Would you turn with me to Acts
chapter 20? And while you're turning there,
we're going to observe the Lord's table tonight. And I want to
remind you of just how important the Lord's table is. He said
this do in remembrance of me. And if you're a believer, you
are to partake of the Lord's table, don't stay home. Don't
stay home. They did it at night, and we
want to do it every the way they did it, and we're doing this
in remembrance of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that shows you its
immense importance. And I'm actually going to try
to bring a message on the Lord's table from First Corinthians,
Chapter 11. Now, this morning, I'd like to
bring a message on the relationship between repentance and faith. The relationship between repentance
and faith. Now, recently, I was reading
through the book of Acts, and I was just struck with the life
of Paul the Apostle. He was a very remarkable man. He was brilliant. He was passionate. And the way he loved me, and
I still keep thinking of what he said in Romans chapter nine,
when he said, I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ
for my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the flesh. Now,
can you get a hold of that? I can't. He said, I would be willing to
be damned if you would be saved. That is more than I can get hold
of. He was the 12th apostle. He took
the place of Judas. There are only 12 apostles. When
a man claims to be an apostle in our day, he's a phony. He's
a fake. There were only 12 apostles, and he was the 12th apostle. And whatever he did, he gave
it his all. Before the Lord saved him, he
was the greatest of enemies of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he
felt it his moral obligation to put Christians in prison and
even kill them. But after the Lord saved him
and met him on the road to Damascus, what a change. He now preach
the faith which he once sought to destroy. Now, his first recorded
sermon is found in Acts chapter 13. when he preached in Antioch
and when he left Antioch he went to Iconium in Acts chapter 14
and he was stoned there for his preaching. Now I want you to
think about this. The man was stoned. They took him out and they stoned
him and presumed him to be dead and drug him out of town. And
all of a sudden he wakes up. And we read later on in that
same chapter that he exhorted the people he was preaching to,
with much tribulation we must enter the kingdom of God. And
you reckon it meant more when they saw the bruises all over
his body, black and blue from being stoned? And he said, with
much tribulation we'll enter the kingdom of God. You look
in Acts chapter 15 of his debate with the Pharisees over law and
grace. And then in Acts chapter 16,
he is once again in prison for preaching the gospel and beaten. And then we read in Acts chapter
16, verse 25, he and Silas at midnight sang and praised and
gave thanks to the Lord while they were in that prison. Acts
chapter 17, we read of his great message on Mars Hill when he
said to those people, I perceive your too religious. That unknown
God you're worshipping, Him I declare unto you. In Acts chapter 18,
we read of his time in Corinth, and in chapter 19, the riot at
Ephesus. Somebody once said wherever Paul
went, there was either a riot or a revival. And then in chapter
20, he gives a summary of his ministry. And this is very important. Look in verse 17 of Acts chapter
20. And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the
church. And when they were come to him,
he said unto them, You know from the first day that I came into
Asia, after what manner I've been with you at all seasons,
serving the Lord. Serving myself, serving the Lord. And this is the only way you
can serve the Lord with all humility of mind. Now what is humility
before God? Somebody once said it's a just
estimate of yourself, and I certainly agree with that. But I believe
humility, more than anything else, is believing yourself to
be the very worst man or woman alive. The chief of sinners. He said, I serve the Lord with
all you. You can't serve the Lord without
humility. You can't serve the Lord in pride. You see who he
is. You will serve him with all humility of mind. And then he says next, with many
tears. He said to the church of Corinth. I wrote to you in anguish. and
with many tears. In the same chapter, verse 29,
he says, For this I know, that after my departing shall grievous
wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your
own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away
disciples after them. Now, this is a scary thought,
but this is going to happen in every local assembly at some
point. It will happen here. It will. You can count on it. It happens
everywhere. Grievous wolves entering in,
not sparing the flock. And look what he says in verse
31. Therefore, watch and remember that by the space of three years,
I cease not to warn everyone night and day with tears. serving the Lord with all humility
of mine and with many tears. And next he says with temptations,
which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews. If you serve the Lord. If you
preach the gospel. The religious will be your enemies. They'll be your enemies, and
if I'm not making enemies of the religious, I am not preaching
the gospel. Now you can just write that down.
He said, with many temptations and trials that befell me by
the lying weight of the Jews, their opposition to the gospel. Look in verse 20. Now remember,
he's giving a summary of the ministry that the Lord had given
him, serving the Lord with all humility of mind, with many tears
and temptations, which befell me by the lying weight of the
Jews, and how I kept back nothing that was profitable. unto you? If a man keeps something back, if he doesn't tell what he really
believes publicly, he's a false prophet. That's what a false prophet is.
It might not even be seen in what he says, but what he holds
back, what he doesn't say. Paul said, I didn't keep back
anything that was profitable for you. If somebody holds back,
they've got another agenda. They've got another purpose.
