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Okay, brethren.

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I would ask you to open your Bibles

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to Jeremiah 8.

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Brethren, when I was first converted,

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I think many of you know 
that I was exposed to

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John MacArthur's book, 
"The Gospel According to Jesus."

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MacArthur has a chapter in that book

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concerning repentance.

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And I know that MacArthur was confronted

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by men - women too, undoubtedly -

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who were saying that repentance

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is only a change of mind,

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and they were being very specific to say

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it does not necessarily include

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a change of life.

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And it seems like being 
exposed to that early on,

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there was a tendency in my own mind

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to define repentance

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as not just a change of mind -

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in fact, not even particularly,

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or necessarily most 
importantly a change of mind

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as much as a change of life;

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a turning from sin.

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And oftentimes, where you find

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the terminology of repentance,

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you find also the word "turn."

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And I guess I was uncomfortable.

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I felt uncomfortable with that definition.

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James and I were talking 
at the men's retreat

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and we were agreeing that 
at times we have said that.

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We have defined repentance 
that way: to turn from sin.

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Well, for a number of years,

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I've been looking at passages

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that deal with repentance.

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I think it's such an important 
aspect of salvation

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that we need to be crystal clear.

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And I formulated a sermon

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that I've preached in maybe 
8 or 9 other places now,

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but I've never preached it here.

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And I think we need to be clear.

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And I want us to consider 
some things this morning

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in hopes that an hour from now perhaps

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there is greater clarity in the mind

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concerning what is repentance

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and how do we define it.

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Craig was saying that he just saw

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where one theologian/professor

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defined repentance as "joy."

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I don't know where he came up with that.

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I like the guy who said it,

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but I don't like that.

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I don't think that's good.
I don't think that's accurate.

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Okay, let's think here.

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John the Baptist.

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If you just think New Testament,

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you come into the New Testament.

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It's interesting to me that very often

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you get "repent" from 
those holy men of old

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that you find in the pages of Scripture.

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You come to the New Testament.

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They're preaching.

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Oftentimes, they don't even use

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the term "faith" or "believe."

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They simply said, "Repent!"

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Isn't it interesting - God 
commands all men, everywhere,

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not just to repent and believe -

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it's like Paul feels like he 
can actually leave faith out.

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Not that we would leave faith out;

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not that he leaves faith out.

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Obviously somebody came to him one time

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and said what must a man do to be saved?

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And he said, "believe on the 
name of the Lord Jesus Christ

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and Thou shalt be saved."

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Paul didn't leave it out, 
but it is interesting

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that Paul could actually 
talk about salvation

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and he could leave faith out.

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He could just say, "repent."

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We come into the Scriptures 
and what do you have?

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The New Testament Scriptures -

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John the Baptist.

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He said that the Kingdom 
of God is at hand.

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And we are to repent.

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Right after that, Jesus 
comes on the scene.

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Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent!"

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And as you walk through,

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you go to Mark's Gospel

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when the twelve are being sent out,

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and you specifically have this:

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"The twelve went out and proclaimed

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that people should repent."

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You come to the book of Acts.

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You know what you find there.

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Peter said - day of Pentecost, "repent!"

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"Repent and be baptized."

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Not even "repent and believe."

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Yes, there are times it says that.

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Repentance and remission of sins

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is that which is to be preached

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starting in Jerusalem,

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but all around the world.

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You find after Peter, here comes Paul.

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He takes precedence among the apostles.

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How does he talk?

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"Paul declared first to those in Damascus,

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then in Jerusalem

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and throughout all the region of Judea,

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and also to the Gentiles 
that they should repent

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and turn to God."

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We don't want to be wrong with this term.

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We don't want to be wrong about the way

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that we speak about it.

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Here's the thing,

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I hear people say:

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I'm trying to repent

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and God isn't saving me.

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I hear people say:

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I'm repenting - but they're 
indicating some way:

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God is not responding to me.

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And I look at that and I'm convinced

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they don't understand repentance,

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and the last thing that we want to do

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is we don't want their misunderstanding

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to come from the fact that 
us well-meaning Christians

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are defining repentance in a wrong manner.

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What we don't want to do

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is make repentance into a work -

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some kind of pre-salvation deal

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that they have to do to pick up

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the wreckage in their life

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in order to make themselves acceptable.

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And that's the feeling that you get.

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A lot of people when 
they hear "repentance,"

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they're thinking, okay,

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the well-meaning Christian says 
it means to turn from sin,

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and so okay, I'm going to turn from sin.

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I'm going to stop going to the bar.

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I'm going to stop picking up 
the twelve pack after work.

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I'm going to stop clicking on 
the pornographic website.

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And then they look at God and they say:

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okay, I've done my part.

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And then nothing's happening. 
There's silence.

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Well, the well-meaning Christian -

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that's what they told me 
to do: turn from sin.

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That's what I'm trying to do.

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And brethren, I'll tell you this,

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if that's all we do in our 
definition of repentance,

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we've come sadly short.

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What I want to say is this:

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The turning from sin to God,

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it's repent and turn.

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The turning is that which flows

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out of the repentance.

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It's that which is a fruit of it.

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It isn't that itself.

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Listen, repentance sounds 
a whole lot like penance.

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And there's a reason.

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If my understanding is right,

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they're derived from the same root word

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in the Latin.

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But the reality is,

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when the reformers and the Catholics

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went separate directions,

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the reformers went with 
the word "repentance,"

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the Catholic church went with "penance."

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And the truth is, the one 
is based on our works

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and the other one is not.

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And what we don't want to do

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is speak about repentance in such a way

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that we're leading people 
to think penance.

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And they sound similar.

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So, let's think.

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Don't be afraid of this.

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And I think at one time I was.

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Re-pent.

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Re.

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Again.

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Prefix.

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-Pent.

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A pensive person is a thoughtful person.

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Re-think.

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That's what the English word means.

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It means to re-think.

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It is in the mind.

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See, repentance does 
not start with the turn

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of the actions.

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It starts with a turn in the mind.

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It's to re-think.

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Or you know the Greek word: metanoia.

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The idea of afterthought.

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But again, after - re;

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thought - think.

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It's basically to change the mind.

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It's to think again

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and to think differently 
when you think again.

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It's to re-think.

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And it's to change the mind.

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That's the idea behind repent.

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That is the idea.

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The change of life - yes. It happens.

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Because if you change your mind -

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listen, for a person to say,

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well, it only means to change 
the mind, not the life -

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if your life doesn't change,

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then your mind hasn't changed.

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Because when the mind changes,

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everything else follows -

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if it really changes.

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If you become really 
convinced of something,

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everything else will follow.

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You will do what you're convinced of.

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That's the issue.

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It isn't repentance itself,

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it's repent and then turn -

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turn in the mind,

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and the whole self follows.

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So, our Lord Jesus Christ said this:

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"I say to you, unless you repent,

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you will likewise perish."

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This is essential. This is life and death.

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So we do not want to 
be wrong on this term.

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This actually precedes -

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when you have repentance 
and faith together,

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the repentance is always first.

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Because the repentance is necessary

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for there to be the faith,

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the trusting Christ.

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The thinking changes to bring me

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to a place where Christ is attractive

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or necessary.

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There's a change in the thinking

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that produces me seeing Christ

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as altogether necessary

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and beautiful and precious.

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So, if our salvation hangs on this term,

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what I'm convinced is this:

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you can always go to the lexicons

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and you can go to the dictionaries,

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but with a term like this, 
more than anything else,

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we don't need dictionary definitions.

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We need biblical definitions.

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We need the Scriptures to 
describe repentance for us.

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So the first place I want you to go

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is just this simple text in Jeremiah 8:6,

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because I think it so captures 
what we're after here.

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I want you to be convinced from Scripture.

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Up till now, I've just been talking.

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But I want you to see from Scripture

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and from Christ's words themselves

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what is repentance,

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what does it look like.

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Here's the first thing:

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Jeremiah 8:6,

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in the English Standard Version,

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"I have paid attention and listened..."

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This is God speaking.

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"...But they have not spoken rightly.

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No man... " and here's our word -

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ESV says "relent."

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Every other translation - the 
majority of them anyway,

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say "repent."

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And in the Septuagint,

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it is our metanoia word group.

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It is the word for repent.

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What I'm most interested in is this:

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"...no man repents of his evil,

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saying..." this is what I want you to see:

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"what have I done?"

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Oh brethren, don't let go of that.

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If we go out to these neighborhoods

270
00:13:46,582 --> 00:13:49,047
and you're preaching repentance,

271
00:13:49,047 --> 00:13:51,479
do you know where you 
want to bring people?

272
00:13:51,479 --> 00:13:52,724
Right there.

273
00:13:52,724 --> 00:13:56,712
You want to bring people to say:

274
00:13:56,712 --> 00:13:58,226
what have I done?

275
00:13:58,226 --> 00:14:00,940
You see, the turning hasn't 
actually happened

276
00:14:00,940 --> 00:14:05,635
in the outward, in the actions.

277
00:14:05,635 --> 00:14:07,197
What has happened?

278
00:14:07,197 --> 00:14:10,967
You've gotten the person in the mind

279
00:14:10,967 --> 00:14:15,145
to say: Whoa!

280
00:14:15,145 --> 00:14:16,567
You see, they're rethinking.

281
00:14:16,567 --> 00:14:18,918
For somebody to say. "what have I done?"

282
00:14:18,918 --> 00:14:21,505
is to all of a sudden 
wake up to the reality

283
00:14:21,505 --> 00:14:23,321
that what I've done is not good,

284
00:14:23,321 --> 00:14:24,667
what I've done is not right,

285
00:14:24,667 --> 00:14:28,463
what I've done - this is bad!

286
00:14:28,463 --> 00:14:29,959
What have I done?

287
00:14:29,959 --> 00:14:31,692
You see, that's what God wants.

288
00:14:31,692 --> 00:14:34,264
God wants the person that's doing evil

289
00:14:34,264 --> 00:14:36,563
to suddenly say:

290
00:14:36,563 --> 00:14:39,945
what have I done?

291
00:14:39,945 --> 00:14:43,996
That's at the heart of repentance.

292
00:14:43,996 --> 00:14:47,841
Now, I want to bring us to another passage

293
00:14:47,841 --> 00:14:50,384
because what's happened 
over these last years

294
00:14:50,384 --> 00:14:52,493
is I've looked -

295
00:14:52,493 --> 00:14:56,569
I've got about six favorite places

296
00:14:56,569 --> 00:15:01,064
to go to in Scripture to really draw out

297
00:15:01,064 --> 00:15:03,226
the meaning of repentance.

298
00:15:03,226 --> 00:15:04,880
The next place I want you to go

299
00:15:04,880 --> 00:15:06,722
is actually at the end of our Bibles.

300
00:15:06,722 --> 00:15:10,259
It's the church at Laodicea 
in Revelation 3.

301
00:15:10,259 --> 00:15:13,844
Because again, the word "repent" is used.

302
00:15:13,844 --> 00:15:15,757
Repent. Rethink.

303
00:15:15,757 --> 00:15:17,876
Rethink. Think again.

304
00:15:17,876 --> 00:15:22,136
Reconsider.

305
00:15:22,136 --> 00:15:26,405
Oh, this one is huge.

306
00:15:26,405 --> 00:15:32,182
In Revelation 3:17,

307
00:15:32,182 --> 00:15:36,281
notice, it's something that's happening

308
00:15:36,281 --> 00:15:38,244
in the thoughts.

309
00:15:38,244 --> 00:15:41,115
It's something happening in the mind.

310
00:15:41,115 --> 00:15:42,104
What?

311
00:15:42,104 --> 00:15:46,091
Well, look, Revelation 3:17.

312
00:15:46,091 --> 00:15:47,567
"You say..."

313
00:15:47,567 --> 00:15:48,737
Now, you can say, well,

314
00:15:48,737 --> 00:15:51,077
that's something you do 
with your mouth. Yes.

315
00:15:51,077 --> 00:15:55,847
But what you speak from the mouth,
comes from the heart.

316
00:15:55,847 --> 00:15:58,392
As the mouth speaks, you can recognize

317
00:15:58,392 --> 00:15:59,454
who the man is.

318
00:15:59,454 --> 00:16:01,059
What's he saying?

