1 00:00:25,940 --> 00:00:31,480 The very first step of entering the kingdom has always been 2 00:00:31,740 --> 00:00:33,740 Repent. 3 00:00:34,270 --> 00:00:37,260 The tragedy is so many people are becoming Christians 4 00:00:37,260 --> 00:00:39,120 today without repenting. 5 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:43,460 That God is having to tell Christians to repent in this country. 6 00:00:43,580 --> 00:00:46,920 He shouldn't need to be telling Christians to repent. 7 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:50,480 The church should be telling the world to repent instead. 8 00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:53,300 If you are hearing from God you know that He is 9 00:00:53,300 --> 00:00:56,540 telling the church, Christians, in Britain to repent 10 00:00:56,660 --> 00:00:58,220 and catch up 11 00:00:58,220 --> 00:01:00,580 on what they should have done years ago. 12 00:01:00,580 --> 00:01:03,090 So that is the first step. 13 00:01:03,210 --> 00:01:06,020 But what does it mean to repent? 14 00:01:06,300 --> 00:01:10,400 Most people think it is a matter of feelings, 15 00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:12,540 of tears, 16 00:01:12,960 --> 00:01:16,510 of feeling sorry for what you have done. 17 00:01:16,690 --> 00:01:19,660 But that may not be repentance. 18 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:21,700 It may be simply 19 00:01:21,780 --> 00:01:23,350 regret. 20 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:29,820 A lot of people have feelings of regret about how they lived. 21 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:33,780 I would be surprised if there was anyone here that didn't 22 00:01:33,780 --> 00:01:37,760 regret some of the decisions they have made in life. 23 00:01:38,380 --> 00:01:40,880 And feelings of regret 24 00:01:41,140 --> 00:01:44,200 are about what you have done to yourself. 25 00:01:45,660 --> 00:01:47,780 What you have done with your own life 26 00:01:48,340 --> 00:01:50,340 and your own decisions. 27 00:01:50,900 --> 00:01:54,280 There are other people who have deep feelings 28 00:01:54,620 --> 00:01:56,740 of what we call remorse. 29 00:01:57,640 --> 00:02:00,400 And remorse is what you feel 30 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:02,710 about what you have done to others. 31 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:06,390 I remember meeting a man 32 00:02:06,540 --> 00:02:09,320 suffering from venereal disease 33 00:02:09,460 --> 00:02:12,220 as the result of his way of life. 34 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:14,420 And he had passed on 35 00:02:14,620 --> 00:02:17,720 this venereal disease to his daughter. 36 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:21,980 And he was filled with remorse 37 00:02:22,120 --> 00:02:25,120 when he saw what he had done to someone else. 38 00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:28,380 He had deep feelings of remorse about it. 39 00:02:28,740 --> 00:02:31,000 But that is not repentance. 40 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:35,080 Repentance has this unique feature. 41 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:42,240 That repentance is what you feel you have done to God. 42 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:46,860 That is quite different from regret and remorse. 43 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:51,540 Suddenly you realize that it is God you have hurt most. 44 00:02:52,060 --> 00:02:56,220 Like the prodigal son realized it was not just his father he hurt. 45 00:02:56,360 --> 00:02:58,500 He said, "Father I have sinned 46 00:02:58,740 --> 00:03:01,220 against you and against heaven." 47 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:04,780 As soon as that heaven dimension comes in 48 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:08,040 and you realize it's God you have hurt most, 49 00:03:08,220 --> 00:03:11,060 and you realize it''s God's laws you broke, 50 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:13,520 it's God's love you refused, 51 00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:15,880 it's God's anger you provoked, 52 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:18,280 it's God's judgment you deserve, 53 00:03:18,500 --> 00:03:22,800 it's God's mercy you need. When this God dimension enters in 54 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:27,360 it becomes what Paul calls, "the godly sorrow 55 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:29,520 that leads to repentance." 56 00:03:29,900 --> 00:03:34,760 Regret and remorse do not necessarily lead to repentance. 57 00:03:34,980 --> 00:03:38,100 Cain regretted bitterly 58 00:03:38,300 --> 00:03:41,780 what he had done to Abel but he never repented of it. 59 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:44,560 He never put it right, 60 00:03:44,620 --> 00:03:46,220 he never confessed it. 61 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:50,880 He only regretted the punishment he was now experiencing. 62 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:54,300 Well, that was a simple introduction. 63 00:03:54,980 --> 00:03:56,600 I now want to 64 00:03:56,880 --> 00:04:00,360 tell you that repentance involves three things. 65 00:04:02,140 --> 00:04:04,400 So we are looking now at repentance. 66 00:04:06,140 --> 00:04:08,680 In the New Testament repentance 67 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:11,980 passes through three stages. 68 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:14,440 Very simply: 69 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:18,120 Thought, Word, and Deed. 70 00:04:19,780 --> 00:04:23,000 Therefore repentance takes time. 71 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:26,500 The trouble is when you are trying to lead someone 72 00:04:26,500 --> 00:04:29,280 to Christ in 5 minutes at the end of a meeting 73 00:04:29,380 --> 00:04:32,560 as the bus is waiting for them you can't 74 00:04:33,620 --> 00:04:35,620 take them through repentance properly. 75 00:04:36,580 --> 00:04:39,480 And so we make them say a sinner's prayer, 76 00:04:39,780 --> 00:04:44,380 "Lord Jesus I'm sorry for all my sins, I invite you into my life, Amen." 77 00:04:44,540 --> 00:04:46,760 That is not repentance. 78 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:52,000 In fact, I doubt if you can repent in general. 