Mind Control

MIND CONTROL IN AMERICA

America's Christian Foundation
Patrick Henry (1736 -1799) of "give me liberty or give me death" fame stated:

"It can not be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians, not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ! For this very reason, peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here."

Below are videos from the early Bill Clinton days by David Barton of Wall Builders and John Ankerberg teaching about America's Christian foundation and heritage.



America's last surviving founding father, President John Quincy Adams, said the following on July 4, 1837:

"Why is it that, next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day? Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the progress of the Gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer's mission upon earth. That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity, and gave to the world the first irrevocable pledge of the fulfillment of the prophecies announced directly from Heaven at the birth of the Savior and predicted by the greatest of the Hebrew prophets 600 years before?"

Corrupt Bibles

The Mother of Corrupt Versions






GOD'S HOLY LIFE GIVING WORD

2 Corinthians 2:17: "For we are not as many, which corrupt THE WORD OF GOD: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ."

Proverbs 30:5-6: "Every WORD OF GOD is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto HIS WORDS, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar."

Romans 10:8-11, 17: "But what saith it? THE WORD is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, THE WORD OF FAITH, which we preach; 9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. ... 17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by THE WORD OF GOD."

James 1:17-18, 21: "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. 18 Of his own will begat he us with THE WORD OF TRUTH, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. ... 21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness THE ENGRAFTED WORD, which is able to save your souls."

Hebrews 4:12: "For THE WORD OF GOD is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

Luke 4:4: "And Jesus answered him [Satan], saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by EVERY WORD OF GOD."

2 Corinthians 4:1-2: "Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; 2 But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling THE WORD OF GOD deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God."

Ephesians 6:14-17: "Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is THE WORD OF GOD:"

2 Timothy 2:15: "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing THE WORD OF TRUTH."

Revelation 22:17-19: "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. 18 For I testify unto every man that heareth THE WORDS OF THE PROPHECY OF THIS BOOK, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19 And if any man shall take away from THE WORDS OF THE BOOK OF THIS PROPHECY, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book."

Revelation 17:1-2, 4-6, 9, 15: "... Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. ... And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. ... The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues."

ALSO SEE: CATHOLICISM

Hosius on the Anabaptists

Exposé of John Hagee's False Teaching that says Jesus did not claim to be the Messiah.

John Hagee falsely teaches that the Lord Jesus did not claim to be the Messiah. God's Word refutes his heretical error. "Messiah" is a Hebrew word, and "Christ" is a Greek word. Both mean "anointed." They mean the same thing. The Lord Jesus is the "Anointed" One of God.

The woman at the well said to the Lord, "... I know that MESSIAS cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I THAT SPEAK UNTO THEE AM HE." (John 4:25-26)

Jesus here claims to be the Messiah!

In speaking of the last days, the Lord Jesus said, "... many shall come in MY NAME, saying, I am CHRIST; and shall deceive many." (Matt 24:5)

Here again He claimed to be the Messiah.

The prophecy of Isaiah 61:1-2 is further proof not only that Jesus is, but that He claimed to be the Messiah. There it states:

"The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath ANOINTED me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD ..." (Isaiah 61:1-2)

Then in Luke 4:16-21 it is recorded that at the very beginning of the Lord's ministry He read this passage from Isaiah in the Nazareth Synagogue one sabbath.

"And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath ANOINTED ME to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears." (Luke 4:16-21)

That means that He claimed to be the one that Isaiah prophesied of as being anointed, that makes Him the Messiah!

Psalm 2 says, "The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his ANOINTED. ... I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee." (Psalm 2:2, 7)

The prophecy of Psalm Chapter 2 ties two essential facts together:
1. Jesus is the only begotten Son of God.
2. Jesus is the Anointed One of God, the Messiah.

The Apostle Peter knew that Jesus is the Messiah for he said to Him, "Thou art the CHRIST, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:16; cf. Mark 8:29; John 6:69).

Lazarus' sister, Martha, acknowledged that Jesus is the Messiah when she said to him, "I believe that thou art the CHRIST, the Son of God" (John 11:27).

The Ethiopia eunuch said, "I believe that Jesus CHRIST is the Son of God" (Acts 8:37) Even devils that the Lord Jesus cast out of people said to Him, "Thou art CHRIST the Son of God." (Luke 4:41)

The Prophet Daniel foretold of Christ's first coming in Daniel 9:25-26:

"Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself ..."

A careful study of this detailed prophecy shows that it was fulfiled exactly and that Messiah Jesus came at the precise time prescribed!

Messiah or Christ is His very name! Jesus is the Messiah and He said He was the Messiah! John Hagee is in error!


FAIR USE NOTICE: This video contains a portion of a copyrighted book commercial by John Hagee which has not been authorized. The portion is included as a parity in order to refute the Scriptural error being taught by Hagee. The video is to advance Biblical and spiritual understanding concerning the King of kings and Lord of Lords. This video is clearly in the legal parameters of "fair use" of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this video is distributed without profit for research and educational purposes only. This video is provided free of charge and may not be sold by others. Third parties who may wish to use the copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond "fair use" must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Israel & America

9/11: Signs of God's
Impending Judgment on
The United States of America
Foreshadowed by Ancient Israel
"If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." (2 Chronicles 7:14)

INTRODUCTION:

There are only two nations in all history founded from their inception on God, His Word and His grace. They are Israel with the call of Abram in Genesis 12:1-3, and the United States of America founded by believers in the Lord Jesus Christ seeking freedom to worship the Almighty in spirit and truth. God said to Abram:

"I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." (Genesis 12:2-3)

God has blessed all the families of the earth through Abraham in two major ways:

1. The 66 Books of the Word of God which contain the words of salvation and eternal life for all people were given and protected by the seed of Abraham.

2. Jesus Christ, "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world, came through the seed of Abraham, Issac and Jacob.

President George Washington secured the blessings of God for America early. In 1790 in reply to letters from Jewish congregations he wrote:

1. To the Jewish community of Newport, Rhode Island saying:

"All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights. For happily the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection, should demean themselves as good citizens. ... May the Children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants; while every one shall sit under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid.'' -- G. Washington, 1790

2. To the Hebrew Congregations of Philadelphia, New York, Charleston, and Richmond in these words:

"The power and goodness of the Almighty, so strongly manifested in the events of our late glorious revolution, and His kind interposition in our behalf, have been no less visible in the establishment of our present equal government. In war He directed the sword, and in peace He has ruled in our councils. My agency in both has been guided by the best intentions and a sense of duty I owe to my country. ... May the same temporal and eternal blessings which you implore for me, rest upon your congregations." -- G. Washington, late December, 1790

3. In office for less than a month President Washington blessed the children of Abraham when he answered a 6 May 1789 letter from the Hebrew Congregation of Savannah, Georgia:

"... I thank you with great sincerity for your congratulations on my appointment to the office which I have the honor to hold by the unanimous choice of my fellow citizens, and especially the expressions you are pleased to use in testifying the confidence that is reposed in me by your congregation ... I rejoice that a spirit of liberality and philanthropy is much more prevalent than it formerly was among the enlightened nations of the earth, and that your brethren will benefit thereby in proportion as it shall become still more extensive; happily the people of the United States have in many instances exhibited examples worthy of imitation, the salutary influence of which will doubtless extend much farther if gratefully enjoying those blessings of peace which (under the favor of heaven) have been attained by fortitude in war, they shall conduct themselves with reverence to the Deity and charity toward their fellow- creatures. May the same wonder-working Deity, who long since delivered the Hebrews from their Egyptian oppressors, planted them in a promised land, Whose providential agency has lately been conspicuous in establishing these United States as an independent nation, still continue to water them with the dews of heaven and make the inhabitants of every denomination participate in the temporal and spiritual blessings of that people whose God is Jehovah." -- G. Washington, late May 1789

Some may deny this, but I cannot but see America in Isaiah 55:5 which in context says:

"Behold, I [the Father] have given Him [the Son] for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people. 5 Behold, Thou [the Son] shalt call a nation [the USA] that Thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee [the USA] shall run unto thee [the USA] because of the LORD thy [the USA's] God, and for the Holy One of Israel [the Son]; for He hath glorified thee [the USA]. 6 Seek ye the LORD while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near:   7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our [the USA's] God, for He will abundantly pardon." (Isaiah 55:4-7)

God has used the United States of America as a base to send forth the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the whole world. More Gospel preaching missionaries have gone forth into all the world from America since it's beginning than all the time before that back to our Lord Jesus Christ.

For these two reasons God has blessed America above all nations of all history, 1) because America has been a blessing to the Israelites, and 2) because we have give God's Word to the world!

