Fruit of Repentance
Scripture Reading: Mark 1:4-15
4 John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of
repentance for the remission of sins. 5 Then all the land of Judea, and
those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in
the Jordan River, confessing their sins.
6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and with a leather belt around
his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And he preached, saying,
“There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I
am not worthy to stoop down and loose. 8 I indeed baptized you with
water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
9 It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee,
and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And immediately, coming up
from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending
upon Him like a dove. 11 Then a voice came from heaven, “You are My
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
12 Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. 13 And He was
there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the
wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.
14 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching
the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled,
and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
John came first to preach repentance. But even when Christ began His
ministry, He still preached to repent and believe. Repent is an interesting
word. It means to turn away from something. Have you turned away from
anything? On the day of Pentecost, Peter preached to the crowd there in
Jerusalem and many of them reached the good news and wanted to know what
to do with it.
Acts 2:37-38
37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to
Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”
38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized
in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
They asked him what they needed to do and the first thing he told them was to
repent. Repent, be baptized, and receive the Holy Spirit. But that’s not meant
to be just some ceremony that you do and then forget about. As if to say,
“Well now that I’m saved I can go back out and live like the devil.” Where
would the repentance be in that? Jeremiah speaks of God’s Law (His Torah)
being written in our hearts. For me that means that it should be our desire to
do the will of God, not that we should think we ‘have to’ do it. It’s a different
mindset altogether.
Proverbs 23:17-19
17 Do not let your heart envy sinners,
But be zealous for the fear of the LORD all the day;!
18 For surely there is a hereafter,
And your hope will not be cut off.
19 Hear, my son, and be wise;
And guide your heart in the way.
Don’t be jealous of sinners and desire what they have. When you see the
word ‘heart’ in scripture most times it has nothing to do with the organ in the
human body that pumps blood to all your other parts. It has everything to do
with your desires. What you really, really want. His word tells us time and
again that our desires should not line up with the wicked but as it say here in
verse 19, we should be wise and guide our desires to line up with His way of
living, not the world’s. That is the key to so much. If we go to church every
day of the week, and read a dozen chapters from the Bible every day, and
give all our extra money to those in need, and follow the Ten commandments,
yet still allow ourselves to desire the things of the world, the all that other stuff
means little because it is your heart, what you desire that is going to lead you.
Proverbs 4:20-23
20 My son, give attention to my words;
Incline your ear to my sayings.
21 Do not let them depart from your eyes;
Keep them in the midst of your heart;
22 For they are life to those who find them,
And health to all their flesh.
23 Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life..
The Word of God should be what we keep in the midst of our heart; our desire
should line up with His words. For His words are life and health to those who
find them. Do you want life and health? Cherish His words. And be diligent to
guard your heart, what you desire, because from your desires comes all the
issues of life. That’s something to really think about. That’s some pretty
important stuff. So, in essence, when we truly repent, our desires should turn
from what the world want to what God wants.
Mark 6:7-13
7 And He called the twelve to Himself, and began to send them out two by
two, and gave them power over unclean spirits. 8 He commanded them to
take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bag, no bread, no copper
in their money belts— 9 but to wear sandals, and not to put on two tunics.
10 Also He said to them, “In whatever place you enter a house, stay there
till you depart from that place. 11 And whoever will not receive you nor
hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet
as a testimony against them. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more
tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that
city!”
12 So they went out and preached that people should repent. 13 And they
cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and
healed them.
Yeshua is God, and here He sends His disciples out to preach that the people
should repent and turn back to God. You see that He sends them out with
nothing. That was to teach them that it is not the possessions, the food, or the
money that is important. It’s the repentance. If you recall, later He sends them
with money and food and possessions but by then they already understood
that it was not from those things that they had power, it was through Him.
Matthew 11:20-21
20 Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works
had been done, because they did not repent: 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin!
Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you
had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in
sackcloth and ashes.
He rebukes these cities because they did not repent. They did not turn from
their selfish desires. God has always desired a repentant heart. So, you
messed up now desire to do better. That’s the point. Once you have made
the turn to where you desire His will to be done through you, then there are
things He teaches in His word that you can begin renewing your mind so that it
lines up with your heart, and then your actions will line up with both and you
will see the fruits of that repentance.
Matthew 3:8-10
8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, 9 and do not think to say to
yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is
able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 10 And even now
the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not
bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
If you never truly repent in your heart, you will never renew your mind. If you
never renew your mind, no matter how hard you try to be good in the end your
actions are going to show through. And if your actions don’t bear fruit in
keeping with repentance then you will be like the useless fruit tree with no fruit
that will get thrown into the fire. Does that scare you? It should! But not like a
horror movie scare but in order to motivate you analyze yourself to see if you
have truly repented in your heart, and if you have but have moved on to renew
your mind that you will so that you can be the valuable fruit tree that bears
much fruit. But don’t fret, God is merciful.
2 Peter 3:8-9
8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is
as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not
slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is
longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all
should come to repentance.
He is patient and long suffering, as He was with Job who finally came to the
point where he recognized that even a nice guy needs to repent.
Job 42:6 & 12-17
6 Therefore I abhor myself,
And repent in dust and ashes.”
12 Now the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning;
for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand
yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. 13 He also had seven
sons and three daughters. 14 And he called the name of the first
Jemimah, the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third
Keren-Happuch. 15 In all the land were found no women so beautiful as
the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance among
their brothers.
16 After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children
and grandchildren for four generations. 17 So Job died, old and full of
days.
