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Colin Smith: God has never promised to forgive one sin that you are not willing to forsake. You say, "Well, I can think of some sins I've fallen into many times." Are you willing to forsake it now?

Guest (Male): Welcome to *Open the Bible* with Pastor Colin Smith. Colin, that's quite a statement: God has never promised to forgive a sin you're not willing to forsake.

Colin Smith: I'll never forget the time that I heard it. It was Dr. Alan Redpath, who at one time was the pastor of the Moody Church here in Chicago. He said that at a conference in Britain. I was 17 years old when I heard him say that. It hit me between the eyes and brought me up short.

It's important to listen carefully to what the great man said. He didn't say that God has never promised to forgive one sin that you haven't forsaken, because it is true that we sometimes fall into a sin repeatedly and many, many times. What he said was that God is not ready to forgive one sin that you're not willing to forsake.

In other words, I can't say I'm going to press right ahead and carry on doing this same thing again and at the same time repent and expect that God is going to forgive me. Dr. Redpath was touching the great truth of Isaiah chapter 55, where God says, "Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts."

This speaks into the heart of repentance, that in coming to God and asking for his forgiveness, I've got to bring what I have done, I've got to place it into his hands, and I've got to say, "By your grace, I am not going there again." God has wonderful grace for us, even if we come with the same sin that's been committed many times, but you can't come unless you let go of what you're not willing to forsake.

Guest (Male): We're going to be in Matthew chapter 21 today. Grab a Bible and join us there as we continue this message, "Finding the Hidden Path to a Transformed Life." Here's Pastor Colin.

Colin Smith: We start with the story in Matthew in chapter 21 where Jesus speaks specifically about repentance. I hope you have it open in front of you. "What do you think?" Jesus says. "There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work today in the vineyard.'"

"I will not," he answered. But later he changed his mind. Now, literally, the word there is "repented." Later he repented. He changed his mind and went. Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, "I will, sir," but he did not go.

Which of the two did what his father wanted? The first, they answered. Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes—that is, people who would be perceived to be miles away from God and the things of God—these people are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you."

"For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him." This is clearly a story, a parable of Jesus dedicated to explaining the subject of repentance. He is telling us what it is and he is telling us how it happens.

The first son in the story, the father says to him in verse 28, "Son, go work today in my vineyard." This first son says, "I will not." What an obnoxious son. There's hostility here. There's resentment, rebellion, and defiance. "It's my life. You're not going to tell me what to do. I've got my own plans today."

But then Jesus tells us that a remarkable change took place in this first boy. "I will not," he answered, verse 29, "but later he changed his mind." Repented, same word. He changed his mind and went. What the two sons did shows what they thought of their father.

The son who said, "I will, sir," and then did not go, showed that actually, he didn't care too much for the father, that the father's words didn't really carry much weight in his life, that he was very happy to help the father if it was convenient to him, but if something else came along that seemed more attractive, then he wanted to keep his options open. In that, he shows that however polite he was on the surface, in his heart, he was not devoted to the father at all.

The other son is very different. He says, "I will not." But when he thought again, he couldn't live with that decision. That says something very wonderful about him. He could not be at peace while he was in conflict with the father. When he thought about the way he'd responded to his father, he just couldn't settle, couldn't live with being out of sorts with someone who, in his heart, he had come to love. In the end, he thought, "There's only one thing to do. I've got to go do what my father has asked of me." He changed his mind.

The two changes of mind actually reflected, at the deepest level, what these two boys really thought of the father. At the deepest heart level, it was precisely the opposite of what you might first have thought. Repentance shows what you think of God, and that is why repentance is the highest form of worship.

It shows that you are no longer hostile to God. It shows that you think of him so highly that you would choose to obey him even if your first instinct was otherwise. It shows that you can't really bear to live in tension with him or to exist at a distance from him. You can't settle if you're in conflict with him. So you think again, you change your mind. Choosing obedience shows what you think of God.

This first son then is a model of true repentance. This very, very simple story of Jesus, in a very penetrating way, really gives us the key as to how it actually happens in a person's life. We've talked really a fair bit about what repentance is, but how does it happen?

Think of it this way: Repentance is a change of behavior that flows from a change of mind about God and about yourself. The word "repent" meaning a change of mind, a change of heart. What this looks like that is modeled for us in this very short story of Jesus is really filled out in the much more familiar story of the prodigal son.

For just a few moments, let's turn over to Luke's Gospel in chapter 15 together. You know this story very well. The man who had two sons, verse 12, and the younger one says to the father, "Give me my share of the estate." He gets the money and he goes as far away from the father as he can. He squanders the money in wild living.

