Repentance, False Religion, and the True Way
Book of Luke Chapter 13
The Lord Jesus Christ was preaching about the signs of the times, or we could say the sins of the times.
These are the same sins we have today, only they are getting worse.
If we analyze the present time according to the Word of God that we have, we should be able to see that time is running out to make a decisive choice about the truth of Jesus Christ.
Jesus said to the crowd: Luk 12:54 And he said also to the people, When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is.
Luk 12:55 And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it cometh to pass.
Luk 12:56 Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?
The Lord Jesus called them hypocrites because they could look at the patterns of the weather to see what was coming next, but they kept their eyes closed when it came to their spiritual condition.
Most of the time we think much too much of ourselves!
They knew the laws of nature and how to apply them, but they were ignoring the Law of God, and they lived according to their own thoughts and the ways of the world.
God had explained that judgment was coming, but the Word of God was ignored.
They did not think about the time in which they lived because they did not want to repent and place their lives in the hands of God.
Their greatest mistake they made was not considering that our lives are already in the hands of God!
If we know only one thing, it is that we are responsible for knowing right from wrong!
Normally, this is the first lesson we try to teach our children.
If we have a personal relationship with God, then we can be where God wants us to be, and God can save us.
The Lord Jesus always seeks the salvation of each of us so He can show us mercy.
Mercy means we will not get what we deserve, which is eternal death.
Num 14:18 The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression,
Psa 103:8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
The next question would then be, “Why do good people suffer”?
One answer would be that we do not suffer more because we are far worse than others, so we can remove this from our thought process.
*Luk 13:1 There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
Luk 13:2 And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?
Luk 13:3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Luk 13:4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?
Luk 13:5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Rome considered the Galileans the most turbulent and seditious people under their control.
They were always ready to cause problems for Roman authority.
The Apostles that Jesus had selected were all Galileans, either by birth or by where they lived.
Act 1:11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
Most of the Jews could tell if you were a Galilean by the way that you talked. Just ask Peter.
Mat 26:73 And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee.
It would be sort of like the speech of us Southerners and those who live in the North of our own nation.
Many would actually call Jesus Christ the Galilean God.
This was used many times to keep from using the title Christian during the time of the early Church.
The truth was, Pilate hated the Galileans so much that his army surrounded a group of Galileans at the Temple, where they had gone to worship, and murdered them and poured their blood on the sacrifices that were being made to God.
By doing this, Pilate also showed his contempt for the sacrificial services of the Jews.
The question to the Lord Jesus Christ was that these Galileans must have been sinners far greater than other men.
They suggested that it was not so much the cruelty of Pilate as it was the judgment of God.
The Lord Jesus said: “It is not up to any of us to decide whose sins are worse than others”.
Jesus’s answer to these Jews was “except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish”.
We know that there were not many of the Jews who did repent, and they were all slaughtered by the Romans in 70 A D.
The Romans did to the Jews what Pilate had done to these Galileans.
The answer is that we do not suffer more in this world just because we are greater sinners than most others.
We are all sinners in need of repentance!
Every sin has the same “judgment” from God, eternal death without God.
In fact, totally innocent people suffer, and we do not know any reason beyond the providence of God.
We do know this verse we see so much: Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Then the Lord Jesus adds another incident.
There was a great tragedy in Jerusalem when eighteen men were killed because a guard tower at the pool of Siloam fell and killed them all.
Some commentaries say it was eighteen construction workers who were killed.
Some say that Pilate used the Temple money to construct an aqueduct into Jerusalem, and some of the Jews said this was the reason these men were killed, again by God Himself, but it was merely an accident that happened to men trying to make a living for their families.
Were these eighteen greater sinners than others in Jerusalem?
Did they deserve to die more than others who live?
We might ask ourselves, why are we allowed to live and others are not?
The Lord Jesus said it was not because they had greater sin than others.
There again Jesus said: “except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish”.
It is not up to us to raise the question of the guilt of others.
Do I believe there may be different levels of suffering in Hell? Yes, I do.
Most suffering of the sinner upon this earth is caused by themselves.
Go to the hospitals and see if you can tell who is good and who is bad.
Much of our suffering as we get older is because of the way we lived our lives when we were younger.
No one suffers upon this earth because we think they are greater sinners than others.
These things are all in the hands of God!
The greatest thing we can do is to repent and be saved, so we know we will not suffer in Hell.
Heaven is going to be so wonderful. Why would anybody not want to spend eternity there?
We cannot afford to die without Jesus Christ!
Again, the Lord Jesus teaches us with a parable.
*Luk 13:6 He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none.
Luk 13:7 Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?
Luk 13:8 And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it:
Luk 13:9 And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.
Israel is God’s people.
The Church is God’s people.
God expects us all who love Him to bear fruit.
The fruit God expects from all His people is the Fruit of the Spirit!
Isa 44:3 For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:
Isa 44:4 And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses.