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date: July 13, 2008
Scripture Reading: Mark 1:4-15
4 John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of
repentance for the remission of sins. 5 Then all the land of Judea, and
those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in
the Jordan River, confessing their sins.
6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and with a leather belt around
his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And he preached, saying,
“There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I
am not worthy to stoop down and loose. 8 I indeed baptized you with
water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
9 It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee,
and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And immediately, coming up
from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending
upon Him like a dove. 11 Then a voice came from heaven, “You are My
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
12 Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. 13 And He was
there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the
wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.
14 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching
the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled,
and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
John came first to preach repentance. But even when Christ began His
ministry, He still preached to repent and believe. Repent is an interesting
word. It means to turn away from something. Have you turned away from
anything? On the day of Pentecost, Peter preached to the crowd there in
Jerusalem and many of them reached the good news and wanted to know what
to do with it.
Acts 2:37-38
37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to
Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”
38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized
in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
They asked him what they needed to do and the first thing he told them was to
repent. Repent, be baptized, and receive the Holy Spirit. But that’s not meant
to be just some ceremony that you do and then forget about. As if to say,
“Well now that I’m saved I can go back out and live like the devil.” Where
would the repentance be in that? Jeremiah speaks of God’s Law (His Torah)
being written in our hearts. For me that means that it should be our desire to
do the will of God, not that we should think we ‘have to’ do it. It’s a different
mindset altogether.
Proverbs 23:17-19
17 Do not let your heart envy sinners,
But be zealous for the fear of the LORD all the day;!
18 For surely there is a hereafter,
And your hope will not be cut off.
19 Hear, my son, and be wise;
And guide your heart in the way.
Don’t be jealous of sinners and desire what they have. When you see the
word ‘heart’ in scripture most times it has nothing to do with the organ in the
human body that pumps blood to all your other parts. It has everything to do
with your desires. What you really, really want. His word tells us time and
again that our desires should not line up with the wicked but as it say here in
verse 19, we should be wise and guide our desires to line up with His way of
living, not the world’s. That is the key to so much. If we go to church every
day of the week, and read a dozen chapters from the Bible every day, and
give all our extra money to those in need, and follow the Ten commandments,
yet still allow ourselves to desire the things of the world, the all that other stuff
means little because it is your heart, what you desire that is going to lead you.
Proverbs 4:20-23
20 My son, give attention to my words;
Incline your ear to my sayings.
21 Do not let them depart from your eyes;
Keep them in the midst of your heart;
22 For they are life to those who find them,
And health to all their flesh.
23 Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life..
The Word of God should be what we keep in the midst of our heart; our desire
should line up with His words. For His words are life and health to those who
find them. Do you want life and health? Cherish His words. And be diligent to
guard your heart, what you desire, because from your desires comes all the
issues of life. That’s something to really think about. That’s some pretty
important stuff. So, in essence, when we truly repent, our desires should turn
from what the world want to what God wants.
Mark 6:7-13
7 And He called the twelve to Himself, and began to send them out two by
two, and gave them power over unclean spirits. 8 He commanded them to
take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bag, no bread, no copper
in their money belts— 9 but to wear sandals, and not to put on two tunics.
10 Also He said to them, “In whatever place you enter a house, stay there
till you depart from that place. 11 And whoever will not receive you nor
hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet
as a testimony against them. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more
tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that
city!”
12 So they went out and preached that people should repent. 13 And they
cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and
healed them.
Yeshua is God, and here He sends His disciples out to preach that the people
should repent and turn back to God. You see that He sends them out with
nothing. That was to teach them that it is not the possessions, the food, or the
money that is important. It’s the repentance. If you recall, later He sends them
with money and food and possessions but by then they already understood
that it was not from those things that they had power, it was through Him.
Matthew 11:20-21
20 Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works
had been done, because they did not repent: 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin!
Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you
had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in
sackcloth and ashes.
He rebukes these cities because they did not repent. They did not turn from
their selfish desires. God has always desired a repentant heart. So, you
messed up now desire to do better. That’s the point. Once you have made
the turn to where you desire His will to be done through you, then there are
things He teaches in His word that you can begin renewing your mind so that it
lines up with your heart, and then your actions will line up with both and you
will see the fruits of that repentance.
Matthew 3:8-10
8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, 9 and do not think to say to
yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is
able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 10 And even now
the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not
bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
If you never truly repent in your heart, you will never renew your mind. If you
never renew your mind, no matter how hard you try to be good in the end your
actions are going to show through. And if your actions don’t bear fruit in
keeping with repentance then you will be like the useless fruit tree with no fruit
that will get thrown into the fire. Does that scare you? It should! But not like a
horror movie scare but in order to motivate you analyze yourself to see if you
have truly repented in your heart, and if you have but have moved on to renew
your mind that you will so that you can be the valuable fruit tree that bears
much fruit. But don’t fret, God is merciful.
2 Peter 3:8-9
8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is
as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not
slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is
longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all
should come to repentance.
He is patient and long suffering, as He was with Job who finally came to the
point where he recognized that even a nice guy needs to repent.
Job 42:6 & 12-17
6 Therefore I abhor myself,
And repent in dust and ashes.”
12 Now the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning;
for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand
yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. 13 He also had seven
sons and three daughters. 14 And he called the name of the first
Jemimah, the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third
Keren-Happuch. 15 In all the land were found no women so beautiful as
the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance among
their brothers.
16 After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children
and grandchildren for four generations. 17 So Job died, old and full of
days.
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date: July 13, 2008