319
00:16:01,059 --> 00:16:03,505
What are these Laodiceans saying

320
00:16:03,505 --> 00:16:04,774
about themselves?

321
00:16:04,774 --> 00:16:07,004
How do they view themselves?

322
00:16:07,004 --> 00:16:08,195
You see it.

323
00:16:08,195 --> 00:16:12,385
"I'm rich. I've prospered. 
I need nothing."

324
00:16:12,385 --> 00:16:14,808
And then here's what Jesus says:

325
00:16:14,808 --> 00:16:16,454
"You're not realizing..."

326
00:16:16,454 --> 00:16:18,701
You see, how you speak gives indication

327
00:16:18,701 --> 00:16:20,636
of what you realize in the brain.

328
00:16:20,636 --> 00:16:22,933
"You're not realizing you're wretched,

329
00:16:22,933 --> 00:16:25,116
pitiable, poor, blind, and naked."

330
00:16:25,116 --> 00:16:26,912
Now you go down to verse 19.

331
00:16:26,912 --> 00:16:28,198
Look what He says,

332
00:16:28,198 --> 00:16:32,788
"Be zealous and repent!"

333
00:16:32,788 --> 00:16:34,699
Rethink things.

334
00:16:34,699 --> 00:16:35,962
Think again.

335
00:16:35,962 --> 00:16:38,348
Think in a new way.

336
00:16:38,348 --> 00:16:40,056
Are you willing to admit that you

337
00:16:40,056 --> 00:16:42,770
possibly might be wrong 
about your condition?

338
00:16:42,770 --> 00:16:45,474
Rethink who you are.

339
00:16:45,474 --> 00:16:49,035
Now, this is important for this reason,

340
00:16:49,035 --> 00:16:51,805
I receive these emails.

341
00:16:51,805 --> 00:16:54,359
"Well, I'm trying to repent,"

342
00:16:54,359 --> 00:16:56,716
or "I am repenting."

343
00:16:56,716 --> 00:17:02,316
And it's almost like you can just see them

344
00:17:02,316 --> 00:17:04,859
stretch their head when they say it.

345
00:17:04,859 --> 00:17:08,059
"I'm repenting, and God's not..."

346
00:17:08,059 --> 00:17:11,365
But what I want you to see here,

347
00:17:11,365 --> 00:17:14,421
repentance should always be

348
00:17:14,421 --> 00:17:17,973
associated with weakness.

349
00:17:17,973 --> 00:17:19,488
See, this is where we go wrong.

350
00:17:19,488 --> 00:17:22,215
If you ever discern people are saying

351
00:17:22,215 --> 00:17:24,432
"I'm trying to repent" 
and the feeling you get

352
00:17:24,432 --> 00:17:26,700
is what they're really 
doing is they're saying

353
00:17:26,700 --> 00:17:29,889
"I'm putting forth this effort..."

354
00:17:29,889 --> 00:17:32,590
Repentance is a change of thinking

355
00:17:32,590 --> 00:17:34,168
where your thinking goes

356
00:17:34,168 --> 00:17:39,507
from seeing yourself as 
having it all together.

357
00:17:39,507 --> 00:17:44,213
Repentance is manifest by brokenness.

358
00:17:44,213 --> 00:17:46,449
Not-togetherness.

359
00:17:46,449 --> 00:17:48,941
The mind changes from seeing oneself

360
00:17:48,941 --> 00:17:52,705
as independent and healthy

361
00:17:52,705 --> 00:17:55,111
and able to do this and righteous

362
00:17:55,111 --> 00:17:58,012
and alive and wonderful 
in the sight of God

363
00:17:58,012 --> 00:18:00,542
to seeing onself the way we really are.

364
00:18:00,542 --> 00:18:02,284
You see, that's what repentance is.

365
00:18:02,284 --> 00:18:05,886
It's the mind coming in line with truth.

366
00:18:05,886 --> 00:18:09,352
And the truth is that 
we're really wretched,

367
00:18:09,352 --> 00:18:15,081
miserable, poor, blind, and naked.

368
00:18:15,081 --> 00:18:17,526
See, it's not togetherness.

369
00:18:17,526 --> 00:18:19,701
When people talk about repentance

370
00:18:19,701 --> 00:18:21,770
as though it's something they're doing,

371
00:18:21,770 --> 00:18:26,247
listen, where repentance 
is really taking place,

372
00:18:26,247 --> 00:18:29,248
the people in their mind are saying,

373
00:18:29,248 --> 00:18:31,286
"what have I done?"

374
00:18:31,286 --> 00:18:33,918
What have I been claiming to be?

375
00:18:33,918 --> 00:18:36,643
What am I really?

376
00:18:36,643 --> 00:18:38,407
I am not what I thought I was.

377
00:18:38,407 --> 00:18:41,950
Brethren, I remember when 
it came into my mind:

378
00:18:41,950 --> 00:18:46,552
you are not good and you deserve hell.

379
00:18:46,552 --> 00:18:49,059
And suddenly, my eyes were opened.

380
00:18:49,059 --> 00:18:52,623
(incomplete thought)

381
00:18:52,623 --> 00:18:57,171
Repentance brings us 
in line with the truth.

382
00:18:57,171 --> 00:19:00,015
And this is where so many people go wrong.

383
00:19:00,015 --> 00:19:02,914
Repentance is not a work that we do

384
00:19:02,914 --> 00:19:05,214
to earn Heaven.

385
00:19:05,214 --> 00:19:07,874
It's actually a change of mind

386
00:19:07,874 --> 00:19:11,902
about our total inability.

387
00:19:11,902 --> 00:19:14,691
Listen, true repentance happens

388
00:19:14,691 --> 00:19:17,181
when we're confronted by the Gospel

389
00:19:17,181 --> 00:19:19,813
and we're confronted by what Christ did

390
00:19:19,813 --> 00:19:22,007
and we rethink everything.

391
00:19:22,007 --> 00:19:23,822
We rethink who we are.

392
00:19:23,822 --> 00:19:31,149
We rethink if we're really all 
that well off as we thought,

393
00:19:31,149 --> 00:19:33,955
we're really as good as we thought,

394
00:19:33,955 --> 00:19:36,100
we're really as rich as we thought,

395
00:19:36,100 --> 00:19:38,717
we're really ready for death

396
00:19:38,717 --> 00:19:41,337
and judgment day as much as we thought.

397
00:19:41,337 --> 00:19:46,081
And we suddenly see, we're broken.

398
00:19:46,081 --> 00:19:47,418
We're empty.

399
00:19:47,418 --> 00:19:49,400
But you see, it's the mindset.

400
00:19:49,400 --> 00:19:51,233
Before you even get to any turning,

401
00:19:51,233 --> 00:19:56,987
it's recognizing what's 
true about ourselves.

402
00:19:56,987 --> 00:19:59,944
It's this change of mind

403
00:19:59,944 --> 00:20:02,748
about our total inability 
to save ourselves

404
00:20:02,748 --> 00:20:04,939
by anything that we do.

405
00:20:04,939 --> 00:20:07,183
This is what we need to recognize:

406
00:20:07,183 --> 00:20:09,617
True repentance goes hand-in-hand

407
00:20:09,617 --> 00:20:13,504
with brokenness - always.

408
00:20:13,504 --> 00:20:14,883
Always.

409
00:20:14,883 --> 00:20:16,662
And where there's a sense

410
00:20:16,662 --> 00:20:19,256
somebody is talking proudly

411
00:20:19,256 --> 00:20:20,678
about their repentance,

412
00:20:20,678 --> 00:20:24,587
guaranteed they're more on a 
penance line of thinking.

413
00:20:24,587 --> 00:20:28,787
They've turned it into a work.

414
00:20:28,787 --> 00:20:31,386
A third biblical 
demonstration of repentance.

415
00:20:31,386 --> 00:20:37,567
Turn in your Bibles to Matthew 21.

416
00:20:37,567 --> 00:20:42,553
Oh, I love this one.

417
00:20:42,553 --> 00:20:47,183
I love all of these.

418
00:20:47,183 --> 00:20:51,769
Matthew 21.

419
00:20:51,769 --> 00:20:59,045
You know this parable.

420
00:20:59,045 --> 00:21:02,324
Matthew 21:28.

421
00:21:02,324 --> 00:21:03,795
"What do you think?

422
00:21:03,795 --> 00:21:05,175
A man had two sons..."

423
00:21:05,175 --> 00:21:06,474
And what we're going to do

424
00:21:06,474 --> 00:21:08,021
is we're going to see repentance

425
00:21:08,021 --> 00:21:10,427
put on display for us here.

426
00:21:10,427 --> 00:21:12,206
"A man had two sons.

427
00:21:12,206 --> 00:21:13,844
He went to the first and he said,

428
00:21:13,844 --> 00:21:16,979
'Son, go and work in the vineyard today.'

429
00:21:16,979 --> 00:21:20,165
And he answered, 'I will not.'

430
00:21:20,165 --> 00:21:25,098
But afterward..." the ESV says,

431
00:21:25,098 --> 00:21:29,793
"He changed his mind."

432
00:21:29,793 --> 00:21:32,164
Frank, what's the KJV say?

433
00:21:32,164 --> 00:21:36,497
"He repented."

434
00:21:36,497 --> 00:21:38,396
Metamelamai.

435
00:21:38,396 --> 00:21:40,321
It's another one of these -meta words.

436
00:21:40,321 --> 00:21:43,857
It's the idea of after regret.

437
00:21:43,857 --> 00:21:45,696
It's a synonym.

438
00:21:45,696 --> 00:21:49,168
It's basically the same concept.

439
00:21:49,168 --> 00:21:51,224
Change of mind.

440
00:21:51,224 --> 00:21:55,851
See the change of mind.

441
00:21:55,851 --> 00:21:59,840
"...and went."

442
00:21:59,840 --> 00:22:03,098
"And he went to the other 
son and said the same.

443
00:22:03,098 --> 00:22:05,414
And he answered, 'I go, sir,' 
but did not go.

444
00:22:05,414 --> 00:22:08,746
Which of the two did 
the will of his father?

445
00:22:08,746 --> 00:22:10,142
They said, 'the first.'

446
00:22:10,142 --> 00:22:12,279
Jesus said to them, 'Truly, I say to you,

447
00:22:12,279 --> 00:22:14,827
that tax collectors and prostitutes

448
00:22:14,827 --> 00:22:17,081
go into the Kindgom of God before you.

449
00:22:17,081 --> 00:22:19,464
For John came to you in 
the way of righteousness

450
00:22:19,464 --> 00:22:20,979
and you did not believe him,

451
00:22:20,979 --> 00:22:23,881
but the tax collectors and 
prostitutes believed him

452
00:22:23,881 --> 00:22:25,494
and even when you saw it,

453
00:22:25,494 --> 00:22:31,788
you did not afterward change your minds."

454
00:22:31,788 --> 00:22:34,026
Or, "repent."

455
00:22:34,026 --> 00:22:38,871
Or I believe in the New American 
Standard, it says "relent."

456
00:22:38,871 --> 00:22:40,281
Feel remorse.

457
00:22:40,281 --> 00:22:42,338
Repent and believe in Him.

458
00:22:42,338 --> 00:22:45,950
But you see, change your mind and believe.

459
00:22:45,950 --> 00:22:47,858
It's the believing in Christ

460
00:22:47,858 --> 00:22:53,214
that flows out of the change of mind.

461
00:22:53,214 --> 00:22:54,813
Let me ask you something.

462
00:22:54,813 --> 00:22:57,076
Two sons.

463
00:22:57,076 --> 00:23:02,828
Which son is the sinner 
who truly gets saved?

464
00:23:02,828 --> 00:23:05,890
First son or second son?

465
00:23:05,890 --> 00:23:07,137
First.

466
00:23:07,137 --> 00:23:08,920
The father says this:

467
00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:11,145
Go and work.

468
00:23:11,145 --> 00:23:17,074
The first son says, "No. I will not."

469
00:23:17,074 --> 00:23:21,408
What a great picture of sinners!

470
00:23:21,408 --> 00:23:23,486
We may have created a god

471
00:23:23,486 --> 00:23:24,722
of our own imagination

472
00:23:24,722 --> 00:23:25,751
who smiled at us,

473
00:23:25,751 --> 00:23:28,017
but when it came to the 
true God of Scripture

474
00:23:28,017 --> 00:23:30,692
and the things He wanted us 
to do, we shook our fist.

