Adapted from a Greg Nance sermon https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/repent-or-what-greg-nance-sermon-on-repentance-120692?ref=SermonSerps

2. Repentance is part of the salvation song of
God’s people.
God has graciously left the door open for us to
come home.
But to get back we must turn back and continue
to make corrective adjustments in our walk with
the Lord.

3. NIV Now there were some present at
that time who told Jesus about the Galileans
whose blood Pilate had mixed with their
sacrifices. Jesus answered, “Do you think that
these Galileans were worse sinners than all the
other Galileans because they suffered this way?
I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too
will all perish.

4. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in
Siloam fell on them—do you think they were
more guilty than all the others living in
Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you
repent, you too will all perish.”
Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig
tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to
look for fruit on it but did not find any.

5. So he said to the man who took care of the
vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming
to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t
found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up
the soil?’
“‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one
more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it.
If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it
down.’”

6. Consider a few verses that speak of the call and
gift of repentance:
NIV This is what the Sovereign
LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In
repentance and rest is your salvation, in
quietness and trust is your strength, but you
would have none of it.

7. NIV "The Redeemer will come to
Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their
sins," declares the LORD.
NIV Therefore this is what the
LORD says: "If you repent, I will restore you that
you may serve me;

8. NIV "Therefore, you Israelites, I
will judge each of you according to your own
ways, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent!
Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will
not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all
the offenses you have committed, and get a new
heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people
of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death
of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD.
Repent and live!

9. NIV In those days John the Baptist
came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea
and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven
has come near.”
NIV And so John the Baptist appeared
in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of
repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
NIV He went into all the country around
the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance
for the forgiveness of sins.

10. NIV John said to the crowds coming
out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers!
Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And
do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have
Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of
these stones God can raise up children for
Abraham.

11. NIV From that time on Jesus
began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of
heaven has come near."
NIV They went out and preached that
people should repent.
NIV I have not come to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance."

12. NIV I tell you, no! But unless you
repent, you too will all perish.
NIV In the same way, I tell you, there
is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God
over one sinner who repents."

13. NIV He told them, "This is what is
written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from
the dead on the third day, and repentance for
the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his
name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

14. NIV Peter replied, "Repent and be
baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus
Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you
will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
NIV Repent, then, and turn to God, so
that your sins may be wiped out, that times of
refreshing may come from the Lord, and that
he may send the Messiah, who has been
appointed for you--even Jesus.

15. NIV When they heard this, they had
no further objections and praised God, saying,
"So then, even to Gentiles God has granted
repentance that leads to life."
NIV In the past God overlooked such
ignorance, but now he commands all people
everywhere to repent.

16. NIV Godly sorrow brings
repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no
regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
NIV The Lord is not slow in keeping
his promise, as some understand slowness.
Instead He is patient with you, not wanting
anyone to perish, but everyone to come to
repentance.

17. In the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy,
Moses tells Israel some very hard truths about
themselves just before he dies and passes on
the leadership to Joshua. Make a little note to
yourself to read .
Moses says, “If you walk with God, He will bless
and take care of you, but if you turn from God
and do not walk with Him, it will be bad, real
bad, I mean really really really bad!

18. And when you do turn from Him (because I
know good and well that you will) and when it
happens that you get what is coming to you for
turning away, if you will remember what I’ve told
you and turn back, God will restore you.”
That theme is repeated over and over in the
entire Old Testament.
It became the fabric of their theology.

19. Throughout Israel’s history God blesses them,
they get comfortable and turn away from Him,
God delivers them over to enemies and
punishes them, they cry out to God and He
sends a deliverer to rescue them, they get
comfortable and turn away from God again, etc.
etc. etc.
This cycle is constant throughout the Old
Testament.
Solomon prayed it in .

20. The Prophets echo it throughout their
preaching.
It is the song of Israel’s history.
Chosen, delivered by God, brought into
covenant by God, they enjoy His blessings for a
while but then they get distracted and turn away
from God and seek their own way, usually by
going after other gods who will endorse their
evil desires.

21. God punishes them and calls them back.
Those that hear and repent are restored and
brought home.
There are always some that repent.
Always!
But only a few.
Many are lost and do not return.
The few that repent and return God restores
them to glory.

22. I wish I could say we’ve gotten past that, but I’m
afraid that this song of Israel has become the
song of the church.
Jesus entered His ministry preaching a
message that sounded old and new at the same
time: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has
come near!

23. Jesus reveals the ultimate blessing and
punishment of God for those who repent and for
those who do not.
God wants us to know that a lot is at stake over
this issue. Will you, or will you not repent?

24. Now for some people repentance is like a flash
of light that goes off and we reverse engines
and make a 180o in one huge, life changing
moment.
That has happened.
Saul becomes Paul.
During a single road trip to Damascus we see a
man changed from persecutor to persecuted,
from Christ hater to Christian missionary.

25. We read that and we all think that that should be
our story, right?
There should be a singular earth-shattering
event that turns our lives from sinner to saint,
right?
I mean, look at Paul.
He is the example for us all.

