If you want to turn in your Bibles,
I'm going to be preaching from the book of Acts chapter 2 again. I've preached here a couple of
times and one more in that little series that I have. The title,
as you can see, is Initial Repentance, and I think that will come clear
to you as we get into the lesson. Let me just give you a little
background here on Acts again, remind you that We're talking
here about the day of Pentecost, when God made known the Spirit
in the hearts of men. He calls cloven tongues to sit
on the disciples and to declare the wonderful works of God, to
actually preach out the person and the work of Christ. in a
language that men who were there, many different nationalities
of men, seven or more different nationalities, that they could
hear in their own native tongue. And he preached. picked up that
message here on in Acts chapter 2 and preached some things to
these people that obviously they had never heard before. I mean,
they heard about a Christ that they had hung on a cross, and
they learned that God had actually made Him Lord and Christ. They didn't know that. They just
knew Him as Jesus of Nazareth. So let me just pick up right
there. When Peter preached, these people
were obviously moved. These Jews were moved. They had
heard things that astounded them, and they were moved. When a sinner
is so moved by the Holy Spirit to see that the death of Christ
was not for all without exception, nor was it in vain for any that
he died for, but that Christ's death was determined by God before
the world began. And that Christ's death was for
a multitude of sinners of every kindred, tribe, and nation. And
that death accomplished the salvation of every sinner Christ died for.
Christ's death itself and Christ's death alone delivered every sinner
he died for from the wrath we all deserve. When a sinner is
so moved to see that the resurrection of Christ from the dead is not
just a biblical fact. It is a biblical fact, but it's
much more. It's a declaration from God of
Christ's finished work. Listen here to Romans 4 and verse
25. It said, Christ who was delivered for our offenses and was raised
again for our justification. That word for could be because
of. Christ went to the cross because of the offenses of his
people. He went to the cross because
of the offenses of every sinner he had been given. And he was
raised again because he had done everything necessary for God
to be honored in the justification of those same sinners. That moves
sinners when they hear it, when the Spirit of God moves in the
heart. That's a moving statement. That's a moving thought. Christ
has fulfilled all the law's requirements in precept and penalty. He has
put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself, and He's established
the one righteousness by which God is just to justify ungodly
sinners. God declares every sinner Christ
died for righteous in His sight. And he declares them righteous
based on that righteousness Christ worked out, imputed to the accounts
of those sinners. Now, when a sinner is so moved
by these things, when he or she sees when they're moved, they
see that they cannot go on as before. And they're brought to
that question we looked at last time. Men, brethren, what shall
we do? When a sinner is so moved to
ask, the gospel provides an answer to that question, the one and
only answer. The question itself, what shall
we do, implies that the one asking believes, at least is leaning
toward agreement with what they heard. It implies that they're
agreeing with the gospel that's been preached. Those who express
such concern are indicating that they see a need for something
to be done. What shall we do? Something needs
to be done. We're seeing something here we
never saw. Something needs to be done. Now, let's read these
four verses here in Acts chapter 2 that will be my text for today. Acts chapter 2, verse 38 through
41. Then Peter said unto those who
ask him, What shall we do? Peter said unto them, Repent,
and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ
for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of
the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you,
and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as
many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words
did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward
generation. Then they that gladly received
his word were baptized, and the same day there were added unto
them about three thousand souls. Now, in these four verses, Peter
answers that question, and he really gives three commands here
in answer to that question. First, he says, repent. That's
one command. And then, be baptized. That's
the second command. And then if you look back in
verse 40 there, you see that word save yourselves. That's
really the same verb tense as be baptized. It's imperative,
passive. It means be saved. Be saved from
this untoward generation. Be saved from this wicked and
evil generation. We don't do anything in salvation.
Something is done to us in salvation. So there are really three answers
to this command, but today I'm just going to concentrate on
the first. The first of those commands is repent. And we're
going to consider this command under four different points.
We'll look at those other two in a later message, I think.
