How To Overcome Sin Part 1

[0:00] Thank you for choosing to listen to today's message by Rev. Dr. David Entry. We know you will be blessed as you seek and serve God. We believe that this message will stir up a desire for more of God even as you listen.

[0:14] Be blessed. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the privilege to share your word and to delve into your word and to feed on you. We pray that let the heavens be open.

[0:25] Reveal yourself to us. Impact yourself into us. Let your word come with clarity and with instruction. Let your word come with power and with deliverance.

[0:36] We give you praise in Jesus' name. As your word is taught, heal the sick. Heal the sick. Deliver the captives. Lord, set the afflicted free and let your name be glorified.

[0:47] Convict the sinning to the glory of your name. In Jesus' name. Amen. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. How do you overcome sin? How? Sin.

[0:57] The sin problem is a big problem. The sin problem is a big problem. It is what made Adam lose his place.

[1:10] Adam and Eve. It is what made Christ come to die. Precious life died because of sin. How can we come into God and toy with sin and take it for granted?

[1:25] No wonder Satan has determined that he will never leave you alone so long as sins are concerned. He will keep putting pressure and pressure and pressure and pressure on you to make you sin and break the principles of God.

[1:40] At the same time, you keep putting pressure and pressure and pressure on you. So you downgrade and you marginalize the impact of sin.

[1:52] But sin is very impactful. No one can see God. The Bible says that, be holy as I am holy. For without holiness, no one can see God.

[2:05] 1 Peter 1, verse 15. So it's very important to understand that sin must be dealt with. Now, how do you deal with sin? One answer.

[2:16] Repent. When Peter preached on the day of Pentecost, the first sermon preached ever by the church. In Acts chapter 2. The Bible says in verse 38. While he preached, the people were cut to their heart.

[2:28] Verse 37. And they said, men and brethren, what shall we do? And Peter said, repent and be baptized. Acts chapter 2. In Acts chapter 2, verse 38.

[2:41] Let's take it in from verse 37. Now, when they heard these things, they were pricked in their hearts and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do?

[2:53] How do I tackle this issue of sin? What shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of the Lord Jesus for the remission of sins.

[3:05] And he shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. So when they asked Peter, what shall we do? Peter said, repent. Repent. Repentance is where it starts from. Repentance and faith are not two separate things.

[3:19] Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ means repenting from sins. Repentance and repentance. Repentance from sins in order to believe. So sometimes when they say believe, what they meant as well is repent.

[3:29] So believing and repentance, faith and repentance are kind of two ends of the same stick. Two ends of the same stick. So what I'm trying to suggest and imply here is that you cannot really say you believe God and you are living the life of faith if you have not actually repented.

[3:48] Repentance. Because the life of faith starts with a call to repentance. The life of faith starts with a call to repentance. And then when you look at the book of Luke chapter 24, this is after the resurrection.

[4:04] And Jesus revealed himself to his disciples. And Bible says that he opened their heart, verse 45, that they might understand the gospel. I like that. The scriptures. I like that so much. He said, then open he their understanding that they might understand the scriptures.

[4:18] So that means that the scriptures cannot even just be understood on the surface just because it's intelligible. A person's understanding, a person's spiritual eyes must be opened.

[4:31] That is why every believer and every Christian who takes his Bible to read must pray, Holy Spirit, show me the way. Speak to me. Shine your light on the scriptures for me.

[4:42] Let me hear the voice of God. Let me hear the word of God as I read the scriptures because our eyes must be opened or our understanding must be opened.

[4:53] Then open he their understanding and, sorry, their understanding that they might understand the scriptures. And said unto them, and he said unto them, thus it is written and thus it behooves Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day.

[5:12] So he said, it is written, this is what is written, that Christ, it is necessary for Christ to suffer and then resurrect on the third day. So it is necessary for Christ to suffer and on the third day resurrect.

[5:26] That's not the end of the story. Okay. So and the third rise from the dead on the third day. That's not the end of the verse, verse 47. What should be preached?

[5:45] Not deliverance, not miracles, not the love of God, but repentance. That repentance should be preached in his name. Repentance and the remission of sins.

[5:57] Let me say, and that, so he died, it was necessary for him to die, for him to resurrect or rise from the dead on the third day. And repentance and remission of sins.

[6:11] Remission is removal of sins. Should be preached, should be preached in his name amongst all nations. When you see here, repentance and remission of sins and repentance, which is repentance with a view to and as a condition of forgiveness of sins.

[6:32] Should be preached in his name to all nations. So repentance with a view to forgiveness of sins or as a condition. So repentance is preached as a condition for forgiveness of sins.

[6:45] So it's not like repentance and forgiveness of sins. It's actually repentance leading to forgiveness of sins. In other words, there cannot be forgiveness of sins without repentance.

[6:58] May I chip in now to say this? That when it comes to forgiveness of sins, there are two important aspects of forgiveness of sins.

[7:11] From God's aspect and man's aspect. So on the side of God, for there to be forgiveness of sins, there must be the redemption. So on the side of God, it takes the redemption of Christ to bring about forgiveness of sins.

[7:29] So Ephesians chapter 1 verse 7, it said, In whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. So when it comes to God, so long as God is concerned, on the side of God, it takes redemption to produce forgiveness of sins.