475
00:23:30,692 --> 00:23:33,934
Uh huh. Not me. Not me.

476
00:23:33,934 --> 00:23:36,679
If that's what God is like, 
I'm going to create my own.

477
00:23:36,679 --> 00:23:38,792
I've got the god of my own imagination,

478
00:23:38,792 --> 00:23:40,513
but I don't want the God from there

479
00:23:40,513 --> 00:23:42,030
because what He wants me to do?

480
00:23:42,030 --> 00:23:44,227
Uh huh, I don't want to do.

481
00:23:44,227 --> 00:23:46,228
That is just a perfect picture of sinners.

482
00:23:46,228 --> 00:23:49,824
Defiant, rebellious, stubborn.

483
00:23:49,824 --> 00:23:53,249
But what happens to the first son?

484
00:23:53,249 --> 00:23:57,522
Obviously, he came to a point

485
00:23:57,522 --> 00:24:01,247
where he reconsidered, right?

486
00:24:01,247 --> 00:24:03,254
He thinks again.

487
00:24:03,254 --> 00:24:05,528
What happened was, the sinner comes

488
00:24:05,528 --> 00:24:07,225
to the place where he reexamines

489
00:24:07,225 --> 00:24:10,067
the claims of Christ

490
00:24:10,067 --> 00:24:14,279
that he had formerly 
ignored and dismissed,

491
00:24:14,279 --> 00:24:16,479
but now he thinks again.

492
00:24:16,479 --> 00:24:19,917
And he doesn't just think again, 
he changes his mind.

493
00:24:19,917 --> 00:24:23,030
In the past, he thought

494
00:24:23,030 --> 00:24:24,465
his father's commandments,

495
00:24:24,465 --> 00:24:26,338
they were intrusive.

496
00:24:26,338 --> 00:24:30,292
They were inconvenient.

497
00:24:30,292 --> 00:24:32,255
Going my own way is much better.

498
00:24:32,255 --> 00:24:33,559
His way is too narrow.

499
00:24:33,559 --> 00:24:35,953
It's too constricted.

500
00:24:35,953 --> 00:24:38,431
I don't like that way.

501
00:24:38,431 --> 00:24:39,671
I want freedom.

502
00:24:39,671 --> 00:24:42,728
The devil's right there saying, 
"Yeah, you don't want that way."

503
00:24:42,728 --> 00:24:45,723
"It's bad."

504
00:24:45,723 --> 00:24:48,137
But then something happens.

505
00:24:48,137 --> 00:24:50,499
Something happens. He rethinks.

506
00:24:50,499 --> 00:24:53,486
And this time, his thinking changes.

507
00:24:53,486 --> 00:24:58,742
And you can see when 
the change of mind is real.

508
00:24:58,742 --> 00:25:01,897
When the mind changes - listen,

509
00:25:01,897 --> 00:25:03,312
if I'm going this way

510
00:25:03,312 --> 00:25:06,612
and my mind changes,

511
00:25:06,612 --> 00:25:08,828
you can see that it changes

512
00:25:08,828 --> 00:25:13,100
because the whole self follows the change.

513
00:25:13,100 --> 00:25:15,804
If the mind turns,

514
00:25:15,804 --> 00:25:19,271
the whole self follows.

515
00:25:19,271 --> 00:25:24,243
When the mind changes, he went.

516
00:25:24,243 --> 00:25:25,204
That's what you see.

517
00:25:25,204 --> 00:25:27,810
The son in the parable changes 
his mind, and he went.

518
00:25:27,810 --> 00:25:29,375
And you don't want to miss that.

519
00:25:29,375 --> 00:25:33,058
Those two little words: "and went."

520
00:25:33,058 --> 00:25:36,987
The will - the will.

521
00:25:36,987 --> 00:25:42,408
Your will always follows the changed mind.

522
00:25:42,408 --> 00:25:44,740
You see a guy driving down 
the highway that way

523
00:25:44,740 --> 00:25:46,476
and he does a U-turn, 
he goes back that way.

524
00:25:46,476 --> 00:25:47,840
Why does he do that?

525
00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:49,207
Because he changed his mind.

526
00:25:49,207 --> 00:25:51,073
His mind was telling him: go this way.

527
00:25:51,073 --> 00:25:52,423
Something happened.

528
00:25:52,423 --> 00:25:54,162
Maybe it was the lady on maps

529
00:25:54,162 --> 00:25:57,173
said go that way, so he was 
minded to go that way.

530
00:25:57,173 --> 00:25:59,708
And then she said do a 
U-turn and go that way.

531
00:25:59,708 --> 00:26:02,440
Or he saw the restaurant he 
wanted and now it's back there.

532
00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:03,542
Something happened.

533
00:26:03,542 --> 00:26:05,956
Something in his thinking changes

534
00:26:05,956 --> 00:26:07,251
that affects the will

535
00:26:07,251 --> 00:26:09,947
that causes the whole 
vehicle to turn around.

536
00:26:09,947 --> 00:26:11,414
But something happened up here

537
00:26:11,414 --> 00:26:13,597
before the whole thing turned around.

538
00:26:13,597 --> 00:26:15,438
That's what you find happening here.

539
00:26:15,438 --> 00:26:17,525
Whatever direction he was going in before,

540
00:26:17,525 --> 00:26:20,097
it wasn't the direction 
that the father wanted.

541
00:26:20,097 --> 00:26:22,027
If you don't change your mind

542
00:26:22,027 --> 00:26:26,185
so as to do the thing you 
formerly refused to do,

543
00:26:26,185 --> 00:26:28,287
then your repentance is a sham.

544
00:26:28,287 --> 00:26:29,914
These guys that come along and say:

545
00:26:29,914 --> 00:26:31,953
you can change your mind 
without changing your life,

546
00:26:31,953 --> 00:26:34,270
what kind of change of mind is that?

547
00:26:34,270 --> 00:26:36,847
You haven't changed your 
mind about anything.

548
00:26:36,847 --> 00:26:40,223
We're talking about a true change of mind.

549
00:26:40,223 --> 00:26:42,030
Not just some flippant thing like,

550
00:26:42,030 --> 00:26:43,993
well, I think it's going to rain tomorrow,

551
00:26:43,993 --> 00:26:46,417
and I changed my mind - 
maybe it's not going to rain tomorrow.

552
00:26:46,417 --> 00:26:47,884
Not some flippant thing like that.

553
00:26:47,884 --> 00:26:54,808
We're talking about the man,

554
00:26:54,808 --> 00:26:56,663
the things he trusts,

555
00:26:56,663 --> 00:26:58,535
what he's living for.

556
00:26:58,535 --> 00:27:00,683
We're talking about the heart of the man,

557
00:27:00,683 --> 00:27:01,867
the drive of the man,

558
00:27:01,867 --> 00:27:04,205
the desires of the man

559
00:27:04,205 --> 00:27:06,565
at the deepest level.

560
00:27:06,565 --> 00:27:08,718
Let's go to another one.

561
00:27:08,718 --> 00:27:12,441
Brethren, let's go to the 
prodigal son in Luke 15.

562
00:27:12,441 --> 00:27:14,257
Here's another example.

563
00:27:14,257 --> 00:27:18,315
Again, we're going to see repentance

564
00:27:18,315 --> 00:27:20,185
put on display.

565
00:27:20,185 --> 00:27:23,280
The rethinking that takes place.

566
00:27:23,280 --> 00:27:28,596
The change of mind that you see happen.

567
00:27:28,596 --> 00:27:31,574
A fourth biblical 
demonstration of repentance.

568
00:27:31,574 --> 00:27:32,902
And I do want you to see

569
00:27:32,902 --> 00:27:36,080
that the parable of the prodigal son

570
00:27:36,080 --> 00:27:39,994
is indeed a parable of repentance,

571
00:27:39,994 --> 00:27:43,707
even though the word itself isn't used

572
00:27:43,707 --> 00:27:46,303
from verses 11-32.

573
00:27:46,303 --> 00:27:49,067
If you just look at Luke 15:7,

574
00:27:49,067 --> 00:27:52,562
you have three parables 
here consecutively.

575
00:27:52,562 --> 00:27:55,861
And they're all teaching the same reality.

576
00:27:55,861 --> 00:27:57,869
If you read through them, you'll see that.

577
00:27:57,869 --> 00:28:00,932
Two are very brief.

578
00:28:00,932 --> 00:28:02,608
One is extended.

579
00:28:02,608 --> 00:28:04,969
But they're all teaching the same thing.

580
00:28:04,969 --> 00:28:07,906
If you look at Luke 15:7.

581
00:28:07,906 --> 00:28:10,544
"Just so, I tell you, there will 
be more joy in Heaven

582
00:28:10,544 --> 00:28:12,226
over one sinner who repents

583
00:28:12,226 --> 00:28:14,155
than over 99 righteous persons

584
00:28:14,155 --> 00:28:16,073
who need no repentance."

585
00:28:16,073 --> 00:28:19,139
"And likewise (v. 10), just so I tell you,

586
00:28:19,139 --> 00:28:21,041
there is joy before the angels of God

587
00:28:21,041 --> 00:28:23,439
over one sinner who repents..."

588
00:28:23,439 --> 00:28:26,015
So basically, you see 
what's on the table here.

589
00:28:26,015 --> 00:28:28,261
Our Lord is dealing with repentance.

590
00:28:28,261 --> 00:28:30,363
And now, once again,

591
00:28:30,363 --> 00:28:32,748
He takes us to two brothers

592
00:28:32,748 --> 00:28:37,669
to illustrate this for us.

593
00:28:37,669 --> 00:28:39,373
Verse 11, He said,

594
00:28:39,373 --> 00:28:42,356
"There was a man who had two sons.

595
00:28:42,356 --> 00:28:44,232
The younger of them said to his father,

596
00:28:44,232 --> 00:28:47,569
'Father, give me the share of 
property that's coming to me.'

597
00:28:47,569 --> 00:28:49,527
And he divided his property between them.

598
00:28:49,527 --> 00:28:52,267
Not many days later, the younger 
son gathered all he had,

599
00:28:52,267 --> 00:28:54,718
took a journey into a far country.

600
00:28:54,718 --> 00:28:56,604
There he squandered his property

601
00:28:56,604 --> 00:28:57,943
in reckless living.

602
00:28:57,943 --> 00:28:59,581
And when he had spent everything,

603
00:28:59,581 --> 00:29:01,478
a severe famine arose in that country

604
00:29:01,478 --> 00:29:03,329
and he began to be in need.

605
00:29:03,329 --> 00:29:04,899
So he went and hired himself out

606
00:29:04,899 --> 00:29:07,063
to one of the citizens of that country

607
00:29:07,063 --> 00:29:10,034
who sent him into the fields to feed pigs.

608
00:29:10,034 --> 00:29:11,486
And he was longing to be fed

609
00:29:11,486 --> 00:29:13,389
with the pods that the pigs ate,

610
00:29:13,389 --> 00:29:16,475
and no one gave him anything.

611
00:29:16,475 --> 00:29:18,652
But when he came to himself..."

612
00:29:18,652 --> 00:29:20,295
You might want to notice that

613
00:29:20,295 --> 00:29:25,252
because again, it's got 
to do with his thinking.

614
00:29:25,252 --> 00:29:28,451
He came to himself.

615
00:29:28,451 --> 00:29:31,270
"He said, 'how many of my 
father's hired servants..."

616
00:29:31,270 --> 00:29:34,348
You see how he's reasoning.

617
00:29:34,348 --> 00:29:36,796
"'...have more than enough bread,

618
00:29:36,796 --> 00:29:39,451
but I perish here with hunger.'"

619
00:29:39,451 --> 00:29:42,516
Here's the consequence.

620
00:29:42,516 --> 00:29:46,336
Here's what flows out 
of the change of mind.

621
00:29:46,336 --> 00:29:49,075
"I will arise and go to my father."

622
00:29:49,075 --> 00:29:50,989
There's the turning.

623
00:29:50,989 --> 00:29:53,122
"I will say to him, 'Father, I have sinned

624
00:29:53,122 --> 00:29:54,627
against heaven and before you.

625
00:29:54,627 --> 00:29:56,853
I'm no longer worthy 
to be called your son.

626
00:29:56,853 --> 00:29:59,467
Treat me as one of your hired servants.'

