Spiritual House Cleaning Manual – Lesson 9

The Power of Repentance

By now you may be feeling really angry; angry at being deceived about the nature of God. Grieved that you believed a lie about who Jesus really was and is, and angry even to the point of being teary eyed.

That’s Ok, is it the beginning of deep repentance and there is tremendous power in repentance over demons. A demon can only affect your life when you believe his lies. When the truth becomes apparent and you change your mind and agree with the truth then the “hold” that the demon had on you personally is broken.

Just look at what the power of repentance can do in your life…

2 Cor 7:10-11(KJV)
For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.

Look at it in a different version…

2 Cor 7:10-11(NIV)

Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.

The apostle Paul (Hebrew name Saul) was heading down the wrong road; he didn’t realize who Jesus was. He was actually persecuting the church, throwing the saints in jail. He even stood by and held the coats of the men that stoned Steven to death; but the Lord met him one day as he was heading to persecute yet even more of the church to send them to prison. Look at what happens…

Acts 9:1- 6 (NKJ) (Read the complete chapter for the full story) Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

And as he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.

Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”

And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”

So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” And the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

See the progression here. Saul (Paul) didn’t know who Jesus was. The Lord reveals Himself to Saul – this old Jewish Pharisee has quoted this prayer…

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:

Deut 6:4 (KJV)

every day of his life since he was old enough to talk; now he is meeting the Lord God Almighty on the road and asks who He is.

Just to be told, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” the Lord God Almighty that Paul thought he was serving was none other than Jesus Christ!

You talk about shame, you talk about – “Oh, God what have I done?” Later in life Paul said of himself that he was not even worthy to be called an apostle because of his actions…

1 Cor 15:9-10 (NIV)

For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them– yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

Paul was miserable – in deep repentance – blinded – unable to see – he didn’t eat or drink for three days…miserable.

But… the Lord sent him a preacher to tell him what to do, he was healed, filled with the Holy Ghost and water baptized.

Then he began to preach the gospel with everything he had in him, he became one of the most influential men in the Bible and wrote over half of the New Testament

Knowing who Jesus really is can produce the same results in your life.

1. Godly sorrow leading to repentance

2. Baptism in the name of Jesus to wash away and forgive all your sins.

3. And the infilling of the Spirit of God with the evidence of speaking in tongues, to give you the power to live about sin

This is the message that Jesus and all the disciples preached, as well as Paul and many others.

This will totally bring you into the kingdom of God and deliver you completely from Satan’s Kingdom, his demons, and give you real power over them.

They can still affect you, hinder you, torment you and generally drive you crazy sometimes but, they don’t have the power to destroy you, and everything that they do has to go across the Lord’s desk first.

Every trial then that the Lord allows is only for our good to make us stronger.

When you begin to really see who Jesus is; his deep, powerful love for you, the passionate relationship he wants with you, it can be overwhelming.

To come into contact with that amount of love produces many different reactions. Some people quietly cry, some will actually yell, scream, fall on their knees or on their face, some will actually get mad and angry at being so deceived by Satan, some will even want to run from that amount of love – frightened.

But, please let me encourage you (let me beg you if necessary!) don’t allow the fear of how you’re going to react keep you from getting to know Jesus intimately. A decision to follow Christ is the most important decision of your life, your eternal life and the lives of those you love. It will involve change, but don’t fear the change – Jesus has so many ways to help you through the transition – just trust him.

Please note –

A note on False Doctrine

Just a quick note here, some churches preach and teach that at this point in your relationship with Christ that you need to “accept Christ as your personal savior” – this doctrine is not Biblical – no where in the Bible do we see even one person “accepting the Lord as their personal savior” – not one!

Do not be fooled; this is not repentance.

The man made doctrine of accepting the Lord as your personal savior is a very self centered doctrine that has no bearing on the Bible believing Christian.

If you have “accepted the Lord” you need to ask forgiveness for not truly repenting properly as taught in the Bible.

Jesus said…

Matt 11:28-30(KJV)

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Jesus told us to repent…

Matt 4:17(KJV)

From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Repentance means to turn – turn from sin and turn unto God:

with tremendous, intense sincerity to admit that what we are doing is wrong
it’s called sinning so we need to apologize for the hurt and pain we’ve caused the Lord through our actions or non-actions
to feel that sorrow deeply – to cry – to weep
to ask Him for His forgiveness and help
to promise with his help to never repeat the sin in our lives again.

It involves talking and crying out to the Lord repeatedly, daily until you literally begin to feel His strong presence holding you and filling you.

