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We can turn in your confession 
to chapter 15 of repentance unto life and salvation. The Westminster Shorter Catechism 
asks, what is repentance unto life? Repentance unto life is 
a saving grace whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin 
and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, doth with grief 
and hatred of his sin turn from it to God with full purpose of 
and endeavor after new obedience. A good summary statement of what 
we find here in our confession and what we find in the Bible 
to teach concerning this doctrine. So I'll read the section beginning 
in paragraph one. Such of the elect as are converted 
at riper years, having sometime lived in the state of nature, 
and therein served divers lusts and pleasures, God in their effectual 
calling giveth them repentance unto life. Whereas there is none 
that doth good and sinneth not, and the best of men may, through 
the power and deceitfulness of their corruption dwelling in 
them, with the prevalency of temptation, fall into great sins 
and provocations, God hath, in the covenant of grace, mercifully 
provided that believers so sinning and falling may be renewed through 
repentance unto salvation. This saving repentance is an 
evangelical grace, whereby a person, being by the Holy Spirit made 
sensible of the manifold evils of his sin, doth by faith in 
Christ humble himself for it with godly sorrow, detestation 
of it in self-abhorrency, praying for pardon and strength of grace, 
with a purpose and endeavor, by supplies of the Spirit, to 
walk before God unto all well-pleasing in all things. As repentance 
is to be continued through the whole course of our lives, upon 
the account of the body of death, and the motions thereof, so it 
is every man's duty to repent of his particular known sins 
particularly. Such is the provision which God 
hath made through Christ in the covenant of grace for the preservation 
of believers unto salvation, that although there is no sin 
so small but it deserves damnation, yet there is no sin so great 
that it shall bring damnation on them that repent, which makes 
the constant preaching of repentance necessary. Amen. Well, as we 
look at the doctrine of repentance with reference to the scripture, 
in the first place, repentance is a change of mind. We'll get 
into the confession here in just a moment, but a popular dictionary 
of the Greek language defines repentance this way, change one's 
mind feel remorse, repent, and be converted. So, when we look 
at this particular section of the Confession, we see that saving 
repentance is an evangelical grace. It's a gift given by God 
according to paragraph 3. It, along with faith, are the 
means by which we have salvation in Christ our Lord. Faith and 
repentance are two sides of the same coin. When we speak about 
saving faith, it is a penitential faith. When we speak of repentance, 
it is a believing repentance. And again, it's a change of mind 
primarily. Oftentimes we associate repentance 
with the fruits of repentance, and that's not always necessarily 
a bad thing, but we need to make sure that we understand that 
just because somebody stops doing a bad thing, that's not the evidence 
of saving repentance. So I want to look first at the 
place of repentance in paragraphs 1 and 2, secondly, the elements 
of repentance in paragraph 3, and thirdly, the duration and 
duty of repentance in paragraph 4, and then finally, the provision 
of repentance in paragraph 5. And with reference to the provision, 
you see that emphasis a couple of places on the covenant of 
grace. Covenant theology isn't simply for the academics in the 
church, or the doctors in the church, or seminarians, but the 
covenant of grace is that means by which God communicates to 
us all of the saving blessings we receive in and through our 
Lord Jesus Christ. So it's not just a sort of theoretical 
construct placed on the Bible to try and explain things, but 
it is the means by which God blesses his people richly. Now 
notice the place of repentance in paragraphs one and two. Interesting 
statement in paragraph one, this is absent in the Westminster 
Confession of Faith, so the London Confession here follows the Savoy 
Declaration. Such of the elect as are converted 
at riper years, a reference to older people, having sometime 
lived in the state of nature, and therein served divers lusts 
and pleasures, God in their effectual calling giveth them repentance 
unto life." Now that doesn't mean that for a younger person 
who hasn't had the same amount of sin, there's no repentance. 
There is repentance, but I think the stress here is upon God's 
goodness and his provision, again in the covenant of grace, to 
those who've made a mess of themselves. It underscores and highlights 
that though we are sinful, that though we are illustrative of 
all that the Bible says and all that the Confession says concerning 
our depravity, nevertheless, persons are not beyond hope. 
They're not beyond help. Old sinners who have a life full 
of wickedness may nevertheless receive from God the gift or 
grace of repentance. They have served according to 
the confession diverse lusts and pleasures, sometimes living 
in that state of nature. God, in their effectual calling, 
giveth them repentance unto life. And again, underscored is that 
it comes to the elect, as we have seen in this order of salvation 
section in the confession of faith. It's not for all men indiscriminately. Here they're identified as the 
elect, the ones whom God foreknew. He predestined to be conformed 
according to the image of his son. The ones whom he predestined, 
he called. Those he calls, he justifies. 
And those he justifies, he glorifies. So it is for them. It is not 
for the pagan. It is not for the heathen. Now, 
of course, we don't know which pagan and which heathen, so we 
preach the gospel indiscriminately to all creatures everywhere, 
calling upon them to believe the gospel, to repent from their 
sins, and trusting in the power of God to grant them that ability 
should it please Him. So the elect that are converted 
at riper years, having sometime lived in that state of nature, 
God in their effectual calling giveth them repentance unto life. Now notice, or I want to quote 
for you John Flavel. He makes the distinction between 
the riper years Christian and the non-riper years Christian. 
