Now turn in your Bible back to
Mark chapter 6. Mark chapter 6. Let me begin
by reading a portion of scripture. You hold your place right there
and stay right there in Mark chapter 6. Our Lord said in Matthew
chapter 9, just prior to sending out his disciples to preach the
gospel, this is what he said. Then he said to his disciples,
The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few. Pray ye therefore, the Lord of
the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into the harvest. Plenteous, but the laborers are
few. Now we see the Lord Jesus Christ
demonstrating to us that he is the Lord of the harvest by calling
his disciples and sending them out for one purpose, to preach
the gospel. He said, I send you out as sheep
among the wolves, and you won't be popular. They've hated me,
they've called me names, and they will hate you, and they
will call you names. He sent them out to declare the
message of the gospel of the kingdom of grace and using the
preaching of the gospel as the means and instrument to call
out His elect to Himself and to bless His people through the
means that He has ordained. Now we read in 1 Corinthians
chapter 1, let me just read this to you. Verse 21 down through
verse 24. God uses the preaching of the
gospel. What we're doing right now. He
has ordained this as the means to call out His people. My pastor used to say this, if
you ever hear from God, you're going to hear from God through
the means He's ordained. The preaching of the truth. Here's
what the scripture teaches. For after that in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God. by the foolishness of preaching,
to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign,
the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified.
Under the Jews, it's a stumbling block. That is, under the religious,
the self-righteous, Christ crucified, they don't see their need of
a substitute who died for sinners. We preach Christ crucified under
the Jews, it's a stumbling block. Under the Greeks, under those
wise people, he said, it's foolishness. But under them which are called,
called how? By the preaching of the gospel,
by the power of God. Both Jews or Gentiles, Christ
the power of God, Christ crucified, both the power of God and the
wisdom of God. The Lord of the harvest, and
that's what He is. He is Lord of heaven and earth,
Lord in creation, Lord in providence, Lord in salvation, and He is
Lord in calling out His people through the preaching of the
gospel. The Lord of the harvest is the same yesterday, today,
and forever. He does not change. Now listen
to the scripture, Hebrews 13, 8. Jesus Christ is same yesterday,
today, and forever. He said, I am the Lord, I change
not, therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. His character
has not changed. He's still holy, just, and righteous. Merciful, long-suffering. His
gospel has not changed. It's still the same, same gospel. God saves sinners by His grace
in Christ Jesus. His methods of grace have not
changed. The last few words the Lord spoke,
the risen Lord spoke to His disciples before ascending to glory. He said, go into all the world
and preach, preach, preach, preach the gospel. Every creature. Every creature. Go preaching
the gospel into all the world. The Lord of the Harvest is still
yet calling, teaching, equipping, sending sinners saved by grace
to tell other sinners where grace is found. That's what preaching
is all about. That's one sinner telling another
sinner where grace is found. where mercy is revealed, where
the love of God is realized in the Lord Jesus Christ. You listen
to this scripture, 2 Corinthians 5. Now then, we are ambassadors
for Christ. We are ambassadors for Christ. As though God did beseech you
by us, we pray you in Christ's stead, be you reconciled unto
God. I'm an ambassador. of God Almighty. And I beg you, I pray you, be
you reconciled to God. And here's the reason why. God
made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be
made to righteousness of God in Him. He knew no sin, but God
made Him sin for us. substitution, satisfaction, that
we, guilty, wretched sinners, but be made the righteousness
of God as we are found in Christ Jesus. That's how this guilty
sinner can stand justified before a holy God in the Lord Jesus
Christ upon His merit. Someone said preaching is one
beggar telling another beggar where he found bread. I'm a mercy
beggar. And I'm telling you this morning
where bread, the bread of life is found. And that is in a person,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord said, I'm the bread.
I'm the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger, shall never thirst. I am the bread of life. And we give thanks. Oh, we give
thanks to you who believe. We give thanks unto the Lord
of the harvest who one day sent us a gospel preacher and ordained that as a means
and an instrument to call us to Christ in faith. Faith comes by hearing and hearing
by the word of truth. Of his own will beget he us with
the word, the seed, the incorruptible seed of life. We must go preach
the gospel. Now, if you looked at your bulletin
today, I trust that you have. If not, you can look at it later.
