Repentance and faith are the essential components for entering the kingdom of God, as declared by Jesus Christ and the Apostle Paul. Jesus' initial public ministry in Mark 1:15 proclaimed, "Repent ye, and believe the gospel," a message echoed by Paul to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:21, who testified "repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." The sermon emphasizes that true repentance involves a change of mind that leads to a change of direction, not a complete separation from sin, and that faith is a confident belief in Christ as God's provision for salvation. Ultimately, the message calls for a genuine understanding and application of repentance and faith as the divinely appointed path to salvation.
Restored with Diffio
Audio restored with Diffio. Diffio processed the original archive recording to reduce noise and produce a cleaner listening version; the original stays available.
Speech quality score (model-estimated, SCOREQ): before 2.25 → restored 4.40
very glad to have our brother Don Wilburn from Atlantic Iowa to give us a message Don he's kind of tough for a country boy to have all these wires up here let's turn in our Bible to the book of Mark the first chapter while you're turning let me raise a question of all the men that have ever lived on the face of the earth from the time of Adam to this time tonight Who would you say would know best how to get to heaven? Think about it for a moment. Of all men who've ever lived on the face of the earth, from Adam the first man, down till the night, who would you say would know best how to get to heaven?
Well, some of you brothers, if the cat hadn't got your tongue, why don't you tell us? All right, the Lord Jesus Christ. I'll agree with you. I'll agree. I want to shake his hand after the meeting. I agree. Let's look at Mark chapter one. Verse fourteen. Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and say, the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent ye and believe the gospel. has seen that the Savior set forth two wonderful things here for our attention.
Surroundings and settings were the beginnings of our Lord's earthly ministry. In keeping with the priesthood of the Old Testament, the Lord Jesus was about thirty years of age when he started in his public ministry. And we find him immediately after his baptism going out and saying, Repent ye and believe the gospel. It's interesting to note that the word believe is also the same word as its elsewhere translated faith. So when you see the word believe and you see the word faith, you're looking actually at the same word from the original language. Now, why does the translators put it, believe in one place and faith in another is somewhat of a mystery to me, except maybe for the euphony of the English language.
At the time of the translation of this particular version we call the King James Version. People in the English-speaking world were using the Elizabethian or King James English. It's a rather archaic today, a little bit, at least, and it's something we don't use in our ordinary vocabulary. Our vernacular varies just a little. But in those days, many times it was necessary in their way of thinking to add the ETH. And many times where it says believe us, it would be a little difficult to say faith in. You know, your tongue gets tied and you can't say a word, and it's a little difficult.
So I guess that's why that we got that very weak word, B-E-L-I-E-D. It's awfully weak. As a matter of fact, it's so weak, I'm convinced tonight that there's about a whole nation of people that believe, but I think there are a few that really are saved. And I think sometimes it's because People don't understand what believe really means from the Bible. Well, it seems that if Jesus Christ knows the way to heaven, and I'm convinced he does, he's telling us here that the way to get there is repent and faith or believe the gospel. Now, there are some of my brethren and colleagues who disagree with me. They feel as though the message today is believed, and they try to take away the word repent.
However, I grant them the privilege of disagreeing. I just pray for them because I think they're wrong. And I don't mind them disagree with me as long as they don't disagree with the Lord. If they disagree with the Lord, it puts them on bad ground. But I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ knew more how to get to heaven than anyone that ever lives on the earth. Secondly, now, let's go to a second question. Who would you say other than the Lord Jesus Christ, what other man would you say... would more clearly know, of course I think here we get into the matter of relativity, but who would you choose next as knowing for sure the mind of God about the way to heaven?
What one man, since Jesus Christ, would you say actually knew best or the most about getting to heaven? Now, of course, you say, well, they all seem to know the same message, and there's one message, and I think I'd have to agree with you. But is there any particular man that you would pick out? that you think would come as near being more like Christ than any other man and certainly had a true message. Who would you think? Maybe someone else. The Apostle Paul. I'll agree with you. I'll agree with you. Now, not to be contentious with the rest of you if you chose Peter. Peter's a good man, and he was one of Christ's apostles. He gave you the way to heaven without a doubt.
