We'll read from verse 1 to 10, and then we will pray. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, Nay. But except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell and slew them, Think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwell in Jerusalem? I tell you nay, but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. 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 cumbereth it the ground? And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it and dung it. And if it bear fruit, well, and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down. And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. Would you bow your head with me, please? Let's pray. Father, we come to thee in the name of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And we confess that we can do nothing without thee. Our very breath comes from thee. We acknowledge that we are not the Creator, but thou art. We are the sheep of thy pasture. So we ask of thee, Lord, as we open this book, which is not ours, but thine, thy word, we pray by thy Holy Spirit, open our hearts and open our minds and speak unto us. We pray, Father, that this would be one of those times when we know that we have met with thee, and we will praise thee for it. In Christ Jesus' name we pray, amen. Now draw your attention to that little phrase found in verse number eight, this year also. I suppose you could say it like this, one more year. This is a text about opportunity. And I don't know about you, but with so much happening in our world, A number of senseless murders, which by the way is nothing new. It's just perhaps a little more publicized now than ever. With talks of peace around the nation of Israel. Certainly our ears, I don't know about yours, but my ears are perking up and I'm imagining that we are running out of time. We are running out of time. And even so, with that being true, with the reality that one of two things is going to happen sooner than we could ever imagine, we will either be the next to breathe our final breath or the Lord Jesus himself will return. One of those two things is going to happen sooner than we could ever imagine. With that being said, and even with that knowledge, there is still within all of us a natural propensity to just kind of drift. In each one of us. In fact, here's what we often do. We do what we find illustrated so well in this text. We often find ourselves examining everybody else except ourselves. And I don't know how it happened. I wasn't raised in church and therefore I wasn't raised in the independent fundamental Baptist movement. But I don't know how it happened where God's people and the congregations of God's people have turned on one another. We seem to be living in that era, don't we? And in some fashion or another that's exactly what was taking place in the 13th chapter of Luke. You had some of God's people imagining that other of God's people were worse than they were because of the calamities that they were facing. We're pretty good at doing that kind of thing ourselves, aren't we? We're pretty good at examining everybody else, judging them by their own calamities and failures, and that allows us for at least a season to shift the growing pressure of conviction. It allows us for a moment to dodge that increasing pressure of God's Spirit upon our own souls until we just don't feel it anymore. Some of us are past feelings. Paul writes in 1 Timothy 4, you may be familiar, I'm sure you're familiar with this text. In 1 Timothy chapter 4, the very first two verses, he warns us, the Spirit speaketh, now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith. I think we're there. Giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. Watch this, speaking lies in hypocrisy. I pray that God would never let me do that. Speaking lies in hypocrisy. Having their conscience seared with a hot iron. We find ourselves like Israel in Luke 13. Imagining ourselves to be better than other people. We even imagine ourselves to be blessed. because we're not facing the calamities that they're facing, or because we have a certain measure of money in our bank accounts, or a certain number of people in our pews. We somehow imagine that equates blessing, but it doesn't. This text is about opportunity, an opportunity really of self-examination, which nobody really likes. personal reflection we tend to avoid it I do at least and there is no correction unless there is reflection so the devil works at keeping us from examining ourselves and if we can be preoccupied with examining everybody else will never take a moment to examine ourselves and therefore never get it right so we continue in a downward cycle Because we won't stop and examine ourselves. Robert Murray McShane, one of my favorite historical figures to read about, once said this, for every one look itself, take 10 looks to Christ. He said that to W.C. Burns, who was filling his pulpit whilst he was away in the Holy Land. Burns wrote back and he agreed with that statement, but he said that first