========================================================================
  GENUINE REPENTANCE
  by Robert Wurtz II
========================================================================

Wurtz's theological study on the nature and foundation of true Christian
repentance, emphasizing that genuine repentance is not merely sorrow for sin's
consequences but a radical transformation resulting from God's conviction. He
stresses that true repentance leads to obedience, concrete restitution, and
building one's spiritual life on the solid rock of Christ.

  Chapters: 5

------------------------------------------------------------------------
  TABLE OF CONTENTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    0. GENUINE REPENTANCE
    1. PART 1
    2. Part 5
    3. Part 6
    4. Part 7

========================================================================
  CHAPTER 0: GENUINE REPENTANCE
========================================================================


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 1: PART 1
========================================================================

CHAPTER 10 GENUINE REPENTANCE (Part 1)

Study Objectives

The first step to being truly born again is repentance. The word “repent” is the
first word of the message of the Gospel. It is the first necessary step that
everyone must make in order to be saved. The importance of this one subject
cannot be overstated- as a person who has not genuinely repented is yet in their
sins and is under the wrath of God. As we begin this study of genuine repentance
I purpose to show what repentance is and what repentance is not. We will explore
the subject of repentance in such a way as to ensure that all who participate in
this study will have a clear understanding as to whether they have genuinely
repented or not. We will discover if the repentance of our lives has been total
or selective or permanent or temporary. We will examine the motives and fruits
of repentance and will probe into whether the repentance we exhibit towards God
is biblical and therefore acceptable in God’s sight. We will further explain
that there is a limit to the amount of sin that God allows a person or nation
before judgment comes to the utmost. This is a consistent teaching in scripture
that will be quite new for most Christians, but has existed since the book of
Genesis.

Revolt against Repentance

The single greatest obstacle to genuine repentance is pride. Human beings by and
large simply refuse to humble themselves before God. Pride, in fact, is at the
very root of iniquity itself. Pride creates a refusal to submit to anyone and
repentance requires great submission to God. The pride of a persons hearts can
so blind them- that they are enabled to successfully ignore the continual
warnings of an infinitely powerful God and in turn ignore His perfect wrath.
True repentance requires brokeness before God and an agreement with Him that we
have in fact sinned against Him. It requires examining ourselves to discover the
depths of our wickedness in the sight of God- this is an act that pride will
reject. Genuine repentance requires that we humble ourselves before God and man
and confess our sins before them; whereas pride wages war against these
necessities and refuses to comply with God’s demands. This is the true essence
of hardness of hearts. Every time God convicts of sin and leads to genuine
repentance and the person refuses to repent- the chances are lessened that they
ever will repent. Resisting God when He calls for repentance only strengthens
pride until the pride of the heart is stronger than the call to repent. As this
happens on an ongoing basis it becomes less and less likely that the proud
person ever will repent; while at the same time pride tells the person they can
repent when they get ready. This is the delusion that has won millions of souls
to hell. It is the apex of pride to believe in our heart that we can repent
before a holy God when we get ready. God responds to such behavior by hardening
the person’s heart when they reject the Gospel message. Most people do not
consider themselves to be proud, but this is also a delusion. Any amount of
pride sufficient to keep a person from humbling themselves before God is
sufficient to warrant God’s eternal wrath.

The Wrath of God is Revealed

The book of Genesis tells us how everything began. The book of Revelation tells
us how everything is going to end; but the book of Romans tells us how to be
saved from God’s wrath. The book begins by informing us that God’s wrath is
revealed from heaven against all people who suppress the truth by their
sinfulness (Romans 1:18). No matter who the person is they have a certain amount
of knowledge of God (light) that they are accountable to God for how they handle
it. Jesus sums this up when He said… And that servant, which knew his lord's
will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be
beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of
stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of
him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they
will ask the more (Luke 12:47-48). This is a description of the varying levels
of punishment in hell based upon how much information we knew about God. The
more we are aware of concerning God the more we are accountable for.

ALL Are Without Excuse

Roman’s teaches us that every human being born on the earth has some basic
knowledge of God. We read in Romans 1:19-21… For the truth about God is known to
them instinctively. God has put this knowledge in their hearts. From the time
the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God made.
They can clearly see his invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine
nature. So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God (NLT). Everyone is
born knowing there is a God and most people immediately begin suppressing that
knowledge. The pagan natives who commit all sorts of wickedness are utterly
without excuse before God. God will hold them accountable for the truth they
know and of a certainty they are not walking in the light of their conscience or
in the light of nature. This rebellion against such little truth is far more
than enough to warrant a sentence of eternal damnation. How much then would you
suppose that the wrath of God would be revealed to those who have a bible? When
you consider that only since the printing press was developed (the last 400
years) have bibles even been available in the world to individual families, etc.
Going all the way back to Sodom and Gomorrah they did not have bibles. As a
matter of fact, Jesus said that had Sodom and Gomorrah heard the Gospel of Jesus
Christ they would have repented long ago and it would still be a city today.
Other nations destroyed by God’s wrath would have repented in sackcloth and
ashes. Jesus went on to say that because of that- these people God judged will
rise up in judgment against those who reject repentance after hearing the Gospel
(Matthew 11:21-24).

