If you have forgotten what the
objective is as we are going through the book of Luke, let
me remind you that we are taking the great privilege and honor
of getting to know the Lord Jesus Christ in person and in work
as He is recorded in the text of Scripture for us. What a privilege
it is to observe our Master in ministry as he has given us three
and a half years of details given to us by his apostles as to how
he lived and moved and had his being. And we are able to, through
the Scriptures and by faithful explanation of the Word of God,
get somewhat of a glimpse of the glory of God in the person
of Christ. And let me remind you once again
that when you read the Gospels or have the Gospels explained
to you, you are privileged to have a bird's eye view or a position
by which you get to observe God in the flesh. You get to learn
from Him how He deals with people, what's important to Him, and
what's important for His people. That is the beauty of the gospel
narrative of the God-man Jesus Christ. And I want to remind
you also that our Lord, from the moment of his ministry to
the end of his ministry, had one ultimate destination in view. You guys remember that destination? It's Calvary. from the moment
that he was called by God and baptized by the Spirit and come
up out of the water to be tested in the wilderness and then made
publicly known to the whole world of Jerusalem and Judea and Capernaum
and the regions about by his cousin John as the lamb that
would be slain from the foundation of the world. He had three and
a half years ministry. So we watch him as he makes his
journey to Calvary. That's where we are right now.
He is in his second year. He is headed towards his third
year and he is getting closer to Jerusalem. That being the
case, two things are taking place in the life of this man. His
heart is filled with joy at the expectation of what he will receive
once he rises from the dead. As the Hebrew writer put it,
the joy that was set before him was the reason why he endured
the cross. He despised the shame and sat
down at the right hand of God. This man had a joy in his heart
that allowed him and sustained him and caused him to rise up
every day, purposeful in his work before God. He was filled
with the joy of having his people be with him for all eternity. But I want you to also know that
joy was mixed with pain. It was mixed with sorrow. And
on this occasion, we will see how that sorrow was a major factor
in the way he spoke to the people. We are still in the same context
in which we were last week when our message was agree with your
adversary while you are in the way. The way John, Luke rather
opens up chapter 13, he's letting us know We are in the same place
the same location we are moving but as we are moving some people
come to Jesus and makes certain observations as if Jesus didn't
know to let Jesus know that there was a tragedy that occurred in
Jerusalem and the way he they open up this sort of piece of
news They want to give to him is in verse 1 of chapter 13.
They were present at that season some that told him of the Galileans
whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. I don't
know why they felt like they had to give Jesus the news of
the day. But what I do know is that in
the process of them giving him this news, he knew that they
were holding to certain assumptions, certain assumptions that we all
hold to when we are not very clear on how God acts. We all hold to certain assumptions,
particularly the kind of assumptions that basically says when a tragedy
occurs in the life of a person or in the life of a people, we
have the comfortable position of standing back and being judges
and assessing as to whether or not those people deserved what
they got. That is a fundamental assumption
on all of our part of which our Lord Jesus Christ does not delay
to correct. Now in the 21st century, we would
probably use a much more psychological tactic of responding to this
assumption, but Jesus is not politically correct. Jesus doesn't
care about how you feel. What he cares about is how you
think. And so our master responds by
saying to them, In verse two, these words, are you thinking,
that's what the term suppose means. Are you thinking that
these Galileans were sinners above all Galileans because they
suffered such things? And here's the answer. Yes. That's
exactly what they were thinking. They were thinking what a lot
of people think in our generation and around the world. And that's
this. It's the first point in your
outline that bad things happen to bad people and good things
happen to good people. So that when you get evil, you
get evil because you really, really deserve it. And when you
get good, you get good because you have earned it. That's what
they think. And that's what our culture thinks.
And that's what the world thinks because it is ignorant of really
where it stands before God. Point number one in our outline,
a common misconception. Bad things only happen to bad
people. Good things only happen to good people. Watch this, until
bad things happen to you. So I'm getting ready to reintroduce
you to some theology that you probably don't know. You should
have been taught this in your churches, but you haven't. Because
in many of our churches, the character of the true and the
living God has not been totally confessed. We are learning what
confession means in our Friday night Bible study. And confession
means for us to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but
the truth concerning who God is. That's what confession is.
And one of the things that our churches hold back in doing is
actually telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the
truth concerning God. Like somehow they've got to protect
God from his reputation. And so on many occasions when
evil occurs, the first thing that religious folk do is say,
that wasn't from God. But I would ask the question,
then who was it from? If it wasn't from God, ultimately. So follow me now, this is very
important. What you and I want to do is understand the Bible's
view about evil, because this is what Jesus is teaching the
crowd in front of him. Where does evil come from? Why
does it occur? Is it a direct effect of a person's
disposition or attitude towards God? Or is there a greater lesson
as to why calamities break out, tragedies occur, events that
we view as horrific take place in our lives for other lessons? Let me share with you some very
important realities. First and foremost, according
to Romans chapter 3 verse 23, this is in relationship to the
whole world. With the exception of one person
who has already left this world and his name is Jesus. This is
true of every human being. Are you ready? All have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. Now you need to understand
why this truth is so clearly set forth in scripture. There
is not one person upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not.
There is none good, no, not one. There is none that acts like
God, thinks like God, does like God, but God himself. The rest
of us are disposed to this horrific assignment called sinners. Whether
you know it or not, you are a sinner. and so is the one speaking to
you. The whole of the human race, born and conceived in sin, when
we leave our mother's womb, we are always in danger of judgment. The moment we leave our mother's
womb, and yea, according to the vile and wicked, desperate, desperately
depraved minds of men and women today, the child conceived in
the womb is in danger of judgment. to the tune of millions being
born or destroyed by abortion. What a horrific crime. But listen
to me, it's because we're all sinners. We are in a world that
is broken, it's filled with sin, it's filled with evil. The Bible
tells us very clearly our God in His gracious, gracious warning
to our first parents in Genesis 3 told Him, actually Genesis
2, 16 and 17, in the day that you eat of that tree, You will
begin a process of death which will continue to cycle through
all humanity, first dying spiritually and then dying physically and
ultimately dying eternally. That is the condition of our
world. Now, here we are in our world
really struggling through why there is so much evil. Don't we struggle with that?
