WEBVTT 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:08.400 How can we believe that Christ suffered and that Christ rose from the dead, but we can't believe that repentance is necessary for forgiveness? 00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:09.199 Here's why. 00:00:09.359 --> 00:00:11.519 Because that paints us in a bad lie. 00:00:11.599 --> 00:00:13.439 It's maybe we've never been converted. 00:00:13.599 --> 00:00:15.439 Maybe we desire Christianity. 00:00:15.599 --> 00:00:16.559 We want heaven. 00:00:16.719 --> 00:00:21.440 But I don't like repentance because repentance requires something of me. 00:00:22.879 --> 00:00:25.679 And I can't back away from what the Bible says. 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:34.719 Christ would suffer, he'd rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations. 00:00:34.960 --> 00:00:42.000 Jesus so believes this that he says, this is going to be proclaimed in my name to all nations. 00:00:43.200 --> 00:00:50.320 This podcast is brought to you by Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:50.560 --> 00:00:56.240 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit our website at grandparkway.org. 00:00:59.039 --> 00:00:59.520 Amen. 00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:01.039 Amen. 00:01:01.200 --> 00:01:01.520 Amen. 00:01:01.600 --> 00:01:02.560 Let's pray together, church. 00:01:02.719 --> 00:01:07.439 Lord, we just want we sing songs like that to remind ourselves that we're not circumstantial Christians. 00:01:07.599 --> 00:01:09.120 We want to be consistent people. 00:01:09.280 --> 00:01:15.680 Whether we're on top of the mountain or we're walking through the valley, even though we walk through the valley in the shadow of death, we're not going to be afraid. 00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:22.640 And so, Lord, increase our ability to be consistent or increase our consistency from your word and by your spirit with what you say today. 00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:23.840 This is our prayer, God. 00:01:23.920 --> 00:01:24.799 Make it our experience. 00:01:24.959 --> 00:01:26.319 We ask for it in Jesus' name. 00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:28.640 And everyone said, Amen, amen. 00:01:28.719 --> 00:01:29.280 You could have a seat. 00:01:29.359 --> 00:01:32.400 If you got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open up to Matthew chapter 11. 00:01:32.480 --> 00:01:34.239 And if you're our guest, let me say, welcome. 00:01:34.400 --> 00:01:36.159 We're preaching through the gospel of Matthew. 00:01:36.239 --> 00:01:38.000 And it's called expository preaching. 00:01:38.079 --> 00:01:44.159 And the great thing, just verse by verse, not jumping around to different topics that kind of scratch where you may or may not be itching today. 00:01:44.319 --> 00:01:50.000 But here's the great thing about expository preaching: it makes you think about things you would not by nature think about. 00:01:50.159 --> 00:02:01.359 And today is one of those days, and this little piece of scripture in Matthew chapter 11, verse 20 to 24, is one of those things we've got to think about something that we don't think about, and that is to our loss, not our gain. 00:02:01.439 --> 00:02:04.799 I want to talk to you this morning about the forgotten word of Christianity. 00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:06.959 The forgotten word of Christianity. 00:02:07.120 --> 00:02:09.599 There's a word that a long time ago people used a lot. 00:02:09.680 --> 00:02:13.680 As a matter of fact, in the Bible, it was the first word of the gospel, as you'll see here in just a minute. 00:02:13.759 --> 00:02:22.560 But we kind of pushed it to the side for some other words like forgiveness and grace and worship and all these kind of accessible things that feel good. 00:02:22.879 --> 00:02:25.840 But the forgotten word of Christianity is repentance. 00:02:26.080 --> 00:02:27.039 Repentance. 00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:28.479 It's so forgotten. 00:02:28.639 --> 00:02:29.840 Ask yourself this question. 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:35.439 When's the last time you had a conversation with somebody about repentance, theirs or yours? 00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:40.319 When's the last time you were having lunch with somebody from work, men, and they say, Well, Bill, what'd you do this weekend? 00:02:40.479 --> 00:02:42.479 Well, I repented of some things in my life. 00:02:42.639 --> 00:02:44.639 You'd be like, Whoa, what is that? 00:02:44.879 --> 00:02:46.800 It's so forgotten that we we don't. 00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:52.240 I mean, we it's it's just like, hey, I don't, whoa, what are you doing, man? 00:02:52.319 --> 00:02:59.199 And so I just want to see the importance that Jesus placed not on this word, but on this reality in the gospel. 