Good morning, church. So good to be with you. I feel so, just privileged, to have the chance to be here again. Last time I was here, there was a giant picnic at the new location, and it was incredible and freezing cold, but it was incredible. And then this time around, I know that you are all here anticipating the Curry family coming pretty soon. And you guys are in for a treat. That's a sweet answered prayer for this church. I know that they're gonna be such a blessing to you, more than you might even know. And so, every time I've come here, I'm just reminded that God is a God of providence. He's a God of kindness in and through you all. So, thanks for the opportunity to be here again.
I should also thank you because this time around, my wife and I got to visit an old friend of ours. You might know him. His name is Terry Black. And he has been so good to us. So, so good to us. In all seriousness though, I'm so grateful to be here, most of all to open God's Word with you. So, if you would join me in opening your Bibles to Luke chapter 13. Luke chapter 13, verses six through nine will be our focus this morning. It is a short, but a powerful Word from God filled with grace and truth and authority. And I believe that God has brought us here this morning to write it on our hearts.
Let's read together Luke 13, starting in verse six.
[Scripture] “And He told this parable. A man had planted a fig tree in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, look, for three years now, I've come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down, why should it use up the ground? And he answered him, sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer, then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good. But if not, you can cut it down.”
Let's pray.
[Prayer] Father, that Your Word is truth. Would You sanctify us in this truth as You enable us to receive it by the power of Your Spirit this morning, we ask in the name, Jesus Christ. Amen. [End]
I've got a question for you. Have you ever thought about what you want your last words to be? If you had control of that, what would you want to say? What would you want to leave with those around you? History is full of memorable last words. Some of them are more meaningful. Some of them are a bit unsettling. Some are pretty funny, actually. Take John Sedgwick's last words, for example. He was a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War, and during a battle, Sedgwick and his men found themselves 1,000 yards away from the Confederate Army. And his men began to duck and dodge the bullets that they saw coming. And it's recorded that Sedgwick's last words that day were, “Why are you dodging like this? They couldn't hit an elephant from that distance.” If that one's true, that's funny. He didn't really get to choose those last words, but more often than not, people try to make their last words count.
Take, for example, the last words of William Wilberforce. He was a devout Christian, a member of British Parliament, played an instrumental role in the abolition of slavery. This is what he said on his deathbed. “My affections are so much in heaven that I can leave you all without a regret. Yet I do not love you less, but God more.” How about the great Puritan John Owen's last words? As he lay on his deathbed, his secretary wrote in his name to one of his friends and said, “I am still in the land of the living,” but Owen was recorded as saying, “Stop. Change that to say, I am yet in the land of the dying, but I hope soon to be in the land of the living.”
You see, last words have this gravity to them because they provide this unique insight into the heart of who's saying it. Whether they capture that person's personality or their emotions or what they hope to leave as their legacy, last words have this way of drawing us in because whatever is about to be said is their last chance to influence the listener. In our passage this morning, we find a version of last words. These aren't Jesus's dying words, but they are the last words of a sermon He's been preaching ever since the beginning of chapter 12. And it's one of the most powerful sermon conclusions ever preached.
You see, like anyone, Jesus wants His last words to count. He knows that the thousands of people who have gathered to listen to Him aren't gonna follow Him much longer. Some of them will leave right then and there. And so, He takes one more shot at getting his point across, and Jesus does it with such skill. Let me show you what I mean. Look first back to the beginning of chapter 12, verse one with me. should just be a page over. Chapter 12, verse one says, “thousands had gathered to listen to Jesus.” If this was a sermon, then Jesus has like a mega church thing going on. There's tons of people listening to Him.
He was speaking to His disciples initially. You can see that in verse one. But the crowd was listening in and then in verse 13, the crowd starts asking questions. And so, Jesus begins to interact with the crowd as well as His disciples. And all the way up to verse 41, Jesus is mostly uninterrupted except for that question in verse 13. And so far in this sermon, a theme is rising to the surface. And that theme is readiness for eternity. That theme so far is preparedness for judgment.
