July 20, 2025 • 40 mins
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Marks Roberts talks about What's In Your Backpack- A Repenter
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_00 (00:01):
Hello, and welcome to the Westside Church's special
podcast.
SPEAKER_01 (00:13):
Good morning, good morning.
Meet me in the Word of God,please, in Luke chapter 15.
This is going to undergird andbe so important in the things
that we want to talk abouttogether from God's Word.
Luke chapter 15, I'm going tostart reading in verse number
11.
As we get underway this morningand you're finding your place in
the Word of God, let me just saya word to these elders here, our
shepherds who care so much aboutthis church.
(00:35):
I just cannot say how much Iappreciate your work and your
love for the Lord.
And your love for these youngpeople.
31 years now, this church hassaid, it matters.
It counts.
And we want to support and helpand encourage young people on
(00:57):
this journey from earth toheaven.
Let's read in the Word of God,please, in Luke chapter 15.
Jesus, in verse 11.
In Luke 15 and in verse 11.
And Jesus said, there was a manwho had two sons.
And the youngest of them said tohis father, Father, give me the
share of the property that iscoming unto me.
And he divided his propertybetween them.
(01:19):
And not many days later theyounger son gathered all that he
had and he took a journey into afar country.
And there he squandered hisproperty in reckless living.
And when he had spenteverything, a severe famine
arose in the country.
And he began to be in need.
(01:39):
So he went and he hired himselfout to one of the citizens of
that country who sent him intohis field to feed pigs.
And he was longing to feed withthe pods the pigs ate, to be fed
with those pods.
But no one, verse 16, no onegave him anything.
(02:02):
When I began to think a littlebit about what we ought to put
in our backpacks...
Banana Slicer Banana Slicer Isthat an Olympic event?
(02:36):
Maybe this will give Team USAthe edge.
Look at how quick they'reslicing that banana.
And they even say, it's fun forkids.
Hey, hey, we canceled that tripto Disney World.
We're staying home.
We sliced some bananas.
That's going to be great, isn'tit?
How about this for a uselesstool?
If you're too lazy to turn yourice cream cone yourself, we'll
(02:58):
put a motor on it.
The Roomba meets dessert.
What a completely useless tool.
But I do have a tool thismorning for you.
I have a tool that everyoneneeds to put in their backpack,
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especially young people.
Young people need, absolutelycan't get to heaven without...
Without a repenter.
Now you may be thinking, whatexactly is that?
Mark, is that your espressomachine?
Not an espresso machine.
(03:40):
That's a repenter.
And I'll tell you this, in Lukechapter 15, that's exactly what
that boy's having trouble with.
He can't make his repenter.
Fire up.
And he's not the only one in theBible who has trouble with a
repenter.
In the Old Testament, theIsraelite nation struggles
consistently with amalfunctioning repenter,
especially in the book ofJudges.
(04:01):
The Hebrew writer tells us Esauloses his.
Can't even find it.
But I'm here to say this morningthat everyone, especially young
people, you must have a repenterif you want to go to heaven.
It's not optional equipment.
It's not just a good idea.
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It is mandatory for this trekfrom earth to heaven.
You must have this piece ofvital equipment because without
it, only darkness and depravityand spiritual death can possibly
follow.
This morning, my goal is to helpus assemble a working repenter
(04:46):
and to understand exactly howthat functions and how to turn
it on and make it work, keep itin good working order, and what
to do if it rusts up and we'restruggling with it like this
fella in Luke chapter 15.
Open your heart.
Open the Word of God.
(05:08):
Open your backpacks.
Let's put a repenter in there.
Now maybe you're thinking, Mark,what exactly is this repenter
thing that you are talkingabout?
What do you mean by, I need somekind of apparatus, some kind of
machine, a repenter?
What are we talking about there?
And I know of no better way toexplain that than to let the
(05:29):
Word of God explain that.
Would you open your Bible toIsaiah?
Look with me in Isaiah the 55thchapter, please.
In Isaiah chapter 55.
In Isaiah chapter 55, read withme there in verse 6.
In Isaiah 55 and in verse 6.
The prophet, how often doprophets call for repentance?
In Isaiah 55 and 6, there Isaiahsays, Seek the Lord while He may
(05:55):
be found.
Call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake His way,and the unrighteous man his
thoughts.
Let him return to the Lord, thathe may have compassion on Him
and to our God, for He willabundantly...
Please underline in your Bible.
(06:17):
Seek, verse 6.
Call, verse 6.
Forsake, verse 7.
Return, verse 7.
Because when we're talking abouta repenter, I'm simply talking
about the ability to repent ofsin.
I'm talking about all the thingsthat Isaiah puts into those two
verses.
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Calling upon the Lord andreturning to God and seeking
God.
That's what this is about.
And it's vital that you shouldunderstand this morning that
repenting is a verb.
It is something...
It is something that you do.
You flip the switch and turnthat on and it causes you to
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move and to act and to changeand to do differently.
That's what this is about.
It is especially important thatyou understand this isn't just
about feeling some things andbeing kind of sorry that you got
caught.
Oh, no, no, no, no, no.
This is something you will do.
(07:18):
I mentioned Esau a moment ago inHebrews chapter Let's grab that
reference in Hebrews 12.
The Hebrew writer talks abouthim feeling a lot of things
because of the bad decisions inhis life and the choices that he
had made.
But Hebrews 12, it's verse 17that says this.
Hebrews 12 and verse 17.
(07:38):
You know that afterward, when hedesired to inherit the blessing,
Esau was rejected for he foundno chance to repent...
Though he sought it with tears.
He's upset.
He's unhappy.
He's wailing and crying.
But he's not repenting.
(08:02):
There's a huge difference insimply feeling bad and having a
working repenter.
And those of you who broughtyour repenter to church this
morning, maybe you spent sometime with it during our time
communing with the Lord aroundthe Lord's table.
You know what I'm talking about.
There are, yeah, there are someemotions attached to that.
(08:25):
We want to understand about thatand work with that.
But it is It is about seekingGod.
It is about forsaking.
It's about returning to theLord.
It's about changing who I am andwhat I'm doing so that I can be
what God wants me to be.
In 1 Thessalonians, please, in 1Thessalonians 1, here's a great
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definition of a repenter.
I'll pair that with the Isaiahpassage from Isaiah 55.
Look what Paul says in 1Thessalonians 1.
In 1 Thessalonians chapter 1,this is verse 9, he says to the
church in Thessalonica, youknow, 1 Thessalonians 1, 9, they
themselves report concerning usthe kind of reception that we
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had among you, how you, listento him, turned to God from
idols.
to serve the living and trueGod.
