Participants: Pr John Lomacang
Series Code: ASHF
Program Code: ASHF000174A
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00:18 Hello and welcome to our Bible studies
00:20 here at the 3ABN Worship Center. 00:22 I thank you so much for taking the time 00:24 for tuning tonight to follow along 00:26 in our continued study on our greatest need. 00:31 We have been talking about repentance 00:32 which in fact is a continued study tonight 00:34 and in a moment I'll tell you 00:35 where you could get a copy of the lesson. 00:37 But all you need right now is a Bible 00:39 and a prayerful heart for the Lord 00:42 to lead you in our study tonight. 00:44 Before we go forward with any further information, 00:47 let us invite the Lord's presence to be with us. 00:49 Let us pray. 00:51 Father in heaven, thank You, Lord, 00:52 for this beautiful opportunity to read 00:54 and study your Word tonight. 00:56 Give us wisdom from above, we pray. 00:59 Guide us through Your Word and may Your Holy Spirit 01:02 have his way in our hearts, in Jesus' name, amen. 01:08 If you'd like a copy of the lesson, 01:10 go to the following website, ASF.3ABN.org 01:16 and download lesson number 39. 01:21 Lesson number 39, 01:22 you might think it seems like a long lesson 01:23 but the topic in fact is a very valid one. 01:27 We've been talking about repentance, 01:28 what've we been talking about? 01:30 Repentance. 01:31 Matter of fact, we didn't welcome our audience 01:33 with an amen, can we give them an amen? 01:34 Amen. 01:35 Our people here in Thompsonville, 01:38 West Frankfort, I welcome you to our study tonight. 01:41 And we've been talking about repentance. 01:45 And so the theme song, 01:47 Victory in Jesus, is about repentance. 01:51 So tonight, before we go any further, 01:53 let sing our theme song together, Victory in Jesus. 02:06 I heard an old, old story 02:10 How the Savior came from glory 02:13 How He gave His life on Calvary 02:17 To save a wretch like me 02:21 I heard about His groaning 02:25 Of His precious blood's atoning 02:28 Then I repented of my sins 02:32 And won the victory 02:35 Together. 02:37 O victory in Jesus My Savior, forever 02:44 He sought me and bought me 02:47 With His redeeming blood 02:51 He loved me ere I knew Him 02:55 And all my love is due Him 02:59 He plunged me to victory 03:03 Beneath the cleansing flood 03:06 I heard about a mansion 03:10 He has built for me in glory 03:14 And I heard about the streets of gold 03:18 Beyond the crystal sea 03:22 About the angels singing 03:25 And the old redemption story 03:29 And some sweet day I'll sing up there 03:33 The song of victory Key change. 03:37 O victory in Jesus My Savior, forever 03:44 He sought me and bought me 03:48 With His redeeming blood 03:52 He loved me ere I knew Him 03:56 And all my love is due Him 03:59 He plunged me to victory 04:03 Beneath the cleansing flood 04:07 He plunged me to victory 04:11 Beneath the cleansing flood 04:17 Amen. 04:18 Yes. 04:20 The topic is our greatest need, 04:24 the truth about our greatest need. 04:28 Tonight I'd like you to open with me to Revelation 2. 04:32 Revelation 2, we are gonna look and lay some foundation 04:36 about this topic we've been talking about. 04:39 The essentials, what is repentance, 04:42 how vital it is, 04:44 and tonight we are gonna delve even deeper into that. 04:47 I think I mentioned in one of our prior programs that, 04:51 is sin is the thing that hinders us, 04:54 which in fact it is, 04:57 then repentance is the thing that, 05:00 the only thing, let me just say 05:01 the way I said it before, 05:03 the only thing stronger than sin is repentance 05:06 and forgiveness. 05:08 Amen. 05:10 The only thing stronger than sin 05:12 is repentance and forgiveness. 05:13 The only thing stronger than our sin 05:16 is the blood of Jesus, amen? 05:17 Amen. 05:19 And so when we talk about that topic, 05:21 one of the churches, 05:23 particularly the church of Ephesus, 05:26 let's go to Revelation 2, and by the way, 05:30 the churches in the Bible, the seven churches, 05:34 it's amazing that when you look at 05:38 all the churches in Revelation, 05:39 there are seven churches, how many? 05:40 Seven. Seven. 05:42 And each of these churches cover, 05:44 they have a literal timeframe 05:47 and they also have a spiritual application. 05:50 The first one, Ephesus, let's look at this. 05:53 I want you to see how when the church began to, 05:58 when the church was established, 06:00 the church of Ephesus is an indication 06:03 of when the church took off, 06:04 when the church under the preaching 06:06 of the apostle's message, the church began to grow, 06:09 the church became more solid, 06:11 but there was something that the Lord wanted 06:13 the church to do in the very beginning 06:15 that He also wants us to do at the very end. 06:18 Here it is, Revelation 2 06:20 and I'm gonna walk through starting with verse 1. 06:24 "To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, 06:28 'These things says He who holds 06:31 the seven stars in His right hand, 06:33 who walks in the midst 06:35 of the seven golden candlesticks, 06:37 I know your works, your labor, your patience, 06:42 and that you cannot bear those who are evil. 06:46 And you have tested those who say they are apostles 06:50 and are not, and have found them liars." 06:53 So you see it even establishes a timeframe, 06:56 the time when the apostles were the strength of the church. 06:59 And it says in verse 3, "And you have persevered 07:03 and have patience, and have labored 07:06 for My name's sake and have not become weary. 07:11 Nevertheless I have this against you, 07:16 that you have" done what? 07:17 "Left your first love," that is Christ. 07:22 But look at the remedy. 07:24 "Remember therefore from where you have fallen, 07:27 together, repent and do the first works, 07:32 or else I will come to you quickly 07:35 and remove your lampstand from its place 07:38 unless you do" what? 07:40 "Unless you repent." 