June 9, 2002

Repent & Be Converted

Matthew 28: 9-10, 16-20

I had occasion this last week to be talking to one of the sisters in this church, and the topic came up about the low spiritual state, the very marginal or indifferent condition that some of those who call themselves Christian seem to be in. She was distressed with having been around people that professed Christianity, but their actions and behavior seemed to be just like all the rest of the unsaved. And the question that we discussed was: "Why is that? How can such things be?"

And the answer is; "Not everything that calls itself Christian; is." In Luke's gospel, our Lord asks the question: " Why do you call me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" (Luke 6:46) That's a good question. And I think the answer to that question is; many who call themselves Christian, are not, and some who are Christian, have a very shallow understanding of what it means to call Jesus Christ; Lord.

If you have your Bibles with you today, and I hope you do, turn to the last chapter in Matthew's gospel, chapter 28, and verse 9. It was resurrection morning, the Lord Jesus has risen from the dead, and the women have just run to tell the disciples the news.
Matthew 28:9 "And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.
:10 Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me." Skip down to verse 16:
"Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.
:17 And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.
:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen."

What I would like for us to see this morning, is what it means to call Jesus Christ Lord. I want us to see what it means to be obedient to Him, and then I want us to think about why it is appropriate to be puzzled and concerned about some who would call themselves Christians.

When the disciples met their risen Lord, what was their response? They worshipped Him. They worshipped Him, but apparently some of them were overwhelmed with the whole situation. In verse 17, it says that some doubted. Perhaps some, like Thomas, were still trying to make sense out of it all, and maybe some of the rest of them were a little mixed up as well, after all, nothing like this had ever happened before, and apparently some of them were having a little trouble processing things. After all, being around someone who has just risen from the dead after being gruesomely murdered is not your everyday occurrence.

So what did Jesus do? He took them back to basics. He made it real simple. "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." That is quite a statement. Think for a minute about the implications of that. "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." Wow.

That word power is quite a word; it means ability, capability, authority, the strength and the right to do something. In other words, it means the ability and strength to do anything and everything that Almighty God chooses to do. And Jesus claims that power for Himself. All of it. He reminds His disciples of that to reassure them, get them back on track, get them refocused on everything that He had spent the previous three years teaching them.

And then He gives them their marching orders; "Go ye therefore, - since I have this power, this authority, this ability, I can enable you guys to do what I am telling you to do- Go and teach everybody, disciple them, give them the gospel, tell them the Good News that their sins can be forgiven because of the price that was paid, the blood that was shed, the atonement that was made. "Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen."

Not a complicated message. Pretty simple instructions. What did the disciples do with it? They turned the world upside down. Turn over to Acts 2 and verse 38. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended upon them in power, and look at what happened: "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
:39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the LORD our God shall call.
:40 And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.
:41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
:42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers."

The gospel was preached, The Holy Spirit convicted people, people were converted, then they were baptized, and they were also taught, it says that they continued in the apostles doctrine, that means that they continued learning what the apostles were teaching them about the Lord Jesus.

They also continued in fellowship, which means they considered themselves as part of a local church and they acted accordingly, they treated each other like an extended family.

They also observed the Lord's Supper on a regular basis, we won't take the time to look it up, but in Acts 20, we notice that the Lord's Supper was the main reason for them meeting every Lord's day, it was their primary motivation for getting together, it was the chief meeting of the church. They also continued regularly in having times of prayer.

Do you get the idea that when these people received Jesus Christ as their Savior, something really major happened to turn their lifestyles upside down? Things were really different with them? Absolutely.

Turn over one page to Acts 3 and verse 19: Peter is preaching again a few days later, and listen to what he says this time: "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord." Repent and be converted. That is a very remarkable phrase. Repent and be converted. Have you ever thought about what it means?

Conversion is when you change something from one thing to another thing. If you ever go to another country, you will need to have your money converted. The money that we use here is not the right kind of money, so you have to convert it to something acceptable in the place where you are. You need to convert your dollars to yen, or pesos, or shekels, whatever.

