I'm going to bring our message
today from Acts chapter 11, and I'm taking the title for the
message from what is said in verse 18. When they heard these things,
they held their peace. That is, they quit criticizing
Peter. They stopped. And instead, they
glorified God. Now that's always a good thing.
That's always a good thing not to criticize, but to glorify
God. Saying, then hath God also to
the Gentiles granted repentance unto life. Now this was a big
thing in that day. We don't think too much about
it in our day, that separation between Jew and Gentile. But in that day, it was a big
deal. It was a big thing for God to
send the gospel to save the Gentile. So the title of the message will
be, God Granted Repentance Unto Life. Whenever I read the word
life, WHAT DO YOU THINK OF? I THINK OF CHRIST. CHRIST IS
OUR LIFE. HE IS OUR LIFE. SO GOD GRANTED
REPENTANCE THAT MEN MIGHT BELIEVE CHRIST, BELIEVE THE GOSPEL. NOW
WE KNOW THAT BOTH FAITH AND REPENTANCE ARE SOVEREIGN GIFTS OF GOD. NO
MAN NATURALLY REPENTS. NOW HE MAY GET and sorry that
he got caught in some meanness, but a man never truly repents
unless God grants him repentance. We know both faith and repentance
are sovereign gifts of God. We know they both work as an
evidence of our salvation, as the evidence of being made one
with Christ, of being found in Christ. Not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the Lord Jesus
Christ. True repentance and true faith
say, Christ is my righteousness. Christ is my salvation. It's
the evidence of life in Christ being given to us through the
doing and dying of the Lord Jesus Christ. Through his doing, his
dying. Listen carefully to this. I gave
this to you a couple weeks ago. Salvation does not depend on
our faith and our repentance. Does not. If it did, that would
be salvation depending on something we did, right? SALVATION DOES
NOT DEPEND ON OUR FAITH, OUR REPENTANCE. FAITH AND REPENTANCE
DEPEND UPON SALVATION BY THE GRACE OF GOD. NOW THIS RELIGIOUS
WORLD HAS FLIPPED THAT THING UPSIDE DOWN. THEY PREACH THAT
SALVATION DEPENDS UPON YOU, DON'T THEY? THEY'LL PUT SIGNS UP ON
THEIR CHURCH. on their bulletin board that
says, we can't spell church without you. You ever seen that? We can't spell church without
you. I like what my friend, Brother
Fortner, said about that too, that you can't spell stupid without
you either. That sounds like Don, doesn't
it? Stupid. FAITH AND REPENTANCE
DO NOT PRODUCE LIFE. THESE FOLKS, WHEN THEY HEARD
THE GOSPEL, SOMETHING HAPPENED. GOD DID SOMETHING. THEY WERE
BAPTIZED IN THE HOLY SPIRIT. THE HOLY SPIRIT FELL ON THEM. IT WAS POURED OUT UPON THEM.
AND THE FRUIT OF THAT WAS FAITH AND REPENTANCE. Faith and repentance do not produce
life, forgiveness, or salvation, but rather the fruit of salvation
by the grace of God. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. Both faith and repentance acknowledge
that salvation is of the Lord, totally His doing. Paul, when
he went preaching, he went preaching repentance toward God and faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. We can say, as we read this morning
in the Bible study, by the grace of God, I am what I am by his
grace. Peter was sent to the house of
uncircumcised Gentile named Cornelius and preached the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ unto them. You remember what he said back
in chapter 10, verse 36, the word which God sent unto the
children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ. He's Lord
of all. Verse 42 in Acts 10, he commanded
us to preach unto the people. and to testify that it was he
which was ordained of God to be judge of the living and the
dead, to him give all the prophets witness, that through his name
whosoever believeth in him shall receive the remission of sin."
