mandeth _all men, everywhere_, to repent"
(Acts xvii. 30).

Before I speak of what Repentance _is_, let me briefly say what it
_is not_. Repentance is not _fear_. Many people have confounded the
two. They think they have to be alarmed and terrified; and they are
waiting for some kind of fear to come down upon them. But multitudes
become alarmed who do not really repent. You have heard of men at sea
during a terrible storm. Perhaps they have been very profane men; but
when the danger came they suddenly grew quiet, and began to cry to
God for mercy. Yet you would not say they repented. When the storm
had passed away, they went on swearing the same as before. You might
think that the king of Egypt repented when God sent the terrible
plagues upon him and his land. But it was not repentance at all. The
moment God's hand was removed Pharaoh's heart was harder than ever.
He did not turn from a single sin; he was the same man. So that there
was no true repentance there.

Often, when death comes into a family, it looks as if the event would
be sanctified to the conversion of all who are in the house. Yet in
six months' time all may be forgotten. Some who read this have
perhaps passed through that experience. When God's hand was heavy
upon them it looked as if they were going to repent; but the trial
has been removed--and lo and behold, the impression has all gone.

Then again, Repentance is not _feeling_. I find a great many people
are waiting for a certain kind of feeling to come. They would like to
turn to God; but think they cannot do it until this feeling comes.
When I was in Baltimore I used to preach every Sunday in the
Penitentiary to nine hundred convicts. There was hardly a man there
who did not feel miserable enough: they had plenty of feeling. For
the first week or ten days of their imprisonment many of them cried
half the time. Yet, when they were released, most of them would go
right back to their old ways. The truth was, that they felt very bad
because they had got caught; that was all. So you have seen a man in
the time of trial show a good deal of feeling: but very often it is
only because he has got into trouble; not because he has committed
sin, or because his conscience tells him he has done evil in the
sight of God. It seems as if the trial were going to result in true
repentance; but the feeling too often passes away.

Once again, Repentance is not _fasting and afflicting the body_. A
man may fast for w