Luke 13, beginning in verse 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. 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 cometh it the ground? And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also until I shall dig about it and dung it. And if it bear fruit well, and if not, then after that thou shall cut it down. We will stop there with that reading. I'm preaching on the subject tonight. He never gave up on me. He never gave up on me. My mother and father's here tonight. They're just one of us, aren't they now? And dad always taught us growing up in Bible study. And when you're studying your Bible, you do two or three things. First of all, you find out who's talking, who they're talking to, and the settings surrounding it. So we know here that the words in red, if your Bible doesn't have the words in red, this is Jesus speaking. And he's speaking here in the synagogues. And he's teaching to those that are around him. And as he's giving this parable, He prefaces that with something that they came up to him and just surprised him and gave him this question and told him this story. And I just want to share what happens to get us up to this point. They came to him in verse 1, and they told him about these Galileans. And they said, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. Pilate did something awful. He took these Galileans, took their blood, and mingled it with the blood of the sacrifice. And Jesus answering said unto them, suppose ye, these Galileans were sinners above all Galileans, because they suffered such things? Meaning, were these worse off than any other Galileans? And then he goes on in verse 4 telling about those with the Tower of Siloam that fell on them and slew them He said they were think they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem He was telling them in is there one sin worse than another And so many times and I've heard people when tragedies happen They'll say well wonder what happened to them that that tragic thing happened listen Jesus will we have a shadow here of salvation with works and Jesus puts that to rest and say no Salvation isn't dependent upon works unless you repent you shall all likewise perish Regardless of how good or how bad you are all have sinned to come short of the glory of God haven't they? There's none righteous. No, not one and unless we all repent we shall to perish everyone under the sound of my voice regardless of in your 80s If you're a middle-aged or you're young enough to know right from wrong and you have reached the age of accountability, every one of us must repent and ask the Lord into our heart. He said it doesn't matter if they were a bad sinner or a good sinner, it's all sin. They had to repent in order to be saved. And then he goes right into this parable about a fig tree. And before we go on, we have to really understand what are the main characters or what are the main subject in this parable. First of all, we have a certain man or the owner of the vineyard. I believe that is representation of God himself. And then we have the dresser or the keeper of the vineyard. I believe that is Jesus Christ or the Holy Spirit. And then we also have a fig tree. Fig tree, I believe, represents us. So if we look at this passage of scripture again, let's put those in perspective and read that again. A certain man, God, had a fig tree, us, planted in his vineyard. He came and sought fruit thereon and found none. Then said he unto the Lord, or to Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the dresser of his vineyard, behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on these people, on this fig tree, and find none. Cut it down, cometh it the ground. And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year till I shall dig about it and dung it. The representation here, we'll get into it just a little bit more, but it's simply this. God was looking into his vineyard. He saw a fig tree. Who's that represent? He saw a fig tree that was not producing fruit. For three years they were not producing fruit. And he said, just cut it down. There's no use for it anymore. But the Lord looked at him and said, I'm not giving up on this one. Hallelujah. Just give it to me one more year. I'm not going to give up. Aren't you thankful tonight that He never gave up on you? We all deserve the hell tonight, but thank God the Holy Spirit, Jesus looked at us and said, I see something inside that they don't even see within themselves. Hallelujah. Aren't you thankful He never gave up on us? Three things tonight and we'll go home. First of all, look at the maturity. The maturity. He said, three years I come looking for fruit and I find none. He went the first year, no fruit. Second year, no fruit. The third year, no fruit. Then by this time there should be fruit on this fig tree. Maybe he chalked it up to himself on the first year. Maybe some storms happened on the second year. Maybe that's why. But here on the third year, something should be produced from this fig tree. It's been in the vineyard long enough to produce something, but yet it was not producing anything. Some of you have been here longer than three years, and you still haven't produced a thing. You've been here long enough. Three years is just an arbitrary number. It represents a season or a space of time. And listen, some of you, I've been coming here for 13 years