The Gift of Repentance Pt. 2

All right. Good morning, everybody. Good morning. How many of you are thankful for the presence of the Lord? How many of you are thankful for the presence of the Lord? May we never take that lightly. He’s available. Isn’t that good? So good.

Well, if you have your Bibles, turn with me to Jonah chapter 3 this morning. We’re a little light on our team this morning, but how many of you know we’re really here just because of Jesus? Isn’t that true? So as long as we have Him, we’ve got all we need. All right. Judah — I’m sorry. Jonah. Jonah. Did I say Judah like three times? How did that happen? Jonah chapter 3.

Jonah chapter 3, and let’s just pray. Can we just lift our hands to the Lord? Lord Jesus, we thank You for Your presence. We thank You for Your Word, Lord. We open our hearts, Lord, and we ask that You would speak, Lord, that You would do what only You can do, Lord. Your Word is life. Your Word brings revelation, Lord, that we would see You clearly and hear You speak to us, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

I felt led of the Lord to talk about repentance for the next several weeks. And we talked last week and kind of introduced what repentance is. And I think oftentimes when we talk about repentance, we hear condemnation, right? How many of you know repentance is not meant to be a depressing thing? Repentance is meant to be a joyful thing. I’m going to say it again, because you guys don’t seem convinced. Repentance is not to be a depressing thing. It is a joyful thing.

And last week we talked, and we’re going to continue to talk, about the gift of repentance. It is a gift to be able to come to the Lord and to lay down all of our guilt, all of our shame, all of our faults to the Lord. Amen. It’s a privilege. I said it last week and I’m going to say it again. If you made Jesus the Lord of your life, we have repented so that we can be repenting. Repentance really is meant to be a daily part of the life of the believer. It really is a gift. It’s a holy moment that we can come to the Lord.

The repentance of Nineveh

And so I want to start here in Jonah chapter 3, starting at verse 5, and we’re going to look at an instance of repentance. Starting at verse 5, it says, “So the people of Nineveh believed God.” How many of you know we need to believe God? Yes.

“They proclaimed a fast and they put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them. Then the word came to the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, ‘Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Do not let them eat or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth and cry mightily to God. Yes, let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who can tell if God will turn and relent and turn away from His fierce anger so that we may not perish?’ Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way” — everybody say “turn” — “and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.”

And it’s powerful. This is a pagan nation. This was not a nation that was in covenant with God. But there was something so powerful about what they did. There was something that was brought to them that cut them to the core on the inside, where everything that was inside turned from their former ways, turned from their wickedness, turned from their patterns, their ideologies, their values, their traditions. They turned from all of those things and they turned to the Lord. And what did the Lord do? He relented, and He did not bring punishment, but He brought mercy and love and salvation. Somebody say, “Amen.”

And so we’re saying that repentance isn’t meant to depress you. It is meant to liberate you. It is meant to bring joy to your life. It is meant to bring freedom. So why do we say, “You know what, God? I’ve got it covered”? Or, “You know what? I’ll repent tomorrow. I’m going to accumulate some sins. I don’t want to repent every day because I don’t want to bug the Lord, right? I’m going to just bank all my sins and then I’ll confess tomorrow.”

But how many of you know we don’t know when our last day is? We don’t know when our final moments are. Tomorrow is not guaranteed. I’m going to just make a bold proclamation: throughout the history of humankind, I don’t think anybody knew the day or the hour that they would no longer be on this earth. Most don’t know it’s their last day. And so we can never take for granted the calling of the Lord, the mercy of the Lord. Right? Scripture says, “Seek the Lord while He may be found.”

And there are way too many people that are just so comfortable gambling their eternity and their soul, saying, “I’ll get to that tomorrow.” Do we not actually realize that this life is just a flash in the pan? That all of this is so temporary, that we don’t live for today? We don’t live for this world. But how many of you are thankful there is an eternity? And what is eternity? To know Him and to be with Him. Somebody say amen.

Turning from and turning to

And so I just wanted to give a quick review on repentance. Number one, repentance is turning away from all that is not the Lord while turning to the Lord Himself. How many of you know it’s important that we turn from the things that are not of God? But if we stop there, how many of you know it turns into just a religious life? It’s not enough to just turn from. We have to also turn to.

