The Parable of the Fig Tree

Since the fall has started and, you know, it's already upon us and school begins and, you know, we homeschool our children and in the mornings we have our devotional time. And so what we've been doing with the children is helping them understand the biblical responsibility of leadership in the church, in the home, responsibility as young men, as young women, what their responsibility is. And so we're going through the principles of biblical leadership, helping them understand what their biblical role is.

In doing so we begin by helping them understand that leaders, number one, are learners and lovers of God.

They're learners and lovers of God. If you want to be a leader you got to know God, right? Because you got to represent God to the people you're leading. Make sense? So if you don't learn about Him and learn to love Him, how can you lead the people into a deeper knowledge of God that they might love the Lord God? And that's what leaders do. That's why great leaders in the Bible, Paul said, Paul, oh that I might know Him, the power of His resurrection, the fellowship of His sufferings. So enamored with His God, so wanting to know Him that even when he was in that Mamretin prison in 2 Timothy chapter 4, he asked Timothy to bring the books and the parchments because he's gonna die.

This is his last stop, but yet he still wants to know His God, still does. It was Moses who said, Lord show me your glory that I might know Thee. I want to know You. Greatest leader in Israel's history, the man Moses, but he wanted to know His God. It was King David who said in Psalm 25, he says, make me know Thy way, O Lord, teach me Thy paths, lead me in Thy truth. Every man of God who led in Scripture was a man who was marked by his desire to know His God. Our philosophy of ministry begins with our passion is to pursue Him.

That's our passion. People come to Christ Community Church because that's their passion. People leave Christ Community Church because that's not their passion. You want to know Christ? You want to know the Lord? That's our passion. That's what we're about. We can't portray Him lest we know Him. We can't proclaim Him lest we know Him. We can't praise Him unless we know Him. You've got to know the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. That's our passion, right? To know Him. And so we make it our chief pursuit in life.

That's what we want to do. And that's what leaders in the Bible do. The Bible is about the revelation of Christ, right? The Bible is about who God is. As we read the Scriptures, we come to an understanding of who God is. And so that's why we study the Scriptures. That's why it's called the revelation. The Bible is the revelation of God, right? So we come to know God. We are studying the Gospel of Luke. What better way to know the Christ than to study the Gospels because they're all about the Christ, right?

And the parables that our Lord gives, those stories, those short analogies or allegories, tell us about the character and nature of God. And what you're going to learn this evening about the parable of the barren fig tree is all about God and who He is. And the Lord is about to close out this sermon. It took Him probably 20 minutes to preach the sermon. It had taken us about, you know, 10, 12, 13, 14 weeks to get through the sermon, okay? Beginning from Luke chapter 13, verse number 1, all the way down to where we are at Luke 12, verse number 1, all the way down to Luke 13, verse number 9.

But it's all, it concludes with an understanding of God and what God is going to do based on who God is. Every sermon begins and ends with God. Every sermon that doesn't help you understand God is a bad sermon. It's not a good sermon. It's a bad sermon because somehow you didn't talk about God. You talked about you or your family or stories or jokes or whatever, but you didn't talk about God because every sermon ends and begins and ends with God and everything in between is about God. And so as we look at this parable of the barren fig tree, you're going to notice three things.

Number one is the instruction. Number two, the interpretation. Number three, the implications. A number of years ago, we did a series called God Exploring His Essence. It was all centered around God and coming to understand our God so that we could better grasp who He is. A few years after that, we did a whole series on the parables called Searchlights for the Soul, the stories that shed light on the condition of man's soul based on who God is. Tonight's one of those parables that our Lord gives, the parable of the barren fig tree.

Let's begin with the instruction. Two things you need to see. Number one is the setting. Number two is the story, okay?

You need to understand the setting. If you haven't been with us over the last several months, then you miss out on the setting. And it's important that you get that because Jesus has just concluded with the fact that, unless you repent, you will likewise perish. It all came about because of a report that was given to him. And the reason that report was given to him is because the Lord, all throughout the sermon in Luke 12, is preaching about the urgency of giving your life to the Lord and the importance of, if you don't do it now, you could be gone tomorrow.