Look at verse three to see what I mean. Verse three of chapter 12, the question is, “are you ready for your secret sin to be exposed?” Look down at verse 10. “Will you be accepted or Denied before God?” Verse 20, “are you ready for your soul to be required of you?” Verse 37, “are you ready for the master to return?” Is your soul ready for eternity? That's the question Jesus is asking.
And then we get verse 41, Peter. This brilliant question, verse 41, “Lord, are You telling this parable for us or for all?” Don't be like Peter, at least not yet. You can be like Peter in 1 Peter or 2 Peter, but don't be like Peter here because Peter is that guy at church who always thinks the sermon is for somebody else. You see, Peter is not sure if Jesus's sermon about judgment and eternity applies to his own soul.
And so, Jesus doubles down, verse 48, “to whom much is given, much will be required.” Peter, this matters maybe most of all for someone like you. Judgment will be impartial and indiscriminate, verse 53, and it's coming quickly, so verse 56, you better be prepared. Chapter 13, verses one through five, you heard this last week, Jesus makes it explicitly crystal clear, repent or perish. Death is coming. And the only way that you can be ready for it, prepared for it, is through repentance.
That's the focus of Jesus's sermon from chapter 12 to the beginning of verse 13. It's readiness through repentance. And we just covered a whole lot of ground. But that's because the text before us this morning, verses six through nine, deserves to be felt just as Jesus intended it. That was a chapter long sermon, 64 verses, I counted them up. And verses six through nine is its conclusion, its last words, it's short, it's powerful, crystal clear. And as a master preacher, Jesus crafts this conclusion so skillfully to drive home this one point that you need to hear this morning.
2 Corinthians 6, two says it best, “behold, now is the day of salvation.” If judgment is coming, and if repentance is your only hope, Jesus says, then today must be the day of salvation. That's the tone of this passage. There is no better time than right now to ready yourself for eternity. Church, eternity is long and eternity is coming. And this morning, God wants you to think about that.
I know there's 10,000 troubles in this world, even in this room. Some of you are going through serious hardships, I'm sure. An unexpected diagnosis, loss of a loved one, financial hardship, loneliness, fear, you name it. Others of you in this room, I'm sure, are in a really sweet and a really blessed season. Maybe you're recently married, maybe you've got a new grandkid on the way, maybe you've got a promising career opportunity coming up. And I don't wanna minimize any of that, but this morning, can I challenge you to let Jesus peel your eyes off of this world and lift them to heaven?
Jonathan Edwards prayed, “Lord, would You stamp eternity on my eyeballs?” What a wise prayer that is. Because if you get eternity right, if you obey the words of Jesus this morning, you will have the sweetest comfort in every earthly sorrow. And you'll have a joy that far surpasses any earthly joy. Church, that's what you have today if you have repented and believed in Jesus. And if you haven't, that's what you can have today, because today is the day of salvation.
And I wanna show you that in our text this morning in just three parts. We'll start in verses six through seven. Verses six through seven here, we're gonna see what I'll call “An Appropriate Judgment,” an appropriate judgment. Verse six, let's read that together. “And He, Jesus, told this parable. A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.”
If this is a movie, it's like the camera sort of fades in and the scene is like farmland. It's agricultural. We're in a man's vineyard, verse six says. But what's interesting about this little detail here is the fact that the man actually isn't interested in a vine, right? He's not interested in harvesting grapes. We're actually seeing that the man who owns this vineyard is interested not in a vine, but in a fig tree planted in the vineyard.
And I know what you're thinking, that might be the most boring detail of all time. But it's an important one because a vineyard was sort of like the ideal place that anything could grow, not just grapes. The soil was fertile, there was a good water supply, people were always attentive to and caring for vineyards. And so, this little detail is already emphasizing the fact that this fig tree is privileged. Its home is this cushy and luxurious vineyard.
I was thinking about what that might look like today for a person, and I think it would be something like living in a five-star hotel. If this fig tree could buy plane tickets, it would fly first class everywhere it goes. All other fig trees are jealous of this fig tree. It's got the best life a fig tree could ever ask for. And with that context, we start to see and understand the problem that comes at the end of verse six, right? The owner of the vineyard came seeking fruit and found none.