It's not the glory of God. It's not the good of God's people.
They've got another agenda. And Paul said, I've not shunned
to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Now, you can just write
this down if a man is not honest. with what he's got to say. If
he doesn't really tell you what it is he really believes, he's
a false prophet. Here's the spirit of prophecy.
David said, I believe, therefore have I spoken. What a man really
believes is what he says publicly. And Paul says, I kept back nothing
that was profitable unto you, but have showed you and have
taught you publicly and from house to house. What I said publicly
is the same thing I said privately. No difference in the message.
Publicly and from house to house testify. Now, this was his mode
of preaching, or is that the right word? I don't know what
the word is, but when you preach, you're testifying if you're really
preaching. You're not just grinding out something you read in a book.
You're bearing witness to what you've seen, what you believe,
what God has taught you. You're now witness to what you're
saying, testifying. Listen, I'm testifying this morning. I'm testifying with regard to
what I have seen. That's what a testimony is. Testifying
both to the Jews and to the Greeks. It's a universal message. It's
for the Jews. It's for the Greeks. It's for
everybody, this message. We don't have one message for
one group and another message for another group. No, we testify
both to the Jews and to the Greeks. And here he gives his message.
Verse 21. Testifying both to the Jews and
also to the Greeks. Repentance toward God. and faith toward our Lord Jesus
Christ. Now that summarizes the whole
gospel. Repentance toward God and faith
toward our Lord Jesus Christ. The relationship between repentance
and faith. And while they're not the same
thing, they cannot be separated. They're like two sides of the
same sheet of paper. Where you have one, you have
the other, and their relationship is that the one is the evidence
of the other. What is the evidence that I have
true repentance? Faith. What is the evidence that
I have true faith? Repentance. Wherever you have
one, you have the other. And Paul summarizes preaching
like this repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, which comes first, repentance
or faith? I don't know. I think they come
at the same time. I think they come at the exact
same time. But first, what is repentance? What is repentance? Have you
ever wondered just what does the Bible mean by repentance? Repentance toward God. What does
it mean to repent? When our Lord opened his public
ministry, he said, repent and believe the gospel. Now, if you ask the average person
what repentance was, they would probably say, well, it means
being sorry for your sin. And stop that sin that you're sorry
for. If you don't stop it, you haven't
really repented. It's being sorry for your sin,
and it's stopping that sin. Now, we ought to be sorry for
our sin. David actually said, I'll be
sorry for my sin. We ought to be sorry for our
sin, and we ought not sin. This is not an excuse in any
way, but I've asked this question before. How sorry is sorry enough,
if that's what it is? And what sin, you be honest,
what sin in your heart have you stopped committing? Name me one. If that's what repentance is,
being sorry and stopping, me and you are in big trouble because
we have not repented, if that's what it means. Now be honest. Oh, may God give us the grace
to be honest. What is repentance? Well, the
word simply means a change of mind. You felt strongly about something,
even passionately about something, and you change your mind. You
don't feel strongly about it anymore. You did, but you don't
now. And notice Paul says repentance
toward God. A change of mind toward God. There are a lot of repentances
that are not repentance toward God. You know, we repent all
the time. We change our mind all the time.
But there's a lot of repentances that have nothing to do with
a genuine repentance toward God. What do I mean by that? Well,
if you do something and get caught and get exposed and get in trouble
for what you did, you're sorry you did it. But is that repentance
toward God? No, you can be lost and have
that kind of repentance. If you repent or change your
mind about some sinful course of action because of the fear
of punishment, Is that repentance toward God? No, it's not. If you change your mind about
something because of fear of what you lose. Why? This is really going to cost
me. I mean, I don't have any doubt that people have repented
when they change their mind about maybe some sinful activity they've
been participating in when it ruins their health. They wish
they hadn't done it. Or perhaps they've ruined their marriage.
And they go, why did I do that? Look at the pain I brought into
my life and others' life because of that. That's repenting, isn't
it? But it's not repentance toward God. You can have all those kinds
of repentances and never truly repent before God. He said repentance
toward God. Now, This is what the Lord is speaking
of when He says, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners
to what? Repentance. A change of mind
toward God. This is what causes joy in heaven
when one sinner repents. This is what God commands all
men everywhere to do. God commands all men everywhere
to repent, to change your mind. This is what if we do not do,
we will perish, because Christ said, except you repent, except
you yourself repent, you'll all likewise perish. Now, repentance,
like faith, I realize, is the gift of God, and it's a complete
change of mind toward God. I used to believe that God was
too strict. I used to believe that He was
not lenient enough. I thought He shouldn't be so
strict with His commandments. I used to really believe that.
