Take our Bibles and turn back
to Luke 13. Luke 13, verse 1. There were present at that season. some that told him of the Galileans
whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus
answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galileans were
sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, nay, but except ye
repent, ye shall all likewise perish. or those eighteen upon
whom the tower of Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that
they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell
you nay, but except you repent, ye shall all likewise perish."
Let's pray together. We thank You so much for this
time to be here. Lord, this blessed time that
You set apart and ordained that we might be able to come together
and sit and listen and hear the Word of God. Lord, the amazing thing about
the hearing is that you have allowed us the privilege to hear. Thank you. Lord, would you bless
this Word tonight and help us, for Christ's sake, Amen. Our Lord, whose Word shall never
return void." Our Lord, whose Word will endure
forever. Everything else is going to pass
away. But He said, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise
perish. Now, I know this. Repentance
is indispensable to fallen creatures. This is what this means. It cannot
be set aside. It cannot be neglected. It cannot be disregarded. Based upon our Lord's Word, repentance is vital to eternal
life. Accept, ye repent. And it must be given by God. He's going to have to do something
for us that we cannot, we cannot, You cannot do this for yourself. You cannot. You cannot give yourself a new
mind. You can't make yourself do something
that by nature you just don't, can't do. Listen to this, Acts 11, 18,
"...when they heard these things, they held their peace and glorified
God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance
unto life." Repentance. It's granted. It's given. It's not of us. Now you think
about this, we're helpless, helpless to do anything for ourselves
spiritually. We're helpless unless Almighty
God has mercy and grants repentance and sees that repentance that
He has granted and is satisfied with those that he has granted
that repentance to in Christ, you are going to perish. Salvations of the Lord. All of
grace. Romans 2 verse 4 says this, this
is the manner by which God produces, gives. France bestows repentance. The goodness of God leadeth thee
to repentance. God's goodness, God's mercy,
God's grace. If you know that the only way
that you are going to possess this blessed grace called repentance, God Almighty must give it. Why are men looking to themselves? What's there to look to? Repentance. It's not driven. Men are not driven by fear or
terror. I'm telling you that repentance is not possessed, drummed up,
made up, because men are fearful of God's judgment. The goodness of God, the love
of Christ constrains you. That kind of worldly sorrow the repentance
of this world when men are caught, that kind of repentance, a man
will draw back from that. Oh, I'm so sorry. I just, you
know. But true repentance is evidenced by a broken heart. It means to think differently.
And man by nature has no respect whatsoever before God Almighty. Peter, when he was questioned
by some folks, remember this, they had taken the Lord. Peter
was being questioned. A different one said, you were
with them. No, I wasn't with them. A maid
came up and she said, you know what? Your speech. You know, sometimes people have,
you know, kind of funny dialects, you know, they say things funny,
use funny words, you know, they pronounce that they're the right
words. They just come out funny, you know. And you ain't from
around here, are you? That's what they said to Peter,
your speech. You're Galilean, aren't you?
Here you are. And the Scripture says, Matthew
26, 74, 75, Then began he to curse and swear, saying, I know
not the man. And immediately the cock crew
and Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him
before the cock crow, Thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out
and he wept bitterly." Thought back. This is what Luke
says about it. Luke 22, 61, And the Lord turned
and looked upon Peter, and Peter remembered the word of the Lord,
how he said unto him, Before the cock crowed, thou shalt deny
me thrice. And Peter went out and wept bitterly. Repentance. To think differently. That's what it means. It's to
have a different thought before Him that I have offended. It is to think differently on
how God Almighty operates. How God justifies a sinner. It is to think differently concerning
God's sovereignty. It is to think completely differently
than the way in which I am born. To repent. To change. Oh, the goodness of God that
leadeth thee to repentance. God's mercy. God's grace. He's not angry. He's not angry
with me. You know, when you're growing
up, I've got some of my kids and grandkids here tonight. I can remember when I was growing
up, the thing that hurt me when I did seem to have a little some
sense. I didn't have a lot. But you
know what hurt me more than anything else? Realizing I'd hurt my parents. I'd hurt them. I remember one time I wrote a letter
to my dad. I got to thinking about it. Things that I've done. Things that I've said. I sat
down and wrote a letter. Do you remember that, Mama? Wrote
him a letter. I'm sorry. I just... I don't
know what I was thinking. You were right. I was wrong.