So what then shall come of those who have been enlightened (made to see
literally), tasted of heavenly things, received the Holy Spirit, the good
(rhema) word of God, and the power (dunamis) of God? To whom much is given much
is required. The peril of an unrepentant person who is pagan is tremendous; but
what shall we make of the impending doom and utter destruction upon those who
have been thoroughly acquainted with the things of God and have familiarized
themselves with Him and yet rejected Him as they have known Him? What will be
the fate of those who have passed by over fifty thousand churches in their
lifetime and yet rejected every reminder that they ought to repent. Every time
they see a minister on TV or a Christian bumper sticker. Every time they found
that old bible while sorting through the closet and yet tossed it up higher on a
shelf to forget God? What shall come of those who have mocked the messengers of
God and despised his word? In Hebrews 10:27-31 we read… They who despised Moses
law died without mercy under two or three witnesses. Of how much sorer
punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot
the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was
sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For
we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense,
saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful
thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

The Cup of Iniquity

Many people do not realize that God has placed a limit upon the amount of sin
that He will allow a person or a nation commit. The strength of this iniquity is
based upon the amount of ‘light’ that the person or nation had in order to know
to do right. The more about God that you know, the faster the cup fills up. Both
individual people and this nation are sinning as though there was no legal limit
on sin. But every person and nation has been allotted a measure of sin. In
Genesis 4:13 Cain tells God “my punishment is more than I can bear.” This is the
first occurrence of this Hebrew word (here translated ‘punishment’). In every
other passage in the bible but 3 it is translated as “iniquity.” Iniquity means
perverseness, evil, or lawlessness. Immediately in scripture iniquity is
proportional to judgment. In other words- iniquities are like judgment debts
that have to be paid. The second time it is used is in Genesis 15:16 where we
read… But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the
iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. This is because all impenitent sinners
are treasuring up for themselves wrath against the day of wrath (Romans 2:5).
Matthew Henry comments on this saying there is a time when people in their
wickedness are “ripe” for judgment. The sins of Sodom were great before the Lord
and they were brought to ruin quickly as was also the Jews when Jerusalem was
destroyed in 70 CE. The Amorites took a while for their sin to fill up and
therefore Abraham was not able to go in and possess the land yet. Jesus told the
Pharisees… Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children
of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
Paul also used this illustration in I Thessalonians 2:14-16… For ye, brethren,
became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: for
ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of
the Jews: Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have
persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men: Forbidding
us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins
alway: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost. Individuals, peoples,
and nations that refuse to repent are “filling up their sins.”

How Full is The Cup?

As a nation we for certain are fastly filling up the cup of iniquity as an
invitation to God’s wrath upon us. Has there ever been a nation upon the earth
that had as much ‘light’ as does America and yet showed the level of contempt
for it as we? Have there ever been a people who have as much knowledge of God as
individuals as does the average American and yet continue in their sins? In
America God has made Himself known on every hand. Many sin hotspots are within
eyeshot of a church or a cross. If Sodom had bibles, as does America- would they
have vexed Lot with their sin? What if there was a church in every community of
the city- would they have so sinned? What about legitimate Christian TV and
radio? An abundance of Christians? In his book Repentance the first Word of the
Gospel, Richard Owen Roberts asks a most riveting question to both impenitent
individuals and nations. He asks “Have you ever considered what it would be to
be under the wrath of God to the utmost? Do you have any idea how close to full
your personal measure of sin is? It is possible that it is precariously close to
full at this moment. It is possible that one more sin is all that is allotted
you. Your final sin could be your refusal to repent right now.” How much longer
will God extend his hand of mercy to us? How much longer can we refuse to
repent? Many have not just read the bible, but millions have even seen the
Passion of Christ and a realistic depiction of Christ’s sufferings. What level
of judgment are we at based upon how much we know in comparison to a pagan
native who has never seen a bible? Could this be America’s final altar call?
Could this be everyone’s final altar call?


