I invite your attention back
to Acts chapter 20. Part of my message this morning
is grace, repentance, and faith. Grace, repentance, and faith. This, in effect, is the last
time that the elders at Ephesus will
hear a message from Paul the Apostle. Now they will get a
letter that is one of the best ever written in all of scripture. But the elders, this is the last
time. And he set forth some things that are essential to the understanding
of what the ministry of the gospel is. Knowing that he would possibly
never see these folks again, And all probability was the last
thing he had to say to them. And I've often thought of that.
One of these days, I'm gonna be called home, just like all
of us are. One of these days, I'm gonna
preach the last message I preach. I've often thought, what will
you need to hear, and what must I say? What must I say? Paul doesn't know how it's going
to end for him in Jerusalem. He knows he's going to be bound,
going to end up in prison and Rome. Generally, people who are left
at this place where it's the last thing or the last things
in their life, they generally spend time apologizing for what
they've done or what they've not done, often seeking forgiveness from
their hearers. Others might spend their last words in trying to
make sure their families would be kind to each other and spend
their energy on doing good. At a funeral this week of a dear
friend of mine, family member, Sharon, tons of folks came out. And I watched and listened to
people talk, not only how they were doing. Come Monday, I'll
be fist fighting for all I know. Standing around one who has died,
people began to think about living right, about being kind. Paul told this to the Ephesian
elders later on in this chapter in verses 29 through 35. You
can read it later. Paul, however, is precisely bold
and singular and unabashedly bold, asserting three statements. that he says sets him in a particular
place in the ministry as he speaks to the elders of Ephesus and
their beloved people to whom he will never preach again. In
verse 20, he says this, and how I kept nothing that was kept
back, nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you
and have taught you publicly and from house to house. That's
the first statement he makes. I have kept nothing back that
was profitable to you. I wanna be that preacher. To keep nothing back that is
profitable to you. Secondly, he declares that if
any of these die in their sin, who have heard him preach, that
he will not be held to account, asserting that he was pure from
the blood of all of them. Pure from the blood of all of
them. And thirdly, he declares that
he has covered all that there is to be covered, preached all
that needed to be preached. He declares that he had not shunned
to declare unto them all the counsel of God, or all the purpose
of God, or all of God's predestinated purpose. He's declared it all
unto them. He's not shunned to declare that.
He said, in effect, I told you all that God has to say to you. I've not held anything back.
I've told you everything. I'm not guilty if you perish.
I've told you all of God's purpose. And this is a bold statement. You think about it. Ain't no
dilly-dallying around. Ain't no doing chin music in
the pulpit. He said, I've kept nothing back
from you. And if you die and perish, it's not my fault. Because
I've told you everything that was profitable to you. I've told
you everything. This is bold stuff, especially
in light of the fact that these are the last words that these
folks will ever hear from him. He didn't give him a Hallmark
moment. He said, I held nothing back. If you die after hearing
the gospel, I'm free from your blood. I'm free from your blood. With Paul, this is the last thing
he says to them. There are no do-overs. Also,
it must be considered that this is not only Paul's testimony
to the church at Ephesus, but as scripture is given by inspiration
of God, it's provident for doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction
that the man of God might be truly furnished unto all good
works. This is God's testimony of Paul. This is God's testimony,
his assessment of Paul's ministry. He said to the Holy Spirit, Inspire
Paul to write these things concerning his ministry. God inspired Paul
to say these words and then inspired Luke to make the account of them
in the book of the Acts of the Apostles. And what would engender
such bold things from God and his servant Paul? How can anyone
make such a forceful declaration so sure, so confident? Paul answers the question in
a most simple yet profound way. He said that he accomplished
these things by teaching, by testifying, and by declaring. Pretty much all three words mean
the same thing. Teaching, testifying, and declaring. This is hardly what most good
church folks would call worthwhile in this day, considering a pastor. I remember one time I was sitting
with a cousin of mine, him and his wife, and they were talking
about getting a new pastor for their church. And they were interviewing
the pastor and telling him all these duties that he had. He
had tons of them. And not only that, they had duties
for the pastor's wife too. Now she not called into the ministry,
but he was, and they had duties for the pastor's wife. And it
was just a list of things to do. And most people feel that's
what a pastor is. They think it's about counseling.
