Luke Week 12 • Luke 13:3-7

Show Notes

Sunday, April 25th • Beau Bradberry

"And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’" — Luke 13:7

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Beau Bradberry

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Thanks for listening.

Good morning.

Glad that y'all are here with us.

If you've got your Bible, go ahead and open up to Luke chapter 13.

If you are one of our guests, whether you're here with us on campus, or whether you're

joining us online, thank you for so much for being here and for worshiping with us today.

We would love to connect with you, so please text to that number so we can connect with

you this week.

Well, as we dive into our message, I guess before we dive into our message this morning,

got an important announcement and a couple of people that I'd like to introduce you guys

to.

As you know, a couple of weeks ago, we shared with you, we've been in a hunt for a new youth

minister now for close to, I think, roughly about 18 months.

About 18 months ago, our old youth pastor, Rick, sat down with me, and he felt like God was

calling him to a different season of life, a different area of ministry.

And we prayed through and supported, and it's been exciting to see what God has done in his

life as he's stepped into a new time.

But for us, it opened up a door, an opportunity for us to ask God, what's next?

Now, to kind of let you know the depth of the process we've gone through, COVID wasn't

necessarily a thing.

I mean, it was a thing, but it wasn't a thing when we started the process.

It was that long ago.

And we went through, you know, the thing that we've kind of joked around about COVID is it's

everybody's first time as you go through it.

And so it was the first time as we led for a staff search during that time.

And so it was a learning process.

It was a learning curve for us as we began to go through that journey.

And I want to share with you, because I think this talks about the goodness of God, of what

God's done.

There were points and times where the process was very frustrating.

I would begin to think and then to feel like maybe this is where God was going, and then

God would close the door.

It felt like sitting on my desk, there was either a hundred resumes to go through or no resumes

to go through.

There was never the balance of what was there.

And honestly, before Christmastime, it was probably the most culminating of frustrating

experiences.

We were talking to several different individuals, and I'd lined up a lunch to meet with one of

them.

And this candidate checked all the boxes, everything that we were looking for, and just needed to

sit down and interact.

And so we went, we met for lunch, we sat down, we talked, and nothing was wrong.

Everything was good.

And in my prayer, as I rode home, I felt like God speaking in my heart.

And I got home and Aaron said, well, what do you think?

And I said, he's great.

He's fantastic.

I love his experience, I love where he's coming from, I love his passion.

But I can't tell you why, but it's just not who God has for us.

And so starting back in the process was one of those days where the resume pile was zero,

and I was frustrated, and I picked up the phone and called a couple of area pastors that I know,

and we were talking, and both of them said one individual's name.

So you ever talked to a guy named Moses?

Nope.

Never even met a guy named Moses, right?

Up at that point, I'd read about Moses, but I'd never talked to a guy named Moses.

I said, no, you need to have a conversation with Moses Boyd.

And so I got Moses' cell phone number, sent him a text message, and we connected the next day.

We talked for about an hour, I think it was a Tuesday afternoon, we talked for about an hour.

He had just gotten off of work, we talked, and Aaron knew that I was talking with him,

and she came home after a night of being a dance chauffeur for our daughter,

getting her back and forth from dancing, her friends, and she said, what do you think?

And I said, I'm not saying he's the guy, but I'm saying that that conversation felt really good.

And we began to pray, and began to have a lot more conversations, and sat down and met,

and got to know Moses' heart, and also really importantly speaking to individuals who he had served alongside,

and his experience of serving at different churches, Lake Murray Baptist here in Lexington,

Park Baptist in Rock Hill, and at BCM at Winthrop University,

and kind of going through the process, getting to meet him at the time,

his girlfriend, Christina, fill you in on that in just a second,

and just began to see God stop closing doors,

and God just kept opening doors, and opening doors, and opening doors.

And so as we prayed, we felt with great confidence that this is the individual that God had for us.

And so several weeks ago, we extended the offer, but here's how this works,

and you guys know this in the job world, right?

An employer has to say yes, and an employee has to say yes, and it comes together.

And in our world, I'll be honest with you, there's a lot more prayer, not about what I want,

but God, what do you want?