But today, I just want to deal with this initial repentance
that's commanded by the gospel. Let me say this before I get
into those points. That be saved, I believe, is
an ongoing repentance. It's a repentance that takes
place under the gospel as we hear, as our minds are transformed
by the renewing of the gospel to our minds. But today, this
word repent, that means this is where repentance starts. This
is initial repentance. And we'll look at this command
under four points. First, there's the command itself. We want to
see exactly what's commanded here. And then who should repent?
And then the necessity of repentance. And then the certainty of repentance.
So the first thing we'll look at is the command itself. What's
being commanded here when Peter said repent? What will a sinner
have done when they have repented? Well, the Greek word repent literally
means to perceive afterwards. In other words, it means to change
your perception, change your mind. Change from what you previously
understood to be true to what you now are understanding to
be true. It's a change of mind. Change
your thinking from what you were believing to what the gospel
has taught you. Change your thinking from the
Christ you were believing in to the Christ, the only Christ,
the Jesus Christ, which you have learned of through the gospel.
The command is not just to change what we believe, but it's to
change who we actually believe in. And the change commanded
is about the Christ we find our hope of salvation in. The gospel reveals a radically
different Savior than any of us, apart from the gospel, ever
looked at, ever knew, ever considered. I'll tell you about my own experience.
When I came to the gospel, the Christ in my mind was a Christ
who died for all men without exception. He died for the whole
world. That's what I believe. And I
believe that if a sinner would just say, confess that I'm a
sinner, I know I'm a sinner, I know that Christ died for sinners,
and if I just asked Christ to come into my heart, He'd save
me. That's what I believed when I came here. That was the Christ
in my mind. The gospel demands that all who
hear the gospel confess that the Savior in our minds before
we heard the gospel is not the same Savior as the one we hear
revealed in the gospel. Now, the natural tendency, just
like mine was, was to somehow try to make that Christ in my
mind and that Christ of the gospel be the same. That's what I did. That's what most everybody does.
That's the natural tendency. The natural tendency is to say
that this is just a better understanding of the Christ that I've always
believed in. The tendency is to try to blend
this new, better, more scriptural understanding that I got from
the gospel with what I always believed in. In other words,
the natural tendency is to insist that the gospel is not describing
a different Savior. It just has better language,
more scriptural accuracy of the Savior that I've always believed
in. basically want to do by nature. But that's not the scriptural
teaching of repentance. Paul describes this repentance
as a radical change of mind. He describes it as counting as
loss what he once thought was gain. Listen to Philippians 3
and verse 7. Before verse 7, Paul has just
listed a number of things. He was a Hebrew of Hebrews, a
Pharisee of Pharisees, a such-and-the-law Pharisee. Concerning zeal, he
was persecuting the church. As touching
zeal, he was a persecutor of the church. And that's when this
verse comes up. In other words, Paul was saying
these are all things, being a Hebrew, being a keeper of the law, being
a doer. He was saying all these things
are what I thought was gaining me except as we got. That's what
he says right here in verse 7. But what things were gained to
me, those I counted lost for Christ. Before Paul learned of
Jesus Christ, the one who accomplished the salvation and justification
of every sinner he died for. Before the Spirit of God brought
Paul to the gospel and the true Christ, he looked to a lot of
things. He looked to his pedigree. He looked to his law-keeping.
