Christ's Object Lessons - Chapter 17: "Spare It One More Year"

Pastor David Asscherick is joined by Johnny Suarez to discuss Chapter 17 of Ellen White's Christ's Object Lessons, titled "Spare It One More Year." Ellen White examines the parable of the barren fig tree, drawing parallels between God's patience with ancient Jerusalem and His mercy toward us today. David and Johnny explore how Jesus came as the ultimate expression of divine fruit-bearing love, digging around the unfruitful tree and fertilizing it with His incarnational ministry. The chapter challenges readers to evaluate whether their lives produce genuine spiritual fruit or merely the leaves of religious appearance, reminding us that we are living in overtime—a period of added probation where God continues to extend His grace, inviting us to return to Him and bear fruit for His kingdom.

Guest: Johnny Suarez
Scripture References: Luke 13:1-9
Covers: Chapter 17
Original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Wzd6Y3oRcE
Light Bearers

Transcript

Greeting and Announcements

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Greetings, everyone, and welcome to With DA. And in this case, DA and JS. Or is it JJS? Born Juan Jorge Suárez Melendez. So J J S M.

SPEAKER_01 0:12

You got it.

SPEAKER_00 0:13

You know, we just had Kenneth. Did you see any of the programs where I had Kenneth on? I didn't see the one. Okay, so Kenneth, my good friend Kenneth, was here. He's one of the local new pastors here. And his name is Kenneth Geraldo Martinez Martinez. So he's got four names like you, but he's K G M M, and you're J S J S M. J J S M. Welcome everybody. We are glad to have Johnny Suarez with us. I told you that uh this would be a familiar guest. Johnny, I think you've been on every one we've done. I did except for Steps of Christ. Not Steps of Christ, but you were showing. You were on DA with TA, you were on OT with TA, parts one and two, I think. And then did you come from Mount of Blessings? I did the Mount of Blessings. Yeah, okay. So you've been here for all but one. Great to have you here. We've got lots of guests. And just uh heads up, Johnny will be with us not just tonight, but tomorrow night as well. So really glad to have you, Johnny. You flew in today.

SPEAKER_01 1:08

Just got in. Got in uh from a union youth congress in Chicago.

SPEAKER_00 1:12

Okay, you're in Chicago, flew from Chicago.

SPEAKER_01 1:15

Flew from Chicago, got in, picked up the car, rental, drove out here.

SPEAKER_00 1:18

Balmy weather here, 66. I'm sunburned. I'm literally sunburned from the weather. We're we're literally, Johnny, not going to get a winter this year. I mean, you see how it is. It was almost 70 degrees a couple days ago.

SPEAKER_01 1:32

We were at 17 degrees in Michigan. Okay. Had the vilest winter that we've had maybe in a decade. Violest. It was it was brutal. I mean, we I don't know if I've ever heard vial used to describe a winter, but I'll take it. Well, the reason why I call it viol is because I had to have the guy that removes the snow come in, and he came in like two or three times in a single night, and he charges every single time.

SPEAKER_00 1:55

So that's violent to me. So it cost you a lot of money. It did.

SPEAKER_01 1:59

I was waiting for her.

SPEAKER_00 2:00

So you were in Chicago at a youth conference.

SPEAKER_01 2:02

Did that go well? That went well. A couple hundred young people from all the Lake Union. Okay. Michigan, Indiana, Lake Region, Illinois, Wisconsin. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 2:10

And then uh just a little bit. So and how many children do you have now? Are you up to 12? Oh, we're still at four. We're only at four. What are you doing? Get to work. More on the way at some point. More on the way? Because is is it is your wife pregnant right now? Yep. And when is this uh when is number five due? Cinco.

SPEAKER_01 2:28

18th. Oh, 18th. So I've got about two months. A little bit over two months.

SPEAKER_00 2:33

And more to come, or are we gonna stop at five? No, we can we can be fruitful in a month. I'm gonna talk about fruit. Hey, tonight's chapter is all about fruit. That's exactly it's all about fruit, being fruitful versus fruitless. Uh, we are so happy to have Johnny here. Welcome everybody. Uh Kendra says, Hi, Johnny, great to see you. You too, David. It says, Yeah, we're too warm in Vegas recently. Yeah. Tanya says, Hi, David and Johnny. It was great to have you here, Tanya. Love you guys so much. Glad you got a safe trip back. Sapria Starr says, Johnny, my brother. Deb Snyder says, Hi, everyone. Deb was great to have you here last night. You did wonderful. The Lord was with you, sister. Loved your poems. Uh Terrible Terry Golden Girl says, Wow, is that Johnny? I never know what haircut I'm gonna get with you. And this is the trim. This is the sometimes you get the like messiah curls. It's Johnny. That's God. I'm too old for that. Too old for that. Now we're going with this. We're going with some. Uh dashing dash 707 says, uh, good blessed evening, DA community. Katherine Trezona says, hola Johnny. Franklin in the house. Franktown in the house, yep. Uh greetings from Texas. Hello, DA says Ryan Schwelt, my brother. Say hello to your parents and your sisters for me, Ryan. Uh CJC PhD says, remember back when they had their first baby? Little Schmoor. Okay, very good. Awesome. Yeah. I dedicated little shmoor. You did. Am I going to dedicate this baby? That would be nice too. Get somebody else to do it. I'm not the only one.

SPEAKER_01 4:01

But that was an honor. We did it. So we did it in Israel. Yep. In the very same place that Hannah dedicated. And my son, my wife's name is Hannah, and my son's name is Samuel, which is Shmuel.

SPEAKER_00 4:13

We did it on the spot. In the very spot. And there was like a hundred people there, and it was amazing. Welcome everybody. We are super glad that you are here. If you're joining us on YouTube or on Instagram, so wonderful to have everybody here. Hello, Tennessee Quillbud. Hello, Mary Ansis. Greetings from Adelaide, South Australia. How's that? Look, South Africa. How's that? South Africa. We've been getting Nigeria. Even sometimes we get like Germany and France and the UK. It's like the middle of the night. Yes. It's great. All right. So, Johnny, we are in chapter 17 tonight. Or is it 16? 17. 17 Spirit this year also. You'll be with us tonight for chapter 17 and tomorrow for chapter 18. For those of you that don't know, Johnny's been a regular on with DA. And just quickly here, Johnny, what is it that you do?

SPEAKER_01 5:04

Yeah, so I run a faith-based um identity experience, as we can say, where we take people, young and old, on journeys all over the world, but mostly to biblically aligned places.

SPEAKER_00 5:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:16

Um, the idea is to reconnect with the stories of the Bible and of history. Yeah. The children of Israel were called three times a year to do a pilgrimage at their expense to reminisce and remind themselves of the goodness of God as revealed through time and space. And so these are kind of our modern-day pilgrimages, so to speak, where we study scripture, we hear great messages. Sometimes we even have good food and good hotels. Most of the time.

