Unless You Repent

And if you take your Bibles, turn if you would to second Peter chapter three. Second Peter chapter three this morning. Hi, John. Alright. Second Peter three, we're going to begin reading in verse one and read down through verse 12.

So, second Peter three verse one. And reading down through verse 12. I still hear pages turning. So, give you a couple seconds more. Second Peter three one.

This second epistle beloved, I now write unto you in both which I stir up the pure minds by way of remembrance. That you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets and the commandment of us, the apostles of our Lord and savior. Knowing this first that there shall come the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of.

That by the word of God, the heavens were of old and the earth standing out of the water and in the water. Whereby the world that then was being overflowed with water perished. But the heavens and the earth which are now by the same word are kept in store. Reserved unto fire against the day of judgement and perdition of ungodly men. In other words, as God once destroyed the water, the world by water, he will destroy the world by fire.

Verse eight, but beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing that one day is with the Lord is a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some men clout slackness but as long suffering to us, we're not willing that any should perish but all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved. What manner of persons ought you to be?

In whole, in all holy conversation or conduct and godliness. Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the element shall melt with fervent heat. Let's go to the Lord in prayer once more. Lord, thank you for this day. Lord, please direct and my words and the message today Lord, we pray that the Holy Spirit would use your words that the Holy Spirit would use this message in the hearts of people to open the eyes of those in particular who may be here today who have not yet repented and trusted Jesus Christ as the Lord and savior of their life.

We thank you Lord for your mercy. We thank you for your patience and long suffering. And allowing for another day and another opportunity for someone to hear the good news of the gospel and be saved. Thank you, Lord and may Jesus Christ be exalted in all we say and do here this day. In Jesus name, amen.

Amen. As we study through the Old Testament on on our Thursday Bible study, that 11AM Thursday Bible study that's in the bulletin. We have been studying through the Old Testament. We started in Genesis and now we are to Malachi. We even review every now and then to make sure we get everybody caught up.

It's a lot of fun. I think so and I think the people shaking their heads think so too. Khoan, shake your head. No, anyway. Alright.

But as we've been studying through the Old Testament on Thursdays in our morning Bible study, we saw again and again the sad result of fallen humanity. Even Israel, God's chosen people and their inability to stay true to the Lord. We we see that all throughout the Old Testament. Without me, you can do what? Nothing and we see what humanity is like without Christ.

Again and again, the people were warned of the coming judgment of God upon them. For their spiritual infidelity. But with these warnings also, came a message of hope and a way of escape And what was that message? What was that way of escape? Repentance.

Repentance. Second Peter three nine again, we read, the Lord is not slack. Matter of fact, I have it up here as well. The Lord is not slack concerning his promises. Some men count slackness but as long suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

That all should come to, that all should find repentance. Again, today, humanity is staring the judgment of God straight in the face. As we follow the pattern we read about in Romans one, From knowing and worshiping God to denying and defying him. It's only a matter of time before the judgment of God falls as we surmise last week. Is there yet a way of escape for humanity?

Is there way of escape for The United States Of America? Is there way of escape for you as an individual? And indeed, there is. What is that way of escape? Repentance.

Repentance. What does that word mean? You know, it's a word that's used quite a bit in Christian circles. You need to repent. You must repent.

And yet it is one that is not all that well understood often times by people today. So, we're going to look in God's word and we're going to look at the usage of this word repentance starting in the Old Testament. So, we're to start in the Old Testament. The Hebrew word translated most often repent in the Old Testament means a little bit different than the word translated repent in the New Testament. The Old Testament word translated repent, usually translated repent, not always, means to sigh.

To sigh as in exasperation. You ever been exasperated? Frustrated and you just have to, you know, kind of throw up your hands and sigh. It means to sigh as inexasperate or in sorrow, to sigh in sorrow, or in pity. And is most often used not of man but of who?

But of God but of the Lord. Look at a couple examples here. Genesis six six, and it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth and it grieved him at his heart. The very sentence, the context tells us what the word repent means. What what had happened?

Well, the world had become so sinfully noxious to God so wicked at heart that it grieved God so greatly. As to what had happened to his creation. So much so that he determined to wipe it all out. Except for who? Except for Noah and his family who found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

Judges two eighteen reads this, and when the Lord raised them up judges, then the Lord was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For it repented the Lord because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them. The Lord had pity. He was sorrowful and he had pity upon his people who were being oppressed by the enemy. Why were they being oppressed?

