There were presents at that season, some that told him, that is Jesus of course, that told Jesus of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, 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 of 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. Ye speak also this parable. A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of the vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none. Cut it down. Why cumbereth it the ground? And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it and dung it. And if it bear fruit, well, and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down. And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath day. And behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together and could in no wise lift up herself. And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed of thy infirmity. And he laid his hands on her And immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the seventh day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work, and them therefore come and be healed, and not on the seventh day. The Lord then answered him and said, Thou hypocrite, Doth that each one of you on the Sabbath lose his ox or his ass from the stall and lead him away to the watering? And not that this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day? And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed, and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him. Then said he, Unto what is the kingdom of God like? And whereunder shall I liken it? It is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and cast into his garden, and it grew, and waxed a great tree, and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it. And again he said, Whereunder shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. And he went through the cities and villages, teaching and journeying towards Jerusalem. Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, strive to enter in at the straight gate. For many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up, and has shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us. And he shall answer and say unto you, I never, I know you not, whence ye are. Then shall ye begin to say, we have eaten and drunken in thy presence, and thou hast taught on our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are. Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. We'll end our reading there, and God will bless this solemn portion of his word to all our hearts. Now let us bow in prayer. Now, we have in this tremendous chapter, and indeed throughout the Gospel of Luke, we have the miracle-working Jesus. Never man spake like this man. Never man exercised such power and authority as Jesus. He's the God-man. Men may preach and angels may minister, but Jesus saves, and Jesus alone. And so it says here in the first verse of this thirteenth chapter of Luke, there were present at that season some that told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. I wonder why they told Jesus that. Well, obviously by the Lord's reply, they told him because they thought that these Galileans that had suffered such a death were more wicked than anybody else. And you know, that is the typical attitude of people in all ages. Many point to those people who have suffered a painful death or have had it hard in life. And they'll say, well, they must have been very wicked people, you know. And we're all very prone to point to our friends or to our neighbors and say, well, I'm just as good as he is. You hear that constantly. Is that your attitude tonight? Are you comparing yourself with someone else? The Bible condemns such an attitude. Not to compare ourselves with ourselves. That's a foolish thing. Why is it foolish? Because we are all sinners. And it doesn't matter why you're down in the depths of sin, or whether you're trying to walk on a clean, respectable road. It doesn't make one iota of difference. For there is no difference, Paul tells us, under the Spirit. There is no difference, for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. I used to listen to the late Willie Mullins testimony. how he was down in the depths of depravity and sin. I have listened to others who have told about the awful life that they lived before they were saved. And I thank God that I didn't go down to the depths of depravity that they did. But I was a sinner. And I needed the same salvation. I lived a respectable life. I never was in a pub. Never was in a dance hall. Never used foul language, never had a footer on a horse, kept the Sabbath day, went to Sabbath school, learned my catechism as a child, and even when I grew up I lived a respectable life. The only thing I did indulge in was smoking an old pipe when I was a teenager. which I had to hide in the mattress of my bed along with my tobacco pouch in case my mother would come across it. And I used to slip up to the farmhouse of a friend of mine and there we would sit in the old barn and puff away at our pipes. And I loved the smell of Murray's mellow mixture. Well it wasn't as mellow as one imagines. And that was about the only thing I indulged in. So I was a fairly good fellow, wasn't I? You'd know that