I'm sorry. I wonder what went through that
prodigal boy's mind. He told his dad, I'll take everything
that's coming to me. I'll go ahead and take that now.
He took it. Scripture says he went and blew
it all, spent it all on righteous living. All of it was gone. He got to thinking about it. He said, here I am. I'm eating
hog food. Man, there's servants in my daddy's
house. He eats better than I do. They've
got a warm bed to sleep in. I don't have anything. I think I'm going to go back
and I'm going to talk to my dad. I'm going to just tell him, I've
sinned against heaven. I've sinned against you. I've
rebelled and I'm sorry. Scripture says the dad saw him
far off. Looking for him. Been looking
for him. And boy's coming up. Boy's got close enough to start
the conversation. Started his rehearsed speech.
And before he could get a good sentence or two out, you know,
the dad fell on his neck and kissed him. Bring the ring. Put it on this
boy's finger. You get some shoes on this boy's
feet. And you get the best robe and you put it on that whole
picture of the glorious mercy of God to God's elect. And you kill that fatted calf.
It's my boy. He was dead. He's alive. How do you think that boy felt?
Oh, I think I'd have felt better
if he'd have just beat me and just got it over with and everything.
But here's the thing. He loves me. In spite of the
way that I am, He loves me. It takes God Almighty to give
a heart like that. A man is not born with a heart
like that. A man is born with a heart that's
hard, rebellious. I'm not going to have that man
rule over me. I'm right. He's wrong. It's my
will, my way, my time. It's all about me. Oh, the love
of God that constrains man, calls him. Repentance. To think differently. To think differently, I said,
about my attitude toward Him. To think differently about how
God Almighty has reconciled me back to Him. He never left. I did. Remember,
we looked at this Scripture back in Genesis on what happened in
the garden. Genesis 2.16, And the Lord commanded
the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely
eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not
eat of it. In the day that thou eatest of
it thou shalt surely die, Die. Die spiritually. He didn't die physically that
day. But I tell you what, it came. It did come. He did die physically. But he
died spiritually. Gone. Just the ability to be
able to have communion with God. I mean, if you're able tonight
to truly, out of a new heart, speak to God Almighty through
and by the Mediator, the High Priest Himself, who is praying
for you right now that your faith fail not. You think differently. That's
repentance. Think differently. Think differently
concerning my attitude toward Him. Think differently how God
reconciles a sinner back to Himself. What did Adam and Eve do? Remember
what they tried to do? All men by nature, they covered
themselves. Fig leaves. We're exposed. We're naked before God. We can't stand before God naked. We can't approach God like this. I'll tell you what we'll do.
We'll cover ourselves. And every man, every woman is
born thinking that they can cover themselves and can approach God
in an appropriate robe. I'll make myself a robe. I'll
make me a robe, and I'll do it sincerely. And the Scripture
says that what you've sown yourself, your fig leaf religion, your
self-righteous, self-willed, works religion, is nothing but
a filthy rag. That's what it is. It's just
a filthy rag. You cannot. produce that which
God Almighty says is granted. It's given unto you. Repentance
is granted. Repentance unto life given. For you to believe that, for
you to believe that, you think differently. You didn't always
think that way. I didn't either. I tell you,
there's a true sincere repentance. And I know there's a false repentance.
You remember when Cain killed Abel? And the Lord asked Cain, where's
your brother? I'm not my brother's keeper. I'm sure he's around here somewhere.
I'm just not, you know. And God put a mark on him. Put a mark on Cain. He was going
to walk this earth. And Cain suffered and grieved
because of that burden that God put on him. It was sorrowful. Pharaoh, whenever God sent all
those plagues and, you know, the flies and the blood and the
frogs and the boils and the life He was sorry that then the firstborn
died. And God killed His boy. Killed
the firstborn in the land except where the Israelites were. Oh, he was sorrowful. Yeah, go
ahead and send them out. Go ahead and y'all go on out
there and worship. Yeah, I tell you. Yeah, you're
right. I'm repentant. I sure am. What did he do? Well, they got
good out of sight. He got his chariots and changed
his mind. I'm going after you. And God
drowned him. He repented. It looked like Judas. Judas connived with those priests
and thirty pieces of silver. The Lord was betrayed. And after Judas betrayed Him,
he came back to the priest and he throwed the money down. He
said, I don't want these 30 pieces. I betrayed innocent blood. We don't want the money back.
