Repent & Believe in Jesus | Mark 1:14-15 | Pastor Danial Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Series)

Well, good afternoon. Meet me in your bibles, please. I trust you have a copy of God's word in your hands. And if you if you don't own a bible, please come see us. We would love to help you get a bible.

And it's in Mark chapter one where we're gathering to together today and in verse verse 14. Mark one fourteen. Two verses for our meditation today. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God and saying the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.

Lord, we ask you with such awareness of our neediness of your help. Lord, please, it could be that these two verses providentially have come to us this day for it to be the moment that someone would come to know you personally. And we ask, oh, lord, that as your word goes forth, that people would hear your voice. And we ask, oh, lord, that the authority and the power that this that this scripture here was intended to convey may be known. We want to know your power.

We know that you've given us the blessed holy spirit, and we know that he's been given to make us powerful witnesses. And as your word is testified of today, may that power accompany it. We trust in you, Lord Jesus. Lord, we are very weak, and we know, oh, Lord, that weakness is all that you need for your power to be made known in perfection. And so, lord, may your perfect power be known in this sanctuary, more importantly, in our hearts.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. The two verses before us today mark the beginning of Jesus' public ministry, more specifically his preaching ministry. And up to this point, the Lord Jesus has been walking in perfect obedience, and he will continue to do so by honoring the father in two great and tremendous feats. The first one was by willing to humble himself by being baptized by the Baptist, the first Baptist, John the Baptist.

And the second was that great victory, that great conquest over Satan while being tempted for forty days in the wilderness. Now that first accomplishment by going into the waters of repentance is Jesus' symbolic statement of identifying with sinners. And the second one, as he traveled in isolation through the wilderness, was his way of identifying with our temptation. And early on in Mark, we have not even covered the first chapter yet we learned something about the master so significant, so sublime. The first is this, that he is our substitute for sin.

He identifies with our sin in that water, and he is foreshadowing what he will do on our behalf. And not just the the savior of our sin, but he's also the sympathizing savior. That even for the redeemed as we walk with him, you heard it. He loves us to the end. He he knows what it's like to be tempted.

And he's there ready to hear us as we cry out to him, and he's ready to supply his strength when we need it so that stride by stride Christ would shine through us and we would know the joy of holiness. And now we come to this moment here. We've learned so much, I hope, up to this point, and we will continue to learn even though Mark seems to really enjoy being brief with his explanation of these events. And that pace doesn't change here when we come to these two verses because he seems to really summarize something here, this transitional moment. And what we wanna know is, what can we learn from this transition between Jesus being in solitude in that desert to now coming into the public scene and speaking and preaching the gospel of God.

And there are two main observation that will help us organize our thoughts, and they are very simple to remember. The two categories that we will look into, number one is the timing of Jesus' public ministry. The timing of it. He chose to do it at a certain point. Why?

And what does that teach us? Not just the timing of Jesus' public ministry, but the focus of Jesus' public ministry. What was his purpose? What was the core reason why he did what he did? Why did he come?

What did he what did he do there? Why didn't he just come into the world just to die and then then just go back? Well, these things we're gonna consider. Look at this verse with me again in verse 14 and realize something about the timing of Jesus' ministry, his public ministry. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee.

It's very simple. John was apprehended, and that was the signal for Jesus to go in and to begin to to preach to the crowds. A more comprehensive study of John's arrest will be in Mark chapter six. It's very detailed. We know there why he was arrested, and we know the result of his apprehension.

But for now, we look at this, and all we are told is that after he was arrested, Jesus began to make his way to Galilee so that he could proclaim the word of God. And the question that comes to mind is why now? Why at this point? And I have other questions following this one. Why was it when John was arrested you go, but why do you go the opposite direction of where John is?

He's going to the North Of Israel. You would think that Jesus, knowing this man and knowing the great sacrifices he made, would make his way to John and maybe at least visit him physically or maybe do something to to help his servant escape, nothing of the sort. If anything, we see him go into the opposite direction. And what's amazing about that when just meditating on it. If you've read the gospels and you're honest with yourself, you will come to this conclusion.

Jesus does many things that are perplexing. He makes decisions. His timing on things seems to challenge us and our reasoning. And and for us, when we look at how Jesus does things, we we sometimes ask these questions out of innocent curiosity. But if we're really, really honest, a lot of the times, Jesus' ways, they conflict with our human understanding.

They make us uncomfortable. They they they actually tempt us to think that perhaps if Jesus really listened to my advice, he would have better results. It sounds blasphemous, but if we're honest, that is a common contemplation among Christians, especially this is true. Right? Especially when you and I try to study his interventions in our own lives.