We can’t just turn from our wickedness and our sin and say, “You know what, I’m not going to sin. I’m not going to do those things, those struggles. I’m going to leave it all behind. I’m going to do better.” But because we don’t actually turn to the Lord, we are actually just doing it in our own strength. We’re doing what we can do. And it becomes what? Religious. It becomes dead works. There’s no redemption in that. You see, it’s not enough to just turn from; we need to turn to. While it is important to turn from our sins — somebody say amen.

Scripture says the way that we resist the devil is what? Submit to God. James 4:7 says this: “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” So we don’t just turn from; we turn to. And when temptation comes, we turn from that fallen thought, from that temptation, and we turn to the Lord Jesus Himself.

Sometimes I think we are the sum of our thoughts. But how many of you know we’re not defined by our thoughts? It can be very difficult to control our thinking. But it is important for us that when the thoughts come, when temptation comes, we turn to Jesus. I’ve heard it said before that you can’t stop a bird from landing on your head, but you can prevent it from building a nest. When we allow the thoughts to come and we sit with them, what happens? It builds a home. And it gets really difficult to overcome a temptation when it’s all you think about.

Let me give you a for instance. Do not think about a purple flying elephant. You see, whatever you give attention to, you’re going to entertain. And so if there is temptation, what is your escape? How do we overcome? You might do good for a little bit. Like, “Oh, nope. I’m cutting that out. No, I’m not doing that.”

Listen, I’ve had somebody ask me before. They said, “I have this sin in my life. How do I overcome this sin?” The answer is this, and it’s simple: look to Jesus when temptation comes. Look to Jesus. Call on the name of Jesus. Turn from the thought. Turn from the temptation and turn to the Lord Himself. Somebody say amen.

And so the primary way that we overcome sin — and this is so important, especially if you are young and there are things in your life that you know are not honoring or pleasing to the Lord — the primary way that we overcome sin is to give your attention to the Lord. Give Him your affection. Give Him your thoughts. Give Him all your weakness. And when it comes in, I turn from it and I turn to Jesus.

Where are your stones?

One of the primary ways that we overcome temptation is by getting His Word into our hearts. How many of you know David? David, when he slew the giant, had some weapons, some tools at his disposal. And for some of us, there are giants in our lives, some things that we’re like, “There’s no way I can overcome this. I’ve battled this for so long and I’m still dealing with the same old stuff.” And my question to you is: where are your stones?

We get our stones from spending time and meditating on His Word. But we don’t meditate on the Word to get stones to defeat the giants. We meditate on His Word to see Jesus Himself. Listen, don’t read Scripture looking for the devil. We read Scripture looking for Jesus. And when you do that, the Lord is going to release things to you — promises, scriptures.

And I’m not condemning this in any way, but sometimes when we’re depressed, we might go to Google and we say, “scriptures for depression.” And we read the scriptures. Now, there is a level of comfort. There is a level of hope that that brings, because how many of you know it’s the Word? Amen. But what I’m talking about is revelation by the Holy Spirit.

When you get into the Word and you’re reading it and you’re looking for Jesus, you’re not looking for how to be blessed. You’re not looking for how to have a better life. You’re not looking for history or knowledge. You’re looking for Jesus. And as you do that, the Holy Spirit starts to reveal Him to you. And when you do that, the Lord gives you scriptures. He gives you keys. He gives you truth for your life. Somebody say amen.

Scripture says the Word of God is alive and active. It is the very breath of God. That means He knew that you would be here today, and He knew we would be coming to the Scripture today. By the way, if you’re here, how many of you know you’re not here on accident? The Lord has a plan for your life. He wants you to know Him. He wants you to know the plans that He has for you, to walk with Him.

But when we’re talking about overcoming sin, what are the smooth stones that you have? How many of you know when Jesus was tempted by the devil — He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness for forty days. He was fasting and He was praying, and the devil himself comes to the Lord to tempt Jesus. Now, sometimes I think we hear that and we’re like, “Well, Jesus is the Son of God. He can’t really be tempted.” No. Can Scripture lie? When Scripture says Jesus was tempted, how many of you know He was tempted?

He had to go through everything that you have gone through. He has to know you. He could not be a Savior — He could not be a compassionate Savior — without knowing what it is that you face every day. And so Jesus was tempted. Say “tempted.” He was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, saying, “If You will bow down and worship me, I will give all this to You.” Well, man, that sounds like what the Father promised Me. Surely this is the will of God.