SPEAKER_00 5:42

Yes, we do. We always do.

SPEAKER_01 5:43

And then, of course, just reconnect with one another if we've known each other, in some cases, make new friends.

SPEAKER_00 5:49

I've made I have made some incredible new friends on these tours, and I told you that, like like dozens of them, which is amazing. The first tour that I did with Johnny was in 2017. That was a Reformation tour, and it was commemorating the 500-year anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. Mark Luther nailing the theses to the door in Wittenberg on October 31st, 1517. That's right. We've also led tours, let's go down it. We've led tours in Greece. Greece, 2019. 2019. And then we've done uh obviously the Holy Land.

SPEAKER_01 6:21

Yeah, we did that one, 2023.

SPEAKER_00 6:23

That was cut short by October 7. That was quite an interesting experience. Then we did another tour when we did Turkey. We did we did uh Greece before that. We did Greece before that, and then we just did Turkey. Five. Five tours we've done together. Yeah. And we're doing a tour again this year. We're gonna be in, in fact, it's just so providential how it worked out because tonight's chapter, I mean, the whole chapter revolves around Jerusalem, right? All of this is we're gonna be seeing in chapter 17. The chapter is titled Spirit This Year Also, and it's based on Luke chapter 13, verses 1 to 9. And we didn't plan this at all. Nope. It just totally, this is what it lined up for you to be here. And we're gonna be talking tonight about Jerusalem, about the judgment on Jerusalem, about Jesus anticipating the destruction of Jerusalem, saying you can read the signs of the sky, you can read the clouds and the weather patterns, but you don't read the situation. Like Rome is offside, Rome is upset, trouble is coming, and of course the temple was destroyed, the second temple was destroyed in AD 70. And we are going to be in Jerusalem this year. That's right. This will be our second tour to Jerusalem. We're going to be going to a lot of different places, including or our second tour to Israel, I should say. We're going to be going to a lot of different places in Jerusalem, in Israel. What's the kind of uh what are some of the highlights of the tour? And what are the dates?

SPEAKER_01 7:45

Yeah, so the dates August 31st to September 7th. If any of you are interested in joining us, we have close to 70 people already planning on going. August 31st, September 7th. That's the main tour. There'll be a pulse extension tour also to Egypt if you want to do that. Are we doing Mount Sinai again? Yep, we'll do Mount Sinai. And we'll go to Saudi Arabia. We'll do the pyramids. Do the pyramids of Giza. We'll do it. Oh, did you just say Saudi Arabia? So some people can go early. Saudi Arabia. Midian. Land of Midian.

SPEAKER_00 8:14

Land of Midian. Stories of Moses. I might have to join her. I've never been to Saudi Arabia. That would be a near one. So, but the primary tour is in Israel. And what are the give me the top five highlights? And if you can't do five, give me seven.

SPEAKER_01 8:30

Yeah, five. Okay, so in a boat in the middle of the Sea of Galilee. That's a highlight. That's definitely a highlight for the Sea of Galilee. I would say the Dead Sea, swimming in the Dead Sea.

SPEAKER_00 8:42

Swimming in the Dead Sea, where you just float on the top of the water almost. People find that absolutely fascinating. It is fascinating. And the Dead Sea is drying up. It is getting smaller. It's not going to be there much longer. We've got to go visit it before it's gone. Before it's gone anymore. Okay, so we got two bodies of water.

SPEAKER_01 8:57

The Mediterranean, Caesarea, I think is a beautiful place.

SPEAKER_00 8:59

Very beautiful. And speaking of bodies of water, we'll go to the Jordan River. That's right.

SPEAKER_01 9:02

The Jordan River, I want. And then Jerusalem in general, whether it's the garden tomb, whether it's the views from the Mount of Olives. Yes. And of course, you know, seeing Gethsemane, walking the Via Dola Rosa.

SPEAKER_00 9:16

Going to the Temple Wall. Are we going to go to the Wailing Wall on Friday again? Of course, Friday evening. So we'll see the Jewish people welcome the Sabbath. That's that's a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I mean, really, if you can see that and you can be present, you it's there's there's no words to capture that experience. And the last time we were there, we were there for the Feast of Tabernacles. Yes. Which was quite an experience because it was like the normal crowds and then like the doubles. They're all walking around with their palm branches. And then are we gonna go north to Dan? Yeah, I'm hoping to do Dan again. I like I think that was maybe my favorite place. Me too. I mean, I love Jerusalem. I loved all of I mean it was all incredible, but Dan, something about Dan is so peaceful, it's so beautiful up there. I absolutely love it. And we're gonna go to the other side. We'll go to Jordan.

SPEAKER_01 10:05

Jordan is for those who want to do Jordan, we'll do Petra. Okay. We'll do Wadi Rum.

SPEAKER_00 10:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 10:10

My favorite part of Jordan is Mount Nebel, although we got stuck in here at Mount Nebel.

SPEAKER_00 10:15

We were on Mount October 7th. That's when it all came apart. We could hear the explosions in the distance. And then we got back to our hotel and find out that uh October 7 had taken place and BB Netanyahu had declared war on Hamas. That's true. And we had to evacuate everybody out of Amon Jordan. That's true.

SPEAKER_01 10:33

And by the way, for this um tour, I'm hoping to sneak in one or two new places that we didn't um visit before. There's a little chapel called the Chapel of the Ascension, which according to tradition is the place where Jesus was taken up to heaven in the Mount of Olives. Like X1 where he's shining up the heaven. That's right. So I want to take them there. Now they have a little spot there that supposedly is his footprint. I don't know. I don't I don't know that that's necessarily true.

SPEAKER_00 10:57

Yeah, but we do know it's the Mount of Olives. Such a desire for relics and icons, and and it's just we know we're in the general vicinity. Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_01 11:05

And the story is absolutely fascinating. The Great Commission. Are we going to go to that place that had that ship?

SPEAKER_00 11:10

Remember how Genesaur. Oh, that's the first one. Genosaur.

SPEAKER_01 11:13

That was right by the Sea of Galilee.

SPEAKER_00 11:15

Right by the Sea of Galilee.

SPEAKER_01 11:16

We went in there and then we got on the actual boat.

SPEAKER_00 11:19

We have to stay in that hotel that we stayed at. You want the same Hacienda Forest View? What is it? Hacienda Forest View. You have to we have to stay there. You to fight the food. The food I I've never eaten so well in my life. That's the best food. I mean before. It was like I ate for like three days there. Okay, so we're gonna be there August 31st to September 7th. You're welcome to join us. Johnny, if somebody's interested in coming and adding their uh name to the list of the 70 that have already registered, how do they do that?