Repentance is that change ofmind that comes when we
recognize what we did was wrong,so we feel remorse, there is
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some emotion there, and we startdoing what's right.
In Matthew chapter 12, inMatthew chapter 12 and verse 41,
watch Jesus talk aboutrepentance.
It's always about change.
It's always about repentance.
Rethinking who we are, whatwe're doing.
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It's always about moving fromwrong to right.
In Matthew 12 and verse 41, themen of Nineveh, Thank you,
Brother Caleb, for that lessonon Jonah.
The men of Nineveh will rise upat the judgment with this
generation and condemn it, forthey repented at the preaching
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of Jonah.
And behold, something greaterthan Jonah is here.
When your repenter isfunctioning properly, you will
change.
And that is the key torepentance.
It's about change.
And now you know why you needone.
(10:39):
Because bluntly put, you'regoing to sin.
You're going to sin.
Now, don't get it twisted.
I don't think that in any waythat I'm giving you permission
or that in any way the Word ofGod would condone that, but
that's the bare reality of ourlives.
In John, 1 John please, Johnhelps us here when he says this,
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in 1 John chapter 1, in 1 Johnchapter 1, in 1 John chapter 1
and verse 10, in 1 John chapter1 and verse 10, John comes after
Hebrews Mark, in 1 John chapter1 and in verse 10, John says
this, if we say we have notsinned, we make him a liar and
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his word is not in us.
What's going to happen when wesin?
Are you going to be able to takeout your repenter?
Because that ability to do thatwill make all the difference.
Not everybody's going to.
Not everybody's going to have arepenter in their backpack.
Not everybody will use theirrepenter.
(11:46):
What will some people do whenthey're in sin?
They will justify.
They will make excuses.
They're going to blame somebodyelse.
They're going to deny that theydid anything wrong.
They're going to blame God forthe way He made them.
They'll think of a millionreasons not to use their
repenter.
You know what happens to thosepeople?
(12:08):
Guilt.
eats them alive.
But if you have a functioning,working repenter in your
backpack, you know what to do.
You know what to do.
It's God's reset button.
It's the way to start over.
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It's the way to begin again.
It's the way back.
Without a repenter, well, you'rejust stuck.
You're just stuck in the muckand mire of sin and who you are
and what you've done to God andwhat you've done to yourself.
But with your repenter, you canrepent.
(12:53):
You can be restored to God.
Still in 1 John?
Just bump up a verse.
Look at verse 9.
Never forget.
God wants you to use thatrepenter.
1 John 1 verse 9, if we confessour sins, He is faithful and
just to forgive us of our sinsand to cleanse us from all
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unrighteousness.
I'm going to keep circling backto that and underlining that.
God wants you to repent.
God wants you to use thatrepenter.
Now, maybe we're at the place inthe lesson then where you're
thinking, well, I'll take one.
I need one of those.
How do I get one of those?
Well, it's not available instores.
(13:39):
You can't borrow somebodyelse's.
There's no app for it on yourphone.
I'll tell you this.
Amazon cannot ship you one.
Not even to your front door.
You know what?
You'll have to build your own.
You'll need to build your ownrepenter.
Now that's going to involve theintellect, a change of mind
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about your conduct and actions.
That is going to involve godlysorrow, some emotion on your
part.
And there will be the need toactivate the will, the
determination to stop sin andstart doing what's right.
And that isn't easy.
And because of that, there's alot of people that don't ever
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get around to building arepenter.
And then when they need one...
They can't find one.
Because they never constructedthe spiritual character that can
use this tool to find your wayback to God.
(14:44):
I need to emphasize that to youyoung people.
Being able to repent comesbecause you develop the right
sort of spiritual characterbefore you ever needed it.
To repent.
Does that make sense at all?
Because that begins withhumility, doesn't it?
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In James chapter 4, in the bookof James, in James chapter 4,
James says this in verse 6.
In James chapter 4 and in verse6, James says we need to be
humble.
Why?
James 4 verse 6, God gives moregrace.
Therefore, it says God opposesthe proud.
(15:29):
He gives grace to the humble.
If you're proud, you will not beinterested in activating your
repenter.
You'll justify, you'll blame,you'll deny all the things that
I mentioned a moment ago.
But the humble heart says, I waswrong.
I did that.
(15:51):
And it was sinful.
Can I show you that in theBible?
In 2 Samuel...
In 2 Samuel chapter 12, there isa man mentioned there who is one
of the great repenters of alltime.
In fact, much of Samuel isdeveloping the idea that King
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Saul utterly failed to be ableto activate his repenter, but
David is really, really good atit.
And in 2 Samuel chapter 12,David does some repenting.
Look at verse 13.
Now I should say in contexthere, David's repenter had
gotten rusty on him.
And he needed a kick in thepants to get that thing fired up
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one more time.
And Nathan the prophet came todo just that.
But when Nathan brought the wordof God, verse 13, 2 Samuel 12
and verse 13, David said toNathan, I have sinned against
the Lord.
He humbled himself right therein the royal court in front of
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everybody.
I did that.
I was wrong.
I...
Have sin.
Look in Psalm 51 with me,please.
In Psalm 51, you must have thiskind of humility or your
repentant will never work foryou.
In Psalm 51, David says this inverse 17, the sacrifices of God
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are a broken spirit, a brokenand contrite heart, O God, you
will not despise.
You need to be broken before theLord.
You need to have humility.
Humility.
To even begin to admit, I needto repent.
And somewhere in here, we'regoing to have to have some
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honesty.
We need a lot of honesty.
Brother Tim talked so well aboutthis yesterday.
Search me, O God.
Know my heart, David says inPsalm 139.
If you don't ever tell yourselfthe truth about who you are and
what you've done, what you'llalways be doing instead of
repenting is you'll bepretending and you'll be
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performing.
If you're always lying toyourself, your repenter won't
even turn on.
Practice telling yourself thetruth.
Not some of the time.
All the time.
Integrity is the stuff that agood repenter is built from.
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And I should especially pointyou to the kind of heart it
takes to build a repenter.
In Hebrews the third chapter, inHebrews chapter 3, in Hebrews
chapter 3 and verse 15, thewriter of Hebrews says some
things about hard hearts.
In Hebrews 3 and verse 15, hesays there, Hebrews 3 and verse
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15, today if you hear his voice,don't Harden your hearts as in
the rebellion.
Young people, what do you dowhen somebody calls you out?
Get all defensive about that?
(19:12):
How dare you talk to me aboutwhat I post on social media?
I see some things in your life,Miss hoity-toity,
holier-than-thou Christian.
Is that our attitude?
Mom and Dad sit us down and say,we want to talk to you about
some things about your attitudearound this house.