We really try to figure him out and we go beyond that. We we tend to give him some counsel. But time and time again, the Lord Jesus proves that his his ways outshine our notions and our solutions every time. Not sometimes, not a majority of time, every single time. And there are so many examples, so many illustrations.

May I provide you one that has been at the peak of my meditation this week, and I pray that it would be a blessing to you. Go with me to the book of acts very quickly to a common place in chapter three verse one. And notice something here that ties into Jesus. Perhaps not directly because Jesus has already ascended into glory, but it is in relation to him. And consider something of the mystery of the master's ways.

In acts three one and two, we read, now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate, to ask alms of those entering the temple. What's interesting to note here is that we're told that this man unnamed, all we know is his condition. From birth, he was lame and he was being positioned before a certain gate, surely a very important gate that brought in a lot of traffic so that he can beg and receive some kind of alms. And we need to be careful with this text because there is no mention of how long he was doing this for.

We don't know how long he was brought by his friends to bring him to this place. We don't really understand the the time frame, but we do have the impression that it was a regular occurrence before Peter and John come on the scene. In fact, if you look at verse 10, what do you see here? We learn here in acts three ten that the crowd recognized him after his healing, recognized him as the one who sat at the beautiful gate of the temple. What does that mean?

He had a reputation. The the the general public knew about him, especially attendees of the house of worship. They knew this is the guy that comes here every single day, and he asks for money. And so that's what we know, that this man was known. People understood him, why he was there.

I'm sure they even knew his name. And when you consider all of that, this is this is the beauty of of of knowing the entirety of scripture. You put things together and conclusions are made or at least questions are asked that that can bring about greater revelation. If this layman was at the temple gate regularly, if he was sitting there day after day, and you and I know from the gospels that Jesus throughout his ministry at least a few times went to the temple, have you ever wondered if he passed by him? Have you ever wondered if he heard his cry for alms, for help?

Think about it. And if there's any doubt about that, let me just read this to you from one gospel account. You don't have to turn there, but listen to what I'm about to read in Matthew 21 verse 12. And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, it is written my house shall be called the house of prayer, but you make it a den of robbers.

Now look at this, verse 14. And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple and he healed them. That's significant. Jesus was a faithful Israelite. And part of being a faithful Israelite is that he would honor the feast, which would call him and the other men to make pilgrimage to the temple to honor the feast.

So we know with that that he at least throughout his three years went a few times into the temple. That is very probable. Very, very possible. And so because of that probability, it makes you wonder. Even if this lame man was placed at that gate, just a few months before Peter and John came, there must have been some kind of some kind of knowledge from the Lord's part.

Either passing by direct them or being among the crowd who knew of him generally. They recognized him. If we walk with Jesus during his ministry, would we be tempted to look at this man and look at Jesus and advise him to heal him? Lord, you have the power. And Lord, what a testimony this would be of your messiahship.

This man has been lame from birth. Everybody knows who this guy guy is. If you do this, this will be additional evidence, undeniable, concrete proof that you are in fact the one that Isaiah spoke about. Lord, do it. You're able.

You can do it like that. And yet we see nowhere in the gospels clearly that Jesus comes out of his way to find this man directly to heal him, nor does he answer him for his unconfessed need the same way that Peter and John does. Jesus, throughout his ministry, does not heal this man. And even though it was very likely that he walked by him on different occasions, he didn't do it. Why?

If it is true that Jesus had some knowledge of this man or at least even just walked by him, why didn't you do it, Lord? And I believe the conclusion is this, because Christ knew that he would know a greater exaltation if he had healed this man after his ascension. Think about it. There is no question that the Lord would have received great great honor and praise if he had dealt with this man during his three year itinerant, but he had something else in mind, and it would require this man to remain as he was a little bit longer before realizing it. Consider it.

How would this man's delayed miracle bring about a peculiar glory? And it is this, healing him through the faith of Peter and John would not only declare to that people that Jesus is in fact the Messiah, it would also add to it saying Jesus is alive. Oh, yeah. You crucified him not too long ago, but faith and power in his name brought about this miracle in this man because he is in the heavens, seated in authority, able to answer the cries of his people in his name to bring about such a great work. And that is what this man could offer.

