Must I Repent? YES

Second Peter chapter three verse nine. It says there, the Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is long suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Peter writing there is saying, the Lord keeps his what? Word. He keeps his word.

He keeps his promises. Sometimes, men don't do so. But Jesus always does and Jesus is coming again and Jesus coming to take his children home. But he's holding back. He's waiting patiently because he's long suffering.

He's merciful and he's waiting for one more soul to get saved. Before that time comes. Not willing that any should perish, not desirous that anyone should spend an eternity in a terrible place called hell, but that all should come to repentance that all might be saved. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for this time we could look into your word today.

May it be enlightening today. Lord, may you take the sword of the spirit, the word of God, and use it in our lives to reveal to us your love, who you are, and how much we desperately need you. Lord, I pray that your word would go forth with power. Lord, I pray that it would challenge your children. I pray that it would convict people of sins and I pray most of all, Lord, if there's one here today that doesn't know you as the Lord and savior of their life, that today, they might come to know you.

And trust in the one who loves them so much. As to die in their place. In Jesus precious name, we do pray. Amen. Before we jump into the message this morning, I I want to talk briefly.

I about a man named Josh. Now, I have a son named Joshua and his friends call him Josh, but that's not the Josh I'm talking about. This Josh was a excuse me, I'm gonna take a drink here. My this this was a young man. His name was Josh.

He was of an intellectual sort. And he knew exactly what he wanted in life and his testimony here he wrote, not only did I want to be happy and have meaning and purpose in life but I also wanted to be free. See, most people know what they ought to do but they don't have the capacity, the strength, to do it. They're not free. They're in bondage.

To me, freedom is having the capacity to do what you know. You ought to do. Where is that cough drop when I need it? Alright. So, this is how our our story starts out about this man here named Josh and his search for the truth, his search for meaning in life, his search for true freedom.

So, he said, I started on the religious route. He went to church and he went and he did went through all the motions of church but he said, I actually just felt worse. Then, he tried the academic route. He went to college. He went to the university.

He studied with some of the great professors and great universities. He said, it didn't take me long to realize that a lot of faculty members and students too had more problems, less meaning to life, and more frustration than I did. So he said, that didn't work. Then he tried the prestige route. He became a student body leader and he gained power and he thought, well, that that'll make me that'll make me feel better.

I'll be being popular. He said, but every Monday morning, I woke up the same individual, usually with a headache because of the night before, with the same attitude. Well, here we go again for another five days. Monday through Friday, I sort of endured. Happiness revolved around three nights a week, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, then I'd start the whole cycle all over again.

Well, this young man fell in with a a group of young people, noticed them on campus. A group of Christians and wondered what was going on with them because they didn't seem to have quite the same outlook on life that that he did. So, he was curious. So, he started talking to him, going to some of their fellowships, socials. He said their talk irritated me.

I wanted what they had but I didn't want them to know it. I leaned back on my chair and tried to act nonchalant. I looked over at one young woman and said, why are you so different from the other students on campus? She said, just two words. I never thought I'd hear in the university as part of the solution.

She said, Jesus Christ. Oh, come on. I fired back at her. Don't give me that garbage about religion. She must have had a lot of courage and convictions.

Look, she said, I didn't tell you religion. I told you, Jesus Christ. Well, I apologize to her because I've been very rude. Please forgive my attitude but to tell you the truth, I'm sick and tired of that kind of thing. I just don't want anything to do with it.

Then, you know what happened? These students and faculty challenged me to examine intellectually who Jesus Christ was. At first, I thought it was a joke. How ridiculous. It was my opinion that most Christians had two brains.

One was lost and the other was looking for it. But these people kept challenging me over and over again until finally I accepted their challenge. I spent a lot of money to completely discredit Christianity, but it backfired. One of the first things he studied was the New Testament scriptures. He wanted to disprove them.

He wanted to show how they were full of contradictions. He wanted to show how they had no support historically. He found the very opposite to be true. Not only was it not full of contradictions, the reality he could find none. Instead, what he found were 14,000 manuscripts of the New Testament.

