WEBVTT 00:00:05.920 --> 00:00:11.200 Well, it's lovely to be here amongst friends at Ballina Hinch. 00:00:11.360 --> 00:00:17.735 And it's good to come together, isn't it, to lift up our praise and our worship to God. 00:00:18.055 --> 00:00:31.250 And God has given us the opportunity to come together every Lord's Day to worship him, to hear his word, to pray, to fellowship together. 00:00:31.730 --> 00:00:40.610 We've been blessed already simply by coming through the door into this place of worship and to worship him. 00:00:41.525 --> 00:00:48.485 I do want to give you, the, greetings of Connsbrook Avenue Congregational Church. 00:00:48.965 --> 00:00:56.590 And, like yourself, we have our harvest service this morning, followed by a church lunch. 00:00:56.590 --> 00:01:03.310 And I moan about this every time I come here, that I am missing out on a church lunch. 00:01:03.710 --> 00:01:09.365 And you're having one this evening, and that just is salt into the wound. 00:01:09.765 --> 00:01:21.765 But we're thankful for harvest and one thing about a harvest service is yes we're thankful for the harvest, we're thankful for another year aren't we? 00:01:22.060 --> 00:01:36.780 It's a reminder that this time last year we were meeting together to celebrate the harvest and God's mercies have been with us every moment, every day up until this very moment in time. 00:01:36.435 --> 00:01:40.755 So we come together with thankful hearts. 00:01:40.995 --> 00:01:45.715 Before we read God's word, let's come again to God in a word of prayer. 00:01:48.650 --> 00:01:54.890 Heavenly Father, again, we just thank you for your grace and your mercy to us. 00:01:55.130 --> 00:02:01.290 We thank you, Father, for all the good things that you give to us, every day. 00:02:01.925 --> 00:02:09.685 We thank you for that common grace, that grace that you pour out upon all of your creation. 00:02:10.165 --> 00:02:15.765 But we thank you for that particular grace towards your people. 00:02:15.765 --> 00:02:25.790 The psalmist tells us that goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives, and we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. 00:02:25.790 --> 00:02:30.830 And we want to come and thank you again for your grace and mercy to us. 00:02:31.525 --> 00:02:40.565 We sing of you as our great creator, and we sing of you as the one who has sent his son into this world to save sinners. 00:02:40.725 --> 00:02:52.490 And we thank you that he is reaping a harvest of souls even today and will do until he returns, people from every nation, tongue, and tribe. 00:02:52.650 --> 00:03:06.925 So we thank you for the harvest that we see, before us in the food, the things that we eat and drink, But we thank you above all for that harvest of souls which many of us are included in. 00:03:06.925 --> 00:03:08.925 And we thank you for our savior. 00:03:09.165 --> 00:03:26.380 We thank you for his wonderful work of salvation that cleanses us from all our sins and our unrighteousness, that keeps us safe and secure until that day when we enter into our eternal home. 00:03:26.380 --> 00:03:29.145 Help us this morning to hear your word. 00:03:29.145 --> 00:03:30.425 You've given us your word. 00:03:30.425 --> 00:03:32.425 It's a means of, grace. 00:03:32.425 --> 00:03:35.145 It's a means by which you speak to us. 00:03:35.545 --> 00:03:38.665 Help us and encourage us in our faith. 00:03:38.825 --> 00:03:41.625 Come and meet with us as we seek to meet with you. 00:03:42.220 --> 00:03:47.020 Open up your word, open up our ears to hear the word of God. 00:03:47.340 --> 00:03:50.700 We ask it in the name of Jesus our savior. 00:03:51.180 --> 00:03:51.980 Amen. 00:03:52.460 --> 00:03:53.260 Amen. 00:03:54.540 --> 00:04:02.865 And reading this this afternoon this now, this afternoon is in Luke chapter 13. 00:04:03.265 --> 00:04:05.825 Luke chapter 13. 00:04:05.905 --> 00:04:09.505 And I'm going to read the first nine verses. 