 Okay, welcome back everyone. Okay, so in chapter 6 we titled what leads a person to repentance. We looked at four simple reasons. One is goodness of God leads to repentance, the works and miracles of God leads to repentance and godly sorrow leads to repentance and finally God grants repentance. It's like a gracious gift in the passion translation. It says, God's gracious gift of repentance has been made available to those who are in need and whoever is willing to repent. Okay, as a continuation from that chapter it concluded with this Luke chapter 15 verse 17. It's talking about the prodigal son. Luke chapter 15 verse 17 it says, but when he came to himself he said, okay, so when did he come to himself? No, so we all know the story of the prodigal son. So it was at the time when he was hungry and then he was feeding the pigs and then he was about to eat four pigs food. He came to realization. That's what it means when he came to himself. That's what it is. When he came to realization he said to himself, even the servants in my father's house eat better and then he makes the long journey back home. Okay, now it is very important in that story to note that yes, the father ran, but father ran to the gate. The son had to come home first. Father didn't go where the son was. Right, he took his stuff. Son decided to take his riches and whatnot, God's father's belongings and he went and lived a lavish lifestyle, sinful lifestyle, but then he came to a realization. Right, and I think in many ways that God's goodness is taken for granted that way. You know, he said, oh, God is good, you know, so I can do whatever I want to do and all of that, but it's always very important for us to remember that if we draw near to him he will draw near to us. Okay, so the first step to recovery and restoration is repentance. The first step to recovery and restoration is repentance. All right, let's look at chapter 7. So when and how do we repent? Now that we know it's important, we've established in many points that repentance is important. When and how do we repent? Okay, to very simply kind of paraphrase this chapter, one point is keep short accounts. That means as soon as you do something wrong or as soon as you know something is wrong, repent. Don't wait for it to, you know, just grow and grow and grow and grow and then you can repent, but then it is advisable and suggested that as soon as you know that something is wrong, repent. Okay, when? That's answering the when. Okay, so sometimes correction can come as we read the word or listen to the word being shared in some way. That means repentance can come when you're reading the word. Right, as Nikhil mentioned, or when someone's preaching, you get convicted and then you decide to give. Right, the point is don't let your hearts be stoned. Okay, don't let your heart be stoned. That's basically is the point. So keep short accounts as soon as you know something is wrong, turn towards God. Okay, in Matthew 1315, it says for the hearts of his people have grown dull. So please pay attention to the choice of words. Okay, for the hearts of this people have grown dull. That means their love for God is kind of fainted. Okay, their ears are hard of hearing and their eyes, they have closed. Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn so that I should heal them. Okay, so repentance happens when we simply say yes to the correction that God brings. Repentance happens when we simply say yes to the correction that God brings. And so the last line of that verse in Matthew 1315 says, understand with their hearts and turn so that I should heal them. You see how the word heal is used with the repentance, right? How is healing associated with the repentance? It's interesting. Do you remember this chapter in a verse in Second Chronicles chapter 7 verse 14, I think it says, you will know it if I start quoting it. If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and heal their land. Very nice reference. Okay, if my people and this people who are called by his name, you see the progression there, people who are called by his name, his people, children of God will humble themselves and turn from their wicked ways or repent, turn from their wicked ways or repent 180 degrees, right? Then I will hear from heaven and then I will heal their land. It's amazing how a group of people, God's chosen people, if they would repent, God is willing to heal the whole land. Abraham interceding, if you find 50, will you spare the city? That city could have had 500 people, but if God found 50 righteous, he would have spared Sodom and Gomorrah and then there's negotiation that's happening. 