Another example of conversion; maybe you would like to have some ice cubes, so you put some water in the freezer, and after a while the water has been converted to ice. The water undergoes some major changes.

In order for us to be able to stand before God, we also need to be converted; converted from sinners to saints. Now that's a major change; and the only way that can happen, is for our sins to be blotted out. Gone. The Bible tells us that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sins, it washes our sins away, it blots our sins out from the sight of God. But before we can be converted, something else has to happen first: repentance. Repent and be converted. What does that mean? What does the Bible mean when it speaks of this sort of effective repentance?

True repentance, the kind of repentance which results in a person being genuinely converted to genuine Christianity, is a change of mind, a change of purpose, and a change of life, and the Holy Spirit is the one who enables it. A genuine saving repentance begins when a person realizes that they are a sinner before God. They realize that they are guilty of breaking God's laws, and rebelling against God's will. They realize that they are lost and undone, and their eyes are opened to their truly desperate situation. The Holy Spirit has revealed to them that they are lost, they are without Christ and without hope, and they are on their way to an eternity without God.

Along with that, comes the knowledge that God has provided a way of escape: the Holy Spirit reveals to them the death of Jesus Christ on the cross in their place. That Christ was made sin for them, that they might be made righteous in Him.

They also begin to realize a disgust, a dislike and a hatred of sin. Their own sin especially, and also sin in general. Where at one time they liked it, practiced it, enjoyed it and looked forward to it, not any more. Something has changed. When their own sinful impulses rise up within them, they are troubled, distressed, they want to be free from those impulses. There is a desire to get away from those sins, and to live a life that pleases and honors God instead.

It becomes important to them to want what God wants. To desire what God desires. They begin to have a desire to be more like Jesus, and that becomes their goal. There is a new motivation, a change in purpose. That is the Holy Spirit working inside of them, renewing their minds, converting their minds to become like the mind of Christ.

And while this process is going on, throughout their life, even when they miss the mark or fall short, it doesn't change their purpose, it simply drives them back to the cross, to appreciate once again what God has done for them in Jesus Christ, to be thankful all over again for His mercy and grace.

This is a marvelous thing, because it is a supernatural thing. It is the Holy Spirit working within that person, who leads and enables and directs that whole process, because that is genuine Holy Ghost repentance, not something that comes from the mind or the will of man. And that is the kind of repentance that leads to conversion. That is the kind of repentance that brings a person to salvation. That is the kind of repentance that comes from the Holy Spirit, a repentance that God honors, because God is the one who initiates it, God is the one who motivates it, God is the one who empowers it. It is all of God and none of man, and that is true salvation. That is when people get genuinely converted.

Something I find very interesting is a question that came up when I talked to the various people who are planning to get baptized. I won't name names, but at least four of those who are planning to be baptized have asked pretty much the same question, and it goes something like this: "I was baptized years ago, do I need to be baptized again, now that I have truly trusted in Christ for salvation?"

It is interesting that I have not needed to argue, or exhort, or dig up a half a dozen different verses to support a particular position, I have just said something like; "In the Bible, baptism is always something that happens after a person is truly converted, to symbolize how that new believer is testifying that they count themself as dead with Christ, buried with Christ, and risen with Christ to walk in newness of life."
"It's true, you have been baptized before, but you were not a Christian then. If your conscience is OK with that, then that's between you and God." And then I just leave it at that. And in just a short time, maybe a few minutes, maybe a day or so, these different people have come to me and said; "I think I want to be baptized. I wasn't a Christian before, but now I am, and I want to do what's right. I want to do what pleases God."

I find that to be very encouraging. I consider that as putting the will of God over and above the will and the reasonings of yourself, or your particular church history, or tradition, or whatever. And that's good.
Because if a person is truly converted, then they will put a higher priority on what God wants, than on what they want, or on what anybody else wants, and it is encouraging to me to see that attitude in those new believers.