But in that bulletin, there's three articles written about
the necessity of the preaching, about the necessity of the preaching
of the gospel, the necessity of preaching the word of truth,
the word of life. And I'll pray that you will read
them carefully and consider those. Now, today in Mark chapter 6,
Let's look closely at these scriptures here in Mark chapter 6 beginning
in verse 7 and ask the Lord to bless His Word unto us and open
our understanding to give us insight as to what's being said
here from Mark chapter 6 verse 7 down through verse 13. Four
things that I see, four important things that I see in these verses
here beginning at verse seven and he called unto him the twelve
and he began to send them forth by two and two probably the brothers
went together James and John probably Peter and Andrew went
together or maybe he split them up but they went two by two you
know it's always more pleasant when you have a task if you have
a buddy to help you when you work, when you labor. It's kind
of a tedious thing to labor and work by yourself, but if you
have someone there to talk to, someone there to encourage you,
two is always better than one. And the Lord in wisdom, great
wisdom, He sends these men out two by two for one purpose, to
preach the gospel. And He gave them power over unclean
spirits. Now, here's the first point.
The sovereign work of the Lord in calling and sending men, sinners,
to preach the gospel. He sovereignly, now notice what
he does first. He called unto him the twelve. He sovereignly called them to
himself. To himself. as Lord and Savior,
and made that vital union of oneness in Christ Jesus. Now
we've seen this before, if you'll turn over here, and this is a
sovereign work of God. Back to Mark chapter 3. Notice
this in Mark chapter 3. This is the sovereign work of
God. He called them. They weren't out campaigning
for a job. They weren't out soliciting for
this job of being an apostle, being a disciple, or even being
a believer. They were out fishing. Matthew
was sitting collecting taxes. Most of them were out fishing,
and the Lord sovereignly called them to Himself, gave them life
and salvation, forgiveness of sin, taught them the gospel,
and then He sent them out. It must be in this order. Notice, if you will, Mark chapter
3, Luke verse 13, and he goeth up into a mountain and calleth
unto him whom he would. Sovereignty. God called whom
he would. He chose twelve. One of them
was the devil. You reckon he knew it? Did he
make a mistake? God never makes a mistake. He
knows all things. He chose one of them. for his
purpose. And he ordained the twelve, that
one, for that purpose of apostasy. And he ordained the twelve of
betrayal. And he ordained the twelve that
they should be with him, that he might send them forth to preach,
to have power to heal sickness, and to cast out devils. So he
called them unto him. Now this is an irresistible call. It is a sovereign call. It is
a call of salvation to the Lord Jesus Christ. He first made them
disciples. He first made them learners.
He first made them followers of the Lord first. And He prepared
them and taught them. They must first sit at His feet
and learn of Him before they can run with His message. You
first must have the message before the Master will send you with
the message. They first must know Him before
they can preach Him. Before we can be the messenger
of the Lord, it's essential that we first receive the message. I don't want to run without having
His message. David said this, and Paul quoted
it later, I believed, therefore have I spoken. We also believe
and therefore we speak. He sovereignly called them to
Himself, irresistibly and powerfully, quickened them from the dead,
gave them life, and then they sat at His feet and He taught
them. And then He sent them out to
preach His gospel. Now here's the second thing.
The Lord commissioned them and empowered them. Do you see that?
He gave them power. over unclean spirits. The Lord commissioned them, empowered
them, and sent them out to preach His message. He sent them out
two by two. You remember the Old Testament
principle? In the mouth of two or three
witnesses shall every word be established. We read a moment
ago in Matthew 10, verse 7, Go ye to the lost sheep of the house
of Israel, and as you go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven,
salvation is at hand. In Luke chapter 9, where Luke
records this very incident, he said, He sent them to preach
the kingdom of God, salvation is of the Lord, and to heal the
sick. When the Lord came, this was
His message. When the Lord began His public
ministry, He came preaching the gospel of the kingdom. And He
sends these men out to preach that same message. Now look back
at Mark chapter 1. When the Lord began His public
ministry, this is the same message that He preached, the gospel
of the kingdom of God, salvation that is of the Lord. Mark chapter
1. Look at verse 14, After that
John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching
the gospel of the kingdom, and saying, verse 15, Mark 1, saying,
The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand, salvations
of the Lord, repent and believe the gospel. Repent and believe
the gospel. The message of the gospel of
the Lord Jesus is good news to the lost, to those that are sinners. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation, that the Lord Jesus Christ came to
save sinners. He gave them power, and He sent
them out, commissioned them with a message, and they went out
preaching the gospel, preaching that salvation is of the Lord,
preaching the kingdom of God, preaching Him as King, and that
because He is the King, sinners should bow to the Lord in faith
and repentance, because He is the Lord. Salvation is of the
Lord. Look to the Lord Jesus Christ
by God-given faith and be healed of all your sin. This is the
purpose of the Gospel ministry. It is the glory of Christ and
the healing and the justifying of sinners in need. Go and preach
this message. The Kingdom is at hand. Salvation is of the Lord. And
because He is the King in His Kingdom, sinners are to what? Bow to Him. believe Him, submit
unto His Lordship. The purpose of the gospel ministry
is the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation of sinners
through His merit, through the righteousness of Christ alone,
through the blood atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ alone.
