All right, you may be seated at this time, and good morning and welcome once again. In life, there are a few necessities, things that are absolutely necessary to go on with life. One of them I've learned at a quite young age, when I was back at 19 years of age, it was some 41 or some 46 years ago, about saving for retirement. At 19 years of age, one looks forward maybe more than an hour, let alone 40, 45 years to prepare for retirement. It took me a year to figure out that it was probably time to save some money. After the store manager had mentioned that at Target there we were going to put dollar for dollar into your little bank account up to 10% of your savings. Now, at 19 years of age, that didn't sound like much. But after a year, and he had mentioned it probably a half a dozen times, it finally started to make sense that, boy, that's like free money. I mean, how would you like somebody to give dollar for dollar up to 10% of what you're making, even though it was only $2.65 an hour at the time? But it was something that was necessary, and you young people out there need to take advantage of that young, because 41 years in whatever you might do or longer goes pretty darn fast, pretty darn quick. So another one, maybe even a little bit more necessary than that, would be the work of repentance and to prepare for life hereafter. That would be repentance toward God, of course. And that's what we'd like to talk about today. To be ready and willing and able to live eternally with your creator, there is no greater importance than to be right with God, to be able to glorify Him, and to be able to enjoy Him forever. In one of the most fascinating and intriguing passages of scripture that have gotten my attention over the years, and of course, the necessity of life, Jesus, in his infinite wisdom, steadfast loving kindness, and long-suffering patience, shares with us very heart-touching, mind-awakening, eternity-securing words that take no time at all to capture and get our attention. He will take one of the human perplexities of life and grant us the one and only answer to promise us a place with him one day, a place where sorrow cannot live and joy cannot die. Often in scripture, Jesus is asked a question and often he responds with a question of his own. I believe mostly to take their eyes off of themselves and to put them on others. put their eyes on their own selves, I should say, and take their eyes off of others and what's happening to them. Some examples of this would be him fielding a question like, is it lawful for someone to heal on the Sabbath or not? And Jesus responds back with a question in Matthew 12, 10 through 12. He responds, what man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? He answers their question with a question. And in our text today, we will see not a question, but a thought that's brought Jesus' way about why the things that happen to other people haven't happened to them. They will pry to get out of Jesus reasons to justify themselves by looking at what happened to other people, taking their eyes off of themselves. And let's look at the text. So if you are able to stand at this time, Please stand for me with the reading of the scriptures this morning. And of course, it's gonna come from the first five verses of Luke 13. Luke 13, one through five. Now on the same occasion, there was some present who reported to him, that's Jesus, about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. And Jesus said to them, do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? I tell you no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or do you suppose that those 18 on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you no, Jesus says, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Let's go to the Lord in prayer again this morning. Father, thank you for the opportunity again to open your word, the infallible word, that which is without error, and gain truths for living for it, to be able to learn to act and think biblically. We just thank you, Lord, for the word. We know that our souls are sinful, and that the word must sanctify them, that our souls are sick, and that the word must heal them, and we know that the souls are hungry. and the word must feed them. We pray for that today, and we just pray that the humble words of this, or the words of this humble, the words out of the mouth of this humble teacher here this morning, this humble servant of yours, and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in thy sight, oh God, our rock and our redeemer. And it's in Jesus' name we ask it, amen. You may be seated. So the event before us that we just read in Luke 13 is an obscure one at best. We have no history written down about it and nowhere else in the scriptures is it even mentioned. But the Holy Spirit has caused Luke to write it down for our instruction, guidance and help in looking at the not yet future portion of our lives. In the text, two events are mentioned. one brought by the people, and one also added by the Savior. One an atrocity brought about by humans, and the other we would call a calamity, a natural disaster. And we've seen many of those in our days over the course of years we've been on earth. Jesus knows exactly what this group needs to hear. And we could listen in And if we could think of the thoughts or listen to the thoughts that Jesus may have had at that time, they might go something like this. First, the state of your own souls should always be a first concern. Do you hear of a