00:02:59.280 --> 00:02:59.919 Does that make sense? 00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:00.719 Say amen. 00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:04.879 Oh my I want to read uh Matthew chapter 11, verse 20. 00:03:05.039 --> 00:03:10.080 Uh Jesus is he's been out and and and he's starting to encounter people that do not agree with him. 00:03:10.240 --> 00:03:11.360 Now, by the way, look at me. 00:03:11.520 --> 00:03:15.039 You're going to encounter people that do not agree with you or with Christianity. 00:03:15.199 --> 00:03:16.719 I encounter it all the time. 00:03:16.879 --> 00:03:18.159 And it doesn't bother me. 00:03:18.319 --> 00:03:27.199 If anything, I kind of enjoy it because I have to think about what I actually believe in, and I have to engage with people who do not believe what I believe. 00:03:27.280 --> 00:03:30.479 Uh, and that's okay with me because I'm not trying to win an argument. 00:03:30.639 --> 00:03:32.800 I'm here to demonstrate a reality. 00:03:32.960 --> 00:03:37.840 So Jesus has done some incredible things in these cities, and they were like, Yeah, we don't care. 00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:38.879 Get out of here. 00:03:39.039 --> 00:03:40.240 That's not a good response. 00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:42.159 The Bible says it like this in verse 20. 00:03:42.319 --> 00:03:48.080 Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done because they did not repent. 00:03:48.319 --> 00:03:50.000 Woe to you, Corazon. 00:03:50.159 --> 00:03:51.599 Woe to you, Bethsaida. 00:03:51.759 --> 00:03:59.520 And uh for if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 00:03:59.680 --> 00:04:04.960 But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 00:04:05.199 --> 00:04:08.319 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? 00:04:08.479 --> 00:04:10.159 You will be brought down to Hades. 00:04:10.479 --> 00:04:15.360 For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 00:04:15.599 --> 00:04:21.439 But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you. 00:04:21.680 --> 00:04:24.000 The forgotten word in Christianity is repentance. 00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:26.079 I just want to say three things from the text this morning. 00:04:26.319 --> 00:04:27.759 Here's the first one I want us to see. 00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:32.399 Repentance is the first word of the gospel, it is the first word of the gospel. 00:04:32.560 --> 00:04:37.759 We talk a lot about uh we will talk a lot about repentance today, so it helps us to have a definition. 00:04:37.920 --> 00:04:39.040 So let me start with that. 00:04:39.279 --> 00:04:45.759 Repentance is an inward conviction produced by the Holy Spirit that demonstrates itself in outward action. 00:04:45.920 --> 00:04:46.959 Let me say that again. 00:04:47.120 --> 00:04:50.000 Repentance is an inward conviction. 00:04:50.160 --> 00:04:57.600 The Holy Spirit inside of you convicts you of something, and you that that that conviction is demonstrated uh in outward action. 00:04:57.759 --> 00:05:00.240 Uh, when I what do you mean when I say it's the first word of the gospel? 00:05:00.399 --> 00:05:05.839 In Matthew chapter 4, best we can tell, when Jesus starts his public ministry, this is his first thing he says. 00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:12.000 It says, From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, Repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:21.519 You should notice as we kind of walk through this this morning that Jesus has no desire to be famous or get attention because his one consuming passion was that people repent. 00:05:21.680 --> 00:05:22.959 Why the big deal? 00:05:23.120 --> 00:05:25.360 Why such emphasis on repentance? 00:05:25.439 --> 00:05:29.600 Uh let me give you four reasons why repentance is so significant in the Bible. 00:05:29.680 --> 00:05:31.759 Number one, the gospel requires it. 00:05:32.079 --> 00:05:32.720 The gospel. 00:05:32.959 --> 00:05:34.160 Gospel means good news. 00:05:34.240 --> 00:05:37.040 The good news of Christianity requires repentance. 00:05:37.120 --> 00:05:41.519 We've neutered the gospel and made it one of promise but not responsibility. 00:05:41.759 --> 00:05:43.519 Agreement, but not action. 00:05:43.680 --> 00:05:48.399 So you can agree with a lot of things that never traffic, you never traffic in your life. 00:05:48.480 --> 00:05:53.120 Uh, I mean, let me make what may sound like a controversial statement, and I'll back it up from the Bible. 