The scripture reading this morning is the 15th chapter of John. John chapter 15, the first 17 verses, John 15, starting at verse one. This section of scripture, which you will see shortly, relates to the scripture that we're going to be looking at this morning in the gospel of Luke chapter 13 regarding the fruitless fig tree, the barren fig tree. And so here we have this announcement by Christ that he is the true vine. And remember when, particularly in the gospels, when you come across that word true, It's a loaded word, and it really means, Christ is saying, I am the vine that all of the Old Testament scriptures about the vine pointed to. I am that fulfillment, and that's what we have here. I am the true vine, and my father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. And every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I've spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine. You are the branches. Whoever abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me, you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he's thrown away like a branch and withers, and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this, my father is glorified that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I've kept my father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I've spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing. But I've called you friends, for all that I've heard from my Father I've made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you so that you will love one another. There is the heart of walking with Christ, the exact opposite of false pretend religion. Well, let's ask the Lord's blessing then on the ministry of his word. Father, these are deep things, and as we come to them, we pray that you would give us the ability to understand and see and discern what you're telling us. Father, we do not wish that anyone in this church, anyone listening online, would be a barren fig tree, a barren fruitless professor of religion. And so Father, we pray that this scripture would serve for the purposes as well as a two-edged sword, one edge to which to encourage your people that are truly in you, and that we would be encouraged by this scripture. and then the other edge to cut and convict and warn and even with a holy and terrible fear would come upon anyone that is in this frightful condition. of being still dead in sin and presuming that all is well. And we pray, Father, that you would, by your Spirit, use your word powerfully to do its work in us for your glory, and we pray this all in Christ's name, amen. Well, the passage that we're going to be looking at today and in the next at least couple more Lord's days is Luke chapter 13, verses six through nine. which has been called the parable of the barren fig tree. Luke chapter 13, verses six through nine. Listen as I read it. And he, that is Christ, told this parable. A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vine dresser, look, for three years now, I have 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 on manure. Then, if it should bear fruit next year, well and good. But if not, you can cut it down. Now this is the parable told by Christ, which is the text, as I mentioned to some of you before, that John Bunyan turned to to write an article in the year 1682. And it's a pretty lengthy article. You can find it online. As the editor and printer of the article wrote, he said, Bunyan, who being dead, Yet he speaks, as Hebrews 11.4 says, and surely just as in Pilgrim's Progress and in this sermon, or this article, we'll call it a sermon, Bunyan still brings the scripture to bear then upon us. Here's the actual title that Bunyan gave this sermon, in the old days the titles were quite descriptive and lengthy, and this is an example. The barren fig tree, or The doom and downfall of the fruitless professor, and by professor it means the person who professes to be a Christian, professes to be, and yet their life is without fruit. The doom and downfall of the fruitless professor, showing that the day of grace may be passed with him long before his life is ended. And we will see as we go through this sermon what exactly Bunyan means by that and how he proves it from scripture. As we've been reading Pilgrim's Progress, we recognize then that we could rightly entitle this sermon, The Man in the Iron Cage, because that's really what it is about. And as we move through it, you'll see then even more why that is so. Now, what I want to do is we'll look at this passing to ourselves, but also we're going to be letting Bunyan open up this parable for us and be praying that the Lord would affect the work that Bunyan intended and which we intend from this scripture is to warn, to expose and warn the barren fig tree, the fruitless professor, but also to give real encouragement to genuine and assurance to genuine fruitful Christians and to give them this great encouragement. So, you know, that's the nature of God's Word, isn't it? It's designed so often like that double-edged sword. It encourages and assures, and at the same time, it terrifies. And as we've seen, we've already mentioned this morning, Unless God's word first strikes as the rumbling, terrifying Mount Sinai, and unless his word and his law does that work in a person first and so that they tremble with fear, they'll never see a need to get out of the city of destruction. It isn't gonna happen. They won't ever see their need then for Christ. Bunyan gives an introduction to this sermon with several paragraphs here, and he addresses this to us, and he calls us, and the readers, courteous reader, courteous reader, and so he addresses us here. Listen to what he says. I've written to you now about the barren fig tree, or how it will fare, how it will go with the fruitless professor that stands in the vineyard of God. Of what character you are, I cannot certainly tell, but the parable tells you that, and here's that