But how did Jesus fight? He said, “It is written.” Exactly. He spoke the Word. He said, “It is written.” Then the devil tempted, and what did Jesus say? “It is written.” Then the devil tempted again, and what does Scripture say? Jesus says, “It is written.” And then what happened? The devil fled for another time.

Listen, it is so important for us to get the Word of God in our hearts. And I think we have downplayed this, and we have settled for Sunday mornings at church to be all the Scripture that we need. It is not enough. It is not enough. The Lord wants to speak to you. He wants to be with you. He wants your heart. He wants your affection. And when you spend time with Him — Scripture says, draw near to Him and He will draw near to you.

And He wants to give you things that you need specifically, right? We’re talking to a church here. We’re talking to a body. We’re talking to a group of believers for this time and for this season. But how many of you know the Lord wants to speak to you uniquely and individually? Amen.

So a primary way that we overcome temptation is to turn our attention from the temptation and to turn our attention to the Lord. What does Scripture say about the tree of life, right? When we give our attention to the tree of life, what happens? The Lord starts to build a garden around it, and we are turning away from the tree of death and the tree of the flesh, and we starve it at its roots. Did you guys get that? I feel like I did not do a good job on that.

There are two trees. We’ve got the tree of life and we’ve got the tree of the flesh. When you turn away from the tree of the flesh and you turn to the tree of life, a garden is produced and the tree of death is starved. It’ll get to the point where you will be going through life, and because you’ve been giving your affection to Jesus, all of a sudden you’ll be like, “Man, it’s been a couple weeks since I’ve even had that thought.” And then after a couple months, maybe a thought comes in or you see something and it’s like, “Man, how did I ever even think that?” How many of you know that is the work of the Holy Spirit, and He will do it? But what’s the key? Are you willing to humble yourself and turn to the Lord fully? Are you guys with me today?

Sincere repentance

Number two, repentance is to be sincere. We looked at some fake examples of repentance, and we looked at Pharaoh specifically, right? Where the Lord would bring judgment, and it was the consequence of the sin of Pharaoh. How many of you know sin has consequences? Did you know that? Scripture says the devil only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. If the devil could kill you right now, he would do it. I’m going to say it again. If the devil could kill you right now, he would do it. He only comes to steal, kill, and destroy.

And so what we have to recognize is that when he comes and temptation comes and all those things begin to happen, sin has consequences. Because why? Satan’s trying to destroy your life. He’s trying to destroy your family. He’s trying to destroy your future. He’s trying to destroy future generations. Somebody say amen. He wants to destroy everything.

And so when we are tempted, we need to be sincere in our repentance and not just say, “God, my sin is too much. Would You just make it stop?” Because that was the heart of Pharaoh. “God, just make it stop. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Just make it stop.” So what did God do? He stopped. How many of you know apologizing to the Lord is not repentance? Come on. Apologizing is not repentance.

It is a turning on the inside with all that I am: “I’m not doing that anymore. I’m turning away from that, and I’m turning to the Lord, and I’m going that direction.” But Pharaoh apologized, and what did he do? He went right back to it. He went right back to it. He went right back to it, until his sin crushed him and he was buried in the sea.

Sin will crush you. We don’t want to be entertainers of sin. We want to be entertainers of the presence of the Lord. If there’s sin in your life, now is the time to bring it to the Lord and say, “Lord, I keep messing this up.” And guess what? You will mess it up, by the way. But when we come to the Lord, how many of you know He is faithful every time to forgive us and to cleanse us? And so true repentance is sincere. It hits the core of the individual. Amen.

The sign of Jonah

The reason I wanted to look at Jonah was because it is a miracle of the gospel. Now, some would say, “How is it the gospel? How did revival come to this pagan nation? Jesus hadn’t even come to the earth yet. How was the gospel preached?” How many of you know Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days? In fact, some theologians actually believe that he died in the fish, and that when he was purged out, he was raised back to life, just like Jesus.

But this is important. Jonah goes to this pagan nation. They find repentance — so much so, their animals repent. How many of you know if your pets are repenting, it’s true revival? I don’t even know how you do that. I need my dog to do that. He is a stinger, right? Like, he just gets into it.

The whole nation was cut to the core. The whole nation turned to the goodness of God and turned from their former ways, turned from the wickedness. But what was at the core of the move? It was the gospel. It was the gospel.