00:04:14.250 --> 00:04:35.165 There were some present at that very time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices, And he answered them, do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 00:04:35.565 --> 00:04:36.125 No. 00:04:36.125 --> 00:04:37.005 I tell you. 00:04:37.245 --> 00:04:41.490 But unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 00:04:42.210 --> 00:04:53.650 Or those 18 on whom the Tower Of Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 00:04:54.355 --> 00:05:01.395 No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 00:05:02.835 --> 00:05:04.755 He told them this parable. 00:05:05.475 --> 00:05:14.170 A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 00:05:14.810 --> 00:05:18.330 And he said to the vinedresser, look. 00:05:18.490 --> 00:05:24.010 For three years now, I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. 00:05:24.725 --> 00:05:25.925 Cut it down. 00:05:26.245 --> 00:05:28.245 Why should it use up the ground? 00:05:28.965 --> 00:05:37.125 And he answered him, sir, let it alone this year also until I dig around it and put on manure. 00:05:38.090 --> 00:05:47.770 Then if it should not bear fruit next year, well and good, but if not, you can cut it down. 00:05:48.490 --> 00:05:48.970 Amen. 00:05:48.970 --> 00:05:53.615 May God add his blessing as we read his word together. 00:05:54.335 --> 00:06:16.980 That second section verses six down to nine is a familiar parable, a story that Jesus told a man has a vineyard, he grows his grapes and in that vineyard he also has a fig tree. 00:06:17.540 --> 00:06:25.645 Maybe it's an unusual place to plant a fig tree but he maybe was just using up the space that was there. 00:06:26.125 --> 00:06:33.725 And for the last three years, he's come looking at this fig tree because he wants some fruit. 00:06:33.725 --> 00:06:34.925 He wants his figs. 00:06:35.550 --> 00:06:38.030 He maybe wants to make a pudding or something. 00:06:38.030 --> 00:06:38.910 I don't know. 00:06:38.990 --> 00:06:40.190 Or just eat them. 00:06:40.350 --> 00:06:43.150 But each year, he's disappointed. 00:06:43.710 --> 00:06:49.470 Each year, this fig tree has not produced any figs. 00:06:50.915 --> 00:06:53.475 And on the fourth year, he comes. 00:06:54.195 --> 00:06:54.915 He said, look. 00:06:54.915 --> 00:07:01.635 For three years, I've been here, and I've been looking for fruit from my fig tree, and I haven't got any. 00:07:02.290 --> 00:07:05.010 Why is it taking up space? 00:07:05.250 --> 00:07:11.010 Cut it down, get rid of it, and perhaps then we could plant something else. 00:07:11.010 --> 00:07:17.010 But the the gardener who's looking after the the vineyard says, well, hang on a minute. 00:07:17.615 --> 00:07:19.775 Leave it for another year. 00:07:20.175 --> 00:07:39.720 Let me give it special attention, let me dig around it, let me loosen the soil, let the air get in, get the water in, and let me put some manure in to fertilize it, and then come back next year and see what happens. 00:07:40.040 --> 00:07:42.600 If there's fruit, great. 00:07:42.600 --> 00:07:43.960 You've got your fruit. 00:07:44.280 --> 00:07:50.255 If not, then we can pull it up and throw it away. 00:07:51.855 --> 00:07:54.015 I don't know if you're a gardener. 00:07:57.775 --> 00:08:04.090 I'm not really, but I do like plants and appreciate gardens and so on. 00:08:04.490 --> 00:08:13.610 And when we read this, we might think that Jesus is just giving people some gardening advice. 00:08:14.250 --> 00:08:31.110 We might think that Jesus is like the Alan Titchmarshes of today, or the Monte Dons who give us all the information and show us what to do so that our gardens look lovely. 00:08:31.990 --> 00:08:36.470 But is that what Jesus is doing? 00:08:36.470 --> 00:08:40.390 Is he just giving us some gardening advice? 00:08:41.510 --> 00:08:48.115 Well, that might be included, but I don't think that is what Jesus is talking about. 00:08:48.835 --> 00:08:53.155 I don't think he is simply giving us some gardening advice. 