AMERICA'S INCEPTION, INAUGURATION AND DEDICATION TO GOD:

The USA was conceived on the 4th of July, 1776 with the unanimous Declaration of Independence by the thirteen United States of America.

However, this once Great Nation was not birthed until the Constitution was completed, the House, Senate and President were elected, and finally the inauguration of the first President. George Washington was inaugurated on April 30, 1789 in New York City, the Nation's first Capitol.

In Washington's inauguration speech he acknowledged Divine providence in the establishment of the Nation with these words:

"... it would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that His benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States a Government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes, and may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success the functions allotted to his charge. In tendering this homage to the Great Author of every public and private good, I assure myself that it expresses your sentiments not less than my own, nor those of my fellowcitizens at large less than either. No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency; and in the important revolution just accomplished in the system of their united government the tranquil deliberations and voluntary consent of so many distinct communities from which the event has resulted can not be compared with the means by which most governments have been established without some return of pious gratitude, along with an humble anticipation of the future blessings which the past seem to presage. ..."

After these thanksgivings to the Almighty, Washington rightly states that America may not expect the continued blessings of the past if our Nation disregards the eternal truths and laws of righteousness ordained by God. He stated it in these words:

"... we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained; and since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered, perhaps, as deeply, as finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people."

President Washington closed his speech with supplication to God for the new Nation of the United States saying:

"Having thus imparted to you my sentiments as they have been awakened by the occasion which brings us together, I shall take my present leave; but not without resorting once more to the benign Parent of the Human Race in humble supplication that, since He has been pleased to favor the American people with opportunities for deliberating in perfect tranquillity, and dispositions for deciding with unparalleled unanimity on a form of government for the security of their union and the advancement of their happiness, so His divine blessing may be equally conspicuous in the enlarged views, the temperate consultations, and the wise measures on which the success of this Government must depend."

After President Washington's inaugural address, he lead the House and Senate to nearby St Paul's Chapel for a 2 hour prayer meeting. This same Chapel is the longest standing structure in New York City, perhaps symbolic of the ancient temple of the Lord in Jerusalem which stood until the people forsook the Almighty and they were taken into the 70 year Babylonian captivity, and again into the 1,878 year Roman Diaspora (70 AD to 1948). There is a plaque in St Paul's Chapel with this prayer of Washington which reads:

"Almighty God, we make our earnest prayer that Thou wilt keep the United States in Thy holy protection, that Thou wilt incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to government, and entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another and for their fellow citizens of the Unites States at large. And finally that Thou wilt most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility, and specific temper of mind which were the characteristics of Divine Author of our blessed religion, and without an humble imitation of whose example in these things, we can never hope to be a happy nation. Grant our supplications, we beseech Thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

Washington freely acknowledged and adored the great Saviour of "whosoever" (John 3:15-16; Rev. 22:17). This is seen in his hand written prayer journal of his youth where he wrote:

"I humbly beseech thee to be merciful to me in the free pardon of my sins, for the sake of Thy dear Son, my only Saviour, Jesus Christ, who came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance; be pleased to renew my nature and write thy laws upon my heart, and help me to live, righteously, soberly, and godly in this evil world; make me humble, meek, patient and contented, and work in me the grace of thy Holy Spirit."

And again, "... give me grace to hear thee calling on me in thy word, that it may be wisdom, righteousness, reconciliation and peace to the saving of the soul in the day of the Lord Jesus. Grant that I may hear it with reverence, receive it with meekness, mingle it with faith, and that it may accomplish in me, Gracious God, the good work for which thou has sent it. Bless my family, kindred, friends and country, be our God & guide this day and for ever for his sake, who lay down in the Grave and arose again for us, Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen."

So it is seen that America was founded by a free people who overwhelmingly elected a Christian President who led their elected representatives to a prayer meeting on the very day of the establishment of the United States.

Fast forward 212 years, 5 months, and 11 days, from April 30, 1798 to September 11, 2001. America has changed greatly! The Bible and prayer has been banned from schools, and replaced with the absurd theory of evolution. Millions of innocents have not been allowed the most basic of unalienable rights, not only liberty, not only the pursuit of happiness, but defenseless babies by the millions in the womb are now denied life! Homosexuality, pornography, alcohol and drug abuse are now rampant. New Age and other false religions abound. Many have embraced the United Nations and the Global Governance of the New World Order. The overwhelming majority of our elected officials are corrupt and ignore the Constitution they are sworn to uphold. All this because we have abandoned the Almighty who's hand was mightily upon this Nation at it's founding!!!

America is very much reminiscent of Solomon and ancient Israel which forsook their God and fell into idolatry, and later rejected and crucified Jesus Christ (cf. John 1:11; Matt 27:22-25; Acts 2:22-23).

SOLOMON'S COMPLETION OF THE TEMPLE OF THE LORD & THE APOSTASY FROM GOD THAT FOLLOWED:

Similarly to the founding of America and Washington's inauguration, it is recorded in 1 Kings 9 and 2 Chronicles 7 that Solomon constituted the Temple of the Lord. These passages tell the story of God's promise of blessing if Solomon and his children would walk before the Lord in integrity of heart and in uprightness; but if he and his children would not follow the Lord and keep His statutes and go and serve other gods and worship them, then the Lord would cut them off from the land which He given them.

Please carefully observe 2 Chronicles 7:13-14, 19-20:

13 If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people;
14 If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.   . . .  
19 But if   ye   turn   away,   and   forsake   My   statutes   and   My commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them;
20 Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of My land which I have given them; and this house [the Temple], which I have sanctified for My name, will I cast out of My sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations. (Read the full text of 2 Chronicles 7 here.)

Almighty Jehovah first gave Israel warnings of impending judgment and eventually removed all Israel from the Land in the 70 years of Babylonian Captivity. First was the strong warning of the 10 northern tribes being removed into the Assyrian captivity. Their removal from the Land occurred in 722 BC. The details are recorded in 2 Kings 17 where it says:

1 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years.
2 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, but not as the kings of Israel that were before him.
3 Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents.
4 And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and brought no present to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year: therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison.
5 Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years.
6 In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
7 For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods,
8 And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made.

This is seen again in 1 Chronicles 5:

25 And they transgressed against the God of their fathers, and went a whoring after the gods of the people of the land, whom God destroyed before them.
26 And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away, even the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, and brought them unto Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the river Gozan, unto this day. (cf. 1 Chron. 5:6; 2 Chron. 30; Ezra 2; Ezek 37:15)

AMERICA IS FOLLOWING IN ANCIENT ISRAEL'S FOOTSTEPS:

As has already been alluded to America was founded on the last day of April, 1789 upon the Biblical principles of our first God fearing President, George Washington who was elected virtually unanimously by a predominantly principled if not Christian people.

As a young man Washington was well aware of the Christian Great Awakening in the Colonies of the 1730s and 40s. Preachers, not the least of whom was Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) shaped the hearts and minds of the people with the Scriptures, and thereby all but saved the colonies from going the way of anarchists France.

Edwards was also a reader of the works of theologian, educator and philosopher, John Locke (1632-1704). By the time of Locke's death his influence on the thinking of Americans had been firmly established. Locke directly influenced everything from the American idea of separation of powers to the Bill of Rights. But in spite of these facts modern universities make little to no mention of him. An example of the reason for this is his classic work, Two Treatises of Civil Government (1689), has over 1300 references to the Bible. His Biblical and libertarian views are opposed to the New World Order elite who control not only the schools, but also a large part of the media, politics, government, finance, big business, and religious organizations of today.

The American people today, as the ancient 12 tribes of Israel, have forgotten their heritage and Biblical foundation, and now stand at the precipice of God's judgment. And as the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, who heeded not warnings of impending judgment, nor humble themselves before God when the 10 tribes of Israel were taken away into captivity; in similar manner America was warned by God on September 11, 2001, and has not listened.

Neither have blood washed believers in our Lord Jesus Christ turned from your wicked ways, and humbled yourselves, and sought the face of the Almighty in prayer that He might forgive our nation's great sins, and heal our land (2 Chron. 7:14). Most believers continue to live like the world (1 Jn. 2:15-17), care not for God's holy Word (2 Tim. 2:15), have no concern for the lost to witness to them of the saving grace of Jesus Christ (Matt. 4:17; Jude 22-23; Prov. 11:30), and fail to attend the House God faithfully (Heb. 10 23-25; 1 Tim. 3:15)! For born again, but worldly believers who are not dull of hearing, heed these verses of God's Word:

"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils." (1 Timothy 4:1)    "Submit your selves therefore to God.   Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up." (James 4:7-10)    "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:10)

Oh God, forgive us for we have left our first love, Jesus; help us to see our need of repentance, and help us do the first works (Rev. 2:4-5)!