look is important nonetheless. We're commanded all through scripture, let a man examine himself. Just this past Lord's Day, we broke bread around the Lord's table as a church. And we are exhorted to examine ourselves before we break bread. We're told in scriptures, examine yourselves whether you be in the faith. Prove your own selves. We're told if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. Let us search and try our ways and turn again to the Lord. That's what Jeremiah wrote in Lamentations. Haggai the prophet says, Now therefore, thus saith the Lord of hosts, Consider your ways. So why do we spend so much time considering everybody else's ways? Twice in our text in Luke 13, the Lord Jesus directs the listener to repentance. That's a word that is somehow been erased in our vocabulary, unfortunately. And some of our brethren are afraid to mention it, lest we be criticized for it, but it is a Bible word. Old Testament and New Testament. Prophets used it, apostles used it, Jesus used it. I think we ought to use it as well. To repent means to change your thinking. And even God's children ought to be acquainted with repentance. We sometimes talk like this, you know, yeah, I was saved, I believed on Jesus 20 years ago. No, no, I started believing 20 years ago. I repented 20, no, no, I started a life of repentance 20 years ago. Our mind needs constant adjustment. And if you don't recognize that, you will end up way out in left field because you're not willing to stop and align your thinking and your heart and thus your life with this book and with the person of Jesus Christ. He then gives us a little parable to illustrate what he's saying. The Bible says in verse 6, a certain man had a fig tree. planted in his vineyard, and he came and sought fruit thereon." Without a doubt, this is a reference of God. Of course, Jesus is speaking of Israel, but let's make application to us today. We are the people of God. The church has never replaced Israel, and will never replace Israel. Israel is the physical people of God, and we be the spiritual people of God. We don't replace Israel. Not at all. But there's an application for all of us here. There is a certain examination of the master. And God is the master. He's the certain man that had a fig tree. He's the certain man that planted the fig tree in his own vineyard and he came. Now can I tell you what would solve a lot of our problems in modern Christianity is if we consider the fact that it's God that does the examining. Not the pastor. Not the brethren. Not this movement, that camp, this camp. No, no. God examines your life. And I'm telling you, it would sober all of us up if we imagine that there's a routine visit from the creator of heaven and earth to your life. It's not me. It doesn't matter what I think about you. It doesn't matter what these men as encouraging and as blessed as they are. It does not matter what we think. What matters is what God thinks. And He came. He didn't send an angel. He didn't send a preacher or the deacons. He came Himself. And I don't know. I don't know how often this visit was. We at least know He came at least three times annually. It's God who examines the tree of your life. And the fact is this, you cannot fool Him. We can get away with are charades with other men, but we cannot with God. I can learn the language. I can learn how to speak to other Baptist preachers. I can learn how to post on social media. I can learn how to carefully articulate a three point outline, but I cannot fool God. None of us can. Hebrews chapter 4, we are familiar without a doubt of verse 12. Here's the next verse. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight. But all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do." That is a frightening thought. All things are open before God. He knows our thoughts, our down sittings, our uprisings. He understandeth our thoughts from afar. He knows you. There are a host of scriptures that speak about the knowledge that God has concerning all of creation. Psalm 44, let me give you a couple. Verse 21, shall not God search this out for he knoweth the secrets of the heart. Psalm 90, verse 8, thou has set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance. God examines our lives. And God told the prophet Samuel, the Lord seeth not as man seeth. We have got to get away from imagining that God thinks like we think and sees like we see. He does not see as man seeth, for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. And God examines our lives even now. And I wonder this evening, what does he find in us tonight? Tonight, I suppose you could ask, well what does he expect to find? We're told the answer in Luke 13. He came and sought fruit thereon. What is it that God is looking for? Fruit. Now we have a way of making scripture say what we want it to say. Fruit. Not numbers. I can remember, dear Pastor Sexton, the measure of a ministry is not in its size, but in its sort. In its likeness to Jesus Christ. We don't measure our success spiritual, pardon