“Jesus Teaches About Repentance”
Luke 13:1-5
INTRODUCTION: We CONTINUE in our series on ‘Lessons Jesus Taught’. We have studies what Jesus taught about: The Holy Spirit … the Tongue … Prayer … Thanksgiving.
Jesus wasn’t the only one to teach about REPENTANCE. That was the major theme of John the Baptist. Luke 3:3 – “And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;” Luke 3:8 – “Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.”
In our Scripture text tonight, Jesus says that REPENTANCE is essential for salvation. Luke 13:1-5 – Read.
13:1 - A current event is brought to the attention of Jesus. For some UNKNOWN reason, Pilate had killed some Galileans while they were in the Temple at worship. History DOES tell us that Pilate set out to build a new water system for Jerusalem. To finance this, he took money from the Temple finances. This money was set aside as a gift to God, and ONLY to be used in the service of the Temple. This caused a REVOLT among some of the people. Pilate may have caught the revolutionaries off-guard, worshipping in the Temple, and killed them. See Acts 5:37 – ribbon.
13:2 – The people thought that their death was due to some sin in their life. THAT, God was punishing them because of some great sin in their life.
Jesus brings up another current event – 13:4. Some construction workers were repairing a tower on the wall of the city of Jerusalem near the Pool of Siloam. The tower fell, and 18 workers were killed. They thought that this was a judgment of God … because of some great sin in their life.
Jesus wants to teach them (us) several lessons here:
1.- Just because you have troubles (maybe more than most people) … it doesn’t mean that you are a greater sinner than others.
Trouble doesn’t always come to a person because of sin in their life.
2.- Just because you are a Christian, doesn’t mean that you are immune to troubles. J. Vernon McGee said: “You will miss the GREAT Tribulation, but you will not miss the LITTLE tribulation if you are a Christian.”
3.- When someone else has troubles and you don’t … it doesn’t mean that you are better than they are.
4.- If all suffering was due to personal sin … we would all perish … because we are all sinners. Romans 3:10 – “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:”
NOTICE: The RESPONSE that Jesus gives to both events – 13:3,5. Jesus is telling them NOT to judge sin in anyone else. INSTEAD: The sin in YOUR life, if not REPENTED of … will cause you to perish.
REPENTANCE is ESSENTIAL for salvation. REPENTANCE isn’t preached very much these days. INSTEAD, most preaching about salvation is an “easy believe-ism”.
What did Jesus say about REPENTANCE and SALVATION?
Matthew 4:17 – “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
This was His message from the beginning of His ministry. Mark 1:14-15 – “Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, [15] And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.”
After Jesus was resurrected, in His last meeting with His Disciples … LISTEN to the message that Jesus wanted to leave with them. Luke 24:46-47 – “And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: [47] And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”
How is salvation preached today? “ACCEPT Jesus as your Lord and Savior.” Where’s the REPENTANCE in that? Thousands have walked the isles of churches … and have been baptized and joined the church … because they have ACCEPTED. ACCEPTED WHAT?
They have ACCEPTED:
o That what the preacher says about sin, salvation, Heaven & Hell are true.
o That what the Bible says about Heaven and Hell are true.
o That what Jesus did on the cross was real, true, and necessary for salvation.
o That if you don’t trust Jesus as your Savior, you will spend eternity in Hell.
Multiplied thousands of people have ACCEPTED all the right FACTS & INFORMATION. BUT … they have never REPENTED of their sins. Their HEADS have been converted … BUT … not their HEARTS.
The Devil doesn’t care:
o WHAT you believe … OR …
o HOW you live … OR …
o WHAT you confess to be true … OR …
o How many times you come to the ALTAR … OR …
o If you’ve been BAPTIZED.
AS LONG AS you’ve never REPENTED of your sins.
Do you ACCEPT the FACT that Jesus is the Son of God who came into this world to die for your sins? So does the Devil! Matthew 8:29 – “And, behold, they (the demons) cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God?”
The Devil doesn’t care if you BELIEVE and ACCEPT all the right things. AS LONG AS it doesn’t lead you to REPENTANCE of your sins.
WHAT IS REPENTANCE?
In the GK., it means ‘to think differently … to change your mind’. REPENTANCE is seeing your sin the same way God sees it. AND … seeing yourself as a sinner the same way God sees you.
I’ve had little children come to me wanting to be baptized. I ask them “Why?” They tell me that they love Jesus, and that they want to be baptized. Does this make them saved? No … it means that they love Jesus and want to be baptized.
UNTIL a person sees themselves as a sinner and on their way to eternal Hell because of their sin … AND … REPENTS of their sins … they aren’t saved. NOW … that’s not to say that the little child is LOST. BUT … when they come to the place that they see themselves as a lost sinner … AND … DON’T REPENT of their sin … THEN they are LOST and bound for an eternity in Hell … UNLESS they REPENT.
The trouble with many people today is that there is no GODLY SORROW over sin in their life. We may be:
o Sorry we got CAUGHT in our sin.
o Sorry for the CONSEQUENCES of our sin.
o Sorry our sins have CAUGHT UP with us.
BUT … When is the last time you cried out to God in REPENTANCE and said: “God be merciful to me, a sinner!”
Matthew 27:3 says that Judas “repented”, when he returned the 30 pieces of silver for betraying Jesus. He said: “I have sinned in that I have betrayed innocent blood.” Was that TRUE REPENTANCE? What did Judas do next? He went out and hanged himself!
