Everything's Better with Christ - 38

In the opening chapter of Mark we're told that Jesus came preaching.

Mark 1 verse 14, Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. The Son of God came preaching. He came preaching a message. And this message demands a response by sinful men.

And what is the response that's called for? He came preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God and saying the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel. We touched on this last Sunday night but because of how it permeates the message of the New Testament and it is at the heart and center of the gospel message. And because we're gathering around the Lord's table I thought it'd be appropriate for to stop and to think about what is involved in this response that we are to have to this message, this gospel message of the kingdom.

What does it mean to repent and believe in the gospel? So that is the focus of our attention and with those words I want to turn us back to Acts chapter 20. We took some time last Sunday night to show you that this is the message that Jesus came preaching the gospel of the kingdom. This is the message that he commissioned his disciples to go and to preach.

He sent them out two by two, the 70. This is the apostolic message. It is what Peter preached. It is what Paul preached.

It is what all the apostles preached. It is at the heart of the great commission, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ and we have here in Acts chapter 20 Paul basically bearing his heart telling that he had for three years had not withheld anything. He had declared the whole counsel of God but then he gives this summary statement of what is the whole counsel of God because it is centered in the gospel.

Notice what he says. He says, I kept back nothing that was helpful, verse 20, but I proclaimed it to you and taught you publicly from house to house, testifying to Jews and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And then he says there in verse 25, and indeed now I know that you all among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God will see my face no more. And then he says in verse 27, I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.

And I would submit to you that this is a summary statement of what the whole counsel of God is. It is centered in the gospel of the kingdom. And then further delineated, it is a message of repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

Here's the heart of the gospel, the essential elements of what it means to come to be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. There are two aspects to it. One is in relation to sin and the other is in relationship to God. Repentance, a turning away from sin and a turning toward God, a leaving and forsaking of sin and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ, a laying hold of and clinging to God who's offered his Son the Lord Jesus Christ in the gospel. These two things are inseparable, but they're not synonymous.

What do I mean by that? Well, wherever you find repentance, you will find faith. Wherever you find faith, by necessity, you will find repentance. And we could say that what we have is what is being, what we're being called to is a faithful repentance and a repentant faith. Repentance toward God. That is a message that is neglected today in the churches of America.

It has been minimized. It is a radical thing. It is a life-changing thing. In fact, it is impossible for a person to repent and for there to be little or no change in their life. It is a change of mind, but it's more than that. It is a change of mind that brings about brings about a change in behavior.

Listen to this definition. The Greek word that is translated repentance is metanoia. It means a change of mind or attitude that is so strong it changes the direction or the actions of a person's life.

It impacts behavior. I like what John Calvin said in his Institutes. He says, this restoration or this transformation does not take place in one moment or one day or one year, but through continual and sometimes even slow advances, God assigns to Christians a race of repentance, which they are to run throughout their lives. It's not just an event that starts your relationship with Jesus Christ. It is that which characterizes a faithful life committed to Jesus Christ. And I think it's important to have absolute clarity about this matter. You would not know this until I'm getting ready to tell you this, but we continually get inquiries by phone, by mail, by email, of missionaries seeking supporting churches, and we have to screen those.

And sometimes it's pretty clear at the front end that they're not a fit for us. But if somebody has associations and we think that they have an understanding of the gospel similar to us, we have a what we call a doctrinal questionnaire. It's more of a gospel questionnaire.

And you would be shocked to find out how people who are trained in seminaries, called by God, willing to go to the foreign field and preach the gospel, misunderstand the gospel. We don't make it hard. These are simple questions, or at least they seem simple to the the eldership. And I think as you hear these questions, you're going to say, that sounds pretty straightforward and simple to me as well.

Let me give them to you. Question number one, do you make a distinction between receiving Christ as Savior and receiving him as Lord? We're wanting to see where they stand on the lordship salvation issue. The fact that some believe you can believe on Jesus to the saving of your soul and deny his lordship.

