Christianity Explained - Study 5 - Repentance

Christianity Explained is designed for the person who knows nothing about Jesus or his Gospel.

Papatoetoe has an estimated 2.8% of its population in Church on a Sunday. Could you or I explain to the nearly 98% non-Christians in Papatoetoe (that’s 49 out of 50 people you see in the street) the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a way that helped them to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and gave them reason to change what they do on a Sunday morning? This course will equip you for the task.

So far we have established the 3 essential foundations to being a true Christian. 

The belief that Jesus is the Son of God with all authority including final judgment over us, that his death on the Cross was the only way to forgive our sins and that after 3 days he rose back life, proving he really is the Son of God with even authority even over death itself. These are the 3 foundations to the well known scripture

Romans 10:9

that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Christianity answers the most important question that we can ever ask. What must I do to be saved? 

For the 4th study on Grace over Works, we had RC Sproul explain what was the key change in doctrine that came out of the Reformation of the 1500’s.

Last week we looked at the timeline of the Reformation and saw how God moves in history, often in spite of man’s bungling intervention that potentially ruins the work of God.

On 31st October 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the All Saints Church in Wittenberg counteracting false doctrine that had crept into the Catholic Church primarily;

Before: Faith + Works = Justification 

⁃ this means you can only be declared justified if you have done good works, no good for the thief on the cross if it were true but Jesus had already turned that thinking upside down.

After: Faith = Justification + Works

⁃ In other words, the emphasis is on faith for salvation and the works follow after having been justified or saved.

This change in doctrine was so explosive that as we learned last week, it led to an 18 year discussion at the Council of Trent and split the church between Catholic and Protestant.

Eventually leading to Guy Fawkes and his Catholic plotters attempting to assassinate the King and blow up the Houses of Parliament and take back England for the Pope.

This week we are going to follow on from our last study on salvation is by faith alone.

Today our study is on repentance - the true sign of salvation. A lot of modern day preaching neglects the use of this word which is seen as old fashioned. But first, we’ll read a passage on repentance found in Luke;

Luke 13:1-5

There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” 

Repentance is so important that Jesus said it twice within a few seconds.

Following on immediately, Jesus said;

Luke 13:6-9

He also spoke this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’ But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’ ”

He also spoke the parable to tie repentance to fruit. We don’t know what happened to the tree, we only know what would have happened if it did not bear fruit.

Repentance was a theme of Jesus’s preaching along with the necessity to believe. The fruit of repentance shows that we have truly believed. 

Mark 1:14-15

Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

What is repentance? 

A biblical definition of repentance involves 4 things. To make a change of mind, heart, and action, by turning away from sin and self and returning to God.

What is the Gospel?

It is good to remember that the first four books are started with;

« The Gospel According to ». Each author has a unique perspective of the Gospel as we all do.

1. Matthew presents Jesus as the Jewish Messiah, the fulfillment of Old Testament hopes. Matthew’s central theme is promise and fulfillment: God’s promises in the Hebrew Scriptures to bring salvation to his people Israel and to the whole world are being fulfilled with the coming of Jesus the Messiah. The Church’s response to this joyful news should be to go into all the world and make disciples (followers) of Jesus the Messiah.

The Gospel according to Matthew would have us change our mind, our belief about who Jesus is.

2. Mark portrays him as the suffering Servant who offers himself as a sacrifice for sins. Mark’s gospel is that Jesus is the mighty Messiah and Son of God, who took on the role of a suffering servant whose death and resurrection paid the penalty for our sins and achieved victory over Satan, sin, and death. With this joyful announcement comes the call to all believers for faith and cross-bearing discipleship.

The gospel according to Mark would primarily change our actions and follow Jesus example of servanthood towards others, taking up our Cross and following him.

3. Luke’s gospel is that Jesus is the Son of Man, the Saviour of the World, who brings salvation to all nations and people groups. The gospel is for Lost People Everywhere (think Prodigal Son). God’s end-time salvation has arrived. It is available to all who respond in faith, whatever their past life, social status, or ethnicity.

The gospel according to Luke would primarily have us turn away from our selfishness and sin and return to God as in the Parable of the Lost Son.

4. John portrays Jesus as the Son of God the Father, the Word made flesh, who brings eternal life to all who believe in him. John’s gospel is of the Eternal Son Who Reveals the Father. We can know the Father through the Son, in fact we can become the children of God. John’s portrait of Jesus focuses less on his messiahship and more on his true humanity and true deity. 

