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The Necessity Of Repentance - Part 1 of 2

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• Jeremiah 31, verses 18 and 19. So let me say the title of the message is "The Necessity of Repentance." However, this is going to be a two-part message. And today will be basically the foundation for what I want to finish next week. So in reality, the message is five points. And so I'm going to cover three today, Lord willing, and that will leave two for next week. So if you look in Jeremiah 31, beginning there with verse 18, "I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus."

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• "Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the Lord my God. Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth." One does not hear much today about the doctrine of repentance. It seems as if pastors, as well as churches, have dismissed this doctrine as needless and useless. The doctrine is not preached, taught, or practiced in the religious world today. In fact, the truth of the matter is, in the religious world today, man is placed at the center instead of God. So we have a man-centered religion instead of a God-centered religion.

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• Modern-day Christianity, sinners now own man's needs and not the demands of God. We endeavor to make sinners comfortable and not convicted. We tell them of their goodness instead of God's greatness. Then we entertain them rather than instructing them. Let me just point out at the very beginning that repentance is certainly not a needless doctrine. It is a necessary doctrine. Repentance and faith go together, so much so that you cannot have one without the other. You might say that repentance and faith are the two sides of one coin.

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• So let me put it another way. If one truly, savingly repents, at the same time he truly, savingly believes. Again, if one truly, savingly believes, at the same time he truly, savingly repents. So it's impossible then to have salvation without faith, and it's impossible to have salvation without repentance, for they go together. I want you to hold Jeremiah 31. We're going to come back there, but look in your Bibles to the book of Mark, chapter 1, at verses 14 and 15, and see how our Lord began his ministry. Mark, chapter 1. Look, if you would please, beginning there with verse 14. The Word of God says this: "Now after that John was put into prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel." So here are what most people would say are two calls: "Repent ye" and "believe the gospel." I'm going to point out just shortly, I believe it is just simply one call. But here's the important thing: when you look at Mark chapter 1 and verse 15, when our Lord says "repent ye" and "believe the gospel," both of these are present active imperatives in the Greek, which means that they are commands. And they're not asking you to

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• repent and believe; you're being commanded to repent and believe. So I could ask Steve, "Steve, would you please hand me those glasses that are near you?" Everyone understands that's asking a question. But if I looked at Steve and said, "Steve, give me those glasses now," that's not asking; that's a command. And so this is what God is doing through our Lord Jesus Christ. He is commanding us to repent and believe. So since it is a command, failure to obey that command is sin. It is a transgression. It is rebellion.

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• Now, I want to point out in Mark chapter 1 and verse 15, that in reality, when our Lord commands us to repent and believe, it is not two calls, but it is one call. For instance, look if you would please in verse 15. He says, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel." "Repent ye, and believe the gospel."

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• The interesting thing is the little word "and," A-N-D, which we always say is a conjunction. In the Greek, it is the word kai, K-A-I, and the word kai is translated in our Bibles many times not just as "and," but also as the word "even." So you could actually read verse 15: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, even believe the gospel." In other words, it is pointing out the fact that you really can't believe without repenting, and you really can't repent without believing.

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• So they are intimately tied together. And here's another interesting thing. Note, if you would, in verse 14, the Bible says, "Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God." And then he says, "Repent ye, and believe the gospel." In other words, you really can't preach the kingdom of God without preaching repentance, because that is exactly how our Lord Jesus Christ began his ministry: by preaching the biblical doctrine of repentance. Now, so any gospel then that does not include repentance is not the true gospel that is revealed in the Word of God.

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• So I want to give you three thoughts today, and I want you to follow me if you would. We're going to be looking more specifically at Jeremiah 31 next week. We're going to look at it some this week. But first of all, I want to give you the definition of repentance. Now, two questions need to be asked whenever you hear the word "repent" or the doctrine of repentance. You could ask, "What is repentance?" and "How is it defined?" So what I want to do right now is show you how this word is used in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, and they are the same, but I want you to see because they're different words. So if you will turn in your Bibles to begin with, not 1 Corinthians, but 1 Kings chapter 8. And this is part of Solomon's prayer where he is dedicating the temple. And the very first Hebrew word is the word shuv. It is translated and it certainly means "to repent," but it means "to return, to turn back, to show, or to demonstrate by turning."

