Am I a Repentant Sinner?

Q: What does the Bible say about repentance?

The Bible teaches that repentance is essential for salvation, involving a heartfelt change of mind and direction regarding sin. The Bible presents repentance not merely as feeling sorry for one's sins but as a profound change of mind that leads to a change in action. In Luke 13:3, Jesus states, 'Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish,' underscoring its necessity for salvation. True repentance involves recognizing one's sinfulness and the holiness of God, leading to a sincere turning away from sin and towards God's mercy. It is not just an emotional response but a gift of God, requiring His grace to understand our need for forgiveness and transformation.

Q: How do we know repentance is true?

True repentance results in a lasting change of heart and actions, acknowledging God's sovereignty and one's sinfulness. True repentance is evidenced not only by emotional contrition but by a heartfelt acknowledgment of God's holiness and a deep understanding of our own sinfulness. As seen in Psalm 51:3, a repentant sinner does not merely express sorrow but justifies God by admitting the truth of their condition. Furthermore, repentance leads to continued faith and ongoing contrition rather than being a one-time event. Romans 2:4 emphasizes that it is the goodness of God that leads to this genuine change of heart, shaping how one lives in faith and obedience moving forward.

Q: Why is repentance important for Christians?

Repentance is vital for Christians as it is the response to God's grace that leads to salvation and ongoing sanctification. Repentance is crucial in the Christian life because it represents a response to the grace of God. Without repentance, one cannot enter the kingdom of heaven, as Christ teaches in Luke 13:3. It reflects an inner transformation wrought by the Holy Spirit, where the believer acknowledges their sinfulness and turns to God for mercy. Repentance is not just an initial act; it is a continual practice that embodies a believer's reliance on God's grace for daily living, illustrating an ongoing relationship characterized by humility and dependence on Christ for righteousness.

Q: What are the signs of true repentance?

True repentance manifests in a consistent change of mind and heart, a humble attitude, and an ongoing reliance on God's mercy. Signs of true repentance include an undeniable change in attitude towards sin and an ever-deepening understanding of God's holiness and mercy. A repentant individual recognizes and admits their guilt, seeks God's forgiveness, and aspires to live according to His will, as demonstrated in Isaiah 55:7. Moreover, true repentance should result in a humble spirit, acknowledging one's imperfection and declaring God's right to govern one's life. It is a continual process, as believers grow in grace and knowledge, constantly turning to Christ for strength and restoration.

Q: How does God's goodness lead to repentance?

God's goodness reveals His mercy, prompting individuals to acknowledge their sin and seek His forgiveness, thus leading them to true repentance. According to Romans 2:4, it is God's kindness and patience that leads us to repentance. This goodness softens the heart, allowing individuals to recognize their need for salvation and humbly turn toward God. Rather than being driven by fear of punishment, true repentance arises from an appreciation of God's grace, which leads sinners to reconsider their ways and seek fellowship with Him. Understanding the depth of God’s love and mercy, as demonstrated through Christ's sacrifice, compels a sinner to abandon their former life and embrace a new, Christ-centered existence.