SPEAKER_01 11:47

Yeah, so I'm gonna give you a number where you can just text the following phrase with DA. That's all you have to put is W-I-T-H-D-A with D A and text. This group will have no problem remembering that phrase. Remember?

SPEAKER_00 12:00

They got it.

SPEAKER_01 12:01

The number is 914-804-5699. I'll repeat it. 914 914 804.

SPEAKER_00 12:11

804 5699.

SPEAKER_01 12:13

I'm putting it right now in the chat.

SPEAKER_00 12:15

I get that right? You got it. You got it. Okay, so there it is. There it is, dude. 914-804-5699. You're gonna send a text to that number that just says with DA.

SPEAKER_01 12:24

With DA. And we'll send you more details. We have Zoom sessions. We'll give you all the details of cost, time, schedule, and then hopefully some or maybe all of you can join us.

SPEAKER_00 12:34

Violetta's gonna be there, God willing. It's gonna be amazing. Uh for those of you on YouTube, just one more time, Johnny, the number.

SPEAKER_01 12:39

914-804-5699. Text with DA, we'll send you all of the details.

SPEAKER_00 12:46

And we're recording this in February of 2006. So 2026. Yeah. We're recording of 2026. So if you're watching this uh in February of 2028 or 29 or 30, that trip already happened, but probably we have another tour planned. So uh send a text there. We would be delighted to have you. Okay, so Johnny, so glad that you're here. Um, this trip's gonna be amazing. Can't wait. And this chapter is gonna be amazing. This is a great chapter. I it's amazing. It's short, but what it lacks in length, it more than makes up for in punch. And what I love about this chapter is it's theologically robust, very theologically robust, but also totally relatable and personal, like the application is right there.

SPEAKER_01 13:34

Yep. I counted the last seven chapters are specifically dedicated to speak to the reader. Uh the last seven chapters, I'm always like, this is for you. Oh, paragraphs. Paragraph, sorry, last seven paragraphs. Got it. Is just speaking to me, like as an individual. Yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_00 13:51

She literally addresses, she's like, and reader.

SPEAKER_01 13:53

Yes, yes, that's that she changes it so it's not like all these are terrible, these terrible Jewish people and this horrible thing.

SPEAKER_00 14:00

Historically, they were so she's like, and how about you? Yeah, exactly. And how about you? Just in case you are gonna make the application, I'll do it for you. Exactly. Here's the application. That's right. Okay, I got people asking about the dates. Dates are August 31st to September 7th. There you go. Thank you guys so much for putting the dates in there. Johnny, I'm gonna have you open with prayer, and then we're gonna get into this.

SPEAKER_01 14:21

Yeah, let's go ahead and pray.

Prayer

SPEAKER_01 14:23

Father in heaven, Lord, we are grateful for the privilege of opening your word and diving deep into the lessons and the stories that you teach us here in your word. In other words, we're thankful that Luke wrote these things. He was interested in learning lessons, and we're wanting to learn these lessons as well. So, Father, speak to us, minister to us through your word. Continue to be our constant leader and guide is our prayer in Jesus' name.

SPEAKER_00 14:46

Amen.

Discussion

SPEAKER_00 14:47

Amen. Okay, so Johnny, here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna have you read in the NIV, which I've got right here for you, just the first nine verses of Luke 13. Luke 13, uh, Luke chapter 13, verses 1 to 9, and then I'm gonna read it uh in a translation that we've been using for this with DA. So you go ahead. Gotcha.

SPEAKER_01 15:05

Now there was some present at the time who told Jesus about the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no. But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Well, these eighteen who died when the tower of Silaam fell on them, do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you not. But unless you repent, you too will also perish. Then he said this parable A man had a fig tree growing in the vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, For three years now I've have been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down. Why should it use it the soil? Sir, the man replied, Leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine. If not, then cut it down.

SPEAKER_00 16:03

Dude. I love the line. Leave it alone. We're gonna talk about it. Okay, now I'm gonna read it in uh NT Rice Translation. Luke chapter 13, beginning in verse 1. At that moment, some people came up and told them the news. Some Galileans had been in the temple, and Pilate had mixed their blood with that of the sacrifices. Do you suppose, said Jesus, that those Galileans suffered such things because they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? No, let me tell you. Unless you repent, you will all be destroyed in the same way. And what about those eighteen who were killed when the tower in Siloon collapsed on top of them? Do you imagine that they were more blameworthy than everyone else who lives in Jerusalem? No, let me tell you, unless you repent, you will all be destroyed in the same way. He told them this parable. Once upon a time there was a man who had a fig tree in his vineyard. He came to it looking for fruit and didn't find any. So he said to the gardener, Look here, I've been coming to this fig tree for three years, hoping to find some fruit, and I haven't found any. Cut it down. Why should it use up the soil? I tell you what, Master, replied the gardener. Let it alone for just one year more. I'll dig around it and I'll put on some manure. Then, if it fruits next year, well and good. And if not, you can cut it down. Good stuff. Okay, so for those of you that have been with us on this journey, this already feels kind of important and urgent and even a little dark. Like Jesus is like, I'm telling you, if you don't repent, you will also die. You will also perish. You will also be destroyed. So there is a cloud of heaviness and of urgency and of judgment hanging over this story, hanging over this chapter. And Ellen White, I think, does an amazing job of capturing, as we mentioned, not only the theology of it, the historical application, the theology, but the personal application, which we'll get to at the end. So now, Johnny, I'm gonna have you start reading. Let's just read a few paragraphs here. Sure. Just to get a feel for the shape. We're on page 252, 252 of types and symbols, 212 of the original, and we're just gonna start reading uh right out of the gate.

SPEAKER_01 18:21

Christ in his teaching, linked with the warning of judgment, the invitation of mercy. I I like that. I love it. It just starts it's perfect. Mercy, judgment by saying this idea. I'm gonna give you the difficult part, but I'm gonna also give you some mercy. That's right. The Son of Man is not come, he said, to destroy men's life, but to save them. Amen. God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. Thank you, Jesus. His mission of mercy. I like that word, mission of mercy. You get the sense of intentionality, he's thought it through. It's not like he came, he's like, I wonder what I'm gonna do. Maybe I'll figure it out when I get there. No, no, no. I've thought about this, I'm on a mission, and it's a mission of mercy.

SPEAKER_00 19:01

And she'll go on to say, and its relation to God's justice and judgment is illustrated in the parable of the barren fig tree. But notice what she doesn't say. She doesn't say his mission of judgment. Right? The mission is a rescue mission, yeah, right? Like uh Tani was just with us a couple nights ago, the rescue mission. So the mission is a mission of mercy, but there is judgment. There is justice in that context. We're going to talk about the why and the how of that. But I think it's really important that it's Jesus did not come on a mission of judgment, right? He didn't come on a mission of justice, he came on a mission of mercy. Now, will there be justice and will there be judgment as a consequence of those that refuse persistently and cordially refuse that mercy? Yes. But feel Johnny's point there. It's a mission of mercy.