40, 10, no. So the power of repentance as individuals and as a collective is emphasized over here, right? When and how do we repent? Okay, repent as soon as possible when the matter is still fresh, okay? All right, let's move on. The process of repentance, okay. Can someone take the mic and read 2 Corinthians chapter 7 was 8 to 12, please? Excuse me. In chapter 8, yeah. Second Corinthians chapter 7, reading from the verse. Your mic is on, right? Yes. Okay. Was it? For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it, for I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry through only for a while. Now I rejoice not that you are made sorry, but that your sorry led to repentance. For you are made sorry in a godly manner that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted, but the sorrow of the world produced death. For observe this very thing that you sorrowed in a godly manner, what diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourself, what indication, what fear, what we have meant, desire, what zeal, what vindication in all things you proved yourself to be clear in this matters. Therefore, although I wrote to you, I did not do it for the sake of him who had done the wrong, for the sake of him who suffered wrong, but for that our care for you in sight of God might appear to you. Okay. Awesome. Thank you. Right. So this is the process of repentance. This chapter, as I mentioned, even in the previous chapter, we looked at only two verses from 2 Corinthians, chapter 7. Right. And how Paul is being appreciative of the church in Corinth that they turn from their wicked ways, because in his first letter, he was very harsh to the people in Corinth. And then that's what he's saying, right? If I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it. He's like, okay, Paul, what are you trying to say now? Paul, did you regret or not? No, that's, and then he's like, okay, that's not the point. For I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry. That means it convicted you. Right. It made you realize that something is off here. I hope you guys see it. That's what Paul is saying. Though only for a while in verse 9, now I rejoice. I rejoice that not you were made sorry. Not that I made you feel bad. Not that you felt bad. I'm not rejoicing that. But I'm rejoicing that your sorrow led to repentance. He's rejoicing in that fact. Isn't it? And that's why we have the scriptures like, okay, all of heaven rejoices when one sinner repents. There's a rejoicing that happens because he or she just didn't feel bad or sorry. But that sorry, Godly sorrow led to repentance. Right. And then now their life is saved. So continuing, for you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. Verse 10, for Godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation not to be regretted. Okay. Now, what we are going to look at, the important points here is from in verse 11. Okay, I want you to pay attention guys. And see the progression there is. Okay, now we're talking about the process of repentance. Okay, the process of repentance. Now, we know that repentance is the first step to recovery and restoration. Okay, but there are some steps that in repentance, what is happening? For observe this very thing that you sorrowed in a godly manner. What diligence it produced in you? What clearing of yourselves? What indignation? What fear? What vehement desire? What zeal? What vindication? In all things you proved yourself to be clear in this matter. In all of those points, diligence, clearing of yourselves, indignation, fear, desire, zeal and vindication. And you have cleared yourself in all of these points. And so now it's elaborated just with different words under repentance. You see diligence, what is it? It simply means you are earnest, very serious, very careful. If I tell you, Francis, you know, if I talk about you to all of these, like Francis is a very diligent person. Have you heard anyone say that, right? Okay, you know, like Prince or she rather is, she's a very diligent person. That means whatever responsibility I give her, she does it earnestly. She does it with utmost care, right? With very seriously. Okay, send the lyrics. Yes, I will send the lyrics. Very earnestly. You see how you think I don't listen to the conversations, but so that's diligence, right? That means the church in Corinth or the people in the church of Corinth were earnest. They took Paul's letter very seriously. There is like, okay, another letter from Paul, you know, let's make a rocket out of it, you know, let's make a rocket out of it and just fly it, you know. No. That means it also shows that they realized that it was, the Paul was writing with the Holy Spirit, that it was the Word of God, right? And they took it seriously and they started working on it very diligently, very earnestly, right? And that leading to clearing of yourselves. What does that mean? Eagerness to do what is right. That means they began to think differently. And because they start to think differently, their actions were different, right? That's what it is to do what is right to do is what doing is an action. It's a verb, right? That's what Christian life is. So, diligence, clearing of yourself, that means living a righteous life. Indignation means displeasure, wrath against sin. So let's go back to that verse. What diligence it produced in you? What clearing of yourselves? What indignation? That means displeasure or wrath against sin. That means they began to hate sin, okay? Fear, fear of God and vehement desire or a holy longing or a serious purpose, a holy longing, right? This is holy fear or this holy zeal, right? My zeal for the house of God consumes me. You remember that? That verse, right? My zeal for the house of God consumes me. That means you are consumed with this holy fear of God. It's filled your heart. It's overflowing. And all of that, Paul is telling to the Church of Corinth that you guys have cleared your name in all of these five parameters. I'm just reminded of this story, a real story of a very famous evangelist in the late 80s, 1998, 1999, right? Very famous, very huge ministry. I'm not going to name