Matthew chapter three, in those days came John the Baptist
preaching in the wilderness of Judea, not in the temple, not
in the Jewish synagogues, not in organized man's religion. He came preaching in the wilderness.
And if you were going to hear from God, you had to go to the
wilderness to hear this man. And this is an answer to Isaiah
chapter 40, the voice of one crying in the wilderness. I love the way John made no attempt
whatsoever to be identified with man's religion. You know, you'll
notice in the book of John, when John speaks of the Passover,
he calls it the Jews Passover, not God's Passover, the Jews
Passover. Well, John was avoiding any identification
with human religion. You know, I like doing the same
thing, don't you? I do not want to have any identification with
man-made religion. In those days came John the Baptist
preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, repent ye. You know, the Bible doesn't tell
what other people need to do. It's not addressed to other people.
It's addressed to me. Repent ye. Don't think about
anybody else. Don't think about the person
beside you or anybody in this room thinking I wonder if they've
repented. Repent ye. For the kingdom of heaven is
at hand. Now, same message the Lord gave. His opening message, repent for
the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And I have no doubt he meant
by that, I am at hand. Repentance and the Kingdom of
Heaven. I'm going to attempt to preach
a message on both of those subjects tonight. What does it mean to
repent? And Lord willing, maybe next
week, what is meant by the kingdom of heaven? I think it's interesting
that only Matthew calls it the kingdom of heaven. Everywhere
else in the other gospels, it's called the kingdom of God, yet
Matthew calls it the kingdom of heaven. What does the kingdom
of heaven mean? What does it mean to repent? Now I enter this message fearfully, because I do not want to be guilty
of darkening counsel with words without knowledge, like Job was. I repeat, I enter this message
fearfully. I want to give what the Bible
means by repent. Now, repentance, this like everything
else in the Bible is given a different meaning in man's religion than
what the Bible means by repent. And I hope by the grace of God,
you and I not only will understand what it means to repent, but
that we ourselves will be in a state of repentance. Wouldn't that be a blessing from
God if you and I are in a true state of repentance brought on
by God, the Holy Spirit. Repentance. How is the word used
most in religion? Repent of your sins. That phrase. is not found in
the Bible. Look for it. It's not there. And I would not want to be dismissive
in any way of the evil of sin. This is how evil sin is. The
only way it could be put away is for Christ to be nailed to
the cross. That's how evil sin is. I would not in any way be
dismissive of the evil of sin. But that particular phrase, repent
of your sins. is not found in the Bible. And yet it is the phrase that's
most often used. Repent of your sins. Repent of
your sins. Acknowledge them. Be sorry for
them. Stop committing them. Repent
of your sins. Now, we ought to acknowledge
them. We ought to confess them. And we ought to be sorry over
our sin. You reckon David was sorry over
his sin when he wrote Psalm 51? Sure he was. And we ought not
ever commit another sin again. Ever. Is that what John the Baptist
meant? when he said, repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Did he mean repent of your sins, acknowledge them, be sorry for
them, stop committing them. Is that what the Lord meant when
he said, repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repent
in Mark's account, repent and believe the gospel. You know,
when you've repented, when you believe the gospel, When you
believe the gospel, guess what? You've repented. How many times I hear preachers
say, repent of your sins and believe the gospel or believe
the gospel and repent of your sins. Now, When the Philippian jailer
said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? Repent of your sins and believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. No, no. Eric was reading back in the
back in John chapter six, verse 29, when they said, What must
we do to work the works of God? The Lord didn't say this is the
work of God that you believe on him whom he has sent and repent
of your sins. He didn't say that. Do you remember
when the Ethiopian eunuch said, here's water. What hinders me
from being baptized? You may, if you believe with
all your heart and repent of your sins. That is not the language
of the scripture. And that is a complete misnomer
as to what repentance means in the first place. Now, if you
repent, you will believe. If you believe, you will repent.
The one is the evidence of the other. They're different sides
of the same sheet of paper. Turn with me to Acts chapter
20. Hold your finger there and turn to Acts chapter 20. Paul said in verse 20, how I
kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you
and have taught you publicly and from house to house. My message
in public was the same that it was in private. No difference.
