Finding Repentance: God's Gift of Second Chances

Repentance is a gift from God, provided through the Holy Spirit.

Repentance is not a one-time act, but a lifestyle.

God hates all sin, regardless of its size or severity.

We must confess and renounce all sin to truly repent.

Music We have heard it said many times throughout Scripture that everything we need, Jesus has provided on the cross for us. Everything Jesus did for us was a gift, and we have done nothing to receive it but to accept what he has done and provided for our salvation and eternal life. Everything Jesus has done for our sakes has been freely given by him and his eternal Father in heaven. It is a gift. It is his grace. All is given and meant as spiritual blessing as heaven, dear church. And it is for those who have accepted this wonderful gift of eternal life from God's own Son, Jesus the Christ, and are learning to dwell in Him. Yes, and even repentance is a gift. It is the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, who was given to God's own children as a gift, who awakens our spirit man to the fact that sin lies within our darkened souls. When you came to Christ, Holy Spirit went to work within your spirit to awaken you to the fact that you must now change And even the help is given to you to accomplish this wonderful work of repentance within your spirit and soul by your divine mighty helper called Holy Spirit. The true repentance we need to have is that of turning away from self to God. And we must have the desire of wanting God to free us, to fill us, to change us and work in us and through us. Dear church, Jesus bought all the wonderful blessings for us at the cross. And he alone has paid the price. No one can receive full peace with God who still wants to fight against Him and rebel against His will and His word. We cannot have Jesus as Savior and reject Him as Lord of our lives. Repentance is not a one-time act or event which guarantees our future relationship with God. We grow to understand repentance is a lifestyle. And while we have forgiveness in Christ, even though we fall short of perfection, we walk on dangerously thin ice if we let ourselves grow lukewarm towards the Lord by allowing and letting little sins creep in. People somehow have a distorted or twisted idea that God will allow their little sins. God hates sins, precious ones. And it's just like that. God hates sin. And all sin needs to be confessed and renounced and put away. People deceive themselves if they justify these things by comparing themselves with anyone else, even church leadership. We must get away from the mentality of comparing ourselves or justifying ourselves that we're not so bad because look what, I'll just pick a name out that I make up and use. Look what Joe Smoll is doing. I'm not so bad after all. Not next to old Joe. And look, he wasn't struck down with lightning out of heaven and turned into a crispy critter. Always remember, God hates sin. And it doesn't matter how great or small. You always need to remember that sin is sin. Sin is sin, and sin is the work of the flesh. Please let us look at Revelation 3.1. In this word is a warning to the people who have deceived themselves into thinking that their sin was all right before God. And as I said, sin is the work of the flesh. Revelation 3.1. the message to the church in Sardis write this letter to the angel of the church in Sardis this is the message from the one who has the seven fold spirit of God and the seven stars I know all the things you do and that you have a reputation for being alive but you are dead Now, wake up and strengthen what little remains for even what is left is at the point of death. Your deeds are far from right in the sight of God. Verse 3, go back to what you heard and believed at first, and hold to it firmly and turn to me again. Unless you do, I will come up on you suddenly as an unexpected thief. Verse 4, Yet even in Sardis there are some who have not soiled their garments with evil deeds, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. All who are victorious will be clothed in white, and I will never erase their names from the book of life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine. And anyone who is willing to hear should listen to the Spirit and understand what the Spirit is saying to the churches. Please, let's look at Matthew 7.21 in declaring that sin is the works of the flesh and that God hates sin. And we could see it throughout Revelation 1 through 6 that we have just read. In Matthew 7, 21, Jesus is speaking to the people in Matthew 7, 21, saying, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Well, it's pretty clear, isn't it? Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven. The sincerity was not there in their hearts, but yet they uttered his name, didn't they? Lord, Lord. Well, Hebrews 10.26 gives us another clear light shown upon this truth about sin, unrepented sin. Hebrews 10.26. If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, No sacrifice for sin is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Well, people have to know that Christ's blood will not save them while they harden themselves in willful disobedience to God. Hell is full of these kinds of people. And it is clear not only that you must repent, but also you must remain repentant and keep turning from sin wherever you see it in your life. Me too. Jesus said to the Christians in Ephesus in Revelation 2.5, Remember the height from which you have fallen. Repent and do the things that you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. Many, many people wonder what they have to repent of. And it is really useless to tell people simply to repent of their sins if they don't know what repentance means and if they are not sure what could be their sins. Many times they are not fully aware of their sins. And that is one reason God has given us His precepts, so that people could see or know their faults and their sins. All throughout your life, Holy Spirit