79 00:04:53,580 --> 00:04:56,540 You probably know the general confession that is used 80 00:04:56,540 --> 00:04:58,670 in Anglican churches every Sunday. 81 00:04:58,670 --> 00:05:01,400 "I have left undone the things I ought to have done; and 82 00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:03,890 I have done the things I ought not to have done; 83 00:05:03,890 --> 00:05:05,620 And there is no health in us." 84 00:05:06,020 --> 00:05:09,260 All this starts as miserable sinners, which produces a lot 85 00:05:09,260 --> 00:05:11,180 of miserable congregations. 86 00:05:11,280 --> 00:05:14,360 We should be happy saints, not miserable sinners. 87 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:17,260 But a general confession, when I hear it, and 88 00:05:17,260 --> 00:05:19,720 my wife and I are often in Anglican churches. 89 00:05:20,020 --> 00:05:22,020 Now aah... 90 00:05:22,020 --> 00:05:23,320 One in our village... 91 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:26,360 I look at the congregation when they are confessing 92 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:28,160 their sins and I wonder, 93 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:30,160 "Are you thinking of anything 94 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:31,780 you have done? 95 00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:34,120 Or anything you have not done? 96 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:36,730 Or are you just signing a blank check? 97 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:40,600 You see I am going to show you that repentance is always 98 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:43,460 repentance of particular sins. 99 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:46,160 You can't repent of general sins. 100 00:05:46,980 --> 00:05:50,620 You can only repent of this, and this, and this. 101 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:54,040 And that involves these 3 steps. 102 00:05:54,260 --> 00:05:56,080 It involves first of all 103 00:05:56,280 --> 00:05:58,280 changing your mind 104 00:05:59,280 --> 00:06:01,240 about particular things 105 00:06:01,430 --> 00:06:03,710 and thinking God's way about them. 106 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:07,880 And when you do this you come to 2 conclusions: First, 107 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:11,300 God is a much better person than I thought He was. 108 00:06:11,750 --> 00:06:15,980 And second, I am a much worse person than I thought I was. 109 00:06:16,830 --> 00:06:18,520 Usually it is the other way. 110 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:20,710 When an unbeliever thinks about God 111 00:06:20,710 --> 00:06:23,970 he thinks God is unfair and himself fair. 112 00:06:24,810 --> 00:06:27,340 That he is better than God. Have you noticed that? 113 00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:29,890 A number of people say, "Why does God do this, why 114 00:06:29,890 --> 00:06:31,800 does God allow that, why should God...?" 115 00:06:32,020 --> 00:06:34,660 ... "I know better than God and if I were running 116 00:06:34,660 --> 00:06:37,320 the universe I could do it better than He's doing it." 117 00:06:37,420 --> 00:06:39,240 That is what they are saying. 118 00:06:39,460 --> 00:06:44,140 And they are really setting themselves as a better person than God is. 119 00:06:44,430 --> 00:06:47,170 They are saying He is making mistakes which I wouldn't. 120 00:06:47,420 --> 00:06:49,640 He is treating people in a way I wouldn't. 121 00:06:50,380 --> 00:06:52,730 I am, therefore, a better person than He is. 122 00:06:52,870 --> 00:06:56,370 When you repent your thoughts take a somersault. 123 00:06:57,570 --> 00:07:01,920 And when you catch a glimpse of His holiness and His purity 124 00:07:02,090 --> 00:07:04,920 you begin to realize how lucky you are. 125 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:08,300 And you have a much lower view of yourself. 126 00:07:08,500 --> 00:07:11,770 In fact, the higher your view God the lower your view yourself. 127 00:07:11,930 --> 00:07:14,190 Repentance is a change of mind. 128 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:19,070 The Greek word 'metanoia' means to have second thoughts: 129 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:23,340 'meta'- change or after: 'noia'- mind 130 00:07:23,800 --> 00:07:27,260 To think again about the way you have been living. 131 00:07:28,260 --> 00:07:30,660 It begins when you change your mind. 132 00:07:31,090 --> 00:07:33,410 When you think God's way. 133 00:07:33,660 --> 00:07:38,200 And then you realize not only that your bad deeds are pretty horrible. 134 00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:42,580 Amazingly you begin to see that your good deeds are just 135 00:07:42,580 --> 00:07:44,760 as offensive to God. 136 00:07:45,460 --> 00:07:47,580 It comes as a shock to many people 137 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:50,170 when they realize in their mind 138 00:07:50,540 --> 00:07:54,450 that the best things they have ever done are not good enough for God. 139 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:58,680 And that our righteousness has to be repented of as 140 00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:00,470 well as our sins. 141 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:03,760 That our good deeds as well as our bad deeds need 142 00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:05,360 to be put away. 143 00:08:05,500 --> 00:08:07,440 What a revolution that is! 144 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:09,440 Most people think repentance 145 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:11,500 covers the bad things you have done. 146 00:08:11,500 --> 00:08:14,670 But in the Bible it covers the good things you have as well. 147 00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:17,800 Let me give you 2 texts from the Bible which are a bit blunt to 148 00:08:17,820 --> 00:08:21,260 a Christian congregation. The Bible is a blunt book. 149 00:08:22,080 --> 00:08:26,580 It has unfortunately been tidied up in English for polite congregations. 150 00:08:26,870 --> 00:08:30,100 But in the Hebrew and Greek it is a very earthy book. 151 00:08:30,110 --> 00:08:33,920 Isaiah said this, the ladies will understand this, 152 00:08:33,920 --> 00:08:35,520 Isaiah said, 153 00:08:35,980 --> 00:08:38,090 "Our righteousness, to God, 154 00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:41,090 is like a menstrual cloth." 