All right, let's open our Bibles to Micah, little prophet Micah, chapter two. We'll be focusing our attention tonight on three verses in this chapter, verses 10, 11, and 12 of Micah chapter two. I've titled this message, The Fruits of Repentance. The Fruits of Repentance.

And I suppose that most messages with that title would have us looking for outward evidences of what we're doing and what we're not doing to find the proof of repentance. I hope I hope that's not what happens here tonight. If I'm if I'm caused to look to myself, I I'm I'm I'm not I'm not hopeful. I don't have any reason to rejoice But if by the Spirit of God I see a work of grace in my heart, and that's what this fruit of repentance is, it's a work of grace in the heart, then I can have some comfort in knowing, yes, yes, God the Holy Spirit has done that in me. He done that in me.

You remember in Matthew chapter three, when the Pharisees and the Sadducees came where John was baptizing in the River Jordan. And John looked at them, and he said, oh, generation of vipers, who has warned thee to flee from the wrath that is to come? They weren't. having the fruits of repentance evidenced in their interest in the gospel or in what John was doing or saying. And then John goes on to say, bring forth, therefore, the fruits of repentance. These men had the fruit of self-righteousness, the fruit of legalism, the fruit of pride, the fruit of unbelief. They had all the evidences of anything other than repentance. And John said, bring forth fruit that is meat, that is meat for repentance, M-E-E-T.

Remember when the Lord said to Adam, I will make a help meet for you. Not a help mate for you, a help that is meet for you. A help that will be in accordance with your need and with your person. And one that will be appropriate for you. That's what that word meet means.

When John said it, he said, bring ye forth fruits, meat for repentance. There are fruits that come with God-given repentance. Galatians chapter five tells us something of those fruits when the Lord gives us the fruits of the Spirit. This is the fruit that the Spirit of God brings in the heart. It's a work of grace in the heart. Fruit of the Spirit is love. joy, peace, long-suffering, temperance. Those are the works of grace that the Spirit of God brings in the heart when repentance comes. And I hope that these three verses will identify some fruits of the Spirit in our hearts and give us some comfort in knowing that the Lord has done a work. He has done a work.

Repentance cannot be separated from faith. When in Mark chapter one, when the Lord Jesus came back from the wilderness from the 40 days of fasting and being tempted of the devil, the scripture says that his first message and the first The first thing that he said in that message was the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel. So we see in our Lord's very first message that he links repentance and faith together.

You cannot have one without the other. They always come together. When Paul was meeting with the Ephesian elders in Acts chapter 20, he said to them, he said, I've not shunned to hold anything back from you, but I've told you from the beginning that you are to have repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. This was Paul's summary of the gospel of what he had taught and everything that he had said was summarized in repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. These two things cannot be separated.

Now, we know that the word repentance literally translated means a changed mind. I thought about what a changed mind really is. We all change our minds from time to time, pretty frequently actually. We think we're gonna do one thing and then something better comes up and we change our mind. Our preferences have changed. But in looking at this word repentance again, it's more than just a changed mind. The word mind actually is the word understanding. It is the word perception.

It's not just, well, I'm just going to change what I'm going to do. I'm just going to change my ideas about something. No. It's a complete different understanding of what I thought was. When the Lord says, my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are, as the heavens are higher above the earth, so are my thoughts above your thoughts.

And the scripture says that when God gives repentance and faith, he gives us the mind of Christ. So there's the change of understanding, the change of perception. There was a time when I thought, I understood that God needed me to do something in order for him to be able to save me. There was a time when my understanding was in such a way that I thought that I had some part to play in my salvation. I had a decision to make or a work to perform in order to be saved.

You remember when Naaman, after the prophet told Naaman the leopard to go down to the river Jordan and bathe, and the scripture says that Naaman was wroth, for he said, I thought that the man of God would come out and wave his hands and he would perform some ritual and give me something to do in order for me to be saved. And Naaman's words there describe every unbeliever, every person with an unrepented mind, Every person who has not had their understanding changed or their perception changed. Well, I thought that this is the way God would save me. I thought it would work out like this.

