Repent and Believe | It’s time for a Bible Revival!
Many years ago my sister, Sarah, was in a really bad place. She was depressed, anxious,and would shut herself off from the outside world. Sarah was still able to work as a schoolteacher and do her job well. However, once Sarah was home, she would close the curtains, shut herself off from the world, and drink alcohol. She was living in a constantstate of torment and depression.
I knew she needed Jesus, but the challenge for me was being able to communicate thegospel to her clearly. You see, Sarah thought she was a Christian because she was raisedin a Christian home. She didn’t know the saving-power of Jesus because, in her mind, she was already a Christian. But the truth is, being brought up in a Christian home doesn’tmake you a Christian. Simply saying you ‘believe in God’, doesn't make you a Christian.Jesus said we’ll know His followers by their fruit.
Matthew 7:16-20
16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree thatdoes not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
One day God challenged me to confront her with truth in love. He told me to tell her thatshe needed to fully give her life to Jesus and repent from sin in her life. I was pretty surethat it would not go well and that she would be offended with me. But I also know that the Bible says, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful” Proverbs 27:6.
So, I decided to risk my friendship and relationship with Sarah by telling her the truth. Ineeded to expose the deception that she was under. I started by sharing John 3:16, a veryfamous scripture, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, thatwhoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life”. I told her that the word ‘believe’ in the Koine Greek is ‘πιστεύω’ (pisteuo). By implication it means ‘to fully commit to and put your trust in’ (Strong’s Concordance G4100). Then I took it a step further and shared a scripture with her from the book of James. “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!” (James 2:19). I told Sarah that satan believes, and even demons believe, but they are not saved! I lovingly explained to Sarah that her superficial belief was not going to give her eternal life. I told her that it was time to repent and fully put her trust in God, who loves her so much.
As expected, Sarah’s initial response wasn’t positive. She was quite offended, and I knew it was time for me to go home. I reaffirmed my love for her, and told her ‘goodbye, I’ll see you again’. The next day, Sarah called me and told me the most amazing thing! At first, she was very angry with me. She had thought I was judging her. Yet, she couldn’t get the scripture from James out of her mind. Sarah told me that after I left her, it suddenly dawned on her that I was right— her heart was far from God. She said that she was in the kitchen and fell to her knees, weeping. God’s love began to pour out upon her, and the Holy Spirit began to convict her of sin, of righteousness, and of the judgement to come (John 16:8). Sarah began to cry out to God and, from that moment, She made the decision to repent from her old life and fully put her trust in Jesus. That was some of the best news I’d ever heard. A wonderful demonstration of the power of the gospel! I want to encourage you today to not be afraid, to step out in grace and truth,and share the gospel with someone today! It could be your unsaved family or friend thatgets saved next!
How Can You Engage?
As promised, we have just uploaded more free resources to help you in your Christian walk! Check out our latest lecture from The Power of the Gospel. For those that are interested in taking the Deep-Dive With Coaching, here is what we offerfor the twelve-month program.
What We Offer:
Personal Orientation Session where we will set out to tailor your personalised coachingplan.
Fortnightly Group Coaching via live video conferencing: talk about how your going withactivations, quizzes, go over questions, progress report from lectures, struggles, testimonies
Upon successful completion of 18 modules a Certificate of Completion will be awarded
We will release new content on a regular basis
We will be available for ongoing interaction via the comments and email during businesshours (Tuesday to Friday 9am-4pm)
Bonus all in zoom meetings
Potential to be a part of an internship program during second year
VIP invite for annual retreat and other special events, such as special breakout rooms forstudents at conferences, during the year (dependent on Covid-19 restrictions).
If you have any questions please email: info@biblerevival.com.au