Go back with me if you would to Luke 12 for a second. Remember he says, he starts by saying, beware of the level of the Pharisees in verse number one, which is hypocrisy, and then in verse number two, but there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed and hidden that will not be known.

In other words, everything one day is going to be known. When is that going to be? It's soon going to come. Everything is going to be revealed. He goes on to say in verse number five, but I will warn you whom to fear. Fear the one who after he is killed has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. So in other words, Christ says, look, you know, everything's going to be revealed.

And because it is, make sure you fear Christ, because if you don't fear him, he's the one that's going to cast you into hell. Again, there's that urgency about looking to tomorrow and when that day is going to come. Christ is always pointing them to the future, that they might understand that the decision they make today will affect their future tomorrow. He goes on to say these words in verse number eight, I say to you, everyone who confesses me before men, the son of man shall confess him also before the angels of God, but he who denies me before men shall be denied before the angels of God.

And everyone who will speak a word against the son of man, it shall be forgiven him. But he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him. So in other words, there's something that will be forgiven, something that won't be forgiven, but you better confess the Christ before man. Or one day when you stand before God, he won't confess you before him. There's that urgency. The time is coming. Time is short. The end is near. Are you ready? Then he goes on and talks, then he gets that interruption from someone in the crowd about someone splitting the family inheritance.

And he talks about materialism and watch out for that because that would attract you. And he says in verse number 20, but God said to him, you fool this very night, your soul is required of you. And now who will owe what you have prepared. So is the man who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. Your time is short. You could die at any moment. Make sure you're rich toward God and not focused here on materialism. And then he shifts a little bit and says, don't be anxious about what you're going to wear or what you're going to eat.

Because if you trust me, I'll take care of you. And then he says in verse number 35, be dressed in readiness and keep your lamps alight and be like men who are waiting for their master. When he returns from the wedding feast, so they may immediately open the door to him. When he comes and knocks, he goes on to say verse number 40, you to be ready for the son of man is coming at an hour that you do not expect. So, so make sure you're ready. Make sure you fear the Christ. Make sure that you understand that one day everything will be revealed, but you got to be make sure you're ready.

And then another question is asked by Peter. And he asked the question, are you addressing this parable to us or to somebody else? And Christ goes on and talks about the faithful steward and the unfaithful steward. And the faithful steward is the one who will one day be with God and the unfaithful steward will be the one to cut the pieces. Be ready. Are you ready? See, it's all about the urgency, the urgency of making sure you know about your eternal destiny. He says in verse 49, I've come to cast fire upon the earth and how I wish it were already kindled.

He goes on and talks about the fact that in verse 58 for a while, you are going with your opponent to appear before the magistrate on your way there, make an effort to settle with him in order that he may not drag you before the judge. And the judge turned you over to the constable and the constable throw you into prison. I say to you, you shall not get out of there until you have paid the very last cent. Talks about settling your account before you die. Make sure you sell it before you get to the judge.

For once you get there, it's too late. See the, the sense of urgency that Christ is presenting all throughout the sermon, which prompts them to ask and report about the Galileans in chapter 13 verse number one, who were slain on the altar in the temple with their sacrifices.

Because they had a question about where they stood because evidently they must have been evil people for them to have been treated so harshly by pilot and Christ quickly corrects their theological mindset and tells them, listen, do you think they were worse sinners than you? Unless you repent, you will likewise perish. Oh, by the way, there was a tower in, in Salome that fell over and 18 people who maybe they were going to worship. Maybe they weren't, maybe they were out for a Friday afternoon picnic.

Maybe they weren't who knows, but they died and the tower fell over on them. It just happened to fall over, but you know what? You better repent for you too will likewise perish. Not the same way, but the fact that certainly you will perish. Make sure you're ready. Everything in the sermon is about the urgency of making sure you're right with God, that you know where you're going to spend eternity because you don't know when your day is going to come. And he concludes with a story. Here's the story.

