Repentance and tragedies - part 2

Welcome to No Compromise Radio Ministry. My name is Mike Apendroth. Thanks for tuning in on your FM dial. We used to be on AM 870 and I don't know if we're still on the station in Wyoming and Alaska and Belize, but we used to be.

I have no idea. Trying to get back up, up our game. Write me, Mike, at nocompromiseradio .com. If you want to order books, 10 or more, I can get you 40 off plus a little drop ship fee. Working on some other books.

But now I turned, let's see, in a few days I turned 66. It's harder to keep the output going. Today on the show, I want to talk about repentance. A multi-part series on repentance from Mike the Antinomian Apendroth.

Providence and Repentance in Luke 13

Antinomianism. Neonomism. Richard Baxter. Et cetera. Today we're talking about providence and how do you read providence in Luke chapter 13. Jesus says, when you see someone die, when you see a tragedy, think about you.

And what I don't mean by that is, oh, we don't show them any, you know, the families, any support. We're not compassionate, sympathetic, empathetic. We, no, yes, all that, loving your neighbors, but also think to yourself, one day I stand before God.

Like a little road bump, a little speed bump. These are speed bumps that should cause us to think eternally because for many of us, we think we're not going to die. Now at 66 with two different cancers.

Those are in the background. The aortic aneurysm, lungs that are compromised from the COVID deal. I just realized, man, I'm getting old. My eyes. I need glasses. My ears. What'd you say? I notice other things, right?

It's Ecclesiastes where you think, man, I should have sermons preached to me about, hey, get ready. And if you look at yourself in the mirror, there's a sermon that preaches. Remember also your creator in the days of your youth before the evil days come and the years draw near when you will say, I have no delight in them.

Before the sun and the light, the moon, the stars are darkened. Clouds return after the rain. In the day that the watchmen of the house tremble, the mighty men stoop, the grinding ones, your teeth, stand idle because there are few.

Those who look through the windows grow dim. Sight. Doors of the street are shut at the sound of the grinding mill is low and one will arise at the sound of a bird and all the daughters of the song will sing softly.

Furthermore, men are afraid of a high place and of terrors on the road. The almond tree blossoms. Grasshopper drags himself along and the caperberry is ineffective. I think I know what that means, but you better go study that one on your own.

I don't want to talk about it on the radio. Remember him before the silver cord is broken and the golden bowl is crushed and the pitcher by the well is shattered and the wheel at the cistern is crushed.

Then the dust will return to the earth as it was and the spirit will return to God who gave it. Be ready. Fast forward the conclusion when all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments because this applies to every person.

For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil. We need to be reminded that there's an end one day. The sermons of our eyes and ears, and I used to be 6 '1 and 3 quarters.

There's a day. My dad made it to 65. My mom made it to 66. I'm hoping I make it to 66. That's in four days, but we will see. Mother's Day, birthday, and then two days after my birthday is my wife's birthday, so you max out the credit cards.

I'm looking at Luke 13, and people are saying to Jesus, by the way, we know how to read providence. You accuse us of, hey, there's a cloud and rain's going to come, and we don't spend any time looking at the signs and we don't think about ourselves spiritually and spiritually reading things, but there's some people, the Galileans, and they had their blood mixed with the sacrifices.

Pilate killed them all. I'll tell you what, to be in a safe place like that doing religious things, they had to have something going on behind the scenes, and they were sinning in private. God judges them publicly.

Jesus says, no, here's what you should draw from that, that you're going to repent or you're going to perish. That's what you should draw from it. Take a line, draw it from the tragedy to your own heart and say, that should be me.

I'm next. As I said last time, for Christians, we don't have to doubt about eternal life. We don't have to be afraid. We don't have to somehow think we're going to be unjustified, unforgiven, unreconciled, unpropitiated.

I know some of these words aren't good hyphen words, but we're just making it up as you go along. Because you get what you pay for at No Compromise Radio Ministry, right? I need to start watching some of the old Star Treks.

That's what I need to do. I remember that scene, though. I think Spock was under some mind trance or some medicine or some drug or something that happened to him. And I think if Kirk got him mad, he would snap out of it.