Why is there so much evil? But we never ask the question,
well, why is there so much good? We just assume good is supposed
to be all right in our inheritance But i'm here to tell you if you
know god what you are to do is thank him for his goodness God
is good And his goodness is bestowed upon us not because we deserve
it But because that's just the way god is If we deal with what
we deserve we call it justice all you and I deserve is the
wrath of god Am I making some sense? And so what the scriptures
teach us is that evil comes Because of our sin, it breaks out because
we opened the door to it at the fall of our first parents and
the rest of us have agreed with what our parents did. And so
from time to time, evil breaks out around the world to remind
us that we are in a precarious state before God. So let me show
you some Bible verses just in case you've never been taught
that God is the one who distributes evil in the world. Just in case
you bought into the lie that there's an evil entity over here
and a good entity over there and the twain never meet. Listen
to me. If there is anything that exists in the universe, God made
it. Good, bad and ugly. That's only
logic. Go with me, therefore, in your
Bibles, if you will, to the book of Amos, Amos chapter 3. I want
you to read in Amos chapter 3, verse 6, a small prophet, minor
prophet. You can get past the book of
Ezekiel and Daniel and you'll find him in about five minutes. When we get to the book of Amos,
you know, that's one of the books you ain't never read in your
life. Amos, I ain't even heard of a prophet named Amos. You'll find him after Hosea and
after Joel. Amos chapter 3, and I want you to hear these words,
ladies and gentlemen. This is a rhetorical question
from God. Let me start back at verse 3. These are rhetorical questions
meant for you to respond in the affirmative. Verse 3 of Amos
3. Can two walk together except
they be agreed? What's the answer? No. Now watch
this. Will a lion roar in the forest
when he hath no prey? The answer is no. Will a young
lion cry out of his den if he has taken nothing? No. Can a
bird fall in a snare upon the earth where no snare is laid
for him? It's impossible. Shall one take
up a snare from the earth and have taken up nothing? No. Verse six, shall a trumpet be
blown in the city? Remember what we learned last
week about the warning of the prophet. He blows the trumpet
to let the city know that danger is at hand. Shall a trumpet be
blown in the city and the people be what? Not afraid, not concerned,
not aware, not prepared. Watch this. Shall there be evil
in a city? And the Lord hath not done it.
I bet you never read that verse before in your life, have you?
I bless you. I told you honest people ain't
going to hell. See, I'm here to help you understand that if
you're going to get a right view of God, if you're going to acquire
a right view of God, you better read your Bible because only
your Bible will tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but
the truth about God, your preachers and your teachers and your scholars
will hold back truth. And in doing so, they are not
confessing his true character and nature. Amos said, if evil
comes, guess who allowed it to occur? God did. Turn with me
in your Bible to Isaiah chapter 45. I want you to see a few more
verses. Now we've gone over these verses
in our own church as we work through different doctrines,
systematic theology, the problem of evil in the world, the necessity
of recognizing the character of God as sovereign. One of the
most difficult and troubling things for the creature in relationship
to God is acknowledging God as sovereign and really meaning
it. Because when you acknowledge someone as sovereign, you are
acknowledging that they are in control. And when you are acknowledging
that God is sovereign, you are acknowledging that God is totally
in control. Now, if it follows that God is
totally in control at all times, everywhere, whatever occurs,
God either allowed it or brought it to pass. Isn't that logical? See, but that creates a lot of
problems for us in other categories of life, doesn't it? Except for
people who are willing to let God be God Do you remember our
brother Job? He was a good man. The scripture
says he was perfect. He did that was right in the
sight of the Lord He eschewed evil. Of course, he was perfect
in Christ as all believers are and one day That brother lost
his family, he lost his business, he lost his livestock, he lost
his wealth, and he even lost his health. Remember that? Job
chapter 1 and 2, one of the most remarkable books on suffering
you could ever read. You know how Job closes out chapter
1. Watch this. The Lord gives and the Lord takes
away. He didn't say the devil did it. You know why? Because he knew
God. And while he knows that God uses means, instrumental
means, and remote means, and secondary means, while he may
give the devil permission, as he gave the devil permission
to take away his hell, Job didn't spend any time blaming these
secondary causes. He went to the top. See, because
if God is your God, you don't have to get mad at the condition,
at the circumstances, at your culture, at the politicians,
at your mama, at your daddy. Go to God! Because why would
these things occur unless God is there in it teaching us some
lessons, right? Very important for you who know
God to not blame secondary and tertiary causes. Go to God. He
has a reason for the evil that comes. And we're going to find
out what that is. But here's another verse that
turns my theological colleagues into pretzels and make them run
from the reality of the true and the living God. In Isaiah
chapter 45, here's what God says over in verse 7. I form. That's a Hebrew word that means
to create. The light. And I create what? Oh. Well, how did darkness come
about? God created it. Just like he
created the light. This is the law of non-contradiction.
It's a principle of logic. If God created the light, he
had to also create the darkness because the darkness affirms
the character and nature of light as an antithesis. God did this. I create the darkness. I create
the light. Mark it. I make what? Listen,
let me tell you something. All this paying billions and
trillions of dollars to our government for peace. Save your money. Please
save your money. Peace will never come through
human government. God alone gives peace. Can I
tell you something? And when God gives peace, no
one can make war. We need to negotiate with the
true and the living God about peace if we need peace. He's
the prince of peace. He's the Lord of peace. He's
the ruler of peace. He controls peace. Peace only
comes from God and you can't pay for it. You can't buy it
through politics either. How idiotic are we to think we
can be saved through politics? Watch this. I make peace and
I what? Create evil. And here's the way
the Lord closes it out. Just in case you forgot who's
talking, I am Jehovah and I do all these things. You got that? Now, again, for people who have
redefined God in a certain way inconsistent with biblical truth,
they struggle with this. Go with me in your Bible to Proverbs
16, so we can look at verse 4. People struggle with the character
of God in His sovereignty. Not only that, they struggle
with the explicit accepting and accountability of God owning
the evil that he brings upon the human race. They struggle
with the idea that God would not only call himself sovereign,
but that he would attribute the evil that takes place as to having
had its origin in him and its distribution through him. So
again, just as a basic instruction to you, just in case you don't
know how to hold these alleged tensions, When you know God to
be good through and through, every aspect of his being, every
aspect of his nature, when you know God to be good and you know
God to be sovereign, if God brings about evil, he brings about evil
because of his goodness and in order to produce goodness. Did
you hear that? See, a good God can never himself
be evil, but he can bring about evil in order that it accomplishes
good. we need to be able to reconcile
with that. Here's what he says in Proverbs
chapter 16 verse 4. Are you there? The Lord hath
made what? All things. Who did he make it
for? That's incredible. Do you mean he made the devil
for himself? Yes he did. Now that's sovereign
isn't it? That's sovereign. Now let me
help you with that just in case you're still struggling. When
the devil runs up on you, Starts chasing you and you start running
and crying and whooping and hollering understand that the devil is
owned by the same God that owns you and If you need deliverance
from him go to God Because the devil can't do anything but that
God lets him. Are you hearing me? He's not
some free radical Maverick running in the universe that God has
a catch-up with from time to time My God does not sweat Listen to it. The Lord made all
things for himself. Yea, even the wicked for the
day of evil Do you see that? You accept that as authoritative
inspired infallible inerrant scripture God is sovereign Go
with me in your Bible now to Jeremiah chapter 18. I'm just
giving you a few verses. I'm gonna make some comments
We'll move on to our next point a common misconception. Is that evil in
the world runs rapid it runs free and and that it doesn't
have its origin in the purposes of God and that somehow God has
to catch up with evil to stop it because it wasn't part of
his design. But nothing in the scriptures would ever affirm
that type of reasoning. That would be a secular humanistic
ideology that we would not agree with. Jeremiah 18, God's speaking
to Jeremiah about the nations of which America is one of them.
