Repentance is not an IMPRESSION either. One desires to experience an extraordinary emotion. In Baltimore, I preached every Sunday to nine hundred criminals in the penitentiary. There wasn’t a single man in that auditorium who did not feel his misery. During the first week of their stay in prison, they had all spent most of their time crying. However, if one were to give them freedom, most would return to their wrong-doings. They felt unhappy because they had been caught, that is all.
Furthermore, repentance is not REMORSE. Judas felt remorse. He felt it so deeply that it drove him to suicide: however, he didn’t repent. All the penitence in the world doesn’t necessarily imply true repentance. You cannot pay for the sins of your soul by the suffering of your body. Forget this dangerous and sinful illusion.”
Lord willing, we will look further at the subject of repentance next week. In the quote below, please notice that Moody talks of doing “someone” wrong, rather than “something” wrong. This reminds me of what Jesus taught in Matthew 5:23-24: if you bring a gift to the altar and remember that someone has something against you, go and be reconciled with your brother before offering your gift.
Scripture for the weekend: “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” Hebrews 9:27-28 (NIV)
Thought for the weekend: “If we have done someone wrong, we cannot ask God to forgive us without being ready to make right the wrong we have committed.” – D. L. Moody