sudden death? You would say to yourself, will I have been found ready if this had happened to me? Maybe another thought of Jesus's might have been this. If you heard of an awful crime or deed of wickedness, you would say to yourself, Are my sins forgiven? And have I really repented of my own transgressions? And maybe a third thought that may have gone through his mind. If you hear of a worldly man running into every excess of sin, you will say to yourself, who has made me to differ from another? What kept me from walking the same path? And we could definitely say by the grace of God, there go I, 1 Corinthians 15, 10. So, with the truth in front of us, the scriptures, God's holy, inerrant, and infallible word, we can surely believe that God's infinite power is directed by his infinite wisdom, his infinite wisdom directed by his infinite knowledge, and his infinite knowledge directed by his infinite truth. That we would not only trust his promises, but also obey his commands. In verse one, the event is explained to the group, Pilate apparently being the culprit behind it all, an awful, gruesome, ugly atrocity man is capable of, one we have seen over and over in society. Man is not as bad as he can be, but he surely is not good. Romans 3, 10 through 18 puts forth a pretty lengthy indictment against us. One of them is that there is not one that does good. in God's sight. In verse 2, Jesus gets their mind off of thinking about others and back onto themselves when he asks the question, do you suppose that those Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? Jesus knew that they were trying to get him to admit to that they were good and the ones that died were not, thinking all along more highly of themselves than they ought to be thinking. I have looked at these verses so often over the years, and I wanted to see if there was, and find something that maybe was different in the NASV version that I like to read, and all the other versions that are out there, there are many. And I found one. One word stuck out that kind of helped me understand the text maybe a little bit better and get a little bit more out of it. The one word there, understanding in the text is better, is the word think. Do you think? In the NASV, Jesus says, Do you suppose, either word is good, but suppose that word helped me a lot. The word suppose I see simply as a belief held without a proof. A belief held without a proof. It is in other places, the principle there, as you see in John 9, if you remember that, Jesus and the blind men, the apostles there, where sin is held as the reason for bad things that are in people's lives. In John 9, we see a blind man from birth, and Jesus' disciples come up and ask him, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind? Or in Job 4, verses 7 and 8, remember now, whoever perished being innocent. Or were the upright destroyed? Or where were the upright destroyed? And I think of that memory verse of, I think it's Galatians 6, 7. Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. What a man sows, he will also reap. So according to what I've seen, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble harvest it. Not just a few people believed, without proof, that bad things happen to bad people. Jesus will tell our group that it is not the reason, that is not the purpose they should see come out of such events like this that happen to us in life. English Puritan Thomas Watson, I'm sure, English Puritan Thomas Watson, I'm sure you guys are all on the edges of your seat waiting for my first English Puritan comment here, and here it is. Do not tell anyone that they were taken away by judgment for sin. No one knows, and no one is meant to know. The secret things, remember, belong to the Lord, Deuteronomy 29, 29. And we must remember that the Lord is slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness, Psalm 103, verse eight, that comes from. Seeing judgment on the spot, as in the case of Ananias and Sapphira, is the exception for him rather than the rule. All human suffering is meant to summon us to get our attention to us all to repent toward God and show repentance toward God. Or by reminding us that we all deserve to experience the same suffering or even worse. So Jesus begs us to know that if others suffer a lot, it is not that they must have sinned a lot. So Jesus, after asking him the question, He does not look to finite minds, sinful beings, unregenerate souls to answer his question. He answers it himself and puts the onus on them with his response. The same future as they have seen in these people they brought to the Lord's attention will affect them as well. The antidote, medicine, cordial for not having to face what these people face in eternity would be to repent. These that suffer this faith, Jesus said, we're not, we're sinners. But those seeking, or those asking would suffer like them unless they repent. Ah, there's our word repent. Point one then would be, What is repentance? And I thank you for Kyle, our friend Kyle. They're putting together a little PowerPoint so that you guys can all follow along with that. So I appreciate that. And I also want to just put in an appreciation for our music group up here, too, before we go any further. They do this for us, making a joyful noise unto the Lord week after week, month after month, year after year, decade after decade. So hats off to the music group and for leading us in a great worship time and song. So what is repentance? So if Jesus, God incarnate, states twice in