Because they were being judged, because they had turned away from God to idols but they would themselves repent of their sin. We'll get to that in a minute and then God would have pity upon them and send a judge to deliver them out of their quandary. So, often times, when you see the word repent in the Old Testament, it's usually speaking of the Lord, it usually means this, a sigh, a sigh of exasperation, sorrow, or pity. This kind of repentance is not commanded of men in the Old Testament, but a different word is used, often translated to turn from or to turn away. This is the word that's used in relation to men, to mankind.

This is the word, the words that we would associate with what we mean by repentance and more closely mirrors the definition of repentance in the New Testament. It demands a drastic change of heart towards God. A drastic change of heart towards God. Turn from whatever to to God. A drastic change of heart towards God accompanied by a change in the actions and behavior.

Because a drastic change of heart does result in a change of what? Of behavior and actions. A conversion of sorts. Ezekiel fourteen six. Ezekiel fourteen six, therefore, I say unto the house of Israel, thus saith the Lord God, repent and turn yourselves from your idols and turn your faces from all your abominations.

Now, that first word repent in that verse is the same word as the word that's translated turn. In other words, you could translate it, turn, turn yourselves from your idols. The translators didn't wanna repeat, didn't want to translate the same word in a row by the using the same word. So, they said, repent and turn but it's the same word, turn, turn, from your idols. Ezekiel eighteen thirty, again, therefore, I will judge you all house of Israel, everyone according to his ways, saith the Lord God.

Repent and turn from all your transgressions so iniquity shall not be your ruin. God warned them in the days of Ezekiel, turn, turn from your idols. Repent of your ways. Turn from them to the Lord. Lest your iniquity be your what?

Your ruin. Your rebellious ways be your ruin. Second Chronicles seven fourteen, we sang this verse just a few minutes ago. If my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now, he's talking to the nation of Israel.

He promised them a land. Did he not? He promised to bless them in that land if they would stay true to him. If they would not turn to idols and turn away from him, But they hand turned away from him. They had turned to idolatry.

They had turned to immorality in their life. And so God called out to them. And he called for them to humble themselves, to pray to him, to seek his face, his blessing, and to turn from their wicked ways. Repent of them. He said, then, I will hear from heaven.

Then, I will forgive your sin and then, I will heal your land. Now, we're not Israel today. We're the church. The United States is not the nation of Israel. There are differences but the general rule still applies.

If you want God's forgiveness, you must what? Turn. You must repent. God calls for repentance. Humanity is told to turn to God in confession, faith, and humility from their wicked ways.

Their idolatrous ways, immoral ways, oppressive ways, greedy ways, murderous ways, thieving ways, lying ways. God calls for mankind to turn and repent from their wicked ways resulting from a lack of faith and trust in God. How did man get in this pickle? In the Garden of Eden, Eve didn't believe who? She didn't believe God.

And it led to a terrible decision. Why does man have these problems today? We do not trust who? Our creator and therefore, we turn to other things to give us pleasure and joy and happiness and fulfillment. We turn to idols.

We turn to immorality. Wicked ways we need to turn from. They result from a lack of faith and trust in God, from a lack of love for him. Who made us and loves us and a lack of devotion to him. But God says, if you will repent, He will respond with what?

Forgiveness. He says, if you'll turn from your wicked ways to me, then I will forgive your sin. He will respond with forgiveness and love. And stay his judgment either collectively or individually. God did this again and again in behalf of Israel in the Old Testament.

Until they were no longer interested in repentance and when they were no longer interested, when they would no longer turn what happened? The judgment of God fell upon them and it fell hard. Thousands upon thousands slain in the city of Jerusalem. The walls and the temple and many of the homes destroyed. A heap of ruins.

As Jeremiah looked over the city lamenting as he wrote the book of Lamentations. However, still, when a remnant in the face of the Lord in repentance before God, they did. God did as he promised and sent them back. When they repented, God sent them back to rebuild Jerusalem and they rebuilt the temple under Zerubbabel and they rebuilt the walls under Nehemiah and God blessed them again. He is a merciful God.

He is the God of the second chance and the third and the fourth. A merciful God. A merciful God upon all those who what? Repent and turn to him. Now, moving on to the New Testament.

