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Listen in as Pastor Mike preaches this recent sermon on cheapskate repentance from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston, MA.
Thanks for tuning in to No Compromise Radio with pastor and author, Dr. Mike Abendroth. Today on No Compromise Radio, we'll be hearing Pastor Mike open the Word of God in a recent message he preached at Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston, Massachusetts.
Now let's join Pastor Mike in progress as he preaches through the scriptures, verse by verse, with No Compromise.
What's your response to Bill Maher's comment on HBO? If you believe in Judgment Day, I have to seriously question your judgment. If you believe you are in a long-term relationship with an all-powerful space daddy who will, after you die, party with you forever, there is an electrical fire going on in your head.
At the end of the day, is magic underwear really that much crazier than giant arcs, virgin births, or talking bushes? You're either a rationalist or you're not. And the good news, Maher said, is a recent poll found 20 of adults under 30 say they are rationalists and have figured out that Santa Claus and Jesus are really the same guy.
What would your response be? If you could say one word to Bill Maher, what would you say? One word and one word alone. Repent. And that's our topic for this morning, repentance. We were talking about repentance last week, and I usually have some folks try to encourage me.
Thank you for the message I learned about the Bible today, and I appreciate that. But I got lots of comments about the message last week saying, I want to know more about repentance. What is repentance?
We want to dig deeper into repentance, and so that's like saying, sick him to a mad dog for me. Repentance is a very important topic, and so we're going to do that this morning. And I have two simple points that I want to drive home.
Number one, man is responsible to repent. And number two, man is unable to repent. One of the greatest preachers who ever lived, Chrysostom, his name means golden mouth or golden throat. He said that repentance was the fittest subject for him to preach before the emperor.
And so if that's the fittest subject to preach before an emperor, how about Bethlehem Bible Church as we continue this and discuss what is repentance. Man is responsible to repent, but man is unable to repent.
And you're going to see very quickly, that is why we need Jesus. That is why we need the Savior. Since man is responsible, that means we don't repent and we're guilty before God. And since man is unable to repent, we need God's salvation.
Maybe my favorite all-time definition of repentance is found by the words of Martin Lloyd-Jones, studies in the sermons on the mount. He wrote, repentance means that you realize that you are a guilty, vile sinner in the presence of God, that you deserve the wrath and punishment of God, that you are hell bound.
It means that you begin to realize that this thing called sin is in you, that you long to get rid of it, and that you turn your back on it in every shape and form. You renounce the world, whatever the cost, the world in its mind and outlook as well as its practice, and you deny yourself, take up the cross and go after Christ.
Your nearest and dearest may call you a fool, or Bill Maher for that matter, or say you have religious mania. You may suffer, but it makes no difference. That is repentance. So let's look this morning at Luke chapter 13 to start.
Man is responsible to repent. Every unbeliever is responsible to repent, and if you're a Christian, you know you have repented, but it's good to know how to preach the gospel, what to say in light of the gospel.
Every unbeliever must repent. Every person who's ever been born, of course, except for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, must repent. Man is responsible to repent. That's point number one. You must repent and believe.
No one has ever gone to heaven without repentance. Nobody has ever received forgiveness without repentance. Nobody's ever right with God without repentance. To think differently. One of the things that Luke chapter 13 talks about is when someone tragically dies, what's the response?
We'll all have to face, sooner or later, our own death. You can't have someone die for you now, can you? Death by proxy. You stand in for me while I die, while you die. And this passage here in Luke chapter 13, verses 1 through 5, is fascinating to me because Jesus is going to bring up the concept of theodicy.
What about evil in the world? How many people do you know that say, how could a good God allow this tragedy to happen? If God is really all-powerful and all-loving, how could he let something like this go on?
And Jesus turns the why question, why is there suffering in the world, to the question for every listener, including you, including me. Not why, but what should your response be in light of tragedy? Instead of saying, now let me correct all your views on theodicy and why is there suffering.
How could a holy God allow evil, ordain evil, permit evil? Why do bad things happen to good people? Tragedies, Jesus is going to say, should teach us something, and they're going to teach us, as you know this morning in light of the context of the sermon, repentance is the key.
