Metanoia - What Is Repentance? (Matthew 4)

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website, morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. The Greek word translated repent is metanoia, and what does it mean? To have a change of mind, that's the first definition, to change one's mind.

You were going one way, you were living one way, and then you repent, you turn, right? You change your mind and you turn, and now you're going another way. Now you're going in the direction that God wants you to go.

See, there's a whole world of people going one way, which leads to death and destruction, and the Lord wants them to turn and go on the path that leads to what? Everlasting life. So the message is repent, because the kingdom is at hand.

So that's what repentance means. It means a changing of mind, but also means a turning around. You were going one way, now you're going another way. Another way people define repentance as making amends.

You're amending one's life. You're changing. You're changing your life. The things that you did before, I'm not going to do that anymore, I'm going to do the right thing. Or a turning from sin. These are all the definitions.

John the Baptist, Jesus, and the Meaning of Repentance

It's worth echoing this again, that the message of both John and Jesus was this message of repentance. The cross, later on, Jesus' death and resurrection, is brought into this message. But that's the message.

Repentance. And we talked about this last week, how the cross is not just Jesus dying on the cross, the message for believers is what? Take up your cross. Take up your cross daily, Jesus said, and follow me.

So repentance is once you live for yourself, now you're living for the Lord. You have made a change. You have turned. Instead of serving yourself, now you want to serve God, and you want to serve others.

It's a moment in time decision you make. Now I want you to, I want everyone to be set on this, because I found that talking with Christians and listening to different preachers, I think this really divides evangelical Christianity.

There's kind of two extremes here. There are those churches that will preach, hey, say the sinner's prayer, if you repeat the words, you say the sinner's prayer, you're saved. Say these words, come forward, receive Christ at the altar, now you're saved.

And they would identify either repentance as believing in Jesus, or they would view repentance as a separate work. And then there's, so that's one side, repeat the words and you're saved. The other extreme is, hey, you need to turn from all your sins in order to be saved.

Have you heard preaching like this? You know, what I hear being said is, you know, if you turn from all your sins, then maybe God will love you. If you turn from your sins, then God will be willing to save you.

But you need to turn from all your sins. Well, should Christians turn from sin? Absolutely, 100%. But there's a problem with both of these things. I don't think either one really truly represents the gospel.

People can say words and not mean it. You know, maybe they didn't really understand, maybe they didn't really mean it. Now, you do have to call on the name of the Lord, so I'm not against saying the words.

But this other doctrine of you need to repent of all your sins, you show me the man who has repented of all his sins. Who is this man? Yeah, well, Jesus didn't have to repent of all his sins, but you're on the right track that Jesus didn't have sin.

You realize, gee, and that's the point I'm making, there's only one man on this earth that has no sin. So, you show me a man who says he has turned from all his sin, and he doesn't sin anymore, and I'll show you a liar.

So, if there's these two extremes, repeat the prayer and you're saved, well, I mean, maybe, maybe. Or, hey, you need to repent of all your sins, that's an extreme. What's the truth? Hey, believe and start following Christ.

Start following Christ. You know, you are saved when you have a change of mind about Christ, and you have a change of mind about your sin, that it's wrong. I need to stop doing, I want victory. But I realize it's wrong, and Jesus, I want to turn and believe and follow you.

And then the turning from sin and getting sin out of your life, that's not salvation, that's what? It's sanctification. Salvation is by grace. It's by calling upon the name of the Lord. So, there's this disconnect here with the doctrine of repentance.

So, we want to know what Jesus is actually saying. He's saying, get ready, get ready. But once you have that change of mind, now you're following Christ and those other changes and getting the sin out of your life, that comes later on.

And some people, it's a radical transformation. You know, within a day, a week, short period of time, they really do have a great turnaround. Others, it's a long, it's a long struggle. But this is the message, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

The kingdom was at hand, why? Because the king was at hand. Again, if Israel had received Christ as their king, in theory, they would have received the kingdom. And the kingdom would have been set up, but we know that's not what takes place, or what took place.

The Kingdom of Heaven Is at Hand

Okay, so, are we good on the subject of repentance? Change your mind? Yep. If you really mean it, it will lead to some change of behavior, and that gets into sanctification. Verse 17, again, from that time, Jesus began to preach and to say, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

What is the kingdom of heaven? Let's talk about that for a minute before we close. The kingdom of heaven, or the kingdom of God, has been defined as the sphere of salvation. You'll get a lot of disagreement among different churches when you ask them, what do you believe about the kingdom?

As you heard me say a little while ago, we believe the kingdom is what? It's coming. We believe that the kingdom is coming to the earth. It will actually be here on earth. This is what the Jews believed, that when the Messiah came, that He would establish the kingdom of God on earth.