I just need to get better presets. You know, what are we going to do? Anyway, when you see dead people, you should say, I'm going to be dead soon. So I have advantage at 66 that I didn't have at age 30.

Not that I'm just 30 years closer to D-Day, death day, but I just see the visible signs. I've got arthritis in my fingers, my thumbs, my grip strength. I mean, in the old days, to go on the bike in 200-mile weeks were just normal.

Now it's 20-mile week. I did ride 50-mile ride the other day. But to get back on the bike the next day and do it again, I didn't do that. So I do ride the recumbent. I rode for a couple hours last night on the recumbent.

But it wasn't that hard, right? I'm watching Fridays with Frank, Sheriff Lamb videos with the Arizona sheriffs and deputy sheriffs. Jesus goes on to say, to give the second scud, or those 18 on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem?

So there was a tower in Siloam. It fell. It was no laughing matter. And Jesus said, do you think they were worse offenders? Some people translate it culprits, but literally it's debtors. Offenders. Do you think they were worse offenders?

I think they were more guilty. A debtor is somebody that owes God obedience and does not give obedience to the two great commandments, to any commandment. And maybe karma's right. They must have done some bad things.

In this particular case, with this tower falling, there's no bad actor like Pilate. So we're removing people that inflict bad things on other people. So Pilate's the one that sent his men, the henchmen, to go kill the Galileans who were sacrificing in the temple.

Here, this is just rando. This is an accident. This is a random occurrence, and it's a structural... structural... structural... It's a structural failure. And maybe there's scaffolding that falls. We don't know exactly.

But there's no human agent. Out of nowhere, suddenly, sadly, no bad guy inflicting it, this happens. And Jesus says, No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. So what's happening here is they want to say they're sign readers, and they're going to read Providence.

Why does bad things happen to good people? What's going on? And Jesus says, I don't... You can't read Providence. I mean, yeah. Noah's day, bad people got judgment. Herod said some bad things. He got judgment.

Stephen said true things, and then he was killed, tragically. And so you have to be careful when it comes to how do you read Providence. Luke chapter 13, Jesus is very, very clear. Do you suppose... He said that earlier with the Galileans.

Do you suppose... Put your thinking caps on. Do you suppose those 18 on whom the Tower of Siloam fell and killed were worse culprits than all the other men who live in Jerusalem? No. You think the answer is yes.

You're like Job's quote-unquote friends. You know what? You do bad things, bad things happen to you. When you see tragedy, I know how to read signs. They did bad things behind the scenes, and now it's exposed for all in God's divine displeasure.

God and divine are the same. Jesus repeats verse 3, No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you'll all likewise perish. The repetition is important. If Jesus were to say things once, that's enough. He repeats, I remember, John 8, with this repetition for clarity and for emphasis.

I said therefore to you that you shall die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am He, you shall die in your sins. Die in your sins. Die in your sins. This repetition. There's no escape. Nobody gets out alive.

Short of the Lord's return, nobody's going to make it there either, if you're an unbeliever. No unbeliever's going to make it. If you're a believer, I mean, the best case scenario for me would be Jesus comes back before I die.

Before a heart attack, before cancer, before an accident. And then, no death. No pain. No morphine. No cremation. That'd be pretty cool. For unbelievers, Jesus comes back. It's too late. Should have settled out of court, chapter 12.

Death for the unbeliever, whether it's a death at 100, death at 30, without an advocate, without a Savior. Perish, Jesus says. For the believer, yes, we die. Last enemy's death. The king of terrors has been conquered, though, by the resurrection.

Jonathan Edwards, I don't quote him a whole lot, but I'll quote him here. There's nothing that keeps wicked men at any moment out of hell except the mere pleasure of God. Jesus is not saying, you're going to perish like those people in the temple, Galileans.

You're going to perish like the people that had the tower fall on them and they were killed. We're not talking about physical death here. Jesus is talking about eternal. Eternal torment, Gehenna, lake of fire, second death.

And he uses the word all many times. Chapter 2, all other Galileans. I mean chapter 13, verse 2. Verse 3, you will all likewise perish. Verse 4, then all the men who live. Verse 5, you will all likewise perish.

