Let's turn to Zechariah chapter
12. It's my prayer tonight that God
would enable me to speak to your heart and not to your head. What is faith and repentance? I'm sure anybody, multitudes,
could probably tell you something from the head about what faith
and repentance is. I don't want to know what faith
and repentance is in my head. I want to know in the heart. I want to believe. And I want to repent. I don't care if I'm able to express
what it is. I just want to have faith in
Christ and repentance toward God. That's what we preach. Repentance toward God and faith
in Christ Jesus. I want to look at this one text
of Scripture tonight. Zechariah 12, verse 10. And I will pour upon the house
of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace
and of supplications. And they shall look upon Me whom
they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth
for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him as one
that is in bitterness for his firstborn. I've tried not to make mention of those who have expressed that
they would like to be baptized. I tried not to make mention of
it when I knew it. And I've known about some of
you for a long time. I didn't make mention of it because
we have a bad tendency to want to please the flesh, to want
to please mother and daddy, to want to please ourselves by some
sacrifice that we've made. And above all things, I want
for you to believe on Christ because it's the gift of God's
grace. To repent because it's the gift
of God's grace. There's some things we see here
in this text about where these gifts of God's grace come from. Faith and repentance. And we
see here what they are. Now all the grace of God is given. That means it's a gift. It's
not merited. It can't be earned. It's a gift. Grace is a gift. And all the
grace, if you believe, it's a gift of God by His grace. If you repent,
it's granted to you by God. It's a gift. And all the grace
of God is given in Christ. It's given by Christ. It's given through Christ. And it's given
for Christ. Jesus Christ is who is speaking
here. This is God the Son, the Son
of God speaking. Notice here the speaker says
of himself, he shall be pierced. He says, and they shall look
upon me whom they have pierced. This one speaking is the one
who came in human flesh. God, the Son of God, the second
person in the Trinity came in the likeness of sinful flesh. He's that one who's God and man. Perfect all God and perfect man
in one body. He came in flesh. Notice he says here, I will pour
the spirit of grace and supplications. This was the glory given to Christ. Christ the mediator. God's salvation. This was the glory given to him
in the covenant of grace before the world began. God promised
Christ that when he came and fulfilled all that God willed,
all the purpose of God, that God would raise him from the
dead give him a seat at his own right hand, and give him the
promise of the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit, that which was promised
him to pour out, to dispense, to give, to send forth His Spirit. And Christ promised throughout
His walk on this earth, He promised over and over in the Scriptures,
that He would pour, He was going to send forth the Spirit. Now
that doesn't mean, brethren, that before Christ came, the
Spirit of God was not at work in this earth. It was. It always
has been. Every man that believes has got
to be born of the Spirit of God. Got to be born of the Spirit
of God. But Christ poured out He sent forth the Spirit of grace
and supplication. This is glory given to Him to
do as mediator. Now, His grace, this grace He
gives, and that's what we're looking at, faith and repentance.
Faith and repentance. This grace was given in Christ. God chose a people and put them
in Christ. This grace was given through Christ. He became surety
before the world began. He entered into the full obligation
to redeem His people from all sin. And it was done. He's the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. In the mind and purpose of God,
He is done. is done. Never a possibility
that it wouldn't be done. He's God. He's God. Omnipotent. All-powerful to bring
about His purpose without being frustrated at all. And this promise
is made to those given Him of the Father. Now this is Christ
speaking. Now listen, this is Christ speaking.
He said, I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants
of Jerusalem. You know who the house of David
is? It's the house of Christ. David, that man David, was a
king and he had a house. Many born after His flesh, but
not everybody born after His flesh is His true house. He was a picture. He was a type of Christ. That's the promise given of God
to Christ. was seen in that promise God
made to David. God said to David, your kingdom
is going to be an everlasting kingdom. It's going to be established
before you. Thy throne shall be established
forever. That's what God promised His
Son because He knew This one he put all his trust in to glorify
his name would come forth and fulfill everything that the father
gave him to fulfill. And he said to Christ before
the world began, your kingdom is going to be established forever.
