Latest / Heart Check Podcast / Can a Christian be Unrepentant?
Transcript
- 0:00Is a Christian really a Christian What's up, everybody?
- 0:12Welcome back to Heart Check podcast.
- 0:14I'm your host, Pastor Los. Yeah, let's go.
- 0:19We're going to be diving into the biblical command of
- 0:23repentance. But specifically, what does it
- 0:26look like for us to live a life of repentance?
- 0:29Is someone really a Christian? Is someone really following
- 0:32Jesus if they live in unrepentance, that they don't
- 0:35repent of their sins, that they don't change their ways and
- 0:39focus on Jesus? And I want to first start off
- 0:42with the Greek word metanoia. I'm saying that in the best way.
- 0:45I got my Greek on metanoia. It's METANOIA.
- 0:50Metanoia is the Greek word that's used in the New Testament
- 0:54for the word repentance. And what this word meant in its
- 0:57original language was a change of mind, new creation, new
- 1:02thoughts, a new way of living to turn to God.
- 1:07That you're walking on a path that's not that God has you on
- 1:11and that you turn to Jesus and you follow him.
- 1:14That you change your thought life.
- 1:16That because of your change of mind, because of this new
- 1:19outlook in life, that you start to live and think and act like
- 1:24Jesus, to change your mind to be more of who Christ calls you to
- 1:27be, to think more like Christ, to be more like minded as your
- 1:31brothers and sisters who follow God.
- 1:34And So what does this look like to live a life of repentance?
- 1:38Because I think that question that first started this episode
- 1:41of are you really saved if you aren't living a life?
- 1:44Repentance is a question I think some people ask or are wondering
- 1:48if I'm not repenting of my sin, if I'm living in constant sin or
- 1:51you're not really feeling like you're changing your ways.
- 1:55Do I really know Jesus? Am I really saved?
- 1:58And so I want to dive into that today, where your heart is at,
- 2:01to have that heart check of repentance, to reset your sight
- 2:05on Jesus and who he is calling you to be.
- 2:09And so the first story I wanted to touch on is in First
- 2:11Corinthians chapter 5. If you've never read this, one
- 2:14of my favorite letters that Paul gives in the New Testament, Paul
- 2:17addresses someone who's in the church, who's living in
- 2:20unrepentance that actually the church body is celebrating.
- 2:24And Paul writes this in First Corinthians chapter 5.
- 2:27He says in verse one, I can hardly believe the report about
- 2:30the sexual immorality going on among you, something that even
- 2:35pagans, people who don't believe in Jesus, don't do.
- 2:38That's what pagans mean, people who are not followers of Jesus.
- 2:41He said they don't even do this. I am told that a man in verse 2
- 2:46in your church is living in sin with his stepmother.
- 2:51There's a man in the church who is having sex with his
- 2:53stepmother, and you'll in verse 2 he says you are so proud of
- 2:59yourselves, but you should be mourning in sorrow and shame,
- 3:03and you should remove this man from your fellowship.
- 3:06Even though I'm not with you in person, I am with you in the
- 3:09spirit. And as though I were there, I've
- 3:11already passed judgment on this man.
- 3:13In the name of the Lord Jesus, you must call a meeting of the
- 3:16church. I will be present with you in
- 3:19spirit, and so will the power of our Lord Jesus.
- 3:22Then you must throw this man out and hand him over to Satan so
- 3:26that his sinful nature will be destroyed and he himself will be
- 3:30saved on the day the Lord returns.
- 3:33That's a lot to unpack. But Paul addresses this sin that
- 3:36is going unrepentant in the church in Corinth.
- 3:39And he's not playing playing games.
- 3:42Paul's throwing, He's not holding back any punches.
- 3:44He's throwing a hook, then an uppercut.
- 3:46He's not playing when it comes to this sin that's not just
- 3:50going unrepentant, but it's almost being celebrated also by
- 3:54the believers in the church in Corinth.
- 3:56And so Paul touches on this. He addresses this.
- 3:58He says this is not something to play with.
- 4:01This is not something to take lightly that this sin that this
- 4:04man is doing with his stepmother, sexual sin with his
- 4:07stepmother, and it's being celebrated.
- 4:09People who don't even know Jesus don't even do these things.
