God’s Word and our commitment to studying it and submitting to it should be the focus of our – referring to the believer’s – should be our life. That’s the evidence or the fruit of true repentance.
It’s
Godly sorrow that brings on repentance.
Repentance is not sorrow for sin; it’s sorrow for committing
the sin. We can’t repent without being
sorry for the sin we committed. Our
tears mean nothing without some action behind them!
“Let the wicked
forsake his way…let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him…for
He will abundantly pardon” Isaiah 55:7
In
repentance, we have to first acknowledge that we’ve sinned, feel sorrow for the
sin, and then stop and turn away from that sin.
Repentance includes a change of heart and a change of mind and a change
of direction. We make up our mind to
stop living life our way and start living it God’s way. It’s making up our mind that we’re going to
serve God with all our might and do everything He says. It’s a commandment: . . . love the Lord your God with all your heart,
and with all your soul, and with all your mind." Matthew 22:37
In
the very beginning, way back in the garden, the first sin was committed and Gid
gave them the opportunity to repent. To Adam,
God asked: who told you that you were
naked? Right there, Adam could have
confessed and asked for forgiveness. God
turns to Eve and asked: what did you
do? Another opportunity to confess and
ask for forgiveness. But no, they knew
that they did wrong but they wanted to play the blame game. And then their son, Cain – after he killed
his brother, God asked him: where is
your brother? Another missed opportunity
to come clean before God! The need to
get right with God should always be greater than the fear of punishment, the
loss of face, status, position, money and fame.
The call to repentance is a central theme of the bible: Joel 2, Jeremiah 18, Ezekiel, Jonah 3, 1
Samuel 7, Matthew 3, Mark 1, Luke 5, Acts 2:38, Acts 17, all the way to
Revelation.
We must do it with all of our being. This takes total faith in God. It takes trusting that God is real, alive and His word is true. To show our repentance – that’s what we’re talking about today: Therefore, bear fruits worthy of repentance. Matthew 3:8
that results in the outward action of turning or returning from sin
to God and righteousness.
So far, we’ve covered the fruit or
evidence of true repentance by:
* And a commitment to Fearing God [Reverence/respect]
We’re
going to continue adding to those fruits today.
Still looking at the children of Israel in the account found in Nehemiah;
chapters 8-10
√ A Commitment
to Holiness
Another focus of the believers’ life
and evidence of true repentance is the practice of holiness. Discipline is a
major aspect of our sanctification, as we confront temptation and opportunities
to sin. Where do we see this commitment
in Israel? Look at what they committed to:
The rest of the people—priests,
Levites, gatekeepers, singers, temple servants and all who separated themselves
from the neighboring peoples for the sake of the Law of God, together with
their wives and all their sons and daughters who are able to understand…
We promise not to give
our daughters in marriage to the peoples around us or take their daughters for
our sons. When the neighboring peoples bring merchandise or grain to sell on
the Sabbath, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on any holy day. Every
seventh year we will forgo working the land and will cancel all debts. Nehemiah
10:28, 30-31
This holiness was seen in two
ways.
ü They wouldn’t intermarry with the
neighboring nations, and
ü they wouldn’t sin against God by buying and
selling from the foreigners on the Sabbath or any other holy day.
Israel lived amongst neighboring
nations that wanted to interact with them spiritually by drawing them to
worship their gods. They wanted to interact with them socially through marriage
and the practice of other cultural norms. And they wanted to interact with them
economically through trade, which was often done on the Sabbath.
But God had called Israel to be holy and separate from the neighboring nations primarily so they wouldn’t acclimate to the standards of the world and be led into sin.
ü Exodus 34:11-16: Warns against making treaties or intermarrying with the inhabitants of the land, as their practices would become a spiritual "snare".
ü Joshua 23:11-13: Joshua cautions that mixing with the remaining nations will lead to spiritual ruin.
ü 1 Kings 11:1-8: Highlights how King Solomon’s foreign wives led his heart away from God.
ü Deuteronomy 7:1-6: forbids intermarriage - "They will turn your children away from following me to serve other gods".
Listen to the command about not
marrying that was given to the Israelites: “Be careful not
to make a treaty with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute
themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you
will eat their sacrifices. And when you choose some of their daughters as wives
for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they
will lead your sons to do the same. Exodus 34:15-16
The call to not interact or marry with the surrounding nations was never racial, it was spiritual. They were called to be separate and holy in order to not be drawn into sin with them or to worship their gods. This is what happened with King Solomon, who led the kingdom of Israel into God’s judgment. Solomon’s compromises through his unfaithfulness; by taking foreign wives and adopting their religious practices, undermined the spiritual foundation of the nation of Israel.
This doesn’t mean total isolation from the world. They were not to be totally separated from the Gentiles but to be separate in the sense that they wouldn’t be influenced to sin; drawn into the standards of the world. We’re to be the light to draw the world out of darkness. This is evidenced through Ruth and Rahab who were both Gentiles, they both married into Israel and were put into the lineage of Christ. However, they both were converts to Judaism—they worshiped the God of Israel. And then there was Jonah who was sent to prophesy to the Gentiles in Nineveh.
It’s no different for us. 2 Corinthians
6:14 says to not be “unequally yoked,” and James declares that this
practice of not being polluted by the world is the religion God accepts . . .as pure and faultless . . . to look after orphans and widows in
their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” James 1:27
We
talked of not blending, compromising, or bending to the ways of the
world. The Bible says, “Be ye holy; for
I am holy” [1 Peter 1:16].
A religion God accepts is one that
keeps itself unspotted from the world. We should careful of the music we listen
to, the TV shows and movies we watch, what we watch and listen to on social
media and the friendships we cultivate. We shouldn’t adopt the ideals and
practices of the world. We can’t condone
or accept as right what we know does not align itself with God.
Scripture says that in the same
way that the neighboring nations were seeking to lead Israel astray by getting
them to acclimate to their ways, the world today does the same with us. Do not conform
any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of
your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good,
pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2
We’re being pushed and cajoled into the image of the world. We’re being pressured into having the same passions, the same desires, and the same worldview, rather than that of the kingdom of God and His perspective. But Scripture commands us Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 1 John 2:15
There’s a principle in the world system working to draw us away from the love of God. So yes, our priority must be holiness. Are we living out a life of separation from the world? Or are we trying to love God and love the world as well? John says that if we haven’t committed to holiness and are still living in sin, we’re not truly born again. It’s a genuine fruit of repentance and if we lack this desire and practice of being holy, then we’re not truly saved. It’s tight but it’s right: If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth 1 John 1:6
Israel
committed to being separate from the nations in order to be holy unto God. We have
to make this same commitment as well. Separation is necessary so that we don’t
become or remain influenced by this world, and separation is also necessary for
us to influence the world: You are the salt of the earth. But what good is
salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown
out and trampled underfoot as worthless.
Matthew 5:13
We have to be
different in order to influence the world.
We must discipline our self to commit to Holiness.
Sermonette
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