155 00:08:41,380 --> 00:08:43,510 (A disposable napkin) 156 00:08:44,820 --> 00:08:47,080 That is how you feel about your righteousness 157 00:08:47,080 --> 00:08:48,980 once you think God's way. 158 00:08:49,080 --> 00:08:50,480 Here is one for the men. 159 00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:52,710 Paul says in Philippians 3 160 00:08:53,060 --> 00:08:55,900 "When I consider the commandments I kept, 161 00:08:56,800 --> 00:08:57,960 not those I broke." 162 00:08:57,960 --> 00:09:00,640 (And he kept 9 of the 10 commandments.) 163 00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:03,610 He said, "When I consider the ones I kept 164 00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:06,300 I count them as dung." 165 00:09:06,300 --> 00:09:09,880 He feels like a little boy who emptied his bowels into a pot 166 00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:13,170 and holds it up saying, "Look what I have done." 167 00:09:14,500 --> 00:09:17,990 And he uses a very down to earth Greek word for 168 00:09:17,990 --> 00:09:22,540 human excreta for which this is the well known English equivalent today. 169 00:09:23,380 --> 00:09:24,960 That is the Bible. 170 00:09:25,460 --> 00:09:29,520 In other words you realize that your righteousness 171 00:09:29,870 --> 00:09:34,310 is as far short of God's standards as your bad deeds. 172 00:09:34,660 --> 00:09:37,240 And you leave them all behind you and you say, 173 00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:41,290 "Nothing in my hand I bring; simply to your cross I cling." 174 00:09:42,480 --> 00:09:45,300 That is to come to the truth about yourself. 175 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:47,480 I love that story about 176 00:09:47,660 --> 00:09:50,950 an old preacher in the slave plantations 177 00:09:50,950 --> 00:09:53,540 in the deep south of America. He was preaching on the 178 00:09:53,540 --> 00:09:55,260 Prodigal Son and he said... 179 00:09:55,430 --> 00:09:58,380 "He took off his jacket and threw it away. 180 00:09:58,660 --> 00:10:00,890 And he took off his shirt and threw that away. 181 00:10:00,890 --> 00:10:02,940 He took off his vest and threw that away. 182 00:10:02,940 --> 00:10:06,060 And then, brothers, he just came to himself." 183 00:10:06,940 --> 00:10:09,140 You have missed the pun. 184 00:10:09,230 --> 00:10:11,410 You're not quite with me. 185 00:10:11,560 --> 00:10:15,160 To come to yourself means to finally strip away all the 186 00:10:15,200 --> 00:10:19,070 covering and get to the real truth of your condition. 187 00:10:19,080 --> 00:10:23,470 It is interesting, the closer you get to God the worse you feel. 188 00:10:24,350 --> 00:10:27,250 The more you understand how good He is, 189 00:10:27,420 --> 00:10:30,070 the more you realize how bad you are. 190 00:10:30,860 --> 00:10:35,240 And realizing and thinking that way is the first major step. 191 00:10:35,240 --> 00:10:37,680 But that's not the end of repentance. 192 00:10:37,810 --> 00:10:39,810 The second step 193 00:10:39,860 --> 00:10:42,100 is the word of repentance. 194 00:10:42,820 --> 00:10:46,840 And that means first to confess sins. 195 00:10:47,620 --> 00:10:53,000 Protestants, in reaction to the Catholic practice of confession, 196 00:10:53,220 --> 00:10:55,300 have neglected confession. 197 00:10:56,260 --> 00:10:59,280 If you had asked John the Baptist for baptism 198 00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:00,750 he would have said, 199 00:11:01,060 --> 00:11:03,170 "Then before you go into the water 200 00:11:03,200 --> 00:11:06,680 make a public confession of your sins." 201 00:11:07,200 --> 00:11:08,970 He insisted on that. 202 00:11:09,100 --> 00:11:11,680 You search the New Testament and see how many times it 203 00:11:11,680 --> 00:11:15,290 says confess your sins, to one another. 204 00:11:15,900 --> 00:11:20,480 You know I found it is therapeutic if I am counseling an inquirer 205 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:22,480 to get them to name 206 00:11:22,640 --> 00:11:24,910 the sins they want forgiven. 207 00:11:25,890 --> 00:11:29,040 That does two good things for them. First of all, it helps 208 00:11:29,040 --> 00:11:33,150 them to be accountable for specific things. 209 00:11:33,330 --> 00:11:36,330 Somebody comes to me and says, "I'd like to be a Christian." 210 00:11:36,330 --> 00:11:38,450 -"Oh, you'd like your sins forgiven?" 211 00:11:38,480 --> 00:11:39,560 - "Yes." 212 00:11:39,680 --> 00:11:41,860 "You'd like to be saved from your sins?" 213 00:11:41,860 --> 00:11:43,620 -"Yes." 214 00:11:43,720 --> 00:11:48,040 -"Then you tell me what sins you want to be saved from." 215 00:11:48,860 --> 00:11:51,760 I find that's when repentance begins. 216 00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:57,240 And somehow naming it gets it out into the light. 217 00:11:57,710 --> 00:12:01,760 My heart always leaps when somebody says to me in those situations, 218 00:12:01,780 --> 00:12:04,210 "I've never told anyone this before." 219 00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:07,650 I think there is a release coming in a moment. 220 00:12:07,990 --> 00:12:09,660 It's coming into the light. 221 00:12:09,660 --> 00:12:11,460 It's getting out. 222 00:12:11,540 --> 00:12:13,420 Even just saying it 223 00:12:13,620 --> 00:12:16,030 somehow does something about it. 224 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:18,940 And it is specific then. 225 00:12:19,100 --> 00:12:20,640 "Lord it is this 226 00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:22,070 and it is this 227 00:12:22,100 --> 00:12:23,400 and it is this." 228 00:12:23,710 --> 00:12:26,410 There is no confession of general sin 229 00:12:26,410 --> 00:12:29,280 in the New Testament. There are only confession 230 00:12:29,900 --> 00:12:32,050 of sins, plural, 231 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:33,560 a list. 232 00:12:33,760 --> 00:12:36,060 Confession also helps 233 00:12:36,520 --> 00:12:39,020 to make a person responsible. 234 00:12:39,690 --> 00:12:42,860 When you confess sins you can't make excuses. 235 00:12:43,220 --> 00:12:45,670 You can't say, "Well, it wasn't my fault." 236 00:12:45,670 --> 00:12:48,930 Because confession is to say, "It was my fault, 237 00:12:49,220 --> 00:12:51,200 I chose that way." 238 00:12:51,270 --> 00:12:53,690 Let me say something that could be misunderstood. 