Why is this important? How many of you remember when the people were asking Jesus for a sign, right? Jesus could gather a crowd. There were signs. There were wonders. There were miracles. And a crowd was following Him. And they were saying, “Lord, give us a sign. Give us another sign. Lord, do another miracle and then we’ll follow You. Do a sign and a wonder, then we’ll believe.” And what did Jesus say? He said, “No, there will be no sign given except for the sign of Jonah.”

I’m so thankful that Jesus was never about simply entertaining people. We don’t come to church just to be entertained. We don’t give God our attention only if He’s willing to jump through hoops for us. Jesus is saying, “I’ve already given the sign.” Isaiah writes this: “This will be the sign. There will be a virgin with child.” How many of you know Jesus has already done everything He needs to do? He doesn’t need to prove anything else. He doesn’t need to jump through the hoops. He’s already given us the sign.

How many of you know Jesus is the Father’s sign? He is the Father’s sign. And so Jesus was like, “I’m not just going to perform another sign and another wonder that isn’t redemptive.” No, Jesus said, “This is the only sign that you will get. It is the sign of Jonah.” Why? Because as Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days, so Jesus would be in the belly of the earth for three days. But Scripture says that generation would receive that sign. And so Jesus points to the death, the burial, the resurrection as being the linchpin of repentance.

And so what really moved Nineveh? It was the preaching of the gospel. Jesus said, “All Scripture speaks of Me.” How many of you know the Old Testament — Jesus says, “All Scripture speaks of Me.” And so what brings true repentance? What actually moves people? What actually transforms a nation and brings revival to a nation, or revival to a family? It’s the gospel of Jesus Christ. Somebody say, “Amen.”

Paul writes this. He says, “I’m not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God.” It’s not just a story. Amen.

I know we’ve got some bugs flying around, don’t we? It’s the fall time. It’s going crazy. Anybody else getting that? We vacuumed in here all throughout the weekend. We vacuumed again this morning. They’re just around.

“I’m not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God.” The gospel is not just a story. And too often we treat the gospel as a story. It’s the power of God to bring revelation and to transform lives. So how many of you know that can happen today? By the way, how many of you would say that needs to happen today? Amen.

So how do we repent consistently? The way we repent consistently is to have a consistent vision of the gospel. Specifically, it is hard to stay in pride when you constantly have your eyes fixed on the crucifixion of the Son of God. It’s hard to stay arrogant when you see that God came to this earth to die. If you want to overcome sin, if you want to be someone who repents consistently, have a consistent vision of the gospel — specifically the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

Everybody say this: “Repentance is a joy.” Say, “Repentance is a gift.” Say, “Repentance is a blessing.” Amen. God’s not trying to guilt you with shame. He’s trying to remove your shame. And a lot of times people, even the church, will complain, “Well, I don’t want to go to God that way. I don’t want to do it God’s way. There must be a better way.” How many of you know there is only one way? And how many of you are thankful God made a way? While we were dead in our sin — we were dead. There was no hope. It is a joy. It is a gift, repentance.

Now is the time

I want to read this quote. It says, “It is not necessary to wait for a specific time to repent, because you know nothing for certain about tomorrow. Many who have planned many things did not make it to tomorrow.” How many of you know we don’t know when our last day will be? We don’t know. But what matters most is: have you yielded your life to Jesus? We don’t know when the last will be. We don’t know what’s happening tomorrow.

It says this: “If you continually pass over today while waiting for tomorrow by your little procrastinations, you will be robbed by the evil one. The evil one says this: ‘Give me the present and give God your future.’ The evil one says, ‘Give me your youth. Give God your old age.’ The evil one says, ‘Give me pleasures. Give God your useless years.’ How many are the unexpected misfortunes throughout the centuries? It is much easier for a human being to die than they even know.”

How many of you know that is why the Bible does not say today is the day of salvation? Scripture says now is the time of salvation. Salvation is available sooner than even today. It is available right now. Amen. Salvation is meant to happen right now. Somebody say amen.

So why does the Lord tarry for His return? How many of you know Scripture says He is not slack? He’s not putting it off just to put it off. The reason the Lord is waiting to return is because He is waiting in mercy for people to repent. And Scripture says it is His heart that all should repent. Amen.

Return to your first love

I want to read these verses. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” Somebody say, “Amen.”

Psalm 51:10 says, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit.”

