Take your Bibles with me and turn to Luke 13. Luke 13. We are going to look at just a couple of verses this morning, that go along with some of the verses we looked at last week.

Let's go ahead and read verses 1-9, but our focus this morning is going to be on verses 6-9.

[!bible] Luke 13:1-9 - KJV

1. There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
2. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?
3. I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
4. Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?
5. I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
6. He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none.
7. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?
8. And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it:
9. And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.

I preached on verses 1-5 as part of last week's message. Let me quickly review:

The people were all thinking about this recent event - where Pilate killed a bunch of worshipers in the Temple. Jesus reminded them of another recent tragedy, when a tower fell on people and 18 people were killed.

To the jewish mind, bad things happened to bad people. So they thought "these must have been terrible people to have these things happen to them." And Jesus said "No. That's not how it works at all. In fact, you are all going to perish if you do not repent."

And I told you last week, "repent" means "to think again" - it is a change of mind that results in a change of action. I told you that people need to change their mind about their:

• Bad ideas about their sinful condition.
• Bad ideas about their own righteousness and ability to save themselves.
• Bad ideas about who Jesus was and what He came to do.
• Bad ideas about following Christ.

So Jesus is urging the people to repent. To change their mind. To stop trusting in their own works and their own system and start trusting in Him and Him alone. God's true plan for Salvation.

And to sort of ramp up the pressure, Jesus gave us this parable of a fig tree in a vineyard.

Now right away, you might think. "That is strange. A fig tree in a vineyard?? Aren't vineyards for growing grapes?"

And you aren't totally wrong. It does sound strange to us, but it wouldn't be strange to them. The land and climate in Israel is particularly good for growing fruit and nuts - it's extremely similar to California in that regard and the people of the middle east love to eat figs. It wasn't uncommon for farmers to have fig trees in their vineyards.

In fact, there are a couple of verses that talk about grapes and figs growing together in the Old Testament.

But why would a farmer plant a fig tree in the middle of his precious farm? Why do farmers plant anything? They want results. They want fruit.

The vineyard would have been in their best soil. Putting a fig tree in the middle meant they were taking up some of their best soil. This tree wasn't in the middle of an orchard or a forest - it it was in a vineyard, where it didn't have to compete for the sun from other trees and where it probably stopped the vines below it from getting sun.

So the fig tree was given a privileged position.

If that fig tree isn't producing fruit, it is taking up space where grape vines could produce fruit. But fruit is the whole point. He didn't plant the tree to look at it, he planted it so he could sell the fruit to the fig newton people.

But here is the thing - this fig tree - it wasn't producing any fruit. The farmer came three years in a row looking for fruit - and three years in a row he got nothing. It's a useless tree. It's not fulfilling its purpose.

So the farmer says to his vinedresser - cut it down. Again, he's not some conservationist. He's a farmer. That tree is costing him money and it isn't doing what it is supposed to. Cut it down.

But the vinedresser says "Let's give it one more year. Let's try somethings. I want to try digging around it and putting some manure on it, and if we don't get fruit next year, then we'll cut it down." And the farmer agrees.

And that is where the parable ends, it just kind of leaves us hanging.

Why? Because Jesus wants us to ask ourselves: What happened to the tree? Did it bear fruit or didn't it? And more importantly—what about us?

Now, I have three points for you this morning as we consider what this little parable means. Before I get into them, let's pray and ask God's blessing on the message today.

Pray.

The first thing I think we learn in this passage is:

1. God expects His people to bear fruit.

I think that is the main and obvious point here. God is the farmer in this parable, and He expect fruit from those He allows to be in His vineyard.

So what does that mean?

Well, I think this parable is primarily about Israel, but that it also has application for us.

So what fruit was God looking for out of Israel? He was looking for them to change their mind about who they were and to accept Jesus as the Messiah. He was looking for a national repentance.