Live your life any old way you want. You're not submitted to his lordship, but you're still saved. We don't want people representing us in the gospel.

We don't want people representing us in the gospel in that way. This question, which comes first, regeneration or faith? That's a very short question, but that is an absolutely critical question. And the message tonight will answer that for you. Which comes first, regeneration or faith? Question three, do you believe the election is conditional or unconditional?

If conditional, upon what is it conditioned? Question four, do you believe that fallen man is able to respond to Christ and or to spiritual truth unaided by the Holy Spirit? Question five, do you believe that the Holy Spirit enables everyone equally to respond to truth? And if not, to whom does the Holy Spirit make spiritual truth plain? Question six, do you believe that Christ's atoning death was made equally for all men without exception?

If not, for whom was it made? Question seven, do you believe that it is possible for men to be saved without necessarily evidencing any spiritual fruit in their lives? Question eight, would you say that the act of a sinner in opening his heart to Christ is primarily an act of the sinner's will or primarily an act of God in opening the sinner's heart? Question nine, is repentance necessary for salvation? Secondary question, is repentance a gift of God?

Question 10, is saving faith a gift of God? You'd be shocked when these questionnaires come in. Pastor Barkman makes a copy. We look at it, we grade it independently, and we get together and compare our grade. And it's pretty much our sense that if someone doesn't score 90, we give 10 points to a question, a two-part question gets five points each, so it's 100 points. And if someone doesn't score a 95 or so, we really don't think that they're a fit for us in terms. We want people representing us on the field that understand the gospel the way we understand it. Years ago, we came to the awareness that there were missionaries that we had supported who did not hold our understanding of the gospel. And that's what generated this questionnaire. And we decided that we were going to, what shall I say, separate our relationship with them over a period of time if someone didn't score a certain percentage. And we terminated our support of some missionaries because they were, we had some missionaries we were supporting that scored 60%, 65%. And we thought, so we communicated with them and told them the reason for the questionnaire and the action we were going to take, and we were kind.

And over a period of time, gradually decreased our support of them. But I say all that to say this, this is a critical, critical matter. And I say this because you need to understand the gospel for the sake of your never-dying soul.

If you miss the diagnosis of man's condition, you will inevitably have the wrong remedy to man's condition. We sang this evening, come ye poor and needy sinner, come ye sinners poor and needy, weak and wounded, sick and sore. That's the condition of every sinner, poor and needy, poor and needy, poor in that they have no resources to address their fundamental problem.

And they are needy, they need help outside themselves or they will die and go to hell. That's what this hymn sings about. And I was very happy to sing with you the second stanza, come ye needy, come and welcome God's free bounty glorify. You know the message tonight, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, true belief and true repentance it says, every grace that brings you nigh.

So I thought, confirmation. We're talking about something that's radical, we're talking about something that is life, a life-changing reality. It is impossible for a person to repent and for there to be little or no change in their life. Paul told the church in Rome, he says, for to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.

It cannot, is what Paul is saying. So repentance toward God is something that God commands a man to do and yet man is unable to do that apart from the enabling work of the Spirit of God. Which comes first, faith or regeneration?

Regeneration comes first. Men are dead in their trespasses and sins and apart from God imparting divine life to a man, he cannot, he will not respond in faith and repentance. We cannot do it.

It is impossible, humanly impossible. So what happens when a person repents of their sin? Well essentially what takes place there is in their mind that has been, their mind has been set on self, on self-pleasure, self-reliance, their own desires, their own will and it has now been turned selflessly to serving God and glorifying God. But repentance is not just a change of mind, it is a change of mind that results from a change of heart. And God is in the business of changing the heart and only He can do that.

Back to that hymn that we sang. I know you've been told this, do pay attention to the words of him we do not sing hymns that are doctrinally incorrect. We have this filter that we screen hymns through and if something does not communicate truth as we understand it, we're not going to sing it. But listen to this third stanza, let not conscience make you linger nor fitness fondly dream. All the fitness he requireth is to feel your need of him. If you feel no need of God, you have to feel no need of his salvation, you will not come to him. You say well okay that sounds like that's something man can generate, a feeling the need for by the preaching of the gospel. Now listen to what it says, this he gives you, this he gives you, this he gives you, tis the spirit's glimmering beam, tis the spirit's glimmering beam. For you to feel your need of him is a work of the spirit of God in bringing you to that awareness.

