A-02 Repentance Unto Life

8/14/2019 A-02 Repentance Unto Life

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A-02

Basic Lessons for a Prophet

Lesson 2: Repentance unto Life

Eternal life to those who by patient continuance indoing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality(Romans 2:7).

To us God has granted repentance unto life.Repentance is the Holy Spirits assistance to moveus from the weights and sins that cause us to havewipe-outs to focus on the perfect work of the cross,which is the power of God unto salvation (glory,honor and immortality) for those who dare tobelieve it all. Walking with God is having our focusof faith fixed on the Lord Jesus Christ which onlycomes through deep repentance. The fruit of deeprepentance is humble love with an intense and

steadfast focus on the Lord. Repentance is thatwhich destroys the tree of the knowledge of good(legalism) and evil (lawlessness), which separatesyou from the life that is in the Lord Jesus Christ.Repentance removes your focus from yourself andfixed it on the eternal accomplishment of the crossand on the person of Jesus Christ our Lord (tree oflife). Focusing on the Lord is an integral part of ourrelationship with God that brings forth His glory andhonor and crown us with immortality. Repentanceunto life is to overcome our independence from

Christ that we may partake of the tree of life and indoing so come to the knowledge of the love of theFather. He who has an ear, let him hear what theSpirit says to the churches. To him who overcomesI will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in themidst of the Paradise of God(Revelation 2:7). Theultimate purpose of all repentance as a son ofGod, is to share the life of the Lord Jesus


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Christ with Him that we, in Him, may know

the love of the Father.

Repentance is the restoration of our focus on Godwhich Adam lost when he transgressed theinstruction of the Lord. Therefore we also, since weare surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, letus lay aside every weight, and the sin which soeasily ensnares us, and let us run with endurancethe race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus,the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joythat was set before Him endured the cross,

despising the shame, and has sat down at the righthand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:1-2,emphasis added). When Adam took his focus ofGod he placed his focus on himself and becamediscontent with what he saw he was in God, and hesinned. When he transgressed the commandmentof the Lord, the liberty that he had in God wasreplaced with overwhelming weights and sins.Weights and sins are results of a focus thathas moved from the Lord to self.The seed of the tree of knowledge of good (law)and evil (lawlessness) changed mans nature to sethis focus on himself to seek wisdom and knowledgewhich is not Christ. All things that are outside ofGod are isolated from the life that is in Him andtherefore conform to the very definition of death.Its poisonous seed is from the heart of the evil oneand it brings forth fruit that is pleasant to the eye,and desirable to make one wise but its end is deathand destruction.

Adams disobedience started with a shift of focuson the Lord to a focus on himself. He partook of thetree of arrogance (tree of the knowledge of goodand evil) and the eyes of his spirit were instantlyblinded by his heart of flesh that turned in to an evilunbelieving heart of stone. Adam and Eve in theirdisobedience betrayed the love of the Father andthey fell from the glory of God. They have


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dishonored the law of Christs consuming love that

ruled their members. Their transgression meantseparation from the light of His presence and aplunging in to the darkness of their own deceptivehearts and anxious souls. They have gathered forthemselves and for us treasures of sin and deathhence the necessity of perpetual repentance.Perpetual repentance is mainly a constant fine-tuning of our focus on the Lord and on His cross.BEHOLD THE CROSS! You behold the cross whenyou relate to the Lord on the basis of what He hasachieved for us on the cross. You start to behold

the cross when you start meditating on the word ofHis cross.

When a wise man partakes of the body and blood ofthe Lord he examines his own heart lest he drinksdamnation to himself. The discernment emphasizesthe partaking of the bread, which is His body thatmakes us whole. The wine is His blood for theremission of our sin. The wise judges himself lesshe be judged by the Lord. However, the humble putno confidence in his imperfect judgment and call onthe Lord for His perfect and true judgments that isdesired by the pure in heart. Search me, O God andknow my heart; try me, and know my anxieties;and see if there is any wicked way in me, and leadme in the way everlasting (Psalms 139:23-24). Thehumble focuses so much on the Lord that he or sheput no confidence in the flesh.