239 00:12:53,690 --> 00:12:56,350 There's an awful lot of 'inner healing' around now. 240 00:12:56,990 --> 00:13:00,150 And I find Christians would rather have 'inner healing' 241 00:13:00,180 --> 00:13:02,300 than forgiveness. 242 00:13:02,870 --> 00:13:05,370 Because forgiveness demands repentance. 243 00:13:05,460 --> 00:13:09,320 And it is so easy to blame someone else for my sins. 244 00:13:10,020 --> 00:13:12,660 And to say it was my parents and what they did to me. 245 00:13:12,660 --> 00:13:14,790 Because of what happened to me as a child. 246 00:13:14,790 --> 00:13:17,480 and to say, "I need healing, I don't need forgiveness, 247 00:13:17,480 --> 00:13:19,090 I need healing." 248 00:13:19,100 --> 00:13:23,880 But listen, we are not the result of what has been done to us. 249 00:13:23,910 --> 00:13:28,160 We are the result of what we have done about what has been done to us. 250 00:13:28,920 --> 00:13:31,990 It's the choices of reaction that we have made, 251 00:13:32,140 --> 00:13:34,070 that has made us what we are. 252 00:13:34,080 --> 00:13:35,540 If I am bitter, 253 00:13:35,540 --> 00:13:39,050 it's because I have chosen to resent what was done to me 254 00:13:39,170 --> 00:13:41,060 rather than forgive it. 255 00:13:41,540 --> 00:13:45,380 And in fact I really believe that more people are in need of repentance 256 00:13:45,380 --> 00:13:47,170 than 'inner healing'. 257 00:13:47,430 --> 00:13:49,740 Although there is still a place for that, 258 00:13:49,740 --> 00:13:52,270 where the Holy Spirit can go back and sort out 259 00:13:52,350 --> 00:13:54,400 a problem from earlier years. 260 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:58,230 But the basic need of mankind is not for 'inner healing' 261 00:13:58,250 --> 00:14:02,340 but for repentance that makes it possible for God to forgive: 262 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:05,770 of saying, "I am what I am now 263 00:14:05,870 --> 00:14:08,130 because I chose 264 00:14:08,730 --> 00:14:11,120 at crucial points in my life 265 00:14:11,230 --> 00:14:13,820 a way that leads to this character. 266 00:14:14,630 --> 00:14:17,330 We are all a result of our choices. 267 00:14:17,390 --> 00:14:20,360 And to treat someone who is responsible for what they have 268 00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:23,580 done is to treat them with the dignity of a human being. 269 00:14:23,580 --> 00:14:25,810 They are not a Pavlovian dog. 270 00:14:25,850 --> 00:14:28,940 You are saying to someone, "You are a human being. 271 00:14:28,940 --> 00:14:32,370 You have the will to choose. You have chosen." 272 00:14:32,440 --> 00:14:35,010 I have heard men in court plead, 273 00:14:35,180 --> 00:14:37,600 "Well, I got into bad company Your Honor." 274 00:14:38,290 --> 00:14:42,460 I have never heard a man say, "I chose that company." 275 00:14:44,080 --> 00:14:46,420 Just: " I got into bad company" 276 00:14:46,890 --> 00:14:51,000 But we choose our friends. We choose the company we keep. 277 00:14:51,240 --> 00:14:53,700 We choose the ambitions we have. 278 00:14:53,980 --> 00:14:56,640 We chose, we choose. 279 00:14:56,640 --> 00:15:00,720 And confession is saying I made the wrong choice. 280 00:15:00,720 --> 00:15:02,720 And I am responsible. 281 00:15:02,720 --> 00:15:05,200 That is the beginning of lifting a person 282 00:15:05,250 --> 00:15:08,520 to the dignity of a responsible human being. 283 00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:12,280 And to get them to spell it out in words is very important. 284 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:16,000 If we confess our sins- not our sin. 285 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:18,660 If we confess our sins, which means, 286 00:15:18,730 --> 00:15:22,050 to name them one by one, individually. 287 00:15:22,510 --> 00:15:24,620 Then He is faithful and just 288 00:15:24,820 --> 00:15:25,960 to forgive 289 00:15:26,140 --> 00:15:27,680 each one-- 290 00:15:28,010 --> 00:15:29,760 of our sins... 291 00:15:29,990 --> 00:15:32,180 and His blood goes on keeping us clean. 292 00:15:32,620 --> 00:15:34,100 A beautiful promise. 293 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:36,240 As well as "Confession" 294 00:15:36,300 --> 00:15:39,110 that is one part of the word for forgiveness. 295 00:15:39,220 --> 00:15:43,300 It is also important with certain sins 296 00:15:44,120 --> 00:15:47,420 to get a person to "renounce" that thing. 297 00:15:47,640 --> 00:15:51,750 To say, in words, before God, "I am finished with it, 298 00:15:52,080 --> 00:15:54,320 I will not go back to it." 299 00:15:55,220 --> 00:15:57,040 To 'renounce'. 300 00:15:57,390 --> 00:16:01,020 In early baptism they were always asked to renounce 301 00:16:01,020 --> 00:16:03,190 the world, the flesh and the devil. 302 00:16:03,580 --> 00:16:06,740 And to say publicly, "I have nothing more to do 303 00:16:06,740 --> 00:16:08,740 with those false masters." 304 00:16:08,740 --> 00:16:10,460 To 'renounce' 305 00:16:10,490 --> 00:16:12,440 Now comes the hard part 306 00:16:12,670 --> 00:16:15,080 of repentance, which is 'deeds'. 307 00:16:15,280 --> 00:16:19,650 Here is a part of repentance that many people don't realize. 308 00:16:19,680 --> 00:16:21,990 This is what takes time. 309 00:16:22,770 --> 00:16:25,360 Repentance begins with THOUGHT 310 00:16:26,260 --> 00:16:28,860 It then comes out in WORDS 311 00:16:29,350 --> 00:16:32,700 but it must then come out in DEEDS. 312 00:16:32,860 --> 00:16:34,970 I'll give you 2 texts: 313 00:16:35,060 --> 00:16:39,740 John the Baptist said this when someone came to be baptized. 314 00:16:40,140 --> 00:16:43,620 "Produce fruit worthy of repentance 315 00:16:43,700 --> 00:16:45,700 then I will baptize you." 316 00:16:45,700 --> 00:16:47,580 They said, "What do you mean?" 317 00:16:47,580 --> 00:16:51,120 If you have too many clothes give some away. 318 00:16:51,870 --> 00:16:55,690 If you're cheating with your finance, get your books straight. 319 00:16:56,970 --> 00:17:00,970 If you are bullying someone because of your power, stop doing it. 320 00:17:01,510 --> 00:17:03,720 And then here is one for today. 321 00:17:04,140 --> 00:17:07,120 Be content with your wages. 322 00:17:07,810 --> 00:17:11,180 Where are the preachers in Britain preaching that today? 323 00:17:11,590 --> 00:17:14,890 Preaching it to the teachers preaching it to the nurses. 