updated: 5/27/11
wrote - May 26, 2011
Revelation 2:22, "Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds."
9:20, "And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
9:21, "Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
16:8 - 11, "And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory. And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds."
I chose three different sections of Scripture to prove the path of men today and that which is to come. Throughout Scripture there is the constant message of repentance for sinful mankind. Some take heed and repent and chose life in Christ. Many reject and turn away from His mercy and grace to receive His judgment and power. Out of the 105 times in the Bible 'repent' is used, we have this point illustrated clearly in the book of Revelation. For it is, at the close of the age that men will receive a great outpouring of God's wrath upon them and they will not repent.
In Revelation 2, the church is being addressed to repent. They are guilty of adultery and if they refuse, God says he will bring great tribulation upon those that have committed such sin. In Revelation 9, the poor heathen are being addressed. They have committed great sin and are reaping God's wrath upon them. But even in the midst of this outpouring of wrath they refuse to acknowledge that they have sinned against a holy God. Lastly, in Revelation 16, we have the vials of God's wrath upon mankind, the fourth and fifth vial specifically. AS men are tortured and receive great pain for their sin, in the midst of this it hardens them against God. It even pushes them further away from God and they blasphemy His Holy Name.
This is the year of our Lord, two thousand and eleven. As I write this we are close to have completing 5 months into this year. What the world has seen thus far in this year, can be described as nothing else but the wrath of God. Much like we read in this Scriptures of Revelation we have seen the affliction upon men in death, devastation, disease and distress. Yet, among so many earthly catasophres, men have not fallen on their knees and cried out for mercy. Even the church has been silent upon this point of 'Repent lest you be consumed.' There is no watchman in the tower to sound the warning.
Can we assume that because men have not fallen and repented in the face of such tragedy that they do not fear the Lord? Or is it given that something else keeps them from repenting?
Why Men Don't Repent - Is this God's fault? II Peter 3:9, "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, . . .but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." Many times over in the Scripture this truth is found, that God does not desire to see lost men perish. Only Satan loves to see it so. Men chose it for their own folly, having loved this present world and its desires, satisfy the flesh, and condemn the soul. We see the message of repentance found consistently throughout all of mankinds history. First there was the first transgression of Adam and Eve. Here God meets with Adam and Eve and even though He punishes each involved in the transgression, He shows mercy in not destroying them. The work of repentance was found that God put away their iniquity and they sorrowed in sin. They lost their first estate and looked to God for grace and mercy. In each of these God put forth His grace and mercy to restore fallen men. The very message of John was 'Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand'. Christ comes along and says the say, 'Unless you repent, you shall likewise perish.' God's mercy endured for a while but now the Truth of sin, salvation is given. Repentance is declared and offered for those that receive it and do it. To think that there is salvation apart from repentance is to suffer loss of the full Gospel.
Peter preached to the peopel of Jerusaleum the first message after Pentecost, or should we say during Pentecost, 'Repent and be baptized'. WE have this same message now to the whole of every nation and people - Repent.
Continued. . .
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