Testify both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance
toward God. Did you catch that? repentance
toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. And Paul called
this a summary of the whole counsel of God. Now, when preachers say,
you listen to this real carefully, when preachers say, repent of
your sins and believe the gospel, this is a failure to preach the
gospel. Now I know some, I'm not saying
that for shock value either. I know sometimes preachers say
things for shock value to shake people up. This is not for shock
value. When preachers say, repent of your sins and believe the
gospel, that's not the way the apostles preached. That's putting an addition to
faith and it's not an understanding of what repentance is in the
first place. The word repent means change
your mind, a change of mind. Your thoughts are wrong. Change your mind. Now, I've heard
people say, well, you're just saying that as long as your mind's
straightened out and you're thinking right, it doesn't matter how
you live. I'm not saying that at all. Not implying that at all. Never
even thought it. That's the way people handle
this, though. That's just making things too simple. Change your
mind. And I like what Henry Mahan said,
repentance is a change of mind that comes from a change of masters,
that produces a change of motives, that will have a change of manners. That's true in true repentance,
but first, repentance is a change of mind. My thoughts are wrong. Let me read this passage of Scripture
from Isaiah chapter 55 verse 8, God says, for my thoughts
are not your thoughts. Amen. Neither are your ways my ways,
saith the Lord, for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so
are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your
thoughts. I love what the psalmist said
in Psalm 50 verse 21. This is God speaking. He says,
thou thoughtest. I was all together such in one
as yourself. That's where everybody's thoughts
go wrong. We attribute to God what we attribute to ourselves.
He's like me. No, he's not. not on any level,
in any way, to any degree. There's none like Him. His thoughts are not our thoughts,
neither are His ways our ways. After Elijah sent his servant to Naaman, do
you remember? Naaman came to Elisha's house. He'd heard that There was a prophet
in Israel and he came to his house in his military might,
his robes of power. He thought he was somebody. And
he came out to Elisha's house and he stood there and waited
for Elisha to come out to him. And Elisha sent a servant. He sent a nobody. He sent someone
who was of no consequence, just a lowly servant. Elisha wouldn't
even come out to see this great man. You see, Naaman thought
he was a great man who happened to be a leper, and he didn't
realize he was nothing more than a leper before God who happened
to be a great man in the world's eyes. So when that servant comes
out with the message, you go in the River Jordan, and dip
down seven times, and your flesh will become like a baby's. Naaman
was wroth. Behold, I thought. There's where you went wrong.
Behold, I thought he would surely come out to me. He's sending
this guy out? This is a nobody. Does he realize
who I am? I thought he'll surely come out
to me and stand and call on the name of his God and strike his
hand over the place and recover the leper. How impressive that
would be. He said, the rivers back home are 10 times better
than this ditch water here. I can go there and be clean.
He went away in a rage. I thought. When you repent, your
thoughts are changed. Your mind is changed. Peter said to Simon Magus, repent
of this thy wickedness. Somebody says, well, that sounds
like repent of your sins. Well, I guess it could be said
that, but listen to the rest of the verse. Repent of this
thy wickedness, for thou thoughtest. The gift of God could be bought. Oh, your thoughts, Simon Magus,
are so wrong. What a low view you must have
of the value of the gift of God that you think you could buy
it. What a high view you have of your resources that you think
you have the means to pay for it. Peter said, you're yet in the
gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity. Now I have no doubt
that with true repentance, there will be the fruits of repentance. The scripture speaks of that
and works meet for repentance. But to repent is to change your
mind. Maybe more accurately, you have
your mind changed. That's when you repent. You have
your mind changed. The Lord said, I came not to
call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is
at hand. Now, repentance is quite simply
this, repentance is a change of mind about God. It's a change
of mind about myself. And it's a change of mind about
how he saves sinners by Christ. That is repentance. A change of mind about God. Now
listen to this statement carefully. All of our natural thoughts about
God are wrong. Every single one of them. Now somebody says, why are you
saying that? Because all of us naturally believe
that salvation is by works. We actually believe there's something
we must do before God can do something for us. He responds
to us. Now, a God who could accept something
I do is not the God of the Bible. If I believe I could be saved
by my works, I make God my debtor. To him that worketh is a reward
not reckoned of grace, but of debt. I deny his holiness if
I think there's anything that I can contribute in my salvation. I deny his sovereignty. I say
salvation is ultimately dependent on me. What I do, I deny his
purpose. You see the purposes of God is
according to election might stand not of works, but of him that
calleth. I deny God's purpose. I deny
God's love. I say it's not his love that
saves me ultimately, but it's what I do. I deny his grace. I say salvation is dependent
upon my works. I deny his independence. I think
there's something that I must do before he can do something
for me. I don't think he's utterly independent with no needs. I
deny his immutability. I say he can love me and then
turn around and send me to hell if I don't do my part. I deny
his wisdom. Men think that they're in a position
to be God's judge. This is every natural man sitting
in judgment on God Almighty, a man, a sinful, stupid, weak
man sitting in judgment on God. I think of the scripture for
the children being not yet born. I've already quoted this, neither
having done any good or evil. that the purpose of God according
to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calls.