9/11: AMERICA'S WAKE UP CALL & THE PUBLIC PRONOUNCEMENTS OF IT'S PUBLIC OFFICIALS:

As the 10 northern tribes worshiped false gods and for it went into the Assyrian captivity first in 722 BC; so likewise the tribes of Judah and Benjamin who remained in the land did not take heed of God's warnings, but also rebelled against God and fell into the Babylonian captivity in 606 BC.

It is recorded in the Congressional Record, 107th Congress that on the day after 9/11 that Senate Majority Leader, Tom Daschle (D, South Dakota) in his Floor Statement on a 'Joint Resolution of Condemnation for the September 11, 2001 said:

"Mr. President, it is with pain, sorrow, anger, and resolve that I stand before this Senate, a symbol for 212 years of the strength of our democracy, and say that America will emerge from this tragedy, as we have emerged from all adversity, united and strong. ... The world should know that the Members of both parties in both Houses stand united. The full resources of our Government will be brought to bear in aiding the search and rescue and in hunting down those responsible and those who may have aided or harbored them. Nothing, nothing can replace the losses that have been suffered. I know there is only the smallest measure of inspiration that can be taken from this devastation. But there is a passage in the Bible from Isaiah that I think speaks to all of us at times such as this: 'The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with dressed stone; the fig trees have been felled, but we will replace them with cedars.' That is what we will do. We will rebuild and we will recover. The people of America will stand strong together because the people of America have always stood together. And those of us privileged to serve this great Nation will stand with you.” (View the video below)


Senator Daschle said that it was with "... anger, and resolve that [he stood] before [the] Senate, a symbol for 212 years of the strength of our democracy ..." This takes us back 212 years from 2001 to 1789 to the first Constitutionally instituted assembly of the Senate on April 30, 1789 and the day of the swearing in of George Washington as the first president of the United States of America. Unlike the first spokesman of our Republic, not democracy, Daschle rather than calling for prayer to seek God's will, as Washington did at his inauguration, pronounced a curse on our country. It is for this reason that God commands His people (2 Chron. 7:14) on this wise:

"I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:1-4)

As Senator Daschle quoted Isaiah 9:10 from the corrupt New International Version little did he know that he used a verse which God used to pronounced a curse upon Israel for their sin of pride and idolatry. His verse comes just after the great prophetic passage concerning both the 1st and 2nd coming of Jesus Christ, the original Lord of the United States. Here is the verse in context with Isaiah 9:10 in bold from the pure English translation:

6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
8 The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel.
9 And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart,
10 The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars.
11 Therefore the LORD shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and join his enemies together;
12 The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
13 For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts. (Isaiah 9:6-13, King James Bible)

Three years later on September 11, 2004, Democratic Candidate for Vice President John Edwards (D, North Carolina) spoke the same curse upon America using the same verse. Speaking at the prayer breakfast for the Congressional Black Caucus he said:

"Good morning. Today, on this day of remembrance and mourning, we have the Lord’s word to get us through. 'The bricks have fallen, but we will build with dressed stones; the sycamores have been cut down, but we will put cedars in their place.' ... And let me show you how we are building and putting cedars in those three hallowed places - the footprints of the Towers, the Pentagon, and the field in Pennsylvania. ... Walk with me through this day. And you will see that while those bricks fell and the sycamores cut down, our people are making those cedars rise. ... Each time that bell tolls, it calls us to a greater purpose. It calls us to never forget. It calls us to do the Lord’s work here on earth. And it calls on us to always remember that when we walk through this day together - the cedars will rise, the stones will go up, and this season of hope will endure." (See the video below, and Remarks to the September 11, 2004 Congressional Black Caucus Prayer Breakfast).


Both Tom Daschle and John Edwards left office in disgrace amid scandals. Daschle was President Obama's nominee to serve as the Secretary of Health and Human Services, but he withdrew his name on February 3, 2009, amid a growing controversy over his failure to accurately report and pay income taxes. On June 3, 2011, Edwards was indicted by a North Carolina grand jury on six felony charges related to an extramarital affair he admitted to following his 2008 campaign.

THE INTERPRETATION & TIMELINE OF ISAIAH 9:8-13:

8 The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel.
9 And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart,
10 The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars.
11 Therefore the LORD shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and join his enemies together;
12 The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
13 For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts.

From the prophetic message of peace and justice through Jesus Christ, "the Prince of peace" (Isaiah 9:6-7), the prophet turns and begins his pronouncement of judgment and doom upon Israel in verse 8.

The prophetic Word of judgment had "lighted upon Israel" because of her pride and arrogance (Isaiah 9:8).

Samaria, in Ephraim was the capital of the 10 tribes of Israel where their king sat (Isaiah 7:9-10).

Israel had said, "... in the pride and stoutness of heart, the bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars." They had survived an initial attack by and a partial captivity of Gilead, Galilee, all the land of Naphtali by the Assyrians (2 Kings 15:29), but determined "in the pride and stoutness of heart that it would not happen again. They would use stronger building materials for their fortifications, "hewn stones" like those used by Solomon in the building of the Temple (1 Kings 5:17). They would replace the "sycomores" that were cut down by the Assyrians with strong "cedars."

Where it says, "... the LORD shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him" (Isaiah 9:11) it speaks of Assyria. Rezin, the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel had been allies (Isaiah 7:1-2), but when Assyria defeated Syria and her capitol, Damascus in 732 BC, then they too became Israel's adversary. So thus it is said, "the Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth." Isaiah 9:12).

Time Line of the Captivity of Israel:

1. In 2 Kings 15:27-29 which dates about 758 B.C. we read of the initial captivity of Israel:

"In the two and fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned twenty years. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abelbethmaachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria." (2 Kings 15:27-29)

2. Our Text, Isaiah 9:8-13, was penned about B.C. 740.

3. Around B.C. 740 Israel and Syria's unsuccessful try to take Jerusalem (2 Kings 16:5-6), and Judah requests the help of King Tiglathpileser against Syria and receive it (2 Kings 16:7-9).

4. Syria and Damascus fall to Assyria in approximately B.C. 732.

5. In 2 Kings 17:1-6 which dates about 722 B.C. we read of the final captivity of Israel:

"In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, but not as the kings of Israel that were before him. Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents. And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and brought no present to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year: therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison. Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes." (cf. 1 Chron. 5:26)

Reasoning behind the prophecy of Isaiah 9:8-13:

Again in verses 12 and 13 of our text in Isaiah 9 it says, "... For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. For the people turneth not unto Him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts." It was the Lord God Almighty who had smitten Israel, for their pride, idolatry and rebellion, but they refused to repent. Continuing from where we left off in 2 Kings 17 we continue from verse 7 to 12 to find the reason for God's fierce anger:

"For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods, And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made. And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the LORD their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city. And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree: And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the LORD carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger: For they served idols, whereof the LORD had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing."

The above passage from 2 Kings 17:7-12 is similar to the place the United States of America finds herself today. Help us, O Almighty God!

The Lord's chastening rod for the punishment of Israel:

"O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few. ... Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood." (Isaiah 10:5-7, 15)

The end of this chastening rod of the Lord:

"Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt. For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction. And the LORD of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him ... as his rod was upon the sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt." (Isaiah 10:24-26)

The remnant of Israel to return:

"And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God." (Isaiah 10:20-21)

AMAZING PROPHECY OF ISAIAH 9:9-10 POINTS PEOPLE TO THE TRUE GOD & ONLY SAVIOUR, JESUS CHRIST:

Words full of Pride saying, Hewn Stones for Bricks and Cedars for Sycomores:

America as Israel of old has not heeded God's warnings, and as we will see there are amazing parallels between the events of 9/11 and Isaiah 9:9-10.

When Assyria first attacked Israel she cut down many of the the sycamore trees. Samaria representing the 10 tribes of Israel said, "... in the pride and stoutness of heart, The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars." (Isaiah 9:9-10)

Matthew Henry (1662-1714) in his commentary says this concerning the passage:

"They say, in the pride and stoutness of their heart, Let God himself do his worst; we will hold our own, and make our part good with him. If he ruin our houses, we will repair them, and make them stronger and finer than they were before. Our landlord shall not turn us out of doors, though we pay him no rent, but we will keep in possession. If the houses that were built of bricks be demolished in the war, we will rebuild them with hewn stones, that shall not so easily be thrown down. If the enemy cut down the sycamores, we will plant cedars in the room of them. We will make a hand of God's judgments, gain by them, and so outbrave them."

