All right, here's the text in
Revelation 16. Revelation 16. And I heard a great voice out
of the temple saying to the seven angels, go your ways and pour
out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. And the first
went and poured out his vial upon the earth, and there fell
a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of
the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image. And the
second angel poured out his vial upon the sea, it became as the
blood of a dead man. Every living soul died in the
sea. And the third angel poured out
his vial upon the rivers, fountains of water, and they became blood.
I heard the angel of the water saying, Thou art righteous, O
Lord, which art, and wast, and shall be, because Thou hast judged
thus. For they have shed the blood
of saints and prophets. Thou hast given them blood to
drink, and they are worthy. Out of the altar say, Even so,
Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments. And the fourth angel poured out
his vial upon the sun, and power was given unto him to scorch
men with fire. And men were scorched with great
heat, and they cried for mercy. And they sued for peace. No sir.
And they blasphemed the name of God. The name of God who hath power
over these plagues. And they repented not to give
God the glory. When I read scriptures like these,
I tremble. I'm filled with awe. amazement,
wonderment at the power of our God, at the forces which are
at His disposal, at the bare unlimited power of His Word alone,
He spake and it came to pass. Angels hastened to worship Him
and serve Him and do His will. cherubims and seraphims and heavenly
creatures, even the stars, come and go at his will and word. He's the master of the rain and
the snow, cold and heat. He says, I say to the lightning
and it goes, and I say come and it comes. Thunder. All creatures
await his orders. He has the keys of hell and death.
He wounds He heals, he kills, he makes a life. He establishes
the bounds of every life. None can stay his hand or even
say unto him, what are you doing? He does not give account of his
matters to the creatures. The Lord reigns in the armies
of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth and gives it to
whomsoever he will. The Lord reigneth. The hearts
of those who make war are in his hands, and the hearts of
those who make peace are in his hands. He can preserve our civilization
by his grace or allow us to destroy it by our sins. He is the author
and giver of eternal life. The Lord quickeneth whom he will.
No creature is beyond the reach of his judgments or the reach
of his mercy. My ear's not heavy that I can't
hear. My arm's not short that I can't say. He worketh all things
after the counsel of his own will. He hath all power over
all flesh. He can turn blessings into judgments
with a word, and he can turn judgments into blessings. Eli summed it up when he said,
it's the Lord. Let him do what he will. Reading that, knowing that, it
is true. You would think that in the presence
of such majesty and such power, such awesome, awesome power and
glory, that all men would fall before him. in repentance, obedience,
in faith, in true worship, and seek His mercy. Wouldn't you
think so? He is able to save to the uttermost them that come
to God by Him. He's able to keep us from falling. He's able to do all that He promised. He's able to raise our vile bodies
and make them like unto His glorious body. He's able. Before the revelation of His
power and His majesty and His glory and His judgment, men do
not bow. Judgments, the judgments of God
and the revelation of the might and the power of God do not produce
repentance. The book of Amos chapter 4, don't
turn there, you're familiar with it, but God told those people,
He said, I've sent pestilence among you, pestilence among you
so your cattle died, your sheep died, and yet you didn't repent. He said, I've sent wars among
you and your young men were slain with the sword, yet you didn't
repent. He said, I've given you blasting
and mildew when the crops were just about ready to be harvested,
they dried up, yet you didn't repent. I've slain some of you
with sickness and disease and yet you didn't repent. Now then,
prepare to meet your God. Judgments, the judgments of God,
the power of God does not produce repentance. I'll show you some
examples. Turn to Isaiah 1. Listen to this.
Isaiah 1, where God talked about the ox knows his owner and the
ash knows his master's crib, but my people don't know me.
And then in verse 5, he says, why? Why should you be stricken
anymore? You'll just revolt more and more.
Your whole heart is sick and your whole head is sick and your
whole heart is pain. Why should you be stricken? You'll
only revolt more and more. You'll only run from me, not
return to me. And you know this verse, you're
familiar with this. When the rich man in hell saw
Lazarus in Abraham's bosom, he lifted up his eyes and saw Lazarus.
