Mark 1:15

THE OLD, OLD SERMON

‘Repent ye, and believe the gospel.’

Mark 1:15

It is important to notice the nature of Christ’s preaching. He came saying, ‘Repent ye, and believe the gospel.’

I. The old sermon.—This is that old sermon which all the faithful witnesses of God have continually preached from the very beginning of the world. From Noah down to the present day the burden of their address has been always the same—‘Repent and believe.’ St. Paul told the Ephesian elders, when he left them for the last time, that the substance of his teaching among them had been ‘repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Acts 20:21). He had the best of precedents for such teaching. The Great Head of the Church had given him a pattern. Repentance and faith were the foundation stones of Christ’s ministry. Repentance and faith must always be the main subjects of every faithful minister’s instruction.

II. The necessities of human nature.—All of us are by nature born in sin and children of wrath, and all need to repent, be converted, and born again, if we would see the Kingdom of God. All of us are by nature guilty and condemned before God, and all must flee to the hope set before us in the Gospel, and believe in it, if we would be saved. All of us, once penitent, need daily stirring up to deeper repentance. All of us, though believing, need constant exhortation to increased faith.

III. What do we know of this repentance and faith?—Have we felt our sins, and forsaken them? Have we laid hold on Christ, and believed? We may reach heaven without learning, or riches, or health, or worldly greatness. But we shall never reach heaven if we die impenitent and unbelieving. A new heart, and a lively faith in a Redeemer are absolutely needful to salvation. May we never rest till we know them by experience, and can call them our own!

—Bishop J. C. Ryle.

Illustrations

(1) ‘ “How may I know that my repentance is of the right kind, and that it will be accepted by God?” This is a very natural question, and one which calls for an answer. We have simple but real marks given us, by which we may test whether our repentance is real. By its fruits ye shall know it. Has it drawn you near to God, and led you to forsake all other helpers? Has it made you turn from sin, as the one thing you hate and strive against? Has it led you to an open, grateful confession of the Saviour? These are the “fruits meet for repentance,” which will be found in us if our repentance is genuine. Oh, that ours may be, not the sorrow of the world, which worketh death, but rather that godly sorrow for sin, which worketh repentance unto salvation not to be repented of!’

(2) ‘If the sacrifice of Christ removes all the obstacles which appear to us to lie in the way of forgiveness, there can be no difficulty in admitting the suitableness of faith to be combined with repentance as a condition; for faith is simply that through which, as an instrument or hand, we lay hold on, and appropriate, the results of Christ’s obedience and death. Believing in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, we pass into a position, not indeed of actual innocence, for nothing can destroy the fact that we have sinned, but we pass into a position in which no claim can be substantiated against us, which we cannot show to have been fully met and fully discharged.’