word, cumberground, okay, we need to learn that word, cumberground, that phrase, and it's defined as something that encumbers the ground, producing nothing, and interfering with the productivity of the rest of the trees. All right, so he says, I can't tell what character you are, but the parable, the scripture here, tells you that the cumber ground must be cut down. A cumber ground professor, someone that professes to be a Christian, is not only a provocation to God, a stumbling block to the world and a blemish to religion, but a snare to his own soul also. And then he cites several scriptures here that show this. Job 20, though his excellency mount up to the heavens, though a person, though a hypocrite be greatly glorified in this present life, though his excellency mount up to the heavens and his head reach under the clouds yet, He shall perish forever. Like his own dung, they which have seen him shall say, where is he? And again, 2 Peter 2. Now, they count it pleasure to riot in the daytime. But what will they do when the ax is fetched out? And finally, Jude, verse 12. The tree whose fruit withers is reckoned a tree without fruit. a tree twice dead, one that must be plucked up by the roots. And then Bunyan goes on, O thou cumber ground. See, he's pleading with the fruitless fig tree. O thou cumber ground. God expects fruit. God will come seeking fruit shortly. My exhortation, therefore, is to professors, that means to all of us, that they look to it, that they take heed. The barren fig tree in the vineyard and the bramble in the wood are both prepared for the fire. And he says, this is great here, he says, profession, professing to be a Christian. Profession is not a cover to hide oneself from the eye of God, nor will it satisfy the revengeful threatening of his justice. He will command to cut it down shortly. The church, being a member in the church and a profession of faith, are the best of places for the upright, for the genuine, but the worst in the world for the cumberground. He must be cast as profane out of the mount of God. Cast, I say, over the wall of the vineyard. That sounds like Pilgrim's Progress, doesn't it? Throw him out of the way, over the wall. There to wither, thence to be gathered and burned. And then he quotes 2 Peter 2. It had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness. Well, here's the context of this parable that Jesus tells. The parable is in verses six through nine. Here's the first five verses. of this chapter, Luke 13. There were some present at that very time who told him, who told Christ, 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 in this way? And here's Jesus' emphasis. No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 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? No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Pilate, we know, was an evil ruler and a very cruel one. We don't know anything historically, though, about this incident of Pilate slaughtering the Galileans as they were offering sacrifices, probably in Jerusalem. The only information we have is right here in these verses. We don't know the reasons for Pilate's actions in killing them. And why did these Jews bring up this matter before Jesus? Why are they pointing this out? There was some president at that very time, and they tell him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. What is their motive in doing this or pointing him to this This tragedy, this tower had fallen for some reason and it killed people then in Siloam. Were they, why did they bring this up? Did they have some kind of an attitude that Bad things happen to bad people. Those people were bad and that was it. But one thing we do know from Jesus' response to them is that they were not looking to themselves. They were not examining themselves, especially in light, of all the other warnings Jesus had just given them. If you go back to chapter 12 and read, Jesus had been giving warnings about, be sure that you are ready for the day of the final judgment. So here's all of these warnings being given. I think I'll take the time to read a couple comments to you here from J.C. Ryle on this. He said, Let me back up here. That's on the vineyard we want to see. Here we go. Let us observe for one thing in these verses, now this is the first five verses of Luke 13, how much more ready people are to talk about the deaths of others rather than their own. The death of the Galileans mentioned here was probably a common subject of conversation in Jerusalem and all Judea. We can well believe that all the circumstances and particulars belonging to it were continually discussed by thousands who never thought of their own latter end at all. And it's just the same in the present day. We hear of a murder or a sudden death, a shipwreck, or a railway accident, and this will completely occupy the minds of a neighborhood and be in the mouth of everyone you meet. And yet these very people dislike thinking or talking about their own deaths and their own prospects in the world beyond the grave. Such is human nature in every age. In religion, men are ready to talk of everyone else's business rather than their own. And so he's calling us to self-examination. That's what Jesus is doing to them, warning them. I tell you, okay, this happened to these Galileans. This happened to these people that the tower fell on. But I tell you, unless you repent, you will likewise perish. And he is speaking this to people in Jerusalem, And in fact, he probably is also warning them about that coming day that did come in 70 AD when the Romans came and wiped out all of Jerusalem and killed millions and millions then of Jews. They never did repent then as a nation. Well, that's the backdrop and the setting that Jesus presents these people with and then He tells the parable of the barren fig tree, kind of continuing his serious and sober warning against these people. The Vineyard of the Lord, verse six. And he told this parable. A man had had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit, seeking fruit on it, and found none. Now, in scripture, Israel is very often presented as a vineyard, the Lord's vineyard. We just read it in John 15. Listen to it again. I'm the true vine, my father's a vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I've spoken to you abide in me and I in you and he goes on to say then to talk about what fruit bearing branches and those branches that don't bear fruit. Branches that don't bear fruit, what happens? Well, they're cut off, they're dead, they're cast away and to be burned up. Those that are bearing fruit are pruned so that they will bear even more fruit. And the backdrop of John 15 is the Old Testament passage in Isaiah five. Isaiah five, starting in verse one. Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones, planted it with choice vines. He built a watchtower in the midst of it and hewed out a wine vat in it, and he looked for it to yield grapes. But it yielded wild grapes, which are worthless. And now, oh inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard." And of course he's saying, you, Israel, you're the vineyard. What more was there to do for my vineyard that I've not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? And now I'll tell you what I'll do with my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured. I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will make it a waste. It shall not be pruned or hoed, and briars and thorns shall grow up. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard," and here's the punchline here, for the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is you, he's saying, the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting. And he looked for justice, he looked for fruit, right? He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed. For righteousness, but behold, an outcry. And so here we have it again. He's emphasizing this in our parable here. In Luke 13, he told this parable. A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard. He came seeking fruit on it. and found none. And all of these Jews, as soon as Jesus is telling this parable, they know about Isaiah. They know all about that Old Testament background. They know perfectly well what Jesus is saying. John Bunyan says, the Lord Jesus presents them with this parable in which he emphatically shows them that their cry, that should be cry, cry of being the temple of the Lord, and of their being the children of Abraham, and their being the church of God, would not stand them in any stead. That is to say, it would be of no advantage to them in the day of judgment. But we are the covenant people of God. We are the children of Abraham. But you're barren. You bear no fruit. off with you. Now the primary players then in this little parable, the fig tree, are God. He's the man that owns the vineyard. He's the owner of the vineyard that comes looking for fruit. The vineyard then is the covenant people of God. In the Old Testament, that's Israel, but now as Jesus is going to be applying it, it becomes then the church, the true Israel then of God. The vine dresser here is the Lord Jesus. The barren fig tree is a counterfeit Christian, a counterfeit professor, one who claims to be one of the Lord's people, but is not and is shown to not be one of the Lord's people because his fruitfulness is his lack of any fruit which a true child of God will inevitably produce. Here's Bunyan again. Observe then that it is no new thing, shouldn't surprise us, if you find in God's church barren fig trees, fruitless professors. Fruit is not so easily brought forth as is a disguise to put on. It is easy to disguise oneself as a Christian It is not so easy, in fact, it's impossible to produce fruit unless you truly are joined then to Christ. To be fruitful, to bring forth fruit to God. This is something that not every tree that stands in the vineyard of God does. And we should not be surprised at that, you see. I've mentioned to you before, and I'm sure numbers of you have had the same experience. When I grew up, in a sense, not even when I was growing up as a kid, but even when I was in seminary, there's an underlying teaching, an underlying assumption, presumption as we're learning, that everybody that says they're a Christian is. And that you are not to question that, very ungracious and unchristian to even question that. And yet here we have the ultimate Christian. Christ himself comes looking for fruit. Bring forth fruit, you see. The new birth cannot be pretended. It can't be counterfeited. and eventually it's going to be found out. The Lord knows it and sees through it immediately. But we are to be wise in these regards. First of all, to examine ourselves. What is the state of my soul? What is my condition? Am I a fruitless fig tree? or can I be assured that I am bearing fruit, that I really do know Christ? What is this fruit then that Christ is looking for? What are the good grapes that when the Lord comes that he demands, that he expects to see? The Lord has a lot to say to us on these things. We know that there are people who will claim and even seem to be fruitful branches. But in fact they aren't. Their fruit is counterfeit. It's plastic. Matthew 7, these are familiar verses to us. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. Now think about that. There's no indication in that passage that they are stating something that's false in this sense when they say, Lord, and it's like they're going to say this right to his face, Lord, didn't we prophesy in your name? Didn't we preach in your name? Didn't we speak for you in your name? Didn't we do many mighty works in your name? Didn't we cast out demons in your name? And he doesn't come back and say, no, you didn't, you're lying to me, whatever. It appears that they had, in fact, done those things and that we can see then that there is a remarkable ability among false professors to appear to be genuine, to appear to have real fruit. And yet, the Lord says they're not fruitful branches. That's not the fruit that he's looking for. So what is this fruit? That's the question, isn't it? What is this fruit that the Lord, when he comes, expects to see in us, being produced in us? Well, let's go back again to John chapter 15, starting this time at verse seven. And I think that you'll see, just follow along as I read it. I've done some highlighting here for you as well, but you would see it anyway. I think that you will see the fruit, the fundamental fruit that Christ is looking for, all right? And which cannot be counterfeited, by the way. So here we go. John 15, verse seven. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you. By this my father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples. Now at that point you know this much. There is a fruit, whatever that is, there is a kind of fruit that definitely, definitively identifies a Christian as genuine, that cannot be Imitated, it cannot be counterfeited. Apparently, casting out demons, doing various mighty works, what, miracles of some kind, preaching and so forth in Christ's name, those can be counterfeited. But this one can't be, this fruit can't be. Verse nine, as the father has loved me, so I have loved you, abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I've kept my father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I've spoken to you that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing, but I've called you friends. For all that I've heard from my father, I've made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you. and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another." Now, what fruit can be faked? There's a lot of it. For example, think of all the things in a local church that people do, or some other Christian organization and so on, that people do. I mean, there's all kinds of busyness. Great big buildings are raised up. Lots and lots of millions of dollars are given. Many of the poor and hungry are fed and clothed. Think of Mother Teresa that the people often point to. All of these things, being a pastor, being an elder, being a faithful church member, all of those kinds of things, and yet, In and of themselves, they can be faked, right? They can be performed, that is, they can be performed by a person that is not truly born again, that doesn't truly then know the Lord. And so, and consider the Pharisees, for example, that appeared to be models of piety, and yet they were hypocrites. What is this genuine fruit that the Lord of the vineyard demands? What is this fruit that can't be manufactured? And I think you see it here and many other places in scripture too. It is love. You see, the problem with all plastic fruit, with all fake fruit, is that it does not have as its spring of origin the genuine love for God and love for one another that only Christ can produce within a person. And it can only come when a person is born again. Consider John 13, a new commandment I give to you that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this, all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. That love is a divine love. It is the love by which God is love. It is the love that God himself practices toward the Son and the Son toward the Father. It is the love that is a fruit of the Spirit that is produced by by God in the heart and in the lives of people that truly know him. It is a supernatural love. It is impossible for it to be counterfeited. Now, think about this again. You say, but yeah, but just drive around. Look at church signs. I mean, they've all got love on them, right? You know, this is the place we love everyone here. This is a loving ministry. Everybody wants to love, love, love. And yet, God sees right through it. if it is a counterfeit and fake fruit. He inspects that fig tree and he finds it barren or he finds it to be genuine fruit. Notice the very first fruit in this listing that Paul gives of spiritual fruit, Galatians 5, but the fruit of the spirit is love. joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there's no law. And at the root of all of those fruits is this love. The owner of the vineyard sees it immediately. He discerns, he can spot it, he can spot the genuine and identify the counterfeit. Instantly. He knows it before he comes. He told this parable. So here it is. A man has a fig tree planted in his vineyard. He came seeking fruit on it and found none. He said to the vine dresser, look, for three years now I've come seeking fruit on this fig tree and I find none. Cut it down. It's just using up the ground. It's detracting from the fruitfulness of my vineyard. Now, you might say, well, yeah, but is it real? Is the difference that real? I mean, it seems like there's all kinds of acts of love that are performed by people that aren't even Christians then at all. Well, the scripture's answer to that is, No, there is a tremendous, there's all the difference between heaven and hell, between this genuine love that Christ is talking about and the love, the cheap love that you would see. Well, let's look at 1 Corinthians 13, and I think it'll help us understand more clearly. 1 Corinthians 13, verse one. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I'm a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. Now, as you're gonna see as we go through here, unless this love, this divine love produced only by the Spirit, only in Christ's people, unless it is not the foundation from which everything else we do springs then everything else is nothing, it's false fruit. So if I'm the greatest preacher in the world, speak with the tongues of men of angels, but have not love, I'm a noisy gong clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I'm nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind. Love does not envy or boast. It is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way. It is not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away. You don't have to make any prophecies in the new heavens and the new earth, but love will still be there. As for tongues, they will cease. As for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part, we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away because everybody will know. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now, faith, hope, and love abide, these three, but the greatest of these is love. You know what will sort out, ultimately and finally, the counterfeit, believe it, the barren fig tree, the imitation fig tree from the genuine fig tree, is this matter of love. Ultimately, the counterfeit will be exposed. The Lord himself sees right through it, but these are things that we are to grow wise in. as well. Ultimately, fake counterfeit love will not, it doesn't last. And a person that's faking it has to keep trying and trying to keep that show of love on themselves, you see. Not so with someone that is a genuine Christian. These Jews in Jesus' day, except for his true remnant, were barren of that genuine fruit. And when Christ came, they were exposed. How? They hated him. They hated him. These fine religious people. The Messiah comes, and they hate him. Hosea 10. Israel is a luxuriant vine. that yields its fruit, or it appears to be, right? And God's been blessing Israel. The more his fruit increased, the more God blessed him, the more altars he built, the more he worshiped idols. As his country improved, he improved his pillars. Their heart is false. Now they must bear their guilt. The Lord will break down their altars and destroy their pillars. And here's Bunyan, and one of the Bunyan's greatest gifts, talents, whatever you want to call it, is he would state the obvious that you miss. He'll state the obvious in very plain terms. And here's an example. After examining all of this, God's church may be encumbered with fruitless fig trees, with barren professors. We need to be wise about that. No matter their disguise, the barren fig tree, the fruitless professor, will meet this end. Somebody pointed this out to me last week. It was a quote of something Spurgeon said. Outside of Christ, final destruction is sure to every man of woman born. No rank, no possession, no character shall suffice to save a single soul who has not believed in the Lord Jesus. Behold this widespread judgment and tremble at it. All are safe in Jesus. Are you in him? And so Spurgeon put it. Now, not only can we expect this barrenness of fruit, this vacuum of love to be present, not only is it possible to be present in a local church, in any gatherings it was in Israel, we must not be surprised at it. The fruitlessness will eventually be exposed. The fruitless professor, sooner or later, will be exposed because, as Paul said, 2 Corinthians 2, for we, speaking of genuine believers, we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To one, a fragrance from death to death. to the other, a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? You see, here's what Paul is saying. A local church can appear to be filled with people that just love one another, you know, on the surface. That's what it looks like. One genuine believer, one genuine fruit-bearing fig tree enter into the scene and suddenly you got trouble. And the reason you've got trouble is the genuine Christian stinks, is a stench of death, of putrefying death to the counterfeits. Now, If there happened to be another genuine believer there, that same believer would have a pleasing fragrance, a pleasing aroma. And he's talking about the message, the gospel, right? The gospel is a stench to the wicked and particularly to the false professor. But the gospel is a fragrance from life to life. to the genuine Christian. And so the gospel, the word of God, it really is a sharp double-edged sword, and it does divide. And Christ really didn't come to bring peace. He came then to bring a sword. And so the result, what's the result gonna be? The result is gonna be somebody's gonna go. Somebody's gonna go, and here you've heard these verses many times, 1 John 2.19, they went out from us, but they were not of us. If they'd been of us, now think about this. If they were truly genuine fruit-bearing fig trees, that is to say, if they were genuine believers abiding in Christ and bearing then his love produced in them as their fruit, That means, you know, love has an object. They would love God's people, and they would remain. That's what he says. If they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. Now, Bunyan is presenting these things and pointing us to these scriptures to tell us all We need to take heed about these things. We need to be painstakingly honest with ourselves. Or we're gonna be people, well, here it is, Pilgrim's Progress again. These two climbed up some other way. There are many ways to get into the visible church of God. Even professing his name, and yet without ever entering by the door. Isn't it interesting that sin makes people insane. Why would you want to be a fake? Why come at all, right? What is it that motivates someone like this? Why does the barren fig tree want to stay planted in the vineyard then? of the Lord. Well, it's not out of love. It is for self-glory, you see. And that's their entire motive. Bunyan is pointing us to this scripture because he had a heart's desire to warn his people, the people in his church, of this dangerous road to hell. this barrenness of fruit that reveals an unconverted heart. And so he appeals all through this sermon. He appeals to the fruitless professor over and over. Here's an example. Barren fig tree, do you hear? God expects fruit. God calls for fruit. Yes, and God will shortly come seeking fruit. Barren fig tree, either bear fruit or go out of the vineyard. A church, being a member of a church and a claim to know Christ, are not means by which the workers of