00:08:53.155 --> 00:09:02.210 So the question would be: What is Jesus telling us here in the parable of the barren fig tree? 00:09:02.770 --> 00:09:07.810 For us to understand that, I think we need to look at the previous verses. 00:09:07.810 --> 00:09:10.690 We always need to look at the context, don't we? 00:09:11.025 --> 00:09:24.945 And there are three things that we see here in verses one down to five that I think help us to understand why Jesus tells us the parable of the barren fig tree. 00:09:25.720 --> 00:09:30.680 The first thing that you'll notice is there is a terrible atrocity. 00:09:31.240 --> 00:09:33.400 A terrible atrocity. 00:09:33.400 --> 00:09:44.915 There was some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 00:09:45.955 --> 00:09:50.755 We're not told who these Galileans were specifically. 00:09:51.315 --> 00:09:54.275 Galilee is up in the north of the country. 00:09:54.760 --> 00:10:17.125 And they were often seen in a bad light by the rest of the nation because a lot of the Galileans had intermingled with Gentiles, and so they weren't considered as proper Jews, the real McCoy, and they were often looked down and despised on. 00:10:18.485 --> 00:10:28.500 But here, these are Galileans who are coming all the way down to Jerusalem to offer up their sacrifices. 00:10:28.500 --> 00:10:43.795 The Jews were duty bound to offer sacrifices at certain times for certain things, and these Galileans had come down to Jerusalem into the temple and were offering up their sacrifices. 00:10:44.435 --> 00:10:48.670 And we're told that Pilate had them killed. 00:10:48.670 --> 00:10:51.070 I don't think it was Pilate himself. 00:10:51.630 --> 00:10:56.110 Perhaps these Galileans had a name. 00:10:56.190 --> 00:10:58.830 Maybe they were rebels. 00:10:58.830 --> 00:11:08.105 Maybe they were anti Roman, as a lot of the Jews would have been, and people had told Pilate they were in the temple. 00:11:08.105 --> 00:11:11.545 He gave the orders to go and have them killed. 00:11:11.545 --> 00:11:23.590 During their act of worship, while they were sacrificing to Almighty God, Pilate's soldiers had them healed. 00:11:24.630 --> 00:11:26.790 It's a terrible thing, isn't it? 00:11:27.030 --> 00:11:29.495 A terrible atrocity. 00:11:30.215 --> 00:11:45.540 And Jesus asked the question to those who had told him this awful news: Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered in this way? 00:11:47.700 --> 00:11:52.980 Perhaps we can read into that that the answer was yes. 00:11:53.300 --> 00:11:55.780 That's why Jesus asked them the question. 00:11:56.020 --> 00:12:08.405 They thought these Galileans must have been the worst of Galileans and the worst of sinners for God to end their days in this manner. 00:12:09.685 --> 00:12:18.600 They assumed that those who died in such brutal ways must have been awful people. 00:12:20.040 --> 00:12:23.960 But Jesus says, no. 00:12:24.600 --> 00:12:25.000 No. 00:12:25.875 --> 00:12:26.915 And we'll come on to that. 00:12:26.915 --> 00:12:29.875 We'll follow that up in a moment. 00:12:30.595 --> 00:12:33.155 We know of atrocities, don't we? 00:12:33.715 --> 00:12:40.000 Even this this week in America, another school shooting by a 16 year old. 00:12:40.320 --> 00:12:48.080 And of course, we could bring in many other atrocities that we hear about on a daily, if not weekly, basis. 00:12:48.080 --> 00:12:50.480 Atrocities still happen today. 00:12:51.155 --> 00:12:57.715 Are the people who die in such ways the worst of the worst? 00:12:59.075 --> 00:13:03.155 The second thing that we notice is there's a terrible accident. 00:13:03.790 --> 00:13:05.790 A terrible accident. 00:13:05.790 --> 00:13:19.955 Verse four: All those 18 on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 00:13:22.835 --> 00:13:25.315 Now, Galilee was up in the north of the country. 00:13:25.475 --> 00:13:39.490 Siloam is a part of Jerusalem on the South Side, and you probably have heard of the Pool Of Siloam where a man was miraculously restored to health and strength. 