And then when the Lord gives us a changed mind, when he gives us a changed understanding, a changed perception, he gives us a changed heart, then we come to think the thoughts of God. We come to believe what God believes. There was a time when we thought that God loved everybody and that Christ died for everybody and that God wanted everybody to be saved. And that understanding, that was our understanding of God. That understanding was changed when the Lord gave repentance. This is the nature of repentance.

It cannot be changed. I mean, it cannot be separated from faith. They are one and the same. And in our text tonight, we find three evidences in the heart that show God's work of repentance. And I pray that the Lord will enable us to identify with these things and comfort us in knowing that, you know, the Lord has changed my understanding. He has given me the mind of Christ. I do believe. Yes, I believe on Christ and I don't believe these things. Look at verse 10, Micah chapter two, verse 10.

Arise ye and depart, for this is not your rest. Because it is polluted, it shall destroy you even with sore destruction. The first fruit of repentance is that I cannot find rest for my soul. anywhere outside of Christ. I cannot find rest for my soul. Though I try continually to find comfort and rest in so many other places, the Spirit of God continually says to my heart, arise and depart, for this is not your rest. These things are polluted. They will destroy you. Come out from among them and be separate. The second one is found in verse 11.

If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, he's talking about a false prophet. If a false prophet comes and prophesies a freewill works gospel, saying, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink, He shall even be the prophet of this people. Others will rejoice in his message. Others will believe his false prophecy, but I cannot.

I cannot. God has changed my mind. He's changed my understanding. He's changed my desire, my perspective that truth is from error. And I would not, I would follow the false prophets just like everyone else. That's what the Lord said. False prophet comes in, he prophesies lies, and he will be an acceptable prophet for those people. Now look at verse 12. I will surely assemble So we cannot stand, the second evidence, or the second fruit of repentance is that we cannot stand the lies of false prophets. And thirdly, I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thine. I will surely gather the remnant of Israel.

I will put them together as the sheep of Basra. Basra means a flock of sheep. That's what the name Basra means. The same thing we've been looking at in John chapter 10, when the Lord identifies himself as the good shepherd and he calls his sheep together and they hear his voice and follow him. I will put them together as the sheep of Basra, as the flock in the midst of their fold, and they shall make a great noise by reason of the multitude of men. We're drawn by our shepherd. drawn by our shepherd to gather with God's people, where the Lord has promised to bless with his presence and with his grace and with his glory. It's the desire of our hearts to be gathered together. The Lord's done that.

We wouldn't gather if he hadn't put that in our hearts. These are the fruits of Faith, they are the fruits of repentance. We can't find any rest for our souls outside of Christ. We can't stand the lies of false prophets. And we're drawn by our shepherd to gather with God's people. There's two things we hate, one thing we love. We hate the polluted things. Verse 10, we hate the lies of false prophets. Verse 11, we love God's church. We love his people. We love being called out and gathered together with him.

Now the first one back in verse 10, we cannot find any rest for our souls outside of that which is not polluted. Let's read this verse again, verse 10. Arise and depart, for this is not your rest. It is polluted, and it shall destroy you even with sore destruction."

Now John said, all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. That's a summary of everything that's polluted. The lust of the flesh are those things that our flesh are drawn to in order to gratify ourselves and find some sense of rest in pleasure. The lust of the eyes is that which draws us in fear of man to do whatever is required to achieve popularity among our peers. And the pride of life That's power over our circumstances and power over God.

It goes all the way back to the garden. When Eve looked at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that the Lord said, thou shalt not eat from, and she said that it was good for food, pleasant to the eyes, and a tree that was able to make one wise. Now, when we think about pleasure, popularity, and power, we often think about those sins of the flesh that our old man deals with on a daily basis. But I want you to think with me for a moment about about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

What is that? It's the law. It's the law. It's a legalistic gospel. It's a gospel that requires man to achieve some level of obedience to the law in order to be saved. And what is that? Is that not Is that not pleasurable to the flesh? That there was a time when I, before God gave me repentance, that I took pleasure in the good things that I did, the things that I was performing. I was able to find comfort and rest in those things.

Now, when I look at my performance, I find nothing that encourages me. I find nothing that, that leads me to believe that, well, there's certain evidence there that I'm a child of God. No, when I look at my performance now, I see the hypocrisy in it. I see how far short it falls of His glory. I see how weak and selfish my motives are in everything that I do.