If we are asked to define these
words or these terms, it kind of puts us in a bind. And I want
to, as simply and plainly as I can tonight, in all how simple
we need to be in dealing with the things of the Scriptures,
the simplicity of Christ, not trying to impress anybody but trying to instruct everybody.
And I want to talk about repentance. And when I get through, I hope
that we know at least we are confirmed in what we already
believe and maybe know a little bit more about repentance. Am I a penitent? Am I a repentant sinner? I think
there are people who maybe believe that they have and are repenting
who haven't, and maybe some who think they haven't have. It's
a possibility. Our Lord set forth four ultimatums,
four very strong ultimatums. They're not to be debated, they're
not to be argued, they're not to be questioned. And these four ultimatums that
I'm going to give to you, which our Lord set forth, all four
of them have to do with the experience of salvation. All four of them
have to do with this experience of salvation. And secondly, all
four of them, where one is present, they're all present. Where one is present, They're
all present, these four ultimatums. Next, all four of them are the
gift of God and the work of God. None of them originate with us. He gave them and gives them.
And then all four of them have to do with the heart. Not form,
not ceremony. They have to do with the heart
and soul of a sinner. All four of these are an inward
work. Now, that's true. He gave four
ultimatums, the Master did, and they're all essential. They all
have to do with salvation. Where one is present, they're
all present. Every one is the gift of God, and every one is
an inward work, an inward, unchanging, continuing work. Now, what are
they? Well, here they are. When Nicodemus came to him, he
was the intelligent, religious, intellectual, informed
Pharisee, moral, strong law man. Had all the form of religion,
Sabbath day, tithes, fasting, all that. Christ said to him,
Nicodemus, except a man is born again. you'll never enter the
kingdom of heaven. There's got to be a new birth.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and flesh and blood
cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Marvel not, I said unto
you, you must, this is essential, this is an ultimatum, you must
be born again. That's the gift of God. That's
the work of God, that's an inward God giving life. I said to a
man this morning, he said, does the sinner come to Christ or
does Christ come to the sinner? Both. Both. God comes to the sinner, quickens,
regenerates, and that sinner comes to Christ. He that loveth
is born of God. He that's born of God loveth.
And he's not born of God because he loves, he loves because he's
born of God. He that's born of God believeth.
He that believeth, born of God. But a man doesn't believe. He's
not born of God because he believes. He believes because he's born
of God. When a baby's born, it has life and it cries. It doesn't
have life because it cries. It cries because it has life.
That make sense? It cries because it's got life.
So we must be born again. And that has to do with salvation. Regeneration, you see. or its
second ultimatum. For I say unto you, the Master
speaks, except, here's that except, except a man be born again. Now,
except your holiness, your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of
the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter the kingdom
of heaven. Pick the best man, the best woman,
the most religious, separated, dedicated, pious, attentive,
law-keeping, moral human being that's ever walked on this earth,
and to enter the kingdom of heaven, you've got to have a holiness
that exceeds theirs, far exceeds theirs. And the disciples said,
well, who can be saved? Christ said it's impossible.
You can't produce a holiness that's satisfying to God. You
can't produce a righteousness with which God will be pleased.
You can't produce a holiness that God will accept. But Christ
can, and He did. In our place instead, He is the
Lord, our righteousness. And He has become our righteousness. He has imputed to us a perfect
righteousness. See that? And that's the righteousness
in which we enter the presence of God. See, those two things,
where you have new birth, you have righteousness. Justification,
you have sanctification. Or at the third one, he said,
except you be converted. You know, the disciples were
really, what they were, what brought this up, they were arguing
about who was going to be greatest in the kingdom of God. Who's going to be greatest? They
were discussing that. They felt their importance. And
our Lord set a little child in the midst of them and he said,
he said, now except you be converted and become as this little child,
you shall not enter the kingdom of God. Except. What is this conversion? It's
