Transcript
Speaker: Good morning. Would you turn with me to Luke chapter 13? Luke chapter 13. Just a word about Memorial Day and what it means to me.
Speaker: I was reading in 2 Samuel chapter 1 about where David lost his best friend, Jonathan, and he also lost his king, King Saul. And so in 2 Samuel chapter 1, David wrote a poem, and most translations refer to that poem as the song of the boat.
Speaker: And so this past Wednesday night, we walked through that Psalm, not through that song, through that song and through that chapter. And we we were able to see why does anyone go to fight anyway?
Speaker: Why do young men enlist in the military. What is that about? It's about service. And I just thank the Lord so much that some were willing to serve even though it cost them their lives.
Speaker: And so we have a few of those study guides left from Wednesday night. If that's something of interest to you, you might want to read through that 2 Samuel 1 and see why did they go to battle?
Speaker: I think I was able to identify seven or eight things in there of why I think people still Young men, young women in our country, why are they willing to go and fight for us?
Speaker: I think you'll find it an interesting study. But anyway, i do pray that sometime this weekend, you'll take some time and just say, okay, Lord, I want to... take time to remember those who sacrificed for me.
Speaker: But anyway, I'm so glad that you are here. And also I want to say I'm glad that the Pine Cove students are here. One more time, let's let's show them. How many of y'all are here from Pine Cove? Would you stand and let us just welcome you one more time?
Speaker: See, these men and these women will be serving this summer, and it doesn't matter what the temperature is out there, and it doesn't matter if they're tired, if you've ever taken an any of your children out to Pine Cove, when you drive in, these guys are and girls are jumping up and down saying, we're glad you're here, and so forth. Anyway, thank you all so much for being here. Pray that God will bless you.
Speaker: Let's pray for them as they go through this summer. Anyway, thank you. may be seated. Also, yeah thank you.
Speaker: You know what? Each year, there are many who trust Christ as their Lord and Savior out there at Panko Camps. And so that's why what you're doing is actually eternal. And so we appreciate all that you do.
Speaker: ah Last night, I was blessed. Do you know that our associate pastor and youth pastor, Josh Hill, he performed his first wedding last night. And so I was so excited. Thank you.
Speaker: jo Josh did a great job. And also, in our midst, we have Stephen and Julie Mick and their son, Ethan. He married Courtney. So now I'm so excited to celebrate the the wedding of Ethan and Courtney Mick. So anyway, congratulations to you guys. Let's get dinner.
Speaker: So anyway, I understand why they wouldn't be here this morning. It's okay. Thanks. Thanks. Luke 13 is where we're going to be. Luke chapter 13, verses one through nine. Before I read through this passage, I wanted to say a few things just to set it up.
Speaker: So you know what the Lord placed in my heart? There was like an engine on a train. And the engine that pulls this passage forward is repentance. Repentance.
Speaker: Repentance is not a bad word. Repentance is a good word. Repentance is something that leads us into unlimited blessings that God would give to us. But the wording of Luke chapter 13 verse 1 connects it back to what's been going on all the way back into chapter 12 verse 1.
Speaker: It's like, Jesus was preaching a message and we're still in that message. And don't worry, I know what time it is. I've got it right here. You're not gonna still be in this message, you know, ah days later. But anyway, we're gonna see that during the message that the Lord's been giving to the people who gathered around him,
Speaker: There was some instruction to disciples. And maybe you will hear something in this that will help instruct you because you're here today because you are a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. You're following him. And so there may be something in the message that will actually feed you. I've been praying that over you. But there's also an invitation.
Speaker: There's an invitation to seekers, those who still have not decided that they're going to follow Jesus Christ. They've never turned in repentance and faith in Christ. And so they're still checking it out. We're glad you're here. We want you to continue to. learn more about it. And we do pray that one of these days that it will dawn on you, this is the truth.
Speaker: God really does love me. Jesus really did go to the cross for my sins. And so I want you to understand some things that are very important about getting getting into the Lord's family.