How many of you know if you have lost the fuel and the flame of your first love, it is a big deal? If you are not passionate and burning for the Lord, it’s a serious thing to consider. How many of you know Jesus said to the church at Ephesus, “If you do not return to your first love,” it is a nail in the coffin? And that church did not turn to the Lord. And it wasn’t but fifty years later that that church was in ruins, because it did not turn their heart and their affection to Him.

I want you to consider this. That church was started by the apostle Paul, Timothy, the Virgin Mary — well, Mary. And yet that church was in ruins because the people did not turn their heart to the Lord.

Sometimes I think we like to blame other people because we’re not in love with Jesus the way we think we should be. We blame a pastor. We blame our family. We blame others. But how many of you know it’s not your pastor’s fault? It’s not your family’s fault. It’s no one’s fault but our own. But how many of you are thankful we can turn to the One who forgives all our faults?

If you are here today and that fire is not burning, I want to encourage you: turn to the Lord. Turn away from your apathy. Turn away from the lie that “I’ve done enough,” that “I don’t really need God anymore than this.” Listen, if you are not moving toward God, you are drifting away from God. I’m going to say that again. If we’re not actively moving toward God, we are drifting away. Why? Because there is a pull in this world to pull your heart, to pull your affections, to pull everything, every desire, every ambition, away from Him.

“Restore to me.” Can we just lift our hands to the Lord just right now? Just say, “Lord Jesus” — come on, lift your hands and talk to the Lord. Lord Jesus, restore the joy of Your salvation. Lord, I pray right now over every person in this place. Can we stand right now, just where you’re at? Just standing with your hands lifted.

Lord, I pray over every person in this place, Lord, that we would burn with a new fire. Holy Spirit, would You blow over our hearts? Would You blow through this place, Lord? Lord, would You pour that oil out, Lord? That when we seek You, Lord, we would find You, Lord. That we would store up that oil, that we would burn brightly for You and for You alone, Lord. There is none more worthy. Restore to us, Lord, the joy of our salvation. Lord, open our eyes to the work and to the wonder of the gospel. Lord, open our eyes. Help us to see clearly the love of the Father today, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

You can be seated.

Turn and live

Isaiah 55 says this: “Seek the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near.” How many of you know that is right now? Amen. “Let the wicked forsake his way.” What is repentance? That is repentance. It is to turn from this world, to turn from its ways, to turn from its thinking, and to turn from the devil and to turn to Jesus.

It says, “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts.” This is so key. Let the unrighteous man turn from his wicked thoughts. There are so many people who are prideful in their thought life. They have their own perspectives of who God is. They have their own perspectives of how God should do things. They have their own ideologies, their own gospel, their own truth.

Especially those who grew up in the church. There are many who have grown up in the church who are living an unbelieving life, who are jaded, who are angry, who are resentful. And it is a pride and an arrogance in the heart, where they’re really saying, “I’m smarter than God. My way is better than His.”

But I will tell you this: God’s truth is eternal. Somebody say, “Amen.” And for all of human history, nations have tried to destroy the Word of God. They’ve tried to take it out. They’ve banned it. They’ve burned the books. But how many of you know today sales of Bibles are up 400% from last year? How many of you know the gospel cannot be stopped?

Hebrews 10:5 says this: “Therefore, when He came into the world,” Jesus said, “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come — in the volume of the book it is written of Me — to do Your will, O God.’” How many of you know Jesus came to this earth knowing exactly what He would face? He was obedient to death.

I don’t know about you, but I’m not choosing to believe the truth of this world. I’m not going to believe the truth according to bloggers or influencers. I’m not going to just go with the flow on social media. I want to be tethered and anchored into this gospel, into this Scripture. Somebody say amen.

Scripture says, “Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven.” In other words, His Word does not change according to what your preference is. His Word does not change according to what you think it should be. His Word is settled. Amen.

That’s why Isaiah says this: “Let the unrighteous man forsake his thoughts.” You think you know better than God. You do not know better than God. You think you have a different way, that God didn’t tap into something — and you’re younger than thirty years old. Come on. “Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven.”

“Let him return to the Lord.” And notice the Lord’s heart. This is the Lord’s heart. It says, “And He will have mercy on him.” How many of you know He’s a good God? “He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” Amen. God is good.

Ezekiel 18:30–32 — I’m going to close with this. It says, “Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin.” And how many of you know sin is not a weakness? It is a death sentence. Believers will excuse their sin and call it a weakness. It’s a death sentence. Call on the name of the Lord.

