This is Carlos Gutierrez's first sermon as a Theological student. He has graciously consented to allow its publication here at the GCMI Website. We know him personally as a brother and beloved friend.
A DOOR WITH TWO SIGNS
NEW YORK THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
CLASS TITLE: HOMILETIC INSTRUCTOR DR. REV. E. L. HUNT
SUBMITTED BY: Carlos Guterriz
DATE: JANUARY 14, 2002
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A Door With Two Signs
"The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)
"What is born of the flesh is flesh and what is born of the spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I say to you, 'You must be born from above. The wind blows where it chooses, and you heard the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the spirit." (John 3:6-8)
Beloved, this morning I like to share with you the message that God has put in my heart in relation to the passages of the scriptures that we just finished reading from the books of Peter and John.
Have any of you ever found yourself looking for an address and going up and down the same street several times because you couldn't find the numbers on the door of the particular building you were looking for? Don't you think that it would have been much easier to find the particular address you were looking for if someone would not have removed the numbers from the doors of that particular building?
Beloved, we would not be exaggerating by saying that everyone who finds God should open the door with a sign that reads "repentance." Repentance is not the most amicable word and could, at first hand, create some confusing feelings. When we realize that we are guilty of something, we don 't feel good about it do we? But as second Peter 3:9 tell us, "The Lord is not slow about his promises, as some think of slowness, but is patient with us, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance." Beloved it, is only through repentance that we will be saved. Therefor it is worthwhile gong through some bad feelings if it means being save, don't you think?
Now brothers and sisters, lets take a minute and define "repentance" as God meant it. Repentance is much more than feeling sorry for being caught doing something wrong. What repentance really means , as God meant it, is a complete change of mentality. To receive the salvation that God has offered to us, we need to change our way of thinking about sin. We need to see sin as God sees it. What this means beloved, is that we need to refuse to allow the Devil to tempt us into doing the things that are contrary to the way God wants us to live our lives. We need to detest and reject sin. We need to turn our backs to sin permanently and we need to began to live our lives as God really wants us to live it, free from evil doing.
Beloved, regardless of how much we tremble in front of the sign that reads "repentance", once we open the door we will' find another sign in the interior. This is a welcoming sign brothers and sisters, and it reads "salvation." Yes beloved, it reads "salvation". We will never see this second sign unless we open the first door, the one that reads repentance. If we wish to continue contemplating this door we will be correct to assume that the doorknob represents "faith", yes dear brothers and sisters, the doorknob represents "faith", and "faith" beloved is what ill allow us to open this first door. It will be very difficult to open a door that is missing its doorknob, don't you think so beloved?
It is necessary to add something else in respect to faith. If we don't have complete faith in God, we will never be able to open the door that will leads us to salvation. Our faith in God has to be strong enough to be interpreted by God as a promise, yes beloved, as a promise. We cannot come into the family of God by saying, I think I try this for a while and see if it works, no beloved that won't work. God's love and mercy leaves no room for testing. We have to be sincere, and we need to have complete faith in God, we have to be like a man who happens to live across a river but when he comes to it he finds that the river is swollen. You see beloved, this man has to get across that river because his wife and children need him, and are waiting for him in the other side. You see beloved, this man is a man of God, he has complete faith in God, so what does he do? He gets into the river and begins to cross it. The current is very strong and it gets stronger as he advance, but this man faith is much stronger than the current so he never looks back, he is confident that God will bring him safely to the other side of the river, so he just keeps on going until he reaches the othe side..
Beloved, the kind of faith that will save us cannot be based in our sentiments. To be sure, sentiments are a very important aspect of our personality, but beloved, we all know that oftentimes our sentiments lead us into making wrong decisions in our lives, leading us in the wrong path. Basing our faith in sentiments will be the same as basing it on time, which is always changing. The only mute foundation in which we can build our faith is the word of God. This beloved is an easy door to faith, the sign has never been removed. This sign has been made known to us since the beginning of time. Our heavenly Father send His only begotten son to the world to teach us how to properly read this sign. Beloved, we need to take off our blindfold because the door is right in front of us (the scripture).
Since we have been talking about a door, lets remain a little bit longer right in front of it. When we open the door to salvation our steps will not take us through a dark corridor that will lead us to a void, this door will take us to a great illuminated room called regeneration. There are many other words with the same meaning, but we in the Christian community are more familiar with the expression "rebirth," the meaning is the same. When we regenerate something we are rebuilding it. When we repent and come into Christ with faith, Christ will rebuild us. Christ will make us a new person, we will be born again in Christ. It will be a new beginning, and we will become a ember of the family of God. Now beloved, lets go to the highest authority and listen to His explanation. As we read in John 3:6-8 it says that:
"What is born of the flesh is flesh and what is born of the spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I say to you, 'You must be born from above. The wind blows where it chooses, and you heard the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the spirit." (John 3:6-8)
The Bible affirms that the man who distances himself from God is spiritually dead. He may be physically alive, but the portion of himself that should respond to God is dead. The new rebirth that Jesus tells us about makes us feel spiritually alive as children of the most heavenly Father. God no longer sees us as guilty of sin. God says that we are just, because we have accepted Jesus Christ as our savior, therefore we have inherited His justice.
God offers the same Salvation to every person, no matter how sinful that person has been, and we should all receive it in the same manner. There is nothing complicated about God's plan for redemption, even a child can comprehend it. Instead of placing salvation as the highest tower, where no one can reach it, God has placed it where everyone can reach it if he or she so desires. Repentance, faith and regeneration are not difficult to understand when one sincerely wish to find the door that leads to God. God promised us a new beginning, a clean slate when we come to Him. Isn't that wonderful beloved? Sure it is wonderful, and it is exactly what happens when we open the door of repentance.
May the love and mercy of God be always with you.