Luke 13:1-5 There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.… I. NATURE. 1. Repentance implies godly sorrow for sin. 2. Repentance involves hatred of sin. 3. Repentance includes reformation. This, as it respects both the affections of the heart and the conduct of the life, is the crowning excellence of this evangelical virtue. II. NECESSITY. "Except... perish." 1. This is the decision of God respecting all men. 2. The facts point this way. Sinners have perished — sinners distinguished by no peculiarity of guilt — sinners, therefore, in whose case there was no more reason to anticipate the righteous judgments of heaven than there is to anticipate it in other cases. What God has done in these instances, there is every reason to believe He will do in others like them. This is the argument of our Lord, and it comes to us in unabated force. 3. The moral government of God requires it. 4. Also the moral character of God. Sin is abhorrent to His nature. As a holy God, He must regard it with absolute abhorrence and ceaseless displeasure. To suppose otherwise is to suppose God either to approve or to be indifferent to what is directly opposite to Himself, and worthy of His eternal rebuke. It is to suppose God to hate, or wholly disregard His own perfections and glory. But can a spotless God hate Himself? Can His own infinite perfection become an object of indifference to Himself? Can He fail to abhor sin with a measure of indignation proportioned to the purity and infinitude of His nature? (N. W. Taylor, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. |
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