Sermon 2 - Repentance – The Forgotten Command

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:23):
Welcome back family to another episode of New Disciple Fellowship.
I am the lead pastor, George Hobbes of New Disciple
Fellowship Church, a church that is being planted in the Felton,
Delaware region. Our email address is New Disciple Fellowship Church
at gmail dot com. Our Facebook and YouTube links are

(00:45):
all in the show notes. Please reach please reach out
and say hello. By the way, I must mention that
I just got done cutting an acre and a half
of grass, so I'm a little congested sneezy getting over
all of that. So please please bear with me. Let's
open with prayer. Father God, we thank you for this

(01:06):
opportunity to share your word today. We asked that you
open our hearts and minds to receive your truth. May
the Holy Spirit guide our words and our listener's hearts,
bringing clarity, understanding and transformation. In Jesus's name, we pray. Amen.
And again, this is episode two. I hope you listen

(01:28):
to episode one first so you know our foundation. Today
we are talking about the very first step of becoming
a Christian. That is repentance, and that's today's title, Repentance
the Forgotten Command. And today we're starting at the beginning,
not the beginning of creation, not the beginning of the

(01:51):
gospel stories, but the beginning the first step of discipleship,
that is repentance. So let's be clear and again, when
I speak, I always cite my words with the Bible.
So I will give you all those supporting texts here
in a minute. But you have to understand that you

(02:12):
cannot be a follower of Jesus if you have first
not turned away from sin. Okay, you can't enter the
Kingdom of God if you're still clinging to the worldly things. Right,
you cannot claim to be born again because of a
one time sinner's prayer that you said with your lips

(02:33):
and not with your heart, right, if your life isn't
showing any change. So today we're going to open the
Word of God. We're going to rediscover why repentance is
not just important, it's essential. Now. I know some of
you are thinking, I've been a Christian for ten years.
I can skip episode two. Listen, there are a lot
of people who think they are saved. Who or not.

(02:57):
I asked that you hear me out. Maybe you learn
one nugget and then get back out into the world,
and you know, bring the word, bring the gospel to
the people. We live in a very sick world, and
Jesus is the only prescription. He's the only remedy. Now,
let's start with a biblical foundation of repentance. Okay, and

(03:18):
again we're starting with the words of Jesus himself Matthew four,
verse seventeen. From that time, Jesus began to preach and
to say, repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.
So this is before he yield the sick, before he
raised the dead, before he called his disciples, Jesus preached repentance. Okay,

(03:43):
this was not a suggestion, this was a command. And
this wasn't unique to Jesus. Okay, when John the Baptist
came preparing the way of the Lord, what did he preach.
Let's look to Matthew three, verse two. Repent ye, for
the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. How about Peter
when he stood on the day of the Pentecost filled

(04:05):
with the spirit of the Holy Ghost right and the
people were pricked in their heart and asked, what shall
we do? Do you remember what Peter's reply was. Peter
said to them, repent and be baptized, every one of
you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission
of sins. That is Acts two, verse thirty eight. Now

(04:28):
do you see the pattern Old Covenant, New Covenant, John
the Baptist, Jesus Christ, the Apostles. The message is always
the same. It starts with repentance. So it's important whether
you're counseling a sinner who was you're counseling to win

(04:54):
him to change his life. It is important that you
define repentance clearly. Now there is a Greek word for
repent you can find in Strong's Concordance. I believe it's
pronounced meant to now something similar to that. Right. What
that means is to change one's mind, to turn specifically right,

(05:18):
to turn away from sin and toward God. Okay, Now,
this isn't sorrow, this isn't guilt, this is transformation. Look
at Second Corinthians Paul's letter to the Corinthians. Second Corinthians seven,

(05:40):
verse ten. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation, not
to be repented of. But the sorrow of the world
worketh death. Okay, so there's a sorrow that leads to repentance.
But repentance is simply it's not just feeling bad. It
is ads that you're not going to live this life

(06:03):
anymore again. You will fail, we all will fail. But
repenting trying to change our life living in a godly
christ like manner is repentance. Again, if someone claims to
follow Jesus but is still living in unrepentant sin, then

(06:25):
they have truly not repented. And without repentance, ladies and gentlemen,
there is no salvation. Now, that's not George Hobbes saying
that that is Luke thirteen, verse three. Except ye repent,
ye shall all likewise perish, not maybe not possibly Jesus

(06:49):
says ye shall perish. So let's look at repentance this
versus the sinner's prayer. Okay, now again there's some old
school Billy Graham followers listening to this podcast. I might
be upsetting right now, but it needs to be said. Okay,

(07:10):
we and when I say we, I mean a lot
of the church have allowed people to believe that saying
a short prayer and walking to the front of the
church means that they are saved, right But and then
they just go back to living their sinful ways. Okay,
but you can't find anywhere in the New Testament, where
you see anyone saved by a formulaic sinner's prayer. We

(07:35):
see preaching, we see conviction, we see repentance, we see baptism,
we see obedience. But not once do you see any
prayer like Dear Jesus coming to my heart. That language
is not in scripture. Now listen, don't misunderstand what we're saying.

(07:55):
Calling on the name of the Lord is Biblical Romans
tent teen. For whosoever shall call upon the name of
the Lord shall be saved. Okay, But please understand that
that calling includes belief, repentance, and submission to Christ. It's
not a one time utterance. It is a lifelong turning

(08:19):
towards Him. Okay. And it's important to understand that repentance
must come first. Right. You can't build a house on sand,
and you cannot build a Christian life without the foundation
of repentance. Repentance is what clears the ground of sin.