SPEAKER_01 19:47

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You get the sense that the ultimate goal is redemption. Yes. It's winning, yes, it's not warring, it's not destroying. There's going to be a process. But he wanted to succeed.

SPEAKER_00 19:59

That's why she quotes Luke 9 and John 3. The Son of Man didn't come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. Right? Uh, and then John chapter 3, verse 17. God didn't send us under the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. So clearly it's a redemptive mission, it's a rescue mission, it's a mission of mercy, but mercy is not going to completely eclipse judgment. Now, according to James chapter 2, verse 13, mercy will triumph over judgment, but it doesn't completely eclipse it. So now I'm going to read the second paragraph. Christ had been warning the people of the coming of the kingdom of God. That's in Luke chapter 12, right at the end there. He says you're reading the signs of the sky, but you don't read the signs of the times, right? You're you're aware of weather patterns and of seasonal changes. But do you see what's just on the horizon? We're going to talk more about that. Christ had been warning the people of the coming of the kingdom of God, and he had sharply rebuked their ignorance and indifference. The signs in the sky, which foretold the weather, they were quick to read. But the signs of the times, which so clearly pointed to his mission, were not discerned. Okay, now let's just pause right here. You're gonna want to write this down if you didn't already do so in your notes, okay? In Luke chapter 13, we should grab this Bible here, Johnny. In Luke chapter 13, we just read verses 1 to 9. We read it in both the NIV and then we read it in NT Rites Translation. Let me show you something very interesting. Luke chapter 13 opens with a warning against those dwelling in Jerusalem and in Israel writ large. Notice how Luke 13 closes. So go to the end of Luke chapter 13 and pick it up in verse 31. This is how Luke 13 closes. At that time, some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you. Verse 32, he replied, Go tell that fox I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal. In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day, for surely no prophet can die outside of Jerusalem. In unambiguous anticipation. Of his own death. Now listen to this. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kills the prophets and stones those sent to you, how often I long to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you are not willing. Now listen carefully to verse 35, the last verse of Luke 13. Look, your house is left to you desolate, destroyed. It's gone, it's done, desolate. And we're going to talk about how this is actually picking up Daniel 9. That's straight out of Daniel 9. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. So feel this. Luke chapter 13 opens with Jesus warning against Jerusalem, and it closes with Jesus further intensifying that warning against Jerusalem. Now we're not going to get into this, but there's actually a real structure to Luke chapter 13. We're not going to go into that right now. That's not our purpose, except to say that it opens with a warning against the destruction of Jerusalem and the signs of the times, and closes with Jerusalem, Jerusalem, I wanted to gather you. You were unwilling. You were recalcitrant. Your house is left to you desolate, which is like the fig tree. It's not bearing fruit. Okay, so feel that. That in order to understand this chapter and the whole notion of mercy and judgment and justice, you have to understand how God has borne long with incredible patience toward his people and toward the city that was the capital of his people, Jerusalem. And so that's why, again, Johnny, it's just totally providential, really, that you would be here. We're planning a tour to Jerusalem later this year, and the whole chapter is about Jerusalem. Opens with Jerusalem, closes with Jerusalem. Now let's read some more. Johnny, this is quite a long paragraph and an extremely important one. If you don't mind reading, top of page 213, but men were as ready.

SPEAKER_01 23:49

But men were as ready then as men are now to conclude that they themselves are the favorites of heaven. I like that little phrase, like, yeah, I'm kind of important. I'm really essential. God's kind of lucky to have me. He says, and that the messenger of reproof is meant for another. Yeah. Oh wow, that's a good thing. Just read. We'll do the comments later. The heroes told Jesus of an event which had just caused great excitement. Some of the measures, some of the measures of Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judah, had given offense to the people. There had been a popular tumult in Jerusalem, and Pilate had attempted to quell this by violence. On one occasion, his soldiers had even invaded the precincts of the temple, and had cut down some Galilean pilgrims in the very act of slaying their sacrifices. The Jews regarded calamity as a judgment on account of their sufferers of the sufferers' sins, and those who told of this act of violence did so with secret satisfaction.

SPEAKER_00 24:43

Mercy.

SPEAKER_01 24:44

In their view, their own good fortune proved them to be much better, and therefore more favored by God than were these Galileans. They expected to hear from Jesus words of condemnation for these men, who they doubted not, richly deserved their punishment.

SPEAKER_00 25:00

Okay, so now we we now let's sort of make comment about the paragraph here. Let's just sort of set the context. This is kind of an unusual parable because in all the other parables that we've seen up to this point, whether in Matthew 13 or Luke 15, Jesus is initiating the parable. You know, a sower went forth to sow. The kingdom of heaven is like yeast, the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. But in this scene, here's what's happening. Some people come up and apparently are reporting kind of breaking news. Telling him a story. Telling him something, right? Usually has Jesus telling a story. Now they're like, oh Jesus, let's tell you a little story. In fact, uh, listen again to N.T. Wright in chapter uh 13, verse 1. At that moment, some people came up and told them the news. Right? So you get the idea here that this is like we're getting Jesus' reaction to what we might call breaking news. And he's like, if you heard what what heard what has happened, there's been an outbreak. Now let's set the tone here. The Jews are living under the jurisdiction and under the heavy hand of the Romans, right? And there are always these kinds of uprisings, there's hostilities, there's outbreaks of violence, and the the Romans wanted peace insofar as it was possible. But the Jews, especially the nationalistic patriotic Jews, were always pushing back, pushing back, pushing back. And here there was apparently some kind of an uprising, and the uprising was met with violent and brutal force by Pilate. He told his soldiers, go in there, go into the temple precincts and slay some pilgrims. There are pilgrims there. And and the way that this is communicated is really sad and terrible, and it would have been especially uh incalculably terrible for a Jew because when the people, the pilgrims, were cut down by the Roman swords and instruments of death, their own blood was mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. So it's a particular human blood mixed with the lamb's blood. It would have been particularly grotesque and profane and blasphemous to the Jews, right? And and the way that they would kind of deal with this like, how do we handle this cognitive dissonance that we have? We're the chosen people of God, we're the covenant people of God, but we're being chopped down, some of us in the act of religious services by these pagan powers. And this is how they rationalize it. They say, Well, these guys must have deserved it. Yeah. These guys had it coming.

unknown 27:33

Right?