Oh, really, you think you knowso much about my life?
Is that where we are?
(19:32):
Hard-hearted, won't listen?
The repenter, not going to workthen.
Nothing gums up your repenterfaster than that hard heart that
won't listen to the Word of God,that won't hear rebuke and
correction from someone whowould challenge you, from
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someone who comes to you becausethey care about you.
Instead of being open to that,I'm closed up.
I don't want what you've come tooffer me.
And then maybe the mostimportant part of building your
repenter is to have that deeplove for the Lord.
I need to grab a little bit moreof that 51st Psalm.
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Because part of what drivesDavid to repent, and he helps us
understand this in the 51stPsalm, is that David knows
during his time in sin andwickedness that he is away from
God.
And he hates it.
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He knows he's alienated himselffrom the Lord.
Verse 10.
Create in me, verse 10, createin me a clean heart, O God, and
renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from yourpresence and take not your Holy
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Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of yoursalvation and uphold me with a
willing spirit.
David has a relationship withGod and he recognizes that his
sin has ruptured thatrelationship and it's killing
him.
It's killing him because heloves the Lord.
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I'll tell you, we post a lot ofstuff here in a variety of
different places that I'minvolved in, in preaching and
teaching.
There's stuff on YouTube andthere's a podcast.
I've written some books that areon Amazon.
And every now and then I get...
I get emails from somebody who'sreally upset about something
that I said in a sermon orsomething that I wrote in one of
my books.
How dare you say baptism isessential to salvation?
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What are you thinking?
I am never going to watch youagain.
Oh, yeah, that's it right there.
They get letters sometimes fromall around the globe, way off
places like Rwanda, far offplaces like Australia or
Antarctica.
You can't believe the nastyemails penguins will write you.
(22:05):
It's just rough.
I threw your book away.
I'm not even going to finish it.
I unfollowed your podcast.
Now, what do I do when I getthose messages?
Well, usually I try to sendsomething conciliatory.
(22:26):
Try to say something about we'retrying to study the truth and
think about the truth and Helpme better understand how I've
misused the Word of God, if I'mwrong about that and so forth.
But I'll be candid with you.
I don't lose a lot of sleepabout it.
Because I don't know them.
They're on the other side of theglobe.
I have no relationship withthem.
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It doesn't bother me.
But if Dina said, I'm so mad atyou, I'm not going to speak to
you.
Oh, hey, oh.
Man, I'm going to get busy.
I'm going to figure out what Ineed to do to fix that
relationship because I valuethat relationship.
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I need that relationship.
I love my wife.
And the reason some people don'thave much of a sense of I need
to go home to God, it's becausethey didn't ever build much of a
relationship with God to start.
So now they've wrecked it withsin and wickedness and it really
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doesn't bother them.
But I'm saying to you thismorning, a good repenter has a
homing beacon in it.
And it's calling us to come hometo God because we love the Lord
and we care about Him because Hefirst loved us.
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That's what this is about.
And once you've put thattogether and you've built that,
then you need to know time touse it.
Not just ornamental.
Not something we just carryaround in our backpack, maybe
show it off every now and then.
Look how shiny my repenter is.
No, no.
Need to use it.
That could be a problem.
Jesus calls out the Pharisees.
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Matthew chapter 6.
Always preaching on, praying onthe street corners.
Stop with all of that.
It's not what it's about.
Need to use the repenter.
And you will need that repenter.
You say something cruel behindsomebody's back, you need to
repent.
You lie to your parents.
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You tell them you're going to bein such and such a place and
you're not going there and youwere not there.
You need to sit down with yourparents.
You have to repent.
You look at something online youdon't need to be looking at.
You do something with yourboyfriend, your girlfriend, you
should not be doing.
You're going to need to repent.
going to need to activate therepenter.
(25:02):
How do we do that?
What's that look like?
Can you find Acts chapter 2?
In Acts chapter 2, I think it'sjust a wonderful illustration of
what this is all about.
The very first time the gospelwas preached, in Acts chapter 2,
in Acts chapter 2, please readwith me there, in Acts chapter
2, we always read verse 38.
But in Acts chapter 2, noticewhat's being said there in verse
(25:26):
37.
In Acts 2, 2 and verse 37,Peter's preaching the gospel.
What's the result of that?
Verse 37, when they heard this,they were cut to the heart.
And they said to Peter and therest of the apostles, brothers,
(25:48):
what shall we do?
There it is right there.
Good repentance starts withregret.
Cut to to the heart.
One translation says, Peter'swords pierced their hearts.
Again, it's not all aboutemotion, but it starts with
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Godly sorrow.
Paul highlights that in 2Corinthians 7.
Regret.
I see what I've done.
I wish I had not done that.
And then a big piece of this isrealization.
Verse 37, when they heard this,they were cut to the heart.
They said to Peter, you knowwhat's missing in verse 37?
(26:30):
Where's all the talk of ofblaming others.
Hey, Peter, don't be puttingthat on us.
We just follow the Sanhedrincouncil around here.
They're the guys who put Jesusto death.
Hey, you want to talk about thecrucifixion of the Messiah?
I'll tell you who did that.
That was Pilate.
It's the Romans.
It's the Romans.
No, what you have in Acts 2.37is the realization, I have
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sinned.
I did it.
It's my fault.
No one to blame.
I can't shift this onto somebodyelse.
I have sinned.
And then I love when they say,men and brethren, what shall we
do?
What do we need to change?
What do we need to fix?
This is a question about whatshould I stop doing?
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What should I start doing?
Who do I need to go to and askfor forgiveness?
How can I beg God for Hisforgiveness?
How can I get back to God?
Acts 2.37 shows us.
That repentance is about talkingto God honestly.
So that we can delete sin fromour lives.
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Whether that's an app.
Whether that's a friendship.
Whether that's a habit.
Whatever it is, we're going totear that out of our lives.
We're going to stop doing what'swrong.
We realize that.
We're sorry for that.
And we're going to start doingwhat's right.
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And I need to emphasize.
Sometimes that's hard.
And sometimes that's costly.
And sometimes that hurts.
But that's exactly what yourrepenter will bring you to do.
And I want to just press pausehere for a half a second.
(28:21):
Guys, could you turn your Biblewith me to Acts 26.20?
Ladies, you come too.
Acts 26.20.
In Acts chapter 26, Paul says inverse 19, O King Agrippa, verse
19, I was not disobedient to theheavenly vision.
Now Acts 26, 20.
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But I declared first to those inDamascus and then in Jerusalem
and then throughout all theregion of Judea and to the
Gentiles that they should repentand turn to God, performing
deeds in keeping withrepentance.
