by Ralph Bouma

From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
(Matthew 4:17)

The Lord Jesus Christ had just been tempted by Satan the devil for 40 days. In verses Matthew 4:8-10 we read:

"Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."

In the temptations Christ endured in the wilderness, He experienced the fullest extent of the power of temptation and of the power of sin and hell.

Matthew 4:16 tells us:

"The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up."

Who is that light but the Lord Jesus Christ?

After this temptation to serve Satan and sin, Jesus begins to preach the gospel. Satan had tempted Him saying: If you will just fall down and worship me, all the kingdoms and powers of this world will be yours. This is the temptation we are confronted with, the temptation that we can have everything the world has to offer if we will just serve the devil. The Lord Jesus says,

"Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."
- Matthew 4:10

The word repent means to change your attitude, change your priorities. Set your affections on the things above. Stop serving Satan and sin, and start serving the Lord.

"Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" means you do not wait to go to heaven to enter the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven is here today, right now. Today you enter the kingdom of Christ. Today you begin serving the Lord under the kingdom of Christ. Stop serving the lusts of the flesh, and serve the Lord.

The Gospel of Christ is often referred to as the 'Good News of the Gospel'. Jesus said in Luke 24:47 that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations. What better news has ever been proclaimed than that repentance and remission of sins must be preached to the whole world?

Did you notice that repentance is ahead of remission of sins? You do not have the forgiveness of sins without repentance. Satan wants to tempt us to believe that we should serve him and thereby inherit all the kingdoms of this world. Today we must change that course of direction and come into His service.

The preaching of Jesus began with a call to repentance, and a return into His service: "Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." This is where the gospel began.

Satan tempted Adam and Eve to be as God deciding what is right and wrong. He told them they did not have to come to the Lord to find out what is right and wrong. You decide what is right and what is wrong. Satan tells that same lie today, and the Word of God says:

Repent.
Change that attitude, and come back into the service of God.

POINT ONE: Where does the gospel begin?

POINT TWO: True evangelical repentance and a return into Christ's service come before remission of sins.

You do not have forgiveness or a pardon of your sins as long as you continue in sin. To repent means to turn from your sins.

When preaching the gospel is begun with the assurance that God loves you, as it does in many churches today, the result is complacency.

When you start preaching the gospel by telling people that God loves you, they become secure in a false peace without repentance.

There is no change of attitude. You can keep serving the world because God already loves you, and there is no returning to the kingdom and the kingship of Christ.

Jesus cautions against this teaching of salvation without repentance. If the gospel begins with election, it ends in fatalism. The end is that you continue in sin that grace may abound.

POINT ONE: Where does the gospel begin?

It is a call to repentance. Change your attitude. Change your priorities. Get yourself back to understanding the authority of God and come back into His service.

The Lord Jesus cautioned against preachers who preach salvation without repentance. I want you to see this in Matthew 7:15-16:

"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?"

If you come under a ministry, and that ministry does not teach repentance, and it allows you to continue in sin, look at the fruit of the ministry. Look at the people in the church. Has the preaching caused them to turn from their sin? Has the preaching caused them to enter into the kingdom of Christ? If not, they are false teachers. They can have all their doctrines perfectly straight and still be false prophets because the fruit of their preaching must be that men turn from their sins.

When a pastor teaches the authority of God's Word, the fruit of his preaching is that people repent of their sins and return into God's service.

Watch what it says in Matthew 7:20-21:

"Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."

Do you see where salvation begins? The fruit of salvation is doing what the Lord commands us to do. We must enter His kingdom, come back into His service, stop rebelling against Him and repent of our stubbornness.

If the fruit of a pastor's preaching is not that people repent and return to the service of God, they are not sent by the Lord. I want you to see what it says in Jeremiah 23:21-22:

"I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings."

See the fruit of a God-sent preacher. The fruit of God-sent preaching is that the people will hear the words of God and turn from their evil ways. This is the fruit God is talking about.

They preach peace through the blood of His cross without repentance. A false prophet will preach pardon. I want to show you this. We read in Jeremiah 6:14:

"They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace."

The preaching of peace without repentance is deceiving the people. Watch what we see in Ezekiel 13:10a:

"Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace."

