"And the times of this ignorance God winked at: but now commandeth all men every where 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;whereof he hath given assurance to all men in that he hath raised him from the dead."Acts 17:30-31 KJV . This scripture, my friends, gives us to know that God is expecting for universal or global repentance. The ignorance that the writer is referring to is at that time,man's lack of understanding, and the absence of a coming promised redeemer for all mankind. This is before Jesus, the redeemer, came to earth. After having multiple wives, physically killing people and doing it in the name of the Lord with his help, and keeping certain dietary laws and such like other Old Testament laws and statutes, God no longer is allowing mankind to do such things. Not only those things that I wrote above, but the mere fact that an individual does not obey the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and his teachings handed down to the Apostles is enough to, and will damn the souls of men into eternity.(See 2 Thessalonians 1: 8 -10 KJV) . God's only true message that he is giving to all humanity is to repent of their sins, and to be baptized in water in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and receive the holy ghost according to Acts 2:38 (KJV) This is a world wide call to repentance, the rich, poor, bond, free, Black, White, Red, Yellow, all nationalities, ethniticities, languages, religions and people from every stratum of the world's society. Jesus, when he began his earthly ministry almost two thousand years ago, preached like this."From that time,Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. (Matt. 4:17) Notice how he told men immediately what they had to do in order to be in compliance with the kingdom of God. He did not tell them to join church,or be religious, or go to the church of your choice, or get you child confirmed, or sprinkle your infant, or go to confession or be a good moral person, or practice some type of Religion or go to Mecca, Jerusalem,Timbuktu or anything like that, he told them to simply repent. Something that the old as well as the young could do, the educated as well as the uneducated could do,the fool as well as the scholar all were capable of doing. Isaiah 35:8 puts it like this, "And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness: the unclean shall not pass over it: but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools shall not err therein." Regardless of your social status, character, or your place or role in society, or the lack thereof, or if you are imprisoned, terminally ill, in good health, fair, poor health, blind, dumb, deaf, asthmatic, or whatever position of life you are in, this great liberating life-changing without respect of person, gospel truth is to and for you.Furthermore, if you are already religious, go to some type of house of worship, or just stay at home,or a bible believer, atheist, agnostic, rebel, peacemaker, cult leader or follower, King,President,Prince,Head of State,Congresssman,Senator, Mayor,Preacher, Layman,Capitalist,Republican,Democrat,Pro Choice advocate, Anti-Abortionist, Drug Dealer or Just plain old John or Jane Q public. This message of repentance is for you. Let's look at what the Apostle Peter says in Acts 10:34-35, "Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation, he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him." God is not concerned about the things that men put so much emphasis on. Remember that he made and created all mankind from the first
people, Adam and Eve. (Gen.2nd and 3rd chapters). And I want to also share this scripture with you in Isaiah 55:8-9, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." The wisest man that ever lived, or will ever live, cannot fathom the great intelligence and all powerful, and all knowing abilities of the great Jehovah, now known as Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that we as individuals accept the dynamic truth of this glorious gospel of the blessed God, which has been entrusted into the hands of faithful men who believe this oneness Apostles teaching message. Alright, since man is given his direct command first by our Lord himself, and then prior to his ministry, John the Baptist, (Not a Baptist as we know them today, but as the first baptizer in water for the remission of sins) he proclaimed this message of repentance to fallen humanity and let the masses that came to witness this true, unique, strange, not-the-satus-quo religious person of that day, but was called by Jesus himself the greatest prophet born of a
woman. ( St.Matt.11:11 KJV) What made John so great is his message as recorded in the gospels. He preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. (St.Mark 1:1- 11 KJV)+St.Luke 3:2-20+ St.John 1:15-36 KJV). To go back further in the word of God, all the prophets of God always preached a message of repentance to hardhearted, impenitent Israel. Although rejected by the masses, and not taught by most of the religious world, but rather a compromising, materialistic,name-it-claim-it,confess-with-your mouth-believe-it-in-your-heart-and-that's-all-it takes, hocus-pocus salvation. (Not the type that the scripture gives us an account of in the new testament church with the Apostles) Today we have a massive collection of doctrines started and perpetuated by man and his own concepts and philosophies about a God that he ignorantly worships, just as the Athenians in Paul the great Apostles' day made this observation about them. (See Acts 17:15-23) It is sad to see so many well meaning, morally good, kind, honest, upstanding people of our day today embracing doctrines that most of them do not know the origin of them, or cannot go to scripture to back them up other than what is taught by the precept of men. What the Lord gave to the Apostles' is the only credible
eyewitnesses that we have.Outside of what man in his complexities about religion, and God, has entangled himself in his own institution of dogmas. The Pope, mainstream Christianity, and the greatest of all the world's spiritual leaders do not embrace the docrine of the Lord, as taught by the Apostles, but their own. Actually, the entire word of God gives us a history of his very own people that were chosen by a holy God to be his witnesses of his mighty awesome power demonstrated through them,i.e, the Israelites in the Red Sea, Joshua crossing the river Jordan, the miracles down in the land of Egypt, the divine guidance of the pillar of fire and cloud by day and by night etc. the scripture is very explicit about God's dealings with a stubborn and rebellious race known as the human race. Even if you go back to the age of the great flood (Genesis 6th- 10th chapters KJV) the entire world was wiped out due to man's unwillingness to obey God and only eight people(Noah being the eighth) was saved. (See 1 Peter 3:20 KJV). Again we will look at the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 13:12+ 19th chapter of Genesis KJV) was destroyed by fire from the Lord. Also on numerous occasions, and in different passages of scripture, severe judgment to those who disobeyed God. Let's look at what Jude says about the judgment of God upon the disobedient.(Jude 5-7 KJV) " I will therefore put you in remembrance,though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. And the angels that kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Let's also look at Romans 11:22 KJV, "Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity: but toward thee goodness,if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. Now look at the mind of God, given here in these scriptures, so, now you should be able to see the picture that I am painting about why man in his puny, frail, weak, unregenerate state is given a command by the Almighty to repent and turn his life around and comply totally with the criteria that God and not man, has given to the world, in order to obtain eternal salvation. This is what Peter tells us in his address to those who had crucified the Lord of glory, and were the instigators and consented to the murderers of him, not only is his message to them at that time, but to us today in the twenty first century. "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heavens must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began." (Acts 3:19-21 KJV) Alright, in closing I'm taking you to Hebrews 12:25-27 KJV," See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we ( those who have repented of their sins and been baptized in Jesus' name for the remission of sins and have the holy ghost according to the word, and are continuing stedfastly in the Apostles' doctrine according to Acts 2:38-42 KJV) receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and Godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire! Since he is here talking to the believer, and he wants them to serve him with this criteria, that's why God is giving us .......A Call for world repentance!