TODAY’S DEVOTION (SUNDAY 30TH April 2023)
“Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.
Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before,” Acts 3:17-20 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 120TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF SIGNS & WONDERS!
The mercies of the LORD have given us another day and His marvelous kindness has made it possible for us to sleep and wake up peacefully. And above all He made it possible for us to come to the last day of the month. To Him belong all the glory!
Today, as we come to the end of the month, we will be looking at the doctrine of Christ on a very important part of our Christian faith, the doctrine of Christ on repentance. This is an aspect of Christ’s doctrine that have been mutilated and diluted in many quarters today.
The mutilation of the doctrine of Christ on repentance, has caused us so much harm; a lot of Christians no longer believe in repentance. Yet, that was the first message that both John the Baptist and Christ preached when they were physically on earth. That was what the early Church looked for in the lives of those they preached to, wherever they went.
Yes, when those fathers of faith entered the cities and nations that they took the gospel of Jesus Christ to, they were not looking for offerings to collect like many travelling ministers do today, they were looking for hearts that will turn to the LORD in repentance – they were looking for repentance.
From the day Philip stepped into Samaria, to the last man who entered a city before the first hundred years of the Church was over, our fathers looked for repentance wherever they went.
Though they had needs like we do, they never looked for men who had money to collect offerings from, they never looked for men who will give them fame, they never looked for women among the ushering team to sleep with, they never did any of what many of us preachers are doing today. They looked for repentance. They did that because the stood on the doctrine of Christ on repentance and unleashed their ministries.
HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT A PREACHER IS LOOKING FOR FROM YOU, YOUR FAMILY OR YOUR NATION?
Check what he or she may be preaching.
Most preachers preach looking for how to collect money. You see it in the way they present the gospel. Even after preaching nice sermons, they will end up asking you to unlock the blessing by giving some money. They do not really look for repentance.
Some will preach looking for material acquisition, others will preach to appeal those who invited them so they can be invited again, some others will preach to appeal to more successful preachers to curry them for favors, commendations or to take a part of their large followership.
You cannot preach that way and have people turning to the LORD in repentance, that is why repentance has become a scarce thing in Church today. And repentance is the only gate to making Heaven.
So, when the gate is shut because of the false doctrines on the lips of many preachers today, how will people make Heaven? That explains why many are on the broad way that leads to eternal death.
Yes, it explains why many of us are heading to hell with our Bibles in our hands.
If you are called into ministry this end time, and you do not want to join this army of preachers doing damage to the gospel, you must pursue your calling as a minister of the gospel looking for repentance in the lives of those you may be preaching to. Do not pursue it looking for how they will support your ministry.
If your ministry is worthy of support in God’s sight, you will not need to be dissipating your energy every now and then, asking people to support it. God will put it in their hearts to support it, and one or two right things you will say, will make them bring what you need for the work.
God will always support ministries that are stirring people to repent of dead works and submit to the LORD Jesus Christ. Sometimes I look at those who are asking for support for their ministries, and wonder what they are even doing requesting for such support. Everything is just smoke screen to collect money from people who love the LORD.
IF A MINISTRY IS NOT GETTING AND KEEPING PEOPLE SAVED THROUGH REPENTANCE, IT IS NOT WORTHY OF SUPPORT.
The doctrine of Christ on repentance teaches of an initial repentance and subsequent repentance. Initial repentance snatches us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. Subsequent repentance keeps us in the Kingdom of light. It is a product of revelation knowledge of the Kingdom we now belong, and what it expects from us.
It takes us from one level of faith to another, one level of glory to another, one level of maturity in Christ to another. It is one way we move into perfection as believers.
We can then say, initial repentance, gets us saved but subsequent repentance keeps us saved. Under the doctrine of Christ on repentance, we are saved, we are being saved, we shall be saved.
When you get saved and you are not kept saved, you will lose your salvation. In other words, when you are saved, and you are not being saved, you shall not be saved. You will go back to your vomit and become the proverbial snow that goes back to the mire after being washed. And that is the plan of the devil for all of us in Christ.
The Bible says;
“But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.
And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed…
…For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error.
While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into [k]bondage.
For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning.
For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.