The Call to Repentance and Readiness

Something bad happens and you say, am I converted? Have I repented? Do I trust in the Lord? If so, Lord, I'm thankful that you kept me alive and you saved me. Right? Keeping the unregenerate elect alive long enough for them to believe.

Be careful. Red alert. Consider your ways. Consider your soul. The Galileans and those by the Tower of Siloam, they died unexpectedly, quickly, tragically, and both of them probably thought they were safe.

Tower, safety. Temple, safety. I mean, you're obeying God, doing sacrifices. You're by a tower. It's probably some sort of defense tower. One writer said, that which they viewed as their salvation was their destruction.

And so, Jesus says, without Christ, you're going to perish. So, think rightly. Is that how you think? Think properly. Judgment is certain. 2 Thessalonians 1, verse 5. This is the evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering, since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us.

When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus, they don't believe.

They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might. When he comes on that day to be glorified in the saints and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.

To this end, we also pray for you, we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you and you in him, according to the grace of our God and of the Lord Jesus.

2 Thessalonians 1, 5 -12. Repentance is not optional. Repentance is mandatory. Repentance is a must. Obviously, repentance doesn't save people, because the meritorious cause of salvation is Jesus, right?

But repentance is indispensable. You're not saved without it. Jesus is the cause of salvation, but without repentance, you're remaining in a state of perishing, because when you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, the fruit of that will be repentance.

And in time, they happen at the exact same time. Thinking rightly about sin, thinking rightly about the Savior, thinking rightly about what you deserve, thinking rightly about, I'm not that good at reading times, I'm not that smart when it comes to settling out of court.

Turning from sin, thinking about sin rightly, that's certainly a fruit of faith. And it's mandatory. People talk about repentance faith as inseparable graces, right? It's not like you have to stop sinning in order to come to Christ.

That's not what I mean about repentance. You're united with Christ, and flowing from that union with Christ, you repent. And so, talking about things like conversion, without conversion, without salvation, without repentance, without faith, you're not going to make it.

Some people say faith is the root and repentance is the fruit. I don't have any problem with that. Turning to God, believing in what He says. Mike Gabendroth, No Compromise Radio Ministry. Repent. Have you repented?

I'm not saying, did you repent enough to earn yourself eternal life? But there's repentance that comes. God saves you, grants you faith. The fruit of that faith is repentance. I'm not saying there's a precondition that you've got to do in order to come to Christ.

But I'm also saying that we're not talking about easy believism that says, you don't have to think about sin the right way, you don't have to turn from sin, you don't have to repent. These days, repentance is not a term that we like.

Some of it's because it's a confusion, repentance and the fruit of repentance. But some of it is we just like the word toleration today. It's replaced the word repentance, I think. I read about a Frenchman who lived from 1610 to 1674, and he preached 50 sermons on the text, repent ye.

And what I read was one of the sermons lasted four and a half hours. Charles Hodge said, there is no duty which is either more obvious in itself or more frequently asserted in the word of God than that of repentance.

Repentance Throughout Scripture

If you look at the Bible, you'll see people preaching repentance. Ezekiel, repent and turn away from your idols and turn your faces from all your abominations. John the Baptist, repent for the kingdom of God is at hand.

Jesus earlier, Mark 1, the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel. The 12 that Jesus sent out, they went out and preached that men should repent. Peter, after Jesus was ascended, repent therefore and return that your sins may be wiped away in order that times refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.

Paul, preaching repentance, therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent. Acts 26, but kept declaring, Paul did, both to those of Damascus first and also at Jerusalem and then throughout the region of Judea and even to the Gentiles that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance.

And even the language of the Old Testament, if the word repent isn't used, the idea is there. Joshua 24, incline your heart unto the Lord. Jeremiah 4, circumcise yourselves to the Lord. Hosea 10, break up fallow ground.