And I felt like God's saying yes, we're saying yes,

so if Moses says no, we've got to have a conversation about sin, right?

Because you're saying no to God.

So we had the conversation, and Moses said yes, as God was affirming in his heart

what God was affirming in our heart, and so we extended the offer.

Moses said yes, and we're excited to have them here.

So today is his first day on staff.

He's excited to be here, so I want to bring him, Moses Boyd, up on stage,

and now, all right, not his girlfriend, but his fiancée, Christina,

if y'all will come on stage, and if y'all will help us in welcoming them this morning.

So we are excited that y'all are here.

Moses, we're excited in the leadership and the man who God has created you and called you to be,

and it's been remarkable, and I won't share all of it because it's his story to share,

but in the call of God in your life of salvation, but also the call of God in your life in ministry,

and you said yes to those, and both of you saying yes to that,

and to step out of what was comfortable and what was home, a church that you deeply loved

and were invested in to come here to be a part of this congregation and what God is doing here,

and so we're excited to have y'all here, y'all a part of what God is doing,

and we're going to celebrate that with you, and this is your church family,

and we want to come alongside and support you and help you to grow as y'all help us grow in the kingdom,

because that's what we understand, right, as we're part of the body together.

So church, I want to ask you if you could join me as we lift up this couple this morning.

God, I thank you so much for Moses and Christina.

Lord, I thank you for the call of salvation that you've given them, Lord, their response to that.

Lord, and in our conversation of getting to know them, Lord, the fruit that is seen in that.

Lord, I thank you for the call that you've placed to bring them here.

Lord, you could have called them to any church,

Lord, but you chose us and gave us this opportunity to walk alongside this precious couple

as they walk alongside us, as they invest in us, Lord, as we invest in them.

Lord, I pray for Moses as he leads our middle school students and our high school students.

Lord, I pray for the wisdom, for the truth, for the grace, for the mercy that he needs.

Lord, I thank you for the leadership characteristics that you've given him

and what still needs to be developed in him, Lord,

that none of us have arrived and we have the opportunity to grow in ministry.

Lord, and we look forward to what not just today holds.

Lord, we look forward to not what the story was,

but we look forward to what you're going to do through these individuals,

through this church, Lord, and in all of us.

Lord, as a church, have us come alongside,

hold them up, encourage them, speak truth, extend grace,

so that we could all grow and see the kingdom of God grow.

And Lord, your name glorified.

So Jesus, we thank you for who you are.

We thank you for what you've done.

We celebrate you today.

And it's in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. Amen.

Thank you, guys. Thank you.

Yes, sir.

So after service is over with, if you didn't get an opportunity to meet them before service,

they'll be outside on the patio, give you an opportunity to stop by, introduce yourself.

They're learning lots of names today, so quiz them next week, all right?

Like, you met me, what's my name, all right?

They're going to do that for you, right?

And so, but stop by, pray for them as they're in the process.

Moses is down here.

Christina's not down here yet moving.

She's got some things to finish up in Rock Hill.

And so, but pray for them in that transition as they move from where it was home,

where it was good, to find right here of where God has for them.

And we are excited.

So middle school students, we're back here tonight, 4.30.

Want to make sure that you're here.

Moses will be here with us.

Would love for you to get to know him a little bit more during that time.

And the same thing for high schoolers on Wednesday night.

As Pastor Day leads that crew, you'll have the opportunity to get them to know them even more as well.

And we're excited to see what God's going to do.

All right.

So in Luke 13, I want to say this.

Repetition, right, shows importance.

So if your boss says something to you more than once, pay attention.

All right.

When you were little, when your parents said something to you more than once,

it was important to pay attention.

Now, as some of us in here are parents, and we know that,

when we say something more than once, we're saying it because it is important.

Right.

Make sure you clean your room today.

Five minutes later, make sure you clean your room today.

An hour later, make sure you clean your room today.

At the end of the night, you didn't clean your room.

Well, I didn't know that I had to.

You should have because I repeated myself, and it shows importance.