WHY? He was SORRY … but not a GODLY SORROW. He was SORRY he did wrong … SORRY he got caught … SORRY it turned out the way it did. BUT … REPENTANCE is when you bring your sins to Jesus. Judas never did that.
PETER also “repented” … experienced “sorrow” for his denial of Jesus. Peter didn’t go out and hang himself. INSTEAD … the Bible says that Peter went out and “wept bitterly”. He saw himself and his sin the same way that God saw him and his sin. Peter looked at his sin and said: “Look at what my sin has done to Jesus. God be merciful to me, a sinner!”
We look at our sin, and see what it has done to US. It makes us LOOK bad … FEEL bad. BUT … God looks at your sin, and sees what it has done to JESUS … on the cross. The nails … torn flesh … blood … spit … holes in brow from crown of thorns … hair ripped from His face … REPENTANCE is seeing your sin the same way GOD sees it. If you don’t see your sin that way … there is no REPENTANCE.
We need to see how our sin AFFECTS GOD. ILLUSTRATION: What if, every time _____________ sinned, I whipped ____________ (her daughter). She would see her sin DIFFERENTLY, wouldn’t she? Maybe she wouldn’t sin so much … be more sensitive to sin … not treat sin so lightly … be more apt to repent … turn around. THEN … you would see sin more like GOD sees your sin. God sees your sin as to what it did to His Son, Jesus.
REPENTANCE … is seeing your sin like God does. AND … begging His forgiveness. AND … trusting Jesus to forgive you of your sin. It’s MORE than just ACCEPTING the FACT that you’re a sinner (God has already told you that!).
Preaching REPENTANCE isn’t very POPULAR.
o JOHN THE BAPTIST preached it … and they served his head up on a platter.
o JESUS preached it … and they hung Him on a cross.
o The DISCIPLES preached it … and they were persecuted and killed.
o The APOSTLE PAUL preached it … and he was beaten & imprisoned.
It’s not a popular message. The Devil will do everything he can to keep it from being preached. He doesn’t care if millions are baptized and join the church … as long as there is no REPENTANCE. “Easy Believe-ism” is Satan slipping you a “counterfeit salvation”. You feel comfortable because you ACCEPTED the truth. BUT … there’s no SALVATION … UNLESS … there’s REPENTANCE.
LISTEN to David in Psalm 51:3-4 – “For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. [4] Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight:”
WHAT IS A LACK OF REPENTANCE OVER YOUR SIN TELLING JESUS?
o “What You did for me on the cross doesn’t mean much to me.”
o “What my sin did to You doesn’t really matter to me.”
o “Your suffering & agony isn’t really that important to me.”
o “Jesus … You deserved it!”
AND … without REPENTANCE … you pound he nails deeper … press the crown of thorns further into His brow … spit in the face of Jesus.
WHAT ARE YOU TELLING JESUS IF YOU SEE YOUR SIN THE SAME WAY GOD SEES IT?
o “Jesus, You hung there and took the punishment I deserved … you paid MY sin … you took MY place … you suffered for ME.”
o “Jesus, I REPENT of my sin … I see my sin for what it is … I see my sin for what it did to You.”
o “Jesus, I see how that every time I sin, it is a slap in Your face … a shame to Your name … a stripe on Your back.”
o “Jesus, I’m so very sorry for my sin.”
There’s no REPENTANCE in Hell … no REPENTANCE in Heaven. REPENTANCE has to be done NOW. If there’s any sin in your life … RIGHT NOW … that you need to REPENT of … CONFESS it before God.
See your sin the same way God sees it. If you do, it will break your heart … the SAME WAY it breaks the heart of God.
STAND - PRAYER
OUTLINE FOR HANDOUT:
“Jesus Teaches About Repentance”
Luke 13:1-5
INTRODUCTION: John the Baptist also preached repentance – Luke 3:3,8.
- Repentance is essential for salvation.
13:1 – Pilate killed some people in the Temple – Acts 5:37
13:2,4 – People thought that God was punishing them for some great sin in their life.
o Troubles don’t mean that you’re a greater sinner.
o A Christian isn’t immune to troubles.
o You aren’t better than those who have more troubles.
o If suffering was due to personal sin, we would all perish.
13:3,5 – Don’t judge sin in any one else’s life … un-repented sin in YOUR life will cause YOU to perish.
- Jesus preached about repentance – Matthew 4:17,
Mark 1:14-15, Luke 24:46-47.
• ACCEPTING the true facts about salvation doesn’t save.
- Without REPENTANCE, there is no salvation.
- The Devil believes all the true facts about salvation – Matthew 8:29 – BUT, he has never REPENTED.
• REPENTANCE means ‘to think differently, to change your mind’.
- REPENTANCE is seeing your sin the same way God sees it.
- Judas only felt sorry for the way his sin turned out.
- Peter saw his sin the same way God did … and repented.
• We often view our sin as to what it has done to US … not JESUS.
- You would see your sin differently, if someone you loved was punished every time YOU sinned.
• Preaching repentance has never been very popular.
- Satan wants an “easy believe-ism” preached … that all you have to do to be saved is ACCEPT the right facts.
• David had the right heart of repentance – Psalm 51:3-4.
- A lack of repentance tells Jesus that He deserved His death on the cross.
- Repentance tells Jesus that you see your sin for what it did to Him.
CONCLUSION: Sin needs to be CONFESSED … and REPENTED.
- Sin in your life should break your heart, like it does God’s heart.
PRISCILLA BAPTIST CHURCH – Ray Scott, Pastor