627
00:29:59,467 --> 00:30:01,357
And he arose and came to his father,

628
00:30:01,357 --> 00:30:03,450
but while he was still a long way off,

629
00:30:03,450 --> 00:30:06,509
his father saw him and felt compassion...

630
00:30:06,509 --> 00:30:09,406
ran and embraced him and kissed him.

631
00:30:09,406 --> 00:30:10,757
And the son said to him,

632
00:30:10,757 --> 00:30:13,188
'Father, I've sinned against 
heaven and before you.

633
00:30:13,188 --> 00:30:16,172
I'm no longer worthy 
to be called your son.'"

634
00:30:16,172 --> 00:30:17,470
And you know how this goes.

635
00:30:17,470 --> 00:30:19,773
The father received him, the fatted calf,

636
00:30:19,773 --> 00:30:23,898
the older brother doesn't like this.

637
00:30:23,898 --> 00:30:27,776
He takes issue with it.

638
00:30:27,776 --> 00:30:31,233
Here is repentance put on display.

639
00:30:31,233 --> 00:30:33,863
Here's what I want you to see.

640
00:30:33,863 --> 00:30:41,954
Notice before the repentance.

641
00:30:41,954 --> 00:30:45,277
Look at verse 12.

642
00:30:45,277 --> 00:30:48,540
"Father, give me..."

643
00:30:48,540 --> 00:30:51,495
That's before repentance.

644
00:30:51,495 --> 00:30:54,508
Boy, that ought to jump out at you.

645
00:30:54,508 --> 00:30:55,855
Give me what's coming to me.

646
00:30:55,855 --> 00:30:57,465
This is the lost man.

647
00:30:57,465 --> 00:31:01,617
Remember? Remember when you were lost?

648
00:31:01,617 --> 00:31:04,050
What did God exist for?

649
00:31:04,050 --> 00:31:06,308
He exists to answer my prayers.

650
00:31:06,308 --> 00:31:08,084
He's like a celestial Santa Claus.

651
00:31:08,084 --> 00:31:11,595
Give me. I deserve it. 
I want it. I'm owed it.

652
00:31:11,595 --> 00:31:13,637
I'm upset when I don't get my due.

653
00:31:13,637 --> 00:31:15,560
We think God owes us.

654
00:31:15,560 --> 00:31:17,885
Do you ever watch how lost people are

655
00:31:17,885 --> 00:31:20,196
when they get cancer?

656
00:31:20,196 --> 00:31:21,432
"What is God doing?"

657
00:31:21,432 --> 00:31:26,282
It's like: "Give me an explanation 
for why this should happen!"

658
00:31:26,282 --> 00:31:27,901
This is how man is.

659
00:31:27,901 --> 00:31:30,559
What? An airplane flew into 
one of the Twin Towers?

660
00:31:30,559 --> 00:31:31,843
How could this happen?

661
00:31:31,843 --> 00:31:33,485
A tsunami over in Japan?

662
00:31:33,485 --> 00:31:35,238
How could this happen?

663
00:31:35,238 --> 00:31:36,845
"God, explain Yourself!"

664
00:31:36,845 --> 00:31:40,279
See, this basically shows what man's ideas

665
00:31:40,279 --> 00:31:42,709
towards God are.

666
00:31:42,709 --> 00:31:45,451
You exist to serve me.

667
00:31:45,451 --> 00:31:47,646
Give me. Give me what's coming.

668
00:31:47,646 --> 00:31:49,112
Give me my inheritance.

669
00:31:49,112 --> 00:31:50,369
Give me!

670
00:31:50,369 --> 00:31:51,863
And we sulk, we pout.

671
00:31:51,863 --> 00:31:53,143
And you know what?

672
00:31:53,143 --> 00:31:55,495
Man pouts when it comes to heaven too.

673
00:31:55,495 --> 00:31:56,604
"God owes me heaven.

674
00:31:56,604 --> 00:31:58,045
I've been a pretty good guy.

675
00:31:58,045 --> 00:32:02,187
What's this hell stuff? What?"

676
00:32:02,187 --> 00:32:04,823
I think on judgment day,

677
00:32:04,823 --> 00:32:08,190
people are going to be amazed.

678
00:32:08,190 --> 00:32:11,089
"God owed me heaven."

679
00:32:11,089 --> 00:32:13,601
We think God owes us respect.

680
00:32:13,601 --> 00:32:15,170
We think God ought to answer

681
00:32:15,170 --> 00:32:16,848
to our needs and our wants.

682
00:32:16,848 --> 00:32:18,633
We pout.

683
00:32:18,633 --> 00:32:19,757
We get angry.

684
00:32:19,757 --> 00:32:21,669
We get frustrated when we feel

685
00:32:21,669 --> 00:32:24,279
we haven't gotten what we deserved.

686
00:32:24,279 --> 00:32:25,917
I mean, lost men see God

687
00:32:25,917 --> 00:32:29,393
as having that one primary function.

688
00:32:29,393 --> 00:32:32,118
It's like you get in the foxhole

689
00:32:32,118 --> 00:32:33,765
and the bombs are coming in.

690
00:32:33,765 --> 00:32:35,156
What's the expectation?

691
00:32:35,156 --> 00:32:36,933
God save me! Save me out of this!

692
00:32:36,933 --> 00:32:40,664
God is supposed to serve me.

693
00:32:40,664 --> 00:32:42,609
Did God give His Son for sinners?

694
00:32:42,609 --> 00:32:43,864
"Well, of course He did.

695
00:32:43,864 --> 00:32:45,323
I expect that. Why?

696
00:32:45,323 --> 00:32:48,730
We're just good and God owes it to us.

697
00:32:48,730 --> 00:32:50,067
And God does this.

698
00:32:50,067 --> 00:32:51,271
It's expected."

699
00:32:51,271 --> 00:32:54,370
Fallen man just imagines 
himself of being worthy.

700
00:32:54,370 --> 00:32:56,117
Of course God does all these things.

701
00:32:56,117 --> 00:32:58,889
Father, give me! Give me! Give me!

702
00:32:58,889 --> 00:33:01,768
That's what you find here 
before repentance.

703
00:33:01,768 --> 00:33:07,344
Isn't it amazing he comes to himself

704
00:33:07,344 --> 00:33:09,959
and what does he say?

705
00:33:09,959 --> 00:33:12,005
The change of mind.

706
00:33:12,005 --> 00:33:14,965
How does his talk change?

707
00:33:14,965 --> 00:33:17,068
You see it there.

708
00:33:17,068 --> 00:33:19,666
Look at verse 19.

709
00:33:19,666 --> 00:33:26,320
"I am no longer worthy."

710
00:33:26,320 --> 00:33:30,138
Has the Gospel ever 
confronted you that way?

711
00:33:30,138 --> 00:33:35,178
Where you went from thinking 
God owed you everything?

712
00:33:35,178 --> 00:33:38,576
Owing you heaven?

713
00:33:38,576 --> 00:33:44,832
And you saw: I am not worthy.

714
00:33:44,832 --> 00:33:46,360
Or you look at verse 21.

715
00:33:46,360 --> 00:33:50,527
"I have sinned and am no longer worthy."

716
00:33:50,527 --> 00:33:55,486
See, again, we go back to the Laodiceans.

717
00:33:55,486 --> 00:33:59,887
There's a brokenness

718
00:33:59,887 --> 00:34:01,584
that comes with true repentance -

719
00:34:01,584 --> 00:34:04,257
not a togetherness.

720
00:34:04,257 --> 00:34:09,661
There's the Jeremiah: What have I done?

721
00:34:09,661 --> 00:34:15,372
What was I thinking?

722
00:34:15,372 --> 00:34:20,938
Father, I have sinned.

723
00:34:20,938 --> 00:34:23,735
I'm not worthy.

724
00:34:23,735 --> 00:34:25,408
You see what's happening here.

725
00:34:25,408 --> 00:34:27,613
What a change of mind!

726
00:34:27,613 --> 00:34:30,260
Has this happened to you?

727
00:34:30,260 --> 00:34:32,850
Now, I know you know 
what the right answer is,

728
00:34:32,850 --> 00:34:35,062
but have you been 
confronted by the Gospel

729
00:34:35,062 --> 00:34:39,137
so as to produce this 
kind of change of mind?

730
00:34:39,137 --> 00:34:42,102
Truth comes to the mind

731
00:34:42,102 --> 00:34:45,472
and you admit that you've been wrong.

732
00:34:45,472 --> 00:34:47,387
You see, that's what rethinking is.

733
00:34:47,387 --> 00:34:49,230
It's coming to the place where

734
00:34:49,230 --> 00:34:51,307
you're at least considering:

735
00:34:51,307 --> 00:34:52,583
have I been wrong?

736
00:34:52,583 --> 00:34:54,188
Have I been wrong all this time?

737
00:34:54,188 --> 00:34:55,626
Have I been thinking wrongly

738
00:34:55,626 --> 00:34:57,019
about who God is and who I am

739
00:34:57,019 --> 00:34:58,205
and getting to heaven

740
00:34:58,205 --> 00:34:59,513
and who Jesus Christ is

741
00:34:59,513 --> 00:35:01,132
and what the cross is all about?

742
00:35:01,132 --> 00:35:02,484
Have I been thinking wrong?

743
00:35:02,484 --> 00:35:04,165
That's the beginning of repentance.

744
00:35:04,165 --> 00:35:05,654
Even coming to the place where

745
00:35:05,654 --> 00:35:11,907
considering: I think I've been wrong.

746
00:35:11,907 --> 00:35:14,307
Turn.

747
00:35:14,307 --> 00:35:20,223
And you see where he rethinks this.

748
00:35:20,223 --> 00:35:22,630
Change of mind.

749
00:35:22,630 --> 00:35:26,109
Where he rethinks it, 
where his mind changes,

750
00:35:26,109 --> 00:35:29,538
his whole self follows.

751
00:35:29,538 --> 00:35:33,060
You see, at first it says 
he went into a far country.

752
00:35:33,060 --> 00:35:34,401
But let me ask you this,

753
00:35:34,401 --> 00:35:35,864
a far country?

754
00:35:35,864 --> 00:35:37,613
Well, it wasn't very far from him.

755
00:35:37,613 --> 00:35:40,330
Who is it far from?

756
00:35:40,330 --> 00:35:42,347
What are you talking about a far country?

757
00:35:42,347 --> 00:35:45,374
Far from who?

758
00:35:45,374 --> 00:35:48,620
Far from the Father. Far from God.

759
00:35:48,620 --> 00:35:50,953
That's who it was far from.

760
00:35:50,953 --> 00:35:53,846
His back was toward the father.

761
00:35:53,846 --> 00:35:56,842
He was trying to get as far away...

762
00:35:56,842 --> 00:36:01,168
Give me! Yeah, he'll look to 
the father when it's "give me,"

763
00:36:01,168 --> 00:36:06,343
but then he's getting 
as far away as he can.

764
00:36:06,343 --> 00:36:09,476
"But when he came to himself," verse 17,

765
00:36:09,476 --> 00:36:11,582
notice what happens.

766
00:36:11,582 --> 00:36:18,175
He totally turned towards home.

767
00:36:18,175 --> 00:36:21,772
Let me ask you this.

768
00:36:21,772 --> 00:36:24,308
Do you know anything about this?

769
00:36:24,308 --> 00:36:27,174
Do you know anything about 
going along through life -

770
00:36:27,174 --> 00:36:31,189
I'm not talking about whether 
you were religious or not.

771
00:36:31,189 --> 00:36:33,290
You may have been going to the church.

772
00:36:33,290 --> 00:36:35,609
You may have been 
lugging the Bible around.

773
00:36:35,609 --> 00:36:37,153
But do you know anything about:

774
00:36:37,153 --> 00:36:40,514
you're going along

775
00:36:40,514 --> 00:36:44,942
and you're confronted 
by the truth of the Gospel

776
00:36:44,942 --> 00:36:49,182
and you turn towards home.

777
00:36:49,182 --> 00:36:51,415
You were moving away from there.

778
00:36:51,415 --> 00:36:55,178
He rethought his condition.

779
00:36:55,178 --> 00:36:56,795
He rethought his circumstances.

780
00:36:56,795 --> 00:36:58,893
He changes his mind. I'm going home.