me for using the word, we do not measure our spiritual success in numbers. Otherwise, we'd have to give applause to folks like our friend, not friend, Joel Osteen. He's got good numbers, doesn't he? If it were numbers, we'd have to say, boy, Joyce Meyer, she's really doing it. We don't measure success by numbers. We don't measure success by buildings. As beautiful as this building is, this is not a measure of success. our likeness to Jesus. That's what the fruit that he's looking for. In fact, the goal, look here, the goal of Christianity is Jesus, Christ. And if we make anything else the goal, even if we make souls the goal, souls are not the goal. Jehovah Witness are going after souls. Muslims are going after souls. Mormons are going after souls. Souls are not the goal. Jesus is the goal. Christ formed in souls. That's the goal. We often make the byproduct the goal. Christ in us. Jesus said in John 15, that very familiar text. We have a theme here, fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine. No more can ye except ye abide in me. I am the vine. We talked earlier about being more than conquerors through him, Jesus. You cut the branch off from Jesus, then there's no conquering. No fruitfulness. He that abideth in me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit for without me ye can do nothing. We've got fruit and more fruit and much fruit. And we find in verse number eight herein is my father glorified that she bear much fruit. Here's our goal, Jesus. It's God's desire for us to flourish. Did you know that? It is God's desire for you to conquer. We are not meant to live such mediocre Christian lives. We're not meant to live in defeat. We're not meant to live barren, fruitless lives. We're meant to bring forth much fruit, to be more than conquerors. Let me read for you Psalm 92. Listen to these words. Psalm 92 beginning in verse 12. The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree. He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age. They shall be fat and flourishing. Well, some of us have got the fat part right. Fat and flourishing. Fruitful. God wants us, now look at the next verse, to show that the Lord is upright. Do you know what fruitfulness is about? It's not about you. It's about the one who planted you. It's not about you. It's about the one who owns the vineyard and puts you there so that you can bring forth fruit to declare how good he is. That's what it's about. Not about us. I wonder, you know what we've done, I think, I'm afraid what we've done in modern America is we've exchanged busyness for fruitfulness. Activity for spirituality. I can still hear the words of Pastor Sexton, activity is a very poor substitute for spirituality. I'm the worst in the whole room for this. I can't sit still. I've got to have a measure of ADHD somewhere in me, I'm sure. But I can't help it. I got to go, go, go, busy, busy. But hold on a moment. That does not equate spirituality. May God help us. Do you remember what the prophet tells us, that beautiful prophecy in Isaiah 61, speaking of our Savior. Jesus quoted these very words in the synagogue in Luke 4, but he says in verse 3, To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. You gotta ask yourself, does the fruit that you bear, does it bring glory to God? Is it glorifying to Him? I can't help but think of Aaron. Do you remember when there was quite a confusion as to who was God's ordained man, God's chosen man? And to our preachers here tonight, there is a measure where there's a way that God shows us. This is my man. This is how he shows us in every church, in every place of worship, every local church. You remember 12 rods went in that night. You remember? 12 dead, lifeless sticks. But the next morning, one was different. You remember? One was different and the scriptures say, it came to pass that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness and behold the rod of Aaron. He wrote their names on every stick so there'd be no confusion. Behold the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded. Watch this, it brought forth buds, bloomed blossoms, yielded almonds. A bud is good, but it's not fruit. A blossom is good, but it's not fruit. The ultimate evidence that this was God's man was fruit. Bud shows there's life. Is there life in you? The blossom shows beauty, the beauty of the Lord be upon us, the beauty of holiness. I'm afraid we've also erased that word from our vocabulary today. Nobody wants to talk about holiness anymore. Nobody wants to talk about living a separated life. But the truth is we ought to be different. God's man had life. He had a measure of beauty, the beauty of God. But he also had fruit. Fruitfulness. Do you find it there in your life? Likeness to Jesus. I think that's exactly what we find in Romans chapter 8 as we consider our theme being more than conquerors. I think this is precisely what we find when the Apostle Paul writes that very familiar text. It was Mrs. Sexton's life verse. And we know, I can hear pastor instructing us. Sometimes we misquoted that verse, right? All things work together. No, no. And we know that all things work together for good. Quote it right. Sometimes we say, all things work together. No, no, no. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Watch this. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son. Do you know what your destiny is as a child of God? To become like Jesus. There it is. There's your predestination. As a child of God, if you've been born again, you've been predestined to become like Jesus. That's what God is looking for. Nothing else. He wants to see how much like Jesus you have become and are becoming. That's the fruitfulness He's looking for. And I ask you tonight, I ask myself, how much like Jesus are we? Have we become? I was reading, one of my favorite authors to read is Frank Boreham. He was commenting on this very thought. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians, if you would please, chapter 3. He was comparing, well he wasn't, but Paul is comparing Moses with us. And Boreham mentioned, I don't think anybody would like to compare themselves to Moses, would you? The great shepherd of the Old Testament. The man who spent 40 days and 40 nights in the presence of God. I don't think we can compare. But Paul dares to compare us to Moses and actually says we've got it better. He says in verse 13, Paul says, not as Moses who put a veil over his face that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished. Jump down with me to verse 18. But we all, not as Moses, but we all with open face. beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord. A mirror, looking in a mirror at the glory of the Lord are changed, we all are changed into the same image. Moses never had that. Yes, Moses shone, but it was only his face. We shine from the depths of our soul, because that's where the change happens. Moses shone, but only for a short time. It eventually wore off. We actually shine brighter and brighter and brighter. Instead of wearing off, we shine more, or we should, as we are changed into the image of Jesus Christ. That is your goal. Don't make it anything else except to be like Christ. We ought to stop trying to be like preachers. We ought to stop trying to be like this one or that one. Our only desire should be Jesus and him alone. Now I want you to notice quickly please in our text. He obviously wanted fruit. The problem was he didn't find it. Now that's convicting. In fact, he says in verse 7, Then said he to the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Year after year after year, no fruit, no likeness to the Savior. We often reference the fruit of the Spirit. Those are personified in Jesus, perfectly demonstrated in the life of Jesus. But none of that was found. How does he respond? Hey, no problem. Better luck next year. Hey, I know you've had a rough year. I know you've been through a lot. No, no, he's angry. Look at it. He's angry. And he actually says to the dresser of his vineyard, look, just cut it down. Get rid of it. Cut it down. Why cumbereth it the ground? Not only is it a bother to me, it's a bother to the rest of the vineyard because it's taking, taking, taking and not giving anything. I'm afraid there are far too many of God's children who live that way. We take, take, take. I can remember Brother Paulie preaching when I was a student talking about Dead Sea Christians. The Dead Sea has many bodies of water, rivers and streams running into it, but nothing running out. And I'm afraid many of us can be that way, sermon after sermon, conference after conference, YouTube channel after YouTube channel, and nothing to show for it. Do you know we're going to be held accountable for every sermon we've ever heard? You might as well stop listening if nothing's going to change. No fruit. I wonder, what about you this evening? You may be tempted to say, well, what's the big deal? Why is he so angry? I'll tell you why he's so angry. We find the very same expression in Isaiah 5. Now will I sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My well-beloved had a vineyard in a very fruitful hill. Let me tell you something. If you've been born again, if you've been born again, would you wave at me please? How about an amen? If you've been born again, you have been planted in a fruitful hill. There's no reason that you shouldn't be bearing fruit. Planted in his vineyard. Or you don't know my situation. I don't. But if you're saved, you have all you need. He fenced it, gathered out the stones thereof, planted it with a choiceless vine, built a tower in the midst of it, also made a winepress therein, and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, men of Judah, judge, I pray you betwixt me and my vineyard, what could have been done more? Look here, look. What could God do more for you? He sent His only begotten Son to die for your sins in your place as you. And if you by faith have trusted in His glorious death and resurrection, then you've been saved. And then He gives you His Spirit to