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• Obviously it includes changing one's mind, because you're not going to return, you're not going to turn around until you change your mind. So notice if you would in 1 Kings chapter 8, beginning there with verse 47. Solomon is praying, and he says this: "Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent"—there's the word shuv—"and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness; and so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name." Now, note if you would, first of all, in verse 47, he said, "if they bethink themselves." In other words, if you consider in your mind and you begin to say, "Well, something is awfully wrong with me, with our land, with our nation." And then if you bethink and repent, so what is going to happen when you repent?

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• Well, number one, you're going to be making supplication unto the Lord. Number two, you're going to be confessing. You're saying, "We have sinned. We've done perversely. We've committed wickedness." And number three, you're going to return with all of your heart. So the point being, when you see the word "repent" and the Hebrew word is shuv, it means literally that you are going to turn back. Now, let me point something out. Repentance does not just simply mean that you stop doing something. Repentance is much more involved than that. So I've heard professing Christians say something like this: "Wow, he's a good man. If he would just stop getting drunk, if he would just stop drinking, he'd be alright." Really, the drunkenness is not the problem. The drunkenness is the symptom of the problem. The problem is the wicked heart. And you can stop drinking. You can become sober and still have a wicked, unconverted heart. So repentance then, as I just pointed out in this passage, means far more than just stopping something. So I want you to look now, if you would, in the book of Ezekiel chapter 18, and you're going to see again the same Hebrew word. Notice if you would Ezekiel chapter 18, and let's look at

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• verses 30 and 31. Ezekiel 18, verse 30 and 31. God says, "Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord God. Now watch: repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?" So note if you would, there is a negative, there is a casting away, there is a positive that is making yourself a new spirit and a new heart.

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• In other words, there is indeed a real, genuine change. So let me put it to you like this: turning from sin, which is a negative, must be followed by turning to God, which is a positive. So when you see the word shuv in the Hebrew, it literally means to turn, to turn back, and to show and to demonstrate that there has been a change by your turning away from sin back to God. Now there's a second word, and that is the word nakam, and it has the idea of sorrowing, it has the idea to rue one's actions and repent, yes, but even to regret. So let me give you an illustration on that.

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• You remember in the book of Job? Job is always wanting a daysman. He wants to talk with God. And finally God comes to Job and he says, "Look, you wanted to talk with me? Fine. I'll play the man. I'm going to ask you some questions and you answer me. Where were you when I laid the foundation of the world? Where were you when I did this?"

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• "How do you make the hinds to calve?" He asked him all of these questions. And of course Job cannot answer any of them, and finally Job says in Job 42, verse 6, "Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." In other words, "I wish I had not opened my mouth." In other words, "I regret even wanting to challenge God or to talk with Him." And of course, when you understand this word nakam, it means that there is a genuine sorrow for your sins. You regret them. There is a shamefacedness for those sins. And for instance, look in your Bibles back to Jeremiah 31. Look if you would please at verse 19 again. Watch this.

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• He says, "Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: here it is, I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth." So if I were to ask you today, "Would you please stand up and tell everyone about those awful wicked things that you did when you were young, when you were middle-aged, of which now you are ashamed?" The truth of the matter is, I don't think I'd have any takers, because we are still ashamed of those things, and we certainly don't want to talk about them. And we wish we had never done them. We wish they had never happened.

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• But that's the impact of this word. In other words, we rue that we did those things. We regret that we did those things. We're ashamed of them.

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• Now, the same thing is true in the New Testament. So we're going to look at it just momentarily. But the New Testament word, the main word for repent, is the word metanoeo. It is actually made up of two words: meta, which is a preposition, "with," and noeo, which refers to the understanding or the mind. The word noeo, the noun, is nous, which is for the mind. So metanoia or metanoeo means literally "I change my mind." So when you change your mind, it means that there is a result in the change of direction. There is a result of the change of conduct.

