want to start in Luke chapter 12, verse 49, and read through Luke 13, 1 through 9. I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled. But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished. Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division. For from now on, five members in one household will be divided, three against two, and two against three. They will be divided, father against son, and son against father, mother against daughter, and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law. And he was saying to the crowds, when you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, a shower is coming. And so it turns out. And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, it will be a hot day. And it turns out that way. You hypocrites, you know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not analyze this present time? And why do you not even on your own initiative judge what is right? For while you are going with your opponent to appear before the magistrate, on your way there, make an effort to settle with him, so that he may not drag you before the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. I say to you, You will not get out of there until you have paid the very last cent. Now, on the same occasion, there were some present who reported to him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. And Jesus said to them, Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all others Galileans because they suffered this fate? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or do you suppose that those 18 on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. And he began telling this parable. A 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. 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? And he answered and said to him, let it alone, sir, for this year, too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer. And if it bears fruit next year, fine. But if not, cut it down. This is the Lord's word. Friends, would you please be seated as we go to the Lord in prayer and seek his blessing. Our Father in heaven, we do thank you again for your word, and I pray that you would give ears to your people to hear, and I pray, Lord, that you would help me to be a faithful preacher and to handle your word faithfully. Father, we ask your help, for we know that the evil one hates your word and would seek to distract us from the truth of it. Father, I pray that we would not give ourselves to excuses. We ask your help. I pray your blessing now be on us, and that you would advance your kingdom in your glory. And do, Father, I pray, cause the kingdom of Satan great injury. I would ask this now all in Jesus' name. Amen. As a nation, we have experienced yet again another tragic event. As I'm preparing sermons, you know how it goes in the week, I typically go back to Galatians unless I have a really good reason to stray from the book of Galatians, which I thought this might be, as it has been the topic of conversation everywhere I have gone. Everyone's wondering, man, this is really bad. I saw some articles that says that since 1999, there have been over 1,000 attacks on churches. And just in the last few years alone, there have been 150 attacks in churches. They didn't mention whether they were all stateside or if it's worldwide. But it's a bad thing that has taken place. And it gets us all wondering, what in the world is going on? So you heard of this attack that took place last Wednesday there in Charleston, South Carolina at the Emanuel AME Church. This 21-year-old who the Lord gave over to his sinfulness went in and shot dead nine brothers and sisters in the Lord. The thing I thought was the most disheartening is that these weren't radicals. I mean, I suppose they were in one sense on a Wednesday night gathered in a church reading their Bibles. I suppose that constitutes now being a radical in our culture. But here they were, and it was one of the fellas said, how evil this was. He says, you know, these people open their arms to this young man. Come in and have a seat. Here's a Bible. We're going to read the Bible tonight. We're going to do Bible study. We're going to pray. It's a very sad thing. These individuals were not in the wrong place at the wrong time. They were not gunned down in a back alley dealing drugs. They were not in a bad section of town. Again, they were in a church, studying the Bible, praying and fellowshipping, and they were murdered. Makes you ask the question, is there any place that's safe anymore in this country? Apparently not. There's no sacred place. There's no, as you were a child, you say there's a home base, you know, where you were free from being tagged. An exempt zone. There is no exempt zone any longer in this nation. And apparently, friends, too, there is no time that is sacred. There is no time that is sacred. It comes, death comes, at the appointed time. No one knows when this will be. Some of you may live another 50 or 60 years, and others may not see another Sunday come, like our brothers and sisters this past Wednesday were gunned down. So it put me in mind. that maybe Galatians wasn't the best book to preach from this Sunday because I think the massacre of believers is on the hearts and minds of those who attend the church. I thought it was a very important time to ask the psalmist, or rather Solomon said it is better to be in the house of mourning than in a house of feasting because death is the end of every man and the living take it to heart. You look at opportunities where death is staring us in the face, and it's really the time each of you should consider your own souls. Would