324 00:17:15,330 --> 00:17:17,300 Where are the preachers preaching that? 325 00:17:17,300 --> 00:17:20,190 We're not that because we are not preaching repentance. 326 00:17:20,500 --> 00:17:23,660 But boy there is a practical repentance. 327 00:17:23,660 --> 00:17:25,500 Be content with your wages. 328 00:17:25,500 --> 00:17:27,760 How many people who are baptized in your church 329 00:17:27,760 --> 00:17:30,290 do you ask them, "Are you content with your wages?" 330 00:17:33,120 --> 00:17:37,340 We laugh nervously because we know we are just 331 00:17:37,390 --> 00:17:40,320 getting them to repeat a general confession and 332 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:43,370 the 'sinner's prayer'.We are not pinning it to reality. 333 00:17:43,480 --> 00:17:45,740 Now Paul said this, 334 00:17:45,740 --> 00:17:49,080 "I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision." 335 00:17:49,630 --> 00:17:52,700 But what heavenly vision was he not disobedient to? 336 00:17:52,760 --> 00:17:54,220 I wonder if you know? 337 00:17:54,580 --> 00:17:56,810 If you read the verse it says this, 338 00:17:56,810 --> 00:18:00,100 I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision 339 00:18:00,190 --> 00:18:04,820 but I preached repentance to the gentiles 340 00:18:04,820 --> 00:18:08,420 that they should turn or convert to God 341 00:18:08,460 --> 00:18:13,720 and prove their repentance by their deeds. 342 00:18:14,900 --> 00:18:19,380 And Paul's ministry was a ministry to get people to prove 343 00:18:19,580 --> 00:18:22,140 their repentance by their deeds. 344 00:18:22,460 --> 00:18:27,420 I believe we should stop baptizing people on profession of faith alone 345 00:18:27,470 --> 00:18:31,220 and baptize them on proof of repentance. 346 00:18:32,100 --> 00:18:34,220 Now just let that sink in. 347 00:18:34,850 --> 00:18:38,200 Zacheus...When Jesus came to have lunch with Zacheus, the little 348 00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:40,610 man up in a tree in more ways than one. 349 00:18:40,700 --> 00:18:44,100 Jesus came to his house for lunch and Zacheus said, 350 00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:46,470 "I have been defrauding people." 351 00:18:46,850 --> 00:18:48,920 But from now on I am going to, 352 00:18:48,920 --> 00:18:51,690 "I am going to honest and straight from now on." 353 00:18:51,750 --> 00:18:53,800 He did not say that 354 00:18:54,320 --> 00:18:57,310 He said, "I'm going to go to everyone I have defrauded 355 00:18:57,810 --> 00:19:01,880 and pay them back with interest, four-fold." 356 00:19:02,220 --> 00:19:06,980 And Jesus said, "Today salvation is come to this house." 357 00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:12,140 Repentance is putting the past right. 358 00:19:14,360 --> 00:19:16,650 You can't put all sins right. 359 00:19:17,170 --> 00:19:20,270 But there are some, the Lord will show you, can be put right. 360 00:19:20,750 --> 00:19:23,270 I preached in Canberra 361 00:19:23,490 --> 00:19:26,700 in the houses of parliament to members of both houses 362 00:19:26,700 --> 00:19:28,430 from Australia. 363 00:19:28,710 --> 00:19:30,560 And after the 364 00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:31,920 time together, which was 365 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:34,940 pretty hot as they know how to heckle a speaker there. 366 00:19:35,100 --> 00:19:37,460 And it was hot, but after a time 367 00:19:37,510 --> 00:19:40,790 one of their most prominent politicians 368 00:19:40,900 --> 00:19:43,560 as he left the room, whispered to me, 369 00:19:43,780 --> 00:19:49,020 "I'm going home to re-write my income tax returns." 370 00:19:50,270 --> 00:19:51,680 My heart lept! 371 00:19:52,180 --> 00:19:53,660 There were no tears 372 00:19:54,150 --> 00:19:56,210 but there was repentance. 373 00:19:56,800 --> 00:19:59,090 He had THOUGHT God's way. 374 00:19:59,490 --> 00:20:01,760 He put it into WORDS 375 00:20:01,820 --> 00:20:04,480 And he was going home to re-write his income tax. 376 00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:07,050 That's where the rubber hits the road, as they say. 377 00:20:07,660 --> 00:20:09,410 That's repentance. 378 00:20:09,490 --> 00:20:11,320 DEEDS of repentance, 379 00:20:11,450 --> 00:20:13,540 doing something about it. 380 00:20:13,630 --> 00:20:15,500 Putting the past right. 381 00:20:15,500 --> 00:20:17,640 Bringing it to a proper conclusion, 382 00:20:17,670 --> 00:20:21,540 cutting the umbilical chord that ties you to Satan's kingdom. 383 00:20:21,610 --> 00:20:24,800 Tying it off so that you are free of it. 384 00:20:24,950 --> 00:20:29,020 It may involve a negative thing like destroying something. 385 00:20:29,160 --> 00:20:33,430 The last time I was in Ashford I had to advise 386 00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:37,800 someone to go home and burn his Freemason's apron, 387 00:20:37,890 --> 00:20:39,590 which he did. 388 00:20:39,990 --> 00:20:42,100 Sometimes we need to do that. 389 00:20:42,100 --> 00:20:44,490 In Ephesus they burned 390 00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:47,970 thousands of dollars worth of occult books. 391 00:20:48,090 --> 00:20:50,020 You read Acts 19. 392 00:20:50,020 --> 00:20:53,500 this is all part the of the DEEDS of repentance. 393 00:20:53,500 --> 00:20:56,880 And this has been so neglected in our preaching. 394 00:20:57,020 --> 00:21:01,070 It is no wonder that the Lord is having to tell Christians 395 00:21:01,110 --> 00:21:05,410 to go back and repent and put things right. 396 00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:08,310 But when they do there is a tremendous relief. 397 00:21:08,930 --> 00:21:13,980 I was preaching in Aberdeen for 3 nights in the Central Theater. 398 00:21:14,180 --> 00:21:17,340 And after the second night a girl came up to me. 399 00:21:17,340 --> 00:21:20,180 She was very upset, she was blotchy faced. 400 00:21:20,180 --> 00:21:22,480 She was crying, she was shaking 401 00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:26,280 and she said, "Oh Mr. Pawson you are frustrating me. 402 00:21:26,380 --> 00:21:30,020 I want to be a Christian; I've tried to be a Christian. 403 00:21:30,020 --> 00:21:32,920 I've gone forward at every evangelistic 404 00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:35,480 meeting in Aberdeen for 18 months, 405 00:21:35,530 --> 00:21:37,780 including the Luis Palau Crusade." 