live inside of you. He gives you His infallible Word. He gives you a church in which to be planted and to be fruitful. And you're going to tell Him that you've got a reason not to be fruitful. What more could he give us? What more? He gave it three years. He wasn't being unreasonable. Year after year after year, chance after chance after chance. And finally, enough is enough. Some say there's a correlation between the beginning of Jesus's ministry and this point, perhaps three years later. Remember what John the Baptist was preaching at the baptism of Jesus? Behold, the axe is laid to the root of the tree. Do you remember? He's about to cut it down and cast it into the fire. And here we are three years later. He still hasn't cut it down. And I wonder how many times God has visited the tree of my life and the axe was laid to the root of my tree. God said, cut it down. He's been playing, pretending, wearing the right outward attire. Speaking in the right vernacular, but no fruit. Cut it down. Now if I were to stop there, that would be very depressing. But it doesn't stop there. Because the Bible tells us that there's an intercessor. Aren't you glad for an intercessor? Aren't you glad there's someone who ever liveth to make intercession for the saints? And tonight he pleads on our behalf. My advocate pleads with nail pierced hands. Give him one more year. How many of you know you need another year? Would you say amen? Look, he's pleading. Give him one. Give her one more year. Now I love this because if I had to plead for myself, I'd have been cut down a long time ago. but he pleads based upon the finished work of Calvary. Based upon the fact that we belong to him and he pleads. Now watch, he pleads and he says, let it alone this year also till I shall dig about it and dung it. Give him another year. Why don't you look this way for just a moment. Give him or her another year. Now a year is not long, but it's long enough to become productive. And I do not know how much time God is going to grant us, but I do know however much time he gives us, it is enough to become productive. Now, if we keep putting it off, we cannot expect mercy. One more year, I'll dig about it, break up the fallow ground, pull out the thorns that are choking out the seed of the gospel. Take out all the rubbish that is clamoring for the attention of Jesus, that is marring my likeness to Him. Take it all out. The longer you flirt with the world, the less like Jesus you become. Enough. Enough. I don't know why we do it. I don't even know why we think about it. Especially being this close to our Savior's return. We do not have time to waste. Dig about it. Dung it. Some things gotta come out. Other things have to go in. You know what needs to come out of your life. You know what needs to come in. And only God, by His Son, the Lord Jesus, and the Spirit that dwelleth in us, only He can make us more than conquerors. And when we become more than conquerors, there is a likeness to Jesus that is so wonderfully attractive. You know, when Moses came off that mountain, not one Israelite questioned whether or not what he had in his hand was from God. You know that? Because the beauty of the Lord was upon him. He'd been changed. I imagine that if as we are changed into the image of the Savior, I imagine there'll be less arguing with what we have to say. It'll be obvious. It's come from his word and we've come from his presence. One more year. Without a doubt, In a congregation like this, there will be some who will not be here next year. And it's not necessarily because they weren't bearing fruit, but it's possible. God is not obligated to give us more time, especially if we're going to waste it. One more year. And if we're going to ask him for one more year, our prayers must be followed by our endeavors. An old preacher from Northern Ireland used to say, it's time to put some legs beneath our prayers. You're going to pray for it? Then let's labor, dig and dung, and be conformed to the image of our Savior. That happens in his presence, doesn't it? You ever met an elderly couple who've been married so long that they begin to look like each other? They finish each other's sentences. They talk like one another. They think like each other. Their ears begin to look like one another's. Why? Because they spent so much time together. You want to be more like the Savior? There's no substitute. Be with Him. Would you bow your head with me, please? Father, help us tonight. Help me. Help us, Father, not to be those who speak lies and hypocrisy. Make it a desire of our heart to be like thy son more than anything else. Remove from us the things that are so unlike him. Forgive us for those areas in our lives that bring shame to thee, that mar the image of Christ in us. Help us by thy grace and by thy power to remove them so that we can say we are more than conquerors. We pray, Lord, for the things that need to be put in. Show us, Lord, we pray, and help us to obey thee. We pray for one more year. In Jesus Christ's name we pray.