And probably one of the designs behind this is to discourage 
what we consider as crisis conversion. Crisis conversion is that sort 
of an approach to the gospel where if you haven't gone through 
a certain amount of sin and misery, if you're not conscious fully 
of just how wretched and horrible you are, then the gospel really 
isn't for you. Now there's a sense obviously 
where we need to know our sin. Jesus said, I didn't come to 
call the righteous but sinners to repentance. But how much of 
our sin? We have to know five years of 
it? Ten years of it? We have to know everything that 
Martin Luther and John Bunyan wrote about sin in order to see 
that we have a need for the Lord Jesus Christ. So when it comes 
to this distinction between the riper year believer and the younger 
believer, I think Flabel has some good observations. He says, 
conversion, as to the subject of it, may be considered two 
ways. Either as it is more sensibly wrought in persons of riper years. It's more obvious. When you look 
at the older sinner that has lived a life of absolute rebellion 
against the living and true God, when he comes to the Savior, 
it's obvious, it's specific, it is conspicuous. But with reference 
to a younger sinner, he's brought up in a Christian home, he's 
been hedged in by God's grace, he's been hedged in by good parental 
discipline, he hasn't gone out to the far country, he hasn't 
gone out and done the things that a riper year's sinner has 
done. Well, his conversion by God is 
as extraordinary, it is as glorious, and it is as wonderful. So he 
says, conversion as to the subject of it may be considered two ways, 
either as it is more sensibly wrought in persons of riper years, 
who in their youthful days were more profane and vile, or upon 
persons in their tender years, into whose hearts grace was more 
insensibly and indiscernibly instilled. by God's blessing 
upon pious education. You may not always perceive it 
as clearly. That's typically why when we 
baptize a young person, I always try to amplify that the same 
grace operative in the conversion of Saul of Tarsus is the same 
grace operative in the life of Timothy, who learned the gospel 
from his mother and his grandmother, whose passing from death unto 
life was probably more imperceptible than was Paul's on that road 
to Damascus. He goes on to say, in the former 
sort, the distinct acts of the spirit as illuminating, convincing, 
humbling, drawing them to Christ and sealing them are more evident 
and discernible. In the latter, more obscure and 
confused, they can remember that God gave them an esteem and liking 
of godly persons, care of duty and conscience of sin. But as 
to the time, place, instruments and manner of the work, they 
can give but a slender account of them. However, if the work 
be savingly wrought in them, there is no reason they should 
be troubled, because the circumstances of it are not so evident to them 
as they are to others. Let the substance and reality 
of the work appear, and there is no reason to afflict yourselves 
because of the inevitance of such circumstances." Again, I 
think paragraph one, and I don't know specifically, Jim Renahan 
would probably understand the particular context, why the London 
Confession divines followed the Savoy and included this reference 
to the conversion of those at riper years, but at least practically 
it underscores the great power of the Gospel. If you're an old 
sinner with a life of wickedness, there is nevertheless hope for 
you in the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But 
if you're a young sinner and you haven't gone through that 
sort of thing, as long as faith and repentance are present, don't 
be discouraged. Don't be troubled. Don't think, 
well, I didn't have that kind of a conversion. I didn't have 
that kind of a story. I don't have that kind of a testimony. Any testimony of God's salvation 
on the part of any sinner is glorious. It is wondrous, even 
if it isn't attended by all of the circumstances of those older 
sinners that have gone through many, many troubled waters. Notice 
as well, what it goes on to say in paragraph two, whereas there 
is none that doth good and sinneth not, and the best of men may, 
through the power and deceitfulness of their corruption dwelling 
in them, with the prevalency of temptation, fall into great 
sins and provocations. God hath, in the covenant of 
grace, mercifully provided that believers, so sinning and falling, 
be renewed through repentance unto salvation. So God's provision 
is not a one-time good deal. Again, the covenant of grace, 
not just a theoretical construct, but a very practical means by 
which God relates to his people. And in that covenant of grace, 
he has provided for us faith and repentance. And everything 
that we need is guaranteed by the work of Jesus Christ. That's 
why Ephesians 1, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the 
heavenly places in Christ. And so when it comes to God and 
His grace, it is profuse. There is an abundance, and that's 
what we see with reference to paragraphs one and two. Now notice 
in paragraph three, in the first place, the fact that repentance 
is a gift. You can turn with me to several 
passages in scripture to see this. Let me just ask the question, 
where does the Bible teach that saving faith is a gift? Ephesians 2.8, very good. Any 
other places? Philippians 1.29, very good. 
So faith is a gift given by God. Well, as I said earlier, faith 
and repentance are two sides of the same coin. You don't have 
faith without repentance, you don't have repentance without 
faith. So they're both evangelical graces. That means that God gives 
these to persons. So this saving repentance is 
an evangelical grace. And then notice in chapter 14, 
in paragraph 1, by which also and by the administration 
of baptism in the Lord's Supper, prayer, and other means appointed 
of God, it is increased and strengthened." So it's a grace of faith, excuse 
me, whereby the elect are enabled to believe to the saving of their 
souls. So the same emphasis in paragraph 3 of chapter 15 concerning 
repentance. So these are graces or gifts 
given to us by God Almighty because of the reality that man is totally 
depraved, man is totally unable. Remember that chapters 14 and 
15 flow out of previous chapters, and previous chapters rightly 
underscore what the Bible teaches concerning man in sin. When Paul 
comes to treat that in Ephesians 2, he doesn't say, and when you 
were crippled, or when you were lame, or when you were a little 
bit diseased, no, you being dead in your trespasses and sins. 
