What Leads to Repentance? (Luke 15:16-17 and Romans 2:1-5)

What leads to repentance? Romans 2:4 says, "God's kindness is meant to lead [us] to repentance." When we are thinking of repenting, we wonder, "Will God really forgive me? Have I done too much for Him to be able to love me? Would God ever want a relationship with me again?" It is thinking about God's kindness that gives us the confidence that we can repent and be forgiven. Table of ContentsFamily Worship GuideSermon Notes for What Leads to Repentance?Lesson One: Sometimes the worst thing to do is give because it can (Part One) be poor stewardship.Lesson One: Sometimes the worst thing to do is give because it can (Part Two) prevent shame.Lesson One: Sometimes the worst thing to do is give because it can (Part Three) hinder repentance.Lesson Two: (Part One) God’s kindness is meant to lead us to repentance.Lesson Two: (Part One) God’s kindness is meant to lead us to repentance (Part Two) and so is His wrath. https://youtu.be/r8e_h4A_byY What leads to repentance? Romans 2:4 says, "God's kindness leads us to repentance." God's kindness gives us confidence we can be forgiven. Family Worship Guide Directions: Read the verses and then answer the questions: Day 1: Luke 15:16, Genesis 2:25 cf. Genesis 3:5-7, Micah 1:11, Nahum 3:5, Revelation 3:18—Why was it good that nobody gave anything to the prodigal son? Why can it be bad stewardship to give to people at times? Why is shame so important? How does giving to people prevent shame? How can giving hinder repentance?Day 2: Romans 2:1-5, 2 Peter 3:9, Luke 15:17, Jude 1:22—Why are we without excuse when we judge others? How can God’s kindness lead us to repentance? Why is God patient with us when we sin? How can God’s wrath lead us to repentance?Day 3: Psalm 73:1-22—Why was the psalmist struggling in his faith? Why do the wicked prosper at times? Why might we envy the wicked? What can we tell ourselves to avoid being envious of the wicked? What caused the psalmist’s attitude toward the wicked to change? Sermon Notes for What Leads to Repentance? The title of this morning’s sermon is, “What Leads to Repentance?” On Sunday mornings we’re working our way through Luke’s gospel verse by verse and we find ourselves at Luke 15:11. Please stand with me for the reading of God’s Word. Luke 15:11 And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. 13 Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. 14 And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. 17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! You may be seated. Let’s pray. We are working our way through what is commonly called the parable of the prodigal son. The son left home with lots of money, but then something happened. Look at verse 14… Luke 15:14 And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. As soon as the money was gone the people who acted like they were his friends were gone as well. At this incredibly low point, things got so bad he had to start caring for pigs. As we talked about last week, this was the lowest point a Jewish person could reach. Luke 15:16 And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. We are not told how much the son was paid, but considering he wanted to eat what pigs were eating tells you it was so little he could not afford food. Do we have anyone here who takes care of pigs? Do pigs eat anything? Katie used to have pigs and she said, “Pretty much.” Wanting to be accurate in my sermon, because I know pastors have reputations for inaccurate stories, I studied what pigs will and won’t eat. Here’s what I learned: pigs will eat just about anything. Their diets are disgusting and the fact that the son could look at what pigs were eating and be jealous tells you things were incredibly bad for him. Picture him looking at the food pigs were eating licking his lips. The pigs were living better than him. That’s how bad things had gotten. He was starving. The pods were most likely the wild carob (Ceratonia oreothauma), which only had black, bitter berries, barely nourishing enough to keep pigs alive, say nothing about people. And he was longing to eat these! The pods were virtually un-digestible for humans. For Jews to listen to Jesus preach this parable about a Jewish son from a loving wonderful family being in this situation sounded degrading beyond belief. Notice the end of the verse says no one gave him anything. This probably means he tried to live as a beggar, but there was a famine so everyone was needy and desperate. Let me ask you: was it good or bad that nobody gave him anything? It was good. This is one of the best examples in Scripture that sometimes helping people doesn’t help. It could be enabling and detrimental. And this brings us to lesson one… Lesson One: Sometimes the worst thing to do is give because it can (Part One) be poor stewardship. Common sense tells us we can’t give to every need. Even the wealthiest philanthropists must decide what to do and not do with their money. Saying yes to something means saying no to something else in most areas of life, and it is especially true with our money. If we give to one need it means not giving to another need. As a pastor, I’ve had weeks that I have had more people ask for money than for prayer. There are some differences in the requests: sometimes it’s a phone call, while other times it’s a person coming to the church. But one variable that is almost always the same is there’s a story that describes the most unfortunate circumstances imaginable; Job looks blessed compared to many of these people. Dealing with people asking for money is one of the most unenjoyable parts of my job, not because I don’t want to help, but because as soon as people can tell that I will not give them money, they don’t want anything else to do with me. In my years pastoring, I can’t think of anyone we helped financially who was also helped spiritually. In other words, the money we gave didn’t lead to salvation, sanctification, or regular church attendance. Maybe God did do something through our gift, but if He did, it was unknown to me. Just to be clear, we have never given with strings attached. We are not looking for a pat on the back or any sort of repayment. But because I have seen so little fruit from giving money to people who asked, I’m left wondering how much better of a steward I might have been if I had given that same money to one of our missionaries. The next part of lesson one… Lesson One: Sometimes the worst thing to do is give because it can (Part Two) prevent shame. Let me explain what shame is, biblically speaking, so we can understand why it’s important to experience it… Genesis 2:25 says Adam and Eve “were both naked…and were not ashamed.” This is the opposite of the way they should have felt because many verses associate nakedness with shame: Micah 1:11 Pass on your way…in nakedness and shameNahum 3:5 I will make nations look at your nakedness and kingdoms at your shame.Revelation 3:18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen Two of these verses are about pagans who aren’t prone to experiencing shame, but even they felt shame when naked. So why didn’t Adam and Even experience any? Shame can only be produced by the knowledge of doing something wrong. For example: Imagine you enter the home of people who always take their shoes off, but you don’t know that’s their practice. You walk around feeling fine until the owner says, “We always take our shoes off.” Then you feel ashamed.Have you ever started eating only for someone to say, “Why don’t we say pray and thank God for the food?” Then you’re ashamed. Because Adam and Eve hadn’t yet eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they didn’t know there was anything wrong with what they were doing; therefore, they felt no shame. In Genesis 3:5, Satan said, “God knows that in the day you eat of [the tree] your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” This was true! Satan mixes truth with lies because then the lies are more convincing. They ate, and at that moment their eyes were opened. Listen to the way it’s worded in the amplified… Genesis 3:7 [Their] eyes…were opened [that is, their awareness increased], and they knew that they were naked; and they fastened fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. In the NLT it says suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil gave them the knowledge they were wrong, and they were ashamed. What does this have to do with giving? When we give to people it shows our support. This can prevent them from experiencing shame that can lead to their repentance. Which brings us to the next part of lesson one… Lesson One: Sometimes the worst thing to do is give because it can (Part Three) hinder repentance. Let me share a testimony that was meaningful to Katie and me early in our marriage…