And Christ came forth and established that kingdom. He's a picture,
or David is a picture of Christ who is the Lord. He's the king of his house. And this city Jerusalem here
is that earthly city Jerusalem, just like David was a type of
Christ the King, that earthly city Jerusalem was a type of
God's heavenly Jerusalem. It was an illustration. It was
set forth to show us a picture of that Jerusalem which is above. Let me show you that, Galatians
4.26. Let's see this. Galatians 4.26. Jerusalem, are you there yet? Galatians 4.26. Jerusalem, which is above, is free. which is the mother of us all. Paul is speaking of himself an
ever-believer. Jerusalem, which is above, is
free. Look at Hebrews 12. Go to your right there. Hebrews
12, 22. We're laying a foundation here. We're trying to see that
Christ is our King David. This house he's talking about
here is his elect. It's his people given to him
before the world began. And this Jerusalem here is His
city. It's His heavenly abode. It's where He dwells and shall
dwell forever. It's made up of the inhabitants
that are His citizens, His people. Look at Hebrews 12, 22. You're
coming to Mount Zion. That was in Jerusalem. Unto the city of the living God. Jerusalem was in Mount Zion.
Unto the city of the living God. That's what city we're talking
about. The heavenly Jerusalem. That couldn't be more clear,
could it? The heavenly Jerusalem. To an innumerable company of
angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn. That's who we're talking about. Which are written in heaven.
To God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made
perfect. This is who we're talking about.
To Jesus, the mediator. This is the one who's speaking
in our text. And this is who's, this is, he's the king. And this,
he's talking about his house. And he's the, this city's his
city. It's His by purchase. It's His
by promise. This is His people He's talking
about. He said, I'm going to pour out
the Spirit upon my house and my city. That's exactly what
He's saying in our text. Now look over to Acts 2 and let's
see that that's exactly what Peter preached when he stood
up on the day of Pentecost. I've shown you this many times,
but we need to see this David, Acts 2, 25. David speaketh concerning Christ. David knew this. He said, I foresaw
the Lord always before my face. You remember that phrase now.
I saw the Lord always before my face. You know what David
also said in Psalm 51? My sin is ever before me. How can that be? How can you
see Christ? He could see Christ ever before
Him and see His sin ever before Him. That's where you're going
to see your sin. That's when you're going to see
your sin. He was ever before my face, for
He is on my right hand, that I should not be moved. Therefore
did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad. Moreover also
my flesh shall rest in hope." Not only is this work done in
the spirit, it's done in his body. He said, my flesh is going
to rest in hope. "...because thou wilt not leave
my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to
see corruption." that Holy One's Christ, and because David was
in Christ, he knew God wouldn't suffer him to see corruption. He saw Christ. Thou hast made
known to me the ways of life. You've taught me the gospel in
my heart, David said. Thou shalt make me full of joy
with thy countenance, with your presence, always with your presence. Now Peter says, men and brethren,
let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David. Let me
tell you about him. That he's both dead and buried.
And his sepulcher's with us unto this day. He's saying his bones
and his body is where he's buried. He's with us today. He died.
Therefore, being a prophet, being God's preacher, a prophet, and
knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, to David. David
knew this. He knew this. That of the fruit
of his loins, according to the flesh, Christ came right from
the lineage of David, right from his, according to the flesh.
He said he knew of the fruit of his loins, he would raise
up Christ to sit on his throne. Now is Christ sitting on a throne
in Jerusalem over there in the desert? Is he? He's seated on a throne in heaven. He's seated in Jerusalem. That's
where he's seated. Right now. He's seated in a heaven
in Jerusalem. He seeing this before spake of
the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell,
neither his flesh did see corruption. He wasn't left in the grave to
corrupt. This Jesus hath God raised up,
whereof we're all witnesses. Peter saw him in the flesh. Peter sat down with him at a
table. Peter had him give him some fish to eat. Peter saw him,
and Peter saw him raised up. And all these witnesses that
are there with him saw it. And he says now, they had the
Spirit of God poured out on them right here at this day. And they
were preaching and speaking, and the people that were there
heard them preach in their own language. Though the one preaching
was preaching in a language he'd never learned, a foreign language. It'd be like me speaking right
now and God making somebody sitting here that didn't speak anything
but Spanish to hear what I'm saying. God made him to hear
what he was saying and he said, now look what Peter says, therefore,
now all that was said for this point, we said he's the king
and we said that this grace is dispensed by him according to
the promise given him before the world began by God the Father. Watch, therefore being by the
right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father
the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this which
you now see and hear." Christ shed this forth. For David's
not ascended into the heavens. David was with the Lord in spirit
wherever a believer goes when he died. But David's body was
still in that sepulcher. His bones had been a long time
turned to dust. But he said this, but he saith
himself, the Lord, this is what David himself said. David himself
saw this and knew this. The Lord said unto my Lord. Jehovah, God, said to my Lord,
my King, Christ Jesus. He said to him, sit thou on my
right hand until I make thy foes thy footstool. This is what David
said way back yonder. in his day, in the Psalms, but
he had been taught of God. And Peter says, therefore, let
all the house of Israel know assuredly. Who's he talking about
when he says the house of Israel? He's talking about everybody
that's going to know assuredly. That house of the king, that
house of David, that heavenly Jerusalem, they're going to know.