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 2: PART 5
========================================================================

CHAPTER 14 GENUINE REPENTANCE (PART 5)

The Foundation of Repentance

The foundation is the base on which structures are built. It is the support for
the walls and other components of a building. No building is any stronger than
its foundation. If the foundation is not properly placed, the entire structure
is in question. If it is not placed deep in the earth it will be carried away by
the elements. If it is not laid strong it will not support the weight of the
structure. Repentance from dead works, faith towards God, and the accompanying
elements of these two serve as the foundation of our relationship with God.
(Hebrews 6:1, 2) It is the foundation that we are told not to be laying over and
over. It is a foundation that is to be laid and then built upon. Unfortunately,
many never take the time to ensure that the foundation of repentance and faith
towards God is properly laid and in turn they end up with the situation Jesus
speaks of in Luke 6. Here we read… And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not
the things which I say? Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and
doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an
house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood
arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for
it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man
that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the
stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house
was great. (Luke 6:46-49)

Digging Deep

Genuine repentance is a radical change of life that results in God gloriously
transforming a person from death to life, darkness to light, and from the power
of Satan unto the power of God. (Acts 26:18) It is a deep process. It requires a
tremendous amount of convincing and conviction. The minister brings a message to
convince and the Holy Spirit convicts of sin. The two are in most cases totally
dependent one on the other. The Holy Spirit has been known to bring great
conviction of sin apart from a person hearing a sermon- but certainly no
minister can bring conviction of sin without the Holy Spirit. Deep conviction
that brings godly sorrow leads a person to repentance. Deep repentance is not
sorrow for the consequences of sin that has occurred as a result of their
disobedience, but is a sorrow brought about by God Himself and makes God the
center of repentance. God is the one who was sinned against. God is the primary
offended party in all sin. God is the one to whom we must turn to for relief
from our sins. These are but a few aspects of genuine godly sorrow that leads to
life. On the contrary, there are many that believe they have repented when all
they were is in some way ‘sorry’ for what their sin caused or sorry they were
caught. Genuine and deep repentance is a condition in which a person sees their
sin as God sees it, changes their mind about it, repulsively forsakes it, is
sorely vexed because of it, and turns from it to God for relief from it.
Repentance is turning from trusting in yourself, which results in your
sinfulness- to trusting in God and His righteousness.Salvation that does not
include true and genuine repentance is no salvation at all because it is the
foundation. Genuine repentance leaves a person feeling such about their past sin
that they seek to make restitution or reconciliation whenever possible for the
things they have done (i.e. Zacchaeus Luke 19:8). They also realize how vile
they formerly behaved and immediately seek to impress on others that they have
forsaken the old life. This is quite different than a person who is embarrassed
to say they repented. A person who genuinely repents is embarrassed for who they
used to be, not who they are now.

A Foundation on the Rock

Jesus Christ must be the chief cornerstone of any foundation we lay down. In
genuine repentance we turn from sin to righteousness and from the power of Satan
to the power of God. The life that we now live is in accordance to the teachings
of Jesus Christ. We do not simply call him Lord, Lord; but He truly is the Lord
of our life. We confirm this by doing the things that He says. In our obedience
we exalt Him to His rightful place of King and in that submission we are made
citizens of the Kingdom of God. Our submission to Christ is what allows for the
Kingdom of Christ to come near to those whom we minister to. If we don’t submit
to God and His authority, how could we ever be ambassadors with His authority?

Foundationless Faith

In Luke 6:48 we read… “But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man without
a foundation…” Repentance that does not result in obedience to God is not
genuine repentance. Disobedience is regarded with disdain to the truly born
again. If you do not hate sin- you have no real foundation with which to walk in
obedience. If you live in denial that you need to repent you have not hated your
sin as you should. When David saw his sin for what it was he did not react with
denial. He made no excuses. He gave no explanations. He knew that sin, as it
were, comes in many flavors, but the core ‘substance’ is rebellion against God.
That is the ‘substance’ of the sin itself. The ‘flavor’ is immaterial. It is all
the result of the rebellious law of sin that is in our members that desires to
rebel against God’s law simply because HE decreed it. The sinful nature is
gratified by rebellion- it is the ‘flesh’s meat. The ‘meat’ of the born again is
to do the will of God. Understanding this point is a main key in gaining the
victory over sin and hating sin as we should. When we stop focusing on the
‘flavor’ of the sin (covetousness, fornication, hatred, etc.) and key in on the
substance of sin we realize that the sin we commit gratified the flesh because
it rebelled against God. David understood this clearly and answered the prophet…
“I have sinned against the LORD.” Later he wrote… “Against God alone have I done
this evil in His sight.” (Psalm 51:4) The foundation of repentance is only as
strong as our hatred of sin and our desire to walk in obedience to the faith.