a humility. It's a contrition. It's a broken
heart and spirit. Whosoever shall humble himself,
as this little child shall be called greatest in the kingdom
of heaven." See that? See, the sacrifices of God are
a broken heart, a broken and a contrite spirit. If you want
to read something tremendous on that, read the article on
the back of the bulletin, by Gary Shepherd. Only the broken. God is known to them of a broken
heart, you see? When God regenerates a man, he's
born again, he has the nature of God, the life of God. And
he has a righteousness in Christ, a holiness in Christ. But he
has a very humble opinion of himself. He's brought down, he
realizes that all that he is and all that he has, all that
he ever hopes to be, who maketh thee to differ? What do you have
you didn't receive? And the more we're conscious
of who he is and what we are, the more humble we are in our
own eyes, you know. The more broken we are, the more
helpless we are. See that? That's conversion.
That's what bothers me about most modern religion, is it makes
people proud. And that's not regeneration. Regeneration makes people humble. This modern religion has a man
talking about himself and proud of himself and exalting himself,
and true regeneration and conversion has a man brought low in his
own eyes. I'm nothing. I repent and sackcloth
in ashes. I put my hand on my mouth. I'm
less than the least of all the saints. I'm not worthy to be
an apostle. I'm the chief of sinners, you
see. That's the language of conversion, is it not? All right, now turn
in your Bible to Luke 13. Here's the fourth one. Here's
the fourth one. You see, all of those are part
of the experience of salvation. Regeneration, the new birth,
righteousness in Christ, conversion, humble, broken spirit. Humble,
broken spirit. Now, here's the fourth one. Verse
Luke 13, 3. Luke 13, verse 3, I tell you,
I tell you, Christ said, Nay, but except you repent, you'll
all likewise perish. Of those eighteen upon whom the
Tywin Siloam fell and slew them, do you think they were sinners
above everybody that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, nay, but
except you repent, you shall all likewise perish. Oh, I accept a man be born again,
I see something, I know something
about that. Accept your righteousness, I
know something about that. Christ is my righteousness. Conversion,
I'm learning something about that. I'm learning something
about it. Repentance. Am I repenting? Have I repented? Well, repentance
is so often misunderstood, and I'll tell you why. Because there's
an outward form of repentance. There's something that looks
like repentance and talks like repentance and acts like repentance
that's not repentance. It really is. Now listen to Webster's
definition. I looked this up yesterday. Repentance. Quote. Repentance is to feel
sorry or self-reproachful for what one has done or failed to
do, to be conscience-stricken, to be contrite over one's actions,
sorry for sin. Well, if you stop here, you don't
have repentance at all because that's not the end of the definition
But that's the end of most people's idea of repentance. That's most
people's idea of repentance, to be contrite, to be sorry,
to be self-reproachful, reproach myself, to be conscience-stricken
and contrite over my actions, over my words, over what I've
done. But if you stop here, you don't have repentance, because
through the Bible I find a lot of fellows that did this. A lot
of that fear of punishment brings that kind of thing. Your child
does something wrong and you reach for the bell. Boy, he's
repentant because he knows what's coming. He dreads punishment. Cain said, when the Lord pronounced
judgment on him, he said, my punishment is more than I can
bear. Cain never repented. Simon Magus said to Peter, pray
God that these things don't come on me. But that's not repentance. fear of punishment, getting caught. A person gets caught, and he
can show a lot of sorrow and a lot of contrition if he's caught. But that's not repentance. Sickness,
death, and sorrow brings people down to weep. And look at Pharaoh. Moses says, God said, let my
people go, and Pharaoh wouldn't let them go. Finally, God killed
his sons. And there that little boy was lying A man or whoever
he was lying stretched out on a slab, and Pharaoh was contrite. He was broken. He said, take
your people and leave. Go on and say a prayer for me. Your God is God for the moment. But a few days passed, and he
is running after them. That's not emotional response
to strong preachers. You know, and I'll add this,
I'll add this, and I know you mean well, I know folks mean
well, but now let's face facts. I've been preaching for 39 years
the gospel of God's grace. Can you just imagine how many
funerals that I've preached? How many funerals? I have a stack
of funeral sermons, I have a lot of them. Do you know in all these
