We're going to begin this evening by reading from the Canons of Dort, from the first head of doctrine, and we're going to be reading Articles 3 and Articles 4. That's found in the back of your blue psalters on page 92. So if you would turn with me there, and then also, we're going to be reading from Luke chapter 13, verses 1 through 9. That's found on page 872 in your pew Bible. And so we're going to begin by reading from the Canons of Dor. These are the confessions of the church. They're not Scripture. We believe that they faithfully present what is taught in the Scriptures. And so what we're going to do is we're going to tie together what is said here in these two articles with the sermon, the exhortation this evening. So page 92, article 3. And that men may be brought to believe, God mercifully sends the messengers of these most joyful titans to whom he will and at what time he pleases, by whose ministry men are called to repentance and faith in Christ crucified. How then shall they call on him whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent? And then article number four. The wrath of God abides upon those who believe not this Gospel, but such as receive it and embrace Jesus the Savior by a true and living faith, are by Him delivered from the wrath of God and from destruction, and have the gift of eternal life conferred upon them. Now if you would look at Luke chapter 13, the first nine verses. There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those 18 on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, Do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. And he told this parable. A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground? And he answered him, Sir, let it alone this year also until I dig around it and put on manure. Then, if it should bear fruit next year, well and good. But if not, you can cut it down. Will you pray with me? Dear Father, impress upon our minds that there are two options. That we either repent and trust in Christ, Lord, or we perish. And press that upon our minds. Help us to see with spiritual eyes these truths. And be with us this evening. Come and work mightily by your Holy Spirit. Amen. Our culture would have us believe that Jesus was really a man of only one conviction. And wrapped up in this one conviction is that Jesus was tolerant and Jesus was accepting and Jesus was loving. And that's all that Jesus was. Jesus would never force someone to make a difficult choice. A difficult and hard choice between only two options. And that is simply all that modern man desires in Jesus. They want someone who is an example of love, who is an example of tolerance, who is an example of open-mindedness. But they don't want someone who would take claim over a person's life. And the only problem with that Jesus, of course, is that that Jesus doesn't exist. It's a Jesus of modern man's imagination. Because, in fact, Jesus does force us to make difficult choices. He does draw hard lines in the sand. And if we want to know the real Jesus as the Bible presents him, then we cannot merely accept the comforting statements of Jesus. We must also look intently at the hard and the difficult sayings of Jesus. And ever since Luke chapter 12, Jesus has been bringing up topics that are very serious and very sober truths. Ever since Luke chapter 12, Jesus has brought up such things as the judgment to come, the vanity of riches, divisions between members of households, and he said things like, fear him who after he is killed has authority to cast into hell that's jesus and he has spoken to the crowds in luke chapter 12 verses verses 54 to 56 and he's told them that they know when a rain is going to fall upon their land and they can tell when a scorching wind is going to blow through their land. But they can't even decipher the signs of the times. And that the time is ripe for judgment. And then just before our passage begins, he tells these Jews surrounding him that they had better settle with their accuser before they get to the judge. Because if they don't settle with their accuser before they get to the judge, he says in Luke 12, 59, I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. And while he is speaking of an earthly accuser and an earthly judge, in our passage, Jesus switches to getting right with God. And it's in the context of this whole judgment theme that Jesus has been talking about since the beginning of Luke 12 that the Jews have a question for Jesus. And their question revolves around something that happened recently in Jerusalem that was a huge occurrence. And it wasn't just a huge occurrence, it was also a very disgraceful occurrence. Read with me at verse 1. There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. This was most likely the Passover feast because the Passover feast was the only time of the year where lay Jewish people would come and offer their own sacrifices inside the temple. And so apparently what happened is as these Galileans were approaching the temple with their sacrificial animals, Pilate sent troops down to them to murder murderously and violently cut them down. And what happened is their blood got on these sacrificial animals that they were going to sacrifice. Now, why is that such an abomination for the Jews? Well, when we think about the purity that God wanted in sacrifices, we can understand. He wanted spotless lambs, right? And so why did Pilate do this? Why did he commit this action? We do know that the Romans hated insurrection. They hated rebellious people groups. And so perhaps these Galileans were simply very rebellious people. But we also know that Pilate was a very harsh and cruel leader. And so perhaps he forged a story because he simply desired to make a spectacle of the Jews at their most famous feast. Ultimately, we don't know the answer to that question. and it's not incredibly important. But what is important to our text is how this event was perceived by the Jews around Jerusalem. And although our text does not