Repent, Repent, Repent







Matthew 9:12-13 (KJV) 12But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.  13But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

        
        Is it me or has the word repent been dropped from the Christian Vocabulary?  I was reading a sermon that was written over 100 years ago and the pastors words were; "We talk about love, love, love, --- it ought to be repent, repent, repent, John the Baptist came and his message was repent! Jesus came -- the same message--REPENT! The Holy Spirit came -- the same message-- repent, repent, repent and believe. What has this to do with Pentecost? Everything! It is the secret of failure." 
        What really struck me was when I did a search of the new testament.  In the King James Bible the word repent and all it's endings occurs 60 times.  In the most popular new version The Message it occurs 4 times.   This speaks volumes without me even going any further.  It is even more fascinating that "1550/1884 textus Repectus," the oldest Greek to English translation the final word in the above scripture  repentance is there.  In the later versions of the Greek it has mysteriously vanished.  My latest Greek Interlinear New Testament goes back to the original Greek manuscripts and it is there but in the later it is gone.  Pure coincidence or deep plan of the devil? Did you know that in recent years the newest and greatest translations have left out 4 pages worth of scriptures? They no longer use the proven texts of Greek but use old manuscripts that have been throughout history considered flawed and heretical.  But conveniently, these manuscripts leave out the ideas like, omnipresence, omnipowerfull,    holiness and repentance.  Which is why the worldly Bible translators like them.  Many of you will say "but these are learned men and woman and the have a valid reason for removing 4 pages of scripture!"  My answer to that is  to illustrate here by recounting one of my many  personal experiences with The Living Word of God.  One day I was studying  a passage in the word and I notice a footnote that informed me that this passage was missing in several of the old Greek manuscripts.  So, I immediately went to my Greek interlinear and it was there.  As I continued with my research I found that this passage had indeed disappeared from several Greek texts.  So I went to the source JESUS!   I went to prayer and waited on the Lord.  I asked Him what was going on with these "missing scriptures"?  I asked Him were they supposed to be there or not.  Finally I asked why  this particular scripture was there in the King James?   My friends you can take this to the bank! As clear as I can hear  anyone next to me speak.  I heard the voice of the Lord tell me "Because I want it there, that is why!"  These translators are on very slippery ground by playing with God and removing parts of His word.  As Paul said test every spirit and see if it is of God.  I can preach a whole sermon on what man has done to God's word for his own reasons.

        To turn away from, to make right, to admit guilt.  Oh no, admit guilt.  There is a word no one likes to hear.  GUILT!  Without it there is no reason to repent and no reason to strive for being different from the world. 
Repentance was so important in the grand scheme of God's world that in Matthew, Mark and Luke the first recorded sermon is from John The Baptist. Matthew 3:1-2 1In those days John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near!   It is so important to the Lord  that it is a focal point in the first recorded sermon of the Apostle's Acts 2:37-38 (KJV)  37Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? 38Then 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. 
        We go to the end of the Bible and we see as judgement is coming on the earth. Revelation 16:10-11 (NLT) 10Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. And his subjects ground their teeth in anguish,  11and they cursed the God of heaven for their pains and sores. But they refused to repent of all their evil deeds.   Hum! from the start to the end of the new testament we see repentance.  What I get a kick out of is that repentance was even good enough for God! Genesis 6:6-7(KJV) 6And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 7And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
        It seems almost funny but extremely tragic, we are only 1/10 of one percent through the Bible and  our creator is extremely saddened that He created us.  Yet our churches today do not preach repentance.  They do not preach a changed life.  NO! they preach love, love, love in the name of Jesus.  I challenge anyone to show me where Jesus put up with sin. We have a lady here in Pinedale, that Mary and I have witnessed to for years.  We tried to love her into the house of God.  She attended a local  Bible Church for a few Sundays.  Her answer to me when told she needs Jesus is always the same "Pastor Jay, I went to that  Church a few times on Sunday morning.  I saw the same people at the Church on Sunday morning that I saw in the bar with me on Friday evening.  If that is what it means to be a Christian, Why do I need it?"  This my friends is what you get when you do not expect people to change for Jesus.  A bunch of namby-pamby Christians who are no different than the world they live in.  In the  Bible church at the time she went , their worship leader was involved in pornography and wife swapping!  You Christians, Pastors, teachers and workers who refuse to tell a sinner of their need to repent and turn from their sins and become a new person in Christ are no better than the Jews of Jesus day. Matthew 23:13-15 (NKJV) "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows  houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.