We're looking this morning at
the book of Acts chapter 20, the 20th chapter of Acts, if
you want to follow along, in which I read where the Apostle
Paul is speaking to the elders at the church at Ephesus. And he talks about his ministry. He says in verse 24, he said, have a course and a ministry
which I've received of the Lord Jesus. A ministry. And what is a minister? What is a preacher? What's the
primary purpose and job of one who is called a minister? Well, Paul said, The ministry
which I have received of the Lord Jesus is to testify the
gospel of the grace of God. A minister is a minister of the
gospel to people, a preacher of the gospel. A preacher is
one who is called to preach the gospel, to testify, Paul said. to tell what he has heard and
what he has seen from God's Word. It is sad to say that in our
day a so-called minister or preacher is no more than a mere socializer,
or a youth organizer, or motivator, or a hospital visitor, or someone
whose primary purpose is to marry or bury people. or give invocations
at football games. Sad to say, and I'm most of the
time embarrassed to be introduced as a preacher because I'm immediately yoked with these other fellows
who do just those things. But a minister of the gospel
is one who ministers or serves or preaches the gospel, testify,
Paul said, the gospel of the grace of God. And that's the
gospel in a phrase, the grace of God. And he says back in verse
20, he said, I have kept back nothing that was profitable unto
you, but have showed you these things. Now, a witness or one
who testifies something, which Paul said he was, to testify
the gospel. A witness, or one who is called
to testify, swears, that is, to tell the truth, the whole
truth, and nothing but the truth, not add to it or to interpret
it, but rather to declare the truth. He is called by the defense
or the prosecution before the judge. You are told to tell the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. If you do not,
you are guilty of perjury, or that is, lying, if you keep back
any of it or if you twist it or pervert it. Well, Paul says,
I am a witness. I am an ambassador of Christ.
I am sent by him to testify before God. He is the judge. The truth, to testify the truth,
the gospel. The truth of God's word, the
whole truth, everything God says, not what I think men and women
want to hear, but everything He says, whether they like it
or not. The whole truth and nothing but
the truth. Not what I think it says, but
rather what it says. And not the philosophy of the
day, not what such and such person said, but the truth, what God
says. And Paul said there in verse
27, I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. He said he declared the whole
counsel of God. without fear of man, not trying
to impress people, win men and influence friends, not trying
to woo members or trying to get people into our religious clubhouse.
No, sir. But to declare the truth of God's
Word, the whole truth, the whole counsel of God, all of it. He
said, I have kept back nothing. Half the truth is a lie, people. Half the truth is a lie. Satan lied in the beginning by
keeping back part of what God said and twisting a little bit. He used Scripture. That's what
he used. Well, in verse 20, Paul says,
I have kept back nothing profitable unto you. Nothing. I am not shunned
to declare the whole counsel," he said, of God, verse 27. And
he said, this is what I am here to testify to you. Verse 21,
he says, testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks,
that is, the whole world. Go into all the world and preach
the gospel, the Lord said. And so Paul did. the apostle
to the Gentiles, or rather, not just Jews, but the whole world,
the then known world. He said, I testify in verse 21,
repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance toward God and faith
toward our Lord Jesus Christ. These two things, preaching And
declaring the truth, the gospel, is made up of these two basic
things, declaring or testifying repentance toward God and faith
toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, repentance toward God. This is the missing note in present-day
preaching. This is the missing note in present-day
preaching. You rarely even hear the word
mentioned, repent. But this is what the prophets
came preaching, repent. This is what John came preaching,
repent. This is what the Lord Jesus Christ
came preaching. The first words out of his mouth
were, repent. This is what the apostles preached,
repent. And this is what God's true preachers
still say today, repent. repentance toward God. Though
this is old-fashioned and unpopular, yet God, Scripture says, commandeth
all men everywhere to repent. Not asketh, not hopes they will,
but commandeth. What is repentance? Well, repentance,
number one, is a gift, the gift of God. Over in 2 Timothy chapter