All in agreement with one another. Later on, a few years later, after he studied it further, he found 24,633 New Testament manuscripts, not not even to speak of the Old Testament manuscripts. The number two book in the list of those having manuscript authority through history is the Iliad by Homer. He found 643 manuscripts of the Iliad by Homer, and nobody doubts the authenticity of Homer and the Iliad, but 643 came in second to 24,633 of the New Testament. He went on to to try to disprove the resurrection.

He found out that As he studied it further and further, he only found that logic, evidence, scripture supported. He looked up to a man by the name of Simon Greenleaf. He was a professor at Harvard. He wrote three books on legal evidence. He was challenged to take that same pattern, that same evidence and apply it to the resurrection.

Doctor Greenleaf who used to mock Christianity is now also a believer in Jesus Christ and the resurrection. He said, so I had a problem. I found out that becoming a Christian was rather ego shattering. My intellect was convinced but a struggle began in my life. Jesus directly challenged me to trust him as savior as one who died on the cross for my sins.

To all who've received him, to them to to them gave he power, become the sons of God even to them that believe on his name but I didn't want a party pooper invading my life. I couldn't think of a faster way to ruin a good time or destroy intellectual pursuits or impede scholarly acceptability with my peers. My mind told me Christianity is true but my will said, don't admit it. It came to the point where I'd go to bed at ten at night but I couldn't fall asleep until four in the morning. I knew I had to get Jesus off my mind or go out of my mind.

On 12/19/1959 at 08:30PM, during my second year at the university, I became a Christian. I prayed. Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for me. I confess those things in my life that aren't pleasing to you and ask you to forgive and cleanse me. The Bible says, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow.

Right now, in the best way I know how I open the door of my heart and life and trust you as my savior and Lord, take control of my life, Change me from the inside out. Make me the type of person you created me to be. Thank you for coming into my life by faith. God took a young man who went on a mission in life to disprove the truth of the scripture and Jesus Christ himself and turned him into the one of the greatest advocates for Christianity. A young man by the name of Josh McDowell.

I don't know if you're familiar with his name but many Christians are. He wrote several books called Evidence That Demands a Verdict. He wrote one book and then he wrote another and then he wrote another because he just kept finding more and more evidence that supports that this is indeed the word of God and Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation. There are few books in the library by him back there. This one's in called entitled The Best of Josh McDowell, A Ready Defense.

But what we're, why I brought that up this morning, wanted to tell you about a little bit about Josh McDowell is this, he is an example of repentance and conversion of salvation of a man whose life was changed not just here on earth but for all eternity. When he surrendered to God by faith, and trusted in Jesus Christ alone. To be his Lord and savior. He had a complete change of heart. He repented and that's what we're going to talk about for the next few minutes.

The Bible concept of repentance is a very important one. Yet, one so often ignored and misunderstood. Let's take a quick look at how repentance is used in the New Testament. I'm going to read several verses. I'll just give you the reference.

I'm not going to give you time to turn there. So, if you'll just listen, if you want to write down the reference, feel free to do so. Matthew three two and saying, repent you for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Matthew four seventeen, from that time, Jesus began to preach and to say, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Luke thirteen three, I tell you, nay, but except you repent, you shall all likewise perish.

Mark two seventeen, when Jesus heard it, he say it unto them, them that are whole have no need of a physician. They that are sick. I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. Luke twenty four forty seven and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations beginning at Jerusalem. Two more, Acts three nineteen, repent you therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out.

Acts twenty twenty one, testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. My friends, you cannot avoid or deny the importance of repentance. In the messages of John, Jesus, and his disciples. It's there. It's necessary.

It's emphatic. You must repent. Well then, what does it mean? To repent. You ever been traveling somewhere and ran into a traffic jam?