00:13:40.290 --> 00:13:43.650 In this area there was a tower. 00:13:44.285 --> 00:13:45.325 We're not sure. 00:13:45.325 --> 00:13:47.645 We're not told anything about this tower. 00:13:47.965 --> 00:13:50.765 Why it was built or had it been completed? 00:13:50.765 --> 00:13:56.925 Maybe it was being constructed and perhaps it was constructed very poorly. 00:13:57.620 --> 00:13:59.860 Some buildings are like that, aren't they? 00:13:59.860 --> 00:14:04.500 They're they're half built, and something goes wrong and they collapse. 00:14:04.820 --> 00:14:09.620 Maybe it had been completed, but maybe the foundations weren't very good. 00:14:10.115 --> 00:14:20.195 What we are told that this tower suddenly fell down on 18 people and killed them. 00:14:21.395 --> 00:14:22.355 Killed them. 00:14:22.435 --> 00:14:23.715 What a terrible accident. 00:14:24.530 --> 00:14:32.210 What a terrible accident to have seen, to have witnessed, to have been involved in. 00:14:32.610 --> 00:14:40.675 And Jesus says to them, what about these 18 people here in Jerusalem, people from Jerusalem? 00:14:41.475 --> 00:14:47.155 Are they the worst of the worst because of the way they died? 00:14:47.155 --> 00:14:51.955 And again, we can assume that Jesus knew that that's what they were thinking. 00:14:53.110 --> 00:15:00.790 Yeah, they must have been for God to have taken them out of this world in such a way. 00:15:02.070 --> 00:15:15.975 And again, we're aware, aren't we, that accidents happen still today, again this week in Pakistan, a terrible accident in the school where the roof collapsed, killing about, I think it was 30 children and a teacher. 00:15:16.375 --> 00:15:19.175 Accidents happen all the time. 00:15:19.735 --> 00:15:28.090 Does that mean those who have died in such occurrences are the worst of the worst? 00:15:28.250 --> 00:15:31.050 Jesus says, no. 00:15:33.130 --> 00:15:35.690 Terrible atrocity, a terrible accident. 00:15:37.255 --> 00:15:39.495 Then there's the terrible assumption. 00:15:39.895 --> 00:15:42.055 The terrible assumption. 00:15:42.055 --> 00:15:53.280 Twice, Jesus asked the people if they thought the people who died offering their sacrifices, who died when the tower fell on them were the worst sinners. 00:15:53.680 --> 00:15:55.600 Were they the worst sinners? 00:15:55.760 --> 00:15:56.720 And the... 00:15:56.720 --> 00:16:02.320 As I've said, Jesus is anticipating that their answer is going to be yes. 00:16:03.925 --> 00:16:26.350 If you look at someone in the Old Testament or the New Testament, if you were alive in the Old and New Testament age, and you saw someone who had a lot of sheep, had a lot of cattle, had a lot of land, who had a bumper crop, you would think they were blessed by God. 00:16:26.350 --> 00:16:35.515 It doesn't matter how they lived, the fact that everything seemed to go well for them, you would think they were blessed by God. 00:16:36.155 --> 00:16:53.770 If they were killed while they were offering up their sacrifices in such a brutal way, or if a tower fell on them and killed them in a terrible accident, you would think these were terrible people and God had inflicted his judgment on them in these ways. 00:16:54.250 --> 00:16:57.370 That's what the assumption would have been. 00:16:58.495 --> 00:17:00.655 But twice, Jesus tells you... 00:17:00.655 --> 00:17:03.455 Tells us, no, I tell you. 00:17:04.015 --> 00:17:05.295 No, that's not the case. 00:17:05.295 --> 00:17:11.455 You cannot determine someone's spiritual state by the way that they die. 00:17:12.670 --> 00:17:20.750 You cannot assume that someone is a terrible sinner because they've left this world in such circumstances. 00:17:20.910 --> 00:17:29.005 Nor can you assume that someone who dies in a nice death is a godly Christian. 00:17:29.485 --> 00:17:31.645 You cannot do that. 00:17:32.125 --> 00:17:35.325 What a terrible assumption that is to make. 00:17:35.325 --> 00:17:39.485 And we often see this in the death of a celebrity. 