07:41 So Lord is in essence saying, now why does He say lampstand? 07:45 What does He say, well, first of all, 07:47 who is Jesus in the context of lampstand, who is Jesus? 07:50 Say it again. 07:52 The light of the world. 07:54 But then in Jesus' absence, he says, "What are we?" 07:58 You are going way deep on me. 08:00 What are we? 08:01 We are the light of the world, right? 08:03 So He is the light but when He is gone, 08:05 what are you? 08:07 The light. 08:08 Notice what he says. 08:10 But if we don't repent, what happens to our light? 08:13 It goes out. It goes out. 08:14 So repentance 08:18 causes our light to continue to shine. 08:24 Repentance is a prerequisite to causing, 08:28 to keeping our lights on. 08:32 And if we don't repent and the light of Christ 08:35 is not seen through our lives, 08:38 then Jesus will never be known through our lives. 08:41 So here is the connection. 08:45 Repentance keeps the light on 08:48 or repentance turns the light back on... 08:54 and do the first work, 08:56 return to where you are in the beginning, 08:58 return to your first love to Christ 09:00 because what happened, 09:01 as the apostles began to die off, 09:03 Peter warned about it. 09:05 He says, many will come in bringing in heresies 09:09 and life and they'll draw away sheep after themselves. 09:13 So that's why he says, many appear to be apostles, 09:16 but they are not, you found them to be untrue. 09:18 You found them to not be telling the truth. 09:22 And so tonight we want to focus on keeping our light on. 09:26 We want to focus on, keeping our light on. 09:30 You know, years ago, when I heard that commercial, 09:33 the Motel 6 commercial, 09:36 we will keep the light on for you, 09:37 I thought, "Man, why didn't we get that as our saying?" 09:40 You know, in the front of the churches should be, 09:42 "We'll keep the light on for you." 09:43 Amen? Amen. 09:45 Because the light of the glory of God 09:47 should be seen in our lives. 09:49 We will keep the light on for you. 09:51 Tonight we have covered many of our questions, 09:54 but we're gonna begin 09:55 with question number 18 tonight. 09:57 We're gonna begin with question number 18. 09:59 And this question leads as follows. 10:04 "How does Jesus invite the sinner 10:07 to come to Him for forgiveness?" 10:11 How does Jesus invite the sinner 10:14 to come to Him for forgiveness? 10:17 We're gonna go to 1 John 2:1. 10:19 If you are in Revelation, just go back couple of books, 10:24 1 John 2:1. 10:27 How does Jesus invite 10:29 the sinner to come to Him for forgiveness? 10:32 Here is how the Bible reveals the answer. 10:36 "My little children..." 10:39 Who is that? 10:40 All of us. 10:42 "These things I write to you, so that you may not sin. 10:49 And if anyone sins, we have a" what? 10:53 "An Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." 11:00 You know who an advocate is? 11:02 An advocate is a lawyer. 11:03 And that's the old-fashioned word 11:06 for who Jesus is. 11:07 Your advocate is your lawyer. 11:09 So if you have a lawyer, 11:13 what does your lawyer need to know to defend you? 11:17 Everything. Say it again. 11:19 Everything. Everything. 11:22 So if the lawyer ever appears in the court 11:24 and you don't tell him something, he can't defend you. 11:27 Let me ask you a question. 11:28 Does Jesus know everything? 11:29 Yes. Yes, He does. 11:31 What's so wonderful about this 11:32 and I want to build further on this, 11:34 what's so wonderful about this text, 11:36 and by the way, put the answer in there, 11:38 how does the Bible describe the process, sorry, 11:41 how does Jesus invite the sinner 11:42 to come to Him for forgiveness? 11:45 How does He invite them? 11:46 I am your advocate. 11:48 I am your advocate. 11:49 I am your lawyer. 11:50 Now how much does Jesus know about us? 11:54 Everything. Everything. 11:56 What's so beautiful about that is our advocate Jesus Christ 12:01 knows everything about us. 12:04 And He still invites us 12:07 to have Him as our lawyer, amen? 12:09 Amen. 12:10 Ah, that was not an amen, 12:12 that was a kind of may be an amen. 12:13 Amen? 12:14 Amen. 12:16 Who do you know that will know every awful detail about you? 12:21 And says, "I'll defend you in court." 12:24 But that's not all I did. 12:25 I know everything you did. 12:27 But I'll defend you in court. 12:32 The only thing greater than our sin is our savior 12:36 and our advocate. 12:37 Amen. 12:39 So when the invitation goes out, as the Bible says, 12:42 "Scarcely 12:45 will a righteous man die 12:49 for somebody who has done something good." 12:52 But Jesus died for us in that while we were yet sinners. 12:58 To me, I had to insert that into the middle of repentance 13:02 because you know what? 13:04 Repentance is one thing, 13:06 but knowing that you have somebody 13:07 to stand in the courtroom 13:12 and it takes me back to Martin Luther. 13:15 Martin Luther, the early Protestant reformer. 13:19 It's in the memoir about Martin Luther 13:21 and he talks about a dream he once had. 13:24 About he was robbed of his night sleep 13:29 and he was going through this terrible dream. 13:31 And when he woke up, he recounted the dream 13:33 and he wrote it down for people to remember the dream. 13:36 He said through his dream, 13:39 the devil had rolled out a scroll 13:41 of all of Martin Luther's sins. 13:44 And Martin Luther said he was in agony 13:47 over all the things 13:49 that the devil had been revealing about him. 13:51 But he looked further 13:53 and he saw over every one of his sins, 13:54 a red stamp, "Pardoned. 13:56 Pardoned. Pardoned. 13:58 Pardoned. Pardoned." 14:00 Amen? Amen. 14:02 So when we see that we are here, 14:06 and our advocate is here, he invites us. 14:09 And look at the term he uses. 14:11 He doesn't talk to us like ruffians or goats, 14:14 what does he call us? 14:21 How many little children, if you say, you know, 14:26 they hold up their awry. 14:30 Come here 14:31 and they come and they just bury themselves in you. 14:34 Jesus says, "You can do that." 14:36 That's why he said, "Allow the little children, 14:41 suffer the little children to come to me, 14:43 and do not forbid them, 14:44 for such is the kingdom of Heaven." 