John Gill (1697-1771) in his commentary on Isaiah 9:10 wrote:

"The sycamores are cut down; which grew in the fields, and outer parts of the cities, and were but a mean sort of wood, and which the Assyrians cut down to serve several purposes in their siege; of this sort of trees, ... but we will change them into cedars; that is, will plant cedars in place of them; trees tall and large, very delightful to look at, of great worth and usefulness, and very durable; though this may regard not so much the planting of them as the use of them in building, and the sense be agreeable to the former clause; that as, instead of brick, they would build houses with hewn stone; so, instead of sycamore wood, which was not so substantial and durable, and fit for building, they would make use of cedar, which was both beautiful and lasting. ... [T]hey flattered themselves they should be gainers, and not losers, by the Assyrian invasion; thus deriding it, and despising the prophecy concerning it.”

Now note the following parallels of Isaiah 9:9-10 and 9/11:

1. A sycomore was cut down:

A falling steel beam from the North Tower of the World Trade Center struck down a sycomore tree at the northwest corner of the graveyard knocking it over and protecting Saint Paul's Chapel where George Washington had prayed on the day of the founding of America on April 30, 1789!

On September 14th Saint Paul’s was finally inspected for damage. Unlike the buildings on the same street, Church Street to the Northwest, across from the Twin Towers Saint Paul’s sustained no damage. The workers expected to find a pile of rubble, but not a bit of the walls or the roof had been damaged. There was only a cracked window, but the building’s structure was as sound as it had ever been.

2. The sycamore was changed:

On November 22, 2003 a 21 foot tall Norway Spruce, dubbed "the Tree of Hope," was lifted into the same place that the sycamore had stood at the northwest corner of the Saint Paul's property.

The Norway Spruce (of the Genus & Species: Picea abies) is the same kind of tree, a pine, as the "cedar" (Cedrus libani) spoken of in Isaiah 9:10. They are both in the same biological Kingdom (Plantae), Division (Pinophyta), Class (Pinopsida), Order (Pinales) and Family (Pinaceae).

During it's dedication ceremony as it was being lowered to the place where the sycamore once stood, a clergyman said: "We are gathered here today on holy ground. Ground hallowed by its witness to the dust, and death and destruction of September 11th. The ground is sanctified by our presence here as we dedicate this Tree of Hope in witness the divine within each of us." That phrase, "the divine within each of us" is not Christian, but is occult New Age language, and no ground is sanctified or made holy by any man's presence.

Furthermore, there is NO "divine within each of us," but only in those who are "born again" believers in the Lord Jesus Christ (John 3:5-16; 1 Pet 1:18-23; James 1:18, 21; Titus 3:5), and the witness to it is not a tree, but is God Himself! That is the only way people may become "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4).

This pine tree was decorated and used as a pagan christmas tree. The Word of God tells us that we should not learn the way of pagans such as in setting up idolatrous trees:

"Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen. ... For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not." (Jeremiah 10:2-4)

3. In pride and stoutness of heart National, State and local leaders said, we will build:

We have already seen what Tom Daschle and John Edwards said, even using the very words that God used to curse Israel (Isaiah 9:10), but not understanding that they pronounced a curse on America, because the Country is sinful before the Lord. However, the Governor of New York, and Mayor of New York City spoke "in pride and stoutness of heart" likewise:

In a speech on the Senate Floor of the United States on September 12, 2001 Skull and Bones Senator John Kerry said:

"I believe one of the first things we should commit to - with federal help that underscores our nation's purpose - is to rebuild the towers of the World Trade Center and show the world we are not afraid - we are defiant." (John Kerry Speech on 09/12/2001)

New York City Mayor, Rudolph Giuliani said on the day of the crisis:

"We will rebuild: We're going to come out of this stronger than before, politically stronger, economically stronger. The skyline will be made whole again." (Quoted in the article by Tess Taylor entitled: Should the Twin Towers be Rebuilt).

New York State Governor, George E. Pataki said the following on the 4th of July 2004:

"Today we build the Freedom Tower. ... Let this great Freedom Tower show the world that what our enemies sought to destroy, our democracy, our freedom, our way of life -- stands taller than ever." (Governor Pataki's complete speech, Laying of the Cornerstone for Freedom Tower, is available here in pdf format.)

The first openly sodomite state governor in United States history, New Jersey Governor James E. McGreevey, usurped God Almighty's words concerning the building of His second Temple at the return of the Jews from the 70 year Babylonian captivity. Governor McGreevey said this on the July 4, 2004 at the dedication of the Freedom Tower:

"The glory of this latter house shall exceed the former." (Book of Haggai 2:9. See New York Times story, Rebirth Marked by Cornerstone at Ground Zero by David W. Dunlap, July 5, 2004).

4. The bricks are fallen down:

The fallen bricks and most everything else that once stood at Ground Zero was reduced to dust and ashes, and piles of twisted and molten metal.

Richard Pyle in his January 4, 2002 Associated Press article makes it sound better than it actually was. Pyle wrote this concerning the World Trade Center site:

"For three months, the 16-acre site had the look of post-World War II Berlin with its buildings skeletonized and reduced to piles of bricks by Allied bombing raids." (Source: The Attack and Aftermath article: Changes continue at World Trade Center site as visitors get more of a glimpse into wreckage)

5. They say, we will build with hewn stones:

The symbol of Israel's rebuilding was the quarried stone. The first stone used in the construction of the Freedom Tower was the hewn stone from New York granite which was lowered by crane in a ceremony on July 4, 2004. Governor George Pataki said this at the ceremony:

"Today is indeed, a momentous day. Today we take 20 tons of Adirondack granite -- the bedrock of our state -- and place it as the foundation, the bedrock of a new symbol of American strength and confidence. Today, we lay the cornerstone for a new symbol of this city and this country and of our resolve in the face of terror. Today we build the Freedom Tower." (New York Lays Cornerstone For Freedom Tower, CNN).

Here we have seen 5 clear cut parallels from Isaiah 9:9-10 between the only two nations in history that were founded upon the truth of the one true God and His holy Word. Namely Israel and the United States. The have been fulfilled upon Israel to the letter, and are likewise being fulfilled upon America in our day. God gave warning before hand of more severe judgment if left unheeded.

Again the 5 prophetic signs seen both in ancient Israel and modern America were: 1) Sycomores were cut down by the enemy; 2) Bricks had been knocked down by the enemy; 3) In pride and defiance leaders said, we will rebuild; 4) The sycamores were replaced with pine trees; 5) They laid hewn stones in the place the fallen brick. The bottom line: Israel went into captivity; America has been warned!

But that is not all. There are more prophetic signs of warning!

MORE AMAZING PROPHECIES POINTING PEOPLE TO CHRIST BEFORE THE SOON COMING TRIBULATION:

1. The sign of the Shamittah and Jubile that occurred just after 9/11 on the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement:

Deuteronomy 15:1-2 says:

"At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release [shamittah], And this is the manner of the release [shamittah]: Every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbour shall release [shamat] it; he shall not exact it of his neighbour, or of his brother; because it is called the LORD’S release [shamittah]."

The Hebrew "shamita" or "shamittah" (literally: "release") begins on the first day of the new Sabbatical Year or seven year cycle. Personal debts are considered forgiven as of the end of this 7th year. This day also ends the year long rest of the land which was mandated in the Law of Moses for the Land of Israel (Ex. 23:10-11; Lev. 25:1-7; Deut. 15:1-9, 31:10-11). The land rests during the seventh year, just as no work was to be done on the seventh day.

The Hebrew Calendar has two different New Years: One for the Biblical Feast Days which begins on the first of the seven feasts, Passover (during the March / April time frame; The Biblical month of Nisan, also called Abib). The other is the Civil Calendar that begins during the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah, which means "the head of the year") on the first day of the Jewish month of Tishrei (September / October time frame). The first of Tishrei is when the numbered year changes, and this date is most significant for determining the Shemittah (release) and Yovel (Jubile) years. The Jubile come after 7 Shemittahs (49 years), at the beginning of the 50th year on the 10th of Tishrei which is the Day of Atonement.

The Shemittah is still observed in contemporary Judaism. Since the reestablishment of Israel in 1948 the Shamittah years have been observed in 1950-1951 (The Hebrew calendar year of 5712), 1958-1959 (5719), 1965-1966 (5726), 1972-1973 (5733), 1979-1980 (5740), 1986-1987 (5747), 1993-1994 (5754), 2000-2001 (5761), 2007-2008 (5768). The next Shamittah will be 2014-2015 (5775).