That was about the fastest I ever taught the Old Testament right there. Now, moving on to the New Testament. Four hundred years later, John the Baptist came on the scene in the New Testament and when he came on the scene, a religion of self righteous work, sadly, had taken the place of a genuine relationship and trust in God in Israel. Essentially, a religion of faith in man, a humanism of sorts and so what was John's message to Israel? Here is his message, repent ye for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

That is turn from your faithless, heartless religion of good works. That the Pharisees and the religious leaders promoted. Turn from your hedonistic, pleasure seeking ways of the immoral and uncaring and turn to the Lord your God in faith. The Lord your God who is sending your Messiah, your savior, your redeemer, who will save his people from their sins. Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

For the Messiah is coming. Repent and turn to the Lord. That his coming might be a coming of great joy. And not a coming of great what? Judgement and sorrow.

Jesus continued to trumpet that same message of repentance. He preached the gospel of repentance and faith. Warning the Jews to repent of their wickedness and unbelief and turn in faith to the son of God who was able to save their souls. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Turn in faith to the son of God.

Repent. Matthew four seventeen, from that time, Jesus began to preach and to say, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. In Luke thirteen three, he said, I tell you nay but except you repent, you shall all likewise perish. I'll come back to that in just a moment. The word repent that's translated repent, in the New Testament is metanoiao.

Metanoia it's used throughout the New Testament meaning to have a change in mind or heart. The word metanoia means to have a change of mind and heart. For salvation is not just a matter of reforming your activities or following a list of rules or joining a religious organization or going through certain rituals, it is a matter of the what? It is a matter of the heart and so God uses this word all throughout the New Testament to remind us that in order to be saved, in order to get to heaven, we must have a change of heart. This was Israel's problem.

They in some ways had cleaned up their act. They got rid of their idols. But like Jesus said, their heart was far from him. He said, they were like white painted tombs. On the outside, they were pretty.

On the inside, they were full of dead and decaying bones. Not pretty. Their system of rules and rituals which had taken the place of God's commandments and a genuine relationship with God through faith was not sufficient. To save their soul or to stave off the judgment of God. No, they needed to what?

They needed to repent. They needed to have a transformation, a change of mind and heart. Thus, when they celebrated, when some came to Jesus, celebrating the deaths of those whom they judged reprehensible. Jesus didn't join in and said, oh yeah, they got what was coming to them like they expected. Jesus instead said, this, Luke thirteen three, I tell you, nay or no, but except you repent, you shall all likewise perish.

Jesus didn't join in with them and say, oh yeah, they got what was coming. Jesus said, wait a second, Before you celebrate and before you condemn, I want you to know unless you repent, you're going to find yourself in the same boat. Unless you repent, you shall all likewise perish. There are many religious people today. They go to church.

They dress up nice. They they say the right things at the right times. They go through the motions and they do the rituals but their heart is not right with who? With God. They have not repented.

They have not turned from whatever they put their faith in. They haven't turned from that, from their sin, from their idols, to the true and living God, to receive him as the Lord of their life and unless they do, they can go to church their whole life. They they can get dunked 100 times in a baptismal. They they can give a lot of money to the church. And they're not going to get to heaven.

Mark two seventeen When Jesus heard it, he say it unto them, they that are whole need not a physician but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. You know, it wasn't that the Pharisees were not sinners. They were. But they couldn't see it or at least they were unwilling to what?

To admit it. So, they condemned everybody else and they walked around with their nose high in the air as though they were something special. They had the praise of men but they had the condemnation of God and Jesus said, until you see, until you recognize, until you admit that you too are a sinner and repent. The judgment of God lies heavily upon you. He told Nicodemus that unless he was born again, Nicodemus was a Pharisee.

He told him unless he was born again, he would never see the kingdom of God. He explained what that meant in the following verses when he declared that the son of God speaking of himself had not come to condemn the world but to what? But to save it. And that whoever believed in him, him being the savior, him being the Messiah, him being the son of God, would not perish but have everlasting life. Turn to God, turn to Jesus, put your faith in him, turn from whatever else it is, that you are trusting in and trust Jesus for he is the only way.

What was he commanding Nicodemus to do? He was commanding him to repent, to repent of his errant belief in himself, To repent of his ability to please God by self righteous works. To repent of his religious upbringing and heritage. I'm a Jew. I'm good with God because I'm a Jew.

No. Paul points out later. To repent of all of these false idols and to place his faith in the righteous son of God who is about to go to the cross and there die for the sins of Nicodemus and the sins of Israel and the sins of the world. Salvation cannot be bought. It cannot be earned.

