Questions of Jesus Series #6
Pastor David T. Elms Preached on 10/14/2025
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Summary
In this installment of his series on the queries of Christ, Pastor David T. Elms explores how Jesus uses penetrating questions to dismantle our tendencies toward self-righteousness and judgment. By examining tragedies of his day, Jesus redirects his followers away from comparing sins and toward the urgent necessity of personal repentance.
Key points
- •Tragedy and 'bad luck' are not necessarily indicators of divine judgment or personal sinfulness above others.
- •Jesus used provocative questions to deconstruct human prejudices and legalistic grading of sins.
- •Repentance is the 'forgotten word' of this generation but is central to the Gospel from Jesus' first sermon to his last address in Revelation.
- •True repentance (metanoia) requires more than just conviction or confession; it requires a fundamental change of heart and direction toward God.
Scripture
Community
Grace
Judgment
Kingdom
Repentance
Life application
Shift your focus from critiquing the spiritual state of others during tragedies to maintaining a posture of personal repentance and devotion to Jesus this week.
Reflection questions
- Why do we often assume that tragedy is a direct result of someone's sin, and how does Jesus' response in Luke 13 challenge that?
- Pastor Elms highlighted the difference between being 'in the world' and 'of the world' - which area of your life feels most influenced by worldly culture right now?
- What does it mean to you that repentance is characterized as a 'change of mind and heart' rather than just feeling sorry?
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Full transcript
0:00those spray tans work pretty good, don't
0:00they? They work pretty good. Amen. Well,
0:01open your Bibles with me to Luke the
0:0213th chapter.
0:06We will we will read Luke 13 and then we
0:08will go into these questions that are so
0:11piffy, so penetrating, so enlivening.
0:19You you can't just grab a question Jesus
0:21asks and say, "Oh yeah, I got the
0:24answer." He he his his questions are so
0:27deep that it's like you sit down and
0:30talk with it and you say, "Well, I need
0:32to go make a pot of coffee if I'm going
0:33to deal with you today." Well, I I can't
0:36just I can't deal with this question
0:38just in a couple of minutes. I got to go
0:40get a Let's get a pot of coffee
0:42together. You sit there, Mr. Question.
0:44I'll sit here and we'll go through
0:46these. Well, once again, here we are and
0:49Jesus is teaching with the power of a
0:53question.
0:55There were present at that season some
0:59that told him of the Galileans
1:02whose blood Pilate had mingled with
1:06their sacrifices.
1:09And Jesus answering said unto them,
1:13"Suppose ye that these Galileans were
1:16sinners above all the Galileans?
1:21Is that what you suppose?
1:24Because they they suffered such things.
1:27[Music]
1:29I tell you,
1:31nay or no,
1:34but except ye repent,
1:37ye shall all likewise perish.
1:42We all sort of like think we're pretty
1:43good, don't we? We like to think we're
1:46pretty good.
1:48So if something bad happens to someone
1:50else and maybe we miss it, uh maybe it's
1:55because we're kind of good.
2:00So Jesus is saying those Galileans
2:03that's blood, their blood was mixed with
2:05the sacrifice, I I'll I'll break this
2:07down. He said, "No, you're just like
2:10them except you repent.
2:15you shall perish in a like manner. Now,
2:19that didn't mean they wouldn't die of
2:21cancer, die of some normal cause, maybe
2:24die in their sleep after eating a bowl
2:25of ice cream. The the the bottom line is
2:28death comes to everybody. And in our
2:31limited view of dying, we start
2:34measuring the measure of death by wow,
2:36it took him six days to die or that one
2:39that was a that was a a 10 months dying.
2:42And look at him. He fell over and died
2:44like my Uncle Roy. He just died after he
2:46got a shed clean. I mean, what a way to
2:47go. I'm jealous, Uncle Roy. You know, he
2:50got all of his saddle gear put away and
2:52fell over at the door. Go quick. No.
2:57When you're looking from God's point of
2:59view,
3:02you're looking from a different platform
3:04than men who we get all these measures.
3:07Man, they died after eating a bowl of
3:09ice cream in their sleep. That's what my
3:11wife's uncle did. I I want to do that.
