Repent or Perish

By

Shelby G. Floyd

April 9, 2007

 

                                                                                                                                                                                   

 

 

I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.—Jesus—Luke 13:3, 5

 

It is Difficult to Get People to Repent

 

           Repentance is the most difficult thing to get people to do, because it involves man’s stubborn pride and stubborn will. I believe it’s fairly easy, relatively easy, to get people to believe. You present evidence, you present the adequate evidence that upholds the testimony of Jesus and the inspired apostles, you present that fairly and most people who are honest and sensible will believe the facts. I also don’t really believe it is too difficult to get people to be baptized, if you can get them to believe and repent. If a person will genuinely believe and then genuinely repent, it’s not hard to get people to be baptized. The difficulty is in getting people to repent. John the Baptist preached repentance to Herod, but did Herod repent? No, he did not. He continued in his evil ways.

 

Woe to Those Who Will Not Repent!

 

           Jesus failed to bring people to repentance and He was the Son of God, the greatest preacher that ever lived. He went up and spent a lot of time around the Galilean Lake and in Matthew 11:21-24, we hear these words of Jesus,

 

“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.  But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.  And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.  But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.”

 

Do Not become Discouraged

 

You see, Jesus couldn’t get these people who lived around the Galilean Lake to repent, and He pronounced His woe upon them. So we shouldn’t be discouraged, we shouldn’t give up all hope when we do our very best and we preach and we urge and we proclaim that men ought to repent. Copyright © 2007 Shelby Floyd All Rights Reserved