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• You're no longer doing that which you used to do. There is an abhorrence of the former conduct. You regret it now. Like the Old Testament words, the New Testament word is a double-sided word as well. It has a negative and a positive. Let me show you, if you will turn in your Bibles to 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, and look if you would please at verses 9 and 10. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 and verses 9 and 10. Paul is talking to these Thessalonians and he says this: "For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, now watch this, how ye turned to God"—that's a positive—"from idols"—that's a negative—"to serve the living and true God"—that's a positive—"and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come." So in this passage you see there's a positive and a negative. I'm just simply emphasizing the fact that repentance is not just simply a negative.

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• You don't just stop doing something. You stop, but you turn to God and there's a change in your conduct. Look if you would in your Bibles to the book of Luke chapter 13. Luke chapter 13, and we're going to read the first five verses. Luke 13, beginning there with verse 1. Look what the Bible says. Luke 13, verse 1: "There were present at that season some that told him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices." So here were some people who were worshiping God, sacrificing to him, and Pilate came in and had them murdered, and their blood was mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. Now watch. And Jesus answering said unto them, "Suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." Now they were thinking something exceedingly tragic, something exceedingly catastrophic would indicate that one or some people were very vicious sinners.

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• Our Lord said, "No, no, no. But I'm going to tell you, unless you repent, you shall all likewise perish."

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• Now look in verse 4, he says it again. "Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." And so here in this passage, our Lord once again is talking about the absolute necessity for repentance. Yes, the absolute necessity, because he said, "except ye repent, ye shall perish." In other words, the only alternative to perishing is to repent, to repent and turn back to God. So he's talking about repentance. Now, of course, when you repent—now think about this—metanoia means a change of mind. You're not going to change your direction, you're not going to change your conduct until you change your mind.

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• You've got to learn to think differently. Something has to disturb your thoughts. Something has to change your thoughts in order to get you to change directions. So the point I'm trying to make is there's always a negative and a positive: you turn from and you turn onto. Now, Louis Berkhof in his systematic theology points out that there are basically three elements in repentance, and he breaks it down like this.

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• He said, first of all, there is an intellectual element. And the intellectual element refers to the mind. That is where you begin to think, you begin to consider, you begin to understand. Then there is also what is known as an emotional element. That is where you begin to be sorrowful for your sins. You begin to be ashamed of what you are doing. And then thirdly, there is the volitional element. That is where you actually turn from those sins unto God. In other words, you cease doing those things and you turn back and you begin to follow the righteousness of God's Word and obedience to Him.

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• Now, let me try to give you very quickly just one simple little paragraph. The old London Confession of Faith, 1689, of repentance. Here it is: "This saving repentance is a grace or teaching of the Scriptures whereby a person, being by the Holy Spirit made sensible of the many evils of his sin"—intellectual—"does by faith in Christ humble himself with godly sorrow"—emotional element—"hatred of it, for pardon and strength of grace with a purpose"—the volitional element—"and endeavor by the supplies of the Spirit to walk before God and to all well-pleasing in all things." And so certainly you have a definition of repentance. Now, repentance is not just simply stopping something. It is you cease from your sin, but you turn to God and you begin to follow the path of obedience laid down in His Word. So here is the definition of repentance.

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• The second thing I want you to see is the demand for repentance. If you go back in your Bibles to Jeremiah 31 and look if you would please in verse 18. Jeremiah 31, verse 18. Here's the demand for repentance. He said, "I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus: Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised." Now look at this illustration: "as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke." So here's a picture, an illustration that is given to us of the demand for repentance. Here's a picture of a bullock that is unaccustomed to the yoke. Let me say this another way: the bullock is unbroken to the yoke.

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• That is, he is wild. He is headstrong. He's uncontrollable. He's unusable, and he is unsafe. A bullock that is not broken is one that does as he pleases, regardless of the wishes and the desires of the owner. So we're given this picture of this bullock that is wild. Several times in the Scripture that pictures a sinner. For instance, hold Jeremiah 31, but look back in your Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy chapter 32 and verse 15. Deuteronomy 32, verse 15. Look at it. Deuteronomy 32, verse 15: "But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation." So an unbroken bullock is a bullock that is stiff-necked. He cannot be turned.

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• He is unstoppable in his course. He simply does his own thing. He has no regard for his master. He has no regard for his owner or his friend, and he oftentimes seeks to destroy those who only want to help him.