00:17:41.190 --> 00:17:53.430 I don't know if you noticed this, when a celebrity dies, people post things on Facebook or X or whatever it is they use. 00:17:54.225 --> 00:17:57.985 Sorry to hear the news about the death of so and so. 00:17:58.145 --> 00:18:01.105 What a lovely person they were. 00:18:01.105 --> 00:18:05.665 I remember, and they'll give an account, and they finish RIP. 00:18:07.100 --> 00:18:08.460 RIP. 00:18:08.700 --> 00:18:10.220 They were a good person. 00:18:10.700 --> 00:18:11.900 I like them. 00:18:12.140 --> 00:18:13.820 I was a good friend to them. 00:18:13.980 --> 00:18:15.740 They did no one any harm. 00:18:15.900 --> 00:18:16.780 Rest in peace. 00:18:16.780 --> 00:18:35.845 You see, we still have this assumption today that if someone is a good person, then even if they perhaps die too young, if they die, in some way, they're still a good person, and they're going to glory. 00:18:36.900 --> 00:18:40.420 But of course, that is nonsense, isn't it? 00:18:40.660 --> 00:18:48.980 How you die does not determine whether you are going to heaven or you're going to hell. 00:18:49.380 --> 00:19:03.455 The writer to the Hebrews tells us, and that in fact, they ran out of space, telling us how godly people, died in gruesome ways. 00:19:04.190 --> 00:19:10.670 In Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 35, women received their dead raised to life again. 00:19:10.910 --> 00:19:17.150 Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection. 00:19:17.745 --> 00:19:23.745 Still others had trials of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. 00:19:24.065 --> 00:19:29.345 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. 00:19:29.425 --> 00:19:38.140 They wandered about in sheepskins and goats skins being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. 00:19:38.380 --> 00:19:44.220 They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. 00:19:44.220 --> 00:19:47.805 They suffered because they were Christians. 00:19:48.285 --> 00:19:53.645 They didn't suffer because they were ungodly people, the godless people. 00:19:53.645 --> 00:19:57.885 They didn't suffer like that because they were the worst of sinners. 00:19:58.740 --> 00:20:03.460 They suffered because they were believers in the living God. 00:20:03.860 --> 00:20:08.420 And the world hates the living God and hates those who serve him. 00:20:09.780 --> 00:20:19.175 The way that someone dies does not determine the kind of person they were or where they will spend eternity. 00:20:20.135 --> 00:20:22.615 But Jesus goes further, doesn't he? 00:20:22.775 --> 00:20:25.735 He doesn't just say, No, they weren't. 00:20:26.615 --> 00:20:41.365 He says, 'Unless you repent, you will likewise perish.' Twice he says, 'Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 00:20:41.365 --> 00:20:44.245 What determines your eternal destiny? 00:20:44.725 --> 00:20:49.285 What determines where you're going to spend eternity? 00:20:49.685 --> 00:20:56.960 It's not the manner in which you died, it's whether you have repented of your sins. 00:20:57.840 --> 00:21:02.240 That is what determines where you spend eternity. 00:21:02.640 --> 00:21:05.440 Have you dealt with your sins? 00:21:06.155 --> 00:21:13.675 That's the issue that Jesus is bringing out here because inevitably we are all going to perish. 00:21:14.235 --> 00:21:18.395 There's going to be a day when we will be no more. 00:21:18.475 --> 00:21:20.795 Where are we going to spend eternity? 00:21:21.140 --> 00:21:26.660 Well, it all depends on how you have done or dealt with your sins. 00:21:26.660 --> 00:21:29.300 Have you repented? 00:21:30.260 --> 00:21:35.300 Have you repented of your sins? 00:21:36.595 --> 00:21:40.355 What does it mean to repent? 00:21:42.435 --> 00:21:49.155 To repent means that we have come to see ourselves as sinful people. 00:21:49.555 --> 00:21:50.995 Some people don't like that. 00:21:51.630 --> 00:21:55.710 Some people don't like seeing themselves as sinful people. 