iniquity may hide themselves and their sins from God. Many make religion their cloak. And Christ, their stalking horse. You know what a stalking horse is? I think it's back in the days of, well, Bunyan wouldn't have known about buffalo over here in America. But this is a good example, you know. They would walk behind a horse, the hunter would, behind the horse as they're getting up to the herd of buffalo because then the buffalo just thinks, well, it's just a horse. And then they'd get a, so they make their stalk then behind the horse. And what Bunyan, well I'll finish reading it here, he says, many make religion their cloak, and Christ their stalking horse, and by that means cover themselves and hide their own wickedness from men. And I would even say they're trying to hide their wickedness from God. That's why the barren fig tree creeps into the vineyard, right, and is planted, even though they're not bearing the fruit that God expects. But they think, they fancy that by putting on this cloak of religion, they can hide their wickedness from God. You see, as they hide it from people, they think that they can hide it from God. And he ends, barren fig tree, do you hear? The owner of the vineyard said to the vine dresser, 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? I think, by the way, that the three years there probably refers to the three-year earthly ministry, at least the last part of the ministry of Christ as he's walking with his disciples. And it's like, okay, Israel, Jerusalem, I've sent my son to you. These three years, and every year I come, I look for fruit, I look for repentance in you, and there isn't any, and there never was any, and he did cut it down when the Romans then came. And the vine dresser says, let it alone this year also until I dig around it, put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good. But if not, you can cut it down. Now Bunyan is going to go on and we'll look at the scriptures that he points to to support his case. When we think of that barren fig tree being ultimately and finally cut down, we think of God ending the earthly life of a false professor, right? Okay. Cut him down and cast him into hell. And that certainly, that certainly and ultimately is true. However, In order to make the false professor, the barren fig tree, tremble even more, Bunyan wants us to see in scripture, which we will, to see in scripture that over and over again, you meet people in God's word, like Cain and Esau, and Balaam, and there's others as well, who God cut down while they were still in this present life. In fact, they lived many years after that and accomplished, like Cain, all kinds of things in this present world. And yet, at that moment, that Cain murdered his brother, that Esau sold the birthright, that Balaam cursed the people of God, God cut them down. In other words, genuine repentance, repentance became impossible for them. That was it. The day of grace was over, as Bunyan put in the title then. of this sermon. What is the message? What is he trying to get across to us? It's this, stop messing around. Stop playing with God. If you are a fruitless professor, if you are this, if you are this, anyone is this kind of a person, understand this, that the day can come, the day can come Well, years before you even die and depart this life, when God says to the vinedresser, that's it. The day of grace for that person is over. That's it. I came looking for fruit. I came looking for fruit. My son came to him. My spirit came to him. My word came to him over and over and over. and he would not repent, and therefore cut it down. And so this parable becomes a very sobering one, and it needs to be for all of us to examine ourselves and say, you know, am I born again? I mean, do I really love God? Do I really desire to obey him and honor him? And do I really love the people of God? The fruitless fig tree, inevitably. The counterfeit professor, inevitably. And I think this is a good point for us to examine ourselves. Inevitably, because they lack that fruit of the spirit, that love for the people of God. The barren fig tree, just as Cain did toward his brother Abel, will regard the people of God with contempt. Now there's a question to put to ourselves. What is my attitude toward the people of God? What is my, what do I think about them? What do I think about myself? And because we've seen many, many go down this road until ultimately, I mean, why is it in 1 John 2 that they went out from us? It's because they regard the people of God with contempt. They regard them as, they despise them. They become a stench of death to them. And so then they're gone. So what is your attitude? What's my attitude toward the people of God and toward the Lord and toward then the things of God, you see? Well, we'll plan next time to continue on and see what else we can, how did that fig tree, that barren fig tree, how did it get planted there in the first place? How did that come to be? We'll look at that and some other things as well. Father, we thank you for these sobering words of scripture. We thank you that you cause us and call us to examine ourselves. Father, we pray that we would do so. Thank you, Father, that when you save us, you put your spirit within us, you make us new creations, and you put that divine love that that so much defines your character you put in us. Father, we pray that we would honestly examine ourselves to be sure that it's there. And Lord, we pray that if there is anybody that listens to this message and now or in the future that is dead in their sins, and they fancy that they are one of God's people, they're presumptuous, and think that without question they're on their way to heaven, when in fact they're on their way to hell. Father, we pray that you would cause Sinai to rumble in their ears, that they might see that they're in the city of destruction and they need to flee to Christ. And we pray this all in Christ's name, amen.