781
00:36:58,893 --> 00:37:03,577
I'm going to cast myself on 
the mercy of my father.

782
00:37:03,577 --> 00:37:06,302
That's what happens.

783
00:37:06,302 --> 00:37:08,526
I'm unworthy. I've sinned.

784
00:37:08,526 --> 00:37:12,117
My only hope is mercy.

785
00:37:12,117 --> 00:37:14,047
Before: "It's my due."

786
00:37:14,047 --> 00:37:16,179
"Give me what you owe me."

787
00:37:16,179 --> 00:37:18,091
"Give me my inheritance!"

788
00:37:18,091 --> 00:37:20,035
"Give it to me!"

789
00:37:20,035 --> 00:37:23,121
He's not talking that way anymore.

790
00:37:23,121 --> 00:37:25,422
His mind is changed, his thinking -

791
00:37:25,422 --> 00:37:29,791
rethink, rethink, rethink.

792
00:37:29,791 --> 00:37:32,318
And he sees he's got nothing to offer.

793
00:37:32,318 --> 00:37:37,195
He can only cast himself on the mercy.

794
00:37:37,195 --> 00:37:40,969
The older son? No. There's 
never a change of mind.

795
00:37:40,969 --> 00:37:44,866
There was never a turning towards home.

796
00:37:44,866 --> 00:37:47,046
He's the one who's righteous

797
00:37:47,046 --> 00:37:50,130
and not in need of any repentance.

798
00:37:50,130 --> 00:37:54,605
I want to show you a fifth biblical 
demonstration of repentance.

799
00:37:54,605 --> 00:38:12,476
Turn to Acts 3.

800
00:38:12,476 --> 00:38:14,697
So often we hear about Acts 2,

801
00:38:14,697 --> 00:38:15,749
and rightly so.

802
00:38:15,749 --> 00:38:18,823
It's very important: 
Pentecost, the Spirit.

803
00:38:18,823 --> 00:38:21,759
But you know that whole 
incident that took place

804
00:38:21,759 --> 00:38:25,248
after the man at the 
Beautiful Gate was healed,

805
00:38:25,248 --> 00:38:28,529
oh brethren, this is a tremendous

806
00:38:28,529 --> 00:38:32,028
and rich portion of Scripture.

807
00:38:32,028 --> 00:38:35,431
Notice, verse 1, Peter and John,

808
00:38:35,431 --> 00:38:38,956
temple, hour of prayer, 9th hour.

809
00:38:38,956 --> 00:38:41,104
Verse 2, there was a lame man there

810
00:38:41,104 --> 00:38:43,850
from birth at the Beautiful Gate.

811
00:38:43,850 --> 00:38:45,235
He's asking for alms.

812
00:38:45,235 --> 00:38:47,927
Verse 3, Peter and John

813
00:38:47,927 --> 00:38:50,334
get asked for alms.

814
00:38:50,334 --> 00:38:52,563
Verse 4, Peter directs his gaze at him.

815
00:38:52,563 --> 00:38:53,712
"Look at us."

816
00:38:53,712 --> 00:38:56,539
Verse 5, he fixed his attention on them -

817
00:38:56,539 --> 00:38:59,389
the lame man - he's expecting 
to receive something.

818
00:38:59,389 --> 00:39:02,126
Verse 6, Peter said,

819
00:39:02,126 --> 00:39:03,596
"Silver and gold have I none,

820
00:39:03,596 --> 00:39:06,194
but such as I have give I you,

821
00:39:06,194 --> 00:39:08,430
in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,

822
00:39:08,430 --> 00:39:09,883
rise up and walk."

823
00:39:09,883 --> 00:39:11,749
In verse 7, he took him by the hand.

824
00:39:11,749 --> 00:39:12,724
He raises him up.

825
00:39:12,724 --> 00:39:15,001
Immediately, his feet 
and ankles are strong.

826
00:39:15,001 --> 00:39:16,885
Verse 8, he enters the temple with them

827
00:39:16,885 --> 00:39:18,977
walking, leaping, praising God.

828
00:39:18,977 --> 00:39:21,179
And all the people saw him.

829
00:39:21,179 --> 00:39:23,169
Verse 9 and 10 - they were filled

830
00:39:23,169 --> 00:39:25,236
with wonder and amazement

831
00:39:25,236 --> 00:39:26,630
at what had happened to him.

832
00:39:26,630 --> 00:39:28,918
All the people utterly astounded,

833
00:39:28,918 --> 00:39:30,413
in verse 12, when Peter saw it,

834
00:39:30,413 --> 00:39:31,799
he addressed the people.

835
00:39:31,799 --> 00:39:33,003
Now, here's the thing.

836
00:39:33,003 --> 00:39:34,593
He begins to address the people,

837
00:39:34,593 --> 00:39:37,356
but what I want you to do 
is jump forward to v. 19.

838
00:39:37,356 --> 00:39:40,666
"Repent, therefore, and turn back

839
00:39:40,666 --> 00:39:42,775
that your sins may be blotted out."

840
00:39:42,775 --> 00:39:45,251
You see, he's going to 
say what he says here

841
00:39:45,251 --> 00:39:47,241
because he's calling them to repentance.

842
00:39:47,241 --> 00:39:53,430
Notice what he says. Go back to v. 12.

843
00:39:53,430 --> 00:39:55,939
"Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this?

844
00:39:55,939 --> 00:39:58,310
Or why do you stare at us as though

845
00:39:58,310 --> 00:39:59,982
by our own power and piety

846
00:39:59,982 --> 00:40:01,276
we have made him walk?

847
00:40:01,276 --> 00:40:03,104
The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,

848
00:40:03,104 --> 00:40:04,137
and the God of Jacob,

849
00:40:04,137 --> 00:40:06,935
the God of our fathers 
glorified His servant Jesus,

850
00:40:06,935 --> 00:40:09,097
whom you delivered over and denied

851
00:40:09,097 --> 00:40:10,525
in the presence of Pilate

852
00:40:10,525 --> 00:40:12,329
when he decided to release Him,

853
00:40:12,329 --> 00:40:14,319
but you denied the 
Holy and Righteous One

854
00:40:14,319 --> 00:40:16,537
and asked for a murderer 
to be granted to you.

855
00:40:16,537 --> 00:40:18,577
You killed the Author of Life."

856
00:40:18,577 --> 00:40:20,460
You see, their thinking was wrong.

857
00:40:20,460 --> 00:40:22,136
How do you kill the Author of Life

858
00:40:22,136 --> 00:40:25,170
and exchange Him for a murderer?

859
00:40:25,170 --> 00:40:26,339
How do you do that?

860
00:40:26,339 --> 00:40:27,879
Because your thinking's wrong.

861
00:40:27,879 --> 00:40:30,284
You look at Christ: "Crucify Him!"

862
00:40:30,284 --> 00:40:31,783
You see, even Paul said,

863
00:40:31,783 --> 00:40:34,475
if the leaders would have known

864
00:40:34,475 --> 00:40:35,680
that He was the Lord,

865
00:40:35,680 --> 00:40:37,134
they wouldn't have crucified Him.

866
00:40:37,134 --> 00:40:38,661
If you really look at Him and you realize

867
00:40:38,661 --> 00:40:40,092
this is my only way to heaven.

868
00:40:40,092 --> 00:40:41,448
There is no other way.

869
00:40:41,448 --> 00:40:44,513
This is the One sent into the 
world to save me from sins,

870
00:40:44,513 --> 00:40:45,695
take me to a paradise,

871
00:40:45,695 --> 00:40:50,960
forgive all of this, take me 
to unimaginable riches -

872
00:40:50,960 --> 00:40:52,350
you don't kill Him.

873
00:40:52,350 --> 00:40:54,261
There has to be a change in thinking.

874
00:40:54,261 --> 00:40:56,405
That's what he's coming along: Repent!

875
00:40:56,405 --> 00:40:58,319
Reexamine this! Think again!

876
00:40:58,319 --> 00:41:00,145
You guys are thinking wrong.

877
00:41:00,145 --> 00:41:01,649
How were they thinking?

878
00:41:01,649 --> 00:41:02,762
Well, we're Jews.

879
00:41:02,762 --> 00:41:04,596
We're the offspring of Abraham.

880
00:41:04,596 --> 00:41:06,329
We've got an in here.

881
00:41:06,329 --> 00:41:09,126
We're good. We're God's people.

882
00:41:09,126 --> 00:41:12,152
This guy? Our leaders?

883
00:41:12,152 --> 00:41:13,754
They're wise. They know the law.

884
00:41:13,754 --> 00:41:14,781
They're the Pharisees.

885
00:41:14,781 --> 00:41:16,994
These are the most righteous people.

886
00:41:16,994 --> 00:41:19,589
The Scribes. The Sadduccees.

887
00:41:19,589 --> 00:41:21,917
All these guys? They think He's a fake.

888
00:41:21,917 --> 00:41:23,491
They think He's a deceiver.

889
00:41:23,491 --> 00:41:26,165
They led us there when 
we were before Pilate.

890
00:41:26,165 --> 00:41:29,089
They were the ones 
encouraging us to crucify Him.

891
00:41:29,089 --> 00:41:31,978
Certainly if Christ came,

892
00:41:31,978 --> 00:41:34,506
the Jewish leaders of all people

893
00:41:34,506 --> 00:41:37,687
would recognize Him, would they not?

894
00:41:37,687 --> 00:41:39,009
Peter is saying:

895
00:41:39,009 --> 00:41:40,996
you better rethink all of this.

896
00:41:40,996 --> 00:41:45,722
You need to change your thinking.

897
00:41:45,722 --> 00:41:48,397
You killed the Author of Life.

898
00:41:48,397 --> 00:41:50,753
You crucified God's servant.

899
00:41:50,753 --> 00:41:52,785
Rethink. Rethink.

900
00:41:52,785 --> 00:41:54,326
In fact, what he's doing is,

901
00:41:54,326 --> 00:41:56,326
you can imagine this guy's over here

902
00:41:56,326 --> 00:41:57,992
jumping up and down next to him.

903
00:41:57,992 --> 00:42:00,583
Peter's got this guy that 
they all knew was lame,

904
00:42:00,583 --> 00:42:02,790
and what Peter's doing is:

905
00:42:02,790 --> 00:42:05,941
Look! Look at this guy!

906
00:42:05,941 --> 00:42:09,440
This didn't happen through me and John

907
00:42:09,440 --> 00:42:11,667
being somehow miracle workers.

908
00:42:11,667 --> 00:42:15,286
This happened in the name of Jesus Christ.

909
00:42:15,286 --> 00:42:17,611
Now you guys better start 
rethinking everything.

910
00:42:17,611 --> 00:42:20,125
You better look at this one 
jumping up and down here

911
00:42:20,125 --> 00:42:22,820
and recognize that he's doing this,

912
00:42:22,820 --> 00:42:24,610
what you're watching right here

913
00:42:24,610 --> 00:42:26,611
is a revelation of the power

914
00:42:26,611 --> 00:42:29,818
of the One who you crucified.

915
00:42:29,818 --> 00:42:30,935
You need to rethink it.

916
00:42:30,935 --> 00:42:32,894
You need to start all over. Think again.

917
00:42:32,894 --> 00:42:34,681
Repent. He's the Son of God.

918
00:42:34,681 --> 00:42:35,785
He's the Lord of Glory.

919
00:42:35,785 --> 00:42:36,750
Change your mind.

920
00:42:36,750 --> 00:42:38,860
Get in tune with reality.

921
00:42:38,860 --> 00:42:41,498
Line up with things 
the way they really are.

922
00:42:41,498 --> 00:42:43,424
You've been fooled. You've been deluded.

923
00:42:43,424 --> 00:42:44,304
You've been duped.

924
00:42:44,304 --> 00:42:45,473
You've believed a lie.

925
00:42:45,473 --> 00:42:46,994
You guys have been going the wrong way.

926
00:42:46,994 --> 00:42:48,400
You think everything is good with you

927
00:42:48,400 --> 00:42:50,776
and that you're God's 
people, but you're not.

928
00:42:50,776 --> 00:42:53,503
You think that the God 
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

929
00:42:53,503 --> 00:42:56,375
is your God, but what 
you need to recognize

930
00:42:56,375 --> 00:42:58,055
is this is His servant.

931
00:42:58,055 --> 00:42:59,390
This is His Christ.