00:21:55.710 --> 00:22:02.750 A sinful person is someone who has disobeyed God, who has broken God's commands. 00:22:03.725 --> 00:22:05.565 You read the 10 commandments. 00:22:05.565 --> 00:22:07.885 Have you broken those 10 commandments? 00:22:08.685 --> 00:22:15.405 I suggest you've probably broken all 10 of them because we have a sinful heart, a sinful nature. 00:22:16.560 --> 00:22:23.040 And to repent means that we, first of all, recognize that we have sinned. 00:22:23.760 --> 00:22:30.695 Secondly, I suggest it means that we have seen ourselves as the worst of sinners. 00:22:31.175 --> 00:22:34.615 We don't look and compare ourselves to the others. 00:22:34.615 --> 00:22:37.895 We don't compare ourselves to the minister. 00:22:37.895 --> 00:22:40.615 We don't compare ourselves to anybody else. 00:22:40.760 --> 00:22:42.600 We look at ourselves. 00:22:42.600 --> 00:22:46.120 We look at our thoughts, our words, our deeds. 00:22:46.120 --> 00:22:49.080 And when we do that, our sins mount up. 00:22:49.880 --> 00:22:53.320 And we see ourselves as the worst of sinners. 00:22:54.725 --> 00:22:58.405 But repentance isn't just seeing ourselves as a sinner. 00:22:58.405 --> 00:23:02.725 Repentance is seeing our need of salvation. 00:23:02.965 --> 00:23:04.245 We need a savior. 00:23:04.245 --> 00:23:11.120 We need someone who is going to deal with our sins for us because we cannot do it ourselves. 00:23:13.120 --> 00:23:16.080 And this is the wonderful news of Jesus, isn't it? 00:23:16.080 --> 00:23:23.280 That he came into the world not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. 00:23:24.425 --> 00:23:36.985 And someone who has truly repented is someone who has heard the gospel that Jesus came to save and is trusting Jesus to save them. 00:23:38.170 --> 00:23:52.715 They recognize that God must punish sin because he's a holy and a righteous God, and that punishment must either fall on me or on someone who's taking my place. 00:23:53.195 --> 00:24:07.430 And someone who has truly repented has seen that God sent Jesus into the world to rescue and save the worst of sinners, and they're putting their trust in him. 00:24:07.670 --> 00:24:17.270 And the wonderful news is that the moment we put our trust in Jesus for our salvation, he saves us. 00:24:17.430 --> 00:24:21.445 He cleanses us from all our unrighteousness. 00:24:21.445 --> 00:24:32.245 He takes away the punishment that we deserve because he has borne our sin in his own body and the punishment that we deserve. 00:24:33.980 --> 00:24:43.580 Those who are relying upon Jesus for salvation know that they are saved from that day of judgment. 00:24:43.980 --> 00:24:47.260 And on that day, all will be well with them. 00:24:47.260 --> 00:24:57.375 Not because they're good, not because they've sat in a church every Sunday for so many years, or they've read their Bible, or they've prayed, but because of Jesus. 00:24:58.895 --> 00:25:02.910 And only because of Jesus. 00:25:03.550 --> 00:25:11.390 Our eternal destiny is not determined by the manner of our death. 00:25:13.230 --> 00:25:18.155 It is determined by whether we have dealt with our sin. 00:25:19.595 --> 00:25:21.035 Have we dealt with our sin? 00:25:21.035 --> 00:25:22.715 Can I ask you this morning? 00:25:23.515 --> 00:25:26.075 Have you dealt with your sin? 00:25:26.075 --> 00:25:31.830 Have you ever seen yourself in that light as a sinner who needs salvation? 00:25:32.230 --> 00:25:44.165 A sinner who is under the the the anger, the the law of God, that you cannot do anything to erase your sin, to make up for your sin. 00:25:44.405 --> 00:25:52.565 All you can do is cry out to God for his mercy and trust in the one he has saved. 00:25:53.045 --> 00:25:59.890 And if you have done that, don't think that repentance is a once and for all act. 00:26:00.610 --> 00:26:04.690 Repentance is an ongoing work, isn't it? 00:26:05.090 --> 00:26:06.770 Because we still sin. 00:26:07.090 --> 00:26:09.485 We still struggle with our sin. 00:26:09.485 --> 00:26:14.205 Believers are those who have repented and keep on repenting. 