[7:45] In Colossians chapter 1 verse 14, it says that in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. So on the part of God, on the side of God, it takes redemption for forgiveness of sins.

[7:58] But on the part of man, to achieve forgiveness of sins, it takes repentance. So on the part of man, it takes repentance to achieve forgiveness of sins.

[8:10] On the part of God, it takes redemption to achieve forgiveness of sins. So God brings redemption so that forgiveness of sins can happen. Now, how do we benefit and become bona fide beneficiaries of forgiveness of sins?

[8:25] Repentance. Repentance. So Jesus says, repentance be preached. Let me say it. He said, and that repentance with a view to and as a condition of forgiveness of sins be preached in his name to all nations.

[8:42] Not only some nations. Everywhere. All nations. Repentance must be preached to all nations in his name. And in the book of, I'm already in Luke, so let me just do the Luke instead.

[8:55] Luke chapter 3 verse 3. Luke chapter 3 verse 3 says, and he came, that's talking about John the Baptist, okay, the son of Zachariah from verse 2.

[9:07] Annas and Syphaz being the high priest and the word of the Lord came to John, the son of Zachariah. Zachariah is in the wilderness and he came into all the country of Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

[9:24] So, so long as men were concerned, repentance is what leads to the remission of sins. In Mark chapter 1 verse 4.

[9:38] Mark 1 verse 4 says that John did baptize in the wilderness and preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

[9:49] Another way of remission, let's say remission of sins, is removal of sins or forgiveness of sins. So, on the side of God, it takes redemption to achieve forgiveness of sins for us.

[10:03] And on human parts, it takes repentance to achieve forgiveness of sins for us. So, repentance is so important.

[10:14] Repentance is so important in Acts chapter 17. In Acts chapter 17 verse 30, it says that, And the times of ignorance God winked at.

[10:26] So, God said, okay, no problem. The times of ignorance God winked. But watch this. The times of ignorance God winked.

[10:37] But now commands all men everywhere to repent. Now, in those days of ignorance where Jesus had not come, where the message had not come, he winked.

[10:50] But now, you don't have an excuse. I don't have an excuse. But now commands all men everywhere to repent. God, the days of ignorance are over. Now, God commands all men everywhere to repent.

[11:05] We have to repent. In the book of Luke, again, chapter, in Luke chapter 5 verse 31. In Luke chapter 5 or 32.

[11:17] Let me read it just to make the time. It says, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Jesus said, I came to call sinners to repentance. Not the righteous.

[11:27] I came to call sinners to repentance. Did you see what sinners are supposed to do? How do you deal with your sins? It starts with repentance. I came to call sinners to repentance. In Mark chapter 2 verse 17.

[11:40] Mark 2 verse 17 says that when Jesus heard it, he said unto them, They that are whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

[11:55] He said, I came to call sinners to repentance. Jesus came that sinners might repent or sinners will repent. He said, I came to call sinners to repentance.

[12:06] Luke chapter, this is getting serious now. Luke chapter 13 verse, let me just read from verse 1. Luke chapter 13 from verse 1.

[12:17] There were present at the season, some that told him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.

[12:30] And Jesus answering said unto them, suppose ye that those Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans because they suffered such things. Don't think because someone evil happened or some bad news happened to somebody because he said, don't conclude that you think they are sinners more than the others.

[12:49] You think they are sinners more than the others. You who are judging the others, okay, she didn't give birth because of abortion. You think they are sinners more than the others. They didn't get the job because it was like, you think they are sinners.

[13:01] In other words, do not let us rush to judge or rush to conclude this happened to this person because of this. He said, do you think that it happened to them? Do you think, suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans because they suffered such things?

[13:18] Jesus said verse 3. I tell you, no or nay. But except ye repent, ye will likewise, you are also on your way to the same fate. Repentance is what will separate and distinguish and exempt you from the common fate of a lot of perishing ones.

[13:35] Repentance is such a powerful tool. You see, repentance is powerful than deliverance. It's more powerful than deliverance.

[13:46] It's more powerful. Repentance. Everything Christ has done for us, it starts with repentance. There are people who don't want to repent, jumping from prophet to prophet, from prophet to prophet, from pastor to pastor, from church to church, looking for deliverance.

[14:04] But you will not repent, you are joking. That will afflict you more. Repentance is the bedrock for everything God can do for men. So God has been calling us to repentance from generations.

[14:18] Let me read Matthew and then I'll move on to something and show you something. Matthew chapter 21 from verse 28. When I saw this text, this text is such a beautiful text. Matthew chapter 21 verse 28.

[14:29] But what think he? A certain man had two sons. And he came to the first and said, son, go work today in my vineyard.

[14:39] He answered and said, I will not. But afterwards, he, thank you Jesus. He, look at our way there. He did what? He repented.

[14:51] Repentance is a game changer. Repentance. Repentance. So Bible says that. He said to his son, go and work in my vineyard. And he said, I will not go. But afterwards, he repented.

[15:03] Verse 30. And he said to the second and said likewise. Sorry. And he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir, and went not.

[15:14] Then Jesus says this, this, this, this. Whither of them twined? Which of the two sons? Let me read from verse 29 again.

[15:25] He answered and said, I will not go. But afterwards, he regretted it and went. You see the word regret, repent. So they are all the same. Repentance comes with regretting.