now, and some of you I have never heard the first testimony of your conversion experience. I don't even know from your own personal experience if you're even saved or not. That's how long it's been since I've heard you say that you're saved. Listen, what's that tell you? You can be sitting in a vineyard, getting sun, getting nourishment, but you still may not be producing anything. You've been here long enough. You should be able to produce something. And the fruit of a Christian is another Christian. Amen. This is good preaching. Hallelujah. He said it's taking up space. It's not fruitful. Just cut it down. Three years. No change. Three years. Haven't brought anyone to Jesus. Three years. You're still not faithful to church. Three years. You still ain't coming to Sunday school. Three years. You know, that's what frustrates pastors and leaders, is the fact that we pour in And yet you don't produce. Three years we've been trying to get an Amen out of you. Haven't got it. Three years, no praise. Three years, no tithing. Three years, no working. Three years, no testimony. God looks at the fig tree that's not producing anything, and He says, cut it down. It's taken up space. And that frustrated me. And as I was reading this, I thought, We all deserve to be cut down. There are times in our life when we don't produce like we should. And God really, if He wanted to, He could not extend mercy and grace and extend justice, and we could be cut down to be used no more. And so I got to looking and I thought, well, that's what frustrates me, Lord. I see these people and we pour our lives into them and it seems like they should be producing more. And God says your focus is on the wrong thing. I said, what do you mean, Lord? He said, look at that verse again. Read it again. And I said, what do you want me to see? He said, read it again. I said, a certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard. He said, stop. What did you just read? I said, a certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard. He said, where was it at? I said, a vineyard. He said, exactly. That's not the only fig tree. He said, you're focusing on the ones that aren't growing anything. But yet there are other fig trees that are producing something. They're getting the same sun. They're getting the same nourishment. They're getting the same rain. And they're producing something. Why are you focused on the ones that aren't producing anything? He said, that's not your problem. And I said, what do you mean, Lord? He said, no, the problem isn't the owner of the vineyard. The problem isn't the dresser of the vineyard. The problem is in the tree. So you know what? It's my responsibility to throw the seed, right? It's our responsibility as pastors to throw the seed. And I care about you, but you know what? I'm only responsible for myself. And I care about you and I love you, but as long as I do my best and my hands are clean with God, the responsibility is on you to start growing and start producing. Somebody say, Amen. I'm busy preaching right there. The maturity. The maturity. Now, notice with me the maintenance. The maintenance. The tree couldn't grow, right? God said, cut it down. Jesus says, no, let it alone. Let it alone. Just give me one more year. Oh, aren't you glad God said, give me one more year on that one? Just give me one more year on that one. Let me work with him a little bit. Let me work with her a little bit. Just give me a year. Just give me a year, Lord. The tree couldn't grow. No doubt the ground was hard because He said, I want to dig it, right? Maybe some of you tonight, you can't get anywhere with God and you can't grow because the ground around you is hard. Your heart is hard. You're bitter. You're angry. Some of you are angry at people. Some of you are angry with situations. Some of you are angry with yourself. that you even got yourself in this mess. And the ground around the fig tree is hard. The only way that you're going to be able to grow and do anything is to allow the Holy Spirit to break up the foul ground of your heart. Oh, hallelujah. He said, I know, Lord, You want to cut it down, but just give me another year. Let me break up that foul ground. Let me dig around it. I don't garden. I never have. I don't have to, other people do. And when we get anything that we want or desire, it's delivered. I say praise Jesus. But my mother-in-law, she gardens, and I understand that the place where she normally gardens during the winter and early, late winter, how it gets just pale sod and the weeds start growing up. It just looks ugly. It's terrible. And I think, how in the world can anything good come out of that piece of ground? But then you get to plow. Then you get to tiller and start breaking up that fallow ground. And how a dirty old piece of ground, pale, sod, can turn into a beautiful place where it can be used to grow beautiful things. Listen, your heart is hard tonight. But listen, down deep on the inside, there's something beautiful that God sees. And He says, just give me a year. Just give me a year. I feel this tonight. Just give me a year. Let me break up the ground. And I'll show you what I can do with your heart. And he says, I'll dig it. Then he says, I'll dung it. And we all know what that is. It's fertilizer. Notice the author didn't put it in backwards, did he? He didn't say, I'll dung it first, then dig