And he said, Father Abraham, send Lazarus down here that he
might dip his finger in water and touch my tongue. I'm tormented
in this flame. And Abraham said, between us
and you there's a great gut fix. No one can pass from us to you
or you to us. Well, he said, Father Abraham,
send Lazarus back to the earth. I've got five brothers. Warn them that they come not
to this place. Abraham said they have the scriptures,
they have Moses and the prophets, they have the preachers, the
gospel, the Word of God. Nay, Father Abraham, they won't
listen to the preachers, they won't listen to the prophets,
they won't read the Word. But if one rose from the dead, they'd
repent. Abraham said, if they received
not the Word of God, though one rose from the dead, But they'll
never repent. Miracles do not produce repentance. Judgments do not produce repentance. And we read here, verse 9 of
Revelation 16. You still have your text there
open? Revelation 16, 9. Listen to this and think about
it. And men were scorched with great
heat. And they blasphemed the name
of God. Where did the heat come from? judgment against sin, judgment
against rebellion. And they blasphemed his name,
which had power over these plagues, and they repented not to give
him glory. Now, wait a minute. But sometimes
judgments and sorrows and trouble produces
a temporary sorrow, an earthly sorrow. That's what Paul called
it, an earthly sorrow, which brings death. A godly sorrow
that brings repentance. But sometimes judgments produce
a form of conviction, a temporary sorrow, and a form of repentance. And sometimes that's mistaken
for true repentance. But it's not true repentance
at all. It's a mock repentance. It's a mock conviction and a
mock conversion which one day proves to be false. I'll give
you several examples. Cain slew his brother. And God said to him, Cursed is
your name and you. I will send you out by yourself. And he said, but they'll kill
me. And God said, I'll protect you. He said, my punishment's
on, I can bear it. That sounds like repentance,
doesn't it? No, he's bothered by the punishment,
the fear of death, the fear of somebody killing him because
he killed his brother. It's fear. That's the reason most everybody
in jail experiences this, until they get out. And you take Esau. I want you to turn to Hebrews.
Paul is careful to tell us about Esau. Esau in Hebrews 12. There was a temporary remorse
over the loss of benefits, the loss of blessings. He lost his
birthright because of his sin and evil. Hebrews 12, verse 16
and 17. Lest there be any fornicator
or propane person as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his
birthright. And you know that afterward,
when he would have inherited the blessing, when his daddy
died, he was rejected. And he found no place of repentance,
no way to change his mind, though he sought it carefully with tears.
He lost the blessings, he lost the benefits. Cain had a remorse,
a temporary troubled conscience. because
of punishment. Esau was bothered by loss of
benefits. Pharaoh turned to Exodus 12. This sounds like true repentance.
Exodus 12. Exodus 12. Pharaoh experienced the death of a son,
his firstborn. And it looks like it changed him.
It says in Exodus 12, verse 31, And he called for Moses and Abram
by night and said, Rise up and get you forth from among my people,
both you and the children of Israel, and go and serve the
Lord as you have said." That's like they said in the Ten Commandments,
your God is God. Sounds like it doesn't. It didn't
last. Israel hadn't been gone very
long until he assembled his forces. The death of that son lost its
Immediate impact and he found himself in the same old rebel Herod turned it turned to mark
6 mark chapter 6 King Herod King Herod Was the one that killed
John the Baptist he was pleased by the dancing of his stepdaughter
and He killed John the Baptist, but there was a time when he
feared John the Baptist, when he went to Herod and got under
some kind of religious or conscious legal conviction. Look at Mark
6, verse 20. Herod feared John, knowing he
was a just man and a holy man, and he observed him. He preserved
him, too. He kept him safe. And when he
heard him, he went out to hear him. He did many things and heard
him gladly. There was a time. King Herod
was among the congregation of God's forerunner, John the Baptist. But it didn't last. I don't know what brought about
this conviction. Knowing he was wrong, knowing