[15:39] But then he regretted and went. He repented and went. Verse 30. Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir.

[15:51] But he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father? They said to him, the first. Jesus said to them, Assuredly I say to you that tax collectors and harlots entered the kingdom of God before you.

[16:06] For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him. But tax collectors and harlots believed him. And when they saw it, you did not afterwards relent and believe him.

[16:23] Let me read it again. From the verse 32 from the King James Version. I prefer this one. Verse 32 says that, For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed not.

[16:34] But the publicans and the harlots believed him. And ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterwards that ye might believe him.

[16:47] So, they didn't go because they repented not. So, he says that those who are bad, they're bad guys. They're ones, people think this one is a bad guy.

[16:57] This one will not amount to anything. It will shock you. It will shock you that when they repent, you can be in church all your life and still miss God.

[17:08] You can be in church all your life and still not enjoy forgiveness of sins. You can be in church. Being in church doesn't mean you have repented. You have to repent. It starts with repentance.

[17:19] How come you are in church without repentance? Excuse me. How did you enter? How did you enter? You entered without repentance. I'm telling you, you are not in. You look like you are in by your own.

[17:30] Jesus said in the book of Matthew, chapter 7, verse 21. He says that some will come to him and say, Lord, Lord, we cast out devils in your name. We did this in your name. We did miracles. He said, who are you? Sorry, I don't know you.

[17:41] You were kids of iniquity. Oh, let me read it. I've gone off. But let me read it. I'll come back. Matthew, chapter 7. Matthew, chapter 7, verse 21.

[17:52] Not everyone that says, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven. Hallelujah. He says, not everyone that says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. By he that does the will.

[18:05] Do you see that? The will of my Father which is in heaven. You will do God's will. Obey God. Lord, which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?

[18:21] And in thy name have we have cast out devils. And in thy name done many wonderful works. And then I will profess unto them.

[18:34] I never knew you. Depart from me. Ye that work iniquity. Your works. You are not saved by your works. We are never saved by our works.

[18:44] He said, it's by grace lest any man should boast. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 8 and 9. He said, for by grace are you saved not of yourself, not of works. We are not saved. Lest any, verse 9, lest any man should boast.

[18:56] We are never saved by our works. But guess what? When he came to his kingdom, he said, depart from me, you worker of either work iniquity.

[19:07] So you can be in church and be working iniquity. And one day I guarantee you, you hear him say, depart from me. Depart from me. Depart from me, you worker.

[19:18] And someone who has been living a very wild, riotous living outside of church, becomes, repents and starts coming to church. And both of you die at the same time. The one who has messed up and lived a wild, sinful, worldly life of wrongdoings, life, a God rejecting lifestyle has now become repented.

[19:43] Like you just said, the halots, publicans or tax collectors have believed and have repented and have come into the kingdom. And those who were the religious ones are missing out.

[19:55] May that not be your portion. May that not be your portion in the name of Jesus Christ. So Jesus said that the man sent his son. His first son said, I will not go.

[20:05] He was living anyhow. But later on, repented and went. And the other one said, I will, but never went. I will. I've always been in church. But you haven't changed. You haven't repented.

[20:17] You are asking me what to how to deal with this. You're struggling with sin. It's because, let me tell you straight to the face. What if you see yourself struggling with sin is because you haven't repented from that sin.

[20:30] You haven't. Pastor Bada, you haven't. I'm going to explain it from scripture to show. You haven't. That's why he said, oh, this thing, I don't know why.

[20:41] You haven't. You haven't. If you have really repented as repentance, repentance in its genuine state is, you wouldn't be struggling and saying that.

[20:52] I don't know why I keep going to it. I don't know why. There's a difference between falling to temptation and lying in temptation, wallowing in temptation. That one is no more temptation. When you are lying in it and wallowing in it.

[21:07] Thank you, Holy Ghost. I believe God is speaking to us. Praise God. So, Jesus said that this is it. Repentance is necessary. Repentance is necessary for forgiveness of sins.

[21:18] And then, as I said earlier on, when you look through scriptures, it's all over. The prophets were always calling people to repentance. The prophets were in Isaiah. Let's look at Isaiah chapter 55, verse 6.

[21:30] It says that, Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way. Let the wicked forsake his way. It's always there in scriptures. God calling his people.

[21:42] Leave something. Leave your way. Change your way and come. Change your way and come. Don't come without changing. It doesn't work. You can't walk by faith and not repent it. Without repentance.

[21:53] And may I say this as well. Repentance. We come in by repentance. And we continue in repentance. So repentance should be a lifestyle for the believer. Repentance.

[22:04] Always repenting from anything that we have to repent of. I'll go more into that later. But it says that, Let the wicked forsake his ways and the unrighteous man his thoughts.

[22:15] And let him return. You see, that's repentance. Return unto the Lord. And he will have mercy upon him and to our God.

[22:28] For he will abundantly pardon. Forgive. It has to start with repentance. It's U10. It must start with U10. In the book of Jeremiah chapter 3 verse 12.

[22:42] Jeremiah chapter 3 verse 12 said, Go and proclaim these words towards the north and say, Return! Thou backsliding Israel.

[22:54] Says the Lord. And I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you. For I am merciful. Says the Lord. I will not keep anger forever.