Speaker: But some believe that the occasion was related to this long message that Jesus has been giving in the last two chapters. But the primary hinge being the metaphor he mentions in 1258.
Speaker: In chapter 12, verse 58, he uses a metaphor, and it almost sounds like he's taking someone to jail. And he is, because someone's guilty. We are guilty of sin. We're guilty of rebellion against God.
Speaker: That's the way we are as human beings. And so what he says in that metaphor, he says that we should make an effort to settle with him on the way.
Speaker: make um Make this effort to say, god I want all my accounts to be settled with you. So just as Jesus was about to explain how to settle things, how to get things right between you know anybody, a person, and God, right at that moment, someone interrupts him.
Speaker: You'll see it in verse one. There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
Speaker: Do you realize that? That just in this one message that he had with chapter 12, chapter 13, this is the third time he's been interrupted. Someone is saying to him something and he's like, okay, let's deal with that. you know But chapter 12 and verse 13, there was a younger brother who was dissatisfied with the inheritance that was coming to him. In chapter 12, verse 41, there was a talkative brother I'll give you hint. It's Peter. Talk to you, brother, who was distracted during the instruction. But then here in chapter 13, verse 1, you have an upset brother. There's somebody upset, maybe a group of them.
Speaker: They were disgruntled over an incident. And so Jesus is going to say, I'm glad you told me that, but that's not the main thing that you need to focus on. Those of you who know me best know that I have certain favorite foods. I'm sure a lot of you have favorite foods. For example, some of my favorites are peanut butter cookies.
Speaker: I like the candy called Smarties. I like pumpkin pie and carrot cake and fried catfish and apples. But you know what? Those are not essentials. Those are all options.
Speaker: Those are optional. They're not essential. But if we were to talk about oxygen, if we were to talk about water, if we were to talk about food or rest or shelter or clothing, I think all of us would agree, yeah, those things, they are essential.
Speaker: Well, as the great physician, he tells us what is necessary. Necessary. For good spiritual health. What is it that we need to do? In chapter 13 verses 1 through 9. He tells us what we need to hear.
Speaker: Regarding the essential of repentance. So I would like to invite you to stand with me as I read through this passage. Listen closely as Dr. Luke records Jesus taking charge in a busy emergency room.
Speaker: People were hurting. People were upset. They were in pain. Maybe someone has come here today and you're hurting and you're in pain. Well, I want you to listen closely to what the Lord has said, because sometimes other people have caused our pain.
Speaker: Sometimes natural causes have hurt caused our pain. Sometimes we caused our own pain. But listen, listen to chapter 13, verses one through nine. There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
Speaker: And he answered them, do you think That these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered in this way?
Speaker: No. I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those 18 on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them.
Speaker: Do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No. I tell you, but unless you repent, you will also likewise perish.
Speaker: And he told this parable, a man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.
Speaker: and he said to the vine dresser, look, for three years now, I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down.
Speaker: Why should it use up the ground? And he answered him, sir, let it alone this year also until I dig around it and put on manure that if it should bear fruit next year, well and good.
Speaker: But if not, you can cut it down. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Lord, help us to understand the importance of repentance. Yes, That repentance and faith in Christ, these are essentials.
Speaker: They're not just optional. And so I pray that each one of us would look closely at our own lives to see, do we need to repent? We love you. We thank you that you love us. And everything you say to us, it's truth.
Speaker: And everything you say to us is motivated by love. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you. You may be seated.
Speaker: You know, Jesus did not answer the why question because I think they wanted him. They wanted him to answer that why question. Why do bad things happen? Why did Pilate do this?
Speaker: Was this a punishment, you know, for those people that he killed in the temple that day? And so Jesus is able to tell them, you know what? You need to focus on your life.
Speaker: And so he gave them like a road to the future. So some of you here today, you may be asking the wrong question. You should be saying, Lord, how do i get right with you?
Speaker: How can i be prepared in case something bad ever happened to me? Well, let me tell you about five different things that stood out to me about repentance.