Those who believe in him have their sins already remitted by
the blood atonement of Jesus Christ. THE LORD BLESSED THE
PREACHING OF PETER, THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST TO THE
SALVATION OF THOSE WHO HEARD IT. THEY HEARD IT NOT JUST IN
THE EAR, THEY HEARD IT IN THE HEART WITH UNDERSTANDING GIVEN
BY THE REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD. A GREAT GLORIOUS STORY. GOD SAVED SOME SINNERS. YOU WOULD
THINK THESE BRETHREN UP THERE IN JERUSALEM WOULD BE REJOICING
WHEN THEY HEARD THE GOOD NEWS. BUT A PROBLEM. VERSE 1 IN ACTS
CHAPTER 11 AND THE APOSTLES AND THE BRETHREN THAT WERE IN JUDEA
HEARD THAT THE GENTILES HAD RECEIVED THE WORD OF THE LORD. THEY RECEIVED
IT AS THE GIFT OF GOD. THEY RECEIVED IT BY GOD-GIVEN
FAITH. THEY SUBMITTED UNTO AND BOWED
TO THE WILL OF THE LORD. AND PETER, WHEN HE WAS COME BACK
UP TO JERUSALEM, HE GOT IN TROUBLE. HE GOT IN TROUBLE FOR PREACHING
THE GOSPEL TO THE GENTILE. THEY WHICH WERE OF THE CIRCUMCISION
CONTENDED WITH HIM. THEY CONTENDED WITH HIM. NOW,
I DON'T LIKE TO CONTEND WITH PEOPLE. I DON'T LIKE TO ARGUE
WITH PEOPLE. I LIKE TO GET ALONG. I LIKE TO
GET ALONG. CAN'T WE JUST GET ALONG? THESE
FOLKS HERE WANT TO ARGUE. They wanted to call Peter out
in front of the brethren and the apostles and accuse Peter
of doing something malicious and ungodly. You went unto the
Gentiles house, verse 3, saying, you went unto the men uncircumcised. How horrible is that? And you
even ate with them. What is that? That's self-righteousness, is
it not? They were judging themselves worthy to hear the gospel, and
they were saying that Cornelius in his house, well, they're not
even candidates for salvation. They're so vile and wretched
and ungodly. We're not gonna give them the
gospel. NOW YOU WOULD BE LED TO THINK
THAT THE CHURCH AT JERUSALEM WOULD QUICKLY AND READILY REJOICE
IN THE SALVATION OF SINNERS. CORNELIUS IN HIS HOUSE, WHEN
THEY HEARD THE WORD AND RECEIVED IT, AND WERE BAPTIZED OF THE
HOLY SPIRIT, AND WERE BAPTIZED, SUBMITTING TO THE ORDINANCE OF
WATER BAPTISM, SAYING THAT CHRIST WAS ALL THEIR HOPE, BUT INSTEAD
OF REJOICING IN THE GRACE OF GOD, about sinners believing
the gospel. Some of these at Jerusalem got
upset with Peter, and they rebuked him. We're going to run into
this same group of people. Turn over here to Acts chapter
15. Acts chapter 15. When a certain man, verse 1,
which came down from Judea, and taught the brethren, said, Except
ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, You can't be really
you can't be saved unless you unless you are circumcised Look
at verse 5 in Acts 15, but there rose up certain of the sect of
the Pharisees which believed saying That was needful to circumcise
them and command them to keep the law of Moses Okay, it's alright
if these uncircumcised Gentiles hear the gospel and believe it,
okay but Wait a minute. They've got to be circumcised
in order to be really justified before God. That's what they
were saying Now here's what they were trying to do. Don't you
see what they were trying to do? They were trying To mix in
the law of Moses and FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS BEFORE GOD. THAT IS, THEY WERE
TRYING TO MIX GRACE WITH WORK INSTEAD OF GRACE ALONE AND CHRIST
ALONE. THEY WERE SAYING, OKAY, THE LORD
JESUS CHRIST CRUCIFIED, OKAY. OKAY. BUT, WAIT A MINUTE. HOLD ON. BUT, THERE IS NO BUTS. THERE IS NO BUTS. They were trying
to mix grace with work instead of grace alone, Christ alone,
faith alone. People even today want to put
believers back under the law, don't they? Well, maybe not all
of it. You know, there are 700 or 800
precepts under the law. If we would go back to be justified
by the law or to go back according to the law of Moses, we would
have to get in the livestock business and get us some bullocks
and some red heifers and start sacrificing upon the altar. But people today, they don't
wanna go that far to put us back under the law, but here's where
they go. How about the Big Ten? We live
under the Big Ten. Thou shalt not, thou shalt not,
thou shalt not, thou shalt not. Thou shalt, thou shalt, thou
shalt. They wanna put people back under
the moral, what we call the moral law of God. WHEN, IN FACT, THE SCRIPTURES
PLAINLY TEACH THAT ALL OF SALVATION IS BY GRACE, NOT OF WORKS. BY
THE DEEDS OF THE LAW SHALL NO FLESH BE JUSTIFIED OR SANCTIFIED. WE HAVE NEVER, NOT ONE TIME,
EVER KEPT ONE PRECEPT OF THE LAW ONE TIME. YOU HAVEN'T, I
HAVEN'T, NO ONE HAS. THE LAW OF GOD SAYS THIS, ONE
THING, STOP YOUR MOUTH, YOU'RE GUILTY. Guilty, guilty, guilty,
guilty. All it says is guilty. Does not
remove the guilt. It drives us to the Lord Jesus
Christ in despair because we're guilty, guilty, guilty. I like
what Paul said. We're not justified or sanctified.