The gospel according to John says the change that’s needed is a change of heart. We need to be born again. That is a work of the Holy Spirit who brings us into the family of God, where God is our Father.

All four Gospels emphasise the importance of repentance, they just emphasise different aspects of it.

And I’d suggest that’s because at different times in our life we need to apply repentance in a different way. 

Sometimes we’ve become too wise in our own eyes, we need to change our belief about who Jesus is and put our trust in Him not in man’s foolish thinking.

Sometimes our lives don’t measure up to our words. We need to square up our actions. We need to put aside our own desires and do what is right by God.

Sometimes we’ve been living our own way and we’ve hit rock bottom. We need to come to our senses, remember our home and return to God.

Sometimes all we need is a change of heart. That is the miraculous work of God alone.

Today the message is from Mark, where Jesus is the suffering servant and repentance is proven by our actions not our words.

You become a Christian when you make Jesus Christ the King or Master of your life.

Mark 8:34-38

When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”

What does it mean, in practical terms, to repent? It means I put Jesus first in these things;

Before my will

Jesus says a person must forget (or deny) self, carry his cross and lose his life. Now the cross was an instrument of death. Jesus tells me that if I am to follow him, I must go through a kind of death experience. I must die to the right to run my own life (which is sin). I am to surrender to the God-given right of Jesus to be my King. 

Before my ambitions 

People everywhere are trying to “gain the whole world.” To a greater or lesser degree, their aim is to accumulate power, money, popularity, pleasure, prestige, business success, or just keep ahead of the neighbors. Now these things may not be wrong in themselves, but they are sin if they are things we live for above everything else. When Jesus is Number One, these things fall into their right perspective. 

Before my popularity

It is not popular to follow Jesus sincerely today. Friends or family members may regard me as strange – some may not want to associate with me any more. But if I’m ashamed of Jesus in this life, then he will reject me on Judgment Day! I must follow Jesus openly. He is not interested in secret disciples. The most obvious way to start doing this is to belong to a church. People who avoid church may claim that it is boring, but often they are just ashamed to be associated openly with Christ and his people. Emphasise that members of the group may have a spouse, relative or friend who disapproves of their faith. But you must put Jesus first (politely) even if it means ridicule.

Mark 9:43-48

If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched— where ‘Their worm does not die And the fire is not quenched.’ 

And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched— where ‘Their worm does not die, And the fire is not quenched.’ 

And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire— where ‘Their worm does not die And the fire is not quenched.’

Here, Jesus repeats the phrase about Hell 3 times.

Their worm does not die And the fire is not quenched.

Jesus does not literally mean that I am to cut off  body parts. He means that if anything or anyone is stopping me from entering God’s kingdom, then radical surgery may be necessary. Pride is often the cause of this.

⁃ Am I too proud to accept salvation as a gift?

⁃ Am I too proud to submit to Jesus as King?

Mark 10:29-31

So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

It may sound hard to follow Jesus, but he makes two promises when we do:

 1.  In this life, he will repay us “a hundred times” 

for any cost we suffer.

 2.  In the next life, he will give us eternal life.

Is it worth it? 

Jim Elliot, the American missionary killed by tribesmen in South America said of his mission;

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose".

This message of repentance may not speak to everyone here today in the same way. As we said earlier, the Gospels speak differently to people in different places in their lives. But if God is speaking to you today asking you to be honest with yourself about what or who is first in your life, and asking you to respond to Jesus message of repentance and putting your faith in him today, then today is the day of your salvation and you need to respond. Not everyone gets a second chance.

Trusting God in Turbulent Times

At this week’s Family First staff meeting, one of my colleagues Gordon Clark who is the Pastor at Patumahoe Community Church asked me what I would be preaching on this week. I told him I had been reading Luke 10-12 and with everything that had happened with the US election, I was planning a message on Prayer. His jaw dropped opened and he looked at the sky. “That’s exactly what I’m going to be preaching about this week”.

So before I even had stood up to speak and several of you had already spoken messages about living in turbulent times, sung “Take it to the Lord in Prayer”, brought the Lord’s Prayer into Communion and given an extended reading of the very passage I was about to preach on, it was a confirmation that it is a word from the Lord on prayer. In fact I told you all straight up that I didn’t really needed to preach today because it had already been done.

Nevertheless it is worth speaking the message to prove to you that what the Lord has been saying to all of you, he’s been saying to me as well.

But first of all, who is this?