Sudden death is possible, is probable, death is inevitable, so what's the response? Now before we look at 13, let me show you the context in chapter 12. Teaching a hermeneutics class on Tuesday night, I would be in grave error if I didn't set you up for the context.
Luke 12, verse 4, I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I warn you whom to fear. Fear him who after he has killed has authority to cast into hell.
Yes, I tell you, fear him. Skip down to verse 49, if you would please, in Luke chapter 12, and you're going to see the context. Signs of judgment, future judgment signs are all around, pay attention. One day you have to stand before God, it's appointed for man to die once, and then what?
Judgment. Who wants to think about death, but we need to. Verse 49 of Luke 12, I came to cast fire on the earth, and would it be already kindled, or would that it were already kindled? I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished.
Do you think, verse 51, that I have come to give peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on, in one house there will be five divided, three against two, and two against three.
They will be divided, father against son, and son against father, mother against daughter, and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.
He also said to the crowds, when you see a cloud arising in the west, you say at once, showers coming. So it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, there will be scorching heat. And it happens.
So you can understand times, and weather, and skies, and meteorological things. Then he says, you hypocrites, you know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?
Leading into Luke 13, how do you interpret the times of tragedy? When you see a tragedy, what's your interpretation? Well, certainly there are things like compassion, sorry this happened to them, kindness, grief.
But when the clouds start coming and you say, hmm, there's rain, that's kind of a no-brainer. And you should also say, I see a tragedy, what's my response to the tragedy? Luke 13, verse 1. There were some present at that very time who told him, Jesus, about the Galileans.
I think Jesus was a Galilean. Whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. He answered them, do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans? Because they suffered in this way?
Now in the original language, 13 .1 has a marker that ties it back to 12. ESV just says, there were some present. But there's a marker, some translations say now, at that very time. Do you know the sign of the times?
How do you interpret life? When you watch the news, when you see things on TV, when tragedies come up, when the twin towers fall, what's your theological hermeneutical grid? How do you interpret these things?
Jesus now gives an illustration. Pilate, that man who ruled ruthlessly for 10 years, he had all kinds of murders in his resume. And this one is particularly heinous. You've got to go into the temple area where Gentiles aren't allowed.
Pilate sends his henchmen into this area of the temple, probably Passover where the lay people can do their own sacrifices. And they're sacrificing things in the temple close by, and Pilate's people go through the court of the women, through the court of Gentiles, through the court of women, into the temple and kill these people.
Now remember, the Jewish folks at this time, a lot of them were like Job's friends. Job's friends would say what? Job, you're suffering? Why? Must be doing something badly. Hey Jesus, these Galileans were really bad.
They're not even saying Pilate's really bad. They're not saying that guy is a ruthless cutthroat. He's massacring these people. What's going on with Pilate? What's going on with these Galileans? Jesus, could you give us a little political commentary?
This is O 'Reilly Factor, what would he say? Jesus doesn't do any political commentary. He says it's now time to think about your soul. Pilate, yes, was ruthless. He polluted the sanctuary of the temple, yes.
But instead of saying, you know, Pilate's bad, your leaders are bad, the government's bad, the president's bad, Jesus says life is fragile and you too face judgment. Are you right with God, Jesus says?
He responded with a question. I thought about writing a book someday, seriously, or just going through it in my mind. All the questions Jesus asked. Sometimes it's good when he asks you a question, other times it's not so good.
And he answered them. He answered with a question. Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered in this way? Yeah, they were the bad ones. When bad things happen, you're bad.
His disciples asked him about the man blind from birth. Rabbi, who sinned? This man or his parents said he was born blind. That was the culture of the day. These Galileans, Jesus, were really, really bad.
Therefore, they got what was coming to them. Measure for measure. Now, sometimes this is true, right? Herod says, everybody worship me. Next thing you know, he's getting eaten by worms. So what's Jesus' response?
And here is the absolute necessity of repentance, to think differently. Verse 3, no, I tell you. No, I tell you. It's not because they're so bad, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Is there really any difference between getting killed by Pilate in the sanctuary?