That's blood money. He went and hanged himself. Scripture
says he went to his own place. There is a repentance. It's godly sorrow that worketh
repentance to salvation, not to be repented of. It don't change. Why? Because it's kept by the
power of God. The reason that you think differently,
and you still think differently today, is because you're kept
by the power of God through faith. It's not because you're so spiritual. Without Him, we could do nothing.
He must grant us faith, repentance, continuity, keep, keep, keep. Repentance, true repentance,
has respect toward God that leads your soul toward Him. True repentance. Godly sorrow. worketh repentance." That sorrow
that is toward God, that is produced by Him and kept by Him, the sorrow
of the world, it does one thing. It's going to work death. And
I tell you, the sorrow of the world, this repentance of the
world, this flippant here and gone, it's nothing but pride. Sorrow of the world. Repentance
of the world. You really didn't think differently.
What you did, you got caught. And you were exposed. Nobody
likes to be exposed, do they? People are seemingly repentant
when they're exposed. But all that is, is that my feelings
got hurt. It's still all about me. Repentance that is of the Lord
is just that. It's of the Lord. It is God which
worketh in you both to will and do His good pleasure. And you
remember the Scripture we looked at concerning the good pleasure
of God, 2 Peter 3.9. The Lord is not slack concerning
His promises. Some men count slackness, but
is longsuffering to us, not willing that any should perish, but that
all should come to repentance. All God's people are going to
think differently than the way they thought when they were born
in Adam. They're all going to think that way. Have you ever
noticed that when you talk to a... you take religionists, just religionists,
and let's say you've got this denomination that denomination,
and you've got this denomination, and this, this, this, this, this.
And all of them, when it comes right down to it, they're all
free willers. There's not but two, two really,
teachings. It's either free will or free
grace. It's either man-centered or God
Almighty-centered. You take all these different,
you know, this one's got this little pack of peanuts, and they've
got their little pack of peanuts, and their peanuts, and their
peanuts. And this little pack of peanuts is red, and theirs
is blue. But they're all peanuts. It's all free will. It's all
the same. And they talk. You can talk to
them. I say, well, you know, now, I'll
tell you what I think is important. I don't think that, you know.
I don't think women ought to wear makeup. Well, good. OK.
Well, I don't think that they ought to do it. I think men have
long hair. I think that you ought to. But
when you talk to a believer, I don't care where they're from.
When you talk to a believer, they all speak the same language.
They have one heart. That's what he said. I will give
them one heart. It's not a heart that's divided
between the world and God. It's not a heart that's got this
opinion and this opinion. This is what they believe. They
believe God's Word. Maurice Montgomery. I told you
this one time. Maurice said somebody asked him,
does a man have to believe and understand election for God to
save him? Maurice said, no, I don't guess
he has to understand all of election, but I'll tell you what he will
do. If God saves him, when he sees it in the Scripture, he'll
believe it. Why? Because he's got one heart. He
believes God. He thinks differently. I will give them one heart. I'll
put a new spirit in you. I'll take the stony heart out
of your flesh. When God gives a new heart, a
new spirit, God has one message. that He gives all of His people,
it's His Son. This is my beloved Son in whom
I'm well pleased. A new heart, new life, new man. It's evidenced by what the Scripture
refers to as repentance. To think. To think respectfully
before God. salvation, all of grace, there's nothing in me that has
any ability to reconcile myself back to God. That's not the way
I used to think. This new mind, it thinks differently
about God. He's sovereign. You don't find a believer in
the Lord Jesus Christ when it's been given a new heart. You don't
find a believer that has a problem with God being the potter and
them being the clay. They don't have a problem when
people speak of them as being a sinner right now. They don't
have a problem with it. They'll agree with you. Buddy,
you're right. Whenever somebody talks about
the inconsistencies that they see within themselves, They'll
agree with you. Oh, if you only knew. They think
differently about God. Sovereign. They think differently
about themselves. Before, they were so proud. They think differently. They
think differently how God saves a sinner. You're not going to find a believer
talking about walking down an aisle and praying through. Now, this is what he's going
to say. I was doing all the running, and he did all the catching,