SPEAKER_00 27:33

And they're kind of looking for that affirmation from Jesus that this is the case. It's almost like John 9. Remember in John 9 where the disciples found the blind man? And they're like, Man, it's sin. Yeah, yeah. Why is this guy blind? Because he sinned or his parents sinned. And Jesus is like, well, actually, neither. And they're doing the same thing here because there was this kind of simple binary relationship between blindness, leprosy, sudden unexpected death, whether in the outbreak here, this violent uprising or the tower of Siloem falling. It's like, oh, that happened to them as a specific instance of the judgment of God. So that's the context. So Jesus is reacting to this in real time. And you can feel, you're supposed to feel when you read Luke 13, the tensions rising. Yeah. That the pot's not boiling yet, but it's it's getting very hot. The small bubbles are beginning to form. And Jesus is like, Do you do you not see? Don't you see where this is going? That's why he says to them, I got news for you. Unless you repent, you're gonna die just like they die. Because Jesus looks forward in prophetic vision and sees, according to the prophecies of Daniel, the destruction of Jerusalem. What you got?

SPEAKER_01 28:45

Well, I find it really interesting how the people who are describing this, they're like telling the gossip they got the text message or they're reading in the in the in the Instagram feed, uh, and they're trying to figure out like, well, we're not like them. So it actually says there were some Galilean pilgrims, right? That that kind of makes them distant. And they're like, oh, those little country bump people. It bothers them. Exactly. It's like that's not us. Yeah, you know, probably they deserved it. You know, glad that we're not like them. And and at first I was like, man, that's that's a little strange. But that's the kind of the insularity that these guys had, where it was like, this is just for us. And oh, you're Galilean, you speak a little different, you maybe have some different customs and some variations of your worldview. You can't and maybe you deserve this. And that's why she says they did so with secret satisfaction.

SPEAKER_00 29:34

Yeah, that's just unbelievable. That brought up. At some level that and and by the way, you know that that the sort of further elucidation that Ellen White is giving here is consistent with the text, because look at what it says at the beginning of verse two. Jesus says, Do you suppose that these Galileans suffered such things because they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? The only reason Jesus would say that, and then he says the same thing about those that had the Tower of Siloon fell on them, is there must have been something in the way they reported it, something in their tone, almost like, you know, they've got the, like you said, the gospel, they've got the and they expect Jesus, a holy man, a rabbi, to behave like other holy men and rabbis might have said, and to say, well, that's the judgment of God. Yeah. And Jesus actually, wildly, Johnny, you know what Jesus never does? He never gives any clarification or justification for these people's death or those on whom the Tower of Siloem fell. He doesn't say, Well, that was because of it. He knows he lives in a broken world where people are dying all the time. He's cognizant, not just of what's happening in Jerusalem. Jesus, as the incarnate Messiah, is aware that the world is suffering, that the world is under the pal of death and of Satan and of darkness. And so, yes, it's tragic what happened there with the Galileans, and yes, it's tragic what happened with the those on whom the Tower of Siloam fell. But Jesus knows this is not the exception. This is the rule. Yeah, this is what's happening. And then so he immediately transitions away from their kind of sense that, well, this must have been a special judgment on them and not on us because we're favored. That's right. He broadens immediately and says, actually, this very same kind of judgment will come on you unless you repent.

SPEAKER_01 31:29

And and one of the things that's wrong is intense language because you also get the sense that, and some scholars uh believe this, that there was always a question of how Jewish were the Galileans. Like maybe they were kind of mixed with the Samaritans, and they weren't really, and you get this throughout the story. That's right. The guys at Jerusalem are are the ones that have been. The ones in Japan, they're the real Jews. We've got to figure it out. You guys are kind of quasi, but maybe not so much because look what happened. Like, you got killed, and probably the finger of God was upon you. Amen. Thank God that wasn't us.

SPEAKER_00 32:09

And we even see this division uh between the Hebrew Jews, the Palestinian Jews, the local Jews, and the Hellenistic Jews, the Greek Jews that came from outside, in Acts chapter six. In other words, these prejudices existed in the early church. Go read Acts chapter six again and remind yourself, and we'll talk about this when we go through Acts of the Apostles, that there were prejudices even among the Jewish people. There was the outer circle, and then the more inside circle, and then there was the innermost circle. And those were the true Judean Jews, and especially those of the kind of religious aristocracy, those people that were very important, very holy, as we heard yesterday, preeminently religious. And so Johnny raises a good point here. Maybe it was like, well, you know, if these people had been following Torah better, like we have, like we are, I mean, that the tower didn't fall at us. That's right. Things are looking up for us. I mean, things, and then so what Jesus does is he instantly globalizes. Yeah. Right? He universalizes. He's like, no, I'm not gonna fall into this trap of politicizing this terrible thing that's happened. Jesus, it's obviously terrible. It's uh uh there's a you don't need to explain how terrible it is. I mean, just on a prima fascia, most most basic level, Jesus knows this is a terrible, tragic thing that's happened, both with the Galileans and with the Tower of Silo. So he doesn't even speak specifically to it. What he says is, yeah, this is a four instance. Yeah, it can't even. This is a this is a precursor, the little bubbles in the boiling pot. I'm telling you, you don't see this little uprising that just happened. You see how Rome came down hard on that? Do you see your obstinate heart? Like, this is a cauldron that's being heated and heated and heated, and Jesus can see that not many decades in the future, the whole city is gonna be destroyed. He's gonna talk about that in, for example, Matthew chapter 24, the Olivet Discourse. Okay, so this continues to set the tone. Johnny, if you don't mind, read the next paragraph, disciples of Christ.

SPEAKER_01 34:06

The disciples of Christ did not venture to express their ideas until they had heard the opinion of their master. He had given them pointed lessons in reference to judging other men's character and measuring retribution according to their finite judgment. Yet they looked for Christ to denounce these men as sinners above others. Great was their surprise at his answer.