Things about organizing, about building, programming, social
and civil activities, politicking even, and visiting and controlling
and straightening out people's lives. That's what they think
the pastor's supposed to do. Paul said, I declared, I testified,
and I taught. That's what I did. Paul and his
God say that it's about preaching. is about preaching, and not just
any preaching, it's about preaching all the counsel of God. Now he sums up this phrase, all
the counsel of God, in just two things. We know in that he preached
the sovereignty of God. All you have to do is read his
epistles. He preached the total depravity of man. He preached
unconditional election. He preached particular redemption
or limited atonement. He preached irresistible grace
and preached perseverance and preservation of the saints. He
preached all those things. He preached the Bible, the Bible. He said, it's all the counsel
of God. Look at verse 24. And now behold,
I go bound in the spirit of Jerusalem knowing That's verse 22, excuse
me, but verse 24. But none of these things move
me, neither count I my life dear, so I might finish my course with
joy and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus Christ
to testify of the gospel of God's grace. testify the gospel of
God's grace, preaching the kingdom, the sovereign rule of God. This
fact calls into question the reason for existence and value
of most what every seminary in the world wastes people's money
on today. This is not Paul exalting himself, but it's rather Paul
saying that he's doing what Christ told him to do. And that's what
he told. Wasn't that the great commission?
Go into all the earth and preach the gospel. and preach the gospel. This is the ministry he received
of the Lord on the backside of the death. This, in short, is
the ministry of those whom God calls to preach his gospel. It's the testifying the gospel
of God's grace. You see, everything redounds
to the glory of God's grace. Read Ephesians chapter one, the
book he wrote to these same elders later on. Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in Christ, according as he's chosen us in
him before the foundation of the world. That we should behold
him without blame before him, and love having predestinated
us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ unto himself,
to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he has made
us accepted in the beloved. We preach the grace of almighty
God. That means if you are favored,
It has nothing to do with you and everything to do with God. He got this from Christ on the
backside of the desert. Gospel of God's grace. Nothing
more, nothing less, and nothing else. Some say that's an oversimplification. Theologians do. Let's see if
we can make it even narrower. Paul bases all of his bold assertions
on two plain statements. He could say what he said in
such a confident and courageous manner because he said, I preach
unto you repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus
Christ. Repentance toward God and faith
toward the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the singular gospel grace
coin. but it has two sides. Repentance
toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what
it means to keep nothing back. If it's done as the Bible teaches
what it means, it's keeping nothing back from you. Does this assure
you that you are pure from the blood of all men when you preach
this? Evidently, Paul said, I am pure from the blood of all men.
I kept nothing back. I preached to you house to house
in public. repentance toward God, and faith
toward the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what it is to declare
all the counsel of God. It is the ministry that the Lord
gives his preacher. It is to testify the gospel of
God's grace, repentance toward God, and faith toward the Lord
Jesus Christ. Since these are spiritual things,
it's safe to assume that they are foolishness to the world,
and they are foolishness to the world. The natural man receiveth
not the things of the spirit, they are foolishness to him,
neither can he know them nor discern them because they're
spiritually discerned. In fact, there are hardly two
things in scripture that religion is more ignorant about and more
abusive of than repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord
Jesus Christ. Most of us here are taught from
our youth that repentance is from sins, and there's a sense
in which it is. We are taught that repentance
was ceasing certain unpleasant social unacceptable activities
with tears, always was attended with tears. For example, for
one to repent of sin of drunkenness, he had quit drinking and he had
repented. That's what we were taught when we were kids. For
one to repent of the sin of adultery, he or she quit sleeping around,
and that's what we were taught when we were kids was repentance.