Dead sinners don't believe the gospel. They don't repent from 
their sin. Dead sinners must be made alive 
by the power of God Most High. They must be born again. And 
one of the things that the Spirit does at the time of regeneration 
is to grant the graces of faith and repentance. Now with reference 
to the grace of repentance, Acts chapter 5. Acts chapter 5 verse 
29. But Peter and the other apostles 
answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than men. The 
God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you murdered by hanging 
on a tree. Him God has exalted to his right 
hand to be prince and savior, to give repentance to Israel 
and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses to these 
things. And so also is the Holy Spirit 
whom God has given to those who obey him. And then notice in 
chapter 11, chapter 11 of the book of Acts, underscoring again 
the graciousness, the graceness of the gift of repentance. The 
apostle Peter is reporting to the people in Jerusalem, the 
church there, concerning the falling of the Spirit upon the 
household of Cornelius. Remember, in that first century 
sort of church, you had Jews and now Gentiles, and the Jews 
are looking around and wondering how is it that these Gentiles 
are now being included in the covenant promises of God. And 
so the Apostle Peter describes what had happened when he had 
been at the household of Cornelius. And notice in chapter 11 at verse 
15, And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, 
as upon us at the beginning. Then I remembered the word of 
the Lord, how He said, John indeed baptized with water, but you 
shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit. If therefore God gave 
them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord 
Jesus Christ, who was I, that I could withstand God. When they 
heard these things, they became silent, and they glorified God, 
saying, Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to 
life. So it's a grace. It is given 
by God to the elect sinner. 2 Timothy chapter 2. 2 Timothy 
chapter 2, another emphasis there on the grace character of repentance. 2 Timothy 2, specifically at verse 
23, avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate 
strife. And a servant of the Lord must 
not quarrel, but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, 
in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God 
perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, 
and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of 
the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will. 
Again, it's not the case that a dead sinner can just open up 
his eyes and repent. It is the case that God opens 
his eyes, God opens his heart, God gives him life, God gives 
him the graces of faith and repentance so that he can lay hold of the 
Lord Jesus Christ. And notice again specifically, 
you have that doctrine of inseparable operations that means the works 
of God outside of God are attributed to God, Father, Son, and Holy 
Spirit. But in the scripture we see appropriation of particular 
works to one of the persons of the Godhead. And here specifically 
it is ascribed to the Holy Spirit with reference to this particular 
act. Notice in paragraph three, whereby 
a person being by the Holy Spirit made sensible of the manifold 
evils of his sin. So then, that brings us to the 
elements of repentance. You've got the gift of repentance, 
continuing on in paragraph 3. Notice the elements. In the first 
place, there's a sense of sin. There's a sense of sin. Now, 
I suspect that every pagan, every heathen, everybody out there, 
to some degree or other, realizes they've missed the mark at some 
level. I mean, I think that when you go witness, and you evangelize, 
and you try to tell people about Jesus, usually you get the response 
of persons. Now, there are the odd occasions, 
but for the most part, persons will say, yeah, I'm not perfect. 
I haven't done everything, you know, as uprightly as perhaps 
I should have. But that's a far cry different 
from God be merciful to me, the sinner. It's a far cry different 
than David in Psalm 51. It is a far cry different from 
those who've been convicted by the Holy Spirit and now see their 
sin before a holy God. In fact, turn to David in Psalm 
51 and notice the emphasis that he brings out in this psalm of 
repentance. He says in Psalm 51 verses 3 
and 4, for I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I 
sinned and done this evil in your sight, that you may be found 
just when you speak and blameless when you judge. Now he's not 
forgetful and he's not discounting the pain that he brought to the 
household of Uriah the Hittite. He is not discounting the pain 
and the difficulty that he brought to his own household when God, 
through the prophet Nathan, says that the sword will never depart 
from your house. But when it comes to this repentance, 
it is the reality that he has sinned against a holy God. against 
you, you only have I sinned, and done this evil in your sight, 
that you may be found just when you speak, and blameless when 
you judge." Turn to Psalm 130, another psalm that I hope is 
very familiar to all of us, because it should be. Psalm 130, verse 
1, a song of ascents. out of the depths I have cried 
to you, O Lord." Now, these songs of ascents are when the pilgrims 
are marching to the temple on the day or before the Sabbath, 
and they're singing the songs of Zion. Notice that one of the 
songs of Zion that they sing is about their own individual 
wickedness, their own corruption, their own evil, their own wretchedness. 