our short passage that we don't do what he commands, we will surely perish. Let us take a closer look at what he means and what he is getting at so that we get it right. There is too much a chance here if we get it wrong. If we get anything right in our lives, it is going to have to be this. A good place to start is defining a big theological word like repentance. Repent, or the word repentance in the scriptures, found roughly about 47 times. The great English Bishop J.C. Ryle has a very simple definition for repentance. It's this. Repentance is a thorough change of a person's heart a person's natural heart regarding the subject of sin. Very simple, very simple definition. Repentance is a thorough change of a person's natural heart regarding the subject of sin. So we could say, as a bird takes to flying, or a fish, one of my favorite animals, takes to swimming, so we take to sinning. As soon as we are born, sinning just comes naturally. It's just kind of like how we're wired. From the Bible, we can grasp that as to why that is. In Psalm 51 5, you might remember David asserts that, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. And this statement also we can look to into the past by reading the great apostle Paul's words in the Romans 512. Therefore, just as through one man, that is Adam, sin entered into the world, and death through sin, so death spread to all men because all have sinned. We all have a common problem, a common disease. We are all in this category we can call sinners. Actions, words, conduct that do not display the glory of God. We often look for satisfaction in something or someone else instead of finding our satisfaction in God alone. He alone is our portion. And Psalm 73, ASAP, makes that perfectly clear who his portion is. We could turn to the great theologian and author A.W. Pink, one of my favorites, as he would state this about repentance. He says, true repentance issues from a realization in the heart wrought therein by the Holy Spirit of the sinfulness of sin, of the awfulness of ignoring the claims of God and defying his authority. It is therefore a holy horror and a hatred of sin, a deep sorrow of it, an acknowledgement of it before God, and a complete heart forsaking of it. English Puritan Thomas Manton states this, it is a turning of the whole heart from sin and Satan to serve God in newness of life. Or a turning from sin because God hath forbidden it to that which is good because God hath commanded it. And one more just for good measure, in the words of the great English Puritan Thomas Watson, he is, if you didn't know, my favorite. If a man loathe that which makes his stomach sick, much more will he loathe that which makes his conscience sick. Solid repentance begins in the love of God, and it ends in the hatred of sin. In the scriptures, Paul mentions what this sorrow or hatred of sin produces, as Jesus does in our Luke passage. talking to the Corinthians Church in 1st Corinthians 7, 9 through 10. I'm sure you've read this many times. He knows of their sinning tendencies and have rebuked them for the sum of the things he has heard about and now sees some progress in the lives that he now comments on. He says, I now rejoice that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance. For you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation. But the sorrow of the world produces death. As sinners, we live in an ongoing misery, but we begin a happiness by repentance. Acts 26.18 says, to turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God. You remember Judas? He did not show repentance after betraying Jesus with a kiss and receiving the 30 pieces of silver. He regretted getting the 30 pieces of silver, returned it, those 30 pieces of silver, and threw it into the temple sanctuary and departed, and he went away and hanged himself. Matthew 27 five. The incident before us, as we had mentioned earlier, there is no other record written down of it happening. But there were some that were probably looking for a way and a time to exalt themselves above others by bringing up this atrocity they had seen or heard of about a grisly act of wickedness Pilate chose to inflict upon a group of people. That Pilate mixed their blood as he had them cut down with the sacrifices they came to offer to God with. How many atrocities have we seen in our age that will put chills up and down our spines as we recollect other leaders in our day or just plain human citizens. Remember the atrocities of Adolf Hitler. Acts like the Oklahoma City bombing and the many lives that were lost there were the tragic events of 9-11. The people do not put this to Jesus in question form, but in statement form as we had mentioned. They are looking for some message of approval from him that they were too good for this to happen to them. And Jesus, knowing what was in man, because he knew all men, John 2, 24 to 25, he could give them a statement that would be true and would be just as easily applied to them that are living now as to those who once lived. For Jesus spells out what they were thinking as he finishes his question. Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this flight? estate? There is something that gets our attention when atrocity like this happens. And in our day of social media, we find out quick all that has happened and when and how and why. John Piper mentions this about human events. All human suffering is meant to summon us all to repentance toward God by reminding us that we all deserve to experience this kind of suffering or even worse. Jesus is here for us to clear up their assumption of why this happened to them. Jesus, as he often does, asks them a question as well. It will always bring an answer that displays the heart and the motives or the thought and the beliefs that are in it. Examples such as Job's three friends, if you can call them such, they conclude that the sufferings he was having was all because he had, and all that he had lost was due because of his sins. The disciples of Jesus and I asked Jesus again, we had mentioned early, very much the same thing. Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that this man was born blind? People suppose that good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. If they suffer a lot, that must mean that they have sinned a lot. Jesus will not agree with those suppositions. There are purposes that only God knows as to what causes people's suffering and the reason behind it. those things that are meant for us to know that are not meant for us to know. And if you looked at the Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 3, the Westminster Divines wrote this, God, from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass. an amazing statement. And can we back that up with some scripture? How about James 1.13, that no man say that he's tempted by God, but because God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt any man. He is not going to tempt us to sin so that his will can be carried out with bad things to help other things happen. Or James 4.15, remember where he says, if God wills, we will live or do this or that. implying when you hear the word, if God allows us and wills us to live, that might not mean living there, it might be dying. If it's God's will, you may get home today safely from church. If it's God's will, you may get safely through the work week. If it's God's will, you will be here next week. We don't know what that is in the future or even what lies ahead or why it lies ahead, whatever it might be. But as we read time and time again, they are all for God's glory. Just ask Mary and Martha and the onlookers as Jesus was ready to raise Lazarus from the dead after he had just passed away a few short days earlier. Jesus is saying, don't be amazed at how people just suffered and died, but be amazed at yourself that you were not killed in those ways. that you have been given time to repent. Jesus makes it a lesson that you must repent. Remember when you see these things, it may have been you. So the Greek word for repentance is metanoeo. Metanoeo. You may have heard those two words before. One is probably going to sound familiar because we get the word metamorphosis from. Metamorphosis. Meta in the Greek language means change. There's a change obviously in the caterpillar there. and noeo meaning mind. You have the word metamorphosis. It's a change, of course, physical characteristics of the caterpillar that he goes through. And the word noeo in Greek, of course, is the word for mind. So if you kind of put the two words together, you would come up with a change of mind. A different form of that same Greek word is used elsewhere in Romans 12, too, to kind of give you a little bit maybe a physical picture in your mind of what it is. It says, do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed. There's our word. Not sure which part of the form of the word that is from Metanoeo, but it's part of that word class there. And also in Matthew 17 too, Jesus was, you remember, transfigured before them. There was a change there of what he looked like, his face shown like the sun, his garments as white as light. There should be different perceptions, dispositions, and purposes in our lives. Jesus' first words in ministry, you might remember as he came on the scene in his ministry, was this in Matthew 3, 2. He says, Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. The very first words out of Jesus' mouth. The disciples went out and preached that men should repent. Mark 6, 12. And Peter, in his message to the early church, once Christ had left to return to heaven, said this. Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 2, 38. And again, Jesus reiterates this point on needing repentance a second time as he recalls a natural disaster, this time that took the lives of 18 people when a tower just happened to fall on them. You could call this an accident or an act of God. You know of some, don't you? The great tsunami that happened quite a few years ago, Hurricane Ian two years ago, almost to the date down there in Florida. The fires that devastated such a big area down there in Hawaii. Life may be here today and it may be gone tomorrow. One must ask themselves, why am I still here? We will soon cover that in the message as to keeping from perishing. That'll be our other keyword later on. Thomas Watson again states this. So we, knowing the shortness of our lives and how quickly we may be called away by death, should fly so much the faster on the wings of repentance to heaven. So, true repentance is going to entail at least four things. At least four things. Number one. True repentance will begin with an acknowledgment of sin. True repentance will begin with an acknowledgment of sin. The eyes of one will be opened to his doing not of the things to the glory of God. Romans 3.23, you could say. One will see the enormity of his offense against a holy God, recognizing that an infinite penalty must be given in offending an infinite deity. After all, he comes to the