00:05:53.360 --> 00:06:00.959 You will never see in the Bible where people are promised forgiveness, heaven, or the Holy Spirit without repentance. 00:06:01.199 --> 00:06:08.959 There's nowhere in the Bible you'll see where people are promised heaven, forgiveness, or the Holy Spirit without repentance. 00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:11.279 And you say, well, that that's kind of a big statement. 00:06:11.439 --> 00:06:15.519 Yes, it is a big statement, and it's a true statement because see, we've got it backwards. 00:06:15.680 --> 00:06:18.639 Here's what we do: we start with what we did, okay? 00:06:18.800 --> 00:06:22.560 I prayed a prayer, whatever I did, to kind of get myself feeling spiritual. 00:06:22.720 --> 00:06:27.199 And then we subject everything in the Bible to what we did, this experience we had. 00:06:27.360 --> 00:06:29.439 And what we should do is the exact opposite. 00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:36.000 We should start with what the Bible says, and then subject every experience we've ever had to what the Bible clearly teaches. 00:06:36.079 --> 00:06:40.079 For example, in Acts chapter 2, uh in verse 37, this is what's happened. 00:06:40.160 --> 00:06:47.600 Uh, Pentecost has just happened, they kind of the birth of the church, and Christianity is spreading like wildfire, and they're preaching to these people. 00:06:47.680 --> 00:06:49.360 And this is listen to what they said. 00:06:49.519 --> 00:06:52.319 He says, now when they heard this, the people heard the gospel. 00:06:52.480 --> 00:06:54.720 Now, when they heard this, they were cut to the heart. 00:06:54.800 --> 00:06:58.879 And they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, brothers, what shall we do? 00:06:59.120 --> 00:07:09.920 And Peter said to them, Rededicate your lives, try harder, go to church every Sunday, give, read your Bible for 15 minutes and pray and vote Republican. 00:07:13.199 --> 00:07:15.279 No, no, look at what he says. 00:07:15.439 --> 00:07:19.839 I mean, these people are cut to the heart, and they are, when's the last time you were so convicted? 00:07:19.920 --> 00:07:20.720 You didn't know what to do. 00:07:20.800 --> 00:07:24.800 You were just like, oh my gosh, what shall we do? 00:07:24.959 --> 00:07:27.360 And look at what he says: repent. 00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:29.439 There's the first word of the gospel again. 00:07:29.680 --> 00:07:37.120 Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 00:07:37.279 --> 00:07:38.959 See, why so big about repentance? 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:40.560 First of all, the gospel requires it. 00:07:40.720 --> 00:07:42.720 Secondly, it's necessary for forgiveness. 00:07:42.959 --> 00:07:44.319 Put a started by this one. 00:07:44.480 --> 00:07:46.240 It's necessary for forgiveness. 00:07:46.399 --> 00:07:51.279 One of the problems in the church today is we've taught we're forgiveness apart from repentance. 00:07:51.519 --> 00:08:01.680 And so there's a lot of people that, oh, I just love to confess my sins and to get forgiveness, but we never teach the mandatory part uh of repentance. 00:08:01.839 --> 00:08:06.399 And the Bible's very clear that repentance is necessary for forgiveness. 00:08:06.560 --> 00:08:10.319 And so everybody knows how to ask forgiveness, but nobody knows how to repent. 00:08:10.399 --> 00:08:11.600 And you say, What do you mean? 00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:20.319 Ask yourself this question: Is there anything that you've been asking forgiveness for of God or other people or even apologizing for, but you've never repented of? 00:08:20.639 --> 00:08:30.879 If you've got something you just habitually apologize for or ask forgiveness for, I would submit to you that you the reason you don't you don't walk differently around that is you've never repented of that. 00:08:30.959 --> 00:08:33.840 Like we had this conversation yesterday in my house, okay? 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:37.440 Uh my wife has this habit, it's had this habit for years, okay? 00:08:37.600 --> 00:08:40.960 She loves to pull weeds, which I think that's great, because I ain't doing that. 00:08:41.039 --> 00:08:46.240 Uh and but she pulls weeds and then she just puts them in a big pile somewhere kind of out of the way. 00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:48.720 Usually she would throw them in the back of the corner of the flower bed. 00:08:48.960 --> 00:08:51.279 I'd go to multiple flower beds, and I'm like, what is that? 00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:53.120 Why is that petrified forest back here? 00:08:53.279 --> 00:08:55.919 Then I would say, babe, and she goes, Yeah, I just went back there and forgot about it. 00:08:56.000 --> 00:08:57.840 And I mean, for years we've had this conversation. 