to look at me. But friend, I was a sinner. And if I had died, even in my respectability, I'd have gone to hell. So here's this mighty Jesus, and he read the mind and the thoughts of these people. You see, I don't know what your thoughts are tonight. I can't I can only look on the outward appearance, but God looked upon the heart. And these men came and said to him, Lord, what about these Galileans? They suffered such a death, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. Oh, it was an awful death. And they were implying because Jesus knew their thoughts. And they were trying to hide behind this and say, well, now we're not like the Galileans, Lord. And Jesus immediately, because Jesus is God. And Jesus has three mighty attributes, particular attributes. He is omniscient, that is he knows everything. He knows your thought tonight, man and woman sitting here. You young fellows and young lasses, God knows the thoughts that's going through your mind. He's absolutely omniscient, all knowledgeable. And so when these fellows said this to Jesus, and tried to hide behind it, Jesus just knew their thoughts. And he says, suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all Galileans? I tell you nay, but except you repent, ye shall likewise perish, every one of you. My horror preacher was Jesus. He knew who He was preaching to. And He knew their hearts and He knew their thoughts. And as I say, I don't know your thoughts tonight. And I don't know the condition of your heart and mind. But I believe that the Christ that I'm preaching knows your thoughts. And I believe that by His Holy Spirit tonight, He's moving upon your heart and your thoughts. And I trust that you'll yield to Him. For unless you repent, you'll perish. And then Jesus goes on, this mighty preacher, what a preacher he was. And he says, I tell you now, but except you repent, you shall all likewise perish. And then he goes on in verse four, or those 18 upon whom the tower of Siloam fell and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwell in Jerusalem. I tell you now, but except you repent, you'll perish too. The Bible says this, God speaketh once, yea twice. And here's one of the instances where God speaks once and then speaks again to emphasize the fact that unless you repent, my dear man or woman, whoever you are, you'll perish. And what a dreadful word is that word perish. Your mind and mine couldn't just comprehend the meaning of that word perish. It implies everlasting perishing. It just doesn't mean to die. It means to perish eternally. My what a creature. Unless you repent, and maybe you have been saying all your life. There's so and so and he professes to be a Christian and I'm as good as he is. I have talked to many people like that. And the tragedy is that sometimes they're true in what they say about Christians. It takes us brothers and sisters to live very carefully and to walk circumspectly. Blessed are ye when all men say all manner of evil against you falsely. They'll say all manner of evil against you, but see that it's falsely. I remember talking to a person years ago when I was in Coleraine and she had got a lift in a car by someone and they got talking about religion. And this man who gave her the list said, well, what church do you go to? Oh, she said, I go to the free church in Coleraine. Oh, he says, do you go and listen to that fellow Wiley? She says, I do. Well, you know, he was carried out of a pub in Donegal the other Sunday. So they'll say all manner of evil against you. Thank God it's falsely. I was never in a pub. And as a preacher, I wouldn't be able to go there on Sunday anyway. But you see what they'll say about you. They'll say all manner of evil against you. But be careful. But they don't say it truly. Yes, I'm not like so and so says the sinner. Maybe that's what you've been saying for years. You have the parable in this same chapter in verse in chapter 18 of Luke, where the Pharisee and the public and went up to the temple to pray. Here they are. And the old Pharisee, he said, I thank you, Lord, I'm not As other men are, I'm a good fellow. I pay 20 shillings on the pound. I pay tithes of all that I possess. I do this and I do that, not even like this publican here. Lord, I'm a good fellow. And the poor old publican wouldn't even lift up his head, but smote upon his breast and he said, Lord, be merciful to me a sinner. And do you know what Jesus said? And he knew. He says he went down to his house justified rather than the Pharisee. And if you want to leave this church tonight justified freely by his grace. My what a great word justification is. Justification is a net of God's free grace. Wherein he pardoneth all our sins and accepts us as righteous in his sight. only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone. My, to be justified! As someone has expressed it, it brings you into a position as just as if you'd never sinned. It brings you from your sin, from your degradation, from your depravity, and it makes you a new creature. And you're justified. And listen, you're justified eternally. When God from his divine and heavenly court, from his divine throne, pronounces a man justified, he's justified forever. As