And so, the situation that Jesus is picturing for us is this fig tree living in a five-star hotel with room service every day, and it couldn't produce a single fig. Now, if somehow you still think that the owner is being a bit demanding here, look at verse seven. “And he,” that's the owner, “said to the vine dresser, look, for three years now, I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and I find none.” You can stop right there.
Here's a little more fig tree knowledge for you. Fig trees were expected to produce fruit twice a year, once in May through June, and then also in August through October. So, this tree has failed twice a year for all three years. That's a really, really bad look for a fig tree in a vineyard. You see, all the details of this short story emphasizes the special treatment of this tree, and yet it fails to bear fruit over and over and over again.
And to make matters worse, the action of the owner in this parable it's written in a way that portrays him as, like, continually looking, continually seeking for fruit. Verse six could be translated, he kept on seeking for fruit and found none. Verse seven, “I have continually come seeking fruit and I find none.” It sounds like this man has given every single opportunity possible to this tree. Every effort has been made. So much lenience has been given and still no fruit.
And so, imagine that you are the owner of this vineyard. What would you do? End of verse seven. He says, “cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?” The brilliance of Jesus here is that not a single person in this crowd would disagree with that owner. It's like if the light bulb in your bathroom went out one day and you unscrewed it and screwed it back in to see if there was some sort of loose connection, you turned on other lights in the house to make sure the power wasn't out, you did everything you could, that light bulb's not working, so what do you do? You replaced it, right? It's a no-brainer.
And so, of course, this man cuts down the tree and makes room for something else. It's so logical. It's so appropriate. Everyone can see and understand and even relate to this truth, and the genius of Jesus is on display because He's exposing what is appropriate, what is logical for you. He's exposing that if you are not bearing fruit, it's appropriate that you would be cut down.
You see, Jesus has been demanding you to evaluate whether or not you are ready for eternity. And in the verses just before our text, there's only one way to be ready. It's to leave your sin behind, to repent, to trust your Creator. And so, in the context of Jesus's sermon, the fruit that this owner of the vineyard is looking for is the fruit of repentance. It's the fruit of faith. And if it's not there, how appropriate, how logical would it be for God to cut you down?
You see, Jesus is leaning on this metaphor that God has actually been using throughout all scripture to teach the same lesson to his people. This picture of a fruitless tree is all over your Bibles. Listen to Jeremiah 8, verse 13. Jeremiah 8:13, it says, “when I would gather them, declares Yahweh, there are no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree. Even the leaves are withered, and what I gave them has passed away from them.”
And if you know the story of Jeremiah, you know how powerful that illustration is, right? God had been so, so faithful to his people. And His people returned God's kindness with idolatry and rebellion. And as the story of Jeremiah unfolds, God brings about what Jesus warns of in this very passage. Israel goes into exile, and if it were a movie, it would be rated R, because it was one of the darkest times of Israel's history to this day. And God says it's because there was no fruit, no repentance.
You can see the same thing even earlier in Luke. Turn over with me to Luke chapter three. Luke chapter three, it's been a while since you've been here, but look with me at Luke three, verse eight. Luke three, verse eight. This is John the Baptist speaking, and he's pulling on the same biblical thread we just heard in Jeremiah. Verse eight, John the Baptist says, “bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, we have Abraham as our father. For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now, the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
John the Baptist is saying, Jewish heritage does not make you righteous before God any more than it did for the Israelites in Jeremiah's time. No, what God is looking for is repentance. What God is looking for is faith in His Son, Jesus, who lived a righteous life in your place, who stood condemned in your place to bear the wrath you deserve for your sin, who rose again for your justification. You cannot hear that good news and you cannot believe that good news in your hearts and not be transformed and not bear fruit.
It's not as though you have to muster up some will power in yourself to be a better person. No, it's that as you follow Jesus, you can't help but be changed by Him. It's like if I told you my plane on the way here to Dallas last night crashed. Would any of you believe me? None of you would believe me because you can't walk away from a plane crash unaffected. Likewise, you cannot walk away from true friendship with Jesus unaffected. And so, if you forsake your sin and follow Him, I promise you there is already fruit starting to grow.
Back in Luke 13, you can turn back there if you haven't, Jesus is preaching that same truth. He's saying, no fruit means no faith. And no faith means a rejection of the Son of God. And so of course, of course, that means judgment. Church, I want you to see here that God's demand for fruit is not harsh. It's not unreasonable. Jesus' original audience was blessed beyond measure to see Jesus in the flesh, but how blessed are we to live on this side of the cross, to live on this side of the resurrection, to live on this side of printed Bibles, and to live on this side of churches like this one.
We have every advantage to see exactly who Jesus is, and so it would be entirely appropriate to be cut down if you reject Him as the Son of God. That's what Jesus wants you to see here. It's as if God has planted you in a luxurious vineyard with people to take care of you and to minister to you and to love you. And He's given you year after year after year. Of course, we should bear fruit and trust in Jesus.
And listen, some days you'll feel fruitless, even though you do trust Jesus. Brothers and sisters, you're not gonna be perfect. You're not gonna be sinless, but you will be changed. John Newton, the hymn writer, captured it so well. He said, “I am not what I ought to be. I am not what I want to be. I am not what I hope to be in another world. But I am still not what I once used to be. And by the grace of God, I am what I am." If you are still in your sin, if there is no change from what you once used to be, after hearing what Jesus has done for you, judgment is appropriate. Judgment is appropriate.
This parable continues into verses eight through nine. We saw an appropriate judgment in six through seven. Here in verses eight through nine, now Jesus shows us “An Extravagant Patience,” an extravagant patience. Let's read those verses together. Verse eight, “and he answered him, sir, let it alone this year also until I dig around it and put in fertilizer. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good, but if not, you can cut it down.”
There's nothing complex going on here, but if you're following the flow of Jesus's story, these verses should be shocking to you. One commentator says it this way, if this parable announces a warning of judgment, then it also dramatizes hope. It's like the owner of this vineyard is walking to this fig tree with an ax in his hand and the vine dresser jumps in the way and says, wait, what if you gave it just one more year? I'll dig around it, I'll fertilize it, I'll water it, I'll tend to it, I'll give it one last ditch effort. And then you can come back, check again in a year. And if there's still no fruit, then of course you can cut it down.
There's a drama to the way that this scene is written. If you look at verse nine with me, you'll see that there's two conditional statements here, two statements that start with “if.” Beginning of verse nine, if it should bear fruit, and then later, if not. Well, in Greek, that first one is written as if there is barely any hope of that condition coming true. And the second one is written as if it's what everybody expects. It's kind of like how today you might say something like, if you get a hole in one, then I'll buy you a car. That's the tone of that first if statement in the beginning of verse nine. That's how unlikely it feels to the vine dresser that this tree will ever produce fruit.
And that makes sense, right? Because verses six through seven, I think we would all feel that way. You see, there's almost this absurdity to how this parable ends. There's a shock factor to the fact that this tree is still alive. And what's so fascinating is that Jesus in the verses just before taught about the shock factor of death, not life. In verses one through five of chapter 13, you'll remember people are just confounded at the death of the Galileans, at the death of the people at Siloam. And Jesus says, don't be surprised, death is coming for everyone.
And then in this parable, Jesus shows us what we should be surprised about, what we should be shocked at and confounded by. It's not death, it's life. The fact that this tree is alive is shocking. That's what you should be asking questions about. The fact that you are alive is what you should be asking questions about. Church, are you more shocked at seemingly random tragedy or are you more shocked at seemingly random grace?
The fact that you're sitting here in a church with air in your lungs should make your jaw drop at the grace of God. If you have sinned and if your heart is beating, you should be asking, how in the world does that work? What in the world is God doing, giving me grace. You see, condemnation is most appropriate for us. That was Jesus's point in verses six through seven, but God shows us patience.
In our most fruitless, spiritually dead state, as hopeless as it ever seemed that we would repent, how many of us were given one more year? How many of us were given two more years or ten more years? How many of us have had people come into our lives to feed us with spiritual nutrients week in and week out over and over and over in the hope that one day we would trust in Jesus?