I can't be comforted in the things that I once took pleasure in. eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, having a works gospel, looking to the law as the hope of my salvation, not only gave me pleasure, but it gave me popularity. It gave me popularity with my religious friends who were all competing to see who was more faithful to the law and more spiritual than the other. But, you know, eating of the fruit of the tree of good and evil not only gives a religious person popularity among their religious peers, but it gives them popularity in the world.

Irreligious people love seeing someone make sacrifices and do good things. They'll put you in the newspaper and put you on the news. You do something extraordinary and selfless and sacrificial. Even the irreligious world loves that. So eating from the tree, which is a A works gospel, it's a free will works gospel. Gives pleasure, it gives popularity, and it also gives power. It gives power. I believe I have power over God. I can require things of God as a result of what I'm doing. I can demand My salvation because of what I've performed and what I've decided. And I can call God out to save me when I'm ready for him to save me.

Is that not power? Now, what is the spirit of repentance in those things? Arise ye and depart for this is not your rest. There was a time when we could rest in those things. There was a time when we found great encouragement and great comfort in the self-righteousness and the pride of eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, living by the law, and depending upon our law keeping for the hope of our salvation.

But there came a day when we could no longer rest there. There came a day when those things didn't give us comfort. No, when we looked at them, they troubled us. They troubled us. They left us wanting. They left us feeling polluted. They left us with no hope of our salvation when we partook of the law. And we heard the voice of God say, come out from among them and be separate, saith the Lord. These things are polluted. This is not your rest.

You know, whether or not a person has been a part of some sort of formalized religion, whether or not they've been actively involved in what I've described in my own experience, all men, even the irreligious, are self-righteous. All men have to be called of God to arise and depart and come out of those things that you once hoped for. Not, well, if I can do enough good, I can make up for my bad. Arise, depart, come out of there. That's nothing but the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. That's nothing but fruit of the law that might be good for the taste, it might be pleasing to the eye, it might appeal to man's wisdom, but it cannot save. It's polluted. And I know that God has done a work of grace in my heart by not allowing me anymore to find any comfort or any rest. This is not your rest. It is polluted. Come out of there. Wouldn't come out otherwise.

We just rest right there. And what we're doing and what we're not doing and how we compare, we would compare ourselves to ourselves and believe ourselves to be getting better. We would compare ourselves to other men and believe ourselves to be at least above average.

But when the spirit of God gives repentance, Arise ye and depart. This is not your rest. Now, I also know that the Spirit of God continually works in my heart because on a regular basis, though I can't and have no interest in going back, to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil to try to find the hope of my salvation. I have no interest in going back to a legalistic religion to be saved. There are things that my flesh looks to, there are things that are enticed by this world, there are things of the imagination, there are things of the pride, of thought, attitude and interest on a regular basis that we're drawn to. We sing that hymn, we're so prone to wander, so prone to leave the God we love, and we are prone.

We're prone on a daily basis to try to find rest for our souls somewhere other than Christ. And we hear the voice of God in the spirit of repentance saying to us, arise ye and depart for this is not your rest. It is polluted. It will destroy you. And that destruction will be a sore destruction. You cannot. You cannot live there. The pleasures of sin, the deceitfulness of riches, the fear of man, can't stay there.

Turn with me to Psalm 119. What a blessing to have the Spirit of God speak these words. It's Psalm 116, I'm sorry, Psalm 116. Look at verse, read the first nine verses. Verse one, I love the Lord because he hath heard my voice and my supplications, because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. This is his work. We continually call. Peter said, to whom coming?

There was a time when we could find rest and comfort in an experience that we had having come to Christ. Well, I've already settled that. I came to Christ back and we looked to an experience. We can't find hope in that now. We can't find comfort in that. Now it's to whom coming. Now we're continually brought back to Christ. And the hope of our salvation is not based on a past feeling or a past experience. It's based on a current faith and a current repentance.

The sorrows of death can pass me about and the pains of hell hold about me and I found trouble and sorrow. Verse four, then called I upon the name of the Lord, O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. Gracious is the Lord and righteous, yea, our God is merciful. The Lord preserveth the simple. I was brought low and he helped me. Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.