Speaker: The first one is problems. Problems can, they don't always wind up doing this, but problems can lead us to repentance.
Speaker: We know from what the Lord said in Romans 2 and verse 4, That God's kindness is meant to lead us to repentance. So when God is good to you, when God is good to me, you know what he's trying to do? He's trying to say, come, trust me, come enter into my family.
Speaker: Come, let me take care of this sin problem. But The report from the crowd was not about God's goodness, not even about God's punishment, but what it was about was a Galilean atrocity.
Speaker: Some pain in life, some pain in life is caused by humans, men who are out of God's will. Men can do evil things. That's why we have a Memorial Day.
Speaker: That's why men and women go to defend our freedoms, to defend our values, to defend what is right. There were some Galileans in Jerusalem, we were told, that in the temple. And what they were doing, they were offering Passover offerings.
Speaker: They were admitting to God, Lord, we need cleansing. So they were taking in there these lambs that were being slaughtered. But Pilate suspected, no, that's not why they're here. They're here for sedition. They're here to overthrow our country.
Speaker: And so he had them all executed right then and there in the temple. It would have been gruesome. But the response of Jesus here is he refused the idea that was popular at the time that all tragedy is some kind of punishment from God.
Speaker: Maybe there's someone here. Maybe you've always thought that. You've always thought, well, if somebody has something bad happen to them, it doesn't matter if it was caused by terrorists or someone. Maybe you thought That must be God, you know, doing something bad. But Jesus was confronting a common theological presumption.
Speaker: Bad things only happen to punish sin. Their suffering was not a consequence of their sinning. These Galilee's were no worse sinners than all the other Galileans that did not die that day.
Speaker: Then Jesus brings up an additional incident. They didn't tell him about this one. He told them about it. Jesus brings up the Judean accident. See, some pain in life is due to natural causes.
Speaker: Some human tragedies are not divine punishments. You know that, right? Like, for example, in Job, in Job chapter one, verse eight, we're given this incredible insight into what was going on in the book of Job, because at the beginning of Job, God is bragging on Job. God is saying, have you noticed how my servant Job is serving me?
Speaker: Have you noticed how he lives for me? And Satan says, yeah, but you know what? You've got him covered with this hedge of protection all around him. You remove that. You let me hit him one time.
Speaker: And I guarantee you, he'll curse you. And so God says, no, he won't. Let's see. Let's test and see if he'll do that. And so I thought, you know, some things look on the surface. When you read the book of Job, you'd say, look at all that.
Speaker: What is that about? And you could say, I bet Job had been bad. That's what his friends were telling him. But Job had not been evil. He had not been wicked. He had not been sinful.
Speaker: But here's the thing. Sometimes bad things happen because of spiritual warfare. Some things, bad things happen because of, well, in this case, Siloam was a section of Jerusalem near the southeast corner. And some say that there was an aqueduct that was being built.
Speaker: Some believe that maybe during the construction, there was a tower and the tower just suddenly fell. And it cost 18 people their lives. And so some are saying, well, what caused that? Was that because these guys were bad sinners?
Speaker: And Jesus is answering the question. No, that's not what it was about. You see, 18 residents of Jerusalem who died that day were not worse offenders. The word they're used in the Greek is debtors. They were not worse debtors or culprits.
Speaker: It means someone who owes someone else. All of us. We are racking up the wages of sin. And the wages of sin, it says, is death.
Speaker: So we all have to say, wait a minute. Whether our hardship was caused by a man-made malady or by a natural tragedy, we should never assume that everything bad that happens is the vengeance of God.
Speaker: But I want us to go to second thing. So let's say that we're willing to let a bad thing that happened, no matter what caused it, we should say, you know what? What if that would have been me?
Speaker: What if I would have been offering up offerings and I was killed that day? What if I would have been working on that construction project and a tower accidentally fell and took my life?
Speaker: Would I be ready? I think problems can lead us to repentance. So when it does, here's the second thing. The priority of living by repentance.