00:08:57.919 --> 00:09:01.360 And she pulls weeds and just put them on a place on the on the grass and it kills the grass. 00:09:01.519 --> 00:09:12.080 I was like, babe, yeah, I'm um, and so yesterday I'm mowing, and I thought we've had the cut, we had a kind of a brisk conversation about nine months ago about this, and I thought, okay, that got it through, right? 00:09:12.159 --> 00:09:13.279 I thought it was over with. 00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:14.799 She's right here, by the way. 00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:16.480 Uh already laughing. 00:09:16.559 --> 00:09:33.360 Uh, and so yesterday I'm mowing, and I'm going along, and I see something out of the corner of my eye, and I have a back porch, and on the back porch is a table that's like 120 years old that I, because I'm married to this woman I love, we're at her grandmother's house in Alabama, and she said, I want that table that's under the house. 00:09:33.759 --> 00:09:34.320 What? 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:35.759 There's a table under there and I want. 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:38.720 So I got under there under the house. 00:09:39.039 --> 00:09:46.320 This one in the vows, and drugged this thing out and put it on a moving truck that I rented and drove it back, and she refinished it. 00:09:46.399 --> 00:09:46.879 It's beautiful. 00:09:46.960 --> 00:09:53.759 And I looked, and there was a pile of weeds under the table on my back porch that's not concrete. 00:09:53.919 --> 00:10:02.720 It is flaked and sealed, and they got this pile of weeds that's turning my manspace like a moldy spot. 00:10:02.879 --> 00:10:04.159 And I lost my Jesus. 00:10:04.320 --> 00:10:11.440 I was just like, hoo, hoo! I didn't yell, I didn't scream, I just kept mulling. 00:10:11.600 --> 00:10:12.240 I was just like, ah. 00:10:12.799 --> 00:10:14.399 And I was just like, how do I bring this up? 00:10:14.480 --> 00:10:15.360 How do I bring now? 00:10:15.440 --> 00:10:16.080 My wife is great. 00:10:16.159 --> 00:10:18.799 She asks me all the time, hey, hey, how can I pray for a Sunday? 00:10:18.879 --> 00:10:19.840 How's Sunday feeling? 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:20.639 Are you feeling good? 00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:22.879 And I said, Hey, we're talking about repentance on Sunday. 00:10:22.960 --> 00:10:24.000 And so I'll be praying. 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:29.200 So I go to get in the shower and I'm like, and she comes in the bathroom and I'm like, by the way, hey, come here, Mars. 00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:31.360 I said, Hey, remember about the whole Pine Louise? 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:31.759 Yeah. 00:10:31.840 --> 00:10:33.360 And like I tell her the look on her face. 00:10:33.440 --> 00:10:36.240 She had no idea because she just did it out of habit. 00:10:36.399 --> 00:10:37.279 Didn't even think about it. 00:10:37.360 --> 00:10:38.399 She's done it so long. 00:10:38.559 --> 00:10:40.000 She's apologized for it. 00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:42.240 And I just said, Hey, she goes, What did I? 00:10:42.399 --> 00:10:44.399 I said, Yeah, under the table on the back porch. 00:10:44.559 --> 00:10:46.559 She goes, Yeah, I didn't even remember that. 00:10:46.639 --> 00:10:47.120 Clearly. 00:10:47.279 --> 00:10:49.120 She said, Well, I'm, baby, I'm so sorry. 00:10:49.200 --> 00:10:52.000 And I, on the glass, come here, come closer. 00:10:53.679 --> 00:10:59.840 I need you to stop apologizing of that, and I and I need for that, and I need you to repent of it. 00:11:01.919 --> 00:11:04.320 And then the look on her face was this. 00:11:06.720 --> 00:11:14.159 And what she's thinking is, oh, when you get out of the shower, I got 50 things you need to repent of, and I'll have them typed out and printed out. 00:11:14.320 --> 00:11:15.360 And she's not wrong. 00:11:15.519 --> 00:11:21.440 As we sit here in this building, we have a shower, and then we have a bathtub up beside it, and there's a wall that's got three hooks on it. 00:11:21.519 --> 00:11:24.480 And I probably got 15 shirts hanging on those three hooks. 00:11:24.720 --> 00:11:28.799 They're not dirty, they've just been worn once or twice, and I just kind of rotate them around. 00:11:28.879 --> 00:11:30.960 And she's like, Can you please? 00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:33.679 And I say this, I'll try to become more aware of that. 00:11:36.080 --> 00:11:38.559 That's the way a preacher apologizes. 00:11:38.960 --> 00:11:40.399 You put some language on it. 00:11:40.639 --> 00:11:42.159 I'll try to become more aware of that. 00:11:42.399 --> 00:11:45.360 And so, if if I repent of that, then I'm responsible. 