Loving Righteousness and Hating Iniquity

When you have genuinely seen sin as God sees it and your mind is properly
changed about it- that change should result in utter disdain for sin. It will be
hatred based in the knowledge that your sin was against a God that is wholly
good. You will view it as malice projected at the God that has bestowed upon you
every good and perfect gift. (Romans 2:4; James 1:17) When you finally survey
the wondrous love of God and the extent to which His anger has been restrained
from consuming you; and His divine providence has sustained you- you ought to
pour contempt on all your pride. As Paris Reidhead once stated… “Our preaching
is not to convince good men that they are in trouble with a mean, bad God; but
its to convince bad men that they deserve the wrath and anger of a good God.”
(paraphrased) And in that moment of understanding the true meaning of sin as a
whole- you should hate sin no matter what ‘flavor’ it is. The realization of the
enormity of your sin against God and His holiness; the revelation that not only
was the God you were sinning against infinitely holy, but willing to take upon
Himself the very penalty of your sin- ought convince any sinner that he or she
utterly deserves hell. One ought to marvel at how a God as holy as He is would
be mindful of sinners that are bent on profaning that which is holy. A sinner
seeks to sin simply for the fulfillment of desecrating that which is not yet
tainted with sin- so that in that defilement the flesh can be gratified. When
you realize this one fact- you will hate sin as it is. The enemies’ whole
strategy is to camouflage the true nature of sin and present it as something it
is not. Sin is rebellion against God. Genuine repentance has a cultivating
effect upon the heart. Going through our lives at times and earnestly seeking
God to reveal areas of our lives that we have refused to repent will point us to
areas of hardness that have come about by sin. Allowing God to show us places
where we quench the Spirit and harden ourselves will stir the fallow ground as
we repent of those things.

Radical Repentance

When you radically repent your zeal for God combined with your hatred of sin
will cause you to take aggressive steps in fortifying yourself against sin.
Josiah was a radical individual when it comes to repentance. He destroyed the
groves and the high places in Israel. Not only did he hate the sin, but also he
(as it were) “hated even the garment spotted by sin” (Jude 23). What does that
mean? He distances himself from sin as much as in him is. The facilities of sin
and the vehicles of sin are utterly forsaken. The stepping stones back to sin
are removed. Failure to remove these facilities, vehicles, and stepping-stones
is ultimately an indicator that you are not interested in victory over sin- but
in word only, and not in deed and in truth. Many talk repentance- but few are
willing to go through their life and eliminate the provisions and stumbling
blocks for their sin. They convince themselves that they can ‘handle’ certain
weights that allow sin to close the gap in the race we are running and knock us
off the track (Hebrews 12). Josiah knew that if the groves and high places
remained that Israel would keep stumbling over the same old sins. If you want to
stop plowing iniquity (Job 4:8) you need to rid yourself of the ‘equipment.’

Exercising Your Senses

In Hebrews 6 we learn that we are not to be laying the foundation of repentance
over and over again. We are to go on unto perfection. In the closing verses of
Chapter 5 we read that growth towards perfection requires that we move from the
milk to the meat of God’s word. This can only happen if you exercise your
senses. You have to take control of your 5 senses. You have to control your
eyes, ears, etc. You have to train your senses to discern good and evil. This is
how a person moves towards Christian perfection. When a person controls their
senses as they should it make it easier to control the tongue, as we should. The
one who controls the tongue is a perfect man (James 3:2). But, the tongue can no
man tame for it is unruly evil and full of deadly poison (3:8). When you begin
talking your heart is exposed. When your heart is exposed, what comes forth from
the good treasure of it- is what has been carried in through the senses
(Proverbs 4:23; Luke 6:45). The tongue totes out what the senses take in. When
you radically repent you will hate sin to the place that as much as in you is –
you have fortified yourself from an onslaught of temptations. You will recognize
that if Timothy needed to flee youthful lusts so do you. If Paul had to bring
his body into subjection- so do you. You will do everything in your power to not
just “think” you stand, but you will “take heed” lest you fall. (I Corinthians
10:12) The context of this passage is temptation. Matthew Henry comments here
saying… “He that thinks he stands should not be confident and secure, but upon
his guard. Others have fallen, and so may we. And then we are most likely to
fall when we are most confident of our own strength, and thereupon most apt to
be secure, and off our guard. Distrust of himself, putting him at once upon
vigilance and dependence on God, is the Christian's best security against all
sin.”

Victory ‘101’

The attitude of genuine repentance is found in the Psalm of David who wrote: “I
will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn
aside; it shall not cleave to me.” (Psalm 101:3) To set your sin in front of you
is to keep laying the foundation of repentance over and over again. No one is
strong enough to keep access to gross sin in their midst and continually resist
temptation. Unfortunately many have already subconsciously planned to return to
their sin. They would reject the notion if asked and defensively react when it
is mentioned. But the truth is, when you have allowed the stepping stones to
your besetting sins to remain in place when you could have removed them it is
evidence that backsliding remains an option. Time will tell. Everyone needs a
certain distance between them and their besetting sin. The distance between you
and your besetting sin is proportional to the length of your desire to repent.
Have you destroyed the groves and high places in your life? Why not? David said,
“I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes.” Why? Because he knew he was weak
at times and vulnerable to sin. He guarded himself. He said wickedness would not
cleave unto him. That Hebrew word means to “Catch by pursuit.” This was David’s
approach and as he stated- wickedness never did catch and overtake him.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 3: PART 6
========================================================================

CHAPTER 15 GENUINE REPENTANCE (PART 6)

Have You Really Repented?