it. That wouldn't have helped. It's got to be dug first so the nutrients and the fertilizer can dig down deep and start growing and the nutrients can get into the roots to make it grow. You say, Brian, what does that have to do with me? Can we just get real with ourselves? Sometimes the things that God allows to happen in our lives, it just stinks. It's awful. It's messy. You think, Lord, why would you allow that to happen to me? You wake up one day and your life is a mess. Your life is just nasty. God tries to break up that fallow ground. The Holy Spirit tries to work on you. And you still aren't growing. So He says, I know what I'll do. I'll send something to break it. I'll send something that will reach down and dig down deep. And some of you, the problems are so deep in your heart that God's trying to break it up. And sometimes He's got to send storms in your life to help you to realize how much He loves you. and how much He desires you, and how much He doesn't want to give up on you. What once you did not appreciate, now you can praise God for it. Some of you have been through some real messes, right? Your life has been ugly. It's been messy. The things you had to face, you never want to go through again. But you can stand up and testify tonight, if I had to went through that, I want to be as close to God as I am now. I want to have grown with God like I am now. Some of you have been through disease. Some of you have been through death of family. Some of you have been through awful circumstances. And you can stand up and testify, if it wasn't for the digging, if it wasn't for the fertilizer of the Holy Spirit, I would never be where I'm at right now. Well, once you've cursed, What once you hated to go through, what once you thought, I'll never get out of this, now you're raising the hand to God. And you're not saying, why me, Lord? You're saying, thank You, Lord. Thank You, Lord. What was meant for evil, God turned it around for good. The maintenance. But notice finally the miracle. What God meant for evil, the devil meant for evil rather, God turned it around for good. And what first appeared like something that was a mess and you never get out of, God says, listen, just give it a year. Just give me a year and look at what I can do. Look at the miracle that can happen if you just let me work in your heart. I'm going to ask you again, aren't you glad God gave you another year? Aren't you glad He never gave up on you? We all deserve to be cut down and put into fire. We all deserve the judgment of God. But aren't you thankful for His grace and His mercy that looked down deep on the inside and said, there's something in there. There's a preacher in there. There's a soul winner in there. Thank God, hallelujah, there's a witness for me inside there. Let me just work within a year and see what I can do. Woo! I say praise God tonight! Aren't you glad He never gave up on you? Woo! Glory to God! I'm preaching bearing your shout tonight. Some of you just maybe got too far removed from what you used to be. I know we don't dwell on the past. But listen, just remember, just dwell in your mind a second where you was and where you are now. You deserve to have been cut down, not to be used. But thank God for the Blessed Spirit that said, I see something in her. I see something in Him. And I'm not going to give up on her. Hallelujah. Don't you ever think you've found God. He found you. He found you. You tried your best to get away from Him. But thank God He found you. And you better be glad He found you. Glory to God. The difference between those of you that are growing and not growing is that you've realized that God gave you a space of grace to repent. Your problem turned into praise. And I'll repeat it again instead of saying, why me? You said, thank God, it's me. But I noticed something as I was reading this. God said, read it real close, Brian. I did. Again, in my mind, I can't pick up too quick on stuff. So I listened to him, listened to him. And he asked me a question. He said, hey Brian, What happened to the fig tree? So I read it again. Guess what? Doesn't say. Doesn't say. He said just let it alone. I'll dig it and I'll dung it and we'll see what happens. Paraphrasing. But we never know what happens. I believe Luke, things that are in the Bible and not in the Bible are there or not there for a reason. Why? Because the miracle is up to you. The miracle is up to you. Why did He not put that in there? Because see, I've seen some people that got another year and they took advantage of it. And now they are growing and producing, doing great things. But I've also seen the flip side. They got another year and they squandered it. They took it for granted. They cursed God when bad things happened and they turned away, never to return again. That's why He didn't put it in there. Because it's up to you. What you decide to do. You as a tree have to make up your mind. Am I going to grow? Am I going to let Him work in my life? Or am I just going to sit here and die? I close, I want to tell you a story about a guy named Doug. Calvin Ray mentioned Wednesday night about the revival we had in Frederick Town, Christ the King Community Church. Five saved when he was up there on Monday night and two saved when I was there on Tuesday. Excuse me, two more saved when I was there on Tuesday. Just a very unique revival. Unlike any other