00:11:45.440 --> 00:11:46.159 That's why I don't repent. 00:11:46.240 --> 00:11:47.759 I don't think it's, I don't think it's a big sin. 00:11:47.840 --> 00:11:52.000 She's like, People, I don't want to come in the bathroom and see your clothes hanging right here. 00:11:54.320 --> 00:11:55.600 They're out of the way. 00:11:55.840 --> 00:11:57.759 So I don't want you to think, oh, my wife. 00:11:58.080 --> 00:11:59.600 Matter of fact, she's so consistent. 00:11:59.759 --> 00:12:01.279 Rarely does she do stuff like that. 00:12:01.440 --> 00:12:03.279 And so this is my sick depravity. 00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:06.240 When she does, I kind of enjoy it. 00:12:06.559 --> 00:12:10.399 I mean, I took pleasure just kind of, I practiced it before I called her in there. 00:12:10.639 --> 00:12:12.159 I need you to repent. 00:12:12.960 --> 00:12:18.080 And she was like, oh my pot, this is the kettle. 00:12:18.159 --> 00:12:19.200 You're black, okay? 00:12:19.919 --> 00:12:20.320 Yes. 00:12:20.480 --> 00:12:26.399 Repentance is the first word of the gospel because the gospel requires it, because it's necessary for forgiveness. 00:12:26.480 --> 00:12:29.039 And you may be thinking, now wait a minute, what do you mean it's necessary for forgiveness? 00:12:29.120 --> 00:12:30.559 If I don't repent, I'm not forgiven. 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:32.159 That's exactly what I'm saying. 00:12:32.399 --> 00:12:33.600 This listen carefully. 00:12:33.759 --> 00:12:35.919 This is the reason some of you have habitual sin. 00:12:36.159 --> 00:12:40.000 You don't have habitual sin, you have a habitual lack of repentance. 00:12:40.159 --> 00:12:42.320 You want forgiveness, but you do not repent. 00:12:42.399 --> 00:12:43.279 Where do you get this from? 00:12:43.440 --> 00:12:45.440 Luke chapter 24, verse 45. 00:12:45.679 --> 00:12:47.440 This is after the resurrection. 00:12:47.679 --> 00:12:49.200 Jesus has lived a sinless life. 00:12:49.360 --> 00:12:54.000 He's died, he rose from the dead, he's walking down the road with a couple guys, and it says this. 00:12:54.080 --> 00:13:10.559 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, Thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 00:13:10.879 --> 00:13:20.320 And my prayer today is that the Holy Spirit would open our minds so we could understand the scriptures, not what you've been told in church or what youth group told you, and blah, blah, blah. 00:13:20.480 --> 00:13:29.360 You see, we can believe, how can we believe that Christ suffered and that Christ rose from the dead, but we can't believe that repentance is necessary for forgiveness? 00:13:29.519 --> 00:13:32.320 Here's why: because that paints us in a bad lie. 00:13:32.559 --> 00:13:42.399 It's maybe we've never been converted, maybe we desire Christianity, we want heaven, but I don't like repentance because repentance requires something of me. 00:13:43.840 --> 00:13:46.559 And I can't back away from what the Bible says. 00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:55.600 Christ would suffer, he would rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations. 00:13:55.919 --> 00:14:02.639 Jesus so believes this that he says, This is going to be proclaimed in my name to all nations. 00:14:04.159 --> 00:14:09.039 And I just telling you, the church in America has gotten away from that because we don't want to offend you. 00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:11.759 We want you to know this is perpetual forgiveness. 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:15.600 And the Bible comes along and says, No, not without repentance. 00:14:16.159 --> 00:14:17.440 Not without repentance. 00:14:17.600 --> 00:14:19.600 Thirdly, it's evidence of true conversion. 00:14:19.919 --> 00:14:21.360 It's evidence of true conversion. 00:14:21.440 --> 00:14:21.840 What do you mean? 00:14:21.919 --> 00:14:24.399 This is why the Bible guards baptism the way it does. 00:14:24.559 --> 00:14:28.480 And the church would do well to do the same because whatever you measure becomes your mission. 00:14:28.639 --> 00:14:32.159 And years ago, the church started measuring baptism. 00:14:32.320 --> 00:14:35.039 As a matter of fact, it is kind of a competition among churches. 00:14:35.200 --> 00:14:36.320 Who baptized the most? 00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:38.639 And you get rewarded in the convention for this. 00:14:39.039 --> 00:14:39.840 Oh, yeah. 00:14:40.240 --> 00:14:40.879 Yeah. 00:14:41.200 --> 00:14:44.159 And this is where the salt started losing its saltiness. 00:14:44.559 --> 00:14:52.159 But we saw earlier in Matthew chapter 3, where John the Baptist was out, it says, In those days, John the Baptist, this is what I mean by protecting baptism. 