And here's what it says in Jeremiah 18. Listen to what he says over
in verse 8. Verse 7. At what instant or time
I shall speak concerning a nation, prophesy, decree concerning a
nation and concerning a kingdom? To pluck up and to pull down
and to what? Destroy it. My goodness. You
mean when a nation is destroyed, God destroyed it? Well, yeah. If it was made, God
made it. You know, we love to tell people
how God has shined His grace on us as Americans. God bless
America. All our politicians love to say,
God bless America. And it's so. But here, let me
let you understand something. He has blessed all the nations
of the world in that they have their existence in God, their
purpose in God, their design in God. And the God that blesses
nations also curses nations. That's why America needs to be
very careful. of its assumption that all God
does is bless. Listen to the language. If that
nation against whom I have pronounced turn from their evil, we're getting
ready to get into that doctrine here. I will repent, watch this,
of the evil that I thought to do unto them. Whoa. God devises
evil against people who live in rebellion against him. Yes,
he does. Do you see it? He's explaining
to Jeremiah the necessity of the doctrine of repentance, which
is what we are about to get into, because it is the only logical
response to God when we are going contrary to him. Jeremiah is
told that God destroys nations that live in open impenitent
rebellion against him. And God also blesses nations
that will turn from their evil ways. Verse nine. And at what
instant I shall speak concerning the nation, concerning the kingdom,
to build and to plant it. See it? If it do evil in my sight
that it obey not my voice. There you go. That's the evil.
Obeying not his voice. If it do evil in my sight and
not obeying my voice, then I will repent of the good wherewith
I said I would benefit them. Do you see that? Now, therefore,
go and speak to the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
and say unto them, now watch this, behold, I frame evil against
you. Now, you know who he's talking
to? His own people. His own people. This is the context
in which Jesus is now speaking to the children of Israel in
his own present day. Let's go back to our text then
and learn some things. We have just been introduced
to the God who does good and does evil to the God who makes
light and makes darkness to the God who owns all things and all
things are made by him and for him good and Evil and we accept
God's sovereign owning of these things because we know that God
is good and that all things Ultimately will work for good to them that
love God But in our present context the assumption on the part of
these people that are coming to Jesus Needs to be dispelled
and he quickly does that by telling them? listen, if you think that
these Galileans who perished and by this bloodthirsty secular
ruler named Pilate, who was a Gentile ruler under the Roman Empire,
who frequently, according to the historical archives, would
prove his authority by going in and massacring masses of people. This is what Gentiles do. You
guys are watching this on the news in the Middle East right
now. You are wondering why a nation like Syria could destroy its
own people. Well, because all men by nature
are base. And if God didn't give you grace,
you do the same thing if you were in a position of power and
people were rebelling against you. However, let me say this
about Pilate. If Pilate mingled the blood of
these Galileans who were in the temple at this time, it wouldn't
have been out of his free arbitrary action because he knew that the
rule and policy of the Roman Empire was that everybody was
able to worship their God. This is called polytheism. Long
as you pay taxes, kind of like where we are today. This is the
pluralistic society in which you and I live. Our government
doesn't care what God you believe in as long as you pay your taxes.
Well, not quite. It don't like Christianity, but
we'll talk about that later. As long as you pay your taxes,
you cool with the Roman Empire. Why then does Pilate go in and
destroy these Galileans? Obviously, there was something
about the Galileans that threatened the kingdom for which Pilate
thought he would destroy them and let them be an example to
the people. See, if you read into this statement
that these fellows are bringing to the master, oh, there's a
bunch of Galileans that were killed in the temple. You might
read this sort of racist attitude on the part of these people,
because the person they're talking to is a Galilean. See, the Galileans
were viewed as real sinful people. They were viewed as folks who
were far more sinners than everybody else. The Galileans was like
folks who grew up in West Oakland, you know, just. You know, it's
one thing to grow up in in Berkeley and you know San Jose, but when
you grow up in West Oak ain't no good thing coming you get
what you deserve if you born in West Oakland now watch this
Now watch this they knew that the master was a Galilean and
they knew that the boys that he had and was training were
Galileans too they knew that the Galileans were making noise
and And yet none of the scriptures, as far as they were concerned,
even remotely imply that out of Galilee comes a prophet. The
word was Galileans are wicked people. Galileans are cursed
people. Galileans are ungodly people.
Galileans deserve what they get. And you know what our master
says? Well, they may deserve what they get, but that doesn't
absolve you from guilt either. So now watch how our master responds
masterfully with this in verse three. Are you there? Verse four,
rather. After he says, I tell you, except
you repent, you shall also likewise perish. Or those 18, do you see
that? Upon whom the tower of Siloam
fell and slew them. Now watch this. Do you think
that they were sinners above all men that dwelled at Jerusalem? You see what our master does?