Usually, but not necessarily, this discontinuing of some illicit
behavior was to be accompanied with the beginning of some nice
behavior or new behavior, such as going to church or making
up for all the time at the bar by volunteering at the local
crisis center as a counselor. for a person who is born an enemy
of God. And that's how you're born into
this world. A person who is a sinner by imputation, you're a sinner
in Adam. A sinner by nature, you're a
carnal person by nature. You're a sinner by choice and
practice, because nobody's holding a gun to your head to make you
do what you do. One who is incapable of understanding
one spiritual thing. That's what you are carnally.
Unable to understand one spiritual thing. Who can do nothing in
this world but sin. That's it. One bad behavior,
you end. And taking up a so-called good
behavior is not repentance toward God. So-called good behavior is as
much sin as bad behavior. Can the leper change his spots? Can the leper change his spots?
Well, the Ethiopian changed the color of his skin. Then how can
you, who are accustomed, who practice, who live, who are sin,
do anything but sin? The heart is deceitful and desperately
wicked. Who can know it? That repentance
is nothing more than behavioral modification of what is commonly
called reformation or turning over a new leaf. It has to do
with the particular behavior, nothing to do with God. except
in a cursory abstract higher power notion. This kind of repentance
is the kind that is found in the old covenant which is no
longer enforced and is restricted to turning from bad behavior
to good behavior in order to get a blessing or avoid punishment.
But that's not repentance toward God. That's not repentance toward
God. Repentance toward God has to
do with God, wouldn't you think? First of all, it has to do with
God. And since God is spirit, such repentance must be spiritual.
Must be a spiritual thing. The first thing necessary to
understand is that there is no repentance where there is no
spiritual life. Natural men cannot repent toward
God. Now they can reform their behavior.
That's why these big things they have, these crusades they have,
have a lot of people who used to be something else. ex-prostitutes
and ex-whores and ex-drug addicts and they come up and talk about
how they're reformed and how they're not, you know, and they
blame God for it and they say the grace of God and things like
that. But being an ex-person is not about repentance toward
God. Stopping one behavior and starting another is not about
repentance toward God. It's a spiritual thing. And his
repentance will be toward God, not a particular behavior. Thus
repentance, as it is declared in the New Testament, is not
a condition of salvation or new birth, but is rather the effect
and result and consequence of regeneration or the new birth.
You won't repent unless God has given you life. You won't believe
unless God has given you life. Repentance is not the cause of
blessing. blessing is the cause of repentance, it's the goodness
of God that leadeth thee to repentance. Though repentance will eventuate
in many changes in behavior, there's no doubt about that,
such changes are not themselves repentance, they are the result
of it. They are the result of it. Repentance
in the New Testament in the original language means basically one
thing, a radical, and that's the word used, a radical, change
of mind. Heart, the will, the emotions,
the affections, the conscience are all changed. Repentance is
an inward thing rather than an outward thing. Repentance takes
place in the inward man, the spiritual man, rather than the
natural or the physical man. Religion takes a lot of time
trying to make Adam look better. trying to dress him up, put him
on some nice clothes, maybe spray him with some polo perfume or
something, make him smell better, everything. But let me tell you,
you can dress up a pig, but he's still a pig. He's still a pig. Consequently, being in the heart
and mind, repentance is not visible to the eye. change of behavior is but not
repentance. Reformations are by nature visible
and are proved by sight. Repentance is invisible and cannot
be proven at all and is real only to the one who repents and
he to whom the repentance is toward. That's God. What then
is this change of mind? This is the important thing.
What is this radical change of mind? It cannot be understood
unless the former state of mind is understood. It's a change,
so something was going on before the change. Your mind cannot
be changed unless it is somewhere else to start, started somewhere
else, or it was stationed somewhere else. You can't do that any more
than you can come back from somewhere you've never been. If true repentance
is a change of mind toward God, then the mind must have been
somewhere else concerning God beforehand. It was against God
or in a direction other than God before it changed, or before
it was changed. with life. The only direction
away from God, though it may be traversed on many avenues,
all roads converge to the same depot, and that is S-E-L-F, self. What was your mind before God
granted you repentance? It was about the business of
establishing a righteousness that would recommend you to God.