He was a little mixed up on God's program for preaching, and the Lord had to give him a special vision, and... He said, after the special vision, now I perceive that God is no respecter of persons. You see, he didn't perceive too well for a while, but God straightened him out. But I believe the Apostle Paul, of all men, knew, that is, outside of Christ, knew best, how do we get to heaven, knew more about, seemed to exemplify more of the person of Christ than any man that ever lived. Now let us turn in our Bibles if we will to the book of Acts this morning in chapter. While you're turning... Let me remind myself that at eight thirty when you're through, isn't that right? You're through at eight thirty, so I want to try to finish my part by that time. Be nice if we could complete this thing together with you.
All right. Acts chapter twenty and verse seventeen. The apostle Paul does not dare go into the city of Ephesus. The last time he was there, he was in danger of his life. So he'd take, as a matter of fact, he had spoke to his friends, begged him not to go into the amphitheater. Paul had been preaching there. He spent about three years there. And rather than to go into town in a two-month come about, he goes out to a little suburb en route to Jerusalem. Now, remember, he's going from over in the Isthmus, oftentimes called Greece. He's going from that direction, right on around the Aegean Sea coast, on by Ephesus, on down to Jerusalem. He's headed toward Jerusalem.
But rather than going to the banking city of Ephesus, he stopped out at a little suburb called Melitius. And it's there that he desires to talk to the Ephesian elders. And from Elisha, verse seventeen, he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church. Now, suppose the Apostle Paul happened to be visiting some little suburb out here, down here in Lincoln, a little suburb. Maybe the Lincolnites wouldn't appreciate that. That's pretty much the little town. But anyway, suppose you had some little suburb adjoining the west side of town here. And the Apostle Paul came along and called for the elders of the church. of Omaha, who is he? That might be a good thing to get into. Anyway, here he knew who they were, and they knew who they were, and he called for them, and they came.
He called the elders of the church, and when they were come to him, he said unto them, You know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility of man, and with many tears and temptations which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews. Now, here he's reviewing something of his ministry that he had with them in the space of three years. Verse twenty, and how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you and have taught you publicly and from house to house. And here, I think we have a marvelous example of both platform or teaching or public ministry, which primarily is teaching, and house to house, which is shepherding or pastoring.
And over here he says, I've taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. So tonight I believe that it's certainly evident that the Lord Jesus Christ, in his declaration on how to get into the kingdom or how to get into heaven, is in absolute keeping and parallel with what the Apostle Paul had to say to the Ephesian elders in the little suburb of Melitius just outside the city of Ephesus. Both are saying that repentance and faith are necessary. Now I'd like to examine that tonight just a little with you and perhaps we'll in the will of the Lord spend a couple of nights on the subject so bear with me.
I've heard of your loins a little bit and we'll try to go through the subject because I think it's very important. I'm convinced tonight that too many people have never really understood repentance. As a matter of fact, to illustrate that, I'll not forget, I suppose, as long as I have my national and normal mind, an incident that took place many years ago in West Texas. We were living out in the country, and I was doing several things to try to keep bread and beans on the table. I had a big garden that I was working out there in that nice West Texas stand. It's awfully easy. You could just take a hole in work if you didn't need a plow, really, because the sand was the saw. Everybody's crushed over it. It was always easy to work. In any way, the Lord was gracious, and one brother said that the Lord blessed wither, you know, they say instead of widow, it's wither down there.
Wither women's and preacher's gardens, and I believe that because I gave away lots of black eyed peas and purple hoed peas. That's things you don't know about evil here. And lots of tomatoes and milk and all those good things like that that we get down south. But I had a good garden and was doing some power line work from West Texas and cooking, and the Lord did wonderfully provide for all. But I remember living out there in the country. One day we had a knock at our door. It wasn't too often that we had a knock out there because we were quite a long way from town. There was a little small community there, but not too many people in it. And as I went to the door, I noticed it was a good friend of mine about my same age. And he was awfully troubled. As a matter of fact, he was so emotionally troubled until his face showed a redness.