And the beauty of God's Word is as the narrative of God is written for us,

we see that there are places in Scripture where we can find a thematic repetition.

So we read through one of Paul's letters, and we see grace is emphasized.

We need to underline that and pay attention to it.

Right now, in several of the different small groups that I'm leading,

we're reading through the book of James, and it's very clear in James,

like, tame the tongue, slow to speak, quick to listen.

It's repeated over and over again.

Why?

Because that's important, and we need to make sure that we're focusing in on that.

But most of the time, it's thematic repetition.

But occasionally, there's the exact same words in Scripture, the exact same phrases.

And that should cause us to really pause and understand that what is being said is very, very important.

Last week, we saw that as we looked at Jesus, His words at the very beginning of Luke 13.

I want to remind you of those words.

In Luke 13, verse 3, Jesus says,

No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

That's kind of an important statement.

It's important of what we see.

It's common to the ministry and to the life of Jesus.

Going back to the ministry and the call of John the Baptist, of the calling to repent,

this was something that the followers of Jesus had heard before.

But to make sure there is an extra layer of importance to it,

Jesus repeats those words again.

In fact, the exact same words in verse 5.

No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

So that should cause you and me, it should call the followers of Jesus,

to put a pause on the moment and say, you know what?

Repentance is a big deal.

Jesus has said these words again.

He said them twice.

He's repeated the exact same phrase.

We've got to make sure we get it.

We've got to make sure we grasp a hold of this concept of repentance.

So last week as we began to look at that, in fact, we ended the last point of the message that was dealing with repentance.

This week we want to continue on in that because it's core to our faith.

It's core to who we are as Jesus calls us to this.

And here's the difficulty of repentance.

Repentance is not simply something we can just understand.

But at the very heart of repentance, there's the application of it.

We've got to deal with it.

And sometimes in our lives, our tendency, right, is to not want to deal with the difficult things.

Maybe you're a person who sees a challenge and you meet it head on.

But the truth is, for most of us, we'd like to take the easy way.

We'd like for someone else to have to deal with that.

Spiritually speaking, when we look at repentance, it causes you and I to have to admit that we have to deal with the difficult, the sinful, the painful things in our life that we've created.

That we've brought on.

That we've done.

It causes you and I to look at the ugly, painful spots that we've brought in, that we've introduced, that we've brought on others.

Repentance calls us to deal with it.

But what we'll find, and this is what I want us to get to and to see.

This is what I want us to experience in our walk with the Lord, is that when we embrace repentance,

what we will find is that repentance is a very good and sweet space in our life.

That repentance causes you and I to truly experience a true sense of spiritual health that comes from it.

Yes, it's painful.

Yes, it can hurt.

Yes, it causes us to recognize that I'm not as good as I thought that I was.

But what comes from that is beauty.

What comes from that is health.

What comes from that is growth.

When we accept a posture and a heart of repentance in our life.

And so Jesus, as he said these two verses, begins to teach those around him in Luke 13.

And he does this the way he does so many times in teaching a complicated concept.

He tells a parable.

And so I want us to read this parable this morning that's going to help us understand, but more importantly, embrace repentance.

And so let's look starting at verse 6.

It says,

And he said to the vine dresser,

Look, for three years now I've come seeking fruit on this fig tree and I find none.

Cut it down.

Why should it use up the ground?

And he answered him,

Sir, let it alone this year also until I dig around it and put on manure.

Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good.

But if not, you can cut it down.

We see this picture of a man who owns a field.

He owns a vineyard.

And obviously this is important to him.

This is not his hobby because he has a vine dresser.

So it's important of what happens and what takes place there.

And there's a fruit in his crop that he sees that does not, there's a tree that does not produce fruit.

And so like things within our garden at our house, we had an apple tree this year that while all the other trees had blooms on them,

it didn't even have leaves on it, and so he walked over there and realized this thing's dead.

Let's don't leave it there.

Let's get it out.

Let's remove it.

He sees a tree that's not doing what it should do.

He's seeing a tree that's not producing the fruit that it should produce.

And so he says, let's get rid of it.

But the vine dresser comes in and says, no, no, no.

