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Scripture Reading: Acts 20:21; 1 John 1:9; 3:4; 5:17a; Rom. 10:9; Acts 2:38
In the previous chapter we saw that in order to receive Christ as the Savior, a person must first realize who Christ is; that is, he has to know the person of Christ. Second, he needs to know the work of Christ, what Christ has done for him and for what purpose Christ died on the cross. The death of the cross is the work of Christ. Then he must know the salvation prepared by Christ. Within this salvation, there are the remission of sins and the imparting of the divine life. In order to receive Christ as the Savior, a person also has to contact Him. We are not dealing with a religion. We are not dealing with doctrines or learning teachings. Rather, we are dealing with the living One, who is just like the air. We have to breathe Him in. We have to contact Him. Fifth, in order to contact and receive Him, we have to open ourselves to the Lord, not merely outwardly but inwardly, from the deepest part of our whole being. We may compare this to opening a window to the fresh air. If we close the window, we close off the fresh air. In order to receive fresh air into a room, we have to open the window widely and thoroughly. Christ is the Spirit, just like the fresh air. If we are going to enjoy Him and receive Him into us, we must open ourselves, the more the better and the deeper the better. We have to realize and be clear about these five items.
There are also five things that a person must practice in the process of receiving Christ as the Savior. To receive Christ is mainly to believe in Him, but this believing includes several matters, so we may say that there is a process of believing. A process is one thing that includes several steps, or several points. Many Christians are short of some of these five items. They may not be short of all five, but they may be short of one or two of them.
The first thing we must practice is a thorough repentance to God. Repentance is the first step of our real believing, our prevailing faith in Christ. If we do not have a real repentance, that means our believing is not so real. In order to have a real believing, a true faith in Christ, we must have a real and thorough repentance. The order in the Scriptures is repent and believe. Repentance must go ahead of faith. Acts 20:21 says, “Solemnly testifying both to Jews and to Greeks repentance unto God and faith in our Lord Jesus.” Repentance is unto God, and faith is in the Lord Jesus. Repentance unto God and living faith in the Lord Jesus are the testimony of the apostle Paul.
The Greek word for repent means to have a change of mind, or a turn of mind. Repentance is a turning. We have to turn, because we are away from God, and we have gone astray from God. God is in one direction, but our whole life and living are in another direction. We are not toward God but against God. Our whole living first includes our thinking, our mind. Our way of thinking is not toward God; it is away from God. This is also true of our behavior, our conduct, and our family life. It is even true of our schooling, our business, and our friendships. Even our clothing and our driving are not toward God but against God, away from God. In almost everything of our human life we are away from God; we are not toward God but against God.
The gospel of God demands that we repent, that is, that we have a turn. This is not only a left turn or right turn, but it is a U-turn. We have to turn back to God. We must point not our back but our face toward God. God is in one direction, but we are living and walking in another. Everything related to us is toward the wrong direction, so the more we live, the more we are away from God and the further we go astray from God. Now God demands that we repent. This means that we have to turn back toward God. This is repentance toward God.
Everything related to us has to be turned: our study, schooling, marriage, family life, relationships with friends, relationships with relatives, spending of money, clothing, thinking, decisions, motives, intents, and every other thing. Everything related to us within and without must be turned to God. This is the real meaning of repentance. We must have a thorough change in our life, a U-turn in our whole life. In the preaching of the gospel, we all have to learn the lesson to help people make this kind of U-turn.
How much we repent depends on how much we have turned. Some Christians indeed have a certain kind of repentance, but they turn only a little; they have only a little change. A brother may have some change, but to what degree? Has he turned forty-five degrees, ninety degrees, or one hundred eighty degrees? Some turn a full three hundred sixty degrees, turning around to be the same as before. We need a one-hundred-eighty-degree turn, a real U-turn back to God. How much we are able to help others depends on how much we have turned, that is, how much we have repented. We should not complain if the new converts are not strong in the spiritual life. We have to criticize ourselves. It is hard for weak parents to bring forth strong children. The health of the children depends very much on the parents. In the matter of gospel preaching, we all have to learn and be dealt with.