And his eyes looked like, well, I sometimes referred to it as... Louisiana Roadmap. If you've ever been down in Louisiana in the bio-country, you could imagine what a road map would look like. It had red lines running everywhere. That's kind of the way his eyes look. He looked bad. And I said, well, Royce, come in. Can I help you? He said, you've got to help me. And so I had him to sit down on the couch there and we began to talk. And it wasn't long ago. These words came out. He said, son, I don't know whether I'm safe or lost. That wasn't the first time I'd run into that. So I never did feel too strong about trying to help them. When they have doubts like that, I have found it very difficult to get many people over their emotional problems when they have doubts.
And so I said, well, Roy, tell me, is there any one thing that you believe has caused this particular emotional difficulty that you're having now? What is it that's beginning to torment your mind and cause you to say, you don't know if you're saved or not? He said, well, Don said last night, I was in town. There was a little place called Bluey, Texas. He said, I was in town and I heard a man preach on repentance. And he said, you know, the more I thought about it, the more I wondered if I ever repented. I said, I don't ever ever hear anything on repentance. Back when I was a boy. And I thought, oh my, so does it here. Repentance is not a new word. Repentance is an old word. And yet repentance is a modern word. Repentance is a needed word.
Repentance is a powerful word. And repentance is a message for today. So, As we think about this tonight, let's remember that repentance is God's program from the time that man had sinned down till the time that man is going to seek to be. It offered a way of salvation. Repentance is still God's program. This man had such trouble of mind and sorrow at heart that he was so emotionally broken that after a while we talked a little bit and he began to weep and he couldn't talk for a long while. And so... It became my privilege to try to work with Roy and spend maybe two years with him before he finally came out of his real deliverance.
I believe a great failure had happened way back when he was a lad of a boy, when he professed to be saved, someone failed to explain to him repentance and what it is in the Word of God. We've looked now at two passages. We've looked at the passage in Mark chapter one. We've looked at the passage in Acts chapter twenty. And we found that both the Lord Jesus Christ and the Apostle Paul have declared that it's repentance and it's faith. Jesus said, Repent, ye, and believe the gospel. But mind you now, the word believe is the same word as it rendered faith here in Acts chapter twenty. And Paul the Apostle is saying and testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith.
toward our Lord Jesus Christ. So they're saying absolutely the same thing. God has inspired us, or I say us, God has inspired a writer to give us something of a little amplification of what Jesus said. Jesus said, repent and believe, and the Apostle Paul was allowed to say, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. I wonder if we know what repentance really is. Often times when I travel from place to place, I like to find out how much people know about a certain subject because many times I gain some insight. I'm just learning. I haven't graduated yet.
I'm still in school. The Lord's got a diploma for me one of these days. It's a cap and a gown. Actually, the gown might be referred to as a robe and it's going to be wonderful because he's provided it all the way. But I haven't gotten there yet. So I'm still trying to learn and I'm serious about that. But I like to get people's opinions about things. I like to know what they're thinking. I like to sort of take a little poll, a little gallop poll, if you please, and find out what they're thinking is. And one of the things that I like to inquire about is, what is your opinion of the gospel? What is the gospel? I many times start off this way. What does the word gospel actually mean? And then after they define the word, then I like to find out, well, tell me what is the gospel?
And oftentimes I like to pass out a sheet of paper. I even thought about that tonight, but I was running a little short of time, passing out sheets of paper with pencils and get everybody, not to put your name on. I wouldn't want your name, but just what does the word gospel mean in our Bible? And then what is the gospel? Give us a definition of what the gospel is. Put it down. And you know, oftentimes you can get some real Lulu answers. That's right. One of the most frequent answers is the Bible. Now, how many of you would want to really believe the Bible is the gospel? I don't. You say, boy, I'm a heretic. Okay, where's your back door? I don't get ready to run. But I don't believe that the Bible is the gospel.