That's the setting. Here's the story. It began telling this parable. A certain man had a fig tree, which had been planted in his vineyard and he came looking for the fruit on it and it did not find any. 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 the answer is 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. And that's how the sermon ends. Just like that. And you'll find that Jesus ends a lot of his sermons like this, leaving his hearers to wonder where they stand. Some would say it's on the negative note and probably true because Jesus ended most of his sermons on the negative and not the positive. People say, you know, pastor, we need to leave uplifted and you're just too negative. Well, you know what? You didn't, you wouldn't want to like listening to Jesus in because he always ended on the negative.

He just did because he was more concerned about what you knew for certain than having you leave feeling good about yourself. Jesus didn't want you feeling good about yourself. He wanted you knowing for certain that you were a sinner bound for hell and plead to the God of mercy for your eternal soul. And so most of his sermons ended on the negative, not the positive to get people to reevaluate where they stood with the Lord God. He tells a story. There was an owner. He planted his fig tree. Fig trees are very popular in Israel.

They're a symbol of blessing. Some of them grow up to 25 feet tall and they provide all kinds of shade. A lot of times they plant the fig trees around their homes because they will grow up and the shade would provide a coolness, uh, during the hot summer days. And so this, this, this owner planted this, this victory and, and for three years it grew, but at the end of those three years, there was no fruit, no fruit. And the owner is just simply says, you know what? Cut it down. It's worthless. It means nothing to me.

It's doing nothing for me. It's taken a good soil, good ground. Just cut it down. And the vineyard keeper, the caretaker says, sir, could you, could you give me one more year? Just, just one more year, one more opportunity. And, and I'll fertilize the ground and, and I'll do it. What is ever necessary to take care of, of this tree and, and, and I'll just, I'll just pour my life into it. And if it doesn't bear fruit that year, cut it down, cut it down. That's the story. Now, if I'm a Jew and I'm listening to this story, I know, I know several things.

One, I know that Israel's representative of a fig tree in the old Testament on several occasions. In fact, you can go to Jeremiah 29, you can go to Hosea nine, you can go to Micah chapter seven, and you can see where Israel is referred to as a fig tree. So if I'm a Jew and I'm raised in the synagogue, which all the Jews were, and I was raised on the word of God, I would know that a fig tree represents not only blessing, it represents me. And in the story, it does represent Israel. It does. The owner is represented by God, the father, and the caretaker is representative of Jesus Christ.

And what you have in the story is revealing truth about the character and nature of almighty God. This is so important. So you move from the instruction to the interpretation. And specifically, there is a, a, an interpretation that deals directly with the story itself. Generally, there's an application that goes across the board. But specifically, there's an interpretation. And it's this. Israel is the barren fig tree. Israel is a barren fig tree. God planted Israel. And Israel did not produce the fruit.

And Christ would come as the representative of the caretaker and plead for, for one more opportunity, one more instance, one more period to do all we can to save the tree, to save Israel. So, as you go through the Old Testament, you realize that when John the Baptist came preaching in John chapter three, Luke chapter three, he said in verse number seven, therefore bring forth fruits in keeping with repentance and do not begin to say to yourselves, we have Abraham for our father. For I say to you that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.

And also the ax is already laid at the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. John the Baptist has already come and already preached that the ax is laid at the root of the tree. It's about to be cut down. It's about to be thrown into the fire. And that was at the, the beginning of, of, of John the Baptist ministry, which would be followed by the ministry of our Lord and Savior, as he then would come on the scene and begin to preach.

And you begin to see how things shape out and begin to take place. But Israel was fruitless. They were barren. In fact, the book of Isaiah gives us a story of Israel, the never ending saga of Israel. Isaiah five, verse number one says, let me sing now for my well-beloved, a song of my beloved concerning his vineyard.

My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill and he dug it all around and removed its stones and planted it with the choices vine. And he built a tower in the middle of it and hewed out a wine vat in it. Then he expected it to produce good grapes, but it produced only worthless ones. And now inhabitants of Jerusalem, the men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard, what more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done to it already? Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes, did it produce worthless ones?