And you saw people turning around and going back the other way. I was taking a load of junior campers from Macon, Georgia to Murfreesboro, Tennessee to a place called the Bill Rice Ranch and we got about halfway there in the mountains of Tennessee on the interstate and the traffic came to a halt. And after about a half an hour or an hour of sitting there on the interstate, somebody told us what happened. There was a chicken truck and a car carrying truck and the two of them collided on the interstate. So, you can imagine the mess made by the crash of a chicken truck and a car carrying truck and the interstate was completely closed and so for the next hour, we watched as people came back the other direction and finally, when we realized it wasn't opening up anytime soon, we did the same.

We had to turn around and go back the other way. We had to find a different route. I have been turned back by road signs. I've been turned back by holes in the ground. I've been turned back by bridges washed out.

I even started down the wrong ramp one time, long time ago and realized that thankfully before I went too far and I had to turn around or I'd have been in really big trouble. Maybe the doctor has given you some sobering advice concerning your health. Doctors often have to tell people to reconsider their lifestyle and their habits. And make a change. You say, what does this have to do with the Bible?

Well, it has a lot to do with the meaning of the word, repentance. Repent means to turn back, to have a change in one's attitude, mindset, and heart towards something which requires a response. It's like that big bright warning sign telling you to stop and go the other way. The stop sign, the warning sign, the wrong way sign of the Bible. You must repent.

You must turn around. You need to stop and reconsider the direction you're headed in. And choose a different one. It's a consistent theme repeated throughout scripture as the responsibility of man in reference to God and to sin. Even in the Old Testament, in Ezekiel fourteen six, it says, therefore, say unto the house of Israel, thus saith the Lord, repent and turn yourselves from your idols and turn away your faces from your abominations.

Ezekiel eighteen thirty, therefore, I will judge you, oh house of Israel. Everyone according to his ways, saith the Lord God. Repent and turn yourselves from all your transgressions. So, your iniquity shall not be your ruin. So, you see, this is a word that's used all throughout the Bible.

In reference to our opinion of God, and of something called sin. It's most often used in the New Testament in reference to salvation. If you take your Bibles and turn if you would of Acts chapter three, Acts chapter three. And the verse we read earlier, the word repentance is actually used basically synonymously with salvation. God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

That means that all should be saved. God doesn't want anybody to spend eternity in hell. The Bible tells us God created hell not for man but for the devil and his angels. But if we continue on the path, the broad way that leads to destruction following the God of this world, the devil. In the way of sin, then our end will be the same as his.

But God loves you. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. The fact is God does not want you to go there. He's made a way of escape. But you have to recognize.

You have to recognize that you're on a path that leads to destruction and ruin and you have to turn to the only one. Who has the answer and the only way that leads to life. That is called repentance. That is called repentance. Look if you would in Acts three and verse 11.

In the beginning of this chapter, Peter and John were coming up to the temple in Jerusalem. They ran into a man that was lame, had been lame for all or most of his life. He was begging for money and Peter said, well, money, silver, and gold. I I don't have any but in the name of Jesus Christ, stand up and walk. Jesus healed that man.

And Peter took the opportunity to share with the crowd that was there watching. What had really happened? Peter didn't heal that man. God had. Jesus Christ had.

Look if you would in verse 12 and when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, you men of Israel, why marvel you at this? Or why look you so earnestly on us as though by your our own power or holiness, we had made this man to walk. The God of Abraham and and of Isaac and of Jacob, the God of our fathers hath glorified his son, Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied him in the presence of Pilate when he was determined to let him go. But she denied the holy one and the just and desired a murderer to be granted unto you. That was Barabbas.

And killed the prince of life. That's Jesus. Whom God hath raised from the dead whereof we are witnesses. And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong. Whom you see and know.

Yey, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all and now brethren, I want that through ignorance, you did it as did also your rulers. But those things which God before had showed by the mouth of all his prophets that Christ should suffer. He hath so fulfilled. Verse 19, look at it. What's the next word Peter says?

Repent. Repent. Repent you therefore and be converted or saved. That your sins may be blotted out, forgiven, washed away. When the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.

Peter said, you took the son of God. You took the Messiah that God promised you and you condemned him and you hung him on a cross. You mocked him. You accepted instead the freedom of a murderer and you crucified the sinless holy son of God. Bible tells us that Jesus came the first time for that very purpose Because sin has to be paid for.