That is the platform that his his delay, so to speak, brought about for the glory of Jesus Christ. That is the great privilege that he was able to share in, and his story would be one of the most explosive statements of the reality of Jesus Christ conquering the grave, of Jesus Christ being able to hear people pleading with him, operating in his name, because he is alive today sitting at the right hand of God. I find that to be a fascinating reality, and that is why you and I should never ever ever ever be disappointed in any kind of delay, any kind of postponement, any kind of sense that the Lord is not really providing in my suffering, in my inquiries, in my pain. There's something he has in mind when he interacts and intervenes in our lives. His his providential means are so precise.

They're they're they're so precise. And that is the invitation you have when you come to the Word of God, to see how Jesus worked in people's lives. Not so that you could have a better bible study, so that you can understand how he works in your lives, how he works in mine. He makes everything beautiful in its time. At the right time, the the the very second of it, he has it all there.

It's ordained, and we're called to trust him. Would you keep this in your heart and ponder on it like Mary did? Would you just meditate upon that truth? How that is just one snippet of so many other snippets of how the Lord knows. I mean, it's everywhere.

When Lazarus was sick, it says he loving Lazarus, what does he do? He delays. Like, if you love Lazarus, you drop everything and you go towards him so that you can heal him. No. Loving Lazarus, he he delays.

We come to John. Do you think Jesus loved John? He loved them. He gave him such a wonderful tribute while he was in prison. And there is no record of Jesus ever visiting him.

There is no plan or scheme that Jesus has with his disciples or John's alright. Here's the escape plan. We're gonna do this. We're gonna get John out. He was faithful.

He doesn't deserve this. This isn't our right. We don't want to give victory to Satan. Nothing of the sort. He hears John is arrested.

Time to go to Galilee. And he begins his public ministry. I wonder why. Is it because something greater is gonna happen in in the near future just like the layman? No.

In fact, this is the end for John. This is it. He's not coming out. Actually, he will come out, but without his head. How?

This is this is a strange ending to a faithful man's ministry, and the reason is because Jesus goes public because it all is coming to an end for this man and his service to the Lord. You're still in Acts. Right? Go to Acts thirteen twenty five. Look at the language that the Holy Spirit gives about John's ministry.

You wanna know why Jesus went to Galilee? Because the baton has been passed. And look how Paul speaks about the ministry of the Baptist. Acts thirteen twenty five. And as John was finishing his course, he said, what do you suppose that I am?

I am not he. No. But behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie. Did you catch the phrase in the beginning? And as John was finishing his course, what language describes someone's life?

Christian, listen. Hey. You don't go to church once a week. That's not your Christian existence. That's not the ceiling of what you do.

You are on a race. You have a lane, and it has a finish line. Your lane doesn't look the same as the next person lane, but you all are in a race. Who's your competitor? Yourself.

You're not trying to beat the next Christian next to you. You've been given a responsibility, a call, a gift, and there is a reward on the other side of that finish line that will be granted dependent upon the faithfulness of how you ran that race. Did you honor the rules? Did you give up? Did you turn around?

Did you go to the sidelines? And we come to John, and we are told that he was finishing his course. It was all now coming to an end. And what's so incredible is we're told he's finishing it, and then we get a quote from him that that is at the peak of his ministry. You remember that?

People were asking him, are you the Messiah? And he says, no. He he he makes it very clear, I'm not the one. I'm the one that was coming before him. And so here's what you learn from this, that while we're told it was coming to an end, it it comes to an end almost when it just really starts.

His ministry was so brief, and his arrest and his his death is so abrupt. It just happened so suddenly. And in the human perspective, we look at John, six months older than Jesus. He he was arrested at 30. He died at 30.

And even good hearted Christians would look at that. I mean, think about a 30 year old minister dying. And you think, how how can God allow this to happen? In the prime of his life. Look what John did in such a short amount of time.

How much more could have John have done if he had just lived another decade? And yet in God's perspective, he was finishing his course. All that John needed to do was coming to an end. He fulfilled it faithfully. And Jesus knew that.

Jesus was the one before eternity who had ordained that this John would be the forerunner for the Messiah. And so when he hears that John was arrested by Herod, it came to mind. It's time for John to go home. It's time for John to go home, and it's time for me now to run the race that my father has set before me. And I think that is a beautiful thing.

Death for a servant of God, even in the prime of life, is not a waste. It's not even a tragedy. John here was fulfilling what God had told him to do, even if his ministry was just a few months, and he will receive a full reward. And when I look at this, I don't even just notice the timing of John's ministry. I look at how he finished his course, how it was all coming to an end.

What are we told? As he was finishing his course, what was he doing? He was pointing people to Jesus still. May it be so of you and me that as you and I come to the final strides of life, that what would be said of us was he was still, she was still pointing people to Jesus, still taking attention off self and bringing glory to Jesus Christ, still sacrificing in the name of Christ, Still proclaiming Christ. Still serving in the name of Jesus Christ as they were finishing their course.