I want so much this morning torecruit more men who will do
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Acts 26.20.
I'm recruiting repentermechanics.
That's exactly what I am.
I don't have dirty fingernails.
I don't wear greasy coveralls.
And I don't have a wrench in mypocket.
But I am a repenter mechanic.
I fix things.
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broken repenters.
If you are away from God and youcan't figure out how to get
back, I will bring the Word ofGod.
I will preach God's powerfulWord with force and relevance
and application so you can findyour repenter and repair it and
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return to the Lord.
Even more, I'll help you keep itin good working order.
I'll help you oil yourrepentance with the tears of
sorrow over sin.
I'll help you polish it withsackcloth I stand in a long line
(30:13):
of men like Elijah and Jeremiahand Isaiah and John the Baptist
and Paul the Apostle and Jesusthe Christ who called people to
repent.
And I tell you, young men...
We are terribly short ofrepenter mechanics today.
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I know a dozen congregationsright now with empty pulpits
because we don't have young menwho are giving their lives to
the preaching of the gospel.
We need you.
God's people need repentermechanics.
And I say to you ladies, theseyoung men need strong,
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spiritually minded women whowill encourage them to become a
preacher of the gospel, who willtell them this is good and godly
work.
It's needed work.
You can do it.
Let's do it together.
Yesterday, Tim King talked somuch about being a baseball
player.
And I am thankful for Tim King.
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And I am thankful he decided hedidn't want to throw baseballs.
He wanted to fix repenters.
But I couldn't help but thinkI'm so thankful for Leah,
without whom we would not haveTim King.
We need more preachers.
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No, you don't have to preach togo to heaven.
No, not everybody should be apreacher.
But I know there are some youngmen here who have a fire burning
in their bosom.
And they want and desire to helpmen and women know the Lord,
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serve the Lord, and go to heavenwhen they die.
And I'm saying to you, youngmen, come on! We need you.
We need more repenter mechanics.
We need more men and women.
who are ready to talk aboutrepentance.
That's exactly, turn back toActs chapter 2, that's exactly
(32:30):
what Peter is doing when hesays, verse 38, they're cut to
the heart and they're saying,what are we going to do?
And Peter said to them, verse38, repent and be baptized,
every one of you in the name ofJesus Christ for the forgiveness
of your sins, you'll receive thegift of the Holy Spirit.
(32:54):
Oh, how sweet it is when thatrepenter is humming.
And it brings us to the goodnessof God who wanted all along for
us to return.
He's just waiting for us to openour backpack and get that
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repenter out.
Isn't that the point of Jesus'story in Luke 15, where we began
this morning?
There are a lot of useless toolsin this world, but I hope that
you see.
Look at Luke 15 with me again.
Everybody needs a repenter.
Because that boy in verse 16 waslonging to be fed with the pods
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that the pigs ate and no onegave him anything.
Verse 17 says, When he came tohimself, he said, How many of my
father's hired servants havemore than enough bread, and I
perish here with hunger?
I will arise and go to myfather, and I will say to him,
Father, I have sinned againstheaven, and before you I am no
(34:00):
longer worthy to be called yourson.
Treat me as one of your hiredservants.
And he arose and came to hisfather.
Can I read verses 17, 18, and 19in the Mark Roberts
International East TexasVersion?
There was a boy lost in sin andin the degradation of a pig pen.
(34:26):
He finally, look at verse 17,came to himself.
He finally said, where's myrepenter?
I want to go home.
And what's great about Jesus'story is is that Jesus answers
the question that every sinnerhas ever asked when they begin
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to try to repair their repenter,to see if it will run just one
more time.
Every sinner wants to know,what's going to happen when I
repent?
Is God going to cross His armsand say, too late?
Too late?
Is God going to say, no, youhurt me too bad.
(35:11):
I got nothing for you.
Get out of my sight.
Is God going to say, well, we'lljust see if this is going to
last.
I'll put you on probation.
What does God do when we repent?
Verse 20.
While he was still a long wayoff, his father saw him and felt
(35:33):
compassion and ran.
Can God run?
And ran and embraced him andkissed him.
The Mark Roberts InternationalEast Texas Version says, And the
(35:54):
father found himself on theporch again another day, looking
down that long road, hopingtoday, today, he would see his
boy come home.
And suddenly...
he saw a figure, limping andweak and torn and bruised, so
(36:15):
sad and pathetic, coming downthat road to come home.
And God ran to meet the boy whowas repenting.
Never forget that.
(36:37):
O young person, O old person, Osinner, never forget, when you
use your repenter, God will runto meet you.
(37:00):
That's why you need a repenterin your backpack.
Let's pray.
Oh Lord, our God, we are awed atyour love and compassion and
care.
We can scarcely believe that youwill run to meet us if we will
(37:24):
turn to you.
I'm praying, Father, bless uswith the ability to repent.
Help us to stop with the blamingand the excuses.
Help us to acknowledge that wehave done wrong and to turn to
You to change what is wrong sothat we can do what is right.
(37:45):
Help us to have a soft heart anda deep love for You, for You
have loved us first.
Help us, Father, when we areaway from You to open that
backpack Get out our repenter.
Help us, Father, to repent andcome home to you.
(38:11):
In Jesus' name we pray thesethings.
And amen.
We sing this song.
We're going to sing this songbecause it may take you a minute
to root around in that backpackand get your repenter out.
And it may be a minute since youturned it on last, so it's going
(38:32):
to take a second here to see ifit's going to run.
You may have to give it a littleshove.
You may need to kickstart it.
But if you're here this morning,young, old, in between, you're
away from the Lord.
You need to run your repenterand come to Him.
(38:55):
Acts 2.38, repent.
Be baptized for the remission ofsins.
Can we help you do that?
If you are a Christian, maybe atone time verse 38 was a reality
in your life, but you driftedaway from the Lord.
You need to turn back to Him.
You need to repent.
Come home to God.
(39:17):
And we want to help you do that.
Fire up your repenter and cometo the Lord while we stand,
while we sing.
SPEAKER_00 (39:31):
Thanks for listening to the Westside Church of Christ
podcast.
For more information aboutWestside, you can connect with
us through our website,justchristians.com, and our
Facebook page.
Our music is from upbeat.io.
That's upbeat with two P's,U-P-P-E-A-T.
(39:53):
where creators can get freemusic.
Please share our podcast withothers, and we look forward to
seeing you again.
Hello, and welcome to the Westside Church's special
podcast.
SPEAKER_01 (00:13):
Good morning, good morning.
Meet me in the Word of God,please, in Luke chapter 15.
This is going to undergird andbe so important in the things
that we want to talk abouttogether from God's Word.