406 00:21:37,940 --> 00:21:39,730 She said, "Nothing has changed 407 00:21:39,730 --> 00:21:42,270 nothing has happened, I've signed cards, I've been 408 00:21:42,300 --> 00:21:44,120 consoled, I've been to classes. 409 00:21:44,120 --> 00:21:46,220 Nothing has happened. I'm beginning to doubt 410 00:21:46,230 --> 00:21:48,080 if there is anything in it. 411 00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:50,120 But I still want to be a Christian." 412 00:21:50,120 --> 00:21:51,900 What do you do with a girl like that? 413 00:21:51,900 --> 00:21:53,380 I looked her in the eye, 414 00:21:53,380 --> 00:21:55,660 I said, "Who are you living with?" 415 00:21:56,540 --> 00:21:58,580 She said, "I live with a young man." 416 00:21:58,640 --> 00:21:59,760 I said, 417 00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:01,440 - "Are you married to him?" - "No." 418 00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:03,750 - "Are living like you are married?" - "Yes." 419 00:22:03,750 --> 00:22:06,500 - "Why aren't you married?" - "He doesn't believe in it, 420 00:22:06,500 --> 00:22:08,470 he says it is just a legal bit of paper. 421 00:22:08,470 --> 00:22:11,140 As long as we love each other that is all that matters." 422 00:22:11,140 --> 00:22:14,180 I said, "You have a very difficult decision to make. 423 00:22:14,180 --> 00:22:17,470 I wish I could make it for you but I can't. You've got to make it. 424 00:22:17,500 --> 00:22:21,130 You've got to decide which man you want to live with, 425 00:22:21,360 --> 00:22:23,800 that young man or Jesus." 426 00:22:24,260 --> 00:22:26,460 And then she really got angry. 427 00:22:27,010 --> 00:22:29,640 She said, "No one else told me I had to do that." 428 00:22:29,980 --> 00:22:33,750 I said, "But you've told me you are getting nowhere with any of the others." 429 00:22:33,780 --> 00:22:37,350 I said, "Jesus won't join in an arrangement like that. 430 00:22:37,380 --> 00:22:38,800 You've got to decide." 431 00:22:38,950 --> 00:22:41,980 Now if this were a preacher's story, I would tell you she fell 432 00:22:41,980 --> 00:22:45,570 on her knees, confessed and was gloriously saved. 433 00:22:45,620 --> 00:22:48,310 But it is not a preacher's story, it is the truth. 434 00:22:48,390 --> 00:22:51,580 So I better tell you the truth. She ran out of that theater 435 00:22:51,700 --> 00:22:53,870 sobbing her heart out. 436 00:22:54,060 --> 00:22:58,530 And I have thought of that girl again and again and again. 437 00:22:58,740 --> 00:23:01,620 I know how Jesus felt about the rich young ruler who 438 00:23:01,620 --> 00:23:03,910 wouldn't give up his money. 439 00:23:04,160 --> 00:23:06,220 Do you know what the problem was? 440 00:23:06,220 --> 00:23:10,840 Everybody that consoled that girl had told her to believe in Jesus. 441 00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:14,840 They hadn't started by saying "Repent". 442 00:23:15,590 --> 00:23:17,050 Do you see? 443 00:23:17,060 --> 00:23:19,170 And so she was stuck. 444 00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:21,990 And so often that is the problem. 445 00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:25,040 We have started at step number 2. 446 00:23:25,350 --> 00:23:29,570 Jesus and John the Baptist and Peter on the day of Pentecost 447 00:23:29,570 --> 00:23:32,440 all started with the word "repent". 448 00:23:32,990 --> 00:23:35,430 Now, at the practical level 449 00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:37,320 to help someone to repent 450 00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:40,180 you need to help them to do 3 things. 451 00:23:40,250 --> 00:23:43,500 The first thing we need to help them to do 452 00:23:43,680 --> 00:23:45,680 is to be serious. 453 00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:51,520 Because repenting is a serious business. 454 00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:54,320 It can't be taken lightly. 455 00:23:54,440 --> 00:23:57,420 I am going to repeat the words of the marriage service now. 456 00:23:57,720 --> 00:24:00,260 These words should not be taken lightly. 457 00:24:00,360 --> 00:24:02,560 I can't remember them 458 00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:04,940 I knew I said them. 459 00:24:05,310 --> 00:24:08,400 Well now how do we help someone to be serious? 460 00:24:08,430 --> 00:24:11,880 I doubt very much if they will be serious 461 00:24:11,980 --> 00:24:14,980 unless something of fear 462 00:24:15,120 --> 00:24:16,840 is in the relationship 463 00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:19,490 the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. 464 00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:24,340 And we need to help people into the right kind of fear 465 00:24:24,460 --> 00:24:26,060 to be serious. 466 00:24:26,130 --> 00:24:29,480 And I think you can best do that by pointing out 467 00:24:29,810 --> 00:24:34,050 where their present way of life will lead them. 468 00:24:35,210 --> 00:24:39,580 The word I found most helpful for people to realize that 469 00:24:39,580 --> 00:24:41,520 is the word 'perish'. 470 00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:43,780 I say, "Do you realize 471 00:24:43,780 --> 00:24:47,550 what it is to perish?" Now that word, in English 472 00:24:47,590 --> 00:24:51,490 means exactly the same as it does in the Greek. 473 00:24:51,890 --> 00:24:54,860 If you have a perished hot water bottle, 474 00:24:54,860 --> 00:24:56,380 what do you have? 475 00:24:56,380 --> 00:24:58,940 Is it still a hot water bottle? 476 00:25:00,330 --> 00:25:03,650 Hands up of those who say it is still a hot water bottle? 477 00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:07,480 Hands up those who say it is not a hot water bottle? 478 00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:11,190 Hands up those who don't like putting hands up. 479 00:25:11,570 --> 00:25:14,570 [The audience laughs] 480 00:25:15,100 --> 00:25:18,240 Well is it still a hot water bottle or isn't it? 481 00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:21,330 It looks like one, doesn't it? 482 00:25:21,970 --> 00:25:25,790 It can't hold water. But is it still a hot water bottle? 