I know it should have done this by now, but let's extend it another year.

And we'll give it even more opportunity of what it needs so that it can grow and produce.

But if it doesn't, then we'll cut it down and we'll remove it from here.

And what I want us to look at in this is you and I are the fig tree.

This is where we find ourselves in our life.

Of where are we at in growing and producing the fruit that God calls us to.

And so as we look through this, I'm going to ask you, are you a tree producing fruit?

Are you a tree producing the healthy response from our relationship with Christ?

And begin to draw from the truths that God gives us.

Here's the first thing that's very interesting about this parable.

First thing I want us to take note of is there is opportunity in your life for growth.

There's an opportunity in the life of this fig tree to bear fruit.

Verse 6, a man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.

Which means he thought this tree should have figs on it.

This is what it should look like.

And so he comes and sees that there is none.

So let's understand fig trees for just a moment.

Fig trees were common in Israel during the time of Christ and are common there still today.

Some interesting aspects that I've never planted or grown a fig tree, but some interesting aspects about these fig trees is that a good fig tree will produce fruit three years after they're planted.

So it means that for three years there's no fruit, but you make the investment.

But there's great reward in the investment.

Now right now at our house we've got apple trees that just bloomed.

We've got peach trees that have bloomed and now our peach trees begin to have fruit on them.

And I love this time because we'll begin to harvest the peaches when they're ripe and when it's time.

And we'll freeze some, we'll eat some, and Aaron will make all kind of goodies, right?

With these peaches.

But the window and season of time for us to get fruit from our peach trees is limited.

It'll get too hot.

The bugs will begin to take over.

The tree will stop producing fruit.

But it's important.

A fig tree will produce fruit for up to 10 months out of a year.

So we see that as this owner of the tree comes back to it over and over again, by now it should be producing fruit.

By now it should be sustaining and moving forward.

But it's not.

And so we have to ask the question, why?

Why?

An interesting thing that I noticed in this and then begin to dig in to answer this question is this.

Why is there a fig tree in a vineyard?

Right?

So let me put it in South Carolina terms.

All right?

If Jesus were here telling this parable, maybe he would say a man planted a peach tree in a cornfield, right?

Like if you're riding by and you see a cornfield, you don't expect to see peach trees planted in the middle of it.

But when Jesus tells this parable, he's very intentional that he says that there's a fig tree planted in a vineyard.

So why?

Why?

Did Jesus do this by mistake?

Did he do it by accident?

No.

There's great purpose in why Jesus said what he said.

And it paints for us what it means to feed and to be fed.

So we grow lots of fruits and vegetables at our house.

Let me rephrase that.

God and my wife work together with her green thumb, right, to grow a lot of fruits and vegetables at our house.

My wife has a green thumb.

She's got a greenhouse right now.

She's getting ready to plant and has planted all sorts of fruits and vegetables.

And it'll be a good but busy season around the Bradbury house, all right?

I'm the worker.

I don't need to start anything new.

I just need to do what she tells me, and that's what we've got going on.

She's got okra is going to be planted.

We've got strawberries planted.

We've got tomatoes planted.

We've got it all lined out.

Well, one of the things that she learned about in the process of starting this garden is something called companion planting.

Now, I want to take for just a moment, let's have a science lesson, all right?

I was completely ignorant to this until she shared this with me.

And so just bear with me for a moment.

Here's what we find out, that there are fruits and vegetables that grow well if they're planted together.

And there's other fruits and vegetables that do not grow well if they are planted together.

So here's an example.

You can plant tomatoes and carrots in the same garden bed, that they actually thrive when they're planted with one another.

So if you come to our house and go in our garden, you'll see that there are tomatoes at the back of the raised bed and then planted all around it are rows of carrots because they thrive when they are planted together.

But there are plants that if they are planted together or even really close to one another, they will not thrive.

In fact, they will die or at a bare minimum not produce fruit.

And so one of those, like cabbage and strawberries.

So at our house, we plant both of those, cabbage at one end, strawberries at another end of the garden so they do not cross over.

