God is Not Kidding About Repentance
“So he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8- Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. 9- Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” -Luke 3:7-9 (NASB)
There is nothing in our Christian walk that is more important as repentance. It is the very point at which we realize the weight of our sin before a Holy and Righteous God.
“From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” -Matt 4:17 (NASB)
In fact, it is so critical to our lives that Jesus’ very first sermon was on repenting. Not about church attendance or love or giving, nor a skit, a song, or a choir. Nope, none of these – only on repenting.
Repentance remains a lost or extinct doctrine in Christendom today but critically required to assure one of entry into God’s rest – His home in God’s Kingdom (Luke 13:1-5). In Rev 9:21, during the Seven-year Tribulation, people will reject repentance globally.
Repentance, in definition, requires a complete change in action, direction, thought and attitude. Those all point to our sin and what we must do to line up with God’s word and His will. Be reminded this is NOT a one-time event. It is required on an as-needed basis in our Christian walk. If that means daily, then it means daily.
True repentance activates Godly fear and reverence in our behavior and thought which directly manifest into our actions. A real and true repentant Christian will bear fruits of repentance or their repentance is fake or false and is worthless. Matt 3:8.
So let’s break this down and unpack it into our lives, right here and right now…
Being a “good” person and/or one that attends church regularly does not mean to have some type of “auto-repentance” applied to your soul. In fact, just the opposite. Look how Jesus called out the crowds in His time – “brood of vipers”. He knew their hearts and He knows ours today. Consider John the Baptist’s directed question at the crowds and religious leaders of his time.
“Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”
These folks needed to take inventory of their hearts (souls) and where they stood with the Lord. Did they have a heart and mind for true, no-kidding repentance or was it just the “fad” of their time. BTW, this truth is ever-present in our time right now.
“Because of God’s impending wrath, we must ensure that our repentance and our national repentance is true, not fake or just emotional.”
For America and the rest of the world the Lord is returning but in flaming fire for those that don’t know Him or follow His Gospel – 2 Th 1:8-9. The action phrase is “flaming fire”. But for America, since it was divinely blessed since its inception, we will face a stricter judgment (James 3:1).
There are lots of prayer rallies going have gone on in the past.. These are good and super for individual repentance and salvation but will they bring America nationally to its knees in repentance? Will God see from heaven and heal our land? In order to answer these questions, one must make a deep-dive into Scripture. For as He’s done before He will do again (Ecc 1:9).
Let’s consider ancient Nineveh and what they did at the preaching of Jonah. He preached their destruction unless they repented. Ancient Nineveh was known for its evil and wickedness and how it destroyed other nations, in fact, terrorism was birthed in their midst. They also faced a plethora of calamities and disasters before Jonah showed up. So as Jonah preached that they needed to repent now or face God’s devastating plans for destruction, they heard him and repented from the King on down. No mocking or a bunch of lip service. They truly repented and God Almighty averted His plans for their destruction in judgment.
Another example of all the people repenting in a land can be found in the Book of Ezra, Chapter 10, verses 9-44. The people disobeyed God and intermarried with pagans found living among them. In order to turn this around, Shecaniah, one of the sons of Elam, proposed a solution. Ezra agreed this was the mind of God and started the process of repentance by changing their behavior with a strong 180-degree action. Read more here and in your Bible. Realize they had a real sin problem just like America. Only America has a plethora of unGodly sins weighing us down and causing our land to be defiled. (i.e. porn, sexual immorality, abortion, child trafficking, homosexually, witchcraft, adultery, idolatry, and the list goes on and on). Without national repentance, it is this author’s opinion that America will suffer unimaginable devastation’s and calamities some of which are happening now.
America, YOU MUST repent with Godly sorrow (from the President on down) and then be healed by the Lord God Almighty. If you fail to do this, expect God’s terrible judgments to fall on this land! Amen!
“While Ezra prayed and made confession, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, a very great assembly of men, women, and children, gathered to him out of Israel, for the people wept bitterly. … Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled at Jerusalem within the three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month. And all the people sat in the open square before the house of God, trembling because of this matter and because of the heavy rain. 10- And Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have broken faith and married foreign women, and so increased the guilt of Israel. 11- Now then make confession to the Lord, the God of your fathers and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives.” 12- Then all the assembly answered with a loud voice, “It is so; we must do as you have said. 13- But the people are many, and it is a time of heavy rain; we cannot stand in the open. Nor is this a task for one day or for two, for we have greatly transgressed in this matter. 14- Let our officials stand for the whole assembly. Let all in our cities who have taken foreign wives come at appointed times, and with them the elders and judges of every city, until the fierce wrath of our God over this matter is turned away from us.” -Ezra 10:1, 9-14 (ESV)
-BPWatcher, Internet Preacher and Bible Prophecy Watchman
GIVE GLORY TO GOD ONLY!