I don't care whether you're religious or irreligious, somewhere in
your mind that's what you're thinking. I've been a good person. I hear that all the time. I hear
it from the serial killers. I've been a good person. I'm
not a bad person. No, I just killed 95 people and ate them.
I'm not a bad person. What do you think recommends
you to God? Oh my. Come on now. folks by various reformations,
performing good deeds to undo or override bad deeds, straightening
up your life, cleaning up your act, turning over a veritable
forest full of new leaves, and generally endeavoring to make
yourself a more presentable version or perversion of yourself. It's
what people do. Why? It's not because it was
the right thing to do. It's because you repented at
the heart was the idea that you would gain something by it. And
you repented, you thought, things will be different if I repent.
So you bargained with God about it. If you change your ways and
your habits have been very antisocial and unhealthy, good for you. I'm glad for you. If you stay
out of the penitentiary, I'm really happy that you stay out
of the penitentiary, I really am. I really am. I'm not mad
at religion because of the effect it has on people's life, because
generally it has a desirable effect on people's life. I'm
mad at religion because it lies on God. It lies on God. It's not repentance to change
your behavior. The old scholars call changing
your behavior Splendida Peccata, shining sins. Shining sins ultimately
the reason for these acts was that they made you believe And
I know and I speak from personal experience in useless religion
They made you believe and feel That what you were doing Recommended
you to God It did if you're honest and The problem is our old self-righteousness
ain't dead yet. We're all legalists in recovery.
That's the problem. It's still there. It's still
there. We do something and somewhere
in the back of our carnal flesh we believe that that's going
to count somehow. It must count somehow toward
God. It doesn't. It doesn't. That's the state
of mind of every son of Adam, to think that he's going to do
something that will just get him over that judgment hump when
he died and had to meet God. That's how man is born into the
world, whether they live a life of debauchery and profligacy,
or they attend religious and moral activity, In both cases
they tinker with reformation and tweak their sin believing
that such behaviors distinguish them from other people who are
more openly vile than they that they will gain heaven and avoid
hell. This is repentance toward self
and it is the opposite direction from God. Repentance toward God
is quite simple. If your mind is set on your doings
recommending you to God then change your mind may God change
your mind and changing your mind to embrace
the fact and this is the impossible thing to do apart from God's
sovereign grace to embrace the fact that nothing you do good
or bad by human standards recommends you to God. It is changing your mind from
what you believe recommends you to God to what God says recommends
you to God. It is disowning the righteousness
that is an abomination to God, self-righteousness. It is submitting
to and owning the righteousness that God has declared in the
gospel and that righteousness is Jesus Christ alone for acceptance
before God. Paul said of his kinsmen, I wish
they could be saved. I bear them witness. They have
a zeal for God. But it's not according to righteousness. Not according to understanding.
For they go about to establish their own righteousness and have
not submitted to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end
of the law for righteousness to them that believe. If you're
a good person and you do good things, I'm glad for you. I hope
you continue to do. But don't count on that for salvation. For God's sake, don't count on
that for salvation. Reformation or false repentance
is all about you. True repentance, repentance toward
God is all about Jesus Christ and what He's done for His people.
It's a radical and a spiritual change of mind. It is saying
openly and boldly in your mind and in your heart, I have had
nothing to do with my eternal salvation. Nothing. Nothing. The flip side of that
coin is faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. There's nothing
more, nothing less, and nothing else than believing from the
heart and mind that your acceptance before God is holy and completely
based on the merits and person of Jesus Christ. I'm going to
heaven. I believe that. I'm going to glory. I believe
I'm going to meet God one day. Why? because of what Christ did. I'm trusting wholly in the merits
of Jesus Christ and not my own, nor you. Faith toward Christ
is what you have when faith in self is utterly destroyed. And
that's what happens when you trust Christ. Self goes down
the toilet. Faith toward Christ is not faith
in faith. People talk about, I've got my
faith. I trust my faith. Don't trust your faith. Your
faith ain't worth a hill of beans. Trusting Christ is the only means,
the only means by which God will accept you or has accepted you. The radical change of mind puts
your thinking on a whole new direction and that new direction
is about what you can do to, it's not about what you can do
to impress God, but what Christ has done to impress God and he
has impressed God. We think, men think that they
can do something to impress God. It's just, it's foolish. He made
the world. He held your breath in His hands.