Sin has to be punished. Jesus Christ said to the father, I will take their place and he came to Earth knowing that he came to die. That he might pay the penalty for the sins of all those. Who would put their faith and trust in him. That they might be redeemed by his the shedding of his blood on Calvary's Cross and God fulfilled the words of the prophets and Peter said, now, to the audience that was there that day, he said, you must repent.

You, in your mind, had decided that Jesus was a phony. You acted upon that belief that Jesus was a phony and you cried out for his death and crucifixion. Peter said, you should know better. The scriptures are clear. For this same Jesus that you crucified, he rose again from the dead.

He proved that he was who he said he was. He said, Peter said, I saw, I saw him. I'm I'm a witness and I'm here to tell you that if you don't want to die in your sins and stand before God's judgment bar one day, you must repent. You must have a complete change of mind and heart about who Jesus is. And receive him by faith as the only way of salvation And the savior of the world.

He said, you must repent and be converted. The command is not to repent of a sin. Some people you use the word repentance and they think, oh yes, I drink. I I I'm a drunk. I I I'm a womanizer.

I am have a filthy mouth and they think, yes, I I will repent of that sin and though we need to repent of sin if you're not saved, it isn't a sin you need to repent of. It is you as a sinner. You need to repent of. And you need to repent of trusting in any other thing in this world for salvation in heaven Then Jesus Christ. It isn't just repenting of a sin.

God wants to save you from alcohol. He wants to save you from drugs. He wants to save you from many things on this earth but most importantly, he wants to save you from sin and hell. Not just alcohol. You can quit drinking alcohol.

You can quit doing drugs. And you might live a little longer and you might feel a little better but if you don't know Jesus Christ, you're still going to die in your sins and spend eternity. In a place called hell. Repentance isn't just about repenting of a sin. It's not just asking forgiveness or feeling sorry for sin.

I've asked people for, do you know the Lord? Have have you in Jesus? Are you forgiven of sin of your sins and right away when I say, forgiven of your sin. Oh, yes. I ask God to forgive my sins all the.

I pray to God every day and ask him to forgive me of my sins. Well, that's great but but If you haven't surrendered to his will to come to him through faith in Jesus Christ, his son alone, and what he did for you on Calvary's Cross, then your sins are still unforgiven. Because there's only one way to get them forgiven. You can pray every day, but God will never forgive your sins until you come to him by faith in his son, Jesus Christ. It's not just swearing to forsake the committing of sin.

Try that. Say, I will never commit sin again. Give yourself five minutes. You won't make it. Only God can change you.

Only God can make you more like his son, Jesus Christ. Only God can forgive you of your sins and only God over time can give you victory of them. But you're not going to quit sinning altogether until you stand before him in heaven someday. Perfect. In Jesus Christ.

So, it's more than just about swearing not to commit sin. That's not, it's not going to happen. You're going to do it again. It's not just turning over a new leaf and making one self presentable to God. You know, there's a lot of people that think.

I I've witnessed to and I said, you need to trust Christ. You need to to to humble yourself, repent, and believe on Jesus Christ to be your savior and Lord. And be saved. They say, well, wait a second. God doesn't want me yet.

I gotta I gotta change this first and I gotta change that first and I gotta change this. When I change when I stop this, and when I stop that, when I start doing this and start doing that, then then I'll be ready to come to God. Let me ask you something, will they ever be ready if that's the case? The answer is no. They'll spend the rest of their life trying to make themselves presentable to God.

And they'll never succeed. Repentance isn't about turning over a new leaf or making yourself presentable to God. It's by coming to God as a sinner and humbly admitting and confessing your condition. And trusting in Jesus Christ to change your eternal destiny and who you are. Through faith in what he did for you on Calvary's Cross.

God wants to change you but you have to humble yourself and come to him in faith. You cannot change yourself. Repentance is not about changing yourself. It's about giving up trying to do it yourself and trusting in somebody else to do it for you. And there's only one person that can do that and that's God.