Out of the depths I have cried to you, O Lord. Lord, hear my 
voice. Let your ears be attentive to 
the voice of my supplications. What are the depths that the 
psalmist finds himself in? What are the depths that the 
faithful in Israel find themselves in when they're going to the 
temple to worship God? It's about sin. It's not about 
earthly calamity. It's not about the chaos going 
on out there. It's about the chaos going on 
within our own hearts. If you, Lord, should mark iniquities, 
O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with 
you that you may be feared. So when it comes to this sense 
of sin, it's not simply a generic sort of understanding that, yeah, 
I haven't been the best that I could possibly be. No, it's 
that man in Luke chapter 18 standing next to the Pharisee stands and 
prays thus with himself, thank you God that I'm not like other 
men. I'm not a murderer, I'm not an adulterer, I'm not an 
extortioner, I'm not like this publican. Whereas the publican 
simply beats his breast and says, God be merciful to me, the sinner. So a sense of sin is an element 
in this. Without that sense of sin, there's 
not going to be repentance. And again, sense of sin doesn't 
mean the absolute certain understanding of every sin you've ever committed 
and the misery that is consistent with that. The fact is, as we 
saw last Sunday morning with reference to the call of Matthew, 
Jesus says, follow me. Matthew immediately stood up, 
he left all and he follows Jesus. He didn't have this two years 
or five years or 10 years dwelling upon his own sin and depravity. 
I've shared with you before, we're reading, and when our kids 
were very little, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners by John 
Bunyan, which is his account of his conversion to Christ. 
And it's great, it's glorious, it's wondrous, but I stopped 
part of the way through because I did not want my children to 
think that they had to go through exactly what Bunyan went through 
before they could ever close with Christ. I mean, you know, 
in that he says he thought the creation itself was going to 
open up and swallow him up because of his great sin and the evils 
that he had engaged in. Well, brethren, a heavy dose 
of that could dissuade anybody from ever having any conviction 
of their sin and looking to the Savior for relief and help. So 
again, this sense of sin is present, but the sense of sin cannot necessarily 
be measured or quantified or a particular time placed upon 
it. Notice as well, another element, a humility before God with a 
godly sorrow. It says, whereby a person, being 
by the Holy Spirit, made sensible of the manifold evils of his 
sin, and then this brings death by Christ, faith in Christ, humble 
himself for it, with godly sorrow, detestation of it, and self-abhorrence." 
That's the response in terms of repentance. That's why I said, 
you know, persons that just stop bad habits, or persons that stop 
frequenting bad places, they should be commended in a general 
way. It's good that somebody doesn't 
smoke crack. It's good that you don't visit 
prostitutes. But that doesn't necessarily mean that's biblical 
repentance, because biblical repentance is an evangelical 
grace, whereby a person, being by the Holy Spirit made sensible 
of the manifold evils of his sin, doth by faith in Christ 
humble himself for it with godly sorrow, detestation of it, and 
self-abhorrency. It's that spirit and tenor of 
Psalm 51, against thee and thee only have I sinned and done this 
evil. And then notice thirdly, there 
is this apprehension of the mercy of God. This apprehension of 
the mercy of God, by faith in Christ. And then it goes on to 
say, praying for pardon and strength of grace. So the psalmist in 
Psalm 130 says, if you, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, 
who can stand? But he doesn't stop there. He 
goes on to lay hold of Christ. But there is forgiveness with 
you that you may be feared. He receives the blessing that 
is offered by God in the gospel of salvation. We saw that with 
Rahab last Sunday night. She not only cognitively knows 
that Yahweh has majesty and power and mercy, but she experientially 
receives it. She casts herself upon the mercy 
of God and asks for grace and blessing. So an apprehension 
of the mercy of God, the presence of this is essential. Consider, 
for instance, a sense of sin without the apprehension of the 
mercy of God. A sense of sin without the apprehension 
of the mercy of God. I'd say Judas Iscariot fell into 
that place. He certainly understood his sin, 
he certainly felt sorrow about his sin, but he had no sort of 
connection to that apprehension of the mercy of God. And then 
a dislike of sin for the problems it brings is not necessarily 
repentance either. Boy, I've got to stop doing this 
because it's ruining my family. Again, in a general sense, that's 
great. You shouldn't want to destroy 
your family. But you cannot call that biblical repentance. There 
needs to be these twin elements, humility before God with godly 
sorrow, and then an apprehension of the mercy of God is essential 
as well. And then the presence of all 
is different from person to person. That's why it's a problematic 
thing to take sort of the experience of a class of saints and say, 
this must be the experience of every saint. That's just not 
biblical. When you survey the pages of 
the Bible, you don't see that. You see some that took a long 
time. You see others that, you know, 
Paul for instance, Saul of Tarsus, he was kicking against the goads. 
I've often thought about that, especially in light of what Paul 
says in Romans chapter 7. Paul understood sin, he understood 
covetousness, he seemed to have had knowledge of the way, the 
Christian way, what they were speaking about Christ, and yet 
he kicked against the goads. He didn't receive that. It wasn't 
until that road to Damascus that Christ brings salvation to bear 
upon Him. So again, I think there are certain 
elements that are going to be present in every conversion, 
but they're going to look different. They're going to look, you know, 
worlds different, because all of God's people are different 
people. There's no, you know, exact correspondence between 
the way that sinners come to a saving knowledge of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. And then notice as well, with 
reference to an element of repentance, the fruits of repentance. Let's 
see that at the end. After praying for pardon and 
strength of grace, with a purpose and endeavor, by supplies of 
the Spirit, to walk before God unto all well-pleasing in all 
things. So, the supply of the Spirit, 
and then the resolve to glorify God. The resolve means to do 
those things by grace, through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, 
those things that are pleasing in the sight of God Most High. 