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• Now, let me show you something else. I want you to turn, since you're in the Old Testament, to Exodus chapter 32. And Exodus 32, and look if you would please at verse 9, because there is another phrase that deals with this unbroken oxen and this unbroken sinner. In Exodus chapter 32 and verse 9, here's what God says concerning Israel: "And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people." Stiff-necked people. You remember when Stephen was about to be stoned to death in Acts chapter 7, he was giving his testimony and in verse 51 he looked at those people who eventually stoned him and he said, "Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye." And so he called them stiff-necked.

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• Now, we had a horse years ago. His name was Little Bit. And of course, I hope you have already surmised that the reason he was called Little Bit was because he was exceedingly tall. In fact, he was a very, very big horse. But a horse that's not meek, or a bullock that's not meek, or a mule that's not meek, it's exceedingly difficult to put a bridle on them. It would have been with Little Bit because I could barely reach up, and if he raised his head, there'd be no way in the world I could have gotten a bridle on him. Now, I'm sure to listen to me very carefully: a stiff-necked animal is an animal that resists, rebels, and refuses the yoke. And the same is true with mules and horses, equally as it is true with bullocks. Mules are well known for their stubbornness. When we see someone that is stubborn, we normally say, "Well, he's as stubborn as a mule."

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• Lorraine, are you punching Steven? No, I'm just asking. Okay. No, but we say he's as stubborn as a mule, because mules are stubborn. So let me give you an illustration that is going to show you this demand for repentance. Okay? When I was a boy, we had mules. Yes, I drove mules. I plowed mules. And we had one mule, her name was Old Crip. And the reason we called her Old Crip was number one, because she was old, and number two, yes, because she was crippled in one sense of the word. When she got tired or when she got sore, she limped in some degree. Now, I plowed that mule. I drove that mule. I rode that mule. I fed that mule.

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• I did everything that needed to be done for that mule. But one summer my cousin came up from Miami, Florida. He was a city slicker. And when he saw the mule, he wanted to ride the horse. So I had to explain to him, "Larry, that's not a horse. That's a mule. There's a difference between a horse and a mule." Well, it didn't matter. He wanted to ride the horse. Well, we didn't have any saddles. I've ridden bareback all my life, horses, mules as well. It doesn't matter. So he insisted he wanted to ride the horse.

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• So I got the mule out. I put the bridle on her, and I knew there was no way in the world that he could drive her. No way in the world he could handle her. So I slipped up on her back, and then I reached my hand down and I pulled him back up behind me. When I left the barn, right in our front yard there were a number of pecan trees, and one of them had an exceedingly low limb. And that mule did not want to be ridden. And she headed straight to that low pecan limb. I was a boy.

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• I was not a grown man. And I started pulling on that rein as hard as I could pull. And that mule was walking straight for that limb. I pulled so hard, so help me, her head was turned horizontally, but she was walking straight for that limb. When I saw that I could not turn that mule and I knew she was going under that limb, I knew what she wanted. As loudly as I could, I hollered, "Duck, Larry!" And I laid down upon her neck and grabbed her neck. My city cousin, when I said "Duck, Larry," he looked up in the sky and he said, "Where?" And about that time, that limb caught him right across the chest, swept him off the rear end of that horse, and the last time I saw him, he was bouncing up and down on his rear end on the ground. By the way, he's now dead, but till the day that he died, he swore up and down that I did that on purpose, but I did not. I just could not turn that mule. Now the mule was broken, but the mule was just stubborn.

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• That's all there is to it. So this is exactly what God is talking about when you have a mule or a bullock or a horse that's unbroken to the yoke. In one sense of the word, they just simply do their own thing. So they must be broken. And for a bullock to be broken or controlled or made safe, he has to be broken to the yoke. Once he's broken to the yoke, he's easy to work with, he's gentle, he's controllable. And you know, we could use another word.

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• He becomes meek. Here's the difference between a stiff-necked animal and a meek animal. I don't care if it's a horse or a mule or a bullock. If the animal is meek, when you go put the bridle on the horse, the mule, or the bullock, they'll normally lower their head and make it easy for you to get it on. And then they will stand still while you put a saddle on them or while you hook them up to plow. That's called a meek animal.