- 4:12But you guys are people who are called to be set apart are
- 4:16living in this sin and you're knowing this and you're doing
- 4:18nothing about it. There's no repentance, there's
- 4:20no sorrow and shame over this. And so Paul says this man needs
- 4:25to be kicked out of the church. You need to have no fellowship
- 4:29with this man anymore that he shouldn't be allowed in the body
- 4:33because of this sin that he's living in that he's unrepentant
- 4:36of. And so when you hear this story,
- 4:38you might be sitting there thinking, man, that's kind of
- 4:40extreme. Does he need to be kicked out?
- 4:43I mean, he's doing this sin. But all of us are sinners and
- 4:46fall short of the glory of God, as we just talked about last
- 4:48week. But we have to remember, this is
- 4:50specifically speaking towards someone who is living in sin and
- 4:53has no shame or sorrow over it. That they're not even convicted
- 4:57of their sin, that they're choosing to actively live in
- 4:59this and have no repentance over this sin in their lives.
- 5:03That brothers and sisters are seeing this, that they're not
- 5:06even dressing this, that they're not having accountability with
- 5:09this. Last week we spoke about
- 5:11accountability, what it looks like to be real and reveal your
- 5:14sin. And accountability is a part of
- 5:16that. And as brothers and sisters in
- 5:18Christ, when we see a brother or sister living an active sin that
- 5:22there's no repentance of, this needs to be something that gets
- 5:25addressed one-on-one. As Jesus says, you go to that
- 5:28brother one-on-one. If they still don't listen, you
- 5:29bring two or three others with you to address that brother.
- 5:32And then if they still won't change, you bring it before the
- 5:36church. Paul goes on to say, You're
- 5:37boasting about this is terrible. Don't you realize that this sin
- 5:41is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch
- 5:45of dough? Get rid of the old yeast by
- 5:48removing this wicked person from among you.
- 5:51Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without
- 5:54yeast, which is what you really are.
- 5:56So Paul speaking on this sin of this person that's going
- 6:00unrepented, that is being boasted about, celebrated about,
- 6:03is so terrible, not just for them, but also for the body of
- 6:07Christ that he's connected to his local church, his church
- 6:10that he does life with. His sin is affecting the whole
- 6:15community. It's affecting the whole church.
- 6:17It's not just even about his soul and his repentance, but
- 6:22because of his sin and what it's what he's doing, it's actually
- 6:25affecting the rest of the body of Christ that he's connected
- 6:28to. That's crazy to think about.
- 6:31And I don't think that's something that we even realize
- 6:34that our sin, our unrepentant sin, things that we're living in
- 6:37doesn't just affect us. It also effects our brothers and
- 6:41sisters in Christ. That when we're living in that,
- 6:44it's overflowing to the community we're a part of.
- 6:48That's why repentance is something we take very
- 6:51seriously, that when we have sin in our lives that we're not
- 6:54repenting of, that we're not seeking God's grace and
- 6:56forgiveness, that we're not confessing to God and to others.
- 6:59As we talked about last week, it doesn't only just affect us, it
- 7:03also effects those around us. This is why Paul touches on
- 7:08this. This is why Paul says that take
- 7:10this so seriously that you cast this out amongst your
- 7:14fellowship. And I know for us, we hear that
- 7:17and it's hard to hear and hear me clearly.
- 7:19Paul isn't this isn't A1 shoe fits all scenario.
- 7:24This isn't, hey, this is how we go about it because Paul said
- 7:27what they're doing sin, you kick them out.
- 7:28They're not repentant of you kick them out.
- 7:30Paul speaking towards someone who is living in this and not
- 7:33being repentant of it. And they're not even having that
- 7:36within their own body, their local church.
- 7:39But really the point of this is that there's a difference
- 7:42between worldly sorrow and godly sorrow.
- 7:45And Paul touches on this when we flip over to 2nd Corinthians.
- 7:48The second letter he writes to the Church of Corinth.
- 7:51He follows up, which is so cool that we have this.
- 7:54He follows up on this story that he speaks to in the 1st letter
- 7:59to Corinthians. He follows up in this.
- 8:01In Second Corinthians Chapter 7, verse eight through 10, Paul
- 8:05says this. I'm not sorry that I sent that
- 8:09severe letter to you, though I was sorry at first, for I know
- 8:12it was painful to you for a little while.
