Participants:
Series Code: SCS
Program Code: SCS000003
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00:33 Chapter 3: Repentance.
00:38 Hello and welcome to Steps to Christ in Songs. 00:40 Today we're gonna to be looking at the subject of 00:42 Repentance. I have a friend who has a favorite aunt, 00:46 and when he was growing up, she was sort of like 00:49 his favorite person and one day he had, he was 00:54 outside playing and he came into the house and 00:56 they didn't know he was there, and he heard this 00:59 aunt, who he loved so much talking about him 01:02 and she was saying some things that were really 01:04 negative, and it really hurt him so much so that 01:08 years later, he said that he had never told her and he 01:11 had never told anyone else in the family, but he 01:14 told me and it had really hurt him so much, 01:17 and I thought about that situation and what would 01:21 it had been like if he had actually come to her 01:23 and said this had happened to me. 01:27 Could she have turned around and said to him, 01:29 well you know you shouldn't have heard 01:31 that conversation or I was having a bad day. 01:34 If she had responded that way that's not 01:36 true repentance. True repentance is feeling 01:39 sorry that you have hurt someone that you really 01:41 love and then you stop doing that, but before we 01:45 go too far into this subject I want to ask Ellen to lead 01:48 us in a word of prayer, let's pray. 01:51 Dear heavenly Father, Lord, I want to thank you 01:53 so much for giving us a second chance and for 01:56 giving us an opportunity to repent, and Lord 01:59 thank you for forgiving us and for taking away that 02:02 horrible feeling of guilt that comes from 02:04 disobeying you, I love you so 02:06 much in your name, amen. Amen. 02:11 Guilt is a horrible feeling and guilt is something 02:14 that we've all experienced, but God wants us to be 02:19 free from this feeling. So, how does this happen. 02:24 On the day of Pentecost many who were feeling 02:26 this way cried out to Peter, what shall we do? 02:32 Peter's response in Acts 3:19 was, repent therefore 02:37 and be converted that your sins maybe blotted out. 02:42 When we repent and know that our sins are 02:45 blotted out then we will be completely free from 02:49 this feeling of guilt. That's God's amazing grace. 02:56 Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, 03:07 That saved a wretch like me. 03:18 I once was lost but now am found, 03:29 Was blind, but now I see. T'was Grace that taught 03:45 my heart to fear. And Grace, my fears relieved. 04:01 How precious did that Grace appear 04:12 The hour I first believed. 04:24 The Lord has promised good to me. 04:35 His word my hope secures. 04:44 He will my shield and portion be, 04:55 As long as life endures. Through many dangers, 05:11 toils and snares I have already come; 05:24 'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far 05:34 and Grace will lead me home. 05:44 When we've been here ten thousand years 05:54 Bright shining as the sun. We've no less days to 06:08 sing God's praise, Than when we've first begun. 07:15 Grace is truly the most precious gift we can ever 07:18 receive, because when we do something wrong, 07:21 the feeling of guilt that we get is like a chain 07:24 that binds us, but when we receive God's grace 07:29 it's like a key that can unlock 07:30 those chains and set us free. 07:33 Well, sometimes people abuse that grace. 07:38 How do we know if someone's really sorry? 07:40 Well I think that true repentance isn't just 07:43 saying that you're sorry, but actually changing and 07:46 I have some friends that whenever I talk to them 07:49 whether it be something important or we're just 07:51 chatting, they always interrupt me and they 07:53 run over my sentences or whatever, and at first 07:57 I was like that's okay, you know I do that sometimes 08:01 too myself it's easy to do, but they did it over and 08:04 over and over again and so finally I'm like you 08:07 know this really bugs. So, I went to talk to them 08:10 and I told them you know, whenever you, 08:12 whenever we talk you always interrupt me and 08:16 I feel like you don't really care you know about 08:18 what I have to say and so they're like oh I'm so 08:22 sorry, I didn't even realize I was doing that you 08:24 know and I'm like it's okay you know, I forgive 08:26 you. Well, the second time you know I go and 08:30 talk to them guess what happens, they interrupt 08:33 me again, but this time they add oh I'm so sorry 08:36 I didn't mean to do that and I was like okay 08:39 that's fine you know, but they did it every single 08:43 time you know after that too and they were just 08:45 always add in like little stories like you know 08:48 oh I'm sorry I don't know, you know. 08:52 Yeah, making excuse. Yeah making excuse 08:55 and so you know after that happened I'm like, 08:58 I don't think they're really sorry you know like. 09:01 So, what does it mean to be really sorry, to stop 09:05 doing what you've been doing right? 