In repentance there is mourning. Blessed are thosethat mourn, for they shall be comforted (Matthew

5:4). It does not refer to the mourning over thedead body of a beloved or serious injury of a closefamily member. The sorrow of this world producesdeath. For godly sorrow produces repentanceleading to salvation, not to be regretted; but thesorrow of the world produces death (2 Corinthians7:10).The sorrow of this world produces self-pitybecause the focus is on self, which is destructive toboth soul and body. The mourning Jesus referred to


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is because of loss for what you could have been in

God but are not because of a lack of commitmentand dedication. You may mourn the discovery ofthe corruption and darkness in your own selfish andself-centered soul as a result of a wrong focus. Youmay mourn the lack of purity of love that is inChrist because of haughtiness and arrogance thatrules your heart. When you see darkness filling yourheart then you must not dwell on yourself, or seekto justify yourself with dead works but turn thefocus of your heart to Christ. True repentance isturning your focus back to Him. You do that by

meditating on His word for your situation. You canget out of your predicament in little time if youwant it. You can be as close to Him as you desire tobe in this life. The choice is yours not His. Believeme, He is waiting for you.And you will seek Me andfind Me, when you search for Me with all your heart(Jeremiah 29:13).

When you draw near to the Lord by focusing on Himin waiting on Him and meditating on His word,restoration takes place. Let us draw near with atrue heart in full assurance of faith, having ourhearts sprinkled from an evil conscience andour bodies washed with pure water (Hebrews10:22, emphasis added). When you are meditatingon the word of God, it renews your mindset ingiving you hope and strengthens your faith andtrust in the Lord. It also causes fountains of worshipto erupt from your heart when you behold theawesomeness of His person and heed Hisastounding and illustrious deeds and remember His

holy name. It is unthinkable not to give the Lord ofglory your heart, your mind and seat of youremotions. It is hard for me to relate to it. However, Iknow anyone can fall anytime, anyplace if yourfocus is not on the Lord. That keeps me veryhumble because I know how weak I am in the flesh.It is utter joy to turn your focus back on Him whomyour soul loves.


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Humility is a result of a constant focus on the Lord.

In the beginning of Pauls Christian life he did notfeel inferior to the most imminent apostles. For Iconsider that I am not at all inferior to the mosteminent apostles. Even though I am untrained inspeech, yet I am not in knowledge. But we havebeen manifested among you in all things. (2Corinthians 11:5-6). It seems to me that knowledgeand the manifestation of spiritual gifts was the chiefissue for him at the time to compare himselfagainst the imminent apostles. In 2 Corinthians12:11-13 it is clear that Paul was offended that the

church in Corinth doubted and questioned hisauthority as an apostle of Jesus Christ, which hedefended. As he grew in faith in the Lord heacknowledged at a later stage in his life that he wasthe least of the apostles. For I am the least of theapostles, who am not worthy to be called anapostle, because I persecuted the church of God(1Corinthians 15:9). Eventually he referred to himselfas less than the least of all the saints. To me, whoam less than the least of all the saints, this gracewas given, that I should preach among the Gentilesthe unsearchable riches of Christ (Ephesians 3:8).Finally, he realized that he was the greatest ofsinners. This is a faithful saying worthy of allacceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the worldto save sinners, of whom I am chief (I Timothy1:15). I believe Paul said it because he had beengiven so much to understand but walking in muchless. There is only One who fully believed, who fullyobeyed, and who truly finished all that He wasgiven to do. Everyone, to date, has fallen short,

except One. The grace of Christ is so awesome thatI believe if you can enter into a relationship withHim where you totally share His life with Him thatyou need not to fall short. If He lives in you to thefullest measure than it is Him the perfect One thatlives and not you. He can and desires to reveal theexcellence of His power and glory in you. He paidfor it! He made provision for it! It is finished, it isthere! You only need to lay hold of it through faith.


