether we like it or not you are in control. We thank you for that great truth and may you replace our confusion and our own other emotions with the peace of God, help us Lord we need that in these days we pray that you would be merciful to the human race. Lord Jesus merciful to us, merciful to our families but merciful to the whole human race and Lord either stop this plague of the coronavirus instantly supernaturally like you did for David and second Samuel 24 order. Lord help us to find some way of treating and controlling it.

Lord Jesus, we need your mercy, so please we come in. We ask you Lord Jesus and you said call on to meet Jeremiah 33 three and I will answer and I will show you great and mighty things, you know, not so, Lord Jesus, we love to hold your promise up to you and say please, Lord Jesus, fulfill your word for us. Now Lord as we open the Scripture illuminate our hearts and minds that we might understand the word of God encourage our hearts with us, bring us hope and bring us instruction and we pray this in Jesus name and every body said a man okay well we are going on in our not tall not good on day not Venti but threats are study of the word of God of the Gospels and we just finished a little short miniseries on the plan of salvation. Hope you if you missed any of that. I hope you'll listen to it I thought was really good and I think you really be beneficial to you to listen and now working to move on back to the ministry of John the Baptist and going forward from there. Of course were using the new King James translation, and let's go to Matthew chapter 3 and let's look at the ministry of John the Baptist.

Matthew chapter 3 here we are, and I'm beginning in verse one. In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For Matthew says this is he who was spoken by the prophet Isaiah, saying, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord make his paths of straight, and John himself was clothed in camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem, all Judea and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The Jewish rabbis coming to his baptism, he said to them all through of life beautifully from the wrath to come. Therefore, he said to them there fruits worthy of repentance.

Now we have John the Baptist ministry repeated in all four Gospels. As I told you a few weeks ago indicating to us that this was a very important component of the life of Jesus and the ministry of Jesus and what is John the Baptist preach with friends. He preaches one thing, repent, repent, people were coming to him confessing their sins. And he would baptize them. But his message was repent and we want to talk today about repentance because they are. The Bible teaches that the way we make all of the plan of salvation hours. As Paul said in acts chapter 20 he said in the next 20 verse 21 he said he preached repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ. After the last four weeks. We talked about faith towards the Lord Jesus Christ. Trusting him and what he did on the cross for us to be as our substitute and to atone for us and to put a blood covering over us and to switch our race from Adams to Christ. We talked about the second half of that.

But Paul said in first half is repentance toward God.

Now that's what we want to talk about today because what activates the plan of salvation is when we repent towards God and the whole Bible teaches repentance towards God. Listen, Matthew chapter 4 from that time. Verse 17 Jesus began to preach and say, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand Luke 532. I am not come to call the righteous, Jesus said, but sinners to repentance. In Luke 24 just before Jesus went back to heaven after the resurrection. He instructed his apostles that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem and look in acts chapter 2. The very first sermon in the book of acts Peter does exactly what the Lord told them when the Jews listen to insert what can we do acts 238, he said repent, and let everyone of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit in his neck sermon acts chapter 3 verse 19 Peter said repent therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blocked to the out now what the Bible is telling us here, my friends, is that the way we get our sins blotted out the way the Jesus comes in our life and gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit of the way we get remission of sins is we repent. That is what activates the plan of salvation so it's very important that we are sure that we all know how to repent, you say will have already repented. I'm sure that I'm born again. Wait a minute.

Repentance is not just for nonbelievers look at this revelation chapter 3 verse 19 writing the church of Laodicea right near Colossae. The Colossian church, Jesus said as many as I love I rebuke and chasten. Hebrews 12 says God chastens his children, not the devil's children. God doesn't chasten the devil children but is all and and so these are believers that Jesus is talking to when he says to them.

Therefore, look be zealous and repent. Look folks may give you a quote. Repentance is not only the basis upon which God forgives people sins and grants us eternal life. Yes, it is at salvation. Repentance is also the basis upon which a holy God lives in an ongoing relationship with sinners, even after we give our lives to Jesus Christ. Folks, there is a salvation.