Last week November 5th was a celebration of Guy Fawkes Day. The event is also known as Bonfire Night. Guy Fawkes Day celebrates the failure of a Catholic plot against the English Protestant government in 1605. 

This was after the Reformation that started in 1517 with Martin Luther’s publication of 95 theses causing a breach in the Church as Protestants left the Pope and the Catholic Church because of false doctrine.

88 years later, several Catholics, including Guy Fawkes, plotted to blow up the Houses of Parliament and restore the Pope as the effective leader of England. However, the government found out about the plot before the attack could take place.

The Catholic plotters had intended to assassinate Protestant King James I and his parliament. Celebrating that the king had survived, people lit bonfires around London. Months later, the Observance of 5th November Act 1605 was passed, an annual public day of thanksgiving for the plot's failure.

Within a few decades Gunpowder Treason Day, as it was known, became the predominant English state commemoration. As it carried strong Protestant religious overtones it also became a focus for anti-Catholic sentiment. Puritans delivered sermons regarding the perceived dangers of popery, while during increasingly raucous celebrations common folk burnt effigies of popular hate-figures, such as the Pope.  

The timing of the plot to kill the King is very interesting.

One year before the attempt on the King’s life on November 5th 1605, the King James Version of the Bible was commissioned in 1604 and was finally published in 1611.

If the attempt on the King’s life had succeeded, would we have had the King James version of the Bible today?

November 5th, 2024 was US Election Day. We cannot see in the spiritual realm, but it feels like last week, something massive happened that halted the progress of evil in our generation. We shall see over the coming weeks and months how it all unfolds. Though there has been a great victory, the Devil is so mad, we can anticipate his evil empire will want to strike back. 

Jesus sent his disciples out in twos to announce the Kingdom of God in advance of Jesus coming to the cities. If a city accepted the message, it would have peace. If a city rejected the message, it would have judgement. 

Luke 10:17-24

Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”

We are living in a time like this where individuals, cities, whole regions, even nations have a choice to make. Will they accept the Kingdom of God or will they reject it. It was incredible to witness the reaction of the Left when Roe v Wade was overturned. The main thrust of the Democratic campaign seemed to be their position on abortion. They framed it as reproductive rights. It was so encouraging to witness America choose life. We are witnessing the dismantling of the Progressive agenda in America which has been fully exposed as Anti Bible, Antichrist.

In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. ” Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it.”

I read this week some leftist in the Guardian lamenting that more than half of Americans that had voted for Trump were either stupid or evil. They have conducted so much analysis on why they lost the election. Everyone and everything is being blamed, Biden, Harris, Latinos, Coloured, Young men, trad wives, they’ve identified so many reasons, but they just don’t understand why they lost the common man.

When someone rejects God, they go down a dark path where they can no longer see the truth. God has hidden these things from the proud and arrogant, from the worldly wise and revealed it to the weak, the humble, the innocent, the babes of this world. We are really blessed if we can see God’s truth and be joyful like Jesus was joyful when evil is defeated.

What I believe we are witnessing is not political, it is spiritual and the result of the prayers of Christians all around the world.

So many Christians were praying over the US election. As we have witnessed, when Christians pray in unity, it is very powerful. We may be the small rally down the street, but prayer can change the destiny of nations. 

Everything Jesus said in the Lord's Prayer is a foundation, a guide for effective prayer. Jesus wasn't giving a magic formula nor giving the details of what to pray in every situation faced. Instead, he sets the foundation blocks like the good builder he is.

The first part of the prayer is about our relationship with God and who He is. Quite often we start off our prayers with what we want forgetting that the most important thing to God is our relationship with Him.

Luke 11:2-4

So He said to them, “When you pray, say: 

Our Father in heaven, 

Hallowed be Your name. 

Your kingdom come. 

Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. 

Give us day by day our daily bread. 

And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. 

And do not lead us into temptation, 

But deliver us from the evil one.”

Our Father - he's our Dad, he loves us. He's a good Father. He wants us to grow up and be successful in life, in our relationships, in our character. To do our best. to avoid foolishness and evil. He wants us to be wise, strong, beautiful and popular for all the right reasons. He wants us to fulfill our potential, to be healthy, blessed, fulfilled in our dreams but to do more than we could ever dream of. To have a good reputation. To leave behind goodness and a legacy to be proud of. To be courageous and stand up for what's right. To be faithful and true. To be hardworking, to have a strong foundation for the storms of life. To be filled with joy and to always have love. But if we're not on track for all of that we can expect some "correction" from Dad. Because he loves us!