They preach peace. They say all you need is the blood of Christ for a pardon, but that is not the gospel. The gospel begins with repentance, to turn from your sins.

Today's gospel teaches a legal repentance, that is, seizing on the death of the Son for the inheritance, without the fruit of repentance. That comes a lot closer to home than you and I realize. The doctrine I was brought up in is guilty in this matter.

I want you to see this in Matthew 21:34-38:

"And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance."

The husbandmen refer to the priests and preachers, the leaders of the church. All they are after is the inheritance. They are not concerned with being reconciled with God. They are not concerned primarily with coming back into His service. They are not concerned primarily with a heart religion of serving the Lord. Their primary concern is that you just experience a pardon. They seize on the death of the Son for the inheritance.

There is a great difference between a mere legal repentance, which is remorse over sin because of its consequences, and a true evangelical repentance, which is a sorrow of heart over having offended such a loving God, accompanied with a desire to enter His service.

If all I do is preach hell and damnation, the justice of God, and fleeing for a pardon, it is a legal repentance. It is fleeing the consequences of sin rather than being delivered from sin. How often do you find a man who claims he has received a pardon, and yet his heart is a house of bitterness, hate, spite and jealousy? He has never understood the spirit of the law. He has never understood what it is to truly repent over sin, and to actually see the sinfulness of sin in his heart, and to be delivered from it. He has never had sorrow of heart.

Cain, King Saul, Ahithophel, Judas and Esau all had a legal repentance, but there was no salvation in it. They showed great pain and regret over their past conduct, but only because it exposed them to punishment. They repented over the consequences of their sin. Are we going to serve God because we are so afraid of hell, or will we restore our service to the Lord because we love God, that God be our God? The punishment is what drove these men to repentance, but it was only a legal repentance, not a saving repentance.

When the Lord Jesus Christ says repent, He is not talking about a legal repentance.

Cain showed no remorse over his sin against God or his brother in killing his brother. I want to show you something in Genesis 4:9:

"And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother?
And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?"

See what a smart aleck Cain was about it. He had no regret about killing his brother. He showed no remorse over having sinned against God or any desire to re-enter His service. He had only a legal repentance. His only pain and sorrow was over the consequences of his sin. I will show you this in Genesis 4:13-14:

"And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me."

His remorse is over the consequences of his sin. I want you to see the difference between that and having remorse over having sinned against the love of God.

King Saul showed no remorse over violating God's commands, nor any desire to serve God in His ordained way. We read in 1 Samuel 15:11-13:

"It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night…. And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD."

He had no remorse over having violated God's commandments. The Lord had told him to kill all the sheep and all the cattle, but he had saved the best of them alive. He had disobeyed the commandment of God, yet he boasted that he had obeyed.

King Saul had a legal repentance. His own honor was his only concern. I want you to see this now in 1 Samuel 15:30:

"Then he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD thy God."

Samuel had showed him that he had not obeyed the commandment of God, that he had grievously disobeyed the Lord, but where is his remorse? He was not concerned about God's honor. He was not concerned about returning into the service of the Lord. He was not concerned about being reconciled with God. His only concern was that he would not be put to shame before the children of Israel. He wanted them to honor him as a God-fearing king. He did not ask that his sin be forgiven. He was concerned over the consequences of his sin, but had no concern over his sin itself.

Ahithophel and Judas Iscariot had a legal repentance - and hanged themselves. They did not ask for forgiveness.

Judas was brought to a legal repentance by the condemnation of the law. You can bring about a legal repentance by preaching the condemnation of the law, but this does not cause one to enter the kingdom of God. This is not repentance over having offended God and returning into His service.

I want you to see what Judas did in 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."

Then he went out and hanged himself. There was no evangelical repentance. He was concerned about the consequences of his sin. The condemnation of the law is what hit him. He had no love in his heart. He had no desire to serve Christ. He had betrayed Christ with a kiss, and he had no remorse for that.

It is the goodness of God that leads us to a true evangelical repentance and a desire to enter the service of Christ. That is where the gospel begins.

John 3:16 says:

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

When you get a glimpse of the love of the Father, and the goodness of God, then you are not primarily concerned about heaven and hell. Your concern is doing what is pleasing to the Lord. That is true repentance. Now you have new desires, a new attitude.