Jesus says there was a famine in the country and this lad began to be in need. He gets a job feeding the pigs and the irony is that the pigs were filled, but the man who was feeding them was hungry. The pigs were better off than the prodigal. At this point, Jesus says that he came to his senses, verse 17. He came to his senses. He thought again. He changed his mind.

He said, "How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death? I'm going to set out and go back to my father and say to him, 'I've sinned against heaven and against you. I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired men.'"

Notice what's happening here. There is a change of mind towards the father. That's how this change of character and life and behavior actually begins, that's what it flows from: a change of behavior that flows from a change of mind about God and about ourselves. He changes his mind about the father.

At the beginning, he's going to the father and it's "Give me, give me." It's all demand. "You owe me. Give me what's my right. Give me what's my due. I've got rights. What are you doing for me?" "Give me, and I want to live as far away from you as I possibly can." But at the end of the story, it's not "Give me," it's "Make me." "Make me like one of your hired servants."

At the beginning of the story, all the focus of the boy is "How can I live my life independent of the father?" At the end of the story, all of the focus is about "How can I live my life near to the father?" He's thinking again about the father. He's thinking again about himself.

At the beginning of the story, it's all "Give me the money because I can control my life. If I have the resources, I can do well. I can do it." Then later in the story, he sits there and in a moment of great honesty says, "Here I am starving to death. What am I doing? What's wrong with me? What have I spent all the money on? Why am I here? What am I doing?"

This is where repentance begins. Why am I living at a distance from God? What's wrong with me that I bite the hand that feeds me? What is it that causes me to be so hostile to the one who gave me life, sustains me in life, shows me grace, provides for me?

What is it about me that wants to be hostile toward the one who would come into the world and lay down his life for me and offers me grace and eternal life and says, "I will live in you by my spirit"? What is wrong with me that I would be running from him? He came to his senses. He says to himself, "I'd be better by far in my father's house. What am I doing? Where has all this running from God really got me?"

Guest (Male): You're listening to *Open the Bible* with Pastor Colin Smith and a message called "Finding the Hidden Path to a Transformed Life." It's one of the seven messages in our series on repentance, about how God makes true and lasting change possible.

If you ever miss a broadcast in our series, you can listen online. Just come to openthebible.org. There, you can stream the program or download an MP3 for free. You can also listen through the *Open the Bible* app, which you'll find at your app store. Another way to listen is to get the entire series on CD. Ask about "Repentance" when you call 1-877-OPEN-365. That's 1-877-673-6365, or you'll find ordering information online at openthebible.org.

If you joined us a little later, we're in the book of Matthew. We're looking at verses 28 to 32 today. Back to the message again. Here is Pastor Colin.

Colin Smith: He changed his mind about the father and he changed his mind about himself. Verse 20: "So he got up and went to his father." You see, that's how the turn happens. You change your mind about God. The sinful mind is hostile to God, but when you come to your senses, you say, "Why am I fighting him?"

You change your mind about God and you change your mind about yourself. You've been saying, "I can live my life. I can do it." You come to your senses and you say, "Why am I starving to death here at a distance from the father who has all things in his hands?" When you change your mind about God and you change your mind about yourself, you're in the position where you're able to move. So he got up and went to his father.

One of the things that we learn here that is so very, very important is that repentance and faith are so closely intertwined that the one cannot exist without the other. You can't believe without repenting, and you can't repent without believing. The two belong inextricably together, like the sun's heat and the sun's light. They're distinct, but they cannot be separated.

Remember this: If you would believe, you must repent. If you would repent, you must believe. You cannot separate these two. They always go together. They are the twin response to the gospel, but they are inseparable as a response to the gospel. Think about it: If you would believe, you must repent.

Jesus said on one occasion to some folks who said that they were struggling to believe in him, "Well, how can you believe if all you're doing is seeking the praise of other people and you're making no effort to seek the praise that comes from God?" If you're not repenting, if your life is just about yourself and about the impression that you're making on other people, you will never be able to believe. That's what Jesus says.

The way you come to believe is that if you are really my disciple, then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. If you would believe, you must repent. The only way to believe, if you say you're struggling to believe, is to humble yourself before God and to stop saying "Give me" and to start saying "Make me." You can't believe if you're not ready to repent.

The reverse is also and equally and at the same time true, that if you would repent, you must believe. Some of us are coming from the other end. We say, "Well, how can I really change?" The prodigal was absolutely miserable in the distant country. That picture of him with the pigs and them being full and him being hungry, it's a desperate picture. But you can be very desperate and still not come back home.

It takes courage to come back home. When you've gone far from the Lord, you know that that's the reality. The big question is: Where do you find the courage to come back? The answer is very simple: The prodigal finds the courage to come home when he believes that there will be a welcome.