It was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger. As it's
written, Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. What shall
we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? Paul anticipated everybody's objection. That's not fair. That is not fair. Oh, all of a sudden I am, able
to sit in judgment on what God does and say, well, I believe
that's fair, or I believe that's not fair. No, if you, you repent
of being God's judge, what about even for this same purpose, if
I raise thee up that I might show my power in thee and my
name might be declared throughout all the earth, therefore, whom
he will, whom he hardened, whom he will, well, how's it go? Romans
9, 18, I know the verse, about his purpose, whom he will, he
hardens. That was saying to me, oh, why
does he get found fault? If he hardened my heart, how
can he hold me responsible? Once again, I'm sitting in judgment
on God. I'm saying, I don't agree with
this. You know, when you repent, you
quit doing that. You have a change of mind with
regard to God. I repent of this kind of thinking. I repent of believing I could
be saved by my works. I repent of not loving the absolute
sovereignty of God. I now, what I thought was bad
news, now I see is necessary for my salvation. It's necessary
for God to elect me, for Christ to die for me, for God the Holy
Spirit to give me life, to enable me to persevere. I repent of
not glorying in that. thinking it's unfair, finding
fault with God. When I repent, not only do I
have a change of mind about God, I have a change about myself,
change of mind about myself. I used to think I had some control
in my salvation. I thought there's something I
could do. When it came right down to it,
I could believe, I could repent, I believe in free will. There was something I could do
that would move God to save me. That's all viewed in horribly
wicked, self-righteous views of myself. That's all that is,
only an evil person. I repent. I repent of all the
high self-righteous thoughts I've had of myself and all the
judgmental thoughts I've had toward others. This high opinion
of myself. I repent. Job said, I've heard of thee
with the hearing of the ears, but now mine eye seeth thee.
Wherefore, I hate myself and repent in dust and ashes. There's a change of mind about
sin. When I repent, I beat on my breast
as the poor publican in the temple. God be propitious to me, thee,
sinner. My mind has changed with regard
to salvation. And this is very important, this
is very simple. How many times do these two words go together
in the scriptures? Repentance and remission of sins.
You'll find them at least a half a dozen times side by side in
the New Testament. You remember in Luke chapter
24 when the Lord was giving the disciples parting instructions,
he said that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in
his name. Repentance and remission of sins.
Now, when you repent, You repent, and this is so essential to true
repentance. You repent regarding this thing
of the remission of sins. Here's what we naturally think.
Salvation ends with the remission of sins. If I do this, if I start
doing that, if I quit doing this, I'll have the remission of sins. That is called salvation by works,
working for the remission of sins. When God saves me, here's
what I find out when my mind is changed. I find out that salvation
does not end with the remission of sins. It begins. It begins with the complete,
full putting away of and remission of all my sins. They're all gone. That's the way my salvation begins.
I don't do something to achieve the remission of sins. I find
out God has remitted, has put away, has forgiven all my sins. I at one time disliked the thought
of me being totally depraved. I repent. I used to dislike God's sovereignty
and salvation. The reason being, I was looking
at myself in some way and that was kind of taking it away. I
repent. I love God's absolute sovereignty
in salvation. All the doctrine of Christ, all
the gospel, I repent of my wrong views. My mind has been changed
with regard to salvation. I repent. Now repentance, like
faith, is the gift of God. It's not something you work up.