Who cares about being known as a wealthy person? Who cares about being known as this or knowing? Who cares? All to be known that Jesus was on that man's lips. Jesus is what he was all about, she was all about.

This was true of John. What is happening here in John, rather Mark one fourteen, Jesus moves on because John is done. It was coming to an end for him, and it was the beginning for Jesus' public ministry. I love to know this truth as well that though John was imprisoned, the word of God was not bound. God's work does not finish with men.

God's work is not paralyzed because of the failures of men. You cannot bound the word of God. You cannot arrest it. You cannot apprehend it. You cannot do anything to it.

It will move on and fulfill the purpose that God has for it. That is the timing of Jesus' ministry. But consider with me the focus of Jesus' ministry in verse 15. Now that we know that John's arrest would serve as a transition between the forerunner and the one that was predicted to come, let us consider the purpose of Jesus' public ministry. What do we see here?

Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God. Now you've heard so many times up to this point, you're gonna hear it more and more, that Mark in his desire through his account is to depict Jesus as a servant, to show Jesus as the perfect servant of God who in lowliness came with zeal and promptness and dedication to honor God in practical ways. That is why in Mark there is less parables. That is why in Mark there are less teachings. And what you see more and more is Jesus serving with his hands.

Jesus serving with a certain motive and attitude. Jesus touching people, alleviating suffering, and and bringing about good to show him in that light. And why do I bring that up? Because as you come here to the entrance of Jesus' public ministry, what you and I see him doing is preaching. Jesus is preaching.

He is proclaiming. He is telling people about something. And now that might seem to contradict Mark's purpose, and that is not a contradiction. The reason why we are seeing this, and it is so important to understand, is that although supernatural service will cover these chapters, Mark wants us to know and to not forget that at the core of Jesus' ministry on the earth was a message. It was not miracles.

It was not great acts of kindness. It was not just being compassionate to crowds and to little children. The very reason, the core, the heartbeat of Jesus' ministry on the earth was to proclaim the gospel, was to tell people and to bring revelation of the father and who he was. See, this is important because you have many people outside of our faith who would even come to Jesus and admire him and say, Jesus is the pinnacle. He is the the greatest example of kindness and mutual respect.

No matter what you believe. Hey. Jesus didn't come to just show how to be nice. Jesus didn't come to just do good things, and it doesn't matter what you believe. Jesus didn't come just to offer us the golden rule.

I've heard heathens quote the golden rule. Yes. He is the utmost example of morality, but Jesus came to proclaim an exclusive message that would determine your eternal fate depending on how you answer to it. And when meditating upon this, I could not help but realize what an important reminder, listen, for servants of God. Not for lazy Christians, servants of God.

Servants of God have to understand this principle here, especially as they serve in the attempt to reach those who are unchurched, who don't know the gospel, who don't know Christ. What is it? Many ministries in the evangelical world are doing an incredible job bringing about good in their communities, helping provide, serving people, giving without receiving anything in return. But here's the problem. Many of those do that thinking that such service alone is sufficient.

Such service alone is sufficient whether or not people know the motive behind it. And it's a concept that suggests if we just if we just help people's immediate needs, if we just kind of just provide for them and and put a sandwich in their hands or or give them backpacks when they go back to school, if we just do that, then we have done our part as Christians to serve our world. But the example of the perfect servant here tells us something else, sets a different standard. And this is what he is informing us, that that all that we do all that we do is with the aim of letting them know the message of the gospel. Because if if we don't have that motive, that we're no different than the community charities here, we're no different than secular services that offer help to people if they need help.

Why we do what we do is not just to represent the kingdom, but to give people the way to know how to get a citizenship into it. And that's what Jesus is doing here. He's not just showing what the father is like. He's not just demonstrating what love incarnate is like. He wants them to know how they can be saved.

He has a message behind his miracles. And now some might say that our service does have a message. Well, we we we we do. We we go to people and we tell them as we serve them that Jesus loves them. Jesus loves them.

Jesus loves them. Yes. That's part of it, but that's not what Jesus preached. Jesus didn't go around telling people, I love you. I love you.

I love you. Repent and believe in the gospel. That's what Jesus preached. Jesus preached repent and believe. It was his first cry, as you see in Mark one, and it is the very message that he gives to his apostles before he ascends into heaven.

In fact, it is this beautiful transition from John to the apostles. John preached repentance. And now we come here to the transition. The baton comes into Jesus' hands. He preaches repentance.