So now let me tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge. It will be consumed. I will break down its wall. It will become trampled ground and I will lay it waste. It will not be pruned or hoed, but briars and thorns will come up. I will also charge the clouds to rain no rain on it. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel and the men of Judah, his delightful plant. Thus he looked for justice, but behold bloodshed, for righteousness, but behold cries of distress.

Israel was planted. Israel was taken care of. Israel was given every opportunity, but they were barren. They were fruitless. And God is a God of judgment and God will judge those who bear no fruit. That's always been the way God is. That's always the way God will be. In Israel would reject the work of the Lord. They would rebel against the work of the Lord. I did for you, God says, the best things.

I planted you in the choicest soil. I gave you the best of all that I have. I asked for righteousness. I got unrighteousness. I asked for justice. I received bloodshed. I received the opposite of everything I asked for. And I gave you everything that I had. And Israel turned its back on their Messiah. Specifically, you have this fig tree, which is representative of Israel. You see, the Lord is leading them to a place of decision. Unless you repent, you will likewise perish. You will. If you remain fruitless, that means you have not repented.

You will be cut down. You will be burned up. The caretaker, who's representative of our Lord, would plead for mercy, would plead for compassion, would plead for another opportunity to give the tree another chance. And you can read through the Gospels and realize that there was more chances given. Christ would later say, Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets. Oh, I would have gathered you together as a mother hen gathers her chicks, but you were just unwilling. You didn't want to come.

There was a death and resurrection of Lazarus. Powerful testimony as to the power of God and the work of God as to what he would soon do with himself. And there would be a few more healings, and there would be more messages given. There would be more opportunities for the tree to bear forth fruit, but it would not. It would be cut down. And in 70 AD, Jerusalem was destroyed. Just as the Lord God had prophesied, there would be not one stone left upon another, and Rome would come in and scatter the Jewish people.

It all happened as the Lord God had said, but here's what you need to understand. And that is there's a general application to us who bear no fruit. Listen to what Jesus said in his very first sermon, recorded in scripture in Matthew 7.

He says, you will know them by their fruits. Verse 16. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, and the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire, so then you will know them by their fruits. Jesus concludes his sermon there on that Mount called Beatitudes. There on the hillside of the slopes of Galilee, next to the Sea of Galilee.

He would preach this sermon, calling people to understand the essence of fruit bearing and the uniqueness of what it means to bear fruit. He would go on and say these words in Matthew chapter 12. Matthew chapter 12, verse number 33. Either make the tree good, and its fruit good, or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad. For the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you being evil speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man out of his good treasure brings forth what is good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth what is evil.

And I say to you that every careless word that men shall speak, they shall winter account for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned. In other words, Christ says, listen, as you speak, you speak forth out of the treasure of your soul.

And the changed life manifests itself in a changed language. New life, new language. No life, bad language. Because every man will give an account of the words, he says, and by his words he will be justified. By his words he will be condemned. Why is that? You mean by the things I say, I'll be condemned? Yeah, because out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. How many times have we told you? The Bible makes it very clear. The condition of a heart is manifested in the words that I speak.

It just is. Jesus said it over and over again. By their fruits you shall know them. That's why in the whole parable of the sower of the soil, remember the very first parable Christ gave, it was about how the Word of God would be received.

And most people would reject the Word of God. But the good soil would receive the Word of God with joy and it would bring forth fruit. The only soil that brought forth fruit was the good soil. The rocky soil, the thorny soil, the roadside soil brought forth no fruit. But the good soil did. Because fruit bearing is the clear indicator of one's salvation. Israel had no fruit. They were a barren tree. In fact, if you read through the story in Matthew chapter 21, Jesus sees the fig tree right before he's about to die.

He sees his fig tree. He curses the fig tree right before the eyes of the disciples. Because it's emblematic of Israel's rejection of their Messiah and the Lord turning out the light on that nation as a whole. Oh, one day they'll be brought back and there will be individual Israelites who will be saved throughout the church age. And one day Christ will bring them back in. But at this time, he has set them aside and is ministering through and to the church of Jesus Christ. And yet, as you go through the Bible, the Bible talks about the fact that the fruit of a person's life, fruit of attitude, fruit of action, fruit of the Spirit, Galatians 5, 22 to 23, is the clear evidence of one's true, genuine conversion.