He takes the flawed assumption of these self-righteous religious
people who thinks that Jerusalem is the capital of the universe
and that God's footstool is in Jerusalem and that because the
assumption is that God has blessed Jerusalem, nothing evil could
happen to the folks at Jerusalem. And Jesus reminds him that a
tower fell and destroyed 18 souls in Jerusalem. You know what he
was saying? Whether in Jerusalem or West Oakland, you are all
sinners and subject to the wrath of God. You got that? And then
he actually tightens up the noose on them because the word sinner
in regards to verse 18 is not the common word sinner. as we
would know a sinner being someone who transgresses God's law, but
as we are carrying over from our last week's message, that
word there, sinner, is the word debtor. Remember what our master
said? Agree with your adversary while
you are in the way, lest while you are in the way, he leads
you to the magistrate. Magistrate turns you over to
the officers. Officers task you into prison and you're going
to pay every bit of your debt. What he was letting them know
then and now is that all of us as sinners are debtors to God's
law. You guys know that, right? We're
debtors! And if we're saved, we're debtors to grace, aren't
we? We owe God for his grace. So our Lord is preparing to teach
a very important lesson of which I want you to hear today. This
is so critically important. When it comes to where you and
I are before God, you and I need to know that what God has called
us to is repentance. God's called us to repentance,
hence the title of our message, repentance. The third point in
your outline, this will be relatively fundamental, but I hope that
it comes home. Repentance is the first in the
command of the gospel call. Repentance is the first in the
command of the gospel call. It amazes me today what people
call preaching and what they called the gospel. And one thing
is glaringly missing in most preaching today. Do you know
what that is? Repent! Repent! Repentance is not preached
today. They will tell you to trust Jesus,
accept Jesus into your heart. Come in Jesus and take over my
life. But you need to repent. The whole nation needs to repent.
Every sinner that meets the true and the living God needs to repent. Repentance is a critical component
to coming to Christ. In fact, as we're about to learn,
you cannot know God apart from repentance. Now, I know right
now you're affirming what I'm saying, but I'm even wondering,
do you know what repentance is? The idea of repentance, when
God calls us to it, is for us to stop thinking the way we were
thinking. When the message of the gospel
comes to you and me, you know what it says? You're thinking
wrong. Your thinking is flawed. You
need to change the way you think. Remember his cousin John the
Baptist? A flaming fire comes on the scene. And he begins to
preach, the kingdom of God is at hand. Matthew, Mark, and Luke
all declared John saying, repent, the kingdom of God is at hand.
Is that right? And those who heard the message
of repentance, guess what they did? They repented. They came
to John. They acknowledged their sins.
They entered into the waters of baptism called the waters
of repentance. And when the Holy Ghost came
on the Lord Jesus and he began his ministry, do you know what
Jesus said? Repent because the kingdom of God is at hand Do
you know the message of the Apostles all through the book of Acts
is this repent? Acts chapter 17 verse 30 makes
it very plain God have commanded all men everywhere to what? Acts 17, 30 through 34, God has
commanded every one of us to repent. Isn't that a strange
thing that God would tell you and I, we got to change our mind?
Metanoia is the Greek word there in the New Testament, and it
means you and I do not think right. We need to start thinking
the way God thinks. That's what repentance is. And
repentance, as we are about to see, is comprehensive. You know,
by nature, we're going the wrong way. Do you know that we're going
the wrong way as a nation? We're going the wrong way as
a world. We're going the wrong way. I don't know about you,
but I see us drifting further and further and further away
from God every day. I am not under any illusions.
Watch this. Hear me now. The way we talk. The way we act, the way we construct
what we want to do, the way we formulate our ideas, the arrogance
in which our nation and our world now is flaunting its own agenda,
its own purpose, its own goals, tells me that our world is going
further and further and further away from God. There's only one
appropriate word to our world, and that's repent. Repent and
God has called mankind to repentance Not some places but everywhere
and in fact the way Peter puts it in 2nd Peter chapter 3 verse
9 watch this now God is not willing that any should perish but that
everyone come to what's the word repentance? He says you and I
are to account now watch this now About the very reason that
you and I are still breathing today is that God is being patient
with us. I agree with that. Listening
to my elder speak about his mom's praying for her children to be
saved. And in our prayer team, in our
prayer ministry, this is one of the things I remind us all
the time. Don't come and join my prayer group and think that
you're gonna be just praying for five minutes. And if you
don't get any results, then you're gonna go on your way. See, people
who learn how to pray are like folks who run long distance races.
I'm not talking about 400 meters. I'm talking about 5,000 meters.
I'm talking a long distance race. I'm talking about praying till
you breathe your last breath. I'm talking about being on your
own deathbed while people are praying for you. You're praying
for your loved ones because you want to see them saved. And you
know, you know that it's God's patience that brings sinners
to repentance. This is God's, when you wake
up in the morning and the sun smiles on you and said, Hey,
it's another day. God's been patient with somebody.
Do you know if God called in all the debts that we owe, we
all go into hell. God's patient every day. He's
patient every day. And so the word is repentance. And this group of people, they
were under the faulty notion, please hear this now, they were
under the faulty notion that they were all right with God.
They were not like the Galileans, nor were they like these people
upon whom this unusual natural catastrophe fell. But Jesus said,
no, you're just like them. Any moment, hell could swallow
you up. You are not right with God. So
let's talk about repentance. It's the first in the command
of the gospel call. You are not a faithful preacher,
expositor of the word of God. If you are standing before people
who are lost and don't tell them that in your lost estate, you
are under the wrath of God. In your lost estate, you are
the object of God's anger. In your lost estate, you are
God's enemy and God's your enemy. We learned that last week, didn't
we? Warn them from me. Warn them from me. Now, isn't God merciful to warn
you before he destroys you that you're not right with God? And
people are not going to turn until they come to understand
their true condition. And this is the reason why there's
so much adamancy and hardness of heart in our present generation.
Our churches have not told the world what their true condition
is. They're under the wrath of God.
The only remedy for being under the wrath of God is repentance. The mind must be changed. I thank God for the word. I thank
him for that necessary requisite in the preaching of the gospel.