[23:05] But it's predicated on repent. Repent. Repent. Repent. Repent. For there is room for you. I am a God of mercy. But you can never enjoy the mercies of God without repentance.

[23:17] I can never enjoy the mercies of God without repentance. Repentance is a necessary aspect of our work with God. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. And then it was all through the prophets.

[23:30] Ezekiel chapter 14 verse 6. It says that, Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God, Repent and turn yourselves from your idols. And turn away your faces from all your abomination.

[23:45] I believe God is talking to somebody. Brother. Sis. It's time is up. It's about time. We repent. Repent from sinful works.

[23:59] Sinful activities. Repent from our ways. And turn to the Lord. Look at Jeremiah chapter 18 verse 30. Jeremiah chapter 18 verse 30 says that, Therefore I will judge, O house of Israel, everyone according to his ways.

[24:14] Says the Lord God. Repent and turn yourselves from all your transgressions. So iniquity shall not be your ruin. Sin can destroy so much.

[24:26] Potentially all this breakthrough you have been praying about and nothing has happened. Have you considered repentance? Maybe there's some repentance somewhere in your life to do. Sin is blocking your laughter.

[24:37] Sin is blocking your breakthrough. Sin is blocking your next level. Sin is blocking your ministry. Sin is spoiling the ministry. Choir director. Sin is spoiling the choir.

[24:48] Sin. Sin is spoiling the choir. Ow! Sin is spoiling. Usually when there is prevalence of sin in the pews. Anytime. You see, whatever is a mist in the pulpit becomes a fog in the pews.

[25:06] It starts like a mist in the pulpit but it becomes a fog in the pews. So don't blame anything when there is a prevalent or regular, you know, a widespread prevalent sinning in the congregation.

[25:25] Maybe there's something wrong with the pulpit. He said repent and turn to the Lord. Repent and turn to the Lord. Let's look at the book of Joel.

[25:37] Let me start with Hosea. Hosea chapter 14 verse 1. O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God for thou hast fallen by iniquity.

[25:50] O sister, O church brother, O mighty Asher, O mighty deaconess, O mighty minister, O powerful pastor, O man of God.

[26:07] Man of God, O return to the Lord for you are fallen by O Israel. Return unto the Lord thy God.

[26:18] O brother, sister, return from the gossip. You are, thou have fallen, return to the Lord. You are fallen by gossip. You are fallen by unforgiveness. You are fallen by bitterness.

[26:29] You are fallen by murmuring. You are fallen. O return. O return. Joel chapter 3, chapter 2 verse 13. And God said, I'm not interested in you tearing and fasting and tearing your clothes.

[26:43] You are fasting but you haven't rendered your heart. Your heart is intact. Your heart has been polluted and you are keeping it. See, the problem is that most of the time we want to say, I believe in Jesus, but I don't want to make amends. I don't want to change.

[26:54] I don't want to repent. So people have come and say, oh, I believe he died for me, but they haven't changed. There's no repentance. There's no repentance. So we want what God has got to offer, but we do not want to give up anything.

[27:08] We do not want to let the hold of the enemy. We do not want to let the hold of the enemy go. Here, he says in Joel chapter 2 verse 13. He says, and rend your heart and not your garments.

[27:20] And turn unto the Lord your God, for he is gracious. Oh, this is so sweet. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Our God is gracious and is merciful. Say, turn to him.

[27:30] Why? He is gracious and is merciful. I'm calling somebody to repentance. There is a call to repentance. Throughout scripture, repentance has been a very important message.

[27:42] The prophets are the prophets. Prophet Isaiah called them to repentance. Prophet Jeremiah called them to repentance. Ezekiel called them to repentance. Hosea called them to repentance.

[27:55] Joel is calling them to repentance right now. Look at Amos. Amos chapter 5 verse 4. For thus says the Lord, For thus says the Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek me and ye shall live.

[28:08] Verse 6. Seek the Lord and ye shall live. Lest he breaks, Lest he break, He break out like fire in the house of Judah and devour it and there be none to quench it in Bethel.

[28:24] He says, seek the Lord. He kept calling them, calling them, calling them. Zephaniah chapter 2 verse 3. Zephaniah 2 verse 3. He said, seek the Lord, O ye meek of the earth, which has wrought his judgment.

[28:40] Seek righteousness. Seek meekness. It may be ye shall be hid. It may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger.

[28:51] Seek righteousness. Seek the Lord. Call people to seek the Lord. Finally, in Malachi. Malachi chapter 3 verse 7. No, normally we quote the verse 8.

[29:03] Will a man rob God? But you have robbed me in tithing offering. Let's look at verse 7. Malachi chapter 3 verse 7. Hallelujah.

[29:14] I love you, Lord. Malachi chapter 3 verse 7 says that, Even from the days of your fathers, ye are all gone away from my ordinance and have not kept them.

[29:25] Return unto me and I will return unto you, says the Lord of hosts. But he said, wherein have we, where shall we return? Then he begins to talk about, you have robbed God in tithe and in offering.

[29:39] You see, so people who have not repented, sometimes this, most people who make a lot of noise about giving to the work of God, most of, it doesn't matter, you can be like Judas.

[29:51] Judas had not repented though. Judas was complaining, why do you spend all this on the feet of Jesus Christ? In I think, John chapter 12. The woman with the alabaster box.