Two things I need desperately to stand before God Almighty
that this sinner needs to stand before God Almighty justified. These two things I have fully,
completely, and in the Lord Jesus Christ. I need, number one, a
justifying righteousness. A justifying righteousness. I
cannot produce it because I'm a sinner. But in the Gospel,
there's the righteousness of God revealed in Christ Jesus. Blessed is the man to whom God
would impute righteousness without work. That's the first thing
I need. Where's it found? Now one of the apostles said,
Oh that I may win Christ and be found in Him, not having my
own righteousness, but that which is provided freely and fully
and imputed to sinners in Christ Jesus. I must have that justifying
righteousness in Christ Jesus. Was that revealed in the Gospel
of Christ? the kingdom of God, salvations
of the Lord. The second thing I must have
as a guilty sinner, not only a justifying righteousness that's
received and in Christ, He is my righteousness, but the second
thing I must have is redemption from all sin. I must not only
have a righteousness to justify me, but I must have an atonement
to put away all my sins. Where is that found? In the blood
sacrificed of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are redeemed, not
with corruptible things, but with the precious blood of Christ. And all that is revealed in the
Gospel. You see how important the preaching
of the Gospel is? He has ordained this to the salvation
of His people. This power that they were given
over sicknesses, diseases, and unclean spirits, is the power
of the gospel to set sinners free by the preaching of the
truth. It says, we read in Matthew 10,
that He gave them power to raise the dead. Wow! To cast out demon spirits. To cure all manner of sicknesses
and disease. You know what that's all a picture
of? That's a picture of the gospel. That's what we have in the gospel.
that in the gospel of the Lord Jesus the power of God and the
salvation that raises dead sinners and gives them life in Christ
Jesus. The gospel is the power of God
and the salvation. In the grace of the gospel there
is a remedy for the disease of sin and there is no case too
desperate for the Lord. He is the Great Physician. By His stripes By His stripes,
by His atonement, by His satisfaction, sinners who were guilty by birth,
guilty before God, sinners are healed, justified in Christ Jesus. Go preach that message. That's
good news. You know what's good news too? It's good news to sinners. If
I can ever find me a sinner, I've got good news. You know,
they're hard to find. They're hard to find. You know,
folks just think they're too good. They don't think they need
a Savior that's a total sovereign. They think, well, you know, if
I just clean my act up and try to do a little bit better, everything
will be okay. Everything won't be okay. Not
at all. Because the best I have is vanity. The best I can produce is filthy
rags. It's only in Christ Jesus that
I have a justifying righteousness. It's only in Christ Jesus that
sinners are made whole. He didn't come to call the righteous.
They don't need a position. Those who are well don't need
a position. Who does? Those who are sick. I came to
call sinners unto repentance. Anybody a sinner? I mean that
died-in-the-wool, dead, guilty, rotten sinner. This is a faithful
saying and worthy of all acceptation that the Lord Jesus Christ came
to save sinners. I am a sinner saved by God's
grace. How do you know? He sent me the
truth. through the preaching of the
gospel. And God used that as a means to quicken me and to
show me my sin, show me my need of Christ, and to show me how
my need is completely fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now
the second thing I want to point out in this lesson, Mark chapter
6. He called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth
by two and two, gave them power over unclean spirits notice down
in verse 13 and they cast out many devils anointed with oil
many that were sick not all many as he sovereignly pleased was
pleased to do that were sick and he healed them now here's
the second thing in verses 8, 9, and 10 the Lord sovereignly
provided for them as they went on their journey Notice verse
8, 9, and 10. He commanded them that they should
take nothing for their journey. Don't go home, pack your bags.
