So when I just said, “believe,” you [accuse me of] preaching easy-believism. Man they just say believe! Well that's all John said. Ninety-nine times, that's all he said—BELIEVE, BELIEVE, BELIEVE, BELIEVE, BELIEVE! But the fella who knows what repentance is, knows that it is included in believing. If I said, “Leave Atlanta and go to California,” that's okay. But if I said, “Go to California,” leaving Atlanta is included. And don't fuss at me just because I don't say, “Leave Atlanta before you go to California.” I assumed you had enough sense to know what I meant by that. Sure.
When I was an 11 year old boy, I had to change my mind. I didn't change my way of living. I didn't suddenly become perfect. I didn't turn from all my sin, because I've have sinned since then. But I did change my mind. You've got to change your mind. You're going to have to change your mind about several things. You have to change your mind about wanting to be saved. “Y'all changed my mind, I do want to be saved.” That's a change of mind! You say, “I've been good enough to go to Heaven.” ...You've got to change your mind about that according to Luke 13. Because you've been as big a sinner as the fella whom the tower of Siloam fell on. And you've been a sinner as a guy whose blood Pilate mingleth with the sacrifices, and you'll change your mind about it or go to Hell.
And you will change your mind about religion and salvation. You'll even change your mind about repentance if you get saved. You gonna have to repent about your idea about repentance to get saved. Because if you have felt repentance as reformation or turning from sin, and you're going to turn from sin to get saved, then you're not going to get saved 'til you change your mind about the idea and decide that you're saved by the substitutionary of Jesus Christ on the cross. Then you've repented over your repentance!
And we got a whole [bunch] of people who need to repent over their repentance to get saved, because their repentance is going to send them to Hell. Because if they think they married Heaven because they turned in the road one day and quit sinning, and they reformed; Boy you dirty buzzard you, the Bible says all your righteousness is as filthy rags in God's sight. Well, [it's] not that difficult to understand, is it. But you know why I don't use the word much, because when you sat it, the average person's idea means, that I won't ever sin again. And I want to tell you something, I would not get on my knees right now beside this platform and say, “Dear God, I'll never sin again.” I'd quake like an earthquake to say it, because I know that I'd do it again before the sun went down tomorrow.
...So when John said “believe,” repenting was included in believing. If by repentance you mean turning from sin, I don't preach it! If by repentance you mean reformation, I don't preach it! If by repentance you mean a change of mind or reconsideration, I preach it!