483 00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:31,520 Listen, when a hot water bottle is perished or a tire 484 00:25:31,820 --> 00:25:35,920 it can't be used for the purpose for which it was made. 485 00:25:36,130 --> 00:25:38,300 It still looks like one, 486 00:25:38,710 --> 00:25:40,620 it may feel like one, 487 00:25:40,820 --> 00:25:43,000 but it can't be used as one. 488 00:25:43,220 --> 00:25:47,320 A 'perished' human being still looks like a human being, 489 00:25:47,540 --> 00:25:49,620 feels like a human being, 490 00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:53,260 but can't be used as a human being. 491 00:25:53,810 --> 00:25:57,080 What do you do with something that is perished? 492 00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:00,820 You throw it away. 493 00:26:01,120 --> 00:26:04,440 Or you burn it in the incinerator. 494 00:26:05,340 --> 00:26:08,670 Hell is God's incinerator 495 00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:11,220 for 'perished' people. 496 00:26:13,210 --> 00:26:15,500 They don't cease to be people 497 00:26:15,570 --> 00:26:17,560 they are just no more use. 498 00:26:18,780 --> 00:26:21,580 I think that is the most terrible destiny that a 499 00:26:21,580 --> 00:26:23,670 human being could ever have 500 00:26:23,710 --> 00:26:25,810 to become utterly useless. 501 00:26:25,830 --> 00:26:28,300 Unemployment and redundancy 502 00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:30,540 is enough to destroy your self respect. 503 00:26:31,140 --> 00:26:35,200 But to know that you have ceased to be of any further use 504 00:26:35,300 --> 00:26:37,940 to God or to anyone else, 505 00:26:38,160 --> 00:26:40,400 that is what 'perished' means. 506 00:26:40,590 --> 00:26:44,090 And God so loved us that He didn't want us to 'perish'. 507 00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:46,700 That's what hell is. 508 00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:49,960 It is a place where you are no use to yourself, 509 00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:52,080 to others or to God. 510 00:26:52,080 --> 00:26:55,260 And you spend the rest of your existance 511 00:26:55,420 --> 00:26:58,480 with people who are no use to you 512 00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:01,160 or to themselves or to God. 513 00:27:01,380 --> 00:27:04,640 I can think of nothing more terrible than that. 514 00:27:04,980 --> 00:27:08,740 That is the end product of living without God. 515 00:27:09,420 --> 00:27:13,140 The fear of becoming utterly redundant 516 00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:15,060 in God's universe. 517 00:27:15,510 --> 00:27:17,300 That's the fear of the Lord. 518 00:27:17,900 --> 00:27:21,840 Jesus said something about nuclear disarmament, 519 00:27:22,060 --> 00:27:25,280 He said, "Don't fear those that can kill your body. 520 00:27:25,390 --> 00:27:28,920 Rather fear Him who can destroy body and soul 521 00:27:29,100 --> 00:27:30,420 in hell." 522 00:27:31,120 --> 00:27:33,070 'Perished' people. 523 00:27:34,980 --> 00:27:38,080 The second thing we need to do for people, 524 00:27:38,220 --> 00:27:43,760 to help them to repent is to help them to be specific. 525 00:27:46,020 --> 00:27:48,580 To confess sins. (plural) 526 00:27:49,260 --> 00:27:50,760 To name them, 527 00:27:50,870 --> 00:27:53,400 to get down to the nitty gritty. 528 00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:56,950 If you ask someone, "Do you want to be saved from your sins?" 529 00:27:56,950 --> 00:27:58,030 "Oh yes." 530 00:27:58,030 --> 00:28:00,090 "Which sins do you want to be saved from?" 531 00:28:00,090 --> 00:28:02,000 "Oh, all of them." 532 00:28:02,160 --> 00:28:04,380 "Which ones shall we start with?" 533 00:28:06,020 --> 00:28:08,640 It is too easy for people to say, "Oh yes I'm a sinner, 534 00:28:08,740 --> 00:28:12,320 everybody is, everybody has sinned. I'm a sinner." 535 00:28:12,500 --> 00:28:14,780 "In what way have you sinned, then?" 536 00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:19,940 We need to help people to be specific. So how can we do that? 537 00:28:20,060 --> 00:28:21,660 There are three ways. 538 00:28:21,800 --> 00:28:25,000 The first way is a guided conversation. 539 00:28:25,920 --> 00:28:27,920 In which you steer them. 540 00:28:28,260 --> 00:28:30,840 Now you must keep their confidence. They must feel 541 00:28:30,940 --> 00:28:32,640 you will keep their confidence. 542 00:28:32,660 --> 00:28:34,050 But just steer them: 543 00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:36,540 "Then, what is your besetting sin?" 544 00:28:37,080 --> 00:28:40,120 What is the one you would most like to free of? 545 00:28:40,420 --> 00:28:42,880 Because Jesus wants to set you free of it." 546 00:28:43,750 --> 00:28:46,900 "What's the one you most hate yourself for?" 547 00:28:47,640 --> 00:28:51,540 A guided conversation can become specific. 548 00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:55,940 The second way is to give them a detailed list. 549 00:28:56,200 --> 00:29:01,060 And a friend of mine has actually prepared a list of all kinds of 550 00:29:01,180 --> 00:29:03,120 things that people get involved in. 551 00:29:03,180 --> 00:29:05,900 Before he consoles someone he gives them a sheet of paper 552 00:29:05,940 --> 00:29:07,880 and says, "Go through this list. 553 00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:10,840 Have you you been involved in any of these occult things or 554 00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:13,280 in any of these perverted habits. 555 00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:15,540 And they go through and they tick them 556 00:29:15,620 --> 00:29:17,770 and then he's able to console them. 557 00:29:17,780 --> 00:29:20,000 It is a very practical way of doing it. 558 00:29:20,180 --> 00:29:24,300 The New Testament contains about thirty lists. 559 00:29:24,610 --> 00:29:28,880 And between them they cover 120 sins 560 00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:31,440 which God counts as sin. 561 00:29:32,060 --> 00:29:34,700 And sometimes it helpful to have a detailed list 562 00:29:34,750 --> 00:29:36,200 and help them to through it 563 00:29:36,260 --> 00:29:37,720 and mark them off. 564 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:39,620 A third way: 565 00:29:39,820 --> 00:29:42,580 This is available to the counselor 566 00:29:42,680 --> 00:29:44,800 who is moving in the Holy Spirit. 567 00:29:44,980 --> 00:29:47,350 It is an immediate revelation. 