Seeing the Grace of God in Repentance (Acts 17:30-34)
“Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead." Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some began to sneer, but others said, "We shall hear you again concerning this." So Paul went out of their midst. But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them…Acts 17:30-34.”
In verses 22-34 of Acts 17 we see the Greatness of God as our Creator (v. 22-24), the Goodness of God as our Provider (v. 25), the Government of God as our Ruler (v. 26-29) and the Grace of God as our Savior (v. 30-34). This morning I want to focus on the Grace of God as our Savior who offers us the gift of repentance. And what a glorious gift repentance is for without it we are destined for destruction. If it were not for the Lord’s mercies we would all be consumed – and the very words of Jesus Christ confirm this truth: “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” Repentance means a change of mind or attitude about something. Literally, it means to turn – you are looking one way and turn around and look another way. In this passage of Scripture, there are three graces of God we see in repentance.
FIRST, REPENTANCE IS NOT A WORK OF MAN BUT A GRACIOUS GIFT FROM GOD. Repentance involves God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Acts 11:18 shows the role of the Father: “When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, "Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life." Acts 5:31shows the role of the Son: “He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.” And Zechariah 12:10 shows the role of The Holy Spirit: “I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.” Second Timothy 2:24-26 further testifies to repentance as a gift of grace: “The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.”
We should praise God this morning for the gift of repentance. We are quick to tell men to repent and we should be but are we as quick to thank God for the gift of repentance. It is the gift of repentance that allows lost men to be saved, carnal Christians to come back into fellowship and disciples to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior? Pastor Rey Stedman once said to his Sunday morning congregation that there are many people here who could stand up and testify, if we gave you opportunity, that you lived for years in the grip of this idolatrous delusion that you were sufficient in yourself until something occurred that put you flat on your back, or broke your heart, or came crashing in as some great disappointment, and made you realize for the first time that you could not live without God. I imagine this is true of many of us this morning as we continue by faith to confess our sins and draw upon this wonderful gift of repentance. Pastor Stedman went all to say: “That is why history exists, that God may reveal himself as the God who draws men, who awakens them, who urges them to find him, to seek him, and who will reward those who diligently seek him.” The promise of Proverbs 8:17 still works today: “I love those who love me; And those who diligently seek me will find me.”
The second grace in repentance is evidenced by THE LORD ALLOWING MAN TO EXIST IN "TIMES OF IGNORANCE." The Bible says the sun shines on the righteous and the unrighteous. Times of ignorance are times in your life, or my life, when we were trying to satisfy ourselves with things that were less than God. “Times of ignorance” mean God is full of grace and mercy because He has made the way through repentance for you to come as an unworthy sinner to Jesus. Aren’t you glad God does not immediately strike us dead when we sin? This does not mean God will not hold you accountable for your sin if you are unrepentant - Paul makes it clear God “will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead. But the Lord takes the initiative to draw you to Himself.
God reveals his grace through the “times of ignorance” in three ways: By His long-suffering, His kindness and the conviction He brings of sin to our heart. The Scripture says, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) Also Romans 2:4 says: “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” And in Acts 2:37-38 we see the conviction of sin God brings to the heart: “Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?" Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
The Lord wants all people to repent of their sins and to experience an intimate relationship with Him. I wonder this morning if you have fellowship with Him? Repentance is so important that God commands “all everywhere should repent”. The lost are to repent. Jesus said, “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners (Matt. 9:1:3). But Christians are to repent as well – it is the means by which God continues His good work in us (Philippians 1:6). Paul speaking to Christians in 2 Cor. 7:9 said: “I now rejoice not that you were made sorrowful. But that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance.” There were carnal Christians in the church at Corinth and in Paul’s first letter to that church he called upon the church to discipline the guilty and in his second letter he rejoices because the guilty repented. So repentance is for the Christian. Charles Spurgeon said, “There is a good deal of repentance to be done in the church before much good can be done in the world… When the ungodly see that Christian people do not repent, you cannot expect them to repent and turn away from their sins.”