26. And we could point to others too.
What about the Philippian Jailer?
Didn’t he and his family change overnight?
What about the 3000 at Pentecost?
Weren’t some of them shouting, “Crucify Him!”
just a few days before this?

27. Yes, this is true.
There are people who have a crisis moment of
conversion where repentance comes in an
instant.
But they are not the only ones we read about.
In fact, for those of us who grew up going to
church and hearing these stories, we may even
wish for a huge life changing event so we could
feel better about our salvation.

28. Most of us are more like Timothy than Paul
when it comes to repentance.
Most of us have heard the word of God from
childhood, many of us grew up in homes where
Jesus Christ is Lord.
Repentance for us is just as necessary, but it
takes on a less dramatic looking shape.

29. For those of us brought up hearing the gospel
and loving Jesus since we could understand
English, we must repent too!
Repentance for us may look more like driving
down the road making adjustments with the
steering wheel as we go.

30. If we go to sleep or for some reason don’t keep
turning the wheel to make those little
corrections, we will drive off the road and wreak
just as surely as that drunk driver who is going
the wrong way in traffic.
We need to repent all along the way or we will
just as surely perish.

31. In fact, some of us are a little jealous of the
crisis conversions of those who have grueling
stories to tell.
I have a message for those of us who
experience this:
Repent!
Give up wanting a dramatic Damascus moment
and joyfully claim the heritage of faith God has
given you!

32. Don’t worry.
Someone you meet and share Christ with may
have that kind of repentance experience and
you can thrill with them over God’s dramatic
deliverance.
But don’t be ashamed of the gift of being
brought up knowing Jesus all your life.

33. You need to know that you’ve been spared.
You’ve been richly blessed with less regrets to
live with and less shame to live down.
The real shame would be for you to turn your
back on the blessings of God and do like Israel
when she was comfortable.
Don’t do it.

34. The path you take will bring you misery and woe
and many who go there never repent and come
home.
A few always do, and God restores them, but
many lose their souls and never come to
repentance.

35. As part of the requirements for an Ethics class
the author of this sermon had to write a paper
on an ethical subject.
He thought of several topics and finally decided
to write on the subject of shame.
His paper was titled:
“The Redemption of Shame.”

36. Shame is a powerful motivator, for good or for
evil.
After God created us and put Adam and Eve in
the garden the Bible makes an interesting
statement that I & probably you think was
embarrassing.
It says of them that they were both naked but
not ashamed.
That was before sin.
Where there is no sin, people can walk without
shame.

37. As soon as sin entered, the first thing Adam and
Eve realized was that they were naked.
The Bible says they made coverings for
themselves with fig leaves.
Then when they heard God coming, they hid
from him, because they were naked.
Just imagining this can be uncomfortable.
It was for them too.

38. Shame brought on by sin drove them away from
God.
In the redemption, Jesus on the cross faced our
shame, and for those of us that know Jesus, He
swallowed up the shame that drives us from
God and has restored shame to its proper place
of driving us away from sin and toward God.
Redeemed shame is that godly sorrow that
works repentance.

39. God wants all to come to repentance, because
in repentance is salvation that brings eternal
life.
We need a good dose of redeemed shame and a
rescue from fallen shame.
Consider these words of this song:

40. Jesus! And shall it ever be!
A mortal man, ashamed of thee?
Ashamed of thee, whom angels praise?
Whose glory shines through endless days?
Ashamed of Jesus, that dear friend,
on whom my hopes of heaven depend?
No! When I blush be this my shame
That I no more revere his name!
Till then nor is my boasting vain!
Till then I’ll boast a Savior slain.
And, Oh, may this my glory be,
That Christ is not ashamed of me!

41. Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig
tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to
look for fruit on it but did not find any. So he
said to the man who took care of the vineyard,
‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look
for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any.
Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’
“‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one
more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it.
If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it
down.’”

42. He came seeking fruit:
After the warning, “unless you repent you will
all likewise perish,” Jesus used this parable to
illustrate principles of God's judgment.
The first point is simple:
God looks for fruit.
The fruit of our life shows what kind of person
we really are.
An apple tree will bring forth apples, not
watermelons.

43. If our lives have really been touched by Jesus
Christ, it will show in the fruit we bear, even if it
takes a while for the fruit to come forth.
What fruit is God looking for?
It certainly has to begin with the fruit of the
Spirit, mentioned in NIV But the
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness
and self-control. Against such things there is no
law.

44. Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit .
. . let it alone this year:
The farmer in the parable illustrates the patience
of God in judgment.
He waited three years and gave it a second
chance.

45. The farmer, illustrating God, did not leave the
tree alone.
He gave it special care.
Perhaps God is showing His special care for
you right now - but it feels like there is manure
all around you!
Yet, don't resist God's work.
Flow with it and bear fruit as He continues to
work in your life.

46. If not, after that you can cut it down:
The farmer, illustrating God, is also just in His
judgment.
There finally will come a day of reckoning.
It is not just an endless string of threats. (Guzik)

47. Does anyone here need to repent?
Please, keep your hands on the wheel making
those small corrections so you never come to a
necessary 180o turn around you might not make
it back from.