Now, God had been looking for this fruit from the nation of Israel for thousands of years at this point. Most of the Old Testament is the story of God working with Israel, trying to bring them to a fruitful state.

In fact, several of the prophets talked about how God was working on Israel and either compared Israel to a barren vine or a barren fig tree.

Let me just read one passage to you. It's in the book of Jeremiah chapter 24.

God gave Jeremiah a vision of two baskets of figs sitting in front of the temple—one basket had good figs, the other had rotten figs (or what our KJV calls "naughty figs") that couldn't be eaten. Then God explained what the vision meant. I'll start reading in verse 2

[!bible] Jeremiah 24:2-10 - KJV 2. One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad. 3. Then said the LORD unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil. 4. Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 5. Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good. 6. For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up. 7. And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart. 8. And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil; surely thus saith the LORD, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt: 9. And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them. 10. And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers.

God had said through His prophets to Israel - you are my fig tree and I'm looking for good fruit. Specifically, I want you to know me and follow me with your whole heart.

But Israel didn't do that. They didn't produce that national fruit.

So that is the primary application of God looking for fruit here - it is Israel - but there is also a broader application and it applies to us.

Now, that was Israel's situation. But here's the thing—God still expects fruit from His people today. We're not ancient Israel, but we are God's people, and He's still looking for the same kind of fruit: repentance, wholehearted worship, and Spirit-produced character.

What kind of fruit does God want us to grow? Well, I think just like Israel, God wants us to repent of our false beliefs and accept Jesus as our Savior.

That's the first fruit He is after.

And just like Israel God wants us to worship Him with our whole heart, He wants us to have "a heart to know" Him and to be His people.

He wants us to live in His word, to commune with Him in prayer, and worship Him in His congregation. Not just to go through the motions, but to really do this to know and worship God better.

And as we know God, God wants to work out fruit in our life - the fruit of the Spirit.

[!bible] Galatians 5:22-23 - KJV 22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23. Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

God is after fruit from His people. God wants to see us grow in fruitfulness. He wants to produce character in us that reflects Him—that's what the fruit of the Spirit is all about

So, the question is: are you a fruitful Christian?

First, are you a Christian at all? Have you trusted Christ as your savior. Have you repented of the bad idea that you can save yourself, or that you really aren't that bad, and put your faith in Christ alone?

If you are a Christian, are you living for Jesus. Do you have "a heart to know God?" Are you growing in the fruits of the Spirit?

That's what God is after. He is after fruit and He has a right to expect us to bear fruit. He has put us in a privileged position in His church, as His people, and we should be fruitful.

There is a second thing we can see from this little parable of the fig tree and that is...

2. God in His mercy, gives us special attention and patience so we will bear fruit.

Now in this parable, God the Father represents the farmer or the owner of the vineyard. But who is this vine-dresser? This represents Christ.

The owner, or God the Father, represents God's justice. The vine-dresser, or God the Son, represents God's mercy.

Notice that the vine-dresser begs the owner to give the tree more time. Not to cut it down yet. He intercedes for the tree.

This dynamic between owner and vinedresser shows us something crucial about God's character—He is both just and merciful. And notice: His mercy is expressed through the intercession of Christ.

[!bible] 2 Peter 3:9 - KJV 9. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

God is a patient God. He is made even more patient through the interceding work of Jesus Christ and all of us are living in His mercy.

But what did that mercy look like? It wasn't just more time. How was the vine-dresser going to get the tree to bear more fruit?

The parable says by digging around it and dunging it. I think there is a lesson for us there.

Remember, God wants His people to bear fruit. God has a right to expect His people to bear fruit. And when we don't bear fruit, God does things in our life to bring us to a fruit bearing state.

He digs about our life. In other words, He brings disruption.

The New Testament is very clear about this: one of the main ways that God grows us as His people is through trials.

[!bible] James 1:2-4 - KJV 2. My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3. Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

God brings us disruption so we learn to exercise our faith and grow in Him. He digs up around our life.