it obviously. When I say popular and big, big, it was very powerful in the way that he ministered and very well known evangelist. And there was certain accusations that was made and then there came a time where he was caught red-handed with a prostitute. And then his Church and ministry was so big and people loved him. And then there was this huge scene in the Church of him crying and repenting and all the drama happened. And fast forward, two years later, he was again caught with the same act. So we have to be very careful. We're going to look at just a bit. But in the seriousness of repentance or our understanding of what repentance is, have you made diligent effort? Or is there someone on your team who you know has been going through a hard time? And have they repented? And when you ask that question, are they being diligent? Are they earnest? Are they serious in their repentance? Right? How is their desire? Are they consumed now with the love of God, with the Holy Fear of God? You need to ask all of this question. Are you following? Right? Second Corinthians chapter 7 is a wonderful, wonderful passage when it comes to the context of the topic of repentance. Okay, so you have repentance there and then you have recovery, zeal and vindication, passion for God and devotion against towards him. Zeal and a passion for God. I don't necessarily like the word passion because it is, yeah, I just don't necessarily like the word passion. But the original meaning of the word passion means long suffering. And its original language means long suffering. That's what passion really means. So the Good Friday week, the week that Jesus enters Jerusalem and that whole week is called as the Passion Week. It's not like, oh, I'm full of passion. I'm going to die on the cross. It's not like that. It's long suffering that every day that he long suffered. He endured. That's what it is. He, endurance is what patience, what passion is. You know, when I was in music college, we used to go through interviews, interviewing students who have applied for music college. And one of the obvious questions would be, why do you want to join? Why do you want to do this degree in music? And the most standard response, 90% of the time would be what? I'm very passionate about music. Okay. And in one month, that passion disappears. Yeah, so because see what happens is, so they come with an understanding of a very generic view of music. Okay, music is amazing. It's like, you know, drums and all of this, but it's a three, it's a three. Now it's a four year degree in music. Four years. That means you are going to learn about things that you don't necessarily want to know about music. Right. There are so many subjects. Okay, you're going to learn music history. You're going to learn a counterpoint. That means melody against melody. You're going to learn form and analysis, how to analyze the music that Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, and all wrote. Okay, that's not those are all not subjects that excites people in my, you know, it excites me, but, you know, orchestration, how to write a melody, take a melody, twinkle, twinkle, little stuff, okay, and write an entire piece of music for an orchestra. I don't want to learn all that. So all of that, when it becomes a little challenging, passion drops. But passion is really what it means is endurance, long suffering. Right. Run this race with endurance. Yeah, run this race with endurance. Be faithful at it. And so recovery is pointing that out saying, okay, you're saying that you're filled with zeal. And we're going to see how long is your suffering. Right. Love is long suffering, it says, isn't it? Are you filled? Are you going to endure this race? You know, it's interesting that passage doesn't say how you start the race. Yeah. Anything that Bible says, it's just wonderful. You have to ask yourself, it's starting, okay, how you end the race or finish the race. It talks about that, but not about the starting way that as young leaders in this classroom and then leaders online, it's very important for us to ask this question. Whatever it is, you want to put it in a make a frame of it, keep it in your, in front of your mirror, whatever it is, you know, finish the race faithfully, finish the race faithfully, that has to be ringing in our ears and that, that will show your zeal for God. Right. And this is definitely for me as well as I'm sharing this. So recovery and restoration proved yourself to be clear restoration. Yes. Yes. Holy logging is long to be holy and also in continuing to live in the life of holiness. That's what it is. You know, John the Baptist is a perfect example of zeal for God that he was a Nazarite. He was a Nazarite from birth. Right. He was set apart. That's what, so Nazarites were radically set apart to be holy. And then he was the voice in the desert, wilderness crying out again, borrowing the prophecy from Isaiah. And his voice drew people to the wilderness. Right. And then his lifestyle was the life of holiness. So repentance, recovery, restoration. You see, restoration is the last thing. And you know, we know that God is our restorer. Yes or no? Our God restores. And we know from the scriptures everything that the enemy stole and he would restore in two folds or what not, a hundred folds, etc. Right. And I personally, you know, this is just my understanding that God takes extra pride in