Fruit of Repentance

In this part of the sermon: Martin begins by recommending several books on evangelism and Spurgeon, then expresses gratitude for the opportunity to preach. He reviews the previous nights' teaching on…

Martin uses the analogy of a halfback in football to describe the ease or difficulty of preaching, illustrating the audience's receptiveness to the Word.

For I've sensed a general spirit of hunger for the word that's made it very easy and a very great delight to preach to you. Sometimes when one preaches, he feels like a 135-pound halfback bucking three 260-pound linemen. You know, it's just fight all the way. There are other times when you just feel.

2:40 - 3:01 Read in full sermon

The point: If you find yourself indifferent to sin and your confession is lifeless, pause and realize how your 'little sins' opened Christ's wounds and caused His agony, making them ugly in the light of His cross.

The entire sermon uses the metaphor of a tree to structure the teaching on repentance, with soil, roots, trunk, and branches representing different aspects.

Having considered the importance of repentance in the light of the scriptures, we have for the past two nights been seeking to lay open something of the nature of that repentance. And we have tried to do so under the figure of a tree. And I will remind you that a tree must have soil in which to grow. And the only soil in which true repentance will ever take root is that soil of the grace of God.

5:31 - 5:57 Read in full sermon

The point: Continually come back to the plowing work of God's law and a revelation of sins in the light of the cross and God's mercy to experience true and ongoing repentance.

The prodigal son's 'coming to himself' is used as a classic illustration of the intellectual aspect of repentance.

Notice those three things in some classic illustrations of repentance in the scripture. The illustration of the prodigal son, the first evidence of any change was this. Now when he came to himself, he said, and suddenly he began to judge everything in a different light. His father's own, his father's will, his father's person, everything.

9:50 - 10:11 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin explains that by nature, humanity is indifferent to God, does not fear Him, and hates His rule. True repentance involves a radical overhaul of this attitude, turning to God…

Paul's indictment of humanity in Romans 3 is compared to a master lawyer summing up a case to bring a criminal to condemnation, highlighting the severity of sin against God.

When Paul is summarizing the state of man in his sinfulness, and as a master lawyer indicting the whole human race before the bar of God's justice, he comes to his summing up, as the lawyer sums up his case and brings out the most salient facts in order that he might bring this criminal to condemnation. So Paul, like a master lawyer, is summing up now the state of humanity that he's been describing for three whole chapters. And he says in verse 10 of Romans 3, as it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. Now notice, there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after ...

14:12 - 15:21 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Naturally, people love, excuse, and are enslaved to sin. Repentance brings a new perspective on sin, seeing its heinous nature in light of God's law and Christ's cross. Martin…

Situational ethics is described as wanting something bad enough that one convinces oneself that black is gray and gray is white, illustrating how people rationalize sin.

That process by which we look at black long enough and we want it so bad that we convince ourselves that black is gray and that gray is white. That's all this talk about situational ethics is. It's just wanting something bad enough, but knowing it's bad that you've got to convince yourself it's right so you can take it with a good conscience. That's all situational ethics is.

26:54 - 27:15 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Naturally, people love, excuse, and are enslaved to sin. Repentance brings a new perspective on sin, seeing its heinous nature in light of God's law and Christ's cross. Martin…

The story of the rich young ruler is used to illustrate Christ's method of zeroing in on a specific, cherished sin (idolatry of riches) as a test of genuine repentance.

God says to the prophet Isaiah, Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. But I want to zero in, because the Bible does, repentance many times will be manifested either in its genuineness or in its lack of genuineness by your dealing with specific sins, your own darling bosom sins. And it's interesting that in the life of our Lord, whenever He was dealing with a sinner and was about to close with the offer of mercy, He zeroed in to the bosom sin. You remember the rich young ruler?

29:45 - 30:22 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Naturally, people love, excuse, and are enslaved to sin. Repentance brings a new perspective on sin, seeing its heinous nature in light of God's law and Christ's cross. Martin…

The encounter with the woman at the well is used to illustrate Christ's demand that she deal with the 'muddied water' of her immorality before drinking the 'living water' of His grace.