I be ready if a gunman came in here? And I'm not asking, would you be ready to take him out? The question is, if a gunman came in here and shot nine of you, would you be ready to stand before your God? That's how quickly life can end. And as a pastor, that's my greatest concern for the congregation. Are you all ready? Paul said, you know, I came to you and I didn't hold back anything. I preached the whole counsel of God. I wept with you, pleading with you that you understand the gospel, making sure that everyone that he came in contact with knew the gospel. And that is my concern. Are you ready to be taken in death? Are you ready to be taken in death? We look, and this isn't the text mainly that I'm looking at, just the context here, but if you look at Luke chapter 12 and you look at verse 49, well, it's not the text itself we're preaching on. I want you to look at this very thing. In verse 49, he says, I have come to cast fire upon the earth and how I wish it were already kindled, but I have a baptism to undergo and how distressed I am until it is accomplished. The fire he's talking about there is the fires of judgment. Notice it's almost a foreshortening of things. He goes, I've come to bring fire on the earth, I've come to bring judgment, but one thing must take place before I bring judgment on the earth, and that is I have to go through this baptism that I'm very distressed about and I wish I didn't have to go. He's talking, of course, about the cross. He's talking about the cross. I have to undergo the crucifixion. I have to go to Calvary's cross before that day of judgment. I have to come and do something apart from which there is hope for no one. And Jesus has been, he has come and he starts speaking of these things. Are they ready? They need to be ready. They need to be ready for his death, his burial, his resurrection, and his second coming. But he rebukes them. And it's such an interesting thing, because if you look at verse 54, he says, and he was also saying to the crowds, when you see a cloud rising in the West, immediately you say a shower is coming. And so it turns out. And when you see a south wind blowing, you say it will be hot today. And it turns out that way, you hypocrites, you know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not analyze this present time? And I'm asking the question, do we understand the times in which we are living? We know the weather. I stood outside this past week. And I was talking to one of the ladies in the plaza here, and she was saying, oh, it's easy. She goes, I've lived here all my life. She goes, storms coming from that direction bring rain. Storms coming from that direction never hit us. If the clouds settle in over the desert, the Sinks Canyon up here, she goes, if it breaches that one crest, she goes, then you know the storm's coming in. But if it never crosses over, I mean, she gives me this whole elaborate thing. And this is just what Jesus is talking about. You know that when a wind's coming off the Mediterranean, we're going to have rain. If a wind's coming from the south, it's going to be really hot. And what do people do? It's going to be rainy. You better go outside and roll up your car windows. You better go nail down, you know, batten down the hatches, so to speak, when the wind's kicking up. We make preparations by looking at the weather. And Jesus is saying, you hypocrites, how is it that you can tell the weather and you know how to make preparations for weather, but you can't even discern the times? Now, He's speaking here, of course, to the Jews, to His disciples and the crowds, speaking to these people, but He's saying, you don't know what's going on. You're acting like, duh, we don't know. We're just kind of going along like dumb cattle. And we're not paying attention to the world around us and the things that are going on. What should somebody do when you start discerning the times? Friends, when you consider what's going on in this nation, I mean, are you paying attention to what's going on? Do you watch the news and do you look to see the fingerprints of God? Really, I think it's one of the great lies of the evil, and I really believe this. that somehow Mother Nature's dishing up storms. Where does mother nature come from? Who came up with this malarkey? There's no such thing as a mother. Who sends the storm? Please, somebody tell me. Who sends the storm? The Lord sends the storm. Every storm? Every storm. He sends every storm. You realize that Job spoke about it. He said that when God says, I'm going to strike that spot with lightning, he hits his mark every single time. Talk about a marksman. God is the ultimate marksman. God sends the storm. You realize, if you've been watching all of the flooding, that one flood a few weeks back in Texas, 35 trillion gallons of water. The storm, Bob, that just went through the Gulf. You've never seen, typically hurricanes dissipate once they're 20 miles in off the shore. Trust me, I know this. I lived in Florida for six years, and we had the largest, we lived there during the largest hurricane season ever, 2005. There were so many hurricanes, that came across the Atlantic that they ran out of the alphabet, remember, and they had to start going to Greek alphabet. I know something, I'm a little bit sensitive to hurricanes. I spent six months behind steel shutters. And Hurricane Bob that just came through the Gulf was still holding its formation and they called for this weekend millions of people being affected by flooding. What dumb luck. Not! Who sends the storm? The Lord sends a storm. And do you realize the wildfires now that are out of control through New