There's a lot of believers, and I would disagree with them, but they think it's all spiritual. It's never actually coming to the earth. I believe the Bible teaches it is. And the kingdom coming, it's what?

What does Jesus say? The kingdom is what? At hand. It's imminent. It's at the door. Any generation could be the generation to see it. Now, the doubts will creep in, or maybe the devil wants you to think, well, gee, it's been 2 ,000 years.

It hasn't happened yet, right? Well, we hear about Jesus returning. Well, it hasn't happened yet. It's getting closer and closer. It's getting closer and closer, but you know what this requires? What does this require?

Faith. Faith. Isn't that what this whole thing is all about? So the kingdom of God, it is coming. It is imminent. And it was imminent back then. It was imminent back then, too. It's been declared. It will happen.

But until then, the lordship and kingship of Jesus, it's upheld. You know, there is a kingdom of God here on this earth, in a sense. You know what it is? Jesus rules and reigns in the hearts of his people.

Jesus is the Lord of this church. Amen? Jesus is the Lord. He is the king of this church. I hope he's your king. You know, whatever the rulers of this age and the rulers of any given nation believe, whatever they're doing, for the Christian, who's their king?

Jesus. Our allegiance, ultimately, is to Christ. So he rules in our heart. He rules in the church. He should rule in our home. Jesus should be the Lord of your home. Where is he not being recognized as king?

Well, he's being recognized as king and lord in the church house. He's not really being recognized as king and lord in the school house. Or in the state house. Or in all sorts of houses of ill repute and everything else.

Right? Jesus is reigning, though, in our hearts. If you've repented, he is reigning in our heart. But the message is still, the message that we have to proclaim is repent. Because the kingdom is at hand.

There's a sense of urgency in Jesus' message, isn't there? The kingdom is imminent. So the message is, get ready. Clean yourself up spiritually. Submit to baptism as evidence of that. Prepare yourself to enter the kingdom.

I know you know this, but I just want you to think in these terms. Everything could change tomorrow. Again, it's been, you know, your life and the way things are, it goes on day after day. It's more or less the same.

But you realize everything could change tomorrow. No man knows the day or the hour of the Lord's return. If he came back tomorrow, my friends, everything would change. Obviously, there could be political revolutions.

Natural disasters, a meteor could, you know, there's all these different ways things could change. Here's another way everything could change tomorrow. You could die. I mean, I know you don't want to hear that, but, like, these are things we need to accept.

Everything could change tomorrow. The question is, are you ready? Are you ready? Well, if you're not ready, what's the message? Get ready. Repent, for the kingdom is at hand. So what are we supposed to do?

If you are willing to receive that, Romans 10, 9 says, if we confess with our mouths the Lord Jesus and believe in our hearts that God has raised him from the dead. So I didn't believe that before, but I believe it now.

Then you confess with your mouth to the Lord that you believe that, and it says, you will be saved. Once we do that, the next step is baptism. Jesus says in Matthew 28, 19, and 20, it's a three-step plan.

Believe, be baptized, then you teach them all things that I commanded, and that happens in a local church. So it's very simple. Believe and be saved. Once you're saved, you get baptized. Number three, you join a local church, and you start growing and learning and serving.

But here's the message that a lot in this world need to hear. Maybe even one or two here who are listening on the radio later on. Romans 13, 12 through 14 says, the night is far spent. The day is at hand.

Therefore, let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lust.

This is the message. Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. If you've never done that, I pray that you would do it today. Repent, believe, place all your faith in Jesus. If you've done that, maybe you've been straying.

Maybe you need to kind of rekindle that fire. Or if the fire's burning and everything's going great, that's your message. That's our message to give to others. Why? Because the people who sat in darkness, they need to see a great light.

The people of this world, they really don't have any hope. They don't have Christ. They don't have hope. We can give them that hope. And I pray that we would, that the Lord's work would continue. Let's pray.

Prayer for Salvation and Hope

Heavenly Father, I thank you so much that you have given us your word, you have given us your promises, and through Christ and through the gospel, Lord, you have given us hope that all of our sin can be forgiven, that we can know that there is a God in heaven who loves us and is causing all things to work together for our good, and that when we breathe our last breath, we will simply pass from death unto life, into life everlasting.

Lord, we thank you for these promises. And, again, we ask if there's someone here or listening later on who has never received Christ as their Lord and Savior, that today would be the day of salvation.

We ask these things in his name. Amen. Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Moores Corner Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message, or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, moorescornerchurch .com.

And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, with the grace of God be with you.