What does this term teach us? Let's learn some things. What
does repentance teach us? It teaches us that there is a
judgment to be averted. Repentance teaches us that there
is a judgment to be averted. Now watch this. If I don't believe
That there is an hour coming in which all that are in the
graves shall hear the voice of God and be raised And some to
the judgment of damnation. I'm not going to tell people
to repent If I don't believe that as hebrews 9 27 puts it
It is appointed unto men once to die and after this the judgment
i'm not going to preach repentance If I don't believe that there's
a great white throne Upon which one sat upon it from whose face
the heavens and the earth fled away. And all, small and great,
the dead, small and great, stood before the great white throne. And they were judged out of the
books that were written. If I don't believe that there's
a judgment day, I'm not gonna tell you to repent. I'm just
not gonna tell you, because I don't believe there's any judgment
to avert. Am I making some sense? When
we say repent, we're telling people to turn. from the direction
in the course that you're going. Because the direction in the
course that you're going is headed towards calamity. That's just
not the tone of preaching today. That's not the character of preaching
today. Men don't regard the souls of men as eternally precious
enough to tell them. It's not about this life. It's
about the life to come. And you must know that you've
got to face your maker. Repentance. Repentance, what
does it teach us that there is a judgment to be averted and
that all men are under judgment All men not just some men all
men and not only that this judgment has been affirmed By the death
of Christ on Calvary I've been contemplating this
thing of wearing crosses. I don't care if you wear a cross
I don't care if you put them up on church walls I really don't
care but they mean nothing they mean nothing because unless you
understand the doctrine behind that cross you are simply committing
a contemporary idolatry there is no power in an image of a
cross up on the wall. Plus, it's not a cross that saved
you. It's a man that saved you. Are
you hearing me? This is very important. This is very important. Then
you got our Catholic brothers with some effeminate fella hanging
on that cross. It's called a crucifix. Listen
to me. Listen. The devil is mocking
the most precious act of God. by telling religious people that
they are safe with a crucifix around their neck. And it belies
the fact that you don't understand that that was a moment in time
that is past, finished, perfect, and that man who doesn't look
anything like that thing on that cross is in glory. He's in glory! But the devil gets all kinds
of glory in that because that was his hour and power of darkness. And that's why many, many vile,
vile, wicked. Can you imagine when you look
at some of the people that wear those crosses? I say to myself,
now, if it was such things as vampires and werewolves, that
cross ought to melt that person right there on the spot. Am I
telling the truth? But I want you to hear me now.
The devil knows how to substitute the truth for a lie and make
you think you're all right with God. That's nothing but a fiddly. It's so very important for you
to understand that the cross is a doctrine. It's a teaching. It's a message that when God
destroyed his son on that cross, he affirmed to the whole world
that there's a judgment. Now is the judgment of this world. John chapter 12 verse 30. Now
is the prince of this world cast out. And if I be lifted up, I'll
draw men unto me from every nation, kindred, tribe and tongue. Do
you know when I see Christ crucified? This is what I know. God must
punish sin. When I see Christ hanging on
the cross, you know what I know? God hates sin. When I see Christ
hanging on the cross, you know what I know? As much as God loves
his darling son, sin and God are incompatible. I'm taught
by the cross that if I love what God loves, I must hate sin. I'm taught by the cross that
God was able to remedy his problem with me, a sinner, by taking
my sin and placing it on his son. But his son is not on that
cross anymore. Are you guys hearing me? I'm
taught by that cross to repent because while that judgment there
is a judgment seat of mercy, I'm talking Calvary. The judgment
on the last day is a judgment seat without mercy. There's no
mercy on the last day for everybody who has lived, breathed, heard
the gospel, passed up the gospel in penitency and died in their
sins. That judgment seat has no blood
on it. None whatsoever. None whatsoever. Repentance is a call to turn,
turn from the way you're thinking. Let's work this through for a
few minutes. What is exactly repentance? What
is God calling us to when he calls us to repent? He's calling
us to change the way we think, change the way we act, Change
our intentions, change our motives, change our actions. When a person
repents, the first place that repentance takes place is in
the mind. See, you and I, we're enemies of God through wicked
words in our mind. Colossians chapter 1. Romans
chapter 8 verses 6 and 7 says, the carnal mind is enmity against
God. Are you guys following me? Now
watch this. This is the struggle you have with God when you don't
know Him. This is the struggle you have with God when you don't
know him. Because men love darkness. This is Jesus speaking, John
chapter 3 verse 19. Listen, we love darkness. That's
the Greek word agape for people who love to put a lot of stock
in the word agape. Oh, I just love agape love. Well,
listen, there are people who have an agape love for darkness. Do you know what that means?
They're committed to it. Sacrificially committed to it.
Ready to die for that kind of darkness. because they love it. And Jesus teaches us that's our
condition while as yet we are still lost. We love darkness. Can I get a witness? And if it
wasn't for the grace of God, you'd love it too. The whole
of the human race in Adam and in ourselves have put on fig
leaves and started hiding from God behind the trees. The whole
of us. This is how you know God has
changed your mind. You have come out from behind the trees and
you've taken the fig leaves off and you've come into the light
and say, God, here I am. Here I am. Now watch this. I
agree with you. I'm walking with you to the magistrate,
but I'm ready to solve this. I'm ready to settle out of court
right now. I'm ready to agree with you right now. What did
you say? Are you guys hearing what I'm saying? That's called
repentance. And isn't it good for your adversary
to strive with you? to labor with you, to appeal
to you, to beseech you, to teach you, to change your mind. You
wake up and realize, my goodness, I was trying to fight against
omnipotence. And you come to agree with God.
That's called repentance. The New Testament is filled with
that. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you might know
what the good and acceptable and perfect will of God is. The mind has to be changed. and
the affections have to be changed as well because the mind is going
to inform the affections and the affections are going to inform
the mind. Don't you doubt it. You and I
are very feeling-oriented creatures. There are a whole bunch of folk
going to hell by what they feel. Am I telling the truth? Now watch
this, watch this. People know what's right, but
they do what's wrong because they do what they feel. So the affections have to change.
My passions, the things that I value that moved me to act
have to change. Pastor, that's a lot of work.
Yes, it is. It requires being born again,
not in the religious sense, but in the real substantive sense
of a work of grace that changes you on the inside. and makes
you a new creature in Christ so that you are naturally, are
spiritually thinking God's thoughts after him. When a man or a woman
is in a state of repentance, what they are doing is turning
both in their mind and in their affections away from their former
lifestyle. Go with me in your Bible to Ephesians
chapter four. I want you to see this graphically. The apostle
Paul, as he speaks to the Gentile churches Affirms this radical
change that is essential to the affirmation of our salvation.
I know Everywhere you go you meet people who say they're Christian
I've been telling you this in the Friday study and I'm gonna
say it now to say you are a Christian Does not make you a Christian
Did you guys hear that? See we put so much stock in what
people say. Oh, he's a Christian. How do
you know what he said he was? He said he was a Christian. Oh,
okay. That's okay. Then he is No, you're
not a Christian because of what you say you're a Christian if
you are one because of who you are a Christian is a thing It's
a new creature It's a new work of grace a Christian is not just
a title like the cross hung around your neck Listen to what the
scripture says, Ephesians chapter four, verse 17. Are you there?