And as he's about to leave the scene, he brings that baton and puts it in the hands of the apostles. Go and preach repentance and forgiveness of sins. And the apostles, what? Do you think it ended with them? Where is the message of repentance in 2022?

What happened to the word repent? What happened to calling people to repent? There's a lot of believe, a lot of believe, believe, believe, believe. But where is repent? You know, there's a camp among evangelicals called cessationists.

And cessationists, what they adhere to is that the miraculous gifts of the spirit have ceased at the completion of the canon of scripture. Once the bible was completed, we don't need these certain miracles to be in operation, so they go under the name of cessationist or cessationism. That's a different topic for a different sermon. K? I believe there's another cessationism among evangelicals.

They probably wouldn't call themselves cessationists, and they probably wouldn't even understand what I'm about to say, but I'm gonna clarify in a moment. There are those who are cessationists unknowingly because, for some reason, apparently, the message of repentance ceased at some point. At some point, we don't need to tell people to repent anymore, apparently. And I am much more concerned about that sensationalism than the one about the gifts or any other one. Where did this message go?

I remember when I first got saved, I jokingly would tell my fellow believer friends the r word. I would use it as the the the r word. Repent it's almost like it's a bad word now. We don't wanna offend people, I guess. But if we understood what repentance really was, we would say it a lot more often.

And if it's not a word that is altogether ignored, it is a word that is, by many, been attempted to be redefined, not by the unbelieving, but by those who would even call themselves evangelicals. So much so that it has created a camp within evangelicalism. And what is that camp all about? Well, it is a camp that adheres to the idea that to to tell people to repent from their sins is not right. You cannot tell people to repent from their sins because the word repent in the original Greek means to change your mind.

Metanoia, change your way of thinking. And so here's the argument. To tell people to repent, to be saved by saying you must turn from your sin is false. It's a false gospel. And the argument continues and is expanded to say that because salvation is by faith, it is by grace alone.

To suggest that someone would stop to do something in order to be saved would would suggest that they are, in a sense, working for their salvation. And so with their zeal, they would say, this is an assault on grace. This is an assault on God receiving all glory for his redeeming power in someone's life. And so what we need to say is that believe. And if we're gonna use the word repent because it's there, you gotta deal with it.

In their minds, the word repent is synonymous with faith. They mean the same thing. Repent and faith are the same thing. So when you see repent and believe, it's change your mind and believe the right thing about God. You believe the wrong thing about God, you believe the wrong thing about what it means to be saved, change that and believe in Jesus Christ.

So where does sin play in all of this? Where does turning from iniquity? Well, it happens after you believe. And it's something that we don't tell people to do. It's something that the Holy Spirit will tell them to do.

But to say that you must turn from sin is to present a false gospel to those who hold to this view. Do you know what's at stake here? I'm sure you already know. But here's what's at stake. Jesus said, repent and believe.

And if we're only telling people to believe, we're only giving people half the call. And And if we're only giving people half the call, you know what the fruit of that is in my estimation? You have churches filled with half converted Christians. That's what you have. And the church in the West is plagued with half converted Christians because they were told believe, but they were not told to repent.

And so I remember this coming to me early on in the ministry, even meeting people. Meeting people who really believe that. That would that would call me right now a false teacher because we proclaim a gospel of repentance. And here's the idea. To say that repent simply means to change one's mind without the implication that it will change the direction of your ways is completely foreign to those who preach repentance in the New Testament.

To simply say change your mind no matter how you live because that is the fruit of it. Just it doesn't matter how you live. If if if you just believe, that's fine. Doesn't matter what happens afterwards. Doesn't matter if you're the same carnal, worldly, devilish person.

It's a message of grace and faith. These people would have great trouble in coming before John, Jesus, and the apostles. Because when they preach repentance, there's no arguing that it means change of thinking, but they knew what that would bring about in someone's life if it was sincere. Okay. Let me prove that to you.

Luke chapter one verse 77. May we be equipped to help those who would hold to this view. Actually, Luke one seventy six. This is John the Baptist's father in the spirit prophesying about his son, and here is one of the facets of John the Baptist's ministry that is extremely insightful. Remember, here's what we're trying to do.

The idea is to say repent means to simply change your mind, which is synonymous with believing the right thing about God. It has nothing to do with sin. It has nothing to do with bearing fruit. It has nothing to do with cutting off the flesh. It has everything to do with just believing in your heart.

Keep that in mind. So when John preached repent, just just believe. When Jesus preached repent, just just believe. When the apostles just have faith. Look what the father of John, by the spirit, says about his son in Luke one seventy six.