conclusion he is not such a good person after all. He has fallen way short of God's standard for entrance into his eternal family. He sees in his heart that it is deceitful of all things and desperately wicked. This awakening in his sin is brought about by the Holy Spirit. For one of the three things Jesus says the Spirit will do is to convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. John 16, 8. Number two, number two. True repentance produces sorrow for sin. True repentance produces sorrow for sin. Foolishness, evil, and wickedness have characterized his life and his way of living. It is gnawing at him as to how to get rid of it and stay away from it. He has wasted his time, misused his abilities, and dishonored his creator. It brings great pain and remorse about what he has done and what he's neglected. He thinks about a way, a remedy, a cordial of what will make his mind new to change his current way of living. There must be a way for sorrow according to the will of God that could lead to salvation. Second Corinthians 710, we quoted that one earlier. Number three. Number three, true repentance produces confession of sin. True repentance produces confession of sin. His tongue must be loosed to speak and admit of his exceptional shortcoming of his sin against a holy God. a cry, a prayer to God, a reaching out to God about the condition of his own soul and admission of not pleasing his creator, like a weight on his back. Until he offloads the load of that guilt, he will not be able to take even one more step forward. To conclude that his iniquity is great, that if the Lord were to count sins, he would not be able to stand. But if somehow he could confess his sins, that one would be faithful and just to forgive him his sins and cleanse him from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1.9, 1 John 1.9. And number four, number four, true repentance leads to a thorough breaking off and hatred of sin. True repentance leads to a thorough breaking off and hatred of sin. a new direction, a new life, a new king leading and controlling and directing his life in righteousness and holiness instead of himself. That he would have a desire to avoid what God forbids. He would have a continual appetite for fighting against sin, to be killing sin, knowing that if he doesn't, it will be killing him. and a desire to have victory over sin, that he could abhor what is evil and desperately cling to that which is good, that he could have a spirit that could overcome the flesh, that he would cease to do evil and learn to do good. It comes from Isaiah 1, 16 and 17. Isaiah 1, 16 and 17. So to finish up portion one here, we could put some great words on paper from the great English Puritan Thomas Brooks. He gives a summary of what repentance would look like, and it's a colorful one. He says, true repentance is a continued spring where the waters of Godly sorrow are always flowing. He that turns not from every sin, turns not aright from any one sin. Every sin strikes at the honor of God, the being of God, the glory of God, the heart of Christ, the joy of the spirit, and the peace of a man's conscience. And therefore, a soul truly penitent strikes at all, hates all, conflicts with all, and will labor to draw new strength from a crucified Christ to crucify all. Words from the great English Puritan Thomas Brooks. Number two, number two, the consequences of not repenting. Jesus has much to say about that, the consequences of not repenting. Jesus continues to speak as he says, unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Before we take a look at our other key word this morning, perish, let us take a quick peek at the word unless. You may be able to quote a few of those to yourself right off the bat. In Matthew 5.20, I've got three for you. In Matthew 5.20, Jesus says, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Also in John 8.24, you've heard this one from the pulpit many times over the years. Jesus says, unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins. And a third one in John 3, 3. Remember the communication he had with Nicodemus. He says, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. So Jesus is consistent when he uses such language as words like unless. He is God and his words are true. He reiterates that, as in John 3, we just mentioned, preceding the statement with, truly, truly, or as some of your versions say, verily, verily, or in the Greek, amen, amen. Jesus uses it as its meaning shows, that if something does not happen, something else will happen. And in all these verses I've mentioned and others, Jesus is dead serious about what he is talking about here. Often it is to deal with where we will land up ultimately when we pass from this life that we now live. He mentions not seeing the kingdom of heaven, not seeing the kingdom of God, and in our text, those are the same words, the warning is that you will perish, meaning the same thing. We will be excluded from the presence of Jesus himself forever in a place Jesus called paradise, as he spoke to the thief on the cross, you might remember. This is a great deal for our ears to perk up about when Jesus states some words about where we will spend our eternity. So the word we look at that Jesus uses here is perish. The Greek word here is apolumai, apolumai. It simply means to render useless, to render useless. You may think of fruit perishing. It means it turns to something that it was not intended to be for. It is not that now, but neither does it go out of existence. Like