- 8:15Now I'm glad I sent it, not because it hurt you, but because
- 8:19the pain caused you to repent and change your ways.
- 8:24It was the kind of sorrow God wants His people to have.
- 8:28So you were not harmed by us in any way, For the kind of sorrow
- 8:32God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in
- 8:37salvation. There's no regret for that kind
- 8:40of sorrow, but worldly sorrow which lacks repentance and
- 8:44results in spiritual death. Paul saying, hey, I know what I
- 8:49had to say was hard to hear. And I know it may have even felt
- 8:52intense for you guys or felt like there was lacking grace.
- 8:56But in reality, it's because I love you guys so much and I love
- 9:01my brothers and sisters, and I know what allowing unrepentant
- 9:05worldly sorrow in your midst can do.
- 9:08And so Paul dressed this sin. He told them to not take this
- 9:12lightly, to cast this man out. But what's awesome to see is
- 9:17that this man comes back in repentance, that he changed his
- 9:21way, the church changed the way they lived, that they turned
- 9:25back to God. They changed their minds that
- 9:28they noticed that this was not OK, that they acted upon it,
- 9:32that they repented of it and God brought about healing in that,
- 9:37that Paul's not saying I regret doing it.
- 9:39I, I knew that's what had to happen because it would bring
- 9:42you guys to godly sorrow, not worldly sorrow, worldly sorrow.
- 9:47Looks like, oh, I'm sorry. Let me just try to put a
- 9:50Band-Aid on this broken bone. But godly Saul says, man, I
- 9:54really want to change for Jesus. I don't want to keep saying I'm
- 9:58sorry, I'm sorry, God, but then going right back to it not to
- 10:02actually change my mind or change my life.
- 10:05I'm gonna keep saying sorry, but I'm know what I'm gonna do
- 10:08tomorrow and I know what I'm gonna do after this prayer that
- 10:11I'm gonna just try to give the quick sorry.
- 10:12As my wife and I talk about many times of I don't want just the
- 10:16quick sorry from our kids, 'cause sometimes it's about
- 10:19realizing what you're sorry for. I think we say sorry to God, but
- 10:24we don't even know what we're really sorry about.
- 10:27What are you sorry for? Are you sorry for the way that
- 10:30hurts others? The way that hurt your
- 10:32relationship with God? Not that He doesn't love you and
- 10:36not that not that He's not in it anymore, but your sin of
- 10:40unrepentance in your life. That's not who God calls you to
- 10:43be. And it affects your walk with
- 10:46Him. It causes distance, it causes
- 10:50hurt and pain around and amongst your brothers and sisters who
- 10:53you do life with, who you're connected to.
- 10:56It does affect the body of Christ.
- 10:59So what are you sorry for? This godly sorrow brings about
- 11:02repentance. It brings about change.
- 11:05Worldly sorrow brings about quick fix.
- 11:07But going right back to it. So are you living in worldly
- 11:10sorrow in your life or are you living in godly sorrow?
- 11:13Because godly sorrow brings about salvation, it brings about
- 11:16repentance, it brings about healing.
- 11:18But worldly sorrow leads to spiritual death.
- 11:23That's a scary thought. Following Jesus isn't something
- 11:25that's just going to be all rainbows and sunshine.
- 11:27Sometimes we need this conviction from God's Word to be
- 11:30heavy on us, to remind us that we're not supposed to just live
- 11:34flippantly with our sin. As Paul says again, I'll bring
- 11:37it up again, It doesn't mean 'cause we know of God's grace,
- 11:40we just keep on sinning. Of course not.
- 11:43This should cause godly sorrow in our lives because we know
- 11:45that this takes us from him. This takes us from peace and
- 11:49freedom. It's it affects the people
- 11:52around us. It affects our brothers and
- 11:53sisters in Christ. Think about the people who are
- 11:56around that church in Corinth, watching them live like this.
- 11:58As Paul says, the pagans don't even do these things.
- 12:00So the people who don't even know Jesus are watching you guys
- 12:03celebrate and boast and this brother sleeping with his
- 12:06stepmom and they're looking at you like what's different about
- 12:10you? You guys live even more wicked
- 12:13than we do and we don't even have faith in Jesus.
- 12:15It affects your witness to a world that doesn't know Christ.