39 years, and I know you say, well, I want my loved ones to
hear the gospel, and I want you to preach my funeral, brother,
and I want us all to assemble and hear the gospel. In 39 years, I've never known
one person to be converted and brought to the knowledge of Christ
in a funeral. Oh, I've had a lot of them weep.
I've had a lot of them say, I'm going to come hear you Sunday.
I've had a lot of people at funerals, they meet me at the door as I
walk out and say, I had one funeral director say to me, you nearly
converted me tonight. But I didn't. I didn't because
I can't convert people. And emotion won't convert people,
and sorrow won't convert people, and judgment won't convert people,
and death won't convert people. It's the goodness of God that
leads men to repentance. I'll keep preaching these funerals,
but I'm preaching them mainly for believers, to be honest with
you. I'm preaching them to believers.
And I know folks get in the hospital, and you say, well, run down to
see him. I will, but it won't do no good. I'll just tell you
now. Because that cancer and heart
attack is not going to bring him to Christ. That's the truth,
I'm telling you. It does not, it'll scare him.
It'll shake him up. It'll make him temporarily sorry. He sold his birthright, and he
sought repentance with tears. Loss of honor? Judas came back
and threw the money on the floor. You see, in all of this, I could
give you so many examples. Herod heard John the Baptist,
and the Scripture said he was moved, wasn't he? He did many
things. Felix heard Paul, and he trembled. Agrippa trembled. One of them
said, I'm almost persuaded to be a Christian. Another said,
I'm going to sin for you and hear these things again. He never
did. You see, fear and sorrow and judgment and these things
do not produce repentance. When there's a storm coming and
a man knows a storm's coming, he'll build him a refuge. When
the storm's gone, he'll come out of it. He'll come out of
it. But if he's got judgment enough
and wisdom enough, to build him one in the sunshine, and finds
his joy there in the sunshine, he'll find his protection in
the storm. That's exactly right. I'm just
telling you the truth. There is a repentance that's
not repentance. There is a sorrow that's a sorrow
unto death. And there is a sorrow that's
a sorrow unto repentance. Now here's the rest of Webster.
Now listen to this. You got the first part, didn't
you? Repentance is to feel sorry, self-reproachful for what one
has done or failed to do, to be conscience-stricken, contrite
over one's actions. But secondly, semicolon, repentance
is to feel such contrition and such regret and such dissatisfaction
over one's ways as to change one's mind. Now you're getting
into repentance. To change my mind. And secondly,
to feel such contrition over sin as to change my ways. Now we're talking about repentance.
It's not just a sorrow over sin or a sorrow over action. It's
a sorrow over attitude. It has to do with the heart,
it has to do with the thoughts, it has to do with the mind. Turn
to Isaiah 55. Isaiah 55. We're not just talking
here about emotions, temporary feelings, temporary fear of punishment,
temporary sorrow. We're talking about my way as
opposed to God's way. We're talking about my thoughts
as opposed to God's thoughts. We're talking about my will as
opposed to God's will. Listen to Isaiah 55, 6. Seek
ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he's near,
and let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man
his thoughts. And let him return unto the Lord,
and the Lord will have mercy upon him, to our God, and he
will abundantly pardon. It's not judgment that produces
repentance, it's the goodness of God. It's the grace of God. We're not talking here just about
temporary feelings and emotions, we're talking about a permanent
relationship where a man sits down and considers God's way
as opposed to his way, God's thoughts as opposed to his thoughts,
and God's will. And his mind is changed about
this. His thoughts are changed. His
mind is changed. There are two things. One old
writer said this, repentance has to do with two vital things. Two vital things. And there are
two scriptures I'll turn to. One is Romans 2. to or leadeth to or worketh repentance
has to do with two things. Romans 2 verse 4, listen, Romans
2 verse 4, Or despiseth thou the riches of his goodness, and
forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that it is the goodness
of God that leads thee to repentance? It is not fear of his wrath,
it is not fear of hell, It's not fear of judgment. It's to
see His grace and goodness in the giving of His Son to die
for our sins. It's examining our sins in the
light of God's grace. You see that? That's repentance.
That's what leads to repentance. The goodness of God. The grace