I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. Return unto thy rest, O my soul." How many times we hear that? How many times we are brought by the Spirit of God to that place When we try to find rest somewhere else, return unto thy rest. Arise and depart, for this is not your rest. It is polluted. It will destroy you. Your hope is not there. And again and again and again, the Lord mercifully brings us back to Christ. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter 28. Isaiah chapter 28. Look at verse 8. Isaiah chapter 28, verse 8.

For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean. for some other table other than the table that has the Lord's bread and the Lord's wine on it, the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ for our rest. And we find when we go to those tables for rest for our souls that they're full of vomit and filthiness. These things are Polluted and that what our text said these things are polluted arise come out of there. They're polluted.

They're not your rest Whom shall he teach knowledge of whom shall he make to understand doctrine the gospel Them that are weaned from milk and drawn from the breast and milk of God's word. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little.

Little by little, the Lord feeds us from his word to bring us back to our rest. For with stammering lips and another tongue, Will he speak to this people? That's a reference to my speech. It's not my speech that gives a man rest. The speech of the voice of one crying in the wilderness is stammering lips. It's the speech of the Holy Spirit. It's the speech of repentance. It's the speech, it's the voice of God that takes these truths and applies them to the heart and says to us effectually, Arise and depart.

This is not your rest. These things are polluted, they'll destroy you. To whom he said, this is the rest wherewith he may cause the weary to rest and this is the refreshing, yet they wouldn't hear. Talking about those unbelieving Israelites that wouldn't hear.

God told him where the rest was. The rest is in his word. The rest is in Christ. The written word has been given to us in order to reveal the living word. So that the Lord Jesus says to us in Matthew chapter 11, verse 28, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, you've been overloaded with this attempt to find rest, but you can't find it. And the weight of your sin is more than you can bear. Come unto me, take my yoke upon you, for my yoke is easy, my burden is light. Learn of me and you will receive rest for your soul, for your soul. I know that God has given me a spirit of repentance. This is the fruit of it.

I can't be satisfied in works religion. I can't find any rest for my soul there. And as often as I try, as often as I try to find a place of comfort in the pleasures and the popularity and the powers of the flesh and of the world, I cannot find rest there. This is not your rest.

Come unto me. And we keep coming. And we keep coming. We wouldn't do that if it wasn't for the Spirit of God. We'd give up. We'd quit. Now, quickly, let's get back to our text and go to verse 11. If a man walking in the spirit of falsehood, Micah chapter two, verse 11. If a man walking in the spirit of falsehood do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink, you shall even be the prophet of this people. He shall even be the prophet of these people.

Now, let me show you a verse that basically says the same. Difficult to read, but let me show you a verse in Jeremiah, Jeremiah chapter five, that essentially says the same thing as this verse. The Lord is speaking to the unbelieving Israelites in Jeremiah chapter five. And the last verse in that chapter, verse 31, The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means, and my people love to have it so. And what will you do in the end thereof?

That's what this verse in Micah chapter two, verse 11 says. Prophet comes, prophesies false prophets, False prophecy tells you a false gospel, and you eat it up. You love it. You drink it down like water. It becomes your sustenance. It becomes your bread.

A gospel that would take you back to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and you love it. A false prophet who might be eloquent in speech and might be very informed intellectually and yet he's telling you lies. He's telling you that you've got to do something in order to merit God's favor. He's telling you that you have to make a decision, you have to perform a work, you have to make your contribution to the gospel.

And what does the What does the spirit of, so many people, they can listen to the truth being preached. They can hear what we're saying and leave here and go listen to a false prophet and love that too. They love it. They just eat it up. How could that be?

They have not the spirit of God. They've not been given repentance. because as soon as God gives you repentance, you hate that gospel. It robs you of the hope of your salvation. It robs Christ of his glory. It robs the world of any hope of being saved. It lies against God. It's contrary to everything that is revealed in scripture. It is polluted and you hate it. You cannot agree with it.