He looked to his religious zeal. He looked to all these things
as having some part in his acceptance with God. He thought that something
he was doing or something that God enabled him to do was gaining
him God's favor. Obviously, in this mindset, Paul
was not looking to the Christ of the Gospel. He was not looking
to Christ alone for all of his acceptance with God. He was looking
within, and therefore, he was looking at a Christ of his imagination. But when Christ stopped him on
the Damascus Road and showed him the Jesus whom he was persecuting,
he was going out dragging people out of their homes who named
the name of Christ and actually having them put to death. But
when Christ showed him the Jesus whom he had been persecuting,
Paul was delivered from the Christ of his imagination, and he was
delivered to the Christ of the gospel. That's what Paul is describing
in Philippians 3. Saul of Tarsus before his faith
in Christ and repentance from dead works and his former idolatry,
and Paul the apostle after God gave him eyes to see and brought
him to true faith and godly repentance. As long as any sinner, you, me,
or any sinner, is not resting his or her entire salvation in
Christ alone, as long as any sinner is not finding their hope
in Him, the One who put away the sin of every sinner he died
for, as long as any sinner is not finding their righteousness
in Christ's righteousness imputed alone, That sinner, be you, me,
the most jealous religious on the earth, that sinner is finding
their hope in something else, in someone else. And wherever
else that is, it's a presumptuous hope that needs to be repented
of in light of the gospel. Therefore, the gospel commands
sinners to repent. Repentance is necessary. It's
vital that sinners turn away from the Christ we once trusted
in by nature. in order to turn to the Christ
of the gospel. It's vital that a sinner turn
away from the dead works and evil deeds motivated by the Christ
of our imagination and to turn to the acceptable obedience worked
in those brought to true faith and godly repentance. That is
what I see as the gospel command to repent that Peter is exhorting
these Jews here in Acts 2 to come to. That's why the gospel
commands this repentance to every sinner who is privileged to hear
the gospel. And that's our next point. Who
is to repent? Who needs to change their thinking
about Christ? Who needs to be delivered from
the Christ of their imagination? Certainly not one who spent their
whole lives in religion. Certainly not one who's a preacher,
who's been a preacher all his life or for many years. Certainly
not them. Well, look back at verse 38 here.
It says, Repent and be baptized, every one of you. The phrase
underlined is each of you, every one of you separately. In the
Old Testament, repentance was toward a nation. It was toward
the nation Israel. God urged the nation Israel to
repent, to change their thinking. But in the New Testament, in
this gospel age, This is not a command to nations. It's not
a command even to families. It's a command to individuals.
Peter is commanding the repentance of every sinner who hears the
gospel and claims to believe what they have heard, those that
are moved by the gospel. The command is to every sinner
that the Spirit calls us to ask, what shall we do? He's commanding
the baptism only of those who repent. That's what Paul told
those on Mars Hill in Acts 17, verses 29-31. For as much then as we are the
offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is
like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by heart and man's
device. And the times of this ignorance
God winked at. when God just overlooked the
idolatry of the Gentiles. He didn't send them a preacher.
He didn't send them the Gospel. He just overlooked it. That's
what it means when it says He winked at it. But now, in this
Gospel age, He commands all men everywhere to repent. And the
emphasis here in Acts is on Jew and Gentile equally. It's not
necessarily emphasizing every man, but He does command men
of Jew and Gentile alike who come to the gospel and hear it
to repent, because he hath appointed a day into which he will judge
the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained,
whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath
raised him from the dead. The command of the gospel is
to every sinner who hears it and claims to believe it. Be
delivered from the Christ of your imagination. Rest in the
Christ of the gospel for all of salvation. Be delivered from
going about to establish a righteousness of your own. Rest in the righteousness
that Christ established and that God has imputed to every sinner
he lived and died for. Who is to repent? Everyone who
hears the gospel and claims to believe. The third thing we'll
consider is the necessity of repentance. Repentance is vital. All who claim to believe the
gospel must repent. It's a vital issue. Why must
all repent? Because repentance, without repentance,
faith is just an empty claim. We may claim to believe the gospel,
but if God hasn't delivered us, truly delivered us to the Christ
of the gospel, and turned us away from the Christ of our imagination?