In our previous section we discovered that we must lay aside certain weights in
our life in order to maintain the victory over sin. We need to take control over
our senses and ‘discern’ between good and evil. We need to continually be
turning from sin as the world brings it up before us- and we must not set any
evil thing before our eyes. When we cease to have certain weights in our life
taking up much of our time- that time must be used for the edification of our
spiritual lives. The enemy loves it when we simply ‘shift’ our weights around
and gain no real spiritual ground. This is particularly dangerous in our
generation because the world has so many enticing things to offer as a
substitute for true joy and happiness. Christians set down weights that were a
stumbling block to them and then pick up something they see as less harmful, but
in fact may end up coming between them and God as much as the thing that was
originally causing them to stumble. This is simply load redistribution. Anytime
we lay something down that was hindering us we need to replace it with something
that will edify us.

Turning From Sin To God

It is not enough to simply turn away from our sins. We have to turn to God.
Jesus talked about a person in whom was a demon and after it was cast out the
demon returned and found the ‘house’ swept and clean. He then went and invited
seven more wicked spirits than himself to enter in and the state of that man was
worst than the beginning (Matthew 12:45). This is a picture of a person wanting
free from sin and Satan and not making Christ the Lord of their life. People
don’t want sin because of its effects; and when liberated they don’t want to
live righteously either. This throws the door to the devil wide open. God
liberates us from sin for the purpose of coming and communing with us. If we do
not begin to seek God’s face and follow Him we are wide open to the enemy. This
‘halting between two opinions’ is a dangerous place for anyone who has come to
God for deliverance from sin. God delivers them and when they get relief from
the burden of the sin and the consequences of sin- they turn right back and end
up more vile than they were before (II Peter 2:22). This is why it is dangerous
to hear a repentance based message and not turn to Christ. Liberation from sin
is only the beginning. God wants us free to walk with Him in communion and
fellowship. Christ did not die on the cross to simply stop men and women from
going to hell- He did it to restore the fellowship with man that was there
between man and God in the garden. The ‘good news’ of the Gospel is not so much
that man can avoid hell- as it is that man can be restored to fellowship with
God. The heart cry of the Gospel is “Be ye reconciled unto God.” (II Corinthians
5:20) God desires fellowship with man and has paid a dear price to receive it.
When people simply pray off the conviction and return to their sin they are
always worse off than before (II Peter 2:20). Sadly, this can happen on a weekly
basis. In a matter of months a person can become so hardened and vile because of
their rebellion to a message of repentance- that they have near reprobated
themselves. God says repent and the devil is there with lies. They act on the
message and then turn back again. This process has a hardening effect on a
person as it also did with Pharaoh.

‘Repentance’ for All the Wrong Reasons

One of the great frustrations for any minister of the Gospel is to spend
countless hours seeking God, ministering, and praying with people at the altar
and yet they weep and pray and then go out and return to their sin. Not that
ministers are frustrated with the lost efforts, for God is glorified in our
lives for our obedience to preach what He tells us. The frustration is that the
person has endured another encounter with God without being changed. Many are
‘moved’ or ‘challenged’- but they are not changed. This no doubt stems from
wrong motives in repenting to begin with. The end of all genuine repentance is
the restoration of fellowship with God. Wrong motives lead to ‘temporary
repentance’ and a relapse into sin that makes the person more vile than before.
Dealing with these false motives will go a long way in preventing this perpetual
hardening of the heart.

“I’m ‘Sorry’ for My Sins?” (‘Common’ Sorrow)

One of the great myths about repentance is that sorrow is the same as
repentance. Although sorrow is part of the process of repentance- it must be
understood that sorrow itself is not repentance. To further understand this we
must also realize that there are two different types of sorrow biblically: 1)
Godly sorrow that leads to life not to be repented of. 2) Worldly sorrow that
leads to death. Richard Owens Roberts in the book “Repentance The First Word Of
The Gospel” writes, “One can experience the deepest possible ‘remorse’ over sin
and yet still not repent. Both Esau and Judas demonstrate this. Indeed, we must
all come to distinguish between the sorrow that comes from being caught and the
sorrow that comes from a deep, inward hatred of sin and longing for the glory of
God that is the distinguishing feature of the regenerate person.” Many are sorry
for the pain the sin caused or sorry for the loss they sustained from their sin-
but this is NOT a godly sorrow. This is a self-centered sorrow that is common in
the world. People ‘sorrow’ every day over the bad consequences of their actions.
Countless tears are shed by people who sustained loss in their sin. Some loose
their health, wealth, friends, and family- it is a common sorrow. People realize
that their health is in jeopardy and make all sorts of New Year’s resolutions to
“turn over a new leaf,” but this is not repentance either.

