Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church,
located at 905 Yadkin Street in Kingsport, Tennessee, would
like to invite you to listen to a message of sovereign grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. And now, Pastor Gabe Stoniker. I would like to bring a message
to you today from Romans, Chapter 2. If you would like to follow
along in your Bible, we will be in Romans, Chapter 2. But
I want to say first that in Romans chapter one, if you have read
through the chapter of Romans one, you know that the Apostle
Paul declares all kinds of sin that has been committed. All
different types of sin. Sin to condemn every soul on
this earth. As you read through the chapter,
you will see that there's not one person standing on this earth
that is exempt from the sin that he mentions in Romans chapter
one. When we read through that chapter,
we have to acknowledge that we are included in it. It's not
just man and mankind, it includes us. We're included in the sin. Romans 1 condemns every soul,
every soul. Now, how can we say that? How
can I say that right now? How can we know that every soul
is condemned in sin? Well, if you look with me at
chapter 2, Romans chapter 2, verse 1, it says, Therefore,
after he mentions everything he had to say in Romans 1, therefore
thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest. See somebody else doing something
and makes a judgment against them. He went on to say, for
wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself. For thou that judgest, doest
the same things. You see that? You see somebody
doing something and quick to point out faults, quick to acknowledge
the sin in others, but God says, not so fast. You do the exact
same thing. That's what the word tells us.
You do the exact same thing. Some commit sin or certain sins. Some commit them in the body,
physically in the body. They carry it out in the deeds
of the body. But all commit sin. in the heart and in the mind. All. All commit sin in the heart
and in the mind. All of us. All of us. And this
is what God says in his word. There's no difference. There
is no difference. Not before God. Sin committed
in the mind, sin committed in the heart is just as much sin
before him as sin committed in the deeds of the flesh. Now,
there may be some things that a man or woman can say, well,
you know, I've never physically committed that. He may see somebody
do something and say, well, I've never actually committed that
in the body. But there is nothing There's
nothing on this earth that a man or a woman can say he or she
has never committed in the heart. Nothing. Verse one again, chapter
two, verse one says, therefore thou art inexcusable, O man,
whosoever thou art that judgest. For wherein thou judgest another,
thou condemnest thyself. For thou that judgest doeth the
same things. But we are sure that the judgment
of God is according to truth against them which commit such
things. And thinkest thou this, O man,
that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that
thou shalt escape the judgment of God? What he's saying is,
people do certain things and we look at them and we think,
God's gonna get you for that. See somebody do something and
you think, we shouldn't be doing that. God's gonna get you for
that. Well, he said, do you think God's not gonna get you? You
do the same thing. He's talking to me. This is shocking, isn't it? Have
you ever heard anything like this? The scripture is full of
it. He said, you do the same thing. And what makes us exempt? If
God is going to judge one for sin, what will make another exempt
from the very same thing? When they do it, it's sin to
us. But when we do it, it's not sin
to us. Why is that? Romans 2 verse 3, he said, Thinkest
thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and
doest the same? that thou shalt escape the judgment
of God? Look with me at John 16, over
in John chapter 16, this is our Lord speaking in verse seven,
he said, nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is 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 is come, he will
reprove, that word means convince. He will convince the world of
sin. Sin, that's the first thing he
will convince of. This comforter, our Lord goes
on to tell us, is his Holy Spirit. And he said, when the spirit
comes, the first thing that he will convince of is sin, sin. When that truth from the spirit
comes, a man sees his own sin, a woman sees her own sin. God reveals himself and he reveals
his holiness and he reveals the truth of his word. And when sinners
see his holiness, they see their sin compared to him. God's word
cries, thou art the man. That's what it cries to me, thou
art the man. And the sinner cries, truth,
Lord. You're telling the truth. I know
what's in my heart. I know what's in my mind. I want
to put on a better front for men and women. I don't want to
be this, but I know what's in here. I know what's in here.
The sinner cries, I am the man. I am a sinner. I can point the
finger all I want to, but I am the man. I am the man. I'm the worst. The apostle Paul
said, I'm the chief. Think about that. I'm the chief. That response, that response,
that's the focal point of this message, all right? If you look
with me back at Romans 2, it says in Romans 2, Verse one,
therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that
judgest. For wherein thou judgest another,
thou condemnest thyself. For thou that judgest doeth the
same things. But we are sure that the judgment
of God is according to truth against them which commit such
things. We believe God's judgment is
true and it's coming. Verse three, and thinkest thou
this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doeth
the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? Now watch
verse four. He said, or despisest thou the
riches of his goodness, and forbearance, and longsuffering? not knowing
that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. He said, do you despise the thought
of God giving the riches of his goodness and the riches of his forbearance
and the riches of his long-suffering, this is his patience, his mercy,
his grace, his patience, He said, do you despise God giving it
to them? You say, well, that's a sinner
right there. Do you despise God giving it to them like he did
to you? Goodness means favor, God's favor, it means grace.