SPEAKER_00 34:24

Okay, so the disciples were smart here in this way. They had learned that you can't just immediately judge somebody's character based on geography or the external. They've already heard this over and over again, like Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount. Don't even think to say to your brother Rakah, right? Because you'll be in danger of the judgment. So they've their they might have had opinions. It's gross. They might have had opinions, but they kept it to themselves. Right? And let this be a lesson to Christians today and to not jump reflexively or too easily to strong political opinions. Let's just pause and take our strong political opinions and convictions that we've just gotten all outraged because of something that happened and we saw it on the news or we saw it on Twitter, we saw it on Instagram. Let's go to Jesus first. As I talked the other day, I mentioned the other day, let's try to see the world through the lens of prayer as Christians, more than the lens of politics. The ups and downs and ebbs and flows of politics, whether in the United States or Europe or anywhere, those are you're always going to have the good people and the bad people, us and them. What we want to do as Christians, we don't want to turn our brains off. We can have political opinions and perspectives, but far more important that we go to Jesus in prayer looking for wisdom before we tick put out our strong opinion about something. And that's what the disciples are wise to do here. They're like, uh, we've been around this guy for a few years. Oh, this did not turn out well before. We're gonna wait and see what Jesus says. And she says they were surprised. They were surprised by what Jesus said. And dare I say that many of us today, if we just like tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, put out our frustration on one side or the other, and then we waited to see what Jesus said, we might go, ooh, wasn't expecting that. Right? Wasn't expecting that at all. By the way, I want to make a point here very quickly. Go back to the top of page 253. This is a point too important to leave behind. Johnny read this. That first sentence, I want to go back one paragraph. This is too important to leave behind. But men were as ready then as men are now to conclude that they themselves are the favorites of heaven and that the message of reproof is meant for another. Okay, I want to say this. As a general point of application, very often, and I've seen this in my own public ministry and preaching, people will more easily make application of messages of rebuke or standards or uh uh repentance to people other than themselves. I can't tell you how many times I've preached the message and I've had people come up to me and say, I wish my uncle would have been here to hear this, or I wish my daughter would have been here to hear this. And it's fine. It's fine to want our uncle or our daughter or our neighbor or our husband or our wife to have heard this message, but you did hear the message. Maybe there's something. So I see that you easily see application to them. Do you as easily see application to yourself? And that's what Jesus does here. Jesus says, like, okay, look, I can tell that your concern over those that were slain in you know, in in the temple courts and those on whom the Tower of Siloem fell is not really for them, right? Like, what's the lesson for you? What's the application for you? What's the takeaway for you? And this is a lesson for us when we get a message of reproof or of God bringing a message to us, to our church, through a minister, through something we've read. Let's be quick to make the personal application rather than the application to another. Right? You feel me on that? I've just seen that too many times in my ministry. Okay, let's turn the page. Turn the page, top of page 254, turning to the multitude, turning to the multitude, the savior said, Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than other Galileans because they suffered such things? I tell you, no. But unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. These startling calamities were designed to lead them to humble their hearts and to repent of their sins. Now, this is a key sentence. You want to underline this sentence. This is very important. The storm of vengeance was gathering. You could just read the handwriting on the wall, you can see the signs of the times. The hostility between the Jews, especially the Patriots, the zealots, and others and the Romans was intensifying. The storm of vengeance was gathering, which was soon to burst upon all who had had not found a refuge in Christ. Jesus uses this sad and tragic opportunity to again globalize or universalize, at least within Jerusalem, there, the points of application. It's not just for them, it's not just for them, it's for all of you. Read us the next paragraph, John, if you don't mind.

SPEAKER_01 38:59

As Jesus talked with the disciples and the multitude, he looked forward with prophetic glance and saw Jerusalem besieged with our Thafis. Yeah. He heard the tramp of the alien march aliens marching against the chosen city, and saw the thousands upon thousands, perhaps, perishing in the siege. Many of the Jews were like those Galileans staying in the temple's courts, in the very act of offering sacrifice.

SPEAKER_00 39:23

Mercy.

SPEAKER_01 39:23

The calamities that had fallen upon individuals were warnings from God to a nation equally guilty. Except ye repent, said Jesus, ye shall all likewise perish. For a little time the day of probation lingered for them. There was still time for them to know the things that had belonged to their peace.

SPEAKER_00 39:41

So if you read Daniel chapter 9 carefully, and we're not going to go into it here, but in Daniel chapter 9, it is abundantly clear that Daniel in prophetic vision ties together two events. You can go back and look at it in the latter sort of six verses of Daniel chapter 9. And here's the two events. Collective corporate rejection of Messiah, destruction of the city. And Daniel does this A B A B structure in verses 23 and onward. Messiah rejected, city destroyed. Messiah rejected, city destroyed. So Jesus can see. Spoken of by Daniel the prophet. Excuse me, let whoso readeth understand. So he's advising them to be aware that they were living in the timetable of Daniel 7, 8, and 9. So Jesus here knows this because he sees the prophecies of the Old Testament prophets. And the collective rejection of the Messiah was tied to the destruction of the favored city. Jesus knows this. And this is why she says here, for a little time the day of probation lingered for them. Jesus is going to die in AD 31. Jerusalem is going to be destroyed four decades later in AD 70. Jesus knows where this is going. And so he's preparing them and their children to not just look down on those that died in these outbreaks of violence. He's like, I got news for you. And the application for us today would be first of all, every one of us is going to die at some point. And second of all, the larger sort of prophetic application is Jesus is going to come soon. And there's going to be a lot of people who are no more ready for that than the Jews were ready for the destruction of Jerusalem. So we can now make the larger prophetic application. Right? Okay, so then a certain man he continued, and here's where we get into the parable itself. All of that is sort of table setting. A certain man he continued had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 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? Why don't you read the next paragraph there?

SPEAKER_01 41:59

Christ's hearers could not misunderstand the application of his words. David had sung of Israel as the vine brought out of Egypt. Isaiah had written, The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah, his pleasant plant. A generation to whom the Savior had come were represented by the fig tree in the Lord's vineyard, within the circle of his special care and blessing.

