How to Recognize True Repentance (Don Green)

http://thegracelifepulpit.com/Sermons.aspx?code=2011-09-02-DG

I'd invite you to turn to the gospel of Matthew to start with here this afternoon. The gospel of Matthew.

As we've considered the gospel itself through Pastor John's messages and what Phil Johnson preached from Philippians 3, we could kind of summarize in one respect by saying that as ambassadors of Christ, we offer eternal life to sinners if they will come to Christ for salvation. And the question for this message that I hope to answer for you today and to consider in some measure of depth is how do we call sinners to respond to the gospel? What is the response that we are looking to provoke from them? What is it that we are praying that God would work out in their hearts as we proclaim the doctrines of grace to them, as we preach salvation to them, what is it that we as those who evangelize and those who preach, what is it that we say to them, how is it that they are to respond so that they would partake of the benefits of the work of Christ on the cross.

Well as you're going to see as we go through scriptures today, the answer to that question is this, we call them to repentance. We call them to repentance. We call them to turn from sin in order to serve Christ in newness of life. That was the call of Jesus' preaching, as you are going to see. And when Jesus commissioned Paul to preach the gospel, that was the call in Paul's preaching as well. I want to show both of those aspects to you, repentance according to Jesus and repentance according to Paul, so that you would see the perfect harmony in their gospel, the perfect harmony of response so that you and I would be doubly committed to preach the gospel in clarity and to help sinners understand what is at stake when they hear the biblical gospel.

And so, Matthew chapter 5 is where I want to begin and I just want to read the first four verses of the Beatitudes which actually begin in Matthew chapter 5 verse 3, to kind of set a context for us here this afternoon...

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