what he was doing, John condemned him publicly. And then he killed him later
on. Judas. Turn to Matthew 27. Matthew 27. Listen to this. Verse 4 and 5
of Matthew 27. Judas. Verse 3. Matthew 27 and 3. Then Judas,
which had betrayed him, when he saw he was condemned, repented. himself. To salvation? True repentance
toward God? No. He brought again the thirty
pieces of silver to the chief priest and elders saying, I have
sinned in that I have betrayed innocent blood. They said, what's
that to us? That's your problem. See thou
to it. And he cast the pieces of silver
in the temple and departed and went and hanged himself. That's
not repentance. You see, troubles and trials
make believers better. Troubles and trials make bad
men worse. Troubles and trials and judgments
reveal and strengthen true faith. It also reveals false faith eventually. Trouble teaches sons. Troubles
harden rebels. It's like the sun. melts the
ice and hardens the clay. The sun is no different. It's
the same sun, same power. The difference is in the object. The sun melts the hard, cold
ice to become warm water. That same sun burning down upon
the clay makes it harder, brittle, lifeless. It's not the sun. It has the power to Believers weep over the cause
of judgment. Rebels weep over the fact of
judgment. Believers weep over the loss
of God's presence. Rebels weep over the loss of
the benefits. A preacher, repentance. What is and whence cometh repentance? All right, number one, it's the
gift of God. You know this scripture is very
familiar. Thy people, thy chosen people, thy sheep, they're made
willing, they're made willing to bow. They're made willing
to repent. They're made willing to believe.
They're made willing to worship. They're made willing to believe
in the day of thy power. That's when they repent. When
it pleased the Lord, that's when they repented. It's a gift of
God. Acts 11, I want you to turn to
this one. Acts 11, verse 18. Clearly, the
Apostle is saying here that repentance is the gift of God. I asked the
question one time in a message, when will a man be saved? Well,
when he believes, when he repents, when he receives Christ, When
he bows, when he receives the gospel, yes, but he'll be saved
when he pleases God. That's when he'll be saved, when
he pleases God. God can pass him by or leave
him alone or call him, awaken him when he pleases God. Listen
to Acts 11, verse 18. When they heard these things,
they held their peace and glorified God, and they said, Then hath
God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life." God gave
it. God granted it. That's right. 2 Peter 3.9. Turn over there.
2 Peter 3.9. This is a scripture that people have argued about and
have missed. They've missed the revelation
of the grace and glory of God in arguing about to whom it applies. But in 2 Peter 3, verse 9, the
Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count
slackness, but is longsuffering to uswards, not willing that
any should perish. And that's what we're used to
dwell on and argue about. He's not willing that any should
perish. He's not willing that anybody perish. Whoa, listen
to the next line. But that all should come to repentance.
Now, I know to whom that's written, to usward, to believers, to beloved. The whole book is addressed to
the beloved. And what Peter the Apostle is writing to God's church,
to the strangers, to the born again. But that we should be
brought by his Spirit and by his grace to repentance. That's
the key. God will bring us to repentance.
All that my Father giveth me will come to me. They will. And him that cometh out of no
wise cast out, because they'll all be taught of God. And he's
not willing that one for whom Christ died, that one of his
body should perish. But they should come to what?
Repentance. True, genuine, God-given repentance. Repentance, that is as much a
part of faith as faith is. And what's this verse here in
Romans 2? True repentance, like faith, is the gift of God. For
by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourself,
it's the gift of God. Faith's the gift of God. It's
given to you to believe. God made you willing to believe.
Romans 2, verse 4. Or despisest thou the riches
of his goodness, and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing
that the goodness of God leadeth you to repentance? What leads
you to repentance? I've repented. I am repenting.
I will repent. I look out over this congregation.