3:13Lord, listen. Our our brother and sister
3:16Pew, brother JT Pew, died and his wife
3:22died the same day.
3:25This wasn't a car accident. This wasn't
3:28self-induced, okay? They literally died
3:31in the same day.
3:33I don't I don't know how to measure that
3:36with my mind. But then Jesus said,
3:42"Or those 18 upon whom the tower of
3:44Salom fell
3:47and slew them,
3:49do you think that they were sinners
3:50above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?"
3:54I tell you, no. Nay, but except ye
4:00repent, ye shall also likewise perish.
4:05Questions Jesus asked. Now, Lord, speak
4:08through me tonight and let this word be
4:10uh penetrating to our hearts. Uh uh
4:13we're not just here, oh Lord, going
4:15through the motions. We are here doing
4:17the business of the eternity,
4:20the business of forever, the business of
4:23the throne room of the divine Jehovah
4:27Gyra. Let this night be one that opens
4:31our spirit
4:32[Music]
4:34to continue to run the race that's set
4:36before us. Not looking to the earth, but
4:39looking unto Jesus, the author and the
4:43finish of our faith in Jesus name. You
4:46may be seated in the name of the Lord.
4:52I have gone through five series in this
4:57lesson process teaching about questions
5:00Jesus asked. And while it doesn't
5:02necessarily
5:04feel like a flow to me other than the
5:06fact that we're using an initial launch
5:10pad by finding questions, Jesus taught
5:13by many questions and there are so many
5:16more than what we could use as a
5:18leverage point. But the first one we
5:20talked about how he used questions to
5:23awaken faith. He labeled faith in
5:28different ways. And he he used faith as
5:32a tool to expose doubt. He literally
5:37said, "Why t ye between two opinions in
5:40one place?" Uh uh he was exposing what
5:44doubt is. It's not that you're afraid.
5:48It's not even that you lack courage.
5:51Doubt is when you're between two
5:54opinions. You won't decide. And that is
5:58uh that place that uh the Bible refers
6:01to as a double-minded man. That you
6:05women get off easy. I'm telling you. I
6:07spoke last night at a synagogue and I
6:10used Job as an illustration um in that
6:14illustration
6:15and I I just had so much fun for just a
6:18moment because Job wrote the book of
6:20Job. I don't know if y'all knew that or
6:22not but uh Job was the first book
6:25written in the Bible and Job gave us
6:28like 40 plus chapters of complaints. And
6:32I I I mentioned I said I I'm so
6:35sometimes it's convicting. A woman
6:37couldn't have written this book because
6:38they don't complain like a man does. And
6:41uh boy those those those people in that
6:44synagogue they appreciated that. In fact
6:46I got a standing ovation when I was
6:48done.
6:51Uh but you know the truth is is it talks
6:55about a double-minded man.
6:59You know, the Bible tells us that a man
7:02has a propensity
7:04to critique.
7:06We women, you can do it, too. My wife is
7:09really good at critiquing me. I love
7:11you, Melanie. Pay attention and get on
7:13your knees when I'm done. She's with her
7:15mother who just had major surgery, so
7:17she went to be with her mom for a few
7:19days. But and then she'll join me in the
7:22morning. She literally leaves Denver at
7:233:00 a.m. in the morning.
7:27Have fun.
7:32Oh Lord, it's terrible when you've been
7:34married 36 years and you just have fun
7:36laughing about tough stuff on your wife.
7:39You know, she's a trooper. I mean, to be
7:41married to me, you got to be, you know,
7:43but she is a she's But you know, here
7:46here's the thing. A double-minded man.
7:48The Bible said, "Oh, that men
7:51would lift up holy hands without
7:58wrath and what?
8:00>> Doubting."
8:02That just nailed all you dudes. That
8:05just nailed every one of you right now
8:08because this is these are two of the
8:11propensities that men have. Brother
8:14Sean, if you're wanting to run the
8:15aisles at any time, it's wide open.
8:18right through there just back and forth.
8:20It's not in the Bible, but that's what
8:22we call Pentecostal. So, you know, uh
8:24anyway, uh and so here here's the thing.
8:28Men have a challenge with wrath. We're
8:32men of authority in a place and we want
8:34to guard our spot. And that's all right.