Apart from that you will not. So what does biblical repentance look like? Well it's more than feeling sorry for your sin. Paul talked to the church in Corinth in his second letter in chapter 12 and he contrasted godly sorrow and worldly sorrow. Biblical repentance versus a falsehood.

Godly sorrow is a genuine sense that I have offended God, my sin is against him, and I must change my attitude toward God. It is repentance toward God. It's changing my mind about God.

I used to despise him, I used to hate his law, I used to run from him, now I've had a change. My mind is changed, I'm no longer at enmity with God, I desire God, I want to live for God, I want to glorify God, I want to serve God. That's repentance, that's a change. Worldly sorrow is tears because of the consequences that sin brings, but it leads to death.

Worldly sorrow leads to death. Repentance is more than confessing your sin. We are to confess our sin, but confessing your sin and not forsaking your sin, not repenting of your sin, is falling short of biblical repentance. Proverbs 28 verse 13, he who covers his sins shall not prosper but who so confesses and forsakes them shall find mercy. Confess and forsake. Repentance is more than partial surrender. It's not I'm going to decide what areas of my life I'm going to surrender to Jesus and what areas I'm going to retain lordship over. No, that's not repentance. When Jesus calls a man to follow him, he means follow him with all of your heart. So, repentance is simple, but it is not easy.

In fact, it is humanly impossible. Steve Lawson says, there are no terms of negotiation when it comes to God's repentance. There are terms of peace, but they are God's terms. You come to God on his terms, not your terms. You don't make deals with God. You don't come to God on your terms. God commands all men everywhere to repent. It is far more radical than most people think. Biblical repentance takes a person from a diametric opposition to God and rebellion toward him to a penitent cry of the heart for mercy and total resolve to follow him.

There is no middle ground. I like to think of three points of relating here a definition of repentance. It is, number one, an acknowledgment of sin. It is, number two, an abandoning of the sin. And number three, it is an abstaining from sin. And all of that needs to be understood by the enabling spirit of God at work in the heart. There's a wonderful definition, I think, of repentance in Nehemiah, chapter 9. It is the narrative of the unfaithful people of God under the old covenant.

And the law of God has been rediscovered. And the priests gather the people to read the scriptures out loud and to give a sense. Simple Bible reading and exposition. And what did it produce in the heart of God's people? The old covenant people of God. Listen to Nehemiah, chapter 9, and verse 33.

This is what this preaching and explaining the scriptures produced. However, you are just in all that has befallen us, but you have dealt faithfully, but we have done wickedly. The old country preacher once said in defining repentance, repentance is taking sides with God against yourself. Repentance is taking sides with God against yourself.

What were they saying there in Nehemiah, chapter 9, and verse 33? Lord, whatever you see fit to do with us, you are right to do so. And if you send us to hell, we deserve it.

And you are right and just to send us there. John Owen said this in his book, The Mortification of Sin. The Christian should be able to look back upon his life when he reaches the end of his life and see the slain corpses of his old selfish desires behind him. To be able to look back on your life and see the slain corpses of the sinful desires behind you. Because we are to be engaged in the mortification of sin, putting sin to death. And it is a lifelong calling. It is a fight.

It is a warfare. But the Lord is so good to work in us, both to willing to do according to his good pleasure. So repentance, repentance toward God. Don't miss those last two words toward God, because if you don't understand that it is a turning toward God, then we're back to legalism. A turning over a new leaf, of turning to self, of relying upon self, a work of self-reformation. No, this is a work of the Spirit of God, wrought in the heart, and it is the end of heart transformation.