Because sometimes we see people who make a profession of faith, and things seem to be a little different for a little while, and then that person slips back into their old way of talking, behaving, thinking and doing things. Why is that? What is it that happens when a person professes to become a Christian, but after a while, the evidence is just not there? A person professes to be a follower of Christ, they have even joined a church, but their behavior, their way of acting and thinking, their desires and goals are not apparently any different than their neighbor down the street who knows nothing of Jesus Christ or His salvation. Why is that? Why is it that sometimes a person will come down an aisle, pray a prayer of salvation, ask Jesus to save them, and things change a little bit for a little while, but the long term results don't amount to much of nothing?

After all, getting saved is not complicated. Acts 16:31says: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." That's not complicated. Romans 10:9 says: "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." That's not complicated either. Believe, confess, publicly testify; pretty simple. So why is it, that in the case of some people, nothing much seems to happen? Because I don't think they have considered that one little word: Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ.

It makes an enormous difference in who or what you believe in, and if you are truly saved, you didn't get saved by believing in some nickel and dime Jesus, some flash in the pan superstar, you got saved because you trusted in the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and His power to save is the only thing that can or will save you. It makes a difference.

Let me give you an example of what I mean, and we'll go completely over the top here: How many of you have ever heard of Larry Flynt? The pornographer, the owner or publisher -whatever- of Hustler magazine. The man is an absolute sleeze ball. But that's OK, because he is the sort of man that the Lord Jesus came to save, God's grace is certainly just as available to save Larry Flynt as it is to save you and me.

Did you know that Larry Flynt is a Christian? Why yes; Jimmy Carter's sister led him to Christ a number of years ago, she told him to ask Jesus into his heart, and get saved. And she said that he did. So apparently he did ask Jesus to save him. And then he continued to go on with life as usual. Creating pornography. Using vile and profane language, living an evil lifestyle.

What's wrong with that picture? Why was there no change? Did the gospel fail to work? Is the power of God ineffectual to save such a hardened sinner as that? Or do people who are great sinners, and then get saved take a long time to show any results? Is that what it was? No; the reason that there was no change is because there was no salvation. Because God does not save us on our terms, He saves us on His terms. And I would suggest to you that whatever it was that Larry Flynt did, he didn't repent and get converted.

If Ruth Carter Stapleton did not tell Larry Flynt about the need to repent and be converted, if she did not tell Larry Flynt that Jesus Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and that He will save us from our sins but not with our sins, then she gave Larry Flynt a false gospel. Because Jesus Christ did not die to save us with our sins, He died to save us from our sins, and if you think you will come to Christ without repenting and being converted, then you are kidding yourself.

If you think that you can come to Christ and bring all your sins along with you, keep them in your wallet for future use, bring them out and cash them in whenever the notion takes you, then you will not get saved, because there is nothing resembling repentance in you.

And if somewhere along the line, you walked an aisle, prayed a sinners prayer, or did whatever; but you never had any intention or desire to forsake your sin, turn from your sin, and get yourself into where ever God wanted you to be, then you are still unconverted, you are still in your sins.

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. The Lord Jesus Christ. The King. The Creator of heaven and earth, the One who will not and cannot go along with your sin and rebellion. All of humanity is by nature and by practice in rebellion to God. None of us have to be taught to be rebels, it comes naturally, you can see it in any little kid. Come here sweetie, let me change your diaper. NO! Here sweetie, eat your mushed up green beans and beets with chicken. NO! (I don't blame kids for some of that, you ever look at some of the stuff they put in baby food jars? Yuk.)

We are all rebels by nature and practice, and we are especially rebels against God. We don't want what He wants, we want what we want. And if we walk an aisle, say a sinners prayer, - Oh Jesus, please save me- and meanwhile, we could give a rip less what He wants, our agenda is to have our cake and eat it too, keep our sinful desires intact and still go to heaven and escape hell, that is not salvation. That's not repentance, that's not conversion. That's not getting saved.