may show you things that displease Him. And that is your attitudes, your way of talking, your actions, your deeds, and so on. It is not possible to make a complete list of all things that God wants his people to turn from regarding the issue of sin. But, however, I am going to point out today some points that will be helpful for us to check our own hearts and lives at times and know what things really offend God, our Heavenly Father. And if any of these points exist in your own life or have existed and remain unconfessed, please hear that word, they remain unconfessed, write them down and then confess them one by one before the Lord in as much detail, specific detail as your memory permits. And ask your divine helper, Holy Spirit, to assist you in this precious gift of repentance, to give you the depth of repentance and a measure of being truly sorry for these sins committed against him. And by his assistance, you keep yourselves and emotions out of the way. And his surgery is sure and true to do the extractions necessary to bring this wonderful gift about and produce every victory you need to live a spirit-filled life in Christ. Well, the points that I wish to point out to you today, points of reference of sins, is that we should consider is, number one, any breaking of the essence of the Ten Commandments, especially the first one. Any idolatry, putting something or someone before God, must be renounced. And in the New Testament, Matthew 22, 37, Jesus declared, Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and all of your soul and with all of your mind. Verse 38, this is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it. Love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments Number two to be considered as points of reference of sins that we should consider for repentance. Unbelief and fear. Revelation 21, 7 declares, but the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, murderers, the sexually immoral, and those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and liars, their place will be a fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death. And James 1.6 declares, But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, Because he who doubts is like the waves of the sea blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all that he does. You see, not believing or trusting God's word or being afraid to put it into practice are root sins that lead to many other sins. Unbelief is a personal choice that God condemns, and it is effectively calling God a liar. Point three, lack of love for God. How would you feel if your loved ones showed signs of being disinterested in you? And how much do you value the manifested presence of the most holy and great God in your life? Good question. How much do we value his presence? Number four, rebellion. Willful disobedience against God and his word. Church leadership is a sin of witchcraft. Rebellion, which is willful disobedience against God, His Word, and church leadership. And the Word of God in 1 Samuel 15, 23 says, It is as the sin of witchcraft. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance is like the evil of idolatry. Because you've rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king. Point five. Anything that has been defined as dead works, especially the works of the flesh, mentioned in the book of Galatians. Galatians 5.19. Galatians 5.19. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious. Sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery. Verse 20, idolatry and witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, and envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. Point six, unthankfulness. We are to give thanks to God in all things. We are exhorted to let the fruit of praise be on our lips at all times. 1 Thessalonians 5.16 1 Thessalonians 5.16 Be joyful always. Pray continually and give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Hallelujah. And also Colossians 3.17. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Praise God. And point seven, I know it may seem like we are going through these points quickly. I have several to give you today. And the point is that as I give you these, you consider them, you write them down if you choose to. I give you a scripture to go with them. And the greatest work is going to be done by the Holy Spirit as you receive these points today. Point seven, prayerlessness. We are commanded to pray at all times in the Spirit. And the scripture is Ephesians 6.18. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayer and request. With this in mind, be alert and keep on praying for all the saints. And also again, 1 Thessalonians 5, 16 and 17. Be joyful always and pray continually. You see, God gives us His Holy Spirit to make this a possibility. And if you despise or neglect the gift of the Holy Spirit or refuse to walk in fellowship with God, though you be baptized in the Spirit, you're committing sin and you must repent of it. So we, again, can consider this in one of the points as we ponder today in the gift of repentance and points that we need to consider here. Point eight is failure to give offerings or tithe. And if we don't give 10% of our total income to God, we are stealing from God and cannot expect His blessing on our financial lives. Malachi 3.16 declares, I, the Lord, do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your forefathers, You've turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Turn to me and I will return to you, says the Lord. But you ask, how are we to return? Verse 8, will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, how do we rob you? In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse, the whole nation of you, because you are robbing me. Verse 10, bring the whole tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much a blessing that you will not have room enough for it. Verse 11, I will prevent the pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your field will not cast their