POINT TWO: True evangelical repentance and a return into Christ's service come before remission of sins.

We read in Matthew 11:28-30:

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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."

That word yoke means to come under God's kingship, to come under the service of Christ. It means to come back into His service and to stop serving the world, the things of this life.

What do we learn from Christ?

He was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. The Father had commanded Christ to lay down His life for the sheep, and He did so without arguing. You and I have to be obedient unto death.

We must crucify everything of our flesh. We must take up our cross and follow Him. That old man of sin must be crucified. We must write death on everything of self if we are going to enter His service. We cannot serve the Lord and serve self.

We learn what it means that His yoke is easy and His burden is light by reading Psalm 112:1:

"Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments."

It becomes easy to serve the Lord when we delight in His commandments, when it becomes our chief delight to do His will.

The Apostle Paul's rebellion was broken, and he was not ashamed to serve under that blessed yoke. We read in Romans 1:16-17:

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith."

The Gospel of Christ is to repent and to return under the Lord's service. The Apostle Paul understood that God's righteousness is revealed in the gospel, and how is that? In the gospel we see that God would rather send His own Son to take away the penalty of sin than to let one sin go unpunished.

In the Gospel of Christ we see that God's wrath is upon sin. It says in 2 Corinthians 5:21:

"For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."

The Apostle Paul went on to tell us wherein the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel in Romans 1:18:

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men."

Godliness is to love God with our hearts, souls and minds, so ungodliness is any violation of the first table of the law.

God's wrath against sin must be understood to rightly understand the gospel. Christ's death on the cross was for the appeasing of God's wrath against sin. I want to show you that in 1 John 4:10:

"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."

That word propitiation means the appeasing of His wrath. His wrath upon our sins was appeased by His own Son. That is what we learn in the gospel. God cannot have anything to do with sin. Every sin must be purged. Sin is disobedience. It is the transgression of the law. It is violating what He has commanded us to do.

The message of the gospel must begin with the wrath of God against sin to establish the need of repentance, and a desire to re-enter God's service.

If I came to you and said, Repent, change your attitude, what would that mean to you until you understood where it was wrong? We must understand that God is so displeased with sin that He would rather bring death upon His own Son than to tolerate sin. Then we understand why we have to stop sinning and re-enter His service. We understand when Christ said,

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

The door is open to re-enter His service.

The work of regeneration by the Holy Spirit begins by revealing God's wrath upon sin, and what Jesus paid to appease that wrath for His church.

In John 16:8 we read:

"And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment."

That word reprove means that He will convince you. I can explain it to you, and you can understand sin, and you can understand that it is displeasing to the Lord, but when the Holy Spirit convinces you of sin, He shows you how sinful it is, how grievous it is, and how angry God is with sin. That makes sin become sinful.

Continuing in John 16 verses 9 to 11 we read:

"Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged."

This means that we must remove Satan from the throne of our hearts. Satan has had justice passed on him, and he has been dethroned. He no longer rules on the throne of our hearts. We no longer serve him. We come back into serving the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ is telling us to repent and to re-enter His service.

When the Holy Spirit shows us the wrath of God upon sin in the sacrifice of Christ, we learn to see what we read in Romans 7:13:

"That sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful."

Learning to realize the sinfulness of sin leads to repentance. When we see the gospel message, how God is so angry with sin, and we learn to see the love of God, how He gave His Son to take away the penalty of sin, we learn to see what we read in Romans 2:4:

"Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?"

How can we sin against such love? When the gospel reveals the righteousness of God and how He sent His own Son to satisfy His righteous demands of the law, can we despise the riches of His goodness? Can we trample upon this? Should we not change our rebellion and return to His service? Has that throne of iniquity been overthrown in our hearts? Has judgment been passed upon the prince of darkness in our hearts? Has he been put off the throne of our hearts? Have we come back into the service of Christ?

True repentance is not only a true sorrow for sin, but a hatred for, a turning from sin and a return into His service. Our text says,

"Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

Repent, right now. We must stop serving sin. We must stop serving Satan. We must stop serving self. We must return to the service of God.

