Teachings of Jesus (Part 25) Warning to Repent Before its to late by Ben Fronczek

http://granvillenychurchofchrist.org/?p=1864

Teachings of Jesus (Part 25) Warning to 

Repent Before its to late

Intro. How many of you find that you wait too long to do some things? Maybe something you’ve really wanted was on sale for just one week and you could save a lot of money if you could just get to the store to purchase it before the sale was over. But things come up and you just don’t make it on time.

As old saying goes, some of us seem to be a day late or a dollar short.

In this lesson we see Jesus actually warning His hearers about two things closely linked to one another in His list of warnings which we’ve been looking at over the past few weeks. Let me read what I see as His final warning in this section… Read Luke 12:57-59 & 13:1-9
“Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right? 58 As you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, try hard to be reconciled on the way, or your adversary may drag you off to the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. 59 I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.”
Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
6 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’
8 “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”

What I see here at the end of chapter 12 is Jesus warning that one should do his best to make things right with his adversary before they go to the judge and he s found guilty and then thrown into prison.

And then in Jesus makes reference to 2 disasters that happened; one where Galileans were killed by Pilate as they were worshipping and offering up sacrifices, and the then He makes reference to 18 who were killed by a tower falling on them in Jerusalem.
He then asked if those who were killed were more guilty of sin than anyone else in their town. But He lets them know that, no they weren’t.

And after each story He tells them that they all needed to repent of their sin or they would perish.

And finally He tells a short parable about someone who had a fig tree in his vineyard. After three years he checked it for fruit but did not find any figs, so he told his gardener to cut it down because it was so unproductive.

The gardener then asked if he would allow him to leave it for one more years so that he could fertilize it. And then if it did not bear any fruit in that time then he would cut it down.

I believe these stories are all related as Jesus tries to warn them that they needed to repent before it was too late.

But I would like to consider a few thoughts as we consider this text.

#1. We should not necessarily blame God for all disasters. Sometimes stuff just happens. We can simply be at a particular place at the wrong time.
If you build your home on the seashore or on a flood plain we should not blame God for our house getting flooded now and then. If you play with your cell phone or text while you are driving don’t blame God for getting into a car accident. If you are exposed to people sick with the flu, don’t be upset with God if you get sick. If we have a hail storm and the hail breaks the windshield on your car or even destroys your garden it may not be God’s fault. Some things just happen.

I think we can assume that people in our text thought God was punishing those people who were killed because they did something bad, or maybe they were evil sinners. But Jesus said, “No.” And…

#2. Sometimes bad things even happen to good people (for Job). The Galatians were obviously at worship and offering up their sacrifices when Pilate had them killed. That would be like the governor sending troops in to kill us during our worship time. Almost all the apostles were beaten and killed because of their faith in Jesus, not to mention all the other Christians who have been martyred because of their faith in Jesus through the centuries. Even Jesus was killed, and He was as good as a human can get.

Yes sometimes God does allow what we may perceive as negative or distasteful because He cares for us, and He wants to get us back on track.
And as we know from the Old Testament, He will judge evil people and nations and put them down in many cases to protect or even prosper His own people.

But more importantly….
#3. I see from this text here that we cannot brush our sin under the rug and think we are OK, or that God does not care or notice. Like the owner of the vineyard who noticed how unproductive the fig tree was, our Lord knows how sincere and productive we are as Christians. He knows if we are bearing good fruit, bad fruit, or if we are not bearing no fruit at all.

In this section I believe Jesus wants us to understand that, how we live our life counts for something. If we have a sinful behavior He said we need to put it aside, and stop or repent of it, or there is going to be dire consequences.

And as we see in other verses we should be bearing good fruit, like having a loving, merciful, forgiving, kind, generous attitude. That’s the kind of sweet fruit our master wants to see on our branches.

Hopefully I am doing what the gardener told his master what he would do; and that is feeding you, fertilizing you so that His word will help you grow stronger and more mature so that you can bear good fruit as a Christian.

Otherwise His final lesson may be applied to those who don’t learn, or those who simply wait to long.

#4. In Luke 12 57-59 Jesus advised them to make an effort to get right with an adversary before its too late and you end up in front of the judge and found guilty and then throne into prison.

I don’t think that He’s talking about an earthly judge or prison. Jesus knew that some in the crowd hated Him. He was the adversary He was speaking of. And He was warning non-believers then and now who oppose Him that they better wake up and come to their senses concerning who He was before it was too late.

Sometimes people simply wait to long to do what Jesus wants them to do. Some admit that they believe that Jesus is the son of God and the savoir of all mankind, and say that someday they will become a Christian, but not yet.

I studied with one lady who told me that. She believed that Jesus was the son of God and that He died on that cross for us. But she did not want to make a commitment to Him because she did not want to give up certain sinful behaviors yet. Sad to say a few weeks later she died. She did not choose to work things our with Jesus before it was too late.
In that text Jesus said that the judge would turn such people over to be thrown into a prison. And I believe that prison is hell where we are told that there would be gnashing of teeth. The prospect of such a fate make me cringe.

But thank God I believe most of you do believe and trust God to save you from your sin because you have made a commitment to Jesus.

Still we have a responsibility to bear turn from our sin, and not simply brush them under the rug, rather we need to do our best to turn from them. John wrote in his first epistle, that “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 
But we also need to start bearing good fruit, not no fruit. Someone is watching.

And if bad things seen to happening to you, examine your life, look at what you are doing, or not doing that may be displeasing Father God. But we also remember that we do not live in a perfect world. Sin has corrupted it in more ways that we know. And sometimes bad things happen even to good people. We need to remember that God really loves us, and that in all things He will work for the good of those who love Him.