May the God of all mercies be bountiful to every one of you dear friends. Once again it is my good fortune to declare to you the whole counsel of God. My soul thrills with gratitude within me at this peculiar opportunity afforded me to tell out the message of salvation. May we turn to the Word of God. Much is being written these days about the world's desperate need for revival. Conferences are called, conventions thunder with it. Organizations are being set up for it Yes, we need reviving, a revival that will expose sin, enlist souls, enthrone the Lord Jesus Christ. Such revivals never begin with the masses, but always with the individual human heart. It is therefore to each of you personally that God directs this message out of this Holy Word when he says in Acts 17:30-31; "The times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent: because he hath appointed a day, in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." I speak to you on the all-essential, all-vital, all-important subject of repentance. May we pray. O, thou God and Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, let thy blessed Holy Spirit make effective this message of repentance so essential in these bitter days. Speak thou through this servant to the hearts of Christians and unsaved. May great grace be given to all of us to turn from our sins to thy Son. May our hearts, washed in the blood of Calvary, be and remain an offering of sweet savour on the altars of our devotion to thee. In Jesus name. Amen. The Bible, in addition to all else, is a manual on repentance. It is one of its chiefest messages. You may find it saturating the pages of the Old Testament and running through the revelations of the New Testament. It is the first step towards God and salvation. Nothing can take its place. Cleanness of heart is an utter impossibility without it. Peace of mind can never be attained without it. It is in the warp and woof of Christianity. The greatest saints have been the greatest repenters and the greatest preachers of repentance. Repentance is commended by God. Hear his cry to Israel--"Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit" (Ezek 18:30-31). It is commanded by Christ-"Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will came unto thee quickly, and remove thy candle-stick out of his place, except thou repent." Repentance is not a popular subject. It is much easier to preach on the love of God, on faith, on heaven. But, repentance is in the Bible. It is one of the fundamental doctrines of the Word. It is a doctrine of first and vital importance. It was the message of the prophets. Isaiah preached it - "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man His thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God for he will abundantly pardon." Ezekiel cried it out in his day - "Repent and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new Spirit" It was the message of John the Baptist - "Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." It was the message of the Lord Jesus Christ - "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel." When the Master sent out his disciples, he said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." It was the message of Peter on the day of Pentecost - "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." It was the message of Paul on Mars' Hill in Athens - "The times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent." When the Lord Jesus Christ sent out the twelve, then the seventy, his command to them was to preach repentance. Yet today it seems to be a forgotten doctrine. Sweetness and light are the rule of the day. Repentance, heart searching, soul moving repentance is glossed over. The doctrine is clearly set out in the Bible and for that reason easily understood. God would not have us mistaken about it. But is it repentance? It is certainly not fear alone. Many who have been terrified did not repent. There must have been a great deal of terror in the heart of Pharaoh when every Egyptian firstborn died on that frightful Passover night. Within a few short hours of the tragedy Pharaoh and his hosts were racing after the Jews striving to bring them back into slavery. Repentance is more than feeling. The jails and penitentiaries are full of men miserable in their feelings but definitely unrepentant. There is not one within the sound of my voice not sorry, bitterly sorry for sin, but, have you repented? Are you repenting and repentant now? Repentance is more than fasting, more than afflicting the body. You may torment yourself for weeks and still not repent. Many go to any length in this direction, tormenting themselves on pilgrimages, in various forms of self-denials, even physical castigation, who know not the first thing of repentance. Repentance is more than conviction. Some have been convicted for weeks, some for years, but have not yet repented. Felix trembled under Paul's preaching, but said, "Go thy way." He died in his sins. Men behind bars are sorry they were caught and forced to suffer for their misdeeds. Repentance is more than being very religious. Saul the Pharisee was very, very religious, but of what avail was his religion