restoration. Right. When all hope is lost, when everything seems to be impossible, then he's like, okay, let me show you what I can do. Even human beings, for that matter, in any profession, especially in terms of restoring something, you take a broken bike to a mechanic. Then he says, like, you know, like, no, I can fix it. What is he doing? Restore it. And once it's restored, he's like, you know how we bought it. You see how it is. You take a broken watch to a watch repair, you know, a person who repairs watches and say, yeah, I can fix that. Nothing is too difficult. And there's this very famous pottery kind of a thing in Japanese, you know, that in Japan, where, you know, all the broken vessels or pottery thing is being fixed with gold. Right. And so, but to come to that place, for me to get the bikes, bike restored, I have to take the bike and go to the mechanic. No. Yes. Okay, so that's what it is. So recovery and restoration. Okay, let's look at some more points, practical matters on how we can repent and live a restored lifestyle. Living with repentance toward God, God always. Living with vigilance on all sides. First Peter five, eight or nine, it says, be vigilant, be sober. Okay, saying don't be influenced by other voices or the world, but be sober, be vigilant. Living with boundaries in all matters, very important point. Living with boundaries. Okay, as ministers, you know, we've discussed this. I used to speak with the youth, you know, especially when they talk about relationships. Again, they don't want to hear this. It's very unpopular boundaries, boundaries, you know. You know, I said, guys have boundaries. Okay, so this is all live real examples. Okay. Okay, you like a girl? Okay, you're considering a girl? Fine. As long as it's a girl, it's fine. Nowadays, it's like, you know, then. Okay, if you're not sure, don't invest in each other too much emotionally. What happens is, it's the age, you know, it's everything is burning, full of zeal. And you know, it's like, all the juices are pumping towards the brains, you know. And then I said, okay, guys, put a boundary, don't message beyond a certain time, like 8pm, stop it. What happens is, we are wired in such a way that beyond 8pm and 9pm, all very emotional and sentimental topics begin to crop up. Like, hey, what should we name our kids? You know, Vaish, where do you want to have your wedding? You know, you're not even considered not even being serious about all the relationships. But you see how the conversation has gone somewhere else. What is happening is that you are investing emotionally in one another. Right. And so there's no problem. Now, this is just an example of a one of the boundaries that's very important. As minister or as a pastor, even with my core team members as a youth pastor or you know, core team members with the women in the team, I will not respond, I will not message them or ask them to give me a fight or something, even work related beyond a certain time. And I've made it very clear with them as well. I won't message you, you won't message me, okay, unless it's like someone is like, you know, in a really bad shape or there's an emergency, right? What is that? That's a boundary or that and I'm setting a standard and a value or a principle for that matter, right? And if, if it's not, so if I have to, you know, give a drop or a lift to a woman from, you know, there's a lot of events that happens, you know, you have to carpool sometimes, right? And if, and what boundaries do I set in that cases? If there is a woman who wants to meet with me, right? See, one of the things that we need to remember is that in being this, having this holy fear and whatnot, it is also very important that I don't develop this aversion towards women, right? This, I don't know what you're going about. It's like, oh, oh, Jesus, you know, holy, holy, holy, you know, you know, like, oh, no, please. No, Jesus minister to women. Yes or no. So I need to remember, I am their pastor as well, right? And so having said that, I will meet with them one on one, only in church office, right? It's, I'm creating a safe space for all of us, right? So everybody in church knows where I am, who I'm meeting with, right? And even in that, after a certain meeting, now, if I know a person of the opposite sex needs a help, right? Professional help. So I will not carry that forward more than two meetings. I will lead them to a female counselor, okay? I think, you know, they can handle, help you from their own, and they will keep me posted about whatever it is. So what am I doing? I'm creating, setting boundaries. You know, it's always good to be safe, isn't it? And so, and that boundaries might look different to different people. So you set your boundaries, right? And be careful. So living with boundaries in all matters, living with transparency, before those who matter, living with transparency, if you have a mentor, be transparent. Even with one another, right? With one another, I cannot emphasize this enough. Don't wear a mask. Not this surgical mask. Don't wear a mask. That means, don't pretend to be someone who you are not. You understood? Don't pretend to be someone who you are not. Be like whom Jesus has called us to be in being yourself. Be authentic. Let people accept you for who you are. If they don't accept you, so be it types. Because if you are wearing a mask, okay? The very famous statement