8:37God made us that way. And if you don't
8:39feel that, get it. Okay? Be a man. Uh
8:42the Bible doesn't The Bible says the
8:43affeminite will not go to heaven. So
8:46that's a man who's acting like a soft
8:48woman and not even a tough woman. The
8:52affeminite will not go to heaven. I
8:54didn't put that in there. That wasn't
8:55convenient for me. It's in there. And if
8:58you don't preach it, you're not
8:59preaching the word. And so I mean, it's
9:02one of those things you got to know and
9:04understand. But here is the two things
9:06that a man has a problem. I keep moving
9:08back, Brother Greg. I don't think it's
9:10this mic anymore because I know that's
9:13where the ring supposedly is coming
9:14from. Uh but it might be. I'm just
9:17keeping moving back because I know
9:19you're working on that ring. Um and so
9:22men have to battle anger, wrath,
9:26defending everything and and and you
9:29know, it's just it shows up at the at
9:32unneeded times. You know, I was driving
9:35brother Carter back the other day and a
9:37car cut me off and And uh you know just
9:41real fast I had to catch myself. He said
9:43brother I understand completely. Go
9:45ahead.
9:48I said you might even get to come back
9:50brother. I mean if you if you understand
9:51that right there I'm not going to get in
9:54a fight. I just want to let them know
9:56that I knew I was in that spot.
9:59come lifting up holy hands without
10:04this is why you men need pre-ervice
10:06prayer
10:07>> because it takes a a little bit of time
10:10to readjust
10:12our attitude sometimes from all the
10:14stuff we've been in through the day
10:17>> so you come lift up holy hands without
10:21wrath
10:22you know the devil hits you on the way
10:23to church especially if you ride to
10:25church with your wife you know
10:28you You know, if you ride to church with
10:31your wife, the enemy will try to get a
10:34little fussy going. And uh I know from
10:37experience. Um so we don't ride to
10:40church together anymore.
10:44That's not true. We do on Sunday
10:46morning. That's the reason I'm really
10:47happy on Sunday mornings. Uh we do most
10:50of the time. Um but you know, without
10:52wrath that takes a minute to do it and
10:55without doubting.
10:57And so the Lord asked questions to get
10:59through doubting. Second week uh was
11:02confronting the shadows of hypocrisy. He
11:06asks questions to get hypocrisy out of
11:08us. The third, the Lord asked questions
11:11of do you know the measure of your
11:14giving? Do you know the value of what
11:17you're handling? He said, do you give
11:20what's holy to dogs? And wasn't that uh
11:24that was a powerful demonstration at the
11:26concert about uh sister Lisa did with
11:29her grand her little granddaughter. I
11:32almost forgot. I thought it was her
11:33daughter for a minute there. But with
11:35her granddaughter about Lord, but the
11:38dogs even get the crumbs. And I'll take
11:41the crumbs was the song that was
11:42recorded. And do you know what you're
11:46handling? And do you know the value of
11:48it? He said, ' Do you throw pearls
11:50before swine?' Well, I don't own a
11:54pearl.
11:56I don't. Me, David, Timothy, I do not
11:59own a pearl. Not right now. I don't own
12:02one pearl. I've never shoed for a pearl.
12:05I don't even know how to shop for a
12:08pearl. I don't know if you grade pearls
12:10A, B, C, or D, or if you grade them one,
12:14two, three, or four. You jewelers out
12:17there may know how to judge a pearl.
12:19Maybe a pearl. I don't even know how to
12:21judge a pearl. But the Bible said that
12:24the kingdom of heaven is like a great
12:27pearl that's worth taking whatever other
12:31pearls you get and trading them in and
12:36trading them all in to get one great
12:41pearl. Now, as you get living for God a
12:43little while, you got that great pearl
12:44and you want to add pearls to it.
12:47And the Lord never said, "Well, you get
12:49that great pearl, then you can have a
12:50lot of other pearls." No, he said the
12:53kingdom is that one great pearl that
12:58took every pearl.
13:01In other words, it's take the whole
13:04world,
13:05give me Jesus.