Luke chapter 15, I'm going tostart reading in verse number
11.
As we get underway this morningand you're finding your place in
the Word of God, let me just saya word to these elders here, our
shepherds who care so much aboutthis church.
(00:35):
I just cannot say how much Iappreciate your work and your
love for the Lord.
And your love for these youngpeople.
31 years now, this church hassaid, it matters.
It counts.
And we want to support and helpand encourage young people on
(00:57):
this journey from earth toheaven.
Let's read in the Word of God,please, in Luke chapter 15.
Jesus, in verse 11.
In Luke 15 and in verse 11.
And Jesus said, there was a manwho had two sons.
And the youngest of them said tohis father, Father, give me the
share of the property that iscoming unto me.
And he divided his propertybetween them.
(01:19):
And not many days later theyounger son gathered all that he
had and he took a journey into afar country.
And there he squandered hisproperty in reckless living.
And when he had spenteverything, a severe famine
arose in the country.
And he began to be in need.
(01:39):
So he went and he hired himselfout to one of the citizens of
that country who sent him intohis field to feed pigs.
And he was longing to feed withthe pods the pigs ate, to be fed
with those pods.
But no one, verse 16, no onegave him anything.
(02:02):
When I began to think a littlebit about what we ought to put
in our backpacks...
Banana Slicer Banana Slicer Isthat an Olympic event?
(02:36):
Maybe this will give Team USAthe edge.
Look at how quick they'reslicing that banana.
And they even say, it's fun forkids.
Hey, hey, we canceled that tripto Disney World.
We're staying home.
We sliced some bananas.
That's going to be great, isn'tit?
How about this for a uselesstool?
If you're too lazy to turn yourice cream cone yourself, we'll
(02:58):
put a motor on it.
The Roomba meets dessert.
What a completely useless tool.
But I do have a tool thismorning for you.
I have a tool that everyoneneeds to put in their backpack,
(03:20):
especially young people.
Young people need, absolutelycan't get to heaven without...
Without a repenter.
Now you may be thinking, whatexactly is that?
Mark, is that your espressomachine?
Not an espresso machine.
(03:40):
That's a repenter.
And I'll tell you this, in Lukechapter 15, that's exactly what
that boy's having trouble with.
He can't make his repenter.
Fire up.
And he's not the only one in theBible who has trouble with a
repenter.
In the Old Testament, theIsraelite nation struggles
consistently with amalfunctioning repenter,
especially in the book ofJudges.
(04:01):
The Hebrew writer tells us Esauloses his.
Can't even find it.
But I'm here to say this morningthat everyone, especially young
people, you must have a repenterif you want to go to heaven.
It's not optional equipment.
It's not just a good idea.
(04:21):
It is mandatory for this trekfrom earth to heaven.
You must have this piece ofvital equipment because without
it, only darkness and depravityand spiritual death can possibly
follow.
This morning, my goal is to helpus assemble a working repenter
(04:46):
and to understand exactly howthat functions and how to turn
it on and make it work, keep itin good working order, and what
to do if it rusts up and we'restruggling with it like this
fella in Luke chapter 15.
Open your heart.
Open the Word of God.
(05:08):
Open your backpacks.
Let's put a repenter in there.
Now maybe you're thinking, Mark,what exactly is this repenter
thing that you are talkingabout?
What do you mean by, I need somekind of apparatus, some kind of
machine, a repenter?
What are we talking about there?
And I know of no better way toexplain that than to let the
(05:29):
Word of God explain that.
Would you open your Bible toIsaiah?
Look with me in Isaiah the 55thchapter, please.
In Isaiah chapter 55.
In Isaiah chapter 55, read withme there in verse 6.
In Isaiah 55 and in verse 6.
The prophet, how often doprophets call for repentance?
In Isaiah 55 and 6, there Isaiahsays, Seek the Lord while He may
(05:55):
be found.
Call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake His way,and the unrighteous man his
thoughts.
Let him return to the Lord, thathe may have compassion on Him
and to our God, for He willabundantly...
Please underline in your Bible.
(06:17):
Seek, verse 6.
Call, verse 6.
Forsake, verse 7.
Return, verse 7.
Because when we're talking abouta repenter, I'm simply talking
about the ability to repent ofsin.
I'm talking about all the thingsthat Isaiah puts into those two
verses.
(06:37):
Calling upon the Lord andreturning to God and seeking
God.
That's what this is about.
And it's vital that you shouldunderstand this morning that
repenting is a verb.
It is something...
It is something that you do.
You flip the switch and turnthat on and it causes you to
(06:58):
move and to act and to changeand to do differently.
That's what this is about.
It is especially important thatyou understand this isn't just
about feeling some things andbeing kind of sorry that you got
caught.
Oh, no, no, no, no, no.
This is something you will do.
(07:18):
I mentioned Esau a moment ago inHebrews chapter Let's grab that
reference in Hebrews 12.
The Hebrew writer talks abouthim feeling a lot of things
because of the bad decisions inhis life and the choices that he
had made.
But Hebrews 12, it's verse 17that says this.
Hebrews 12 and verse 17.
(07:38):
You know that afterward, when hedesired to inherit the blessing,
Esau was rejected for he foundno chance to repent...
Though he sought it with tears.
He's upset.
He's unhappy.
He's wailing and crying.
But he's not repenting.
(08:02):
There's a huge difference insimply feeling bad and having a
working repenter.
And those of you who broughtyour repenter to church this
morning, maybe you spent sometime with it during our time
communing with the Lord aroundthe Lord's table.
You know what I'm talking about.
There are, yeah, there are someemotions attached to that.
(08:25):
We want to understand about thatand work with that.
But it is It is about seekingGod.
It is about forsaking.
It's about returning to theLord.
It's about changing who I am andwhat I'm doing so that I can be
what God wants me to be.
In 1 Thessalonians, please, in 1Thessalonians 1, here's a great
(08:49):
definition of a repenter.
I'll pair that with the Isaiahpassage from Isaiah 55.
Look what Paul says in 1Thessalonians 1.
In 1 Thessalonians chapter 1,this is verse 9, he says to the
church in Thessalonica, youknow, 1 Thessalonians 1, 9, they
themselves report concerning usthe kind of reception that we
(09:13):
had among you, how you, listento him, turned to God from
idols.
to serve the living and trueGod.
Repentance is that change ofmind that comes when we
recognize what we did was wrong,so we feel remorse, there is
(09:37):
some emotion there, and we startdoing what's right.
In Matthew chapter 12, inMatthew chapter 12 and verse 41,
watch Jesus talk aboutrepentance.
It's always about change.
It's always about repentance.
Rethinking who we are, whatwe're doing.