00:14:52.320 --> 00:14:56.480 In those days, John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea. 00:14:56.639 --> 00:14:57.120 Repent. 00:14:57.200 --> 00:14:58.559 There's the first word again. 00:14:58.799 --> 00:15:00.960 Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 00:15:01.120 --> 00:15:08.879 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 00:15:09.039 --> 00:15:11.120 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 00:15:11.360 --> 00:15:15.600 This is why I'm not a big fan of mass baptisms taking place on college campuses. 00:15:15.840 --> 00:15:19.279 It's because, hey, we got pastors who can't be content at their congregation. 00:15:19.360 --> 00:15:23.679 They got to go to other states and baptize strangers in the parking lot of the Colosseum. 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:28.960 How do you know that person's brought in forth any fruit in keeping with repentance? 00:15:29.360 --> 00:15:30.720 How do you know that? 00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:32.399 You don't. 00:15:32.559 --> 00:15:37.360 It's just like, well, let's just, hey, let's pad the numbers, let's roll the tote board here. 00:15:37.600 --> 00:15:39.519 Again, notice what John the Baptist says. 00:15:39.679 --> 00:15:42.320 He says, hey, who told you, brood of vipers? 00:15:42.399 --> 00:15:44.559 Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 00:15:44.799 --> 00:15:48.240 See, fearing consequences does not equate to conversion. 00:15:48.480 --> 00:15:51.360 Not wanting to go to hell doesn't make you a Christian. 00:15:51.440 --> 00:15:53.759 It doesn't equate to conversion. 00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:58.879 Bearing fruit is in keeping with repentance is evidence of actual conversion. 00:15:59.039 --> 00:16:06.399 And see, here's why fruit happens when there's genuine conversion, because the Bible teaches that we are spiritually dead, like I use myself. 00:16:06.559 --> 00:16:12.639 I was born spiritually dead, incapable of doing anything to make myself right with God. 00:16:12.799 --> 00:16:18.559 But God, when you become a Christian, God regenerates your cold dead heart, which allows you to repent, okay? 00:16:18.720 --> 00:16:28.480 And the same Holy Spirit that regenerates my cold dead heart, He now resides in me and he produces in me what is called the fruit of the Spirit. 00:16:28.639 --> 00:16:30.080 This is what the Bible describes it. 00:16:30.240 --> 00:16:34.399 This outward evidence that there's this inward reality at work in me. 00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:39.120 And repentance is my response to being regenerated, okay? 00:16:39.279 --> 00:16:40.720 Again, remember our definition. 00:16:40.879 --> 00:16:47.840 Repentance is an outward conviction produced by the Holy Spirit that demonstrates itself in outward action. 00:16:48.240 --> 00:16:56.000 Like it's not just, hey, when I became a Christian, uh, I was in the customer service line not long ago at a store that I will not mission in this town. 00:16:56.080 --> 00:16:59.840 And I'm like the third person in line, and it is taking like forever. 00:16:59.919 --> 00:17:05.920 And the two people back there that are working returns, they're talking to each other, and I'm just like, hello, hello. 00:17:06.079 --> 00:17:10.559 And one girl picks up her phone, starts checking her phone, and I start losing my peripheral vision. 00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:13.279 And I'm like, for the love of God, what are we doing here? 00:17:13.359 --> 00:17:15.200 Who's running this clown show? 00:17:15.440 --> 00:17:22.240 And I'm just like, and finally, I was like, excuse me, ma'am, we're we're here not to watch you all talk, or you check your socials. 00:17:22.400 --> 00:17:23.759 Could you wait on people? 00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:25.759 And she said, sir, we'll be right with you. 00:17:25.839 --> 00:17:28.079 No, you said that that five minutes ago, you could have said that. 00:17:28.160 --> 00:17:29.279 I don't believe it now. 00:17:29.839 --> 00:17:35.359 And so when I got up there, I was like, these people are better for my organizational tips. 00:17:35.839 --> 00:17:38.799 And she said, sir, I'm sorry about the delay, and blah, blah, blah. 00:17:38.960 --> 00:17:45.759 And then she said, My babysitter had to go, and I'm gonna have to leave work and get to my daughter, so I was having a little bit of a personal crisis. 