REPENT

With the seemingly unending amount of events that permeate our lives on a daily basis, these circumstantial incursions, both pleasant or tragic, tend to occupy our attention more and more as time goes on.   Of course, the presence of these events will always produce some type of reaction on our part, again some pleasant and some tragic.   For us Christians, Satan will attempt to manipulate either type of event to provoke a negative reaction from us, hoping to influence us to violate the laws of God.   Or more simply stated, to sin.   And that may be an ugly thought or even an assault.   Anything that is not pleasing to God is sin.

Now some may say,  “Okay, so we sin.  Why not just move on and try to do better?”    The answer is this:  Because you can’t move on from death.   Sin kills you, first spiritually, then physically.   “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.”   (Ezekiel 18: 20)     You can’t separate yourself from sin, but as Adam and Eve found out in the Garden of Eden, sin separates us from God.   The most vivid example of this is when Jesus hung battered and bruised on that old, rugged cross, being made sin for each of us, and we see the horror of how that separation tormented Him even more than the physical abuse and suffering He was mercilessly subjected to.   We all remember the scene.   “And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?   which is, being interpreted, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”   (Mark 15: 34)    A haunting revelation of the anguish and the beginning of sorrows that await all those who choose sin as their lifestyle.

And since all souls belong to God,  “Behold, all souls are Mine…”   (Ezekiel 18: 4),  every soul must recognize that this separation we speak of is the direct by-product of sin and it puts us in the worst possible position that we could ever be in.   “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear.”   (Isaiah 59: 2)    But we must understand that iniquity doesn’t begin with physical actions, it begins in the heart.    The book of wisdom tells us about the condition of mankind.   “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he…”   (Proverbs 23: 7)    Jesus reiterated the truth of this timeless principle when He said,  “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:   But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.”   (Matthew 5: 27-28)    Even the Jewish man who was born blind that Jesus healed knew of the veracity of this precept when he said,   “Now we know that God heareth not sinners:  but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth His will, him He heareth.”   (John 9: 31)

Scripture speaks further of this dreadful condition in the Book of Psalms.  “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.”   (Psalm 66: 18)     And to highlight the importance of understanding this, King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, wrote  “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.”   (Proverbs 28: 9)    Can you even imagine having God consider your prayer to be abomination?   My soul shudders at the thought of such a terrible thing.   And to get a true understanding of how terrible it is, the word abomination means, among other things, “disgusting, sickening, offensive, obscene, loathsome and distasteful.”   This is how the Lord considers the prayers of those who rebel against Him.   Now how awful is that?

Everyone can acknowledge that we all have lives to live here on earth.    But can we acknowledge that the most important part of life is life itself?   And can we acknowledge that   since Jesus is our life, that makes Him undeniably the most important part of our life?   “When Christ, Who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory.”   (Colossians 3: 4)      But it doesn’t matter whether you acknowledge it or not because it is already an established fact, and though you may try, you can’t escape from His presence.   “Whither shall I go from Thy spirit?   Or whither shall I flee from Thy presence?   If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there:    if I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there.”   (Psalm 139: 7-8)       

And just as inescapable as the spiritual laws of God are, the physical laws He has put into effect on this planet, such as gravity, are the same.    Another plain and established fact of existence.    Now you may dance around it, try to do things to minimize it, cover it up or even refuse to acknowledge it.     But what you do or think means nothing because sin, just like gravity, will always be there and you will always have to contend with it.   And once committed, sin is an unpleasant stench, an unremovable stain, an irreversible malfunction that can only be remedied by one action.    And that action is repentance.    Says who?   Says God.    “And the times of this ignorance God winked at;  but now commandeth all men every where to repent:”   (Acts 17: 30)  

Now some would argue that it is the grace of God that saves us.   This is absolutely true and is so stated in His Word. “But God, Who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ,  (by grace ye are saved.”)   (Ephesians 2: 4-5)    But a very important component of this truth is that in-between God’s grace and your obedience to God’s command to repent is the sacrifice of Jesus’ life on Mount Calvary.     Repentance opens the door for us to receive the gift of that holy sacrifice which paid the penalty for our sins, and then God’s grace grants us eternal salvation.    But because Jesus is our Great Mediator, Arbitrator, Facilitator and Intercessor, the path to God goes directly through Him.   “…I am the way, the truth, and the life:  no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.”   (John 14: 6)    And guess what?    There is no access to Jesus unless God makes it possible.   “No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him:  and I will raise him up at the last day.”  (John 6: 44) 

As you know, the Lord uses many earthly analogies and examples to illustrate spiritual truths.  For instance, you can’t produce the element of fire if you don’t have all three of certain components, those being heat, fuel and oxygen.   If one of these is missing, fire is impossible.  Many may recognize this as being called the “Fire Triangle.”   In like manner, for us to have everlasting life and inherit our home in glory, three components must be present.   Those components are God’s grace, Jesus’ sacrifice and our obedience to repent.   Without all three, salvation is impossible.   I call it the “Salvation Triangle.”  

Now I can see some of you sitting there saying, “Hmmmm.”     Well, just think about it for a minute.   The removal of any of those components mentioned renders the ultimate goal of deliverance unachievable.   You can’t be saved without God’s grace.  You can’t be saved without Jesus’ sacrifice.    And you can’t be saved without obedience to God.   How sad that while the grace and sacrifice components are already a done deal, the only part of this triangle that comes into question is ours.  