[30:01] Mary. Mary took a very costly alabaster box of spike nut and broke it and then washed clean Jesus' feet with it.

[30:12] And the perfume filled the whole house. The fragrance filled the whole house. And then Judah, they started, Judah started saying that, why do you have to waste this? We can't even sell it and give it to the poor.

[30:23] And he didn't say this because he cared about the poor. He was saying it because he was helping. Bible said, because he helped himself. He used to nick money from the, Jesus' wallet.

[30:34] Jesus' wallet. He was the one keeping the money and he was stealing some. No wonder he died by the wages of iniquity. He loved money so much. He loved money. He would do anything for money.

[30:46] Yes. That's Judah's. So, the woman came and the alabaster box filled the whole place because she was a genuine person who had repented. Judah's was complaining about the giving because she had not repented.

[31:00] We are forcing people, give. Hey, give. Hey, give. Don't you know the work of God? Give. People who have been repented, sometimes these things don't even bother them and they rather make noise. Make noise.

[31:11] Instead of making noise against the things of God, let the blessing of God come upon you to make news. I see somebody's going to be making news very soon. Somebody's going to begin to make news. You will make news in the name of Jesus Christ.

[31:24] And so, he says that, return from the days of your fathers. You have gone away from my ordinances and I've not kept them. See, so, how do you go away from God?

[31:35] By not keeping what he's saying. You've gone away from him. He said, now, return. I'm talking about repentance. How do you overcome sin? Repent. There's no any rocket science that you need.

[31:49] How do you overcome sin? How do you stop this sin? How do you put a stop to this sin? Repent. Hallelujah. And it comes, when it comes to the New Testament, can you imagine John the Baptist.

[32:03] John the Baptist, his opening comments when he came to preach, his opening comments, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Now, chapter 2, chapter 3, verse 1.

[32:14] In those days, came John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The kingdom, the Greek word for kingdom is basileia.

[32:26] Basileia. Basileia means that the rulership, so it's not like just United Kingdom, a geographical location per se. It is the influence, authority over a certain place.

[32:39] And he says, for you to enjoy the authority of God, the rulership of God in your health, in your marriage, in your career, in your business, in your finances, he said, repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.

[32:53] It takes repentance to enjoy the rulership of God, to enjoy the dominion of God, for you to exercise the dominion of God. It takes repentance. So, John the Baptist, he came, the prophets preached repentance.

[33:06] John the Baptist preached repentance. Jesus came, and Jesus, Matthew chapter 4, verse 17, says that, from that time, Jesus began to preach and to say, repent, for the kingdom of heaven.

[33:17] Can you notice that? The trend. John preached repentance. Jesus preached repentance. And Jesus told his disciples that they should preach repentance. In Mark chapter 6, verse 12.

[33:29] Thank you, Holy Spirit. In Mark chapter 6, verse 12, I like that. Oh, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. Mark chapter 6, verse 12, he said, and they went out and preached that men should repent.

[33:41] That's talking about the disciples of Jesus when he sent them. They went out and preached that men should repent. It was the, it was the fundamental message from God. Or it's always been the fundamental message of God for anyone he wants to bless.

[33:56] God can bless you with our forgiveness of sins. So, Bible says in Romans, how David said, blessed is he whose sins are forgiven. David spoke about the blessedness of the one whose sins are forgiven.

[34:07] That's what, that's blessing. Real blessing is forgiveness of sins. And once our sins are forgiven, all the other things. Bible talks about if he did not spare Romans chapter 8, verse 32, if God did not spare his only son but gave him up for us all.

[34:21] Why? For our redemption, for the forgiveness of sin. How much more shall he not also with him freely give us all things? So, if forgiveness of sin starts, all other things follow.

[34:34] Every blessing of God will seamlessly flow in your life. It is not because the hands have not been laid on you. Hands can be laid on you. Anointing oil can be poured on you.

[34:47] All kinds of other things can be done but if repentance is not in place, blessings, pure and true blessings are not in view. True blessings cannot be in view.

[35:00] Fulfillment of true destiny in God cannot be in view. Faith cannot really be actualized unless repentance is in place. I believe God sent me to call the church and call somebody and call all of us to the lifestyle of repentance because if you live a lifestyle of repentance there is never a day in your life you will miss the goodness of God.

[35:21] Hallelujah. Now, so they went and preached repentance. In the book of Acts, as you saw earlier on, on the day of Pentacles they preached repentance. He said, what shall we do?

[35:32] He said, repent. In Acts chapter 2 verse 38, repent and be baptized. In Acts chapter 3 verse 19. Acts chapter 3 verse 19.

[35:46] Repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out. Did you see that? Repentance takes care of our sins so long as man's perspective is concerned as I said earlier and redemption takes care of our sins so long as God's perspective is concerned.

[36:04] So on the part of God redemption takes care of our sins. On the part of man repentance takes care of our sins. Here in Acts chapter 3 verse 19. 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.

[36:24] Times of refreshing. Your sins will be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. I see that is going to be your testimony. Listen, this year doesn't have to end like the way it started.

[36:35] This year has been very rough so far. Major issues globally. But guess what? It's going to get better for you. Why? Because you are walking under the blessing of God because you are living a life of repentance and causing He said and refresh and He says that and refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.