Speaker: The priority of living by repentance. See, we're witnessing tragedy that should lead to a priority. The priority of saying, you know what?
Speaker: I must make sure that I'm right with God. When you lose a loved one, when there's an accident that happens, you should say from that accident, I don't know what caused the accident. I don't know why the pain is there.
Speaker: But from this pain and from all that has happened, from this tragedy, I want to make sure that I am ready personally so that I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Speaker: And so I want to give you four gears, four gears, if you will, of living by repentance. And just while you're getting ready to look at that, i just want to say, when I think of gear, I think of how I learned to use a stick shift.
Speaker: When I was a teenager back in the stone age, My parents gave me a brown 1973 Pinto runabout. Let me tell you, I learned how to work that stick shift and I was lightning on wheels, but I was going down. with Anyway, it was amazing. It doesn't matter how many tickets I got for speeding. That's not important the story. But what I'm trying to say is there are gears that will give you traction so you can move forward.
Speaker: And so I want to give those to you at this time. It's not just feeling sorry. You know, sometimes we do something, we feel sorry. Sometimes people just feel sorry. They got caught. That's not what this is about.
Speaker: Now, there's something deeper if you want to go with biblical repentance. So let me give you four gears based on what we find in the first part of verse three and the first part of verse five. And it happens to be the same exact wording.
Speaker: No, I tell you, but unless you repent. Verse five, same thing. No, I tell you, but unless you repent. So let me tell you if you want to really know what repentance about, first gear is this.
Speaker: Shift the focus from others to your life. It's not about blaming somebody. Well, you know, it's all it's all their fault. It's all that they've done to me. No.
Speaker: Whenever you truly repent, you say, you know what? I'm going to shift my focus from what's happening to others, from what others have done to me, no matter how bad it was. I want to say, I want to heed what the Lord is saying. Did you notice how many times he said you?
Speaker: He didn't say they, referring to the Galileans or they, referring to those residents in Jerusalem. near the Siloam Tower. No, he says you.
Speaker: He says you. He says you four times, right? No, I tell you, speaking to me, but unless you repent. No, I tell you, but unless you repent. See where the focus is?
Speaker: It's not on, well, if if I'd had a better background, if somebody else had been better than me, I would have, you know, blah, blah, blah. No. No, repentance begins to take ownership for your own actions.
Speaker: for your own words, for your own attitudes, for everything. And you're saying, you know what? I am so sorry, Lord, for what I've done. That's first. Second is stop living your life for sin.
Speaker: Stop. You know, look at, he says, no, twice. Is it okay if God ever says no to you? Or has God got to say yes to everything? Yes, yes, yes, yes. Man, that's what we always want, right?
Speaker: We want God to always approve. But here's the truth of scripture. Truth for me, truth for you. The truth is, sometimes we need to listen and God's saying, no, don't go that way.
Speaker: That way is a way of death. That way is a way of pain. That way is going to hurt you. I want you to go this way. So when God says no, we have to realize there's something he has that's better than the way we're traveling.
Speaker: So stop living your life for sin. That's the second gear. The third gear is this. Surrender your life. Surrender your life to the Savior. Hear what he's saying?
Speaker: No, I tell you. Is that enough for you? Is that enough for you? Is that enough for me? If Jesus says it, then that means he's Lord of my life. That means I surrender to him. It means he's driving my life, not me.
Speaker: So it's like I'm saying to him, you tell me, you tell me, Lord, what I should do. and I will do it. Surrender your life to the Savior and let him give you directions in your life.
Speaker: Man, that's the third gear. If you really want to go forward with repentance, that'll get you there. You're moving in the right direction. In the last gear, the fourth gear would simply be swivel your life. If you're going this way and you need to repent, then repentance means you're going to do 180 and you're going to go in the opposite direction toward Jesus.
Speaker: And so what do you need to use as your road map? You need to use God's word. So swivel your life toward the scriptures. I wanna focus on the word I tell.