It's just a claim. That's all it is. So without
repentance, faith is just an empty claim. And there's a second
reason. Without repentance, men perish. Look at Luke 13, verses 1 through
5. There were present at that season
some that told Christ of the Galileans whose blood Pilate
had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto
them, Suppose you that these Galileans were sinners above
all the Galileans because they suffered such a thing. Are you
supposing that these Galileans were the worst possible sinners
among all Galileans because they suffered such a death? Verse
3, I tell you, Nay, but except you repent, you 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? Again, do you think
they were the worst sinners that were dwelling in Jerusalem because
the tower of Siloam fell on them and killed them? I tell you,
nay, but except you repent, you shall all likewise perish." In
these two illustrations, Christ is exposing the faulty judgment
of these Jews. Thinking that any sinner is a
worse sinner than you are, based on anything found in them, automatically
makes you a better sinner than they are because of something
found in you. What have you not done that makes
you a better sinner than somebody else? What have they done that
makes them a worse sinner than you? Well, what are we looking
at here? We're looking at the standard
of judgment. The standard of judgment that
these Jews were demonstrating and the standard of judgment
that all of us by nature demonstrate is judgment by appearance, by
the character and conduct of sinners. The scripture forbids
such judgment. John 7, 24 says, Judge not according
to appearance, but judge righteous judgment. Consider with me how utterly
dishonoring it is to believe that any sinner Christ died for,
any sinner Christ shed his blood for, any sinner Christ gave himself
a sacrifice for, consider how dishonoring it is to Christ to
believe that that sinner could perish eternally. Consider how
dishonoring it is not to believe that every sinner Christ died
for must and shall be saved. They will be saved with an everlasting
salvation. They will be brought to final
glory. Such thoughts evidence the faulty
judgment of all of us by nature, and such thoughts deny the Christ
of the gospel. Those of such thinking are finding
their hope of salvation where? In a counterfeit, in an antichrist. Those of such thinking have not
yet come to Christ alone, the Christ of the gospel for all
of salvation. Those of such thinking are those
yet in need of repentance. Every sinner Christ died for
must and shall be saved because Christ's death put away their
sins and because His obedience unto death established the one
righteousness by which God is forever declaring those sinners
to be righteous in His sight. Why is repentance necessary?
Why is it vital? Because without repentance, faith
is just an empty claim. And because without repentance,
men will perish. The fourth and final point we'll
consider today, it's a little bit longer than these others
now, so don't think I'm almost done, there's a little bit more
here, is this. This is the fourth point. Repentance
is certain. God will not allow one sinner
whom he has chosen and justified in Christ, one whom Christ has
redeemed by His blood. God will not allow even one of
these sinners to die without repentance. He won't allow one
of them to die unrepentant. Look at 2 Peter 3, verses 8 and
9. He says, But, beloved, be not
ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a
thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is
not slack concerning his promise. He's talking about the promise
of Christ's return. He's not slack concerning that
promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to usward,
not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
He's longsuffering to his elect. He's longsuffering to those that
he's chosen. He's longsuffering to those that
Christ has redeemed. He's longsuffering to us, we're
not willing that any of us should perish, but that every one of
us, each one of us, each one of his elect should come to repentance. This present world exists because
some that God has already chosen. Some that God has already justified
by the righteousness of Christ alone. Some that Christ has already
redeemed are still lost. They're still wandering in darkness
and ignorance. They're lost not because they're
condemned. They're lost not because the
wrath of God abides on them. But they're lost because they
don't know the God who chose them. They're lost because they
don't know how God can be just to justify them. They're lost
because they do not know the Christ whose death has already
delivered them from the wrath they deserve. They are lost because
they do not know that Christ's righteousness imputed has already
given them an unchangeable standing of righteousness before God.
They are lost because they have not yet received the gift of
the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost. Look back with me to Acts chapter
2 and verse 38 and verse 39. Then Peter said unto them, Repent
and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ,
for the remission of sins. And you shall receive the gift
of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you,
and to your children, and to all that are far off, even as
many as the Lord our God shall call. The gift of the Holy Spirit,
the Holy Ghost, and the promise are one and the same. Before
his departure, Christ promised His disciples that He would send
the Spirit of God to indwell, that is, to take up permanent
residence in each of them. He promised them He would send
the Spirit. Look at John 14, verses 15 through 18. Christ told His disciples, If
you love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and
he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever,
even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because
it seeth him not, neither knoweth him. But you know him, for he
dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you
comfortless. I will come to you." And then
one more verse, John 15 and verse 26. He said, But when the Comforter
is come, who I will send unto you from the Father, even the
Spirit of truth which proceeded from the Father, he shall testify
of me. Christ promised His disciples
that He would send the Holy Spirit to indwell them and that the
Holy Spirit would be a Comforter and a guide to them. In John
16, verses 12-15, He goes on with that. He says, I have yet
many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now.