Now, turn to Luke's Gospel, Luke chapter 3. Luke chapter 3. Again, I want to cover in a little 
bit more detail the whole idea of repentance. in terms of its 
definition and in terms of sometimes a bit of confusion that the Christian 
church and others have relative to that repentance. So notice 
in the preaching of John the Baptist, Luke chapter three at 
verse seven, then he said to the multitudes that came out 
to be baptized by him, brood of vipers, who warned you to 
flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy 
of repentance and do not begin to say to yourselves, we have 
Abraham as our father. She makes this distinction. There 
are fruits worthy of repentance. So again, that definition that 
comes from BDAG, which is the dictionary for the Greek New 
Testament, to change one's mind, to feel remorse, repent, be converted. So there's this change of mind 
that precedes the fruits of repentance. It is that change of mind that 
is mingled with faith in Christ by which sinners are converted, 
or the evidence of sinners' conversion. Now, the confusion between repentance 
and the fruits of repentance runs the risk of preaching salvation 
by works. Faith plus works. If we treat 
the fruits of repentance in the manner that is inconsistent with 
the definition of repentance, we may say to sinners, believe 
on the Lord Jesus Christ and get out of your homosexual relationship. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ 
and stop smoking crack cocaine. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ 
and stop cheating the government on your tax returns. Well, what 
happens when we do that? We fall into the Galatian error. There it was, believe on the 
Lord Jesus Christ and get circumcised. justification is intimately connected 
to saving faith. Now again, the other side of 
that coin of faith is repentance. But in the first place, it's 
a change of mind. And if we turn to the book of 
Acts, you can see that these terms are used synonymously, 
and they are used interchangeably. So turn over to Acts chapter 
two, just to see how this plays out in the apostolic preaching. Acts chapter 2, the emphasis 
on faith or belief in the book of Acts. Look specifically at 
verse 38. Then Peter said to them, Repent, 
and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for 
the remission of sins. And you shall receive the gift 
of the Holy Spirit, for the promise is to you and to your children 
and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will 
call. And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, 
saying, Be safe from this perverse generation. Verse 41, Then those 
who gladly received his word were baptized, and that day about 
three thousand souls were added to them. So repent and let every 
one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the 
remission of sins is consistent with verse 41, those who gladly 
received his word were baptized. Now notice in verse 42, They 
continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, 
in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon 
every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the 
apostles." Now, notice especially verse 44. Now, all who believed 
were together. All who believed, those were 
the ones who repented by the grace of God. The terminology 
is used synonymously. The terminology is used interchangeably. You see an emphasis on belief 
in Acts 4 at verse 4, you see it in Acts 5 verse 14, Acts 9 
at verse 42, and you can turn to Acts chapter 10 specifically 
for verse 43. The Apostle Peter, again, preaching 
to the household of Cornelius, emphasizes the means by which 
sinners come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Justification is intimately 
connected with saving faith. So in 1043, to him all the prophets 
witnessed that through his name, whoever believes in him will 
receive remission of sins. Others along the way, but look 
at 1339. 1339, same emphasis, Paul in Pisidian 
Antioch emphasizes justification by faith alone. So in by him 
everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you 
could not be justified by the law of Moses. Notice in 1348, 
connection between God's sovereignty in terms of election and its 
application in the lives of the converted people. Verse 48, now 
when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified 
the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed 
to eternal life, believed. They believed because they had 
been appointed to eternal life. It wasn't the case that they 
believed and therefore they had been appointed to eternal life. 
No, God's sovereignty obviously precedes their saving faith. Notice in chapter 14, verse 1, 
now it happened in Iconium, that they went together to the synagogue 
of the Jews, and so spoke that a great multitude of the Jews, 
of both Jews and of the Greeks, believed. And then notice in 
chapter 15, verse 7. Chapter 15, verse 7. This is Peter's testimony at 
the Jerusalem council concerning Gentile inclusion in the covenant 
of grace. And when there had been much 
dispute, Peter rose up and said to them, men and brethren, you 
know that a good while ago God chose among us that by my mouth 
the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And then notice in 15.9, same 
sort of emphasis. So, made no distinction between 
us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Another text 
that shows us that faith is a gift given by God, because God purifies 
the heart by faith. Notice in chapter 16 and verse 
31. Chapter 16 and verse 31. So they 
said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, 
you and your household. And again, there's other passages 
along the way, just highlighting a few. Look at 18.8. 18, 8, and 
Corinth, and Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed on 
the Lord with all his household, and many of the Corinthians, 
hearing, believed, and were baptized. Verse 27, verse 27, and when 
he desired to cross to Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting 
the disciples to receive him, and when he arrived, he greatly 
helped those who had believed through grace. Another testimony 
to the grace character of faith. They had believed through grace, 
and then turned to 24, 24. 24-24. If you're interested in 
all the texts, I have these all specified. I just wanted to capitalize 
on a few of these specifically. But notice in 24-24. And after 
some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, 
he sent for Paul and heard him concerning what? The faith in 
Christ. The emphasis throughout our New 
Testament, the emphasis throughout the Old Testament is justification 
by faith alone. Well, when we look back in chapter 
14 of Saving Faith, we see that this faith is alone, or I'm sorry, 
it's chapter 11, it is a faith that is alone, and yet it is 
not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with 
all other saving graces, namely repentance. So that the coin 
of conversion, the two sides are faith and repentance. Now, 
look at the emphasis on repent or repentance in the book of 
Acts. We've already seen chapter 2 
and verse 38. Look at chapter 3. Chapter 3, 
specifically at verse 19, "...repent therefore, and be converted, 
that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing 
may come from the presence of the Lord." So when we look at 
these passages, it's not the case that some audiences were 
supposed to preach repentance. If we suspect they're especially 
bad, and for others we just preach faith. If we understand that 
first and foremost repentance is a change of mind, it illustrates 
for us the two sides of the same coin. We don't believe in the 
gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ without that change of mind, 
without having been radically altered by God the Holy Spirit. Things that we used to love, 
we don't love anymore. The sin that used to enamor us, 
we don't want it anymore. We have that mindset that God 
inculcates in conversion. Again, 531, the emphasis on repentance 
given by Christ to Israel. Notice in 1118, once again, we 
see that emphasis on, then God has also granted to the Gentiles 
repentance to life. He could have just as easily 
said justification by faith alone. Why doesn't He? Because these 
terms are used interchangeably. They are used synonymously. To 
believe and repent are two sides of the same coin. And then notice 
in 17, Paul at the Areopagus, on Mars Hill. Chapter 17, verse 
30, he's preaching to pagans. Now, people might say, well, 
because he's preaching to pagans, they would really need to repent. 
