Sermon : Jesus Called All People To Repent Page 1

Jesus Called All People To Repent Text : Matthew 4: 12-17 , 5: 1-12

INTRODUCTION :

A. What is the main message of the New Testament ? Of the bible ?

1. The key to understanding the bible is to understand it’s purpose.

a. Though written over a long period of time by many men, it has one theme.

b. There are many writings by holy men of God which were not included – WHY ?

c. They did not contribute to the theme and to the purpose of the bible.

2. The many erring views of the bible’s function cause confusion among believers.

a. The bible contains laws, but it was not given as a law book.

b. It contains accurate history, but it is not a history book.

c. It contains accurate science, but it is not a science book.

3. The bible is a guidebook to reconciliation with God.

II Cor. 5: 20 - Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

a. It teaches us about the fall of man from fellowship with God.

b. It shows how God work His plan to reconcile man to Himself.

c. It teaches man how to go about being reconciled to God. ( All about relationship )

B. When Jesus came His central message was reconciliation. “We want you back.”

1. He left Heaven to seek out those who had strayed away from God.

Luke 19:10 - For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.

2. His parables taught the message, “You have strayed, but God wants you back.”

a. Luke 15: 3-8 … The lost sheep

b. Luke 15: 8-10 … The lost coin

c. Luke 15: 11-32 … The lost son ( prodigal )

C. Thus, the ministry of Jesus focused on the message of repentance. ( Turn back ! )

1. He started His ministry with a message of repentance.

Matt. 4: 17- From that time Jesus began to preach and say, ( that time = arrest of John ) “Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”

2. He closed His ministry commissioning the same message.

Luke 24: 47 and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

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D. This theme is an iatrical part of the gospel message.

1. Matt. 4: 17 … His message was repent in preparation for the kingdom.

2. Matt. 4: 23 … He was preaching to large crowds about the gospel of the kingdom.

3. Matt. 5-7 … We have a record of one of His sermon telling people what

the repentance in preparation for the kingdom looked like.

With this lesson we will observe four aspects of repentance taught by Jesus.

I. Repentance requires that one accept that he is a sinner. .

A. Matt. 5: 3 - Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. B. Man stands before God as a spiritual beggar. ( No merit to recommend )

1. Poor : ( ptochos ) 1 reduced to beggary, begging, asking alms. 2 destitute of

wealth, influence, position, honour. 2A lowly, afflicted, destitute of the Christian virtues and eternal riches. 2B helpless, powerless to accomplish

an end. 2C poor, needy. 3 lacking in anything.

2. We are instructed to examine ourselves :

a. Gal. 6:4 - But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another.

b. The one who honestly evaluates himself realized that he is spiritually bankrupt.

* Whether or not we accept it, this is the reality of our situation.

c. No man can deny that he sins and falls short of God’s glory. Rom. 3:23

C. Thus, the arrogant or the self-righteous has no access to God or to His kingdom.

1. There is nothing about any man to recommend him to God. We ALL need Jesus.

2. Luke 17: 10 - So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.’

D. ONLY those who approach God as a spiritual beggar are welcomed to Heaven.

1. Blessed : ( makarios ) One who is a recipient of divine favor.

2. These people alone enter the kingdom of Heaven.

3. Until we become poor in spirit, we remain lost … eternally separated from God.

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II. The repentance that Jesus preached involved sorrow over one’s sins. .

A. Matt. 5: 3 - Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

1. Mourn : ( pentheo ) Deep inner agony, to lament

2. The one who seeks fellowship with God goes into spiritual mourning over his sins.

3. One who loves God grieves when he knows he has violated God’s will.

B. Truly repentant people :

1. Don’t take their sins lightly. ( It breaks their heart when they sin. )

2. Don’t entertain themselves watching the sins of others. ( Rom. 1: 32 )

3. Don’t joke about sin. Sin is very serious … 100% fatal 100% of the time.

C. Jesus taught us that we should be so grieved, we hate our sin.

1. Luke 18: 9-14 ( esp. 13 ) And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to Heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

2. How much do you hate your sins ? ( What do you feel when you’ve done wrong ?)

3. Repentance is not manafested in how we view the sins of society.

a. Our society is deteriorating at an ever increasingly fast rate.

b. As was righteous Lot we should be vexed by the sins of those around us :

II Pet. 2: 7-8 and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men 8 (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds),

c. Our honor at the sins around us should motivate us to rescue men from sin.

Jude 22 And have mercy on some, who are doubting; 23 save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.

