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[0:00] Well, our current study is on repentance as one of the two things that we must do in order to be saved. And so Dr. Waldron is teaching the doctrine of repentance on the illustration of a tree.

[0:17] We're looking at the tree of repentance then. We planted some zinnias a week ago, and it was just a matter of days that all of them started to die.

[0:30] And it seems that the soil was just far too acidic, that all that extra stuff I've been throwing on the garden was just too much for them, and they were burning.

[0:43] And so we tried to save them by throwing some lime on it. It remains to be seen. But there is some soil that plants will not grow in, and that's what we saw with regard to the soil of the tree of repentance.

[0:56] This tree of repentance will not grow in the soil of the natural heart. So what kind of soil does repentance grow in?

[1:06] This is review. What kind of soil, heart soil, will it grow in? Humble?

[1:19] Born again heart, right? What's wrong with the old natural heart? It hates repentance. It loves sin. It won't turn away from sin. So the heart's got to be changed if this tree of repentance is ever to take root and to grow.

[1:37] So that was the soil of repentance. And therefore, repentance is a gift of God. It's something God does in us.

[1:49] He makes our heart good. But he, according to our memory verse, he's at work in us, giving us both the desire to repent and the power to act upon our repentance.

[2:02] He enables that repentance in our hearts. So that's the soil of repentance. A new heart is needed. Then we looked at the two tap roots of repentance.

[2:13] The roots of repentance have to do with a sense of something. There's two things that we come to sense and we're gripped by. The first is our sin.

[2:26] And we're gripped by our sin to the place where it makes us sad. And it's a true sorrow for sin. And so 2 Corinthians chapter 7 told us that your sorrow led you to repentance.

[2:44] You became sorrowful as God intended. Godly sorrow brings repentance. So that was the first tap root of repentance. It's a sorrow for the way that we've lived and the way that we've thought about God.

[2:57] But the other was a sense of God's mercy in Christ that gives us hope. So we not only sense, oh, we've messed up and we're full of sorrow and regret.

[3:10] But we also have hope in the mercy of God that if I repent, he will forgive. And both of those tap roots are found in true repentance.

[3:23] Now today we come to the main body of the tree. We're looking at the tree of repentance. We've seen its soil, its roots. But now we're looking at the very body of the tree, the trunk, the main branches of it.

[3:37] This is repentance. This is the essence of repentance, the most fundamental thing that can be said about it. So we'll look at what repentance is.

[3:52] It's sorrow itself is not repentance. You can have sorrow without repentance, can't you? You can't have repentance without sorrow, but you can be sorry for your sin without repenting.

[4:02] So repentance is something more than just being sorry for sin. It's something more than hoping in the mercy of God. The main Greek word used for repentance in the New Testament is metanoia.

[4:16] It's a compound word to change and the mind. And so it's a change of mind.

[4:27] That's the most basic idea about repentance. A change of mind. And this word establishes two important points about repentance.

[4:38] The first is that repentance is mainly inward. Repentance is not essentially an outward action. Many have thought of repentance as doing penance.

[4:52] Doing penance. Things people do to show that they're sorry for their sins or to try to make up for their sins. That's penance, but that's not biblical repentance.

[5:05] Because penance is outward, external things done, but repentance is not chiefly external at all. While biblical repentance will certainly have outward manifestations in the life, yet fundamentally it is an inward attitude of the heart.

[5:26] An inward change of mind. You remember that the mind is a faculty of the heart as the Bible speaks of it. So we're talking about an inner change of mind and heart.

[5:39] And not understanding this can lead to a distortion in the meaning of repentance and to an undermining of the grace of God in the gospel. So we must be clear that repentance is fundamentally a change of mind.

[5:53] But this idea of a change of mind has been widely abused in our day in a way that trivializes repentance. It makes too little of repentance by emphasizing it's just a change of mind.

[6:07] Many have taught that repentance is just this intellectual change of mind about Jesus. And so for the Jews, for instance, they thought he was a false messiah.

[6:21] He was a sinful man. And so when a Jew repents, he needs to change his mind about who Jesus is. And that's true. But they've made repentance just an intellectual, Oh, okay, Jesus is messiah.

[6:35] Or maybe you didn't think that he was God. You just thought he was a man. And so repentance for you is to change your mind about Jesus and to come to see that he's God.

[6:47] He's man, yes, but he's also God. But that it's been treated as just like getting an answer right on a test.

[6:57] My mind was wrong before, but now I got that one squared away. Jesus is God. Jesus is the true messiah. In a shallow change of mind.