Today the Jubile is not observed, because all 12 tribes must be present in the land, but all 12 cannot be identified at this time. However, if it was observed, the latest Jubile would have began on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) on September 27, 2001, and the most recent Shemittah began on September 30, 2008.

It is interesting that just after 9/11 when the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) reopened on September 17, 2001, after having been closed for a week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closed down 7%, having fallen 684 points by the end of trading. It was the biggest-ever one-day point decline up until that time. By the end of the week, the DJIA had fallen 1369.7 points (14.3%), its largest one-week point drop in history. It cannot be a coincidence that by the time the NYSE closed it was Tishrei 1, 5762 in Israel on the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashana) which was also the Shemittah, the day of the release of debts. (See September 2001 Calendar with Biblical months, days and feast days)

But that's not all! Seven years later and the next Shemittah on September 30, 2008, in Israel, the 29th in New York the same thing happened again. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 7% again, having dropped 777 points. Approximately $1.2 trillion of the market value was lost. (See September 2008 Calendar with Biblical months, days and feast days)

2. The next Shamittah will occur in conjunction with the 7th Passover / Tabernacles Lunar Tetreds:












In 2005, artist Steve Tobin created a ten-foot-tall bronze sculpture of a sycamore tree’s root structure fo Trinity Wall Street. The sycamore in question is known as “the tree that saved St. Paul’s Chapel,” because it took the brunt of damage from debris falling from the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, and the chapel remained relatively unscathed.

REPENTANCE

Misunderstood Repentance
An Enemy of Soul Winning
By Jack Hyles

Answered by John Henry
Over and over again the question is asked me, "Is repentance necessary for salvation?" Of course, this is of utmost importance. Anything that deals with the way a person can escape the fires of eternal Hell and go to Heaven to live forever is of vital importance. In this chapter, we will address this most important question.

1. First, we need to find what makes one lost. Please notice John 3:18, "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." It is very plain in this verse what makes a person lost. Notice the words, "he that believeth not is condemned already." A person who does not believe is condemned, so not believing is what makes a person lost.

Agreed!

Bear in mind, the word "believing" is the Greek word which means "to rely upon." When one believes on Christ, he simply relies on Him to save him and take him to Heaven when he dies. It is very plain here that what condemns a person is believing not. Then notice it says, "because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." Once again, we are told what makes a person lost - because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. It is as simple as that.

Good! Agreed!

Now look at John 3:36, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." Again, we are trying to decide and determine what makes one lost. It is very plain here. Notice the word believeth, "and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." What keeps a person from seeing life? Believing not! What makes the wrath of God abide on a person? Believing not! So, from what must a person repent in order to be saved? He must repent of that which makes him lost. Since "believing not" makes him lost, "believing" makes him saved. The repentance there is a turning from the thing that keeps him from being saved to the thing that saves him. So, yes, there is a repentance from unbelief in order to believe. It is simply a change of direction. It means a turning around. You are going away from believing, and you decide to turn around and believe. You change your direction; you change your mind. With your will you believe and rely upon Christ to save you. In order to believe, you have to repent of unbelief. That which makes a man lost must be corrected.

An erroneous and incomplete explanation! Belief is the second part of one's turning.  Yes, repentance is turning from unbelief, but it is also a turning from what caused Christ's bloody death on the cross, namely one's sin.  Just because a thing is mentioned in a verse of Scripture, in this case belief, and another is not, in this case, repentance, does not mean the latter is not also required.

Now turn to John 5:40, "And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." Oh, how simple this is, and yet how plain! Why does a person not have life, according to this verse? Because he will not come to Christ. So, if a person is going away from Christ, he must turn around and come to Christ, which is a change of direction or a change of mind. This is repentance - repenting of the thing that keeps one from being saved, repenting from "going away" to "coming to."

Agreed!  However, our "going away" from Christ includes one's love of his sins.  In order to turn to Christ (believe), one must turn from (repent) sin.

Notice Isaiah 53:6, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." Especially notice the words, "we have turned every one to his own way." That's what not being saved is - turning to our own way. Now if we turn to God's way, which is putting our faith and trust in Jesus, we turn around from going our own way to going His way, from unbelief to belief. This is Bible repentance. Bear in mind, it is the faith that saves. The turning around is necessary in order to put our faith in Christ. One must repent from that thing that keeps him from being saved in order to be saved.

Agreed!  However, the phrase, "we have turned every one to his own way" indicates our sin, our transgressions, and our iniquities that must be turned from!

If a person were saved by good works, then he would have to repent of bad works, or of not doing good works, in order to be saved. If a person were saved by quitting his sinning, then he would have to repent of his sinning in order to be saved. A person is saved by believing, so he repents of his unbelief or turns from his unbelief in order to be saved.

What a misrepresentation of the Doctrine of Repentance!  Repentance has nothing to do with works, but has to do with "godly sorrow" which causes a turning from sin (repentance) to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (faith).  No Bible believer that I know of believes that Repentance is a work, much less, a work for salvation!  Repentance if a turning from sin to God for salvation in Christ!

"...  I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, REPENTANCE TOWARD GOD, AND FAITH TOWARD OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST." (Acts 20:20-21)

"Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.  FOR GODLY SORROW WORKETH REPENTANCE TO SALVATION not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death." (2 Corinthians 7:9-10) 

"For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing.  For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how YE TURNED TO GOD FROM IDOLS TO SERVE THE LIVING AND TRUE GOD;  And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come." (1 Thessalonians 1:8-10)

Let us look at the verses that teach us we are saved by belief.

John 3:15, "That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life."

John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

John 3.18, "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

John 3:36, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."

Acts 16:31, "And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house."

The not mentioning of something in a verse does not negate the fact of the thing. The second half of the turning in salvation (faith) being mentioned in a verse doesn't mean the first part (repentance) does not exist.  Christ Jesus began His earthly ministry preaching repentance and He ended it with the command to continue preaching repentance:

"... Jesus came into Galilee, PREACHING the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: REPENT YE, AND BELIEVE THE GOSPEL." (Mark 1:14-15) 

"... thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:  And that REPENTANCE and remission OF SINS SHOULD BE PREACHED in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." (Luke 24:46-47)

There are those who say we have to repent of our sins in order to be saved. No, we have to repent only of the thing that makes us unsaved, and that is unbelief. If a person needs to turn from his sins in order to be saved, what sins does he turn from? Does he turn from pride? Does he turn from selfishness? Does he turn from covetousness? The truth is, nobody can turn from all of his sins until he is raptured and he receives a body like the body of the Saviour. I John 3:2, "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." According to Psalm 19:12, we do not even know all of our sins. David said, "Cleanse thou me from secret faults." What he is talking about here is being cleansed from faults he doesn't even know he has. A person, when he is first saved, does not know all the things that he is doing that are wrong, and if a person has to repent of all of his sins, where is growth in grace? Where is being a babe in Christ? Where does the carnal Christian fit in here?

Just as faith is an act of the heart, so likewise is repentance.  Neither are works. Both are a simultaneous turning in the heart from all that offends God (sin) to Christ (faith).  This is the part of man in salvation.  When one does this then God does His work of regeneration and we are born again, we receive a "pardon," our sins are "blotted out," and "the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord."  

"Therefore also now, saith the LORD, TURN YE EVEN TO ME WITH ALL YOUR HEART, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And REND YOUR HEART, and not your garments, and TURN UNTO THE LORD YOUR GOD: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil." (Joel 2:12-13)

"... As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked TURN FROM HIS WAY AND LIVE: TURN YE, TURN YE FROM YOUR EVIL WAYS ..." (Ezekiel 33:11)

"Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." (Isaiah 55:7)

"Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord." (Acts 3:19)

"... I [Jesus] send thee, to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me [Jesus]. ... I [Paul] was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision:  But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should REPENT and TURN to God, and do works meet for repentance." (Acts 26:18-20)

Now don't misunderstand me. I am certainly for separation and for living a godly life, but the cleansing of our lives is not done by us any more than salvation is done by us. Salvation is simply repenting of unbelief, and believing, and letting Christ save us. We yield to Him to save us; He does! Immediately the Holy Spirit comes in to live. The Holy Spirit begins His work of cleansing in our lives. He is the one Who cleanses, just as he is the one Who saves. He is the one Who points our sins out to us after we are saved just as He is the one Who saves us when we are saved.

Yes, God is the One who cleanses us repeatedly after we are born again, but He is the One that also cleanses us when we first repent of our sins, and trust Christ Jesus.

