Spoken at SGBC
11-9-97
Luke #105
13:1-9
Unless You Repent
(The necessity and urgency of repentance.)
(Luke 13:1-9 NASB) Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. {2} And He answered and said to them, "Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered this fate? {3} "I tell you, NO, but UNLESS YOU REPENT, you will all likewise perish. {4} "Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? {5} "I tell you, NO, but UNLESS YOU REPENT, you will all likewise perish." {6} And He began telling this parable: "A certain man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he CAME LOOKING FOR FRUIT on it, and did not find any. {7} "And he said to the vineyard-keeper, 'Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?' {8} "And he answered and said to him, 'Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; {9} and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.'"
From the very beginning of our Savior's ministry He preached repentance. Matthew records these words, (Matthew 4:16-17 NASB) "THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW A GREAT LIGHT, AND TO THOSE WHO WERE SITTING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH, UPON THEM A LIGHT DAWNED." {17} From that time Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." In chapters twelve and thirteen of Luke's gospel we have a wonderful example of how Jesus went about calling people to repentance. In chapter twelve He says examine yourselves. Are you a good steward? Does your light shine? Are you dressed in he robes of Christ's righteousness or not? Are you ready for Christ's second return? If not, you best get ready for Christ will come when you least expect it. He goes on in verses fifty four and following to advise immediate repentance. You are on your way to Judgement Hall, says Jesus. You would be wise to settle with your accuser before you get there. Admit your crimes, your sins against God and seek His forgiveness now. "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." When you stand before the judge it will be too late. At that point the law you have broken will demand your eternal death and that law will be satisfied. You will be cast into hell forever separate from the Father. This is the second death from which there is no resurrection.
What we take as our text today is a continuation of Christ's call to repentance. Before we continue lets make certain we understand what is meant when the bible speaks of repentance.
The repentance that leads to salvation consists of a true sense of one's own guilt and sinfulness. A person thus convicted of his sin adds his amen to what God says he is, a guilty hell deserving sinner. The repentant person actually and really hates sin in general and his sins in particular, (Psalms 119:128 Job 42:5,6 2 Corinthians 7:10). The person to whom repentance has been granted has also been made aware of God's mercy in Christ and is now moved by the Holy Spirit to repent or turn from sin to God by faith in Jesus Christ the Lord. This sinner, now a Christian, continues to turn from sin and to practice love toward God and his neighbor all the days of his life. This is repentance unto life eternal. This is the repentance Jesus preached and calls all men to. Now let us consider the words of our text more closely.
(Luke 13:1-5 NASB) Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. {2} And He answered and said to them, "Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered this fate? {3} "I tell you, NO, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. {4} "Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? {5} "I tell you, NO, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."
What an ancient idea this is. I speak of the belief that those who suffer great catastrophe or disease must be great sinners. This is a very old doctrine that has many modern day adherents. There are those living today who teach the same lie. If you are poor or sick or die suddenly in a car wreck, a flood, hurricane or plane crash, you were obviously being punished by God for sin in your life. You sinned in some gross way that the rest of humanity has, for the moment, managed to avoid. All men sin but those who die or suffer in extreme our unusual ways have really SINNED!
Jobs friends had this idea in their heads when he was being tested and purified by the Lord. Again and again they argued that he must have sinned against God or these horrible things would not have come upon him. Yet God says at the outset of the book that Job was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil. Job experienced many terrible and personal tragedies but THEY WERE NOT PUNISHMENTS. They were not the result of some particular sin he had committed. They were the means by which God would further sanctify the brother, bring glory to Himself, and teach untold millions much truth about God, Satan and man.
When we turn to the new testament we find that the Jews believed the exact same thing that Job's friends did. Look with me at John 9:1-3 NASB) "And as He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. {2} And His disciples (Jews) asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?" {3} Jesus answered, "It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was in order that the works of God might be displayed in him." In other words this mans blindness, like all other illnesses have as their ultimate goal the glory and purpose of God. They are some of the "All things" He has designed and ordained for our good and His glory.
I recently heard a modern day and popular preacher say that God the Holy Spirit will not dwell in a sick, crippled, or blind person. So, if you want the Holy Spirit you best repent of your sin and be healed. Then, but only then, will you be a suitable temple for God to live in. This is a cruel lie with no Biblical support whatever. The truth is that sickness and trouble and death come to all men from God for the good of His elect people and for His own glory.