00:26:15.165 --> 00:26:17.645 Have we dealt with our sin? 00:26:18.205 --> 00:26:26.930 Now that brings us back to the vineyard Here in Luke chapter 13, he also spoke this parable. 00:26:26.930 --> 00:26:33.410 A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 00:26:33.650 --> 00:26:41.165 Then he said to the keeper of the vineyard, look for three years, I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. 00:26:41.405 --> 00:26:42.365 Cut it down. 00:26:42.605 --> 00:26:44.445 Why does it use up the ground? 00:26:44.765 --> 00:26:54.210 But he answered and said to him, sir, let it alone this year also until I dig it around and fertilize it or put manure on it. 00:26:54.290 --> 00:26:59.810 And if it bears fruit, well, but if not, after that, you can cut it down. 00:27:01.250 --> 00:27:05.775 What lessons do we learn from this parable? 00:27:06.095 --> 00:27:14.015 First of all, I suggest it pictures for us that God comes looking for fruit. 00:27:14.895 --> 00:27:18.895 God comes to us looking for fruit. 00:27:19.700 --> 00:27:26.420 He comes looking to see, is there the fruit of repentance? 00:27:27.460 --> 00:27:31.860 And maybe he comes and he finds no fruit. 00:27:32.500 --> 00:27:39.355 Maybe he comes again the following year and he finds no fruit. 00:27:40.075 --> 00:27:50.340 Maybe he's been year after year after year and has found no fruit. 00:27:50.980 --> 00:28:02.260 John the Baptist, when he saw the pharisees and the sadducees coming to his baptism, brood of vipers, he said, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 00:28:02.875 --> 00:28:07.515 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance. 00:28:08.475 --> 00:28:13.515 Jesus preached, the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. 00:28:13.515 --> 00:28:17.435 Repent and believe in the in the in the gospel. 00:28:19.100 --> 00:28:42.315 And again Paul taught in Acts 17: Truly these times of ignorance God overlooked but now commands all men everywhere to repent because he has appointed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained, and he has given assurance of this to all by raising him from the dead. 00:28:42.555 --> 00:28:49.530 Notice the connection between repentance and the day of judgement. 00:28:50.170 --> 00:29:02.935 On that day when Christ judges, only those who have truly repented and those who are trusting in him as a saviour will enter into heaven. 00:29:03.895 --> 00:29:14.930 God is searching, he's searching through us to see are there any signs of fruit of repentance? 00:29:15.330 --> 00:29:19.810 I wonder if God finds that in us this morning. 00:29:21.090 --> 00:29:35.175 The second thing we have here is that God, though he searches us and may not find fruit of repentance today, is a God of mercy. 00:29:36.135 --> 00:29:38.535 And this is such a sweet thing. 00:29:39.095 --> 00:29:42.750 God is a God of mercy. 00:29:44.990 --> 00:29:51.470 He says that the man who owned the vineyard said to the gardener, dig it around, or pull it out. 00:29:51.470 --> 00:29:52.270 It's no good. 00:29:52.270 --> 00:29:53.070 He says, no. 00:29:53.070 --> 00:29:54.510 I'm going to dig it around. 00:29:54.510 --> 00:29:59.035 I'm going to fertilize it and then come back next year. 00:30:00.715 --> 00:30:09.275 Now perhaps this, for some, is speaking of the the ministry of Jesus, the three years, the three year ministry of Jesus. 00:30:09.810 --> 00:30:15.730 And there may be something in that, but I'm not sure what the fourth year would indicate. 00:30:16.130 --> 00:30:21.410 But I think what we learn here is that when God comes and find... 00:30:21.730 --> 00:30:31.295 Finds no repentance, he shows mercy, and he comes again and again and again. 00:30:31.295 --> 00:30:35.375 I grew up in England. 00:30:35.455 --> 00:30:36.335 You can you can... 00:30:36.335 --> 00:30:36.975 You know that. 00:30:36.975 --> 00:30:37.855 You can tell that. 00:30:37.855 --> 00:30:42.070 Just outside Luton in a village. 