Mexico, Arizona, California, up into Oregon? They said, we shouldn't be seeing wildfires like this for at least another month. And yet, they're already in full force. And California has no water to battle things. Can you discern the times? Do you see what's going on? The Lord is shaking this country. He's shaking this country. And look what he says then. And why do you not even on your own initiative judge what is right? For while you are going with your opponent to appear before the magistrate, on your way there, make an effort to settle with him so that he may not drag you before the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. I say to you, you will not get out of there until you have paid the very last cent." Even children understand this, friends. I remember as little boys, me and my two younger brothers, and like little boys, we would argue, we would fight, and we would have a knock-down, drag-out slugfest for about five minutes. But it was always interesting. One brother would slug the other brother, and then the one who got slugged would say, I'm going to go tell Dad. And it would be the worst thing in the world to tell your dad. And so you would, before he could get up the basement step, because that's usually where it happened, in the cage where the boys lived. you would say to your brother, I'm sorry. Here, you can have this, right? Or you'd say, here, slug me back, like eye for an eye kind of thing. Lex Talionis, boys turn Jewish, right, in the face of trial. And you're going to go get, rather than fall into the hands of your father, the judge, let's just deal with things between you and me and get this thing resolved. Why? Because you knew that once it reached the high court, a father, there was no turning back. It would be a fate worse than death. Clean the garage or do something like that. So you try to make good on something. You try to deal with the issue. And here Jesus is saying, You don't even see the times. You don't understand what's going on. The fires are already stoked of judgment. You see what's going on all around you, and you hypocrites, you don't even pay attention, and you're not even worried about dealing with the issues at hand that you have a major offense against God, and you're not even concerned about it. Don't you get it? You should be trying to reconcile things now. You should be trying to set things straight right now because the day of judgment is at hand. And the day of judgment is at hand on this nation. What will we do? What will we do with this thing that is taking place in Charleston? Beautiful testimonies coming out of there of the Lord's faithfulness of these people who are demonstrating mercy. And as we mentioned, They're not responding like a bunch of angry mobsters. They're responding like Christians ought to respond. Even in the midst of hardship and sorrow, look at the grace and the light that the Lord, do you understand what that is? That's the Lord's mercy. And every time the Lord demonstrates mercy, what should we do? You should cling to it, friends, and you should want to promote that very thing. But we'll see. What will they blame it on? How will they detract from the Lord? A day of judgment is coming on this world. The world is growing increasingly dark. The light of the gospel is being suppressed. The Christian faith is being frowned upon. And I believe, friends, the Lord is sending these micro judgments to remind us that a day of ultimate judgment is going to come. We will stand before the Lord. And we will all give an account, every single one of us will give an account for our lives of every deed we've ever performed and every careless word that we've ever spoken. None of these individuals knew last Sunday, or Wednesday rather, that their time on this earth would be done at nine o'clock at night. That's what's happened. Now this is the context. This is the context that leads up to Luke chapter 13. And we are told in verse 1 of chapter 13, now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. There's much conjecture on why these people said what they did in verse 1. Why did they tell Jesus this? He's just spoken about judgment, right? I say to you, you will not get out of there until you have paid the very last cent. Now, on the same occasion, there were some present who reported to him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Interesting, isn't it? Well, you know, Jesus, we heard about an incident there in Galilee where Pilate, these people were up offering sacrifices, and Pilate just came in, mowed them right down, and their blood went all over the altar. Why did they say this? They gave, I suppose, what they thought was a great example of what Jesus was talking about. But did it really have any effect? Was their example a fitting one? I don't think it was. And here's why not. I believe that they were trying to divert attention from themselves to others. So it might look something like this. Yes, well, they were down there in Charleston, South Carolina. And you know what that government system is like down there in Charleston, South Carolina. We know that guy was just a creepster. He had a problem. These sorts of things don't really go on to people like us. I mean, we live in Lander. We're set back 30 years. I mean, look, how many people have we issued letters to to be able to carry a gun? These sorts of things will never happen in our church. So Jesus, your words are really quite irrelevant to us, because none of us are going to be able to be gunned down. by somebody coming in. But Jesus warns them. Jesus is warning them. And the warning is not just to them, friends, but the warning is to us. And