How be it? When He, the Spirit of Truth,
is come, He will guide you into all truth. For He shall not speak
of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak. And He will show you things to
come. He will glorify Me, for He shall receive of Mine and
shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath
are Mine, therefore said I. that he shall take of mine, and
shall show it unto you." Christ promised his disciples, and his
disciples are types in this instance. They're types of every heir of
grace, every one of God's elect. He promised his disciples the
Holy Spirit as a comforter and as a guide. But before the Holy
Spirit comes to each of God's elect as a comforter and as a
guide, Before the Holy Spirit is sent to the heirs of grace,
we're each one finding our comfort and our guidance in a Christ
of our imagination. We're going about to establish
a righteousness of our own and finding our assurance in what
the scriptures call dead works and fruit unto death. Until the
Spirit of truth comes to us with spiritual life, we're lost in
ignorance and unbelief of the true Christ of the gospel. We
didn't know the Christ for the gospel until we came to the gospel,
and the Spirit showed us who the true Christ really was. I
believe John describes what I entitled this message with, initial repentance,
in John 16, verses 7 through 11. We've looked at these verses
before, but let's look at them again today. John writes, Nevertheless,
I tell you the truth. It's expedient. It's necessary
for you that I go away. He's going to the cross. For
if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you, but if
I depart, I will send him to you. And when he's come, he will
reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment.
Of sin, because they believe not on me. Of righteousness,
because I go to my Father and you see me no more. Of judgment,
because the Prince of this world is judged. Christ promised His
disciples that He would send the Holy Spirit as a comforter
and a guide. That promise is to all of His
elect, as I said. But before the Holy Spirit can
comfort Christ's sheep, before He can guide Christ's sheep,
He must first bring the sheep to Christ. You see, we're out
there. We're that one sheep who's gone away from the hundred, out
wandering around in the wilderness. We need to be found. Christ must
deliver his sheep from the Christ of their imaginations to the
Christ of the gospel. He must first bring them to true
faith and godly repentance. He must reprove them of three
things found here in John 16. Now Webster defines this word
reprove as an often kindly intent. to correct the fault. That's
what the Spirit of God does when He comes to the heirs of grace. He comes to correct the fault. The Spirit of God is sent to
every heir of grace, and His purpose in coming is to correct
faults, not the faults of lying and cheating and lawlessness
and perversion. Those are faults we should correct,
but that's not the Spirit's purpose in coming. Not the flaws in our
character and conduct. No, the Spirit of God comes to
correct the faults in our self-righteousness, in our self-righteous religion,
in our self-righteous religious zeal. The fault of not believing
in the Christ of the Scriptures. The fault of not resting in Christ's
imputed righteousness alone for all of salvation. The fault of
not seeing the judgment of this world finished, accomplished
at the cross. The Spirit of truth is sent to
each heir of grace to reprove each one, first to reprove them
of sin. It says of sin, because they
believe not on me. See, this is a specific sin.
It's a certain sin that we're all guilty of by nature when
we come to the gospel. The Spirit of God is sent to
every heir of grace with one mission, to make that sinner
willing to find their hope in the salvation in their salvation
in Christ and Christ alone and to deliver them from the Christ
of their imagination. No sinner comes to the gospel
believing in the Christ of the gospel. We are like the Jews
in this text in Acts 2. The Jews here knew Jesus of Nazareth. They knew who Peter was talking
about. They knew that he had died on the cross. The Scripture
says, by wicked hands they put him there. They knew this Jesus.