[36:58] That will be your portion. In your marriage refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. In your education in your studies refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. In your business refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.

[37:08] In your family life refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. In your finances refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. In your investments refreshing shall come come from the presence of the Lord. In your health, refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. In anything you are dealing with, anything that is of importance in your life, refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. I'm talking to you. So shall it be for you in the name of Jesus Christ. God wants to bless you. He said, turn and come and I'm a God of mercy.

[37:37] I'm a God of favor. We want to enjoy the mercy of God, the favor of God. Oh, it's only asking for repentance. Let's repent. Repentance means turning away from our sins. Repentance means living out. What is repentance? Repentance actually, before I come to that, I think there's one more, one or two more scriptures. Acts chapter 5 verse 31. Acts chapter 5 verse 31 says that him that talking about Jesus, him God has exalted to his right hand to be, to be a prince and a savior for, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. God has exalted Jesus Christ to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. Repentance was a necessary part of the Christian work.

[38:19] In Acts chapter, um, Acts chapter 20. Thank you, Jesus. In Acts chapter 20 verse, um, actually Acts chapter 11, when Peter went to the house of Cornelius and then after, when he left there, the Jews were saying, when they circumcised, you said, why did you go to a Gentile's house? And then Peter was beginning to recount what's happened. And Bible says, after I told them, this is their conclusion. Acts chapter 11 verse 18. And then they concluded and they said, and when they heard these things, they, they held their peace and glorified God saying that then has God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.

[39:02] Hallelujah. They said, God has also granted the repentance unto life to the Gentiles. Can you imagine? They didn't say has granted them the, we want to receive the Holy Spirit. They didn't say they have granted them the Holy Spirit because everything, all the riches of Christ in God starts with the, uh, uh, starts with repentance. In Acts chapter 20 verse 20, even Paul preached repentance, Paul himself.

[39:25] And how I, this is Paul and how I kept back nothing that was profitable to you, but I've showed you, I've showed you and have taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and also to the Gentiles repentance towards God. That's a key word, a key phrase there, repentance towards God. So repentance has two aspects, the positive aspects and negative aspects. Before I speak about that, let me just, because remember the scripture, so I don't have to come back to it again. It said, telling every, both Jews, uh, testifying to both Jews and Gentiles repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith, repentance and faith, repentance and faith, repentance and faith. I told you they are like ends of one stick, the same thing. Repentance. You can't have faith without repentance. And when you repent, genuine repentance makes you trust God. Genuine repentance makes you faithful. Genuine repentance puts you in faith. All right.

[40:24] Genuine repentance because genuine repentance moves you towards God, away from something, but not just away from something, but closer towards God. Praise God. So repentance is necessary for, to enjoy the goodness of God. In, in Acts chapter six, verse 19, Paul said, Oh, oh, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. Acts chapter 26, verse 19. Wherefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but should first unto them of Damascus and at Jerusalem and throughout all the coast of, coast of Judea and then to the Gentiles that they should repent and turn to God. Repentance towards God. Paul talks about repentance towards God. Repent and turn to God.

[41:11] Repent and turn to God. There are all, so the, the prophets spoke about, call people to repentance. Jesus came and called, John the Baptist called people to repentance. Jesus called people to repentance. When he was alive, his disciples, he sent, they went to call people to repentance.

[41:25] When he was living, he says that resurrection, repentance was preached in his name. So Peter called people to repentance. The apostles, early preachers, they called people to repentance. Paul called people to repentance. And in the epistles, Paul, Romans chapter two, verse four, he says that the goodness of God leads to repentance. In first, second Peter chapter three, verse nine, Peter said that God is, is long suffering, willing that we should, we shouldn't perish, but repent. He has given us a more time and waiting for us to repent. And so he, Peter spoke in his epistle about repentance. And guess what? In Revelation, when Jesus came to have a message to the church, all the churches that have lost their fervency, there are seven churches, five of them were good, were in bad shape. They didn't have the, all of them, all the five had some left dimensions of condemnation. Whilst two were, only two had commendation without condemnation, commendation.

[42:25] And the two that had commendation were the church of Smyana and the church of Philadelphia. Now the rest, the church of Ephesus in Revelations chapter two, verse five, Jesus said to them, repent. He told the church of Ephesus, repent and return to your first lab and do the first works.

[42:46] Repent. Ephesus, you have backslided. Repent. The church. So we come into repentance. We, and we continue through repentance because if repentance is only for coming in, Jesus wouldn't have told the church to repent. The church is those who have already been born again, been justified, been sanctified, and been redeemed to be part of the redeemed community. Jesus, a message from heaven, he said, repent. A message from heaven said, repent. Told the church to repent.

[43:13] The church of Ephesus, Revelations chapter two, verse five, God told them to repent. In Revelations chapter two, verse 16, God told them, he told the church of Pergamos to repent. In Revelations chapter two, verse 21, he told the church of Titeria to repent. In Revelations chapter three, verse three, he told the church in Sardis to repent. In Revelations chapter three, verse 19, he told the church in Laodicea to repent. All these five churches have lost something from God. And Jesus was concerned.

[43:55] He said, repent. In fact, one of them, I think Titeria, verse 16 of chapter two, he said, repent. Let's, I will come and fight you. I'll come and fight you myself. I'm coming to make war against you.