Don't go down to the bank account and clean out your bank account.
Take nothing for your journey, save only a walking stick. Don't even take your wallet.
Don't take any bread. Don't take any money. Don't take
your purse. Don't even go pack your bags. Don't even put on your boots.
Take your sandals and don't take two coaches, one. Now why did he say all that?
What's he teaching us here? What's the lesson? The Lord sovereignly
provided for their journey. He's teaching them complete dependence
upon Him for all things. That's our state as sinners.
We are completely dependent upon Him. God shall supply all our
need according to His riches in glory through Christ Jesus. He is our righteousness. He is our wisdom. He has clothed
us with the garment of salvation. He's given us all things in Christ
Jesus. We are heirs of God and joint
heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. He provides all things for us
in the gospel. But there's something else here
I want to point out about preachers and preaching and God's servants,
pastors and ministers, teachers, missionaries. Three things. God's servants must take great
care not to appear or even in any way appear to be covetous,
greedy, greedy men, self-serving men who are trying to enrich
themselves by the ministry. These men were simple men. He's
sending them out with simple means. Very simple means. And God's servants are simple
men. They don't put themselves into
the ministry to enrich themselves. They're sent of God and they're
simple men and they depend upon Him. 1 Peter says this, Chapter
5, verse 2, feed the flock of God which is among you, taking
the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly, not
for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind. Secondly, God's gospel preachers
are not to provide for their livelihood or entangle themselves
with secular employment, but to give themselves totally to
study, prayer, and preaching. These men weren't told to go
out and fish, and then in your spare time, go out and preach.
You see, God doesn't have part-timers. We're in this ministry locked,
stocked, and barreled. I'm to give my total time, attention,
energy, and devotion completely to the preaching of the gospel.
And that's what He's teaching here. God deserves better than
part-time, doesn't He? He does. The Lord has ordained. Now listen to this. This is 1
Corinthians 9.14. Even so has the Lord ordained
that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel. Thirdly,
gospel preachers are to be provided. Now notice how I said that. Gospel
preachers, God's preachers, are to be provided for by the Provided for by those to whom
they minister that is by their local congregation by believers
and believers understand that You remember our study verse
from Galatians 6 let him that is taught in the word Communicate
share distribute unto him that teacheth in all good things The
Apostle put it this way if we have sown unto you spiritual
things It is a great thing is it a great thing if we should
reap your carnal things God's people and believers in
Christ understand these things and may lovingly, willingly,
sacrificially support the preaching of the gospel. As you folks do
here. I've been here, time goes by
quickly, doesn't it? But you realize I've been here
almost 15 years? February will be 15 years. And
God has, through your generous giving, supplied all my need
financially. by your kind giving. And I thank God for you, for
your labor of love, and for your interest in the gospel. And God's
people understand, they understand those things. They willingly
support the ministry because they see the importance of it.
How God uses the preaching of the gospel to call out His people,
and to instruct and teach His people. Now here's the third
thing. In Mark chapter 6 verse 10. And he said unto them, In what
place soever ye enter into a house, there abide till ye depart. Now look at verse 11 carefully.
And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you. That message that salvation is
of the Lord, the kingdom of God is at hand. Whosoever shall not
receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the
dust under your feet for a testimony against them, a witness against
them, of their rebellion and their rejection, not of the preacher, but of God Almighty, of the Lord
Jesus Christ who sent them. You see what he's saying? Verily
I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah
in the day of judgment than it will be for me." Now, here's
the third thing. There is a great responsibility
put upon the preacher to tell the truth. A great responsibility. I want to tell the truth, so
help me God. I do. The truth of who God is,
that he's holy, that he's sovereign, I want to tell the truth about
us, that we're guilty, that we're sinners. I want to tell the truth
about salvation, that it's all of grace through the righteousness
of Christ freely given. I want to tell the truth about
the Lord Jesus Christ, that He is God our Savior, God manifest
in the flesh, that He is a victorious Lord and King. The apostle put
it this way, though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to
glory of, for necessity is laid upon me, yea, woe is unto me
if I do not preach the gospel. The great responsibility laid
upon me, but it doesn't end there. There's a great responsibility
laid upon you that's taught here in verse 9 and 10 verse 11. Woe unto you if you will not
hear that message. There's a great responsibility
put upon the hearer of the gospel. Now what a privilege to hear
God's word, God's truth, God's gospel. To hear the true gospel
and disbelieve it, what great condemnation. Not even the wickedness
of Sodom and Gomorrah rivals the wickedness of willful unbelief. To hear the gospel of God's grace
and mercy to sinners in Christ Jesus and to reject it? To disbelieve it? Oh, I tell you, there's no other
remedy for sin but in this effectual atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want you to turn to 1 John
chapter 5 and while you turn there let me read this to you.