":.. REPENT, AND TURN YOURSELVES FROM ALL YOUR TRANSGRESSIONS; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.  Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and MAKE YOU A NEW HEART AND A NEW SPIRIT ..." (Ezekiel 18:30-31)

This chapter is being dictated in San Antonio, Texas. I am sitting in a Holiday Inn. Tomorrow morning early I will catch a plane for Chicago. Let's suppose I get on that plane, and I am trusting the pilot to take me to Chicago. I do not know how to operate the plane, nor do I know the route to Chicago by air. There is nothing I can do to get myself to Chicago by that plane. I trust the pilot to get me there. So, we get up in the air thousands of feet high, and let's suppose I get a knife and cut up the seat in front of me. Now, where am I going? I'm still going to Chicago. Why? I repented of "not trusting the plane to take me" to "trusting the plane to take me."

The stewardess comes and says, "Mr. Hyles, what are you doing back here?" I say, "I'm just cutting up a little bit!"

Then suppose I reach up and cut off a lock of her hair. Now where am I going? I'm going to Chicago. You see, how I behave on the flight does not determine my destination.

So, the stewardess goes to the pilot and says, "Mr. Hyles, back in seat 14A is causing some disturbance. Look at my hair. Go back and look at the seat." The pilot leaves the plane in the hands of the co-pilot and comes back to seat 14A and says, "Mr. Hyles, what are you doing back here?" He looks at the seat I've cut up, he sees the lock of hair that I've cut off the stewardess, and I reach out and cut off his tie. Now where am I going? I'm going to Chicago. That was all determined when I got on the airplane. Now the truth is, I will not enjoy Chicago as much as I would have enjoyed it, nor will I go to the part of Chicago I'd planned to, but I'm still going to Chicago.

Agreed.  "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;  13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. 14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire." (1 Corinthians 3:11-15)

When we put our faith and trust in Christ, and repent of unbelief, and believe, God's Holy Spirit comes in to live and begins to straighten us out. He points out our sins, and as we yield to Him, He cleanses us from our sins. If we misbehave on the journey, we are still going to Heaven, because we go to Heaven by trusting Christ to take us there. The Holy Spirit Who came in to live begins to point out things that we should and should not do. If we do not obey Him, if we misbehave on the journey, we will still go to Heaven; we simply will not enjoy it as much as we would have had we behaved, just as I would not enjoy Chicago as much as I would have had I behaved.

Agreed.

I know a young man who recently got married. He got an apartment several months before he got married and lived there alone until the wedding took place. What a mess that apartment was! His pants were hung on the bedpost, his shoes were left on the floor beside the bed, and the bed was never made. Then one day he got married. Now how did he get married? He got married by turning from being single to being married. He repented of not being married and got married. When he took his new bride to the apartment, she was aghast, but immediately she began to straighten things up. She put his shoes in the closet, took his shirt off the chair, removed his clothes off the bedpost, and made a lovely little apartment out of the mess that he had made. Now he was not married because he cleaned up his apartment; he was married because he repented of that thing that kept him from being married. He repeated the vows and accepted her as his wife. It was then that she came in; it was then that his apartment began to get clean!

Good example to a point.  That point being that his new wife is not Almighty Jehovah, holy, just, righteous and true.  Suppose that mess was the SIN of the young man and he was lost, and rather than a new wife, he came face to face with God through the mirror of His holy Word.  As there are steps and conditions in getting married, the same is true in receiving Jesus Christ.  At a bare minimum, in this new case, he would first need to gain knowledge of 1) the holiness and justice of God, and 2) the love, mercy and grace of God.  Number one here is called "the fear of the Lord."  The Bible tells us exactly what "the fear of the Lord" is:

Proverbs 2:1, 5:  "My son, IF thou wilt RECEIVE My words ... then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God."

Proverbs 1:7:  "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction."

Proverbs 9:10:  "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding."

Psalms 111:10:  "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever."

Job 28:28:  "... Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding."

Proverbs 14:27:  "The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death."

Proverbs 16:6:  "By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil."

Proverbs 3:7:  "Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil." (cf. Prov 8:13, 10:27, 14:26, 15:16, 33, 19:9. 23, 22:4, 23:17)

Any one who will receive the Word of God which teaches us that it is "by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil" (turn from or repent), and put his trust in Jesus Christ who died in his place (turn to or believe) then he will be born again, and thus saved.  Anyone who does not fear the Lord will meet the Lord at the Great White Throne Judgment:

"I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;  27 When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.  28 Then shall they call upon Me, but I will not answer; they shall seek Me early, but they shall not find Me:  29 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:  30 They would none of My counsel: they despised all My reproof.  31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.  32 For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them." (Proverbs 1:26-32)

Above we do not see the lost "turn to the Lord" (2 Cor 3:15-16; cf. Acts 26:20; Deut 4:30; Hos 14:1-2), but rather rejection of God's calling, their "turning away" (Prov 1:32).  The Holy Spirit ends Proverbs 1 with these words:  "But WHOSO HEARKENETH unto Me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil." (Proverbs 1:33)  Harken to what?  Harken to repent or "choose the fear of the LORD."

"And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.  But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: FEAR HIM, WHICH AFTER HE HATH KILLED HATH POWER TO CAST INTO HELL; yea, I say unto you, Fear Him." (Luke 12:4-5)

Case in point: In Luke 23 we have the salvation of one thief who had "the fear the Lord" and put his faith in Jesus, another who did not "fear God" and trust Him.  

"And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. 40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, DOST NOT THOU FEAR GOD, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. 42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. 43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise." (Luke 23:39-43)

This thief on the cross with Christ was saved the exact same way all are saved:  1) he feared God, recognizing his own sin and that he deserved his punishment (this is called repentance), and 2) he realized that Jesus was sinless, that He was Lord (God) and that He was willing and able to save him (this is called faith).  The thief repented and put his faith in Jesus Christ to take him to paradise.  There was no ability or time for works whatsoever!  It was a turning in his heart from sin to God.  This is the same way I was saved.  It is the only way anyone has ever been, or ever will be saved.  When we do this, then God does His part and regenerates us and makes us His sons and daughters in Christ!   

Practically every false doctrine comes from getting things out of order. God's divine order is salvation, then change; not change and then salvation! If one has to be changed to be saved, that's salvation by works. It is also salvation by the flesh. The truth is, one is cleansed from the sins of the flesh just as he is saved; by yielding to the Holy Spirit and letting Him do His work.

It is agreed that practically every false doctrine comes from getting things out of order.  In this case repentance is the first part (faith being the second) of an instantaneous turning from sin to the Lord, from falsehood to Truth, from the Devil to Jesus Christ.  Works have nothing to do with it!  The new birth has everything to do with it!  An instantaneous receiving of Jesus Christ by way of the Word of Truth into our hearts through repentance and faith on our part enables God to regenerate the residue of our dead spirits.

"He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.  Whosoever is BORN OF GOD doth not commit sin; for His seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is BORN OF GOD. ... We know that whosoever is BORN OF GOD sinneth not; but he that is BEGOTTEN OF GOD keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not." (1 John 3:8-9, 5:18; cf. Malachi 2:15: "And did not He make one? Yet had He the residue of the spirit ... that He might seek a godly seed" [see Gen. 2:24; Eph 2:1, 5]. Malachi 2:15 speaks of one's dead spirit before we are born again.  The part of us that "cannot sin" is our born again spirit, not our soul and body, but these will also be made perfect and sinless at the Rapture when we receive our glorified bodies.)

"Blessed be the GOD AND FATHER of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy HATH BEGOTTEN US AGAIN unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,  to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,  Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. ... Being BORN AGAIN, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, BY THE WORD OF GOD, which liveth and abideth for ever." (1 Peter 1:3-5, 23)

"Of his own will begat he us with THE WORD OF TRUTH, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. ... Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and RECEIVE WITH MEEKNESS THE ENGRAFTED WORD, which is able to save your souls." (James 1:18, 21)

"[The Father] hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: in Whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:" (Colossians 1:13-14)

"But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, 5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the WASHING OF REGENERATION, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; 7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." (Titus 3:4-7)

"Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again." (John 3:7)

"Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because GREATER IS HE THAT IS IN YOU, than he that is in the world. ... And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. ... He that believeth on the Son of God HATH THE WITNESS IN HIMSELF: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son." (1 John 4:4, 5:6, 10)

2. You can repent of something other than sin. Matthew 7:3, "Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders." Notice that Judas repented. Now what does it mean? It means he repented about keeping the money. He had sold our Saviour for thirty pieces of silver; he changed his mind and took the silver back. A change of mind and change of direction took place, but it had nothing to do with salvation. He had made a bad deal; he regretted he had made that bad deal, and he tried to correct it.

