Man's Repentance Toward God

We are in a series of doctrinal messages, friends, on the great doctrines of the gospel, doctrines that God has been pleased in former times to bless with spiritual awakenings and Holy Ghost revival, so that we could dust off these old doctrines today, friends, and preach them again with power. In our preceding two messages, we looked at man's ruin through sin and man's redemption in Christ. Today, we will look at a much forgotten doctrine, and that is the doctrine of repentance.

I fear the watered-down gospel of our day that has omitted repentance as a necessary part of salvation has damned its millions. Jesus said, Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. And that means you, brother preacher, if you don't believe you need to repent to be saved.

We must preach the full counsel of God, an informed man of his duty of repentance, and a common judgment that awaits all mankind. I'm going to be honest with you, friends. I know a good number of preachers who preach to be accepted by their hearers.

Their self-esteem is tied to their reception by their hearers, so they preach to be accepted of men. And that's a dangerous thing, friends, because my Bible declares in Ezekiel, When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die, and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life. The same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thine hand.

Let me tell you, friends, there are some preachers out there with some bloody hands. I want to share a story with you about the famous Southern Baptist preacher R.G. Lee. There was a member in Dr. Lee's congregation, an attorney who had to be out of town on business frequently.

But no matter where this lawyer went, he made sure to catch a train back to Memphis on Saturday night, so he could listen to R.G. Lee preach on Sunday morning. He just loved to hear that man preach. Well, this lawyer got cancer, and he was in the hospital dying, and he called for his pastor to come to his bedside.

Dr. Lee entered the hospital room, whose window overlooked the Mississippi River. The lawyer told R.G. Lee, I want you to know how much I've enjoyed your preaching through the years, and I never missed a Sunday if I could help it. I lie here now, and I'm dying, with only a few weeks left to live, and I want to reprimand you, sir, for never telling me how to be saved.

You never preached the cross to where I could see it. You never put the blood out there to where I could reach it. I'm a dying, and I will dine my sins, and I'd chastise you, sir, for your lack of preaching the true gospel.

Well, R.G. Lee left that man's hospital room with his head down, feeling berated and guilty as charged. It was now dark outside, as he made his way down the banks of the Mississippi River. There he got down on his knees in the mud, getting his white suit-pants dirty in the process, and while he dipped his hands in the muddy river, he reflected on what he thought about what that dying man had told him, and as he knelt there, right there and then, he promised God from that point forward he would preach the cross and the blood, and he changed his message that night.

And in three weeks' time there was a move of grace in his church that shook three blocks of downtown Memphis with revival. Do you want to see God move in your ministry, friend? Then change your message to be the full counsel of God, and warn men and women and boys and girls that, unless they repent, they will surely die in their sins and be sent to a devil's hell. Acts 20, 21 tells you how to be saved in order to go to heaven.

You must exercise repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. The very first sermon Jesus preached was on repentance. The last word to his church in Revelation was to repent.

I know why pastors don't preach up man's duty of repentance today. It's because they feel that, in order to be a success in ministry, they need to grow a big church, and the only way to do that quickly is to preach soothing and entertaining messages that make people feel good about themselves. But if a man of God were to warn sinners of their great danger of being sent to hell when they die, and that is their final destiny, if they do not repent, then you're going to risk upsetting a lot of folks.

You're going to upset people in your congregation. I guess we have to ask ourselves, is a big church and acceptance and popularity more important than the souls of men? I think there's a good many in our pulpits today who'd be better off if they did what old R.G. Lee did, and go visit their local river and dip their bloody hands in that water for a sound washing, and then make a vow to the Almighty that from that point on, come hell or high water, they're going to preach up the cross. They're going to preach that sin is black and hell is hot, and they're going to put the blood out there so man can reach it, and warn men of their duty of repentance.

I really believe if more pulpits today started to preach the doctrine of repentance, we just might see a move of grace in this land. Once more, they would shake this country from coast to coast in a mighty revival. Friend, if you've never exercised repentance toward God yourself, and faith in Jesus Christ, you better settle it with God today, friend.

For if you die in your sins, you will make your bed in hell tonight. Let us pray.