Full On Repentance and Forgiveness // Overboard with Jesus, Part 3

Christianityworks Official Podcast

As politically incorrect, unpopular and old–fashioned things go, the subject of repentance would have to be right up there near the top of the list. Repentance – what the blazes does it mean anyhow? Who even talks that way anymore these days? Give me a break!!

FULL ON REPENTANCE

When I come across a subject like “repentance” – and I’ll explain what I think that word means in a moment – I tend to think about how I viewed religious jargon before I became a Christian. I remember some nutter standing on a milk crate in the local mall waving a Bible in one hand, shouting Repent, Repent and thinking to myself … yeah, right, now there’s a message the world wants to hear. Idiot!!

I was driving a pretty expensive car back in those days, living in a luxury house, pursuing a business career and life was, on the surface at least, pretty darned good. So, who needs repentance?! Ever felt yourself thinking along those lines?

The problem is, that left to our own devices, we have a tendency of making a hash out of our lives. Now, the average born again atheist would take issue with that. The average born again atheist out there is thinking to themselves – here they go again these religious nutters, telling us that we’re no good. Telling us that we can’t make it on our own.

And to be completely honest with you – that’s how I used to think. I thought of myself as smart and successful and I was driven to work hard and to achieve.

So the message of “repent” … which I guess most people associate with turning away from sin (boy there’s another incredibly unpopular concept these days) … that message was not something I was ready to hear. How about you?

We’re smack bang in the middle of a series of messages at the moment called “Overboard with Jesus”. It’s kind of based around that pretty well known story of Peter getting out of the boat on the Sea of Tiberius in the middle of a storm:

Matthew 14:22–33: Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”

Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

Pretty remarkable story – and I love Peter’s heart. So intent was He on following Jesus that He was prepared to follow Him out of the boat, onto the water, in the middle of a deadly, raging storm. And with all my heart I believe that that’s the sort of follower that Jesus is looking for today. Not a lukewarm, mamby–pamby, pew–warming, middle of the road, my life doesn’t count for much type of Christian. But someone who’s prepared to get out of the boat, in the storm, even though they may sink – to follow Jesus wherever He may lead.

Someone who’s prepared to be all in, full on for Jesus. And today and for the rest of this week / and this week and next on the program, I want to chat about a few practical, real ways that we can do that – be all in, be full on for Christ. The first way is in this area of repentance.

Jesus had a way, He still does in fact, of cutting through all the nonsense and self–delusion, and getting right to the heart of an issue. In His famous Sermon on the Mount, He said this:

Matthew 5:3: Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

In other words, blessed are those who recognise their spiritual poverty. Blessed are those who stop deluding themselves thinking that life is all good, that they’re successful and comfortable and they don’t need anything else. That’s what pride does, it stops us from recognising what’s really going on in our lives. It stops us from admitting to ourselves, let alone to others, the spiritual poverty that lies deep within.

The spiritual poverty that leads us off in the wrong direction, until the emptiness of life, the burdens of life, the consequences of a life chasing after the mirage, the illusion of comfort and success and material things … so deeply afflicts us that words can’t describe what it is that we feel.

I see it all the time – can I say, I see it in people who don’t have any faith at all, and, tragically, I see it in people who profess a faith in Jesus, who warm the pews of a church each Sunday, who sing the songs, pray the prayers, go through the motions.

Listen to me: whether religious or not, whether professing a faith in Jesus or not, we can be beset and afflicted by a deep spiritual poverty that we just won’t admit to ourselves, because we’ve invested so much time and energy chasing the things we’ve been chasing, getting to this desperate place in life – that we're just to proud to admit that we got it wrong.

And that has consequences. So, how do you turn that around? Well, interestingly, that’s exactly what the word “repentance” means – to turn things around. To admit that you got it wrong. But there’s an important element that’s required to taking that drastic measure. Have a listen to this:

2 Chron 7:13,14: When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

That element is humility. It’s being prepared to get real with ourselves and go back to God and admit to Him, and ourselves, that our ways, our rebellion, our stupidity – because frankly that’s what it’s been – hasn’t worked. And God’s promise to us, and you read it over and over again in the Bible is that when we turn around, away from our wicked ways, when we seek His face – He’ll listen and He’ll forgive and He’ll heal and He’ll bless. Plain and simple …

1 John 1:19: If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

The alternative is the status quo. And over 20 years ago now, I came to the realisation that the status quo simply wasn’t an option. How about you? How’s your life going? Are you perhaps one of those people who kind of believes in Jesus, but, well … somehow, it’s not going so well for you?