But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.” 2 Peter 2:1-2, 18-22 NKJV
FROM THIS SCRIPTURE IT IS CLEAR THAT THE PLAN TO RETURN US BACK TO OUR VOMIT IS BEING EXECUTED BY THE HANDS OF SOME PREACHERS.
That is why what they preach do not evoke repentance. It makes people give so much of their attention, their lives and their monies to them, but not even a portion of their hearts to the LORD in repentance. In fact, for many Christians, their pastor is more important to them than Christ Himself. They fear not to pay tithe but do not fear committing any sin.
The Bible is clear on the doctrine of repentance. If you have not repented of your sins, there can be no mercy from God in the day of judgment. It is through repentance that we draw mercy from the Throne of Grace, not through an empty faith or hypocritical confession.
Repentance was presented by Christ as the gate of Heaven on earth. The Bible says;
“And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,
The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 4:13-17 KJV
If the first message Jesus preached when He was physically on earth was repentance, then those who claim He has called them to preach about marriage, money, deliverance or etc. are lying on Him. Because repentance is what unlocks all those things into our lives; marital blessings, lasting deliverance and freedom from all oppressions of the devil.
A preacher of darkness can give you deliverance, money, or marriage, especially through accurate prophecies, but will never be able to bring you to repentance and holiness in Christ Jesus. In other words, he or she will never be able to help you access the gate of Heaven.
ALL THESE EXPRESS THE IMPORTANCE OF REPENTANCE BOTH TO THOSE WHO ARE UNSAVED AND THOSE WHO ARE SAVED.
The reason the enemy hates repentance, and prefer remorse in replacement, is because of what genuine repentance will accomplish in our lives. A major portion of our devotional text says;
“Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before,” Acts 3:19-20 NKJV
We have said the unsaved needs repentance to get saved, and the saved needs repentance to stay saved.
For the unsaved, repentance comes through the convictions of the Spirit to turn from wicked ways and embrace the LORD. It comes when the Holy Spirit tears the veil that the god of this world places on all unsaved people, to see where they will go when they die, thereby making them to acknowledge the need for a Savior.
But for the saved it is different. Repentance for the saved, comes when he or she encounters a fresh revelation of what God is and see how much he or she still need to cover in his or her walk with God. It is a product of a righteous hunger for God and desire for more of Him.
If he or she finds himself or herself in sin, subsequent repentance will become a catalyst of walking away from it and embracing the fulness of the holiness of God.
It is through subsequent repentance that we become perfect as our Heavenly Father is. It is through it we move from spiritual laziness to spiritual prowess and diligence. It is through it we move from not reading our Bibles to know God for ourselves to not just reading our Bibles, but devouring it with understanding.
It is through subsequent repentance we move from a lukewarm Christian life to a fiery one. It is through it we eliminate any distance that exist between us and God. It is through it we become mightily used of God, and all that comes through a constant exposure to one revelation of God, then another revelation of God, until we are visibly filled with the fulness of God.
THAT IS WHY IT IS DANGEROUS TO SIT WHERE ACCURATE SCRIPTURAL REVELATION DOES NOT EXIST.
Yes, that is why it is dangerous to sit where messages are repeated, because there will be no new things in Christ to press into as a CHILD OF God. It is when we find new things that we turn to the LORD in repentance to achieve them.
When you sit under preachers who recycle their messages, and move from evil altar, to monitoring spirit, to inviting of guest speakers, to bringing a prophet, to this and that, you are being shortchanged.
When you sit where they talk about curses, evil altars and all that, instead of the hidden wisdom of God, ordained for our glory before the ages began, you are being shortchanged. You will lack genuine repentance in your Christian life, leading to having a form of godliness without power.
Finally, I want to say the LORD has spoken to us so much about doctrine this month. It calls for repentance. We are to repent from giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. We are to repent from raising or breaking of altars. We are to repent from all the nonsense we have been doing in the name of deliverance.
The LORD wants us to repent and move from every other doctrine to the doctrine of Christ. If we do not add repentance to all we have learned this month, it will be a waste. May the LORD use all the things we have seen to build us up and give us an inheritance among those who are sanctified.
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
And on some have compassion, making a distinction; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen. Jude 1:20-25 NKJV