This has changed life. Everybody sees it. Everybody knows it. The fruit is evident there. It's evident. And so there's a general application to all of us as we begin to understand the essence of fruit bearing and what God does to those who do not bear fruit because of their rebellion and rejection of Jesus Christ as Lord, as Messiah, as King of Israel. Jesus said, unless you repent, unless you turn from your sin, you're going to perish. 2 Timothy 2, 24 and 25 makes it very clear that repentance is a gift from God.

God can ask you to do whatever he wants to ask you because it's God who grants you the gift and opportunity to do what he asks. So if he says you got to repent and turn from your ways, if he has called you and graced you, you have been given the gift of repentance, you will do just that because he gave it to you. He turns you from your sin. And the believer wants to turn from his sin, see? And so God is saying here in Luke 13, you're all going to die. You don't know when, and you certainly don't know how, but you're all going to die.

Unless you repent, you're going to perish in your sinfulness. You're going to perish and be separated from me forever. So make sure you're ready to meet me. Then he gives a story about the bear and fig tree. How do you know you've repented? There's fruit. It's evident. He wants them to know, look, unless you repent, you're going to perish. And some of them will be saying, have I repented? He gives a story, the analogy, the parable, that if there's fruit that's there, fruit that's evidenced of a true conversion, then you won't be cut down.

But there is no fruit. If you're barren, you'll perish. And he just ends the parable. He ends it that way because he wants everybody there. And remember, there were so many people at this sermon that they were stepping on one another. This is the biggest crowd he has spoken to yet. There's thousands upon thousands of people listening to this. And he wants them to come to a point of decision, right? He wants them to realize where they are. Is there fruit? Is there evidence of a true conversion? Because if there's not, you're going to perish because you haven't repented.

So what's the implications? Two things. One, deals with God's character. Two, deals with our calling. First of all, God's character.

Because in this parable, you see the uniqueness of our God. First of all, God is a God of judgment. God's a God of judgment. He's the judge of all the earth. In fact, the Bible says in the book of Genesis, 18th chapter, 35th verse, shall not the judge of all the earth do right?

God is a God of justice. God is a God of judgment. This is a very unpopular message today. We don't have to preach this message because we don't want to hurt people. We don't want to offend people. But the fact of the matter is, God is going to judge those who have not repented. God is going to judge those who have not borne fruit. God is going to judge those who have rejected Him and rebelled against His saviorship, His Lordship. He will do that, says in Exodus 34, 7. God will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.

Romans 2, 9 says, there will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil. Isaiah 61, verse number 8, I the Lord love justice. Because He loves justice, He must judge sin. Psalm 19, verse number 9, the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous all together. God's judgments are true. God's judgments are righteous. They're never unfair. They're never partial. They're always righteous and just because He is a just and holy God. The Bible says in Psalm 9, Psalm 9, verse number 7, but the Lord abides forever.

He has established His throne for judgment and He will judge the world in righteousness. He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity. God is a God of judgment. God will judge the rebellious. God will judge the unrighteous. God will judge the fruitless. God will judge the unrepentant. God is a God of judgment. And in the parable, the owner, who is representative of God, sees the tree with no fruit and what's he say? Cut it down. It's worthless to me. It's useless for me. It has not done what I've intended it to do.

We don't need it anymore. Get rid of it. Burn it up. He's the owner. He planted the tree. He can do whatever he wants to with this tree, right? Because he's the owner. It was his desire. It was his design to plant the tree in the location he planted it in. Did not bear fruit. Cut it down. It does me no good. The wages of sin is what? Death. Death. Whether I'm a murderer, whether I'm a terrorist, whether I'm a rapist, or the little old lady from Pasadena. Sin is sin. Whether I'm a good sinner or a bad sinner, the wages of sin is still what?