fruits, says the Lord Almighty. then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land, says the Lord. In 2 Corinthians 9.1, Apostle Paul encouraged and yet admonished his followers in the book of 2 Corinthians 9.1. And Paul says, there is no need for me to write to you about this service to the saints, For I know your eagerness to help, and I have been boasting about it to the Macedonians, telling them that since last year you and Achaia were ready to give, and your enthusiasm stirred most of them to action. Verse 3. But I am sending the brothers in order that our boasting about you in this matter should not prove hollow, but that you may be ready as I said you would be. For if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we, not to say anything about you, would be ashamed of having been so confident. Verse 5. So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to visit you in advance and finish the arrangements for the generous gift you'd promised. Then it will be ready as a generous gift, not one as grudgingly given. Verse 6. Remember this, whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. Hallelujah. Point nine. Failure to be faithful to church and to fellowship. We should exhort one another daily while it is called today. Unless any of us be hardened by the deceitfulness of sins. That's God's word in Hebrews 3.13 or in Hebrews 10.25. Hebrews 10.25. Let us not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another and all the more as you see the day approaching. So we see here fellowship is important in God's eyes. Point ten, breaking promises. Unfaithfulness is another term we could say, breaking promises. Many people break their promises to God, and they think nothing of breaking their promises to other people either. The fruit of the Holy Spirit includes faithfulness. The fruit of the Spirit includes faithfulness or reliability. Jesus said, let your yes be yes and your no be no. And in James 5.12, James 5.12, Above all, my brothers, do not swear, not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your yes be yes and your no be no, or you will be condemned. Condemned means in the Greek judgment or justice, the justice of God. And people who are careless with their words and are lax in their follow-through thwart the calling on their lives and displease God because of the insincerity of their hearts that they demonstrate by breaking promises. Point 11. Failure to confess Christ before men. Matthew 10.33 But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven. We are commanded, precious Church, to preach the gospel to all creation and not be ashamed of our Lord Jesus Christ. Point 12. Failure to meditate on the Word. Colossians 3 declares Let the word of Christ dwell richly in you as you teach and admonish one another in all wisdom and as you sing psalms hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude hallelujah with gratitude in your heart to God When we ponder or meditate on the Word of God, it grows into a deep understanding of the truth of the knowledge of God and takes root and renews our minds to having the mind of Christ. But if we do not do this, it in turn leads to a multitude of other occasions for sin. And it leads to unbelief, foolishness, and deception. And deception is the mother of failure. Deception is the mother of failure. Point 13. Unwillingness to be disciplined and to teach and disciple others. Matthew 28, 18. Jesus again declaring what we should do in response to this. Jesus came to them and said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you, and surely I am with you always to the very end of the age. Point 14 is pride. Another root sin by which you can convince yourself that you don't really need what God is saying or what God is promising in his word. Some people consider themselves good enough in themselves when they are really proud. And Proverbs 16, verse 5 declares, every proud and arrogant in heart is disgusting, hateful, and exceedingly offensive to the Lord. Be sure, I pledge it, they will not go unpunished. See, pride leads people to separate themselves from godly churches or congregations, to stop praying, to listen to other things, and also they stop listening to the Word or reading the Word of God, and they start listening to other things. God is not their first priority. Pride also causes people to love themselves more than God and not to listen to correction when it comes to them. Point 15. Lying. Lying. All liars are those who do not tell the truth and they will burn in the lake of fire. That's what God's word tells us. Revelation, please, 21.7. 21.7 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters, and all liars, their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death. Point 16 in our being reminded of unconfessed sins in order to receive the precious gift of repentance is cheating. Point 16. Whatever you do to another, what you don't want done to yourself, you are cheating. Let me say it again. Whatever you do to another, what you don't want done to yourself is considered cheating. Just like that. Point 17. Lack of love for brethren. If you are unkind or thoughtless towards your brothers and sisters in Christ, you sin and you must repent of it. Point 18, gossip and other forms of evil speaking. This sin, precious church, destroys more churches than sexual sins. Jesus tells us in Matthew 18 exactly what to do if a brother or sister sins against us. Matthew 18, 15. If your brother sins against you, go and show him his faults, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. Verse 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church or to the leadership of the church. And if he refuses to listen to church leadership, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector. So that's pretty clear. That we would go to a brother or a sister, if there be forms of gossip or any forms of evil speaking, we would go to our brothers or sisters who have offended us in this matter. Gluttony. This is eating more