(09:57):
It's always about moving fromwrong to right.
In Matthew 12 and verse 41, themen of Nineveh, Thank you,
Brother Caleb, for that lessonon Jonah.
The men of Nineveh will rise upat the judgment with this
generation and condemn it, forthey repented at the preaching
(10:17):
of Jonah.
And behold, something greaterthan Jonah is here.
When your repenter isfunctioning properly, you will
change.
And that is the key torepentance.
It's about change.
And now you know why you needone.
(10:39):
Because bluntly put, you'regoing to sin.
You're going to sin.
Now, don't get it twisted.
I don't think that in any waythat I'm giving you permission
or that in any way the Word ofGod would condone that, but
that's the bare reality of ourlives.
In John, 1 John please, Johnhelps us here when he says this,
(11:01):
in 1 John chapter 1, in 1 Johnchapter 1, in 1 John chapter 1
and verse 10, in 1 John chapter1 and verse 10, John comes after
Hebrews Mark, in 1 John chapter1 and in verse 10, John says
this, if we say we have notsinned, we make him a liar and
(11:26):
his word is not in us.
What's going to happen when wesin?
Are you going to be able to takeout your repenter?
Because that ability to do thatwill make all the difference.
Not everybody's going to.
Not everybody's going to have arepenter in their backpack.
Not everybody will use theirrepenter.
(11:46):
What will some people do whenthey're in sin?
They will justify.
They will make excuses.
They're going to blame somebodyelse.
They're going to deny that theydid anything wrong.
They're going to blame God forthe way He made them.
They'll think of a millionreasons not to use their
repenter.
You know what happens to thosepeople?
(12:08):
Guilt.
eats them alive.
But if you have a functioning,working repenter in your
backpack, you know what to do.
You know what to do.
It's God's reset button.
It's the way to start over.
(12:30):
It's the way to begin again.
It's the way back.
Without a repenter, well, you'rejust stuck.
You're just stuck in the muckand mire of sin and who you are
and what you've done to God andwhat you've done to yourself.
But with your repenter, you canrepent.
(12:53):
You can be restored to God.
Still in 1 John?
Just bump up a verse.
Look at verse 9.
Never forget.
God wants you to use thatrepenter.
1 John 1 verse 9, if we confessour sins, He is faithful and
just to forgive us of our sinsand to cleanse us from all
(13:17):
unrighteousness.
I'm going to keep circling backto that and underlining that.
God wants you to repent.
God wants you to use thatrepenter.
Now, maybe we're at the place inthe lesson then where you're
thinking, well, I'll take one.
I need one of those.
How do I get one of those?
Well, it's not available instores.
(13:39):
You can't borrow somebodyelse's.
There's no app for it on yourphone.
I'll tell you this.
Amazon cannot ship you one.
Not even to your front door.
You know what?
You'll have to build your own.
You'll need to build your ownrepenter.
Now that's going to involve theintellect, a change of mind
(14:03):
about your conduct and actions.
That is going to involve godlysorrow, some emotion on your
part.
And there will be the need toactivate the will, the
determination to stop sin andstart doing what's right.
And that isn't easy.
And because of that, there's alot of people that don't ever
(14:23):
get around to building arepenter.
And then when they need one...
They can't find one.
Because they never constructedthe spiritual character that can
use this tool to find your wayback to God.
(14:44):
I need to emphasize that to youyoung people.
Being able to repent comesbecause you develop the right
sort of spiritual characterbefore you ever needed it.
To repent.
Does that make sense at all?
Because that begins withhumility, doesn't it?
(15:06):
In James chapter 4, in the bookof James, in James chapter 4,
James says this in verse 6.
In James chapter 4 and in verse6, James says we need to be
humble.
Why?
James 4 verse 6, God gives moregrace.
Therefore, it says God opposesthe proud.
(15:29):
He gives grace to the humble.
If you're proud, you will not beinterested in activating your
repenter.
You'll justify, you'll blame,you'll deny all the things that
I mentioned a moment ago.
But the humble heart says, I waswrong.
I did that.
(15:51):
And it was sinful.
Can I show you that in theBible?
In 2 Samuel...
In 2 Samuel chapter 12, there isa man mentioned there who is one
of the great repenters of alltime.
In fact, much of Samuel isdeveloping the idea that King
(16:13):
Saul utterly failed to be ableto activate his repenter, but
David is really, really good atit.
And in 2 Samuel chapter 12,David does some repenting.
Look at verse 13.
Now I should say in contexthere, David's repenter had
gotten rusty on him.
And he needed a kick in thepants to get that thing fired up
(16:37):
one more time.
And Nathan the prophet came todo just that.
But when Nathan brought the wordof God, verse 13, 2 Samuel 12
and verse 13, David said toNathan, I have sinned against
the Lord.
He humbled himself right therein the royal court in front of
(16:59):
everybody.
I did that.
I was wrong.
I...
Have sin.
Look in Psalm 51 with me,please.
In Psalm 51, you must have thiskind of humility or your
repentant will never work foryou.
In Psalm 51, David says this inverse 17, the sacrifices of God
(17:20):
are a broken spirit, a brokenand contrite heart, O God, you
will not despise.
You need to be broken before theLord.
You need to have humility.
Humility.
To even begin to admit, I needto repent.
And somewhere in here, we'regoing to have to have some
(17:42):
honesty.
We need a lot of honesty.
Brother Tim talked so well aboutthis yesterday.
Search me, O God.
Know my heart, David says inPsalm 139.
If you don't ever tell yourselfthe truth about who you are and
what you've done, what you'llalways be doing instead of
repenting is you'll bepretending and you'll be
(18:03):
performing.
If you're always lying toyourself, your repenter won't
even turn on.
Practice telling yourself thetruth.
Not some of the time.
All the time.
Integrity is the stuff that agood repenter is built from.
(18:28):
And I should especially pointyou to the kind of heart it
takes to build a repenter.
In Hebrews the third chapter, inHebrews chapter 3, in Hebrews
chapter 3 and verse 15, thewriter of Hebrews says some
things about hard hearts.
In Hebrews 3 and verse 15, hesays there, Hebrews 3 and verse
(18:51):
15, today if you hear his voice,don't Harden your hearts as in
the rebellion.
Young people, what do you dowhen somebody calls you out?
Get all defensive about that?
(19:12):
How dare you talk to me aboutwhat I post on social media?
I see some things in your life,Miss hoity-toity,
holier-than-thou Christian.
Is that our attitude?
Mom and Dad sit us down and say,we want to talk to you about
some things about your attitudearound this house.
Oh, really, you think you knowso much about my life?
Is that where we are?