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In the kingdom of God there will be many differentlevels of glory. But in a great house there are notonly vessels of gold and silver, but also of woodand clay, some for honor and some for dishonor (2Timothy 2:20). The reward that the Lord will bestowon His servants will be in accordance to what theyaccomplished with the grace, gifts and talents theyhave received from the Holy Spirit. The highest ofhonor will be bestowed on those who lived theirlives in close union with the Savior. It is to walk inhumility and constantly to conform more to His

likeness. As they constantly focus on Him they willsee Him as He is and change from glory to glory inHis image as by the Spirit of the Lord.To walk according to the flesh is the way the fivefoolish virgins followed that resulted in heavensrefusal of their entrance to the marriage feast ofthe Lamb. These virgins were born again believers,not engaging themselves in gross sins. However,there is a way that seems right to a man, but itsend is the way of death (Proverbs 14:12). If youwalk according to the dictates of the flesh you willdie. They were washed in the blood of the Lamb butthey did not pursue Gods best. They slept theirtime away as they did not serve God with all oftheir heart. They were not looking for the extraportion of anointing oil of the Holy Spirit becausethey did not pursue the upward call of God in JesusChrist. The high calling of Gods best for us isachieved through Christ and Him alone and notthrough efforts of the flesh that attempt changes

on the outside that will never last. They did notpress on to lay hold of Christ in the same mannerthat Christ has lay hold of them and they lost outbecause they set their focus not on the things ofChrist. I want to emphasize that our lives arehidden with Christ in God and it is Him that livesthrough us by faith. It appears that the foolishvirgins started in the Spirit but trying to completetheir full salvation by works of the flesh,


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maintaining a self-centered focus. They ended up

as vessels of wood and clay in the house of theirMaster, vessels of dishonor. If a mans work isburned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will besaved, yet as through fire (1 Corinthians 3:15).

Perpetual repentance is a constant pressing in toknow God. Repentance is a turning to Christ. If youturn your focus away from yourself toward Christeverything can change for you. The princes ofheaven live in the Spirit. Therefore if anyonecleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel

of honor, sanctified and useful for the Master,prepared for every good work(2 Timothy 2:21).

It is great folly to be focused on yourself and towalk after the foolishness of your fleshly mind. Tobe focused on yourself is to be locked into thedarkness of your fallen nature which is a hopelesscause. The heart of man is deceitful above allthings and desperately wicked (Hebrew: incurablesick); who can know it(1 Peter 2:11).

When Peters mind was focused on heavenly things,contemplating who Jesus was, he found himself in aflow of revelation. He said to them, But who doyou say that I am? Simon Peter answered and said,You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed are you,Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has notrevealed this to you, but My Father who is inheaven(Matthew 16:15-17).

When Peter focused on himself while Jesuspredicted His own death the first time, Peter wasconcerned about his own personal loss if Jesuswould die. He reacted with his fleshly mind. ThenPeter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him,saying, Far be it from You, Lord; this shall nothappened to you! But He turned and said to Peter,Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me,


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for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the

things of men(Matthew 16:22-23).

If you live by the flesh (wrong focus) you will missout on the higher calling of God in Christ Jesus. Onetends to judge other people if one walk in the flesh. You cannot discern with the flesh the spirit ofanother person. With the flesh you will make himeither better than he really is or worse.Judge not,that you not be judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with themeasure you use, it will be measured back to you

(Ephesians 4:22).

If you walk in the flesh you cannot really forgivesomebody else. It takes much faith to forgiveserious offenses. Forgiveness is not negotiable in awalk with God. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses(Mark 11:26). The ultimate test of Christianity islove.A new commandment I give to you, that youlove one another; as I have loved you, that you alsolove one another. By this all will know that you areMy disciples, if you have love for another (John13:34-35). The only barometer of your relationshipwith God is love. Love never fails! Do not tell meyou hear the voice of the Lord clearly if you do notlove. I will tell you, Yes, you may hear Him vaguelybut you have serious distortion problems with yourhearing. Go and repent; move your focus on theLord. You will be surprised about the positivechanges that will take place in your spirit and heart.