food than is good for your prayer life or for your health. It also includes being focused on food. Proverbs 23, 19 says, Oh, my son, be wise and stay in God's path. Don't carouse with drunkards and gluttons, for they are on their way to poverty. And Luke 21, 34 declares, Watch out! Don't let my sudden coming catch you unawares. Don't let me find you living in careless ease, carousing and drinking and occupied with the problems of this life, like the rest of the world. See, Jesus is describing a party spirit in eating and drinking. Everything focuses around eating and drinking in a party spirit. Philippians 3.18 as well gives us a little more insight here to gluttony. Philippians 3.18, For as I have often told you before and now say again, even with tears, many live as the enemies of the cross. Their destiny is destruction, their God is their stomach, and their glory is their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. And point 20, unforgiveness. Any form of unforgiveness, including resentment and bitterness, can cost us our relationship with God and must be repented of. Mark 11, 25. Mark 11, 25. Whenever you stand praying, forgive. If you have anything against anyone so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you and your transgressions. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your trespasses. Point 21. Unwillingness to fulfill the calling of God on your life and to do the good works which God has prepared for you in advance. Ephesians 2.10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared for us in advance to do. Also please, Luke 12.47 That servant who knows his master, will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants, will be beaten with many blows. See, God will not let us sit still on this one. He will correct us. He'll reprove us. He'll try to motivate us. He will make every effort to show us our laxness in this area, unwillingness to fulfill the calling on our lives. Point 22 in our last point today. Love of the world. 1 John 2.15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world, the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the boasting of what he has and does comes not from the Father, but from the world. Verse 17 The world and its desires will pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. Related to this also we must understand and know that there's a love of money, which 1 Timothy 6.9 says is the root of all kinds of evil, which is the root of all evils. Love of money, love of the world. They're just inseparable. Well, finishing our points of unconfessed sins to consider in our lives, even right now, and to have as future points of references, you might wonder, and what if you don't know your sins? You may be saying at this point in time, what if I don't know? I just don't know. If God has convicted you of sin, as you've been hearing this message today, The lack of knowledge of your sins is not your primary problem. God commands you to repent now. Once sin is made aware in your life, then it is time to be repented of. In Acts 17, verse 30, declares, in the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. And if you truly look to him, he will help you to do it, dear one. You do not have to struggle with what seems to many to be a hopeless cycle of resolutions and self-efforts and failures and rededication with regard to your walk with the Lord. Well, what about the question that some ask? What about those who don't know their sin? You may ask, what about me, if I should somehow fail to confess and repent of some sin I'm ignorant of? Does God judge everyone according to the same high standard of His Word? You can be saved if you are trusting in Jesus' sacrifice and you have a heart for God. Did you hear that? You can be saved if you are trusting in Jesus sacrifice and you have a heart for God God does judge us though according to our knowledge and our opportunities The thief on the cross was promised a place in heaven, though he did nothing except cry out to Jesus for help. The more you know, the more God expects. And the Scripture tells us, to Him whom much is given, much is required. Now I'm reminded of a true story of a woman in church who heard it said from the pulpit, fornication is sin and all adulterers and fornicators will go into the lake of fire if they don't repent, they will perish. And the woman stood up in church totally convicted by the Holy Spirit and announced, Oh my God! I'm a fornicator and she was totally convicted and unaware in the moment of her public announcement and the same woman was heard to have said later I don't want to hear the truth because if I hear it then I'm responsible for it you see we can't play with known sin and yet God loves us and he has no pleasure in the condemnation of a sinner A person who is trusting Jesus for salvation and not in himself, and loving God according to the light he has. He will not be condemned because of sins of ignorance. But let me say, God has put it in man's spirit to know right from wrong. It is when a person hardens himself against hearing from God that he becomes like stone and hates the truth preferring evil. And 2 Thessalonians 2.10 declares, They perish because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion, so they will believe a lie, and they will be condemned because they delighted in wickedness and believe not in the truth. It is by grace, precious ones, that we are saved. It is God's loving work in our lives which we really don't deserve. Ephesians 2.8 For it is by grace that you have been saved. Through faith, and this is not from yourselves. It is the gift of God. Not by work so that no one can boast. It is through a living faith that you and I are saved. and not by perfect obedience to the commandments of God's moral law. If you have a living faith, you will seek God and by the Spirit do His will according to the knowledge in Scripture. You see, we are then justified even though we still fall short of the glory of God. Final judgment