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• Now, we have to understand something about meekness. When we talk about biblical meekness, most folks do not understand it. They normally equate meekness with mousiness. They equate meekness with weakness. They equate meekness with fear. They equate meekness as just something that you don't want to stand up for yourself. You become a foot mat and you let people just walk all over you. That is not meekness. Meekness is controlled strength. I'm going to show it to you in just a moment. I have an eight-foot harrow

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• which weighs about 1,000 pounds. Alice and I went out one day to hook up to that harrow, and here it is flipped over with all the disc up to heaven. I thought, "What? What happened to this thing?" And I happened to look down, and there was General Beauregard's hoof prints, my 3,000-pound bull. He had been just rubbing his head under that harrow, and then he just did like that and flipped that harrow all the way over.

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• We had to get a chain, pull it back over. Now, all I'm trying to show you is the strength of a bullock, or a horse, or a mule. In other words, that strength has to be controlled. Now, let me show you. I want you to turn in your Bibles. Turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 11, and as you get to Matthew chapter 11, I'm going to quote for you Matthew 5 and verse 5 where our Lord said, "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." Let me tell you who the meek are: the meek are those that are broken to the yoke. The meek are those that are now controlled by God. Meekness is controlled strength. Look what our Lord said, Matthew 11, begin there with verse 28.

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• He said, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Watch now: Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." The blessed meek are those who are the tamed of the Lord. They are the broken to yoke of the Lord. The blessed meek are those who have submitted themselves to the Lord Jesus Christ and to the Father and are now controlled by His Word and by His law. In other words, when our Lord says, "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth," here's what He's saying: "Blessed are the meek, for now they have controlled strength under my law, and they're willing to do and ready to do what I command them."

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• Now I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would, to two passages. The first one is Psalm 32, and then Jeremiah 17. So go back, if you would, to Psalm 32 and look if you would please at verse 9. Psalm 32 and verse 9. Psalm 32, verse 9, look at it. God says, "Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee." God is saying, "Don't make me put a bit in your mouth. You better have some understanding. Don't be like a horse or a mule." He says you have to be broken. And look in your Bibles, if you would, to Jeremiah chapter 17, because Jeremiah complains about these people, and God Himself is saying about these people, Jeremiah 17, verse 23, watch it. Look what He says concerning His people who would not listen. He said, "But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction."

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• I've known people like that. They just will not listen. They just will not hear. And so God says, "Don't be stiff-necked." In other words, you learn to be meek. When that yoke, when that bridle comes around, you just drop your head and say, "Lord, I'm ready for whatever you have for me."

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• Now, here is what John Gill said concerning this illustration. He said, "As a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke, or to draw the plow, as senseless and as stupid, yea, as thoughtless of danger, as that creature is when led to the slaughter, as untaught, as the word signifies, as ignorant of divine and spiritual things, knowing nothing of Christ, or of God in Christ, or of the way of salvation by Him, and of the operations of His Spirit and grace, as unruly as that to bear the yoke of the law, or the yoke of Christ, as impatient under the yoke of affliction, kicking, tossing, and flinging like a wild bull in a net." When I was

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• a boy and I had to plow mules, there was such a thing as jumping the traces. You had the gear on the mule, and you had the long leather reins coming back, but the mule was pulling the plow, the sled, or whatever you had hooked up to him. But there were traces that held the mule inside this one little area where he could walk. Sometimes that mule would jump the traces. That means he gets out, and when he does, you cannot control him. And usually it's his leg. He hurts his leg when he jumps the traces, and it scares him and frightens him.

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• And now he runs off, pulling that plow, tearing up everything that's been planted. It's called jumping the traces. That's exactly what John Gill is talking about, these wild animals that are kicking, tossing, and flinging. He said, "like a wild bull in the net." By the way, I don't think I've ever showed it to you, Steve, but there is a building that's still standing in Fitzgerald, where we live. When I was a boy, my father would take me into that building, and I never have forgotten it. But as you walk in the building, you could go right down the middle. And on the left-hand side, you could buy horses and mules. And on the right-hand side, you could buy tractors and cars. Had them all in the same building.

