This morning we will be looking
at the gospel of Luke, chapter 13. Luke, chapter 13. And our subject this morning,
the subject which our Lord is dealing with, is missing in present-day
preaching and greatly misunderstood by those who do mention it. The
subject is repentance. Repentance. The Lord Jesus Christ
himself is dealing with this. In Luke 13, I read, beginning
with verse 1, There were present at that season some that told
him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their
sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto
them, Suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all Galileans? because they suffered such things? I tell you, nay, but except ye
repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Or those eighteen upon
whom the tower in Siloam fell and slew them, think ye that
they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell
you, nay, but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."
So they reminded the Lord or told the Lord about some Galileans
which Pilate had killed and mingled their blood, an atrocious thing,
mingled their blood with their animal sacrifices. And then the
Lord said, Do you think they were worse than all Galileans
because they suffered these things? And then he asked them, he said,
Do you remember the 18 that were slain? Evidently a tower had
fallen upon 18 men there right in the heart of Jerusalem and
killed them all. And our Lord said, Do you think
they were worse sinners than all men in Jerusalem? And what
he says is this, I tell you, except you repent, you'll all
likewise perish. So our Lord is telling us that
God will punish sin. God, whom the scripture says
in Exodus 34, will by no means clear the guilty. God, whom scripture
says, is just, and every transgression shall receive a just recompense
and reward, the book of Hebrews tells us. God does judge and
deal with sin. This is a missing note today.
And yet our Lord says, does he deal with some because they are
worse than us? No, he says, except you, that
is, except I, except all of us repent, we shall all likewise
perish. How few have heard these words
from the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you ever remember
hearing a preacher quote these things? Have you ever read them
yourself? The Lord said things like this
in Luke 12 and 13, I am come to bring fire and division. He says repent or perish. These are not the words of a
doomsday fanatic standing on a street holding a sign. These
are the words of the Son of God. Yes, the one men called gentle
Jesus, meek and mild. Do you ever remember hearing
someone quote these words by our Lord? Well, it's clear that
the Lord is telling us all have sinned. In the eyes of God Almighty,
all are guilty. All are worthy of condemnation,
including and beginning with this creature. Now, no one is
a worse sinner. No, no. All sin is against God. Our Lord says, except we repent,
we shall all perish. So isn't it vital that we know
and understand what repentance is? Isn't it vital that we know
what it is in order that we might repent? Let me tell you how vital
it is. Let me tell you something of
this doctrine of repentance. It was the first thing that our
Lord preached, the first words out of his mouth. No, he didn't
talk of love. The first thing he mentioned
or said was, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
It is the last thing which he told his disciples to preach. Upon leaving this earth, it was
the last orders or command that he gave them. In Luke 24, verse
47, he says, repentance and remission of sin
should be preached in his name among all nations beginning at
Jerusalem." Repentant. Peter's sermon at Pentecost,
he concluded, after preaching the sovereign Lord high and lifted
up, and men were convicted of rejecting that Lord, Peter, when
asked, what shall we do, Peter said, repent. and be baptized,
every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ. Paul's parting
words to the church at Ephesus when he was going to be killed
for preaching the truth. He said, I have not shunned to
declare all the counsel of God, preaching repentance and faith. Repentance toward God and faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, what is repentance? What
is repentance? And where does it come from?
It behooves us to know this because our Lord said, except ye repent,
ye shall all likewise perish. This is a missing note today.
But without it, we will perish. The Lord Jesus Christ says so.
All right? What is repentance then? What
is it? Well, the word repent simply
means a change of mind, a change of heart and mind. Repentance is a change of heart
and mind toward God. Paul said that in Acts 20, repentance
toward God, a change of heart and mind toward God, a change
of heart and mind towards self, a change of heart and mind towards
sin. My pastor of of many years said
this, repentance is a change of mind, a change of masters,
and a change of manners. All right, what is this change
of heart and mind toward God? A change of heart and mind toward
God. Well, the Scripture says, 1 Corinthians
chapter 2 says, the natural man receiveth not the things of God,
their foolishness to him. The psalm says, The fool hath
said, Know God. In 2 Timothy 3 it says, In the
last days, perilous times, men will be unthankful. God is not in all their thoughts. The fact is, the natural man,
that is, every person born upon this earth, does not come into
this world thinking of God. does not want to think of a God,
that is, a Creator, a Sovereign, a Ruler, a Controller, a Judge. You see, this is who God is.