I do not. I'm convinced that the word gospel means good news. It's made up of two words. It's the word angabab, meaning messenger. And it's a little small, tiny word, you. If you put it in the English letters, it would be EU. It's compounded to that word, angalov, meaning messenger, as Eugenia. And Eugenia is a messenger of good. And when you put it down in the substitute of gospel, it's actually meaning good news. Good news. Well, I think of a few verses. I'll just try to pull one out of my mind. Psalm nine seventeen says, The wicked that shall be turned into hell in all people that forget God.
Is that good or bad news? Well, that's not too good. Especially if you were headed for hell, isn't it? And the Scripture tells us that the wages of sin is death. I don't think that's a good news. No way. The way I would get it. Not because I've sinned. And that puts me under the death sentence. Well, there's a lot in the Bible that's really not such real good news, but there is some good news. Well, oftentimes, people do not understand what the word, repent means. I can remember some of my misconceptions about repent. And it hasn't been too far remote from this night. Matter of fact, I thought repentance was such a change that it absolutely involved a man's course, a man's course completely so that he separated himself completely from sin.
But you know, if repentance is separation from sin, then man saved himself. Isn't that right? And if I could actually save myself, I no longer need Jesus Christ. I can tell you that. I would not need him if I can separate myself from sin because it is sin that brings death. So repentance and not separation from sin. A member of my family, a family connection, I'll not mention how close or who it was, but a member of my family had been guilty of dividing them all. There was a break in marriage. And then there was another marriage. There was a break.
There was a third marriage, and a death. Then there was a fourth marriage. I'll tell you, my heart was heavy. As I began to think about it, that particular person had professed to be saved, and I thought, well, here's a new Christian, and they're in a wrong marriage or relationship, and I'm going to go tell them that, look, you better break that thing up, because actually, you're not saved. The Bible requires repentance, and how could you go and sin and say you repented? You know, that's not my conversation. You know, you'll find out just how unlearned I am. It won't take long either, will it? Get your pencils and papers. You'll get a notebook for it. All right, I was going to go and tell this particular loved one that she was going to have to separate from that man.
I was talking with a brother in Christ that was very close to me. A man that I prayed with, and a man that prayed with me, and a man that was my counselor, a man that was my confidant, a man that loved me, and a man that walked with God. And I shared with him what was on my heart. He said, God, you better go back and pray some more before you break up that. Better go back and pray some more. Well, I did a lot of praying. And I did a lot of study. I went through the middle of agony and soul. And I just want, because I felt like I owed it to the Lord. And I owed it to that couple. They look now, you both are exercised about salvation. You're even promising to be safe. But I don't think you're safe because you haven't repented. You haven't repented to keep on going on sin. But the Lord is merciful and gracious.
It's long suffering and kind and full of compassion. And so the Lord is in great long suffering. dealt with my heart over the subject of repentance, and help me to understand and give just a little insight into that subject. Tonight, if I had a chalkboard, I'd put it on the chalkboard for you, but it's actually made up of two words. Suppose you were to visit a neurosurgeon. What would you be going to? All right, thanks a lot. A brain surgeon. The Greek word for mine is NUO. A whole lot of these doctor terms are just Greek words.
I think they do it so people can't understand. If I was running a doctor's college, I believe I'd give a lesson in handwriting. They must have a special course. If there are any doctors here tonight, I'm notwithstanding. I have nothing against you, but I sure find it difficult to read some of their writing. Now, a man's mind is the NUO. that is in the language of the New Testament. Now, when you compound that with the word metta, which means with, who begins to feel the word and join it together. The word for repentance is metanoesite. And so when you spit out that big word like that, what you're actually saying is a change of mind or with a change of mind.