932
00:42:59,390 --> 00:43:00,492
He sent Him.

933
00:43:00,492 --> 00:43:03,366
Rethink. Rethink. Reexamine.

934
00:43:03,366 --> 00:43:06,041
And you've got the proof 
right here in this guy.

935
00:43:06,041 --> 00:43:07,272
Look at him.

936
00:43:07,272 --> 00:43:09,613
Let that turn your minds.

937
00:43:09,613 --> 00:43:11,658
Let that cause something to happen.

938
00:43:11,658 --> 00:43:13,055
Change your mind.

939
00:43:13,055 --> 00:43:14,231
Think! Think! Think!

940
00:43:14,231 --> 00:43:15,887
Here's the thing, the world out there,

941
00:43:15,887 --> 00:43:17,540
they look at us Christians and they say

942
00:43:17,540 --> 00:43:20,025
Christians are stupid. 
Christians don't think.

943
00:43:20,025 --> 00:43:23,210
That's not true. That's not true.

944
00:43:23,210 --> 00:43:25,193
Basically what you're finding in Scripture

945
00:43:25,193 --> 00:43:29,244
when we're told to call 
the world to repentance -

946
00:43:29,244 --> 00:43:31,855
God has commanded all 
men everywhere to repent -

947
00:43:31,855 --> 00:43:33,638
that means He's commanded 
all men everywhere

948
00:43:33,638 --> 00:43:34,994
to rethink and change their minds.

949
00:43:34,994 --> 00:43:36,921
You know who the ones 
who are not thinking

950
00:43:36,921 --> 00:43:38,948
are the people that are out there.

951
00:43:38,948 --> 00:43:41,331
We are the people who have thought.

952
00:43:41,331 --> 00:43:42,860
We've had our minds changed.

953
00:43:42,860 --> 00:43:44,631
We've come face-to-face with Christ.

954
00:43:44,631 --> 00:43:46,279
Face-to-face with the cross.

955
00:43:46,279 --> 00:43:48,582
Face-to-face with these realities,

956
00:43:48,582 --> 00:43:52,124
with the miracle-workings of Christ.

957
00:43:52,124 --> 00:43:53,640
And something's happened.

958
00:43:53,640 --> 00:43:57,523
If we're genuine, we were 
confronted by the Gospel,

959
00:43:57,523 --> 00:44:01,951
and some sort of rethinking 
actually took place in our minds.

960
00:44:01,951 --> 00:44:05,666
And one of the starting places is this,

961
00:44:05,666 --> 00:44:08,158
are you willing to admit the possibility

962
00:44:08,158 --> 00:44:09,862
that you've been wrong?

963
00:44:09,862 --> 00:44:11,815
You've been thinking Jesus Christ -

964
00:44:11,815 --> 00:44:13,746
some of you young people -

965
00:44:13,746 --> 00:44:16,281
you're thinking the Christ of my parents,

966
00:44:16,281 --> 00:44:17,998
I don't need Him.

967
00:44:17,998 --> 00:44:19,985
You better think again.

968
00:44:19,985 --> 00:44:23,759
You're sitting there thinking 
He's dull, He's boring.

969
00:44:23,759 --> 00:44:25,806
Listen, He turned water into wine.

970
00:44:25,806 --> 00:44:27,702
He said to that thief next to Him:

971
00:44:27,702 --> 00:44:30,236
This day you will be with Me in paradise.

972
00:44:30,236 --> 00:44:32,949
Is that irrelevant to your life?

973
00:44:32,949 --> 00:44:35,310
Is it? You better think again.

974
00:44:35,310 --> 00:44:38,771
People go along and they get 
these ideas in their heads,

975
00:44:38,771 --> 00:44:41,886
and what we need to ask ourselves is:

976
00:44:41,886 --> 00:44:44,276
does your little system really work?

977
00:44:44,276 --> 00:44:46,992
The things you think, 
how much do you really know?

978
00:44:46,992 --> 00:44:49,999
You've got your ideas about 
how all this is going to work out,

979
00:44:49,999 --> 00:44:52,306
but how much of that 
is really based on truth?

980
00:44:52,306 --> 00:44:53,859
How much of that have you just dreamed up?

981
00:44:53,859 --> 00:44:55,528
How much of that is being touted out here

982
00:44:55,528 --> 00:44:57,459
by a world that sits in darkness

983
00:44:57,459 --> 00:44:59,199
and under the power of the evil one?

984
00:44:59,199 --> 00:45:01,530
How much do you really know?

985
00:45:01,530 --> 00:45:02,745
You better think again.

986
00:45:02,745 --> 00:45:03,956
You better think again.

987
00:45:03,956 --> 00:45:05,811
Christ did turn water into wine.

988
00:45:05,811 --> 00:45:07,959
And He did take that thief into paradise.

989
00:45:07,959 --> 00:45:11,587
And He did make that 
lame man jump and leap.

990
00:45:11,587 --> 00:45:15,068
And He has the ability powerfully

991
00:45:15,068 --> 00:45:16,981
to enable a man born lame

992
00:45:16,981 --> 00:45:19,841
to all of a sudden walk and jump and leap.

993
00:45:19,841 --> 00:45:21,785
Does that have anything 
to do with your life?

994
00:45:21,785 --> 00:45:24,318
If you say no, that has very 
little to do with my life,

995
00:45:24,318 --> 00:45:27,438
okay, you're going to walk out that door.

996
00:45:27,438 --> 00:45:29,757
You think somehow your little system,

997
00:45:29,757 --> 00:45:31,617
you're ready to meet death?

998
00:45:31,617 --> 00:45:32,769
You better think again.

999
00:45:32,769 --> 00:45:35,094
Some of you, you've been 
playing the part of the Christian,

1000
00:45:35,094 --> 00:45:36,760
but your conscience has been bothering you

1001
00:45:36,760 --> 00:45:39,465
because you know that something 
seems like you're lacking

1002
00:45:39,465 --> 00:45:41,671
the power of the real thing.

1003
00:45:41,671 --> 00:45:42,733
You need to think again.

1004
00:45:42,733 --> 00:45:44,710
Don't be afraid to think again.

1005
00:45:44,710 --> 00:45:46,820
Listen, sometimes people 
are afraid to think

1006
00:45:46,820 --> 00:45:49,016
because they're afraid where 
the thinking will lead them,

1007
00:45:49,016 --> 00:45:51,147
but better that it lead you to recognize

1008
00:45:51,147 --> 00:45:52,864
that you are poor and miserable

1009
00:45:52,864 --> 00:45:54,808
and blind and naked

1010
00:45:54,808 --> 00:45:57,065
so that you might turn 
to Christ to be clothed

1011
00:45:57,065 --> 00:45:58,590
and to have eye salve put on,

1012
00:45:58,590 --> 00:45:59,959
to have your eyes opened,

1013
00:45:59,959 --> 00:46:01,771
and to be healed by Him -

1014
00:46:01,771 --> 00:46:04,332
better to do that than live in a deception

1015
00:46:04,332 --> 00:46:06,154
all the time playing it off -

1016
00:46:06,154 --> 00:46:07,809
that nagging thing: 
No, I don't want to think.

1017
00:46:07,809 --> 00:46:09,877
I don't want to think. 
I don't want to think.

1018
00:46:09,877 --> 00:46:12,533
Yet, repent, or you will perish.

1019
00:46:12,533 --> 00:46:15,081
Rethink. Reexamine.

1020
00:46:15,081 --> 00:46:16,592
Get to the place where you recognize

1021
00:46:16,592 --> 00:46:18,843
that you might be wrong in all of this.

1022
00:46:18,843 --> 00:46:21,583
Look at it from that perspective.

1023
00:46:21,583 --> 00:46:24,098
Rethink your own selves - who you are.

1024
00:46:24,098 --> 00:46:26,250
Do you see this man jumping up and down?

1025
00:46:26,250 --> 00:46:27,657
Hadn't you better reconsider?

1026
00:46:27,657 --> 00:46:29,251
I mean, it's that kind of thing.

1027
00:46:29,251 --> 00:46:32,025
What you find is Jesus Christ

1028
00:46:32,025 --> 00:46:36,501
coming to those cities where 
He did all of His miracles.

1029
00:46:36,501 --> 00:46:38,184
And He denounces them

1030
00:46:38,184 --> 00:46:39,559
because they didn't repent.

1031
00:46:39,559 --> 00:46:41,107
They didn't rethink.

1032
00:46:41,107 --> 00:46:42,686
You see what's happening there?

1033
00:46:42,686 --> 00:46:43,914
I turned water into wine.

1034
00:46:43,914 --> 00:46:46,371
I healed the centurion's servant.

1035
00:46:46,371 --> 00:46:49,458
I raised Lazarus from the dead.

1036
00:46:49,458 --> 00:46:53,136
I fed 5,000 people.

1037
00:46:53,136 --> 00:46:57,261
Hadn't you better think?

1038
00:46:57,261 --> 00:47:02,835
Is it possible that you've been wrong?

1039
00:47:02,835 --> 00:47:04,726
Is there a possibility there?

1040
00:47:04,726 --> 00:47:08,056
Are you really alright?

1041
00:47:08,056 --> 00:47:09,940
Are you really ready to live your life

1042
00:47:09,940 --> 00:47:11,633
without the God of your parents

1043
00:47:11,633 --> 00:47:13,388
or the other people in this place -

1044
00:47:13,388 --> 00:47:15,231
without the Christ?

1045
00:47:15,231 --> 00:47:16,995
Do you really think that the cross

1046
00:47:16,995 --> 00:47:19,294
means that little?

1047
00:47:19,294 --> 00:47:21,194
Do you really think that somehow

1048
00:47:21,194 --> 00:47:23,665
it's all going to work out in that day

1049
00:47:23,665 --> 00:47:25,048
on Judgment Day

1050
00:47:25,048 --> 00:47:29,076
if you turn your back on this Christ?

1051
00:47:29,076 --> 00:47:33,644
Do you really think so? 
You better think again.

1052
00:47:33,644 --> 00:47:36,083
That's what's happening to these Jews.

1053
00:47:36,083 --> 00:47:38,943
Rethink. Reexamine.

1054
00:47:38,943 --> 00:47:40,447
Rethink it all.

1055
00:47:40,447 --> 00:47:44,877
Is Christ really so 
unimportant as you thought?

1056
00:47:44,877 --> 00:47:47,772
Is your righteousness really so valuable

1057
00:47:47,772 --> 00:47:50,506
in the sight of God?

1058
00:47:50,506 --> 00:47:51,886
Bring out the books.

1059
00:47:51,886 --> 00:47:53,041
Do the accounting.

1060
00:47:53,041 --> 00:47:54,179
Look at your life.

1061
00:47:54,179 --> 00:47:55,790
Is it really so good that you think

1062
00:47:55,790 --> 00:47:56,842
you can offer that?

1063
00:47:56,842 --> 00:47:58,517
Do you really think you can

1064
00:47:58,517 --> 00:48:00,170
stand before God on judgment day?

1065
00:48:00,170 --> 00:48:01,640
Listen, whatever you're thinking,

1066
00:48:01,640 --> 00:48:03,206
you better think this way:

1067
00:48:03,206 --> 00:48:05,466
Death is real and death is coming.

1068
00:48:05,466 --> 00:48:07,044
And you can't run away from it.

1069
00:48:07,044 --> 00:48:08,404
You need to think about that.

1070
00:48:08,404 --> 00:48:11,470
If you've been thinking you're 
going to live forever, rethink.

1071
00:48:11,470 --> 00:48:12,911
Think again.

1072
00:48:12,911 --> 00:48:16,804
Because that's not a reality.

1073
00:48:16,804 --> 00:48:18,653
He raised that lame man.

1074
00:48:18,653 --> 00:48:21,019
Christ did that.

1075
00:48:21,019 --> 00:48:23,890
Is He really so unimportant?

1076
00:48:23,890 --> 00:48:26,641
Insignificant? Irrelevant?

1077
00:48:26,641 --> 00:48:30,427
Think. Think. Think. Think!

1078
00:48:30,427 --> 00:48:33,241
If you're wrong, admit you've been wrong.

1079
00:48:33,241 --> 00:48:38,012
Admit that you've been 
totally, utterly mistaken.