It cannot be attained by good works. Not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy. He saved us. No one is born in one is not born a Christian. Everyone is born a sinner and so salvation can only be accepted and received by faith in the only righteous son of God, Jesus Christ, who became sin for us and paid the price for us on Calvary's Cross.

He became sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Second Corinthians five twenty one. You have nothing to offer God in return. Oh, I've done this for you God. Oh, I've done that for you God.

Not going to cut it. Everything you have done is tainted, tainted by sin. Our righteousness is as what? Filthy rags. You have nothing to offer him.

To earn your salvation but you can be saved. If you will repent and turn to him in faith and trust in him and his sacrifice on the cross and his resurrection from the tomb to save you from sin and hell. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the father but by me. This continued after Jesus' ascension.

The day of Pentecost, after Jesus went back to heaven, Peter stood up and spoke to the crowds in Jerusalem that day. He told them that they must what? Repent. Meaning, that they needed to have a complete change in of heart and mind concerning one person. Who's that one person?

Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ whom they had rejected. Jesus Christ whom they had crucified weeks previous. And instead, they needed to accept him and receive him by faith as the Lord and savior from sin that he is. And if they would and if they would signify that faith by being baptized in his name.

They too. Would become children of God. True children of God. They could be saved from their sins and from the judgment to come. Acts two thirty eight, Peter said, repent and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

The Holy Ghost had made all those who had put their faith in Christ one on the day of Pentecost. The people in the city of Jerusalem had seen evidence of that and Peter said, if you want to be part of his family, then you too need to what? Repent. Change your mind about Jesus. He wasn't a phony.

He was the real thing. You crucified and you rejected him but he will still do what? He will still forgive you today. If you will repent. There was still a chance.

It was not yet too late However, the nation did not turn. They did not repent. The judgment of God did come. They chose to reject Christ and they chose to reject Peter's offer and so God allowed Rome to destroy their city a generation later. Million people died.

Their temple once again left in what? Ruins. A visible demonstration of a far greater judgment that will come upon all who refuse to repent and put their faith in Jesus Christ. In Revelation 20, we're told, there is a place called the Lake Of Fire and all those who refuse to repent and put their faith in Christ. All those who reject him as Lord and savior will have their place in that place forever.

To you today, a risen Christ still proclaims salvation through faith in his finished work on the cross and he begs you to repent of your sinful heart, your wicked ways, your misplaced allegiance, your self righteousness, and your unbelief to put your faith in Christ alone. To save and redeem you from sin. And hell forever. Have you done that? When did you do that?

You see, you're not born a saint, you're born a what? A sinner and somewhere along the line, you have to repent. You have to choose whether you're going to continue as you are or whether you're going to turn in faith to Jesus Christ. And receive him who died for you on the cross. As your Lord and savior.

The Bible says, that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. What does that mean? Well, that's what the word repent means. What does it mean? It means this, you need to call out on Christ in faith to be your Lord and savior, to save you from your sin.

And an eternity in hell and if you will, he will. He will forgive your sin. He will do it. He will give, forgive the sins of a family. He will forgive the sins of a nation.

Repentance is the only thing that will stay his hand. There's a remedy for our country. A remedy for our society and our world. Repent and trust in Jesus as Lord. Revival will come only when that occurs in our world or in your heart.

You may not be able to change the world but you can choose to let Christ change you. Your heart, your life, your future, your eternity. How does God change the world? He change it one, changes it one person at a time. Let that person be you today.

The Lord is not slack concerning his promises. Some men count slackness but it's long suffering to usward. Not willing that any should perish but that all should have repentance. The choice is yours. Is he waiting for you?

Let today be your day of salvation. We're going to sing a hymn of invitation in just a moment. As we do, if you come, I'll meet you down here. If you're unsure, I'll meet you down here. If you need Christ, I'll meet you down.

If you just want to pray, I'll meet you down here. But don't put off till tomorrow. When tomorrow may never come. Let's pray. Dear God, thank you Lord.

For your mercy and long suffering toward us. For sending your son to die for us, to give us this opportunity to repent and be saved. Lord, I pray if there's one here that they're trusting in their baptism or their or their or their heritage or growing up in a Christian home or taking communion or or whatever it may be thinking that these activities or actions or heritage or education will save them. Lord, help them to see they cannot be saved until they repent and trust Christ as their personal Lord and savior today to save them from sin and hell and Lord, help us to go out into this world, to take those tracks, to take the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, and tell people that judgement is coming but there is a way of escape. Lord, burden us today.

To show them by our actions and to tell them with our words. Before it is eternally too late. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.