If he doesn't think he'll be welcomed, he'll never come back. But if, sitting there among the pigs, he comes to feel and to believe in his mind and in his heart, "If I go back to my father, I think he will receive me," then that belief will give him courage to begin the long trudge, the long journey home. That is exactly what happens in the story.

Of course, when he gets back in the story, Jesus wants to make the point that the father is far more generous in the welcome than the son would ever have dared to imagine. The father runs to meet him, filled with compassion, kisses him. There's forgiveness right there.

More than that, the father puts a robe on him. The father will not have his son walking about in shameful rags. He puts new clothes on him so the boy will not be ashamed. This is what God does for us in Jesus Christ—clothes us in his righteousness. Then the father puts the ring on his finger, the sign, the seal of sonship, because this son is restored to his dignified position as a family member so that he can face the world as a new man, restored to a new position.

Jesus is telling this story so that you will know how the father will receive you if you will come to him in repentance and faith. If you will come to God in repentance and faith through Jesus Christ today, he will welcome you with that kind of welcome in Jesus' story. Believe this, and you will find the courage to repent.

Believe that God loves you and that he sent his son into the world for you, that he stands ready to forgive you and accept you and restore you and embrace you. You will find, with the prodigal, the strength to get up and go to the father. If you would believe, you must repent. If you would repent, you must believe.

These two stories of the two sons that we've looked at this morning really teach us the great irony that those who seem far away from God may actually be very near, and those who seem very near to God may actually be very far away. That comes through in both of the stories that Jesus told.

The first thing comes to us as a warning. If your Christianity amounts to something you said 25 years ago or whatever it was when you were six years old—"I said I received Jesus"—and that's really all it is, and there's no serious application for you now of walking the path of repentance and faith, I say those who may seem very near may turn out to be those who are far away.

It's possible to be like the elder brother at home or the second son in Jesus' story who said, "I will, sir. I will, sir," but actually they didn't care very much for what the father told him to do at all. That's a warning that those who may seem to be very near may actually be far from God in reality.

Then the encouragement, that those who may seem to be very far away from God may actually be very near. If you would repent, you must believe. If you would believe, you must repent. The promise of the gospel is that God, in his grace, is ready to welcome back all who will come, whether they be from near or from far. If you believe, you will find the courage to repent.

Guest (Male): What a great way to wrap up our time together today, just being reminded that if you feel like you're far from God, he is willing and ready to forgive you and to welcome you back. What a great reminder that that's what the gospel is all about. And when we truly believe that, we will have the courage to repent. That is what brings about real and lasting change.

You've been listening to a message entitled "Finding the Hidden Path to a Transformed Life." It's one of the seven messages in our series about repentance, about how true change, real and lasting change, is possible. If you want to get a copy of today's message or the larger series, Repentance, ask about that when you call us at 1-877-OPEN-365. That's 1-877-673-6365, or you'll find ordering information online at openthebible.org.

*Open the Bible* depends on your generosity to bring you Pastor Colin's teaching, and we're grateful for your support. As you give a gift of any amount this month, we want to say thank you by sending you a copy of Pastor Colin's new 30-day devotional book called *Grow in Faith*. Colin, what is one thing that you want people to take away from this book?

Colin Smith: This is a book for ordinary Christians. You talk about grow in faith, someone might think, "Well, I'm no giant of the faith, so that's probably not for me." Jesus spoke on five occasions about people with little faith. "O you of little faith." That's where we start in this book, *Grow in Faith*.

If you feel that your faith is small, this is exactly for you. It's a place from which you can begin to grow. There are two wonderful things about little faith. One is that little faith is saving faith if it is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The other is that little faith, because faith is a living thing, is faith that really can grow. I think that this book will help people to grow in faith. That's our hope and our prayer as we've been working on it and preparing it. I hope that it's going to be a real blessing to you.

Guest (Male): We'd love to send you a copy of this new book from Pastor Colin. Again, it's called *Grow in Faith*, and it's our thank you for your financial support this month. You can give when you call 1-877-OPEN-365, or online at openthebible.org. For Pastor Colin Smith, I'm Steve Hiller. Thanks for listening and I hope you'll join us next time.

Everyone has questions about heaven. But the question that matters most is how do you get there? Many people have the idea that if a person was to get into heaven, they'd get there by living a good enough life. The thief on the cross hadn't lived a good enough life, and he wasn't in a position to start living a good life. But Jesus said to him, "Today you will be with me in paradise."

If the thief could get into heaven, so can you. *Heaven, How I Got Here* is a compelling 60-minute film in which Stephen Baldwin portrays the thief on the cross in a one-person play. Many have found that this story opens their eyes to the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and to the hope of heaven. You can watch the *Heaven, How I Got Here* film for free on the *Open the Bible* website. For more information, visit openthebible.org/heaven. That's openthebible.org/heaven.