- 12:19It if it allows the enemy to have a place of influence in
- 12:22your life and in your brothers and sisters lives, it affects
- 12:25your witness. It affects the way people see
- 12:27Jesus because you're misrepresenting him.
- 12:30It affects your nearness to Him because of that worldly sorrow.
- 12:35I'm just living in this unrepentant sin that I'm
- 12:38continuing to be in, that I know is not drawing me closer to Him,
- 12:43that it's taken me farther from the body of Christ, because now
- 12:46I'm not even having fellowship with God.
- 12:48I'm not having fellowship with them.
- 12:50What does First John say? First John 16 says, So we are
- 12:54lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on
- 12:57living in spiritual darkness. We are not practicing the truth.
- 13:03We are lying to ourselves. If we say we have fellowship
- 13:06with God, we have fellowship with our brothers and sisters,
- 13:08and we go on living in spiritual darkness, we are not practicing
- 13:12or living out the way of following Jesus.
- 13:15We're just lying to ourselves. We're being crooks.
- 13:18We're not being actual faithful followers of Jesus.
- 13:21Godly sorrow versus worldly sorrow.
- 13:24Where are you at in your life? Unaddressed, unrepentant,
- 13:28unconfessed. Sin does allow the enemy to have
- 13:31a foothold in your life. Ephesians 4, verse 27.
- 13:36We'll start at actually verse 25.
- 13:39Paul says this to the church in Ephesus.
- 13:41So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the
- 13:44truth, for we are all parts of the same body.
- 13:47Again, stop telling lies and let our let us tell our neighbors
- 13:51the truth. Why?
- 13:51Because we are all parts of the same body.
- 13:53Here goes Paul again hitting this point.
- 13:56Your sin doesn't just affect you, it affects your brothers
- 13:59and sisters as well. It affects the body that you're
- 14:02connected to, the body of Christ.
- 14:03And he goes on in verse 26 and he says, and don't sin by
- 14:06letting anger control you. Don't let the sun go down while
- 14:10you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.
- 14:16Now I love this verse because I've studied deep into this
- 14:20because what does it mean for us to give a foothold to Satan in
- 14:23our lives? And the Greek word for foothold
- 14:27is topas topas, you know, trying my best with my Greek TOPOS.
- 14:32And it means place. But when this verse, when Paul
- 14:36says you give a foothold to the devil, when you don't confess of
- 14:40your sin, when you don't give over that anger to God, when you
- 14:43let the sun go down in unrepentance, when you live a
- 14:46life of not confessing your sin, you give the enemy a foothold in
- 14:51your life. You give him as Paul's touching
- 14:54on a place of influence in your life.
- 14:58The enemy now has a grip on you, and he's influencing your
- 15:03thoughts, your decision, your motives.
- 15:06He's influencing all of your life.
- 15:09But I love even the way it says it says Topaz.
- 15:11This word foothold means place, opportunity, chance, or room.
- 15:17You are giving Satan a place of influence and opportunity to
- 15:21have power over you in your life.
- 15:23You're giving him a chance to speak into your mind, to speak
- 15:27those lies and have control of your thoughts in your heart.
- 15:30You are giving him room in your home.
- 15:33You're giving him room in the body of Christ you're connected
- 15:36to. You're giving him room in your
- 15:38relationship. You're giving him a room in your
- 15:40family. You are allowing Satan to have
- 15:44room and space and influence in your life because Satan has no
- 15:48power over Jesus. Jesus who dwells in the
- 15:52believer, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God that dwells in the
- 15:56person who's put their faith in Jesus.
- 15:58Satan has no power over God. We give him the power.
- 16:03We give him a place. We give Him room, we give Him an
- 16:07opportunity to influence our lives, to influence our minds,
- 16:10to influence our hearts. So we have to have a heart
- 16:13check. Is there things in our lives
- 16:15that we're unrepentant of that we're not confessing to God or
- 16:19confessing to others? Last week, guys, why I said it
- 16:21was such an important week? It's because of this week and
- 16:24what we're talking about. If you live a life of
- 16:27unrepentance, you are allowing the enemy to have an influence
- 16:30not only in your life, but also in the life of others, also in
- 16:35the life of your brothers and sisters in Christ, who you do
- 16:37life with, who you share a community with.