[7:10] But we've already seen that repentance comes from a sorrowful sense of sin. That's more than just an intellectual change of mind, isn't it?

[7:22] There's a sorrow about what we now see. So it's something more than an intellectual exercise. Just do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God?

[7:37] Okay, that's all it means to repent. No, it isn't. So it is a change of mind, but it also touches our emotions and our will, what we choose to do in life.

[7:50] So that leads us to the second important truth about this change of mind. The first is that it's mainly inward, but the second truth is that this inward change of mind radically changes the man from the inside out.

[8:04] It radically changes everything about us. It's not a small thing. It's not light or superficial. It's a drastic, far-reaching change at the very control center of the heart, for the mind controls the man.

[8:19] As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. And so goes his life. Romans 12.2 says, be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

[8:32] A renewed mind, a change in mind, leads to a changed, transformed life. You remember Dennis Hoskins testimony that when, as an unconverted sailor, he attended church on the island of Guam.

[8:51] He came home that something like the third week from church, and he exclaimed, I get it now. Jesus Christ really is God. It clicked.

[9:01] It clicked. God revealed it to him. Jesus Christ is God. He had a change of mind, didn't he, about who Jesus was.

[9:12] But there was nothing light or superficial about it. It was deep, and it affected everything. Because if Jesus Christ is God, then I'm in trouble for the way I've been treating him.

[9:26] And I regret that. And if Jesus Christ is God, then he must have my worship, my obedience, my trust, my life, my everything.

[9:36] That change of mind about Jesus must radically change the man from the inside out. And that's what repentance is.

[9:47] It's a deep inward change of mind and heart that will certainly have its effects in the life of the man. As we're going to see, all true repentance bears fruit in the life.

[9:59] We're going to get to the fruit of repentance. And all true repentance does bear fruit in the life. Repentance does bring about changes in behavior and habits. When the mind is changed about God and Christ and about sin and self and others and the law of God.

[10:19] Well, that changes all sorts of things. So that he who stole will steal no longer, but will work with his hands so that he has something to give to others in need.

[10:32] This change of mind works powerful changes in the life so that he who is sinfully angry will control his anger and deal with it quickly so as to not give the devil a foothold.

[10:45] And he who lied will put off all falsehood and will speak truthfully with his neighbor. And he whose mouth once was used to pour out unwholesome talk upon repenting and change of mind will hate such words and will labor to not let past the gate of his teeth any unwholesome speech.

[11:05] But only that which builds up and ministers grace to the hearers and those who have given a given way to all bitterness, rage and anger and brawling and slander along with every form of malice.

[11:17] When their mind is changed in repentance, we'll try to get rid of all such things and replace them with kindness, compassion, forgiving as in Christ God forgave them.

[11:29] Ephesians chapter 4. So what we're saying is, yes, if repentance, if this change of mind is true, it will lead to fruit of repentance. But this change of mind then is not a slight surface thing about a few minor points.

[11:47] It's a change about the most important issues of God and self and Christ and salvation and eternity and what's worth living for and the gospel and God's righteousness.

[11:59] And so it's in its essence, repentance is a change of heart that produces a change in your outward actions.

[12:11] But it's working from the inside out. And indeed, the essence of repentance is that inward work. The outward is the fruit of it.

[12:22] So there are effects far greater than something of just a mental agreement to attest who is Jesus and getting the answers to the test correct.

[12:33] The demons believe that Jesus is God, but it does not change the way that they live. So that's the error on the one side. It's to reduce repentance to just this intellectual shallow change of mind about God, the Bible, Jesus.

[12:49] But there's an error on the other side that we need to avoid as well. And I think this is where Sam Waldron did me the most good.

[13:01] And this error is thinking of repentance as fundamentally being a change in our lifestyle rather than a change of our mind and heart.

[13:14] Here the fault is that the fruits of repentance are made the essence of repentance. And this wrongfully brings our good works into repentance itself.

[13:28] And that undermines the pure grace of God in conversion. So follow along with me now and we'll come back to this. Let's look at this closely because this is important.

[13:40] I'm going to have men read three texts for us. If I ask you to read a verse that I gave you, please, now is the time. And I'm going to call on each text and just read it out loudly so we can all hear.

[13:52] And what I'm wanting you to listen for, class, is what does God do in response to man's repentance? What is tied to repentance in each of these three verses?

[14:05] We could have listed another three, I'm sure. Luke 3.3 Okay. Luke 24.47 And that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem.