again, Jesus is speaking to his disciples, and he's speaking to people who are Israelites. He is speaking to people who have the ordinances. He is speaking to people who have the temple. He is speaking to people who have generation upon generation of churchly discipline woven into the fabric of their lives so that they don't look like the Gentiles around them. They're clean. They're orthodox. They're sanitary in how they wash and what they do with their food and what they do with their houses and their laws. They're meticulous. These are really good people. So they think, and so they think the, the, the things you're talking about, Jesus would never happen to people like us. And it's a way to divert what Jesus is saying and to push it aside. So I don't have to think like that. Do you think like that? These things will never happen to me. I'm going to live to a ripe old age. I'll close my eyes and sleep, and I'll wake up in the arms of Jesus. You think that way? I think Jesus was dealing with a lot of people who assumed that they were good with God because their lives weren't like the lives of those people around him. And here's why I say that. I believe many suppose that they are better off than they really are. Listen again, verse one. Now on the same occasion, there were some present who reported to him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Pilate was the governor of Judea under the emperor Tiberius. Of his dealings with these Galileans, there's no other mention beside this one in Luke's account. Pilate is known to have been quite cruel. He used to preside during the feasts that took place. Why certain Galileans were bludgeoned while offering sacrifices so as to have their own blood offered on the altar, we don't know. This, however, is not important. The point here is not about Pilate's cruelty. The point is about the supposed wickedness of these certain Galileans. See, that's their point. They're not so much concerned about Pilate, but these Galileans had something coming to them. We feel quite certain, Jesus. We feel quite certain about that. You talk about the judge. People like us, we don't get judged like that. Bad people get judged like that. No doubt, somebody somewhere in this country is saying, well, had they been doing the right thing on that Wednesday night Bible study, they wouldn't have been gunned down. I mean, I think somebody actually said, well, had they been carrying guns, they wouldn't have gotten gunned down. Something deficient in them that warranted them getting mowed down like this. This is what their point is. It wasn't an uncommon way of thinking either, the Jewish mindset is that, Great tragedy is the result of great sin in a person's life. Look at Job. Eliphaz the Temanite said this, remember now, whoever perished being innocent, or where were the upright destroyed? According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble harvest it. By the breath of God, they perish. And by the blast of his anger, they come to an end. That's the Jewish mindset. That's the human mindset. Good people have good things happen to them. Bad people have bad things happen to them. They bring it on themselves. By Jesus' answer to them, we know what they were getting at. Sinners die a sinner's death. Judgment comes upon the wicked. They died horribly because they must have been horrible sinners. We don't have to worry about that sort of thing, Jesus, because on the relative scale of things, we are good. Why is it that good people of the world never think there is anything to fear? You see, friends, and this is addressing us, do you have anything to fear? That's it. But we need to fear God. We need to fear God. They don't see, these good people don't see how good they aren't. And they don't, like Isaiah, come to see who God truly is. You see, so when you don't see who God truly is, then you will never see how good you aren't. These Jews were not understanding how holy God is and what does God require? What does God expect? These people are bad sinners. They're not like us. You see, and they bring up this illustration and Jesus sees right through it and points out, do you suppose that they were worse sinners than you? Because they thought they were good, they remained smug and proud of themselves, very comfortable with themselves and very hard on others. Always an indication. Always an indication. You want to see whether or not you struggle with self-righteousness, just keep an eye on what you're thinking during the parade on 4th of July here, when Lander expands to 14,000 people. and you start seeing foreign license plates like from Virginia and Kentucky. You see these license plates coming through town and then you go and you see the guy walking through down the downtown with the dreadlocks and tattoos up to his ear lobes and body piercings in his ears, nose, and tongue. You pay attention to your response. It's been my observation, and I think it's biblically sound, it's that when we suppose ourselves good, we look at other people with disdain. Look at that guy. What a jerk. Really, and what does that reveal? It reveals you have a view of yourself that's pretty lofty. And I believe this is what's happening here. So in their thinking, and in their words, their actions, they begin to think things like, well, people get AIDS who deserve it. They're immoral, so they deserve to get AIDS. And people who send their children to public school, well, like in Columbine, they got shot up. Well, they should have known better than to send their kids to public school. And people who die in earthquakes in the Himalayas, they're getting what they deserve because they've