of God. The goodness of God. When a man
sits down and considers who God is, who He is, what God has done,
the mercy God has provided, the grace that God has given, the
love that gave His Son, the mercy that sent Christ to the cross,
God so loved He gave His only begotten Son. When he sits down
and considers these things, what I am, who I am, the guilt of
my soul and mind and my sins, I've changed my mind about God,
I've changed my mind about myself, I change my mind in such a way
that my ways are changed. See what I'm saying? The second
thing that turned to Revelation, chapter 16. Revelation 16. Revelation 16, verse 8 and 9. Now listen to this. Revelation
16, 8 and 9. And the fourth angel, Revelation
16, 8. This is something. Listen. poured
out his vial upon the sun, and power was given unto him to scorch
men with fire. And men were burned with great
heat, and they blasphemed the name of God, which had power
over these plagues. And they repented not to give
him the glory." Now, here's what I'm saying. True repentance. is not promoted by judgment. Read Amos chapter 3 or 4 there
where it says, I sent pestilence among you and you didn't return.
I sent war and killed you young men, you didn't return. I, six
months to the harvest, three months to the harvest, I withheld
the rain, you didn't return. I burned your cities with fire
and you didn't return. Judgment does not produce repentance,
true repentance. True repentance is produced by
an understanding of the grace and mercy and goodness of God
in Christ Jesus. And repentance is born of that
goodness, and it exalts God's glory. It's for God's glory. All right, what is it? Let me
give you six things here. You can jot these down here.
And like I said, some people think they've repented who haven't,
and some people think they haven't who have. But to me, I'll give
you six things that I believe true repentance is, and six things
true repentance does. These six things. The man is
truly repentant. He hasn't had some emotional
experience. He didn't come to Jesus because
his little boy died. He didn't come to Jesus because
he got cancer. But he came to Christ. and looked to Christ because
he was a sinner and because God's merciful to sinners. And this
thing was a deliberate, willing, loving receiving of the Son of God that's
permanent. It's not based upon emotions
and feeling and some climactic experience. It's based on a thorough
understanding of who God is and what salvation is. Now, here's
the sixth thing. Real repentance, true repentance, acknowledges
God Almighty's sovereign right to do with his own what he will.
Now a man who is truly repentant is not going to question God's
right to do with his own what he will. Old Eli Samuel said to him, those
two boys of yours have angered the Lord. And he's
going to kill them. Now here's a repentant man, Eli. It's the Lord, let him do what
he will. Job, everything you've got's gone. Here's a true repentant
man. Well, the Lord gave and the Lord
had taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. You see, our Lord Jesus Christ
stood one day and he said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and
earth. You've hid these things from the wise and prudent. and
you reveal them to be, even so far as they seem good in thy
sight. And I'm saying that's repentance. When a man or woman
sincerely, in the heart, in soul, in mind, says, God reigns, let
God be God, let God be true in every man of life. Let God do
what he will, like you prayed a while ago, when he will, with
whom he will. That's repentance. See, it's an attitude. Thought. Secondly, real repentance admits
the holiness of God and my own sinfulness. Repentance never
gets away from that. Repentance constantly admits
the holiness of God and my sinfulness. Somebody mentioned tonight, or
in yonder somewhere, Isaiah. Isaiah saw the Lord. And his
response when he saw the holiness of God was this, I'm undone. I'm unclean. I'm cut off. I'm a sinful man. I dwell among
a people of unclean lips. Job said, when I saw the Lord,
I hated myself. I repented, he said, in sackcloth
and ash. What caused his repentance? It
wasn't his children dying that caused his repentance, it wasn't
him losing his cattle, it was seeing the Lord. That's when
he said, I repented in sackcloth and ashes, when I saw the Lord,
because then I saw me. That's right. Psalm 130, David said, Lord, if you should
mark a nick with the hoodstand, Thank God there's forgiveness
with you. Thank God you're plenteous in
mercy. That's repentance. Thirdly, and I want you to turn
to two scriptures here, and I use this word, turn to Luke
7 first. Now when I say something, when
I want to give you something here, Take a little time to think about
it and study it before you reply. Real repentance justifies God. Justifies God. Do you know what
I'm saying? You say, well, I thought we the