salt, once it has lost its flavor, it is useless and should be thrown out and trampled over by foot. It was not that for which it was useful for. The Westminster Confession of Faith, you might remember, states at the top there that the chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying him forever. And enjoying him forever, I'll put that a little different there. If we do not repent, we will not be used as we were designed for to be used by our creator. When we come across a word in the Bible, in the scriptures, that we're not quite sure the meaning of, we can turn to other places that that same author may have used that word. Or in another part of scripture where that word may have been used also. So a good concordance, if you have like, I've got an NASV Bible, I have an NASV concordance, I can look up that word, the Greek word or the English word, primarily the Greek word, somewhere else. And if you can check three or four or five, six different things, you get a little bit better understanding of what that word means and get a little bit better grasp of what the author is talking about. So it is also used, remember, in John 3.16, the most common word. God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not, what? Perish, but have everlasting life. We see it compared to where God's love and desire it is for us to be eternally, mainly in his presence. So very similarly, in John 10.28, Jesus talks about his sheep. Jesus says, I give them eternal life and they will never exactly. And in Luke 15, 6, another form of the word is used, apoluo, apoluo. So same kind of form of the word, and hopefully I've got that pronunciation right. My wife knows that Greek, and she's taught me a few things that I don't have a very good memory, but I believe it's referred to as apoluo, apoluo. In the prodigal son passage, you might remember, Jesus says the father would say of his son, for the son of mine was dead and has come to life, he was lost. There is our word right there. He was lost and has been found. So the son was not where he was intended to be in the presence of his father. The solution to this massive problem of sin isn't to improve one's behavior, but to repent. What is needed is not a new resolution to do differently, but in total reorientation of life for all. We must turn from all the false promises of sin and aim our lives toward Him, that is Jesus. But belief must always precede behavior. Repentance always comes after faith. Here is a key. To change the way a person responds to life, Change what a person believes about life. I'll say that again. To change the way a person responds to life, change what a person believes about life. And the great apostle Paul tells us in his first few verses of the practical part of that greatest letter ever written, the book of Romans, in chapter 12 in verse 2. He said, as you remember just earlier, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Transform there is a similar Greek word to repentance. It is metamorpho, a change of state or figure. Christ was transfigured, the same word, a change of appearance. And Paul's word renewed in our verse there, he uses only one other time in the New Testament, and that is in Titus 3.5. He saved us, that is God, not on the basis of deeds, which we have done in righteousness, but according to his mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. There's that key word renewing again. Our word again renewing, causing us to be born again, born from above, made a new creature in Christ, all by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said in Nicodemus in John 3, 5, unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And I remember Jesus and his warning to us in Matthew 10, 28, where he says, do not fear those who can kill the body and not kill the soul, but fear him who can destroy both body and soul in hell. Jesus is clearing up their assumption that they just don't assume that those who suffered a lot, that they must have sinned a lot. Don't be amazed at how people just died, but be amazed that you were not killed in those events, but that you have been given time to repent. Sin must be dealt with. It has to be killed off. It has to be mortified. It has to be crucified. 1 John 3, 5, John states, Jesus appeared in order to take away sin and in him there is no sin. 1 John 3, 5. The old English Puritan states, and I don't know the name of this gentleman, but it's a great quote. He says this, how then can anyone abide in him, and he's talking about Jesus here, how can anyone abide in him, commune with him, worship him, and keep sinning as before? We could sooner light a fire under the sea or breathe deeply on the moon. Christ holds no tinder for sin. He gives no oxygen to lawlessness. If we abide in him, then sin cannot abide in us, not persistently, not presumptuously, not peacefully." Remember that same Apostle John, while at the cross that fateful Friday afternoon, watched God's wrath turn, God's wrath against sin, swallow the son, He had seen the wages of sin stain the dirt in front of him red. He did it for me, he did it for you. And thirdly and lastly, let's get to the fruits of repentance. What does that look like? What does that kind of all entail? English Puritan Thomas Manton states this, there is a repentance at our first conversion, which is our passing from death to life or our entrance by the straight gate. There is also repentance afterwards, which belongeth to our walking in the narrow way. For after conversion, we need it