Well, preaching to pagan Israel, they would really need to repent 
too. Verse 30, 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. Notice in 2618. 2618, the apostles sort of rehearsal 
of his own conversion before Agrippa. And in 2618, we see 
Jesus' admonition to Paul to go. Look at verse 17, I will 
deliver you from the Jewish people as well as from the Gentiles 
to whom I now send you. to open their eyes in order to 
turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to 
God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among 
those who are sanctified by faith in me." So this idea of opening 
their eyes, turning them from darkness to light, that's the 
language of repentance. And then again, notice in verse 
20, Verse 20, "...but declared first to those in Damascus, and 
in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and 
then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and 
do works befitting repentance." You see the distinction there. 
You see, repent, turn to God, and then do works befitting repentance. There ought to be fruits worthy 
of repentance according to this text and then Luke 3a. Now, the 
interchangeability of repentance and faith. You see it in chapter 
9. Well, you can go back to chapter 
9. Chapter 9, verse 35. Notice what 
it says. So all who dwelt at Lydda and 
Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord. And then drop down 
to verse 42. And it became known throughout 
all Joppa and many believed on the Lord. So those who turned 
to the Lord in repentance are those identified as ones who 
had believed the Lord. Notice in chapter 10, with reference 
to the household of Cornelius, verse 43 again, to him all the 
prophets witnessed that through his name whoever believes in 
him will receive remission of sins. After Peter's explanation 
in chapter 11, look at how the Jews respond, the Jewish believers 
there in Jerusalem respond in verse 18, then God has also granted 
to the Gentiles repentance to life. So belief and repentance 
are two sides of the same coin. In chapter 17, this emphasis 
on repentance we see in verse 30. Look at how it's coupled 
with belief in verse 34. So we see in verse 32, when they 
heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked while others 
said, we will hear you again on this matter. So Paul departed 
from among them. However, The gospel goes forth 
under the preaching of the apostle Paul, and not everybody is saved. 
We see that. It's the case that, you know, 
Paul didn't have those powers of persuasion where he could 
make every hearer a Christian. He's dependent upon the ministry 
of the Holy Spirit. The emphasis in verse 30 on repent, 
but then notice in verse 34. However, some men joined with 
him and believed, among them Dionysius, the Areopagite, a 
woman named Damaris, and others with them. Notice, some men joined 
him and believed. So he grants repentance and faith 
to those persons. Notice back in chapter 11. 11.21. 
11.21. We read, and the hand of the 
Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to 
the Lord. So those things are intimately, 
inextricably connected, and they are present in converts. Look 
at 19.4. 19.4, then Paul said, John indeed baptized 
with the baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they 
should believe on him who would come after him. That is, on Christ 
Jesus. Faith and repentance were both 
primary emphases in the preaching ministry of John the Baptist. 
Look at chapter 20 and verse 21, the apostles' first pastor's 
conference with the Ephesian elders. Notice how he summarizes 
his doctrine in verse 21, testifying to Jews and also the Greeks repentance 
toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And then we 
already saw in chapter 26 at verses 18 and 20. So the point 
is, If we don't make these distinctions, if we are not careful with reference 
to these things, it is very easy for repentance to be preached 
as a work. You need to believe on the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and as I said, stop embezzling from the government. 
You need to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and do this. You 
need to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and repent of your sin. 
But again, in the first place, that's a change of mind. The 
fruits follow from that. If you meet somebody that's a 
sodomite, for instance, or a heterosexual fornicator, tell them to believe 
the gospel, to look unto the Lord Jesus Christ and live. And 
by God's grace, when they do that, they'll repent, they'll 
stop, the fruits of repentance will follow. They'll stop the 
sodomy, they'll stop the heterosexual fornication. They will engage 
in those things that are consistent with a profession of faith in 
our Lord Jesus Christ. Again, Westminster Shorter Catechism. 
