Speaking on repentance, Dr. Brooks, of St. Louis, well remarks: “Repentance, strictly speaking, means a ‘change of mind or purpose;’ consequently it is the judgment which the sinner pronounces upon himself, in view of the love of God displayed in the death of Christ, connected with the abandonment of all confidence in himself and with trust in the only Saviour of sinners. Saving repentance and saving faith always go together; and you need not be worried about repentance if you will believe.”
“Some people are no sure that they have ‘repented enough.’ If you mean by this that you must repent in order to incline God to be merciful to you, the sooner you give over such repentance the better. God is already merciful, as He has fully shown at the Cross of Calvary; and it is a grievous dishonor to His heart of love if you think that your tears and anguish will move Him, not knowing that ‘the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance.’ It is not your badness, therefore, but His goodness that leads to repentance; hence the true way to repent is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, ‘who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.’”
Another thing. If there is true repentance it will bring forth fruit. If we have done wrong to any one we should never ask God to forgive us, until we are willing to make restitution. If I have done any man a great injustice and can make it good, I need not ask God to forgive me until I am willing to make it good. Suppose I have taken something that does not belong to me. I have no right to expect forgiveness until I make restitution.
I remember preaching in one of our large cities, when a fine-looking man came up to me at the close. He was in great distress of mind. “The fact is,” he said, “I am a defaulter. I have taken money that belonged to my employers. How can I become a Christian without restoring it?” “Have you got the money?” He told me he had not got it all. He had taken about $1,500, and he still had about $900. He said “Could I not take that money and go into business, and make enough to pay them back?” I told him that was a delusion of Satan; that he could not expect to prosper on stolen money; that he should restore all he had, and go and ask his employers to have mercy upon him and forgive him. “But they will put me in prison,” he said: “cannot you give me any help?” “No, you must restore the money before you can expect to get any help from God.” “It is pretty hard,” he said. “Yes. it is hard; but the great mistake was in doing the wrong at first.”
His burden became so heavy that it got to be insupportable. He handed me the money—950 dollars and some cents—and asked me to take it back to his employers. The next evening the two employers and myself met in a side room of the church. I laid the money down, and informed them it was from one of their employes. I told them the story, and said he wanted mercy from them, not justice. The tears trickled down the cheeks of these two men, and they said, “Forgive him! Yes, we will be glad to forgive him.” I went down stairs and brought him up. After he had confessed his guilt and been forgiven, we all got down on our knees and had a blessed prayer-meeting. God met us and blessed us there.
There was a friend of mine who some time ago had come to Christ and wished to consecrate himself and his wealth to God. He had formerly had transactions with the government, and had taken advantage of them. This thing came up when he was converted, and his conscience troubled him. He said, “I want to consecrate my wealth, but it seems as if God will not take it.” He had a terrible struggle; his conscience kept rising up and smiting him. At last he drew a check for $1,500 and sent it to the United States Treasury. He told me he received such a blessing when he had done it. That was bringing forth “fruits meet for repentance.” I believe a great many men are crying to God for light; and they are not getting it because they are not honest.
I was once preaching, and a man came to me who was only thirty-two years old, but whose hair was very grey. He said, “I want you to notice that my hair is grey, and I am only thirty-two years old. For twelve years I have carried a great burden.” “Well,” I said, “what is it?” He looked around as if afraid some one would hear him. “Well,” he answered, “my father died and left my mother with the county newspaper, and left her only that: that was all she had. After he died the paper begun to waste away; and I saw my mother was fast sinking into a state of need. The building and the paper were insured for a thousand dollars, and when I was twenty years old I set fire to the building, and obtained the thousand dollars, and gave it to my mother. For twelve years that sin has been haunting me. I have tried to drown it by indulgence in pleasure and sin; I have cursed God; I have gone into infidelity; I have tried to make out that the Bible is not true; I have done everything I could: but all these years I have been tormented.” I said, “There is a way out of that.” He inquired “How?” I said, “Make restitution. Let us sit down and calculate the interest, and then you pay the Company the money.” It would have done you good to see that man’s face light up when he found there was mercy for him. He said he would be glad to pay back the money and interest if he could only be forgiven.
There are men to-day who are in darkness and bondage because they are not willing to turn from their sins and confess them; and I do not know how a man can hope to be forgiven if he is not willing to confess his sins.
Bear in mind that now is the only day of mercy you will ever have. You can repent now, and have the awful record blotted out. God waits to forgive you; He is seeking to bring you to Himself. But I think the Bible teaches clearly that there is no repentance after this life. There are some who tell you of the possibility of repentance in the grave; but I do not find that in Scripture. I have looked my Bible over very carefully, and I cannot find that a man will have another opportunity of being saved.
Why should he ask for any more time? You have time enough to repent now. You can turn from your sins this moment if you will. God says: “I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth; wherefore turn, and live ye” (Ezek. xviii. 32).