That is not the sort of thing the Holy Spirit moves you to do, that's just your idea, it is not the moving of God within your spirit, it is strictly your spirit, and all you really want is a get out of hell free card on your terms.

That is not repentance that leads to conversion, because there is no repentance. And therefore there is no conversion. And you do not get saved. And even if that moment of inspiration, that high point of ethical behavior motivates you to act a little better for a while, act Christian, you are still just the same. There has been no real change. God was not in it, it was merely a religious act, the same sort of thing that every Hindu, every Muslim, every religious person of whatever belief has always done. And it won't do you any more good than it does for them.

Repentance always comes to you from God and includes the concept of obedience to God. Unless it really got with your head and your heart to quit doing things your way and start doing things God's way, I would question whether real Godly repentance has happened to you. Unless your intent and purpose is to want the will of God in your life more than you want your will in your life, -and that attitude only comes from the Holy Spirit dealing with you,- I would wonder about that repentance.

When there has been real conversion, there is a change in the attitude toward sin. There is a desire to please God, and even for a new Christian, even for one who is not well taught in the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit will still deal with that person, speaking to their conscience about what is right and wrong.

I remember when I got saved, I was working in a motorcycle shop in Miami. Back before I got saved, I had a very profane mouth. I had a bad habit of taking the Lord's name in vain, and using the name of Jesus Christ as a swear word. Anyway, when I went to work that next morning, something happened that set me off. I took the name of the Lord as a swear word. Well, about half a second later, the Holy Spirit got on me like a smack in the face with a 2X4, and told me: "You're gonna quit that!" Whoa. Staggered me. Rocked me back on my heels. I didn't know much about the Bible, but I knew I was gonna quit that.

And it was not that I became some super saint overnight, but in the weeks and months that followed, I could tell that God was changing my likes and dislikes, my whole understanding of what was right and wrong, good and bad, and He still is. He still is. I am not the same this year as I was last year, and I hope not to be the same next year as I am this year. Because repentance is an ongoing experience. Think about that. Repentance is not a one shot deal, it is not a one time experience.

You will have good days and bad days, mountain top experiences, and days down in the pits. You will walk close to God, and then you will most likely wander off and fall in the mud. And repentance is an ongoing necessity, and an ongoing experience.

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When you wander away from God, what is it that normally happens? The Holy Spirit will call to us, and if we don't turn around, if we won't listen, then He will just stand there and watch, and wait, until we get ourselves up to the armpits in the muck and mire and start to holler help. He wants us to realize that we are off course, we need to get our mind and intentions back to where they need to be, and get back in step with God, get back into going where He is going, following Him, not running off.

The Holy Spirit stirs us up, causes us to realize that we were going back to our old ways, falling back into those old sins, and then He gives us Godly sorrow and repentance, and a desire to get back to God. Does that mean that we need to get saved again? No, you don't get saved again, you only get saved once, because the salvation of Jesus Christ is sufficient. If He has put away your sins from before God, then He has put away all your sins from before God. The ones you will do tomorrow as well as the ones you did yesterday.

Just because we see time in a linear fashion doesn't mean that God does. His salvation is complete, and it is sufficient for all your sins. Don't make the mistake of thinking that God is surprised by whatever stupid or sinful thing you might do tomorrow, because He's not surprised. He knows the end from the beginning, and He knew your end back before He began your beginning.

He knew when He saved you, what you will do a year from now, and He saved you anyway. You just make it your priority that whatever it is you do a year from now, He will be pleased with it. Because if you think that your eternal security is a free pass to go out and live a sinful life, then you probably need to question your salvation. Because that kind of thinking makes it sound like you still don't have the repentance part sorted out yet, and maybe the conversion part hasn't happened.

The Bible knows nothing of any doctrine about getting saved, and then falling away and being lost, and then getting saved again, and then lost again, and then saved again, and lost again, or any thing like that.
The salvation of Christ is perfect, it is complete, you cannot add to it, and you cannot take away from it. All you are called upon to do is enter into it.