It's something that's happening with a change of mind. So I got to thinking about that. Change of mind. Yeah. As I put the things against it, I found that I could not. I had to make another assessment of my project that I had in mind to go to a couple from my own relationship and ask them to break up their marriage. The more I got to thinking about it, the more I realized that there had been a real thorough change of mind. As a matter of fact, One person indicated, oh, I'm so sorry. I've made such a mess of my life. I could wake up a hundred times. I have never done it. But I've done it, and I'm in a fix that I can't get out of. I thought, Lord, that sounds like a thing.
You know, oftentimes we do that, don't we? We get ourselves in a terrible fix. You know the scripture says that righteousness exaltation but sin is a reproach to any people and good understanding gives favor but the way of transgressors is hard and sometimes it's gripping and gets such a grip on you, you can't get out of it. All I had to do was complicate that situation a little bit to realize that even though there had been a sin against God in the wrecking of the first marriage a sin against God in making the second marriage, and then, of course, a tragedy when the third marriage was dissolved through death, and then a fourth marriage, and little children.
And the Scripture teaches very clearly that children are to obey their fathers, and that the fathers are to deal kindly with them and not provoke them to anger, and so on. And so I thought, well, now, Lord, if I go over and get that broke up, I broke up a family, and how can those children love their fathers? They won't even have their fathers. So the Lord helps me to see that my advocacy, that my understanding, about the subject of repentance was completely unscriptural. I'm not endorsing the wrecking of homes. God doesn't, the Word of God explains the sin against God and a drastic sin. And I'll tell you the like concepts are filial obedience to the home and real absolute sobriety about the home and real chastity.
chasingness and chastity in the home seems to be dissipating with every hour. As a matter of fact, I was reading a report just the other day that indicated the percentages of marriages that are being made and the percentages that are being broken, and it's atrocious in this country. I think it's the work and spiritual work of Satan to undermine this country and cause it to go down the greatest empire that historians think ever existed was the Roman Empire. And two key features caused it to fall. One was extreme taxation, and number two was extreme immorality. It was told that the wife of the Caesar was down in the streets at night, not for money, but for sheer case, prostituting her body.
Not all historians agree. I just think that this country is just about the late Father. Oh, tonight. This country needs to repent. Repentance is the message tonight, and it will be the message tomorrow night, because men still need to repent. I said, that's dispensational. I believe it's believed now. You follow the scripture, if you will. Turn to Acts number eight. Heaven is their favorite place. Acts. Some brethren have labeled this just to be a message for the Jews, and I'd like to challenge that concept. Before we finish studying Acts II, I hope that by the grace of God that we're agreed and we see what the Lord is telling us here.
The Apostle Peter says in verse thirty-six, we'll back up a little bit and get a running start to have some of the context in our study. Peter's been preaching, and he's been preaching the death and resurrection of Christ. And three times in this chapter he speaks of Jesus being raised. And he says in verse thirty-six, Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made that same Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ. And it says when they heard these, what was it they heard? They were tricked in their heart. What was it they heard? They heard that they had crucified one who was both Lord and Christ. And this tricked them. Here's Holy Spirit conviction. They heard this. They were tricked in the heart and said unto Peter, And to the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do?
Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized. Every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. And ye shall receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is unto you and to your children and to all who are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words, he did testify and exhort them. Save yourselves from this unborn generation. Repent is his word. Repent. Then said Peter unto them, which is ten. We have three verses at first. Only three. The first one is repent. That's metanaseate. It happens to be second person. It happens to be plural. Peter is addressing all those Jews out of every nation under heaven, according to this chapter.
And the nations are named there. And these Jews have gathered there for the feast of Pentecost, which was... Actually, the second general feast of the year in the Hebrew calendar. And Peter is addressing all the people there. All of you repent. The next verb in this sentence is, or in the verse is, be baptized. Be baptized. This particular one is not second person's word. It's third person's thinking. That's very important. I don't know how you feel about that, but remember it. The Holy Spirit is the greatest, the merit. He knows all of them. He's the author of the Word of God.
