o... plenty of time to prepare, so I promptly went home and started preparing. As it goes sometimes, often for me it seems, the Lord had another angle in mind for this talk. The subject was Repentance, harmless and simple, so I thought. :) After my first draft was rejected, and much prayer later, I looked in the Bible dictionary and choose a few scriptures to use for the talk. After choosing them, I felt prompted to look in "True to the Faith" by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to see what that had to say about Repentance. Wouldn't you know, the very scripture references I choose fit into each step to repentance!! The Holy Ghost really wanted me to talk about this! So here is the final draft which was presented today. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2347381.True_to_the_FaithJan 21, 2010
http://www.ldscatalog.com/webapp/w
cs/stores/servlet/CatalogSearchResultViewREPENTANCE
What is repentance?
The Bible Dictionary says, "The Greek word of which this is the translation denotes a change of mind, for example, a fresh view about God, about oneself, and about the world. Since we are born into conditions of mortality, repentance comes to mean a turning of the heart and will to God, and a renunciation of sin to which we are naturally inclined. Without this there can be no progress in the things of the soul's salvation, for all accountable persons are stained by sin, and must be cleansed in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. Repentance is not optional for salvation; it is a commandment of God."
We all know what it is to commit a sin to do something wrong either on purpose or by mistake. Once we have these under control, there are also sins of omission in which we do not do things ,which the Lord would have us do, such as attending meetings, doing our visiting teaching, home teaching, fulfilling callings, reading our scriptures, saying our prayers, holding Family Home Evening, heeding promptings given by the Holy Ghost, the list is as long as that of the sins of commission.
Pres. Spencer W. Kimbal
l said in his book "The Miracle of Forgiveness", "People tend often to measure their righteousness by the absence of wrong acts in their lives, as if passivity were the end of being. But God has created "things to act and things to be acted upon" (2 Ne. 2:14), and man is in the former category. He does not fill the measure of his creation unless he acts, and that in righteousness. "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, " warns James, "to him it is sin." (Jas, 4:17) And who "knoweth to do good" better than Latter-day Saints?"http://www.goodreads.com/book/photo/1055617.The_Miracle_of_Forgiveness
There has only been one perfect person, who has lived on this earth and that is Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of our Heavenly Father, who came to teach us through His example; who suffered, died and resurrected, so that all those who repent can return and live with Heavenly Father in the Celestial Kingdom. All sin stems from selfishness. Since He created everything and gave us all we have, the only things, which truly belong to us, that we can give Him are our wills. Therefore, repentance is giving up our own will to the will of the Lord.
All the Holy Prophets from Adam to President Monson have preached repentance unto men.
Nephi says in 1Nephi 10:18-21 that, "For He is the same yesterday, today, and forever; and the way is prepared for all men from the foundation of the world, if it so be that they repent and come unto Him. For he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them, by the power of the Holy Ghost, as well in these times as in times of old, and as well in times of old as in times to come; wherefore, the course of the Lord is one eternal round. Therefore remember, O man, for all thy doings thou shalt be brought into judgment. Wherefore, if you have sought to do wickedly in the days of your probation, then ye are found unclean before the judgment seat of God; and no unclean thing can dwell with God; wherefore, ye must be cast off forever."
Just like a criminal, who has been granted probation from jail, needs to work diligently to make the necessary changes in his life in order to live outside of prison, so too we must make the necessary changes in our lives to remain outside of Spiritual Prison. It is dangerous to procrastinate the day of our repentance, because we never know when the Lord will call us to report on how we've spent our days in this probationary state.
(this next one was read from the paper, because I had made the grammar corrections and clarifications found in the cross reference section at the bottom of the page)
In Romans 13:11-14 Paul states, "And that knowing the time that now it is high time to awake out of apathy: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spend, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of spiritual darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly with propriety, decently, and gracefully, as in the day; not in reveling and rioting and drunkenness, not in lewdness and whoredoms, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision of the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof either by sensual or material means."
Procrastination and rationalization of our sins is dangerous. Amulek warns, in Alma 34:32-36 "This life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors..... I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor preformed."
D&C 18:10-13 says, "Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God; For, behold, the Lord your redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore, He suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him. And He hath risen again from the dead, that He might bring all men unto Him, on conditions of repentance. And how great is His joy in the soul that repenteth!"
Jesus Christ paid the penalty, made restitution for our sins, bought us, became our creditor through his suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane. The only way we can truly show our gratitude is to become obedient to His commandments.
The apostle Paul in a letter to the Corinthians talked about the difference between godly sorrow and worldly sorrow. (2Cor 7:10) In "True the the Faith A Gospel Reference" it states, "Repentance is motivated by love for God and the sincere desire to obey His commandments." Godly sorrow is sorrow for causing pain to those we've wronged as well as pain to our Lord and Savior. When we can feel this pain, we will become more willing to change or actions and do His will, because we are sorry for causing pain. Worldly sorrow is being sorry for being caught and not being allowed to continue the wrong doing which does not bring change of heart or actions.
Repentance is painful, because it means changing our nature and making restitution. It's not easy to - say no to longings, to walk away from encouragement to do wrong, to forgive, to refrain from retaliation, to calmly discuss instead of argue, to maintain self-control instead of attempting to control others, to change what is out of line in ourselves to what the Lord requires of us.
According to Leviticus 5, the Lord commands that anyone who lies or steals either knowingly or unknowingly, must restore that which was taken plus 20%. Think of all the sins, which could possibly be committed, and think of what must be done in each case to give back what was taken + 20%. Giving back is hard enough under the best circumstances, but with interest as well!! humm....... But... restitution must be accomplished in order to fully repent. It shows remorse, an honest desire to change. It beings forgiveness both from the Lord as well as from those who have been wronged and allows lasting peace. Isaiah said, (Isaiah 1:18) "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."
In Alma 34:17 Alma told the people "Therefore may God grant unto you, my brethren, that ye may begin to exercise your faith unto repentance, that ye begin to call upon His holy name, that He would have mercy upon you;" Faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ, faith in the resurrection, faith in the love which Heavenly Father has for all of his children, faith in the plan of Salvation, Faith is the first step to forgiveness.
In Romans 14:12 the Apostle Paul said, "So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God." Today we give account of ourselves to God through the bishop when sins are of a serious nature. But most of our sins are small and must be given account of directly to the Lord through our daily prayers, and through our remorseful actions of restitution and regular changes for the better. Thus repentance is not only for ourselves, but for those we've wronged, as well as those who may be effected by our example - those in the church, our friends, our families, our associates, our neighbors, etc.
Ezekiel stated in Ezekiel 36:25-29, "Then shall I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. I will also save you from all your uncleanness:"
To sum up: All have sinned; this is the day of probation; now is the time to repent; do not procrastinate repentance; have faith in the Atonement and the love of our Heavenly Father; develop Godly sorrow; and finally make an accounting to the Lord and the appropriate people.
D&C 1:32 reads "He that repents and does the commandments of the Lord shall be forgiven."
I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
glad you made it through!
ReplyDeleteThanks, a few people came up to me afterward and said that they thought it was a good talk and that they learned some things from it. That was what I prayed for that the things I said would be for at least one person's benifit. :)
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