False Sorrow Brings False Assurance

It would be near to impossible to come as close to repenting as did Judas and
still not be converted. He made restitution by bringing back the thirty pieces
of silver. He confessed that he had betrayed the innocent blood. What horror and
anguish must have gripped his soul at that moment, but it was too late. Just as
Esau he found no place of repentance once the wheels of sin were set in motion-
so likewise Judas sold out his birthright to be an Apostle of our Lord for
almost nothing- and like Esau, another was given his place. Moreover, his
confession was to men only and not to God. We read of no account of Judas
addressing God about this matter. He did not call upon the God that would
abundantly pardon if we would simply repent. He never declared himself before
God to be a wretched sinner. Matthew Henry writes concerning these things
saying, “To his own shame, he confesses that he had sinned, in betraying this
blood. He does not lay the blame on any one else; does not say, "You have
sinned, in hiring me to do it;" but takes it all to himself; "I have sinned, in
doing it." Thus far Judas went toward his repentance, yet it was not to
salvation. He confessed, but not to God, did not go to him, and say, I have
sinned, Father, against heaven. He confessed the betraying of innocent blood,
but did not confess that wicked love of money, which was the root of this evil.
There are those who betray Christ, and yet justify themselves in it, and so come
short of Judas.” The man sorrowed until he hanged himself and never once
repented of the root of his sin-, which was the idolatry of greed. When he tried
to return the money the leaders replied “What is that to us?” What madness was
in the mind of this man who had watched our Lord love people and then be tempted
to sell him out for his own greed. The enemy paid 30 silver coins for the worst
sin ever committed.

Godly Sorrow that Leads to Life

Godly sorrow is a God-centered sorrow. It concerns itself first and foremost
with the offense towards God, and man is at a distant second. When Peter denied
the Lord three times- the rooster sounded and the Lord looked at Peter. In that
moment Peter’s heart smote him and he wept bitterly. The Greek word in this
passage could have been translated ‘violently.’ It was a sorrow that brought
about a change. It was such that once he was converted- he strengthened his
brethren. That word strengthened in this passage means to “establish them in the
right direction.” This is the difference between one who genuinely repents and
one who has had a sorrow that leads to death. Genuine sorrow that leads to
repentance will bring forth fruit. People who genuinely repent and are born
again seek to turn others to Christ. This is the opposite of a high maintenance
and low impact ‘conversion.’

Fear only Convinces Some

Fear is often a great cause for people turning from their sins, but unless there
is genuine repentance fear is a short-lived reason to repent. Hell fire messages
have brought many to repentance- but just as many have heard and still turned
back to sin. In time people become so hardened to preaching that they can stare
hell in the face and not change. God can bring them to such a place of fear and
trembling at the thought of hell- that they hurry themselves to the altar; and
then as they find relief from the ‘message’ they straitway forget the pangs and
sufferings. Unless a persons sees their sin as God sees it and agrees with Him
concerning it- there is no repentance. Fear is a legitimate tactic for plucking
souls out of the fire (Jude 23), but the person must turn from their sin to
genuine faith in Christ. Again, Richard Owens Roberts writes concerning hell
fire preaching, “It is not without consequence that neither John the Baptist or
Jesus came preaching saying, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Hell is at hand.” God’s
purpose in demanding our repentance is not that we might escape from the
damnation of hell but that we might experience the “change of mind” which
characterizes the citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven.” Jesus preached hell more
than heaven- and yet wept over Jerusalem because of their refusal to repent. The
people would not weep bitterly over their sins- so He wept for them.

The Cleansing Effects of Bitter Weeping

It has been rightly said that tears ought not to be wiped away until they have
had time to do their work. When we see our sin as it is we will grieve deeply
for how we have hurt God. Not weeping because we have to suffer the consequences
of our sins, but weeping for the pain and suffering that it caused Christ on the
cross. When we radically repent we will begin to believe that Christ died for
our own personal sins and not merely the sins of the whole world. Our sin will
become personal between us and God. Many people cry for minutes or hours over
their sins. Some cry for days. Yet others cast their tears as far as the east is
from the west and immediately begin to claim the joys of the Lord before the
enormity of their sin has had a chance to really sink in. What cleansing effect
has bitter weeping had on your life? Does sin grieve you? Are you vexed by sin?
Have you heeded the message of repentance? Has the message hardened you more and
more? Have you laid aside the weights that you know are besetting you? Have you
kept yourself busy as not to become idle and a point of contact for the enemy to
tempt you? Idle time is the great enemy of repentance and the great ally of sin.
Do you keep your mind on the Lord? Are you exercising your senses? Are you
casting down vain imaginations (thoughts)? Have you wept for your sin until you
would rather die than do it again? Are you setting evil things before your eyes
and making provision for the flesh? Are you closer to God now than you were a
year ago? The answer to these questions and other like questions will go a long
was in aiding us in our discovery of whether we have really repented in godly
sorrow- or had a common sorrow for sin that all who are in the world display.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 4: PART 7
========================================================================