Not everybody's sitting there that day. believed this report. But some, the arm of the Lord
was revealed. Christ came in power and he made
them to know. Let all the house of Israel know
assuredly that God has made that same Jesus whom you've crucified,
whom you have crucified. He's made him Lord and Christ. Now, go back to our text, Zechariah
12. Now hear what Christ said. Zechariah
is a man's sin of God. He's the prophet that's writing
there, and he's been given this Spirit of God to write this.
By Christ, through the blood of Christ, for the sake of Christ,
to the glory and praise of Christ, whom God is well pleased with,
even before as yet Christ came. God's been pleased with it. His
people have been in Him from before the world began. Now listen.
This is what Christ is saying. I'll dispense this spirit of
grace and supplication to my house. I'm going to pour it out
to my offspring. I'm going to pour it out to those
given me of the Father, my church, my people, my Jerusalem, to each
one chosen and given to me by God, to each one that I have
entered into surety engagement to redeem by my blood. And now
he's done it, in whom we have redemption. through his blood. Shout, he said, I'm going to
give the Holy Spirit of grace and supplication. Look at the
verse there. I will pour upon the house of
David, upon the habitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace
and of supplications. What is the spirit of grace?
What is the spirit of supplication? When you receive the spirit of
grace, That's when you're gonna supplicate
God. Supplication means you're gonna turn and beg God when you
receive this spirit of grace. Beg God. It's the spirit, the
Holy Spirit comes and he gives us life. Gotta have life. A dead man is dead. You can't
change your spots any more than a leopard can change you. And
you can't change your skin any more than a black man can change
you. You can't do it. There ain't no way on earth it
can be done. The Spirit of God comes and He
gives life, and He gives faith, and He gives repentance, and
He gives all of these fruits which are produced in the believer
by the Spirit, in a sinner, produced in a sinner by the Spirit, the
fruit which is by Jesus Christ. It's all produced by Him. Every
one of His children are going to be beginning to know Without,
they're going to be made to know assuredly, assuredly, that salvation,
all this grace that's been given me, even believing on Him, even
repenting, everything I have has been given to me by God in
Christ, freely by His grace. Everything I have, He's given
me to behold all His mercies are to me. freely given to me
because His Son paid everything for me. Now, that's Christ speaking. He said, I will do this. And
He's speaking, and we know who He's speaking to. He said, I'm
speaking, I'm going to do this to the house, my house, the house
of our King David, my own house, my city, Jerusalem. I'm going
to do this to them. Now, when God does this, When
Christ sends forth His Spirit, what is this repentance and faith? What is this faith and this repentance? What is it? How does it come?
What is it? Verse 10, this is the sure result. And they shall look upon me whom
they have pierced. And they shall mourn for him
as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness
for him as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn." They're going to look upon Christ. You know what faith is? Faith
is looking upon Christ. It's being able to behold Him. It's being able to look and truly
behold Christ. They're going to look upon me,
he said. Now, when they look upon him,
when a believer looks upon him, this is what we're going to see.
This is what every believer sees when they look upon Christ. This is what it is to look upon
Christ by faith. He says there, they shall look
upon me. whom they have pierced." When is a sinner really going
to behold Christ in faith? When has he really beheld Christ
in faith? When have I really beheld Christ
in faith? When do I understand that God
is who He says He is? that Christ is God come in the
flesh to do what only God can do. When am I going to have any
idea that God's just, that God saves according to mercy, that
God will by no means clear the guilty? When am I going to behold
anything about my sin, all my transgressions, all these things
that I do? and when am I gonna behold what
I am? That this is a thorough ruin
and a complete and total ruin. When am I gonna behold those
things and believe God? Believe God. When's that gonna
happen? It's gonna happen when this spirit
of God's grace makes me to see I pierced Christ. Did you kill Christ? Did you destroy the Prince of Life? Now he said, no man takes my
life from me. I lay it down in myself. Everything
he did, he did himself willingly. Peter stood up and he said, you
with wicked hands have crucified and slain the Lord of Glory. Now Christ says, when I send
forth the Spirit of grace, they're going to look upon me whom they
have pierced. We're going to look upon Him
and we're going to know God, it was God's purpose for
Him to be there. It was all of God's grace for
Him to be there. It was to glorify God for Him
to be there. But He was there because of my
sin. Because of what I am. That's why He was there. When
Peter was preaching to the Ethiopian eunuch, on that Gaza road. In Isaiah 53 it says that's where
he preached from. And that's exactly what Philip
said to him. And this is the gospel we preach.