14:46 So tonight I want to begin with that picture. 14:48 Whatever you have done, 14:50 you have an advocate whose name is Jesus. 14:54 Amen. 14:55 Whatever you have done. 14:56 And I tell you, reality of it is, 14:59 nobody knows us like he does and he invites us to come 15:03 and receive repentance in His presence. 15:06 Let's go to number 17, so number 19. 15:09 So if you've answered number 18, 15:11 how does Jesus invite the sinner 15:13 to come to Him for forgiveness, 15:15 come to Him, He is our advocate, 15:19 come to our advocate. 15:23 Okay, number 19. 15:28 I know I put the scripture down here 15:30 but we might have to go through that to Romans. 15:32 Okay, "What moves the heart of the sinner 15:36 to seek repentance?" 15:38 What moves the... 15:39 Go to Romans 2:4. 15:41 Romans 2:4, and by the way, 15:45 I know that I am looking at my syllabus here. 15:49 My lovely wife always says, "Any typos?" 15:52 I say, "No, honey." 15:54 I should have been wise to check tonight 15:57 because I left out the scripture with the answer. 15:58 But because you have your Bible, 16:00 that's all we need. 16:01 Can I get an amen? 16:03 Amen. 16:04 Okay, let's go to Romans 2:4. 16:06 It's in the Bible. 16:07 This text will not appear on the screen. 16:09 Romans 2:4, 16:11 and here is what the Bible says, 16:14 "Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, 16:20 and longsuffering, not knowing that the," together, 16:25 "goodness of God leads you to" what? 16:29 "To repentance?" 16:30 What leads us to repentance? 16:32 The goodness of God. 16:34 I want to emphasize that because some people think 16:36 that God is this guy with a rifle 16:40 and a sinner's scope on it 16:41 and he is trying to just, "Look at what we... 16:43 Oh, got you." 16:45 And he takes us out. 16:47 The devil does that. 16:49 He magnifies every wrong we've done, 16:51 he looks for the false in our lives. 16:53 But Jesus is not that way. 16:55 He says, "When we are moved by the goodness of God..." 17:02 I heard a story. 17:05 Matter of fact, a pastor told me this. 17:09 He had a very unruly child. 17:12 I won't tell you his name 17:13 'cause you'll know exactly who it is. 17:15 He had a very unruly child 17:17 and the child just was so disobedient, 17:19 he just couldn't get him to do right. 17:22 So the next time the child stepped out of line, 17:24 the father said... 17:26 The father took off his belt 17:28 and the child knew he was in for it. 17:29 I mean that, you know, when the belt comes off. 17:32 But the father laid across the bed 17:35 and gave the belt to his son. 17:38 And he says, "I want you to punish me for what you did. 17:43 Hit me." 17:45 "I can't do it daddy." 17:46 He said, "Hit me." 17:47 "I can't do it." 17:49 "Hit me." 17:51 And his son fell to his knees in tears 17:54 when he realized that his father 17:57 was willing to take his punishment. 17:59 You know what? 18:00 That pastor said he never had any problem 18:02 with his son after that. 18:04 He never had to tell him 'cause he recognized, he said, 18:10 "Our sin wounded Jesus." 18:14 He never had to worry about that son's 18:16 disobedience ever again. 18:17 As an illustration, you can't forget when... 18:20 Now I don't know how many parents 18:21 will be willing to do that. 18:23 You have to have really... 18:26 Anyway, I don't want to take that too far. 18:28 But it worked on this son. 18:32 If you think that you do wrong and you punish your parent 18:36 for the wrong you have done. 18:37 In that, "While we were yet sinners, 18:40 Christ died for us." 18:42 So what moves the heart 18:44 of the sinner to seek repentance? 18:45 What is it? 18:47 The goodness of God. 18:48 The goodness of God. 18:50 Let's go the next question, number 20. 18:53 And I think we're moving at a good pace. 18:55 "What is repentance?" 18:57 What is repentance? 18:59 What is it? 19:00 We've talked about the need for it. 19:02 But what is it? 19:03 What is repentance? 19:05 2 Corinthians 7:9-10. 19:10 2 Corinthians 7:9-10. 19:18 Okay. 19:19 I think we are there. 19:24 Okay. 19:28 Wow. Oh, here we are. 19:30 The Bible says, "Now I rejoice, 19:33 not that you were made sorry, 19:38 but that your sorrow led to" what? 19:41 "Repentance. 19:43 For you were made sorry in a godly manner, 19:49 that you might suffer loss from us in nothing." 19:52 I want to spend a little time on this. 19:55 How were you made, Sawry? 19:57 In a godly manner. 20:04 I have learned to say to children. 20:06 I have young kids at, you know, 20:09 they steal something or they snatch something 20:11 from another young child and the teacher says, 20:14 "Go say you are sorry." 20:16 Now I don't do that. I say, "Go say you apologize." 20:20 Because what happens here... 20:26 you were made sorry in a godly manner. 20:30 Sorrow, real sorrow, 20:32 is awakened by the indwelling presence of Christ. 20:40 You can't force anybody to say sorry. 20:42 And if you force them to say sorry, 20:44 and it hasn't come from their heart, 20:46 it's not really a sorry. 20:48 It's a statement. 20:50 When the sorrow is felt when they understand 20:53 what they have done. 20:55 When the Lord through the conviction 20:57 of the Spirit of God comes into a person's life, 21:01 you got to wait for that sorry to come 21:04 because it's godly sorrow that leads to repentance, 21:09 not sorrow itself. 21:11 We are not saying sorry. 21:13 But sorry in a godly manner. 21:17 Look at what he says it again. 21:18 Not that you were made sorry, 21:20 but that your sorrow lead to what? 21:23 Repentance. 21:24 When it's godly sorrow, it will lead to repentance 21:27 because you are sorry in a godly manner. 