When we learn to see that it was our sins that engraved our names in the palms of Christ's hands - while He was appeasing the wrath of His Father upon our sins - then the power of that love draws us from under the power of sin unto Him. We read in Isaiah 49:16:

"Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me."

It was our sins that put those scars in the palms of His hands. Our names are written in those scars. It was our sins that He died for.

We read in John 12:31-33:

"Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die."

That blessed message of the gospel lifts up Christ and teaches us the blessed atonement He has made, and the love by which He has taken away the penalty of our sin.

Do you know what death Christ died? I will read it to you out of Romans 6:10:

"For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God."

The gospel message proclaims that He has died unto sin.

Look what it says in Romans 6:11:

"Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Christ died unto sin. He died the death of the cross, and we must take up our cross and die unto sin.

God's wrath upon sin cannot be removed without repentance. You cannot claim a pardon in the blood of Christ without repentance. I want you to see this in Ezekiel 33:11:

"Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?"

Without turning there is no salvation.

To understand repentance we must single out each sin that must be repented of. We can talk about sins and miseries and just be talking in general, but we must put a point on the exact sin. We must come to the Lord and say, I sinned in that I was disobedient in that instance on that day. I must name the sin, turn from it and stop doing it.

We must not use a shotgun approach. If you go hunting you can scatter BBs through a wide area of brush. That will not catch you any game. You must use the rifle approach. You must put the cross hair on one deer. Then when you pull the trigger you have game.

When you talk about repenting you must identify each sin before the Lord. You must come before the Lord and say:

'I was not kind to that person that day. I sinned against that person. I sinned against the Lord by sinning in that instance.'

That is repenting of our sins. We ask the Lord to spare us and not allow us to do that sin again.

We read in Hebrews 12:1:

"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us."

When the Gospel of Jesus Christ brings forth God's wrath against sin, the heart of the true believer will tremble at His Word, not with a slavish fear, but we tremble to think that we would violate His Word.

We read in Isaiah 66:2:

"For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word."

We tremble to think that we would disobey the Lord. Our heart's desire is to do His will. Our heart's desire is to obey His word.

Then we will understand the words of our Saviour in John 14:23:

"Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him."

Can we say we love God and not keep His word? No. Do we want the Lord to dwell in our hearts? Do we want His nearness and love, then we must repent. Our heart's desire must be to do the will of God. We must turn from our sins.

This does not teach a Pharisaical legalism. Entering the kingdom is doing the will of God, not the orders of God. I want you to know the difference. I can have a big list of do's and don'ts. The Pharisees had that. They had more than 600 laws connected with the sabbath day, and they were all legalistic. They felt they were doing the orders of God, and if Christ Himself would happen to make one deviation from their laws they would condemn Him.

When you and I have a repentant heart, we do the will of God. We do not obey Him because He is standing there with a whip and because hell is the consequence if we do not. We do the will of God because we desire to please Him. That is true, evangelical repentance. We desire to know His will and to do His will because it is pleasing to the Lord. We do His will because we love Him.

We read in 1 John 5:3:

"For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous."

If we do His commandments because they are orders, we can do it grudgingly, but if we keep His commandments from a motive of love, then His commandments are not grievous to us.

1 John 5:4 tells us:

"For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith."

Faith, obedience and love are inseparable. If you have faith, you have love for God. If you have faith, you have a desire to do His will. Unbelief is rebellion.

The gospel must begin with repentance, and end with the Father being glorified with the fruit of repentance. We read in John 15:8:

"Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples."

The gospel begins and ends with repentance. The Father is glorified in us doing His will, bearing the fruit of repentance.

Righteousness shall enlighten the heavens for all eternity as we read in Revelation 21:23:

"And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof."

The Father is glorified in the righteousness of Christ. Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of His throne.

We can add to the Word of God and change its meaning and pervert the Word of God, but if we are going to read and teach the Word of God as it is written, we must understand that the righteousness of saints, which is the fruit of repentance, is their wedding garments. We read in Revelation 19:8:

"And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints."

I have heard people try to twist this and say that this means they had the robe of Christ's righteousness. That is not what that says. I have looked at this in the original and studied it carefully. This is talking about the righteousness of the saints.