There is absolutely nothing good in you and nothing good in me. How thoroughly ruined am I in
sin? It took nothing less than God's
own Son to redeem me, to put it away. Look here in Isaiah
53, 4. Surely He hath borne our griefs, and He hath carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted. You know, that's what every man
and woman by nature esteems Christ as. Just smitten he got what he deserved. He's afflicted by God. He got
what it is or that's whatever man by nature. He just esteems
him treads on a foot the blood of Christ and esteems his what
he did as absolutely meaningless. But he was wounded for our transgressions. For his house, for his city,
he was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon Him, and with His stripes we're healed. Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us." Being
made a curse. I want you to see 2 Corinthians
5.21. There was absolutely no sin in
Christ. On one hand, when we behold Christ,
that sinless, perfect, holy, spotless Lamb of God, we behold
everything we're not. But I want you to see this in
2 Corinthians 5.21. He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin. See those two
words, sin? They're translated from the exact
same word. Whatever he was made to be is
exactly opposite to what he was never in himself. And that's sin. He never knew
any. He never performed any. But he
was made sin. He was made to be what I am. that I might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. This thing becomes real personal
whenever the Spirit of God comes. When the Spirit of God comes,
this thing ceases to be about what the Baptist denomination
believes. It ceases to be about what my
mama and my daddy believe. It ceases to be about what any
man thinks of me. It ceases to be about anybody
else but me and God. Faith is believing that all these
days that I've been walking this earth in absolute defiance, absolute
defiance! saying to God what I say to my
brothers and my sisters, saying to God what I say to my father
and my mother, saying to God, NO! NO! NO! And the only reason faith believes,
the only reason God had cast me into hell now is because Christ was made to
be the sin I am. And God poured out on him wrath. He said of the Assyrians, their rod is my indignation,
their rod is my anger. God unleashed all fury, all wrath. He unrestrained men to crucify,
to mark the visage, the appearance of His Son more than any man. Can you imagine? Have you seen
some men in pretty bad shape? Not any this bad. And God poured out on him eternal
separation. He poured out on him separation. He poured out on him... We can't... He suffered the torments of an
eternal hell. And faith says, I did that to
him. I did that to him. And yet God spared me. He spared me all these days.
He wouldn't let me be cast into hell. He wouldn't let me be turned. He wouldn't leave me alone. He
wouldn't leave me to my own devices. He wouldn't leave me to myself. Because from before the world
began, because I have eternal redemption, because this one
accomplished it and justified me and purged me of all my sins,
this one would not let me go. And God would no longer be just
if he let me go. I'm the one who shouted crucify him. I'm the soldier who in my just
vindictive, just obstinate heart of rebellion, even though I was
fulfilling the very will of God in doing what I did. I reared
back, even though the life was gone out of him, I reared back
and just slung a spear in his side. All my thoughts I've done that. All my words I've done that. All my deeds I've done that.
That is what I am. Do you believe that? But with it, this look at Christ,
and this faith in Christ, comes repentance. What's repentance? I know it's not what most men
think it is. I know it's not what most folks
think it is. What is it? Here's what it is. Verse 10. This is Christ speaking. He's
speaking of Himself in the third person of Him. We just will say,
Me right here is Him. He says, They shall mourn for
Him as one mourneth for his only Son, and shall be in bitterness
for Him as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. You love your children. You love that firstborn. We love all our children. You
imagine, you think about that love, that unexplainable, that
thing you can't even express when they laid your firstborn
child in your arms. What would you do if you and
you alone were completely responsible for killing that child? That's what repentance is. inexpressible mourning. The Lord
says they're going to mourn for me like one mourns for his firstborn. Repentance is mourning because
of our sin. There's no doubt about that.