They did not know that Christ's resurrection from the dead declared
him to be the successful Savior of every sinner he died for.
They did not know that God had made that same Jesus whom they
crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now this is how each sinner comes
to the gospel, ignorant of the Christ of the gospel. We know
some historical facts about the true Christ. We know he was born
in Bethlehem in a manger. We know he was born of a virgin
named Mary. We know that he died on a cross.
We know that he died for sin. And these are all true biblical
facts about the true Christ. But none of us knows anything
that identifies and distinguishes the true Christ from the counterfeits
of this world. We don't know that Christ is
both God and man, for instance. We don't know that God the Son
had to take into his into union with his deity, true humanity,
body and soul. We don't know that no sinner
Christ died for can perish because Christ's death alone delivered
every sinner he died for from the wrath they deserve. We don't
know that Christ's obedience unto death established the one
righteousness by which God justifies every sinner Christ lived and
died for. We don't know that God forever declares every sinner
Christ died for unchangeably righteous in his sight, based
on nothing but the imputed righteousness of Christ alone. These facts that I just mentioned
are the biblical facts that distinguish the true Christ of the gospel
from the Christ that's in our imaginations by nature. The Holy
Spirit must reprove us of this specific sin. because not one
of us by nature comes to the gospel believing on the Christ
of the gospel. Well, he goes on. He says he
must convince every one of God's elect of righteousness. He said,
because I go to my Father and you see me no more. Being ignorant
of the true Christ, we're naturally ignorant of the work Christ finished
at the cross. We're ignorant of that work that
he established, that righteousness that he established by his incarnation
and obedience unto death. The Scriptures call that God's
righteousness, and it says in Romans 10, verse 3, that those
that are ignorant of that righteousness are automatically going about
to establish the righteousness of their own. Without the knowledge
of God's righteousness, the one Christ established, men find
righteousness in works. We find righteousness in our
doing. We find righteousness in our character and conduct.
We find it in our reformation of life. I mean, a man might
have been a rebel, a drunkard, a drug addict. And he might be
delivered from that. And he thinks that's the Spirit's
work in bringing him. And he thinks that that's an
evidence that the Spirit of God resides in him. It isn't. But
he thinks it is. We find it in our religiosity.
Most of us came from a religious background. We were very zealous
in our religion. But that wasn't an evidence of
the Spirit indwelling us. They find confidence or righteousness
in their moral life. You know, most of us are moral
people. We try to do what's right. We
try to do what's right in our families, in our work. We try
to do what's right by each other. But that morality doesn't evidence
the Spirit indwelling. Men even find righteousness in
their faith. I mean, how many people are here
today? that because you believe that Christ died for you, that's
an evidence of the Spirit's indwelling. As long as you're under the Christ
of your imagination, as long as you think that that faith
has anything to do with your acceptance with God, it's just
another dead work and fruit unto death. The only righteousness
there is, the only one God owns, the only one God accepts, is
in Christ and Christ alone. And that righteousness is a declared
righteousness. The only way we know it, he said,
you see me no more. Christ is the Lord, our righteousness. But we don't see him, not visibly,
but we see him in the gospel. We see his person. We see his
work. He's declared out in the gospel
every time the gospel is preached. The Holy Spirit will reprove
each one he's sent to of righteousness. He will bring them to rest in
Christ and his righteousness imputed for all of salvation.
The third and last thing the spirit of truth is sent to each
heir of grace to reprove them of is judgment. He says of judgment
because the prince of this world is judged. Every sinner comes
to the gospel thinking that we know the Christ of the gospel.
But in reality, we're like the woman at the well which Christ
confronted in John chapter 4 and said, you worship, you know not
what. That's all of us by nature. When
we come to the gospel, that could be said of us. We don't know
what we're worshiping. We do not know that our worship
is opposed to the true God and the true Christ. By nature, our
worship is in league with the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit that still works in the children of disobedience.