been worshiping a henotheistic deity, a regional deity, right? In California, it's got what it's got coming to them because they're immoral and because they have Hollywood there near Los Angeles. And what happens is, is you become cold and callous about tragedy in the world, figuring that those who suffer are just getting what they deserve. And to be sure, God does punish sin. And sometimes a person, because of his sin, he dies because of his sin. But that is not always the case, is it? Like the man who was born blind. Who sinned, his mother or him? Neither, says Jesus. Well, who sinned? Job's friends were really good at saying, Job, you must have done something because God found you out. And that's why you're suffering the way that you are. You remember who had to offer sacrifices at the end of Job? His three friends who were bad theologians. At least they wrongly accused Job of doing something. God does punish sin, but not always. not always in the way that we think he does. Not everyone who has AIDS has ever been immoral, has been immoral. Not everyone in an earthquake is involved in Hollywood, and not every shooting that happens happens in a back alley. Sometimes shootings happen even in churches. The danger of this mentality is the pride associated with it, not to mention the bad theology Again, Jesus says in verses 2 and 4, do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this fate? Or in verse 4, do you suppose that those 18 on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? We infer during times of tragedy that those who suffer are bigger sinners than others. or are more indebted to God. Jesus' words, do you suppose these Galileans were greater sinners, or were these 18 upon whom the tower fell were worse culprits? The answer to his questions, both of them, is no. You should not be thinking, well, they were bigger sinners. They were worse sinners. I am somehow exempt from what's happening. I'm not a sinner like they are. Because you see, I'm not going places where I shouldn't go. I'm a good person. I'm a righteous person. I am someone who abides by the disciplines. I've got my house in order. I pay my bills. I don't use a credit card. I don't overeat. I don't have these problems like other sinners have. So I'm a better person. And these things don't go on. And Jesus is pointing out, you're putting your trust in the wrong thing. You really are. If you think that somehow you're exempt, from the very judgment that is coming on this world. You see, and friends, if you think that you're exempt from the judgment, what won't you do? You won't flee from the wrath to come. That's the danger. That's the danger with being raised. And I'm not suggesting for a moment that we shouldn't raise our children to know the Lord, that we shouldn't read the Bible to them, that we shouldn't sing to them, that we shouldn't pray with them and for them before the Lord. I'm not suggesting that. But what I am suggesting is how many of you grew up in a Christian home, and how many of you struggled with pride? You know what? Please, how many of you struggle with pride because you didn't have the sins of other people? I was pure when I went to my marriage, into my marriage. Well, I've never smoked any of that. These seem like such small things, but you realize we put pride in these things. And we start thinking, I'm exempt. I don't need these. I don't need to worry about these things. But Jesus is saying, there are no bigger sinners than you are. They were no different than you. But they were just the same. All are sinners. That is, friends, we fail and miss the mark. We don't keep the word of God. We are culprits, just like the 18 on whom that tower fell, meaning we're debtors to God. The point is, there is no such thing as big sinners and little sinners, mortal sins and venial sins, nothing like that. James says in James chapter 2, for whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. If you would, please turn in your Bibles to Mark chapter 7. Verses 20 through 23, there was the argument here that was going on about what defiles a man. And the thought was is that you're defiled if you don't wash your hands and you eat unclean things, then it goes into you and it defiles you. And Jesus says, how can that defile you? I mean, you eat something, and it goes down into the stomach, and it's eliminated. That can't defile you. But what does defile you? What comes out of the heart of man? Now, pay attention to this. And I want to urge you, and again, I'm saying these things because I care about you, and I really want to know, are you prepared to die? And if you think you're such a good person that these things aren't going to affect me, God is ultimately very pleased with me, I'm here to beg different. God is not ultimately very pleased with you. Listen to what comes out of your heart. And he was saying, that which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. From within, out of the heart of man, proceed thee, now think of this, evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness, all these things proceed from within and defile the man. What comes out of your heart? And that's why I asked that crazy thing about what goes through your heart, what comes to your mind as you're watching these parades and you see the kind of people who are out there? What goes through your mind when you see the down and out in Riverton, when you drive on North 2nd and you see the trailer parks? Do you ever stop and think, hey, there's an image bearer there who needs to know the Lord. Or can you not get past the fact that there's a washing machine on their front porch, and so I don't need to go