But listen to me very carefully. It is much more than that. I can be sorry over my sin because
I got caught. I can be sorry, truly have tears
over my sin because God's just and will by no means clear the
guilty. I can be sorrowful over my sin because I don't want to
go to hell. But that's just a natural, legal
sorrow. This sorrow we're talking about,
this is repentance. You may not and I may not see
the tears. And it don't matter if I see
them or not. And it don't matter if you see them or not. You and
I, I may never, we may never see to satisfy our own pharisaical nature. But this repentance is mourning
for Christ. It's morning because I behold the hideousness that I am when I look there and
I see what He bore in His own body. willingly for me." True repentance. This thing when we're made to
see our sin, when we behold Him. This thing when we're made to
truly mourn for Him. You think about it, Let me turn
to Luke 7. Let me turn to Luke 7. I'm trying to go slow and I'm
trying for you to see this tonight. Luke 7. Repentance is a change of mind. before repentance is granted,
you're standing on a side with all the world. And in your heart of hearts,
you're saying, God is in no way just to say, I'm absolutely worthless. We're standing with a multitude
saying God is absolutely unjust to choose whom he will. God's
absolutely unjust. This is what we're saying when
we're in our flesh and in our sin. This, you may not say it
with the mouth, enmity is being the opposite of God. That's what
it is. may be so sweet and so sincere
before men, but it's a heart of rebellion. God's unfair to
send forth his spirit and regenerate whom he will and not let me do it by my will. But when we behold what we are,
what we deserve, The only thing we ever merited. When we behold
it in Christ crucified. We completely change sides. We completely... We had our backs
with our people. And we had our backs... And we're
shaking our fist at God. And we step onto God's side and stop standing in judgment
of God. And we say that God, all your
counsel, everything you've ever said against me is right. Look at Luke 7. Those Pharisees
and scribes came to John the Baptist to be baptized. They
came there not just to mock it, they came there, they'd jump
through any hoop, it didn't matter. And John said, bring forth fruits,
meat for repentance. And Christ tells us exactly what
it was that John knew about these folks. They never had come out
from their crowd of, from their world. They never had been separated
from the world. But a bunch of harlots and a
bunch of thieves and robbers, publicans did. And this is what
the Lord said in Luke 7 29. All the people that heard John,
this is the Lord speaking, all the people that heard John really
heard him because of this spirit of grace in our heart. And the
publicans, But the worst, they justified God. They said, God, you're right.
Everything you've said is so. They justified Him. That's being
baptized with the baptism of John. You know what they did?
They confessed their sin. They said, God, you're right.
All we are is worthless sin. But the Pharisees and the lawyers
rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized
of Him. If He would have said, you can
be saved if you'll do this. Salvation's in this water. Salvation
is by doing this act right here. If they'd have just said that,
they'd have crawled over one another to get in the water.
But John said, you can't muster repentance yourself. You can't
muster faith yourself. This is not one more religious
exercise that you do by your sinful flesh. You can't do this. And they said, we don't want
any part of it then. We don't want any part of it
then. Because we're not nearly as bad as what you claim we are,
John. Repentance is being changed in
our mind from ourself to God. From our self-righteousness,
from our self-will, from our self-sufficiency, from our self-religion
that we made up, our sacrifices, our self-sacrifices, all our
former companions, And it's taking sides with God against all we
are, all we've ever done in justifying God. Turn back there to Psalm 51.
Let me show you that. Psalm 51, verse 3. For the Lord shall Psalm 51.3. David said, I acknowledge my
transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. How was his sin before him? How
did he see his sin? Peter said, he saw the Lord before
him. And the Lord said here, when
you see me before you, you're going to mourn your sin. They're
going to mourn their sin. They're going to repent from
everything they are. That's where repentance is. That's
what it is. That's how it is. And David said,
I acknowledge my sin. It's ever before me against thee
and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight that
thou mightest be justified when thou speakest and clear when
thou judgest. God be just. if He just threw
you into hell? Outside of Christ, would He be
just if He just threw you into hell? If He'd be outside of Christ, He'd
be absolutely just to throw me right into hell. If not for Christ's
blood, if not for His electing grace, if not for His saving
grace, if not because God alone decided to save me by his own
grace. If not for him alone, he'd be
just. And clear when thou judgest,
why? Behold, I was shapen in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me. God, you're right. That's
all I am. But this is what David knew.
By this grace working in him, look at verse 17. The sacrifices
of God are a broken spirit and a contrite heart. Oh God, thou
wilt not despise. This is what he was praying.
God, create this heart in me. Renew this heart in me. This
is what repentance is. It's a broken heart. It's a contrite
heart. And it makes a sinner renounce
all hidden things that are against God. That's right. And this true repentance, this
true faith, it comes, I don't, let people who want to worship
God in the letter and want to try to appeal to your head and
let them just dice up faith and repentance and try to separate
and tell you the precise time when one comes and when the other
comes and how they come and at the very moment and all that
stuff. Let them have it. I know this. Along with this sight, This repentance, it comes out of this good news. All your sin is gone. Christ says, look at me. And looking at Him, He makes
you to see... Looking at Him on the cross,
He makes you to see your sin. He makes you to see your ungodliness. Because that's what it took. He makes you to mourn that you
pierced Him. Mourn that you put Him there.