What is faith in Jesus Christ? Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving 
grace, whereby we receive and rest upon him alone for salvation, 
as he is offered to us in the gospel. I read at the outset, 
what is repentance unto life? Repentance unto life is a saving 
grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and 
apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, doth with grief 
and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose 
of, and endeavor after, new obedience. Now, it may be a subtle distinction, 
but it is one that is there nonetheless. I've heard gospel preaching where 
they've turned repentance into a work. And when we turn repentance 
into a work, we fall into what Paul condemns in Galatia. And 
then notice in the fourth paragraph, we have the duration and duty 
of repentance. It says specifically that there 
is remaining corruption. Paragraph four, as repentance 
is to be continued through the whole course of our lives upon 
the account of the body of death and the motions thereof, so it 
is every man's duty to repent of his particular nonsense, particular, 
particular, particularly, sorry, couldn't quite get those, that 
and peculiarly, those are tough words for me. I don't know if 
it's my tongue or my mouth or what it is, but peculiarly and 
particularly. Not my favorite endings in words. 
Anyways, notice that the confession rightly summarizes in this statement 
in paragraph four, there's no Christian perfectionism. Wesley 
was wrong. The holiness movement that emphasized 
a state of perfection on this side of glory was wrong. It was 
just not biblical. The reality is is that there's 
remaining corruption. The reality is is Romans 7. The 
reality is Galatians 5. The reality is King David of 
Israel. The reality is the Apostle Peter. The reality is is that 
we have this principle in us. The one who wishes to do good 
or wills to do good There is this principle, militating against 
that. And so, as that is the case, 
we are, by God's grace, supposed to repent of our sins. And it 
says, his particular sins, particularly. In other words, when we are conscious 
of the fact, and I would suggest, brethren, we really don't know 
how bad we are. I think it was Luther who said, 
if we ever really did get a sight of how sinful we were, we couldn't 
take it. I mean, God and His grace has 
made us forgetful a lot, I guess, because we, the Puritans would 
say our repentance needs to be repented of. Our tears need to 
be repented of. Everything that we do in this 
world is tainted. There's a remaining corruption. 
that is inherent. And so we are supposed to sin. 
And then we are going to rather continue in sin, we are supposed 
to repent. And then notice fifthly and finally 
in paragraph five, or fourthly and finally, the provision of 
repentance. Such is the provision which God 
hath made through Christ in the covenant of grace for the preservation 
of believers unto salvation. So everything that we need, that's 
the every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ 
in Ephesians 1, 3. Everything we need is secured 
for us by Christ and is provided to us in and through this covenant 
of grace. That although there is no sin, 
so small, but it deserves damnation. Again, Westminster Shorter Catechism, 
what does every sin deserve? Every sin deserves God's wrath 
and curse, both in this life and in that which is to come. 
I think it was Sproul who said, if you were ever granted the 
opportunity to commit one sin, how long ago did you use that 
up? Right? There's never a place in the 
Bible where we are afforded any ground whatsoever to think, well, 
you know, that's just the way it is. And God understands, no, 
every sin is worthy of God's wrath and curse, both in this 
life and that which is to come. But notice, yet there is no sin 
so great that it shall bring damnation on them that repent. What an encouraging thing. Newton 
said, I am a great sinner, but Christ is a great Savior. If you read the prophet Jeremiah 
chapters 2 and 3, you see this emphasis on their sin in chapter 
2, and then on God's great grace in chapter 3. Five times in that 
narrative, God says through the prophet, yet return to me, says 
the Lord. And it becomes even more glorious 
when you understand the backdrop of chapter 2. I mean, that's 
the statement or the place where God says, has a nation changed 
its gods? Have the pagans around you exchanged 
their gods? Yet my people do it constantly. They're always gonna whoring 
from me. They're always looking at someone, at some other God. And yet return to me, says the 
Lord. And then the confession ends 
on this note, which makes the constant preaching of repentance 
necessary. It's a good emphasis that we 
need to maintain in terms of Christians, believers need to 
deal with their sin in the manner that God says, relative to repentance. But as well, unbelievers need 
to be pressed with justification by faith alone and the other 
side of that coin, repentance unto life. We'll all pray, and 
then if there's any questions or comments, we can deal with 
those. Our gracious God and Father, we thank you for your provision 
to us in the covenant of grace, all the things necessary for 
life and salvation. We thank you for our Lord Jesus 
Christ and for his life and death and resurrection. We know it's 
only and alone because of this that we have everlasting life. 