belongs to God alone. And if you put the emphasis on your obedience, and not Christ's work on the cross, then you fall into air of legalism and you'll struggle and struggle to earn God's salvation through your efforts to keep the law and obey the letter of God's word. The church has the responsibility of teaching their congregations so they can grow in the knowledge and admonition of the Lord. It is imperative that God's children grow beyond the milk of the Word. Romans 8.16 declares, The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. If you have the knowledge from God's Spirit that you are a child of God, then you should not doubt your salvation every time you trip or you sin or you slip or every time you may suspect that there may be unknown sin in your life. In this situation, you can be confident of God's acceptance of you and acceptance that was purchased by Jesus Christ and not you. The blessing or gift of repentance is positive. Repentance is not a negative thing, since it represents renouncing what is negative and turning to the Lord and His goodness. Repentance is a good gift for us, dear church. It is a blessing that comes by the grace of God. We should ask God for more of this grace without doubting for a moment that He gives us that grace and we can apply it immediately. although you can say that repentance is something for you to do since God commands that you do it yet we should also realize the fact that repentance is a gift. God is the giver of this gift. A beautiful example of this is found in Acts 11.7 Acts 11 7 where Peter was given a testimony of his obedience to do what the Lord directed him to do and thus brought about the precious gift of repentance for many in Acts 11 7. And I heard a voice saying to me, get up Peter, kill and eat. But I said, no, by no means, Lord, for nothing common or unhallowed or ceremonially unclean has ever entered my mouth. Verse 9. But the voice answered a second time from heaven. What God has cleansed and pronounced clean, do not you defile and profane by regarding or calling it common or unhallowed or unclean. Verse 10. This occurred three times. And then all was drawn up into heaven again. And right there the three men sent to me from Caesarea arrived at the house in which we were. Verse 12. And the Holy Spirit instructed me to accompany them without the least hesitation or misgivings or discrimination. So these six brethren accompanied me also and we went into the man's house. And he related to us how he had seen the angel in his house, which stood and said to him, Send men to Joppa and bring Simon, who is surnamed Peter, and he will give and explain to you a message by which you and all your household as well will be saved from eternal death. Verse 15. When I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as he did on us at the beginning. And when I recall this declaration of the Lord, how he said, John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with, be placed in, introduced into the Holy Spirit. Verse 17, if then God gave to them the same gift equally as he gave to us when we believed in and adhered to and trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I and what power or authority had I to infer or hinder or forbid or withstand God? Verse 18, and when they heard this, they were quieted and made no further objection, and they glorified God, saying, Then God also granted to the Gentiles repentance unto real life after resurrection. Hallelujah. So we see in this example how Peter's obedience then led to bringing others into the precious gift of repentance. And this gift of repentance is a great blessing, dear ones. And it brings with it times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord in Acts 3.19. Acts 3.19. Repent then and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord. You see, Jesus was sent to bless us in turning every one of us from our iniquities or our inner sins. And therefore, just as Holy Spirit says, Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion found in Hebrews 3.7. Dear one, hell is full of people who said to the Lord, Not today, just one time too many, they declared it. Not today. See, repentance is a blessing you should seek both for yourselves and for others. It leads to the joy of salvation in righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, just as we read in the account of Peter. Let us therefore ask God for a move of this repentance, a move of repentance, and begin immediately to respond to everything the Holy Spirit is nudging you to do. Ask God for it in your own life. A move of repentance in your own life. And remember that repentance is a blessing, a gift, the finished work of the cross from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Let us treat it with respect and thanksgiving and act and react according to this wonderful gift. Treat this precious gift of repentance as a way of life or as a lifestyle. And you will not keep stumbling over the same sins and faults. Let us pray. Father, in the name of Jesus, we pray today that your precious gift of repentance will be stirring in the heart and life of everyone hearing this word today. Lord we pray that Holy Spirit will assist in the lives of those who are seeking greater understanding and fellowship with you. And knowing that the depths of repentance and the measure of being truly sorry for their sins is because it is offensive and committed against you. Father, I pray for victory in every corner and area of their lives. And agree with them in this prayer that you will shine your light on those things that you've been endeavoring to bring to the surface and expose in order to walk in victory and deeper fellowship with you. And we pray as well, Lord. Let the fruit of praise and thanksgiving be upon the lips of everyone, because this is most pleasing to you above all things. Thank you, Father, for hearing and answering our prayers. In the name of Jesus, amen. Thank you.

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