Jesus knew that the Jews believed those who were killed by Pilate must have done something horrible. He knew that they believed the same thing about those who had died recently in the tower collapse at the pool of Siloam. These must have been really nasty sinners for God to have done such a thing to them. Sinners they were but were they more sinful than the members of the crowd to which He was speaking?
Twice Jesus says NO! You are wrong in your thinking. Those people were exactly like you. They needed to repent of their sin and unless you repent you will perish just like they did. Ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters we must remember that, "It is appointed unto men once to die and then the judgement." Why? "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." God's word declares that "The soul that sins must die." Jesus is saying that all men stand before God as guilty, hell deserving sinners. There is no distinction between one sinner and the other. God has ordained that the Pilates in this world kill, at times, the slightly wicked, the grossly wicked, and the righteous as well. Buildings fall on all kinds of people. In the rubble of the collapsed structure you will find the slightly wicked, the terribly wicked and the blood bought children of God. All men die by disease or catastrophe. All men die because all are under the curse of sin. The godliest man on earth may die of the most terrible of cancer. The sweetest Christian lady on earth may be maimed and murdered by evil wicked men. The manner of a mans death is no reflection of his relationship with God! I will go a bit further and say that disease and suffering are often the norm for the godliest on earth. This is by the design of God for His glory not our punishment. (I do not deny that God corrects His people with disease at times only that this is not the exclusive use God makes of disease and suffering. We will address correction by disease at another time.)
In chapter twelve Jesus called on the Jews to analyze themselves and the age they were living as accurately as they analyzed the weather. But they could not discover the truth about themselves or the Messiah who stood before them. They were spiritually blind and deaf.
Their blindness to truth is evident again in today's scriptures. The Jews believed they were better related to God than those who died in the two catastrophes. Jesus again says NO, "You are not better than they were. All men are sinners. All must and will die in one way or another. All must repent or perish." By perish He speaks of leaving this life without having made peace with God through faith in Himself. Jesus calls for immediate repentance. For Pilate might come and kill them tomorrow. The temple might collapse on them today. There is an urgency in Christ's call to repentance lest they pass into eternity unprepared. I pray that the Spirit of God will impress you with that same urgency and understanding.
The Savior brings in another illustration to help make His point. (Luke 13:6-9 NASB) And He began telling this parable: "A certain man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it, and did not find any. {7} "And he said to the vineyard-keeper, 'Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?' {8} "And he answered and said to him, 'Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; {9} and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.'"
Before we take a look at this most FORTUNATE FIG TREE, let me remind you of a fig tree not nearly so privileged.
(Matthew 21:18-20 NASB) Now in the morning, when He returned to the city, He became hungry. {19} And seeing a lone fig tree BY THE ROAD, He came to it, and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He said to it, "No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you." And at once the fig tree withered. {20} And seeing this, the disciples marveled, saying, "How did the fig tree wither at once?"
One tree lives by the road with no one to care for it another in the midst of a vineyard with a Gardner to tend to its every need. Their environments could not have been more different but they do some things in common. That commonality is first of all fruitlessness. Both trees were barren and useless. Second they are both pictures of sinners pretending to be something they are not. Both of them stand tall and display their leaves so as to look like healthy fruitful trees. Yet they are fruitless, neither of them are Christian. Neither of them bear the fruit of faith and repentance toward God for salvation. The one on the road side is typical of sinners outside the Church. The other, the one that lives in the vineyard, represents the unconverted sinner who practices religion in the local Church. How do I come to this conclusion? I do so by understanding what the vineyard represents in scripture. Lets dwell on this for a moment.
Israel is spoken of in the Old Testament as God's vineyard and He is the vine dresser. Hear the word of the Lord.
(Psalms 80:8-14 NASB) Thou didst remove a vine from Egypt; Thou didst drive out the nations, and didst plant it. {9} Thou didst clear the ground before it, And it took deep root and filled the land. {10} The mountains were covered with its shadow; And the cedars of God with its boughs. {11} It was sending out its branches to the sea, And its shoots to the River. {12} Why hast Thou broken down its hedges, So that all who pass that way pick its fruit? {13} A boar from the forest eats it away, And whatever moves in the field feeds on it. {14} O God of hosts, turn again now, we beseech Thee; Look down from heaven and see, and take care of this vine . . ." This vine or vineyard is Israel! Consider also Isaiah 5:2-4 NASB. "And He dug it all around, removed its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. And He built a tower in the middle of it, And hewed out a wine vat in it; Then He expected it to produce good grapes, But it produced only worthless ones. {3} "And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge between Me and My vineyard. {4} "What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless ones?" It is clear that God's vineyard in the Old Testament is Israel and it is clear that she was not fruitful. That is, most in the vineyard were not true children of God for they did not produce the fruit of faith and repentance toward God and the promised Messiah.