A new child will be called the prophet of the most high, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, look at verse 77, to give knowledge of salvation to his people. And just in case there's any confusion, this is not talking about a political salvation for the nation of Israel, a much more needed salvation in the forgiveness of their sins. When you, my son, will be raised up at the right time, you will preach and you will teach the nation of Israel how they can acquire salvation. Forgiveness for their sins. Now that is incredible.

Here's why it's incredible. If that is the revelation of John's preaching and you go to John's preaching, it makes an incredible connection. Remember, John will teach and preach the people how they can be what? Saved, how they can be forgiven for their sins. And then you come to Luke three eight, and what do you see John saying?

With that as as the backdrop, what do you see John saying to people? Luke three eight, bear fruits in keeping with repentance. Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. What does Luke one tell us in 77? To give knowledge of salvation.

And what does John end up preaching? Yeah. Repent. But that repentance is gonna bring about some fruit. True salvation will bring about a change.

There will be a transformation. It will be noticeable. It will be observable. It will be seen. There will be a fragrance.

To suggest that somebody just repents and then your thinking changes, but you continue to do what you do before you met Christ is is alien. It makes no sense with John because he said your repentance, your change of mind about Christ, your sin, your need for a savior would produce fruit. So is John a false teacher now? Or perhaps you would argue with John. Okay.

Fine. Let's now come before the the Lord himself. What did Jesus mean when he said repent? What did Jesus have in mind when he called people to repent? What what connection was there when he used that word?

Well, we're still in Luke. Right? Go to Luke 11. Look at verse 32. And notice how he teaches about repentance in an indirect way, what he is conveying when he uses the word.

Luke eleven thirty two, he says, the men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they, what? Repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold something greater than Jonah is here. If you've read that short book in the Old Testament, the book of Jonah, then a light bulb should have gone off. When Jesus says they repented according to the argument that we are trying to defend against, that means when Jonah came in and they repented, he said, oh, yeah. This is sin.

This is wrong. Thanks, Jonah. Thanks for coming by. Take care. And they go right back into what they were doing before.

Is that what you see in Jonah? Or did you see a visible brokenness? Did you see a fasting? Did you see ash even to the degree to the degree where they invited their animals to fast? That's what Jesus had in mind when he when he saw repentance, when he declared repentance.

And in fact, if there's any confusion, when you go to Jonah let me just read to you the reference, and it will seal the deal in my opinion. In Jonah three ten, we are told when God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way. God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. How can you argue against that? Like, where's where's the loophole?

When Jesus said they repented, you go back to Jonah. And what did we told in Jonah? When they turned from their evil way. Nobody said, oh, thank you. I didn't know adultery was wrong.

I guess it's wrong now. Let me go back to my adultery. That doesn't make sense. They actually turned from their way. Because in the mind of Jesus, that's what repentance means.

And so in that famous hymn, we have a beautiful definition. Quote, repentance is to leave the sins we loved before and show that we in earnest grieve by doing so no more. But let me challenge our view of repentance because when you hear repentance, the first thing that comes to mind, if you have a sound understanding of the scriptures, is turn from your evil ways, turn from your sin, turn from the vileness that you enjoyed at one point. But repentance is much deeper than that. To repent also means to repent not just of your evil, but of your good.

To repent means not just to let go of your sin, it also is a call to let go of any of your own righteousness. So you see, it's much broader than how we would understand it. And this was particularly difficult for the Jews. And Paul gives us an understanding of why many of the Jews were not saved and are not saved to this day. In Romans ten three, just listen to these words, for being ignorant of the righteousness of God and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness.

Repentance is not just for the prostitute, and the drug dealer, and the gang banger. Repentance is just as much for the Pharisee, and for the lovely church lady who doesn't do harm in society, but has never really repented because she trusts in her good works to get into heaven. When you put these things together, when you really understand all the things that pertain to repentance, here's a beautiful way of understanding it. To repent means to just give up. Just stop.

Just fall at his feet. Bring before him your sin, and bring before him your self righteousness, and just submit to his righteousness. And that's why Jesus could say repent and believe. You can't separate those things. They're twins, conjoined twins.

See, when you understand what true repentance is, it's not just stop doing that, it's stop it and then now receive the faith that brings about forgiveness. Surrender to what he has done for you. Not just in the ugliness of sin, but even in whatever beauty you thought you had in your own holiness. Stop all of it, and just come to Christ, fall at his feet, and receive his mercy. Just give up.