The spirit of the Lord is something you can actually physically feel.

During your time of repentance you may feel the Lord so strong at this time that while deeply praying you begin to speak in tongues (and unknown language) this is perfectly normal and natural.

Don’t be afraid, just relax and continue praying to the Lord – this is a very normal Biblical experience and what is happening to you as you pray is that God is literally filling your spirit with His Spirit. It is part of the new birth experience.

True repentance will begin bringing you out of the kingdom of darkness and into the Kingdom of God – and it will be one of the most powerful experiences of your life – just don’t stop there – there is much more so keep going forward.

This is your third real source of power against the devil and his demons – REPENTANTANCE

Proceed to Lesson 10

The Power of Repentance

By now you may be feeling really angry; angry at being deceived about the nature of God. Grieved that you believed a lie about who Jesus really was and is, and angry even to the point of being teary eyed.

Just look at what the power of repentance can do in your life…

2 Cor 7:10-11(KJV) For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

Look at it in a different version…

2 Cor 7:10-11(NIV)

Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.

And as he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.

Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”

And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”

So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” And the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

See the progression here. Saul (Paul) didn’t know who Jesus was. The Lord reveals Himself to Saul – this old Jewish Pharisee has quoted this prayer…

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:

Deut 6:4 (KJV)

every day of his life since he was old enough to talk; now he is meeting the Lord God Almighty on the road and asks who He is.

Just to be told, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” the Lord God Almighty that Paul thought he was serving was none other than Jesus Christ!

You talk about shame, you talk about – “Oh, God what have I done?” Later in life Paul said of himself that he was not even worthy to be called an apostle because of his actions…

1 Cor 15:9-10 (NIV)

For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them– yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

Paul was miserable – in deep repentance – blinded – unable to see – he didn’t eat or drink for three days…miserable.

But… the Lord sent him a preacher to tell him what to do, he was healed, filled with the Holy Ghost and water baptized.

Then he began to preach the gospel with everything he had in him, he became one of the most influential men in the Bible and wrote over half of the New Testament

Knowing who Jesus really is can produce the same results in your life.

1. Godly sorrow leading to repentance

2. Baptism in the name of Jesus to wash away and forgive all your sins.

3. And the infilling of the Spirit of God with the evidence of speaking in tongues, to give you the power to live about sin

This is the message that Jesus and all the disciples preached, as well as Paul and many others.

This will totally bring you into the kingdom of God and deliver you completely from Satan’s Kingdom, his demons, and give you real power over them.

They can still affect you, hinder you, torment you and generally drive you crazy sometimes but, they don’t have the power to destroy you, and everything that they do has to go across the Lord’s desk first.

Every trial then that the Lord allows is only for our good to make us stronger.

When you begin to really see who Jesus is; his deep, powerful love for you, the passionate relationship he wants with you, it can be overwhelming.

Please note –

A note on False Doctrine

Do not be fooled; this is not repentance.

The man made doctrine of accepting the Lord as your personal savior is a very self centered doctrine that has no bearing on the Bible believing Christian.

If you have “accepted the Lord” you need to ask forgiveness for not truly repenting properly as taught in the Bible.

Jesus said…

Matt 11:28-30(KJV)

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Jesus told us to repent…

Matt 4:17(KJV)

From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Repentance means to turn – turn from sin and turn unto God:

with tremendous, intense sincerity to admit that what we are doing is wrong

it’s called sinning so we need to apologize for the hurt and pain we’ve caused the Lord through our actions or non-actions

to feel that sorrow deeply – to cry – to weep

to ask Him for His forgiveness and help

to promise with his help to never repeat the sin in our lives again.

It involves talking and crying out to the Lord repeatedly, daily until you literally begin to feel His strong presence holding you and filling you.

The spirit of the Lord is something you can actually physically feel.

During your time of repentance you may feel the Lord so strong at this time that while deeply praying you begin to speak in tongues (and unknown language) this is perfectly normal and natural.

Don’t be afraid, just relax and continue praying to the Lord – this is a very normal Biblical experience and what is happening to you as you pray is that God is literally filling your spirit with His Spirit. It is part of the new birth experience.

True repentance will begin bringing you out of the kingdom of darkness and into the Kingdom of God – and it will be one of the most powerful experiences of your life – just don’t stop there – there is much more so keep going forward.

This is your third real source of power against the devil and his demons – REPENTANTANCE

Proceed to Lesson 10

2 Cor 7:10-11(KJV)
For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.