568 00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:50,820 Sometimes I have asked the 569 00:29:50,880 --> 00:29:54,070 Holy Spirit to show the person I'm counselling 570 00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:57,180 what the root problem is, 571 00:29:57,320 --> 00:29:59,940 what the tap root is. 572 00:30:00,760 --> 00:30:03,940 At other times I've ask Him to show me 573 00:30:03,990 --> 00:30:07,380 what the root problem is and then surprise them 574 00:30:07,540 --> 00:30:09,340 by asking them about it. 575 00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:13,700 But the Holy Spirit wants to reveal the tap roots. 576 00:30:14,190 --> 00:30:17,240 As a illustration, I found that 577 00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:21,200 behind every homosexual man that I've counselled is 578 00:30:21,240 --> 00:30:24,160 a sad history of a father and mother 579 00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:26,240 who exchanged roles. 580 00:30:26,820 --> 00:30:29,600 Where the mother became the dominant authority figure. 581 00:30:29,740 --> 00:30:31,700 and the father the comfort figure. 582 00:30:31,880 --> 00:30:35,520 That is why so much homosexuality is being produced. 583 00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:38,400 Why the roles are being confused. 584 00:30:38,480 --> 00:30:41,080 And it is the children and grandchildren who suffer 585 00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:42,730 from confusion. 586 00:30:42,790 --> 00:30:46,520 And I was counselling a lovely school boy; 587 00:30:46,920 --> 00:30:48,500 lovely Christian. 588 00:30:48,770 --> 00:30:51,240 But he was just crippled with this 589 00:30:51,380 --> 00:30:53,990 temptation, which he gave way to regularly. 590 00:30:54,520 --> 00:30:57,920 I felt sorry and said, "When did this begin?" 591 00:30:58,340 --> 00:31:00,590 He said, "At boarding school." 592 00:31:00,860 --> 00:31:04,930 Now, boy's boarding schools have a lot to answer for, believe me. 593 00:31:05,180 --> 00:31:07,960 But I said, "No, the Holy Spirit is telling me 594 00:31:08,120 --> 00:31:10,120 it began long before that." 595 00:31:11,560 --> 00:31:15,340 And he said, "No, I can't remember it beginning before boarding school." 596 00:31:15,370 --> 00:31:18,180 I said, "But the Holy Spirit tells me it was before that." 597 00:31:18,260 --> 00:31:20,040 "So tell me about your parents." 598 00:31:20,180 --> 00:31:24,040 It was a sad case of a wife who had been through 3 husbands. 599 00:31:24,100 --> 00:31:28,140 A dominate woman who just changed partners when she wanted to. 600 00:31:28,320 --> 00:31:30,970 He was the product of the third husband. 601 00:31:31,160 --> 00:31:34,740 And the wife had taken the authority role in the home. 602 00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:36,760 She had dominated. 603 00:31:37,160 --> 00:31:40,060 The result was that when he wanted comfort 604 00:31:40,260 --> 00:31:43,160 he climbed into bed with his father not his mother. 605 00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:46,740 And did not realize that the father was not getting 606 00:31:46,740 --> 00:31:49,050 comfort from the mother. 607 00:31:49,060 --> 00:31:51,300 And was getting it from the son. 608 00:31:51,400 --> 00:31:53,760 The whole thing emerged. 609 00:31:54,620 --> 00:31:58,260 And it was necessary for the Holy Spirit to reveal this. 610 00:31:58,520 --> 00:32:01,700 So that we could get down to the real root problem. 611 00:32:01,940 --> 00:32:05,300 These are the 3 ways to get down to the specifics. 612 00:32:05,380 --> 00:32:07,700 A guided conversation, 613 00:32:07,980 --> 00:32:09,820 a detailed list 614 00:32:10,040 --> 00:32:12,100 and an immediate revelation. 615 00:32:12,440 --> 00:32:15,040 And finally, and this must be in one minute. 616 00:32:16,940 --> 00:32:19,000 To be sensible. 617 00:32:20,300 --> 00:32:23,120 That is necessary in 2 ways: 618 00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:26,100 First: to be sensible as far as the emotions 619 00:32:26,100 --> 00:32:28,120 of repentance are concerned. 620 00:32:28,260 --> 00:32:30,920 Sometimes people have an exaggerated sense of guilt 621 00:32:31,020 --> 00:32:32,890 over the wrong thing. 622 00:32:32,940 --> 00:32:35,090 Their feelings have deceived them. 623 00:32:35,200 --> 00:32:39,240 It is possible for men to feel more guilty 624 00:32:39,300 --> 00:32:42,370 about masturbation, which is not mentioned in the Bible 625 00:32:42,400 --> 00:32:44,210 than murder. 626 00:32:44,900 --> 00:32:48,280 So we need to help them to be sensible in emotions. 627 00:32:48,480 --> 00:32:52,090 And not let their feelings get things out of proportion. 628 00:32:52,140 --> 00:32:55,370 Psychological guilt is not moral guilt. 629 00:32:55,410 --> 00:32:58,840 And it is moral guilt that Jesus cures. 630 00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:02,950 Not what we feel guilty of, but what we are guilty of. 631 00:33:03,210 --> 00:33:05,890 And the other way we need to be sensible 632 00:33:05,980 --> 00:33:08,630 is in the actions of repentance. 633 00:33:08,720 --> 00:33:11,810 You can't go back and put everything right. 634 00:33:11,880 --> 00:33:16,030 So we need to help them to be sensible about what they do. 635 00:33:16,030 --> 00:33:18,660 One friend of mine went to the police and confessed 636 00:33:18,660 --> 00:33:20,700 to a crime he had committed. 637 00:33:20,750 --> 00:33:23,200 Taken to court he was given the lightest possible 638 00:33:23,260 --> 00:33:25,100 sentence of two months, 639 00:33:25,140 --> 00:33:26,540 went into prison, 640 00:33:26,600 --> 00:33:29,960 preached Jesus and the prisoners called him the bishop. 641 00:33:30,040 --> 00:33:32,550 So when he came out he confessed to another crime 642 00:33:32,550 --> 00:33:34,750 and got back into another prison and preached 643 00:33:34,750 --> 00:33:35,720 the gospel there. 644 00:33:35,720 --> 00:33:39,200 He proudly told me I am the only evangelist in Britain 645 00:33:39,240 --> 00:33:42,020 entirely financed by Her Majesty the Queen. 646 00:33:42,180 --> 00:33:44,180 [Laughing] 647 00:33:44,760 --> 00:33:48,340 Now that was within the realm of common sense. 648 00:33:48,400 --> 00:33:50,490 He might have gone overboard on it. 649 00:33:50,520 --> 00:33:53,200 We need to help people to be sensible about what 650 00:33:53,200 --> 00:33:55,780 can be put right and what can't. 651 00:33:55,900 --> 00:33:59,430 But is this way we have helped them to repent. 652 00:33:59,480 --> 00:34:02,840 In the next talk we will talk about how to help people 653 00:34:02,840 --> 00:34:04,840 to believe.