By the power of the Holy Spirit through the gospel of Christ, God grants repentance to wicked sinners (Romans 2:4).  Repentance is not a one-time action.  It is a lifestyle.

What does repentance look like?  In The Doctrine of Repentance, Thomas Watson says there are six elements necessary for biblical repentance:

1) Sight of sin

Sin must be seen for what it is, a deadly plague of the heart.  This insight must humble the person.

2)  Sorrow for sin

Psalm 51:17: The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.  God works to create heartfelt repentance and obedience, not just outward behavioral change.  Repentance is not worldly sorrow (sorrow because you got caught), but rather it is godly sorrow (2 Corinthians 7:9-10).

“Grace frees me from the burden of propping up my own righteousness because I have been gifted with the righteousness of Christ.” (Paul Tripp)

Have you ever felt uncertain about whether the Christian faith really is true?  Whether what you’ve heard about Christ can really be trusted?  If so, you’ve got something in common with most Christians: and with a first-century man called Theophilus.

We welcome you to come and join us at Emmaus Road Reformed Church this Sunday as we begin a new sermon series on the book of Luke. Luke wrote a gospel that would help people to be more certain of their salvation in Christ (Luke 1:4).  This is a historically accurate, carefully researched, well-organized gospel.  It is a documentary before our eyes from eyewitnesses.  Luke’s purpose is to write an historical account to provide a solid basis for the Christian faith.

To put it in 21st-century language, Luke was a historian. This is what historians do. They listen to the eye-witnesses, carefully investigate, interview, and check things out: and then write down what actually happened in an orderly, easily understandable way, so that people can know with “certainty” (v 4) what really happened.

Come and join us as we dig into the richness of the gospel of Luke.  Come and be comforted with the gospel promise that Jesus came to seek and save that which is lost (Luke 19:10).  Come and rejoice that Jesus is the Savior who has come on a search and rescue mission to save a people for himself from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation (Revelation 5:9).

Excerpts have been quoted above from Carl Laferton and Philip Ryken.

“You are most loving, patient, kind, and gracious when you are aware that there is no gospel truth that you could give to another that you don’t desperately need yourself.  You are most humble and gentle when you think that the person you are ministering to is more like you than unlike you.  When you have inserted yourself into another category that tends to make you think you have arrived, it is very easy to be judgmental and impatient.”

Paul Tripp, Dangerous Calling.

The loveless heart will be cured only when we know and are convinced of the love that Christ has for unworthy sinners like us.  We must ever guard against doing what is formally right without putting our heart in what we are doing.  We must not be like those who draw near to God with their mouth and honor Him with their lips, but whose heart is far from Him (Matthew 7:6-7).  May God grant us a faith in Christ that is genuine and true, which joyously and spontaneously expresses itself in deeds of compassion, service, and love.

Quoted from Nicholas Batzig’s article in Tabletalk, May 2013.

Even when we say, “I forgive you,” many of us have a difficult time not thinking about what others have done to hurt us… It is very difficult simply to stop thinking about an unpleasant experience. Instead, we must replace negative thoughts and memories with the gospel promises of God in Christ… Every time you begin to dwell on or brood over what someone else has done, ask for God’s grace and deliberately pray for that person or think of something about the offender that is “true, noble, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy” (Philippians 4:8).

“But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies,
do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you,
pray for those who mistreat you” (Luke 6:27-28).

 

Taken from The Peacemaker: A Biblical Guide to Resolving Personal Conflict
by Ken Sande, Updated Edition (Grand Rapids, Baker Books, 2003) p. 220-221

“You need grace because people and things don’t cause you to sin. No, they’re the occasion in which the sin inside you expresses itself.” (Paul Tripp)

“You need grace because people and things don’t cause you to sin. No, they’re the occasion in which the sin inside you expresses itself.” (Paul Tripp)

“Set a strong guard about your outward senses. These are Satan’s landing-place, especially the eye and ear.” (William Gurnall)

Thomas Watson, who died while in prayer, wrote about the blessing that prayer imparts to the one who prays: “a spiritual prayer is that which leaves a spiritual mood behind upon the heart.  A Christian is better after prayer.  The believer has gained more strength over sin, as by exercise you get strength.”  Thomas Foxcroft said “the more fervent and frequent one is at the throne of grace, the better prospect you have of excelling in strength, of growing mightily in the Scriptures, and being skillful in the Word of righteousness.”

Prayer is a way to “keep our hearts and minds focused on the glory of the Lord” (Psalm 27:4; 63:2).  It is a “way to put all things in proper perspective, viewing them in the light of eternity while enjoying the compelling beauty and excellence of Christ” (Colossians 3:1-4).  John Bunyan wrote: “though we may begin in prayer with a heart that is flat, dull, savorless, lifeless, and has no warmth in the duty, nevertheless by God’s help it mounts up with wings like an eagle when the throne is truly apprehended.”

(quotes taken from Encouragement for Today’s Pastors: Help from the Puritans by Joel R. Beeke and Terry D. Slachter)