21:30 What does that mean? 21:31 That means the Lord in His Word, 21:33 and sometimes when people want to study about repentance 21:36 or sorrow, somebody once... 21:39 Well, the Apostle Paul said it best. 21:41 He says, "I had not known sin except the law revealed 21:45 what it is." 21:49 If you have nothing pointing out 21:52 the transgression you've done, 21:54 if you haven't faced it, and seen it, 21:58 and experienced the ramifications of it, 22:02 then your sorrow doesn't lead to repentance 22:07 because it's not a godly sorrow. 22:09 Criminals stand in front of the judge 22:11 and often when they are sentenced, 22:13 they say to them, 22:15 "What do you have to say to the family?" 22:17 And they say, "I am sorry." 22:25 It's years before they figure out 22:27 what sorry means. 22:29 And I've heard stories where prisoners, 22:32 years later have written letters 22:35 to the family confessing and expressing sorrow, 22:40 and I've heard years later family members have come 22:44 to the prison to visit the person 22:48 who took the life of their loved one 22:50 and they've said, "I forgive you." 22:55 And there was this mending of hearts. 22:58 And the person who was incarcerated, 23:00 who may be serving life, serve life behind bars, 23:04 but for the first time in their lives, they were free. 23:08 So look at the last part of that verse. 23:12 When there is repentance 23:14 and the sorrow is from a godly way, 23:17 that you might suffer loss from us in what? 23:20 You haven't lost anything. 23:23 When it's a godly sorrow, when you repent, 23:26 the loss is prevented, that you lose nothing. 23:30 But when people don't repent, 23:33 and it's not made repentance from a godly manner, 23:36 then there is a lot of loss connected to it. 23:39 Here is the next verse. 23:42 Read it with me. 23:43 "For godly sorrow produces repentance 23:48 leading to salvation to" what? 23:50 "Salvation." 23:51 I left that, "not to be regretted, 23:55 but the sorrow of the world produces" what? 23:58 "Death." 23:59 Notice the difference in sorrow. 24:01 Godly sorrow, what kind of sorrow? 24:03 Godly sorrow. 24:04 Godly sorrow produces repentance leading to what? 24:07 Salvation. 24:08 Not to be regretted, you will never regret. 24:12 You will never regret. 24:14 You will never regret. 24:18 Repentance leading to salvation. 24:20 But there's coming a day, 24:22 when many people in the world are gonna say, 24:24 "Lord, we are sorry." 24:27 But at that point, 24:29 the sorrow of the world will produce nothing but what? 24:32 Nothing but death. 24:34 Wow. 24:36 That was a serious one to ponder. 24:37 So the answer to number 20 is what? 24:40 What is repentance? 24:43 Godly sorrow. 24:45 Godly sorrow. 24:50 And I want to be candid with you. 24:52 I've learned in my own experience. 24:54 Godly sorrow only comes when you put yourself 24:56 before the Lord. 24:58 And we're gonna use some examples in the Bible tonight. 25:00 One of the greatest examples we have in scripture 25:04 of a person who... 25:05 And we're gonna go there when I get to the text, 25:07 we'll go there. 25:08 So I better not rush myself ahead of the story. 25:11 But when you put yourself before God, and you say, 25:14 "Lord," as the songwriter says, "It's me, it's me, it's me, 25:17 O Lord, standing in the need of prayer." 25:19 When you put yourself before God, 25:21 and you say, "Lord, flush me out. 25:23 Clean me up. Show me myself." 25:26 He does it. 25:27 But He doesn't do it in a sense to repulse us. 25:32 He does it in a way to draw us. 25:35 Wow. 25:37 I could spend a whole lot of time on this 25:38 but I won't in the interest of time. 25:41 He doesn't do it to repulse us, He does it to do what? 25:45 To draw us. 25:47 Wow. 25:50 Twenty one. 25:52 Twenty one. 25:56 "What does true repentance produce 26:00 and prepare the way for?" 26:03 What does true repentance produce 26:07 and prepare the way for? 26:11 Acts 3:19. 26:15 Acts 3:19. 26:18 Wow. 26:26 I'd like us to read this one together. 26:30 Are you ready at home? 26:31 Yeah. Here we go. 26:33 "Repent therefore and be" what? 26:36 "Converted, that your sins may be" what? 26:41 "Blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come 26:46 from the presence of the Lord." 26:50 That has a number of good points 26:53 that has made in it. 26:55 Let me show you a couple of those. 26:57 Now remember the phrase, from the presence of the Lord, 27:00 remember that phrase. 27:02 Now go to Revelation 6 with me. 27:05 Revelation 6. 27:09 Okay. 27:14 Revelation 6. 27:16 Okay. 27:25 When you repent and your sins are blotted out, 27:29 it's refreshing 27:31 when you are in the presence of the Lord. 27:34 But look at the opposite. 27:35 Look at the opposite. 27:39 Oh, let's start with verse 15. 27:45 "And the kings of the earth," well, let's start with verse 14 27:48 because this is the second coming of Jesus. 27:51 It says, "Then the sky receded as a scroll 27:56 when it is rolled up, 27:58 and every mountain and island was moved out of" what? 28:01 "Moved out of its place. 28:04 And the kings of the earth," that's the leaders, 28:07 "the great men, the rich men, the commanders, 28:10 or the mighty men, every slave and every free man" did what? 28:17 "Hid themselves in the caves 28:19 and in the rocks of the mountains." 28:21 Let me ask the question before you go any further. 28:23 Were they looking forward to the presence of the Lord? 28:25 No. 28:26 What were they looking? 28:27 They did not want to see Him. 28:29 And what did they say? 28:30 "And said to the mountains and rocks, 'Fall on us, 28:35 hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne 28:39 and from the wrath of the Lamb!" 28:43 How many times have you seen the wrathful lamb? 28:45 "For the great day of His wrath has come, 28:48 and who is able to stand?'" 28:50 Now, but what happens when we repent? 28:52 What do we receive at the presence of the Lord? 28:55 What? 28:56 It's refreshing. 28:58 It is like a cool drink of water 29:00 on a terribly hot day. 29:02 In other words, it is a welcomed sight. 29:04 Isaiah 25:9 as a response. 29:06 Go there with me. Isaiah 25:9. 29:08 Look at the categorizations. 