Everybody who lives in sin eventually repents, but they do not repent of unbelief. They change their mind about sin. No one lives in sin without realizing later that it did not bring the joy, happiness, peace and contentment that it claimed to bring. I talk to people every week who are tired of their sins, unhappy in their sinful life or living a miserable, wretched life because of the results of sin. What have they done? They have changed their mind about sin, and in some cases, they even quit their sin - at least that sin which was most predominant in their lives. You can repent of sin without repenting of unbelief. Such was the case with Judas. No doubt he repented that he had done wrong. He certainly repented of the bad deal he had made. He turned around, changed his mind and brought the money back, but he did not repent of that thing from which he must repent in order to be saved, and that is unbelief.

Agreed, one can repent of sin without repenting of unbelief, but this does not change the fact that the RIGHT kind of repentance is essential for salvation.  That is, the kind of repentance the thief on the cross had.  Namely: repentance in "the fear of the Lord" (Prov 1:29, Lk 23:40), and in "godly sorrow" (2 Cor 7:10).  Not a mere change of action, direction or mind, but a change of direction toward God's judgment and hell, and a change of heart concerning one's sin that nailed Jesus to the cross.  This  immediately accompanied by faith in Christ Jesus' willingness and ability to save from hell.  The fact that God repents or changes in the course of His actions, or that Judas and others often repent without receiving Christ is irrelevant. 

3. God repents. Notice Genesis 6:6, "And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart." Bear in mind, the word "repent" means "change of mind." God made man and wished He hadn't. He was grieved because of what man had done, and He repented that He had made man. This does not mean that God repented from sin, because God could not sin; He simply changed His mind, which He does often. Basically, that is what answered prayer is much of the time.

Now notice I Samuel 15:35, "And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the Lord repented that he had made Saul king over Israel." God had made Saul king over Israel. The truth is that God did not want to do so, but Israel clamored for a king. Saul was chosen to be that king, but it then did not turn out as it should have. So, in this verse it simply says that God repented that He had made Saul king. He changed His mind.

What I'm saying is, there is repentance other than repentance from sin. A lady can change her mind about the kind of perfume she wears. A man can change his mind about the kind of food he eats or the kind of clothes he wears. He can change his direction concerning his manners. You can repent from discourtesy to courtesy. You can repent from stubbornness to leniency. You can repent from impatience to patience, but those things don't save. Repenting from the thing that makes you lost is the thing that makes you saved, and that is, repenting of your unbelief.

Now notice Exodus 32:9-14, "And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation. And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand? Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and thy shall inherit it for ever. And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people."

Let me paraphrase the story. God said to Moses, "I'm sick and tired of the people and their rebellion. Get out of the way so I can consume them." Moses came to God and said, "Lord, don't do that. You're the One Who brought the people out of the land of Egypt, and if You consume them, the heathen people are going to criticize You. Not only that! You promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that you would multiply their seed and that You would give them the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession." Moses pleaded his case before God, reminding God what God had promised. Then verse 14 simply says, "The LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people." The word "evil" here means something that would cause them pain; it's not talking about sin. God decided not to hurt them after all. He decided not to consume them after all. He changed His mind, but He did not change His mind concerning a sin, because God cannot sin.

Now turn to Jonah 3:9, 10, "Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not."

God was going to punish Nineveh. Jonah had preached in Nineveh and had warned the people that destruction was coming. The people believed God, turned from their unbelief to belief, and God changed His mind about punishing the people. In verse 10 the Bible says, "And God repented of the evil that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not."

Again, God simply changed His mind and changed His direction. He was going to punish; they believed; He decided not to punish. He changed from the direction of punishing to the direction of not punishing. This is repentance, but not repentance from sin, because God cannot sin.

Look at Amos 7:3, "The Lord repented for this: It shall not be, saith the Lord."

Amos 7:6, "The Lord repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord God."

So, repentance does not always deal with salvation and sin; it is simply a change of direction or a change of mind.

In reality God never changes His mind, although He speaks thus, because He knows the end from the beginning, but does change His courses of action.

"Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like Me,  declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure." (Isaiah 46:9-10)

Note that in Genesis 6:6 that Godly sorrow was involved in the Lord's course of action:

"And it repented the LORD that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at His heart." (Genesis 6:6)

Also note that men repenting of sin (the fear of the LORD) does cause God to repent Himself of sending people to hell:

"He looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not;  28 He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light.  29 Lo, all these things worketh God oftentimes with man,  30 to bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the living." (Job 33:27-30)

Again the fact that God repents of one course of action in lieu of another, or that the word, "repent" is not always used concerning "repentance to salvation" (2 Cor 7:10) does not change the fact that it is the first part before faith, the turning from sin before the turning to God. 

Again these arguments are irrelevant. 

4. Now we consider repentance and salvation. Look at Acts 3:19, "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord."

Peter is preaching here. He tells the people to repent and be converted. Now we have to go back to what saves. John 3:14-16, 18, 36, "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. He that believeth on him is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." Acts 16:31, "And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house."

So these people had to repent from not believing and believe in order that they might be converted. They had to change directions, change their minds.

The above tenet has already been proven false.

Let me say again that I do not believe for a second that Christian people should live like the Devil. No preacher preaches separation more than I do. I simply believe that that separation is a work of the Holy Spirit just like regeneration is a work of the Holy Spirit, and it starts after one has repented from that which makes him lost, and that is unbelief. When this is done, he believes, he is saved. Then the Holy Spirit comes in and begins to tell the Christian what sins from which he should repent. The man changed his mind about unbelief. The Holy Spirit directed him there. Now the Holy Spirit comes in to live and begins to change his mind about other things.

This is true to a point.  Repentance is a change of direction. For God it is a change of action. For man it is a change of heart. Unbelief is sin; and not trusting Christ is the greatest sin of all (it is the unpardonable sin). All have offended the Holy One and will stand guilty of all the sins they have ever committed without Christ (cf. Rev. 20:12 below). "The fear of the Lord" (fear of God's power to cast into hell as punishment for sin), and "godly sorrow" for offending God work the turning in the heart (repentance) that God requires. In order to turn to Jesus one must turn from his sin. He must see that there is a great price to pay if he does not Repent.  Furthermore, "The fear of the Lord" and "godly sorrow" do not end at the moment of the new birth, just as the Holy Spirit's teaching, convicting and our repenting of sins do not end there.

Revelation 20:12: "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works."

Now look at Acts 2:38, "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."

Peter is saying, "Change your mind and be baptized." Now, about what did they change their minds? This is answered in verse 41. Look at what they did in response. "They gladly received His Word, and then they were baptized." So what was this repentance? It was repentance from not receiving His Word to receiving His Word. That's all Peter was saying. He was saying, "Change your mind about receiving the Word," which states that you must believe and repent from unbelief in order to be saved.

Again this is not merely a change of mind, but a change of heart through "the fear of the Lord" and "godly sorrow" for murdering the Saviour.  Note that after preaching the death burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, Peter, spoke of Christ's "foes" or "enemies" (Ps 110:1) invoking "the fear of the Lord," and then said "that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye [meaning both us and them] have crucified, both Lord and Christ." This caused "godly sorrow" to prick their hearts so they ask what was required of them.  This was more than just unbelief convicting them. Read what it says:

"For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,  35 Until I make thy foes thy footstool.  36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.  37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?  38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." (Acts 2:34-38)

Now what did they repent of? It was for being the enemies of God and for murdering the Lord Jesus Christ.  These are the greatest sins imaginable, not only unbelief, although that is included.

"But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:5-6)

Now turn to Acts 17:30, "And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent." Notice God commandeth all men every where to repent. Repent from what? Repent from the thing that keeps them lost, and that's unbelief. What corrects this? Look at Acts 17:34, "Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Dammaris, and others with them." Notice it said, "certain men believed." So, when he said, "repent," he was saying "repent from unbelief and believe," because just as in Acts 2:38 and 41 a command was given to repent, and the believing was the obedience to that command. They changed their mind about belief. They decided to believe instead of not believe.

"And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:  Because He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." (Acts 17:30-31)

Why does "God ... now command... all men every where to repent"?  The answer is in the following verse: "Because He hath appointed A DAY, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained ..." (cf. Rev. 20:12). Who is "that man whom he hath ordained" by whom "He will judge the world in righteousness."  It is Jesus Christ to whom they must turn to in "the fear of the Lord" and "godly sorrow," because they have sinned against Him, because they are His enemies, because they murdered Him, and because they have not trusted in Him.

Now look at Mark 1:15, "And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel."