- 16:40Yeah, that is heavy. Yeah, that does feel weighty.
- 16:43Following Jesus. As my Big Brother says,
- 16:45following Jesus is simple, but not easy.
- 16:48It's by faith that we are saved. But now, what does that look
- 16:51like? To walk out our salvation, to go
- 16:54through the sanctification process with Jesus, to be
- 16:58pruned, to be refined, to be uprooted.
- 17:00Those deep sins in our lives, those things we don't want to
- 17:03give up. What does that look like 'cause
- 17:05that's not easy, but it's worth it.
- 17:08Jesus has a life of freedom and abundance for you, a life that's
- 17:12near to him, a life that's life to the full as we talk about a
- 17:16life of peace, a life of joy, a life of hope.
- 17:20But when we allow the enemy to have a foothold in our lives, we
- 17:23wonder why we are in this place of the opposite of freedom, the
- 17:27opposite of peace, living in chaos, why I feel like I just
- 17:30continue to choose that sin in my life, why I'm living in it.
- 17:35The question is, have you allowed Satan to have a place of
- 17:38influence in your life, in your mind, in your heart?
- 17:41Who's controlling you? Who's controlling your thoughts?
- 17:45Who's controlling your decisions, your motives, your
- 17:47actions, your words? Is there something in your heart
- 17:50that you have not confessed of, that you have not repented of?
- 17:54Is there bitterness you still have towards that person that
- 17:57you need to confess of and repent of?
- 17:59Is there anger you feel towards that brother or sister?
- 18:02Is there a sin you've committed that you have not repented of to
- 18:05God, that you've not repented of to others?
- 18:07And as I said last week, guys, some of the sin in our lives is
- 18:11vertical, just between you and God.
- 18:13But I also believe God calls us to have horizontal confession as
- 18:18well with others as we read and talked on again and again.
- 18:22James 516, right? Confession plus prayer equals
- 18:25healing. Confession to God, but
- 18:28confession to others as well. Confession and repentance is not
- 18:32an easy thing, but it's the reset that our heart needs to be
- 18:35more like Christ, to not live in worldly sorrow and continue to
- 18:39live in this place of sin or anger or bitterness, but to get
- 18:44rid of it, to put it to death. Because what Paul follows up
- 18:46with in Ephesians, he says if you are a thief, quit stealing.
- 18:50Instead, use your hands for good work and then give generously to
- 18:52others in need. Don't use foul or abusive
- 18:55language. Let everything you say be good
- 18:57and helpful so that your words will be encouragement to those
- 19:00who hear them. Be who God calls you to be.
- 19:03Don't live in lies. Don't live in sin.
- 19:07Stop doing those things. Don't let the sun go down while
- 19:09you're still angry and allow Satan to have a place of
- 19:13influence to give him room at the table.
- 19:16Don't let him. You cast him out and you rebuke
- 19:19him out through repentance and confession and giving Jesus
- 19:22authority over your life in Jesus name.
- 19:25Because again guys, Paul touches on this.
- 19:28As Paul says later on in Ephesians 2 chapters later, he
- 19:31says in chapter 6, verse 12, For we are not fighting against
- 19:35flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and
- 19:38authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this
- 19:42Dark World and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
- 19:47When we are allowing Satan a foothold, when we are living in
- 19:50that sin and being unrepentant of it, that is what Satan wants.
- 19:55This isn't a fight against others or against ourselves.
- 19:58It's against powers and principalities of the unseen
- 20:01world. This is spiritual warfare.
- 20:04This is not a game, and this is what Paul's touching on in First
- 20:08Corinthians chapter 5. Don't take this lightly.
- 20:11This is serious. This is a matter of life or
- 20:14death. This is a matter of our souls.
- 20:16Spiritual warfare is not something you take lightly.
- 20:19Don't give Satan a place of opportunity.
- 20:22Don't give Satan room at your home, in your home, at your
- 20:25table, in your relationships, in your marriage, in your in your
- 20:29friendships, in your godly community.
- 20:31You put a hedge around your community through repentance,
- 20:34through honesty, through transparency.
- 20:36Because again, guys, your sin doesn't only affect you, it also
- 20:39affects your brothers and sisters.