CHAPTER 16 GENUINE REPENTANCE (PART 7) Hunger, Humility, and Holiness

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall
be filled. (Matthew 5:6)

The natural coarse of life assures us that a newborn baby WILL be hungry (I
Peter 1:23). Newborn Christians are to desire the sincere milk of the word of
God that they may grow thereby (I Peter 2:2). As that word is taken and applied
to the persons life and walked in, then and only then does it become spiritual
food. That hearing and doing of God’s word produces spiritual growth. Jesus said
that His ‘meat’ was to DO the will of the Father that sent Him (John 4:34). And
if we are born of the Spirit, the Father’s will- will be our will also. The cry
of the Newborn Child of God is, “What must we do?” They likewise begin to
exclaim, “Men shall not live by bread alone, but by EVERY word that proceeds out
of the mouth of God.” The word that proceeds from the mouth of God produces life
in us when we are doers of the work and not simply hearers. In other words, our
‘meat’ is not to just ‘hear’, but DO the word. It is not ‘meat’ to us until it
is lived out in faith through obedience. When we take the simple commands of the
milk and begin to use that word to make difference between sin and
righteousness, holy and unholy, and sacred and profaned by disciplining our
senses to discern these things- God will begin to increase our understanding and
our ability to handle deeper truths of God’s word. To graduate from the milk to
the meat is to have no need that any man teach you, but the anointing which you
will receive shall teach you all things (I John 2:27).

An Appetite for God

Jesus chose hunger as the analogy with which to describe the desire for God that
brings blessedness. Hunger is a powerful driving force in a human being.
Spiritual hunger is one of the mechanisms by which we can measure spiritual
health. In the natural coarse of life, once an appetite has been lost, there is
great concern of some other sickness or problem. So it is with our spiritual
health. The enemy has a whole medicine cabinet full of spiritual appetite
suppressants. Worldliness in general suppresses a Christian’s appetite for the
things of God and increases the appetite for sin. Secular media is a serious
spiritual appetite suppressant. Nearly everything that comes from the secular
media of radio, television, and Internet is antichrist to the core. It is
electronic worldliness. The images of the world- the message and ministry of the
world is preached through these media. Christians that feed on these things soon
become grossly devoid of an appetite for God and righteousness. They are cold in
spirit; they are secular, fleshly and carnal- ever struggling to walk in the
power and anointing of God. Some have given up the fight. Some have lost all
desire for the Shekinah glory of God. For Cain- sin was crouching at the door.
For many Christians sin is flooding into their homes and into the door of their
hearts. Cain was told to master sin- but sin is mastering many Christians. Why?
They do not resist it. They desire it. They befriend it. They long for it. It is
on their mind continually. They hunger and thirst for it. Why? They have
cultivated their appetite for worldliness and it has overthrown their desire for
God. They go through the motions powerlessly and many are used to living without
the Spirit. Their heart burns with all manor of sin- but the burning for God is
all but gone. They have not mastered sin- sin has mastered them.

Pride- the Archenemy of Humility

Pride can spend a thousand years in Hell and not repent (Revelation 20:3). It is
absolutely impossible for a proud person to repent. A proud person will lie and
deceive their way out of repenting every time. They will blame others for their
sins- even the victims themselves. Prideful men and women will redefine sin and
call it everything but what it is. Prideful people “make mistakes” and have
“lapses in judgment,” but the humble declare plainly that there is no excuse for
their sins- only regret for having committed them. One of the greatest talents
that the enemy posses is his ability to twist meanings and dumb down sins by
renaming them. Satan is the ultimate wordsmith. Changing the words dumbs down
the sting of the sin when we hear it and immunizes us to the feelings of guilt
and shame. Moreover, the proud are more concerned for their own reputation than
God’s and would rather vindicate themselves than God and His infallible word.
The proud are defensive of their sins. Self-defense and repentance can never
coexist. Richard Owens Roberts Writes, “A tremendous consequential myth that we
frequently see illustrated in our day is the myth that it is possible for
somebody to be repentant and self-defensive at the same time. Those two things
can never be put together. You will never find true repentance and self-defense
linked. Whenever a person is seemingly repentant and yet busily defends himself,
you can be sure his repentance is not genuine.” When people start pointing
fingers and making up excuses you can be sure they have not repented. When we
truly see our sin for what it is we agree with God about it and turn to Him for
relief from it. Pride is at the center of excuse making.