Jonah 3, that they turn from their wicked way. What is repentance? That's a good question. Westminster Confession, a sinner out of the sight and sense not only of danger, but also the filthiness and odiousness of his sins, as contrary to the holy nature and righteous law of God, and upon the apprehension of his mercy in Christ as such as are penitent, so grieves for and hates his sins as to turn from them all unto God, purposing and endeavoring to walk with him in all ways of his commandments.

We're not saying that repentance causes you to be born again. It's not a condition of grace. It's a consequence. Right? It's a consequence of grace. And so Jesus says, judgment is near. When there's somebody that dies, when there's a tragedy, when people are killed, when there's a school shooting, when there's any kind of tragedy, yes, of course, go be kind to the victims and their families.

Serve them. Be sad. Weep. There's a variety of things that we do naturally and even supernaturally. But one of the things we stop doing, unless we're careful and heeding the words of Jesus, is we forget to draw a line from that tragedy to ourselves.

Are we ready? Isn't that what Jesus has just been saying in chapter 12? Are you ready? Are you ready? Are you ready? Are you ready? Chapter 12, verse 40, You too, be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Your death is coming at an hour you don't expect. I mean, do I think I might die today? Maybe. I'd have to get in the car and drive to Framingham. Pick up somebody at the Logan Express. Interstates are pretty dangerous.

I've got to eat some food later today. I've choked on food quite a bit with my small esophagus that I have to get dilated every once in a while. And then Jesus says, by the way, judgment's near. And so he gives a little parable.

The Parable of the Unfruitful Fig Tree

A man had a fig tree, which he had planted in his vineyard. You can think about Israel, this is all allusions to Israel, but application for us too. Looking for fruit on it, did not find any. He said to the vineyard keeper, behold, for three years I've come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any.

Sound familiar? Three years of public ministry of Jesus. Cut it down. Why does it even use up the ground? And he answered and said to him, let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer.

And if it bears fruit next year, fine. But if not, cut it down. See the patience of God? Suspending judgment against Israel? For just another little time? Is there fruit? Fruit, verse 6. Fruit, verse 7.

Fruit, verse 9. What's the fruit of repentance? Leon Moore said, now comes a parable that brings out two things. The need for repentance and God's slowness to punish. Here's an opportunity. You see compassion of God and patience of God along with suffering of God.

Jesus is on earth. Three years. Don't presume. We've got plenty of time, but there's not much time left. Be ready. Bear fruit. Bear fruit will show you that the repentance is real. Isaiah 5 talks a lot about Israel in the vineyard.

You can read that. Fig trees. Hosea and Joel, symbols of Israel. God's gracious. Believe. Repent. Fig trees. I mean, you could go into the whole sermon about fig trees. Nathaniel was sitting underneath one.

Fig trees' leaves are long, you know, are large enough that sometimes they can grow up to be, I can't remember, I saw it here, 18 feet. Where is that? Come on, I've got this stuff here somewhere. You think that when you study, you'd know these things.

Found out all kinds of stuff about fig trees. But it doesn't matter because I can't find it right now. So back to the point. God's patience has a limit. Can you imagine? It's drastic. It's dramatic. Cut it down.

It's using up the ground. It's only so long that God has before it's over. And by the way, you're alive this long. You've had plenty of opportunities, have you not? In the name of Jesus, every knee will bow of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Don't harden your heart. Jesus said, for a little while longer I'm with you and then I go to him who sent me. I go away and you will seek me and you will die in your sins. Where I'm going, you cannot come.

I mean, all the privileges that Israel has had and they didn't believe. Not many believed. And judgment came, 70 AD. An eternal judgment for all those who didn't believe in the Messiah. And for you, if you're not a believer, all the privileges you've had, all the blessings you've had, family and friends and music and taste buds and everything else, you need to believe.

And you've been warned. You see tragedies in others. Do you think you're going to get out of it alive? So why don't you trust in the one who gave himself for sinners like you that he might redeem sinners like you from every lawless deed and purify for himself a people for his own possession?

Why don't you trust in the risen Savior who made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in him? My name is Mike Avendroth. This is No Compromise Radio Ministry.

You can write me, Mike at NoCoRadio. If you want to order books, mix and match, 10 or more will yield 40 off. Tell your friends. There's a pause right there.