Death. You got it. It's the same, right? It's still the same. And the parable of the fig tree is a warning of the certainty of the judgment of the unsaved. The implications, God's character. He is a God of judgment, but he's also a God of mercy. Amen. He's also a God of mercy. The caretaker, the bind dresser, never disputed the justice of God. Never did. He never said, sir, could you, could you wait a minute? Could you just hold on just, just for a second.

This really is a good tree. It's a lemon, but it's a good tree. It's a lemon tree, not a fig tree. It's really a good tree. It's not a bad tree. It's got leaves, provide shade. It's not that bad. No, he never said that. He never said, you know, it's so hard to do, produce fruit in the tree has tried so hard. Never said that. He just simply appealed to the owner on the basis of mercy. And he asked the owner, listen carefully, not to abolish judgment. He asked the owner to delay his judgment. See that?

He asked the Lord to delay his judgment. So you have to understand mercy is a dominant force in God. Just like judgment is a dominant force, but mercy is a, is a dominant force. And so he comes to the appeals. The Bible says in first Kings three, number six, that God's mercy is great.

Psalm 86, five, his mercy is plenteous. Luke one 78, it's tender. First Peter one three, his mercy is abundant.

Psalm 103, 17, his mercy is everlasting. Ephesians two, four, God is rich in mercy because of his great love. Second Corinthians one three, he's called the father of mercy.

And in Hebrews two seven, Christ is called our merciful and faithful high priest. Psalm 103, the Lord is merciful. Psalm 111, he is full of mercy. Psalm 119, 64, the earth O Lord is full of your mercy. Psalm 119, 15, great are your tender mercies O Lord. God is a God of mercy. Micah seven 18, excuse me. Yeah. Micah seven 18, God delights in mercy. Hezekiah, he appealed to God on the basis of his mercy. He was given four, 15 more years to live. Rehoboam appealed to God's mercy and God saved him from the Egyptians.

Manasseh, the most wicked King Israel ever knew, appealed to God's mercy and God restored his kingdom on the basis of his appeal to God for mercy. You understand that God wants to show mercy. He wants to be merciful more than you ever imagined. Any man who casts himself on God will always find a merciful ear, a merciful God. The only reason that God granted or the owner granted the fig tree one more year is because of the plea for mercy on the part of the gardener. Didn't ask the owner not to be judged, justice, just not to act justly.

Didn't ask the owner to remove his judgment. He just said, please sir, one more year, one more opportunity, one more chance to fertilize, one more chance to dig around the tree, one more chance, just, just one more chance. And then if it doesn't produce fruit, cut it down, cut it down. God's mercy never cancels his judgment. It just delays his judgment. What do we learn about God? He's a God of judgment. He's just, he's holy. He must judge sin, but he's a God of mercy. He's a God of mercy. And so from God's character, you go to our calling in terms of the implications, twofold.

Number one, you got to repent. You got to repent. You got to turn from your sin. I mean, that's the whole point. If there's no fruit evidence in your life, that's why Jesus said in John 15, verse number eight, and this is my father glorified that you bear much fruit. And then he says later, I think it's in verse number 16, that I have, I have chosen you and I have appointed you to bear fruit. Fruit in the Christian is the number one indicator of true, genuine conversion, fruit, Christian, no fruit, no Christian.

And that's the evidence given throughout the new Testament, throughout the old Testament. There is a proof of genuine salvation that's demonstrated in a life of a God-like character. It's there. It's evident, clearly seen for all who observe. And so the, the, our calling is, is to repent. The call to those Jewish people on that afternoon was you got to repent. Are you going to likewise perish? And you know, you haven't repented. If there's no fruit, if there's no evidence of, of genuine salvation, there is no fruit of the spirit that's being manifested.

There is no desire to honor the Lord and to glorify his name. That's why those two blind men in Matthew chapter nine, son of David have mercy on us. Son of David have mercy on us. Those two blind men saw more than all the Pharisees saw. They saw the Messiah as the son of David. They saw Jesus as the Messiah of Israel. And they went to him and they pleaded, Lord, have mercy upon us. The publican Luke 18, who had beat upon his breasts, Oh Lord, be merciful unto me, a sinner. He's recognizing the fact that he's a sinner.