[44:05] Repent. Can you imagine? He told the church of Ephesus, if you don't repent, I'll come and take the candlestick. You are light. You are candle. You are supposed to be on a stake so you can shine. But if you are not shine, me, myself, I'm coming to take my own candlestick away. Repent. So even in Revelation, the church was being called unto repentance. Now, as I said earlier on, repentance is not only for, from bad things. We can also repent from righteous stuff. When I say righteous here, not things that, like, um, let me put it this way. We, we are also called to repentance from good things. In what way can we repent from good things? So repent from bad things, but not only bad things, also good things.

[44:43] Sorry. He said that you are, your righteousness said your righteousness is as filthy rags. Your righteousness. God was telling them that your righteousness is not clean. It's in the book of Isaiah. He said your righteousness, the good works that you are doing as I chapter 64 verse, I think 66 or so. He said this thing you are doing, it's, it looks good in your sight, but it is as filthy rags.

[45:07] That word translated filthy rags is, uh, it's in the original Hebrew sounds like this. Used, uh, excuse me, my language, menstrual pad cloth. Used. It's that your righteousness is as repent from your, that your own self-righteousness. In the book of Philippians chapter three, verse seven and eight, Paul said, whatsoever was going to me, I count them lost. Yeah. I got for the excellent verse, um, eight for the excellency of knowing Christ. I count them as dung. That word dung there is also like, it's not that a great man. One great man of God was given an illustration. It's just like a little boy has, has emptied his bow and put it in maybe a plastic bag and he's holding his, see what I have done. He said, my righteousness is as yak as that, as disgusting as that. So we, sometimes we are also called to repent, repent from good works that are not God centered, good works that are not Christ centered, good works that is all meant to be for sale, for people to see how good we are, how nice we are.

[46:13] We, we Christians are called to repent from that and come back to God. Let God have the preeminence. Let God have the center stage. Move from the, move from the center, move from the center, move away from the center and allow Christ to be in the center. Allow Christ to be in the center.

[46:34] So even though we might be doing some good works because the objective and the focus, the purpose of our good works is to bring glory to ourselves and attention to ourselves, to point to ourselves. We have to even repent from that kind of good works. So repent from bad works and repent from good works. Now, as I said, repentance has two aspects. We have the negative aspect of repentance and the positive aspect of repentance. The negative aspect of repentance, in fact, repentance, as I said earlier on, the original Greek is metanoia, metanoia, meta, like we get metamorphosis. Meta has to do with change. Pardon me, please. Meta has to be with change and noia has to do with mind. So repentance means a change of mind leading to a change of action or change of thoughts, the way you think, the way you think, change the way you think. It will automatically influence the what you do. So most of us, instead of changing the way we think, changing the way we think, we are just thinking about what we are doing. What you are thinking, what you are feeding your mind with is potentially behind the negative thinking you don't want, or that is leading you to the negative results. So we have to be mindful about our thoughts, what you are thinking. So metanoia means change of thinking, change of thoughts that leads to change in action. And so when we talk about repentance, the two aspects, the negative aspect is the change of mind with regret from the past. So you regret for the things you have done and the things you have done. It's a change of mind with regret from the past. It's repentance from sin, repentance from wrongdoing, repentance from the world and the worldly corruptions of the world and repentance from

[48:29] God forsaking life in the past. You know, when I say God forsaking and life that that forsook God, I can't be bothered about God. You know, that kind of God forsaking life, repent from it. You see, so repent, we repent from sin, five things, sins are sins from wrongdoings, from the world, from the world, repent from the corruption of the world and repentance, repentance from God forsaking past life. We repent. So repentance in the negative aspect means I'm leaving something.

[49:03] So that's the negative aspect of repentance. Something is being left behind. And how about the positive aspect? Remember, he said, as we read in Acts chapter 20, verse 21, repentance towards God.

[49:14] Repentance, Acts chapter 26, verse 20, it says repentance towards God. So it's repentance unto God or repentance towards God. So it's the towards God bit. That is the positive aspect of repentance.

[49:27] And both are necessary. You cannot just separate from negative things and stay neutral. It is not repentance. Repentance is actually movement towards God. Okay. But away from sin towards God, away from God forsaking life towards God. So it is like an army marching in a direction. And they said, the commander said, uh, uh, attention, run, uh, turn, run about, turn about and start moving in a different direction. So repentance means you are going this way, going this way, going this way. And then, so I'm facing this side, going there, going there. And then I do a U-turn and then start going this way. And so you have, we, human beings have always moved away from God. We always move away from God. It's natural. So Peter can imagine in Acts, in Luke chapter five, in Luke chapter five, verse, verse eight, when Peter caught the fish after Jesus said, launch your net into the deep. When he, when he realized that this is not an ordinary man, he came and fell at his feet. He said, please leave me alone. Please depart from me. I'm a sinful person. Depart from me. Because the natural man does not readily migrate, gravitate towards God by nature. In Romans chapter three, verse 10,

[50:50] I think I should read that one. I'm bringing it to an end now. Romans chapter three, verse 10, 11, and 12. As it is written, there is none righteous. No, not one. There is none that understands.

[51:03] There is none that seeks after God. No human being will naturally seek after God. None. No human being, not even the Jews. No human being will naturally by nature seek after God.

