We Need to Repent
A.W. Tozer emphasizes the need for repentance, calling believers to surrender to God's control and presence, and inviting Him into their lives and hearts.
A.W. Tozer emphasizes the urgent need for repentance regarding our treatment of the Holy Spirit, whom we have often neglected and grieved through our actions and attitudes. He draws a parallel between the crucifixion of Christ and how we have mistreated the Spirit in our hearts, using our own will and thoughts as instruments of rebellion. Tozer calls for a genuine reversal of our neglect by inviting the Holy Spirit into every aspect of our lives, surrendering fully to His lordship. He encourages believers to worship and obey the Spirit, seeking transformation and control through prayer. The sermon concludes with a heartfelt plea for forgiveness and change.
Text
Do not quench the Spirit. --1 Thessalonians 5:19
It is time for us to repent, for our transgressions against the blessed Third Person have been many and much aggravated. We have bitterly mistreated Him in the house of His friends. We have crucified Him in His own temple as they crucified the Eternal Son on the hill above Jerusalem. And the nails we used were not of iron, but of the finer and more precious stuff of which human life is made. Out of our hearts we took the refined metals of will and feeling and thought, and from them we fashioned the nails of suspicion and rebellion and neglect. By unworthy thoughts about Him and unfriendly attitudes toward Him we grieved and quenched Him days without end.
The truest and most acceptable repentance is to reverse the acts and attitudes of which we repent....
We can best repent our neglect by neglecting Him no more. Let us begin to think of Him as One to be worshipped and obeyed. Let us throw open every door and invite Him in. Let us surrender to Him every room in the temple of our hearts and insist that He enter and occupy as Lord and Master within His own dwelling. The Pursuit of Man, 71-72.
"Forgive me. Change me. Indwell me. Control me. Amen."
Sermon Outline
- The Need for Repentance
- The Nature of True Repentance
- The Call to Repentance
- Inviting God into our lives and hearts
- Surrendering to God's will and control
Key Quotes
“We have crucified Him in His own temple as they crucified the Eternal Son on the hill above Jerusalem.” — A.W. Tozer
“Out of our hearts we took the refined metals of will and feeling and thought, and from them we fashioned the nails of suspicion and rebellion and neglect.” — A.W. Tozer
“Forgive me. Change me. Indwell me. Control me. Amen.” — A.W. Tozer
Application Points
- We must repent of our neglect and rebellion against the Holy Spirit, and invite Him into our lives and hearts.
- True repentance involves surrendering to God's control and presence, and insisting that He enter and occupy as Lord and Master.
- We must surrender every room in the temple of our hearts to God, and insist that He indwell and control us.