1080
00:48:38,012 --> 00:48:43,557
I'll tell you, you go through 
the whole book of John

1081
00:48:43,557 --> 00:48:45,122
and you get to the end,

1082
00:48:45,122 --> 00:48:48,188
and he says I've told 
you all these miracles

1083
00:48:48,188 --> 00:48:50,229
that Christ did that you might believe.

1084
00:48:50,229 --> 00:48:51,785
Oh, there's a whole bunch more,

1085
00:48:51,785 --> 00:48:53,429
but I've told you a few.

1086
00:48:53,429 --> 00:48:55,622
And I've told you that you might believe

1087
00:48:55,622 --> 00:48:58,697
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

1088
00:48:58,697 --> 00:49:01,752
Concerning those same miracles,

1089
00:49:01,752 --> 00:49:05,330
He denounced those cities.

1090
00:49:05,330 --> 00:49:07,863
Capernaum.

1091
00:49:07,863 --> 00:49:09,168
Chorazin.

1092
00:49:09,168 --> 00:49:10,382
Bethsaida.

1093
00:49:10,382 --> 00:49:11,463
Why?

1094
00:49:11,463 --> 00:49:13,601
Because they didn't repent 
when they saw His works.

1095
00:49:13,601 --> 00:49:16,854
He laid all His credentials out there.

1096
00:49:16,854 --> 00:49:18,781
And the people looked and they said

1097
00:49:18,781 --> 00:49:21,514
that doesn't change anything.

1098
00:49:21,514 --> 00:49:25,458
But you see what Jesus said is this:

1099
00:49:25,458 --> 00:49:28,364
Which is easier to say?

1100
00:49:28,364 --> 00:49:30,517
Rise up and walk?

1101
00:49:30,517 --> 00:49:35,867
Or is it easier to say your 
sins be forgiven you?

1102
00:49:35,867 --> 00:49:38,666
But that you might know who He is,

1103
00:49:38,666 --> 00:49:41,027
that He is the Savior of the world,

1104
00:49:41,027 --> 00:49:43,654
that He has the power to forgive sins.

1105
00:49:43,654 --> 00:49:45,820
He says to the man: Rise up and walk.

1106
00:49:45,820 --> 00:49:48,223
You see what He's doing in 
all those miracles He did

1107
00:49:48,223 --> 00:49:50,631
before those people, is He's saying,

1108
00:49:50,631 --> 00:49:52,934
you better think about who I am.

1109
00:49:52,934 --> 00:49:54,129
You better rethink.

1110
00:49:54,129 --> 00:49:56,210
You better reexamine.

1111
00:49:56,210 --> 00:49:58,744
Are you saved? Are you saved?

1112
00:49:58,744 --> 00:50:02,255
Have you been confronted by the Gospel

1113
00:50:02,255 --> 00:50:04,491
and by Christ in such a manner

1114
00:50:04,491 --> 00:50:08,455
that your old way of thinking was wrecked?

1115
00:50:08,455 --> 00:50:12,288
Dashed on the rocks?

1116
00:50:12,288 --> 00:50:14,780
Has that happened?

1117
00:50:14,780 --> 00:50:17,317
You see, what this tells us,

1118
00:50:17,317 --> 00:50:22,192
the Gospel is meant to change minds.

1119
00:50:22,192 --> 00:50:24,942
When you go out there into these streets,

1120
00:50:24,942 --> 00:50:26,748
that's what you want to do.

1121
00:50:26,748 --> 00:50:30,629
We're seeking to get 
people to think again.

1122
00:50:30,629 --> 00:50:34,315
To rethink and to change their minds.

1123
00:50:34,315 --> 00:50:37,386
Do you know what most of 
the people out there think?

1124
00:50:37,386 --> 00:50:40,101
They don't know how holy God is.

1125
00:50:40,101 --> 00:50:42,891
They think somehow it's going to work out

1126
00:50:42,891 --> 00:50:44,227
when they die.

1127
00:50:44,227 --> 00:50:46,593
They think that they've been good enough.

1128
00:50:46,593 --> 00:50:51,218
They think very low thoughts 
of the Lord Jesus Christ.

1129
00:50:51,218 --> 00:50:52,907
They don't have any idea

1130
00:50:52,907 --> 00:50:56,463
about God's holy standard.

1131
00:50:56,463 --> 00:50:58,412
And what you want to do is go out there

1132
00:50:58,412 --> 00:51:01,255
and not tell them:

1133
00:51:01,255 --> 00:51:04,274
well, you need to turn from sin.

1134
00:51:04,274 --> 00:51:07,026
That's only the product of all of this.

1135
00:51:07,026 --> 00:51:10,259
What you want to tell them: Think again.

1136
00:51:10,259 --> 00:51:11,618
You're headed for death

1137
00:51:11,618 --> 00:51:15,150
and you've been sleeping well at night.

1138
00:51:15,150 --> 00:51:17,586
That tells me you're not thinking right.

1139
00:51:17,586 --> 00:51:20,144
You need to think again.

1140
00:51:20,144 --> 00:51:23,107
You think it's okay between you and God.

1141
00:51:23,107 --> 00:51:24,459
Think again.

1142
00:51:24,459 --> 00:51:26,353
It's not okay.

1143
00:51:26,353 --> 00:51:29,055
You've been thinking what 
Christ did on that cross -

1144
00:51:29,055 --> 00:51:30,990
oh yeah, that's nice, you've 
got a little manger

1145
00:51:30,990 --> 00:51:33,311
you're going to pull out at Christmas.

1146
00:51:33,311 --> 00:51:34,860
You better think again.

1147
00:51:34,860 --> 00:51:37,694
God pouring out His wrath on 
His Son on that cross

1148
00:51:37,694 --> 00:51:39,166
does not mean you're okay

1149
00:51:39,166 --> 00:51:40,744
and it's just going to 
work out in the end.

1150
00:51:40,744 --> 00:51:43,074
You better think again.

1151
00:51:43,074 --> 00:51:47,867
This is the reality behind repentance.

1152
00:51:47,867 --> 00:51:50,195
One man who attended a teaching module

1153
00:51:50,195 --> 00:51:52,513
down in Nicaragua said

1154
00:51:52,513 --> 00:51:57,141
it's offensive to tell people to repent.

1155
00:51:57,141 --> 00:51:59,734
Of course, it is.

1156
00:51:59,734 --> 00:52:01,244
When we say to the sinner:

1157
00:52:01,244 --> 00:52:04,888
you think all is well in your life?

1158
00:52:04,888 --> 00:52:07,080
Think again.

1159
00:52:07,080 --> 00:52:09,604
It's not well.

1160
00:52:09,604 --> 00:52:11,037
You see, you put your finger

1161
00:52:11,037 --> 00:52:12,823
right on the apple of their eye

1162
00:52:12,823 --> 00:52:16,738
when you say your righteousnesses

1163
00:52:16,738 --> 00:52:18,868
are filthy rags.

1164
00:52:18,868 --> 00:52:22,019
All your morality, all your religion -

1165
00:52:22,019 --> 00:52:26,043
you think it holds weight.

1166
00:52:26,043 --> 00:52:33,652
It not only is not a 
positive asset in your life,

1167
00:52:33,652 --> 00:52:36,617
it's a negative debt.

1168
00:52:36,617 --> 00:52:38,581
It's a filthy rag.

1169
00:52:38,581 --> 00:52:40,399
It's polluted.

1170
00:52:40,399 --> 00:52:43,719
It's destestable in the sight of God.

1171
00:52:43,719 --> 00:52:49,347
Is that offensive? Yeah, that's offensive.

1172
00:52:49,347 --> 00:52:52,292
You think you're going to Heaven,

1173
00:52:52,292 --> 00:52:54,499
but you're not -

1174
00:52:54,499 --> 00:52:56,676
not on the road you're on right now.

1175
00:52:56,676 --> 00:52:58,193
You better rethink that.

1176
00:52:58,193 --> 00:53:01,242
You need to change your mind.

1177
00:53:01,242 --> 00:53:03,904
Change your mind. 
Get in step with reality.

1178
00:53:03,904 --> 00:53:06,895
You think God is smiling at you,

1179
00:53:06,895 --> 00:53:08,035
but He's not.

1180
00:53:08,035 --> 00:53:12,355
Scripture says you're under 
the wrath of God even now.

1181
00:53:12,355 --> 00:53:16,716
You better rethink.

1182
00:53:16,716 --> 00:53:20,519
You better start to admit, 
you might be wrong.

1183
00:53:20,519 --> 00:53:22,565
You children, you're 
watching your parents.

1184
00:53:22,565 --> 00:53:24,212
Listen, your parents aren't perfect,

1185
00:53:24,212 --> 00:53:25,718
and don't sit there and look at their life

1186
00:53:25,718 --> 00:53:30,023
and say, well, I see where they fail

1187
00:53:30,023 --> 00:53:31,567
and where they fall short.

1188
00:53:31,567 --> 00:53:33,525
What is that?

1189
00:53:33,525 --> 00:53:37,020
What is that to you?

1190
00:53:37,020 --> 00:53:40,839
Are you going to look at that and say:

1191
00:53:40,839 --> 00:53:44,394
Well, that justifies me to ignore Christ.

1192
00:53:44,394 --> 00:53:46,354
No, all that shows you

1193
00:53:46,354 --> 00:53:48,017
is that sinners need Christ,

1194
00:53:48,017 --> 00:53:49,916
and we need Him all the way to the end,

1195
00:53:49,916 --> 00:53:52,239
to the very last day.

1196
00:53:52,239 --> 00:53:55,697
But are you going to 
turn your back and say:

1197
00:53:55,697 --> 00:53:58,283
"I don't need Him."
You better think again.

1198
00:53:58,283 --> 00:54:00,144
Because I'll tell you, that day is coming

1199
00:54:00,144 --> 00:54:02,477
when you're going to 
have to stand before God,

1200
00:54:02,477 --> 00:54:04,686
and you'll think right then.

1201
00:54:04,686 --> 00:54:08,661
You'll know.

1202
00:54:08,661 --> 00:54:10,282
Change your mind now.

1203
00:54:10,282 --> 00:54:13,334
Rethink this thing now.

1204
00:54:13,334 --> 00:54:15,519
This Christ - some of you young people,

1205
00:54:15,519 --> 00:54:16,673
you gather out there.

1206
00:54:16,673 --> 00:54:18,414
It's like as fast as you can get away.

1207
00:54:18,414 --> 00:54:19,661
Get away from this thinking,

1208
00:54:19,661 --> 00:54:22,372
get away from this 
religion of your parents.

1209
00:54:22,372 --> 00:54:25,253
Get out there. Get 
closer towards the world.

1210
00:54:25,253 --> 00:54:27,555
Move out toward the sidewalk.

1211
00:54:27,555 --> 00:54:30,721
We see you out there.

1212
00:54:30,721 --> 00:54:32,606
(incomplete thought)

1213
00:54:32,606 --> 00:54:34,110
Remember how it is.

1214
00:54:34,110 --> 00:54:36,247
The devil plucks up the seed.

1215
00:54:36,247 --> 00:54:37,607
And you want to get out there

1216
00:54:37,607 --> 00:54:39,222
and let each other pluck it up -

1217
00:54:39,222 --> 00:54:41,333
the evil influences, 
the worldly influences,

1218
00:54:41,333 --> 00:54:42,454
let it get plucked up.

1219
00:54:42,454 --> 00:54:44,331
Because you want it gone.

1220
00:54:44,331 --> 00:54:45,746
You feel better, but listen,

1221
00:54:45,746 --> 00:54:48,762
there's a day coming when 
you won't feel better.

1222
00:54:48,762 --> 00:54:50,452
You better think again.

1223
00:54:50,452 --> 00:54:52,885
This thing that you want 
to so casually throw off

1224
00:54:52,885 --> 00:54:54,770
and run away from and live it up

1225
00:54:54,770 --> 00:54:56,990
and life your life - 
you better think again.

1226
00:54:56,990 --> 00:54:58,990
Because what Jesus said

1227
00:54:58,990 --> 00:55:01,239
is those who believe in Him,

1228
00:55:01,239 --> 00:55:02,972
those who come to Him,

1229
00:55:02,972 --> 00:55:07,740
He gives to them life and more abundantly.

1230
00:55:07,740 --> 00:55:11,582
You're on the way of death.

1231
00:55:11,582 --> 00:55:13,193
You better think again.