ones that had to be justified. We do. We have to be justified
freely in Christ. But a real repentance sinner
will justify God. Now watch this in Luke 7, verse
29. And all the people that heard
John the Baptist, and the publicans even, justified God. They justified God, being baptized
with the baptism of John. What was the baptism of John?
It was a baptism of repentance. And what they were saying when
they came to the water, they were saying, we're sinners. We
deserve death, burial. That's the baptism of repentance.
I'm justifying God. I'm saying what God says about
me, so the charges God brings against me are true. Now look
at the next line. But the Pharisees and the lawyers
rejected the counsel of God against themselves and refused to be
baptized. I'm good as anybody down at your
church. You don't justify God. You haven't repented. I'm sorry
for my sins, but you haven't repented. I'm sorry I have a
contrite spirit. You may, but you haven't repented
until you justify God. Look at David in Psalm 51. Listen
to him. This is an attitude, you see.
Repentance is not just an emotional experience. If that be so, then
everybody in the world has repented at one time or another, but it
Their repentance is not repentance, Mike, because it doesn't continue.
Repentance continues. Look at Psalm 51. Listen. In Psalm 51, verse 3, I acknowledge
my transgressions. My sin is ever before me. You'd
be a fool not to, but that's still not repentance. I acknowledge
I'm a sinner. Anybody knows that. But listen,
against thee have I sinned. and be only, and have done this
evil in your sight, that you might be justified when you speak,
and clear when you judge." Thank you, Lord. You're a sinner, and you're going
to hell. That's where I ought to go. You're
a sinner, and I'm going to deal with your sins. You ought to. You've done wrong, I'm going
to strip you. You ought to. That's repentance now. It's not
just slobbering and sobbing over getting caught doing something,
or thinking a bad thought, or wish you hadn't have done this,
wish you hadn't have said that. It's a plain out, unconditional
continuation of justifying God Almighty and taking our place
to center and staying there. That's repentance. That's the
reason I say a lot of folks think they have that haven't, and some
folks think they haven't. because they didn't put on some
kind of, cut some kind of shine down front of the auditorium,
you know. But here's where repentance is. I wept before the Lord, not
before you. I wasn't trying to impress you,
no how. I wept before God. And I told him he was right and
I was wrong. He's always right and I'm always
wrong. And whatever he does, I get tired
hearing people say, well, I just don't think I deserve this. That's
not repentance. Why is this happening to me?
That's not repentance. Is it? See, I read those scriptures. Justify God, whatever he does,
if he wipes us out tonight. Some kind of tornado hits this
building, every one of us gets killed, and somebody says, what
they did to deserve that? A whole lot. We nailed God's Son to the cross,
and spit on Him, and laughed at Him while He died. And we
deserve it. Have you repented? That's what
I ask. Fifth, fourthly, real repentance
owns that it lies with God's sovereign will to pass me by
or show me mercy. I'll tell you, you get a fight
on that point. And that's the reason I say most
people have never repented. When I confess that it's totally... What did the leper say, that
crusty, unclean, corrupted leper that fell at the feet of Christ?
He said, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. And we're
in the same shape. It's not my will that makes me
clean, it's His will. You quoted in the study, it's
not of Him that willeth, it's not of Him that runneth, it's
of God that showeth mercy. And I'll just tell you, old David
Brainerd, one of the greatest preachers,
I guess, ever lived, died at 29 years of age, but he knew
something about the grace of God, and he said four things
Four things he saw when God was dealing with him in mercy. He
said, I saw the law demanded perfection and I couldn't produce
it. God required faith and I didn't
have it. That God could give faith or
withhold it, it's all in his power. Or withhold the light
that produces faith. And fourthly, he said, I saw
God could save me or damn me. is all in his power and will
to do so. That's repentance. The Canaanite woman, the thief
on the cross, real repentance owns that it lies with God to
pass me by or show me mercy. Fifthly, real repentance looks
solely and only and completely to Christ and claims no past,
present, or future Is that not true? No past, present, or future matter,
just looks to Christ. In other words, the sixth thing
is this, real repentance continues to repent. You see, this thing
of repentance is not an isolated, people say, well, I repented