SPEAKER_00 42:23

In other words, everybody understood the parable of the fig tree, because the idea of Israel as a fruitful tree, uh a tree of righteousness, uh as a vine, a fruit-bearing vine that was supposed to uh feed the nations. This is all understood. It's it's a part of their language, their nomenclature, their legacy. So when Jesus uses this, nobody wonders what this is about, right? You have this fruitless fig tree. And by the way, you can tie Luke 13 to Matthew 21, where on another occasion, probably another occasion, Jesus sees this fig tree that's covered in leaves, but no figs. Now think about the application there. It looks fruitful, but no fruit. Looks fruitful, but no fruit. Similar to what's happening happening here. You got a fig tree, no fruit. What Jesus is looking for is fruit. And what Ellen White does is she starts now to tell the larger Abrahamic story. God's call and God's plan in the call of Abraham was always in you, all the nations of the earth will be blessed. Genesis chapter 12, verses 1 to 3. And Israel now, uh centuries and centuries and centuries after the time of Abraham, has not lived into that vocation to bless the world. In fact, they've become, as we've already discussed, increasingly insular, insular, insular, cut off, separated, not just from the outside nations, but as you've mentioned, Johnny here, even from some within their own people. Such insularity, such self centeredness, such uh preeminently religious people that are not living out. The vocation that God had called the children of Abraham to. So all of this is fitting into this larger vocation to which God had called Israel in the very beginning with the call of Abraham. And that's where she goes. Let's read it. God's purpose toward his people, Israel, and the glorious possibilities before them had been set forth in the beautiful words, that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of Yahweh, that he may be glorified. Isaiah 61, 3. The dying Jacob, under the spirit of inspiration, had said of his beloved son Joseph, Is er Joseph, is a fruitful bow, a bow by a well, his branches run over the wall. And he said, The God of your father will help you, the Almighty. He will I will bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lies beneath. Genesis 49, 22 and 25. So God had planted Israel as a plentiful vine by the wells of life. He had made his vineyard on a very fruitful hill. He had dug it up and cleared out its stones, and planted it with the choicest vine. I'm going to keep reading. He expected it to bring forth good grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes. The people of Christ's day made a greater show of piety, right in your margin there, leaves. Leaves, a show of piety, a show of fruitfulness, a show of righteousness, watch this, than did Jews of earlier ages, but they were even more destitute of the sweet graces of the Spirit of God, right fruit. Fruit of the Spirit. So you've got the leaves, but not the fruit. The precious fruits of character that made the life of Joseph, for example, so fragrant and beautiful, were not manifest in the Jewish nation. Now here's where she's widening the lens. Widening the lens to say, in terms of the, not to go too deep here, but Daniel 9 again, the 70 weeks prophecy, right? You have 490 years of probationary period for the Jewish people. We are down toward the end here. You got 80 31, 80 34, and then shortly after the destruction of Jerusalem. Jesus knows all this. That's the key. Jesus is operating according to the prophetic timetable laid out in the Old Testament, and in particular, the book of Daniel, Daniel chapters 8 and 9. So Jesus can read the handwriting on the walls, so to speak, and there's a lot of leaves everywhere. You got the phylacteries, you got these white wars of the garment, you've got the flowery prayers, you've got all of the accoutrements of religion. But where's the fruit? Yeah. Where's the fruit? What about blessing the nations? Yeah. What about healing? What about blessing? What about bringing the truth and the love and the goodness and the mercy of God to the nations? No, more and more insularity, more and more marginalization of others, more and more us versus them.

SPEAKER_01 46:54

You know, it's interesting when you look at you, so maybe some of you have heard of this idea of um the principle of first mention, right? When figs are first mentioned in the Bible, it's when Adam and Eve make that apron of fig leaves. And an apron, I I'm not really that into the cooking, as David knows, but for those who like the eating now. I do a phenomenal job with the eating part, but not the cooking. You put on the apron and it just it looks nice in the front. But the posterior in the back is empty. It's it's it's revealed.

SPEAKER_00 47:26

Interesting.

SPEAKER_01 47:27

And and it's like you have a show, right? That's what the text the Ellen White says there that they had of all the times in the past, this was like the time that they were the most showyest. So they have this beautiful little fig outfit. I love this little phrase. Phony. But if they turn around, but if you turn around, you would see cheeks that were not very pleasant, right? The derivier, as my mother would say. That's right. The posterior, that was not particularly something that you'd want to see. And that's what Jesus is saying. Is like, hey, which is interesting. I was thinking about this, the story. I think it's of Nathaniel, and he says, Hey, you know, here is a true Israelite. Yeah. He said he saw him under the fig tree. Under the fig tree. He's like, he's not a phony one, he's an authentic because he's rare, right? Did you get the idea that in the time of Jesus, these guys were self-absorbed with who they are and showing, and like you said, the phylacteries were going on, you know, they had all these rules, these regulations, how well you can walk. You couldn't spit on the Sabbath day because if you spit and maybe there was a seed there that you would be watering that seed and you couldn't walk so many more steps.

SPEAKER_00 48:30

She's actually gonna make this point here. Go for it. No, no, I'm just saying, I'm so glad you're saying this because she's literally gonna make the point that the religion that had been ostensibly the religion of Yahweh actually ended up totally misrepresenting Yahweh.

SPEAKER_01 48:43

The Israelites had misrepresented God among the nations. Yeah, they were not merely useless, but a decided hindrance.

SPEAKER_00 48:50

Now read the next line.

SPEAKER_01 48:51

To a great degree, their religion was misleading and wrought ruin instead of salvation.

SPEAKER_00 48:58

That line right there, that's page 215. What's the paragraph there? God and I have the old version. Yeah, yeah, that's fine.

SPEAKER_01 49:04

215, uh, two. It begins with God and the very next paragraph that we're on.

SPEAKER_00 49:08

Yep. Yeah, that line there, friends, is so telling. You're gonna want to underline that. That's incredible there. The line to me, that line there, to a great degree, the religion was misleading. What does that mean? What does it mean to mislead? Well, if you think about it, these people were the leaders, right? The Pharisees were the leaders, the scribes were the leaders, the teachers of the law were the leaders. The problem was is they were literally misleading, leading improperly and inappropriately, so that some of these rabbinical regulations, traditions, she's talked a lot about this in Christ's object lessons, hasn't she? The maxims, the traditions of men were actually causing people to think incorrectly about Torah. This is why Jesus said six times in the Sermon on the Mount, you have heard what I say. You have heard what I say, you have heard what I say, you have heard what I say. In other words, your religious teachers have been misleading you. Misleading you. And think about the deep irony and sadness of this, that the very ones responsible for the custodianship of the nation of Israel, the stewardship of the nation, were actually leading the people astray into a formal religion, into a religion where if you just looked apart and you said the right words, never mind what's going on inside of you, then you were somehow religious. And the more formal that you were, the more uh uh that your outward ornaments and other things communicated that you were religious, then the more religious you were. And Jesus lays the axe to the root of this tree, and she nails it here when she says that the religion itself, under all of these layers of rabbinical and human tradition, misled the people.

SPEAKER_01 50:40

And she says, wrought ruin instead of salvation. That's why she's kind of suggesting that this is worse.

SPEAKER_00 50:46

You got it.

SPEAKER_01 50:47

Because not only is it like detrimental in a general sense, but you're taking the picture of God and you're making it false, and you're telling people this is what God's like. You got it. And he's exacting and he requires these things. And if you do all these things, then you're good. That's that's ruin. That's not even salvation.

SPEAKER_00 51:03

Even in Luke 13, we have an example of this, right? Like it's obviously implied that God judged these people, and that's why they were slain in the courts by Pilate's men. And the tower fell on these people because God That's the kind of God. Exactly. We can see a little window here into the way that they viewed God, the way that God interacted with people, and Jesus, go back to the opening sentence, is trying to temper these ideas, these incorrect ideas of judgment with mercy. I'll read the opening sentence. Christ in his teaching, as opposed to the religious leaders that were misleading, Christ in his teaching linked with the warning of judgment, the invitation of mercy.

SPEAKER_02 51:43

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 51:43

Okay, so now all of this again, remember, is in the call of the larger Abrahamic promise and plan that God had for the children of Israel, which was to be a blessing to the nations. In you, God had said to Abram, all the families of the earth will be blessed. Okay, now in the parable of the dresser, Johnny.

