Repentance

The Response!

Peter preached the message.  From Acts 2:1 until Acts 2:36 we have the message.  In Acts 2:37 we see the response of the people to the gospel message!

Acts 2:37 "Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their 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 ... but he didn't stop there ... he continued on. "REPENT and BE BAPTIZED every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." (Acts 2:38)

119 Other men and women DID NOT just sit by and allow a false doctrine to be propagated. Not at ALL. They all, being filled with the Holy Ghost agreed with the teaching and preaching of Peter!  You will never convince me that each of these people who eventually died for their belief, allowed Peter to preach a lie on the day of Pentecost.  No sir.  Peter preached the gospel message AND gave us the remedy and our proper response to the gospel message!

The Gospel message in all scriptures BEGINS WITH REPENTANCE.

The message of repentance, however, doesn't stop with Peter. Paul preached REPENTANCE. Remember Paul's experience with MARS HILL? In Acts 17:30, Paul proclaims

"And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:..."

These Greeks had no problem at all with simply "BELIEVING" in anything. Paul had now made it very clear that this statue to the "unknown" God was MORE than just another 'god' to believe in. He made it clear that the statue was NOT JESUS and that JESUS was not just another 'god' to be added to their long list. He made it clear that to just "believe" wasn't enough.....he told them they must REPENT and be cleansed!

Paul preached to King Agrippa in Acts 26:19-20:

"Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision: But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance."

How do we repent?

Being "sorry" doesn't constitute REPENTANCE, although it is a first step. 2 Corinthians 7:10 states:

"For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death."

Paul makes a distinction between Godly sorrow and Worldly sorrow. Godly sorrow is one that concludes with a changed heart; a heart that hates sin, desires to serve and to please the Lord Jesus Christ and one that desires to seek RIGHTEOUSNESS.

MEN AND BRETHREN ... WHAT MUST WE DO?

Matthew 16:26 "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"

1 Corinthians 6:20 "For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."

If you are "bought with a price", the you must acknowledge that you BELONG TO THE ONE WHO PURCHASED YOU and that HE CAN DO WHATEVER HE WISHES TO DO WITH YOU. He has the RIGHT to tell you how to live, how to act, how to talk, how to walk and how to serve.

The church of today has somehow learned to "turn off" the conviction of God and has followed it's own ways. People are being deceived into a false peace that CANNOT and WILL NOT lead them to heaven. Teaching today has taken the Word of God and cheapened it by NOT teaching and requiring GODLY SORROW as evidence of true repentance.

Most of those who come and only repeat a "sinner's prayer" go right back into the same ungodliness they were in before they ever repeated that "prayer".  Many times, they turn back to their filth immediately upon leaving the parking lot!  The problem now is much greater than it was before they repeated that "sinner's prayer"  Why?  Because now they have been deceived into thinking they are going to heaven.

They have been offered them something that JESUS himself NEVER OFFERED.

They have been offered SALVATION WITHOUT REPENTANCE.   It is absolutely impossible to have salvation without repentance!

Take Peter's example of Repentance in Matthew 26:75:

"And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly."

What happened to Peter?  Very simply:  He repented.

EXAMINE YOURSELF. Have you TRULY REPENTED? Does the fruit of the Spirit show that you've repented or do you still have your same old life as before?

If you have NOT changed your lifestyle, your thinking, your attitudes, your entire character...If you do not have a life that is HOLY and RIGHTEOUS before God, then perhaps you need to sincerely and genuinely:  REPENT.

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