(19:32):
Hard-hearted, won't listen?
The repenter, not going to workthen.
Nothing gums up your repenterfaster than that hard heart that
won't listen to the Word of God,that won't hear rebuke and
correction from someone whowould challenge you, from
(19:53):
someone who comes to you becausethey care about you.
Instead of being open to that,I'm closed up.
I don't want what you've come tooffer me.
And then maybe the mostimportant part of building your
repenter is to have that deeplove for the Lord.
I need to grab a little bit moreof that 51st Psalm.
(20:16):
Because part of what drivesDavid to repent, and he helps us
understand this in the 51stPsalm, is that David knows
during his time in sin andwickedness that he is away from
God.
And he hates it.
(20:38):
He knows he's alienated himselffrom the Lord.
Verse 10.
Create in me, verse 10, createin me a clean heart, O God, and
renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from yourpresence and take not your Holy
(20:58):
Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of yoursalvation and uphold me with a
willing spirit.
David has a relationship withGod and he recognizes that his
sin has ruptured thatrelationship and it's killing
him.
It's killing him because heloves the Lord.
(21:20):
I'll tell you, we post a lot ofstuff here in a variety of
different places that I'minvolved in, in preaching and
teaching.
There's stuff on YouTube andthere's a podcast.
I've written some books that areon Amazon.
And every now and then I get...
I get emails from somebody who'sreally upset about something
that I said in a sermon orsomething that I wrote in one of
my books.
How dare you say baptism isessential to salvation?
(21:44):
What are you thinking?
I am never going to watch youagain.
Oh, yeah, that's it right there.
They get letters sometimes fromall around the globe, way off
places like Rwanda, far offplaces like Australia or
Antarctica.
You can't believe the nastyemails penguins will write you.
(22:05):
It's just rough.
I threw your book away.
I'm not even going to finish it.
I unfollowed your podcast.
Now, what do I do when I getthose messages?
Well, usually I try to sendsomething conciliatory.
(22:26):
Try to say something about we'retrying to study the truth and
think about the truth and Helpme better understand how I've
misused the Word of God, if I'mwrong about that and so forth.
But I'll be candid with you.
I don't lose a lot of sleepabout it.
Because I don't know them.
They're on the other side of theglobe.
I have no relationship withthem.
(22:48):
It doesn't bother me.
But if Dina said, I'm so mad atyou, I'm not going to speak to
you.
Oh, hey, oh.
Man, I'm going to get busy.
I'm going to figure out what Ineed to do to fix that
relationship because I valuethat relationship.
(23:11):
I need that relationship.
I love my wife.
And the reason some people don'thave much of a sense of I need
to go home to God, it's becausethey didn't ever build much of a
relationship with God to start.
So now they've wrecked it withsin and wickedness and it really
(23:36):
doesn't bother them.
But I'm saying to you thismorning, a good repenter has a
homing beacon in it.
And it's calling us to come hometo God because we love the Lord
and we care about Him because Hefirst loved us.
(23:58):
That's what this is about.
And once you've put thattogether and you've built that,
then you need to know time touse it.
Not just ornamental.
Not something we just carryaround in our backpack, maybe
show it off every now and then.
Look how shiny my repenter is.
No, no.
Need to use it.
That could be a problem.
Jesus calls out the Pharisees.
(24:20):
Matthew chapter 6.
Always preaching on, praying onthe street corners.
Stop with all of that.
It's not what it's about.
Need to use the repenter.
And you will need that repenter.
You say something cruel behindsomebody's back, you need to
repent.
You lie to your parents.
(24:40):
You tell them you're going to bein such and such a place and
you're not going there and youwere not there.
You need to sit down with yourparents.
You have to repent.
You look at something online youdon't need to be looking at.
You do something with yourboyfriend, your girlfriend, you
should not be doing.
You're going to need to repent.
going to need to activate therepenter.
(25:02):
How do we do that?
What's that look like?
Can you find Acts chapter 2?
In Acts chapter 2, I think it'sjust a wonderful illustration of
what this is all about.
The very first time the gospelwas preached, in Acts chapter 2,
in Acts chapter 2, please readwith me there, in Acts chapter
2, we always read verse 38.
But in Acts chapter 2, noticewhat's being said there in verse
(25:26):
37.
In Acts 2, 2 and verse 37,Peter's preaching the gospel.
What's the result of that?
Verse 37, when they heard this,they were cut to the heart.
And they said to Peter and therest of the apostles, brothers,
(25:48):
what shall we do?
There it is right there.
Good repentance starts withregret.
Cut to to the heart.
One translation says, Peter'swords pierced their hearts.
Again, it's not all aboutemotion, but it starts with
(26:09):
Godly sorrow.
Paul highlights that in 2Corinthians 7.
Regret.
I see what I've done.
I wish I had not done that.
And then a big piece of this isrealization.
Verse 37, when they heard this,they were cut to the heart.
They said to Peter, you knowwhat's missing in verse 37?
(26:30):
Where's all the talk of ofblaming others.
Hey, Peter, don't be puttingthat on us.
We just follow the Sanhedrincouncil around here.
They're the guys who put Jesusto death.
Hey, you want to talk about thecrucifixion of the Messiah?
I'll tell you who did that.
That was Pilate.
It's the Romans.
It's the Romans.
No, what you have in Acts 2.37is the realization, I have
(26:54):
sinned.
I did it.
It's my fault.
No one to blame.
I can't shift this onto somebodyelse.
I have sinned.
And then I love when they say,men and brethren, what shall we
do?
What do we need to change?
What do we need to fix?
This is a question about whatshould I stop doing?
(27:15):
What should I start doing?
Who do I need to go to and askfor forgiveness?
How can I beg God for Hisforgiveness?
How can I get back to God?
Acts 2.37 shows us.
That repentance is about talkingto God honestly.
So that we can delete sin fromour lives.
(27:38):
Whether that's an app.
Whether that's a friendship.
Whether that's a habit.
Whatever it is, we're going totear that out of our lives.
We're going to stop doing what'swrong.
We realize that.
We're sorry for that.
And we're going to start doingwhat's right.
(27:59):
And I need to emphasize.
Sometimes that's hard.
And sometimes that's costly.
And sometimes that hurts.
But that's exactly what yourrepenter will bring you to do.
And I want to just press pausehere for a half a second.
(28:21):
Guys, could you turn your Biblewith me to Acts 26.20?
Ladies, you come too.
Acts 26.20.
In Acts chapter 26, Paul says inverse 19, O King Agrippa, verse
19, I was not disobedient to theheavenly vision.
Now Acts 26, 20.