I worship the Lord in these days because I realize that not only are the brothers and sisters doing the work of preaching, but they are being dealt with by the Lord and learning the lessons. If a brother quarrels with someone, can he go out after that to preach the gospel? If a brother lies to someone during the day, can he preach the gospel in the evening? His power will be gone, and his mouth will be shut up by his lie. His conscience knows, and the evil spirit knows. When he goes to open his mouth to testify for Jesus, the enemy will say, “You are a liar,” and his mouth will be shut. In order to preach, you have to confess your sins. You have to deal with your lies, and you have to be dealt with by the Lord in this very specific matter. Then your conscience will be clean. You will have the freedom, and you will have the boldness to say something for Christ.
To preach the gospel requires us to be dealt with. It is easy to be used by the Lord to speak a word of edification, but it is not easy to speak a word of preaching. If you are going to preach the gospel, you have to be dealt with by the Lord. How can you help someone to repent with a one-hundred-eighty-degree turn if you do not turn in this way? It is impossible to have only a forty-five-degree turn and ask people to have a one-hundred-eighty-degree turn. If we ourselves have not turned to such a degree, how can we help people to repent? However, if we cannot help people to turn one hundred eighty degrees back to God, we have done a poor job of preaching. We have to help people to have a full, thorough repentance toward God.
Many people when they repented have said, “Lord, from this day my thoughts turn to You. My family life turns to You. My business, my job, my schooling, my friendships, even my driving, and everything turn to You. Whatever I have, whatever I do, whatever I can do, and whatever I am, I turn all these to You.” As a person believing in Christ, you have to do this. Otherwise, something dirty or sinful in the eyes of God still remains in you. That poisons the Christian life. You have to clear up what you have been, what you have been doing, and how you have been living. This is a real and thorough repentance.
This kind of repentance is an uprooting. It uproots us from this sinful world. Our life and living have been too rooted in this sinful world. Now we have to uproot our living out of this world. Real repentance is an uprooting out of this earth, out of this sinful world. We need such a repentance toward God, and we need to help others to realize such a repentance.
Following repentance, you need to make a confession of your sins. You have to confess all your sins before God. First John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” This forgiving, this cleansing, depends on our confession. We have to make a thorough confession. Someone may ask what sins are. This is a real problem. How can we define sins? Verse 4 of chapter 3 says, “Everyone who practices sin practices lawlessness also, and sin is lawlessness.” What is sin? Sin is to transgress the law, to break the law. Any kind of transgression of the law is sin. In the Scriptures there is the law, which includes not only the Ten Commandments but many bylaws and regulations. The Ten Commandments do not tell us to love our neighbor as ourselves, but this is an item of the regulations with the law; it is a part of the law. If you do not love others, you are breaking the law. This is a sin. Any kind of transgression of the law is sin.
In the Ten Commandments there is a commandment that says we must honor our parents. Have you always honored your parents? Do not think that as an old person I am condemning the young generation, but I do realize that today’s generation is wrong in this matter. Sometimes teenage children tell their parents, “You are too old. You do not know what is right; I do.” To take this kind of attitude toward your parents is sin, because it is a transgression of the law.
In the Ten Commandments there is another commandment that tells us we should not steal. Someone may say that he never steals from others. I do not believe you have never stolen. In actuality, you have stolen many times. Many students steal answers in order to pass their examinations. Some children even steal from their parents. There is no need for me to go into detail. You know all the stories better than I do. All those are sins. Any kind of transgression of the law is sin.
First John 5:17a says, “All unrighteousness is sin.” Unrighteousness and injustice are sin. If you are not righteous and just, that is sin. In this country, in the Far East, and in Europe, many people are not just and righteous when they go to the market. They try to get more than what they pay for. I present this simple definition to you. What is sin? Sin is the transgression of law. Sin is unrighteousness. Anything unjust and unrighteous is sin.
In order to be a proper believer in Christ, you have to confess all your sins; you must make a thorough confession. You may not consider that you are sinful, but if you desire to take care of this need, go to spend some time with the Lord. You now proclaim that you believe in Jesus, and you have made the decision for Christ. That is good. Praise the Lord! Since this is so, spend some time with the Lord. Consider all your relationships—with your parents, your wife, your husband, your children, and your schoolmates, roommates, friends, and relatives. While you are considering all these relationships, the Holy Spirit may come to you and say, “You are wrong with your parents in a certain matter. Ten years ago you were wrong in certain things with your father. You are wrong with your schoolmates, wrong with your neighbors, wrong with this man, and wrong with that man.” In addition, when many Christians check all the material things in their possession, they will find out how many sinful things they have. In order to be a living, proper believer in Christ, you need to have such a dealing, such a confession to confess all your sins before God.