[14:31] And Acts 5.31 God exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sin.

[14:44] What is linked to repentance each time? Forgiveness, isn't it? If you repent, God will forgive.

[14:55] All right? So that's, we need to establish that in our minds. We saw that when we talked about the hope in God's mercy that we have. That if we repent, he will forgive.

[15:07] And we need to see that again. The promise of forgiveness is attached here to repenting. If you repent, I will forgive, is what God is saying.

[15:17] But now listen. If repentance means changing my life, then my good deeds are made a condition of forgiveness.

[15:29] Then God is saying, if you stop sinning, then I will forgive you. What's wrong with that? Works.

[15:39] Merit. Sounds a lot like Michael Amati's description of Mormon's gospel. Right? If you love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength, then there's grace for you.

[15:52] Well, that's just an undermining of the grace of God in the gospel. It's not if you get your act together and clean your life up and stop sinning, then I will forgive.

[16:06] So we've got a problem here. If we've been defining repentance chiefly as being an outward change in lifestyle, then we've got a problem.

[16:17] Because we're saying only after you make all these changes in your life will there be forgiveness. But there is another way to understand the scriptures on this.

[16:29] This is why it's so important to say that repentance is not fundamentally a change of lifestyle. But it's rather a change of heart and mind, just like the word itself means.

[16:45] Now it's true that repentance will lead to a change in lifestyle, to fruits of repentance. But forgiveness is granted to this change of heart and mind prior to any fruits being born.

[16:58] Before any good works that will result from this initial change of mind. Forgiveness is given at the initial change of mind. And so salvation by grace without works is maintained.

[17:14] So this is why it's important to maintain this distinction between the essence of repentance and the fruit of repentance. If it's true repentance, a true change of mind, there will be good fruits of repentance.

[17:29] But it's true repentance even before the fruits appear. If the apple tree is real and alive and healthy, it will produce fruit.

[17:41] But it's a healthy, live apple tree before it even blossoms, much less bears fruit. So it is with repentance.

[17:51] We must see that repentance is real even before the fruit appears on the tree. And so forgiveness is granted even before fruits of repentance may appear.

[18:06] Now, think of Acts chapter 2. Peter's preaching to the Jerusalem crowd. And as he's preaching, and perhaps not just then, maybe days and weeks before, maybe even when they saw Christ on the cross just several weeks earlier, they had the beginnings of that heart being plowed up.

[18:27] But now the heart is being changed as they're hearing the word of God preached and who Jesus is, that God raised him from the dead. He is the true Messiah, the only Savior. He's exalted at God's right hand.

[18:39] And so their hearts are being changed under the preaching of God's word and the soil made good and they have great sorrow for their sins.

[18:50] The Bible says they were cut to the heart. They were seized with grief and remorse, regret for having murdered their Messiah, the Lord of glory. And yet there was also that sense of mercy with the Lord.

[19:04] And so out of desperation they cry, what must we do? What shall we do? And Peter says, repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.

[19:18] If you repent, he will forgive. And they, many of them, 3,000 of them, believed in that promised mercy of God and Christ and repented and were baptized right there on the spot.

[19:33] They repented. They changed their mind and were forgiven. Even before they had time to change their lives and bring forth all kinds of fruit of repentance.

[19:45] A change of mind on the spot is true repentance before the fruits show up and therefore they were forgiven. So we must be careful to say that repentance is not fundamentally a change of lifestyle consisting in good works instead of bad ones.

[20:03] It's a change of mind and heart. And it does not essentially consist in good deeds at all. Forgiveness is bestowed to the change of heart prior to any good works.

[20:17] So think of repentance as being on the spot, turning your back on your way of sin. So you've lived a certain way for 30 years.

[20:31] And you've ignored God. You've ignored his commands. You've trampled on them. You've just lived for self. And now you repent. What do you do? What does that mean?

[20:42] It means you repudiate your past life. You look at it and you say, that's disgusting. How could I ever treat my God that way? And so you forsake it.

[20:55] You turn your back on it. And you change. And you say, I want to serve Christ. He's my only hope. And I want to serve him. And there's a change of attitude toward Christ, toward your past life, towards the gospel, towards your own righteousness, your need of a sin.

[21:14] There's that change right there on the spot. You're forgiven. God doesn't say, now let's wait and see if John really means that or not. God doesn't need to wait, does he? He sees the heart.

[21:25] And where he sees true repentance, he forgives. He forgives. So that's repentance. Turning around and about face.

