Let me have your attention. Hear
ye, hear ye. What we're doing here is a matter
of life and death. It really is. How can I say this
without sounding I look up when we're reading the Scriptures
and I see some people not even looking at the Word of God, especially some young people.
And they sing these hymns. Parents, put that hymn book in
front of your children and you force them to sing it. And you force them to read that
word. If they don't hear from God, they're going to perish.
If they don't learn the song to sing these praises, they're
going to perish. And they learn it from an early
age, from a child. And they're going to learn it
from one person or two. This is life and death, it really
is. Our Lord here in Luke 13 says something that just, that applies to everyone in here,
young and old. He said, except you repent, you're
all going to perish. Now who's he talking to? Let's
ask what Peter did. Lord, are you talking to us?
Or are you talking to everybody?
All of you, young and old. This message is to everyone.
I hope the Lord will make it simple. Keep me simple. All right, verse 1. There were
some fellows that told the Lord about or reminded him as if he didn't know. But they brought
up the story of some Galileans that were killed by Pilate, and
they were brutally killed by Pilate. And their blood was mingled
with some sacrifices of lambs and offered on It was just a
hideous thing. It was a human sacrifice by Pilate
of some Galilean. Now, Galilee was a little outside
of Jerusalem. It wasn't in what's called Judah. It was outside. And that's where
it's just above Samaria. The Jews thought Galileans were
a bunch of worthless heathen, Galileans. All right, so the
Lord asked them this question, verse 2. He said, Suppose ye
that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, that
they were worse than anybody else because they suffered these
things? Because this happened to them, this awful disaster
fell upon these fellows. Is it because they were worse
sinners than anybody else? And he says, Nay. Verse 3, I tell you, Nay, but
except you repent, you shall all likewise perish. My, my. See, these were Jews,
these were religious people that were asking him this, telling
him they were religious Jews. The Lord, most of his ministry
was in and around Jerusalem, a Jew. And these religious Jews
said, they thought, you know, that these Galileans were a bunch
of heathens, they don't believe like we do. He said, I'll tell
you except you repent. You're going to perish too. Our Lord is telling us here that
God will punish sin. You would be hard pressed to
find one church out of a thousand
that's going to hear what you hear this morning. God will punish
sin. He said he will by no means clear
the guilty. And the scripture says we're
all guilty. Young and old. Guilty. It doesn't matter that we go
to a sovereign grace church. That doesn't matter. It doesn't
matter that our parents are believers. It doesn't matter. Except we repent, we'll perish. God will punish sin. That's what
our Lord is telling us here. God does judge and deal with
sinners. Look at verse 3 or verse 4. Our Lord brings up something
here. This is not in the Old Testament,
this is something that must have recently occurred. All right, he says in verse 14,
what about those 18 upon whom the tower in Siloam fell? Now,
evidently, 18 persons, male and female, were at Siloam, were
the pool of Siloam, you remember that? Evidently there was some
kind of tower there. Now Siloam is right in the heart,
right in town, right in Jerusalem. So there were Jews. Eighteen
of them, it says. This tower fell on, killed them
all. Eighteen. All right, look at this, what
he has. Luke 13, verse 4. He says, He is eighteen upon
whom the tower in Siloam fell and slew them. Do you think they
were sinners above all in Jerusalem? Maybe they were worse than. These were Jews, God's people,
supposed to be. Sons and daughters of Hebrews,
God's people, sons and daughters of Abraham. They believed in
a sovereign God. They believed in an electing
God. But they perished. They died.
Our Lord asked, now, do you suppose maybe they were worse sinners
than anybody else? He says in verse 5, Nay, but
except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."
This is a solemn message. Who's he talking to? Talking
to me. My dad's a preacher. Big deal. It doesn't matter. Now, it's clear that the Lord
is telling us here that all have sinned and come short of the
glory of God. Right? All. It's clear the Lord
is telling us that everyone, in God's eyes, is a sinner, worthy of condemnation. You say,
what about your precious, innocent little children? before God. Scripture says, well, the Lord
is telling us here, and he's telling us, nobody is a worse
sinner than somebody else. That no one deserves hell or
condemnation more than somebody else. I bet you we think that. I bet you we all think that in
our minds and hearts, including We see something happen to somebody,
you know, or some disaster. Well, they must have been, you
know, God judged them. Well, it's true. God does judge. He does judge. But are they worse than I am? Are they just because they're
really bad people? Except I repent. I will perish too. He tells us here, up in verse
12, he tells us that there are degrees of punishment in hell. Doesn't it? You read that with
me. There are degrees of punishment.