when he met Jesus face-to-face. Apparently the rich young ruler had a form of religion but he lacked Christ. Nicodemus was a ruler of the Jews but he needed repentance and regeneration. Repentance is more than reformation. Reformation takes care of the outside only. The inside is what needs fixing up. Cleaning the watch when the mainspring is broken will help not at all. Repentance is more than knowledge. The vast majority of us [know] infinitely better than we [do]. Knowledge adds but the greater responsibilities. "To him that knoweth to do good and doeth not, to him it is sin" Repentance is more than confession. Confession too often is merely lip expression, in some cases it is a ritualistic practice that reaches no farther than the tongue. So many confess their sin, then go back to them like a dog to its vomit, like a hog to its wallow. What then is repentance? The word to repent in the Hebrew means to pant, to sigh, to groan, to lament, to grieve. The word "repent" in the New Testament means to change one's mind. Repentance is a change of your mind about your sins. You no longer enjoy them, gloat over them, seek them, engage in them, involve others' in them. You see them in their bleak, black folly. You detest them, despise them, abhor them, hate yourself for ever engaging in them. Repentance is a change of mind about yourself. You realize the abysmal depths of your unregenerated soul. You recognize the undone condition of your heart. You remember the dread accountability you owe to God. You see yourself mirrored in the holiness of the Lord Jesus Christ and almost abhor yourself. Repentance is a change of mind about your Saviour. He becomes the source and substance, the sum and sufficiency of all your ambitions, your hopes, your aspirations. He becomes the crown of your life, the goal of all your strivings, the aim of all your efforts. Repentance is a change of mind about your substance, about your service. It all belongs to God. You call nothing your own. You are a steward, an agent, using the blessings, the mercies, the talents, the wealth God may have given you, all for this greater glory. Repentance touches the intellect. It is a matter of mind. It touches the emotions, the feelings. There is no part of you that remains unchanged. It moves the will, alters the disposition of your ways. The cry Of God is - "turn ye, turn ye, for why will ye die!" But, who needs to repent? The Bible, Christian history and biography have shown that the greatest Christians have been the very greatest repenters. The greatest saints have abased themselves the most. Paul called himself the chiefest of sinners. In his succession, St. Francis, David Brainerd, others have sobbed out their penitential tears to God. Who needs to repent? Every Christian who has so much as a shadow between self and the Saviour; every Christian who has drifted even the slightest away from God and Christ; every Christian who has by any omission or commission grieved the Holy Spirit needs to repent. Who needs to repent? Every unbeliever, every unregenerated sinner, everyone not washed in the blood of the Lamb, needs this grace of repentance. Surely that is clear, easily understood, believable. But, what will happen when we do repent? The results of repentance are both temporal and eternal, both earthly and heavenly. Heaven is made glad when the cry of repentance rings out upon the earth. There is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner that repents than over ninety and nine that need no repentance. Sins are forgiven upon repentance. In the Gospels we are taught that remission is conditioned upon repentance. No repentance, no forgiveness of sins. The Holy Spirit is poured out upon the penitent soul. "Repent, and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord" Repentance makes life brighter. We no longer carry the load of our sins. We are right with God. The burden of guilt, of doubt, of terror is removed from us. A new freedom comes in. There is a lift and a lilt in life. God's comforting presence comes in to stay. Our repentance definitely influences others. What a joy that is. God be eternally praised for it. We cannot take one step toward God without making a great impression on others. So, you have heard God's great appeal. What is your answer? Surely you will not go on in your sins. Surely you will not carry your burdens any longer. God knows what you need. He says-repent. Christ knows what you need. He says-repent. The Holy Spirit knows what you need. He says-repent. Grace will be given you the minute you look up to God to say - "Lord have mercy on me a sinner." Will you utter that plea now, right now as you read this. God's face is turned toward you. Christ's blood is available to you. The Holy Spirit invites you - repent now. Confess your sins to God. Claim the atoning death of Christ for your salvation - the triune God will do the rest. He has never failed to welcome the penitent, confessing, seeking soul. He will not turn away from you, nor turn you away. His promises are your surety of your welcome, our security of forgiveness. God give you the grace to be done with your sins. He will, if you ask him to do so.