[21:39] And now the rest of my life will be marked with changes, won't it? In the way that I think about things, in the way I do things, and treat people, and treat the Lord's things.

[21:51] That's the fruit of repentance. The on-the-spot change of mind is the essence of repentance.

[22:02] Now, instead of taking questions at this point, I want to press on to the fruit of repentance, because that is what I think is creating, that is the thing that we'll want to discuss.

[22:14] And so let's press on. We've seen the main essence, the body and trunk of the tree. Now let's look at the fruit of repentance, because the Bible does speak in these very terms.

[22:25] But I want you to notice how the Bible maintains this distinction between repentance and the fruit of repentance, even as it speaks of it.

[22:36] Matthew 3 and verse 8. Matthew 3 and verse 8. It's John the Baptist preaching a baptism of repentance. And he's calling men to repent upon the confession of their sins.

[22:50] He baptized them. And the Pharisees and Sadducees are coming out to be baptized. And John the Baptist rebukes them. Says, you brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

[23:02] Verse 8. Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. Produce fruit, a life in line with, in keeping with repentance.

[23:20] You're claiming to have repented. You're coming for baptism of repentance. But I don't see it in your life. I see a repudiation of repentance in your life.

[23:33] You need to produce fruit in keeping for repentance. Acts 26 and verse 20. Remember, there's a difference between John the Baptist seeing the fruit, to know that the repentance is real, and God who sees the heart.

[23:48] John says, produce fruit in keeping with repentance. Acts 26 and verse 20. Paul is giving his testimony and reviewing what he had preached.

[24:01] And he's talking about the Jews and Gentiles. He had one message for both. I preach that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.

[24:13] Can you see the distinction maintained there? There is repentance, and then there is the proof of repentance. Your deeds, your fruit.

[24:27] And the last comes in Revelation 2 and verse 5. And Jesus' letter written to the church at Ephesus. Remember how he charged them. He praised them for many things, but he says, I have this one thing against you, and you've lost your first love.

[24:44] And so in verse 5 he says, Remember the height from which you've fallen, repent, and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

[24:59] Repent, and do the things that you did at first. Again, the distinction between repentance and the fruit of it. So these three truths then about the fruit of repentance.

[25:11] The first is that fruit consists in obedience to God. Fruit of repentance is obedience to God. It's obeying his commands. It's doing good works.

[25:23] It's stop doing what's wrong, start doing what's right. That's the fruit. Back in Luke chapter 3 and verse 8 where John the Baptist is calling them to repent and produce fruit in keeping with repentance.

[25:35] And the crowd asks him, well, what should we do? What will that mean for us? And he says to the crowd, well, the man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same.

[25:50] So deeds of love and charity, those are the fruit of repentance. That's producing fruit in keeping with repentance. Repentance is the second greatest commandment, isn't it?

[26:01] To love your neighbor as yourself. You got two coats? Then give him one. If he doesn't. The tax collector said, well, what should we do? To produce fruit in keeping with repentance.

[26:15] And John says, don't collect any more than you are required to. Quit your cheating. Quit overcharging men their taxes. Be honest. Obey the moral law. You shall not steal.

[26:26] Well, that's producing fruit in keeping with repentance. The soldiers, what should we do? Well, don't extort money and don't accuse people falsely. Be content with your pay. Don't use your force and your position and your sword to rob people, to falsely accuse them if they won't pay you your exorbitant fees as you go around with the tax collectors and seek to coerce the people.

[26:50] Quit your greed and learn contentment. You see, it's obedience to God's law, and that's producing fruit in keeping with repentance. All of those actions of obedience and good deeds are the fruit that lines up with repentance.

[27:05] Remember Zacchaeus? The Lord Jesus goes to his house. He had a change of mind, didn't he, upon meeting Christ. How was his repentance seen? What was the fruit of it? Here and now I give half my goods to the poor, and if I've cheated anyone out of anything, I'll pay back four times the amount.

[27:21] And Jesus says, today salvation has come to this house. Had he had time to go around and give everybody back? I don't believe so.

[27:33] But he had the change of mind right there on the spot so Jesus can say, today salvation has come here. And the rest of his life was paying back and straightening accounts.

[27:45] The thief on the cross has a radical change of mind on the cross that day. He starts out with the other thief reviling and mocking Jesus. And somewhere in that time when he's hanging on the cross, he repents.

[28:01] He has a change of mind. How is it seen? Well, he quit mocking Christ. He rebuked the other thief for his mockery. He starts defending Christ.