09:06 And that's true repentance. How do you get to that 09:10 place where you actually truly repent? 09:15 Several years ago my family and I lived in the 09:19 country of Rwanda in African as missionaries. 09:21 I was only 11 at the time and one of my favorite 09:24 things to do is play soccer every afternoon my 09:28 African friends and I would go out on to the 09:29 field by my house and we play soccer and one 09:32 particular afternoon my best friend he was on the 09:35 other team and he was just being really 09:38 obnoxious, he is, he was being really bad sport, 09:41 he had a bad attitude and he was like he would trip 09:43 me and he would like body check me and just 09:46 all this illegal stuff you know tease me and stuff 09:49 and I was getting really, really annoyed and so 09:51 finally towards the end of the game he tripped me 09:54 again, and I got so angry and I got up, I didn't 09:58 think, I didn't even think what I was doing and 09:59 I just slugged him as hard as I could in his stomach 10:02 and he tumbled over in pain and all the other 10:04 guys rushed over to you know see if he was okay 10:07 and he got up and went straight back to his house 10:09 and the game kind of broke up I went back to 10:11 my house and, I was sitting there in my room 10:15 thinking about what had just happened and I began 10:18 to feel so guilty because I realized here my family 10:22 and I are there and we're supposed to be 10:24 missionaries, we're suppose to be helping 10:26 these people, we're supposed to be you know 10:28 showing them how to be Christ like and I had just 10:31 punched my best friend over a soccer game 10:35 and I was just feeling incredibly guilty. 10:37 So I began to think you know how I could show 10:39 him that I was truly sorry and try and mend our 10:42 friendship and I decided I would write him a letter, 10:44 so I wrote him a letter and then of course I would 10:47 take it to him and I think that was one of the 10:49 hardest things I've ever had to do. 10:51 So, I went to his house and I knocked on the door 10:53 and his little brother came to the door and told me 10:56 that he was busy. So, I gave him the note to 10:58 give to him and then later, I apologized to him in 11:03 person and we became friends after that, 11:06 but I think it can honestly say that was one of the 11:08 hardest things I've done is apologizing to him 11:12 you know what I've done to him. 11:14 But, you felt that was necessary for the friendship. 11:16 And you never had those kind of disagreements 11:19 again where you actually felt like slugging 11:20 him and hurting him. No. 11:21 You know, you know I think that's the thing is 11:24 feeling sorry because you hurt a friend 11:26 that's true repentance is about. 11:30 Everyone is sorry when they get caught doing 11:32 something wrong and have to face the 11:33 consequences, but true repentance involve being 11:36 sorry that we did wrong and having a desire to 11:39 change. In the Bible, King David showed the 11:42 spirit when he said in Psalms 51:10 through12, 11:45 Create in me a clean heart, O God. 11:48 Renew a right spirit within me. Do not banish 11:51 me from your presence, and don't take your 11:53 Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me again the 11:56 joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. 12:03 Create in me a clean heart O God, 12:14 And renew a right spirit within me. 12:24 Create in me a clean heart O God, 12:36 And renew a right spirit within me. 12:45 Oh, cast me not away from Thy presence oh Lord, 12:58 And take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. 13:07 Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation, 13:18 And renew a right spirit within me 13:28 Have mercy upon me, O God 13:39 and according to thy love blot out my sins 13:47 Have mercy upon me, O God 13:59 and according to thy love blot out my sins 14:08 Oh, wash me not only from my iniquity Lord and 14:21 cleanse me from all my sinful ways, for I come to 14:32 thee with faith you will have mercy and 14:40 according to thy love blot out my sins. 14:53 You know our sinful ways are so engrained 14:56 within us that there is nothing that we can do 14:58 to change ourselves. Christ is the only one that 15:01 can create a clean heart in us and cleans 15:04 us from all the sinful ways. 15:07 Allie, how do you relate to that? 15:10 Well when I was younger I used to have a real 15:12 struggle controlling my temper around my family. 