That's a spirit of repentance. To be able to discern the difference between that which is holy and that which is profane, that which is the truth and that which is error, that which is a lie, and that which is from God, That's a work of grace. That's the spirit of God. And what's the Lord saying? He said, my people love it so. The prophets prophesy lies, and they love it that way.

They just eat it up. And as soon as you hear a man pointing you to anywhere other than the glorious person and accomplished work of the Lord Jesus Christ for all the hope of your salvation, you run from it. You can't bear it. You hate it. Is that because you've come to a deeper understanding of things than the other man? No. It's because you have the Holy Spirit. That's repentance. That's a change in your understanding.

So you can't find rest anywhere other than Christ. You hate the false gospel because it robs Christ of his glory. It robs you of your salvation. It robs the world of any hope. It lies against God. It's contrary to what's been clearly revealed in scripture.

And you will not hear it. And your family members will say, well, I come to your church, why don't you come to mine? You say, I'm sorry, I can't. And they get offended. I'm sorry, I can't listen to that. I can't bear it. I can't be a part of it. I can't participate in it in any way. Why not? The Holy Spirit's given me a new heart. Now look at verse 12. The third fruit of repentance.

I will surely assemble. I will call them out. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep. Them I must bring. That are not of this fold, them I must bring. I will leave the 99. I will find the air. I know where every one of my sheep are. I know where they are. And I'm gonna call them out and I'm gonna assemble them together.

Oh, Jacob. all of thee, every single one of you, I'm not gonna lose one. And though they be the sons of Jacob, though they be deceitful and easily deceived and supplanters and all the fleshly problems that Jacob had, I'm gonna assemble them together. And I, Notice the first part of this verse. I will surely assemble them, O Jacob, all of thee, and I will surely gather the remnant.

I have a remnant in Israel. Many of the passages that we've read tonight is speaking to the unbelievers in Israel. But in the church, there are no unbelievers. From the least of them to the greatest, they shall all know me. Entrance into the church is faith and repentance.

And so when the Lord says, I will surely do it, there's a remnant. There's a remnant in Israel, a small percentage, but I'm surely gonna gather them. And I will put them together as a sheepfold in Basra, as a flock in the midst of their fold. And they shall make great noise They will love coming together. They will have a need to come together. I love our Wednesday night services. You all order your lives around worship. I know you do. Most people do just the opposite. They order worship around their lives. We'll fit it in if we can. If it's convenient, we'll fit it in.

But this is the evidence. God has done something for me. I've got to be where he promised to manifest his grace and his glory. I've got to be where he feeds his sheep. I've got to be in Basra. I will surely assemble them. I will gather them together. And they will rejoice to hear about who I am and about what I've done. And they will need that. They'll not forsake the assembling of themselves together. I realize there's people that will listen to this message that don't have an assembly that they can gather with.

And that's between them and the Lord. The Lord understands that. And I'm sure that's the case with believers scattered all over. But I know that if a child of God who has the spirit of grace in their heart, has a spirit of repentance, if they can be together with God's people, they will. They will. Just like you have. Just like you do.

I used to think that coming to church was a matter of commitment. Some people are committed and some people aren't. You know, it'd be easy to browbeat those who aren't committed. I know now it's not a matter of commitment. It's a matter of need. It's a matter of grace. It's a work of grace in the heart that the Lord has done to gather his sheep together and to cause them to want to be where he has promised his presence and his power. Arise and depart, this is not your rest. That old works gospel's not your rest.

And all the attempts that we make far too often to find rest in something other than Christ, we come to this conclusion. It's polluted. It's a table of vomit. It cannot satisfy the need of my soul. And I've got to come back to Christ. I've got to come back.

The voice of the false prophets, others may be able to rejoice in them. Others may love what they have to say. I hate it. Not because I'm smarter, more spiritual, but because the Lord's taught me the truth. And I cannot stand to listen to something contrary to that.

The Lord has called me out and he's put in my heart a need to be where God's people gather together, where the sheep come together to be fed by the Lord. And though I have to endure listening to some man stand up with stammering lips, The hope that I have is that something that he says, something that he says, the spirit of God will take and apply it to my heart and feed my soul with the bread of life. Fruits of repentance. Let's stand together, Tom. 223 in the hard back temple, 223. you