Brokenness

There is a place of brokenness that we can reach under the enormous weight of
our sin that the pride and self-defensiveness is utterly crushed and self is
broken in pieces. And in that brokeness there is an abandonment of our own
reputation and a vindication of God’s. The truth is easily told-, as there is no
need felt to keep running from God and men. Unconditional surrender is the
battle cry of the broken. And out of those pieces a glimmer of light of hope
begins to shine. The mask of the well-polished look of pride that God once hated
is replaced with a broken and contrite expression that no longer cares what any
thing save God alone. It is that place of humility that comes from the
revelation of who God REALLY is.

The Cross

When I survey the wondrous Cross on which the Prince of Glory died- my richest
gain I count as loss and pour contempt on all my pride. Never before or since
has such a dichotomy of innocence and torture met on earth. It was at that Cross
where I first saw the light and the burden of my heart rolled away- It is there
by faith I received my sight and now I am happy all the day. Through the
finished work of the cross we by faith have died with Him (Galatians 2:20). It
was the old rugged cross that we cherish and the precious blood that was shed
for our sins. The cross is the hammer that breaks a hardened heart. Before
Christ went to the cross He suffered the night in the Garden of Gethsemane- the
place of the crushing. We all need a Gethsemane. We all need to take up our
cross and follow Christ. A.W. Tozer was once quoted as saying, “There is one
thing for certain you knew if you saw a man carrying his cross out of the city-
you knew he wasn’t coming back.” When the broken take up their cross and leave
the city of the old life-- they will never be back. Once the ‘old man’ is
finally dead that old look of pride will be replaced with the glory of God. The
priceless radiance of God’s blessed approval- will adorn the countenance and
illuminate the darkness. When you reach that level of brokeness God will dwell
among you. God will inhabit a broken Temple any day. It seems He prefers it that
way. You see, man looketh on the outward, but God looks on the heart. A proud
heart is a hardened heart. When God sees a proud look He sees it first in the
heart. God will give a very special grace to the humble. He will plead their
cause. He will walk among them.

Holiness

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God (Matthew 5:8)

Leonard Ravinhill once stated that Christians in this generation are more afraid
of holiness that they are of sin. If the reality of that is true then it would
lend to reason that people would protect themselves more against holiness than
they would sin. The natural progression of this is that Christians have opted to
err on the side of sin- as a form of caution. This is a serious problem because
the power is in the Holiness. In an atmosphere where sin is tolerated- God is
not present. God does not tolerate sin. When holiness is not present Christians
drift into emotionalism to replace the moving of the Spirit. “God is my
girlfriend” like songs begin to replace songs about the blood and the cross.
Modern “Positive” Christian music rarely convicts of sin. The emphasis is placed
on the mood that the lyrics and the instruments can produce. This is exactly
what the world does with their music.

God is Not Listening

God will not as much as hear the prayer of a person who regards iniquity in
their heart (Psalm 66:18). To conduct a service without God would be like going
to visit a person at their house and carrying on a conversation with their empty
chair because their gone (Luke 13:35). It is the oldest stunt in the book to try
to keep carrying on when God is not moving- as though He is. Isaiah 1:15 spells
this out clearly… And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes
from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full
of blood.

They Clean the Outside of the Cup

The world is constantly trying to bend our minds into conformity with its sin
(Romans 12:2a). If the enemy can’t tempt us into a full blown carnal mind, he
seems to settle for a double mind that both loves and hates sin (James 1:8).
They enemy doesn’t mind if we appear to hate sin on the outside and yet
entertain sin in the heart. As it is written… Now do ye Pharisees make clean the
outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and
wickedness (Luke 11:39). The outside of the cup is the part that is seen- but
the inside carries the life giving water. To pour water from a dirty cup into
other people’s cup is to taint all the Holy Spirit is doing through your life
with that ‘dirt.’

The Power of Purity

It is a fearful thing to think that a generation of Christians that need the
power of God unlike any other would be turning away from the very path of life
required to walk in that power. Pentecostalism was birthed in the fires of
holiness preaching and living. Leonard Ravinhill said it well when he said that,
“true Christianity has not been weighed in the balance and found wanting- it has
been tried, found difficult, and rejected!” Christianity today is a mere shell
of what it was 100 years ago. It is more like worldliness with a Christian
flavor in a lot of cases. Youth all over the nation and the world are turning to
false religions because ‘modern Christianity’ does not have the depth that other
religions offer. Why? Because the enemy has filled the Church with sin and they
don’t have the purity to preach the ‘real message’ with the ‘real power.’ They
do not water down the message because the people won’t hear it- it gets watered
down when we don’t live pure enough to preach it. This modern generation wants
to be preached to- but it’s hard to preach from the devil’s playpen of sin.
Hunger, humility, and holiness governs the threshold of preaching and teaching.
When once again there is a hunger for God- that issues forth from brokeness unto
holiness- we will see powerful manifestations of God’s glory changing sin
wrecked lives. The world is waiting. God is watching. This is the last days.
What-will-we-do?


========================================================================
Source: https://sermonindex.net/books/genuine-repentance/
========================================================================