He talks about them that know. Well, look at it. Chapter 12,
verse 47. Look at it. A servant which knew his Lord's
will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his
will, shall be beaten with many strikes. But he that knew not,
and still he did commit things worthy of strike, he'll be beaten,
but with fewer strikes." They're both going to be beaten, both
going to be punished. But the one that knew had more
severe punishment than the one that knew not. Still going to be funny. Isn't it vital we know what repentance
is then? Huh? Everybody, young and old,
do you know what repentance is? Have you repented? Do you repent?
If you haven't, if you don't, you're going to perish. You hear
that? I didn't say that. Our Lord,
the Lord Jesus Christ, God who walked this planet, said that. All right. And then he said it
to me. So we need to know what repentance is, don't we? Our
Lord said, except you repent, you're all, starting with me, especially
me, going to perish. What is repentance? What is repentance? Where does it come from? Do I
have it? Do I do it? Well, let me tell you how important
it is first before we look at what it is. Let me tell you how
important it is. When the Lord came to this earth,
the first thing He said publicly was, Repent. It was the first
thing out of His mouth. When he left the earth, he told his disciples, he said,
Go preaching repentance. Peter's sermon at Pentecost,
after he preached and the people cried out, what he said to them
was, Paul, his last words to the people
at Ephesus when he was about to be sacrificed, his last words
to them were, I've preached repentance. I haven't shunned or declared
the whole thing. I've preached repentance. He was standing before a king.
It doesn't matter who he was standing before. Paul was standing
before Agrippa, and he said, I have preached repentance. In Acts 11, when it says the
Gentiles received the word of God, it says they repented. That's the first thing. First
evidence. Now, what is repentance? What is repentance? The word repentance, very simply,
means a change of heart and mind. That's what repentance means.
A turning, a hundred and eighty degree turn of heart and mind. A change of heart and mind toward
God, a change of heart and mind about sin, about self, But this
world needs a change. A change. All right? A change
of mind, of heart and mind. Hearts and mind. Toward God. All right? The Scripture says
the natural man doesn't receive the things of God. Neither can
he know them. They're foolishness to him. Why don't people like to go to
church? Young people, why don't you,
some of you, why would you rather do other things than go to church,
so to speak? A man doesn't love God. Man doesn't
care anything about God. An actual man doesn't care anything
about God. The fool, Scripture says, hath
said, Know God. The fool said that. Paul, in talking about the last
days, he said they would be unthankful. Unthankful. Lovers of self. Lovers of pleasure more than
lovers of God. God's not in all their thoughts. God's not in their thought. They
don't care about God. Well, when God grants repentance,
the first thing He does is change your heart and your mind about
God. The first thing He does is tell us God is God. God is. He's my God. And I have to answer to, you
see, listen to me young people, God's not a doctrine of sovereign
grace. God is your God. God, you're
in God's hands. God's not the doctrine of sovereign
grace. God is your creator and your
judge and everything you wear and eat and are and have and
ever will be and have and do is from God. The God in whose
hands your breath is and all your ways. Everything you do. You owe people everything you
do. Everything you have done, ever
will do, is in the control of this person. He's not a doctrine. God's not the doctrine of suffering
grace. He's a real person who's controlling
our very breath. When this God grants repentance,
this change of heart—you see, we're walking along, we're dead
in sin. God's not in all our talk. God,
God, oh, I believe in God. And when God grants this change,
he hits the heart with, God is. Gets the mind with, I've been
a fool. I've got a God to answer to.
Scripture says it's repentance toward God. God, I've lived twenty-some
years and I haven't given you a thought. Everything I have, you've given
to me. I've never given you any thanks. And I'm just rushing
headlong, blind into everything and never asking, seeking you,
talking to you, never acknowledging God. This is when repentance
comes. A change of heart and mind toward
God. God is. Until then, we live like
animals. God's not a doctrine. He's a
person. And it's a change, repentance
is a change of heart and mind. Now, and this message, there's not
enough time. There's not enough time to deal
fully with this subject. I'm trying to shorten it up so
that these children can understand. But you know, the natural man
has thoughts about God. Scripture talks about men worshiping
idols or gods of their imagination. Religious people worship God,
but Paul says it's not according to knowledge. Because they're going about to
impress God or do something that God will be pleased with, and
God is not pleased with anything that has to do with flesh. Anything. that in the flesh no man can
please God. And so when true repentance comes
from God, he makes a man or a woman realize that it changes their
heart and mind about God. God's too holy for me to please. That God doesn't look at what
I'm doing, he looks on the heart. And what I see in my heart is
sin, and that's what God sees more than I do. And it changes a man or woman's
heart about God to see that God is different than I thought He
was. Okay? It changes a man or woman's mind
and heart about God to see that God is not at all like I thought
He was. You can be religious or irreligious.
