Repent

 The word repent means to express sincere regret and remorse over one's sin. It also means to turn around and change the mind. In our soft church age, a person may hear multiple sermons about improving their marriage, how to maximize finances, how to overcome character flaws, and ways to be successful. On rare occasions, you may hear a message on repentance. I would add that on very rare occasion you may hear that message. 

Repentance does not put people in the pews. Repentance does not sell. Repentance will not endear the preacher to the flock. Repentance is a foreign concept in the modern church. Messages of repentance will not be tolerated by this church age any better than it was tolerated in the days of Old Testament prophets. 

Jeremiah was imprisoned for proclaiming the message of repentance. John the Baptist was imprisoned and eventually beheaded for preaching that same message. People will not listen to that message for long without one of two reactions. The biblical reaction is for people to turn away from sin and to turn back to God. The more common reaction is to ignore and rebel against the clarion call to repent. 

Why do people refuse to repent? The answer is very simple. People love sin. They hate the light of truth to expose their evil deeds of darkness. [John 3:19-21] Any preacher who comes bee bopping along proclaiming for people to repent will most likely have a very short lived ministry. History is filled with the names of martyrs who gave their lives calling people to turn from their sin and to turn to God. PEOPLE LOVE THEIR SIN AND WILL DO ANYTHING TO PRESERVE IT INCLUDING MURDER. Herod's wife did. So did the Pharisees. Muslims do as well. 

So what does the church do? In a time when society has drifted far from God. In a time when society is coming apart at the seams. In a time when the majority reject the truth of Jesus. What does the church do? They put on dog and pony shows with well crafted circus like entertainment to attract a crowd. The church will not boldly stand with conviction courageously calling this callused age to repentance. 

The church will blame everyone for the evils of our day. Politicians. Pop culture influencers. Big Tech companies. Celebrities. We should turn our attention onto ourselves first. Read [II Chronicles 7:14]. Where does that verse start. Addressing pagans? No. The church is called to repentance first. Read [Joel 2:12] Again the people of God are called to return to God. The message is consistent. The people of God must turn to God first. Then and only then, will God come and heal the land. 

Our land sure needs healing. We are on a cataclysmic crash course with God's judgment if we do not repent. God judged His covenant chosen people Israel. Do we honestly think that the United States will be spared for our transgressions? I think not. 

It is time for judgment to begin in the house of God. We can throw all the stones at the pagans we want to. It does not alter the fact that the blood of this age is on our hands because we remained stubbornly silent about the good news of Jesus. We refused to bow our knees privately in the prayer closet or to make God's house a house of prayer. We embraced hypocrisy and shunned holiness. We will be held accountable for not calling people to repentance. Preachers and teachers will receive an even stricter judgment. [James 3:1] IT IS PAST TIME TO REPENT BEFORE WE PASS THE TIPPING POINT. Repent while there is still time before it is too late. God can still come and heal the land if the people of God turn to Him and turn from our wicked ways. We need to repent.