Acts - 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
You cannot continue to consciously live in sin and expect to be FILLED with God's Holy Spirit. Baptism must be first preceded with Repentance (A turning away from sin and wickedness).
It is
time for the messengers to preach REPENTANCE
of SINS. The power comes from the Holy Spirit.
The
enemy in these last days of apostasy before Jesus comes back has duped
Christian pastors, evangelists, and "soul winners" into proclaiming
only part of the true Gospel message. They have left out of their message the
need to repent to be saved.
Some
of the reasons why Christians have fallen for this trick of the devil are:
First,
and most important, is because most Christians are virtually devoid of the
power of the Holy Spirit. Most Christians have never been filled with the Holy
Spirit. They have never been endued with power from On High. The reasons for
this are many, but primarily because they are too carnal and comfortable, with
one eye on the world and one eye on God. They have divided hearts. They are not
single-minded, and, of course, many who profess to be Christians never have
been born again.
Most
sinners don't want to hear a preacher say they must repent of their sins; that they
must turn from everything that they know is sinful. Even many Christians get
angry with a preacher that says they need to repent of various sins including
watching the filth on television, worldliness, lukewarmness, covetousness,
gluttony and many other sins in the lives of most Christians today.
The
truth is most evangelists or "soul winners" want to minimize
rejection, so they try to make it as easy on the sinner as they can, thereby
leaving out the need for repentance to be saved.
Many
evangelists are more concerned about numbers than they are about true converts. They think if they can at
least get them to make a profession and get them to come to church, then maybe
they will get saved later. This is what Satan wants you to do as you sow tares
with the wheat and help build the end-time
apostate Church.
The
devil knows that those who make professions but are not truly converted are not
likely to hear a complete Gospel message in the meetings of the saints, which
is to say, they are not likely to hear of their need to repent to be saved.
I'm
afraid many so-called fundamental/evangelical churches and preachers have
fallen into the trap of teaching this mushy self-worth propaganda that seeks to
camouflage itself in robes of charity and tolerance. Churches and preachers alike
are abandoning their God-called purpose of holding up the mirror of God's Word
and graphically revealing to man what he really looks like in the sight of a
holy God. The missing message in modern-day preaching is the Biblical doctrine
of repentance, where a sinner is convinced and convicted of his exceeding
sinfulness and lost condition.
Christ
Preached Repentance
"Now
after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the
gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the
kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel" (Mark
1:14-15).
When
the very Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, appeared upon the scene in His
public ministry, He came preaching the doctrines of repentance and faith.
If Jesus felt compelled to preach such a message before a lost and dying world, so should we. Galatians 1:6-9 teaches that there is only one gospel, and if any gospel message leaves out the doctrine of repentance or faith or both, you can be assured it is a false gospel.
If Jesus felt compelled to preach such a message before a lost and dying world, so should we. Galatians 1:6-9 teaches that there is only one gospel, and if any gospel message leaves out the doctrine of repentance or faith or both, you can be assured it is a false gospel.
Meaning
of Repentance
The
words "repent," "repentance," and "repented" are
mentioned over 100 times in the Bible. There has been a lot of misunderstanding
and confusion over what the word repentance means. When the word
"repent" is used in the Word of God in the context of Biblical
salvation, it is referring to a truly God-given, Spirit-led change of heart and
mind toward God about sin.
"Repent
ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out ..."
(Acts 3:19).
The
greatest need for any sinner is have his sins blotted out, but a man will never
have the pardon of sin while he is in love with his sin. There must be a hatred
of sin, a loathing of it, a turning from it.
Repentance is a revolution in
dealing with our attitude and view towards sin and righteousness. Repentance is
not something one does with his hands, but it is an inward attitude of the
soul. Sin must become, in the eyes of the sinner, exceedingly sinful.
The
apostles preached the powerful truth at Pentecost, causing people to feel the
sting of sin in their hearts, making them cry out, 'what must we do?’ Peter,
the great apostle, told them plainly:
"Repent, and be baptized,
every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and
you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Acts 2:38 KJV
Over
3,000 people were saved that day, not by the power of the disciples, but by the
power of the message of repentance.
"These
things I have spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In the world
you shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have
overcome the world."
Our wealth and rewards are not in this life, as these preachers would have us believe, so much as in the life to come.
The message being preached far too often these days is focused entirely on what you can get from God: "You can have it all, you deserve it, because, after all, you are a child of God, and He wants His children to have the very best".
This
kind of preaching perverts the salvation message in the worst way. Where is
repentance in this message? Where is obedience? Where is taking up your cross,
and following Jesus? In Matt. 16:24, Jesus said:
Deny
himself... not indulge all his earthly desires. Putting aside one's own
thoughts, wants, and even needs, to follow Jesus. Taking up one's cross,
bearing the burden, rather than asking Jesus to remove it.
We
know that we are saved by faith, not by works. But there can be no salvation
without repentance. Jesus himself said, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven
is at hand." He never preached, in the entire time He spent on this earth,
a message of 'living your best life". Instead, He preached repentance:
that His followers should count the cost, deny themselves, pick up their
crosses, and follow in His own footsteps. His message was one of repentance
that leads to salvation.
Yes,
Jesus did say, in John 10:10 : "I am come that they might have life, and
that they might have it more abundantly." But He wasn't talking about
worldly riches. He himself was a poor carpenter's son. His disciples were poor
and lowly working class men; fishermen, tax collectors, and such. Obviously,
His message didn't include wealth and prosperity to all.
Don't you think His earliest and greatest disciples would have had wealth, if that was Christ's plan and purpose? Do you think all but one of them would be violently killed at young ages, if His message was one of peace and prosperity?
Don't you think His earliest and greatest disciples would have had wealth, if that was Christ's plan and purpose? Do you think all but one of them would be violently killed at young ages, if His message was one of peace and prosperity?
I've
heard so many preachers say: "If you have a need in your life, come up to
the altar and bring it to Jesus. He will meet your every need." Now I ask
you, who is there that does NOT have a need in their life? A need for healing,
for themselves or a loved one. A need for financial help, for a job, for love and companionship, for understanding and
acceptance. I doubt there is any human being who does not have a variety of
needs in their life.
"Therefore
I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, or what you
shall drink; nor yet for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more
than meat, and the body more than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for
they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; but your heavenly
Father feeds them.
Are you
not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit
unto his stature? And why think about raiment? Consider the lilies of the
field, how they grow; they toil not,
neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his
glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothes the grass
of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not
much more clothe you, O you of little faith? herefore take no thought, saying,
What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, with what hall we be clothed?
(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father
knows that you have need of all these things.
But
seek you first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things
shall be added unto you."
This
is what excites Christians today. Fads and gimmicks are often what pull greedy
men into ministry. The result is the completed corruption of Gods word. It's
sad that Christians "Must" still be fed "Milk" and have not
proceeded into "Bread" and then "Meat" Even when posting
milk messages there is a dis connect and lack of understanding.
It's
time to take a stand for the truth concerning God and His Word (Jesus). We are
actually living in End Time Prophecies and it needs our full attention so we
may escape the coming perils....
See link below:
Here
we see a supposed pastor mixing fables and lies with the truth of Jesus
Christ. How is it that his congregation
do not know the truth? How is it he is
allowed to stand in the midst of them and promote this lie. How many people salvation will be jeopardized
because they had a foundation that was based on a lie?
It’s
time to preach Jesus and Jesus alone and expose these workers of darkness for
what they really are.
See excellent
video below:
