Repent or Else

“Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.” (Revelation 2:5)

In his book, “Repent, or Else,” the late Vance Havner said, “The Lord’s last word to the church was not, ‘Go Ye.’ It was rather, ‘Repent Ye.’  And repentance is the last thing most churches will do.”

In His letters to the seven churches of Asia, our Lord called five of the seven to repentance.  Ephesus had left their first love. Pergamos tolerated false doctrine.  Thyatira had an unrepentant false teacher and did nothing about it. Sardis had a name that it was alive, but was dead. Laodicea was lukewarm, neither cold nor hot.  These five were called to repent.

It is not just the unsaved that need to repent. The Bible is constantly calling the wayward and straying to repentance.  The main reason for unrepentance is that, “All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes…” (Proverbs 16:2) If your life is at odds with the ways of God, His Spirit is calling you to turn around.