He said, I do not frustrate the grace of God. I don't distort
it or confuse it. Confuse it for if righteousness
come by the law, Christ is dead in vain. No need
for Christ to die. If I can keep the law, why did
he come? You see, the fact is we cannot
keep the law. To offend in one point, guilty,
guilty, guilty, guilty. That's what the law of God says.
Believers, you say, well, preacher, what's your position on the law
then? How is it, how is a believer, what's the relationship of a
believer to the law of God? Dead. dead to the law through
the body of Christ. The law has already executed
us. We're crucified with crime. It's
already exacted its full penalty upon us. We're dead to the law. If a man down here in Frankfort,
Kentucky, was sentenced to death by the laws of the state of Kentucky,
to be executed, hanged by his neck until he's dead, How many
times can they execute him? What does the law of God, what
does the law of Kentucky say to that man after he's dead?
He's got no more claim, the law is satisfied, right? The law
of God in Christ crucified has been satisfied. He was made sin
for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him." Don't ever let anybody put you back under the
curse of the law. Cursed is everyone that continues
not in all things what's written in the book of the law to do
them. Some people say, well, we're justified by the grace
of God, but you know, we're really sanctified by our obedience to
the law. You ever heard that argument?
No way. You see, Christ is our sanctification,
right? We are sanctified by the one
offering, hath he perfected forever them that are sanctified. So
I'm justified by the blood atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
I'm sanctified. You're looking at a man right
now that is absolutely holy in the sight of God, completely
sanctified. Not by my doing. but by the Lord
Jesus Christ. God says of those in Christ,
you remember what we read in Matthew chapter three? This is
my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. That's what God says
of those in Christ. The whole what manner of love
the father has bestowed upon us that we should be called sons
of God. You see, believers are justified. We're no longer going about to
establish a righteousness of our own. Listen to the scripture.
Romans 4, remember Romans verse 4 in chapter 10, Christ is the
end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Christ
is the end of the law. Over. For the believer, no longer
under the law. was justified by the grace of
God. You see, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law,
being made a curse for us. We're justified. Now, some of
these Jews had such a strong, self-righteous pride against
the Gentiles that had to be overcome by the grace of God. And you
know what? It was. Look at verse 18. When they heard these sayings,
they held their peace, and they glorified God, saying, Then hath
God also granted repentance to the Gentiles? Well, what happened
to these men? They were granted repentance
too. Their mind was changed. Did Peter change their mind?
No, God did. God changed their mind. Now,
so the Lord gave Peter an open door to declare all that God
had done, all that God had taught him, and Peter was not ashamed
to declare what God was doing, calling out a people out of every
tribe, kindred, nation, and tongue. You remember what Peter wrote
in his epistle, 1 Peter 1? He said, for as much as you know,
we are not redeemed with corruptible thing, silver, gold, tradition
of your fathers, but with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ, as of the lamb without blemish and without spot, who
is verily, truly foreordained before the foundation of the
world. That's the gospel. Verse 14,
Acts 11, Verse 14, verse 9 says, what
God had cleansed, don't you call common. What God had made, don't
you call common, it's special. Believers are peculiar treasure
in the Lord, a purchased people by the blood of God's covenant
of grace. Now, verse 14, I love this statement
here. who shall tell thee words whereby
thou and all thy house shall be saved." Now you remember what
Cornelius had said to Peter? Look back at Acts chapter 10
verse 33. Immediately therefore I sent
to thee, and thou hast well done that thou art come. Now, therefore,
are we all here present before God to hear all things that are
commanded thee of God. And Peter opened his mouth and
said, God has chosen a people. He doesn't respect any man's
person. God has an elect, and they're
brought to fear him. They're brought to believe the
gospel, which is our righteousness, and they're accepted in the beloved,
preaching peace by the Lord Jesus Christ, that he is Lord of all. PREACHING THE GOSPEL IS TELLING
TRUE WORDS OF HOW GOD SAVED SINNERS. LOOK AT THAT VERSE ONE MORE TIME.