Repentance, which happens once and then there is Christian wife repentance which happens every day, every moment of every day where we, as born-again sinners continue to repent of our sins that we commit every day in the sight of God. Bottom line is that repentance is not just for unbelievers. And if you're a believer listening to me, repentance, and knowing how to do it is for you and it's for me so this is for all of us now you might ask. Okay great how I repair if I wanted to repent how I do it tell me put some handles on. I certainly will remember for preacher doesn't tell you. So what and how what good is and I want to tell you how. And then so how do we were there. There are four basic steps for basic pillars to biblical godly repentance and you say, why are you saying those things, biblical godly well because I want to read to you. Second Corinthians 7 verse 10.

Listen to this verse it says for godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation and not to be regretted, but the sorrel of the world produces death folks God says there are two different kinds of sorrow there is sorrow of the world which is so sorry I got caught, I'm so sorry I'm in this mess. I'm so sorry that the are mess things up. You know how can I do to get things back right the way they were but that does nothing spiritually transformational about worldly repentance because it doesn't include the four steps of godly repentance godly repentance. Jesus says produces salvation and it is not to be regretted when we do this in our life. So I'm going to talk to you not about worldly repentance.

All world is that you've experienced that people come up to you and they say at work or in your family.

I'm so sorry I did that. I'm so sorry. Blah blah blah. And then they go into the very same thing the next time and ended no life change at all that sorrel in the world that's worthless in terms of spiritual transformation.

God says I'm going to talk to you about the kind repentance to bring spiritual transformation. This kind of repentance is holy spirit produced in our heart and holy spirit driven in our heart but it's only able to be done. If you and I want to repent and choose to prepare the Holy Spirit will help us but we have to choose. And so it's a partnership between us and the Holy Spirit that results in salvation and in ongoing relationship with Almighty God. Even after were saved. So here we got one of the four steps will they all appear in the life of the prodigal son Matthew and Luke chapter 15 in Luke chapter 15 we have the parable of the prodigal son, and of course were using the new King James Bible and prodigal. By the way, means wasteful doesn't mean the Boxster simple means wasteful son because the son took all of his inheritance and wasted so I think many of us are familiar with the story. Let me review the man has two sons.

The youngest son comes and says father I want my inheritance.

Now I want all is coming to me now that he takes it and he goes out in the role he blows it in profligate living it. He just goes out and goes wild and crazy and sinful living, and many he's got no morning blows it all and then a family hits, and he's got no money and he's got no food but I and so he goes to a friend of his who puts them out in the field feeding pigs.

The lowest thing that you could the sunken duty was a Jewish man and then he even has to fight with the pigs to try to get something to eat from the slop of the plague and then the Bible says natural we pick up the Bible says chapter 15 verse 17 and then look at this. He came to himself and then the Bible says he came to his senses. Finally, and he says look how many of my father's hired servants have bread enough to spare, and on harassing longer I will arise and go to my father and say to him. Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.

And he arose, he actually didn't think about it, he did it and came to his father when he was still a great way off, his father, Sonia, and had compassion, and ranting him and fell on his neck, and congestive voice up a storm. But the father didn't care and the sunset just like he probably practice. Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sign and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father said to his servants, bring out the best robe and put it on and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet and bring the fattened calf and kill us and let us even be married for this my son work is alive again. He was dead and I was alive again.

He was lost and he is now in this parable in the actions of the prodigal son we find the four key steps to godly repentance. Let me show you what they are. Step number one is we have to admit were going in the wrong direction and that this is what the boy did the boy said when he came to himself, he said, how many of my father's hired servants have bread enough to spare, and I am perishing with hunger. The boy said hey I'm going in a totally wrong direction. Here now you say will he could've said that earlier when he ran out of money, but he didn't.

He could've said that earlier when the man putting out the 10 big secret little did he could've said earlier when he was fighting with the pigs in the slop at first. Yet he could've but he didn't.

And you know why product, pure and simple product.