[28:11] He's done nothing wrong. He goes from being against Christ to being for him, taking Christ's side, from poking fun at him to justifying him and trusting in him. He confesses his own sins.

[28:23] We're getting what we deserve. But he's done nothing wrong. And turning to Christ for mercy, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Amazing change of mind.

[28:36] And the fruit of it, born right there on the cross that he's dying on. And immediate forgiveness is granted. And assurance as well, today you will be with me in paradise.

[28:47] Not, well, we'll see how it goes with you. No. He repented. He's forgiven. So the fruit of repentance is new obedience to God. The Shorter Catechism says it's turning from our sin unto God, with full purpose of and endeavor after new obedience.

[29:07] And that new obedience is the life of good deeds that are the fruit of repentance. So that's the first lesson on the fruit.

[29:19] It's obedience to God. Second, the fruit is proof that the repentance is genuine, that it's not fake or superficial. Paul says in Acts 26, 20, I preach that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.

[29:36] So no fruit raises serious questions about your claim to have repented. It's easy to claim you've changed your mind.

[29:50] Sadducees and Pharisees said as much. But proof is in the following change of life, the new obedience and good deeds. And that's seen in one of the other Greek words used for repent.

[30:01] It means to turn. It means to turn. And so repentance is a turning. I preach that they should repent and turn to God.

[30:12] There's two words used. Repent and turn to God. Repent then and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out. We heard how you turn to God from idols.

[30:23] So repentance is a change of mind and heart. But it's also a turning. A turning and about face. The spiritual direction of your life is drastically altered.

[30:36] It was towards sin and self and idols. It's now toward God and Christ and the Holy Spirit and His way. So there's an initial turning in which with sorrow and regret and hatred we turn from our sins to God.

[30:52] And then there's a lifetime of turning to God and serving Him. But the actual breaking off with sin as we engage in living is the fruit of repentance.

[31:07] And that change of mind and heart that's followed by a change of life is real. It's radical. But it's not perfect, is it?

[31:19] That ongoing life of good fruit is not perfect. It's a fundamental change in direction. Radical, real, but not perfect.

[31:30] What direction does the Mississippi River flow in? South. South. South. That's true. But there are small parts of it that flow east.

[31:42] And parts of it that flow west. And parts of it that even flow north. But the overall direction is that it flows from Minnesota down to the Gulf of Mexico. It flows south.

[31:54] And so it is with the Christian life. The overall spiritual direction of our life is our back to sin and our face Godward. And we live that way.

[32:06] But there are times when we're going this way south. And we're going this way east. And we're going that way west. But God renews our repentance.

[32:16] Turns us Godward again. Because repentance is a turning to God. A radical change in the spiritual direction of our life. The arrow of which way are you going? I was going my own way with my back to God.

[32:28] And we turned to God. And so the direction of our life is changed. And that is the proof that the repentance is genuine.

[32:39] And that's what the fruit is. It's a proof that the repentance is real. And third, the fruit of repentance must not be confused with the repentance itself. The essence of repentance. Because repentance, remember, is a matter chiefly of the heart.

[32:53] The fruit of repentance is chiefly a matter of the hand or the life, the outward. So we turn to him first in our hearts and then henceforth with our lives.

[33:05] I think I want to pause at that point. And let's take any questions or comments at this point.

[33:20] The importance then, I trust we've seen, of why we need to be careful not to make the fruit of repentance the essence of repentance. Because it brings our turning and our changing.

[33:35] Into conversion of forgiveness being granted on the basis of our turning. Do we see how we need to keep those two separate when we think about repentance?

[33:51] Roger? Can we say that if the trunk in repentance is the trunk and it's the inward turning, that's like a one-time event?

[34:05] And then the fruit of repentance, that part of it, it's kind of like, that part is repetitive.

[34:20] That part we're constantly battling, constantly, even though we're heading in the same direction, we stop sometimes, we look back, we hesitate, we take some wrong rights, but we keep coming back to the main trunk.

[34:32] Would that be a way to look at it? Yeah, I think that what you're saying is repentance is not just a one-time thing, but that chiefly is, that's the turning initially from the past life with disgust and turning to Christ.

[34:51] That's a one-time thing. That's your life is the struggle to stay on the main path. And every time, as you said, we veer off, we've got to turn again. So I think it was the first of Luther's 95 theses that said that repentance is a lifelong grace.