Forbearance means not immediately executing vengeance, forbearance. Not immediately giving what's
deserved, that's what it means. It's mercy, mercy. And long-suffering means patience. He said, do you think that you
are more worthy of these things? And that's exactly what man thinks
by nature. That's exactly what he thinks.
He thinks, well, I can see why God would be gracious and God
would be merciful and God would be patient with me. Sure, I can
see that. He's saying, don't you realize
that you were just as unworthy as they are? You see a sinner
and you know that's a sinner. He said, don't you realize that
you are just as much a sinner and just as unworthy of God's
favor and God's grace and God's mercy and God's patience as they
are? None deserve it. None deserve
it. God's kindness does not come
to the deserving None are deserving. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. Verse four, he said, despises
thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering,
not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. There's a wonderful old story
from a couple of men who lived a long time ago. A man named
William Jay, he was a preacher, and another man you may have
heard of, John Newton. John Newton came into William
Jay's office one time and speaking about a man that they both knew
in town that was just a sinful man, just a man in the gutter.
John Newton said, Brother J, did you know that God saved that
man? William J said, I did not know
that, that's wonderful. John Newton said, I'll never
despair of anybody since God saved him. William J said, Brother
Newton, I'll never despair of anybody since God saved me. I'll
never despair of anybody since God saved me. What he was saying
was, I'm the worst. I'm the worst, I'm the man, I'm
the chief of sinners. If God is willing to save me,
then God can save anybody. Anybody. It is the goodness of
God. And it is the mercy of God and
it is the patience of God that he would lead any sinner to repentance. And I put my name at the top
of that list. It is such goodness and such mercy and such patience
that he would lead any sinner to repentance and it is the goodness
and the mercy and the patience of God that leads sinners to
repentance. They see what they are through
the word, it exposes them and they see just how sinful they
truly are and then they see his goodness towards sinners. and
His grace towards sinners and His mercy towards sinners and
they fall in love with it. It is His goodness that leads
sinners to repentance. Well, let's take a moment and
look at what is repentance? All right, what is repentance?
Repentance is something that God does. All right, man cannot
do it on his own. God leads sinners to it. That's what we just read. It's
the goodness of God that leads sinners to repentance. Hopefully
we have seen now that no sinner is worthy of it. We've all committed
sin. No sinner is owed the goodness
of his repentance. It is the riches of God that any sinner would receive
it. It's only the kindness of God that any sinner would receive
it. Now, here's our question this
morning. What is it? What is it? We hear this word
repentance. What does it truly mean? What
is repentance? I want us to see what the scripture
has to say about it. And then I wanna give you the
definition of the word. Let's look at some scripture,
and then I'll give you the definition of the word, and hopefully the
Lord will teach us something about repentance. If you turn
with me to Luke 13, over in Luke chapter 13, our Lord said in
verse three, he said, I tell you, nay, but except you repent,
You shall all likewise perish. Except you repent, you shall
all likewise perish. Repentance is a necessary component
of God's salvation. Our Lord said, if you don't repent,
you'll perish. It's a necessary component of
God's salvation. So it's vital, it's vital. All right, now look with me at
Luke 15. Over just a couple of pages to
Luke 15, verse seven says, I say unto you that likewise joy shall
be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth more than over
90 and nine just persons which need no repentance. Heaven breaks
out in absolute joy. Every time God leads another
sinner to repentance. Absolute joy and rejoicing. Every
single time God leads one is necessary. And every time God
leads one, heaven breaks out into joy. All right, look with
me at Acts chapter 11. Over in Acts chapter 11, verse
18, It says, 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 is unto life. It's unto life. It's a necessary
component of God's salvation. All of heaven erupts with joy
over it because it's unto life. When it comes, it's unto life. Look with me at Acts chapter
20. Acts 20 verse 21 says, Repentance toward God and faith
toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance is toward God. I want to emphasize this. I really
want to emphasize this. Repentance is not toward us. Repentance is not toward man
in any way. Repentance is toward God. All right, it's toward God. Look
with me at 2 Timothy 2. 2 Timothy 2 verse 24, it says,
and the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto
all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness, instructing those
that oppose themselves, If God per adventure will give them
repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. The acknowledging
of the truth. I hope this one really sinks
in. Repentance is to the acknowledging of the truth. To the acknowledging
of the truth. All right. Hebrews six give us
just a few more here. Hebrews six. Hebrews 6 verse 1, it says, Therefore,
leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go
on unto perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance
from dead works and of faith toward God. Repentance is from
dead works. It's a very important component
of God's salvation. Heaven erupts with joy every
time a sinner is brought to it. It's unto life. It's toward God. It's to the acknowledging of
the truth. It's from dead works. And if you'll turn with me to
second Peter three, second Peter three, verse nine says, the Lord
is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness,
but his long suffering to us word. And that is a very important
word in that verse to us word. It means his elect. It means
his chosen people. That's who he's writing to. Peter
wrote this to a very particular group of people. God's usward,
those who have been called to be us with God, us with Christ,
his usward. Verse nine says, the Lord is
not slack concerning his promises. Some men count slackness, but
is long suffering to usward, not willing that any of the usward
should perish, but that all of the us word should come to repentance. All of God's people will come
to it. All of God's people. Now, what
is it? What exactly is repentance? The
definition of the word This word that we have been looking at
specifically repentance, this word is a change of mind. That's what it means. A change
of mind. It means to cause, to think differently. When people naturally hear the
word repent, I'm sure you've heard that before. When people
hear, you must repent. Our Lord came preaching, repent,
the kingdom of heaven is at hand. When people hear the word repent,
they naturally think it means stop sinning. Does that sound
familiar? When people naturally hear this
word, they think it means turn from your sin and don't do it
anymore. If that's what repent means,
then none of us have been led to repentance. I haven't, you
haven't. If that's what repent means,
then none of us have been led to repentance because every soul
on this earth still lives every day in this same old sinful flesh
that we've always lived in. The flesh will always be sinful
flesh. Our Lord said that which is flesh
is flesh. Now our Lord may have been gracious
to us and he may have allowed us to stop committing certain
open sins. Sins that were bringing reproach
to his name and reproach on his people and reproach on his gospel.
Some of his people may have been thieves and they don't steal
anymore. That's possible. Some may have
been fornicators and they're not fornicators anymore. That's
possible. Should we straighten up and fly
right as we all have been told to do? Should we do that? Absolutely. Absolutely. Should we strive
to obey our Lord and strive to be true followers of Him? Absolutely. Should we just be okay with going
deeper into sin and say, oh well, we're just sinners, it doesn't
matter, let's just go deeper into vile rebellion against God. Should we do that? No. The scripture
says, God forbid, God forbid. But here's the truth of the matter.
The beginning of Romans 2 just told us that as long as we are
in this body of flesh, we are never going to have clean hands
and a pure heart. One that's free from guilt. He
said, you do it too. Never. Therefore, as much as
we wish we could, we're never gonna be able to turn from our
sins. Thankfully, that is not what
the word repent means. Not at all. It means a change
of mind. It's something that every true
believer possesses. Every true believer, physically,
mentally, spiritually. All right, when we start out
in this world, we think we know who God is. God reveals himself,
and we have a change of mind. He's not waiting on me to do
anything. God is God. He does what he will with whom
he will. When we start out in this world,
we think we know something of ourselves. We think, well, I'm
a pretty good person. Oh, I'm not perfect. Have I sinned? Yeah, a couple of times, but
I'm a pretty good person. As soon as God brings repentance,
we cry, oh, I'm a wretched sinner. I have a changed mind about myself. I have a changed mind about God.
I have a changed mind about myself. Therefore, that will bring a
changed mind about salvation, how men and women are saved.
I cannot save myself. You cannot save yourself. No
flesh will be saved by trying to obey the law. Flesh is sinful
flesh. The only hope that any sinner
has is in the blood of Jesus Christ. That God would send his
son and his son would shed his blood as a payment and a sacrifice
to God to cover the sin of all of his people. Our only hope
is in the work of Christ. And once repentance comes, that
change of mind comes. And a sinner cries, I see, I
see the truth. I see the truth of this word.
We read this word and think, well, how can this be? This condemns
me. Here's how it can be. God in
all of his holiness sent his son and his son took everything
that condemned us upon himself. And everything that commended
us to God, he laid it on us, took our sin upon himself, laid
all of that perfection on us. died for us, and we live because
of that. We live in Him. When that repentance
comes, a sinner will cry, I see it. I have a changed mind about
all things. May God bring that repentance
and grant life from it. Till next week, may the Lord
bless His word to our hearts. You have been listening to a
message by Gabe Stoniker, pastor of Kingsport Sovereign Grace
Church in Kingsport, Tennessee. If you would like a copy of this
message or to hear other messages of Sovereign Grace, log on to
our website at ksgctn.org. If you would like to come and
worship with us, our service times are Sunday morning Bible
study at 10 o'clock a.m., worship at 1045 a.m., and 6 o'clock p.m.,
Wednesday evening at 730 p.m. Please tune in next week for
another message of God's free and sovereign grace.