ACTS 11 VERSE 14, WHO SHALL TELL THEE WORDS WHEREBY THOU AND ALL
THY HOUSE SHALL BE SAVED. FAITH COMES BY HEARING AND HEARING
BY THE WHAT? WORD OF THE LORD. You gotta hear the gospel. You
gotta hear the truth. It's pretty hard to believe something
you have not heard. You've got to hear the Word of
Truth, the Word of the Gospel, how that Christ died for our
sins according to Scripture, how that Christ was buried, how
that Christ was raised again from the dead. We have to hear
about who He is, God Almighty. He's Lord of all. We have to
hear what He has accomplished for us, reconciled us to God
by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. how he made peace for
us with his own blood. In other words, Peter's preaching
this. Salvation is of the Lord. Isn't that what he preached? Preaching peace, reconciliation
by Jesus Christ. He is Lord. He is Lord of all. Salvation's of the Lord, always
determined by him. dependent upon him, accomplished
by the Lord Jesus Christ, and applied by him. Salvations of
the Lord in his planning and purpose. He's a lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. Salvations of the Lord in his
execution and application. God who has begun a good work
in you, he will get it done. salvations of the Lord in its
ultimate perfection and glory. We are predestinated to be conformed
to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't be afraid of that
word predestination. It's used in the Bible four times. God determined before to have
a people just like the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what predestination
is about. Conforming those people to the
Lord Jesus Christ. Faith comes by hearing this truth,
that salvation's all of God. Salvation comes by hearing the
truth of God, not by the lies of men. Our Lord said, you shall
know the truth, and the truth shall set you free. Who shall tell thee words whereby
thou shalt be saved. Now, if you wanna turn with me,
you can. I'm gonna turn to 2 Timothy chapter
three. 2 Timothy 3, and let's read a couple
verses. You find 2 Timothy 3, and I'm
gonna read a verse to you out of chapter one. This is probably
one of my most favorite verses. God who saved us and called us
with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose and grace, given us in Christ Jesus before the
world began. I try to quote that every time
I preach the gospel. God saved us, God called us according
to his eternal purpose and grace. Now, how are you gonna know anything
about that? 2 Timothy 3, 15. and that from a child thou hast
known the holy scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto
salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. All scripture
is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness
that the man of God may be perfect, mature, throughly furnished unto
all good works. I charge thee, therefore, before
God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the living and
the dead at the appearing of his kingdom, preach the word,
preach the word, be instant, in season, out of season, reprove,
rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine, for the time will
come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their
own lust shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears,
and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and be turned
unto fables. Well, that day's here. People
not interested in gospel preaching, they're interested in entertainment.
Entertainment. You go over to a big church over
in town and they have lots of entertainment. What this generation
needs is not more entertainment, but rather a steady diet of teaching
and preaching. Thus saith the Lord. When you
come here, we read the word, preach the word and teach the
word. We don't come over here to entertain
people. We come here to worship God.
This is what the Lord has ordained to call out His people. It pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching to call out His people. I know
this. The Lord will bless His word. THAT'S WHY I TRY TO READ IT.
GO VERSE BY VERSE, BOOK BY BOOK, CHAPTER BY CHAPTER. I'M NOT ASHAMED
OF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. IT IS THE POWER OF GOD UNTO SALVATION,
UNTO EVERYONE THAT BELIEVES, TO THE JEW AND ALSO TO THE GENTILE. THEREIN IS THE RIGHTEOUSNESS
OF GOD REVEALED IN THAT GOSPEL. AS IS WRITTEN, THE JUST SHALL
LIVE BY FAITH. IT'S NOT MY COMMENTARY UPON THE
WORD OF GOD THAT'S THE POWER of God and the salvation is the
gospel itself. It is the word of God that is
quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. He
said, my word will not return unto me void. I always have a habit of reading
these bulletin boards when you go by churches. And they always
have some clever, cute saying on it. This one down here is
especially bad for that. But why do men think they can
make an improvement on what God has said? To say something catchy
and something that rhymed and something that will show, well,
just look how smart we are. Why don't they just put the word
of God out there? Can you make an improvement upon
that? No. When I was in the ministry with
Brother Mahan in Ashland, we were on a busy four-lane highway. That building was located there,
and out front of that building, we had a bulletin board. And
I was given the assignment for a number of years to put something
on that bulletin board. It's two-sided. Every week, I
had to change it. That's what my pastor said, you
change that every week. Make sure that you put on there
the word of God. And I did. But sometimes, you
know, I would mess up. I would put a letter wrong or
a word wrong or something. Boy, he would come in. Boy, he'd
get right out of me. You messed up. Go out there right
now and fix it. Okay. Yes, sir. You see, it's the word of God
alone. That's the power of God unto
salvation. God will bless his word. Look at verse 15. As I began
to speak, what did he speak? He preached the gospel unto them.