Church, that's my testimony. I was blessed to grow up in a church, a faithful church like this one. believe the gospel, preach the Bible. I went to youth group, I had believing friends, I had Godly mentors, I memorized all sorts of Bible verses. And I don't know exactly when it was, but somewhere around age 14, 15, 16 maybe, that's when I began to see the fruit of true repentance in my life.
And I used to think that was a boring testimony. I used to wish that I had one of those like light bulb moments where I could pinpoint the exact time where everything changed in my life and it was never the same. But when I think about a verse like this, I'm reminded that my testimony is a breathtaking display of the patience of God. I did some math this week. It was the hardest part of my week. But because of how I grew up in this church, I'll estimate that I heard the gospel maybe two or three times a week. You say I could maybe understand the gospel at age six. That means over 10 years, I heard the good news of Jesus 1,560 times before I became a Christian.
You know what that means? That means I rejected the Son of God about 1,560 times explicitly. I can only imagine how many times God came seeking fruit in my life and found none. How many extra years did God delay in His patience and His grace to give me another chance? How about you? I'm sure some of you have that same story because it's so like God to be patient with us, isn't it?
And how about you who have yet to repent and to trust in Jesus? How long have you known the gospel? How many church services have you attended? How many family members or friends have tried to show you the beauty of Jesus? How many people like this vine dresser have pled with God to be patient with you, to give you another chance while they ministered to you the Word of God and fed your soul by showing you Jesus? How patient has God been with you?
Listen, just because you've rejected Jesus in the past, it doesn't mean that you can't be forgiven today. I don't know what you've done in your life, but I know that the blood of Jesus is sufficient to pay the penalty for your sin. And I know that the resurrection of Jesus is sufficient to justify you before a Holy God. I've heard it said before that God is a God of second chances, but I don't think that does the patience of God justice. Look at our text again. God gave a second, a third, and a fourth chance. God gave me a 1500th chance.
So, whether it's your second chance or maybe your 2000th chance, either way, the fact that you're here means that you are a recipient of the abundant patience of God. What will you do with it? I wanna show you actually why God is being so patient with you. Turn with me to Romans chapter two. If you're here, you have received the patience of God. Romans 2 verse 4 shows you exactly why.
Look with me at Romans 2 verse 4. This is Paul writing, and he says this. “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience?” Listen to this, “not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance.” If you are a recipient of God's kindness, which you are, it's because God is leading you this very moment to repentance. Jesus back in Luke 13, you can turn there now, was showing the thousands of people in attendance that God had been so, so patient with them and repentance is the goal.
So, let me ask you the question, have you enjoyed the benefits of God's mercy without receiving it for its purpose? Don't think for a second that just because your life seems peaceful, just because your life is going well, don't think for a second that you don't need the saving grace of God. Remember last week, you saw that the death of those at Siloam did not necessarily mean that they were in sin. They died and they may have been righteous before God.
This parable is the flip side of that. You live today. But you may stand condemned before God. The peaceful life you live does not mean that you are ready for eternity. It means that God is patient. So do not presume on the patience of God, but receive it for its purpose, to bring you to repentance and faith in Jesus.
I know I said I had three points for you this morning, and I do, even though we've come to the end of our passage. And that's because Jesus does something in this parable that is so powerful, but it's not just in what He says, it's also in what He doesn't say. What I mean by that is look at how the story ends. The vine dresser requests another year, and then nothing. We never see what happens when the owner comes back a year later. And Jesus never tells us if this tree gets cut down or if this tree miraculously bears fruit. Jesus gives us a cliffhanger here.
And so, this third point we'll call, “An Ongoing Tension” an ongoing tension. And I'm calling it an ongoing tension because that's what Jesus wants you to feel as He concludes this sermon with this dramatic cliffhanger. He wants His listeners to realize that something is unresolved. He's made it so clear how appropriate it would be for sinners to be condemned. And He's made it so clear how patient God has been for every single one of us. And so, God's holy justice and God's holy patience and mercy are both on display.
And the question that hangs in the air is which one will you receive in eternity? Will you receive mercy or will you receive justice? For those who repent, God's holy wrath is poured out on Jesus on the cross so that you would not be cut down. But for those who don't repent, there is no one to answer for your sin other than you, and you will be justly judged. This parable ends so abruptly because it awaits your response.