Joh 7:37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
Joh 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
Joh 7:39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
Israel thought they were safe because they were the seed of Abraham under the promises of God.
Israel did not even realize the precarious state in which they were in.
(By the way, the Church is sinking so fast that the Church does not realize the precarious state it is in).
It was totally inappropriate to speculate about the Galileans, and it was foolish to forget the people of Jerusalem.
We could understand this parable as showing these Jews their own history that hangs over their heads.
But without a doubt, it should also wake up the Church, which lives by the Grace of God.
There will come a time when God elects to cut down fruitless trees.
We must understand the need for repentance: Mat 21:28 But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard.
Mat 21:29 He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.
Mat 21:30 And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not.
Mat 21:31 Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.
Repentance is a change of mind that brings a complete change in the heart. It is a heartfelt sorrow for sin and a confession of that sin, turning to God and righteousness.
One day God’s patience will run out with this world: 2Pe 3:15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
2Pe 3:16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
2Pe 3:17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.
Israel is the fig tree of the Lord. Israel must stand before God in its righteousness.
Adam and Eve, after falling into sin, tried to cover themselves with the leaves of a fig tree.
Gen 3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
This man-made apron could not cover their nakedness, so God made them garments of skin.
They then stood before God covered by a sacrificial lamb, which we know now as Jesus Christ.
This is the only way every single sinner can stand before our Holy God.
We know of another Scripture that says the Lord Jesus sought fruit again from the fig tree and could not find it, and the fig tree withered away and died after the Lord Jesus cursed it.
It is the Lord Jesus Christ who spent three years trying to convince the Jews to repent, but they would not.
Jhn_1:11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
The Church also needs to repent and get busy for the Lord!
It is God Himself who is looking for fruit!
All those places of worship producing no fruit are just wasting space!
Mat 3:10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Mat 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
Mat 3:12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
*Luk 13:10 And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath.
Luk 13:11 And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself.
Luk 13:12 And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity.
Luk 13:13 And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.
This is possibly the last time that the Lord Jesus got to teach in a synagogue of the Jews.
This healing took place on a Sabbath, and we see that healing was not allowed on the Sabbath because it was considered to be work and not a movement of God.
The Lord Jesus was doing exactly what He came to do.
Luk_19:10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
Heb 7:25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
We can see that the Jewish synagogues were places where women could also worship along with religionists.
That phrase “spirit of infirmity” probably means that this illness she had was because of a demon.
So, we see that the devil and his demons try to be present in every worship service, and he still does this today.
This woman had reached a point where she could no longer lift herself, but if she had not been committed to worship, she would have missed this opportunity when the Lord Jesus showed up at the worship service.
Worship at church reaches another level when the Lord Jesus shows up to worship with us!
We already know that God sings with us when we sing in our worship service.
Zep 3:17 The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.
When we rejoice in the Lord, we can have the Holy Spirit with us, the Almighty God singing, and the presence of the Lord Jesus to heal us.
This illness this woman suffered with was for eighteen years, and she may not have been able to make it to another worship service if not for Christ also being there on that day.
This type of illness is, in typology, a spiritual weakness in those who are weighed down by the Laws of Moses.
This is what the Law does: it requires those who follow it to meet certain conditions before they can claim righteousness and escape the judgment of God.
Today, we call this legalism!
The Law cannot make anyone righteous!
Gal 3:11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.
Gal 3:12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.
This woman had a true Spiritual need!
The Lord Jesus laid His wonderful healing hands upon her.
This woman had not asked for anything; the Lord Jesus just knows our needs.
She was no longer bowed over but was straightened.
Such wonderful things are overlooked by traditionalists.
*Luk 13:14 And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day.
Luk 13:15 The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering?
Luk 13:16 And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?
Luk 13:17 And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.
The Lord stepped into a synagogue and just ruined the service for all those religionists, and they would not allow Him into another synagogue during the time He had left.
Much of the Church would not allow the Lord Jesus to preach in any service today.
Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Rev 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Rev 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
This man worshipped God, but he did not worship the same God as this woman who was healed.
The ruler of this synagogue was an arrogant man who was self-righteous because he followed the traditions of men rather than the Word of God.
This woman sought God to meet her needs.
This synagogue leader sought God through form and rituals, ceremony and rules.
This is not what the worship of God is to be about.
This man lost his temper with the Lord Jesus Christ, and this is not a good thing in any worship service.
The Lord Jesus said he was a hypocrite and he was.
He had already taken care of his animals before he came to worship, all these things done on the same Sabbath.
He was a leader who put his own animals and his own rules above the people and above the Word of God.
There are church leaders who do this same thing today!
The Jewish people had allowed their religious leaders to corrupt the Word of God.
The people inside this synagogue began to see the truth and rejoiced to hear the truth from the Lord Jesus.
The Lord Jesus continued to travel and teach through the cities and villages that were between Him and Jerusalem.