- 20:41We are not fighting against one another, even though sometimes
- 20:44it feels that way even in the climate of the current world we
- 20:47live in. The fights I watch on Facebook
- 20:50and the fights I see in the comment section between
- 20:53believers, the division in the church in the body.
- 20:57Satan is thriving in that. Satan is having a place of
- 21:03influence in that when we are fighting one another, when we
- 21:07are not seeking unity and compassion and love in the body
- 21:10of Christ, as those will know we belong to Jesus by the way we
- 21:13love one another. But when we let the enemy have a
- 21:16place of influence in our lives, Satan is getting exactly what he
- 21:20wants. He doesn't want the world to see
- 21:23a unified body of Christ, followers of Jesus who confess
- 21:26and who are repentant, who are living in godly sorrow over
- 21:29their sin, not living in perfection cause none of us
- 21:32will, but living in repentance because we know who that shapes
- 21:36us more into that, that crafts us and molds us more into
- 21:39likeness of Christ. Kelly and I and my wife, we talk
- 21:42about this all the time when we're in an argument, when we're
- 21:45in a fight, when we literally are sitting there and we have a
- 21:48moment to breathe and we say, what are we even fighting about
- 21:51right now? That we know this is what Satan
- 21:55wants, to recognize it, to call it out to be, to reveal it, to
- 22:01then repent of it, To say, Kelly, I'm sorry that I was
- 22:04angry at you about that 'cause I know that's just what the enemy
- 22:07wants. He wants you and I fighting.
- 22:08He doesn't want our marriage to be built on Christ.
- 22:10He doesn't want our marriage to be healthy and godly and
- 22:14peaceful. Satan wants it to be chaotic.
- 22:17He wants it to be fighting. He wants there to be anger.
- 22:20And so when we recognize that that then we reveal it, that we
- 22:23repent of it, then we get to live in the freedom that Jesus
- 22:26has for us, that he takes that grip that the enemy has.
- 22:31So you doesn't allow room for the enemy in your marriage and
- 22:34in your home and in your relationships and in your life
- 22:36anymore. When we repent of it, we
- 22:39acknowledge it for spiritual warfare that that we are not
- 22:42fighting against flesh and blood.
- 22:44I'm not fighting against my wife.
- 22:46I'm fighting against the enemy and what he wants to cause in my
- 22:49life. And he has no authority in this
- 22:51home. Jesus has full authority over my
- 22:54home and my family and my life. And I proclaim that in Jesus
- 22:58name. Don't take this lightly guys.
- 23:00Whatever that sin is in your life, repent of it.
- 23:03Don't live in it. Don't try to make excuses for
- 23:06it. Don't try to say, well, they did
- 23:08this or they did that, or they made me feel this way or I
- 23:12responded like that because they did this or I'm justified for
- 23:15what I'm doing. I love him.
- 23:17James for six, it says this, and he gives grace generously.
- 23:22As the scripture says, God opposes the proud but gives
- 23:26grace to the humble. Listen clearly, my brothers and
- 23:30sisters, God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the
- 23:34humble. To live in repentance takes
- 23:37humility. And if you aren't willing to
- 23:39humble yourself before the King of Kings, to humble yourself
- 23:43before others, brothers and sisters, as Paul says, to look
- 23:46at others better than yourself in Philippians 2, we're not
- 23:49willing to have a humble heart. We're going to live in
- 23:52unrepentant sin. That we're going to live in a
- 23:54place where the enemy has a foothold in our lives, that
- 23:57we're not going to experience the life to the full that Jesus
- 23:59has for us because we constantly are too prideful to repent of
- 24:04the sin in our hearts. I don't want that for you.
- 24:06God doesn't want that for you. Repent of it.
- 24:10Ask Jesus to reveal it to you. Those the the parts that you
- 24:14don't know, as we talked about in Psalm 1912, revealing me my
- 24:17hidden faults, my hidden sins that I don't know about because
- 24:19God, I want to repent of it. Listen to that godly counsel
- 24:24that you're given from your brothers and sisters who do life
- 24:26with you and you trust and love when they say those hard truths
- 24:29to you and it's an iron sharpening iron moment.
- 24:32Don't just push it off because your flesh is like, no man, I'm
- 24:36not doing that. I'm right, they're wrong.
- 24:38Be willing to be humble before the Lord, humble before others
- 24:43because your sins not only affecting you, it's affecting
- 24:45others around you as well. Jesus wants that peace for you.