And he won't deceive any of you or me either. And he sees the darling bosom sin and he says, Until you're ready to deal with that, there'll be no life. Look at the woman at the well. John chapter four.

32:59 - 33:13 Read in full sermon

The point: Honestly face and deal with the 'darling bosom sin' of your heart, as its presence indicates the sincerity of your repentance.

Christ's teaching on plucking out an eye or cutting off a hand is framed as a choice between 'amputation or retribution,' emphasizing the radical necessity of severing oneself from darling sins to avoid hell.

And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off and cast it from thee. For it's profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. What kind of radical talk is this? I've longed to hear an evangelist preach a series of messages on this as his evangelistic test.

36:24 - 36:44 Read in full sermon

The point: Honestly face and deal with the 'darling bosom sin' of your heart, as its presence indicates the sincerity of your repentance.

Martin dismisses external lists of sins like smoking or drinking as 'kid stuff' that may not cost anything to drop, arguing that true repentance deals with deeper, more cherished sins like pride or lust.

Like the right hand, the right eye. What is it in your case? That's the folly of setting up our list of smoking, drinking, card playing, going to the theater. That's the folly of that.

38:09 - 38:22 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: By nature, humans live for themselves, making self the object of idolatrous worship. Repentance involves a radical shift in self-perception, realizing one is made to glorify God…

Eating and drinking are used as examples of activities where humans are 'most like the animals,' yet even in these, they are called to glorify God, illustrating the pervasive nature of God's claim on all of life.

I see myself in a different light. I wasn't made to strut and parade across the stage of life clamoring for a little applause from my fellow creature. I was made to move across the stage of life in the will of God to bring glory and praise to my God even in those things when I'm most like my little dog and my little pussycat. For God says whether you eat or drink and that's when you're most like the animals when you're stuffing food in your mouth.

47:53 - 48:29 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin distinguishes between practical godliness and a right standing with God. He explains that by nature, people either don't care about being right with God or try to achieve…

A hypothetical scenario of approaching young men on a street corner to talk about being 'right with God' illustrates the natural indifference or self-righteousness of people regarding God's standard.

Suppose I go down the corner of King and Queen Street tonight and see a bunch of people hanging around, a bunch of young fellows talking together. And when I get about a half a block away, I yell out and I say, Hey, fellows! And they turn around and say, What's this nut walk? I've got some wonderful news for you.

52:54 - 53:08 Read in full sermon

The point: Realize that true freedom and fulfillment are found not in doing as you please, but in being governed by God, as humans were made to be piloted by Him.

The analogy of cars in a parking lot with engines running and throttles set, but no drivers, illustrates the chaos and destruction that results when humans try to live autonomously, without being governed by God.

by the master that's repentance have you ever come by the grace of God seeing in the Lord Jesus the only one who is worthy and fit to rule your life oh I trust dear young people listen to me living in this age of anarchy the whole spirit of this age breathes of this concept when we come of age you kick off every strain the restraints of society the restraints of past standards and freedom is found in absolute liberty to do as you please what and you know why we're in them the mess we're in the hellish mess we were never made to do as we please it's like putting all those cars in that parking l...

63:01 - 64:29 Read in full sermon

The point: Realize that true freedom and fulfillment are found not in doing as you please, but in being governed by God, as humans were made to be piloted by Him.

The prodigal son's rags being replaced by the 'best robe' is used as a beautiful picture of God covering repentant sinners with the righteousness of Christ.

when he was made to be piloted by the living God have you been brought to see that oh what a blessed place to come broken to the feet of the Lord Jesus saying Lord Jesus what a fool I've been thinking that I could find fulfillment in life doing as I please what a fool that's what that part of him came to realize he said the only safe place is back to my father and then I think we have a picture I wouldn't say a type but at least a beautiful analogy of this matter of a change of mind to righteousness notice this when he was a great way off his father saw him verse 20 and had compassion and ran ...

64:29 - 65:58 Read in full sermon