Find 1 John chapter 5. 1 John chapter 5. We read in John 3 verse 36, The
Father loveth the Son, and giveth all things into His hand. He
that believeth the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not
the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. Now 1 John 5, look at verse 10. Verse John 5 saying, He that
believeth on the Son of God hath to witness in himself. He that
believeth not God hath made him a liar, because he believeth
not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record
that God hath given to us eternal life. This life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son, the
Son of God, hath not life. Oh, to hear God's gospel and
to embrace it, to believe it, to bow to the sovereign claims
of the Lord Jesus Christ, what a blessing. But to hear it and
to reject it, oh, the wrath of God. The psalmist said this in
Psalm 2, Be wise now therefore, O you kings. Be instructed, you
judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear. Rejoice
with trembling. Kiss the Son. lest he be angry
and you perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all those that put their trust in him. Those who
will not receive you, our Lord said, shake the dust off of your
feet, the dust of your feet as a testimony against them. Our
Lord said this in Matthew 10 40, he that receiveth you receiveth
me. And he that receiveth me receiveth
him that sent me. Those who go hearing, now listen
to this. Those who go on hearing without believing, listening
without repenting, coming to church without coming to Christ,
will soon face the sovereign judge of all the earth with whom
they have to do. And will hear that eternal sentence
of condemnation. Depart from me, I never knew
you, you that were iniquity. I don't want any of you here
to hear that. I want you to hear the gospel
and I pray God will give you faith to bow to Christ. Bow to Him. You see the responsibility
of preaching? I must tell you the truth. And
there's the responsibility of believing the truth because He
is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The last thing is this
in verse 12 and verse 13. The Apostle's obedience. It's
got a hold on me here in verse 12. Look what it says. And they
went out. He called them and taught them, instructed them,
gave them the message, warned them of what would happen. And they went out. And they went
out. And preached that men should
repent. They went out. although they
were conscious of their weakness, inability, and expecting no personal
gain, no righteousness rewarded, no advantage in society. They
were obedient to the Lord's command. They went out with total dependence
upon the Lord's strength, upon the Lord's wisdom. They went
out and declared this message, the salvation of the Lord. It
reminded me of Abraham of old, when God called him, told him
to get out of his house of idolatry and leave his family, 75 years
old, and the scripture said, he believed God and went out. It went out. Like Isaiah. In Isaiah 6-8, when he saw the
Lord high and lifted up, and the angels cried, Holy, Holy,
Holy Lord God Almighty. And he said, Isaiah, woe is me,
I'm undone, I'm a man of unclean lips. And the Lord said this,
the Lord said, Whom shall I send and who will go for us? Who will
go declare this message of God's holiness and salvation in Christ? And Isaiah cried out and said,
Lord, here am I. Send me. And they went out. You see, saving faith is obedient
faith. They went out and preached the
gospel. They went out and preached an unpopular message. Men ought
to repent. You remember what happened to
John the Baptist? We're going to see this next week. He went out
and preached that message of repentance. Behold, the Lamb
of God bowed to the sovereign claims of Christ. They took his
head off. But he kept on preaching the
message. Why? He believed God. Like Saul of
Tarsus. Lord, what will you have me to
do? And straightway he preached Christ
in the synagogue. They went out preaching the message. Christ and here's what they said
verse 12 and I'll quit with this notice their message in verse
12 they went out and preached they were preachers they preached
that men should repent now repentance and faith are
inseparably connected Where you find a repentant heart, you find
a believing heart. Where you find a believing heart,
you find a repentant heart. Faith and repentance are both
the sovereign gifts of God. The apostle put it this way in
Acts 20. He said, I've kept back nothing from you that was profitable,
but I've showed you and taught you publicly, house to house,
testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance
toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Both faith and
repentance are born of the means and the instrument God has ordained.