13:07>> Take all the pearls that I'm able to
13:09accumulate through my life and give me
13:12Jesus because I have to make this
13:15continual assessment. Uh if a child asks
13:18for bread, do you give him a stone?
13:21These seem to be uh simple questions to
13:24answer. If you ask for a fish, do you
13:26give him a serpent? I I need to know the
13:29context of my choices. If he asks for
13:31grapes, do you give them thorn? If
13:33you're looking for figs, do you look
13:35among thistles? Shall the blind lead the
13:39blind? So, he's assessing and giving you
13:42instruments whereby you can tune up your
13:45spirit and get in alignment. These are
13:48not random metaphors. They are they
13:50force us to see the static that exists
13:53between things that are sacred and
13:56things that are profane. And there's
13:59always static.
14:01I said it before and I preached it
14:02several years ago. There are not 50
14:05shades of Pentecost.
14:09There's going to be the saved and the
14:12lost. There won't be the kind of
14:14Pentecostals that get to the first
14:16dimension and then a second dimension
14:18Pentecostal and a third dimension
14:20Pentecostal. No, no, no. It's It's like
14:22the Titanic. They only had two lists.
14:25The saved and the lost. Not race, not
14:29religion, not culture, not citizenship.
14:32Saved and lost.
14:35>> And that's the way it's going to be when
14:36the Lord comes. Two shall be walking in
14:38the field, one taken.
14:42The other left. Two grinding of the
14:45meal. One taken. It didn't say the
14:48culture. It didn't say if they were
14:49wearing the right uh All nations Sunday
14:53outfit. None of that. And I'm not
14:55against these things at all. I'm just
14:57telling you when you narrow things down,
15:00you better pray not like a culture. You
15:03better pray like a hungry, desperate,
15:06child seeking Abba. Father, I need you.
15:12I need every part of you, Lord.
15:18So, there's the assessment of given.
15:19Then the last week was teaching kingdom
15:22culture. And this was uh talking about
15:25how in the middle of all our things, we
15:28we are not of this world. We've got to
15:30reformat
15:32the way we think. This is why Bible
15:35study is so critical. If all you do is
15:38come to church on Sunday and get a bless
15:39me kind of message, and there's nothing
15:41wrong with that. We all want to bless
15:43me. But if you don't learn how this
15:44kingdom thinks and talks and walks and
15:47eats and fellowships and marries and
15:51befriends the world and evangelizes the
15:54world and has in the world, but not of
15:57the world,
15:59all those kingdom culture things.
16:02Repentance resets us and the new birth
16:05transforms us. And now it's not just
16:07that the church is in the world, but the
16:10whole world is the field for the church.
16:14Everything is a story of seeds and soils
16:17and wheat and tears and fish of every
16:20kind that's pulled into the great net.
16:22and the good are kept and the bad are
16:25thrown out and pearls and then the great
16:28pearls. So you see this kingdom culture
16:31in the world not of the world in it not
16:36of it. And our lesson tonight is the
16:39priorities of mercy. And this is a
16:42stunning uh thing to me. The Lord is
16:46teaching us what are appropriate
16:49measures
16:50to judge ourselves. What is appropriate
16:53measures? Matthew fi 9:15, the Lord
16:57asked and they came to him and asked,
16:59"How can the guest of the bridegroom
17:03fast
17:05while he is with them?" And the Lord
17:08said,
17:10"My disciples will fast."
17:13But and he's the one who said these
17:15things. They said, "Why? Why don't your
17:16disciples fast? The disciples of John
17:19fast? Why do yours not fast?" And this
17:23shows you that there wasn't some law and
17:26rule of you got to do this every day or
17:29you won't be saved
17:31because here's Jesus sanctioning his
17:33disciples, not fasting.
17:36I mean, he's there three and a half
17:38years. Are you saying that these guys
17:39got out of fasting for three and a half
17:41years?
17:42I don't know. I don't know if they got
17:44out of it for that fasting that long,
17:46but the Lord does essentially admit
17:49while we're here, we are eating.
17:53We are having fish dinners.
17:56We are breaking bread. I'm eating with
17:58sinners while the bridegroom is here.