[35:05] We're constantly needing to repent and do what we did at the first. But you're right. God says, if you turn, I will forgive. And he does forgive at the initial turning, inward thing, before we actually get out here in our life and start cleaning up our lives by the grace of God working in us.

[35:28] We understand that, but it's still the fruit of the repentance rather than the actual heart change. Other comments?

[35:39] Questions? Dara? I think there's been a couple of opportunities where God blessed me to share the gospel with someone. And then they made a profession of faith.

[35:52] And I'm always skeptic. You know, I'm always like, well, we'll see. And then it is such a thrill to see God working in them to make them so sorrowful for their sin and give them hunger for the word.

[36:04] You know, it's such a joy. But then in some cases, not in those two, but in other cases, you see that initial response. And then they fall away.

[36:15] And so you wonder, was their conversion real or was it not? And the time element in seeing did God really do the work or not is sometimes a disheartening.

[36:26] It is. But the answer to your question is not elusive. That if God begins a good work in you, he will continue it until the day of Christ Jesus.

[36:38] So there may be many people like the Pharisees and Sadducees who say, I've repented. I've repented. And they even show initial signs of it. And their lives change.

[36:49] But they go right back to the world and they don't keep turning back. We don't have to guess and say, well, I guess that was true because they prayed a prayer.

[37:00] They went forward. No, if God began a good work in you, he will continue to do that work. Even as our memory verse says, it's God at work. If it were up to us, yeah, we'd be saved one day, lost the next.

[37:15] But because God is at work, because the Holy Spirit has come and taken up residence in our hearts, when we sin against God, he's grieved. And he's going to let us know about it until we turn back again and trust again in Christ.

[37:31] So God is the one who is at work in you both to will, to want to repent, and to be able to act and to repent.

[37:44] So, yeah, we've seen that, haven't we? And I think that's perhaps why we might be tempted to make the fruit of repentance a part of repentance. Because we hear people presenting the gospel without any call for repent.

[37:59] Just believe on Jesus. And what's absent is this second thing that all men must do in order to be saved. And that's they must turn from their way of life. They must change their mind about God and Christ and the gospel and everything.

[38:14] And that's not being preached. So we tend, perhaps, to swing to the other side and say, Oh, no, we've got to preach repentance. That means you've got to quit your sinning. You've got to, you've got to, and that's true.

[38:27] But we dare not bring the fruit of repentance into that which the sinner must do in order to be forgiven by God. He must just turn from it with repudiation and turn to Jesus.

[38:41] And that very movement of the heart before his feet ever moved, before his hands ever moved. So he's sitting there in the church service and it just clicks. And he sees what he's been doing.

[38:52] He's ignored God all his life. And he repudiates it and he says, Oh, forgive me. For Jesus' sake, receive me. And right there on the spot, before he can go home and confess to his boss that he stole something.

[39:09] Before he can start spending time with his wife who he's been neglecting. Before he can reorder anything in his life, right there on the spot, he's forgiven.

[39:21] And then the life of repentance, the fruit of repentance follows. Mark. We're so enamored with outward results and outward signs of God working.

[39:36] We lack the faith to go on believing in him when what he's doing is invisible. You know, we share the gospel and we want these outward signs that people are being changed.

[39:55] And we need to trust the Lord that it's he who's going to bring the increase. And it's going to be in his time and in his way. And we're just so eager to see those fruits on the tree.

[40:14] We forget that, you know, it's God who is eating for us. It's not. Okay. Good. Roger? Yeah. There's a lot of thoughts that run through my mind when we talk about something like this.

[40:27] And, you know, our tendency to go to extremes, you know, one side or the other. Whether we, and I'm thinking of discipleship, whether it's as a parent or a member of a church.

[40:42] We're trying to help each other work out this salvation that we have in Christ Jesus. And that ongoing repentance that comes after true faith.

[40:54] And that initial repentance. So truly, I am resting in God to help my child or fellow member become like Christ.

[41:06] But at the same time, I'm going to come alongside, encourage him with the scriptures that he might see and have that change of mind. But that also helps him see what he must put off and put on so that he is manifesting true fruits of a genuine repentance.

[41:27] It is a balance. We must work out our salvation with fear and trembling. But always with the awareness that every inch of my working out is because he's working in.

[41:41] And it's the same way with my brother and sister in Christ. Well, our time's gone. But if you have further questions, bring them back next week or see me afterwards.

[41:52]  And let's thank God for his mercy then to receive sinners at the very point of repentance and to forgive all their sins. We're dismissed. We're dismissed.