God still must change your heart and your mind about God. Secondly, repentance is a change
of heart and mind about sin, about yourself, about sin. These
persons, our Lord said, do you think that These people, because
they did such and such, they were really bad sinners. And
over here, they didn't do this, so they're not so bad sinners.
Since these were really bad sinners, God really judged them. See,
these just little sinners, God just a little bit. Sin, sin. Let me give you two examples,
God gives, of sinners. All right? There was a thief
on a cross. The man was a murderer. This
man was being crucified for murder and robbery. Evidently he broke
into someone's house and killed somebody. And now he was hanging
on a cross, being crucified. All right? Is he guilty? Yeah,
he's guilty. Is he worthy? Is he getting what
he deserves? He sure is. Well, you know, there was a time It
was a little while there where he was hanging on the cross,
and Christ was in the middle cross, you remember? And this
man, ignorant, a fool, absolute fool, guilty, getting ready to
meet God, guilty. And yet he's mocking the Son
of God. All of a sudden. All of a sudden. He was looking
at Christ who was being crucified. He was looking at Christ crucified. He was looking at Christ crucified. And all of a sudden, by looking
at Christ crucified, he said, here's what he said, here's the
first thing he said, I'm getting what I deserve. And he told his buddy on the
other cross, don't you fear God, we're getting what we deserve.
Repentance had come to that fellow. You see, he had changed his mind
and heart by himself. I'm getting what I deserve. Here's
another illustration. Saul of Tarsus. So all of Parsons' religious,
he grew up in the church. His mama and daddy were in the
church. While he was in Sunday school,
every single time the church doors opened, he went to seminary. Liquor never had touched his
lips all the days of his life. He had never smoked, drank, ran
around with women. He went to a seminary, he became
a preacher and pastor of a little local church. He said, I'm blameless. Isn't
it? I'm blameless. And he went around
gathering up all these sinners until the Son of God came one
day, knocked him down off his high horse. And you know what
Paul later wrote? He said, I'm the chief of sinners. Didn't he? Repentance had come.
Change of heart and mind about yourself. I'm a good person. You're not repenting. I've lived a good life. I believe
the gospel. It's not repentance. I am the chief of sinners, Paul
said. Chief of sinners. I think it was Whitfield. I'm not sure who it
was that said this, but it's good. He said, You've never repented
until you repent of three things. Sin. Sin, singular. What you are. David in Psalm 51 said, My sin
is ever before me. What I am. Paul said in Romans
7, O wretched man that I am. Not, Oh, I wish I hadn't of done
that. Well, he did repent of that. I am the chief of sinners. Oh, wretched man that I am."
Repentance is hating yourself. And he said, you never repented
unless you repented of that. You hate yourself. Secondly,
you never repented unless you repented of your sins, what you've
done. Sins. David said again in another place,
Psalm 38, if I could number my sins, there are more than I can
number. They're over my head. I wake up sinning. Sins. It's all I seem to be able to
do, because that's what I am. And then he said you've never
repented unless you've repented of your righteousness, self-righteousness. Like Saul of Tarsus, you know,
who thought he was a good fellow and thought God was pleased with
him. But he never repented until he
saw that, I'm not righteous. God's about to make me righteous. All right? So repentance is a
change of mind about God. Repentance is a change of heart
and mind about yourself. I'm a sinner in the hands of
this God. And God's not pleased with me
because of anything I've done. He never will be pleased with
me for anything I've done, or will do. I never can do anything
to please God. I'm a sinner. It'll never be
good enough. Repentance is a change of mind,
of heart about this world. You know, who said this here? Except you repent, you'll all
likewise perish. Who said this? Is it some fellow
with a beard and a sign standing on the corner of New York City? Some fanatical doomsday fellow?
You know, repent or perish, repent or perish. Is that who it was? You know, have you ever heard
a present-day preacher repeat these very words of the Lord
Jesus Christ? I haven't. You don't hear this
anymore. We don't hear this anymore. Do
we, Ed? You don't hear this anymore,
do you? You sure don't hear people saying that Jesus said this.