18:02They will fast. He said they will fast
18:05when the bridegroom is gone. He was
18:08already admitting that you and I will
18:10fast. But there's a there's a time that
18:13it's not appropriate to fast. Should you
18:16fast when it's a wedding time? You know
18:19those people that really want to ever be
18:20real spiritual? They go to a wedding
18:22party and fast. No, it's a wedding. Come
18:25on.
18:28Get on the Jesus train. Get off the
18:31Pharisees train that's always trying to
18:33show how spiritual you are.
18:36the the disciples were picking corn on
18:38the Sabbath and they thought, "My
18:40goodness, they they've broken some major
18:43law. It's they're breaking the Sabbath
18:45law." And Jesus asked,
18:48"Was man made for the Sabbath
18:53or was the Sabbath made for man?"
18:57You better pour. You better make two
18:59pots of coffee for that one.
19:02>> Because when you sit down with that
19:04around some apostolics I've known, they
19:07would have us going right back to this
19:10march and march and march and always be
19:13uptight because I might bust hell wide
19:17open. And I want to tell you, you need
19:20to understand the balance of Jesus. He's
19:24not devaluing fasting. He's not
19:27devaluing the Sabbath. He's just saying
19:29in the measure of things, I have come to
19:32seek and to save men, the lost, lost
19:38souls.
19:40And in that process, you've got to get
19:42the priorities of mercy. Luke 22:27,
19:45whether it's greater, he asked this
19:46question, whether it's greater, who is
19:49greater, he that siteth at meat or he
19:52that serveth? I mean, that's a big
19:54question. If I I I took brother Carter
19:57to Tropical Acres, brother and sister,
19:59I'm telling you, y'all have opened up a
20:02problem here. Brother and sister
20:03Garfinkle introduced me to Tropical
20:04Acres. And some of y'all don't know what
20:06Tropical Acres is. It's one of the old
20:10original gangster steakhouse places in
20:13Florida and it's amazing. They're prime
20:15ribs. Fantastic. And I I'd only go when
20:18I've got guests in town, but I filled my
20:20card all the way up. My next one, I
20:22think I get free or something. I don't
20:23know. But here's here's the my point. My
20:27point is that here we're dealing with
20:31the chance to sit at meet
20:35or serve.
20:41You got to wrestle with that for a
20:42minute because you think the advanced
20:44soul would be the one that is finally
20:46sitting at meat.
20:48And the Lord is wanting you to know the
20:51greater is he that serves. Now that
20:54turns everything upside down, doesn't
20:56it?
20:58And then here here he asked a question
21:00about the man who fell among the
21:01thieves. And he told the story of the
21:04scribe and the rabbi that passed by.
21:07And he told of a Samaritan
21:10that picked him up.
21:12And he this was his answer to who is my
21:17neighbor?
21:19Who's my neighbor?
21:21Well, one guy had all these credentials
21:23to be a rabbi. One guy had all the
21:25credentials to be a scribe. And one guy
21:27had all the credentials to be laughed at
21:29by all the Jews. A Samaritan.
21:33A Samaritan. Now, you don't know what
21:36that means. Even if you've heard it
21:38taught, you don't know what it means to
21:41say Samaritan from the view of the
21:44prejudice that existed in that nation.
21:48I'm telling you, prejudice is everywhere
21:49and it's always going to be here until
21:51the rapture. So you're when you run into
21:54it, don't act surprised.
21:58Don't have a reaction. Have an action.
22:02Let there be something in you that says,
22:04"Oh, when I said prejudice again, I'm
22:06not surprised. Messiah hasn't come yet.
22:10It's just you're not going to pull uh uh
22:12me out of a holy response as opposed to
22:15a fleshly response.
22:18These questions emphasize love and
22:21forgiveness and care and it all provoked
22:25to good works by stirring up compassion
22:28and and here in our text is one of the
22:30most significant
22:33scriptures which tells us that Jesus
22:36paid attention
22:38to the news.
22:41You didn't know he liked the paper, did
22:43you?
22:45You had no clue that Jesus appreciated
22:48the news feed.
22:51Jesus
22:52understood the headlines.
22:55He's taken this entire Texas. There were
22:58present of that season some who told him
23:00about the Galileans. Now, you got to
23:01imagine walking up to Jesus. How do you
23:03small talk with Jesus?
