Sermon
delivered on September 7th, 2014
By: Pastor Greg Hocson
Text: Acts 20:17-24
The Apostle Paul preached the gospel of the grace of God. And I want to
follow his example.
I
may not be able to preach the gospel better than Paul but even Paul could not
preach a better gospel. - C. S. Spurgeon
The gospel I seek to preach is the gospel of the grace of God.
As
I promised last Sunday, I am going to preach about repentance today.
Before
I proceed, let me remind you that we have a merciful and forgiving God. I can
freely talk to you about repentance because...
Psalm 103:8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and
plenteous in mercy.
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some
men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any
should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Why
should we be concerned about learning the doctrine of repentance? Why should we
spend 45 minutes or so, talking about repentance?
Because there is
no salvation and forgiveness of sins without repentance
Luke 24:46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it
behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: 47: And that
repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all
nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Along
with the suffering, the death, the resurrection and forgiveness of sins, we are
to preach repentance.
Again
let me remind you of our message last Sunday. The Bible clearly teaches that we
are saved through faith and faith alone.
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not
of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9: Not of works, lest any man should
boast.
2 Timothy 3:15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures,
which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in
Christ Jesus.
So
it is clear that we are saved through faith plus nothing. But true saving faith
is always coupled with true repentance. A genuine sorrow for sin and a willingness
to turn from sin.
Our
Lord warns us in ...
Luke 13:3, 5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all
likewise perish.
Unless
you and I repent we will also perish.
There
is no salvation without repentance. It is very crucial that we have repented
and that we have biblically repented. For as there are many false faiths, there
are also as many false repentances. There are kinds of repentance that is not
unto salvation. There are kinds of repentance that bring forth death instead of
life.
2 Corinthian 7:9 Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but
that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner,
that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. 10: For godly sorrow worketh
repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world
worketh death.
This
morning I will, by the grace of God attempt to shed some light on this doctrine
and may God use it for His glory and for our benefit.
II
- What repentance is not
1.
Repentance is not mere confession
It
is not mere acknowledgment of sin. It is not mere confessing ones sinfulness.
Most people would not deny the fact that all men are sinners. But repentance is
not simply confessing sin or admitting ones sinfulness.
Pharaoh
Exodus 9:27And Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and
said unto them, I have sinned this time: the LORD is righteous, and I and my
people are wicked.
Pharaoh
acknowledged his sin and his sinfulness but did not repent toward God and his
actions did not change.
Many
men and women in prison acknowledged that they had sinned, but most of them do
not move beyond this to exercise repentance toward God and faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ.
2.
Repentance is not giving up sin out of fear of its consequences
Some
quit their bad habits or crime out of fear of the consequence. Others give up
their sin for a time; not because he dislikes it, but because he sees that it
is ruining him. This is regret for consequences, not sorrow for sin.
A
chain smoker discovers that he has a lung cancer and now he repents that his
smoking habits caused him his health. A drunk driver hit a boy crossing the
street, how sorry he was after being informed that he killed a boy crossing the
street. A drug addict decides to quit drugs because he knows drugs will ruin
his health. A gambler now gives up gambling because he will go bankrupt if he
doesn't quit.
A personal
testimony:
Before
I got saved I smoked and I tried to quit smoking and I was successful. I quit
smoking, not because I realized it is sin but because I knew it was bad for my
health. This has nothing to do with repentance.
Many
men reform for fear of death, and judgment, and the wrath to come. But if this
fear goes no further than a selfish desire to escape punishment, but if they
could be assured that no punishment would follow, such persons would continue
in sin, and not only be content to live in it, but be delighted to have it so.
Some of these fears are not necessarily wrong or bad, they are healthy in many
ways, but they are not necessarily repentance unto life.
3.
Repentance is not giving up sin because you were caught
Some
quit their bad habits or crime out of shame because they had been caught. They
quit their sins because they had been dishonored, because their reputation had
been stained. They show remorse because they were found out. If they had not
been found out they would have continued in their sins. It is not the sin
itself which troubles them; it is the thought that they have been
discovered.