What you gonna do to impress Him? This radical change of mind
puts your thinking toward God and toward Christ. Repentance
toward God is a radical change of mind about what it recommends
you to God. It's a radical change of mind. And faith toward Christ
is resting and trusting in what recommends you to God, the Lord
Jesus Christ. God has declared Him to be what
recommends us to Him. He's accepted in the beloved,
in the beloved. I have many times talked to folks
along these lines and they begin to tell me that what they really
trusted. They wouldn't say it openly,
but they bring up the fact that they pray and they read their
Bible, they have a membership in a church, they have doctrinal
purity, some people say. Don't barter with God. These
are not to be bartered for acceptance with God. The churches are filled
today. They're filled today. So-called
churches are filled today. We have a motley crew here this
morning, a rag-tag bunch of remnants of the human wasteland here sitting
in this place, in a little town in the middle of the mountains
that don't even get radio signals in most places. Just last year
got the 59 Chevrolet, believe it or not, in Cherokee. Nowhere,
nobody's sitting right here. But if you're here this morning,
and you're trusting in the merits of Jesus Christ. He who is mighty
to save is in the midst of us. Oh my, oh my. Don't look to yourself. Don't endeavor to think of anything
that you have or have not done. Just throw that away. Christ
alone, the merit of His work. What was His work? Substitution. What is substitution? That means
that you were supposed to die and ought to have died and deserve
to have died because you owed God a death for your sin. Somebody else paid that. Somebody
else died in your room instead. Somebody else paid the debt you
owe. I'd like to hear Phyllis sing, all the debt I owe. Jesus
paid it all, all the debt I owe. That's what it takes, substitution.
Somebody must stand between you and God. The mediator, Jesus
Christ, who is able to touch God and reach down and touch
the vilest of human creatures. He is light. And light is a wondrous
thing. It can come in through a pane
of glass and embrace manure and not be tainted by it. And withdraw
and be just as pure as it was when it got there. Jesus Christ
is that light. Jesus Christ is at life. Substitution. Satisfaction. What does that
mean? Biblical word propitiation means to satisfy God's justice
and law which was against you. To satisfy. where no law can
be against you anymore. You see, the law says to the
child of God, to whom God has given repentance and faith, the
law says to that person, I find no fault in you. The law has
to say that. The holy, inflexible, intractable
law of God must be able to scan you from top to bottom and find
no fault in you. And the only way that happens
is that two thousand years ago Jesus Christ satisfied the law
and you're pronounced innocent or justified just as if you've
never sinned at all satisfaction and substitution, imputation
Christ's sin or my sin was laid on the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary
His righteousness is imputed to me and to the extent that
we are not so much called righteous in scripture we are declared
to be righteousness that's a wondrous thing which goes back to this
glorious work of God in grace because the world looks at you
and I and says no way that person ain't righteous and God says
no he's not he's righteousness Because of what I did, I declared
my righteousness when I saved him and I declared him to be
whatever his central righteousness is, that's him. Christ was made
to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the
righteousness of God in him. That's just pronouncing the glory
of his grace, saying that's what he's doing. The world looks at
you and says, there ain't no way. And God says, oh yeah, there's
a way. My way. And Sam is an example of what
righteousness is, not in his life, not in his manner, not
in his thoughts, and not in his deeds, but in the substitutionary
perfect work of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary. Righteousness. the excellency of his person
is all in the world that will recommend you to God but if you
know him you are fully recommended to God welcome into his presence
called his family given an inheritance welcome up to his throne because
you're accepted because you're accepted there you have it am
I free from your blood? Yes, I am. Because I've not shunned
or declared you all the counsel of God. I've kept nothing back. That's what Paul said. I've kept
nothing back. I've preached to you. I've testified
to you. I've declared to you, he said,
repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ.
I may see your face no more, but I've told you what you needed
to know. Father, bless us for understanding. We pray in Christ's
name. Amen.