By the way, don't you think you'd feel safe there? Where do you feel safe and where do you feel scared? I've been in some bad places of the world where I felt really uncomfortable, where I just feel like I just want to keep looking behind my head.
How do you feel today in church? Do you feel safe? I mean, really. Short of some kind of weirdo coming in here, I feel safe when I'm at church. Well, most of the time. But it's a safe place. It's a safe haven.
Well, how much more the temple? You think you're safe. You think everything's fine. And now comes Pilate's henchmen. But what's really the difference? Whether Pilate kills you, you die of old age, you die of a heart attack, you have an anaphylactic shock eating hazelnuts, you choke on food, you get a sickness.
What's the difference? Everybody dies. Every person who was alive on the planet at that time died. Stands before God. Jesus says, I tell you, no. You're trying to make the connection. Galileans were really bad.
They got what they deserved. No. I tell you, no, Jesus says. That's not the right way to think about it. The right way to think about it is, what about me? I'm going to stand before God for eternity. And then it's not going to work out so well where I said, you know, I love pleasure more than Jesus.
I love illicit sex more than Jesus. I love covetous more than Jesus. And I on earth acted this way. I'm willing to go to hell for my love of sin. And then there is going to be hell. Whoever would save his life will lose it.
Same kind of parish language. The judgment of God. So that's why Jesus says, I've come to call the righteous. No, but I've come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance. If you die when you're 20 years old or you die when you're 80 years old, what's the difference in the sense that you still have to stand before God?
That's why repentance is so necessary. No one is saved without true repentance. Disasters strike. Then what? Verse 4, there's another seemingly safe place to be. Tower of Siloam. There's a tower there by the aqueduct of the south side of Jerusalem.
So Jesus now goes to another illustration. But this one doesn't have henchmen. It doesn't have these secondary causes of bad men. This is going to be something that the insurance agents would call, what, an act of God.
So what about the act of God? We've got Pilate's henchmen and now we have the act of God. Or those 18 on whom the tower in Siloam fell. We don't know what happened. The scaffolding gave way. It could have been an earthquake.
And killed them. Do you think that they were worse? Literally the word is debtors. Remember the Lord taught us to pray, forgive us our debts. So when we sin we have a debt against God. We owe God something.
That's the language here. Do you think that they were worse debtors or offenders, ESV says, than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? Same thing. These people have more of a debt. I have less of a debt.
They've got to pay their debt now. Jesus says the exact same thing as he does earlier. Now he says it in verse 5. No, I tell you, don't make that connection. When it's cloudy out and the clouds are coming, you say, hmm, rain.
When that wind is coming this way, oh, it's going to be really hot. When those gray clouds come over Massachusetts last night, you said what? It's going to snow afoot. And when you see someone die in a tragedy, you say what?
Jesus said to you, here's what you should say. Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Now, likewise doesn't mean just as suddenly everybody here is going to die a tragic death, and the last second is going to happen, there's something that's going to happen in one second, rather.
You're going to die. No, likewise meaning you're just going to all die. He repeats it. Verse 3, verse 5. And when you take a look at Luke chapter 13, verses 1 through 5, how many times can you count the word all?
All, all, all, all. So, of course, I have to ask you the question, have you repented? Have you repented? People flouting God and putting their fist in God's face, I'm safe. This is one of those warnings, red alerts, consider your soul, consider your ways.
You might not die quickly, you might not die suddenly, but you will die in a secure place, what you thought was secure. And if you're sitting there living life now thinking about all the people who sin more than you do, you're not thinking rightly, you're seeing the sun, the wind, and the meteorological signs, and you're thinking the wrong way.
One man wrote it this way. Are those 2 ,749 on whom the twin towers in Manhattan fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all the other men who dwelt in New York? We're all sinful people, and we deserve judgment, and we must repent.
Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to all men that all people everywhere should repent. Do you not think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?
And the good news is, everyone who does repent, will they be saved? You've got to repent, and if you do, you will certainly be saved. And you come to Christ, He will receive you. Man is responsible to repent.