And so, if we have sinned, God only wants to hear one thing from us and that is,  “I’m sorry.”    A genuine, humble, submissive, broken and sincere repentance makes all the difference in the world.    And since God is no respecter of persons, we know that the only difference between King David and King Saul was that David repented.   Likewise, the only difference between the thieves on the cross was that one thief repented.   The only difference between the woman taken in adultery and those who wanted to stone her to death is that the woman caught in adultery repented.   How about the woman with the alabaster box and the rich young ruler?   The woman with the alabaster box repented.   Or the people of Nineveh and the people of Sodom and Gomorrah?   The people of Nineveh repented.   Or the woman at the well and most other Samaritans?   The woman at the well repented.   Or Zaccheus the tax collector and Judas the apostle?   Zaccheus the tax collector repented.

No one can escape the requirement for repentance.   When we do wrong, we must repent.   But again, we must remember Who it is that stands between us and our Heavenly Father making the case for our forgiveness.   “It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, Who is even at the right hand of God, Who also maketh intercession for us.”   (Romans 8: 34)   We should make every effort possible to do those things which are pleasing in the sight of God and be thankful that if we do make a mistake that we aren’t tossed out like the evening trash but mercifully given an opportunity for reconciliation.   “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not.    And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”   (1 John 2: 1)

So what is repentance?   The Greek word for repent is  “metanoeo”  which means to change all elements of one’s life including attitudes, thoughts and behaviors.    The Hebrew word for repent is  “naham” which means to change one’s mind, to be grieved and to be comforted.   To even want to change your mind means you are being called by God, to be grieved is your humble response to God and to be comforted is to be touched by God Who changes your heart.

 A true repentance is not just a casual or flippant statement or half-hearted effort at doing the right thing.   It is the proclamation of a grieving soul who experiences the condemnation of sin and understands the gravity of rebellion against the God Who created it.   As King David pleaded with the Lord after his ill-advised acts of lust, adultery, treachery and eventual murder, saying   “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness:  according to the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.  Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.  For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me..   Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight…”  (Psalm 51: 1-4) 

The Apostle Paul talked about a true repentance when he wrote a letter of correction to the Corinthian church saying,  “Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance:   for ye were made sorry after a godly manner … For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of:   but the sorrow of the world worketh death.”   (2 Corinthians 7: 9-10)    We may fool each other but you can’t fool God because it’s not the words that you speak or the actions you take, but the fact that He looks directly at the heart.   And the heart won’t lie to God.   “The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly”   (Proverbs 20: 27),   screaming out confessions of guilt.

But even though the Lord knows our frame, that we are just miserable mounds of mud, He still loves us and is very patient, continually waiting for us of our own free will to come to Him meekly and lowly, inviting Him into our hearts.   “If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”   (2 Chronicles 7: 14)

Forgiveness is what God does because He is good.  “For Thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon Thee.”   (Psalm 86: 5)    God loves us all and is  “…not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”   (2 Peter 3: 9)    Not just a few people, but everyone.    And it is that goodness of God which gently guides us to remorsefully acknowledging our outrageous and insulting mutiny against Him.   “Or despisest thou the riches of His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering;  not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?”  (Romans 2: 4)    

I hope that all will understand how big a deal this is.   Even the angels in heaven realize the magnitude of restoring a right relationship with God as  “…there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.”   (Luke 15: 10)    They rejoice when a person repents because they know that this person has just been ushered from death to life,  that their soul has been saved and sanctified, that their names have been written in the Lamb’s Book of Life and that their eternal destination has been changed from the Lake of Fire and Brimstone to the pristine palaces of Paradise in the presence of our Potentate.

And so, I proclaim to you that humility is absolutely essential and the Lord is very mindful of those who forsake the polluting poison of personal pride to bow down before the glory of His Majesty.   “But He giveth more grace.  Wherefore He saith God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.   Submit yourselves therefore to God.   Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you.  Cleanse your hands, ye sinners;  and purify your hearts, ye double minded.  Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep:  let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.   Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up.”   (James 4:  6-10) 

Our Heavenly Father has already shown how much He loves us by what He has already done for us.   “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”   (John 3: 16)    And Jesus has already shown how much He loves us by painfully sacrificing His life for us when we least deserved it.   “…while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”   (Romans 5: 9)    Believe that He is not far off but awaits you to love Him just like He loves you.   “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart;and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.”   (Psalm 34: 18)

May we all be cognizant of our reaction to both earthly and supernatural events, sincerely considering whether every thought, word and deed are reflective of God’s glory.    Be willing to admit and take responsibility for the everyday actions we tend to overlook and respond to in an earthly fashion.   If that happens, may I suggest that you quickly humble yourself before the mighty throne of God, thereby purposely placing yourself in a position to receive either the indwelling or the refreshing of His Spirit.   “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy;  I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”   (Isaiah 57: 15)

We should all be extremely encouraged knowing that a great change or a remarkable renewal continually awaits us all.   Just call on Him and see what He will do.   “And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you;  and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:  That they may walk in My statutes, and keep Mine ordinances, and do them:   and they shall be My people, and I will be their God.”  (Ezekiel 11: 19-20)

And may we realize that   “The night is far spent, the day is at hand:  let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.”   (Romans 13: 12)     As the prophet Isaiah spoke about the coming birth of Jesus,  “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given:  and the government shall be upon His shoulder:  and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace”  (Isaiah 9: 6),  he prophesied about the redemption of a lost people.  “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light:  they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.”   (Isaiah 9: 2)      Jesus reiterated that prophecy and the offering of deliverance when He said,  “The people which sat in darkness saw great light;  and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.”   (Matthew 4: 16)

God is ready right now to restore you to a close, intimate and loving relationship with Him, thereby cementing your citizenship in His consecrated community of Christians.   We’ve got no time to lose as our Savior tells us to   “…Repent:  for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”    (Matthew 4: 17)