Repentance has everything to do with the grace ofGod. Grace is the forgiveness of recurring sins inour lives as well as the power to live a victorious lifein Christ. The battle against our old nature is abattle of focus. The grace of God cancels ourrepeated failures if we at least try to maintain afocus of faith on Christ. Many are under a cloud ofdeception thinking that they do not have to fightbut have the grace to live in sin and God will still


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forgive them. God is not to be mocked, whatever

man sows he will reap. This erroneous attitude ismentioned in Scripture. For it is impossible forthose who were once enlightened, and have tastedthe heavenly gift, and have become partakers ofthe Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word ofGod and the powers of the age to come, if they fallaway, to renew them again to repentance, sincethey crucify again for themselves the Son of God,and put Him to an open shame. For the earth whichdrinks in the rain that often comes upon it, andbears herbs useful for those by whom it is

cultivated, receives blessing from God; but if itbears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near tobeing cursed, whose end is to be burned. But,beloved, we are confident of better thingsconcerning you, yes, things that accompanysalvation, though we speak in this manner. For Godis not unjust to forget your work and labor of lovewhich you have shown toward His name, in thatyou have ministered to the saints, and do minister.And we desire that each one of you show the samediligence to the full assurance of hope until theend, that you do not become sluggish, but imitatethose who through faith and patience inherit thepromises (Hebrews 6:4-12).

It is foolish to come into a relationship with Christ,through the work of the cross, and then to defectfrom the faith to serve self and the devil again. Todefect is to purposefully turn your back on Christand it is past the point of mere backsliding into sin.If we have taste, the heavenly gift, shared in the

Holy Spirit, tasted the goodness of the word of Godand the powers of the age to come it will not bepossible to be renewed to God again. This is togrow into an advanced level of maturity andrevelation of God and His ways and if we fall fromthis we are irredeemable.

When we came to Christ we become one spirit withHim. A deliberate turning away from Him is to


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crucify Him again. It does not mean we bring Christ

physical down to earth and nail Him afresh bodilyon a tree. The most traumatic experience of thecross was when the Father separated His spirit fromthe Lord Jesus Christs. When you crucify the Lordafresh by turning away from the faith He willdivorce His Spirit from you. It will be just astraumatic for Him as when the Father forsook Himon the cross, thus crucify again the Son of Godafresh and put Him to an open shame. When theFather forsook the Son it was the most traumaticexperience the Holy Trinity ever experienced. For a

moment in time the Holy Trinity was no trinity. TheFather and the Holy Spirit forsook the Son becauseof our transgression. If He forsakes you byloosening His Spirit from yours, because of youcrucifying Him afresh there remains no otheroffering whereby you can be reconciled to Godanew. The Lord is a consuming fire. It is a terriblething to fall in the hands of the living God. The more mature we are in Christ, the moredevastating the consequences of our sins can be,especially the turning away from God to serve sin.We saw how Satan fell, who had a high position ofglory, and he hit the bottom.

Turning away from God is no option for us. When atoddler walks he fell daily. Without thinking about ithe gets up and continues his little journey.Occasionally he may get hurt and cry but veryseldom he will injure himself to the measure wherehe is out of action for a time. Like toddlers we

stumble daily but the righteous keep getting up anddo not stay down. For a righteous man may fallseven times and rise again(Proverbs 24:16a).

The battle between spirit and flesh is Gods graceto overcome our old nature of sin. Battles are Godsgrace to mature and strengthen us.


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We are transformed by the renewing of our minds

(Romans 12:2). Transformation takes place in theimagination of our minds and thus we are changedin the spirit of our minds. The Greek wordtransformed means metamorphosis.Metamorphosis is the process that a caterpillarundergoes to be changed into a butterfly. Thegreatest struggle the butterfly experienced is tobreak out of the cocoon, but it is this struggle thatstrengthens the butterfly that it can flap its hugewings. Our greatest struggle is to focus on the Lordthat we may be changed in the spirit of our minds.

When we behold the Lord with an open face, as in amirror, the glory of the Lord changed us into thesame image from glory to glory as by the Spirit ofthe Lord. The more we exercise the focus of ourfaith the more easily it become and the more wechange into the likeness of the Lord.

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A-02 Repentance Unto Life