No Repentance Without Christ

    'And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory. And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds' (Revelation 16:9-11)

    These verses describe the terrible judgments of God upon men and women, by which he warns all of judgment to come. Here we see men and women scorched with great heat, gnawing their tongues for pain, suffering the consequences of drought more severe than tongue can describe, and at last being beaten to death with hail stones weighing over 100 pounds each! Surely, men and women suffering such terrible acts of judgment from God’s almighty hand will be humbled, broken, submissive, and seeking mercy. Surely, no heart can remain hard and unmoved by such evident acts of God. That would seem reasonable, wouldn’t it? But that is not the case. When those men were scorched with fire from heaven, 'they blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues.' As they gnawed their tongues with pain, 'they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores.' When great hailstones fell out of heaven, crushing them to death, 'men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail.' And though God so plainly displays his power and wrath, warning men and women of the judgment to come, they 'repented not of their deeds’ (v. 11). 'They repented not to give him glory' (v. 9). What will it take to break a sinner’s heart? What will it take to make a rebel surrender to Christ? What will it take to produce true repentance in the heart of a stubborn, hardened, self-willed sinner?

    Divine judgment alone will never produce true repentance

    We must be careful here and not make hasty generalizations that are contrary to Holy Scripture. I do not say that God does not use acts of providential judgment to arouse, impress, subdue, and humble his elect and bring them to repentance. Indeed, he sometimes does graciously use these things (Ps. 107:1-31; Luke 15:11-20). But I am saying this: Divine judgment, in and of itself, will never produce repentance in the heart. Satan, after being under the wrath of God for thousands of years, has not mellowed or repented in any way. Many who live in poverty, with sickness and disease, and suffer earthly hardships of every kind, are hardened against God rather than helped by the judgments of providence. The heart of man is so obstinate, proud, and hard that even in the torments of hell the damned will never repent.

    There is no repentance in hell. They are scorched with heat and tormented with fire. Yet, they still blaspheme God’s name and repent not to give him the glory. They curse him for their pain, but repent not of their deeds. True repentance arises from faith and hope. But in hell there is no faith and no hope, but only endless torment. So there is no repentance. In hell there is much sorrow for pain, but no sorrow for sin. None can be saved, but by the blood of the Lamb. But there is no blood to be found in hell. In that awful place of torment, the worm of conscience shall gnaw men forever, ever bringing to mind the cause of hell’s torment: willful unbelief and obstinate impenitence. How often they were invited to heaven! How easily they might have escaped hell! But they would not. They shall forever weep over the loss of heaven’s bliss and over the portion of their cup. They shall weep for pain. But they will not shed a single tear over the cause of their pain. The damned in hell suffer and blaspheme. But they do not repent.

    And, if there is no repentance in hell where God’s greatest judgments are executed, the lesser judgments of providence certainly will not change the sinner’s heart and produce repentance. Someone said, 'Afflictions will make good men better, and bad men worse!' But afflictions will never make good men bad, or bad men good. Wrath converts no one. It is grace that saves. Judgment does not soften the sinner’s heart. It hardens it. The men and women in this text by judgment were led to blaspheme. But 'they repented not.' The consequence of often neglected warnings is irreversible hardness of heart.

    Let those who are not yet hardened by the judgments of God and the terror of his wrath repent now, while God grants space for repentance. 'Today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.' You may not be able to repent tomorrow. The long-suffering, goodness, and forbearance of God should lead people to repentance and salvation (Rom. 2:4-5; 2 Peter 3:15). But if they despise his goodness, and harden their heart in the day of his goodness, they will find it impossible to repent in the day of his wrath and judgment (Heb. 12:17; Prov. 1:22-33).

    That repentance which is sometimes produced by acts of judgment is a false repentance which needs to be repented of (Ps. 78:31-37)

    Many, by providential acts of judgment, sickness, narrow escapes from death, bereavements, economic hardship, domestic trials, and personal tragedies, repent after a fashion. They turn to God, perhaps even change their lives, and hope to ease their consciences. But, repentance that is caused only by judgment and legal fear is always false repentance. You can mark it down as a matter of certainty: 'That which is born in the storm will die in the calm.'

    A carnal repentance, caused by the fear of punishment, is a false repentance (Gen. 4:13). Temporary repentance, which subsides when the judgment is over, is false repentance (Ex. 9:27). Fearful sorrow, that does not change the heart or affect the life of a man, is false repentance (Matt. 14:9-10). Despairing remorse, that does not convert, is false repentance (Matt. 27:4-5).

    Cain, Pharoah, Herod, and Judas all repented of the evil they had done, because they saw the judgment of God upon them. But they were not saved. They all repented. But their repentance was false. They all repented. But they repented not to give God the glory. Such repentance as this only hardens the heart and usually keeps men from true repentance. False repentance mocks God, seeks to deceive him, and gives the sinner a false refuge, a refuge of lies, in which he seeks and finds a false, but assured sense of, security from the wrath of God. Thomas Boston wrote, 'Trees may blossom fairly in the spring, on which no fruit is to be found in the harvest; and some have sharp soul exercises which are nothing but foretastes of hell.'

    Only the revelation of Christ in the heart can produce true repentance

    No one will ever truly repent of his sins and turn to God in genuine conversion until he sees Christ crucified as his all-sufficient, sin-atoning Substitute (Zech. 12:10). Repentance is the tear that drops from faith’s eye (Job 39:4-5; 42:5-6). It is the gift of God the Holy Spirit (John 16:8-11). Repentance is the result of converting grace and gospel instruction (Jer. 31:19). It is the response of faith to the promises of God in the gospel (Isa. 55:7; Jer. 3:11-13). Repentance arises not from the fear of punishment and the dread of wrath, but from the love, mercy, and grace of God in Christ (Luke 7:37-38, 47; 22:61-62). Judgment hardens the heart. The law of God terrifies the heart. But one look at Christ, crucified in his place, melts the sinner’s hard heart in repentance toward God.

    True, gospel repentance glorifies God

    The men and women spoken of in these verses 'repented not to give him glory.' But those who do truly repent do, by their repentance, give God the glory (Ps. 32:1-5; 51:1-5). True repentance recognizes, reverences, and adores God’s omniscience (Ps. 139:1-6). It acknowledges the righteousness of God’s law and the evil of sin (Rom. 7:9). Genuine repentance glorifies the justice of God in the punishment of sin (Ps. 51:4). God wrought repentance glorifies the sovereignty of God in the exercise of His mercy (Matt. 8:2; 15:21-28).It sees and acknowledges that there is but one way by which God can be just and yet justify the ungodly - substitutionary redemption (Rom. 3:24-26). True repentance glorifies God by constantly pleading the blood and righteousness of Christ alone, taking God at His word and receiving the atonement by faith in Christ (Rom. 5:11). Have you repented?