Who is in Heaven - He's the Rock, a strong and mighty tower. A safe refuge. Heaven, that place where there is only peace and beauty and goodness and no evil. He is not susceptible to the troubles of the World, he can see everything clearly and he knows what we are facing, what we should do and where we should go. He is ruling over everything, every evil principality and power and every situation we are in. And he has untold number of angels at his command to protect us and guide us. A NZ citizen can appeal to the Privy Council if they face an injustice, but we are heavenly citizens and we can appeal to the highest Authority there is but more than that, we are the kids of the King!

Hallowed be your Name - Let the mention of your name bring a hush. The demons are afraid of the name of Jesus. May everyone shut their mouths and stand in awe of you. When people look at us, let them be reminded who we represent. Don't let people use your name like a curse word, let them realise who you are.

Your Kingdom come - Your Kingdom come whether we are ready or not. May your power be demonstrated to the World so that nobody can deny you. When your Kingdom comes, people are going to tremble and fall to their knees and on their faces but let it be so! Let the earth shake. Do your healing and miracles so that the people will discover you are real. 

Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven - Down here people follow all kinds of different rules and philosophies. Some follow a strict religion. Some just live by the "golden rule". Some people do whatever they like as long it doesn't hurt anyone else. Some do what they whatever want and don't care for how it affects everyone else! Some "Just Do It". Some are just looking after No.1. And down here there is one big mess! No-one has it all together, we're all a bit screwed up. But you are the Way, the Truth and the Life. You made us and you know what's best for us. If only we could do what you want and not what we want. Then we would have Heaven and not Hell on Earth.

Then after getting our priorities in prayer straight, we can move on to what we need!

Give us this day our Daily Bread - The Lord's Prayer is for the morning, asking provision for the day ahead. It is looking forward not backwards. This verse has a direct connection to the first temptation Jesus faced in the desert. We trust that God will provide even in the leanest of times because he is Jehovah Jireh. There is also more to life than our physical needs. We don't live by bread alone but by obedience to God's Word, doing his will on Earth as it is in Heaven. Doing God’s will satisfies us.

And forgive us our debts - Only the person who is owed the debt can forgive us. Jesus knew the day we were saved, it wouldn't be the last time we sinned so it's in his prayer! So many debts! Now God is our Father so we're not talking about things particularly. God doesn't give us something for a favour. He gives out of love. But there is a kind of debt in love. A feeling that you need to repay love with love. Because if we just take, take, take the giver can begin to feel they are being taken for granted. Those are the debts we have to God our Father and we can never repay them. Do we realise how much we owe Jesus for what he gave to us? That is our greatest debt.

As we forgive our debtors - The people who owe us something! Those debts we find a bit easier to remember don't we! We gave them something and they never gave it back. Or we did something for them and they never even thanked us for it. They took us for granted. Or they hurt us. Now we're holding a grudge and we don't like them and are angry with them. We need to forgive them that debt. We need to let it go. We can, if we remember that God has forgiven us a much greater debt!

The year of Jubilee was the year all debts were forgiven. It came once every 50 years! And with Jubilee came a promise of a double portion of prosperity and everlasting joy.

We shouldn’t be waiting 50 years to forgive our debtors, we need to keep short accounts.

And do not lead us into temptation - As we saw last week, the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tempted by Satan. But Jesus encourages us to pray not to be tempted. Knowing our frailty, that is a very good thing for us to pray! Is there any weakness we have, any place we should avoid so we don't get tempted to do evil? When we are engaged in Spiritual Warfare, one of Satan's key weapons is temptation. Jesus is encouraging us to pray against Satan's weapon, to neutralise it. We need to anticipate when he is going to use it before we are in the heat of a battle!

But deliver us from the Evil One - Not just on a personal level, but our Nation, our World. We are unable to escape on our own from the grip of the Evil One. If we are trapped in our sin, the Lord is able to deliver us, Jesus paid the price for every sin to set us free. If we are in an evil situation through no fault of our own as were the Israelites in slavery in Egypt we can cry out as they did to the Lord to deliver us. He sent Moses and delivered them with many miracles and he can do the same for us through Jesus. We can be delivered from ISIS if we will cry out in prayer!

For yours is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen - it’s his Kingdom, not ours. It’s by his power not our strength for we are very weak. It’s for his glory, not ours.

Speak out the Lord's Prayer and what each line means to you at this moment in your life.