Repentance is so important that god commands “all men everywhere to repent.”
Acts 17:30
And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
All means ALL!!!!!
1. The lost are to repent. Jesus said: But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. (Matt. 9:13) He said again: 3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem. 5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. (Luke 13:3-5)
2. Backsliding, born-again Christians are to repent. Paul said: Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. (2 Cor. 7:9) The believers in the church at Corinth were quite carnal. In his first letter to them, he called upon the church to discipline the guilty party, in his second letter he rejoices because the guilty have repented.
3. Local churches are to repent! In the Revelation of Jesus Christ, chapters 2 and 3, our LORD sent seven letters to seven churches. He called upon five of them to repent.
The church at Ephesus was to repent because she had left her first love.
The church at Pergamos was to repent because she permitted the doctrine of Balaam to to be taught, and to eat thing sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.
The church at Thyatira was to repent because she suffered Jezebel to teach and seduce God’s servants to commit fornication.
The church at Sardis was to repent because she was a dying congregation.
The church at Laodicea was to repent because she thought she was rich and did not need anything. In her opinion – she had arrived. She did not know that she was neither hot nor cold, but lukewarm, and God was ready to spew her out of His mouth.
God called on all five of these churches to repent – or he would remove their candlesticks – and they would cease to give their light in the spiritual darkness of the world.
The lost are to repent – or perish.
The back-slidden Christian is to repent – or be disciplined.
The local church is to repent – or lose its effectiveness in a world lost to sin.
Coming up next, the final installment on Repentance – the evidence of repentance!
The Vine Vigil 