Jesus Himself is saying repent, and notice immediately He says, "repent, and believe." What He was saying is, "Quit unbelieving, and believe. Quit not believing, and believe." Again, I'm not saying a Christian should live like the Devil, but I am saying that changing your life does not save you. That's salvation by works. Faith is what saves you. You turn from unbelief to belief; from no faith to faith, and then repentance from sins begins, because He Who convicted you from the sin of unbelief to believing now lives in you. How easy it is now for Him to convict you day by day of other things from which you can repent and about which you can change your mind.

5. Repentance from sin is directed to God's people.

Absolutely!  However, as we have seen God also "... commandeth all men every where to repent:  Because He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained ..." (Acts 17:30-31)

Revelation 2:5, "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

Here is a case of a church that was a good church. It was a church that worked. It worked hard. It hated sin. It was doctrinally sound. Revelation 2:2, "I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars." It was a patient church. It was a church that believed in the name of Jesus and did not faint in their standing for that. Revelation 2:3, "And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted." However, it was a church that had left its first love. It does not say that that church lost its first love, but they left their first love. When you lose something, you don't know where it is. When you leave something, you know where to find it. It does not say that this church did not love any more. The truth is they did love. Love is what made them faithful, what made them work, what made them have patience, what made them hate sin, what made them stand for the name of Jesus, what made them hate false doctrine. This was a church of people who loved God, but they had left their first love - that first sweet love - maybe more shallow than the love they had then.

It does not say that they loved Him less. The truth is they probably loved Him more, but God is saying, "I want both. I want the deep, mature love that you have now and the sweet expressive love that you used to have.

The only sin this church had committed was the sin of leaving their first love -that "Amen!" love, that "Hallelujah!" love, that "Glory to God!" love, that sweet, expressive love. Nevertheless, they sinned, and God told them to repent. Repent from what? Repent from drinking? No. Repent from adultery? No. This is not the subject here. It's repenting from not loving Christ with the first love.

This same type repentance was commanded to the church in Pergamos. Revelation 2:16, "Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and willfight against them with the sword of my mouth." The same thing was said to the church at Thyatira in Revelation 2:21, 22, "And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds." The church in Sardis was told likewise to repent in Revelation 3:3, "Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee." The church at Laodicea received the same command in Revelation 3:19, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent."

Both saved and lost must repent as is taught by the Lord Jesus in His letters to the seven churches.  For example:

The Church at Pergamos (Revelation 2:12-17):

"But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.  Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth."  (Revelation 2:14-16)

In this passage Jesus is speaking to the Pastor or "angel of the church in Pergamos" who was tolorating lost people in his Church who held "the doctrine of the Nicolaitans" and "the doctrine of Balaam."  These false doctrines were the beginnings of Roman Catholicism. These false teaching were offences that required church discipline as prescribed in Matthew 18:15-20 and 1 Corinthians 5.  The Pastor of the church in Pergamos was negligent and needed to repent of this sin.

The Church at Thyatira (Revelation 2:18-29):

"Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.  And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.  Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.  And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works." (Revelation 2:20-23)

Here again we have a pastor who was negligent and needed to repent. But notice too that "that woman Jezebel" was given "space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not."   This false prophetess was clearly unsaved, and what she needed to repent of was clearly sin.  The Lord says that He would cast "them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation."  This is prophetic language speaking again of Roman Catholicism, this time full blown, after the Rapture and in the Tribulation.  Be sure that they needed to turn from their sin of unbelief, but also of their sinful "deeds."  Some of those in this church were God's "servants" (saved), but others were "her children" (lost).  Both needed repentance!

So you can see that God tells individuals to repent; He also tells groups to repent. He tells nations to repent. Time and time again He called Israel to repentance.

Agreed.  However, what I am trying to zero in on is repentance unto salvation.

Now let us review, as follows:

1. God says to the unsaved, "Repent of your unbelief."

It's very interesting that in I John the word "repentance" is never mentioned, and yet the purpose of I John was to give people the assurance of salvation. I John 5:13, "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God." Of course, repentance is certainly implied throughout the entire book, because the book tells us that what saves is believing on Christ (or relying on Him) to save, which, of course, implies that that person must repent of what makes him lost, which is unbelief.

The thing that causes us to be lost in the first place is our sin nature received from Adam, and our own sin.  Again this is the way of repentance unto salvation:

"He shall pray unto God, and he will be favourable unto him: and he shall see His face with joy: for He will render unto man His righteousness.  27 He looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not;  28 He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light.  29 Lo, all these things worketh God oftentimes with man,  30 To bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the living." (Job 33:26-30)

"They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. ... 17 And the way of peace have they not known: 18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.  19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.  21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;  22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:  23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;  24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:  25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;  26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." (Romans 3:12, 17-26)

"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:  13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.  14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.  15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.  16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.  17 For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)  18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.  19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.  20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:  21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 5:12-21) 

"He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy." (Proverbs 28:13)

2. God says to the saved people, "Repent of sin." This is done by the Holy Spirit as He comes in to live to remind us to take the clothes off the bedpost, the shirt off the chair, put the shoes into the closet, etc.

Yes, saved people need to repent of their sins daily.

3. If a person must repent of his sins to be saved, of what sins must he repent? Can he repent of all of them? Isn't that sinless perfection or holiness? Isn't that salvation by works? Of what sin must one repent? He must repent of the sin that makes him lost, and that's the sin of unbelief.

One must repent (as already defined) of all his sins and put all his trust in Jesus Christ for his salvation.  Of course, it is not necessary to name every sin, but to acknowledge one's depraved and sinful condition, and desire for forgiveness.  This is what  one does when he receives God's Word which testifies that we need to receive Jesus Christ and Saviour.

"Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted Word, which is able to save your souls." (James 1:18, 21) 

"He came unto his own, and his own received him not.  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:  Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1:11-13) 

"Sanctify them through Thy Truth: Thy Word is Truth." (John 17:17)

"Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures." (James 1:18)

4. If turning from sins would get you saved, then turning back to sins would get you lost. In Acts 16:30 the very simple question is asked, "What must I do to be saved?" This is the one time in the Bible where this question is asked. Now the answer to this question must be what saves a person. Acts 16:31, "And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." There's the answer-belief. There is nothing about repentance here, except, yes, there is something about repentance, because you can't believe without repenting from unbelief.

Let's take the Bible in it's whole tenor and context, and not pick a verse out here and there to make up new doctrines.  We could take the following passage and just as easily say we only need to repent in order not to perish:

"There were ... some that told Him [Jesus] of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.  And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?  I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.  Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?  I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." (Luke 13:1-5)

But if we take the whole tenor of Scripture in context we find that there is a two fold turning from sin (repentance) to Jesus Christ (faith):

"... I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, ... and have taught you publickly, and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." (Acts 20:20)

This turning from and to is done in the fear of the Lord and in godly sorrow :

"The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death." (Proverbs 14:27)

"For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death." (2 Corinthians 7:10)

5. If a person has to clean up his own life before he gets saved, we are back to Arminianism or salvation by works.

This is a straw man that no baptist that I know of believes.  We do notbelieve in cleaning up our life before he gets saved; we believe in Biblical repentance and faith which produces the new birth into God's family.  God never disowns His children! When one receives Christ he is born again and cannot be unborn again.

"Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye MUST be born again." (John 3:7)

"I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall ALL likewise perish." (Luke 13:3)

"I said ..., that ye shall die in your sins: for IF YE BELIEVE NOT that I am he, ye shall die in your sins." (John 8:24)   "Jesus saith ..., I am the way, the truth, and the life: NO MAN cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6)   "NEITHER IS THERE SALVATION IN ANY OTHER: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:12)   "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time." (1 Timothy 2:5-6)

6. We cannot do what the Holy Spirit can do. The Holy Spirit first convicts us of our sin of unbelief to bring us to Christ. Once He brings us to Christ, He comes in us to live. Romans 8:9, "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spint of Christ, he is none of his." I Corinthians 6:19, 20, "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."

Amen!!!

Then when the Holy Spirit is in us, He begins to convict us of things in our lives that should be changed. Then the Christian life becomes a constant repenting until we wake in the likeness of Christ.

"If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings." (Jeremiah 26:3)

"How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?  23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.  24 Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;  25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:  26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;  27 When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.  28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:  29 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:  30 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.  31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.  32 For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.  33 But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil." (Proverbs 1:22-33)

"Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?  For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: WHEREFORE TURN YOURSELVES, AND LIVE YE." (Ezekiel 18:30-32)

"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)

---

From Chapter Four of Dr. Jack Hyles book The Enemies of Soul Winning, 1993.

See: http://www.RepentanceBlacklist.com

Answered By John Henry, November 26, 2011

See: JohnBaptistHenry.blogspot.com