Living Waters Christian Fellowship - Lake Nacimiento - California

13:1  There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
 2 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things?
 3 “I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.
 4 “Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem?
 5 “I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”
 6  He also spoke this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.
7 “Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’
8 “But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it.
9 ‘And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’”


Introduction  Notice, a vineyard owner is looking for good fruit on a tree, needing to see a positive change, almost ready to just cut it down.  Also notice, a call for all of us to repent, to change our minds and produce the good fruit of the Spirit.  The tree and people are given “space to repent”, a chance to change.  We are encouraged to become the kind and loving people God wants us to be, to bear the fruit of the Spirit He has planned for our lives.

1. Sometimes bad things happen to people  v1, 4a

1  There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.

4 “Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them

2. We ask the why question

2 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things?

4 “Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem?

3. In this life, suffering does not necessarily mean God is judging us

2 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things?
3 “I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.
4 “Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem?
5 “I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”

4. We all miss the mark, sometimes worse than others

2 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things?
3 “I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.
4 “Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem?
5 “I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”

5. If things are wrong, we need to repent (change our minds)

5 “I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”

6. If we do not repent, God’s judgment is coming

5 “I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”

7. He gives us time to change (space to repent)

5 “I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”
6  He also spoke this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.
7 “Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’
8 “But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it.
9 ‘And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’”

Genesis 15
13 Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years.
14 “And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.
15 “Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age.
16 “But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

Revelation 2
20 “Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.
21 “And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent.
22 “Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds.

8. Steps toward changing - bearing the fruits of repentance, the Fruit of the Spirit.

Lk 3
8 “Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.
9 “And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

8 “But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it.


15:1  “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
2 “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
3 “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
4 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
6 “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
8 “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
9  “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.
10 “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.
12 “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
13 “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.
14 “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.
15 “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.
16 “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.
17 “These things I command you, that you love one another.

Conclusion  

5 “I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”
6  He also spoke this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.
7 “Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’
8 “But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it.
9 ‘And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’”