This I say therefore and testify in the Lord that you henceforth
walk not as other Gentiles walk. Now here's what Paul is describing. He's describing the state of
the unregenerate unbeliever, the person who does not know
Christ nor confess him, who is ignorant of God's word and have
never experienced the power of the gospel. Here's what it means
to be a Gentile in the flesh. Watch this. They walk in the
vanity of their mind. Do you see that? Pastor, what
does that mean? You value highly what you think. But you know what the proverb
says? Watch this. A proverb says, he that trusteth
in his own heart is a fool. You know what else the proverb
says? Now watch this. I want you to get this and tell me if
this is not the culture which you and I live in. Every way
of man Proverbs 16.2, is right in his own eyes. Now help me
now, help me for just a second, because I'm losing my mind on
that proposition. Every way a man is right in his
own eyes, somebody's wrong, right? But now follow this now, when
you are unregenerate, you never think that your way about a thing
is wrong until you come to walk in the light. Every way of man
is right in his own eye. All the ways of men are right
in their own eyes. A fool thinks that whatever he
does is right. I just quoted to you three Proverbs.
I'm just letting you know. Here's how you know you're unsaved.
Every time you go about to think something, to deliberate something,
to do something, without even remotely considering whether
or not it squares with scripture, it affirms that you are walking
in the vanity of your mind. You know what the Bible tells
us in Genesis chapter 6 verse 5? God looked upon the earth
and he saw that the imagination of the thoughts of every man
was only evil continually. Now was God exaggerating? Look
at our world today. Look at our world today. The
vanity of the mind is the state that we're in when our mind is
not filled up with a knowledge of God. This is what is meant
to be a Gentile in the flesh. Listen to the language. And that
you walk not forth, not henceforth as as other Gentiles in the vanity
of their mind, having the understanding what? In other words, there are
no lights on. And the word light is a synonym
for knowledge. It is a synonym for biblical
truth. It is a synonym for the gospel.
For the man or the woman that's in an unregenerate state, the
reason why their mind is vain is because their mind is void
of biblical truth. You don't think God's thoughts
after him when you're unregenerate. Now, well, pastor, I go to church.
Yeah, but the word is not taking root in your heart. The word
is not planting itself in your mind. It's going in one ear and
out the other. How do I know? Because the choices
that you make indicate you're not listening to God. The choices that you make indicate
that you're not listening to God. Here it is. Having the understanding
darkened, being alienated from the life of God, through the
ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of the heart. Do you see that? Because of the
blindness of the heart. So here is what I'm getting at,
children of God. When God grants you grace to
repent, when you start turning, and that's the critical term,
to turn, the mind first must be transformed. It must be renewed. It must be illuminated. It must
be informed. And once the mind is informed,
the life necessarily follows. Hear me now. You always do whatever
you think. Nobody is twisting your arm to
commit sin. You think about it and you do
it. Are you hearing me? Oh, the devil
made me do it. No, he didn't. I don't know what got in me.
Yes, you do. What got into you were those
vain thoughts that lost in your wicked heart that formulated
an intention and a purpose and you went about to do it. That's
James chapter 1 verse 14. We talked about this last week.
Don't ever say God tempted you. God doesn't tempt people. God
can never be tempted. Every man is drawn away of his
own lust. That's what I meant by passion. See, and this is
why I pray so much before I preach and teach. Because the changing
of the life is not merely a consequence of explaining things to you. When a heart changes, it's not
because I have done a great job of explaining things. Those of
you who are already believers, illuminated, already walking
in the light. When you hear me explain things,
your heart rejoices because there's clarity brought to the message.
But please understand, that's not what changes the man. That's
not what changes the woman. People get mad at me and get
up and walk out. They do it every week. Light in the mind doesn't change
the direction. God has to enter in and do something
for you with that knowledge you hear. God has to do something. When Christ calls us to repent,
he's calling us to something that we cannot do. Are you hearing me? When he calls
you to repentance, please hear me. If you could, you would,
but you don't because you can't and you don't want to. Now, what
work of grace does it take to cause a person to stop wanting
the wrong thing and start wanting the right thing? That takes a
work of God, doesn't it? Now, how is another mere, weak,
feeble, simple human being like you gonna get you to stop wanting
something and start wanting something else? That requires a change
of nature. Are you hearing me? And see,
this is the problem of which many of us who are pastors and
preachers and teachers of the Word of God, we charge against
this nation of robbers and thieves and churches because they will
make you think you're saved because you go through some external
religious formula. Salvation, which results in repentance,
is a comprehensive work from the inside done only by God. Are you hearing me? God has to
get inside of you. He has to get a hold of you.
And he first gets you to realize you can't do it yourself. Go with me in your Bible to Psalms
chapter 80 and show you one of the Psalms that I love that explicitly
teach what I'm saying. I'm almost done. I want you to
understand that repentance is an essential and a primary component
in gospel preaching. No preacher is worth his weight
in salt who does not call sinners to repent. Repentance glorifies
God. Repentance glorifies God. Oh,
I love it. There was this knucklehead prophet. His name was Jonah. Bless his
heart. He hated the Ninevites. He hated the Ninevites. Guess
what assignment he got? To go to the Ninevites. He got the assignment to go to
the Ninevites, and he knew God was sovereign. But on this occasion,
he was hoping that God maybe went to sleep or something, because
he caught a ship going in the other direction. You guys remember
that? Go to Nineveh, he gets on a ship
headed to Tarsus, right? He's going in the opposite direction.
Because he does not want to do what God wants him to do. Now
watch this. I want you to hear this now.
Because when God actually begins to work through the preaching
to call men and women to repentance, they do. This is the tragedy
of our present hour. To not call men and women to
repentance is to secure their doom in hell. Jonah didn't go
to Nineveh because he was thinking that if I go I'll preach They
won't turn and and then I can go on back home or go to the
hilltop and watch them get destroyed Remember what he did Three days
through the city. He said repent repent 40 days
and God will destroy this place Remember that climbed up on the
top of the hill hoping that they wouldn't repent Guess what the
greatest revival in the world took place the whole nation from
the king of to the donkeys and the horses and the mules and
the pigs. They all put on sackcloths and ashes. You know what the
donkeys and the horses and the goats and the cows, you know
what the goats said? You know what the bullock said? You know what
the lamb said? I'm tired of sacrificing to these pagan gods. I was made
to be offered up to the true and the living God. I'm going
to repent. We're talking comprehensive repentance.