And until God changes our heart and mind toward Him, we won't
even acknowledge that there is a God. In fact, we will go about
trying to disprove God. We will not believe God. God
is not in all our thoughts. Why is there a concerted effort
to prove evolution and disprove creation? Because man doesn't
want there to be a God. You can make up all sorts of
things. You can convince yourself the most ridiculous things if
you want to believe something bad enough, if you don't want
to believe something bad enough. And this is what mankind is doing. There's a universal concerted
effort to disprove God, because man does not want God to be God. Man doesn't want to have a creator,
because if God is creator, that means He owns us. That means
we answer to Him. That means if He owns us, He
can do with us what He will. Even those who claim to believe
God is creator, don't like to think of him as owner, that he
does with his own what he will, choosing whom he will, saving
whom he will, disposing of, giving to, withholding from what and
whom he will. Well, when God grants repentance,
he makes a man, a woman, a young person believe he is God in the
true sense of the word, that God is God, absolute, sovereign,
ruler, owner, controller, judge over all flesh. And that starts
in the heart. That starts in the heart. With
the heart, man believes that God is God and loves to have
him so. It's a change of heart and mind
about God. It's a change of heart and mind
about sin, about self. You see, man enjoys sin, not
righteousness. Man is dead in sin. Man is not
born holy. Man is born depraved. And man thinks little of sin
until God grants this repentance to show us that it's against
Him and Him only. Well, let me give you an example
of this change which must come from God. And I'm already getting
ahead of myself. That's my last point. Repentance
comes from God. An example of this is the thief
on the cross. He was hanging there beside the
Lord Jesus Christ and saying the same things as the other
thief about Christ. He was making fun of and cursing
the Lord himself until all of a sudden a change came over him. And he said this about himself,
ìWeíre getting what we deserve.î And then he asked the Lord, ìWould
you remember me?î That's a change, that's an immediate, miraculous,
supernatural, sovereign change or repentance granted to that
man. Well, repentance is repentance
of sin. Listen to this. What old preacher
years ago said, you haven't repented unless you've repented of sin,
sins, and self-righteousness. When you repent of sin, you repent
of what you are. What you are. If you read the
Psalms, like David, he said, I am vile. Behold, I am vile. John said that. Job said that. Isaiah said it. I am a man of
unclean lips. Paul said it. I am the chief
of sinners. You repent of what you are. What
you do is because of what you are. And sins, you must repent
of sins. We must repent of sins, what
we do. Not only what we are, but what
we do. And then lastly, we have not repented unless we have repented
of self-righteousness. Scripture says, Isaiah 64 says,
all our righteousnesses, that is, our good deeds are filthy
rags. They are full of selfish motives.
mercenary motives for reward for heaven. Well, in John 16,
I advise you to open your Bibles for yourselves and read John
16, verses 8 through 11. Our Lord said the Holy Spirit
will convince, that is, grant repentance of sin, righteousness,
and judgment, all concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. Sin, unbelief,
righteousness, that we need one, we don't have it, only Christ
has it, and judgment, that God will judge and punish. Well, repentance is a change
of heart, change of mind about God, about self, a change of
masters. Yes, masters. Every son of Adam
is sold unto sin, a lover of pleasure more than a lover of
God, until God grants repentance. until the Lord Jesus Christ comes
Himself and claims His own which He bought with a price. Yes,
repentance comes from God. That's my last point. Where does
it come from? The goodness of God leads us
to repentance, Romans 2 verse 4 says. It must come from God. A change of heart? Why, no man
can change his heart. But Scripture says God gives
us a new heart. It must be so. Because if we
change our own mind, something else can change it back. But
if God changed, whatever God does is forever, Scripture says.
And it's a change of manners, too. If any man be in Christ,
he's a new creature. All things become new. And they're
created in Christ Jesus unto good works. But except we repent,
except I repent, you repent, we'll all likewise perish. May
God grant us this repentance. Until next Sunday, good day.