Speaker: I tell. You know what God, what the Bible is called? It's called God's word. God speaks through the scriptures. So I encourage you every day, start your morning out and open up the scriptures and read a little bit in God's word. And it's amazing how he will prepare you for what you face as you go through that day.
Speaker: You know, Proverbs 28, 13 sort of summarizes it in a nice little package. If you ever wanted a verse to memorize that you could live by, Proverbs 28 and verse 13, it says, whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper.
Speaker: But he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. And I need mercy. If you need mercy, that's the pathway right there.
Speaker: It's repentance. So the priority of repentance is this second a principle that we see found here about repentance. But there is a third principle.
Speaker: You know, before I mention this, I just want to i want to tell you again. I've told you many times, when Jesus died on the cross... One of the things he said from the cross was, it is finished.
Speaker: Tetelestai. And tetelestai meant I've paid the debt. The debt has been paid in full. So I encourage you, run to the cross. Go to the one who's already paid the debt for your sins. They're all forgiven.
Speaker: But what would happen if someone says, I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to go to Jesus. I'm not going to listen to what the Bible is saying to me. I don't want to repent and I don't want to trust. What would happen?
Speaker: Well, we don't have to guess what would happen. Jesus tells us in these same two verses, verse three, verse five, what will happen? It says, no, I tell you, but unless you repent, what happens if you don't?
Speaker: You will all likewise perish. No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. you know, the Bible offers you and i every person around the whole face of this planet, a gift, a gift.
Speaker: For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ. yet he's He's offering it to It is a gift. Take it. It's available to But if we do not take the free gift, which the free gift is he's paid the sin debt.
Speaker: You don't have to carry it You don't have to worry about it. You don't have to worry about if you were to die someday, like these people in these passages. No, you're ready because you're going to say, I'm tired of living for myself.
Speaker: I'm tired of living for sin. I'm tired tired of trying to do what everybody else wants me to do. I'm going to turn in repentance and walk toward the Lord. If you don't do that, If you do not learn repentance, then I'm just listening to what Jesus is saying. And he's saying ahead, you will perish.
Speaker: You will perish. You will be spiritually separated from God for all eternity. You remember the verse we all like, John 3, 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Speaker: Yes. God doesn't want you to perish. God doesn't want anybody to perish. But if we reject the only way that he has made for us to be forgiven, what is ahead?
Speaker: It's not good. Let me give you three things about it. Perishing is first unavoidable. He says, you will. Boy, when God says you will, that should make us really pay attention when he says, oh, you will.
Speaker: But then also perishing is universal. He says, you will all. There's no exceptions. You know, we can't use our personality. We can't just be like, okay, you know, I've been a pretty good person compared to this one, compared to that one. And God's like, nope, we're not comparing you to anybody else.
Speaker: I'm looking at your life. And I want you to tell me why you didn't feel you needed Jesus Christ and what he did for you on the cross. See, it's so simple. And it's so available.
Speaker: But I'm telling you, it is universal and it is unavoidable and it will be inescapable. We can't get out of it. Likewise, he says, you will perish.
Speaker: Ezekiel 22 verse 14 was the inspiration for Jonathan Edwards in the past. He preached a message called, can your heart endure God's judgment?
Speaker: Here's what Ezekiel 22, 14 says, can year courage endure Or can your hands be strong in the days that I shall deal with you?
Speaker: i the Lord, have spoken and I will do it. So it's serious. And that's why I want you to take it seriously. So if we go from there, we go to Jesus next saying, you know what? I want everybody to understand what I'm saying.
Speaker: So when he wants to explain something, sometimes he uses an illustration, a parable, an analogy, something like that. So here is a plant as we go into verses six and seven, a plant or a tree with no likeness to repentance.
Speaker: I hope and pray this does not look like your life. Remember back in Luke 3, John the Baptist called the nation to repentance. And here's what he said. It's interesting because he said, bear fruits, bear fruit in keeping with repentance.