(08:39):
It's what says Lord, I'm done running, I'm turning back
to you. Without every other part of Christian life, whether
it's baptism, prayer, Bible reading, fellowship, that just becomes an
empty ritual. That's why Jesus sent his disciples out, he
told them in Mark six, verse twelve. Quote. And they
went out and preach that men should repent, so again,

(09:05):
before healing, before casting out devils, before building physical churches,
they taught repentance. And this is where we at new
disciple fellowship will begin every journey, your first step to
becoming a disciple and going out and being a fisher

(09:26):
of men. Now, let's look at some examples of repentance
and scripture. Okay, how about King David after a sin
with Bathsheba. David didn't just feel guilty, He repented. Psalm
fifty one is a raw, honest cry for mercy. Create
me in a clean heart, O God, and renew me
a right spirit within me. Right, that's Psalm fifty one,

(09:50):
verse ten. So again, David didn't excuse his sin. He
didn't blame Bathsheba. He cried out against thee the only
I have sinned. That's repentance. How about the prodigal son, right,
Jesus told this story, and look fifteen. The son ran
from his father, lived in sin, wasted his inheritance. But

(10:14):
verse seventeen says, and when he came to himself, and
when he came to himself. That's the turning point. Right
eighteen says I will arise and go to my father.
That's repentance. And what does the father do? He runs
to meet him. That's the heart of God. Right. The

(10:40):
prodigal son is such an important story. Ran from his father,
lived in sin, wasted his inheritance. But when he turned
his life around, when he decided to turn away from
sin and turn to God, the father ran to him.
He didn't how dare you know? He said, I love you.

(11:01):
That's repentance. That is the heart of God. How about Nineveh? Right,
Jonah didn't even want to preach to them, but when
they did, when he did, they repented in sackcloth and ashes,
and God spared an entire city. And repentance always produces fruit.

(11:21):
Look at Matthew three verse eight. Bring forth, therefore, pardon me,
Bring forth therefore fruits meat for repentance. Okay, true repentance
isn't invisible. It produces change. It leads to holiness. So
a person who repents of lying stops lying. A person

(11:42):
who repents of lust flees from pornography. A person who
repents of pride becomes humble. So repentance leads to obedience.
And again, yes, we are going to falter, but God
is always there to catch us. Now the hard truth

(12:08):
what happens about repentance. When we remove repentance, we produce
false converts. That's a big problem. Imagine thinking you're a
Christian standing before the Lord and him saying, go from me.
I never knew thee right. People who believe they're saved

(12:33):
because of an emotional moment, but never turned from sin. Now, again,
we cite the Bible when we say these things. Jesus
gave this warning in Matthew seven, verses twenty one through
twenty three. It says, not everyone that saith unto me,
Lord Lord, shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven. I'm going

(12:53):
to repeat that, not everyone that saith unto me, Lord Lord,
shall enter into the Kingdom of heaven. Many will say
to me in that day, Lord Lord, have we not
prophesied thy name? And then I will never pardon me,
and then I will profess unto them. I never knew you,

(13:15):
depart from me. Okay, these are religious people. They called
him Lord, but they never repented. They continued in iniquity.
Let that be sobering to you. Okay, let's talk about
repentance and salvation. Now, some teach that repentance is a

(13:37):
work and therefore unnecessary for salvation, but Scripture teaches the opposite.
Let's look at Second Peter three, verse nine. The Lord
is not willing that any should perish, but that all
should come to repent. So God's desire is that we repent,
not that we just believe in our heads, but that

(13:58):
we turn to Him with our whole hearts. Right, repentance
and faith go hand in hand, testifying repentance toward God
and faith toward our Lord, Jesus Christ. That's Acts twenty
twenty one. So listener, my friend, and again, thank you
so much for taking There's hundreds of thousands of voices

(14:21):
out there right, thank you for choosing us. But I
want to ask you something. Have you truly repented? Now?
Before you answer that, I'm not asking you have you
gone to church. I'm not asking you if you've ever
said a prayer. I'm not asking you if you've ever
been baptized. Listener, my friend, have you turned from your

(14:46):
sin and surrendered your life to Jesus Christ. Please remember
that repentance is not a one time event. It is
a lifestyle. It is a daily saying, not my way, Lord,
but yours. If today you hear his voice, do not

(15:08):
harden your heart. At New Disciple Fellowship, we are not
interested in making shallow believers. We are committed to making
true disciples and ladies and gentlemen. That journey begins with repentance,
before baptism, before church membership, before ministry, because only a

(15:29):
changed heart can follow Jesus. If you're ready to repent,
please do not wait for We are not guaranteed the
next second. Don't delay until tomorrow. Cry out to God. Today,
let us pray, Heavenly Father, we come before you. We

(15:49):
are broken and aware of our sin. Lord. We turn
from the world. We turn from lust, we turn from pride,
and we tell we turn from ourself. Let us repent,
Oh God, create us a clean heart we want to change.
Help us follow Jesus in spirit and in truth. In

(16:13):
Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. And you know what, Father,
We are so grateful for your presence with us today.
May your holy spirit and powers to live out the
truth we discussed. We ask for your continued guidance. We
ask for your continued protection as we go our separate ways.

(16:34):
In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Prayer's powerful. Don't forget praying.
Martin Luther used to pray for two or three hours
every morning. Have you ever tried praying for ten or
fifteen minutes, it's a long time. Martin Luther used to
do it for two or three hours. Listen, thank you
so much for joining us. Episode two Repentance the Forgotten

(16:55):
Command Here at New Disciple Fellowship. This is just the beginning.
We will continue to talk about what follows repentance until then.
Keep reading the word, keep in the word, keep praying,
and remember you can't be a new Disciple if you

(17:15):
haven't first repented. God bless each and every one of you,
and we'll see you again the next time. God bless
you to take care