[51:15] None seeks after, um, none seeks after God. They are all gone, gone out of the way. They are together become profitable. There is none that doeth good. No, not one. So we all naturally we move away from God. And so repentance means that now change your direction and start moving Godwards.

[51:39] Not northwards, not eastwards, not southwards, not westwards, but Godwards. You change your direction, you start moving Godwards. Godwards, that is repentance. Godwards. And once you begin to move Godwards, Godwards. The result is you begin to enjoy a rich and a real and rich reality of the relationship with God, the sweetness of the relationship with God more and more and more.

[52:07] So it's progressive. As you move towards God, you begin to enjoy a rich, real and a rich relationship, sweet relationship with God. It's so fulfilling. So repentance means move away from, change your mind, move away from something towards God. Let your direction change. My brother, I want to encourage you. You want to deal with this sin, stop it. You have to start with your mind and change your direction.

[52:34] If you always go east and it happens, this time go west. Don't even go north. Go west around it. The only way to stop sin is to repent. And repentance means I have actually changed my mind. I've actually changed my approach. I've changed my approach, my works, my mind, my behavior, my attitude towards this thing. And I've now, in the next teaching, I'm going to show you the science of true repentance and the aspects, the science of true repentance and a bit of, a bit of dynamics of repentance, where you see that there's a genuine abhorrence, a genuine distaste, distaste, a genuine disgust towards sin.

[53:19] You move away and start moving in a certain direction. And see, I'm showing and I'm teaching what will bring the unmitigated, uninterrupted blessings of God upon your life. And not just that, for you to fulfill the purpose of God to his glory for your life. That's what I'm talking about. Sin will stop you. But from today, you are stopping sin. Why? Because you are overcoming. From today, you are stopping sin because you are overcoming. From today, you are stopping sin because you are overcoming.

[53:52] Sin shall no longer have dominion over your life. In conclusion, a few things, two, four things I want to say about, I want you to know about repentance so long as God is concerned. One, God commands repentance.

[54:08] Acts chapter 17 verse 30. God, but now has commanded all men. So God commands repentance. Number two, God grants repentance. Second Timothy chapter 2 verse 25. So repentance originally is not from man.

[54:22] God grants you repentance. He said, preach to them, talk to them. Peradventure, God will grant them repentance. So God grants repentance. Number one, God commands repentance. Number two, God grants repentance.

[54:40] Number three, God patiently awaits repentance. Second Peter chapter 3 verse 9. He says that God is not slow as some men count slackness. People think God is slow. If he said he would do something when he can't, he doesn't do it.

[54:54] He is very slow. So when some people, when they say, leave it for God, they say, no, God will take too long to do. Let me deal with this person myself. Because we think God is slow. God is not slow. His time is the best.

[55:06] The Lord is not slack concerning his promises. As some men count slackness, but it's long suffering to ask what? Not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

[55:18] Opposite of repentance is perishing. If we don't repent, a lot of things are getting wasted and destroyed in your life. God doesn't want us to perish. He wants everyone to repent. So Bible says that he's patient.

[55:32] Not that he's slow towards, but he's long suffering. He's patiently waiting that everyone will come to repentance. All right. So number one, God commands repentance. Number two, God, God, God grants repentance. Number three, God patiently awaits repentance.

[55:51] And number four, Romans chapter two, verse four. I quoted earlier on, but just, let's read it. And then that's that. I end here. Romans chapter two, verse four says that. Oh, sorry. Yeah.

[56:03] Okay. Romans chapter two, verse four says that. Oh, despised thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long suffering. You see, God is long suffering. Are you despising it? Not knowing that the goodness of God leads thee to repentance.

[56:21] God is doing all this good. It's not because he's endorsing that kind of lifestyle. He answered that prayer and delivered you from being arrested. When you almost got arrested.

[56:33] He answered that prayer. When you almost got some STD. You almost got it and you prayed, God, please help me. And he answered that prayer.

[56:46] It's not that he doesn't care. He does. He does. He's just giving you enough time for you to repent.

[56:57] He gives us enough time for us to repent. The way you've been treating your wife, God has been giving you enough time. The only thing you don't know is you don't know when your time will run out. The things you have been doing and saying is my weakness is my weakness.

[57:11] The prodigal son returned in Luke chapter 15. He returned home. I think verse 17. No, sorry, verse 21. And he told, he said to his father, I have sinned against heaven. He was conscious of God.

[57:24] Through repentance is towards God. He said, I have sinned against heaven. You are doing some things, getting away with it. You don't know when you run out of time with God. Oh, God is patient.

[57:35] God commands repentance. God grants repentance. God patiently awaits repentance. And God's goodness leads to repentance. I pray that God will help us to live a life of repentance.

[57:49] Me and you and all of us, especially those who are saved, that we will be able to live a genuine life of repentance and to see the fineness and the beauty of God's glory manifesting on our lives.

[58:02] In the name of Jesus Christ. I pray for you that by the power of the Holy Spirit, because he's our helper, he's our counselor, he's our guide. By the power of the Holy Spirit and by the strength of God's word, may you be able to rise up to overcome all the hindrances and the obstacles and satanic inhibitions against you from stopping you from walking in repentance.

[58:27] I pray for you in the name of Jesus Christ.