Speaker: Bear fruits in keeping with repentance in Luke 3 verse 8. You know, in Matthew 3, verse 8, it's amazing. You know, it's the same verse in a different gospel, but in the same ah same line of thinking, it says says in Matthew 3, 8, same thing, bear fruits in keeping with repentance.
Speaker: But it goes on to add something else in Matthew 3, verse 10. It says every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and broken and cast into the fire.
Speaker: Luke 13 verses 6 through 9 is a parable. And here's the parable. It's a parable of a fruitless tree. You go to get the fruit off of the tree and there's nothing. And so in the in the parable, let me walk you through what each part of it stands for.
Speaker: And then it will begin to be clearer what he's saying. First off, it says, and he told this parable, a man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard.
Speaker: Who's represented by the owner of the fig tree? God. God's represented as the owner of the fig tree. God gave us a planet. He gave us the only place we can find air and water and all the things that we need. We're just far enough from the sun so that we don't get cooked, but yet we're close enough so that we don't freeze to death, right?
Speaker: But he also, he says, came seeking fruit on it and found none. Can you imagine when God looks at a life and says, they don't ever praise me. They don't ever thank me.
Speaker: They don't even believe in me. And they don't certainly follow me. And so he goes on verse 7 and he introduces us to a new person in this parable. And he said, the owner said to the vinedresser, who's that?
Speaker: That's Jesus. That's Jesus. That's Jesus. And he says, look for three years, the owner says, Now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and I find none.
Speaker: Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground? You know what three years could represent? It's possible. Jesus' public ministry was three years in length.
Speaker: And so it's almost like all that work, all those parables, all that teaching, all the love, everything he did in Israel for three years and still so few had trusted him Wow.
Speaker: But the parable portrays God as patient because he did wait three years. I wonder how long he's been waiting for you to become a Christian. He's patient. We see that, but he's also notice he's observant.
Speaker: He knows what's going on in his vineyard. He's also prudent because he knows what's the point. He's efficient because he's saying this tree's taking up the the land and the space.
Speaker: Maybe others would want to be here. That's why i think Isaiah 55, 6 and 7 says, seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near.
Speaker: Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord that he may have compassion on him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon.
Speaker: Now the last part is the best. I saved it for last. Jesus saved it for last. Look with me at verses eight and nine. Notice patient, the patience within reasonable limits regarding repentance.
Speaker: There's an amazing dialogue that you could miss if you don't think about this parable really closely. If you don't know who the two characters are, you might miss it. But here's what's happening.
Speaker: There's the the owner of the vineyard. That's the father. There's the vine dresser in the vineyard. Vineyard. That's the son. So the son is going to have a dialogue with the father.
Speaker: It's almost like the mercy of God is going to talk to the justice of God, to the holiness of God, because he knows he's saying what is true.
Speaker: He knows he's saying what is right. But the mercy and the grace of God says on our behalf. Here's what he says. He says, sir, I like that respect, sir.
Speaker: let it alone this year also until I dig around it and put on manure. And then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good. But if not, you can cut it down.
Speaker: Aren't you glad that the father and the son were so united, bringing together the holiness of God and the grace of God, bringing together the justice of God and the mercy of God.
Speaker: That's why, you know, if you think about it, the cross It's amazing because you've got God's justice, God's holiness coming down, but then you've got this crossbar of God's mercy and God's grace. When Jesus died on the cross, he died like this, right?
Speaker: He died like this. He wanted to welcome us and he made a way for us. And that's why I don't know that this is actually what was being said. This is actually the RPV version of the Bible.
Speaker: You know what that is, right? The revised Pastor Victor version. Anyway, it's not important what they said, but just listen anyway. He says, you are just and right to cut it down now, but I'm requesting, I'm appealing.
Speaker: Give it one more year. Give me one more year to work with it. If there's no fruit after that, then you're right to remove it. Now I think you're ready.