This congregation and church is filled this morning with people
who have experienced true, God-given repentance. Are you experiencing
it? When Mike was singing that song a moment ago, I was repenting,
weren't you? I was right into that. As that
author wrote about himself, he was writing about me, repenting
before God, suing for mercy. I've repented, and I know this,
the goodness of God led me to repentance. True repentance,
hear me now, it's a gift of God, and secondly, it's a response. It's a response to the goodness
of God. Repentance is that which the goodness of God produces,
brings out. The thief on the cross, he read the law. The law didn't
stop him down that path of evil, murder, thievery. They had dungeons and jails all
over that place, but that didn't steer him to repentance. Threats, and finally they arrested
him, put him in jail, and he still didn't repent. And finally
they took him out on a hillside and put him on a cross and spit
on him, that thief, both of them. They still didn't repent. But when he saw Christ, When
he saw the love of Christ, the grace and goodness of Christ,
and the mercy of God in Christ, it broke that old boy. What broke
him, Ronnie? Love couldn't break him. He said,
you do this, we'll kill you. Kill me. You keep stealing, we're going
to put you in a dungeon. Put me in a dungeon. No laws or threats or punishment. broke that old faith. But when
he was hanging on that cross, God opened his eyes. He didn't open the eyes of the
other one, there were two of them. Same experience, same path, parallel.
But he opened this man's eyes and he saw the goodness of God, the mercy
of God. He repented. Turn to Titus 3. Let's look at this scripture.
Titus chapter 3, verse 3-7. Titus 3, verse 3. We ourselves,
for we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, O God, weren't we foolish,
disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living
in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But after
that, the kindness and love of God, our Savior, toward man appeared
to us. Not by works of righteousness,
which we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us by
the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.
When did He save us? When the goodness, what would it say?
When the kindness, love of God, our Savior towards sinful men
appeared, that's what saved us. That's
what brought us to repentance. Well, my third and last question
is this. Well, how does true repentance, how does it act? Somebody said one time, don't
try to define something. You kill it when you try to put
it in plain old everyday words. I guess so. Like love. If you have it, you
understand it. If you don't, you couldn't if
somebody drew you a picture. Like repentance. If you have
repentance, genuine, godly repentance, you understand repentance. You
enter into repentance. But if you don't have that gift
and grace of God, you wouldn't understand it. But no matter
what anybody says, no matter how plain they make it, the revelation
of God in the person of Christ, if you have eyes to see Him,
His glory, His beauty, His saving grace, you see Him. If you don't have those eyes
of faith, there's no way any human being on this earth can
enable you to see it. But I tell you this, there's
some evidences of repentance. And I say, is my faith, is my
repentance genuine? Is it of God? Well, I can give
you six things. If you want to jot them down,
you do. But these are from the Word, from my own feelings, experience,
what I believe the Lord has revealed to me. The first thing, true
repentance before God, acknowledges His majesty. His sovereignty,
His holiness. It acknowledges who God is. Our Lord said, this is eternal
life that they might know Thee, the only true God. And that's
the first thing that thief said. When the Lord began to reveal
some things to him, what's the first thing he said? You remember?
He turned to the other one and said, don't you fear God. Dear
God, repentance always produces the fear of the Lord. The beginning
of wisdom is the fear of God. That's right. Isaiah said, I
saw the Lord. I saw the Lord. High and lifted
up. His train filled the temple. And the cherubims and seraphims
cried, holy, holy, holy. Then I cried, woe is me. That's where she stops. Then
I cried, I saw the Lord. So repentance manifests itself
in a true acknowledgement of who God is, in His holiness and
majesty and power. Secondly, true repentance before
God acknowledges and feels, deeply feels, my own sin and unworthiness. Not the sin of mankind, my sin. Not, oh, I know everybody's a
sinner. No, I know I'm a sinner. What did David say in that psalm?
My sins are ever before me. Oh, God, be merciful to me. I
acknowledge my transgressions. My sin is ever before me. What
did that thief say? Secondly, he said, first, don't
you fear God. Secondly, he said, we're in the
same condemnation and we indeed, justly. Justly. I'm here because I ought to be
here. By all rights and rules and regulations,
this is my place. George Whitefield says repentance,
watch these things here, it confesses our sin, the foundation of evil,
our nature. In sin my mother conceived me. My trouble is not some outward
acts, my trouble is an inward nature that produces those acts. That's what you acknowledge when
you repent. I'm a sinner by birth. Secondly, I'm a sinner by act. It acknowledges our sins. And
thirdly, this is where most people have a real, real struggle with
repentance, that even my righteousnesses are filthy rags. I repent not
only of what I am by nature, what I've done by practice, But
I repent of trying to make myself acceptable to
God by my righteousness. I repent of that. That's what
Paul said in Philippians, I count all that I've ever done to be
done. That's hard to do. Best prayer
I ever prayed. God couldn't look with favor
upon it outside of the blood of Christ. The best, the most
sacrificial gift I've ever given has no merit in it of its own.