many a man has left the courts of our country and land, and the judge has justified him he'd say well this man's not guilty he can go free but the same man could be guilty and possibly involved again in crimes that would bring him to death but my when God justifies a man he has transferred his sin from his heart and placed it on Christ and he bore our sins and paid the price And God will never demand about my hand, but the hand of his dear Son, redeemed eternally. Friends, no wonder we were singing these grand old hymns about the blood and about its cleansing power. Yes, there's no salvation without repentance. And that's what Jesus is emphasizing here. You'll never be saved, my dear man or woman, my dear lad or lassie, unless you repent. Repentance unto life is a saving grace, and that you lift your heart to God and say, Lord, give me grace to repent and I'll be worth For repentance is a divine grace that God imparts to you. Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, an apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, doth with grief and hatred turn from his sin unto God. That's it. An old army major was giving his testimony one night. He had been saved. And someone said to him, Major, could you demonstrate what repentance means? And the old Major straightened himself up and walked to one end of the pulpit and straightened up his shoulders and he said, quick march! And he marched across the pulpit and then he cried, halt! A black turn! Quick march! He says, that's repentance. It's a complete turning. From your sin unto God, the fool put this off and endeavored after new obedience. And these people here in their subtlety and craftiness were trying to put themselves on a higher plane than the other sinners in Galilee or Siloam who met with an awful death. And Jesus read their thoughts and read their hearts and knew what they were trying to get at and he says, Unless you repent, you'll perish just exactly the same way. There's a solemn message there, but it's a message of God's Word. You know, it makes me feel angry, with righteous anger, when I hear of missions and you hear my so many made committals. A sinner cannot commit himself. A sinner has nothing to commit. If you turn to Job chapter 9 and verse 20, here's what Job says, and this was a man that God was pleased with. A man who loved God and eschewed evil. And here's what he says in chapter 9 of his book. In verse 20, if I justify myself, my mouth shall condemn me. If I say I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse. Those are strong words, isn't it? So don't try, my dear friend tonight, and I plead with you, from a heart of compassion, don't try to justify yourself. Don't try to put yourself on a pinnacle, but come as a sinner and repent and say God be merciful to me a sinner and God will save you. That's the message of this book. And to come and commit yourself. How can a sinner commit himself? This reminds me of the 37th Psalm. What a lovely old Psalm this is. And this is for the Christian. This is for God's people. Fret not thyself, God says to his people. He doesn't tell an ungodly man not to fret. Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. My dear brother and sister in Christ, don't you fret. Cast all your care upon him. Then it says in verse 3, again, trust in the Lord and do good. So shalt thou dwell in the land and the Lord will look after you, he'll feed you. And then it goes on, delight thyself in the Lord. That's not for the unsaved man. The unsaved man can't delight himself in the Lord until he repents and until God imparts his spirit to him and makes him a new creature. These are words of encouragement for the child of God. And then in verse 5 it says, commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also on him, and he shall bring it to pass, and he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light. But no sinner has ever been asked to commit himself to the Lord. You have to come in humble contrition and say Lord be merciful to me a sinner and God will save you and then you commit your way to him and you commit all that you have to him and you live a life of commitment from that time. But this silly nonsense and hypocrisy of telling sinners just to commit your sin is strange teaching and far from the Word of God. As I read through the Gospels, it thrills my heart as I listen to the words of the Savior, this great preacher. What a preacher was the Son of God. I hope you listen to him tonight. I hope you don't hear John Wiley. I hope you hear the words of this great preacher. My, He knew the hearts of all who were standing before Him. He knew their thoughts. In the 139th Psalm, the psalmist says, Thou knowest my thoughts afar off. There's not a word in my tongue, but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. God knows all about us. He is the omniscient one, as I pointed out. But thank God, He's the omnipresent one. He's always here. He's everywhere. He's here tonight. He's here to save. And He's the Omnipotent One! He's mighty to save! My, I've been preaching this old gospel for well on 50 years now. From God saves me, I started witnessing to others. Christians got the hold of me and they used