(28:43):
But I declared first to those inDamascus and then in Jerusalem
and then throughout all theregion of Judea and to the
Gentiles that they should repentand turn to God, performing
deeds in keeping withrepentance.
I want so much this morning torecruit more men who will do
(29:10):
Acts 26.20.
I'm recruiting repentermechanics.
That's exactly what I am.
I don't have dirty fingernails.
I don't wear greasy coveralls.
And I don't have a wrench in mypocket.
But I am a repenter mechanic.
I fix things.
(29:30):
broken repenters.
If you are away from God and youcan't figure out how to get
back, I will bring the Word ofGod.
I will preach God's powerfulWord with force and relevance
and application so you can findyour repenter and repair it and
(29:50):
return to the Lord.
Even more, I'll help you keep itin good working order.
I'll help you oil yourrepentance with the tears of
sorrow over sin.
I'll help you polish it withsackcloth I stand in a long line
(30:13):
of men like Elijah and Jeremiahand Isaiah and John the Baptist
and Paul the Apostle and Jesusthe Christ who called people to
repent.
And I tell you, young men...
We are terribly short ofrepenter mechanics today.
(30:33):
I know a dozen congregationsright now with empty pulpits
because we don't have young menwho are giving their lives to
the preaching of the gospel.
We need you.
God's people need repentermechanics.
And I say to you ladies, theseyoung men need strong,
(30:58):
spiritually minded women whowill encourage them to become a
preacher of the gospel, who willtell them this is good and godly
work.
It's needed work.
You can do it.
Let's do it together.
Yesterday, Tim King talked somuch about being a baseball
player.
And I am thankful for Tim King.
(31:19):
And I am thankful he decided hedidn't want to throw baseballs.
He wanted to fix repenters.
But I couldn't help but thinkI'm so thankful for Leah,
without whom we would not haveTim King.
We need more preachers.
(31:40):
No, you don't have to preach togo to heaven.
No, not everybody should be apreacher.
But I know there are some youngmen here who have a fire burning
in their bosom.
And they want and desire to helpmen and women know the Lord,
(32:08):
serve the Lord, and go to heavenwhen they die.
And I'm saying to you, youngmen, come on! We need you.
We need more repenter mechanics.
We need more men and women.
who are ready to talk aboutrepentance.
That's exactly, turn back toActs chapter 2, that's exactly
(32:30):
what Peter is doing when hesays, verse 38, they're cut to
the heart and they're saying,what are we going to do?
And Peter said to them, verse38, repent and be baptized,
every one of you in the name ofJesus Christ for the forgiveness
of your sins, you'll receive thegift of the Holy Spirit.
(32:54):
Oh, how sweet it is when thatrepenter is humming.
And it brings us to the goodnessof God who wanted all along for
us to return.
He's just waiting for us to openour backpack and get that
(33:18):
repenter out.
Isn't that the point of Jesus'story in Luke 15, where we began
this morning?
There are a lot of useless toolsin this world, but I hope that
you see.
Look at Luke 15 with me again.
Everybody needs a repenter.
Because that boy in verse 16 waslonging to be fed with the pods
(33:40):
that the pigs ate and no onegave him anything.
Verse 17 says, When he came tohimself, he said, How many of my
father's hired servants havemore than enough bread, and I
perish here with hunger?
I will arise and go to myfather, and I will say to him,
Father, I have sinned againstheaven, and before you I am no
(34:00):
longer worthy to be called yourson.
Treat me as one of your hiredservants.
And he arose and came to hisfather.
Can I read verses 17, 18, and 19in the Mark Roberts
International East TexasVersion?
There was a boy lost in sin andin the degradation of a pig pen.
(34:26):
He finally, look at verse 17,came to himself.
He finally said, where's myrepenter?
I want to go home.
And what's great about Jesus'story is is that Jesus answers
the question that every sinnerhas ever asked when they begin
(34:50):
to try to repair their repenter,to see if it will run just one
more time.
Every sinner wants to know,what's going to happen when I
repent?
Is God going to cross His armsand say, too late?
Too late?
Is God going to say, no, youhurt me too bad.
(35:11):
I got nothing for you.
Get out of my sight.
Is God going to say, well, we'lljust see if this is going to
last.
I'll put you on probation.
What does God do when we repent?
Verse 20.
While he was still a long wayoff, his father saw him and felt
(35:33):
compassion and ran.
Can God run?
And ran and embraced him andkissed him.
The Mark Roberts InternationalEast Texas Version says, And the
(35:54):
father found himself on theporch again another day, looking
down that long road, hopingtoday, today, he would see his
boy come home.
And suddenly...
he saw a figure, limping andweak and torn and bruised, so
(36:15):
sad and pathetic, coming downthat road to come home.
And God ran to meet the boy whowas repenting.
Never forget that.
(36:37):
O young person, O old person, Osinner, never forget, when you
use your repenter, God will runto meet you.
(37:00):
That's why you need a repenterin your backpack.
Let's pray.
Oh Lord, our God, we are awed atyour love and compassion and
care.
We can scarcely believe that youwill run to meet us if we will
(37:24):
turn to you.
I'm praying, Father, bless uswith the ability to repent.
Help us to stop with the blamingand the excuses.
Help us to acknowledge that wehave done wrong and to turn to
You to change what is wrong sothat we can do what is right.
(37:45):
Help us to have a soft heart anda deep love for You, for You
have loved us first.
Help us, Father, when we areaway from You to open that
backpack Get out our repenter.
Help us, Father, to repent andcome home to you.
(38:11):
In Jesus' name we pray thesethings.
And amen.
We sing this song.
We're going to sing this songbecause it may take you a minute
to root around in that backpackand get your repenter out.
And it may be a minute since youturned it on last, so it's going
(38:32):
to take a second here to see ifit's going to run.
You may have to give it a littleshove.
You may need to kickstart it.
But if you're here this morning,young, old, in between, you're
away from the Lord.
You need to run your repenterand come to Him.
(38:55):
Acts 2.38, repent.
Be baptized for the remission ofsins.
Can we help you do that?
If you are a Christian, maybe atone time verse 38 was a reality
in your life, but you driftedaway from the Lord.
You need to turn back to Him.
You need to repent.
Come home to God.
(39:17):
And we want to help you do that.
Fire up your repenter and cometo the Lord while we stand,
while we sing.
SPEAKER_00 (39:31):
Thanks for listening to the Westside Church of Christ
podcast.
For more information aboutWestside, you can connect with
us through our website,justchristians.com, and our
Facebook page.
Our music is from upbeat.io.
That's upbeat with two P's,U-P-P-E-A-T.
(39:53):
where creators can get freemusic.
Please share our podcast withothers, and we look forward to
seeing you again.
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