- 24:49I love in Psalm 32 five it says finally David.
- 24:53I can imagine David's life he lived.
- 24:56He says finally I confessed all my sins to you and stop trying
- 25:00to hide my guilt. I said to myself, I will confess
- 25:04my rebellion to the Lord, and you forgave me.
- 25:07All my guilt is gone. A life falling after Jesus isn't
- 25:12a life consumed by guilt. It's a life consumed by freedom
- 25:15and joy and peace and hope and love.
- 25:19But as David said, I finally confessed my sin to you.
- 25:23I stopped trying to hide my guilt.
- 25:25I stopped trying to be prideful. I stopped trying to point blame
- 25:29at others. I stopped trying to make excuses
- 25:32about my sin. I stopped trying to act one way
- 25:35around others and different around when no one was looking.
- 25:38I chose to live in honesty. I chose to be repentant.
- 25:43I chose to have godly sorrow because that's what leads to
- 25:45change. Godly change, not worldly
- 25:48change. That's temporary, worldly
- 25:51sorrows temporary. It's a quick, sorry, it's a
- 25:53quick Band-Aid over a broken bone.
- 25:56But there's not actual change. And so if you're feeling like
- 25:58you're in a place of my life just continues to look the same,
- 26:02my challenge to you is, are you living a life of unrepentance,
- 26:05unconfessed sin, unaddressed sin?
- 26:08Are you allowing the enemy to have a place of influence in
- 26:10your life? Are you giving him room at the
- 26:12table? Don't let them repent.
- 26:14Repent to God, repent to others. If that's what God's calling you
- 26:17to do. Seek reconciliation, seek
- 26:19restoration. Because as I say, every single
- 26:22time, I promise you it's worth it.
- 26:24Always. So as we started this episode,
- 26:27unrepentant sin doesn't mean you aren't saved.
- 26:31It means you're living a life influenced by Satan.
- 26:35Decision, motives and faults are not only are not only Holy
- 26:39Spirit LED because you haven't confessed in order to remove
- 26:43Satan's foothold in your life. I can't even be led by Jesus
- 26:47because Satan has a grip. I can't be Holy Spirit LED in my
- 26:51life when the spirit of Satan is also attached to me, when he has
- 26:56a place of influence in my mind and in my heart.
- 26:59I can't be led by Jesus then. But listen here when I say that
- 27:02and I know people feel that weight of am I losing my
- 27:06salvation? Am I not really saved?
- 27:07Number one, you know your heart and God knows your heart.
- 27:10God knows what you do behind the scenes and you know what you do
- 27:13behind the scenes. I'm never going to be someone
- 27:16who's going to tell someone where they stand with God
- 27:20because God is the one that truly knows where your heart is.
- 27:24But if you're feeling that weight of man, why do I keep
- 27:26struggling with this sin? Am I really saved?
- 27:29Am I going to hell? I want you to hear this.
- 27:32If you have put your faith in Jesus, if you have confessed him
- 27:36as Lord Romans 10/9, if you've confessed with your mouth that
- 27:40Jesus is Lord and you believed in your heart that God raised
- 27:43him from the dead, you are saved.
- 27:46Ephesians 28 through 9 for it is by faith through grace that you
- 27:51are saved. It's by Jesus's work on the
- 27:53cross, not yours. So hear me clearly, if you've
- 27:55put your faith in Jesus, you are saved.
- 27:58Don't let anybody tell you you can lose your salvation.
- 28:00Why? Oh, let me, let me touch on
- 28:01that. You're asking why Jesus says in
- 28:04John chapter 10, let's start in verse 24.
- 28:07The people surrounded him, surrounded Jesus and they asked
- 28:11how long are you going to keep us in suspense?
- 28:13If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly, and I love this, Jesus
- 28:17replied. I have already told you, and you
- 28:20don't believe me. The proof is the work I do in my
- 28:24Father's name. But you don't believe me,
- 28:26because you are not my sheep. Listen to this guys.
- 28:30My sheep listen to my voice. I know them and they follow me.
- 28:36I give them eternal life and they will never perish.
- 28:39No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them
- 28:45to me and he is more powerful than anyone else.
- 28:50I love how he finishes this. No one can snatch them from my
- 28:54Father's hand. The Father and I are one.