He absolutely knows everything that can be done. He knows all of them. And so here he gives Peter a word because Peter was filled or controlled with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost as he's preaching this message. And he says, Repent and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for remission of sin. And then the third verb is, Ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, our Holy Spirit. And so the third verb is shall receive. Now, this third verb happens to be second person, plural. The only logical way that the verb can go together is you repent and you will see. Now, be baptized.
Where does that fit in? Well, that's very important. It really is. As a matter of fact, I usually always dismiss someone who says I'm saved, but they're unwilling to be watermarked in baptism. Now the Lord Jesus, the Lord Jesus gave these apostles a message. And he gave them a promise that they were going to get the empowering for the message. That would be through the Holy Spirit that was to come upon them. And here Peter is using those keys that the Lord Jesus gave him. And he's utilizing the power that God has promised to be in his life through the presence of the Holy Spirit. And he gives this message, Repent, be baptized, and you shall receive. Now, when you link the three together, you're going to find that it makes a beautiful picture of what the Lord is teaching all men everywhere, not just Jews who were living at the time that Jesus the Messiah was crucified.
Number one. Number one, the crux for all who seem to interpret this, just to be Jewish, based on the little phrase, for the remission of sin. For the remission of sin. of sin. Wonder what that means. Wonder what farther omission of sins really means. Well, the far, I didn't see the note, is the translation of a word that's rendered in many other places into or unto. Let's just chase it down for a few moments and see what we come up with. Holding your place there in Acts two. If you'd like, turn to Matthew chapter three. Matthew chapter three.
You find that John the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth, not Zechariah, but Zechariah, I did pronounce it wrong, yeah, I think. Zechariah, the priest of God, has a son named John in his old age. John now has grown and he's gone out preaching. He's about thirty and a half years old. He's about six months older than the Lord Jesus Christ at this time. As far as human age is concerned, And he said in verse eleven, I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. And the word unto is the same word in the original language as far is in Acts two thirty-eight.
Now tell me, and answer me please tonight, at least in your heart, was John baptizing people in order to get them to repent? Now he's asked or he's declared that. He commanded in verse two, repent ye for the kingdom of heaven is in hand. Now that's the very first beginning of repentance in the New Testament. First time the word appeared for it to know. And so he had said in verse two, repent ye. And then of course in verse, I think it's verse seven, he sees a bunch of Pharisees and Sadducees. He's come to his baptism and he said, your generation of vagrants who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come. And in verse eight he said, bring forth therefore fruit. meet for repentance.
And like not to say within yourselves, we have Abraham to our Father and so on. But now, when he comes down to verse eleven, he says, I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. Did John baptize people in order to get them to repent? Or did John baptize people because they have it? Which would you say? In order to or because of. How many are going to lean this way over here? Okay. Any thinkers over here? I'll see you after the meeting. I'd like to talk with you. All right. I think all of you are going to agree with me. That's good.
We'll make some progress. Amen. Now we find that John was actually baptizing people because something had happened, and his baptism viewed what had happened. You see, repentance... is a change of mind which actually results in a change of direction. Now, their baptism fuses. Let's go a little farther in the book of Matthew. Most of you are familiar with the little four-chapter book called Jonah. So in Matthew chapter twelve, our Lord Jesus takes up Jonah. Brother Jonah is brought into view. Someday we're going to see Jonah in the glory.
So the people have been asking Jesus a sign. And verse thirty eight, then surgeon of the scribes and Pharisees answered, Say, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. And here is a marvelous prediction. of the fact that Jesus was going to accomplish redemption. He was going to Calvary. He was going to die for our sins. He was going to hang on that cross. And his blood was going to pour out. And every poor trembling sinner in all the world can say, Oh, thank you, Lord. You die for me.