00:30:42.870 --> 00:31:17.630 Our church wasn't as grand as this, it was someone's house and we sat in their front room and they had a morning service and an evening service and the evening service was very much a gospel message and I sat there Sunday by Sunday with my two mates on the sofa at the back of the house listening, and I heard the gospel and the call to come to repentance, and I never responded. 00:31:18.510 --> 00:31:21.395 The following week, I never responded. 00:31:21.475 --> 00:31:36.100 You may be the same, you've heard the gospel again and again and again and there was a day when you responded and you came and believed and trusted in the saviour and hallelujah for that. 00:31:36.100 --> 00:31:48.260 But maybe you've been here for many many years and you've heard the minister pleading week in week out and you're still unsaved. 00:31:48.260 --> 00:31:49.780 God is merciful. 00:31:50.315 --> 00:31:58.475 He's given you an opportunity again and again and again. 00:32:00.635 --> 00:32:10.500 But the third lesson we surely learn from this is that God's mercy runs out. 00:32:11.220 --> 00:32:14.420 God's mercy runs out. 00:32:15.300 --> 00:32:18.500 We don't know what happened the next year. 00:32:18.885 --> 00:32:22.485 Did the barren fig tree produce figs? 00:32:22.805 --> 00:32:24.085 Was it saved? 00:32:24.325 --> 00:32:28.485 Did it carry on for the next few years producing fruit? 00:32:28.485 --> 00:32:29.845 We don't know, do we? 00:32:30.485 --> 00:32:37.650 What we are told is if there wasn't, it would be dug up and thrown out. 00:32:39.250 --> 00:32:43.330 God's mercy does run out. 00:32:44.290 --> 00:32:50.695 And don't think that, well, I know someone, He was a bit like the thief on the cross. 00:32:50.775 --> 00:32:51.975 He came to the Lord. 00:32:51.975 --> 00:32:55.975 He came to repentance and faith right before he died. 00:32:55.975 --> 00:32:57.255 That's what I'm going to do. 00:32:59.970 --> 00:33:01.410 Don't think like that. 00:33:01.970 --> 00:33:07.970 This very passage tells us that life comes to an end unexpectedly. 00:33:09.010 --> 00:33:16.145 You might be involved in some sort of atrocity, and you never get that opportunity to cry out for salvation. 00:33:17.025 --> 00:33:23.985 You could be walking down the road and some building collapses on you, and you haven't had chance to cry out. 00:33:24.385 --> 00:33:26.465 You're taken in a moment, in an instant. 00:33:28.190 --> 00:33:32.510 You could have medical issues and you're dead before you hit the floor. 00:33:32.510 --> 00:33:34.510 You haven't got that opportunity. 00:33:34.830 --> 00:33:40.190 God's mercy should not be depended on. 00:33:43.225 --> 00:33:45.065 Today is the day of salvation. 00:33:45.065 --> 00:33:50.345 Today is the day that we should get right with God and deal with our sin. 00:33:50.345 --> 00:33:57.545 We should not boast about tomorrow for we do not know what a day brings forth. 00:33:59.680 --> 00:34:21.095 As we close, this morning, I trust that I'm speaking to people who have dealt with their sin, who have seen that they are the worst of sinners and have come to believe and trust in the Lord Jesus, God's only method of salvation. 00:34:21.095 --> 00:34:24.135 He is the only one who is able to save us. 00:34:24.135 --> 00:34:40.090 This morning we are rejoicing that we are part of that great harvest of souls that God has gathered out of this world and will bring us safely to his heavenly, heavenly barn, his home. 00:34:40.570 --> 00:34:44.145 And we know the Lord is our saviour. 00:34:45.185 --> 00:34:55.105 God is merciful and everyone who is a believer today is a token of God's mercy, but God's mercy can run out. 00:34:55.105 --> 00:34:59.970 Don't, don't tempt the mercy of God. 00:34:59.970 --> 00:35:04.370 Seek the Lord today and be wonderfully saved. 00:35:04.850 --> 00:35:05.330 Amen. 00:35:05.330 --> 00:35:09.970 May God add his blessing to the preaching of his word. 00:35:09.970 --> 00:35:10.690 We're going