29:10 They are hiding from him because they haven't repented. 29:14 But those who repent, 29:15 it's refreshing to be in the presence of the Lord. 29:18 Those who repent, 29:20 it's refreshing to be in the presence of the Lord. 29:23 But those who don't, those who don't, 29:27 I am showing you the two classes of individuals. 29:30 We saw one. Hide us. 29:32 We don't want to see him. And I'd be honest with you. 29:34 When a person, 29:36 whenever a person is in sin, what do they do? 29:38 Hide. 29:39 What did Adam and Eve do when they sinned? 29:41 Hid. 29:44 What do children when they sin? 29:46 Hide. 29:48 They either hide themselves or they hide the evidence. 29:52 They hide. They can't wait. 29:54 They don't want to see their parents. 29:55 Oh, I said Isaiah 25, right? 29:57 Yeah. Isaiah 25:9. 30:00 Yes. 30:01 Look at the difference. Look at the categorizations. 30:03 Look at the separation of classes. 30:05 In that very same time, 30:07 "And it will be said in that day, 30:10 'Behold, this is our God. 30:13 We have waited for Him, and He will save us. 30:18 This is the Lord. 30:20 We have waited for Him.'" 30:23 And what will we do? 30:24 "We will be" what? 30:26 "Glad and rejoice in His salvation." 30:30 Here is the point. 30:31 When we are converted and our sins are blotted out, 30:34 we look forward to seeing Jesus. 30:36 Amen? Amen. 30:37 You are not fearful of the coming of the Lord. 30:39 Some people when you, I've seen sermons, you know, 30:41 when sermon is about the judgment, 30:43 when a person's life is not right, 30:45 the sermon on the judgment is terrifying. 30:48 When people talk about the seven last plaques, 30:50 if you don't know the Lord, it's terrifying. 30:53 When you talk about the fires of hell or the second death, 30:56 and you don't know the Lord, it's terrifying. 30:59 But when you know the Lord, okay, go to Romans. 31:04 Okay, go to Romans. 31:07 Okay. 31:13 Okay. 31:15 Matter of fact, not Romans. 31:17 Not Romans, 1 John. 31:20 I said Romans, but it's 1 John. 31:25 1 John. Here is the difference. 31:27 Here is the difference. 31:33 1 John 4. 31:37 Wow. 31:39 And I want to read 31:44 verse 17 and 18. 31:47 The Bible says, "Love has been" what? 31:51 Perfected among us in this, 31:54 that we may have" come on say it, 31:57 "boldness in the day `of judgment, 32:00 because as He is, so are we in this world." 32:06 And look at verse 18. 32:09 "There is no fear in love," but what kind of love?" 32:15 Perfect love casts out fear, 32:19 because fear involves torment. 32:23 But he who fears has not been made perfect in love." 32:29 So you see that what happens. 32:30 When a person, when... 32:32 I'm looking at the screen, when God's perfect love 32:36 takes away our fear, there is no more torment. 32:39 And when you look at the two classes, 32:41 Revelation 6 and Isaiah 25, you look at those 32:45 who are filled with fear and torment, 32:48 hide us from him, fall on us, we don't want to see him. 32:53 I don't know of anybody who runs from a lamb. 32:57 May be a sheep or a goat, but a lamb, a tender lamb. 33:02 But the lamb... 33:07 is fierce to those who have rejected him. 33:12 But the lamb is loving to those who have accepted him. 33:17 Not that his character changes. 33:18 But they see him as the judgment lamb, 33:22 not the delivering lamb. 33:26 So what kind of love do we want? 33:27 What kind of love do we want? 33:29 Perfect love. Say it again. 33:30 Perfect love that takes the fear away. 33:33 Wow. 33:34 That takes the fear away. 33:36 So when the time comes, if we repent and are converted, 33:42 what does converted mean? 33:43 What does converted mean? 33:44 U-turn. 33:46 Say it again. 33:47 U-turn. U-turn. 33:49 That means you're no longer going in the same direction. 33:51 We're gonna see that illustrated 33:53 a little bit more and no longer means, 33:55 you say I am sorry and you continue the behavior. 33:58 No, it's a change in direction because of the change in life. 34:02 Converted, and then, 34:04 your sins or transgressions are blotted out. 34:06 It's like our records are sealed 34:08 and the Lord does not allow anybody 34:10 to unseal our records. 34:12 Praise God for that. 34:13 Now we're gonna go to question number 22. 34:17 Question number 22. 34:20 And this is a little different phrasing 34:21 because I have a purpose behind it. 34:24 Question number 22. 34:26 Here it is. 34:28 "When we enter into a covenant of repentance, 34:33 what do we desire?" 34:35 What do we desire? 34:39 Psalm 51:10, I think you all know it by-heart. 34:43 I think you know it by-heart, 34:44 but I want us to repeat it together 34:47 because it's a beautiful passage. 34:49 And the person that I was gonna make reference to 34:52 that wrote this was who? 34:55 David. 34:56 David the Patriarch. 34:57 After he... 34:59 And by the way, you look in the Bible, 35:00 and I get to text in a moment here, but it says, 35:05 David did everything right in the sight of the Lord 35:10 except about Uriah the Hittite. 35:19 When David impregnated Uriah's wife... 35:26 set up his death, had him killed. 35:31 He lost that child. 35:36 And when David prayed and prayed, 35:38 we read in story together, my wife and I was reading, 35:40 David prayed and prayed 35:41 and prayed and prayed and prayed 35:43 that the baby wouldn't die. 35:45 And when the baby died, David got up the next morning, 35:51 washed his face, 35:53 and went about life as he did before. 35:59 And one of his servants said, 36:01 "David, the baby just died. 36:05 How come you're not mourning?" 36:07 He said, "I already mourned, 36:10 already prayed for him not to die. 36:12 He is dead. 36:13 What need more is there to mourn? 36:15 Let's just go on." 36:18 And you know what? Huh? 36:22 "Okay, my mourning cannot bring the child back." 36:24 But what I like is the servant of God said, "Had David," 36:29 this is huge, "Had David said to God, 36:35 'Why didn't you save my child? 