J.I. Packer used an illustration once in explaining repentance. He's a British guy, in my understanding that he had a military background, and he said this, in the military, no one doubts what is meant when the marching orders are given. No one doubts what is meant when the marching orders are given.

And what are the marching orders? Halt about face, forward march. That's repentance. A man is living his life apart from God. He's walking away from God. He has no interest in God, and God comes to that man, and he says, halt, stop. And once God gets a man's attention, the next command is about face. He turns away from God, and he turns toward God. That's a fearful thing, to be in the presence of an all-seeing God and being undone and condemned and under his wrath. Halt about face, forward march, moving now not away from God, but toward God.

I like that illustration. I think it captures the heart of biblical repentance. Sinners are predisposed to walking at a distance in rebellion toward God in their selfish ways, and God in mercy and grace breaks in upon a man and stops him in his tracks.

Praise God for that. Before I move on to the second part of this, faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, there's a wonderful illustration of what we're talking about here in the Gospels. Word comes to Jesus that his friend Lazarus has died. He delays his going there.

People are wondering why he would delay. Jesus gets there. He seeks to bring comfort to Mary and Martha. Lazarus has been dead for four days. Jesus goes to the tomb and commands Lazarus to come forth. The man's been dead for four days.

Here's my question to impose on that situation. How does a dead man obey the command to live? He's been dead four days, and Jesus comes there and says, Lazarus, come forth. How does a dead man obey the command to live? What had to happen for Lazarus to come out of the tomb? He had to be made alive, right? That's an illustration of the work of regeneration.

You and I are dead in our trespasses and sins. And God comes to a man individually through the spirit of God's wooing and working and commands that man to live. Now, we talk about the Gospel, and there is an effectual call that goes forth. An effectual call that goes forth.

There is a general call that goes out wherever the Gospel is preached, but there is an effectual call, and that is when the spirit of God comes and calls a man or a woman by name and effectually calls them, and that call is an irresistible call. Lazarus could not resist the call of Jesus to come forth, and neither can you when the spirit of God is dealing with you as a sinner. Which comes first, faith or regeneration? Regeneration comes first. Listen, regeneration is the cause of faith and repentance. Faith and repentance is not the cause of regeneration.

The result of regeneration? Faith and repentance. One of the other things that was an impetus for this message tonight is my wife. She said, you were a little confusing tonight. I said, okay, help me understand.

Where was I confusing? She said, well, you said, you quoted Augustine who said, God command what you will, but give what you command, and I didn't understand what you meant by that. I said, well, God has the right, the prerogative, to command a man to repent and believe the Gospel, even if that man has no ability to do so, and hold that man accountable and culpable for failing to obey the Gospel. But rightly understood, if God is working in our hearts, we ought to say, God, you are right, command what you will. But knowing that we're dead in our trespasses and sins, we follow that up and say, but God, give what you command.

Command what you will, but give what you command. And that's what makes the Gospel so glorious. Because not one of us would be saved if it was left up to you or me, right?

We would remain dead in our trespasses and sins, and God would have been just to confine us to everlasting punishment. But God comes to men and women in the Gospel, and he says, come forth. And this irresistible call is sent forth, and you cannot resist when God, the Spirit of God, is dealing with you in that way. So, repentance toward God, but faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

We're not simply turning away from our sin, but we are turning from our sin and to our God. Faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. The hope we have is in the person and work of Jesus Christ. This communion table, these elements that are set before us tonight, preach the Gospel to us, direct us to the person of Jesus Christ and what he did in the giving of his life and the shedding of his blood, his active obedience, his passive obedience. Faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

Faith not in yourself or the church or anything else, but the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen, the gate is straight and the way is narrow, and there is no other way into the sheepfold but through the door, and that door is Jesus Christ. No man comes to the Father except through me, Jesus said, on the way, the truth and the life. So, we're considering our response to the Gospel of the kingdom.

There are conditions that must be met for entrance into that kingdom, and they are repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. The old divines used to talk about faith in three aspects, knowledge and assent and trust. That you had to have knowledge, you had to know some things about Jesus, you had to know some things about the Gospel. You can't trust someone that you don't know, so there are facts that you must know, but knowledge itself won't save you.