You're like, Bo, what in the world does this have to do with what we're talking about this morning, all right?

Here's the point, all right?

Fig trees and grapes thrive together.

So while we think it's weird to hear that a man planted a fig tree in the midst of a vineyard, it would have been common to see that during the time of Christ.

Because both the fig tree and the grapes need the same type of soil.

So in that setting is where they are fed.

And I believe what Jesus is teaching us, as we look at this and we understand with where we are, is you and I have the tendency in life to look at where we're not.

And if I were there, if I were a part of this, then I could grow.

It's not being done for me what needs to be done.

I'm not being given what I need to be given in order to grow, in order to thrive.

But Jesus makes it very clear that in this process of growth for you and I, as he's positioned you, as he's placed you in your home, in your work, in your neighborhood, in your church, where you are,

that you have the opportunity to be fed right where you are, but also that you have the opportunity to feed others.

You see, because we're the fig tree.

And the fig tree, not only did it feed off of the same soil that the grapes were fed off of,

but the fig tree helped sustain and give life to the grapes.

And here's how.

If you've ever been to a vineyard, you'll notice that the grapes do not run on the ground.

The vines do not grow on the ground.

They are elevated and they are off of the ground.

And so a lot of times you'll see posts with wire that is run and you'll see the grapes for just miles and miles as they go through.

And you'll see that.

But during the time of Christ, what they would do, because of the sturdiness of the fig trees,

is that within the vineyard, they would go and plant fig trees in between them.

So that as the plants grew, they would grow up into the fig trees and then move from fig tree to fig tree.

And so as we see this, as we begin to understand, as we begin to see the opportunities that God has given us,

that we are where we are so that we can be fed, but we also are where we are so that we can feed others.

And I think it begins to give us even more a litmus test into our life of are we seeing the fruit that God longs for us to have?

Are we finding ourselves in opportunities where we are both seeking to feed others the full process of what God has for us?

I love in the words of the apostle Paul in Philippians 1-6, he says this,

I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

That if God has done a work in you, that God's going to see that work through.

That God's going to see that work through.

God's fulfilling what God said he's going to do.

God's seeing through the difficult work of sanctification in your life and in mine,

that God has placed you and positioned you in an opportunity to grow, to be fed, and to feed others.

But that also, this is for a reason and for a purpose.

Colossians 1, 9-10.

Paul writes, he says,

And so from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you,

asking you may be filled with the knowledge of his will and all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord,

fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work,

and increasing in the knowledge of God.

So there's a reason that we walk in this manner that is worthy of the Lord,

pleasing to him, bearing fruit.

So you've got to look at yourself.

We have to look at our life.

We've got to be honest with ourselves.

Are we the tree that's got the blooms on it and it's got the fruit that's coming in,

or are we the tree that's just got some leaves and trying to fool people?

In your life, are you the tree that is barren and the tree that is bare?

We're called within the body of Christ to look at each other and examine one another,

but where we are in the attitude and the process of repentance

is you have to be honest with yourself through the revealing of the Holy Spirit

and say, is there fruit in my life?

And I want to be honest with you.

Sitting here amongst us, there ain't the perfect tree.

I looked at one of our peach trees the other day,

and there's a branch that comes off of the side,

and every leaf that was on it is now gone.

Now the rest of the tree is filled with fruit,

but there's just this one branch that something needs to be done,

and it needs to be pruned off, right?

And you and I have to be honest with ourselves about that as well.

But as we look at our life and we see the fruit that is beginning to grow

and what God's going to do,

there's also the areas that need to be pruned as well.

The words of Jesus as he talks about this.

I think this is so key and important for us.

In the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, 6,

Jesus says,

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they shall be satisfied.

Right?

That we within ourselves,

the righteousness of God,

that should be within us,

that we should hunger and that we should thirst for it.

So when you look at your life,

you have to understand that where you are

provides you the opportunity to both to be fed and to feed others,

but it's going to happen through the fruit.

Is that taking place in your life?

Second thing is we understand repentance.

We need to understand that repentance means admission of guilt.

And repentance means admission of guilt.

Repentance is very coarse as I'm wrong.

