Repent or perish!
Luke 13:3 I tell you, No. But unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
Jesus and His followers spoke boldly, and had but one purpose, and that was to call the sick and lost to repent, stop sinning, which meant going through a crisis of conviction, followed by godly sorrow, that would result in a heart made pure, and cleansed from all vile sins that would lead to death. 2 Corinthians 7-10-11 explains this process well, from the godly sorrow, to the clearing, to the proving you are cleared and pure.
You can’t deny the strong message and warnings that are hidden in a watered down liberal message coming from the church system, coming from the book of Genesis through the book of Revelation, it’s all about calling the lost and sick out of their sins through repentance and faith proven by deeds.
Not once while I was going to church did anyone including the pastors, warn me to repent or perish, it was always the Jesus loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life, which kept me coming back for more, giving my time, talents and treasure to the system, while I was still defiled and double minded in my heart. Jas 4:8 Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners; and purify your hearts, double-minded ones.
As I reach out in defense of the gospel according to godliness, I can clearly see the huge difference between the Billy Graham receive Jesus message, against the John the Baptist message, Luk 3:7 Then he said to the crowd that came forth to be baptized by him, O generation of vipers! Who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Luk 3:8 Therefore bring forth fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say within yourselves, We have Abraham for our father. For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.
Luk 3:9 And now also the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bring forth good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire.
Scripture is very clear, on what must be done to inherit eternal life, and just receive, believe and trust won’t do it!
The safe message in the pulpits and ministries today, is Jesus loves you in your sins, has a great plan for you, just accept, believe, confess and trust in the provision He made through His death, no questions asked, all is done, try not to sin, but in reality you won’t be able too, since you were born a sinner, or inherited the nature from Adam.
Here is a challenging scenario, say you went into a biker bar on a Saturday evening, where there were many large, drunk bikers, having a good time, and you entered the bar, and yelled out to them, Jesus loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life! Now you may get a few mad at you for disrupting their revelry, or some may even accept what you are saying, and gladly receive a gospel, or a tract with the sinners prayer on it, then maybe even some will listen to your saved in sin message, and feel comfortable with you, but whatever happens, in the end, you may just be asked to leave and don't come back!
Now scenario number two, you go into the same bar, and now yell out to them to repent or perish! Stop sinning against God, seek His mercy, and hope he relents,Isa 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to Jehovah, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.
I believe if you get out of that bar in one piece, or uninjured, then you did well, but either way, this is the hard sayings of Jesus, that most will ignore,, especially those in the church, they will sugar coat it, make it acceptable, and in no way offend anyone,, especially a bar filled with bikers and drunks!
But this is the true gospel, that has been lost in translation, sugar coated to fit into the liberal, wanton society we live in, where God loves you In your sins and disobedience, winks at sin, because He loves the sinner but hates the sin, and will never condemn or forsake a backslidden vile sinner who professes Christ, and attends church every weekend. Isaiah had something to say about that:
Isa 1:16 Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes; cease to do evil;
Isa 1:17 learn to do good; seek judgment, reprove the oppressor. Judge the orphan, plead for the widow
I feel the sting and loneliness of preaching this message today, not many will accept it, the truth is long gone, and turned into a suggestion and not a command,, man has tainted the word of God making it of no effect, denying its power, and making a mockery of why Jesus had to die on the cross, making Him a replacement for their sins and bad behavior, because they have little courage to seek the truth, that is unpopular and long forgotten!
They have exchanged the truth for a lie! Romans 1-25. I believe whenever God gives us the opportunity to share truth, we should never sugar coat the message in any way, I see this being done everywhere I go, as they say the love of God will lead them to salvation, but how will they know if they don't hear?
It’s easier and safer to say receive and trust, than repent or perish I am afraid, but those who stand boldly will be hated for this message, Mat 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. and may not lose their head as John the Baptist did, but will surely not be the life of the party, popular and well-liked by those in the system today, far from it, they will be mocked, called rude names, condemned as a demon, called unloving and judgmental, and as legalistic as the Pharisees. But all’s we are doing is following the commands of Jesus, calling sinners to repent, seek His mercy, because our obedience has been fulfilled, 2Co 10:6 and having readiness to avenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled!
Tommy