When we go to help others, we have to pray much. We ourselves first have to be cleansed by confession. Then we will have the ground and will be in the atmosphere to help people to realize their need for cleansing. By the grace and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, we will be able to help people to realize that they need this kind of confession. Why are so many Christians dead? It is because they have so many old sins. The old sins still remain within them. They have to confess all those things away. Every believer needs a confession of all his sinful things before God and a clearance of his whole life.
Believers also need another kind of confession, not only the confession of sins but the confession of the Lord. They have to confess the Lord Jesus before men. From now on, you must confess, you must tell others, that you belong to the Lord. Now you have become a Christian, a believer. Confess the name of the Lord Jesus, and confess before men that Jesus is the Lord and your Savior. Romans 10:9 says, “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” We confess Jesus as Lord with our mouth.
It is very strange that throughout the whole earth—in the East and in the West, in Europe and in Asia—people have a feeling of shame when confessing Christ. If someone says, “Now I believe Christ; I confess Jesus is Lord,” there is to some degree the feeling of shame. It is also very strange that when people follow Confucius and tell others about it, they have a feeling not of shame but of boldness. This sense of shame comes from the devil, Satan. We have to fight the battle by the grace and mercy of God to overcome this feeling of shame. Sometimes in the past I told Satan, “Satan if you keep giving me this feeling of shame, I will shout my confession.” The devil is frightened by this, and he runs away.
The proper believing in the Lord Jesus includes the step of telling people that from this day you are no more an unbeliever. From today you are a believer in Jesus. You have received Jesus as your Savior and as your Lord. From this day you confess that He is the Lord and that you belong to Him. After you believe in the Lord Jesus, you need to go back to tell your parents, relatives, friends, and neighbors and make a thorough confession of Christ. Young students, after you believe in Christ, you should go to your schoolmates to tell them, “Now I am different. Yesterday I was without Christ, but today Christ is within me.”
There is a need for a real repentance and two different kinds of confessions: the confession of sins before God and the confession of Jesus Christ as Lord before men. You should not try to be a hidden Christian, a secret Christian, or a nice Christian within but with no appearance without. Learn to be released by the confession of Christ before men. In China I saw certain brothers do something very interesting. You may say that this was too much, but if you were in that environment, you would realize that there was the need for it. After they were saved, some brothers put a label on their clothing that said, “I am a Christian today.” In many cases that helped them. Others would say, “Do not go to him for certain matters, because he is a Christian. Do not try to convince him, because he is a Christian. Do not ask him to play certain games or go to the movies with you, because he is a Christian.” In order to be a living, prevailing, powerful believer, you have to make a public confession of Christ before people.
You also have to be baptized. To be baptized means to be buried. After you believe in the Lord Jesus, right away you have to be buried, because you realize that you are so sinful, good for nothing but death. You realize that you have been crucified with Christ on the cross, so you are dead already. You have been dead for two thousand years. Since you realize that you are dead, you must be willing for the church to give you a funeral, to bury you. This is very necessary.
From my youth I was raised in a semi-Christian home. I heard many stories of the gospel, and I was educated and brought up in a Christian school. However, it was not until I was nineteen years old that I was saved. Before that day I knew many things about Christianity. I knew almost all the stories about Jesus in the four Gospels. We were taught these things in the Sunday schools. Sometimes we would even make jokes about those stories. However, when I was nineteen years old, I experienced a real salvation. On that day I realized that I was sinful and that with me there was no good thing. Within me, every bit was evil. I did not like myself; I hated myself. I realized that this man was good for nothing and that he must truly be buried.
As a member of a so-called church, however, I already had been baptized by sprinkling. At that time I had not repented, and I had not believed or prayed. I had not realized that I was a sinner, and I had not truly known that Christ was my Savior. I only knew something about Christ. Nevertheless, the pastor told me I had to be sprinkled. He told the congregation, “This young man is a member of a Christian family, with a very nice mother and sister. Therefore, we have to sprinkle him.” This kind of sprinkling did not mean anything. Later, when I was saved, I realized that I was a dead person, good for nothing, and that I had to be buried. I was anxious to be buried, so I went to some Christians who loved the Lord. I asked them, “Is it right that I have to be baptized? I have already been sprinkled.” They told me that it was one hundred percent right for me to be baptized. I said, “Then we had better do it right away. Bury me!” After you believe in the Lord Jesus, if you seek the Lord within you, there will be the desire to be baptized, to be buried.