Speaker: You've heard all that was said. You're ready for me to read you Romans 2, 4 again. Only this time i'm going to read the whole verse. Don't miss it. Or do you presume on the ridges of his kindness and forbearance and patience Not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance.
Speaker: Let me tell you, the Father and the Son have been working. The Holy Spirit has been working to draw anyone that's still here who said, I just don't know the way.
Speaker: I've not heard the way. I don't want to go that way. Whatever the case. But I want you to know there's a balance. There's a balance. when your friends When your friends say to you, how can I trust Christ? Make sure you got this balance.
Speaker: The balance is repentance plus faith in Jesus Christ. Repentance plus faith in Christ. Both are necessary when we present the plan of salvation.
Speaker: So here's Jesus at his first sermon. Just think, he's taken 30 years to get ready for this sermon. Out of 30 years of living, you know, just kind of a common, ordinary life in the background, he's ready to step forward.
Speaker: After 30 He steps up there and this is what he says. The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.
Speaker: Wow. That's the balance, right? Repent and believe in the gospel. But then you hear ah Paul in Acts 20 verses 20 and 21 talking to some other leaders.
Speaker: And here's what he says. You remember how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of?
Speaker: What did he say? What were you preaching, Paul? Repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Man, I want you to do a a little experiment for me. Would you think for a moment?
Speaker: If you could only choose one, which one would you say is more essential? When you're breathing, is it more essential for you to breathe in or to exhale and breathe out?
Speaker: Just think about it for a moment. If you had to give away he had give up one, which one would you give up? ah That's not, you know, wait a minute. That's the same with repentance and faith in Christ.
Speaker: They both, they both are essential, right? Because repentance is like when we exile. The carbon dioxide and the nitrogen are being forced out of our lungs. We're getting rid of the impurities, right?
Speaker: But then when we inhale, faith in Christ is similar to that. When we inhale the nitrogen and the oxygen into our lungs, it's interesting how that process works because I was reading up on that, getting ready to end the message today.
Speaker: And you know what I found out? That exhale actually... takes longer than inhale. We spend more time exhaling than we do inhaling.
Speaker: So it's, I hope you just drink in the grace of God, drink in the mercy of God, pull it in the love of God. He loves you so much, but don't forget. It's also important to exhale and to confess your sins to say, Lord, I'm sorry for what I did.
Speaker: and so we need to do that because Joel 2 22 says, do not be afraid. Don't be afraid. Rejoice and be glad for the Lord has done great things. Do not be afraid for the open pastures have turned green.
Speaker: The trees bear their fruit, the fig tree and the vine yield. Here comes. Their best yields their best.
Speaker: You know why we should repent? Because God says, I've got your best. I am the best. Follow me and I will help you know life on a level you've never experienced it before.
Speaker: So why don't we stand together? I want to give an opportunity for anyone who may be here today who's never trusted Christ as their Lord. and say They've never said, okay, I need to turn from a life of sin focused on myself and I'm ready to to follow i look Christ. I'm ready to put my faith in what he did for me. I'm ready to let go of sin and to follow Christ?
Speaker: If so, I'll be waiting down front. I would love to talk with you, but let's go to the Lord in prayer. There may be another decision. You may not even need to talk to me. You may say, okay, I need to just talk to the Lord.
Speaker: So you can stay where you are. You can come up to the front, whatever is in your heart, but just reconnect with the Lord as we have this time of invitation. Lord, Thank you so much for this message.
Speaker: I pray that you would bless the message, seal it to our hearts that we will not forget it. I pray that you would help us also act on it. Help us believe you and trust you. Help us surrender surrender to you.
Speaker: Help us follow you in obedience, knowing that you know the best way. You will actually get the best out of our lives if we'll live in this way. So bless us as we go into this time of invitation.
Speaker: If there's anyone here who still doesn't know Christ, Pray this will be the last day that they ever start without Jesus Christ. And so help them to have every day from this point on knowing Christ is Lord and Savior. In Jesus' name we pray.
Speaker: Amen.
Speaker: This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.