* Repentance is measured by our attitude toward our own personal sins. MOURN ?

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III. Jesus taught that true repentance turns one away from his sins. .

A. Matt. 5: 5-6 Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. B. The one who truly repents stops seeking his own and submits to God’s will.

1. Gentle ( praus ) 1 mildness of disposition, gentleness of spirit, meekness.

Additional Information: Meekness toward God is that disposition of spirit in which we accept His dealings with us as good, and therefore without disputing or resisting. … Gentleness or meekness is the opposite to self-assertiveness and self-interest. It stems from trust in God’s goodness and control over the situation. The gentle

person is not occupied with self at all. ( Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon )

2. Thus, true repentance eliminates pride and self-seeking interests.

C. Repentance necessitates a total reorientation one one’s life.

1. One’s priorities must change.

Luke 18: 22-23 When Jesus heard this, He said to him, “One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 23 But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich.

a. His wealth was not the problem. Christianity doesn’t require poverty. I Tm. 6: 17ff

b. His problem was priorities. He put his prosperity above God.

2. Repentance requires a total transformation of the inner man.

a. No mental reservations … not 99% committed.

b. Not hang on to that one favorite sin.

c. Not “I’ll cut back.” … BUT … “I reject sin as part of my life.”

D. No matter how sorrowful one may feel about the consequences of sin,

he has not repented until he surrenders his will to God.

1. Thus, one isn’t a Christians until he surrenders his will to God, until he truly repents.

2. True repentance wants more than just to escape Hell. ( Duh – No one wants Hell. )

a. One who has truly repented hates sin and desires to be righteous.

b. When one’s values are reoriented, he desires to be clean.

* When a preschooler, even at play, our pre-school daughter would change clothes immediately if she got the least amount of dirt on her clothes.

– This is the attitude the Christ must have against sin. Zero tolerance !

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IV. True repentance transfers the allegiance of one’s heart to Jesus. .

A. God is either first in one’s heart or not at all.

1. Matt. 22: 35-37 One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, 36 Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’

2. Matt. 10: 37-39 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.

3. Jesus ( God ) refuses to be an “add-on” to you life.

B. Jesus consistently insisted that He would be first or not at all.

1. You must be so much more devoted to me than to anyone else

that it will be as if you hated them. Luke 14: 25-26

2. He said that we must love Him more than our own life.

a. That can mean we have to surrender our plans and goals for our life.

b. There are times devotion to Christ may cost us our job. ( Refuse work on Sunday. )

c. It may also mean that we have to die physically.

3. This is a universal command. Luke 14: 25a - If anyone comes to Me, and …

4. It is an unconditionally binding command. Luke 14: 25a - He cannot be My disciple

C. One can place absolutely NO limitation on his future obedience to Christ.

1. There must be a complete and unconditional transfer of loyalty.

2. Whatever was first in your life must now become second.

3. There can be NO carve-outs. Everything must be subordinated to Christ.

CONCLUSION :

A. Sinners must understand that their greatest concern must be

for Christ to accept them.

1. Jesus is the ONLY way one can have eternal fellowship with God.

a. John 14: 6 ( Compare … John 6: 68 )

b. Acts 4:12- And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.

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2. There is no salvation promised to anyone who will not truly repent.

Rom. 2: 5 - But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, B. The gospel of the “broad way” is very popular today.

Matt. 7: 13 - Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.

1. This is the doctrine of easy religion.

2. Just believe and you will be saved … add Jesus to YOUR life.

3. Choose a church that you like. Good music, plenty of activities, etc.

C. We must realize that we stand before God as spiritual beggars.

1. We are not doing Him a favor by accepting Him.

2. We must appeal to Him to accept us.

3. Jesus will only accept those who totally surrender their will to His.

a. Matt. 7: 21-23 Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in Heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

b. “Many” active church workers will be lost because they have not surrendered

their heart completely to God. They have not truly repented.

D. We have observed four things that Jesus taught about true repentance :

1. It requires that one accept the reality that he is a sinner.

2. It makes one sorrowful for his sins.

3. It turns one away from his sins.

4. It transfers the allegiance of one’s heart to God alone.

INVITATION :

Have you truly repented of your sins ?

Today is the day.

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Lesson Texts :

Matthew 4: 12-17

12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee; 13 and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. 14 This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: 15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great Light, And those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death, Upon them a Light dawned.” 16 The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great Light, And those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death, Upon them a Light dawned.” 17 From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Matthew 5: 1-12

1 When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. 2 He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying,

3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

5 Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

10 Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.