Even when your animal repents, start acting right. Your dog
and your cat get right. That's God working. You know
that, right? Now hear me now. Jonah sat on the top of the hill
and said, Lord, now why'd you even send me? Because I knew
that they were going to repent through the preaching of the
gospel because that's the way you are. That's what Jonah said. He said, you didn't have to send
me. You could have just gave him repentance. God was to know
I give him repentance through somebody telling them to turn
Now if God works through the preaching of the gospel to cause
people to turn Shouldn't we be zealous to tell people to turn
Knowing that God will work through that to turn people He had a
stubborn rebellious group of people called the Jews who seemingly
always resisted God but over time through this through this
constant suffering for their sins, they came to realize that
even though they would say to God, I'm sorry, they would still
continue doing their rebellion. Like a lot of you, you know,
you're wrong, but you keep living like hell. You keep saying, I'm
sorry. Now, sorry is a form of repentance.
That's the word. Now come home. I'm sorry. God
was sorry that he made man upon the earth is Genesis six, six.
But to say, I'm sorry, it's not repentance in total to say, I'm
sorry. I'm gonna change and with your
help I will is the beginning process of repentance and repentance
is not brought to fruition until you actually change your ways
Israel knew that because they cry out to God all the time Lord
I'm sorry and they found themselves under his wrath constantly and
here's what the scripture says watch this Psalm 80, I want you
to hear this. For those of you who are struggling
with why I don't repent, why I don't change, why I'm still
headed to hell, why am I still in danger of the wrath of God,
why I still feel insecure, is because you actually think you
can turn from your sins when you want to. I'm in Psalm 80, are you there?
Listen to the language, I'm gonna start at verse 17. Let your hand
This is the psalmist requesting that God would help him in this
matter of repentance Let your hand be upon the man of your
right hand Upon the son of man whom you made for strong for
yourself. That's jesus He's praying that god would be gracious To
send christ verse 18. So will not we go back from thee? Do you see that? If you send
Christ, who is the man of your right hand, whom you made strong
for yourself, we'll stop living like hell. Do you see that? Now
watch this. So will we not go back from thee,
quicken us. Do you see that? Make us alive. The reason I'm still living in
rebellion against you is because I'm dead. Oh, my goodness. When last time you met a brother
or sister, Struggling in their sins and and saying you know
what? I'm probably dead spiritually. No, you don't meet them because
people don't go that deep It's one of the things we learned
in our men's meeting last night If God's gonna be your God you got
to go deep with God You got to tell the truth from the core
of your being David said in his psalm 51 verse 6 you desire truth
from the inward man and from the hidden part He'll reveal
Christ to you When you know that there's nothing in you that really
wants to do right with God, tell the truth. Say, God, I don't
want to do your will. I don't want to go to hell, but
I don't want to do your will. I'm just helping you now. Just,
you know, because some of y'all are going to hell right now as
I speak. And you're trying to figure out a way how to justify
that in your conscience. Tell God that you don't want
to do what's right and you don't want to go to hell. Isn't that
the truth? Isn't that the truth? Now, if he sends you to hell,
you deserve it. Are you hearing me? But the reality
is when you don't want to do what's right, you are wanting
to go to hell. But you need help. That's what
they're learning here. Listen to the language. Lord,
lay your hand upon the one man in the universe that you made
strong enough to take a sinner out of darkness and put him into
light, to change his heart, to turn him around. Lay your hands
on Christ and let him be a substitute for me. That's what he's saying.
And if you quicken me, listen, we'll call upon your name. Do
you see that? Watch this ladies and gentlemen.
One of the evidences that you are repenting is that you call
on the God who can change your life. We've been learning that
in prayer too. You ain't praying until you get
real with God. I don't care how much you talk. I don't care how eloquent you
are. I don't care how many religious cliches you learn in your churches. God doesn't hear anything but
honest, humble, broken, sincere prayer. That's all he hears.
The rest of it is a facade and hypocrisy. That's why the best
thing to do is not even pray until you're ready to be right.
God is light. Ain't no darkness in God at all.
You can't play church with the God I serve. When God hears a
sinner, he hears a sinner afar off. You know what he hears when
he hears a sinner? He hears his soul. He hears the
cry of his soul. He hears the voice of his soul
from the depths of his being. Before it even becomes an articulated
speech form, it's a cry in the soul. That's what God hears. Because that's what God creates.
When God raises a man from the dead, like the baby that's born,
you must be born again. One of the evidences that he's
here, she's here, is they go to crying. When he raised Saul
from the dead and called him Paul, he told Ananias, you'll
find him. You go to a house on the street
called straight. He'll be in there. You know who he is. He'll
be the only one praying. Are you hearing me? This is how
you know you're in trouble. You haven't prayed to God in
a long time. This is how you know you're in
trouble. My goodness. I don't know how you can negotiate
this life. and not call on God. I don't
know how you can do that. I don't know how you can get
in your car here in the Bay Area and drive from point A to point
B when people are dying every day, people get drunk, running
up the curve, running over three and four folks every day all
over the Bay Area, you drive from point A to point B and say,
Lord, and don't say, Lord, help a brother. Lord, watch over a
brother. Lord, keep me. Okay, Lord, here we go. Watch
over me. I don't know how You can go all day long and not pray
for your children when they leave the house to go safely and to
come back safely. And to watch over them as they
start making their way to school or to work and start working
with their peers and have to listen to all that dumb, foolish
vanity that's going to lead them into captivity and send them
to hell. How you don't pray for them? That boggles my mind. See,
to me, we got a lot to pray about, even if we don't pray about ourselves.
But that's only when you are quickened and you realize how
sinful you are, how sinful your children are. Remember Joe? That
brother was offering sacrifices morning and evening, every day.
Had 10 kids living large. They were all driving Lexus's
and Mercedes Benz's. And you know what God was saying?
They on their way to hell. I mean, Joe was saying they on
their way to hell. I know they're partying. They're probably cussing
people out and getting in trouble. Read it for yourself. He offered
sacrifices for them continually. That's what saved people do.
That's what saved people do. Saved people aren't religious
people that just live their life willy nilly doing whatever they
want to do. Saved people, like our elders said, are concerned
about their own soul and the souls of people they love and
care about. Listen, I'm telling you, I know men don't multitask
well, but there's two things we can do. We can pray as we
walk. Am I telling the truth? We can pray as we walk, right?
Lord, keep me. Lord, keep my family. Lord, keep
my brothers and sisters. Keep us, Lord. Repentance is
a change of mind. Repentance is comprehensive.