Verse 31 says, “Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.” Aren’t you thankful that when you repent and turn to the Lord, He doesn’t just leave you where you’re at and say, “Okay, you’re forgiven now. Just try harder”? No. He’ll give you a new heart and a new mind. He’ll give you a new way of thinking.

And some of you might be hearing this like, “Well, I kind of like the way I am.” The Lord created you the way you are, but don’t stay where you are. Allow Him to do His work. Amen. You’re still going to be unique. You’re still going to be precious. You’re still going to be one of a kind. He knows every hair on your head. He knows the days that are fashioned for you.

“Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.” Listen to this: “For why should you die?” God’s saying, why would you choose not to repent? Why would you choose to remain in sin? He says, “Why should you die? For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies. Therefore turn and live.” Amen.

God has no pleasure when someone chooses their own will. That is sin that leads to death. So what is the call? Turn to the Lord and live. Turn to Jesus. That’s the call. Amen.

Let’s stand together. Come on, let’s stand. Let’s lift our hands to the Lord. Lord Jesus, we receive Your Word today. We receive what You are speaking, Lord. And we don’t want to stay where we’re at, Lord. We want to come boldly before the throne of grace, Lord, to call on the name of Jesus. Lord, we turn from our thinking, Lord, all of our fallen ways, and, Lord, the allure of this world — Lord, we turn from it. And Lord, we turn to Jesus, the One who saves our soul, the One who brings life and healing and joy and salvation.

Lord, we call on Your name and we thank You, Lord, that Your mercy is new every morning, Lord Jesus. And so, Lord, we repent of all those things that have pulled us from You, Lord — from the times where we’ve come into the flesh, Lord, and we said, “Lord, I’ve got this. I don’t need You.” Lord, we repent from that apathy that says it’s good enough, “I’m just going to do my own thing.” Lord, if we are not moving to You, we are drifting from You.

And so, Lord, we ask that You would come, Lord. Put a new fire in our hearts, Lord. Put a fire in our mouths, Lord, that as Your gospel goes forth, You would release salvation, Lord, to Your people, salvation, Lord, to our families, salvation to friends, Lord. The gospel is the power of God. We will not be ashamed.

With our hands lifted, I believe that there are some here who have been, for a time, living for themselves. We’ve been chained with sin. And I need you to hear this: you do not have to be. The love of God is calling today, and the love of God is a person, and His name is Jesus.

And you being in this room is a blessing. We are glad you’re here. But you cannot stake your soul on the fact that you attended church. The church can do nothing but lead you to Jesus. And while church attendance is wonderful, it is not proof of salvation. His residence inside of you is proof of salvation. Liberation from sin is proof of salvation. Liberation from hate is proof of salvation. Hunger for the Word of God is proof of salvation.

So if you are here today, I want you to know God loves you. Jesus died for you. He shed His blood for you, and He was buried and raised to give you newness of life. And so if you’re here today and you’re saying, “I want to come out of sin. I want to come out of the things that have plagued my mind. I want to come out and live as a child of God,” you need to hear: you can come out right now.

The Lord is here. And if you will call on His name — Scripture says, call on the name of Jesus. Confess your sins, and He is faithful and just to forgive you your sins and to cleanse you of all unrighteousness.

And so let’s just lift our hands. Lord Jesus, we confess, Lord, those things, those mindsets, Lord, those attitudes. We confess pride and anger, selfishness, covetousness, lust, greed. Lord, we lay them all at Your feet. Come on, just begin to mutter to the Lord and just begin to confess to the Lord: “Lord, I bring my sin to You. I give You everything.”

Lord, we thank You that You are the One who pours out forgiveness. And Lord, we turn — Lord, we turn from the world. We turn from the lukewarm life. Lord, we turn to You, Jesus, the One who says, “I will never leave you. I will never forsake you.” Lord, we receive Your love. We receive forgiveness. We receive freedom today, in Jesus’ name. And we said, “Amen.”

Amen. Can we thank the Lord this morning? Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Lord.

I’ve heard somebody ask before, “How many times do I need to repent?” As often as it takes. Keep going to the Lord. We want to be sincere, and that should look like something, but when we make mistakes, we bring it to the Lord. Amen. And He is faithful and just to forgive us. I don’t know about you, but I want to live in freedom. I don’t want to be pulled by the world. I want to be moved by the Spirit of the Lord. Amen.

Transcribed from the message recording and lightly edited for reading.