It's the gift of God. Just like you find yourself believing.
You don't make a decision, I'm going to start believing the
gospel. I'm going to believe. It doesn't work that way. You
find yourself believing though. At first you find that you can't
believe. And you don't know what it means to believe. And then
through the power of God, the power of His gospel, you find
yourself believing. The same is true with regard
to repentance. They're different sides of the
same sheet of paper. What is the evidence of true
repentance? You believe the gospel. You look
to Christ only. What is repentance? It's repenting
of everything contrary to looking to Christ alone. You repent. It's the gift of God. And the
evidence of repentance is faith in Christ. You will quit opposing
the truth and acknowledge the truth of God's character, your
own character, and salvation being of the Lord. That's what
happens when you repent. You repent with regard to all
your wrong thoughts of God, all your wrong thoughts about yourself,
and all your wrong thoughts with regard to God's salvation. Now the Lord, I love this scripture,
He has exalted a prince and a savior for to give to Israel repentance,
the remission of sins. You see how those two things
go together? To give Israel repentance, this change of mind, primarily
with regard to the remission of sins. These two words go together,
repentance and the remission of sins. Now, there is no salvation
apart from repentance. You remember when the Lord said,
except you repent, You shall all likewise perish. Repentance, true repentance,
is a result of the Word. Do you remember the rich man
in hell in Luke chapter 16? He said, oh, would you send Lazarus
and dip his finger with a drop of water to cool my tongue. I'm tormented in this flame."
And Abraham said, there's a great gulf fixed between us. You can't come here. Lazarus
can't go there. And he said, well, would you
send Lazarus to my brothers? I don't want them to come to
this awful place. Send Lazarus to my brothers so
he could warn them of this awful place. And Abraham said, have
Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. The rich man said, nay, father
Abraham, but if one came to them from the dead, they'd repent.
Abraham said, no. They won't be persuaded though
one be raised from the dead. Now any repentance that is not
rooted in scripture is a repentance you need to repent of. The Bible is filled with examples
of repentance. Most notably Psalm 51. You remember
when Nathan Came to David and said, thou art the man. And David
said, I've sinned. I've sinned. And Nathan said,
the Lord has put away your sin. And he went and composed Psalm
51. Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to thy loving kindness, according to the multitude of thy tender
mercy. Blot out my transgression. Against thee and thee only have
I sinned and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest
be justified when you speak clear when you judge. Behold, I was
shapen in iniquity and sin. My mother did conceive me. You
see, this is the heart, the soul of true repentance, the gift
of God. But I really believe that if
you turn to Luke 15, we find out what repentance actually
looks like. I preached on this about a year
and a half ago. Verse three, and he spake this
parable unto them, saying, What man of you, having an hundred
sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and
nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until
he find it? And when he hath found it, he laith it on his
shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls
together his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with
me, for I found my sheep, which was lost. I say unto you that
likewise Joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth. So we see this is about sinners
repenting. This is what this is to represent,
one sinner that repents. This is the work of the son,
the great shepherd, going after the lost sheep, leaving the 99
in the wilderness and going after the one lost sheep, bringing
him back. Yet it's called one sinner that
repenteth. Now that's not the way I would
have said it. I would have said this is about the glory of the shepherd
and it is. But God the Holy Spirit calls
this action one sinner that repenteth. So we see what the subject is
here. Repentance. Look in verse eight. Either what
woman, having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not
light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till
she find it? And when she hath found it, she
calleth her friends, her neighbors together, saying, Rejoice with
me, for I have found the piece which I have lost. Likewise I
say unto you, There is joy in the presence of the angels of
God over one sinner that repenteth." Now this is the work of God the
Holy Spirit. Finding that lost coin in the dirt that couldn't
find itself. I would have talked about the
work of God the Holy Spirit, and indeed that's what it is.
But how does God the Holy Spirit title this? This is one sinner
that repented. Now, what is this act of repentance? We see this in the prodigal.
Let's read together. Verse 11. And he said, a certain
man had two sons. And the younger of them said
to his father, father, give me the portion of goods that falleth
to me. What a sense of entitlement.