The Holy Ghost came, the Holy Spirit came and fell on them. I love that word. He fell on
them like he did on us. Then I remembered the word of
the Lord, how that he said, JOHN INDEED BAPTIZED WITH WATER, AND
HE DID. JOHN'S BAPTISM WAS UNTO REPENTANT. BUT HE SAID YOU SHALL BE BAPTIZED
WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT. NOW YOU TURN BACK TO ACTS CHAPTER
ONE. REMEMBER OUR LORD SAID THIS IN
THE BEGINNING BEFORE HE ASCENDED TO HEAVEN. in Acts chapter 1
verse 4, being assembled together with them, commanded them that
they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the
Father, which saith he, you've heard of me, where John truly
baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with a holy
goat, not many days hence. He will baptize with fire. John said, I indeed baptize you
with water unto repentance, But he that cometh after me is mightier
than I, whose shoes I'm not worthy to bear. He shall baptize you
with the Holy Spirit and with fire, whose fan is in his hand. He will throughly purge his church,
his floor, gather his wheat, his sheep into his barn, and
he'll burn up everything that doesn't glorify him. The chaff. Now Peter reminded them what
the Lord had instructed them before he ascended, how the Lord
would bless the gospel by the power of God the Holy Spirit. And that's what we need. We need
God the Holy Spirit to come through the power of the Spirit, being
the word being preached and declared, and empowering that word to our
understanding, to our benefit, that he might reveal himself
to us through the word of truth, that we might hear the word,
not in word only, but in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and with
much, much assurance. verse 17 in our text Acts 11
for as much then as God gave them the like gift I get a hold
of that word the gift gifts are given by the sovereign will of
God as he did to us who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what we believe. The Lord. He is Lord. He is the Savior. He is the anointing of God. And
Peter said, I could not withstand what God was doing. That is, you cannot stop the
purpose of God. Peter reminded them that God
gave them the gift of faith, just as he did to the apostles
and the other men. the same way God saves sinners
today by the grace of God. The Lord saves every sinner the
same way from Adam in the garden to the last sinner that ever
will be saved. The first cause of salvation
is the grace of God. The second cause of salvation
THE THIRD CAUSE OF SALVATION IS THE GRACE OF GOD, THE SOVEREIGN
GRACE OF GOD. WHO ARE WE TO STAND AGAINST GOD? CAN ANY MERE SINNER CHANGE THE
PURPOSE OF GOD IN SAVING HIS PEOPLE BY HIS SOVEREIGN CHOICE,
SOVEREIGN PURPOSE? No, no one can change God. He said, I've spoken it, I bring
it to pass, I purpose it, I will do it. In whom also we have obtained
an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him,
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will,
that we should be to the praise of his glory. That's Ephesians
chapter one, verse 11. Look what happened. When they
heard these things, they quit arguing. They shut up. That's a good thing to do. When
you hear the truth, just be still and know that God is God. When
they heard these things, they held their peace. They stopped
talking. They stopped complaining. And
they worshiped God, glorified God, and here's what they said. granted repentance unto life. Unto life. When they heard what
God had done, they glorified God and God granted these complaining
Jews repentance. He changed their mind. That's
what God must do. He must change our mind, our
heart. Just as he did to Peter earlier.
They stopped contending and rebuking Peter and started worshiping
God. And that's what repentance does. Repentance is God-given,
takes God's side against myself. It agrees with everything God
says about us. God says we're guilty. What does
the repentant heart say? Amen. I'm guilty. God says that
we are hell-deserving sinners, that we're ungodly, unrighteous,
uncircumcised, unprofitable, none do it good, no, not one.
A repentant heart says, amen. Doesn't say, well, that's not
fair. A repentant heart says, see, we agree with God against
ourselves. Repentant heart like Jacob says
we're not worthy the least of his mercies if he sent me to
hell He'd be doing the right thing. That's what I deserve
We say amen You say the scriptures teach in meekness Instructing
those that oppose themselves if God for adventure will give
them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth so God granted repentance
and Repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
to these uncircumcised Gentiles just as he did to those circumcised
Jews. God granted repentance to the
Gentiles. Now turn back to Acts chapter
5. Acts chapter 5. Look at verse 29. Acts 5 29. Then Peter And the other apostles answered
and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. Acts 5 verse
30. The God of our fathers raised
up Jesus whom he slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted
with his right hand to be prince and savior for to give repentance
to Israel. and the forgiveness of sins.
He gave repentance to God's elect among the circumcised and repentance
to God's elect among the uncircumcised men. God has an elect among Jew
and Gentile that will be called out with the gospel. That is,
they will be circumcised in their heart by the sovereign power
of God. When they heard these things,
they held their peace, and they worshiped and honored God, saying,
the Lord hath granted salvation to these sinners in the Lord
Jesus Christ. May God be pleased to do that
for us.