15:15 Like I would slam doors, and I would hit people 15:18 and I was just it was really bad and as I got 15:21 progressively worse, I realized that this is not 15:25 the way to be I needed to change. But I couldn't do 15:28 that on my own. I wasn't just hurting others, 15:31 but I was hurting myself as well. 15:34 And so I began to pray really hard that God 15:36 would help me and he did and day by day as 15:41 I would fight the battles I began to getting victories 15:44 and I was able to overcome that 15:46 character trait by his grace. Amen. 15:51 When David realized what he had done wrong, 15:54 he was more interested in changing his behavior 15:56 rather than escaping the consequences of his sin, 15:59 but what was that causes true sorrow for what he did. 16:04 David himself says in Psalms 51:4, against you, 16:07 and you alone have I sinned I've done this 16:10 evil in your sight. David knew God as a God of 16:14 love and he thought that he had hurt him, broke 16:17 his heart and caused him to change. You see, God 16:21 longs for our friendship, but it is our sin that 16:25 keeps us from Him. It's not until we realizes 16:28 David did, that it is our sin that keeps this 16:31 friendship from growing. Why don't we realize 16:34 this? We will truly have the motivation to turn 16:38 from our life of sin and be converted. 17:12 They tell me Jesus died For my transgressions 17:19 That he paid that price a long, long time ago 17:27 When he gave his life for me 17:31 On a hill called Calvary But there's something 17:37 else I want to know Does he still feel the nails 17:48 Every time I fail does he hear the crowd 17:53 cry "Crucify" again Am I causing him pain 18:04 Then I know I've got to change 18:08 I just can't bear the thought of hurting him. 18:21 It seems that I'm so good at breaking promises 18:28 And I treat his precious grace so carelessly 18:36 But each time he forgives What if he re-lives 18:44 The agony He felt on that tree 18:51 Does he still feel the nails 18:56 Every time I fail does he hear the crowd 19:02 cry "Crucify" again Am I causing him pain 19:12 Then I know I've got to change 19:16 I just can't bear the thought of hurting him. 19:25 Holy, Holy Holy is the Lord 19:40 Holy, Holy Holy is the Lord 19:55 Do you still feel the nails Every time I fail 20:03 Have I crucified you Jesus with my sins 20:11 Oh I'm tired of playing games 20:15 I really want to change 20:19 I never want to hurt you again 20:27 Holy, Holy Holy is the Lord 20:44 Holy, Holy Holy is the Lord 21:10 In Matthew 25 verse 40, Jesus says in his much as 21:12 you have done it to the least is the feeds; 21:14 you've done it to me. God is so connected with each 21:17 of His creatures that anything done I guess one 21:21 of them is done against him, no matter what 21:23 are sin it hurts Jesus, in is that knowledge that 21:27 needs us true desire to change. 21:30 Desire to change, what do you think about that 21:31 Carmen, what is that got you make you think of? 21:35 Well, when I was in 8th grade my brother and 21:36 I were home schooled and my parents would work 21:40 and so they weren't home most of the time and my 21:43 dad starting teaching, teaching us piano and he 21:47 wanted us to practice at least an hour a day. 21:50 And I really wasn't interesting in it, I really 21:52 didn't feel like practicing at all, and so he would 21:56 come home in evenings and he would ask me, 21:59 did you practice your piano and I would say, 22:01 oh yeah, yeah I did it and I really hadn't. 22:04 And so, one time there was some books on piano 22:09 and they were just laying and when he left and 22:13 when he came back there with the exact same way 22:16 and he asked me, did you practice and I said 22:18 oh yeah, yeah I did. And, he found out that I haven't 22:24 and so he told me you know that hurts me 22:27 that you lied to me and so for a moment it struck 22:34 me oh wow that hurt him, but then I brushed it off, 22:39 and well, it's okay I just do better next 22:42 time and cover the evidence. Yeah. 22:44 And so, that was the way I was and then when 22:50 I came here to Fountainview, it was 22:52 summer and when were having worships in the 22:56 morning or whatever and all the kids were having 23:01 devotions in the morning and 23:03 I never done that really before. 23:06 You weren't used to that? And I wasn't and so 23:08 I started and I was learning a lot about God's 23:12 plan for my life and how he would like me to live 23:16 and treat others and I was beginning to feel really 23:20 sorry for all things I done that year and all the lies I told 23:23 and I was feeling this deep guilt and 23:27 remorse and I decided to change. 