36:39 Why would You let him die?'" 36:43 We are told that David would have reflected 36:48 his transgression on God, 36:52 made God look like the bad guy rather than him. 36:58 It was really his sin that lead to the death of the baby, 37:01 not God. 37:02 That's why it was so vitally important for people to say, 37:05 this is just something important, 37:06 I am looking at the camera and saying this, 37:07 it's so vitally important for us not to say 37:10 God took my mother, God took my child. 37:16 We just had a horrible school shooting, 37:19 it was on the news, in Kentucky, 37:24 14-year-old and a 15-year-old was killed 37:26 while waiting in the common area to go to class. 37:32 You can't go home and say to that parent, "You know, 37:34 God wants you to learn a lesson out of this." 37:38 That makes God look horrible. 37:43 You can't put two and two together 37:44 to make that even add up to anything logical. 37:49 But so often God receives the blame 37:51 for the horrible things that are done in our world. 37:54 But David did not blame God. 38:00 What did he do? 38:01 What did he do? 38:02 Psalm 15:10. 38:04 What did he do? 38:05 Let's read it together. 38:06 I want us all to read this together. 38:08 Are you ready? 38:09 Here it is. 38:11 "Create in me a clean heart, 38:14 O God, and renew a" what? 38:17 "Steadfast or right spirit within me." 38:19 I like the old, the King James Version, 38:21 renew a what? 38:23 Right spirit within me because before, 38:26 David had the wrong spirit and it's often the wrong spirit 38:29 that leads us to do what we do. 38:31 But David said... 38:33 Let's look at the rest of it. 38:34 Go to Psalm 51. 38:36 I want you to answer the question. 38:37 When we enter into a covenant of repentance, 38:40 what do we desire? 38:41 What kind of heart do we desire? 38:43 Come on, say it. A clean. 38:45 What kind of spirit? Right. 38:46 The right spirit. 38:48 A clean heart and a right spirit. 38:50 A clean heart and a right spirit. 38:53 And the word there, the word there has its place, 38:57 when it says right, also means steadfast 38:59 because steadfast indicates that David is saying, 39:03 "From this point on, I am only going in one direction." 39:07 Steadfast. 39:08 And when the Bible uses the phrase, 39:10 if you look throughout the scriptures, when it said, 39:13 "He steadfastly set his face toward Jerusalem," 39:16 that means, he had his mind fixed in one direction, 39:19 he wasn't going back. 39:20 Steadfast. 39:22 Steadfast and unmovable. 39:24 He was established, 39:26 he was serious about his conversion, 39:28 serious about his repentance, and he said, "Lord, 39:32 give me a spirit of steadfastness. 39:34 I want that spirit within me." 39:38 Huh? 39:39 A man after the Lord's own heart. 39:42 A steadfast spirit. 39:45 After, exactly. 39:47 But now where are we going? 39:49 So write it down. 39:51 When we enter into the covenant of repentance, 39:53 what do we desire? 39:55 A clean heart and a right or a steadfast spirit. 40:00 I did say we were going to Psalm 51, didn't I? 40:03 I thought so. 40:04 Don't know why you guys didn't remind me? 40:08 I did say it. 40:10 I better not because I have it coming up again. 40:13 But keep it there 40:15 because I have some more parts of it coming up, 40:17 I don't want to jump ahead of myself. 40:19 But now question number 23. 40:23 Question number 23. 40:29 I was moved by the Lord few months ago 40:33 to talk about this topic of repentance 40:35 because you know, don't hear about it very much. 40:37 Don't hear so much about repentance. 40:39 Somebody said to you in California. 40:41 We were preaching in California 40:43 and somebody came to me and said, 40:45 "You preached the third angel's message 40:48 and you included everything except repentance." 40:51 And I said to him, "Tune in on Wednesday night." 40:54 'Cause I didn't forget that. 40:55 Tune in on Wednesday night. 40:58 Question number 23. 41:00 "What happens in a person who has sincerely repented?" 41:05 What happens in a person who has sincerely repented? 41:10 Ezekiel 14:6. 41:15 Okay, I am on my way there. 41:18 Right before Daniel. 41:23 Ezekiel 14:6. 41:28 Okay, here it is. 41:29 The Lord speaking to Israel, here it is, 41:33 "Therefore say to the house of Israel, 41:37 'Thus says the Lord God,'" what's the first word? 41:41 "Repent," what's the next word? 41:43 "Turn," "'Repent, turn away from your idols, 41:49 and turn your faces away from all your abominations.'" 41:54 Now this is a powerful passage. 41:56 What happens when a person 41:58 who has sincerely repented of their sin? 42:01 What word do you see there emphasized more than once? 42:03 Turn. Turn. 42:05 They turn. They turn. 42:07 Not only do they turn away from the things 42:08 that they have had their affections to, 42:11 but they turn their faces away 42:12 from all the abominable things they did. 42:20 The things that they once admired, 42:23 the things that had their attention, 42:25 they turned from their idols, 42:27 the things they idolized, they turned their faces 42:30 from all their abominable things that they had done. 42:32 So turn, turn, turn away, so Lord is in essence saying, 42:36 he says, "I don't even want, 42:37 I don't want you to adore those idols anymore, 42:41 and I want your face to be 42:43 in a completely different direction." 42:47 And in our world today, in our world today, 42:51 you've really got to... 42:53 And it doesn't just mean turn your face away, 42:57 but what in fact, when you turn your face, 42:59 what in fact are you doing? 43:02 What in fact are you doing? 43:03 Turning your eyes. Your eyes. 43:06 Are focusing in a completely different direction, 43:08 as one runner says, "You can't run ahead of you 43:13 while you look behind you." 43:15 When you repent, whatever is behind you, 43:18 let it stay behind you, turn your face 43:20 in a completely different direction, 43:21 turn away from the thing that had your attention, 43:23 had your focus, had your idolization, 43:25 and turn your face away from all the abominable things 43:28 you've done. 43:29 So the answer here is, what happens in a person 43:31 who has sincerely repented, what do they do? 43:34 What did you put down? 43:37 Turn away, turn, turn. 43:40 Turn away, turn away. 43:41 Twice. 