He deserves to be judged, but Lord, he pleads based on the mercy of God. He goes to him and says, Lord, be merciful unto me, a sinner. Paul in first Timothy one, he says, I was an insolent man.

I was a killer of Christians. He says, I found mercy. God was merciful to me. He saved me, the chief of all sinners, because he wanted to demonstrate to all the world, the mercy and patience of God in the life of a sinner who destroys other people's lives. That was his testimony. You can read about it in first Timothy one, 13 to 16.

That was his testimony. God was merciful unto me. Psalm 32, 10 says, many sorrows shall be to the wicked, but he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him. Mercy shall surround him. Proverbs 28, 13, he who confesses his sins or conceals the sins shall not prosper, but whoever confesses his sins shall find mercy, shall find compassion. See, and the call simply is to repent. I love what Harry Ironside said in his book, Except You Repent. He said, shallow preaching that does not grapple with the terrible fact of man's sinfulness and guilt, calling on all men everywhere to repent results in shallow conversions.

And so we have myriads of glib tongue professors today who give no evidence of regeneration whatsoever. Priding of salvation by grace, they manifest no grace in their lives, loudly declaring they are justified by faith alone. They fail to remember that faith without works is dead and that justification by works before men is not to be ignored as though it were in contradiction to justification by faith before God. He understood that. And that's the truth. The call is to repent. But for those of us who have repented, listen carefully, the call is for us to intercede on behalf of those who haven't repented and plead for the mercy of God.

If you learn anything about the parable of the barren fig tree, learn from the caretaker, learn from the one who would plead to his owner for one more opportunity, one more chance. He didn't ask the owner to remove his judgment. He just asked the owner to delay his judgment so that the barren tree could have one more opportunity that they could experience the mercy of God. And that's our call. Once you have repented to intercede on behalf of those who have yet to repent, that they might experience the mercy as you have experienced God's mercy.

What was it that brought the mercy to the barren fig tree? The vinekeeper who would plead for mercy and the owner bestowed mercy, gave it one more opportunity, one more chance. God always honors those who intercede for sinners. God does do that. The angel came to Abraham and said he's going to destroy Sodom. What did Abraham do? If there be 50 righteous, will you spare the city? Yes. If there be 40 righteous, will you spare the city? Yes. If there be 30, if there be 20, if there be 10, yes, yes, yes.

He pleaded for mercy. What would have happened if he said, if there be one, would you spare the city? I wonder what the answer would have been. It would have been yes. Mercy. Moses, man of mercy. Numbers 14, God says, I'm done.

It's, I'm done. I'm going to wipe this generation out. I'm going to give you Moses a whole new generation. Let's start a, let's start a new. That's like going to the pastor and saying, you know what, pastor, I'm taking out your congregation. I'm going to give you a brand new congregation. Most pastors would say, okay, give me a new one. That's not me, by the way. I love the one I got. Okay. But he's going to say, you know what? I'm going to wipe them out. I'm done. They bicker, they bellyache, they gripe, they moan, they complain.

That's it. I'm done. It's over. I'm going to wipe them out. And what did Moses do? He pled to God for mercy. Spare them. And God honored it. Listen to what it says in Psalm 106, verse 23. So he said he would destroy them had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him. God will destroy the nation if it hadn't been for Moses to stand the gap. He pled for mercy. Listen to this. Remember later in Numbers with Moses and Miriam and Aaron, his sister came and said, who do you think you are?

That you're the only one who can lead these people. You think you're God's gift to Israel? What makes you different than me, Moses? And God said, Moses, I'm coming down. You get Miriam, you get Aaron, meet me in a tent. When God calls the meeting, you show up. God called the meeting and Miriam was struck with leprosy. What did Moses do? He would plead for mercy for Miriam. Man of mercy. That's what Moses was. Got a whole series on that. Moses, man of mercy, because that's who he was. Daniel in Daniel nine, when he prayed for the forgiveness of his people, it was on the basis of God's mercy.