Jesus leaves this tension in the air because you don't know where you are on God's timeline. The owner gave the tree a fourth year to bear fruit. Could this be the last day of your fourth year? Could you die tomorrow? Could Jesus return tonight? Last summer, my wife and I had the blessing to visit Japan. And it was incredible. So many awesome things stuck with me from that trip. But one that I'll never forget was the public transportation there. It was exceptional. It was incredibly efficient. It was easily accessible from everywhere. Extremely clean. You can imagine like a New York City subway, but like minus all the rats. It was awesome.
And when you're in a place like that where you've never been before and you don't know the language, that kind of public transportation is a real gift. Because you're inevitably going to miss a few trains. The thing is, in Japan, if you miss a train, it's totally fine. No big deal at all. Because if we miss a train, and we did, another train would come just a few minutes later, and we'd be on our way. We could wait for just a few minutes at the train station for another chance to hop on.
I think sometimes we can think about repentance like that. If you don't deal with your sin, that's okay, because there's another Sunday coming next week, right? And then when that Sunday rolls around, maybe then I'll get right with God. That's what it looks like to presume on the patience of God. To assume that God would grant you another Sunday, to assume that God will give you another chance to hear the gospel, to assume that you're not on that last day of your fourth year.
But Jesus in this parable is showing you that God has already been far, far more patient than anyone could ever dream. And we just saw how God's patience is meant to lead you to repentance. And so, if you refuse to repent, then it follows that God's patience will one day run out. There is no guarantee another train comes to your stop. So, what will you do while the offer of salvation is available to you right now?
In this parable, we never see what happens to the tree when the master returns. But you can know for sure what will happen to you. Because Jesus says, “whoever believes in me will not perish, but have eternal life.” There's an ongoing tension in how Jesus ends this sermon, but there does not have to be that tension in your life today. Just a few chapters later in Luke, Jesus would go to the cross. He would offer up His perfect life to satisfy the wrath of God in our place. He would rise three days later to prove that His offer of salvation is real and true, that if you would acknowledge your sin and turn from it and trust in Jesus for forgiveness, then you will be transformed from the inside out.
And God, by His Spirit, will grow in you the fruits of the Spirit. You begin to live the life you were designed to live. And that tension, that tension of eternal life and eternal death will be relieved in your soul forever. When I was a kid, I took a trip to Niagara Falls and it was beautiful. It was impressive. It was so loud. You almost had to raise your voice so that you could hear the people next to you.
And I was an adventurous kid. I loved to be outside. I thought I was invincible. But even, 12 year old me got a little bit nervous looking over that waterfall. I just remember thinking like, man, it's a little too easy to fall. One teeny tiny small step over this railing and I'll be caught up in this unbelievably vast volume of water.
I want you to know that that's kind of what our life is like before eternity. I know life can feel long, but those couple decades you have on this earth are like one teeny, tiny little step before you dive headlong into the vastness of eternity. Only God knows when you'll cross that line. Are you ready for it?
Isaiah 55, six through seven. “Seek the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord that He may have compassion on him and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.”
Let's pray.
[Prayer] Father. How sweet those words are to us. To know that we live and breathe in a time where You may be found, a time when You are near. God, how sweet it is to know that despite the sinful paths of wickedness that we've pursued, despite the 10,000 unrighteous thoughts that we've conceived of, we can still return to You, our heavenly Father.
And instead of being met with the wrath that we so rightly deserve, we know that we can be met with the compassion of a gracious God. We know that we can be met with abundant pardon. Thank You, God, for the proof of that compassion and pardon in the person and work of Your Son, Jesus. Until He returns or until our very short lives end, we pray, oh God, that You would teach us to number our days, that we might gain a heart of wisdom.
If there are any here who do not know You, Father, I pray that the reality of eternity would burden their conscience until they find rest in You. For those who do know You, would this be a reminder of Your patient and gracious character? And would that compel us to never presume on Your kindness, but to honor it by living lives of repentance, bearing fruit in every good work by the power of Your Spirit? We ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. [End]