to take me to their meetings and say, John, you'll give a wee word. I wonder, have you ever been told to give a wee word? And I've been giving a wee word ever since. You'll be having a preacher here the rest of the week who is a preacher and a mighty expositor of the word. Our brother, the Reverend John Douglass is the principal of our theological college and I trust that you'll come out and bring others with you. But I'm just a man who can give a little word. And I pray that God will take this word tonight and apply it to your heart. Yes, here's the Savior speaking, not John Wiley. He knew their thoughts. He knew their hearts. He knew their sin and wickedness. He knew their hypocrisy. And he revealed their hearts. Ma, you're coming to me, he says, and you're trying to impress me with your good living, with your righteousness, and you're comparing yourselves with these people who were murdered and had a horrible death. Well, you're just as bad as they are. And friend, I want to tell you, and I say this in love, and I say it with deep compassion, that if you die in your sin, You'll go to the same hell as the drunkard and the whoremonger and the unclean. That's sad. Respectable people, upright people in their own ideas, well thought of by their neighbors. If you haven't experienced the saving grace of God, you'll perish. What a dreadful word. Now that's a sort of an introduction to my message. As you go down this chapter and listen to this great preacher, listen to the parables, you're moved as you hear him speak. And then if you go down to verse 22, and he went through the cities and villages teaching and journeying towards Jerusalem. What an active, mighty preacher he was! He was going to Jerusalem, what for? To be judged, yea, to be misjudged, and to be condemned, and to die, and to perish on the cross by shedding his blood. And as he went that journey to Jerusalem, He went through all the villages and all the cities and he warned sinners to flee from the wrath to come. What a preacher. Oh that Ulster had men and women throughout our land who would preach the old gospel. Thank God we have a church that does that. But my there are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of churches that don't. Oh that God would raise up a million more men. to go through our land and nation with the simple gospel of repentance and faith in Christ, all our troubles would be over. The enemy would be slain. The land would be bathed again in revival if we could get men and women to do that. And so, in verse 23, The people who had listened to him, these people who had talked to him, they came again with another question and they said unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? Are there few that be saved? This might have been put to Christ, tempting him. For many tempted him and put awkward questions to him. You can't tie up God. He knows the answer to everything. It might, of course, have been answered just out of curiosity, or it might have been asked quite seriously. The questioner might have been considering these words of Christ and the demand for repentance. And he says, Lord, are there many that be saved? You know, as you look around, As you think of our great nation, a population of something like 50 million or more, and there's about less than 10% of that mighty nation that goes to church. And there might only be 10% of that 10% that are genuine Christians. And this man was possibly urged to ask the question because he realized even the crowd that was standing beside him weren't prepared to repent. And are you prepared to repent? Are you prepared to go on in your sinning? It's a wonder that anyone's saved, isn't it? And only for the grace of God, John Wayne wouldn't be here talking about being saved. And you Christians wouldn't be here. It's a miracle that anybody's saved. And we're only saved because of the boundless, infinite love and mercy of God. Christ did not give a direct answer to this failure. He came to guide man's consciences. Not to gratify their curiosity. I want to tell you that. Don't be coming out with your curious questions. I wonder how many's saved. I wonder how many's going to heaven. I wonder how many's going to hell. God doesn't answer your curiosity. He came to work upon your conscience. And here's what he says in answer. Strive. Strive to enter in. Don't worry about who's entering in. Don't worry about who's being saved or who's not being saved. But he pointed to that man, and he pointed to that cord, and he points to you tonight. And he says, look, forget about everybody. Strive. The word in the Greek means agonize. to enter in. Shall you be saved? Shall I? Someone will enter the pearly gates by and by. I had that old hymn written out and I can't find it. Think of the joy that there awaits. Shall you? Shall I? Some will walk on those gates of gold. Joy in the beauty of glory. Shall you? That's the question. Shall I? Oh my friend, it's not what shall become of so and so, or what shall become of that man or that woman. The question you have to ask tonight is this. What shall become of me? Will you ask that question? Lord, will I be saved? Not what shall this man do, but what shall I do? Some people