23:06What's up, dude?
23:08Hey, my man. Like this bump. Yeah.
23:13Or or or maybe maybe you walk up say,
23:15"Good day, sir." I don't I don't know
23:18how you you're with him everywhere you
23:21go. I'm telling you, I I'd be shoulder
23:23bumping with him. I'm telling you, I
23:25don't know what it would be like, but I
23:27just think he's the funnest is that a
23:29word? The most fun guy in the whole
23:31world. I think when that group had the
23:34most joy of any group ever in the whole
23:37world, these disciples and Jesus is
23:40there and they tell him, "Hey, did you
23:45hear what Pilate did the other day?"
23:48Now, he could have automatically got
23:50super spiritual. I mean he how could I
23:53tell you how I have caused
23:57the moon to continually swing at such a
23:59degree around the earth to provide light
24:03at night? No, he's sitting there and is
24:07interested.
24:08Pilate, if you know historically about
24:11Pilate or if you know anything about
24:14history, we live in the best time to
24:16ever live in the history of the world
24:17right now. The most nonbarbaric
24:21time the world has ever known is right
24:24now.
24:26And there's still barbarism on the
24:28earth. But comparatively, this is a very
24:32tame world we live on. Pilate, he would
24:36walk in and he killed people just almost
24:39for no reasons. If you go to where his
24:42house overlooks uh Petra, I think that's
24:46it. Is that known? Messada. His his
24:48Msada is the place where they all died.
24:50But that was a house of Herod. That was
24:52I mean, yeah, it was Herod, not Pilate.
24:55But Pilate was the governor from Rome.
24:57And Pilate was a a man that was very
25:00cruel in his keeping control of the
25:03Jews. And so apparently what had
25:05occurred uh was that there were some
25:07Jews that were making sacrifices in the
25:09holy place. and tamp down another
25:12rebellion, Pilate sent his soldiers into
25:17the place of sacrifice.
25:20And while these Jews were making
25:23sacrifice,
25:24he killed them to where the blood of the
25:27sacrifice had human blood mixed in. Now,
25:32if that happened, just like them
25:34rounding up these Holy Ghost, these are
25:35tongue-talking Chinese uh pastors that
25:38they're rounding up right now, the house
25:39church pastors, they do talk in tongues.
25:41It's the group, the Mount Zion uh group
25:44that's there. Uh that that group,
25:46they're Holy Ghost people
25:49and they're r this bothers me to know
25:53that some of my brothers are in jail
25:55tonight. And not American jail.
25:59Okay. little different kind of jails in
26:01this world if you don't know.
26:04Americans the best of the batch.
26:07All right, we have some bad ones, but
26:10you ain't seen a jail yet until you've
26:12been around the world. Okay, so there's
26:16these they're in jail and this bothers
26:18me right now. It bothers me. I've
26:20mentioned it. Well, it was enough to
26:23imagine how bothered Jesus would be when
26:26he heard
26:28Pilate has murdered people while they're
26:31making a holy sacrifice unto the Lord
26:35God. Jehovah
26:38bro
26:40I
26:41if one of my pastor buddies or if one of
26:43members of another church gets killed
26:46while praying, I don't know what I'm
26:48going to do.
26:50I don't want to have to I don't want to
26:51have to think about it, but it's going
26:53to be hard for me to respond like Jesus
26:55did.
26:57Jesus wasn't like the zealots who were
26:59constantly saying, "Well, let's go fight
27:00him." No, he said, "Uh, so you think
27:03that's bad?"
27:09Yes, it's bad.
27:12It's almost unheard of.
27:16What are you talking about, sir?
27:20You might be able to walk on water,
27:23but what do you think you're talking
27:25about?
27:26They were killed while sacrificing.
27:29And the Lord level sets the attitude of
27:32our flesh.
27:34And he said,
27:37"Except you repent,
27:40you shall likewise perish.
27:43You better pour five pots of coffee on
27:45that one
27:47because it doesn't seem to square. And
27:50Jesus isn't done. He said, "Let's move
27:53to something that seems to be bad luck."