This is the reason that most of us will not from our heart truly invent that were going in the wrong direction because were too proud to do it and we don't want to humble ourselves and it meant that we have been wrong. I remember when I was a student in Chapel Hill that by the time I was a senior at UNC. I knew I was going in the wrong direction. I knew I was self-destructing. I knew my wife was a complete wreck.

This was that that's what this boy came to say in man wanted me my life ceramic guy I need a change of life.

I can keep going on like this, and I knew that to but I got to the bottom and most people don't admit this to really get to the bottom. I mean the part of the barrel.

I love the saying God deals with the desperate you'll deal with the non-desperate, but the non-desperate generally don't want to deal with God until this boy got utterly desperate. He didn't want to deal with God's human product, but even though I knew I was going in the wrong direction. I did know why I was until I started reading the Bible that I realize what was going in the wrong direction and that's because I was out of step with the living God. I was disconnected and alienated from the living God. And so that leads to step two and step two of repentance is that we come clean about our sin to God and to me. Look for some did this, Luke 1518 reason, I will arise and go to my father. The father in this parable.

Of course, is God and I will say to him.

Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you look. David did the same thing after his sin with Bathsheba, he's that I acknowledge my sin. Do you Psalm 32 and my iniquity.

I am not here. I said I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.

This is step two.

We confess our sins and we take full responsibility for our sins before God. We don't come to God and and try in some way to soft pedal RC no no no, we come to God and take full responsibility for what we've done, we own our stuff. We don't blame it on our mother, our father our brother our sister our ex-husband our ex-wife. Nothing we take the total responsibility for our sin and this is hard. This is both friends true godly repentance is a bloodied process because we have to go in and we can't Molly coddle ourselves, and we can't be gentle on ourselves and we can't make excuses for ourselves and we can't rationalize our behavior. We got to call sin. Sin before God and before Megan and only true godly repentance will do this, the sorrow of the world has always got an excuse for its behavior true godly repentance says I don't have an excuse my fault. I am responsible and doing this before God is one thing but we also have to do it before people man folks that we have offended her work and sinned against.

We have to be honest and say I don't have an excuse I sinned against with SR and that takes the same kind of humility that we saw in step one. Now that leads to step three. We we admit were going in the wrong direction.

We humble ourselves and confess our sins to God without excuses and then step three. Look, we accept the consequences of our action and we make amends if possible. Look at Luke chapter 15 the boy said I will arise and go to my father and I will say to him, father, I've sinned against heaven and before you. There is he's accepting the responsibility for sin and watch and I understand that there may be consequences. Father, I am no longer worthy to be called your son. I understand that's a consequence of what I've done so make me like one of your hired servants.

Here's a young man who says that I confess my sin.

I have no excuses and you know what if there consequences for my behavior. I accept I accept them?

All I accept them because I have no excuse for the way I behave and friends listen God often softens. He often modifies arc of the consequences to our sin when we come in, confess our sins to him because he is a God of mercy and a sometimes he takes her consequences away altogether. Sometimes he leaves them but he he softens them. I love the very famous statement by Robert Murray McShane that got tempers the window to the shorn of Leon your lamb after you've taken. Matthew shorted and taken the fleece off of it to protect itself against the wind in Scotland where an England where McShane was from and that that bitter wind blows against these the sheep that are freezing and he says that God tempers the he softens the way towards the shorn land when we come to God, we confess our sin. We are like shorn lamps and got softens the wind in his mercy even though we might leave some of it he softens it. We praise God for that and whether he does or he doesn't. We're okay because we understand we brought this on ourselves. We have no excuse and that's part that's what this boy did and and that's what David did. Because of the sword shall never leave your house in the sun by you and Bathsheba of this firstborn from an adulterous relationship shall die, and David accepted and said yes, Lord. Psalm 51.

Yes, you are just when you speak and you are blameless when you charge no one can point a finger at you, God. David said and blame you for this.

And you know going back and having to make amends in front of people is often the hardest part of this thing going back to an old girlfriend and old boyfriend.

Going back to your parents going back to brothers and sisters going back to an ex-husband and ex-wife for your children and having the get down and humble yourself and say you're sorry. Give money back if you stole it and file amended tax returns and do whatever you can to make things right.