Stop and surrender. You can't have true repentance without believing. You can't. And you can't have true believing without repentance. You need both.

You need both. And the reason why I'm hammering on repentance is because what we are struggling with today is that we emphasize belief and not repent. And so you have a lot of people here who have no different of a faith than demons who acknowledge that there is a God, but are still workers of iniquity. I got saved at 20. Why?

Because up to that point, you asked me, do you believe? I would say, yes. But at 20, I repented. It was not a repentant faith. It was just an acknowledgment of the reality of God.

Perhaps that someone in this place today, You're not a menace to the culture. You don't break laws. You have nice Christian parents. You believe that there is a Jesus. You believe that there is a heaven, but you have not repented.

And if you do not honor the directives, you will not know the blessing and the reward that is on the other side. Only, listen, only when I came to the point where I said this isn't the way it should be. Based on my study of scripture, the verse that pricked my heart was they honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. I'm like, that's me. And I knew it.

And only then listen. Only then when I said I don't want my sin. This sin put Christ on the cross. I don't want with my iniquity. I want Christ.

I wanna turn from this. I wanna embrace his love. I wanna know his forgiveness. I wanna know relationship. Only then the spirit from above flood my heart and change it.

Some of you here perhaps, you've been riding on believe, believe, believe, and nothing has changed. You love the world. You love your sin. You have no victory over it, no strength over it. Your desire is no different than the appetite of the carnal neighbor or your carnal school friends or your carnal employees because you have not repented.

And he's waiting for you to repent. And again, repentance is not you trying to do better. Remember, you have to repent if you're trying to do better. It's saying, I don't want my sin. I don't want righteousness on my own.

I want Christ. Give up. Why do you repent? Why do we repent? I'll tell you why.

Romans two four. Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance. So only when you know something of his goodness will you be the most motivated to actually repent. We cannot misinterpret this to say that we should not proclaim the warnings, repent or perish.

That is still appropriate because the goodness here of Jesus, the forbearance of our God, is that with one hand, he stays the wrath of God and with the other hand, he extends us to us to be forgiven. And there is a time coming as one preacher said where both hands will come down, but it is not yet. The forbearance, the willingness to wait is enough kindness for us to say, I repent. But all the other kindnesses that you and I have experienced in God, whether you are a direct recipient of it or an indirect, the sun today kissing your skin on your way into here is God's kindness. Your full belly or the belly you will be filling after this is God's kindness.

All these things should woo you to say, oh, how can I not repent? How can I hold on to the things that grieve him? He's been so good to me. How can I sit there and watch this filth when I know that the one that breaks his heart has been so wonderful to me? And you repent.

If you repent solely out of fear, that fear will will not be enough for you to know sustaining relationship with Jesus Christ. Know his kindness. And the ultimate climactic expression of his kindness is that Christ died for you. For you. He wants you.

He wants you. He wants you to be saved. He wants you to be washed with his blood so that you would have right standing with God forever and ever and ever. And when you do repent, don't expect a perfect repentance. Don't be frustrated with you know, you meet some people too because they don't become a saint immediately.

They question their salvation. There's the other extreme now, not the believing part where the rep I don't know if I repented enough. I don't know if I've given up I don't know if I have enough victory. How much victory should I have before I know I really repent? Just take a breath.

The measure of your repentance being sincere is not the amount of victory you have over certain sins. It is your attitude towards that sin. So let me ask you this, you wanna know if you've truly repented? Do you want your sin? Do you love your sin?

Do you enjoy your sin? Do you wish that you can have Jesus and your sin? Do you feel like Jesus is an intrusive person with your lifestyle, with your desires? Or is there something in you that says, I wish he can clothe me with that resurrected body now? I never wanna hurt him.

I never wanna misrepresent him. I hate this sin. Do I feel the temptation towards it sometimes? And though I may even slip into it at times, I abhor it. I wanna be free from this.

Do you see? It's the attitude because the change of mind. Right? Repent means change your perspective on this, and then it will translate in the way you interact with it. That's what I'm calling you today.

So don't get up here and with your shoulders down, your head low, say, I must not really repented because I'm still struggling. I'm not asking if you struggle or not. I'm asking if you have the same desire for it. And if you can say in your heart and honestly look in the eyes of a fellow brother, I don't want this. I wanna be free.

I love the Lord. This this breaks my heart. Oh, brother, you have repented, and you are walking in repentance. Don't doubt that for a moment. I will doubt your repentance.