00:17:47.039 --> 00:17:48.000 Shut up. 00:17:49.359 --> 00:17:51.200 Every one of you shut up. 00:17:51.839 --> 00:17:56.559 I just felt my, I'm 6'1, all of a sudden I was like four foot six. 00:17:57.039 --> 00:17:59.119 And I said, You know what I want to do right now? 00:17:59.279 --> 00:18:00.400 And she said, No. 00:18:00.559 --> 00:18:04.000 And I said, I want to disappear because I feel like a jerk. 00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:06.480 And she said, You kind of were. 00:18:08.160 --> 00:18:08.880 Thank you. 00:18:09.119 --> 00:18:09.519 Thank you. 00:18:09.680 --> 00:18:11.119 Your spirit is bearing with me. 00:18:11.279 --> 00:18:12.480 And I said, I am so sorry. 00:18:12.559 --> 00:18:13.039 You know what? 00:18:13.200 --> 00:18:17.599 For just a moment, I lost sight of the world around me and acted like I was the most important person in the world. 00:18:17.759 --> 00:18:18.880 Would you please forgive me? 00:18:19.039 --> 00:18:22.400 And she went, Oh my gosh, absolutely. 00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:25.920 You're yeah, okay, I'm so sorry. 00:18:26.079 --> 00:18:28.480 Here, I have a receipt, and then it was over. 00:18:28.720 --> 00:18:35.200 And so here's the thing: it is not repentance, it's not a one-time deal, it is a life of repenting. 00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:39.519 Can you imagine, ladies, if your husband said to you tonight before he went to bed, you know what? 00:18:39.680 --> 00:18:45.759 I got a little conviction this morning at church, and I realized I've apologized for this in our marriage, but I've never repented of it. 00:18:45.839 --> 00:18:47.920 This is why it keeps on happening. 00:18:49.359 --> 00:18:52.559 Can you imagine that conversation happened at your house today? 00:18:53.759 --> 00:18:56.960 Some of you women are like, oh, don't give my hopes up. 00:18:58.079 --> 00:18:59.200 No, no. 00:18:59.440 --> 00:19:02.640 Yes, it's evidence of true conversion, okay? 00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:04.000 It's not just I feel bad. 00:19:04.160 --> 00:19:06.480 Here's the last thing reason it's so significant. 00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:08.480 It's turning from and turning to. 00:19:08.720 --> 00:19:10.799 Repentance is turning from and turning to. 00:19:10.960 --> 00:19:12.319 I told you this about a year ago. 00:19:12.480 --> 00:19:20.960 But Jesus did not come to modify your behavior, he came to change your nature such that you turn from yourself and your sin. 00:19:21.119 --> 00:19:28.240 No one has to tell you, see, because the Holy Spirit lives inside of me, no one had to say, Hey, you were kind of an impatient jerk when you said that. 00:19:28.480 --> 00:19:30.960 You don't have to control every environment, all right? 00:19:31.119 --> 00:19:32.880 Just shut up and wait, Neil. 00:19:33.039 --> 00:19:34.559 And so no one had to tell me that. 00:19:34.640 --> 00:19:36.000 I didn't have to go home and recount. 00:19:36.079 --> 00:19:37.200 You won't believe what happened. 00:19:37.359 --> 00:19:38.319 These people at Costco. 00:19:38.640 --> 00:19:39.759 Oh, there I go. 00:19:41.039 --> 00:19:42.720 I go there all the time, by the way. 00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:44.640 And I see that lady all the time. 00:19:44.720 --> 00:19:49.839 And she's like, hey, and somebody told her I was a pastor because last time I walked by, she said, Hi, Pastor Neil. 00:19:53.680 --> 00:19:55.680 I don't know who you're talking about. 00:19:57.920 --> 00:19:59.039 See, look at me. 00:19:59.200 --> 00:20:03.039 Repentance frees you up to face the truth about yourself. 00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:06.559 Some of you can't face the truth about yourself because you never repented. 00:20:06.640 --> 00:20:08.000 It still has power over you. 00:20:08.160 --> 00:20:09.920 It's still like, oh, I don't want that again. 00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:12.240 I was like, yeah, there's nowhere to hide from that. 00:20:12.400 --> 00:20:12.960 Yep. 00:20:13.200 --> 00:20:13.519 Yep. 00:20:13.759 --> 00:20:14.640 Hey, hey. 00:20:14.799 --> 00:20:16.960 And the girl next to him said, Oh, he's the pastor. 00:20:17.039 --> 00:20:18.559 I'm looking for a church. 00:20:19.279 --> 00:20:21.039 Don't come to mind, you'll be impatient. 00:20:21.519 --> 00:20:21.839 No. 00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:22.960 Now, here's the thing. 00:20:23.359 --> 00:20:24.960 Do I beat myself up over that? 00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:26.240 Absolutely not. 00:20:26.480 --> 00:20:28.720 I chuckle about it, look back, and go, mmm. 00:20:28.880 --> 00:20:30.559 Now, by the way, turning from. 00:20:30.720 --> 00:20:31.359 Repentance. 00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:35.519 What do I mean when I say that repentance is turning from and turning to? 00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:39.920 You turn from your sin and you because you're turning to God. 00:20:40.240 --> 00:20:41.279 You're not just turning from. 00:20:41.359 --> 00:20:42.640 That's behavior modification. 