We have been charged by God in this manner: Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to everycreature. The word gospel is translated from the greek you-ang-GEL-lee-on – which means good tidings – what some of the old, earnest preachers called THE GOOD NEWS. Specifically, the GOOD NEWS of the kingdom of God and of Jesus the Messiah, Saviour and founder of this kingdom. So we endeavor to do that work, hence WBC Video News and the many other vehicles we use to preach to you – and you reject the great majority of it, mainly because it does not comport with your lifestyle, world view, or desires – which, for those of you who can actually hold your mind still and think for a moment – is kind of the point of the necessity of a Saviour. Otherwise, what does anyone need to be saved from? We have to continue to set the record straight about the nature of Christ as revealed in the scripture, as most of the world is set on distorting His blessed nature – and in the process, wresting the scripture to their own destruction. At the end of Luke 12, the Lord Jesus Christ finishes completely laying to waste the hypocrisy of the scribes and the Pharisees (at least for the time being), they erroneously supposing that not only was salvation somehow wrapped up in blood kinship but also that the Messiah would come to give peace on Earth. Consider the scripture, that being Christ’s response to such suppositions: Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. I bring this passage of scripture up to present a backdrop, of sorts, to what I believe to be one of the most important passages of scripture that you will ever read or hear. I would be perfectly happy to talk to you all about this passage of scripture every day for the rest of my life – I simply and earnestly believe that it is that important. Consider the scripture – beginning at Luke 13:1: There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. 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? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. We must break this down verse by verse, if it is going to yield anything more than a passing understanding: In verse one, there are those around Christ who seem to want to get his ‘take’ on a tragic contemporary occurrence. Apparently, there were some amongst the Jews as Jerusalem (most notably Judas Gaulonitis), who loudly protested that it was not lawful to pay tribute to Ceasar (to pay Roman taxes) – It seems that the brute Pilate, wanting to make a stark and colorful example of them – that the refusal to pay taxes not spread any further – had some of Gaulonitis’ disciples murdered – and had their blood taken and mixed with the blood of the Passover lambs which they were currently in the process of sacrificing. So, these gainsayers wanted to get Christ’s take – would he talk Pilate down so they could run and go tell him? Would he validate what Pilate did so that that they could tell Christ’s apparent disciples and create doubt? Would Christ say that they were deserving of what happened to them, or was on account of it? In verse two, Christ answers, in what amounts to a free translation is: What happened to those people is, from a human perspective, awful – but do you think that those galileans were worse sinners than any other people around here? Do you think they did something worthy of a worse temporal falling out of things than anyone else? In verse three – the axe gets laid to the root of the tree – Christ says: NO – But I must warn you, that unless you repent of the sins that you currently have going on, you shall all likewise perish. In verse 4, Christ immediately brings up another presumably contemporaneous tragedy – that being the tower of Siloam falling upon people and crushing them to death. He asks – do you think that the 18 people who were crushed to death by the tower of Siloam were worse sinners, or more evil, than the rest of the men who dwelt in Jerusalem? And in verse 5 – NO – THEY WEREN’T – but if you don’t repent of what you have going on, you will all likewise perish. Likewise perish, here doesn’t mean die a physical death – all men do that (Save Elijah and Enoch, of course). Likewise perish doesn’t mean have a tower fall on you, or there would need to be towers about every five feet on every street in America. Likewise perish, that stark warning from Christ, means – you will die in your sins, impenitent – just like all of them did. And the implication is that, when you die in your sins, you will go to hell. Two important point here. First – For all of you who think that Christ died for all of the sins of all of the men who ever lived – why would he then feel the need to issue such a stark warning. It doesn’t make any sense – yes mom – it doesn’t pass the giggle test of logic. Here’s where the wresting of scripture to your destruction gets a big yellow highlighter pen across it. You pervert John 3:16, and a few other verse, to suggest that salvation is universal: Great news people – Christ come to die for all of the sins of all of the men of all time – no worries mate – but hey, just a bit of a warning, while we’re at it – if you don’t repent of your sins – you will die an impenitent sinner – just like those people on whom the tower of Siloam fell – but – nah, don’t worry about that – like I said, Christ is dying for everyone. Gird up the loins of your mind and have an iota of sobriety, people, this is heaven and hell – the moral realm – not some game show. You will all likewise perish of if you don’t repent. You will all die in your sins if you don’t repent of what you have going on. And if you all go to heaven anyway, regardless of ‘dying an impenitent sinner,’ then why did Christ feel the need to warn you? Because he DIDN’T die for everyone’s sin – and in the pit of your heart, and the back of your mind – you all know that – and that’s why you are so intent on shutting us up.
Second important point here: what does repentance mean? Well, it doesn’t mean – saying sorry when you get caught with your hand in the cookie jar. You’re only sorry you got caught. Repentance means turning from your sin – that means looking upon your sin as sin – that it is vile – that it is an affront to God – and that it is evidence, whether outward or inward, of your disobedience to God. Repentance carries with it the notion that you are ashamed of your sin – and you don’t want to continue doing it. SO calling sin sin is a good start. Repentance doesn’t mean calling sodomy “OK’” as in ‘it’s ok to be gay’ – it means calling it the filthy, sould damning sin that it is and running from it. Anything less than that is not repentance. Repentance doesn’t mean continuing to live with your second or third wife, claiming the argument that you weren’t saved until after you had already married your third wife – but now your’e okay, because of salvation. Cute. But it won’t fly with God. As long as you remain unlawfully married to that second or third spouse, and climb into bed with them, you are actively living in adultery. Repentance means climbing out of that bed, having nothing to do with that second or third spouse, and if it is possible, being reconciled to the wife or husband of your youth. Repentance doesn’t mean ripping little babies from your wombs and taking contraceptives to avoid the negative fallout (spelled BABY) from a life of fornication. It means closing your legs, women. It means keeping your pants on, men. The Lord’s warning, in Luke 13, was about dying in your sins – that’s what ‘likewise perish’ is referring to. He wouldn’t warn you against such a thing if you had the free pass that these false preachers have been carefully feeding you from the cradle. Christ said: Repent or Perish. So we say: Repent or Perish. Amen.