If you don't repent, you'll perish. You never hear that. And people scoff, they tell you,
and they have cartoons of some fellow on the street, you know,
holding a sign, repent or perish, repent or perish. Jesus Christ
said that. And he says we'll all perish
if we don't. Young and old. So, he said, I say unto you, Alright, let me ask you something.
Alright, where does repentance come from? I want you to turn to Romans chapter
2 with me. Alright? Romans chapter 2. Very
quickly. Romans 2. Where does repentance come from?
Do you just decide to repent? No. You can't change. We can't change our mind about
anything, can we? We sure can't change our heart.
Can we? You old folks. Let me ask you
something. Rather, let me ask your husband
or your wife. Can you change their mind? Can you change your
mind? Can I change my mind or heart?
Can't do it. Just don't up and decide to repent.
Don't do it. Look at Romans 2 verse 4. He
says, now look at this, despises thou the riches of his goodness
and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing or don't you know
that the goodness of God leads thee to repentant? Did you look
at that? Some of you didn't look at that. He said, despise the riches of
his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering. Who is he
talking to? Is he talking to us? Who is the goodness of God toward?
Forbearance and long-suffering of God. Who has God been good
to and born with and been long-suffering to? Who? Every human being in
this building. Don't we consider that? That
the goodness of God leads us to repent? the goodness of God. Paul said, Don't you know the
goodness of God leads us to repentance? We despise the riches of his
goodness. What's this goodness he's talking
about? The gospel. Nobody will ever
repent until they hear the gospel from God himself. Look at this, and our Lord gives
this parable here in Luke 13. That's what this parable is all
about. In Luke 13, look at it, verse
6. Every eye, young and old, look
at it. He spake this parable and said, A certain man had a
fig tree. Let me tell you something. Everybody in here is God's fig
tree. We belong to Him. Young and old. We belong to God. Scripture says the body is going
to return to the dirt and the soul to him that gave it. We
belong to God. All right, read on. A certain
man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard. This was God's
earth. In the fullness of his time,
he put you, he put me in this planet earth. He planted us in
this planet. All right? Oh, how blessed. Everybody in this room right
now has been blessed. above, way above and beyond most
men and women, and that he planted us right here in this building
to hear this message. That's the goodness of God. Oh,
that's the goodness of God. Read on. And he came and he sought
fruit. Listen to me now. I'm not playing
games. He came and he sought fruit thereon. And he didn't
find any. What's fruit? He said, herein
is my Father glorified that you bear much fruit, that you believe
on the Son of God. And so he said to the dresser,
verse 7, of his vineyard, three years I've come seeking fruit
on this fig tree. Three years now I've come, and
I haven't found any yet. Cut him down. Cut her down. Cut
her down. I've had it with her. Get her
out of here!" I was 18 years old, sitting in
a church service just like this, my mind the farthest thing away
from God, thinking about that girl beside me. I was 19 years
old, thinking about that girl beside me. thinking about where
I was going to go and where I was going to run around and what
I was going to do after church is over. Would you shut up, preach, and
sit down so I can go have my fill of all that God has given
me? I sat and sat and sat. Before
that, I sat for years and heard the gospel, years and heard the
gospel. If God had killed me, and I've
been in situations where absolutely my life was absolutely spared. I mean miraculously spared. I
can tell you some incidences where my life was miraculously
spared. Let me tell you this one. When
I was 18 years old, I fell 60 feet. Landed flat on my back. I fell 60 feet. off a scaffold
and landed flat on my back on concrete, fractured my skull and broke
my back, but I lived for myself for at least three
more years. If God had killed me right then,
I'd have perished. I'd have gotten
exactly what I deserved. I suppose you, that I was a worse
sinner than you? Now, I'd have gotten what I deserved. I was a wild, prodigal son, and
I would have gotten what I deserved. I deserved it. It's only the
mercy of God that didn't kill me right there. Suppose you,
that I was a worse sinner than you? But God, who is rich in mercy,
one day came in this same gospel. I heard the same thing. I'm preaching
right now to an 18-year-old. And I heard that God is God. He's not some panty-waist little
pussy-footin' Jesus that all these men... He's absolutely
God, and we're in His hands, and we're going to answer to
Him someday, except we repent. era of the word hit me. He talked
to me. He talked to me. He talked to
me. And now you listen to this. Over in Acts chapter 20, it talks
about, don't turn, just five more minutes, all right? Well, after chapter 2, Peter
came preaching at Pentecost and said, You men of Israel, you
hear this now. He said, This one you crucified, he's sitting
on the throne, and his enemies are going to be his footstool.
