This is Vision for Christ World, Toledo, Ohio, USA. My name is Tim Taylor. Do you think God exists? If there is a God, are you accountable to him? And is there a limit to his patience for you to acknowledge and honor him as God? Are you depending on your belief that God does not exist? so that you can go on living as you would like without regard to the law of God. If so, this program is a warning that you are running out of time in two aspects. Death may occur at any time to anyone. Young people die of disease and accidents all the time. People are appointed to die once and then to face judgment, according to Hebrews 9.27 in the New Testament. Secondly, Jesus, who called himself the Son of Man, speaking in Matthew 25, said this, And then at last the sign that the Son of Man is coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. and He will send out His angels with the mighty blast of a trumpet, and they will gather His chosen ones from all over the world, from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven. However, no one knows the day or the hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son Himself. Only the Father knows. So these are the two most powerful life-altering things that will happen in the future that you cannot control or predict. You are running out of time to repent of your sin and turn toward Jesus Christ in saving faith. Father God, let me show everyone who you really are, and reveal your only son, Jesus Christ, to those who are listening. Praying in the name of Jesus, amen. The key Bible verse of this ministry is from Matthew 24, 14. This gospel of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in the whole world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. Some material from God questions You can find more about us at visionforchristworld.com. That website address again, visionforchristworld.com. Psalm 32, six, therefore let all the godly pray to you while there is still time. Second Peter 3.9 notes, the Lord is not really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. John 6, 44, 45, and 47, Jesus is speaking here. For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up. As it is written in the scriptures, they will all be taught by God. Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life. So, do you sense being drawn to God? Do you feel the pull of God? 1 Thessalonians 5.2, for you know quite well that the day of the return of the Lord Jesus will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night. Luke 12, 16 to 21, then Jesus told them a story. A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. He said to himself, what should I do? I don't have room for all my crops. Then he said, I know, I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I will have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. And I will sit back and say to myself, my friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said to him, you fool, you will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for? Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God. Isaiah 55-7, let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously. The desire of the non-Christian to know how to repent and trust in Christ is evidence that God is working. However, it is possible for a person to come to the point of admitting that a particular attitude or behavior is wrong, but still then refuse to submit to the truth of God regarding a change. That is not repentance. Repentance is agreeing with the evaluation of God about their sin, and then being willing to follow the leading of God in a new direction. God has told the sinful world in no uncertain terms to repent. To repent means to change your mind from the embrace of sin and rejection of Christ to rejection of sin and the embrace of Christ. Those who refuse to repent and turn to Christ in faith will suffer eternal consequences. Given the fact of hell, mankind in his sin is in a dire situation. Why would anyone delay repentance? Yet many do, even while admitting their sin and claiming to see their need for salvation. Another reason to not delay repentance is that every time we refuse to repent, we continue to sin and our hearts get harder and harder. Every time a person says no to what is right, it becomes a little easier to say no the next time too. There is a gradual hardening of the heart, a searing of the conscience, that can numb an unsaved person to the point of being past feeling. This is a dangerous spiritual condition to be in. Tragically, there is a point of no return. God may eventually stop trying to bring the chronically rebellious to repentance and give them over to their own ways. See Romans 128. We never know when this point of no return is, so the better part of wisdom is timely repentance. James 4.17 says, if anyone then knows the good they ought to do and doesn't do it, it is sin for them. Once we know what is right, we are responsible to do it. And once we know something is sin, we are responsible to repent of it and forsake it. we dare not delay repentance. There was a time when the Lord shut the door of the ark and the flood swept everyone outside the ark away. Genesis 7, 16. There came a time when the wedding party began and those who were not ready for the coming of the bridegroom were locked out. Matthew 25. Repent means to change your mind about something. Of course, when a person has a change of mind about something, the result is a change of behavior as well. If a driver is headed south on a highway and suddenly realizes that he is going the wrong direction, he will then get off at the next exit and head in the opposite direction. He has repented. He has changed his mind about the direction he should be driving. If he realizes he is going the wrong direction, but decides to continue on without making any changes, he is not really repented. He has, by his actions, shown that he is just fine with the current direction of travel. In the New Testament, repentance is associated with a change of mind about sin. Saying sorry, being sorry, or even feeling sorry are not the same as repenting. A person can feel emotionally sorry for something without addressing the underlying issue. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. When a person is doing something that he has chosen to do and may even enjoy a great deal, but then based on his exposure to the word of God, he repents. It means he has changed his mind about it. The repentant person comes to believe that what she once loved is wrong and that she should stop doing it. In accepting the gospel, repentance is the flip side of faith. It is possible that someone can become convinced that what he has been doing is wrong and then attempt to mend his ways, and he may even succeed. But if such a person does not place his faith in Christ and the righteousness that Christ provides, then he is simply trusting his own moral reformation. Biblical repentance is the recognition that we are helpless to save ourselves. It is turning from sin and to the one who paid for it and can forgive it. So how does a person repent? Like faith, repentance is a response to the work of God, who convicts and convinces a person that he is in error. In Acts 11.18, the Jewish believers praised God, saying, 2 Timothy 2.25 highlights the same thing. Opponents must be gently instructed in the hope that God will grant them repentance, leading them to a knowledge of the truth. These verses indicate a tension between the work of God and human responsibility. We gently instruct sinners in the hope that this intervention will be the means that God uses to bring them to repentance. It is the truth of the Word of God, the Bible, lovingly and accurately presented, that God uses to bring about repentance. If a person really wants to repent, he needs to not only mentally agree that a thing is wrong, But ask himself, if I really believe this is wrong, what will I do differently? And the answer will be to do that different thing. As John the Baptist said, produce fruit in keeping with repentance, Luke 3.8. He followed the command with some specific examples in Luke 3, 10 to 14. What should we do then, the crowd asked. John answered, anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none. And anyone who has food should do the same. Even tax collectors came to be baptized. Teacher, they asked, what should we do? Do not collect more than you are required to in taxes, he told them. Then some soldiers asked him, and what about us? What should we do? He replied, do not extort money and do not accuse people falsely. Be content with your pay. Now let me pray for you. Father God, in the name of your one and only unique Son, Jesus Christ, I ask you to send your Holy Spirit to touch the heart and mind of every person listening to me right now. Cause them to desire to have their sins taken away. to pray and ask to be granted repentance that leads to life by God, and to repent of their sins, truly turning away from sin, to have that penalty for sin removed, so that through the faith you give them, they may believe in you, Jesus, and have eternal, never-ending life, starting today by having personal, saving faith in you, Lord Jesus. Amen. Our vision for Christ's broadcast began as a shortwave broadcast from a Florida radio facility to Sub-Saharan Africa. This is still our primary audience. We have since expanded to Asia on AM medium wave radio, to Albania, North Macedonia, and Greece on FM local area radio, to Australia, Northern Europe, and the Middle East on shortwave. You can also listen to us online at vision4christworld.com. Until the next broadcast, this is Tim Taylor praying the great blessings of God with joy and peace upon your life as you embrace Jesus Christ in personal saving faith. I will leave you today with this text from 2 Corinthians 6-2, where we read that God says, I heard you at the right time, and I gave you help on the day of salvation. I tell you that the right time is now. The day of salvation is now.