Ezekiel 3311, I have no delight, God says in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his evil ways.

Let me tell you some folks, God is mercy. God says, I'm destroying the world. And for 120 years, Moses was a preacher of righteousness and God delayed his destruction for 120 years because of his mercy, his mercy. Before God judged Egypt, he sent Moses and the mercy of God was seen in the 10 plagues he gave to Egypt that they might repent in turn. As devastated as the 10 plagues were, it was an act of mercy, act of mercy on God's part. For God judged Nineveh, he sent Jonah that Nineveh might experience his mercy.

Before God sent his great catastrophes on Israel, he sent the prophets. He sent Ezekiel, Daniel, he sent Zechariah, Haggai, he sent all those prophets. Before Israel was destroyed in 70 AD, he sent Christ, his son and the apostles. Mercy is abounding with God. Before the tribulation or before the coming of Christ, there will be a seven-year tribulation and the mercy of God will be prominent. Through 144,000 Jews who will proclaim the gospel, through an angel who flies around in midheaven, through two witnesses like Moses and Elijah, Revelation 11, who preached the gospel, and in spite of all the catastrophes, there is an overriding act of the mercy of God, except you repent, you'll perish.

You need to repent. God is anxious to give sinners one more chance. He is. He's a God of mercy. That's what he does. And we need to plead for the mercy of God so judgment is delayed. A friend of mine, a good man, was a pastor. He was a man who was involved in ministry. He was a Jewish man. He got saved and God did a great and mighty work in his life. And as he would go and preach the gospel, he would preach to his father over and over and over again. And his dad refused to believe the gospel. And so he kept preaching.

One day his dad had a heart attack. He went to the hospital to meet with his father. The doctor said, he's going to die. It's over. His condition is so severe he will not live through the night. This pastor, a friend of mine, went to a little chapel there in the hospital. He began to kneel down and to pray. And this is what he said. He said, Lord, I know my dad deserves to go to hell. And you would be just in sending him to hell because he is a sinner. And I know that if my dad dies today, he will burn in hell forever.

But God, I am pleading with you based on the fact that you are a merciful God, that you give me one more chance to talk to him about you. If you take him tonight, I accept that. If he burns in hell forever, he deserves that. But I am asking you, I am pleading with you based on the fact that you are merciful, that you would delay your judgment for one more chance to share the gospel. He went home, came back the next day, and his dad was sitting up in bed. And his dad greeted him when he came in and said, Son, how are you?

And his son fell to his knees in the hospital and began to weep. His dad says, I'm alive. Why are you crying? And he gave him the story how he pled to his God for mercy, for one more opportunity. To share the gospel with his father. And God had granted it to him. And on that day, his father gave his life to Christ. Are you the kind of person who pleads with God for mercy? Some sinner that you know deserves the judgment of God. But are saying, Lord, one more opportunity. I'm just asking, just asking you just to delay your judgment for one more opportunity to talk to him about the mercy and grace of God.

The Bible says, I search for man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the gap before me for the land that I should not destroy it.

But I found no one. Thus, I have poured out my indignation on them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. Their way I have brought upon their heads, declares the Lord God. Oh, I look for somebody. Somebody to intercede on behalf of my people. I looked for someone to plead for mercy. I found no one. And now they will experience my indignation. Our call, having repented, is to plead for mercy from a God who is right and just in his judgment. We might have one more chance, one more opportunity to share the gospel.

Parable of the barren fig tree. You'll never read it the same again. Let's pray. Lord God, thank you for tonight, an opportunity to study your word. Truly, you are a great God and worthy to be praised. There are people all of us know that are bound for the fires of hell. Tonight, may we intercede on their behalf. Plead for mercy. One more opportunity to share the gospel. One more opportunity to present the one more opportunity to show them God. They might experience what we have experienced, having found new life in Jesus Christ.

Help us to fulfill our call, Lord, to intercede on behalf of those who so desperately need someone to stand in the gap for them before the indignation of God is felt. Thank you, Lord, for your word. In Jesus name, amen.