If you can come in here week after week, sing and preach and play and have not one ounce of concern with the sin that seems to be dominating your life, there I'm concerned. But I have more confidence when I see a bruised up brother with spiritual crutches sometime who's able to come into this place and say it's been a war, but I'm still fighting by the power of the spirit. Oh, brother, you have repented and you are walking in repentance. How do you repent? Two simple words that came to mind.

There may be more. I'm not as clever as other preachers. Rethink. Rethink about your sin. Rethink about what your sin did to Christ, what sin is in God's eyes.

Rethink about his righteousness and your righteousness, how yours will fail to the standard of his. And once you rethink, once you acknowledge he is holy, I am not, I'm in debt, he has the payment, that is the first step into repentance, and then you follow with not rethinking, but rejecting. And now you look at that and you say, I don't want that anymore. I renounce it. I confess it, and I will daily deny it and turn my back to it.

And that repentance can be against a disgusting sin or even what you think is righteousness that will secure your salvation. You reject both day by day by day, and you grow in that repentance. And the Holy Spirit gives you greater strength over those sins, and you go to war with it. Repentance is not a one time thing. It is a lifestyle.

It is a lifestyle. I've been repenting for ten years. I've been repenting. You have been repent repenting the moment that you've made that decision. But here's the call that I wanna make in this simple message.

Hey, listen. You can't fool me. Okay? I know what it's like to sit in a pew and think that I am fine, when in fact I've never repented. My question to you today is not just if you believe, did you repent?

Jesus preached repentance. And those who would occupy the place of representing him, as I do today from this pulpit, must preach it as well. Are you convinced of the kindness of God to the degree that you would say, I renounce this world? Come on, young person. Be honest with yourself.

Don't fall asleep just, Yeah, we're almost there. Your soul is at stake. Have you come to the place that you are convinced that this world has nothing to offer you? And even if it did, you would gladly turn your back on it because Jesus bids you to come and die so that you may live. Have you done that?

One preacher said something so powerful and I've never forgotten it since he said it. He's long gone now. He says, I don't even look at people and ask them if they're saved anymore. He said, I look at them straight in the eyes and I say, does Christ live in you? You get much different answers from that.

Does Christ live in you? And that's what I wanna look out to this group of people today and ask, does Christ live in you? Has he taken up resident in your heart? Does he live here? How do you know if he lives here?

Well, you can't do what you wanna do. You're not the owner anymore. You've given him the keys. And how did you give him the keys? How did you give him the deed of your soul?

I repent and believe. I'm done. You take it. Does Christ live in you? Oh, my mom and dad love I I that's fine.

That's beautiful. Great. Okay. I did VB no. That's fine.

Awana? Great. Awana is not salvation. Alright? Missions trips is not salvation.

K? Preaching doesn't get you into the kingdom. Repent. Repent and believe. If you wanna know if you've truly repented, the passes are here.

We wanna help you. We wanna be there with you. Because I believe that there are people on different levels. Remember that man where Jesus says, you are not far from the kingdom? I love that.

Jesus is so realistic with people's journeys. But I would say today, if you even have a doubt about whether you've truly repented not talking about you very introspective people. You question you whether you repented every second of the day. I'm not talking about you. I'm talking about those for for the first time hearing a message like this.

You've actually questioned the authenticity of your faith because you've been confronted with the reality of what it means to be saved. Don't brush it off. Jesus calls you to repent, and he's waiting with his kindness for you to make that decision. Oh, may it be so in his name. Let's pray.

Lord, your word has taught us today that the primary purpose of your ministry even in a book that seeks to display you as a wonderful servant is that people would hear loud and clear to repent and believe. Lord, if there's even one who has not done that, Only your Holy Spirit can convince us of sin. And for those who have repented and are repenting and are believing, lord, give us greater strength to continue to walk, not for us to attain anything. Lord, we have been accepted in the beloved, But, Lord, to walk out in a way that would bring joy to you, joy to us. Lord, would you revive the message of repentance in America?

Would you bring a revival of the message that John the Baptist preached, that your son preached, that the apostles preached? Lord, baptize us afresh with a revelation of the need to repent. And Lord, we just glory in your name, oh God, that you've given us access into the kingdom. Lord that you've made it so simple to just give up, to submit to your righteousness, to reject unrighteousness, to receive the payment, and to allow that love to so change us that we walk out bearing fruit, keeping with repentance. Thank you, oh Lord, that the moment we confess and believe and repent, we are saved.

That that does not vacillate based on our performance. We thank you for that. And we pray, oh Lord, that for those who doubt the sincerity of their salvation, that even a message like this would seal the deal and they would know that they are secure in your love. We bless you now as we worship you in song. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.