Then there’s every chance that the reason for that is that you’re holding something back from Him. Some sin, some rebellion, some thing in your life that you haven’t given over to Him. Remember, blessed are the poor in spirit, the ones who admit their sin and their poverty to God, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

It’s time to get overboard with Jesus in the storm, like Peter did. It’s time to stop pussy–footing around with our faith and get real and live a life that’s all out for Jesus. And that starts with being honest, with admitting, with turning away from that sin that’s been plundering our lives, and turning back to Jesus.

Acts 3:19,20: Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.

So … how about it?

FULL ON FORGIVENESS

To be honest, forgiveness never used to be a thing for me. Why forgive? My motto in life, used to be: don’t get angry, get even. If you did something to hurt me, or betray me, or undermine me, or ignore me … I would find a way of getting even. Vengeance is sweet they say … although from experience I can tell you, it does leave a bitter aftertaste in your mouth.

It wasn’t until age 36 – that forgiveness became a thing for me. This is how it happened. Jesus met me in a dark time in my life. My Saviour came for me, and reached down into the dark pit where I was, and lifted me out.

Those aren’t just words – that’s what happened. And today, I look back and still find myself asking – why me? I am … I am speechless at the idea that Jesus came for me. There were so many people who were nicer than me – I was a shicker I have to tell you. I was tough, hardnosed, brutal in my pursuit of success.

And then … then one day, I read this story that Jesus told.

Matt 21:18–35: Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy- seven times.

“For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything. ’ And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, ‘Pay what you owe. ’ Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you. ’ But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt. When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. Then his lord summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you? ’ And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.

The end of that is just a bit brutal isn’t it? I mean, really? Is forgiveness that big a deal? Well, apparently, it is to God. I was perplexed by this story, this parable that Jesus used to teach Peter and the other Disciples about Jesus. So it got me thinking.

God makes us, humanity, kicking it off with Adam and Eve. He gives us a free will full knowing that we would rebel. Full knowing that we would fall short of His perfect standard. Full knowing that one day, the demands of justice – God’s justice, after all we’d expect God to be just, right – would have to be met. I mean if I break the law and end up in front of a judge, as I did once as a young man, by crashing my car, you’d expect the judge to be just. He gave me a sentence, rather light sentence as it turned out at the time – a fine or, if I didn’t pay the fine, a couple of nights at Her Majesty’s pleasure in prison.

That’s what you’d expect. But imagine, just imagine, if that judge had been my father. My dad who brought me into this world and loves me beyond measure. Now in that instance the judge would have a fundamental conflict of interests. On the one hand, he’s the judge and by the very nature of his role, his job is to meet out justice. On the other hand, he’s my dad and he loves me and he doesn’t want to have to do that.

Well, that’s precisely the dilemma that God finds himself in. Only for Him it’s much, much worse, because as we read in Romans 6:23 – the wages of our sin is death. You and I through our sin, our rebellion against God, are under a death sentence, make no mistake about it. And eternal existence of judgement and suffering.

John 5:28,29: Do not be astonished at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and will come out—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.

There it is, a resurrection of eternal condemnation. That’s what’s at stake here – so God sends Jesus … His one and only Son, the one through whom the whole of creation was created – He sends Jesus to suffer and die for you and for me. Do you get it? This is why forgiveness is such a big deal for God. This is why Jesus told this powerful parable about forgiveness.

Matt 27:45–51: From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “This man is calling for Elijah.” At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split.

Do you get it? That’s what Jesus did for me and for you, so that we could be completely set free from condemnation. For God so loved the world, so loved you, so loved me that He gave His only begotten Son so that when we believe in Him, we won’t perish under that burden of eternal condemnation, but instead we’ll have eternal life.

So He looks at you and me, and He says – well, if that’s what I did to forgive you, how is it possible that you wouldn’t forgive those who have sinned against you? Well – how is that possible?

That’s the question that God is asking us today? How is that possible?! So … let me ask you, whom haven’t you forgiven in your life. For whom do you still harbour the darkness of unforgiveness in your heart? Hmm?