bother with them. They wouldn't like a church like ours. These are pride. You see, and I think, as Jesus is pointing out, our godly disciplines are okay things. I mean, we would encourage you to be a faithful follower of Jesus Christ. But where they become a bad thing is when we start entering life and we start approaching the world in our pride and we start thinking, God's going to be impressed with me too. You look at these things, what comes out of the heart? Evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. Think of all the backroom politics that has gone on in Lander. The slicing, the dicing. And I'm not talking about in the public arena, but I'm talking about in the church. Think about all the backroom politics. And we'll maintain somehow we're very good people while we destroy one another's reputations. Think of the lust-filled looks and fantasies that take place the things, gentlemen, that you indulge in. Unclean movies, unclean articles, unclean music, things that are morally decrepit and rotten to the core. And yet, as Christians, we have acceptable sins. I have to tell you, those things aren't acceptable. They're not acceptable to the Lord. the envy at the success of others. When somebody does well and you hear about it, do you go, that's wonderful? Or do inside the green-eyed monster of jealousy and envy arise and you say, rats, I wish that had been me. Or do you rejoice when somebody has a failing and you can triumph over them? I mean, we can sit here and go on and on and analyze the heart of man. and look at the things, but ultimately, we ask ourselves, are those people out there bigger sinners than I am? Those people who were gunned down, were they bigger sinners than me? Not at all. In fact, it should have been me. Because I'm just as bad as the next guy, and so are you. You see, you judge by the Lord's standard. In truth, not a one of us can lift our head up and say, look at me. I'm the sterling example of what a Christian should be. Jesus points out, my friends, that no sinner escapes judgment. No sinner escapes destruction. His answer twice is an emphatic no. Are you any better? No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Jesus points out that what people believe about good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell, this is a myth. It's a myth because there is no one who is righteous. There's none who is good. All people are bad and all deserve to perish, literally to be destroyed in hell forever, to go away into eternal punishment. That's what Jesus says. The common misconception is that all men deserve heaven until they take themselves out of the race. The fact is, biblically, friends, that not one of us deserves heaven. All are sinners against God because none can pay our debt off before God. God will not in any way clear the guilty. You will all likewise perish, says Jesus. It doesn't mean that we'll all be cut down the same or to have a tower fall on you, but you will die because with sin comes death. And would this be every one of us? This would be every one of us, except those who do repent. And why am I bringing this up? Aren't you a nice group of people? You really are. You're a sweet church. And based on what I see, I'm inclined to believe everyone. They say they're a believer in the Lord. I believe them, and I take them at face value. And when I think that somebody's in sin, I talk and say, maybe you shouldn't be doing that. Let's try to come over here and follow the Lord in this. Except I also know it's really easy to fool me. Because I believe anyone. Ask my wife. I believe anyone. Some of our elders, they won't believe everyone. But I do. Because I'm naive. And I really do want to believe the best. But here's my concern. It's so easy to fool me. I can't make pronouncements on your faith. I can't. And so what you have to wrestle with is, are you prepared to die? Or have you just been going through life with a Christian-esque discipline, an American way of lifestyle, and that you've fooled the pastor, you've fooled the elders, and you've even fooled your parents, and you've fooled everyone around you, except you don't fool the Lord. There is hope for you. There is one way to stay the fires of hell which are coming, and Jesus says it twice, unless you repent, you will likewise perish. The person who repents will not undergo God's wrath. What is this repentance? Let me tell you what it's not. It's not simply saying sorry. And I really believe this is what people do. They feel remorse. They are self-reproaching. They have a sorrow that's generated by a fear of punishment without any wish or resolve to forsake sinning. That's many people's definition of what repentance is. Oh, I just feel bad. I'll wrinkle my eyes and I'll go, I really screwed up this time. Please forgive me. With no intention of ever saying, I'm walking away from this. I'm not doing it anymore because I hate and I'm sick and tired of sin. I'm sick and tired of my lust and I'm sick and tired of my overeating. I'm sick and tired of all of these things that I've been doing and I'm angry with them and God, I'm struggling, help me. But I want to walk away from these things. Listen to what our confession says. You can find this in the back of your hymn book. Chapter 15 in the Westminster Confession of Faith, they talk about repentance unto life. They say, repentance unto life is an evangelical grace. The doctrine whereof is to be preached by every minister of the gospel as well as that of faith in Christ. By it a sinner out of the sight and sense not only of the danger, but also of the filthiness and odiousness of his sin. You hear that? the filthiness and odiousness