of the world is this. The world will say, fake it till you make it. Fake means be a fake. Like, you know, fake it till you make it. That means, you know, be a fake person until you become a famous person. But I cannot stress on this point enough. Be transparent. Be authentic with one among one another. You know, my wife knows my laptop password, my phone password, everything is welcome to, you know, it's always there. Not that she does that, but it's there. If she wants to do that, it's transparent. I have nothing to hide. Right? She can go through any conversations she wants to. Again, it's not that she will or she does that, but it's there. And she knows that. Are you with me? And so, and that, that creates a sense of freedom, guys. The crisis is like, otherwise you're constantly living this way. You let me create one tough password, you know, in this, why, why all the tension? Be transparent. Live like Jesus did. If you, if you're doing that, you don't have, you have nothing to worry. Okay? All right. Living with humility before those we serve. Living with him. I don't think we need to speak a lot about humility. We've spoken a lot about it. Okay. If there's nothing you remember, you know, but if you can remember this point on humility, you're on the right track in your life. Okay. So be accountable to the people that we serve. At the bottom of page 24, the PDFs are in chapter nine, the importance of repentance. So we've established the importance of repentance. I'm not going through all those points here. It says if we remain quick to repent, we enjoy these positive outcomes. If we are quick to repent, we enjoy these positive outcomes. What are they? Repentance brings us into a place where we can believe. Repentance positions us to receive, encounter and experience the kingdom of God. Repentance is the part of our ongoing transformation into Christlikeness. So you see that it is an ongoing thing. It's not a one-off thing. Repentance is important to stay in the continual fellowship with God. Repentance brings recovery leading to restoration. It's beautiful. I'm sure we've all been on the journey. I have been on the journey from repentance to being restored. It's a wonderful place to be at. It's the sense of freedom that it brings is unbelievable. There's a call in chapter 10. We know that again, we've established this point where in revelation that the letter has to repent is addressed to the churches itself, isn't it? And so that's mentioned over there. Sometimes the call for repentance is not just for individual, it's also for collective as a church. So you remember this point that Paul writes to Corinthians and says, don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost? You remember that, right? And so most of the time we take that point as for an individual and say, and then say, okay, you have to live a holy life because your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. But we forget that Paul is actually writing that to the entire church of Corinth, right? And so the whole church is, there's an invitation to repent, to repent, right? Because there is a call to repentance and that's the end of chapter 11 is that there is a call to repent, okay? In conclusion of chapter 11, in Luke chapter 13 verse 1 to 5, can someone read that quickly please? Luke chapter 13 verse 1 to 5, it's in the notes there. They were present at that reason, some who told him about the Galileans, whose blood Pilate has mingled with their sacrifice and Jesus answered and said to them, do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans? Because they offered such things, I tell you, no. But unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Are those 18 on whom the tower fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no. But unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Okay. So there are two instances that's happening. There are a bunch of people who killed or who died because of a cruel leader, okay, Pilate, okay, that's one thing. And then second is a natural disaster where a tower falls and kills people. Now instead of Jesus explaining why this happened, he's saying, okay, you know, I think those who escaped were not better people than those who lost their lives. Instead of explaining the why these happened, he is saying repent, simply to say that if you are alive, that means you have the opportunity to repent. In Acts chapter 17 verse 30 says, now God commands all men everywhere to repent. So everyone who is alive have the opportunity to repent. The invitation remains. And so all the days of our lives, you know, this life repentance should become our lifestyle, as Justin also mentioned. Are you guys with me? So this is the whole huge topic on repentance, recovery and restoration. Jesus preached it, John the Baptist preached it, was for the Jews and the Gentiles. It is also for the church. And in the middle, there are all these practical aspects on how, when to repent. All right. So next class, we will look at the last section, section three on overcoming the flesh. Okay. All right. Well, I hope this class was helpful today in understanding. I know there was a lot of content, a lot of scriptures, but I hope you could follow it. And just pray about it. Go through these verses again, and let it minister to you. All right. Great. Thank you all for joining us. Thank you. God bless you. I'll see you next week. Bye.