Only if Christ makes me and the gift accepted. And I repent. I wish I could worship God like
God ought to be worshiped. I think sometimes I get through
praying. I wish I could pray. Don't you? I wish I could love
God like God ought to be loved. I'm going to keep trying. And
I'm going to quit. But there's no good in anything
I do. What is that scripture I'm trying
to think of? Mayday's best statement. It's all together. All together.
Christ is all together lovely. And not anything about Him is
not lovely. Man at his best state is altogether vanity. There ain't
a spot in him that's lovely. We've repented when we can come
to that place. Thirdly, repentance, true repentance, justifies God
in His judgments. What's the third thing the thief
said? He said, don't you fear God? Fear the Lord. We're in
the same condemnation justly? Thirdly, and we're getting what
we deserve. Our due reward. Wasn't that what
he said? I'm getting my due reward. And that's what David said in
Psalm 51. If you care to turn, you may,
but I'll read it to you. Psalm 51. Here's a verse that
we skip over sometimes. Psalm 51, verse 4. He said, Lord, against Thee,
Thee only have I sinned, done this evil in Thy sight, that
You might be justified when You speak, and clear when You judge. When You condemn me, You're just. And when You judge me, Your name
is clear. You're doing the right thing.
I'm getting, the thief said, my due reward. And our Lord said
that about the Pharisees in Luke 7. In Luke chapter 7, He said
concerning those religious Pharisees who refused to repent. He says
in Luke 7, verse 29, and the people, all the people heard
him and the publicans. They justified God. That's what
David was saying. You're just when you condemn
me. You're just when you damn me. And they justified God and
were baptized with the baptism of John, which is the baptism
of repentance. The baptism of John in baptism
today is saying, I'm a sinner. I deserve to die and be buried
and put out of sight and raised by God to walk in newness of
life. And that's what John's baptism
was, baptism of repentance. It was confessing that I deserve
to die. I deserve to be put out of sight.
But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the counsel of God against
themselves. Being not baptized of him, we're
not going to be baptized, we're not sinners. They rejected the
counsel of God. Through repentance, sees God
in his glory, power, majesty. Sees himself in his corruption
and sin, and justifies God. And says, I do not deserve your
favor and mercy. I deserve your wrath. I really,
honestly deserve it. And God, if you save me, You'll get all the glory. Your mercy will be glorified.
But if you damn me, your justice will be glorified, because I'm
worthy of damnation. That's what it said in that verse
over there. They are worthy. They kill the blood. They spill
the blood of your prophets, and now they're drinking their own
blood, and that's what they're worthy of. That's exactly it. Fourthly, true repentance. Oh
boy, watch this now. Acknowledges before God. that
his salvation is his to give. It's his to give. It's not something
I do, it's something he does. What's the fourth thing the thief
said? He said, don't you fear God?
Seeing you in the same condemnation justly, you're getting what you
deserve and I am too. Lord, would you remember me when
you come into your care? Would you think on me? It's in
your power to do that. It's not in my power. Would you remember me? Would
you save me? Our Lord came down from the mountain,
and a leper ran and fell at his feet and worshipped him. And
he looked up, Matthew 8, verse 1, and he said, If you will,
you can make me whole." Today's pulpit is looking at the sinners
and saying, if you will, you can make yourself whole by doing
certain things. The thief on the cross looked
to the one who has the power and said, Lord, would you remember
me? The leper said, Lord, if you
will, you can make me whole. The publican in the temple would
not lift his eyes to heaven, but smote upon his breast and
said, Lord, would you be merciful to me? The Son quickeneth whom
he will. God said, I'll be merciful to
whom I will. And now listen. Repentance acknowledges salvation
is of the Lord. And it's his to give or to withhold. David Brainerd saw that. That
was what convicted him mainly, that there was a law he couldn't
keep, a faith he couldn't produce, and that God could save him or
damn him. It was in the power of God to
do either one. And then fifthly, true repentance
believes the record that God has given concerning his son,
really, honestly believes the scripture. honestly believes the Scriptures.