In a certain place a small native boy became a member of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church did not allow people to eat meat on Friday, but they allowed people to eat fish. One Friday the little boy went out to hunt, brought home a deer, and began to cook it. While it was cooking, a priest passed the house and smelled the meat, so he came to the door and scolded the boy. That little boy had been given the name of Johnny. He said, “A few years ago I was not named Johnny. I had a native name, but one day you brought me to your church and sprinkled me. From that time you told me, ‘That is no longer your name; now you are Johnny.’ This morning I went out and tried to catch fish. I could not catch any, but I took a deer, sprinkled it, and said, ‘You are no longer a deer; you are now a fish.’ I believed what you told me, so why do you not believe what I am telling you?” We do not baptize people in this false way by putting some water on them and changing their name. Rather, to be baptized means that you realize that you are dead with Christ and in Christ. Now you are allowing the church to bury you by putting you into the water. Friends, after you believe in Christ, you need to be baptized. You cannot baptize yourself; you must be baptized.
You must also receive the Holy Spirit, be filled with the Spirit, and be baptized in the Spirit. As the third person of the Triune God, the Holy Spirit is the very transmission of God to you. In order to receive Christ, to receive God, you have to receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is nothing less than Christ Himself. Today the Holy Spirit is waiting for you, so you have to open yourself. After you thoroughly repent, make a thorough confession of sins, make a prevailing confession of Christ before men, and are willing to be baptized, you have the ground to claim the infilling and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. When we preach the gospel, we have to preach to such an extent that we tell people, “You are entitled to receive the Holy Spirit.” Simply take my word and put it into practice. I believe the Holy Spirit will honor you and honor your practice.
Acts 2:38 says, “Peter said to them, Repent and each one of you be baptized upon the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” This verse says first to repent, second to be baptized, and third to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. These are three of the five practices that we have mentioned in this chapter. In addition, following repentance and before being baptized you need two confessions: the confession of sins before God and the confession of the Lord Jesus before men. To be baptized is also a kind of confession, a silent but public confession not only to men but also to the entire universe, to the heavens and to the earth, that today you are in Christ and buried with Christ. Then you are entitled, you have the ground to claim, the gift of the Holy Spirit.
All that God is and all that Christ has done—all this goodness, all the blessings, and all the items of the salvation of God—are in the Holy Spirit. Through a process the Holy Spirit now includes God, Christ, salvation, and all the goodness of salvation. You have to be filled with this Holy Spirit. After you repent, confess your sins before God, confess Christ as your Lord before men, and are baptized, right away you are entitled to, you are on the ground to claim, the gift of the Holy Spirit. When you are going to be baptized, you have to say, “Lord, today is the very day that I claim the fullness of the Holy Spirit.” Claim it and take it. If you have not been baptized yet, but you have the desire to be baptized, in the eyes of God it is as if you have been baptized already. Now you can stand on this ground and claim the Holy Spirit, telling the Lord, “Lord, You have to fill me with the Holy Spirit, and You have to pour out the Holy Spirit upon me. This is my entitlement, and this is my portion.” You have to claim this.
In our preaching we have to help people to realize these five steps: to repent thoroughly, to confess their sins before God, to make a confession publicly before men, to be baptized, and to realize that after they do this, they are entitled to the fullness of the Holy Spirit. I say again, we are not here telling people to receive a certain kind of religion. We are here learning how to help people to realize this living Christ. This living Christ today is the Spirit. He is not a religion; He is a living person. It is not Christianity; it is Christ Himself as the Spirit. How can you receive the Spirit with this living Christ? It is by repenting, confessing your sins, confessing Christ as the Lord, and being baptized. If you are willing to do these four things, you are on the ground and entitled to claim the gift of the Holy Spirit. This is wonderful! Then you will be a living Christian. We do ask the Lord to reveal Himself to the dear new ones, that they all will have a living contact, a living touch, with the Lord and that the Lord will reveal Himself to them that they may know Christ within them in a living way.