still, and not in our natural state only. It is not only necessary for a sinner yet unregenerate, yet unreconciled to God, without which he cannot expect any peace with God or benefit by the new covenant, but also for the believer till his full and final recovery." End quote. You remember Peter in his second epistle in 2nd Peter 3.9 mentions both of our key words today in one sentence. The only place that that occurs in the scriptures. He mentions it in 2nd Peter 3.9 and it says, the Lord is not slow about his promise, that is his coming again a second time, as some count slowness. But as patient towards you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. I believe he saw the beauty of that in John 3.16. Peter would have heard that. So let's look at the fruits of repentance and what it looks like. When we turn from something, something else should be put back in its place. There should be results or fruit that is born out of this change of mind we have been talking about so far this morning. Ephesians 4.22-24 I think gives a good picture of this. Ephesians 4.22-24 Paul says, If indeed you have heard him, that is capital H there, that's Jesus, that's the Lord, and have been taught in him, just as truth is in Jesus, that in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside your old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit, In other words, renovated, regenerated of your mind and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God, which has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth." End quote. In Luke 3.14, I like this because it's a good picture of what it actually looks like physically in people's lives. Luke tells us this. I think this is John the Baptist that's giving this communication here to the people that are following him and asking him questions. We see exactly what John the Baptist is telling the crowds what to do. He says, bear fruits in keeping with repentance. The crowds were questioning him, saying, what shall we do? What shall we do? What shall we do? So John says, the man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none. And he who has food is to do likewise. That's repentance. To the tax collectors, that group of people, John said, collect no more than what you have been ordered to. And to some soldiers, a third group, John states, do not take money from anyone by force or accuse anyone falsely and be content with their wages. Some good practical instruction there from John the Baptist through Luke's pen. 15. PUTTING OFF SOMETHING AND PUTTING ON SOMETHING. 15. PUTTING OFF SOMETHING AND PUTTING ON SOMETHING. 15. PUTTING OFF SOMETHING AND PUTTING ON SOMETHING. 15. PUTTING OFF SOMETHING AND PUTTING ON SOMETHING. 15. PUTTING OFF SOMETHING AND PUTTING ON SOMETHING. 15. PUTTING OFF SOMETHING AND PUTTING ON SOMETHING. 15. PUTTING OFF SOMETHING AND PUTTING ON SOMETHING. 15. PUTTING OFF SOMETHING AND PUTTING ON SOMETHING. 15. PUTTING OFF SOMETHING AND PUTTING ON SOMETHING. 15. PUTTING OFF SOMETHING AND PUTTING ON SOMETHING. 15. PUT Jesus wants us to radically change our way of living with a very picturesque way of dealing with sin. He wants us to kill it. This is figuratively, of course. He's not telling to cut off a literal hand or pluck off a literal eye. He is not talking literally here. The Holy Spirit will make this abundantly clear to us. So we'll kind of finish with three examples of what this might look like. Got one from the Old Testament, one from the New Testament, and one from a friend that I've learned over the years. The one from the Old Testament is in 2 Kings 23, 4-7. 2 Kings 23, 4-7. You'll see how much these people hate sin. This was King Josiah serious about killing off sinful living. 2 Kings 23, 4-7 states this. Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second order and the doorkeepers to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven. And he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel. He did away with the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense in the high places in the city of Judah and in the surrounding area of Jerusalem. Also, those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, and to the moon and to the constellations and to all the hosts of heaven, he brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord outside Jerusalem to the brook Hedron and burned it at the brook Hedron and ground it to dust and threw its dust on the graves of the common people. He also broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes which were in the house of the Lord where the women were weaving hangings for the Asherah. that is severely dealing with sin, not only to us, but around us. The second one would be from the New Testament, from Acts 19.18. Acts 19.18, and once I get into it, you might remember the story there. The magic men were serious about killing off sinful living. So Acts 19, verse 17 and 18 states this. This became known to all, both through Jews and Greeks who lived in Ephesus. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified. Many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices. And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone. and they counted up the price of them and found it 50,000 pieces of silver. That is getting rid of... I'm not quite sure I can... Think of a bad enough word for sin that's draining people of life. 50,000 pieces of silver. And from what I've learned is 50,000 Greek drachmas, apparently that was silver, a drachma approximately a day's wage. What those books were worth if you worked 250 days a year would be 200 years wages. That is what those people gave up to get rid of that evil that was around them. So this third one is in a friend's life. Repentance can be shown in making restitution where possible. We made restitution where possible. It is definitely possible to do that. So this friend of mine worked at a manufacturing plant and had access to paint, gloves, supplies, et cetera. Over a course of time, he took these items and when the spirit had entered his life, one day in his garage, he just knew he had to return and make amends for all these things. He had to take it all back and he filled a Ford F-150 eight-foot truck bed to overflowing and took it all back. I see Ephesians 4, 28 spilled out right here. He who steals must steal no longer, but rather he must labor. There is putting on something or taking off something and putting on something else. Performing with his own hands that which is good so that he will have something to share with the one who has need. groans unutterable, blossom into joys that are unspeakable, without a doubt. So in our text, Luke 13, Jesus wants to clear up their assumption that they must have sinned a lot to warrant this kind of punishment. Jesus makes it a lesson that you must repent. Remember when you see that it may have been you. The great commentator G. Campbell Morgan states this, We cannot forsake Jehovah, the fountain of living waters, and hew for ourselves cisterns of water, for that water is no longer living. It has become stagnant and proceeds to deteriorate, much like perishing. But we must have living waters, as in John 7, 38, waters rising, waters rising from springs, always fresh and always flowing. And then I'll also bring in, as we get toward the end here, Acts 17 verses 30 and 31. The word says, God will, let's see here, I don't wanna have to look it up. I wanna remember it off the top of my head here. God will, God is, I'm gonna have to look it up. By golly, by golly, he has made a day of judgment. I'm on the cusp of it, but I'll read it for you here. Let's see here, because he has fixed, there it is, he has fixed a day in which he will judge the earth in righteousness. And he has raised up a man to be able to do that and he has given us given us reason and proof of that, having raised him from the dead. And we know exactly who is going to be doing that judging. So, on your calendar, somewhere down the road, if you have not yet to repent, that day is going to come. You may as well put it on your calendar now if you don't believe, because it's going to come. You won't be able to call in sick. You won't be able to just delete it from your calendar on your phone. You're going to have to show up and there will be no reason as to why you will not be able to get there. So if you have yet to repent, call upon him who is the skillful physician, for he can cure not only a common or a cold or common aches, but he's also able to cure the leprosy and plague of sin on the soul. He calls out to you not only by the ministry of his spoken word, which you have heard outwardly this morning, but by an inward drawing of the Holy Spirit. So, to close, imagine your final day, your final moment, your final breath with Christ as your friend and heaven as your home, the day of death becomes sweeter than the day of birth. Just ask Solomon in Ecclesiastes 7.1. For there is a place where sorrow cannot live and joy cannot die. Jesus called it paradise. Let us pray. Father, we thank you again for opening our minds by the power of the Holy Spirit to get a better grasp of your word in this most fascinating passage. We thank you, Lord, for those who have bowed the knee to the Lord Jesus and turned away from their wicked and evil ways and chose to put a righteousness is asked by faith a righteousness that is not their own. It's an alien righteousness we know that's been imputed by Christ for us and by asking our sins have been imputed to him on the cross of Calvary because Peter says he bore our sins in his body on the tree so that we might die the sin and live to righteousness. And we also pray for those who maybe have not bowed the knee to the Lord Jesus Christ and need to repent before it is too late. For all the examples and illustrations of death are all around us all of the time and so much bloodshed in the world that that could be any one of those who have yet to repent. We pray that they would take it seriously as saving money before getting to be retired that they would repent before their soul would find their way to hell. So we just do pray that you'd open the eyes by the power of your Holy Spirit. We know that the devil is strong, that he has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the glorious light of the gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, would shine into them. But I just do pray this morning, Lord, that if they're already here this morning, who are listening to our voice over the airwaves, that they would turn away from their wicked ways and follow an all-perfect Lord Jesus Christ, our Lord and our Savior. So we just thank you for the time we're able to share together. We pray for your blessing upon the congregation as we finish up the rest of the service and pray for your special blessing upon all of us here at Grace Made Church. And thank you for your faithfulness and all these prayers and all the support that has gotten us through these 36 and a half years. So we just thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.