of his sins. Well, let me ask you, friends, when was the last time you had an adulterous, lustful thought? Did you think to yourself, man, that's dark. That's evil. I need to get on my knees and ask the Lord for forgiveness. When was the last time that occurred? When was the last time you were convicted in your heart when you sliced and diced another person in town or a brother or sister in the Lord? Did you see it as being filthy and odious? Did you see it as being morally reprehensible and offensive to a holy God? But this is what repentance does. You see your sin and you go, this is rank. And you see it as being contrary to the holy nature and righteous law of God. And upon the apprehension of the mercy that is ours in Christ to such as are penitent, he so grieves for and hates his sin. as to turn from them all unto God, purposing and endeavoring to walk with him in all the ways of his commandments." That's repentance. Recognizing what that sin is, and because of the mercy of Christ, you flee to Jesus Christ and you say, no more. No more. I'm not doing it anymore. But as it is, much of the church just plays games with God. And that's where we always hit that thing about cheap grace. Jesus died so that I can continue to indulge my flesh. No, he didn't. No, he didn't. And unless you repent in a biblical repentance and you turn to Jesus Christ, you will perish in your sin on the day of judgment when Jesus Christ returns. Now, what do you think about your faith? Is it the faith of these people, trusting in our morality and our disciplines? Or is it a living faith where I look to Jesus Christ and I say, I have no other hope beside you, O Lord. Deliver me and set me free from this sin. And help me to resolve to turn away from these things that bring you such grief. It is not simply saying sorry. My friends, when you sin against another, the Christian's response is repentance. You turn from that sin, and you don't only or merely say sorry to God or to man, but you turn from it. David said the sacrifices of God are what? A broken spirit. You see, that's a Christian response to sin. It's brokenness. It's, I'm so sorry. But when you come to Jesus Christ, You turn from that wickedness and you stop doing the evil things that you have been doing. Some act no different than the man on the street. Some who profess faith in Jesus Christ have the same attitudes and values and treatment of others, and you act as if you don't even know the Lord. You are not a Christian if there is no repentance. Where the Holy Spirit is, there is life. Therefore, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature. The old things have passed away. Behold, new things have come. What is the Lord looking for in you? Briefly, verses six through nine. And I asked this question at the beginning, how might you know if you are ready to be taken in death? How might you know? I want you to notice these verses because it's really easy to say, well, I've repented. But notice there's a positive demonstration of fruit in a believer's life. Listen to this, verses six through nine. And he began telling this parable. Notice we're in proximity it is to what we've just been looking at. It's coming right on the tail of it. He began telling this parable. A 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. And he said to the vineyard keeper, behold, for three years I've come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down. Why does it even use up the ground? And he answered and said to him, let it alone, sir, for this year, too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer. And if it bears fruit next year, fine, but if not, cut it down. You know what cutting down is? It's what you do to a tree when you judge it. You cut it down. If it's not bearing fruit, we've got an apricot tree that we've realized, and it was beautiful. I mean, it's about this tall, and we thought it was going to produce fruit this year. It died. So if you drive by my house, you'll see this big, thorny-looking, ugly stick coming out the side of my house, out of the ground, that is. And I'm going to judge it tomorrow morning. I'm going out there, and I'm going to cut the sucker down. It's done. It doesn't bear leaves. It doesn't bear fruit. It's worthless. It'll become kindling, and I'll put it in my kindling bucket, and I will burn it this winter. It's judgment, because it didn't bear fruit. And here's the fig tree. You go up to it, and it should have these nice, lush, it's a three-year-old plant, tree. It should be able to look under the leaves and see all sorts of delicious, ripe figs on it, and there is nothing. What is the Lord looking for in you and how can you know? Are you ready for death? Well, let me ask you this. Have you bowed the knee to Jesus Christ? And please hear me. I know that I've just about used up all my time, but please hear me. Because it's easy to go through a membership class and it's easy to take vows, because our Christian-esque lives don't necessarily conflict with the vows. You know, one of the struggles with vows is that we're entrusting that you're faithfully representing what you say you are, but we can't see into the heart of an individual. You say you believe in the Lord? Great, we're gonna take you at face value. You say you're going to support the church to the best of your ability? Great. You say you're going to submit to the elders in the church? Wonderful. You say that you're going to do everything you can to adorn the gospel with your life? Tremendous. Is your heart with the Lord Jesus? Luke 12, 51, he says, do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you no, but rather division. Joshua said to the people, choose this day whom you will serve. My friends, I'm going to ask you this simple question. Are you merely giving lip service to Jesus Christ? Or does your heart belong to Jesus Christ? If your heart does not belong to Jesus Christ, you are not prepared to die. And you will die. Is your heart given to Jesus Christ? And then secondly, are you bearing the fruit that resembles the Savior? Are you bearing fruit that resembles the Savior? Several passages, 1 John 3, if you turn over there, John says at the end of the book, I've written these things that you may know that you have eternal life. So if I don't have those things, do I have eternal life? Listen to what he says, 1 John 3, 13 through 18. Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer. And you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. We know, loved by this, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world's goods and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Over to 1 John 4, 7 through 14. Again, beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this, the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent his only begotten son into the world so that we might live through him. And this is love, not that we love God. that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God in any time. If we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us because he has given us of his spirit. We have seen and testified that the father has sent the son to be the savior of the world. Do you see what that is? It's not mere talk. It's real easy in our culture and in the church we have not practiced the very things that the Lord says identify a true believer. There has not been love for one another. And I fear that many people go around in evangelical churches making empty professions of faith, and there is no fruit on that tree, and that tree, if it does not bear fruit, is a dead tree, it is a dead faith, and it needs to be cut down, and it will be cut down, and it will be judged. Are you ready to stand before the Lord when you die? Is there fruit of love for one another? Is there the fruit of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? Matthew chapter 25, Matthew 25, 31 through 40. I always thought this was such an interesting passage. Verse 31, but when the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them from one another as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. Remember, Jesus said, I've come to bring division. Here we see the division, sheep and goats. And he will put the sheep on his right and the goats on the left. Then the king will say to those on his right, come. You, who are blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Now listen, listen with 1 John in mind. For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me in. Naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him. Listen to this. This is what I find so interesting. Then the righteous will answer him, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you something to drink? And when did we see you, a stranger, and invite you in or naked and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and come to you? The king will answer and say to them, truly, I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of mine, even the least of them, you did it to me. Were they even aware? that what they were doing was love. The fig tree, I doubt very seriously, understands that it's dropping fruit. A person who was born again, there's a fundamental change in his heart. And so he's not looking at other people, casting dispersions on what kind of sinners they are. They're engaged in obeying the Lord and producing fruit that is in keeping with righteousness, that is the overflow of faith. And this, my friends, is how we know that we're in the Lord, because we believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and those who abide in Him produce fruit. There are many people, I fear, in churches today who if a gunman comes into their sanctuary, one shot will send them straight to hell for all eternity. And they will be these, that the Lord says, depart from me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire, which has been prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink. I was a stranger, and you did not invite me. And naked, and you did not clothe me. Sick, and in prison, and you did not visit me. Then they themselves also will answer, Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of you? Then he will answer them. Truly, I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. Are you ready, friends? Please don't just walk out of here today saying, glad that's over. I'm really very concerned that there not be any who trust falsely in some disciplined lifestyle, some clean lifestyle, and yet completely miss the Lord of glory. Let's pray. Lord, I thank you for your word, and I thank you for your kindness to us that you have given us yet one more day to hear. I pray, Father, for your people, and I ask, Lord, that you would grant that we would honestly and earnestly seek to know our own hearts, but even our own hearts are deceptive. Father, I pray that we would be found resting in you, and that your spirit abiding in us would be producing this fruit that is in keeping with repentance. Father, I pray that you would encourage and strengthen your church. We pray for your church across this land, that you would convert your church and those who are caught up in the trappings of religiosity that do not know Jesus Christ. We pray that he would be exalted and that we would be found resting in him. I do pray these things now in his name. Amen.