And faith in that shed blood will bring about salvation. Listen, dear friend. You owe a terrible debt to God. You have nothing to pay. But Jesus paid it off with his precious blood. Now that's what he's doing there. And then he says in verse forty-one something of tremendous momentum. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation and shall condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonas and behold a greater than Jonas is here. Now what's that got to do with Acts two thirty eight? Everything. Everything. How do you know it? See the little word at. They repented at the preaching of Jonas same word as is translated far in Acts two thirty eight.
Now what I'm trying to do is establish a biblical way of looking at the word far in Acts two thirty eight. And once we do, once we arrive at a biblical position, I'm not talking about a brethren position or this kind of position, I'm talking about a biblical position. And if the brethren position agreed with it well and good, if it doesn't we throw it out. Now, here, Jesus said, The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation and shall condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah's. Tell me, once again, let's go to the two things. Did they repent in order to get Jonah to come preach? Or did they repent because of Jonah's preaching?
Over here, amen. Again. I mean, once again, if you get on this side, you're in bad ground. You're in bad ground. All right. You see, now, if you interpret this little word, and of course we don't have a chalkboard, so we can't put it up there, but if you interpret this little word to mean in order to what you've done, you've ruined the entire book of Jonah. All four chapters have been crushed because you've actually reversed the workings of God. You've put the cart before the horse. turn, if you will, to the book of Mark chapter one, back into Mark. We'll go a little farther this time. While you're turning, I'll mention that I read a pamphlet one time.
What else I, I thank a very, very wonderful brother in Christ. And he indicated in his pamphlet that this particular message of Peter was a special message for a special people and required to they're being baptized for their wicked sins and he took it to me for in order to have their sins forgiven and get the Holy Spirit. Because they were Jews and they had been involved in the death of Christ. But remember, it was not a Jew that hammered the nails in those precious ones. Mark it down to those they were the dead of the dead. Jews were not allowed to put in one of the dead.
Amen. and though they were responsible and guilty. Peter makes this clear, so was the Gentiles. In chapter one of the Luke of Mark we find in verse forty, and there came a leper to him, to Jesus, to teaching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, Here's thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and said unto him, I will, be thou clean. And I say, Lord Jesus, said, be thou clean. I take it the man and clean. Notice the commentary. And as soon as he had spoken, Immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he passed him. Was cleansed. I think everyone tonight without exception would agree that this man is clean. He's cleansed. It's already happened.
There's nothing more about the case. It's closed. Self-testimony. And he straightly or very narrowly charged him and forthwent or immediately sent him away. And it says unto him, Leave out, say nothing to any man. go thy way, show thyself unto the priest, or to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded for a testimony unto them. Now notice again, he showed thyself to the priest, and offered for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded for a testimony unto them. Now tell me, did this man have to go in to the priest in order to be cleansed? Or because he was.
Did this man have to go to the priest in order to get a testimony? Or because he had a really testimony? I think over here. Then brethren and sisters and dear friends tonight, whoever may be here, I submit that Scripture is plain, that we interpret Scripture with Scripture, not tradition, that we interpret the Bible by going over this thing carefully as the Spirit of God works in our heart and helps us to analyze. comparing spiritual with spiritual and seeing what God is saying. And the truth of Acts, verse two, thirty-eight is simply this. Peter is saying, to all the Jews that are gathered there, you're all sinners and you're all guilty. Now remember the Jews are out of every nation under heaven.
They were not the people there. They were in Jerusalem at the time of the death of Christ. The death of Christ marked the feast of the Passover, not the feast of Pentecost. people were from the islands, Cyprus, from Greece, and from Arabia, many places, and they never saw the man named Jesus with their eyes. It was very like that. So the Apostle Peter is saying to all there that day, all of you, repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, because of the the remission of sin.