He thought he had something coming. That's going to be changed soon
enough. But he thought his father owed him something. I'm amazed the father gave it
to him, but it's part of the story. I wouldn't give it to
him. I'd say, no way. But the father, this gracious
father, gave this boy his money and divided in him his living
and not many days after the younger son gathered together and took
his journey into a far country and there wasted his substance
with riotous living. This young man wanted away from
his father. That was his goal, to get away
from his father. And when he'd spent, verse 14,
all, there arose a mighty famine in
the land and he began to be in want. Now he's gone from having
everything his heart could wish to having nothing. and beginning
to be in what? How his mind is being changed. And he went and joined himself
to a citizen of that country. Went and joined a church. And
he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain
have filled his belly with a husk the swine did eat. And no man
gave unto him and when he came to himself." That's repentance. When he came to himself. He said, how many hard servants
of my father have bread enough and to spare he so good to them? I mean the lowest servants. have
bread enough to spare and I perish with hunger. Here's repentance. I will arise
and go to my father and I'll say unto him, father, I've sinned against heaven and
before thee and am no more worthy to be called thy son Make me
as one of thy hired servants." Now here we see repentance with
regard to his father. He's so good. Why the lowest
servants have it so much better than me. I'll rise and go to
my father. A complete change of mind with regard to his father.
A complete change of mind with regard to himself. I'm not worthy
to be called by son. There was a time, father give
me what I've got coming to me. Now he says, I'm not even worthy
to be called your son. This is repentance. This is biblical
repentance. Verse 19, I'm not worthy to be
called thy son. Make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose and came to his
father. But yet when he was yet a great
way off, his father saw him. He was looking for him. And this speaks of the great
father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He gives the repentance. He gives
the change of mind. And he's looking. He's looking. He knew he was going to come
back. He knew it. He was looking. But when he was, he had a great
way off, his father saw him, had compassion on him, ran and
fell on his neck and kissed him. Now, I don't know what that fellow
was thinking when he saw his father running at him, thought
maybe he thought he was gonna come out and whip him or kick him
or say, get out of here. But that's not the way the father
was at all. He ran. fell on his neck, kissed him
with many kisses. Verse 21, And the son said unto
him, Father, I've sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and
am no more worthy to be called thy son. And before he could
say, make me one of thy hired servants, that was part of his
monologue that he planned out, The father said to his servants,
bring forth the best robe, the righteousness and merits of Jesus
Christ and put it on him. He doesn't say hand it to him,
let him put it on, put it on him. And put a ring on his hand. That's the token of the Father's
eternal love. The best robe is Jesus Christ,
the ring is the Father's eternal love and put shoes on his feet,
the Holy Spirit enable you to walk in the gospel. For this
my son was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found,
and they began to be merry. Now, one of the most encouraging
verses of scripture in all the Bible is found in Acts chapter
17, verse 30. It reads like this, God commandeth
all men, me, you everywhere to repent. There's your right to
do it. God commands you to change all
your wrong thoughts of him, your wrong thoughts of yourself, wrong
thoughts of salvation, and look to Christ alone. Now, when is
a man repented? when he looks only to Christ. Now, when I say, repent of your
sins and believe the gospel, you're thinking, what do I need
to do about my sin? That's putting an end to faith
in Christ. That's really a misunderstanding
of what the Bible means by repentance. Now, once again, I know somebody's
gonna turn around and say, well, you're saying your life and conduct
don't matter. I'm not saying that at all. And
if somebody says I am, they're misrepresenting me, plain and
simple. But I am saying this, to say
repent of your sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is to
muddy the waters. Sirs, what must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. That is what repentance looks
like. Let's pray. Lord, we ask that you'd save
us. that you'd have mercy on us,
that you'd grant us repentance, that you'd grant us faith. and
that you would enable us to preach your gospel in this generation. Enable us to have clarity in
preaching your gospel. Let us do it in love. Let us
do it in humility. But Lord, let us preach the gospel
as the apostles preached the gospel. That's the way the gospel
is to be preached. Deliver us from our own understanding. Lord, how sweet it is to be given
repentance concerning you, repentance concerning ourselves, and repentance
concerning how you save sinners by Christ. Bless this message
for your glory and for our good. In Christ's name we pray, amen.