Turn with me to Revelation 16 and read verses 8-11 and 21. These verses describe the terrible judgments of God upon men and women, by which he warns all of judgment to come. Here we see men and women scorched with great heat, gnawing their tongues for pain, suffering the consequences of drought more severe than tongue can describe, and at last being beaten to death with hail stones weighing over 100 lbs each! Surely, men and women, suffering such terrible acts of judgment from God's almighty hand will be humbled, broken, submissive and seeking mercy. Surely no heart can remain hard and unmoved by such evident acts of God. That would seem reasonable, wouldn't it? But that is not the case. When these men were scorched with fire from heaven, "they blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues." As they gnawed their tongues with pain, "they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores." When great hailstones fall out of heaven, crushing them to death, "men blasphemed God because of the plaque of the hail." And though God so plainly displays his power and wrath, warning men and women of the judgment to come, they "repented not of their deeds" (v. 11). "They Repented Not To Give Him Glory" (v. 9).
These words will be our subject for tonight; "They Repented Not To Give Him Glory." What will it take to break a sinners heart? What will it take to make a rebel surrender to Christ? What will it take to produce true repentance in the heart of a stubborn hardened, self-willed sinner?
Proposition:Our text plainly teaches us that THE JUDGMENTS OF GOD DO NOT PRODUCE REPENTANCE IN THE HEARTS OF MEN.
Divisions:I want, by the power and grace of God the Holy Spirit, to give you some plain instruction about the matter of repentance. And I pray that God the Holy Spirit will be pleased to use this message to lead some to Christ in true repentance.
1. DIVINE JUDGMENT WILL NEVER PRODUCE TRUE REPENTANCE.
2. THAT REPENTANCE WHICH IS SOMETIMES PRODUCED BY ACTS OF JUDGMENT NEEDS TO BE REPENTED OF.
3. ONLY THE REVELATION OF CHRIST IN THE HEART CAN PRODUCE TRUE REPENTANCE.
4. TRUE, GOSPEL REPENTANCE GLORIFIES GOD.
I. DIVINE JUDGMENT ALONE WILL NEVER PRODUCE TRUE REPENTANCE.
We must be careful here and not make hasty generalizations, which are contrary to Holy Scripture. I do not say that God does not use acts of providential judgment to arouse, impress, subdue and humble his elect and bring them to repentance. Indeed, he sometime does graciously use these things (Ps. 107:1-31).
But I am saying this: Divine judgment, in and of itself will never produce repentance in the heart.
Satan, after being under the wrath of God for thousands of years, has not mellowed or repented in any way. Many who live in poverty, with sickness and disease, and suffer earthly hardships of every kind, are hardened against God rather than helped by the judgments of providence. The heart of man is so obstinate, proud and hard that even in the torments of hell, the damned will never repent.
There is no repentance in hell. They are scorched with heat and tormented with fire. Yet, they blaspheme God's name still and repent not to give him the glory. They curse him for their pain, but repent not of their deeds. True repentance arises from faith and hope. But in hell there is no faith and no hope, but only endless torment. So there is no repentance. In hell there is much sorrow for pain, but no sorrow for sin. There is no repentance in hell. None can be saved but by the blood of the Lamb. But there is no blood to be found in hell. In that awful place of torment the worm of conscience shall gnaw men forever, ever bringing to mind the cause of hell's torment: willful unbelief and obstinate impenitence. How often they were invited to heaven! How easily they might have escaped hell! But they would not. They shall forever weep over the loss of heaven's bliss and over the portion of their cup. They shall weep for pain. But they will not shed a single tear over the cause of their pain. The damned in hell suffer and blaspheme. But they do not repent. There is no repentance in hell!
And if there is no repentance in hell, where God's greatest judgments are executed, the lesser judgments of providence certainly will not change the sinner's heart and produce repentance. Someone said, "Affliction makes good men better and bad men worse!" But afflictions will never make good men bad, or bad men good. Wrath converts no man. It is grace that saves. Judgment does not soften the sinners heart. It hardens it. The men and women in our text by judgment were lead to blaspheme. But "they repented not." The consequence of often neglected warnings is irreversible hardens of heart.
Let those who are not yet hardened by the judgments of God and the terror of his wrath repent now, while God grants you space for repentance. "Today, if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts." You may not be able to repent tomorrow.