contain precisely what the Jews told Jesus about this event, it's clear what their presupposition is by Jesus' answer. Read with me at verse 2. And he answered them, do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered in this way? And so we see the presupposition of the Jews here by Jesus' answer. Their idea is that since this evil befell this group of Galileans, that they must have been very, very bad sinners. And then, of course, included with that is that because this event did not happen to them, that they are somehow in God's favor. Now, isn't that idea just really inherent to human nature? That God punishes those who are really bad sinners? That he punishes those who deserve it? Good people deserve good treatment, and bad people deserve bad treatment. That's one of modern man's mantras. And it was the same for the Jews in our passage this evening. Disaster befalls those who deserve it. And does that remind you of an Old Testament story? Disaster befalls those who deserve it? Does that remind you of a man named Job who in great peril and evil befell him had three friends come to him? He called them miserable comforters. Well, Eliphaz, one of Job's friends, said this to him. Remember, who that was innocent ever perished? Or where were the upright cut off? As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble, reap the same. And so in effect, they said to Job, no, no, no, no, Job, you're not a righteous man. You must have sinned because evil, this type of evil that has befallen you, does not befall the righteous. And the disciples were not even immune from this type of thinking. If you were here for family ties, Dr. Clark went over a passage in John 9. Where Jesus heals a blind man, but before he heals him, the disciples ask this question of Jesus. Rabbi, who sinned? This man or his parents that he was born blind? And so their assumption is that because this evil befell him, that he is blind, there must have been some sin somewhere along the line because bad things happen only to those who deserve it. And, of course, all of this presupposes the fact that there are some who are good. When the Bible explicitly says, none is righteous, no, not one. No one understands, no one seeks for God. And so the real question these disciples should have asked was not, who sinned, this man or his parents, but why would you, in your grace, heal this blind man? And the real question that we should ask is not why do bad things happen to good people. The real question we should be asking is why does anything good happen to bad people? Returning to our text, what is Jesus' response to these Jews? In verse 3 he says, No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Jesus doesn't deny that these Galileans were sinners. That's very important. He doesn't deny that. What he does deny is the presupposition that they were killed by Pilate because they were worse sinners than all other Galileans. These Galileans were killed, not so you could be self-righteous, Jews, but in order to give you a message, to present you with a message that if you do not repent, you will perish in a similar fashion. If you do not repent, you will perish unexpectedly, ashamedly, and there will be no turning back. And then Jesus goes on to a different example. He's going to bring up His own example. So read with me at verse 4 where Jesus says, For those 18 on whom the tower of Siloam fell and killed them. Do you think they were worse offenders than all other offenders who lived in Jerusalem? And so Jesus is actually heightening the point that he made in the first example. Because the Tower of Siloam was not necessarily caused by any man. Pilate killed the Galileans, but this was just an event where a tower fell over and 18 people were killed. And then he also goes on from highlighting Galileans being worse sinners than other Galileans to every single person in the city of Jerusalem. And so we see him heightening the point, and he repeats the main point again in verse 5. No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. And so Jesus presses on his hearers the correct answer to the question that we should all have the answer to this evening. And it's that this did not happen because they were bad sinners. Rather, it happened because in a fallen world, these things happen. Nature is groaning. And these things happen to draw these Jews toward repentance rather than self-righteousness. And this teaching of Jesus was incredibly offensive to the Jews who believed in reaping what you sowed. And the Jews justified themselves because of past events that had happened to others. But Jesus' point is that one should not make a judgment about people who perish in natural disasters, but judge ourselves. Don't look at everybody else, but look at ourselves and see if we have turned to Christ in repentance. There are really striking parallels between our passage, the message of our passage, and the message of Romans 2. So I'm going to ask that we all turn in our Bibles to Romans 2. We're going to see these connections. We're going to read a fairly large chunk of Romans 2. We're going to start from verse 1. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man, you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. He will render to each one according to his works, to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, He will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. And so if you don't see the connections between these two passages, let me put them together for you. The Jews were making a judgment call upon what they perceived to be very wicked Galilean sinners. and yet they are sinners themselves in danger of hellfire and in need of the salvation found in Jesus Christ. They are presuming on God's forbearance and kindness because this slaughtering by Pilate did not happen to them and they don't see that these events are made to bring them to repentance and trust and the only one who can take away that judgment from them. And it's the very man who is standing before their face. God will render to each one according to his works, Paul says. But Paul and Jesus are making the same point. There is no one righteous. And so you either stand in your own works or you repent and turn to Christ and you stand in His working for you. Every person on this earth is a sinner in need of salvation. And so there are sinners who do not repent and go down to condemnation. They go to hell standing in their own self-righteousness or, as we heard this morning, there are sinners who repent and turn to Christ in faith. And just think about how relevant this message is for our culture and for our circles that we walk about in. If I was going to walk along the side of the road and talk to someone, I might get the answer, yes, I'm a Christian. And then when I would ask them, on what basis will you make it into heaven? You'll often hear an answer such as this one. Well, I haven't murdered, haven't committed adultery, try not to steal, and I think in the end, I think in the end, God will have mercy on me. That is self-righteousness. The Jews were self-righteous. They justified themselves. And how many people in our culture do the same thing? How many people in our churches, God forbid, do the same thing and believe that they are saved by their own goodness and righteousness when the scripture is so clear. And so what is repentance? We've been talking a lot about repentance. And I think that there are two types of repentance that are suggested in the scriptures. And the first is what the Heidelberg Catechism talks about. When it talks about the repentance of the believer throughout his life, consistently turning from dead works to serve the living God. But there's another type of repentance. And that repentance is when the apostles say, repent and believe and you will be saved. Or when Jesus says here, repent or perish. It's a one-time turning from your self-righteous pride, from your self-righteousness, and it's a turning to Jesus Christ. And this is what men are sent into the world to proclaim. And that's what this article number three of the Canons of Dort said, that men may be brought to believe God mercifully sends the messengers of these most joyful tidings of the gospel to whom he will and at what time he pleases, by whose ministry men are called to repentance and faith. In Christ crucified, it adds. And then in Article 4, it gives the two options that Jesus is giving in our passage. The wrath of God abides upon those who believe not this gospel, but such as receive it and embrace Jesus the Savior by a true and a living faith or by Him delivered from the wrath of God and from destruction and have the gift of eternal life. I think it's important to note that when huge tidal waves run into islands and they kill thousands of people, you'll hear some ministers get up in the pulpit saying that this happened precisely because they were worse sinners. You'll hear them say, God was judging those people. But what these ministers ought to be saying is that we are not worse sinners than anyone in the world. And because of God's mercy, he is sparing those who have not repented of their sins. And he's giving them time to repent. And that's the point of the accompanying parable that Jesus gives. Three years a man had waited for this tree to produce good fruit. And the fact that he had waited three years shows that this tree should have been producing fruit by now. In three years, a fig tree should be producing fruit. And so he's being patient with the tree. He's waiting until it grows up into maturity. And then even more patience is shown when the vine dresser pleads to his manager that he will work with the tree on an individual basis for another year, Doing things that ought to help this tree bear fruit, like giving it manure for nutrients. And the owner of the tree agrees, and that is God's mercy. Notice here that the owner asks, why should it use up the ground? That was a warning to the nation of Israel, both as a nation and as individuals, to turn to the Lord and to repent of their sin and trust in Christ as their promised Messiah. And if this did not happen, the tree would be uprooted and a new tree would be set in its place. I understand that in Romans, Paul uses the image of engrafting, but here the image is different. It's an image of uprooting. And that's precisely what happened. The Israelites, as a nation, refused the Messiah that God had sent. They tried to reach salvation by dedication to the law rather than looking to the one in whom the law will be fulfilled. So what is the repentance that Jesus desires? It's to turn from our self-righteous pride and to embrace the law-keeping Messiah. And for all who have embraced him, as the Bible says and as the canon states, but such as receive it and embrace Jesus the Savior by a true and living faith, are by him delivered from the wrath of God and from destruction and have the gift of eternal life conferred upon them. That is very beautiful. And so for those who have not repented tonight, I plead with you, turn from your self-righteous pride. Turn from your self-righteous, self-salvation efforts and turn to Christ and find relief and find forgiveness. As we go into another week, for those who have taken hold of the Messiah's righteousness, you go forward with the saying of Jesus, it is finished for you because he accomplished righteousness for you and he has given us peace before God. Amen. Our Father, help us to see these two options. And we can repent or we can perish. Lord, and if any have not repented this evening, help them to turn to Christ, turn from their self-salvation efforts and cling to the Messiah through whom they will be delivered from the judgment to come, Lord, and bestow upon the true saints here this evening the comfort that comes with knowing the gifts that have been conferred upon us in Jesus Christ. Now, we will be delivered from judgment, from the judgment that is coming. And it is in Christ's name that we pray. Amen.