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• And of course, they were small tractors, et cetera, because tractors were just coming in back at that time. And I'm not talking about the old steam engines, but I'm talking about the gasoline engines and that kind of thing. So, but it's still there. But anyhow, so God is saying, here is the demand for repentance, because we're unaccustomed to the yoke. We've not been broken to the yoke. There is a necessity to submit to God and submit to His law. The demand for repentance is that we turn from idols and serve the one true and the living God. The demand for repentance is the fact that we realize we've been selfish. We've been senseless. We've been useless. We've been contrary to our Creator and our benefactor. And the demand for repentance is found in the fact that we kicked against Him. We denied Him. We resisted Him. We blasphemed Him.

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• And now He commands us to repent and believe the gospel. So there is a demand just to be made from the illustration that we are as bullocks unaccustomed to the yoke.

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• Now I want you to go back to Jeremiah chapter 31, because I want to show you the third thing for today, and that is the duty of repentance. So back in verse 18 of Jeremiah 31. I'm sorry, Jeremiah 31, verse 18. Look at it if you would. I was in chapter 18 myself. Jeremiah 31, verse 18: "I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the Lord my God." The duty of repentance lies in the fact that we realize and perceive and we know that we have been unaccustomed to the yoke. That is, we know that we violate God's law.

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• We know that we transgress His commandments. We know that we displease Him. And we know that we sin and that we're sinners. We know that we seek to please ourselves and engage in fleshly desires and follow our lusts. We know that we walk contrary to His revealed will. Since God is our Creator, we owe Him glory and honor. Since we are sinners, we owe Him repentance. Duty is based upon lawful authority and doctrine, or I could say, duty is based upon lawful authority and lawful orders.

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• So, let's suppose that Steve, myself, and Ron join the army. We get into boot camp and we are privates. Ron looks at me and he says, "Private, I want you to get out and give me 50 push-ups." And I look at Ron, I say, "You have any authority to tell me to get down and do 50 push-ups? I mean, you're a private just like I am. I don't have to obey you." But when that superior officer comes in and tells me to get down and give him 50, I better be getting down and giving him 50. In other words, when you talk about lawful authority and lawful orders, stop and think about this.

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• The one true and the living God, the sovereign, supreme God of heaven and earth, is the commander-in-chief. He is the Lord of hosts, that is, the God of the armies of heaven and in earth. He has the ultimate, full, and final authority, and He is the one that has commanded all men everywhere to repent. Let me show it to you. Look in your Bibles, if you would, to Acts chapter 17. Acts chapter 17, and we're going to read verses 30 and 31. Acts chapter 17, look at verses 30 and 31. Here it is: "And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." Now first, I want you to note that repentance is commanded by God. He said in verse 30, "but now commandeth all men every where to repent." Since this is a command, to disobey is a transgression. To disobey means that you are a transgressor, you are a sinner, and you are in rebellion to Him. He commands men to repent. He commands men to turn from sin and

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• turn back to Him in submission and obedience. And so you have the supreme sovereign authority commanding repentance. Now I want you to look secondly, because He gives us some underlying reasons as to why He gave this command. You know, I've thought about this. I remember when my children were, you know, four or five years old, and I could ask them to go do something and it was "Yes, sir," and they would go do it. Absolutely.

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• No questions. But you let them get 11 or 12 or 13. "Go, would you please go do this?" "Why? Why?" Well, most parents answer, "Because I said so." Well, that's a good answer. But the point I'm trying to make right now is this: when a child asks why, it may not be that he's being resistful or rebellious. He just wants an answer. It's an opportunity to teach. It's an opportunity for him to learn. "Well, here's why I want you to do this, son, because..." and you explain. Fine. "I just want to know why." Well, guess what?

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• God tells us why He commands all men everywhere to repent. First of all, look in verse 31. The very first reason He commands all men to repent is because there is a judgment. He said, "because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness." Isn't that amazing? God said, "I'm commanding you to repent now. Here's why I'm commanding you to repent: because there is a judgment." There's going to be a time that we must face God, that everyone's going to face God. The judgment will be done in righteousness. There will be no fraud on the court. There will be no bribery.