Help us as we enter into worship, to sing praises to you, to glorify 
you, to exalt you, and to honor the Father, the Son, and the 
Holy Spirit. We pray through Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, 
any questions or comments on any of that? Yes, sir. When you were saying earlier, 
when confronted with, let's say, sin for ourselves or for people 
that we want to serve, I saw all this. Technically, you could 
just tell them to read the gospel. Well, I think there is a place 
where it is good to point out their sins. Because again, Jesus 
didn't come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. Acts chapter 2, the Apostle Peter 
says, therefore, let everyone know that God has made this Christ, 
whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. So I think in our 
current generation, we're dealing with people that really don't 
have a concept of sin. I mean, they know they're not 
perfect. That's about it. So the use of the law is very 
helpful in that regard. But when we give the remedy, 
the remedy is to be found in Jesus Christ and him alone. In 
other words, it's not believe and get rid of your boyfriend, 
and then you will be saved. No, believe and repent, change 
of mind, knowing that when they do that, they'll get rid of their 
boyfriend, or they'll marry their boyfriend, or they'll do whatever 
they're supposed to do with their boyfriend. And I would also make 
the distinction, you know, and I think that this sort of understanding 
of repentance helps in this regard. You know, God is God over the 
redemptive grace. So God saves sinners. The elect 
benefit and prosper under the blessing of God. But God is also 
the God over creation. And there is a sense where the 
way of the transgressor is hard. That's what Solomon says in the 
Proverbs. I mean, a person that's engaged 
in homosexuality or drug use, there is a general sense where 
we can say to them, look, you really should stop doing that. 
And that's not the promise of salvation, but in God's moral 
order, in God's moral universe, it tends to go better for people 
that aren't sodomites, that aren't engaged in, you know, gross rebellion 
against the Lord. But when we speak the truth of 
the gospel, we just need to guard against making it conditional 
upon their performance. Because the gospel is rooted 
in the performance of Jesus. His life, His death, His resurrection. So however we secure that, then 
we're free to do that. But yeah, the idea that, and 
again, when you're dealing with somebody who's hurting and agonizing 
over their sin, somebody perhaps that's not a Christian, you don't 
have to pound on them. Yeah, that's the worst thing 
you could ever do. Just point them to Christ. There's hope 
in Jesus. There's mercy. You know, look at the prodigal 
son. He returns and the father falls on him and puts a ring 
on his finger and brings him into the house. So, there's great 
mercy in the gospel for sinners. Yes, sir. I was going to point 
out that 1 Timothy 1 and Acts 20 and 21, that there's an indirect 
proof of the deity of Christ because we have day two. In terms 
of confusing repentance versus proofs of repentance, in my view, 
this is the crux of the whole Lord's Resurrection controversy, 
that we have a bunch of dispensationalists who fail to get a basic confessional 
distinction right, and that's a lot of straw manning and a 
lot of unnecessary noise for 30 years. So it's very important 
to protect that, because elsewhere in my travels, I've seen a lot 
of discourses against repentance. do not want to use the word repentance 
in gospel presentation ever, even though, obviously, we saw 
this morning numerous multiple texts in Acts where repentance 
is used in discourse, such as in Acts 2 or Acts 3, as was mentioned. 
So then, that is huge, that we don't put progressive sanctification 
prior to justification. Again, so much biblicism, so 
much anti-professionalism, It's always good to ask, what 
does the word mean? But yeah, that's the technical 
background in this presentation. The lordship controversy And 
then the reaction to the lordship controversy in terms of, for 
instance, the guy in Tempe, right? He's against preaching repentance. He believes that that's just 
terrible. Well, I think if you maintain definitionally it's 
a change of mind, and then the fruits of repentance It helps 
you not to avoid all of these passages and acts that do stress 
repentance. Or the opening statement in our 
Lord's ministry, what does he say? Repent, for the kingdom 
of heaven is at hand, Matthew 4, 17. So it's very important 
to maintain these distinctions. so that we don't bring it to 
the point where, you know, it's faith in Jesus plus whatever 
it is you do. But at the same time, we cannot 
minimize that when God saves a sinner, they're given the graces 
of faith and repentance, and then there will be fruits of 
repentance. And in terms of the fruits of repentance as well, 
if we understand that God deals with people differently, there's 
some obvious You know, low-hanging fruit. If your Christian brother 
says, yeah, you know, I'm a godly man and I'm still living with 
my girlfriend and we're still having fornication. You know, 
that's a good time to say, you know, that's not consistent. But in terms of the people of 
God, they're at different places. They're at different degrees, 
or they have different information, not different completely, but 
we need to be patient and gracious with the professing people of 
God when it comes to certain things. Again, if they're known 
murderers, yeah, your repentance is suspect. But if they're not 
where we're at, then maybe we should just be patient and let 
them grow as God gives them grace. It's, again, analogy of scripture, 
analogy of faith. We're trying to use clear texts, 
i.e., all this definitional stuff in Acts, so that when we see 
this, we're not misled, because I think, clearly, this is a fruit 
of repentance in terms of it of us turning in the copies of 
Jonah's preaching to where we can protect that confessional 
distinction from the New Testament as we look at less clear Old 
Testament texts. Yeah, hanging your hat on that text would be 
difficult, too, because not long after, they completely turn away. We always forget the book of 
Naaman, right? Remember when a famous creature 
in New York took Jonah, and so this shows us our need to be 
funding to our cities. What about Naaman? Right? Naaman is the counter-response 
with reference to Jonah. So Nineveh turns, and then they 
turn back, and then God brings destruction upon them. So don't 
forget Nahum in your treatment of the prophet Jonah. It's a 
good lesson there when we hang our hats on specific guys. All 
right, well, I think this is probably gonna be it in worship, 
so we gotta sing loud. As far as I know, just about 
everybody's gone on vacation, so let's sing loudly when we 
gather.