For by grace are you saved through faith and not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. You can't do it yourself. Only by the grace of God can you be saved and can you be changed and can you be forgiven. Bible give us an illustration of a man named Paul.

Who was Paul? I'll tell you who Paul was. Paul was a persecutor of Christians. Paul hated Jesus Christ. He would have told you so to your to your face.

But one day on the road to Damascus to go imprison Christians, he met who? He met Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus. And he changed his tomb. And he went on to Damascus after meeting the Lord. And he began to preach Jesus Christ.

What happened? Repentance. He was going this way and immediately changed and went the other way. In his heart he believed one thing. When he met Jesus, everything what?

Everything changed. Everything changed. That's called repentance. One command in scripture which unfortunately many including the religious crowd and the wealthy intellectual crowd crowd of Jesus' day, found very hard to do and so is true today as well. But unless you repent, you shall all likewise perish.

We must reconsider our position on self and sin. The Bible says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Jesus said, they that are whole have no need of a physician but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. What was Jesus saying?

He was saying this, if you do not think that you're sick, you are not going to do what? Go see a doctor most likely. You go see a doctor when you're no and willing to admit that you're sick. The same thing is true with sinners. If we're not willing to admit that we're sinners that we need a savior, then we will not come to Jesus Christ.

We'll continue to try to do it our way. God's provided one way. That's Jesus. And you need to repent. And take accept God's way.

You must reconsider your standing before God. The Bible says in Isaiah fifty nine two, but your iniquities have separated you between you and your God and your sins has hid his face from you that he will not hear you. The Bible says in Romans six twenty three, for the wages of sin is? Death. Death.

You stand condemned before God in sin. You say, pastor, are you better than me? No. I'm just like you. However, I have a wonderful savior and he wants to be your savior too and if you'll put your faith in him, you'll repent of your way, the world's way, sin's way, and you'll turn and embrace Jesus Christ by faith as Lord and Savior, then you can be forgiven of those sins.

And God can change your standing before him. And when the judgment day comes, you won't be standing condemned anymore because Jesus Christ took your condemnation upon himself on Calvary's Cross. Instead, you have been forgiven. Reconsider who God is and what he did. Peter said of Jesus, thou art the Christ of the son of the living God.

You say, but pastor, I don't believe that Jesus Christ is God. Well, then, you need to repent and have a change of heart and mind because until you do, you can't be saved. Because again, there's only one way and that is through faith in Jesus Christ and who he is and what he did for you. I could die for you a million times. It wouldn't do you a bit of good because I'm a sinner just like you.

But Jesus Christ, that's a different story. Not only was he sinless, but he was God and he is God. Not only did he die, but he rose again And a living God has the power to save all of them who come to him by faith. You must reconsider the way to God. Bible says, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that who believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Says that Jesus came not into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on Jesus is not condemned. He that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God. Two choices on the shelf. Your way, world's way, devil's way, sin's way, or God's way.

Repentance requires two things, humility, admitting that you need a savior, and secondly, it requires faith. Faith in Jesus Christ alone. Have you come to the realization in your life that you were a sinner bound for hell and turn from the path to put your faith in Jesus Christ? Do you remember that day? Do you remember the day when you said to God, please save me?

I know Paul does. I know Josh McDowell does. I know I do. Do you? If you don't, we give a hymn of invitation today, Would you come?

Would you come? We would love to show you today how you can know Him, how you can be saved. He's waiting. Let's pray. Dear God, we thank you Lord for your word.

We thank you Lord. For your mercy and grace and the opportunity for repentance that you have given to us. Lord, you didn't have to make a way of escape. Lord, you didn't have to wait for all upon us. You didn't have to send your son.

But Lord, you've granted us this opportunity to repent and trust in you. To be saved, forgiven, secure in Jesus Christ for all eternity. Lord, thank you. Lord, we pray if there's one here today that doesn't know you. We pray as we give this hymn of invitation today.

May they come. In Jesus' name, Amen.