This is very hard and very humbling. Godly repentance will do this because our heart is broken over our sin and what we did were not just sorry we got caught, sorry we didn't finally step number four is we commit ourselves with God's help to genuine life change look at this. The prodigal son comes back and he goes back to his father. He just didn't sit in the pigpen and say you know I feel so that no he got up and went to his father and said back, make me one of the hired hands on back to live here and back to contribute back to help with the family farm. I'm back to work on back to obey God and back to live living a productive lifestyle and a obedient lifestyle. You see he didn't stay with the prostitutes in the and and the revelers. No, no, he came back and said I want to live differently and this is what repentance is all about methanol ergo is the Greek word means to change your mind or to change of direction or to make a U-turn in your mind and in your heart to do an about-face and this is key to godly repentance.

We, there is a desire in our heart to live differently.

There is a commitment in our heart that we are going to live in obedience to God were going to live differently than we been living and fat is the magic element godly repentance. I friends we can admit there were going wrong direction.

We can confess our sin. We can accept the consequences.what makes godly repentance godly repentance is that we are committed to life change in obedience to God and you know what this is what I did when I came to Christ in Chapel Hill. Yeah, I admitted I was going wrong direction.

Yeah I came clean with my sin before God. Yeah, I went back to old fraternity brothers and old girlfriends and whatever and asked him to forgive me for things I done wrong. That's not godly repentance. Yet until we sailed Lord, make it a U-turn and by the grace of God and with the help of the power the Holy Spirit. I'm going to live in obedience to you now to best of my ability now you got godly repentance and this is what the John the Baptist meant when he said to the rabbis bring forth fruits worthy of in keeping with repentance if it's true godly repentance. There will be fruit of that repentance.

There will be changed. Actions and change the attitude and change behavior and changed obedience to God.

There will be clear and invisible fruit that we have come back to God and we are going to live now as a child of God. People will see because it will be obvious in our life. This is true repentance through all true repentance bears fruit and if somebody tells you they came to Christ and there is no fruit of the change life, my friend. That was not godly repentance. Just telling someone how to judge people like Outlook I'm not going to be there, just I'm just telling you. True repentance bears fruit it bears life-changing fruit and if there is not like change then you only do three of the four steps and you did nothing more than godly sorrow I mean nothing more than worldly sorrow.

I came to Christ on the art salon.

You gotta get out of this town and I did last Chapel Hill. Why because he said if you really want to change your life to live for Christ will be hard to do it in this town all euro girlfriends in your all your old drinking buddies are all your old open buddies or your all your fraternity brothers are here everybody in this town as you in a mold of what you have been for the last five years. If you want to make a clean break and you life-changing for the sake of the Lord Jesus.

It would really help you get out of this town and I think he really wanted to see how serious I really want life-changing or did I just want a Band-Aid that I just want panacea, but I didn't want true godly repentance. And you know what I packed up everything and left town because I wanted life-changing.

If Bob said that's what I needed to do. I trusted him and I believe the and he was right.

And if you want real life change. You may have to change you hang out with. If you want real life change. You may have to change who you go out with after work and you may have to change the places you go in the things you want to and the things you read and you may have to change some vital relationships in your life because they're going to inhibit you from the condo life-changing that you have wanted is part of repentance.

Now that's as far as we want to go in the passage because we want to conclude by asking our most important question and you know what it is. So you ready come on now, here we go more into three keys. Then you write, say, so what will my dear friends, if you're here and you've never trusted Christ you've never done godly repentance and come to Jesus and salvation. This is for you. This is how God deals with sinners. Repentance, you cannot come to him any other way than by admitting you're going in the wrong direction, humbling yourself before confessing your sins and not making excuses humbling yourself, accepting the consequences for what she did humbling yourself and committing yourself to genuine life change to a U-turn in your life, humbling yourself and sing God help me make a U-turn. This is true repentance. And I hope you'll do that as a person who needs to come to crisis is how you All those things in the plan of salvation that God did for you but I want to take these last couple minutes and talk to us as believers because let me read the verse again.