and he stopped me. I was on my way to hell. Now,
I tell you this, I've got God's Word on that. Deliver them from
going down to the pit. I have found a ransom. When did
he find him? He's eternally found him. and
He tells His people in time. This new mind does not merely
acknowledge belief. Remember, demons can legally
acknowledge that Christ is, that they believe that there is a
Christ. True repentance has His glory at heart. I'll tell you
this in closing. A believer is going to make every
decision that he makes in light of his respectfulness before
God. You've got a decision that you're
going to make. You're going to think it through. I wonder if this, how is this? Well, number one, how does this
line up with God's Word? Is this disrespectful to God's
Word? How is this going to affect God's people? How is this going
to affect my relationship, my communion with the Lord? You're
going to think differently. God's people look at Him and
respect Him, love Him. That's a difference. That's repentance. And lastly, This is how the Lord
calls His people. This is that Scripture we read
in John 16 concerning the Holy Spirit when the Lord says, John
16, verses 7 and 8, Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. Boy, isn't it wonderful to read
that right there. I tell you the truth. You can
bank. God Almighty is going tells you
the truth. He is truth. It is expedient
for you. Now here's the Lord telling these
people, it's expedient for you that I go away. For if I go not
away, the Comforter will not come unto you. But if I depart,
I will send Him unto you. And when He's come, He will reprove
the world of sin, of righteousness, of judgment. When He's come,
the Holy Spirit Himself, He will reprove. He's going to convince
by changing your mind. You can't convince a man unless
you give him a new heart. Spiritually, you can't convince
a man. I've said, so help me. I cannot. I can, but I can't. How can someone
read 2 Thessalonians 2.13? We are bound to give thanks to you,
brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God has from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification, setting you apart,
through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.
God has chosen you to that. How can man not understand that? They don't have a mind for that.
It's foolishness to them. They're looking straight at it
and they don't see it. They don't believe it. But you
give a man a new heart and he believes it. He will convince,
reprove the world, Jew and Gentile, all that God has loved out of
the world. Not all of them. Not every one
of them without respect. I mean, not every one of them
without exception. He will prove the world, the
order, the arrangement, His elect, His people, of sin, of what they
are in themselves, and what their sin deserves without a substitute. He will prove them, convince
them of righteousness, of what righteousness is accepted by
God. The righteousness of God is accepted
by God. And it's the righteousness of
God that's imputed to God's people, the righteousness of the Lord
Jesus. He will convince them of sin, of righteousness and
judgment, that there's none for them now. The Lord Jesus Christ
being made sin, made what they are, We were talking today about
this very thing. You look at a man as he's fallen
in Adam. Look at a man as he's fallen
in Adam. Now, here's what the Scripture
says about him. There's none good. God looked to see if there
was any that sought him. There was none. crown of his head, sole of his
foot, putrefying sores. Man as he is born in Adam is
one thing. Sin. Sin. And I'll tell you how you know
that he's sinned. He manifests it by transgressions. That makes him a sinner. He is
disobedient. But His transgressions came from
something, the body of sin. Now, the wages of sin is death. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ had
to be made what we are. He was made sin. That's what
we are. It's not some floating nebulous.
I'll tell you what it is. It's called the body of sin. I can't perceive the depth of
it. I can see the manifestations
of it, the evidences of it, but sin. And He was made what we
are. The Spirit of God will convince
God's people. He'll convince them of sin. He'll convince them of righteousness. And He'll convince them of judgment. that God has put away the judgment
that was due. That was due. We deserved it. But He everlastingly purposed
to never appoint us to wrath. God's people have never been
appointed to wrath. And the Spirit of God will convince
men of judgment that Christ was made sin. Put away our guilt. There's therefore now no condemnation
to them that be in Christ Jesus. What is it to repent? I'll tell
you this. It's to think differently about
everything concerning God Almighty. It's just a change. It's a new creature, new man,
thinks differently, acts differently, speaks differently. rejoices in his heart. May the
Lord bless our hearts for Christ's sake. Amen.