In other words, it's still working in those yet undelivered from
their allegiance to him. Look at Ephesians 2, chapters
1 through 3. These verses describe the walk
of us all by nature before we hear the gospel and are delivered
from this walk. And you hath he quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sins, spiritually dead, wherein in
time past you walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit
that now worketh in the children of disobedience, among whom also
we had our conversation in time past, in the lusts of our flesh,
fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were
by nature the children of wrath, even as others. The prince of
the power of the air here in Ephesians and the prince of this
world who is judged has already been judged in John 16. They're
one and the same. They're speaking of the same
one. They're speaking of Satan. The judgment of this world took
place at the cross. The eternal doom of Satan, the
prince of the power of the air, was sealed by Christ's death,
along with the eternal doom of every sinner who remains in league
with him. These would be those who reject
God's gospel. They reject the Christ of the
gospel. They insist on holding on to
a Christ of their imagination. They are those who continue to
look within at their works, at their character and conduct for
some part of salvation. The eternal doom of all men was
fixed at the cross. the eternal doom of those that
I just mentioned, and the eternal blessedness of all those in Christ
was fixed at the cross. John 3 explains both of these
well in John 3, verse 18. He says, He that believeth on
Christ is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned
already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only
begotten Son of God. Any sinner believing on the Son
of God is not being judged. They are not condemned. But any
sinner not believing on the Son of God has already been judged.
He's condemned already because he not believed in the name of
the only begotten Son of God. Judgment was fixed for both categories
of sinners, those who come to Christ and those who reject Christ. It was fixed at the cross. The
Spirit of God will come to each heir of grace and reprove them
of their faulty judgment and bring them to true judgment.
Before the Spirit's work of regeneration in the heart of a sinner, before
any sinner is brought to true faith and godly repentance, that
sinner is lost. Lost because they're not believing
on Him whom God has sent. But some will believe. Some must
believe. Some will be brought. Some must
be brought to true faith and godly repentance. God is not
willing that any of His elect should perish, but that each
of them should be brought to this repentance. This initial
work by the Spirit of God in every air of grace is certain. This world cannot end until it
has been accomplished. Look here in John 6 in verse
37 through 40. He said, All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven,
not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all
which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise
it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that
sent me, that every one that sees the Son and believes on
him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the
last day." Before the world began, God the Father gave the Son a
people of every kindred, tribe, and nation. He entrusted the
salvation, the complete salvation of that people to the Son. Christ
has accomplished everything necessary for this people to be finally
glorified. Each of these will be brought
in each generation to the Christ who has saved them and is keeping
them under final glory. All that the Father has entrusted
to Christ will come to him in true faith and godly repentance.
They will know the Christ whose blood has put away their sin.
They will know the Christ whose righteousness gives them an unchangeable
standing of righteousness before God. They will be delivered from
the Christ of their imagination to the true Christ of the gospel.
In closing, look back where we started at verse 38. Then Peter
said unto them, Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in
the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and you
shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Repentance is the
command of the gospel. Repentance is commanded of each
one separately who claims to believe the gospel. Repentance
is necessary. It's vital. Without repentance,
sinners perish in unbelief. And repentance is certain to
every heir of grace. The world cannot end until each
heir of grace has been given this vital evidence of salvation. Now, in the light of such clear
testimony, why would anyone not leave the Christ of their imagination
and come to the Christ of the gospel? Why would anyone not
repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the
remission of sins? Why would anyone not demonstrate
this vital evidence that you have received the gift of the
Holy Spirit? To those of you who have experienced
the repentance we've looked at here, I have one word for you. Rejoice. Rejoice that God has
shown you mercy and saved you by his grace. Rejoice that you
have been saved by his grace in Christ alone. To all others
listening, the command of the gospel has come to the Christ
of the gospel. Rest in him for all of salvation. Turn away from the Christ of
your imagination. The command of the gospel is
repentance.