say, well I'm waiting to so-and-so get saved. I've heard that you know. Friend, don't wait. Don't look around. Let God search your heart and say, Lord, I repent. Lord, I come. Lord, I accept the gift. Will you come? Lord, are there many that will be saved? And he just completely ignored that question. There was no profit in answering that question. And he says, strive to enter in at the straight gate. Agonize. Oh may God lay hold upon you tonight, my friend, and cause you to come. Oh yes, you know how the battle goes on, don't you? You've been brought sometimes to a point of decision, haven't you? And you've gone out. You didn't say, well, I'll get in! The night I was saved, I remember the devil trying to dissuade me. And so he will. And I remember that dear old man from America called Peach. a great old evangelist. I understand his son today is a great preacher. Dr. Paisley has met him in the States. The night I was saved, I put up my hand after being wrought upon by God's Spirit until I trembled. And I'm not easy made to tremble. And then I finally put my hand up. God was dealing with me. I don't mind people putting their hand up, although putting your hand up doesn't save you. But if God works upon your heart and putting your hand up might encourage you. And then this old American said at the end of the service, and he's a broad American, he says, now those who put their hand up, come up and take my hand and shake hands. And I walked out behind a person that had got up before me. And this lady went to the vestibule rather than going to the front of the church. And I said to her, are you going up to take the hand of the preacher? She said, I'm going for an early bus. And the devil said, John, you take an early bus. You're making a fool of yourself. And the church was pecked. But God give me grace because I felt that that was my night. the 4th of November 1932 at half past nine, that'll be 52 years ago, in a couple of weeks, that this was my opportunity. And God gave me grace to praise him and I never took his hand, but thank God God took my hand and he has never let me go. None shall pluck you out of my hand. And my father that's greater than I, says Jesus, none shall pluck you out of his hand. My what a grip God has of you. Will you agonize and enter in tonight? The law and the prophet says Luke, chapter 16 of this same book. Because Luke is always talking about this pressing in. And he says in Luke 16, 16, the law of the prophets were until John, since that time the kingdom of God is preached and every man presses into it. And if you don't press into it tonight, you might never press into it. Put your feelings to the one side. Put your thoughts about what your friends will think to the one side. When you think of that woman who was ill for so many years and tried physicians, she heard of Jesus passing by. What did she do? She left her physicians and she pressed through the crowd. A crowd of people that were unsympathetic I'm sure. A crowd of cynical characters who sneered at her. Look at this poor old woman trying to touch Christ. But she pressed through and she got healed. Will you press in tonight? Will you press in now? Because there's a solemn warning here. And it says this, when once the master of the house, verse 25, has risen up and shut through the door, then your opportunities are forever gone. And I tremble sometimes when I face a congregation, lest maybe tomorrow, maybe tonight, the mighty master of the house, the house of heaven. And he'd get up and he'd put the door to it. And there's no more in there. That's what God said. When once the master of the house has risen up and has shut to the door, and you begin to stand alert, Realizing your awful spirit. And you'll stand without and you'll knock at the door saying, Lord, Lord open to us. Why do you not do that now? While the door is open. Why are you faltering now? When the glass of living water is held to your very lips? Why do you not come now when he says come now? Let us reason together. Isaiah chapter 1. Though your sins be as scarlet, they'll be white as snow. Though they be red like crimson. The door's open for you. Come now and let us reason together. Are you going to wait? Until the mighty God of heaven shuts the door. And then your guilty conscience will be aroused. And then you'll go and say Lord open to us. You say I never knew you. I don't know you. Depart from me. My what a departure. To depart from the sound of the gospel is a dreadful thing. To depart from the gracious pleadings of Christ is a dreadful thing. To depart from heaven and wander in the greatness of darkness forever. What a departure. Will that be your departure? When I think of old Paul's departure, he says, I'm now ready to be offered. The time of my departure is at hand. I fought a good fight. I finished my course. I've kept the faith, henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me in that day, and not to me only, but to all those who love his appearing. Will you press in tonight? If I can help you, come and talk to me. If you're worried, if you're perplexed, come and we look in the book of God together. But friends, don't depart now, or you might depart forever. Let us pray.