43:43 Turn away from doing something and turn your face away, 43:46 don't even look in that direction any longer. 43:48 Get your mind on something completely different. 43:52 Another part to this very same question 43:55 is in Ezekiel 18. 43:59 Ezekiel 18, 44:02 let's look at that. 44:06 Ezekiel 18. It's a sobering topic. 44:09 Very sobering topic. 44:11 Ezekiel 18 and let's look at verse 30. 44:15 Here it is. 44:19 "'Therefore" the Lord says, "I will judge you, 44:23 O house of Israel, every one according to his ways,' 44:29 says the Lord God.'" 44:31 Let's read the rest together. 44:33 "Repent, and turn from all your transgressions," 44:38 this is powerful," 44:39 so that iniquity will not be your ruin". 44:44 You know what iniquity is? 44:46 Iniquity is not just sin. 44:48 Iniquity and tres... 44:49 An iniquity and a trespass is not the same. 44:53 An iniquity... 44:55 A trespass is a stumble, an iniquity is an embrace. 45:01 An iniquity is something that has gained 45:04 your complete attention. 45:07 But a trespass... 45:09 'Cause there are different kinds of offerings, 45:11 there are trespass offerings, sin offerings, different types, 45:14 and they have to bring different types of sacrifice 45:16 for different types of sin. 45:18 Iniquity was the greatest of them all. 45:21 But the Lord says, "Repent, 45:23 and turn from all your transgressions, so that" what? 45:26 "Iniquity will not be your ruin." 45:29 So is it possible to be involved in iniquity 45:33 and repent and turn away from it? 45:35 Yes or no? 45:40 And we found out earlier how it happens. 45:42 Godly sorrow leads to repentance. 45:46 Because iniquity is a thing that just has become a... 45:50 The thing that just finds its way into your fiber, 45:56 in your being, in your thoughts, 45:57 in your mind, in your action. 45:59 But the Lord says, "Repent, 46:00 and turn from all your transgressions, 46:02 so that iniquity will not be your ruin." 46:04 So if you look at these both of these answers 46:07 of both of these questions you find here, 46:09 what happens when a person 46:10 who has sincerely repented of sin? 46:12 What do you find in both cases? 46:14 Turn, repent, and turn. 46:19 Not only turn, but repent, and turn. 46:22 Move your life in the right direction. 46:25 And I must say here, 46:27 somebody once asked me... 46:31 they said, 46:34 "What do I have to do to join your church?" 46:37 And I responded, I said, 46:39 "First of all, I don't have a church. 46:43 It's God's church." 46:45 And I said it that way because 46:46 I didn't want that person to think 46:49 that I had any outline for them 46:53 to follow that I made up. 46:56 I said, "If you follow God's Word, 47:00 and you do what God says in His Word, 47:03 and you follow in the footsteps and the example of Christ," 47:08 but they asked me, "What do I have to give up?" 47:10 And here's what I responded by saying because... 47:12 By the way, the word repent also means give up. 47:16 They said, "What do I have to give up 47:17 to become a member of your church?" 47:19 And I said this, "Anything you give up, 47:22 you get something far greater." 47:25 Ain't that right? 47:26 Whatever you give up, you get something far greater. 47:30 Do you remember that story? 47:31 Let's go to the Book of Luke. 47:37 Go to the Book of Luke. 47:44 It's a story that... 47:58 I am in Luke now, the rich young ruler. 48:12 This story of what he needed to do. 48:21 Luke 10. 48:26 No, no, no, no, no. 48:30 Luke chapter... 48:33 There are two of those but I want to make sure 48:35 I'll get the right one. 48:45 I want Luke, it's Luke 18. 48:56 Luke 18, and let's start with verse 18, 48:59 the rich young ruler. 49:03 Watch this. 49:08 "Now a certain ruler asked Him, 49:13 saying, 'Good Teacher, 49:15 what shall I do to inherit eternal life?'" 49:19 And this is the category of the give-ups. 49:21 Let me show you this. 49:22 "So Jesus said to him, 'Why do you call Me good? 49:25 No one is good but One, that is, God. 49:28 You know the commandments. 49:30 'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 49:33 'Do not steal,' 'Do not bear false witness,' 49:36 'Honor your father and your mother.'" 49:38 And he said, 'All these things I have kept 49:41 from my youth.' 49:44 So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, 49:49 'You still lack" how many things? 49:51 "One thing. 49:53 Sell" how much? 49:57 "All that you have and distribute to the poor 50:01 and follow me. 50:04 You will have treasure in heaven, 50:06 and come, follow Me.' 50:08 But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, 50:14 for he was" what? 50:15 "Very rich. 50:19 And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, 50:22 He said, 50:23 'How hard is it for those who have riches 50:29 to enter the kingdom of God! 50:31 For it is easier 50:35 for a camel to go through a needle's eye 50:37 than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.' 50:42 And those who heard it said, 'Who then can be saved?' 50:46 But He said," what did he say? 50:49 "These things which are impossible 50:51 with men are" what? 50:53 "Possible with God.'" 50:55 You find in the other gospels when Jesus talks about this 50:57 very same story, he said to Peter, 51:00 "If he had only followed me, 51:02 he would've had a 100 times more in this life, 51:07 and in the world to come, he would've had eternal life." 51:10 Here is my point. 51:11 When the Lord asks us to repent, of whatever it is, 51:15 He'll replace it with something far greater, 51:17 and far more abundance, and of greater value, 51:20 and lasting value than what we have. 51:23 And then not only that, 51:24 we could have the assurance of eternal life. 51:26 Amen, someone? 51:28 Amen. 51:29 The Lord is not asking us to give up anything. 