27:57You hear about that tower at Salom that
28:00fell and 18 people couldn't get out of
28:03the way. Or maybe they were up on top
28:06when it went over. I don't know exactly
28:07how it happened, but 18 people died when
28:11a tower of Salom, which is in Jerusalem,
28:14fell down.
28:17And Jesus said,
28:20"So you think those men had it worse
28:22than you? Except you repent,
28:26you shall likewise perish."
28:31Repentance is the word the Lord was
28:33trying to drill into his church.
28:37It's the forgotten word of this
28:38generation.
28:40969 times it's in the Bible. The news he
28:43told of had terror. It had death by
28:46chance. It had death by governmental
28:49oppression. Those three things alone are
28:52enough to deal with. But he said not
28:55terror, not governmental oppression, nor
28:59death by bad luck. And I don't even
29:02believe in luck. Whatever. Amen.
29:05>> In fact, the Bible says Ecclesiastes
29:079:11, "Time and chance happenth to them
29:10all." Some are going to die by car
29:12accident. It's not the judgment of God.
29:15Some are going to die because a tower
29:16falls on them. It's not the judgment of
29:18God necessarily. Some are going to die
29:20because the government that there's self
29:23fire, friendly fire.
29:25Can you imagine being in a war and
29:27getting shot by your own side?
29:30It's terrible.
29:32It happens.
29:34And the Lord said, "If that happened to
29:36you, except you repent,
29:42what he's trying to do is give by
29:43questions appropriate measures of how to
29:48live for the Lord." The first sermon
29:50Jesus preached from that time Jesus
29:52began to preach and to say, "Repent
29:55for the kingdom of he heaven is at
29:57hand." The last message Jesus preached
30:00wasn't, "Go ye into the whole world."
30:03No, that's we know the message he
30:05preached before he ascended. The last
30:07message scripturally that Jesus preached
30:09is given to us in the book of
30:10Revelations. Revelations 3:19. As many
30:14as I love, I rebuke and chasen, be
30:18zealous therefore
30:21and
30:26oh cathedral,
30:28I pastor a bunch of really good people.
30:31Some of you all are amazing.
30:34When we get to heaven, I'm going to be
30:36so happy that I know you. I want an
30:39autograph.
30:41I want you to give me an autograph when
30:43we get to heaven. You're going to have
30:45all kinds of waiting lines for people to
30:47come up and hear your story because
30:50there's some amazing people in this
30:52church.
30:54Many of them do not want me to even talk
30:56about them, but I get to watch them, not
31:00in the spotlight, give and go and do and
31:04pray and reach and go and pray and reach
31:06and do and never hardly get any
31:10limelight.
31:11But it doesn't matter if you're the top
31:13of the good
31:15or at the bottom of the bad,
31:18you better get acquainted with
31:20repentance.
31:23Some may not think repentance is
31:25important, but those in hell do.
31:28The rich man was in hell and he said,
31:29"Go tell my brothers not to come to this
31:32place."
31:34And the angel of the Lord spoke back to
31:36him. It was presented as Abraham who
31:38said, "Though one went to them from the
31:42dead,
31:44they would not
31:46repent."
31:49Judas repented,
31:51but he didn't change. Repentance is not
31:54just conviction.
31:56Repentance is not just confession.
31:59Repentance is change.
32:03Just because you know you're in sin,
32:05it's not enough. Just because you're
32:08convicted of that sin, it's not enough.
32:11Repentance is the from the Greek word
32:13metaninoia which means not only changing
32:16mind and changing heart but turning to
32:20the Lord.
32:22Repentance. The word repentance is never
32:25mentioned in the gospel of John. Imagine
32:27that. Not one time will you find the
32:30word repentance in the gospel of John.
32:32But over and over and over John says
32:36follow him.
32:38Follow the Lord. All these things were
32:41written that ye might believe and by
32:44believing you would have life
32:47everlasting.
32:49The faith of the devils are they tremble
32:51and they believe
32:53but of course they would not change.
32:57I want this church
33:00be a church of repentance.
33:04Shall we stand together?
33:06God bless you. Take a little time and
33:08talk to the Lord tonight, will you
33:10please? Thank you, Jesus. Master, I love
33:14you. Master, I I hunger for you. Master,
33:18I thirst for you.