23:30 What about playing piano, 23:32 did you want to do that again? 23:33 Yeah, I began to enjoy it more. 23:35 Yeah. And I started in fact some more. 23:38 Because you were afraid of punishment. 23:41 No because there as I do enjoy it more and 23:42 because I could play, I learned to play more 23:45 and I began to enjoy it more. 23:47 Yeah and you actually wanted to play the 23:49 piano did you find yourself going and 23:51 doing it just out of enjoyment. Yeah. 23:53 Okay, and that's a difference, that's a change 23:55 of heart, a real change not because of a fear of 23:59 punishment, but because you actually want to do it. 24:05 Carmen, can you see a connection between the 24:07 change that was produced in your heart and the time 24:09 that you would have devotions? 24:11 Well, it was a, it was a gradual change, 24:13 I can't really pin point when it happen but it was 24:16 a change that happened over time while I got to 24:19 know Christ better and his love for me and his 24:22 forgiveness and it brought about a change in my life 24:26 that I wanted to live the way he wanted 24:29 me to live more. Just like in the scriptures 24:32 where it says the goodness of God leads us 24:34 to repentance and sometimes we don't know 24:36 exactly when that happens, but we do know 24:38 that when you desire that change its evidence that 24:42 God has been working our lives. Yes. 24:44 Thanks for sharing that. 24:47 You know in the book of Romans, it says the 24:49 goodness of God leads us to repentance that makes 24:52 me think of my own experience, when I was 24:54 growing up I never read the Bible and I had some 24:58 really bad habits, but my grandmother, she had 25:03 constantly had been an encouragement in my life. 25:07 I had grown up in an orphanage and she had 25:10 sent me a Bible and there was something about that 25:13 Bible that, it just gave me hope, she told me to read 25:18 a chapter a day and she would also sent me letters 25:22 and tell me to, to read certain portions of the 25:25 Bible and to memorize them. One of the things 25:28 in the Bible she asked to me to memorize was 25:30 Psalm 23 and I did that and then the Lord's prayer 25:35 and there was something that was starting to 25:37 happen in my heart and I started to see a change 25:40 in my life, those things that I used to like to do, 25:45 I was, I no longer enjoyed doing and the things 25:49 that I didn't enjoy doing like having to do 25:54 religious things or go to church. I now enjoy 25:56 doing and I couldn't wait to actually read my Bible. 26:01 Something about Christ working in our hearts that 26:05 leads us to truly repent, in fact, we can't repent 26:09 without Christ living in our hearts and so it's 26:13 actually the truth of what scripture said the 26:15 goodness of God leads us to repent so when we see 26:18 how good God is, when we read the word and 26:22 when we pray to Him, it changes our hearts and it 26:25 changes our desires. I think of that story, 26:29 in Luke chapter 18, where two people come to the 26:32 temple, a publican, that's a tax collector and he was 26:36 thought really bad of and a Pharisee, who was a 26:39 religious leader and the Pharisee praised to God 26:42 and it says actually prayed to himself. 26:45 God, thank you that I'm so good and then on the 26:48 other hand you have the publican, who beats 26:51 himself on the brass and he kind of looks down the 26:54 ground he can't even turn his eyes up towards 26:56 heaven and he says I'm such a terrible person, 26:59 but please forgive me, and he realizes his need 27:03 of God and because he realizes His need he goes 27:07 away and he receives the blessing of God and the 27:10 Pharisee receives nothing, because he is comparing 27:14 himself and saying he is much better than 27:16 someone else. What we really need is a change 27:20 of heart, we need to realize our need of God 27:23 and come to Him and ask Him for the gift of 27:26 repentance to change our hearts and change 27:28 our thoughts. Let's turn to him in prayer right now. 27:33 Lord, I thank you for the change that is produced 27:36 in our hearts, when we come to the Bible and 27:39 we come to you honestly seeking to know you. 27:43 We thank you for the gift of repentance and thank 27:46 you for your love, in Jesus name, amen. Amen. 27:53 Steps to Christ in Song is a 13 part series 27:56 from Fountainview Productions. 27:58 Designed to be an easy non- threatening way to show the 28:01 Good News about Jesus Christ with friends, relatives, 28:04 and co-workers. 28:06 Order your copies now 28:09 by calling 1-877-490-4141 28:12 or visit us online at www.fountainviewproductions.com. 28:18 Steps to Christ in Song is also available at your local 28:22 ABC Christian Book Store. |
Revised 2014-12-17