Many
in prison show remorse and sorry for having done wrong. They are not sorry for
the sin itself, but they are affected because their reputation had been
stained.
King Saul
He
was sorry that he got caught in various acts of disobedience, but we know that
he did not repent because his actions did not change (1 Samuel 15:24; 24:17; 26:21).
4.
Repentance is not mere remorse
Remorse
- regret, a painful regret for wrong doing
The
Bible tells us that men can be remorseful about their actions without
exercising genuine repentance unto salvation. This is described as the "sorrow of the world" in 2 Corinthians 7:10.
Judas
Matthew 27:3 Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that
he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of
silver to the chief priests and elders, 4: Saying, I have sinned in that I have
betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to
that. 5: And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and
went and hanged himself.
Judas
betrayed our Lord; and after having done so, an overwhelming sense of the
enormous evil he had committed seized upon him. He confessed his sins to the
chief priests, and returned their money. Then he went out from the presence of
those evil men and hanged himself! He was remorseful but did not repent toward
God. Judas regretted his actions, but he did not turn to God.
See
what Judas did. He had sinned, he confessed his wrong, he returned the gold;
and yet after all that, he was still unforgiven, unsaved and is now in hell for
eternity.
Repentance
is not mere confession, is not giving up sin because you were caught,
is not giving up sin out of fear of consequence, is not mere remorse.
III
- What repentance is
True
repentance is a repentance toward God
Paul
did not merely preach repentance, he preached repentance toward God. True
repentance looks toward God.
Psalm 51:4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this
evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be
clear when thou judgest.
The
repentant man sees that the greatest offence of all his offences is that he has offended God. Conviction of sin
centers upon the sense of one's guilt before God, or one's uncleanness in His
sight or one's rebellion against Him; but always it is a sense of the need to
get right, not simply with oneself or other people but with God.
False
repentance is man-centered whereas true repentance is God-centered
False
repentance is focused on self, on the consequence of the wrong done, on the
punishment. The person who merely reforms are merely concerned about the people
he has offended and the consequences of his actions in his present life. Judas
confessed his sins to the chief priests (Matthew
27:3).
Those
who truly repent, change their mind about their relationship with God and this
result in a change in the way they live.
Repentance
is basically changing of one's mind which results in a change behavior and
action.
The
Prodigal Son, an example of Biblical repentance
Luke 15:18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him,
Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, 19: And am no more
worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.
The
Prodigal Son's repentance was demonstrated by his change of attitude toward God
as well as toward his father. The prodigal son came back to his father and did
not say, "Father, I am sorry for what I have done, because I lost all
my inheritance and my friends, because all my friends forsook me, because I
missed the comforts of home, because I ruin my health, because I ruin my
reputation."
No,
he was not sorry because he lost everything, he was sorry because he sinned
against God and against his father.
True
repentance has reference to God and to His holiness. It is being sorry and
sorrowful for having offended a holy, gracious, and loving God.
Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and
a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Repentance
is not only a heart broken for sin, but also from sin. We must forsake what we
would have God forgive. This is the mark of true repentance. This is the
evidence that true repentance has taken place.
Matthew 3:7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees
come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned
you to flee from the wrath to come? 8: Bring
forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:
Therefore produce fruit that proves your repentance.
Acts 26:17-20
IV
- Encouragement to repent
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some
men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any
should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some people
think. Instead He is being patient with you and me, not willing that anyone to
perish, but everyone to come to repentance. The Lord has shown
longsuffering to us all and yet many have not repented. If you have not
repented or turned to Him, do so today.
Listen
to the words of our merciful Saviour...
Mark 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God
is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
For those who
have repented
Many
of us have experienced the forgiveness of God. What a relief! What a great
burden, a great weight have been lifted off from our hearts. No more guilt. No
more condemnation. What forgiveness! What salvation! What a God we have! What a
Saviour we have!
For those who
have not yet repented
Come
to God! Come to Christ! Come as you are! Do not attempt to turn away from sin
first before coming to God. Do not attempt to change your life first before
coming to Christ. Go to Christ with sin and all and He will wash away all your
sins. Bring your sins to God and the blood of Jesus His Son will cleanse you
from all sins. Amen!