Repentance Towards God

In this part of the sermon: Martin introduces the second essential element of conversion: a lifelong disposition of repentance and faith, along with its inevitable fruits. He clarifies that this disposition…

The gradual dawning of the sun versus a sudden midday break in clouds is used to illustrate that the beginnings of repentance and faith can be either memorable and dramatic or undiscernible and gradual, but the crucial thing is the resulting lifelong disposition.

In the case of people like Timothy who know the scriptures from infancy, there are many times when the first actings of repentance and faith are not memorable in the spiritual consciousness and memory of the person who has been brought to repentance and faith. But whether the beginnings are memorable or not memorable, if they are real, they become lifelong dispositions of the soul. And that is what is of crucial importance. whether they come like the rising of the sun and those of you who have been up early enough

11:52 - 12:39 Read in full sermon

Driving home: If I have come to turn men from darkness to light, from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, I have come to do so, as I call them effectually and powerfully, to repentance. I have come …

The Eastern context of eating with someone is explained as entering an unwritten covenant of friendship and commitment, highlighting why the Pharisees were galled that Jesus ate with sinners, implying He was drawing them into a relationship of good.

But publicans and sinners were drawing near unto him to hear him. And both the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, This man receives sinners and eats with them. Receives and eats. In the Eastern context, eating was more than just a matter of meeting one's basic physical needs.

22:13 - 22:37 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He returns to the sermon's principal text, Acts 26:18-20, showing that Paul's ministry, from his first sermon to his last, consistently included the call to repent and turn to…

The analogy of dead leaves dropping from an oak tree when new sap comes in spring is used to critique the false teaching that repentance is unnecessary if men just embrace Christ, arguing that theology should come from the Bible, not a tree.

Wherefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision. I did obey my Lord in the intent of my ministry and in the content of my preaching. And did Paul have the notion, if I just hold up Christ in all His glory, Christ in all His beauty, and tell men to behold Him, then I would not need to tell them that they had to repent and turn from their sins and unto God. Their sins would drop off like the leaves drop off when the fresh sap comes up in the spring.

40:56 - 41:30 Read in full sermon

Driving home: What is repentance unto life? Repentance unto life is a saving grace. A saving grace whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and an apprehension, a laying hold of the mercy of God in Christ, does, with grief an…

The definition of 'repentance unto life' from the Shorter Catechism is quoted and praised as the most beautiful, succinct, and balanced summary of biblical truth on evangelical repentance, serving as a framework for understanding its nature.

Well, there are a number of ways we could approach this. We could take the shorter catechism's definition of repentance. I've never seen anything better in all the theology books that I've read, in the hundreds of pages on conversion and repentance. I don't know of anything that more beautifully, succinctly, in a more balanced way, brings together all the strands of biblical truth on evangelical repentance than does the shorter catechism.

44:42 - 45:09 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He illustrates God-centered repentance through the prodigal son in Luke 15, whose return is to his father, confessing sin 'against heaven and in thy sight.' He further exemplifies…

The prodigal son's initial desire for his father's 'stuff' but not his father's face, fellowship, or rules, illustrates the self-centeredness of a sinner before true repentance.

Isn't that what we see in the incident of the prodigal son? He leaves home. He doesn't want the Father's face. He doesn't want the Father's fellowship.

52:51 - 53:01 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He illustrates God-centered repentance through the prodigal son in Luke 15, whose return is to his father, confessing sin 'against heaven and in thy sight.' He further exemplifies…

The prodigal son's state before 'coming to himself' is described as 'moral madness,' emphasizing the irrationality of living in sin and serving oneself in the 'far country'.

Now we go back further. We'll go back to verse 17. But when he came to himself, he was in a state of moral madness, as every sinner in this place is.

53:59 - 54:09 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Against thee, thee only have I sinned and done that which is evil in thy sight. That's the heart of it. You see, whether it's the initial returning of the prodigal, I've sinned against heaven and in my sight.

David's actions against Uriah (getting him drunk, sending him to the front lines, callous reaction to his death) are detailed to highlight the depth of his sin and ruthlessness, setting the stage for his God-centered repentance.

David, who violated Bathsheba, violated that noble converted pagan, that man Uriah, who was of the Hittite nation, idol-worshipping, godless nations. He had become a believer in the Jehovah of Israel. A noble saint in Old Testament terms who sins so grievously against him tries to get him drunk so he'll go home and bed down with his wife and cover up David's deed and live for the rest of his life with the question why he has a kid that looks like the king and not him. David didn't care.

60:24 - 61:02 Read in full sermon