Mourn that that's... And all of this comes from this
blessed good news that He gives us. You see me? You see me? I have put it all away. I've put all your sin away. This is what he said. Look there
in chapter 13 verse 1. In that day, That day when He pours out this
spirit of grace and supplication to you personally, that day when
He makes you to behold Him and to mourn for Him in bitterness
over His firstborn, in that day there shall be a fountain opened
to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem
for sin and uncleanness. And you know what God's people
will do? They just dive in to Christ. They just plunge themselves
into Christ. They just plunge themselves into
Christ, this fountain of cleansing. They say, all that I thought
was cleansing me, None of that cleansed me. I renounce it. That's
all done. This is my only cleansing. This
one Christ Jesus the Lord. And that's what creates in the
heart this fruit. That's the very substance of
this fruit. That's the very substance of
this love and this joy and this gentleness and this long-suffering.
That's the very heart that makes a Pharisee tries to beat the
child into submission. And then block his entrance into
Christ. God. Christ. He takes that head
that He has made. He lifts it up. And He makes
you to behold Him. And that head and those bones
that are broken by a look at Him falls in the dust so much
that you can't even look up to Him. You can't even lift your
eyes up to Him. And He reaches forth a hand of
grace and He lifts that head up again. And he says, I don't remember
your sin anymore. It's gone. And you say, in loving kindness,
in long suffering, oh, in great joy, he's done all this for me. and continuing to see Him, continuing
to see Him crucified, continuing to see Him with this, I have
faith, and continuing to hear Him say, I have put Him away
by this sacrifice. He continues to grow that faith
and continues to keep you repenting from everything that would separate
you from Him. Why do you keep preaching Christ
and Him crucified? Why do you keep telling us this
is all of grace? Why do you keep telling us all
this? For that reason. Because this is how He increases
faith. And this is how He turns us from
this ungodly, vain, self-saving world. Brother Henry said, repentance
is a change of mind. It's a change of masters, it's
a change of motives, and it's a change of manners. We're operating in a whole different
way now. In Acts 8.36, when Philip was on the road there with that
eunuch. It says in Acts 8.36, And as
they went on their way, they came unto a certain water. And
the eunuch said, See, here's water. What doth hinder me to
be baptized? Philip obviously told him all
through Isaiah 53 that when Christ died and He rose, He came out
of that grave, and His people came out of that grave in Him. And that's what water baptism
pictures. That's what it's a symbol of,
a token of. It doesn't purge the flesh. It
doesn't do any of these things Christ did. It's an answer of
a conscience purged by God that says, I've seen Him. I've mourned for Him. I confess
with God all I am is unrighteous. But I confess all my hopes in
Christ. broken, contrite, and he said,
what hinders me to be baptized? And Philip said, listen to this,
if thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered
and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He said, I see God in Christ. I see the Lord of my salvation.
And Philip, I don't know if Philip commanded
the chariot to stand still, or if the eunuch said, stop, stop
this chariot. I don't know who said it. And they went both down into
the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. I thought of this, when you go into the water and you come out of the water
in believer's baptism, you're going to do physically, just
materially speaking, you're going to do what you're confessing by the act of baptism. by being
baptized before the world. You know what you're going to
do after you're baptized? You're going to take off those
wet clothes and put on some dry clothes. You're going to take
off those clothes, and you're going to put on some different
clothes. You know what we're confessing? We're confessing
I'm under a new master. I got a new motive, and I got
new manners. I'm putting on Christ the Lord. I'm walking after Him. I'm serving
Him. That's repentance. And that's
faith. I pray God to overlook me and
the length of time that I'm standing here and preaching to you and
everything else about your flesh and whatever it is that wears
you. And I pray God speak in our hearts. I pray it does. I pray it has. I pray it's God
that's spoken in our heart. I was telling Melinda this on
the way in here. I can only find two Pharisees in all of the scripture
that God ever called. One was Nicodemus and one was
Paul. That does two things for me.
That gives me a great fear of a false profession. But that
does something else. That gives me a hope of being
saved from one. I pray God has given you life
and faith and repentance and I trust He has and I rejoice in Christ with you. Amen.