Preaching, preaching, preaching the truth. Faith comes by hearing
the true gospel and repentance comes the same way. It's about,
it's hearing about the goodness of God. Now listen to scripture. Romans 2 verse 4. It's about
hearing the goodness of God in the gospel that leads a sinner
to repentance. Here's the scripture. Despises
thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering,
knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? It's not the wrath of God that
leads sinners to repentance. You read over there in Revelation,
about those men, that strange prayer meeting, who cried for
the rocks and the mountains to fall on us, and it says they
yet did not repent of their sin. You see, it's the goodness of
God that leads a sinner to repentance, not his wrath. It's his love,
it's his mercy that woos our heart, that breaks our heart,
and causes us to fall before him in sovereign mercy. What is repentance anyway? Books
have been written about it. Sermons have been preached about
it. What is repentance? One sentence. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
6, 7 words. Repentance is simply a
change of mind that results in a turning A turning. We turn to God from
our idols. That's repentance. It's a change
of mind about myself. I no longer think high thoughts
of myself. I think high thoughts of God.
I think low thoughts of myself. It's a change of mind about myself. It's a change of mind about my
sin. What I am. It's a change of mind
about my righteousness. They are filthy rags in God's
sight. It's a change of mind. Secondly,
repentance is a change of masters. It's a change of mind because
there's a change of masters. It's to bow to the sovereign
lordship of Jesus Christ. God has highly exalted him. God
has given him a name above every name that at that name every
knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess that he is Lord
to the glory of God the Father. It's a change of mind because
of a change of masters. He now is my Lord and King. Thirdly, repentance is a change
of motives. It's a change of mind. It's a
change of masters. It's a change of motives. We
no longer are rejoicing in our own glory, but in Christ. God
forbid that I should glory save in the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Fourthly, repentance is a change of manners, change
of mind, change of masters, change of motives, which brings about
a change of manners. Faith and conduct Repentance
and conduct cannot be separated. They go hand in hand. A repentant
sinner has a changed life. How important is repentance?
Let's turn and read this. Turn over here to Luke chapter
13. Let's see how important it is. It's His command. I know that. Luke chapter 13. Well, how important is it? Let's
see what God says. Luke 13 verse 1. They were present
at that time. They were present at that time
season. Some that told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate
had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said suppose
ye that these Galileans were sinners above all Galileans because
they suffered these things. Verse 3. I tell you I tell you,
nay, but except you repent, you shall all likewise perish. For these eighteen, upon whom
the tower of Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye they were
sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? Verse five, I tell
you, nay, but except you repent, you'll all likewise perish. How important is repentance?
That change of masters? That change of mind? That change
of motive? That change of manners? I say
it's pretty important, don't you? It's His command. Listen to this scripture. He
commandeth all men everywhere, Acts 17 30. He commandeth all
men everywhere to repent Because he hath appointed a day in which
he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whereof he hath given
assurance unto all men in that he raised him from the dead.
He commands all men everywhere to do what? To repent. Bow to Christ. Bow to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Bow to the claims of Christ.
Now here's a question I want you to consider. Am I repenting? True, now listen to me, I'm almost
through. True godly repentance is not a one-time act or action. It's like faith. I have believed,
but I am believing. I did look, but I am looking. I have repented, but by His grace,
I am repenting. It's not a one-time act. It is a state of being. I have a repentant heart, a broken
contrite heart. It's a state of being. It's constantly
coming to Him and acknowledging His all-sufficient atonement
for all my pardon of sin and His righteousness as my total
justification before God. Repentance. Now remember this.
Repentance does not put away sin. You can be sorry and sorry
and sorry. Your sorrow will not make atonement
for one sin. But true repentance acknowledges
Christ did put away sin by His sacrifice. I want you to look
at one scripture. I want you to find 2 Timothy
2.25. There are no unrepentant people
in the kingdom of God. They all have been brought to
repentance. And this godly repentance acknowledges
something. What does it acknowledge? Let's
see what it says here. 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse 23. But foolish and unlearned questions
avoid, knowing that they do gender strife. And the servant of the
Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all, able to teach
in patience, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves,
if God, perventure, will give them repentance." Now watch this,
"...to the acknowledging of the truth." acknowledging of the
true gospel of God's grace. May God help us to repent and
keep on repenting because that brings us to the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance toward God and faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. God help us all to repent.