And then there is mental assent, agreeing. Yes, there was a person named Jesus. He is the Son of God. He did come to save sinners. But mental assent, knowledge and assent, only qualifies you to be a demon because the Bible says the demons also believe and yet tremble. And there are a lot of people, this is what troubles me when I hear the TV preacher come on TV and he's walking along the seashore and in 30 seconds, he gives the Gospel. Lead you in a prayer. If you've prayed that prayer, call this number. It's as simple as A-B-C, admit you're a sinner, believe, it's as simple as A-B-C, admit you're a sinner, believe, but it's mental assent. Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God? Well you sure I believe that. You ever try to reason with somebody about sin that they're a sinner? It's not hard. If you're talking to a rational person, now initially people bow up about the very declaration that they're a sinner, but you simply say, well have you ever told a lie? Well yeah.

What's that? You just admitted you're a sinner. So simply to admit you're a sinner and to believe a few facts about Jesus will not save you. It is knowledge, it is mental assent, but it is trust in trusting yourself to the person and work of Jesus Christ and trusting Him and Him only.

Nothing in my hands I bring simply to thy cross I cling. It's that simple. So how can you know? How can you know if you're trusting in a saving way? How can you know that you have a biblically qualified faith? Well let me tell you where not to rest your hope and secondarily where your rest must be. The New Testament never calls us to look back on a past experience for the assurance of our salvation. Are you saying that there isn't a point in time when salvation begins?

No I'm not saying that. Salvation is being translated out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son. There is a point in time when that must take place, but the New Testament does not call us to look back on a past experience for the assurance of our salvation, but it calls us to look at the present reality. The question is not has there been a time in your past that you can point to to when you repented and believed? The question is tonight as you sit under my preaching are you presently repenting and believing?

That's the issue. That's the issue because if anyone be in Christ he is a new creation. Old things pass away and behold all things are becoming new.

It's a lifelong process. So hear me tonight. The call is to continually be repenting of sin and continuing to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ because we still grieve God. We still fall. We still sin. There's still indwelling sin remaining in us that needs to be mortified and we know that ultimately God is going to give us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ and as we battle and wage war against remaining sin and look to the Lord Jesus Christ and rest in him and him alone we will by the Spirit's enabling keep on repenting and keep on believing and God will bring this full circle one day in glorification and we will see him as he is and we will be like him.

So as I conclude this evening, do not, I repeat, do not let anyone ever fool you into believing that there is such a thing as a Christian who does not hate sin and love Jesus Christ because there is no such thing. The Bible calls us to continually examine ourselves to see if we be in the faith. To prove our own selves.

Therefore, let us give diligence to make our calling and election sure for, listen, if you do these things the promise is you will never fail and you will never fall. That's the purpose, one of the purposes of the Lord's table. To keep us laser focused on the person and work of Jesus Christ because he is our only hope in life and in death. And it is the place where we examine ourselves to see and we affirm again, yes, I'm a believer, yes I am a believer, yes I am a believer, yes I am a believer, yes I am a believer, yes I am on ourselves to see and we affirm again, yes I'm a believer, yes I am continuing to believe, yes my hope is still in the person and finished work of Jesus.

I've not jettisoned any of that, I've not abandoned any of that, my resolve is greater than it's ever been. And we do that in the context of the corporate faith of the church. I need, you need, we need to see each other reaffirming our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and remembering our Lord in the way he commanded us to. It is his ordinance, it is a church ordinance and it is for, it is a means of grace for us as we partake of Christ afresh and avail ourselves afresh to the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus.

Let's pray. Father, we thank you tonight for the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. What a message and what a gospel of good news we have. Father, cause your word to find lodgement in our hearts, correct any misunderstanding, call to life any who are still in darkness, encourage your church as we look to Jesus Christ afresh and express repentance toward God in faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Do it for the good of your church, do it for your own honor and glory, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.