Right?

Repentance is very coarse as I've failed.

Repentance is very coarse as I haven't lived up

to the expectation of God.

David writes in Psalm 51, 3,

as he's confronted about both his sexual assault,

his sexual sin of Bathsheba,

but also his murderous nature.

Right?

As he had her husband put to the front of the line

because he knew that there he would die.

When he's confronted with his sin,

he says,

for I know my transgression and my sin is ever before me.

David in this moment admits,

nah,

that's me.

This is my life.

This is my failure.

This is my sin.

This is the wickedness of my heart.

I read this week,

and I love this quote,

repentance involves saying the same thing about your life that God says about it.

That's what repentance is.

When we repent before the Lord,

what we're saying is,

I agree with the way you see me.

Right?

God,

I try to see myself through a different,

but I see me now.

I see my lust.

I see my pride.

I see my greed.

I see my anger.

I see my hatred.

I see all of these things.

I see my selfishness at the very core.

God,

and you've seen this,

but now through your grace,

you reveal it to me,

and I agree that this is who I am.

That's what repentance looks like.

But for you and I so many times,

right,

we want to embrace anything else other than repentance.

So when God calls us to repentance,

oftentimes we embrace different things.

And here's what we embrace.

I know that I do this in my life.

Number one,

the first thing that we do is we blame.

We blame.

We blame others.

It's their fault that I am the way that I am.

It's my wife's fault,

because if she would have done this,

then I wouldn't do this.

It's my kid's fault,

because if they wouldn't have done this,

then I wouldn't do this.

It's my parents' fault,

because if they'd have raised me different,

then I wouldn't have done this.

It's the person who attacked me,

because if they wouldn't attack me,

then I wouldn't be this way.

It's my boss's fault,

because they don't appreciate me.

It's my co-worker's fault,

because they work behind my back.

It's whoever's fault other than me.

What I love about David is David owned it.

Are there people in David's life

that David could have blamed?

The world says yes,

the gospel says no.

David says,

No, it's on me.

It's on me.

And so sitting here in this room

are people who have,

you've been negatively affected by others,

but you and I,

we still choose our sin.

And so in order to embrace repentance,

we've got to stop blaming others.

The second thing we've got to stop

is we've got to stop the excuse.

But all too often,

we excuse our sin.

And it's not a big deal.

I'm better than who I was.

I'm better than those around me.

It's what my culture says is okay.

It's what I'm comfortable with.

It's how I am.

This is just what needs to be done.

If you're going to accept me,

then you just need to accept me for who I am.

Nope.

Nope.

If we're going to embrace repentance,

we've got to stop excusing.

But then most importantly,

and hear me on this,

if you are a follower of Jesus Christ,

as the Holy Spirit indwells in you,

if you're going to embrace repentance,

you've got to stop ignoring.

But the problem is we ignore.

We ignore.

We ignore one another,

but that's not who I'm talking about.

We ignore the Holy Spirit.

Is that the Holy Spirit in our sin enables us.

He quickens us.

He reveals.

He convicts.

And in that moment,

we've got to choose,

are we going to ignore the calling of the Holy Spirit?

Are we going to ignore the conviction of the Holy Spirit?

Or are we going to dive into repentance?

And so we've got to move away from the excuses.

We've got to move away from ignoring.

We've got to move away from blaming.

And we have to embrace what David said,

for I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me.

Repentance for you and I means that we admit that we are guilty.

And last of what we see in this parable,

what Jesus gives us,

is that God is patient and able to forgive.

The truth of the gospel of what we see time and time again

is that God is more patient with you and I than we deserve.

He's more patient than you and I than we deserve.

Luke 13, 7, it says,

Look, for three years now,

I have come seeking fruit on this tree and I find none.

Here's what's so important about this, okay?

A fig tree, guaranteed, okay?

Guaranteed takes three years to produce fruit.

So, do you think that the owner of the vineyard showed up year one looking for fruit?

No.

Not year two?

The owner of the vineyard would have shown up after year three.

And then from that, he extended three more years of looking for fruit.