And I think we can prove before our meetings are over that genuine repentance always brings it out. Genuine forgiveness. Repent. Be baptized. Every one of you. Let each of you be baptized. In the name of Jesus Christ. That's in the authority there. And here. For the remission of sin. That is to say. He calls up the remission of sin. And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Now let's take this word forth. That's another weak word. That's one of those wishy-washy words in the English language, and it's full of, it really is. Our language is one of the most difficult. You ask a foreigner coming into this country, if it doesn't find English to be a very difficult language, because it's full of idioms.
If I say red, how would you spell it? Someone would say, are you sure? Someone would say, are you ready? Are you really sure? That's not me. You can get all tangled up. In English, you really can't. All right, if I say, John went to jail, I hope no one hears his name, John. John went to jail for stealing. Did he go to jail in order to steal or because he sold? Well, he went to jail because he sold, didn't he? Not at all. Of course, now mind you, John might be the kind of person that, once he goes to jail, he's going to practice his private practice there too. You know, he may try to get involved there. But initially the court docket would indicate he goes to jail because of his feelings.
More feelings. But let me change it. Jim goes to the hospital tomorrow for a surgery. Because he's had surgery or an argument. See how weak English is? Oh, you just flip it and flop it every week. Really difficult. But God doesn't want us to come to that kind of understanding, a wishy-washy, middle of the, or a kind of grad of the fifth situation. He's telling us clearly, precisely, that every man said that day was to repent. And the moment they did, the moment they did, they were to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, viewing our showing the remission of their sins.
And he said, you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And if any work of man, whether it's ducking in the water at baptism, taking the Lord's Supper, or climbing to climb to heaven, trying as it were to keep the Ten Commandments, listen, any work like that that comes across the board of salvation is known and void. The Apostle Paul tells us from the book of Galatians chapter two, that if right standing comes by the law, then he says that Christ is dead in vain, because he said, I do not frustrate the grace of God. You see, you can't mix grace and work. Here, water baptism is the work of righteousness. And so if those Jews had to go out of the water in order to get the remission of sins or the gift of the Holy Spirit, the places of work, not of grace.
God has never saved a man from the time that Adam, I believe, was closed in righteousness, down to the life when it's ever going to be saved, apart from the grace of God. Dear friends of night, repentance is the message, and it always brings grace into the life. Always that. So, I'm wondering tonight as I close out the message, it's more or not in the middle of the Lord, I'd like to go and really develop the message of repentance in a more full way. I'm wondering if I'm speaking to someone and I'll say. I'll try to... In some fashion, the set forth is part of the attempt. You say, why do you preach the sentence? Because men need to read. We'll be looking at that tomorrow night in the middle of the world.
Here's the reason I'm going to give you this. From the time that you were born, from the very time that you discovered this sentence as a child, you were born in this sentence. Wherever you were from, you were upset. Oftentimes people think people are sinners. Other folks are sinners because they do that. Or sometimes they don't do the things they should do. That's not the case. We're sinners because we were born that way. And we sin because of sin. We're told in Psalm fifty one, verse five, that when the male sperm joined up with a female egg, sin is present.
David said in that song, he said, Behold, I was shapen in a nickel, and it tended my mother's feet. We learn in Psalm fifty-eight-three, the wicked are estranged from the womb and will stray as soon as it is born in his life. O lady, they're alive. She lengthed them. It is fruitful. Then we're told in Ephesians chapter two, verse three, that we were by nature children of righteousness. You can go home tonight. You can look in that mirror privately. And you will not be able to look in that mirror, David. There is a perfect deed. Yet God demands perfection.
None will get to the glory. Far from perfection. Not more. That perfection can only come through a right relationship with Jesus Christ the Savior. And the only way that relationship can exist is through repentance, faith. Or repentance is to change his mind. And faith is to confidence that Christ is everything God says in you. And you lay hope this belief. Now, would you believe it tonight? Jesus loved you. Died for you. Was buried. And rose again. His blood take your sin death. As it were. God had a stem. And he takes that stem and hits it in that precious blood. And there's your name in all your death. And he puts down there. Take it full. For everyone that will believe on Jesus.
Will you believe on him tonight. If so. God is faithful. I would pray.