It's a change of attitude. It's a change of life. It's a
change. Your whole projectory changes
when you have experienced the grace of repentance. Here it
is. He says in verse 19, here's here is the plea. Here is the
cry. Turn us again, O Lord, God of
hosts, cause your face to shine, and we shall be saved. Do you see it? Do you see the
desperate dependence upon omnipotence to do for them what they could
not do for themselves? Lord, if you turn us, we'll be
turned. That's the Hebrew verb for turn. God has to turn you. Your neck
and mine is a stiff sinew. That's why Stephen called his
own Jewish brethren, you stiff neck people. That's what God
called. You know how you call your children? You probably don't
do that in the 21st century because you'd go to jail if you talk
to your kids like that today. You stiff neck. That means you
don't turn. You're rigid. You just stay locked
in your adamant resistance against your authority. That's how you
and I are against God. As much as God would try, do
you know what the Proverbs says concerning the impenitency in
the heart of mankind apart from his grace? Though you take a
fool and put him in a pestle and grind him among the wheat,
yet will you not drive his foolishness from him. Do you know what that
means? Watch this now. Just because
you get hit by a car or get shot, or lose your job, or something
devastating occurs to you, that doesn't guarantee your heart's
gonna change. Isn't it remarkable that we meet
people who have gone through hell? And they may even whine
and cry and we pray for them at the hospital and they act
like they're listening, right? They act like they're listening. Watch
this. And then they get well. And they forgot they just went
through trouble. They go right back to their evil. Do you know
why? Even if God shows favor and grace
and mercy to the wicked, yet will he not depart from his wickedness
until God changes the heart. Are you hearing me? The heart
must be changed. One more point. Go back to your
text, chapter 12 before we're done. Chapter 13. Here's what Jesus does in a parable.
This is quite remarkable. I know some of you are going
to ask me about this if I don't deal with this now, and I will.
Luke chapter 13, listen to how he adds a parable to this urgent
call for them to repent of how they are thinking. What our Lord
is concerned about with the people that are with him is the fact
that this group of people who are with the Lord Jesus Christ
Jesus of Nazareth, of Galilee, is that they have been privileged
above everybody in the world at this time. Stay with me now.
They have been privileged to see God in the flesh, to hear
his voice, to see him do miracles of which no one could deny that
only God could do these miracles. Are you with me? Only these people
saw God in this fashion. None of us Have since then they
saw this and jesus knows as he's heading to calvary They are already
preparing in their heart to reject everything that god in his gracious
mercy has revealed to them concerning messiah He knows that in his
heart. This is why he said last week you guys can discern the
skies You can tell when it's about to rain. You can see the
clouds lorry making their way from the Mediterranean Sea You
can see that and you can always get ready to rain But you don't
know that the clouds of judgment are hanging over your head Ready
to break out on you and destroy you right now You see Jesus knew
that in a short time they would say crucify him Three chapters
six chapters over Jesus as he's headed to Jerusalem stops on
the outside of Jerusalem and begins to weep, oh Jerusalem,
oh Jerusalem, how often I would have gathered you to me, but
you would not. This is the premise for this
parable. He knows in 37 years, the Roman
empire is gonna come in and completely destroy Jerusalem, scatter these
people to the four winds. They will never be the steward
of the gospel again because they rejected Messiah. Read it for
yourself. Listen to what he says here in
this strange and quaint parable connected to our story. Just
a few fundamental points. Verse six through nine. He spake
a parable saying a certain man had a fig tree and he planted
which he planted in his vineyard and he came and sought fruit
thereon and found nothing. Then said he unto the dresser
of his vineyard, behold, these three years I am come seeking
fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down. Why come with the ground? Now,
why is our Lord given that parable? Because he gave parables to help
people think through the explicit warning that he gave. And knowing
that they weren't getting the warning, he gives them the parable
so that they can think through the parable. The parable is consistent
with the warning to repent. Three years, this husbandman
comes to this fig tree. Now the fig tree in this context,
we know represents whom? The nation of Israel. The three
years here corresponds to all the times the prophets were coming
to the people of Israel and telling them that you have been planted
by God, you should be bearing fruit to God. The three years
moreover correspond to the three years of Christ's ministry, where
year after year he preached the gospel to them. Year after year
he looked for fruit from them and guess what he found none
Remember in Mark's gospel and in Matthew's gospel right before
he cleared out the temple for the last time. He stopped by
a fig tree He had to teach his disciples that trees are not
just there to be pretty and look good They have a purpose Just
like Christians are not just there to be pretty and look good
on Sundays You have a purpose. He came to the fig tree and found
that there was no figs on it. And you know what he did? He
cursed that fig tree. He taught the disciples a massive
lesson. See, when he said in John chapter
15, I am the true vine and you are the branches. My father's
the husband and every branch in me that bears fruit, he purges
it so that it can bring forth more fruit. But the branches
that don't bear fruit, He cuts them down and they are burned
you guys got that See you and I are called to bring forth when
we hear the gospel the fruits of repentance You and I are called
to bring forth the fruits of faith You and I are called to
bring forth the fruits of submission to God These are fruits that
God has to produce in our life in affirmation to his rule over
our life God owns us doesn't he doesn't he have a right to
tell us what to do and He has a right to tell us what to do
and to glorify God what you and I are to do is to obey him That's
why I had those songs we sang up there I know these are all
hymns that we see but as I'm listening to the hymn trust and
obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus But to trust
and obey I'm still trying to find out what new contemporary
songs Equal the theology of that statement Are you hearing me? And then the last one watch me.
I Wash me, and I'll be whiter than snow. Lord Jesus, I long
to be perfectly whole. Break down every idol. Break
down every foe. And I will be whiter, whiter
than snow. See, those are prayers of repentance. Those are prayers of faith. Those people mean business with
God, don't they? They mean business. Listen, when
you're asking God to destroy your idols, You mean business
with God. Here's the message in this parable
of the fig tree. Why is it cumbering the ground?
Cut it down. Verse eight. And answering unto
him, he said, Lord, let it alone this year also till I shall dig
it about and dunk it. If it bear fruit well, if not
after that, cut it down. You know what our Lord is teaching?
He is patient, and patience is designed to give us room to repent. And when we don't repent and
perish, it won't be because God wasn't patient with us. This
vine dresser was a mediator between the wrath of God and the fig
tree. Like Christ is a mediator between
us and the wrath of God. Every day we live, God is allowing
that tree to remain. Oh, may he dig around it. Oh, may he dung it with the truth
of his word. Oh, may he work by his spirit
to cause that tree to bear fruit. And you and I discover the grace
of repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Amen.