​1 And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, to keep the Passover unto the LORD God of Israel. 2 For the king had taken counsel, and his princes, and all the congregation in Jerusalem, to keep the Passover in the second month. 3 For they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not sanctified themselves sufficiently, neither had the people gathered themselves together to Jerusalem. 4 And the thing pleased the king and all the congregation. 5 So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the Passover unto the LORD God of Israel at Jerusalem: for they had not done it of a long time in such sort as it was written.

Hezekiah Calls

Hezekiah sent out invitations to all the people of God, not just in Judah but also in the northern Kingdom. 2 Chronicles 30:1 Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, to keep the Passover unto the LORD God of Israel.

Here is the invitation, sent from Dan to Beersheba, the two furthest cities in the north and the south of the old Kingdom of David and Solomon. Hezekiah wrote 2 Chronicles 30:6-9 Ye children of Israel, turn again unto the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you, that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria. 7 And be not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren, which trespassed against the LORD God of their fathers, who therefore gave them up to desolation, as ye see. 8 Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the LORD, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever: and serve the LORD your God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you. 9 For if ye turn again unto the LORD, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him.

His invitation was a call to return to God. We in the New Testament would call it  repentance. “Do not be stubborn, yield yourselves to the Lord. God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away from you, if you repent and come to Him.”

Holy Spirit Calls

Hezekiah is no longer here, nor is there a king or a president who stands in a covenant relationship with God as Hezekiah and the sons of David stood. Though there may not be a king sending out an invitation to come and to repent, the call is going out today more powerfully than any King or ruler could ever attempt.

Today the call to grace is being sent around the world millions of times a day, by millions of God’s people, led by the Holy Spirit. Those believers who take the word of God as their daily bread, the rule of their life and the guide to their walk, in person, on TV, on radio, on the internet, in email, texts and phone calls, God’s people under the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit are reaching out to the lost, the dying, the rebellious, the skeptic and the atheist, “Come to God and find grace and mercy.” If you are a true follower of God, then that is what you are trying to do every time God opens a door of opportunity for you.

And that call hasn’t changed it is still a call to return back to God by repenting of sin.

There are some who say it is not necessary to repent. You don’t need to feel sorrow for your sin, or that you don’t even have the ability choose to turn from sin and turn to God’s grace. But that isn’t what an unbiased reading of the New Testament tells us.

The word repent in the Greek is μετανοέω metanoeō; and it means to think differently to reconsider. It is found 34 times in the new Testament and in all but 3 of those times it is a call for men to repent.

John the Baptist called out to those who went into the wilderness to see him, Repent. Jesus called to the crowds who came to hear him, repent. The apostles preached to the Jews on the day of Pentecost and to the Gentiles after the day of Pentecost, repent.

Paul’s Call to Repent - Paul preached to the buyers, the sellers, the philosophers and the lawyers of Athens. Acts 17:30-31 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31 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 unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. The call will even continue during the tribulation, “Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”

Repentance is the handle that must be grasped before the door of God’s grace will open.

The Gospel is the Holy Spirit’s invitation to return to God and find grace and mercy, but in order for it to be effective it must be responded to in repentance.