He ought to be more lenient. But you know what? I've changed my mind. Now, I
realize it's God that has changed my mind, but I've changed my
mind. I don't feel that way anymore. You know, I used to sit in judgment
upon God. I get angry with you. I think,
you know, why did God let Adam fall? I mean, the mess we have
right now, he could have prevented it. Why? Why did he? Why couldn't
he just made us all perfect? Why couldn't we just be perfect
right now? He could have prevented it. What? Why didn't he save
everybody? I mean, if I was him, I'd save
everybody. Why doesn't he save everybody?
Why did he only elect a particular number and pass by everybody
else? Why? Seems like he should have saved
everybody. Why didn't he? How could it be fair for him
to love one and not another? How could it be fair for him
to save one and pass by another? How could it be fair for Him
to hold me responsible for things that I can't help? I mean, I'm
born with a sinful nature. I'm born with an evil heart.
How can He hold me responsible for something that I've been
born with? How can that be? I don't agree with it. You know
what I was doing? I was setting a judgment upon God. Since when
do I have the ability to look at what He does and say, I agree
with that or I don't agree with that? He's God. Whatever He does
is just. I've repented. I believe whatever
He does is just. I used to bring Him down to my
level by thinking, if all my cards were right, if all my ducks
were rowed, there are things I could do to please Him. You know what
I was doing in doing that? I was bringing him down to my
level. I was disordering him thinking he could be pleased
with something. I did. I've changed my mind about that. You know,
repentance, as much as anything else, is agreement with God. You agree with whatever he does,
with whatever he says, it's right. It's agreement with God. It's
a confessing. That's the same thing as confession
of sin, isn't it? When it comes right down to it. It's taking
sides with God against yourself. Repentance is toward God. Repentance is a change of mind
regarding yourself. I think about the best way I
could say this is everything I naturally think
about God is wrong. Everything. It's a change of
mind about yourself. I used to think. I used to believe
that if the circumstances were right. I'd repent. I'd believe, and now I see that
it's beyond me. I used to believe that when I
was ready, I could start serving God. Always waiting. And I've changed my mind. I see
something about my utter helplessness in this thing. I can't repent,
I can't believe, I can't... I have a change of mind about
myself. I see myself to be nothing but
sin. That's a change of mind about
myself. I see myself. And I see it more
clearly now, right now, while I'm talking to you, than I've
ever seen it. I see, I know exactly what Paul meant when he said,
I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. Do you know that? A change of mind regarding yourself. This is what the Bible calls
repentance from dead works. I repent of thinking any works
that I could do could recommend me to God in any way. I repent
of that. I have a change of mind. Repentance
is a change of mind toward God. It's a change of mind toward
myself. And very often in the Scriptures, there's two things
that are said together. Repentance and the remission
of sins. Repentance concerning the remission
of sins. repentance, a change of mind
regarding the remission of sins. Now, here's what you and I naturally
think. Every one of us is bored thinking this. Now, we all admit
I've got sins. I've done wrong things. I've
broken God's law. I've got problems. We all have
some awareness of that. But the natural man thinks that
the remission of sins, the forgiveness of sins, is the end. If I turn
things around. If I turn over a new leaf, if
I start becoming sincere, if I quit this sin and start doing
this good work, if I flip down the flesh more, if I read my
Bible more, if I pray more, if I seek the Lord more earnestly,
I'll have at the end the forgiveness of sins. The gospel does not end with
the forgiveness of sins. Listen to me. This is the best
news in the world. It begins with the full, complete
forgiveness of sin, sin blotted out to where it begins here,
where I don't do something to be forgiven. I find out I'm forgiven. I find out my sin has been blotted
out, has been washed away, and I have it no more. That's the
gospel. It's a change of mind regarding
this thing of the forgiveness, the remission of sins. And repentance is a change of
mind concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I would say everybody
here thinks you have high thoughts of Christ. I just bet that. I bet everybody
in here thinks you have high thoughts of the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance toward Him makes you see that Your thoughts of Christ were
not really high. They were low. You have a change of mind toward
Christ where you see that He is all. You see that He's all the God. You see the Bible is all about
Him. It's not about you or your happiness. It's about Him. You
see that He Himself is all in salvation and that He is all
you need. Repentance is a change of mind. While repentance is a change
of mind, it always has fruit. We read of fruit, meat for repentance.
I love Brother Mahan's outline. One of my favorite all-time outlines.
I've mentioned it, never preached the whole message out of it,
but he said repentance, first of all, is a change of mind.