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• There will be no continuances. There will be no skipping out. There will be no backroom deals. Shyster lawyers cannot get you off the hook. Political influence will be absolutely worthless. Monetary gain will be useless. He says, "I have appointed a day in which I am going to judge the world in righteousness." So that's the first reason He tells you why He's commanded all men to repent. Here's the second reason. Watch this. Verse 31: "because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained," which is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. So, if you'll hold Acts 17, but look back in your Bibles to John chapter 5, you will find exactly why it's going to be the Lord Jesus Christ. So, in John chapter 5, note if you would beginning there with verse 22. John 5, verse 22. But what the Bible says, John 5, verse 22: "For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour

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• the Father, because the Son is God. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him." So our Lord is going to be the judge. He is the man that God has ordained. Now, I want you to let this sink in just for a moment. I want you to think about this scene for someone who is unconverted, someone who is unsaved at this judgment. Their judge will be the one that they hated, despised, rejected, blasphemed, sinned against, rebelled against, refused grace, refused mercy and love. Moreover, they refuse His commands, His entreaties, His exhortations. They are now in no position to receive mercy. There's no falling upon the mercy of the court once you get here, because the only thing left is righteousness, and righteousness and justice are one and the same. If something is just, it is right. If something is right, then it is just. The Bible says in Romans 2, verse 16, "In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according

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• to my gospel," wrote the Apostle Paul. God is going to judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ.

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• Now, I want you to watch this. God not only tells you that there is going to be a judgment, He also tells you who the judge is going to be: the Lord Jesus Christ. But go back to verse 31. Look at it. "Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." So now God gives you absolute surety that there is going to be a judgment. And just as surely as God the Father raised Jesus Christ from the dead, just as surely there's going to be a judgment. Now, God commands all men everywhere to repent. Why? Number one, there's a day of judgment. Number two, He's ordained the Lord Jesus Christ to be the judge. And number three, He said, "I want you to know that this is absolutely true, absolutely certain, it will come to pass. And the reason it's going to come to pass is I raised Him physically from the dead.

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• I raised Him bodily from the dead. He will be the judge. So just as surely as I've raised my Son from the dead, just that surely there is going to be a judgment." So notice if you would, the duty then to repent is based upon divine authority and command. So you either obey or you perish. That's why our Lord said, "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." Now, let me make just a couple of applications.

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• First of all, repentance is not only necessary unto salvation, it is impossible to be saved without repentance, since repentance and faith go together. So let me say this again. I said it in the introduction: he that savingly repents also savingly believes. He that savingly believes also savingly repents, because they're the two sides of one coin. You cannot have one without the other. Anyone who savingly repents believes; anyone who savingly believes repents. Here's the second application: repentance involves a change of mind and a genuine sorrow or remorse for our former direction, our former sins, our former disobediences. Someone has said, "Well, I repented, but I haven't changed." In that case, you've never repented, because you cannot have repentance without a change.

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• So if I happen to be a drunkard and I told you I repented, and yet you saw me walking down the street soppy drunk, I would hope you'd realize I really haven't repented. You follow me? So I want to show you—I'm going to teach on this more next Sunday—but if you will turn in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 7. 2 Corinthians chapter 7, and look if you would please at verse 10, because when we repent, there is a genuine sorrow for our sins, that is for sure. But in 2 Corinthians chapter 7 and verse 10, we have to understand that there is not only a godly sorrow, there is a worldly sorrow. He said in verse 10, "For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death." So there is a godly sorrow that is not to be repented of. There is a worldly sorrow that worketh death. I'm not going to get into this right now. I'll get into it more, but I will say this: a worldly sorrow means you're sorry you got caught. But a godly sorrow is sorry you sinned against God and broke His law, and you want to change. You have the definition of repentance, the demand for repentance, and the duty of repentance.

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• And it's based upon the absolute sovereign command of God. As creatures, we owe Him honor and glory. As sinners, we owe Him repentance. Our Lord said, "Repent ye, and believe the gospel." Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee. We thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. And I pray, Father, that You would open our understanding. Grant us, Lord, enlightenment by Thy Spirit. In the name of Jesus Christ.

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• ♪

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T15:05:09Z