The longsuffering, goodness and forbearance of God should lead you to repentance and salvation (Rom. 2:4-5; II Pet. 3:15). But if you despise his goodness, and harden your heart in the day of his goodness, you will find it impossible to repent in the day of his wrath and judgment (Heb. 12:17).
II. Secondly, I want you to see that THE REPENTANCE WHICH IS SOMETIMES PRODUCED BY ACTS OF JUDGMENT NEEDS TO BE REPENTED OF – (Ps. 78:31-37).
Many by providential acts of judgment, sickness, narrow escapes from death, bereavements, economic hardship, domestic trials, and personal tragedies, repent after a fashion. They turn to God, perhaps even change their lives, and hope to ease their consciences. But repentance that is caused only by judgment and legal fear is always false repentance. You can mark it down as a matter of certainty: "That which is born in the storm will die in the calm."
A. A CARNAL REPENTANCE, CAUSED BY THE FEAR OF PUNISHMENT, IS A FALSE REPENTACE – (Cain – Gen. 4:13).
B. TEMPORARY REPENTANCE, WHICH SUBSIDES WHEN THE JUDGMENT IS OVER, IS FALSE REPENTANCE – (Pharaoh – Ex. 9:27).
C. FEARFUL SORROW, THAT DOES NOT CHANGE THE HEART OR AFFECT THE LIFE OF A MAN, IS FALSE REPENTANCE – (Herod – Matt. 14:9-10).
D. DESPAIRING REMORSE, THAT DOES NOT CONVERT, IS FALSE REPENTANCE – (Judas – Matt. 27:4-5).
Cain, Pharaoh, Herod and Judas all repented of the evil they had done, because they saw the judgment of God upon them. But they were not saved. They all repented. But they repented not to give God the glory.
E. SUCH REPENTANCE AS THIS ONLY HARDENS THE HEART AND USUALLY KEEPS MEN FROM TRUE REPENTANCE.
False repentance mocks God, seeks to deceive God, and gives the sinner a false, but assured sense of, security from the wrath of God.
Thomas Boston describes this false repentance in these words: "Trees may blossom fairly in the spring, on which no fruit is to be found in the harvest; and some have sharp soul exercises which are nothing but foretastes of hell."
III. Now, in the third place, I want you to see that ONLY THE REVELATION OF CHRIST IN THE HEART CAN PRODUCE TRUE REPENTANCE.
No one will ever truly repent of his sins and turn to God in genuine conversion until he sees Christ crucified as his all-sufficient, sin-atoning Substitute (Zech. 12:10). Repentance is the tear that drops from faith's eye (Job 39:4-5; 42:5-6).
Judgment hardens the heart. The law of God terrifies the heart. But one look at Christ, crucified in my place, melts my hard heart in repentance toward God.
IV. And, fourthly, I want you to see that TRUE, GOSPEL REPENTANCE GLORIFIES GOD.
The men and women spoken of in our text "repented not to give him glory." But those who do truly repent do by their repentance give God the glory – (Ps. 51:1-5). (Ps. 32:1-5).
A. TRUE REPENTANCE RECOGNIZES, REVERENCES AND ADORES GOD'S OMNISCIENCE – (Ps. 139:1-6).
B. TRUE REPENTANCE ACKNOWLEDGES THE RIGHTEOUSNES OF GOD'S LAW AND THE EVIL OF SIN – (Rom. 7:9).
C. TRUE REPENTANCE GLORIFIES THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD IN THE EXERCISE OF HIS MERCY.
Illus: The Leper (Mt. 8:2) – The Woman of Canaan (Matt. 15:21-28)
E. TRUE REPENTANCE SEES AND ACKNOWLEDGES THAT THERE IS BUT ONE WAY BY WHICH GOD CAN BE JUST AND YET JUSTIFY THE UNGODLY – (Rom. 3:24-26).
F. TRUE REPENTANCE GLORIFIES GOD BY CONSTANTLY PLEADING THE GLOOD AND RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST ALONE.
F. BY TAKING GOD AT HIS WORD AND RECEIVING THE ATONEMENT BY FAITH IN CHRIST – (Rom. 5:11).
Application:Now, I call upon you who hear my voice to trust the Lord Jesus Christ and repent of your sins – (I John 1:9).
*