And it is. You see that. Repentance is a
change. You can change your mind. But you know what is behind this
change of mind? The change of masters. That's
where this change of mind comes from. It's a change of masters. And when there's this change
of masters, There's a change in motives. Your motive now is
the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And there is a change in manners. There is a change in conduct. There is a change in conversation. And where a change of mind is,
there is always. That's repent for God is what
I'm talking about. Where there's this Repentance toward God, it
always comes from a change of masters, a change in motive,
and a change in manners. Repentance toward God. Now, how can I know if I've repented? What is this thing of repentance
toward God? Well, back in our text, in verse
21, Testifying both to the Jews and
to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord
Jesus Christ. What is the evidence of repentance? Faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. What is faith? I can remember so clearly sitting
somewhere asking myself this question. What is repentance
and what is faith? I really don't know. I hear repent. I don't know what
it means. I hear believe, have faith. What
does it mean? Well, turn with me to Second
Timothy, chapter one. Second Timothy, chapter one. Verse eight. Paul is writing
to Timothy. And he says. Be not now, therefore,
ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner,
but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel, according to the
power of God who hath saved us, and called us." Which came first,
the calling or the saving? He saved us, and He called us. He called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to His own purpose. and grace which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is now made manifest
by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who hath abolished
death and hath brought life and immortality to light through
the gospel, whereunto I am appointed a preacher and an apostle and
a teacher of the Gentiles, for the which cause I also suffer
these things. Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed. Now, here is what I believe is
the most simple definition of faith that you're going to find
anywhere in the Bible. He says, I know whom I have believed
and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed
unto him. against that day. I know. There is no faith without knowledge. Knowledge doesn't save you, but
you're not safe without it. I know you cannot believe what
you do not know. Isn't that so? You can't believe
what you don't know anywhere, then you can come back from a
place you've never been. It's not going to happen. I know. But look what he says next. He
doesn't say, I know what. I know what I believe. Who cares? I know who. I know whom I have believed. This is the difference between
saving faith and merely giving a sense to some facts. What I
believe is determined by who I believe. Do you believe that Jesus Christ
is God Almighty? the Creator of the universe,
the One who controls everything, whose will is always done? Do you believe that He could
die on Calvary's tree and fail in His intentions? Do you believe
He can intend to save you and not end up being saved? No, because
of who He is, everything He did must be successful. I know whom
I have believed, and I'm persuaded, I'm convinced, I really believe
that He is able. I believe I have no ability. I've got no ability, He has all
ability. And I believe He is able to save
me in my inability. You believe that? I know whom I have believed,
and I'm persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have
committed unto Him. You know, when people think of
commitment, they think of how committed are you? How committed are you?
Well, you ought to be committed. True. But that's really not what
that word is in reference to, how committed you are. Well,
I'm really committing I have committed the salvation of my
soul to him and I burned my bridges. If who he is and what he did
isn't enough to save me, I won't be saved because I don't have
a plan B. I don't have a contingency plan. Right here, I've committed the
salvation of my soul to him. And if I've never done it before,
I'm doing it right now. I've committed the salvation
of my soul to Him. Sink or swim, I go to Him. He's the only hope I've got.
And I'm not looking anywhere else. And that, my friend, is
saving faith. That is saving faith. Have you committed the salvation
of your immortal soul to him. Now, I like what let's go back
to Acts, Chapter 20. Acts, Chapter 20. Paul said he was testifying both
to the Jews and the Greeks, Acts 20, 21, repentance toward God
and faith toward Our Lord Jesus Christ. You know, we talked a
little bit about this in Sunday school. I love his name. He's
the Lord. That means he's the cause. That
means he's the one who's in control. That means he's the cause of
causes. He's the Lord. And he's Jesus. He's the Savior. And he's the
Christ. He's God's anointed prophet.
He's God's anointed priest, and he's God's anointed king. We
have faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, at the end of 1
Corinthians chapter 13, that great chapter on love, you remember
how Paul says, And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three
But the greatest of these is charity. Now abideth faith, hope
and love. These are the only three things
that abide. This is if you're a believer, this is what you
have. You have faith, you have hope and you have love. Now,
think of his name, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Christ. First, God's prophet, he's the
word from God. I have faith that he is the word
of God. That's my faith. He's God's priest. I have hope. I have a hope that
if He represents me, everything's okay. If He mentions my name
before the Father, nothing else needs to be said. I have hope. I have a strong consolation that
His sacrifice, His intercession is all that's needed. There's
faith, there's hope and love. I have a love for his kingship.
I love the fact that he is king. I love the fact that he is sovereign
and I love his kingship reigning in me. Here's what I need. I
need reigning grace. If grace is just an offer that
it's up to me to use or to not use, that's not going to do me
any good. The only kind of grace that will do me any good is reigning
grace. Grace that causes me, as my king,
he causes me to do his will. Don't you want him to cause you
to do his will? We love his kingship. Now, this
is our message. Public and private. It covers everything. repentance
toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ and the evidence
of the one is the other. What are their relationship?
What's the evidence of faith? Repentance. What's the evidence
of repentance? Faith. Our Lord said, repent, change
your mind. and believe the gospel. Let's pray together.