we've ever been to, I think we can boldly say that. The Spirit of God was there in such a precious way. I just can't explain it. You just had to experience it. And I just could not wait to get there to preach after Calvary told me what had happened. And so I preached. And actually, to be honest, I preached this message. And I got down to the end. And I began to tell Billy Whitaker's testimony. We tell it all over the country. Hope that's okay, Bill. I never asked you, but I think it's okay. I know they didn't know who Billy Whitaker was, so I began just to tell his testimony. And I think he would be honest and say what happened in this passage of Scripture happened in his life. God brought the backhoe down on your life, didn't he, brother? Cancer through his body, you know his testimony. The backhoe came down, God started digging up that old junk that was in his past. His dad had died in an accident, working and all these things, the alcohol, the drugs, the life that he lived, and now he's got cancer. I got to find God. I told the whole story. I told him, you come into the church and you can reach out and touch the altar with your feet. You know, I was telling the whole story. Got down to the end where he got saved and gave his life to Jesus and now he's cancer free. It's probably been 14, 15 years now. And they rejoiced. And I gave the altar call. There was a few people that raised their hand and I was, one young lady I was just focused on and she would not come. I just, I tried everything to get her to come. We kept singing verses and nothing. I was like, just one more verse, one more verse. And we sang again, and I thought, well, maybe this is it. And Holy Spirit said, no, one more verse, one more verse. And all of a sudden, here comes this lady probably in her early 70s, walking down the aisle and coming and praying. I didn't know why she was there for at the time, but I saw her daughter follow her, praising God. And I assumed Mama's coming to be saved. And she was. That daughter had fasted for weeks for her mother to be saved. And she got saved. And then here comes another man down this aisle. I found out later his name is Doug. Doug knelt at the altar and the church starts going berserk. The pastor starts going berserk, which if you know the pastor, don't take much for him to do that. He leans over and says, Brian, we've been praying ten years for that man. He comes every service. Never misses. He brings his family. has never come. And he's come tonight. His name's Doug. And I walked over and the bass player got me and said, I smoked dope with that guy when we were kids. We've been praying for him. You'll never know what you preached tonight. You preached right down his alley. And I said, what are you talking about? He said he had a dad that died on a work accident. They were in construction. I said, what? He said, yeah, he said all kinds of things have happened in his life to get him to where he is now He said just like you told his own personal life So I go down and I kneel with Doug and there's a big smile on his face by time I get down there and we're all rejoicing And he said this I had to chuckle. He said the pastor is going to hate me He's been trying to get me ten years, but you got me tonight And the pastor said I ain't mad at you I I ain't mad at you. I'm rejoicing with you. You say, Brian, what's the miracle in that? Oh, you haven't noticed? God allowed that to happen to Will Whitaker 15 years ago. For us to experience it. For me to tell it 15 years later. Up in northern Ohio to a man I'd never met before in my life. To come down and almost be the exact same testimony He took advantage of the digging. He took advantage of the maintenance on his life. And now, he said, you wait till next service, Pastor. I'm bringing my whole family with me. He's got a large family. He said, I'm going to bring them all. I'm going to win them all to Jesus. See, the miracle just begins when you allow the Lord to work in your heart. Your heads are bowed tonight. Howard comes. He never gives up on us. He never gave up on you. You are here tonight for a specific reason. You're here tonight ordained by God. You've made the choice to be here. Now it's time to make the choice to come and let the Holy Spirit work in your heart. It's time for you to give your life over to Him. It's time for Him to stop trying to do this yourself. Say, Lord, I need You. I need You. How many of you could raise your hand tonight and say, Brian, I need Jesus in my life. I'm like that fig tree. I'm just producing nothing. I'm really dead and I need God to work in my life. I need to be saved. I need the Lord. Is there one tonight? Say, Brian, pray for me. Pray for me. This invitation is two-fold. This invitation for some of you that are in the vineyard, that you're just maintaining status quo. Listen, if you're not moving forward, you're moving backward. There's no standing still in this Christian life. Ask yourself this question, am I as close to God today as I was a year ago? If you're not, it's time to bump these altars and say, Lord, I'm the problem. Help me. Dig me, Lord. Fertilize me, Lord. Do a work in my life. Remove the things that don't need to be there. If you don't know the Lord as your Savior, if you backslid on God, if you need to get right with God tonight, it's the perfect night for you to come and say, Lord, I need your help.