In the Old Testament the Lord spoke through the prophet Zechariah with a plea for the people of Judah, God’s chosen, to repent. “Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the Lord of hosts.” If you say, “I have returned to the Lord this morning, can He see evidence of this in your life? Is there fruit of repentance? Or have you allowed sin in your life to come between you and the Lord and your intimacy with Him is gone?”
True repentance starts with the graceful work of conviction. Conviction makes people see their personal accountability before God. Oswald Chambers writes: “The marvels of conviction of sin, forgiveness, and holiness are so interwoven that it is only the forgiven man who is the holy man, he proves he is forgiven by being the opposite to what he was, by God’s grace. Repentance always brings a man to this point: I have sinned. The surest sign that God is at work is when a man says that and means it. Anything less than this is remorse for having made blunders, the reflex action of disgust at himself.” It was D. L. Moody who said: “When a man is not deeply convicted of sin, it is a pretty sure sign that he has not truly repented… experience has taught me that men who have very slight conviction of sin sooner or later lapse back into their old life.”
Conviction in turn leads to the graceful work of contrition. Contrition is a deep godly sorrow and humiliation of heart because of sin. Again Oswald Chambers writes, “Repentance does not bring a sense of sin, but a sense of unutterable unworthiness. When I repent, I realize that I am utterly helpless; I know all through me that I am not worthy even to bear His shoes. Have I repented like that? Or is there a lingering suggestion of standing up for myself? The reason God cannot come into my life is because I am not through into repentance.” Thank God for contrition although it causes a deep sense of sorrow because: “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted; And saved those who are crushed in Spirit.” (Psalm 34:19) If we are truly contrite, it leads us to confess our sins. John 1:9 tells us “If we confess our sins… Again, it was D.L. Moody who said, “I believe that nine-tenths of the trouble in our Christian life comes from failing to do this. Unconfessed sins in the soul is like a bullet in the body.”
If you have no power in your Christian life, it may be there is some sin that needs to be confessed, something in your life that needs to be straightened out. Be warned the writer of Proverbs says, “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper” (28:13). The apostle declares in our passage when a person learns the truth about Jesus, he then has a responsibility before God to change his mind and to continue to be transformed by the renewing of his mind. God grants you the opportunity but you are responsible to change your mind and lay hold of that which God has provided for you in Jesus Christ. Are you laying hold of all that Christ has for you?
FINALLY, GOD’S GRACE IN REPENTANCE ALLOWS YOU THE FREEDOM OF CHOICE. The decision is yours. In this passage, three different choices were made. First, some mocked and sadly this is still the reaction of many today. Whenever they hear of Jesus, they begin to ridicule. But we are warned in the Bible: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” (Galatians 6:7-8).
Second, some delayed. So they told Paul (really The Holy Spirit), "We shall hear you again concerning this." They procrastinated and procrastination is nothing to play around with for the lost person or the Christian. Edward Young wrote “procrastination is the thief of time.” To procrastinate is to put off intentionally the doing of something that should be done. There are dangerous and foolish attitudes associated with procrastination. One danger is that procrastination gives an individual a false sense of security – a hope for acting on a tomorrow that may never come. And old English proverb warns us, “One of these days is none of these days.” I admonish you to guard against attitudes of “When I get my life in order” or “When I have the time.” Rather follow the Bible’s advice: “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.” Leave nothing for tomorrow which can be done today.
Thirdly, some believed. That is the great word here. Some received the gift and repented. A gift is not a gift for you unless you receive it. They heard the good news about Jesus and understood what this fantastic grace of God in repentance is about, how it delivers men from their fears, how it breaks through the darkness of men’s minds and opens them up to the God of glory. Ignoring the grace of God in repentance will cost unbeliever the gift of heaven and the wayward Christian the abundant life here and the loss of reward in the life hereafter. Don’t be ashamed at His appearing. Rather be prepared to hear well done good and faithful servant.