That seems kind of violent. It seems messy. But it is necessary for growth and for fruit bearing.

Some of you might feel like your life is all dug up right now, and it isn't fun at all, but it may be God's way of preparing you to bear more fruit.

But there is a second thing the farmer did in this parable. He didn't just dig around the tree, he also dunged the tree. Or he spread manure on it.

Some of you are like, you are describing my life right now, everything around me is a mess and it smells like manure.

Well, maybe God is doing all that to get you to bear fruit. Maybe it isn't punishment, but an act of mercy that God is breaking through your normal.

So how does God "dung" our life? Remember what the purpose of manure is in farming: it is fertilizer. It is giving extra nutrients to the plant.

And I think God gives us that through His word . God digs up around our life, and then gives us the Word and that gives us what we need to bear fruit for Him.

Listen, if you are going through trials right now, if your life seems topsy turvy. You don't need to withdraw from the word and from church. You need more of it. God may be trying to bring about some fruit in your life through this, and you need the nutrients that come from God's word as you go through trials.

So, let's review:

1. God is after fruit in His people.
2. God in His mercy, gives us special attention and patience so we will bear fruit.

Let me give you one more point from this little parable:

3. God's mercy does not last forever, and those who do not bear fruit for Him will be judged.

Now remember, the primary audience of this little parable is the nation of Israel.

It's interesting that the farmer checked for three years, and Jesus at this point was about three years into His earthly ministry to Israel.

And they weren't fruitful. As a nation, they were still rejecting Christ. We know that, as a nation, they said "give us Barabas" and "crucify Him."

And God in His mercy gave them more time. For forty years after the resurrection, God did an amazing work in Jerusalem among the jewish people through the church.

But if you know your history, you know something very terrible happened to Israel in 70AD. The Romans had finally had enough of the jew's rebellion and more importantly, God had had enough of their fruitlessness - so God used the Romans and they came in and just totally destroyed the place and carried the people awaay.

Not only did they destroy the city, but they also destroyed the Temple, the center of Judaism. To this day there is no Temple in Jerusalem.

You can go there and you might see a big religious building, but that isn't the temple. That is a mosque. The Jews just meet outside the ruins of the old Temple and pray at what is called "the wailing wall."

Not only did the Romans destroy the Temple, but they destroyed their records too. That is very important to Judaism. Their genealogical records were destroyed. Without those records, no one can prove Levitical decent for priests and no one can prove Davidic decent for a claim to be the Messiah.

Basically, that act ended biblical Judaism. God had had enough, and God cut down that fig tree.

Now I believe that God is not done with the people of Israel, that God will bring them back together in the end days. But for all intents and purposes, the tree of the nation of Israel as a religious people has been cut down.

And what does this mean for us? We aren't Israel, but we can learn the lesson here.

God's mercy isn't forever.

As Paul put it in Romans 11:21

[!bible] Romans 11:21 - KJV 21. For if God spared not the natural branches (Israel), take heed lest he also spare not thee.

God expects fruit from us just as He expected fruit from Israel, and if we do not produce it, then we too can face God's judgment.

Some of you are false professors. You come to church, but you've never come to Christ. There is no fruit in your life. God has been merciful to you in giving you more time, but that mercy will not last forever. Come to Christ before it is too late and you face His judgment for eternity.

And some of you are genuine Christians, you have trusted Christ, but your life isn't bearing fruit. God will bring discipline into your life to make you bear fruit and if that doesn't work, He may take you home early.

But we cannot assume that we get to be a fruitless tree in God's garden forever.

I want to close this morning with four points I found in a commentary that were written by a man named William Barclay. Here are the four things he said about this passage:

• Uselessness invites disaster.
• If something only takes, it cannot survive.
• God gives second chances
• There is a final chance.

Thank God for His mercy in giving us second chances - but at some point, our chance will be our last chance.

Let's stand for prayer.