Revelation chapter 3. If you remember the verse verse 19 as many as I love Jesus said, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore, the zealous and the repentance folks you and I if you are a true follower of Jesus, we need to repent everyday we need to be doing Christian life. Repent every moment of every day and how we do it friends we can go through those four steps just like this root we can look at a woman wrong on street and you say in a lot, always your people say that and you know what you want me to do on the walk looking down at the ground my whole life. You know I can help if I see some woman on Princess not the first look is the second of course you can see when you look back or your mind goes somewhere after you see here that's when we and that and you can do to a man every time we do that we need to repent right then and there and we can do it just like this were Jesus. That's not what you have for me you didn't call me to uncleanness, but the holy going wrong way. What I confess to you the way I looked at her him was not holy and I have no excuse for that. We can accept the consequences and say Lord Jesus. If you feel like I need to be disciplined in some way fine Lord I'm so sorry. Whatever you decide to do. I deserve it.

And then last of all, we can say Lord help me please not to do that again today.

Help me please, Lord, by the power the Holy Spirit to help me look at people in a holy way. Hey, that repentance took 20 seconds to repent and the same things. True stuff that comes out of our mouth. You know for Hydro problem with this one I have to go Lord.

That was the wrong thing to say, Lord Jesus, I had no business saying that that is absolutely the wrong direction for me to be going and let no unwholesome thing, your mouth, only that which is appropriate for holding people upwards of 32 gossip or some kind of rumormongering and more. Jesus, I confess to you I know business saying that what I was wrong. You know what other people were saying I needed to keep my mouth shut.

Lord please on the go back to that person. I'm going to make amends on the apologize to them and tell myself some idle business saying and and were Jesus please help me.

The rest of the day, put a muzzle over my mouth. Lord Jesus, by the power the Holy Spirit help me only to speak godly things, appropriate things. Hey, that's repentance in 30 seconds and this is how we need to live, listen first John 19 says this if we believers confess our sins to God. If we repent and do that God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And this is how we live in relationship to a holy God as sinners.

Even though were born again our sin in our daily sin still offends a holy God and we want to keep the relationship with him clean and full. If we want to keep the pipes open and not clogged up when it comes to the power of God in our life. You know like playing PlayStation.

If we wanted when you kick off from football if we want to keep the a barometer. The little thermometer at the very top. So there's maximum power in our life.

We have to be repenting everything, and yes to do this at night when we get home before we go to sleep in our prayers. Sure don't wait hello.

You don't have to wait that long, then you may you know how.

Who knows how many sins to deal with to quickly immediately right there when the sin happens and and keep short accounts with God. Repentance is for Christians to psychics for non-Christians coming to Christ is for us in keeping our relationship vibrant open and powerful with the Lord Jesus Christ every moment of every day.

Repent, repent, we need to get used to doing it because it needs to be a daily function of our life. What's for with our heads down and her eyes closed.

I wanted to be just a moment to repent friends. If you've never come to Christ and you need to repent. Right now, and accept Jesus. What he did for you on the cross as your payment for soon and as your ticket into heaven. You can do it right now were Jesus, my life is going in the wrong direction on how confess that more is my fault and I know that more the consequences on suffering are about myself.

Lord, I want to give my life to Jesus and I want to ask you to please help me make a U-turn in my life by the power of Christ. I commit myself to that with your someone to be my Lord, not just message I want to live under the authority of the Bible, not my. So if you were listening and you've never practiced salvation. Repentance doing right now and for those of us who are believers we know or believe friends we need to live a lifestyle of godly repentance each and every day every minute of every day, our life should be a steady stream of repenting before God when we do things that displease us take a moment and let's all Lord make his people of repentance and we pray this in Jesus name.

And everybody said a man okay well were gone all next week were going to continue on in our study of the Gospels and next week when I watch Lord Jesus coming to baptize, I believe, is what were going to do next week by John the Baptist and were gonna watch the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, and the father speak from heaven talk about the Trinity and while good stuff next week. God bless you. Thanks for joining. Let's have a repenting