Look at 1 John 5. 1 John chapter 5, verse 10. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath the witness in himself. He that believeth not God hath
made God a liar, because he believeth not the record God gave of His
Son. And this is the record that God
hath given us eternal life, and this life is in his son. Is my repentance genuine? It
is. You can say the same thing. Most
of you can't. I do fear God. I know what I
am by nature, by birth, by practice. I know that from the sole of
my feet to the top of my head, at my best state, I'm altogether
vanity. I know that. I know thirdly that God's just. I don't deserve, and none of
my family or my friends deserve the mercy of God. If He damns
ever last one of us, He's God. That's what those three Hebrew
children said when they were going to cast them into the fire
furnace. That king said, is your God able to deliver you? Oh,
yes, they said He is. But if He doesn't, He's still
God. Still God. Yes, sir, He's still God. What
He does with me doesn't change who He is. It changes who I am. But He never changes. I do acknowledge
that salvation is His to give. He saved me. He saved me from
Alpha to Omega. And I believe this book. And
here's the last thing. I give you this and I'll close.
True repentance continues to repent. It never gets one step
beyond what we're talking about right here. the simplicity of
Christ, of repentance and faith. Never does. It continues to repent. I have repented, I am repenting,
I shall repent. I have believed, I am believing,
I shall be believed. I have been saved, I am being
saved, and my salvation is nearer than when I first repented. And
true repentance never denies confidence in Christ, yet never
has any confidence in His flesh. True repentance never departs
from Christ, but rather always keeps coming to Christ. I believed
on Him and I believe on Him again this morning. I've received Him
and I can receive Him again. I came to Jesus as I was. I'm
still coming, aren't you? Repentance ceases from all works,
ceases from all works and rests in Him. is always engaged in labors of
love and works of faith. It ceases absolutely from all
works for favor or acceptance with God. We rest in Christ.
And yet, each day that comes forth, we want so much to serve
Him and serve His people and be a blessing to someone and
work and labor in His vineyard. True repentance is conscious
that I'm less than the least of all the saints. There's not
a saint on earth that's not above, better than me and you. That's what I read while ago,
counting others to be better than ourselves. And yet I know
I'm growing in grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus
Christ. The Word is not wasted. I haven't
believed in vain. You haven't either. We're growing.
But as we grow in grace, we also grow into other graces of humility
and faith, and know that what we have is His gift. That grows
too, you see. Somebody said, well, the more
you learn and the better you can preach, and these things
you get more pride. Oh, no. No, no. The more you
grow in grace and knowledge of Christ, the more you grow in
knowledge of yourself, you see. That very thing that causes you
to see Him causes you to see yourself better. So there's no
danger. I'm not afraid of anybody here
learning too much or growing too much, because as you grow
up, you'll grow down. That's right. And true repentance, this continues
this way, looks upon myself as being the chief of sinners, and
yet I'm as holy as the Lord Jesus Christ in Him. That's right. In Christ I have no sin, and
yet my sins are ever before me. And true repentance says I'm
poor and needy, But I'm a son of God and an heir of eternal
glory. Lord, listen to this Isaac Watts. Lord, I'm vile, conceived in
sin. I was born unholy and unclean.
I came from the man whose fall corrupted our race and tainted
us all. As soon as I drew my infant breath,
The seed of sin brought me death. The law demanded a perfect heart,
but I was defiled in every part. Behold, I fall before thy face. My only refuge is your grace. No outward works can make me
clean. My guilt, my death, lies deep within. No temple walls,
no bleeding beast, no hyssop branch, no sprinkling priest,
no running creek, no flood nor sea can wash this dismal stain
from me. But Jesus, my Lord, Thy blood
alone hath power sufficient to atone. Thy blood can make me
as white as snow. No other one can cleanse meself. That's repentance. Thank God
for his gift of repentance. I'm glad he didn't leave us alone,
aren't you? All right, let's sing a hymn.