In the New Testament we discover that the real and physical nation Israel foreshadowed the real and true SPIRITUAL ISRAEL. This Israel has nothing to do with ancestry or blood but is made up of believers from every nation under the sun. The true children of Abraham or the true citizens of the nation Israel or the fruitful plants in God's vineyard are those who have faith like Abraham's faith in God and the Messiah, (See Romans chapter nine.). These true plants bear good and holy fruit. These make up the true nation of Israel, the true vineyard, the true church of God.
The figurative fruitless fig tree portrays an unsaved person living in the vineyard with the true people of God. In the Old Testament economy this would have been a very privileged person. As God blessed his people, cultivated and watered them those who were not His people but living among them would be blessed in many ways. The person in that vineyard would have no excuse if he produced no fruit of faith and obedience to God. For Israel had the law and the prophets of God. Therefore he or she had every opportunity to repent and believe the truth.
How much more is this true of the person who lives in the vineyard, the Church, after the coming of Jesus. For the church today has in its possession the completed word of God. All in the church are dug around and fertilized by the preaching of the Gospel. The unbeliever who has planted himself in the local church is irrigated by the water of life by the word of God. By association he is a partaker of the blessings God bestows on His real people. He or she is under the influence of the means of grace God has put in place for the salvation and sanctification of His sheep. This person is above all others in history without excuse if the vine dresser does not find the fruit of faith and repentance in his life. He will have nothing to say when he is chopped down and cast into the fire.
The fig tree in our Lord's illustration represents the many hundreds of thousands of people who have lived and do now live in and around the local Church. They have had Christian parents and have been saturated with Gospel truths. The pastor has dug around them to loosen and fertilize the ground again and again but still there is no fruit of repentance and faith. The pastor, the church members and the parents, have prayed for the mercy and patience of God. To date, in your case, He has waited. Three years for some many years for others. The warning is this. When the time of God's patience is up He will come and the day of grace will be past. Perhaps a modern Pilate will kill you or maybe a building will collapse and take your life. The counsel of our Lord and Savior is this. Do not think yourself better than the "sinners" you see dying of aids, cancer and by catastrophe. Rather, understand this, you are about to go the way of all men. You are about to die. You are a sinner and unless you repent you will be sent away from the presence of God forever. This is the second death.
Just living in the vineyard will not fool the vine dresser or the vineyard owner. The practice of religion without repentance and faith toward God through Jesus Christ is hypocrisy. This will not fool God or His Christ. Your leaves of religion will be pulled back and the truth will be seen. There must be the fruit of repentance or you will be chopped down and cast into the fires of hell itself. Look with me at Matthew 3:7-12 NASB.
"But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? {8} "Therefore bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance; {9} and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our father'; for I say to you, that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. {10} "And the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. {11} "As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. {12} "And His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
Religion is a wonderful thing for the Christian. It is a means of grace to us. It is the way we worship and follow and honor our God and Redeemer. Living in the vineyard for the believer is like heaven on earth. He pulls nutrients from the ground that make him grow in grace and knowledge. Every true vine or tree bears the fruit of repentance and faith toward Jesus Christ for salvation. But that is not all. He goes on to bear the fruit of ever increasing holiness and faith until at last he finds that in thought, word and practice he is like Jesus Himself. Living in vineyard is a wonderful privilege for the Christian.
And what good does living in the vineyard do the hypocrite? It will do him or her the greatest good if they will but turn from their pretense to true faith in Jesus. But if not, it will increase their condemnation day to day as they hear more of God's truth and continue to reject it. You see a sinner does not need new behaviors, he needs a new heart. For a sinner to put on religion without faith is like a filthy man putting on clean clothes. He looks better but it is all camouflage. He is not really clean. Christianity is a religion of the heart first then it is one of outward practice. Until the heart is changed the practice of religion is hypocrisy at best. The evidence that one has obtained a new heart from God is the fruit of repentance and faith in Jesus. I pray that many who hear will head the Savior's counsel and repent of their sins to trust at last in His blood and righteousness for the salvation of their souls. All who come to Him will be made true, fruit bearing members of God's vineyard, the Church of Jesus Christ.