*Luk 13:22 And he went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem.
Luk 13:23 Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them,
Just who are the saved?
Will many of the world be saved?
Jesus will answer these questions Himself.
The Lord Jesus Christ knew exactly what was going to happen to Him in Jerusalem!
This did not alter His message.
The Lord Jesus would be killed by the hands of the Jewish people.
Mat_27:25 Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.
The Lord Jesus just kept doing what His Father sent Him to do as He traveled to His death.
Then someone asked Him: Lord, are there few that be saved?
Notice the Lord Jesus is not so much concerned by the question as He is by that person who asked the question.
This is still one of the biggest questions asked by those who are religious.
Many religions, including some Christians, still try to find some way to deny those whom they do not like the opportunity to get to God’s Heaven.
It is only the Lord Jesus Christ who can set the boundaries of getting to Heaven.
It is only the Lord Jesus Christ who can separate the sheep from the goats.
Only God can open the door to Heaven, and it is by His Grace through His Son Jesus!
This doorway is narrow, and the Lord is the door!
Jhn_10:7 Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.
Jhn_10:9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
There is a great price to be paid to get the Lord Jesus to open the door to Heaven.
No halfhearted people can get through the door!
The Apostle Paul wrote: 1Co 9:24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
1Co 9:25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
1Co 9:26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
1Co 9:27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
It is by repentance and by renouncing our self-righteousness, our arrogance, and our own self-will.
It is difficult to enter this door when it is open and impossible once it is closed!
We must be doers of the Word of God!
Jas 1:23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
Jas 1:24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
Jas 1:25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
The Lord Jesus continues:
*Luk 13:24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.
The way to salvation is specific, very specific!
1) There are not many ways to salvation; there is only one way to salvation.
Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
2) The way to salvation is straight, very straight!
It is not crooked in direction, it is not crooked in purpose, it is not crooked in morals.
There is nothing in salvation that will make us great, so we must become small.
We must be in the right relationship with God!
Joh 14:7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
We must diligently seek God!
Most of those in our world are not willing to pay the price.
The Lord knows it so, therefore the gate is narrow.
*Luk 13:25 When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:
We must understand that God is long-suffering and truly patient, but there will come a moment when God puts an end to entering the Door of Jesus Christ!
In the Bible, we have a great example in Noah.
Gen 7:15 And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.
Gen 7:16 And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: “and the LORD shut him in”.
The salvation of God is now, today, that door may be closed tomorrow.
If your name is not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, then the Lord Jesus will say that He does not know you, and if He does not know you, then the God of Heaven does not know you.
Luk_10:20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.
It will be too late to call for the “Mercy of God,” and He will cut off the flow of “Grace” from His throne.
*Luk 13:26 Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.
Then those who have had one foot in the Church and the other foot in the world will be rejected.
They were friends of true Christians.
They listened to the preacher, and they may have even attended Sunday School.
They had witnessed great movements of the Holy Spirit and had seen souls who were truly saved.
They were citizens of so-called Christian nations.
They even allowed their streets to be used for evangelism.
However, they professed a relationship with Jesus Christ that they did not have.
Tit 1:15 Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.
Tit 1:16 They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.
We should understand that the Lord Jesus was outside the doors of the Church at one time, knocking, almost begging for them to let Him back in.
Now we see just the opposite. We see those who were playing Church on the outside of the door of salvation begging the Lord Jesus Christ to let them in.
What will the Lord Jesus say to them?
*Luk 13:27 But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.
Luk 13:28 There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.
We see that the saved shall be separated from the lost, and it appears that those who are lost will get to see those who are saved enter into the Kingdom of God.
Mat 18:3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 18:4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
On the day of the Rapture, many will look around and wonder why they were left behind.
They will be upset with themselves and with God’s saints who are no longer on this planet.
They will see godly parents, friends, children, and neighbors enter the Kingdom of God and see themselves shut out.
They had not denied themselves: Luk 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
*Luk 13:29 And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.
Luk 13:30 And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.
Those who were saved are mainly Gentiles, and the Lord will do a new work on the Jews after and during the seven years of Tribulation.
There is a revival of sorts today in many nations, though not in the USA.
We need to be praying for a revival while there may still be time to have one.
I have never seen so much sin and corruption in our nation as I see today, and no one seems to care.
Our politicians have allowed these things to go on for far too long.
Those who are lost have their conscience seared with a hot iron and do not see the sin and corruption in our land today.
Those who are corrupt accuse everyone else of being corrupt to hide their own corruption.
They have it in their minds that we are all fools when they are not fooling anybody.
The great “Marriage Supper” of the Lamb of God is closer than we think, and we must know that we know we are saved.
There will be no classes of people in Heaven. Race will not be considered, nor riches, nor classes of people.
Only Christians will be there, those who love the Lord Jesus Christ with all their heart.
Act 10:34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:
Act 10:35 But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.
Amen