What righteousness do the saints have that is acceptable before God? It is the imparted righteousness of Christ. It is not the robe of His righteousness alone, but it is that righteousness imparted to them. There is a difference between the imparted righteousness of Christ and the imputed righteousness of Christ. The imputed righteousness of Christ means that His righteous ones stand before the bar of God's justice and on the basis of His righteousness they are pardoned. The imparted righteousness of Christ is Christ formed in us. That is the fine linen. It is the Spirit of Christ that dwells in us.

In conclusion, let us take notice of what we read in 1 John 4:10-11:

"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another."

This is the law of love, loving God above all, and loving our neighbors as ourselves. That law of love penetrates all parts of the gospel. It is interwoven into every thread of the gospel.

Jesus said in John 15:14:

"Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you."

We read in 1 John 3:23:

"And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment."

So what was that which He had commanded? We read in John 15:12: "This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you." Do you see where repentance begins? We start treating each other as we want to be treated. We start living by that Golden Rule: do unto others and you would have them do unto you.

Our text says Jesus began His ministry with the word repent:

"From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand"
(Matthew 4:17).

The call to repentance was also the closing remark of Jesus' ministry as we see in Luke 24:45-47:

"Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures [that is, what they teach about the need of repentance], And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: That [or to the end that] repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations."

You show me a gospel without repentance, and I will show you a gospel that comes right out of the pit of hell.

Why did He suffer and die on the cross?
Why did He pay the penalty of sin?
Why did He open the way of salvation - that repentance and remission of sins might be preached.

That was the very purpose for Him ascending out of the grave.
That was the very purpose of the Son of God ascending to the right hand of the Father.

by Greg Laurie

"Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent."
 - (Acts 17:30)

When the apostle Paul proclaimed the gospel to the men of Athens, he used a word that we rarely hear today: repent. He said,

"Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead"
- (Acts 17:30–31).

Notice that Paul didn't say, "I suggest you repent" or "I advise you to repent" or "I hope you repent." Paul was saying that God commands people everywhere to repent. And "repent" means to change your direction. Instead of running away from God, you run to God.

But why should we repent? Paul gives the answer in Acts 17:31: "because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world." A day of judgment is coming. There is coming a day in which God "will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained."

There was a time when the church was criticized for its hellfire-and-brimstone preaching. But when is the last time you have heard a hellfire-and-brimstone preacher? I would venture to say that it has been a long time.

In fact, there are some preachers who are questioning whether hell even exists, although Jesus spoke about it more than all of the other preachers in the Bible put together.

I have heard a lot of feel-good preachers. I have heard a lot of preachers who say that God wants me wealthy. I have heard a lot of preachers tell me a lot of crazy stuff.

But the Bible says there is indeed a future judgment. And there is no avoiding it.

by Malcolm Maclean

Scripture: Acts 3:11-20

The crowd at the temple have observed the amazing fact that a lame beggar has been healed. It is not surprising that they are astonished and wondering what kind of power is available to Peter and John. The apostles are quick to deny that they have any inherent power; instead they affirm that the miracle is connected to the glorification of Jesus. They also make clear the purpose of the miracle – it was designed to lead them to repentance. It is obvious that the miracle in itself did not bring about a correct response to God. Until its significance was explained, the observers obtained no benefit from the miracle. This situation reminds us that it is essential that we have the correct framework for assessing God's actions and understanding what he is doing.

Prerequisites for repentance

Peter mentions two aspects of knowledge that are essential before there can be genuine repentance.

The first is knowledge about what God did through Jesus Christ and

The second is an understanding of the seriousness of rejecting the authority of Jesus Christ.

We should observe the way that Peter describes God. He is referred to as 'the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' I suspect that inevitably the minds of the listeners would go to the previous occasions when this name was used of God. These occasions were connected to the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt (Exod. 3:6, 15; 4:9). Surely, this was a name of God that would have created expectation in the minds of the listeners. This was the name of God that indicated that he had come to rescue his people, not because they deserved it, but because he was faithful to his promises.