Outline point number two. Man is unable to repent. Man is responsible, man is unable. All this is driving us to, we need the Lord and His life and death. We need a Savior. We can't do things on our own.
Man is unable to repent. Do these verses sound familiar to you? And then He said, I beg you, Father, to send Him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, so that He may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
But Abraham said, they have Moses and the prophets, let them hear Him. And He said, no, Father, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent. He said to them, if they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.
We have to repent, but we can't repent, so what gives? Why is repentance called an evangelical grace? Because it's a command, but it's also a gift. He to whom God exalted at His right hand as a prince and Savior to grant repentance.
Why don't you turn your Bibles to John chapter 5, please, and I want you to just see how these go together. We're supposed to repent, we're commanded to repent, and yet we can't. So what are we going to do?
All driving us to the gospel. John chapter 5. I know Pastor Steve was here not that long ago, but it's good to go back anyway to see that unbelief is just binding on people. We need a prior work of God so that we can repent.
No wonder 2 Timothy 2 says that God may grant them repentance. Men and women are depraved. Men and women are sinful and enslaved to sin. Unbelievers are just bound, cannot see the kingdom until you're born again.
You can't understand the scriptures until you have a new nature. And look at how active this is. I call this purpose-driven life. John 5 .40. Oh, let's read verse 39 as well. Purposely driven against God.
You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life. And it is they that bear witness about me. Yet, you refuse to come to me that you may have life. You refuse it. You must, but you refuse because man has been affected by the fall.
John 5 .40. You could also translate it. You're deliberately making a choice not to come to me. I remember when I would pick up my brothers and sisters when I was younger. And even, I guess, my own kids as well.
I can't mention them by name because I don't want to give dollars up this morning. Ever try to make yourself heavy if someone's picking you up? Ever have a brother or sister try to make themselves heavy?
I don't know if this is physically or with physics possible. But you try to pick up a kid and they're just trying to make themselves heavy. This is what unbelievers do in the face of God. I know I have to repent.
I know I have to think differently. I know I have to embrace the Son by faith and believe Him and understand how bad I am and how wicked I am. But I'm purposely going to make myself heavy, God. That's exactly what John 5 .40 is talking about.
I will not. That's why we need regeneration. That's why we need God to give us new life. Because we can't do it on our own. Reisinger said, when the Bible speaks of our being in bondage to sin, it means that our entire being, including our will, is under the bondage and power of sin.
We indeed need Christ to die and pay the penalty for our sin. Now listen, but we just as desperately need the Holy Spirit to give us a new nature in regeneration. It is the Holy Spirit's work in regeneration that enables us to savingly receive the atoning work of Christ in true faith.
All right, here's a quiz. Pretend this is Sunday school. It's a Sunday school hour. I know Pastor Steve likes quizzes. So you tell me which one of these best fits the Bible's description of how people come to Christ.
How'd you come to Christ? Someone asked you, how'd you come to Christ? What would you say of these right here in this list? Here's the quiz. I came by myself. I did it on my own. Any takers on that one?
Number two. I wanted to come and God helped me. Well, the first Pelagian one isn't right. The second semi-Pelagian one isn't right. How about this one? God gave me sufficient grace to come because Christ died and I cooperated.
Pelagianism isn't right. Semi-Pelagianism isn't right. Arminianism isn't right. How about this one? God brought me and I did not resist. Sounds pretty good if you're Martin Luther. Or finally, I'll tell you already this is the right one, God brought me to Christ.
I must come to Christ with repentance and faith. I cannot because of my sin. So, God brought me. That's the answer. And by the way, which one of those gives God the most glory? Which one of those, if we transport ourselves into Revelation chapter 7 that Eric read this morning about wisdom and power and might and glory, who gets the praise for that?
No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston, Massachusetts. Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible-teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life-transforming power of God's Word through verse-by-verse exposition of the sacred text.
Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 8 .30 and 11 a .m. and Sunday evenings at 6 p .m. We're located on Route 110 in West Boylston, Massachusetts. You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.
The thoughts and opinions expressed on No Compromise Radio do not necessarily reflect those of WVNE, its staff, or management.