00:20:42.720 --> 00:20:43.519 You're turning to. 00:20:43.680 --> 00:20:47.599 And the fact that you turn to something is what keeps you from turning back. 00:20:47.839 --> 00:20:51.759 I have affection for this over here, and I don't have as much affection. 00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:57.039 Matter of fact, the more I enjoy this affection, the less I'm able to enjoy this back here. 00:20:57.279 --> 00:20:58.559 This is what Paul preached. 00:20:58.640 --> 00:21:00.880 He's talking to King Agrippa in Acts 26. 00:21:00.960 --> 00:21:11.759 He says, Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but I declared first to those in Damascus and then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea and also to the Gentiles. 00:21:11.920 --> 00:21:12.880 Now, what did he say there? 00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:15.119 He started in Jerusalem, religious people. 00:21:15.279 --> 00:21:17.759 And he gets to the Gentiles, non-religious people. 00:21:18.079 --> 00:21:24.000 He says that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance. 00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:27.599 See, repentance applies to everybody, it's a universal need. 00:21:27.680 --> 00:21:30.079 And when you repent, here's how you know you repented. 00:21:30.240 --> 00:21:32.960 You turn from and you also turn to. 00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:39.440 Because turning from and turning to keeps you from turning back and going back to these same things you've always gone back to. 00:21:39.599 --> 00:21:41.440 Here's the second thing I want us to see in the text. 00:21:41.599 --> 00:21:44.160 Revelation makes repentance necessary. 00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:47.440 Revelation makes repentance necessary. 00:21:47.599 --> 00:21:54.079 Repentance is our response to God's revelation of Himself, and it's also the way you experience what God has revealed to you. 00:21:54.400 --> 00:21:56.079 This is why Jesus says what he says. 00:21:56.400 --> 00:21:57.680 Look at verse 20 and 21. 00:21:57.759 --> 00:22:01.440 He began to denounce the cities where most of His mighty works had been done. 00:22:01.680 --> 00:22:04.960 When God does a mighty work, everybody look at me. 00:22:05.119 --> 00:22:12.079 Everybody that sees and experiences that is now held accountable to and responsible for what they've seen. 00:22:12.160 --> 00:22:15.920 They could no longer say, Oh, wow, I didn't know. 00:22:16.160 --> 00:22:16.480 No. 00:22:16.720 --> 00:22:18.000 He began to denounce them. 00:22:18.240 --> 00:22:23.039 Verse 21 says, Woe to you, uh Corazon, woe to you, Beth Saida. 00:22:23.200 --> 00:22:28.319 If the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago and sat clothed in ashes. 00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:33.279 But I tell you, it'll be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:36.400 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? 00:22:36.559 --> 00:22:38.319 You'll be brought down to Hades. 00:22:38.640 --> 00:22:42.799 For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 00:22:42.960 --> 00:22:45.119 Now, here's something you need to understand about the Bible. 00:22:45.279 --> 00:22:46.559 Hades is not hell. 00:22:46.720 --> 00:22:48.400 Hades is the place of death. 00:22:49.119 --> 00:22:51.119 It's where people when people die, that's where they go. 00:22:51.200 --> 00:22:57.599 You see it in Luke chapter 16, where these two guys die and they both go to Hades, the place of the death. 00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:02.960 Now, people, I'll tell you about this in just a minute, because I have conversations with people, they're like, I don't believe. 00:23:03.039 --> 00:23:04.640 And so if I don't believe, it doesn't apply to me. 00:23:04.720 --> 00:23:08.160 And I'm like, your unbelief does not cancel what exists. 00:23:08.400 --> 00:23:11.119 But just know that when I just want you to know what Hades is. 00:23:11.200 --> 00:23:13.119 Okay, this is what he's talking about. 00:23:13.359 --> 00:23:21.599 And so when I say revelation makes repentance necessary, ask yourself this question: why does Jesus denounce these cities? 00:23:21.920 --> 00:23:26.480 Why does he say, listen, it's gonna be better for Sodom than for you people on judgment day? 00:23:26.640 --> 00:23:38.000 Here's why to have this level of revelation leaves you without excuse because Jesus comes along, he demonstrates He is the Messiah, He preaches the gospel, and they do not repent, nor do they believe. 00:23:38.240 --> 00:23:42.319 And here's something you got to understand: there is a consequence for unbelief. 00:23:42.480 --> 00:23:47.279