The first detail in the framework for repentance is that we are dealing with a God who is performing a rescue mission. We know that the children of Israel at the time of the Exodus had to be rescued from slavery in Egypt; they needed to be delivered from earthly, political oppression. The rescue mission that Peter had in mind was not from physical slavery, but from the bondage of sin. In Egypt, God had rescued Israel by his servant Moses. The person he used for the greater rescue was Jesus Christ.

In his explanation Peter uses three titles for Jesus and each of them helps us understand who Jesus is and he did. Peter calls Jesus God's servant (v. 13), the Holy and Righteous One (v. 14), and the Author of life (v. 15). The role of servant reminds us of the willingness of the Son of God to become the servant of the Lord. Perhaps our minds have turned to Paul's great words in Philippians 2:5-8, words that tell us the Son of God took on him the form of a servant in order to obey the will of the Father. His role as servant led him to the cross where he carried the awful weight of sin and paid its penalty in order that his people would go free.

In addition, the title 'the Holy and Righteous One' reminds us of the character of Jesus. Believers love to reflect on the sinlessness of Jesus, on the purity and perfection of his thoughts, words and deeds. He was the lamb without blemish, holy in mind and heart, ideal for the perfect sacrifice that God required in order to satisfy his justice.

And the title 'Author of Life' tells us that Jesus is the possessor of great power. It reminds us that he is the origin of all created life: 'All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men' (1 John 1:3-4). He is also the source of all spiritual life – every sinner that has been converted, whether before the coming of Jesus or since the coming, has obtained spiritual life from him. Further, the title assures us that Jesus is the source of all future life, the life of the ages to come which will combine eternal and spiritual in order to give life suitable for the heavenly environment.

Yet Peter does introduce what seems to be a contradiction when he says that they killed the Author of Life. How could the Author of Life die? The answer to this question is found in why he became a righteous servant. He became a man without ceasing to be God. A great mystery indeed, but a wonderful reality. The Son of God could die in his human nature. Nevertheless, although he died, it was a voluntary act in which he dismissed his spirit. He entered into death, knowing that his Father would raise him from the dead.

So Peter told his audience who Jesus Christ is. He is the eternal Son of God who became a servant, lived a righteous life, died on the cross although he was innocent, and was raised again from the dead by God the Father. The Father has also glorified him, says Peter, which means that Jesus is now exalted to the throne of God, and therefore it is possible for miracles to take place by his apostles who trusted in him.

Peter also reminded them that they had sinned in their attitudes towards Jesus Christ. They had denied him, prevented Pilate from releasing him, and preferred a murderer instead of him. While they did not physically kill Jesus, they were guilty of causing his death, and no doubt they would have got involved if the authorities had allowed them.

Of course, these people were guilty of many other sins in addition to the sin of rejecting Jesus. It is possible, of course, that Peter mentioned these other sins, because Luke did not regard it as necessary to record every word that Peter said on this occasion. What is important to note is that their attitude towards Christ had to be repented of, even although Peter admits that they had acted in ignorance. Ignorance is not an excuse for wrong actions. Although they were ignorant of who Jesus was, their actions towards him were not in line with truth (they bore false witness) and love.

With regard to ourselves, we have to face up to these same two aspects if we are to repent of our sins. We must have correct information about Jesus Christ and we must reflect on our attitude towards him. Most of us could give a very accurate description of who Jesus is and what he did when he was here on earth. We already are in advance of the initial state of the people who heard Peter preach on this occasion. Our knowledge of Jesus includes awareness of his deity, his real humanity, his perfect life, his sacrificial death, his bodily resurrection, his exaltation in heaven, and his future role as Judge of all humans. It is wonderful to have this knowledge, but it will only profit us if we act upon it.

In addition, we must, therefore, consider how we have responded to Jesus Christ. We have heard the gospel innumerable times and still some of us have not turned to him in repentance. Instead such have ignored the appeal of the gospel, dismissed the claims of Christ over their lives, and refused to leave their sins and follow him. To them once again comes the call to repent of their sins.

What is repentance?

The word itself means a change of direction, to turn from the path we are on and begin walking on another road. By nature we are on the path that leads to destruction, and those who leave it and begin walking to heaven do so by the activity of repentance. This is a useful picture of repentance, but what does the person look like who is walking in this new direction.