- 28:58Nobody can snatch you from the Father's hand.
- 29:03Those who have been given to Jesus are his forever.
- 29:06For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, so
- 29:09that anyone who will believe in Him will not perish.
- 29:12But have what? Eternal life?
- 29:15Anyone who believes in Him will not perish.
- 29:20Anyone who's been given to him, who's in the Father's hand, will
- 29:24never be snatched from him. Because again, ain't nobody more
- 29:29powerful than God. You feel me?
- 29:31He is almighty. He is Alpha and Omega.
- 29:36Jesus has got you. But to sober it back down.
- 29:39As Paul said in Second Corinthians, worldly sorrow
- 29:42which lacks repentance results in spiritual death.
- 29:46So take that as you may, but when I read that a Christian
- 29:49who's just living in unrepentance is on a road that
- 29:52does not lead to spiritual life but spiritual death, repent of
- 29:58that sin. Live out godly sorrow in your
- 30:00life. You will not be perfect, but you
- 30:03choose how you respond to your imperfections.
- 30:07You choose how you respond to the sin in your life.
- 30:09That you don't let the sun go down while you're still angry.
- 30:12That you don't let the sun go down while you just watch
- 30:14pornography. You don't let the sun go down
- 30:15while you just got drunk again. You don't let the sun go down
- 30:18while you just cussed out your mom again.
- 30:20You don't let the sun go down when you start those thoughts
- 30:22about that person again. That you confess it to Jesus,
- 30:26That you repent of it. That you repent of others who
- 30:29you need to seek repentance to as well.
- 30:32Because it's not just affecting you, it's affecting others as
- 30:35well. Repentance leads to a guilt free
- 30:38life. Repentance leads to a life to
- 30:41the fold that Jesus has for you. Repentance rips Satan's foothold
- 30:45off of your life, that he has no more place of influence.
- 30:49That repentance allows you to live above his lies, to cast him
- 30:53out of your heart, to cast him out of your life, to allow you
- 30:56to reset and set your sights back on Christ.
- 30:59I love you guys, I appreciate you so much and I am praying
- 31:04that you live out a life of repentance, that you don't take
- 31:07this lightly, that you choose Jesus, not your sin.
- 31:11That you choose to seek reconciliation, that you don't
- 31:15let Satan have a place of influence in your life anymore
- 31:18because he has no power to do so.
- 31:21We give him the opportunity to don't let him anymore.
- 31:25Live for Jesus. Seek the Kingdom above all else
- 31:28and he will give you everything you need.
- 31:30Let me pray for y'all. We can get him out of here.
- 31:32Lord Jesus, I just love you. Lord Jesus, I thank you for who
- 31:35you are. God, I thank you that you lead
- 31:38us to peace, no matter how hard it may be.
- 31:42That you're such a good Father, that you're not just going to
- 31:44let us continue to live in sin, to continue to live disobedient.
- 31:47That you correct us, You convict us, that you rebuke us, God, to
- 31:51bring us to a place of godly sorrow.
- 31:53God, whoever's listening to this right now and has a place in
- 31:55their life with this enemy, has a place of influence.
- 31:58God, I pray that they repent to you right now, that they live
- 32:02out this repentance in their lives, that they don't continue
- 32:04to let the sin in their lives allow the enemy to have a place
- 32:07of influence. That they stop giving Satan a
- 32:09room, an opportunity and a chance to lead their lives
- 32:13rather than you. Jesus.
- 32:15I pray for my brothers and sisters to find that freedom
- 32:17that you have for them to repent of that Santa, get rid of it, to
- 32:21stop lying, to live in peace and harmony with you and with the
- 32:25brothers and sisters in Christ. God, I pray for your healing,
- 32:28Lord Jesus, 'cause I know it is possible with you.
- 32:31I love you God, Thank you God, just thank you for your word.
- 32:33Thank you for the ways you remind us of these things.
- 32:35Lord Jesus, you are so good. You are patient, you are kind
- 32:37with us and thank you Jesus for never ever making us think that
- 32:41we got a second guess salvation in our safety in you because you
- 32:45are more powerful than anything or anyone else.
- 32:49We love you Jesus. We pray all this in Jesus name.
- 32:53I love y'all. Have a blessed week.