51:32 He is asking us to embrace everything. 51:35 Now you know I am into astronomy, 51:37 I am gonna get the courage one day to do 51:39 a program on astronomy, 51:40 I don't know how it will fit into this topic. 51:43 But I'm gonna get the courage one day 51:45 to do something on astronomy 51:46 because our planet is a little speck of dust 51:51 in a mega warp of time and space that just 51:55 is too great for even astronomers to measure. 51:58 And we are fighting over that little piece of dust 52:01 out in God's vast ocean of worlds unknown. 52:06 And we want that little piece of dust, 52:09 and we are saying, "What do I have to give up?" 52:10 So let's go ahead. 52:12 Here we are, on this speck of dust, 52:16 "What do I have to give up to join your church?" 52:19 "Your cigarette, your life, your habits, your practices." 52:23 We don't give up anything 52:27 that measures far greater than what God gives us 52:30 when we give up those small things. 52:32 Isn't that right? 52:34 Everything we give up, 52:35 He replaces with something far greater. 52:37 Let's get to next two questions. 52:39 So if you think about, "Well, I got to give up this," 52:44 whatever you give up, and by the way, 52:46 you can't take it with you to heaven anyhow. 52:50 Tracy, what are you taking to heaven with you? 52:51 Nothing. 52:53 Huh? 52:54 Nothing. Only my character. 52:55 Thank you. I was waiting for that answer. 52:57 What are we taking to heaven with us? 52:59 Character. 53:01 I just got an epiphany. 53:03 No, we are not taking our character. 53:05 We are taking His character. 53:07 Amen. 53:08 Amen? Amen. 53:09 Just got an epiphany. 53:11 Thank you Lord for straitening me out 53:12 on international television. 53:14 I am not taking my character. 53:16 We are taking whose character, Pastor Denzy? 53:18 God's character. 53:19 His character. 53:21 We will see Him as He is, 53:22 but one day we will be like Him, 53:24 He is not going to be like us, we will be like Him. 53:27 Praise God for that. 53:29 That was a light bulb right there. 53:30 That was a light bulb moment. 53:32 Thank you, Lord. 53:33 Question number 24, is that where I am? 53:36 Number 24? 53:37 "How can we tell when someone has repented 53:41 of past transgressions?" 53:43 How can we tell when someone has repented 53:46 of past transgressions? 53:49 I'm gonna start with Matthew 3. 53:53 Matthew 3. 53:58 I have the answers on paper but I like to turn to the Bible 54:01 because the Bible, that's how you get to know more. 54:09 Here it is. 54:12 The answer is, it's very short and to the point. 54:15 Together, "Therefore, what? 54:17 "Bear fruits worthy of repentance." 54:22 What does that mean? 54:23 What does that mean? 54:25 Have you ever gone to the fruit stand before? 54:28 We go to the fruit stands. 54:32 The most accessible fruit stands 54:34 where we all live out here is Walmart. 54:37 Okay, and it probably grows some place overseas. 54:42 I don't know. 54:44 But when you go to the fruit stand 54:45 and all the fruits are separate, 54:46 I know Brian does this 'cause he loves oranges, 54:48 the only guy I know that will eat like nine oranges 54:50 at potluck is Brian. 54:53 But that's good. 54:54 I try that lately and it's really good. 54:56 I mean not at potluck but I've tried that on the road. 54:58 But what do you when you go to select your fruit? 55:02 What do you do? 55:05 You kind of look at it, you kind of look for blemishes, 55:09 you check it out, and then you put, 55:11 and you always come out with the idea 55:13 that you got the best fruit which means you left the worst 55:16 for the people that come after you 55:18 because you would not have left the worst 55:19 if you took the ones 55:21 that you felt were the better ones, 55:23 and because you... 55:28 The tree bore the fruit that you liked. 55:31 In essence, here is what I am saying, 55:34 "The fruit of a tree is never on the inside, 55:37 the fruit of the tree is" where? 55:39 "Always on the outside." 55:41 So when the Bible says, 55:42 "Bear fruit worthy of repentance," 55:44 somebody will look at you, me, 55:47 or anybody else and would say, 55:49 "You know, I knew that guy 55:53 but he is not the same. 55:56 Look at the life he lives. 55:58 And I've been wondering if it's just a fling, 56:00 if it's just a momentary spark, 56:02 but it's been like two years now. 56:06 He has really changed." 56:09 That's what the Bible means when it says bear fruit. 56:11 And let's look at the next one very quickly 56:13 because you guys are taking so long, 56:16 our time is going to get away from me. 56:18 So how can we tell someone has repented 56:23 of past transgressions? 56:24 What do we examine? 56:26 What do we examine, Norie? 56:27 Fruit. 56:29 The fruit, examine the fruit. 56:32 It's important to have good fruit 56:34 because you know the old saying, 56:35 "One bad apple spoils a whole bunch." 56:39 Now, why do you look for the fruit? 56:42 Matthew 7:20, this is why you look. 56:47 I know you all know this text together, 56:49 so we've got to end on this text 56:50 reading it all together. 56:52 "Therefore by their" what? 56:54 "Fruits you will know them." 57:00 Repentance, let's go ahead and wind it up tonight. 57:03 Sin, repentance, 57:08 conversions, sins blotted out, 57:12 the Lord creates in you a clean heart, 57:15 He renews a right and steadfast spirit, 57:18 then all of a sudden, 57:20 this new tree starts putting out stuff 57:23 that it's couldn't before, 57:26 good fruit, good fruit. 57:29 So you examine the person from where they were 57:32 and you start saying, "Where did this... 57:34 No way that who they were then 57:36 could represent these fruits now." 57:39 So how does it come out? 57:42 How does it come out? 57:45 I left the last... 57:47 Jesus says, "I am the vine, you are the branches. 57:52 He who abides in me bears much fruit." 57:56 So friends, if it doesn't make sense, 57:58 keep studying because one day, 58:00 it will come into A Sharper Focus. 58:03 God bless you. |
Revised 2018-09-17