| Whatsoever
Things Are True
by Dan Coburn Pastor, Emmanuel Baptist Church pastordan@mtida.net Last week we talked about Repentance as being a “U Turn”, or a 180 degree change of direction. But how do we really accomplish this. How do we go about even wanting to do it. It is not natural by Worldly standards. To most of the people you hang with, it would seem Stuffy, Old Fashioned, Square, Boring, - Anything but Desirable. So where does it come from? True Repentance is Granted by God. “Correcting his opponents with gentleness. God ma perhaps grant that they will repent and come to know the truth,”-2nd Tim. 2:25. Acts 11:18 says: “Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance.” You see, it is not a Flesh Generated work. Let’s take it a step further. God Commands Repentance. “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:” - Acts 17:30. God also Wills Repentance; “2nd Peter 3:9 = “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” You see, Repentance is not something You do for God. If you have it, He gave it to you = and He will not, until you desire it, and you will not, till He gives you the desire. Or, --- You don't drink until you are thirsty. (Are you catching a glimpse of the north bound lane?). Of those who do not Have/Want Repentance, there are two camps. Those that don’t want it, know it, and don’t care, and those who we will call LADs, or Lost and Deceived. They are resting in a False Security, or Counterfeit Repentance — “For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” - Psalm 51:16-17. No matter what rituals or traditions we practice, the Love for Sin remains, and it is not Repentance. Joel said: “Rend your heart and not your garments”. In this day and age, we have lost even our fear of consequences. “Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations”- Eze. 36:31. True Repentance then, is being Spiritually Alert to anything that causes your heart to grow cold to the Lord. selah I have a great friend who after falling under conviction of the Holy Spirit, called me up in the middle of the night sobbing and begging my forgiveness for something he had done that I didn’t even know about. The ugliness of sin had become real to him. Is it real to you? Is it relative to the rest of the world? Does it seem foolishness to you? Read 1st Cor. 1:18, and I’ll be praying for that U-Turn. |
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