1232
00:55:13,193 --> 00:55:14,896
It feels like life.

1233
00:55:14,896 --> 00:55:16,399
It feels like freedom,

1234
00:55:16,399 --> 00:55:18,522
but it's a devilish one

1235
00:55:18,522 --> 00:55:20,572
and it's a deception.

1236
00:55:20,572 --> 00:55:22,626
And all the time, Jesus is calling you:

1237
00:55:22,626 --> 00:55:24,390
Come unto Me.

1238
00:55:24,390 --> 00:55:27,202
I'll give you life and I'll give it 
to you more abundantly.

1239
00:55:27,202 --> 00:55:29,477
And I will forgive every 
single one of the sins

1240
00:55:29,477 --> 00:55:32,425
and I'll take you to paradise 
just like I did that thief.

1241
00:55:32,425 --> 00:55:34,409
You better think again.

1242
00:55:34,409 --> 00:55:39,125
What I'm offering you is the 
Treasure of all treasures.

1243
00:55:39,125 --> 00:55:41,765
Is it offensive to tell people 
those kinds of things?

1244
00:55:41,765 --> 00:55:43,149
Is it offensive to tell people

1245
00:55:43,149 --> 00:55:44,809
that their sins mount up to Heaven?

1246
00:55:44,809 --> 00:55:46,956
And that pretty soon the 
ground underneath them

1247
00:55:46,956 --> 00:55:48,535
is not going to bear them up anymore?

1248
00:55:48,535 --> 00:55:49,532
It's going to give way

1249
00:55:49,532 --> 00:55:51,324
and they're going to fall 
right into that lake of fire.

1250
00:55:51,324 --> 00:55:53,998
Yes, that offends people, 
but that is the truth.

1251
00:55:53,998 --> 00:55:57,932
And we need to call them: think again,
think again, think again.

1252
00:55:57,932 --> 00:56:00,149
Ask yourselves this question.

1253
00:56:00,149 --> 00:56:01,733
Some of you, you're sitting here,

1254
00:56:01,733 --> 00:56:03,267
you know you're not Christians,

1255
00:56:03,267 --> 00:56:09,667
or you know you've been playing a game.

1256
00:56:09,667 --> 00:56:13,145
You think having the name 
without having Christ

1257
00:56:13,145 --> 00:56:16,327
is going to be sufficient in that day?

1258
00:56:16,327 --> 00:56:20,804
You need to think about that again.

1259
00:56:20,804 --> 00:56:24,001
Only Christ - not the name.

1260
00:56:24,001 --> 00:56:26,069
There was a church that had the name,

1261
00:56:26,069 --> 00:56:28,064
but they were dead.

1262
00:56:28,064 --> 00:56:29,402
You don't want to be that.

1263
00:56:29,402 --> 00:56:32,252
Think again.

1264
00:56:32,252 --> 00:56:34,494
Think. Think.

1265
00:56:34,494 --> 00:56:38,711
Is all well with you?

1266
00:56:38,711 --> 00:56:40,658
Is it well?

1267
00:56:40,658 --> 00:56:43,562
Are you good?

1268
00:56:43,562 --> 00:56:45,768
Look at your life.

1269
00:56:45,768 --> 00:56:47,975
Bring out the balances. Throw it in there.

1270
00:56:47,975 --> 00:56:51,390
I can look at my life and I can say

1271
00:56:51,390 --> 00:56:54,411
God changed my life,

1272
00:56:54,411 --> 00:57:00,025
but I need the righteousness of Christ.

1273
00:57:00,025 --> 00:57:01,753
Think again.

1274
00:57:01,753 --> 00:57:03,240
Are you really that good?

1275
00:57:03,240 --> 00:57:06,754
Is your morality really going to stand up?

1276
00:57:06,754 --> 00:57:08,864
What about your past?

1277
00:57:08,864 --> 00:57:10,492
What are you going to do about that?

1278
00:57:10,492 --> 00:57:11,616
What about the things you've done?

1279
00:57:11,616 --> 00:57:13,625
What about the things you did in the dark

1280
00:57:13,625 --> 00:57:15,217
that nobody else knows about?

1281
00:57:15,217 --> 00:57:17,906
You think they just go away?

1282
00:57:17,906 --> 00:57:19,476
They don't.

1283
00:57:19,476 --> 00:57:21,912
And Jesus said one day is 
coming when everything

1284
00:57:21,912 --> 00:57:24,089
is going to be announced on the housetops.

1285
00:57:24,089 --> 00:57:26,529
I'll tell you what, when 
it comes to that day,

1286
00:57:26,529 --> 00:57:28,729
you better think again.

1287
00:57:28,729 --> 00:57:30,122
I'll tell you what I want:

1288
00:57:30,122 --> 00:57:31,361
I want a Savior

1289
00:57:31,361 --> 00:57:33,840
who has covered it all with His blood

1290
00:57:33,840 --> 00:57:37,928
so that when I stand there,

1291
00:57:37,928 --> 00:57:39,490
nothing.

1292
00:57:39,490 --> 00:57:43,797
Nothing.

1293
00:57:43,797 --> 00:57:47,339
You don't want to wait till that 
day to figure out you needed Christ.

1294
00:57:47,339 --> 00:57:51,341
Oh, the fool you will feel yourself to be!

1295
00:57:51,341 --> 00:57:52,991
I huddled around my friends

1296
00:57:52,991 --> 00:57:55,337
and ran from the God of that church

1297
00:57:55,337 --> 00:57:58,105
and the God of my parents.

1298
00:57:58,105 --> 00:58:01,008
Now I'm thinking again when it's too late.

1299
00:58:01,008 --> 00:58:03,287
Don't do that. Don't do that.

1300
00:58:03,287 --> 00:58:07,465
Admit you've been so wrong.

1301
00:58:07,465 --> 00:58:10,047
This is repentance.

1302
00:58:10,047 --> 00:58:13,848
This is repentance.

1303
00:58:13,848 --> 00:58:16,406
Change of mind.

1304
00:58:16,406 --> 00:58:19,981
A rethinking.

1305
00:58:19,981 --> 00:58:26,030
And it will always turn the whole self.

1306
00:58:26,030 --> 00:58:31,660
Brethren, this is what we want 
to set forth as repentance.

1307
00:58:31,660 --> 00:58:34,289
It's not togetherness.

1308
00:58:34,289 --> 00:58:36,484
It's: what have I done?

1309
00:58:36,484 --> 00:58:38,545
That's where you want to bring sinners.

1310
00:58:38,545 --> 00:58:39,791
What have I done?

1311
00:58:39,791 --> 00:58:41,528
And you see, what's going on in the mind

1312
00:58:41,528 --> 00:58:43,964
when that happens: they've rethought.

1313
00:58:43,964 --> 00:58:46,109
The way they were on, 
the things that they've done,

1314
00:58:46,109 --> 00:58:47,957
they thought were good, 
they thought were safe.

1315
00:58:47,957 --> 00:58:49,525
They thought it was right.

1316
00:58:49,525 --> 00:58:53,545
There's a way that seems right to a man.

1317
00:58:53,545 --> 00:58:55,024
What have I done?

1318
00:58:55,024 --> 00:58:56,734
How have I gotten here?

1319
00:58:56,734 --> 00:58:59,365
How have I toyed with my life?

1320
00:58:59,365 --> 00:59:01,135
I'll tell you, when you really 
start thinking that way,

1321
00:59:01,135 --> 00:59:03,641
it will produce trembling.

1322
00:59:03,641 --> 00:59:06,132
It will produce sorrow.

1323
00:59:06,132 --> 00:59:10,663
Because you know what 
you come to recognize?

1324
00:59:10,663 --> 00:59:12,172
You come to recognize

1325
00:59:12,172 --> 00:59:14,993
that you've lived in rebellion,

1326
00:59:14,993 --> 00:59:16,515
you've been an offense to God,

1327
00:59:16,515 --> 00:59:18,110
you've raised your fist at Him.

1328
00:59:18,110 --> 00:59:19,622
What you come to recognize

1329
00:59:19,622 --> 00:59:26,112
is the very Savior who suffered 
the way He suffered,

1330
00:59:26,112 --> 00:59:28,792
you've despised Him.

1331
00:59:28,792 --> 00:59:30,384
And as your mind changes

1332
00:59:30,384 --> 00:59:33,782
and you begin to recognize who you are,

1333
00:59:33,782 --> 00:59:36,124
you recognize how ugly you are to Him.

1334
00:59:36,124 --> 00:59:38,380
There is a remorse. There's a regret.

1335
00:59:38,380 --> 00:59:42,190
There's a godly sorrow 
that accompanies this.

1336
00:59:42,190 --> 00:59:43,780
When that mind turns right

1337
00:59:43,780 --> 00:59:46,114
and you see what you were,

1338
00:59:46,114 --> 00:59:48,346
and how guilty you are,

1339
00:59:48,346 --> 00:59:57,037
and how much of an ugliness...

1340
00:59:57,037 --> 00:59:58,725
You think about it.

1341
00:59:58,725 --> 01:00:02,548
You turn and you walk to the Father.

1342
01:00:02,548 --> 01:00:04,522
And He's watching from afar

1343
01:00:04,522 --> 01:00:07,416
and He comes running and He embraces you.

1344
01:00:07,416 --> 01:00:09,780
And He puts the robe on you

1345
01:00:09,780 --> 01:00:14,439
and He kills the fatted calf.

1346
01:00:14,439 --> 01:00:16,883
And you just are all the more overwhelmed

1347
01:00:16,883 --> 01:00:20,695
with how you acted towards Him.

1348
01:00:20,695 --> 01:00:22,715
And that's where we as Christians come to.

1349
01:00:22,715 --> 01:00:24,597
We remember what we 
did when we were lost,

1350
01:00:24,597 --> 01:00:26,864
how we defied Him, how we hated Him,

1351
01:00:26,864 --> 01:00:29,437
how we hated His Son, we hated His Word,

1352
01:00:29,437 --> 01:00:31,182
we hated His people.

1353
01:00:31,182 --> 01:00:34,252
And what graciousness!

1354
01:00:34,252 --> 01:00:39,126
That Gospel came and it confronted us

1355
01:00:39,126 --> 01:00:41,166
and the mind is turned,

1356
01:00:41,166 --> 01:00:43,281
the mind is changed.

1357
01:00:43,281 --> 01:00:46,096
All you have to do is 
think about the words.

1358
01:00:46,096 --> 01:00:48,961
Repent.

1359
01:00:48,961 --> 01:00:51,125
Rethink.

1360
01:00:51,125 --> 01:00:53,372
Metanoia.

1361
01:00:53,372 --> 01:00:55,805
After thought.

1362
01:00:55,805 --> 01:00:57,624
Change the mind.

1363
01:00:57,624 --> 01:00:59,538
That's what it is.

1364
01:00:59,538 --> 01:01:01,794
Don't be afraid of that.

1365
01:01:01,794 --> 01:01:08,608
Because if that happens, 
it changes everything.

1366
01:01:08,608 --> 01:01:13,896
Father, I pray...

1367
01:01:13,896 --> 01:01:15,371
I pray for clarity,

1368
01:01:15,371 --> 01:01:19,700
I pray, Lord, that my 
brothers and sisters,

1369
01:01:19,700 --> 01:01:22,842
we would be clear.

1370
01:01:22,842 --> 01:01:25,868
We would see in these 
passages of Scripture

1371
01:01:25,868 --> 01:01:29,213
just the nature of repentance -

1372
01:01:29,213 --> 01:01:34,675
that which produces the: what have I done?

1373
01:01:34,675 --> 01:01:36,902
Lord, I pray that this would be something

1374
01:01:36,902 --> 01:01:39,791
that would be clear in our midst

1375
01:01:39,791 --> 01:01:41,840
and something that You would allow us

1376
01:01:41,840 --> 01:01:46,210
to press forcefully, powerfully

1377
01:01:46,210 --> 01:01:48,505
upon the lost in our church -

1378
01:01:48,505 --> 01:01:51,291
those that meet within these walls

1379
01:01:51,291 --> 01:01:52,680
and those outside

1380
01:01:52,680 --> 01:01:57,969
that You'll allow us to reach out to.

1381
01:01:57,969 --> 01:02:00,390
I pray all this in Christ's name, Amen.