This series of messages is called Overboard with Jesus. It’s about taking our lives out of the mediocre comfort zone where we’ve perhaps been living, and going all out, living our lives full on for Jesus. There are so many people who want to do that, but they just don’t know how. Well, get a revelation today, you cannot, you simply cannot live your life full on for Jesus if you are carrying unforgiveness around in your heart. Ya just can’t!

Is it hard to forgive? Sure it is – I have a couple of people in my life who betrayed me so deeply – over 20 years ago now, it can still be a struggle to live out that forgiveness. That’s why I pray for them so often, still now. Because as I pray for them – the way Jesus taught me to, He said pray for your enemies, right?! As I do that, He heals the unforgiveness. He takes it away. He does what I cannot do – He replaces my heart of stone with a heart of flesh.

Man, Jesus came to set the captives free. That was His promise. That’s the first thing He said at the beginning of His public ministry, there in the synagogue in Nazareth. I’ve come to set the captives free. Well, if you’re captive to unforgiveness today, if you’re struggling to let go of that darkness, that destructive force of unforgiveness in your heart today – hear this.

Jesus came to set you free. Yes. You. Let it go. Put it into His hands. Pray for your enemy – get out there, go overboard with Jesus. Trust Him … and He will show up. He will grab your hand when you start sinking. Because that … that’s just what Jesus does.

MAKING IT HAPPEN

I am a firm believer that we are, you am, I am, we each are, masters of self–delusion. Why? Because we all have blind spots in our makeup. You know what it’s like, when you’re driving a car, if your rear vision mirror and your two side mirrors aren’t perfectly lined up there are blind spots in your rear vision.

Often those blind spots are big enough to hide a motor cycle, or even a car. Change lanes without looking back over your shoulder, and you’re likely to have an accident. A few years ago, I attended a defensive driving course. Now, I thought every car had blind spots like that, but it turns out that the mirrors are designed so that if you know how to line them up – and they taught us that on the course – you’ll have seamless rear vision, from your right peripheral vision, right around behind you, through to your left peripheral vision. Quite amazing really.

Now, whenever I hop into a car other than my own, like a hire car, I always line up the mirrors to that there are no blind spots.

It’s a bit like that with us in life – we have these blind spots and the definition of a blind spot is a place where you can’t see. I didn’t realise for instance, that my anger was an issue before I became a Christian. But actually it wasn’t becoming a Christian that made the difference. It was hearing what God had to say.

I began to read my Bible not out of a sense of duty, but because the pastor of the first little church that I attended – Pastor Phil – inspired me with God’s Word.

Proverbs 12:15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.

So, I went to the source of wisdom – God Himself. And as I started reading, time and time I was convicted that something in my life wasn’t quite right. So God would work on that with me. Then it was the next thing and the next thing and … well, would you believe a few decades later, we’re still going.

The power of God’s Word to bring me to repentance by showing me my blind spots has been truly miraculous, in fact, it still is. And the power of God’s Word to help me to learn to forgive … the same thing. I discovered a while into the process that this is exactly what’s meant to happen. Jesus said:

John 16:8 And when the Holy Spirit comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment.

That’s what the Holy Spirit does as we open our hearts to God’s Word – He helps us discern right from wrong, He convicts us as it were, in such an incredibly powerful way, a way that brings change.

So, perhaps you’re struggling with some sin in your life right at the moment, or some unforgiveness in your heart and you just can’t seem to let go. Well, right now, I want to pray for you, because I believe that Holy Spirit power, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, is going to fill you today in the most amazing way.

Father God, we come to you to confess that we are completely helpless to deal with our sin, with our unforgiveness. Lord we’re even powerless to know much of the time the things inside us, the things going on in our hearts, the things that are manifesting in our lives, that are displeasing to you. So we ask today dear Holy Spirit that you would convict us of sin and righteousnesss, that you would shine your light into the darkest recesses of our soul … and that you would give us a passion, a real passion for your Word, to hear you speak your grace and mercy and power into our lives. Bring repentance dear God where there is sin, bring forgiveness dear God, where there is unforgiveness in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen!!

Amen, Amen – and I want to encourage you to become a man or a woman of God’s Word, feeding daily on the Word of God, hearing daily God speak His wisdom into your life – receiving daily from Him the power to change … so that each day, you look more and more like Jesus. Because that’s what He wants to do in your life – and it’s the most wondrous thing to experience.