Repentance is an intelligent action of the heart. The person that we observe walking in this new direction is not confused. He understands what he has done. His change of direction is based on information.

Further, repentance is an emotional action of the heart. The person walking along the road has a tear in his eye, in other words he is a contrite person, grieving for the sins he has committed against God. His emotions are affected. He is appalled by his sins, and that for a variety of reasons. His sins were against a good and kind God, included persistent rejection of the gospel of Christ, and were part of his journey to destruction. Such a person cannot be indifferent to the information that he has received.

And repentance is a volitional action of the heart. The person walking along the road is committed to this new direction. He has said farewell to his previous lifestyle and now walks in a way that pleases God. Each step in his new direction takes him further away from his old life, and he walks with a steadfast step towards heaven.

So repentance involves comprehension, contrition and commitment. We can add another 'C' to the list. Repentance is always Christ-centred, especially Jesus on the cross. Such repentance is described in Zechariah 12:10: 'And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.'

Consequences of Repentance

In verse 19, Peter mentions two outcomes of genuine repentance. The first is that the penitent person is forgiven all his sins. They are all blotted out of God's precise and accurate record, a record that remains precise and accurate after they have been forgiven. One of the most surprising feature of church life today is how quickly we lose the sense of wonder at being forgiven by God. Perhaps a reason for this easy forgetfulness is that we have embraced a form of easy believism. It is hard to forget one's deliverance if one has spent some time gazing into the awfulness of hell; it is hard to forget one's deliverance if we have felt the power of sin leading us to destruction; it is hard to forget one's deliverance if we have stood at the cross and gazed in amazement upon the distress of the Saviour as he endured the judgement of God.

Pardon of sin is a most wonderful blessing. The reaction in our hearts should be the equivalent of the response of the lame man to his healing – walking, leaping and praising God. Our pardoned souls should be celebrating the grace of God, and it is a form of exercise which develops our other spiritual muscles because it leads to a sense of thankfulness and a sense of devotion.

Peter mentions a second consequence of repentance in verse 20: 'times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.' This experience of refreshing will be true of each individual who repents; into their hearts, the Spirit of God will flow, bringing to them, among other blessings, a sense of peace, delight in God, the joy of adoption into God's family, and an anticipation of heaven.

This experience of refreshing will be true of congregations in which people repent. When a sinner turns from their sins to Christ, the people of God sense that heaven has come to earth. The lack of this can cause a congregation to become spiritually flat. Of course, we can pray for this blessing, but the evidence that our prayers have been heard is the arrival of the blessing.

I think Peter is also suggesting that each penitent person is a link in the chain that eventually leads to a great time of spiritual prosperity. The gospel seems to move slowly for a while, a conversion here and there. To us, they may seem spasmodic and unconnected. Yet the reality is that they are links in a chain, and somewhere on that chain there is a time when a great number of conversions will occur. Each penitent person is a reminder that God has a great event ahead.

It is also a possibility that Peter here is describing a great worldwide revival that will occur before the second coming of Christ. You will note that he mentions three consequences of repentance: (1) pardon, (2) times of refreshing, (3) the return of Christ. The New Testament does hold out the wonderful prospect of spectacular results when the race of Israel as a whole is converted. You will recall that the future of the Jews was a matter of great interest to the apostles during the forty days between the resurrection and ascension of Christ. They were not told when their restoration would occur. All they could know was that it was coming, and that each act of repentance by an individual Jew was a sign, a prototype, of the great national repentance that is yet to occur.

When Satan planted doubts into Eve's mind?
When he said " Hath God said?"

The great big all time ( sin, singular) of mankind that all ( sins, plural ) derive from? unbelief of God and in God.

The writer of the book of Hebrews goes into this a lot in talking about how the children of Israel, because of unbelief, did not enter into God's rest for them into the promised land.

The book of Hebrews says, that unbelief is, in fact, a sin and it angered God greatly that he swore with a oath that they would never enter into the promised land because of their unbelief and hardness of heart because of unbelief.

Anyone wonder what the writer of the book of Hebrews means when they said " If we willfully continue to sin after we have received the truth?" well? the book of Hebrews writer already told us what that sin is...... unbelief.