2, Paul instructing a young preacher named Timothy says, The servant
of the Lord must be gentle unto all men, apt to teach patience
and meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves. if God
peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledgment of the
truth. Repentance is not a person all of a sudden changing their
own mind. Repentance is the gift of God. It's the gift of God and the
work of God, the power of God. He said in Romans 2, for the
goodness of God leadeth thee. to repentant. It's the gift of
God. See, God gets all the glory in
every part of salvation. Repentant. Men and women are
dead. Men and women by nature, and
young people, have a heart that's stony, and God must take that
away and give them a new heart. God works will peradventure,
Paul said, give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. This is what repentance is. Repentance
is a genuine, that is, it's true, it's sincere, it's heartfelt
sorrow over sin against God. Sin against God. Heartfelt sorrow. genuine heartfelt sorrow over
what we are by nature. Our sin against God and a desire,
the word repentance also means change, it's a desire to change
or rather be changed. Now, I'm not talking about when
we talk about repentance. I'm not talking about mere petty
offenses or misdemeanors. Smoking and drinking or stealing
a watermelon. Smoking cigarettes is not going
to keep you out of heaven. Neither is drinking beer. Did
you hear me? That's what the Lord said, and
it shocked those self-righteous Pharisees. He said, you listen
to me. He said, nothing going into the
mouth defiles a man of what comes out of the heart.
Now, repentance is not a mere misdemeanor or petty offense.
Repentance is sorrow and confession of, number one, sin. Sin. I didn't
say sins, I said sin. That is, what we are. Repentance is sorrow over what
we are. The gift of God, God has to grant
this, God has to cause this by his word, has to send the Holy
Spirit through the preaching of the gospel to convict of sin. Our Lord said that in John 16.
When he has come, he will convince or convict his people of sin,
righteousness, and judgment. sin, what we are. Paul said it
in Romans 7, O wretched man that I am. That is repentance, to
know what you are by nature. Most people don't know that.
They really don't until God reveals it. Repentance is repentance
over what we are. That is, Paul said, in my flesh
dwelleth no good thing. what we are, which makes us commit
sins. What we are makes us do what
we do, and repentance is genuine heartfelt sorrow over what we
do, what I have done, sins committed, what I am doing, and what I will do, because we will
be sinners. We have been. We are now and
will always be sinners until the day we die. Now, if you say
you're not, many men say in 1 John 1, verse 8, if we say we have
no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. He
said in verse 10, if we say that we have not sinned, we make him
a liar, God a liar, and his word is not in us. Oh, Ecclesiastes
7.20. says, there's not a just man
on the earth which doeth good and sinneth not. And this brings
me to the next thing. Repentance is repentance over
self-righteousness. Outward religious folks need
to repent like Saul of Tarsus over their self-righteousness. That is, thinking that they're
actually keeping the law, that they're actually Sinless. My, my. That's what Paul said. He said, I thought I was blameless
before the law, but when the true law came, I died. It killed me. Repentance is toward
God. It's toward God. God is holy. I'm unholy. God
is just. I'm a sinner. God is my benefactor,
my creator, and I haven't acknowledged Him. Repentance is not like Cain,
because of his punishment, he couldn't bear it, he repented.
Not like Esau because he lost the blessing, but like David. It's like David who said, against
thee and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. And repentance toward God, it's
toward God, not men. Beg God for forgiveness. And
it's faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ, he said. We're testifying
repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
Faith toward. That is looking to the Lord Jesus
Christ. With the heart, that is. Looking
to Him. Believing in Him that He is your
only hope. That He is your only righteousness.
He is the only mediator between God and man. Belief in his name,
Lord, that is all authority, all power. Jesus, that is Savior,
Redeemer, Substitute. Christ, that is the only Mediator,
Advocate, and Go-Between. And that is why Paul said of
his preaching, and every other true preacher says of his own,
I am not shunned to declare all the counsel, because Jesus Christ
is all the counsel of God. So, this is the message. Repentance
toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. May God grant you repentance
and faith is my prayer. Amen.