Part 1 — Repentance — The Word That Empties Pews
Welcome to The Unpreached Bible
Last Friday we finished Ephesians still standing. Today we begin something new, and before we start I want to tell you plainly what it is. The Unpreached Bible is a Friday series on the parts of Scripture that many pulpits have gone quiet on — not because they have been taken out of the Book, but because they cost something to say. Words like repentance. Truths that call for change rather than comfort. They have not stopped being true; they have simply stopped being preached.
Paul could say to the elders of the church at Ephesus, For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God [Acts 20:27 KJV]. All the counsel — not just the parts that keep the pews full. That is the aim of this series. Each Friday we will take one of these neglected truths, open the Word on it, and ask what it means for the way we live. Not to load anyone with condemnation, but because All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness [2 Timothy 3:16 KJV] — and reproof and correction are part of the profit. So we begin where Jesus Christ Himself began.
The Word That Thinned the Crowd
When did you last hear a whole sermon on repentance? Not a passing mention tucked into the closing prayer, but a message that sat you down and told you plainly that you needed to change. For a great many believers the honest answer is that they can't remember, and some never have. Yet the Bible is anything but quiet about it. Repentance was the first word of Jesus Christ's public preaching: From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand [Matthew 4:17 KJV]. It was at the heart of Peter's first sermon on the day of Pentecost: Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins [Acts 2:38 KJV]. And Paul told the philosophers of Athens that God now commandeth all men every where to repent [Acts 17:30 KJV]. So how does a word that stands at the front of the New Testament end up at the back of the church?
The answer is uncomfortable. Repentance costs, and it empties pews. A message telling people they need to change will never be as popular as one telling them they are fine just as they are. Paul saw it coming: For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears [2 Timothy 4:3 KJV]. So the word is softened, then sidelined, then quietly dropped. The pulpit talks about blessing, purpose and breakthrough, and the one word that opens the door to all of it goes unsaid. But a church that will not say "repent" has not become kinder. It has simply stopped telling the truth.
What Jesus Actually Said
In Luke 13, some came to Jesus with the news of the day — Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. He knew what they were thinking: those people must have been worse sinners than the rest. He named eighteen more, killed when the tower in Siloam fell on them, and gave the same answer about both: I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish [Luke 13:3 KJV]. They wanted to talk about other people's sins, and He turned the conversation straight back on them. He said it twice in three verses. Jesus never chased a crowd by watering down the message. When His teaching was hard, many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him [John 6:66 KJV], and He let them go. His love never meant leaving people where He found them.
So what is repentance? It isn't a feeling, it isn't tears, and it certainly isn't a religious performance at the front of a meeting. It is a change of mind that produces a change of direction. Paul described his own preaching this way: that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance [Acts 26:20 KJV]. Repent and turn — the mind changes, and the feet follow. Sorrow may well be part of it, but sorrow on its own is not repentance: For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death [2 Corinthians 7:10 KJV]. Worldly sorrow is sorry it got caught. Godly sorrow is sorry it grieved God, and it does something about it.
Not Just the Front Door
Many believers think repentance belongs to the unbeliever — something done once at the start and then left behind. The New Testament says otherwise. When the Lord Jesus Christ spoke to the church at Ephesus, it was a busy, hard-working church that tested false teachers and would not put up with evil — yet it had left its first love. And to that church He said: Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works [Revelation 2:5 KJV]. That was spoken to a church, not to the world. John wrote to believers too: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [1 John 1:9 KJV]. Repentance isn't a door you walk through once and forget; it's the way a believer walks with God every day. Each time the Word shows you something in your life that doesn't please Him, you have a choice: argue with it, or turn. That is how we keep on walking worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing [Colossians 1:10 KJV].
Why It Is Good News
Here is what feel-good preaching misses: repentance isn't bad news. It's the doorway to good news. Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? [Romans 2:4 KJV]. God isn't standing over you with a stick; He's holding the door open. He is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance [2 Peter 3:9 KJV]. And when one sinner turns, Jesus said, joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth [Luke 15:7 KJV]. A preacher who won't preach repentance isn't sparing anyone pain. He's keeping them from the joy waiting on the other side of the turn. The word that empties pews is the very word that sets heaven rejoicing. So if nobody has ever told you plainly, let this be the day: you can turn today, and God will meet you in the turning...
Key Takeaways:
- God's people need all the counsel of God, not just the comfortable parts — [Acts 20:27 KJV], [2 Timothy 3:16 KJV]
- Repentance was the first word of Jesus Christ's preaching — [Matthew 4:17 KJV]
- God commands all men everywhere to repent — [Acts 17:30 KJV]
- Repentance is a change of mind that turns the feet — [Acts 26:20 KJV]
- Godly sorrow changes us; worldly sorrow only regrets — [2 Corinthians 7:10 KJV]
- Repentance is for believers too, not just the first step — [Revelation 2:5 KJV]
- It is God's goodness that leads us to repent — [Romans 2:4 KJV]
Where to go from here:
Read Luke 13:1-9 slowly this week, then 2 Corinthians 7:8-11. Notice how Jesus turns the question from "what about them?" to "what about you?" — then take the step above, today, not next Sunday.
📽️ Watch this teaching 👉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFqYIe1VauA&list=PLhtPbQ4aPQH4XQMBbu36aO6pHQ_T4ACae&index
🧭 Start Here — Who We Are in Christ! — the teachings to read first 👉 https://back-to-basics-christian-living.ghost.io/start-here/
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➡️ Next — The Christian Compass, this Sunday 👉 https://back-to-basics-christian-living.ghost.io/tag/the-christian-compass/
Begin there — who we are in Christ, in order. Then, Monday to Thursday, each day has its own job: Monday, Something to Think About? — a question for the church and for us in it; Tuesday and Thursday, Messages from the Outpost — house fellowship teaching round the table; Wednesday, Write this Down — one truth to keep for the walk. Fridays bring a series, at present The Unpreached Bible, and one email on Sunday, The Christian Compass, closes the week and opens the next.
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