And then the vine dresser comes up and says,

Hey, how about one more?

You see, for this, what we see is there is impending judgment on the tree.

If it doesn't produce fruit, it gets cut down.

And if we're not careful, that's the only truth that we draw to this.

But the other important part that we have to see in this,

the hope that we find in this,

is the mercy that is displayed in here for the tree.

It wasn't a one and done.

It was continuing on to see the fruit.

And church, that's the greatness and the goodness of the mercy of God.

That what God does so many times in your life and in my life,

is He waits and He waits and He waits.

And He gives us moment after moment after moment.

Right?

But there is a time that comes.

Judgment does happen.

And you and I don't have a clue on when it's going to be.

2 Peter 3.9 says,

The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness.

I love this.

But is patient toward you,

not wishing that any should perish,

but that all should reach repentance.

The fact that you and I are here today,

God is patient.

God is kind.

God is good.

God is merciful.

And you and I are going to make a decision.

We're going to make a response based out of the mercy of God.

Right?

I don't know about you,

but I know when I was growing up,

my parents would sometimes say,

the illustration I used before,

make sure by the end of the day,

you clean your room.

Later on,

they'd see me headed outside.

Is your room clean?

No.

Make sure by the end of the day,

you clean your room.

Come back in.

Turn on the TV.

Hey, we asked you to clean your room.

Did you clean your room?

No, I haven't cleaned my room today.

Make sure by the end of the day,

you clean your room.

And then all too often in my life,

kids don't use this against me.

I'd go to bed.

My parents would walk in there.

Not only is the room not clean,

but the room is dirtier than it was before.

Right?

But my parents,

unless they followed through on what they said,

I had the tendency to not act in obedience,

but to act in rebellion.

Second Peter says,

the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise,

as some count slowness.

For you and I,

there's often times we find ourselves

living in the pattern of the sin

and we think it's okay

because the judgment is being withheld.

And the judgment is being withheld.

And the judgment is being withheld.

And our response isn't repentance.

Our response is rebellion.

Paul writes in Romans,

should we continue on sinning

so that grace may abound?

Absolutely not.

Right?

That is the goodness of the heart of God

is revealed to the tendencies

of the sinfulness of man

that we make a choice.

One of two choices.

And it's what we're going to walk out of this room today

and embrace.

And it reveals the type of fruit

that's in your life

and the type of fruit that is in mine.

And so I'm going to wrap up this message

by asking one question to you this morning.

Will the patience and mercy of God

lead you to repentance before Him?

Or will the patience and mercy of God

take you down the path of rebellion?

The choice is yours.

Where do you go?

Let's pray.

Lord, I thank you

so much for your goodness and mercy.

Lord, we deserve your wrath.

We deserve it fully.

We deserve it right now.

But in the kindness of who you are, Lord,

you wait.

And you give us another day.

You give us another moment.

Lord, you give us another breath.

Lord, not only do you do that

because our salvation from this

is not found in our ability,

but it's found in Christ

and in Christ alone.

Lord, and you made a way for us

through Him

that is found through faith in Him alone.

That's rooted in repentance

of accepting and knowing who we are.

That we acknowledge that we are sinners

who deserve the wrath of God,

but Christ,

but Christ,

that He who knew no sin

became sin

so that in Him

we might become the righteousness of God.

Lord, I thank you

for your delay.

Lord, I anticipate

your return.

As we talked about last week,

may we be ready.

Lord, I pray that in my life

and in the lives of the individuals

here this morning,

Lord, that we would bear fruit,

fruit that is sweet

to all who taste it,

the fruit of the gospel

that shares hope

and love

and mercy

where slaves are set free,

where bonds are broken

and where life comes.

Lord, I pray that as we

examine our life,

Lord, that which needs to be pruned

can be pruned.

Lord, that which is unhealthy

can be removed

so that we can live

for your glory

and for your name.

Jesus, I thank you

that it's not a secret

because you tell us

unless you repent,

you will all

likewise perish.

In your name we pray.

Amen.

Thanks again for listening

to the Willow Ridge Church

weekly podcast.

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listening to this week's message.

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