THE KING’S BUSINESS
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a judgment coming, a judgment for “the world,” and every one in it ; no one shall escape, and the one who has not repented before that judgment comes must perish. People today mock at this truth of a com ing judgment day, but God asserts it, and furthermore He has “given assurance unto all men” of the certainty of that coming day, by raising Jesus from the dead. When Christ was here upon earth He claimed that there was to he a judgment, and that He Himself was to be the Judge (John 5:22, 23). Men h^ted Him for making that "claim, and for the claim of His own Deity involved in it. They put Him to death for making the claim, but God set His seal upon this claim of Jesus Christ’s by raising Him from the dead. The proof that Jesus really did rise from the dead is overwhelming; nobody can ¿it down and make a careful and candid study of the evidence of the resurrection- of Jesus Christ from the dead and come to any other conclusion than that He did rise just as is recorded in the four gospels. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is an absolutely certain fact of history. But this absolutely certain resurrection of Christ in the past points with unerring fin ger to an absolutely certain judgment by Christ Jesus in the future. The resur rection of Jesus Christ from the dead removes belief in a future judgment from the realm of mere theological speculation into the realm of a, positive faith resting upon an absolutely certain fact. Belief in a judgment day is no mere, guess of theo logians, it is proven faith founded upon a demonstrated fact. Friday, March 2 . Acts 17 : 32 - 34 . People in Paul’s day were just the same as people today. Many, even philosophers, in this day as well as that, will mock at the truth that they are not willing to accept. This is a common way of trying to dispose of unpopular truth, laughing at it; but it never works, the truth is never any the less true because men sneer at it, even though the men who sneer at it be scientists
blow just ,at the right moment. They were congratulating themselves with a sense of their superiority over the ignorant rabble about them worshipping the idols of which Athens was full, and condemning them for their ignorance, but Paul’s climax as £ found in these verses brings them face to face with their own sin, and the fact that they needed to repent just as much as the common people to whom they felt so superior. God’s one call to all men every where is “Repent” (c.f. ch. 2:38; 3:19;: 20:21; 26:20; Matt. 3:2; 4:17; Luke 13:5; 15:20; 24:47)f for all men have sinned. God’s one. cry through the Old Testament prophets to His sinning people was, “Turn ye.” This same cry, “Turn ye,” or “Repent,” needs to ring out today. The whole human race is an apostate race, they have all turned from God, and each indi vidual needs to return to God (Isa. 55 :7), and any member of this race, i.e., any one of us, who does not repent must perish (Luke 13:3, 5). But we must bear in mind exactly what repentance means. Repentance means a change of mind, a change of mind alxmt God, about Jesus Christ, about sin, such a change of mind about God as turns us from hating God, or ignoring God, or forgetting God, to acknowledging God and surrendering our lives absolutely to His control; such a change of mind about Christ as turns us from rejecting Christ or being indifferent to Christ to an absolute trust in Him as our Saviour, an absolute surrender to Him as our Lord; and such a change of mind about sin as, turns us from loving sin, or indulging in sin to an absolute hatred and renunciation of all sin. Notice carefully ■w?ho it is that God commands to repent, “all men everywhere.” Also notice when He commands men to repent, “now.” The "now” in the Greek is very emphatic, it is not the usual word for now, but an intensi fied form of the word. Notice also why He commands men to repent, “because He hath appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in righteousness, by that Man whom He hath ordained.” There is
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