or I believed. No, repentance is a state. of being. Repentance is a character. Repentance is a characteristic
of the new nature. And it repents, it keeps repenting,
and it will repent. And actually, to be honest with
you, that repentance increases. I know more and more that God's
suffering. I know more and more how sinful
I am. I know more I justify God more
completely today than I did ten years ago. I know it lies in
his power to bless me or damn me. I know that more now than
I did then. I'm repenting more today than I was five years ago,
aren't you? I think every believer will confess
that. Faith is a state of being. Faith is a characteristic of
the new nature. Faith is not some something that we're trying to
attain to. Faith is that, in other words, like John Newton
said one time, prayer is the breath of the child of God. Sooner
expect a dead man to breathe as to expect a Christian not
to pray, and not to believe. In other words, when a person
lives, he breathes. When a person is saved, he prays,
he calls on God, he believes God. So this thing of repentance
continues, continues. It's not an isolated act, it
continues. And it has to do with, like Webster said, repentance
is to feel sorry over my actions. But that's not true spiritual
godly repentance. True repentance is not only to
feel sorry over my actions and my thoughts, but to change my
mind about these things. Change my mind. And having changed
my mind, my ways and directions will change. See what I'm talking
about? That's real repentance. And you
know, that gives some stability. to people who are not overly
emotional. You know, today's, today's religion is characterized
by emotion. The more, the less control, it
seems like, when I watch on television, I don't go to other places of
worship or churches, but what I see on television, the less
control a person has over himself, and the less restraint, and the
more dignity, the less dignity he has, the higher he is in his
religion. In other words, the more noise
you can make, the more you can shimmer and shake and carry on,
the more spiritual you are. But that's not true. That's not true. I believe spirituality
and repentance and faith are quiet, deep attitudes of a man's
heart. I really do. It's what I am when
I'm alone. It's what I am when I'm only
walking with God and nobody to see me or hear me or know who
I am or what I do. That's where real repentance
is manifested in real faith. I believe that. And if you're
looking for us here to hoop-de-doo and to clap and to carry on,
look somewhere else because it's not going to be. That true repentance,
that true godly sorrow, that true Faith in Christ, that truth,
walking with God, has about it a worshipful spirit. Isn't that
true? And I think what I'm saying here
to you, I know your characteristics are much like mine, is that I'm
not given to that type of personality. But I do rejoice in Him. I do
look to Him. And I'm shut up to this, I'm
shut up to this, what Peter said, Lord, You know all things, You
know I love You. You know I love You. If I've
got to convince this world that I love Him, if I've got to put
on some kind of demonstration to convince this world that I
believe and that I'm repentant before God, I don't believe that's according
to the Word of God. Here's a poem and I'll quit. Repentance is
a gift bestowed to save my soul from death. True repentance toward
my God is always joined with faith. Not for an hour, a day,
or a week have I presumption known, for all the time my Lord
I seek and my sins I grieve and own. Nor is it such an unknown
thing as tis by some men named, this sinner repents and sings,
he rejoices and is ashamed." Is that possible to be an insane
person? To repent and sing, to rejoice and be ashamed? I think
it is. "'Tis not from fear of hell alone,
for that would prove extreme. But repentant believers their
Savior own, and they grieve for grieving Him. Dear Lord, I fall before your
face, my guilt and my folly I own. But I pray for your mercy's sake
to me, make your goodness known. That's where it is. Resting in
Him. All I hope we know more about
repentance than we did when we came in here. Maybe we do. All right, Mike,
you come and lead us in a song.

Am I a Repentant Sinner?

What does the Bible say about repentance?

How do we know repentance is true?

Why is repentance important for Christians?

What are the signs of true repentance?

How does God's goodness lead to repentance?

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Am I a Repentant Sinner?

What does the Bible say about repentance?

How do we know repentance is true?

Why is repentance important for Christians?

What are the signs of true repentance?

How does God's goodness lead to repentance?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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