That's what Peter preached at Pentecost. He didn't ask anybody,
Will you accept Jesus? He loves you so much. Oh, he
wants you so bad. He wants something to do for
you. He needs you so bad. He just loves good little boys
and girls. And if you'll do something for him, he'll stand at your
heart's door and knock. And won't you please let him
in? Poor Jeb, that's not what he preached. He preached the
Lord sitting on a throne and men and women, their destiny
in his hands. And all those who don't bow and
beg forgiveness, young and old alike, to trust and be his footstool. And when they heard this, they
said, Oh, what shall we do? And Peter said, Repent and get
in the water. Cry to God and have mercy on
me, the sinner. Get in the water. I need Christ.
I'm a dead dog sinner. If Christ didn't do what he did
for me, I'm a goner. We're going to have to, young
and old alike, going to have to appeal to the Lord Jesus Christ
for mercy. And mom is not going to do it,
dad is not going to do it, husband and wife are not going to do
it. And it ain't funny. For the life of me, I can't understand
that. Well, I do, unless God grants repentance. Well, our Lord said, look at
this, verse 7, he says, I don't find any fruit. Look at it, every
eye. I'm not finding any fruit here. I don't find any faith
here. Why aren't you confessing Christ? Why would you die? Why
would you die? What have you got to hear, he
says. For three years, what do you
have to hear? How many times have you got to hear it? that Christ is at the door. I
mean, this thing is just now. It's now or never. Today is the
day of salvation. How many times? Three. Cut him
down. It's over. No, look at the mercy
here. Verse 8. The servant said, Lord, one more year. One more year, please. One more
year. And let me dig it. Let me dung
it. Let me work on it just a little
while, Lord. Dig it and dung it. I hope my preaching, as time
goes on, gets more and more urgent. You know, I get tired of preaching
sermons. I get tired of people falling
asleep. I'm really distressed about our
young people. I mean, I'm really distressed
about our young people. None of our young people professed
faith in Christ in ten years that I've been here. None. I'm really distressed. I mean, I'm really stressed. And I think, what do I have to
do? What do I have to say? Lord, give me one more year. And I'm going to dig. If you just let me dig. Give me a shovel, and I'll dig,
and I'll dig, and I'll dig. Lord, you need to dig their ear,
though. You're going to have to dig their ear. I can't get
their ear. I can't get their ear. Lord,
would you dig their ear? Give me a sledgehammer and dung them. Fertilize them. What's dung? The digging and
the dunging is done right here. One more here, okay? And if it
bears fruit, verse 9, if it bears fruit, oh well. Well, well, well, well, well.
Wouldn't it be well? Lord, just give me one. Give
us one. Give us one of our children.
Confession, faith, and Christ. And doesn't that have to be mine? Give us one. Oh, and then wouldn't it be well?
If not, cut it down. Cut it down. You're the Lord.
And then what Eli said, when they came to Eli, and he had
two sons, and they said, Your sons are dead. You're two worthless
sons. And he said, It's the Lord. It's the Lord. He did what seemed good. And that's what I'm going to
have to say, and that's what we're going to have to say. If
I'd have got it, see, if the Lord had killed me, my parents
would have had to say, It's the Lord. He heard the gospel, and
he's a goner. But God, always rich in mercy,
he saves some prodigals. Not all of them, except we repent.
We won't perish. We won't perish. Every person
in here, young and old alike. You know, messages like this
are hard. preach, but that doesn't... Our
Lord said this. This was our Lord speaking here. Solemn, solemn, solemn. And, ah, Lord, grant repentance, whether
he will not. And me, you know, repent is not
a one-time thing. Repent. It says repent. It doesn't
say have you repented. It's not a one-time thing. It's
a lifelong state of the heart and the mind. You understand
that some, don't you? It's a lifelong. You don't say,
oh, I repented long ago, and now I'm living. Oh, no. Then
you haven't repented. You aren't repenting. It's repenting.
You understand that, don't you? Repent. That's why we come. You know why we come here? Why
I come here every... I come to repent. I hear his
mercies are new every morning. I hear this gospel is for sinners,
I need to hear it again. That Christ died for sinners,
Christ crucified, took the place of some rotten, no good sinners. Those are the ones that are going
to be accepted by God. God is going to be pleased with
all those that Christ did that for. And who does he do that
for? Those that ask him. I need Christ. I need Christ. Those that don't
ask don't get it, and they perish. And it's the goodness of God
that leads a person to do that. Lord. All right. Joe, you got
a hymn picked out? Two hundred five. Stand by.