If you are overtaken by a sin, you don't lose your salvation, therefore you don't need to get saved again. The Bible says that you simply need to turn from your sins, confess your sins to God, and have Him wash the mud off you, and restore you back to where He wants you.

When we started this morning, there were three things I wanted us to see. 1.) What does it mean to call Jesus Christ Lord? 2.) What does it mean to be obedient to Him? 3.) Why is it appropriate to be puzzled about some who call themselves Christians, and meanwhile, their behavior, actions and attitudes are just like those of the unsaved?

We barely touched on what it means to call Jesus Christ Lord, that will be an ongoing subject for the rest of our Christian lives. To answer that, we need to study His Word with on a regular basis, and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal Jesus Christ to us in all His power and beauty.

We also barely touched on what it means to be obedient to Him. There are some here today that are planning to be obedient to Him in the ordinance of baptism. That's good. Now ask the Lord to speak to your hearts and minds to lead you to be obedient in all the other aspects of the Christian life.

Ask God the Holy Spirit to put it into your heart and mind to have an attitude just like those early Christians had; continuing steadfastly in the apostles doctrine, studying and learning what God's Word says.

Continuing in fellowship. Thinking of your church family as family, even when they say and do dumb things just like your physical family does. You don't give up on your physical family when they say and do dumb things, hang in there for your Christian brothers and sisters too. They will sometimes say and do dumb things; love them anyway.

Continue in the breaking of bread. Jesus said to remember Him in the Lord's Supper, that means to meditate on Him, think about Him, rejoice in Him, worship Him, praise Him. And when the Holy Spirit builds a fire in your heart as you meditate and remember Him, share it with the rest of us. We want to rejoice in Him with you, and praise Him with you.

Continue in prayer. There is more power in prayer than we have any idea about. I suspect that if all of us would pray more, God would pour out on us blessing of saved family members, changed communities, and maybe even a wonderful revival in these last days. Continue in prayer.

Four simple things, but God used the early church and those four simple things to change the world.

The other thing I wanted us to deal with was those folks that call themselves Christians, and meanwhile, things just don't seem right. Something isn't adding up. Folks who are acting and behaving just like those who make no claim to know Jesus Christ at all. Something seems like it is missing.

Let me ask you a question: How was it when you got saved? What did you do and why did you do it? Were all your friends getting saved, and you thought it sounded like a good idea? Were you afraid you might die and go to hell, and Jesus seemed like a good fire escape? Did someone tell you that all you needed to do was walk down an aisle, kneel at an altar, ask Jesus to come into your heart, and you were home free? Was God in that, or was it just you?

What did you do and why did you do it? I don't know what you did or why. And it is not for me to say whether or not God was in what you did. But if you have professed faith in Jesus Christ, and meanwhile nothing seems to have particularly changed, maybe you ought to think about it.

If you did -whatever, and somebody told you that "now you're saved, born again, a child of God,"- and meanwhile the Bible still doesn't appeal to you, it still seems hard to understand, living the Christian life seems like trying to remember what to do and not do, juggling a list of do's and don'ts, you still have the same thoughts, desires, and goals you always had- : maybe you need to back up and ask yourself some tough questions.

Was there ever any repentance? Godly repentance? Repentance that leads to conversion? Do you feel converted? Or do you feel just like you always did, but now you are playing a different role? A Christian role? I'm not trying to be rude or pushy, but if there has never been a real repentance or conversion in your life, now would be a good time to know it.

Let me finish today with just giving all of us something to think about. No altar call, no invitation to come down front and do anything. Just examine your life. Examine your relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Because if your are truly saved, there will be a real and genuine relationship with Him. It will be a relationship that includes repentance, on a regular basis, and a converted life, a changed life. Because nobody can really know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord without having their life really changed. If that has never happened to you, then you need to get before the Lord and ask Him to make it real in your life. And if you want to talk to me about that later, I'll be glad to talk to you. Lets pray.