SPEAKER_01 52:02

In the parable of the dresser of the vineyard does not question the sentence that the tree No, no, it's like in the parable the dresser of the vineyard. He does not question the sentence that the tree, if it remained fruitless, should be cut down. Right.

SPEAKER_00 52:18

Right.

SPEAKER_01 52:18

But he knows and shares the owner's interest in that bearing tree. Nothing could give him greater joy than to see its growth and fruitfulness.

SPEAKER_00 52:28

Because it hasn't been bearing fruit, but if it now suddenly started bearing fruit, that would be like such a comeback story. Everybody loves a comeback story. Everybody loves an underdog story. And it's like, no, no, let's give it another year. Yeah. Maybe even at this late hour the tree could bear fruit.

SPEAKER_01 52:42

Yep. He responds to the desire of the owner saying, Let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it and dung it. And if it bear fruit, well.

SPEAKER_00 52:52

The gardener does not refuse to minister to so unpromising a plant. He stands ready to give it still greater care. Well, now let's just think about that here for a moment. He will make its surroundings most favorable and will lavish upon it every at Okay. Let's discuss this question, Johnny. I'm gonna ask you a question to see if you get the answer. Okay. Okay, so this is now the tree has had many years of being unfruitful. Yeah. And now there's gonna be a special moment of what does she say, even additional care. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh, still greater care. Yeah. He will make its surroundings most favorable and he'll lavish upon it every attention. Here's a question for you. What is that? In the history of Israel, think this through. I know you're giving me the right answer. In the history of Israel, at the at the zero hour, when we're right down to the point where the tree is ready to be cut down, but we're gonna give it one last, we're gonna dig around it, we're gonna dung it or fertilize it, we're gonna give it the best shot. What is the actual historical application? Jesus. Jesus. He comes in at the last hour. Feel that, you guys. Jesus, we would say this way, is the fertilizer. Jesus is those last efforts and overtures to try to bring fruit out of a plant that for decades had not centuries had not brought forth the fruit. So this is the this is the idea here. The the the fertilizing it and the digging around it and giving it one more time is the incarnational ministry of Jesus. The long-awaited, long expected, long hoped for Messiah is there.

SPEAKER_01 54:24

Yes, he's there. He's getting his hands dirty, he's got, like you would say, dirt in between his fingernails. He's got smelly done around there. He's gonna be there to make sure that it goes through. By the way, one fascinating thing that I was looking at is some scholars were doing a timeline of when this presentation was given. And you know how so there's a couple of very interesting things about the fig trees that I was discovering. Apparently, the fig tree has it's one of the few trees that can give fruit three times a year.

unknown 54:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 54:54

It's not just once. Okay. So you get more shots at it. So it's not just a whole nother year, it's like multiple shots at it, right? Yeah. And what some of the scholars were saying is that this particular parable was probably about six months before Jesus dies. So you know you have three years, and then he says, Let's give it another shot. It's like this is his final opportunity that he's giving them, but he's already been showing them for three years his miracles, his teaching, his the fruit of the spirit that was revealed through Jesus himself. And so, like you said, he is the fertilizer that's coming and saying, I'm gonna give them the best shot possible.

SPEAKER_00 55:31

The last, this is this is we're gonna do everything that can be done. Otherwise, actually gonna make that point. Because God in Isaiah 5 is gonna say, What more could I have done for my vineyard? What more could I have done? I mean, God became a man, came to the earth, healed, taught, preached, told parables, died, was buried, resurrected, ascended. It's like, what more could I do? Okay, let's keep reading here. Uh, the owner of the dresser of the vineyard are one in their interest in the fig tree. And she says here, this is the father and the son. The father and the son were one in their love for the chosen people. Christ was saying to his hearers that increased opportunities would be given them. Every means that the love of God could devise, including how about God becomes a man, God becomes a man, would be put into operation that they might become trees of righteousness, bringing forth fruit. Now watch this. This is key. Write this in your margin here for the blessing of the world, right down there, Genesis 12, 1-3. It's that's always she always has the Abrahamic purpose and promise in mind. Read the next paragraph, John.

SPEAKER_01 56:38

Jesus did not in the parable tell the result of the gardener's work. At that point, his story was cut short. Its conclusion rested with the generation that heard his words. Correct. To them the solemn warning was given. If not, then after that thou shalt cut it down. Upon them it depended whether the irrevocable words should be spoken. The day of wrath was near, and the calamities that had already befallen Israel, the owner of the vineyard was mercifully forewarning them of the destruction of the unfruitful tree.

SPEAKER_00 57:08

You've got it. Now, for those of you that were with us when we just did the parable of the prodigal son last night, okay? I want you to feel the similarity here. Let me just read you this paragraph. So we're here in page 257, 216 of the original. That's what we just read. Go back to page 248. Look at this, Johnny. I'll just turn here. Okay. I'll just turn here. You can see it. So this is 248, 209 of the original. This is yesterday's parable. Lost and is found. Top of page 248. Now remember, this is this is at the end of the chapter here, the prodigal son is returned. The elder brother has come out. He's upset. He won't go into the party, all of this. And we talked yesterday about how there are three characters: there's the father, the younger son, and the older son. The father's character is fully formed. He has a complete character in the parable. The two boys are unformed. We don't know if the young boy lived into this new status and vocation that he had. We hope that he did, but we don't know. It never tells us. And we don't know if the young if the older brother repented. Now, let me read you this paragraph here. Was the elder brother brought to see his own mean, ungrateful spirit? Did he come to see that though his brother had done wickedly, he was his brother still? Did the elder brother repent of his jealousy and hard hard-heartedness? Concerning this, Christ was silent. For the parable was still enacting, and it rested with his hearers to determine what the outcome should be. Now let me read you that paragraph that Johnny just read. Again, listen to this. It says here, Jesus did not in the parable tell the result of the gardener's work. At that point, his story was cut short. Its conclusion rested with the generation that heard his words. She does the same thing here. He does the same thing here. He tells the story right up to the point where everybody's leaning in to say, Well, then what happened? Okay. And Jesus says, You tell me what happens. You get to finish. You get to decide. You get to decide. It's up to you to decide. You're the older brother. How did the older brother react? You're the fruitless fig tree. Did the fertilization work? Did the digging around it work? You tell me. Now, Jesus knows that corporately and collectively, it Israel is not going to repent corporately. But now this is very important. Even though we can easily say, well, the Jewish nation, the Jewish nation, the Jewish nation, let's remind ourselves, all the disciples were Jews. That's right. The 3,000 that were baptized in the day of Pentecost were Jews. The priests that became obedient to the faith, according to Acts chapter 6, were all Jews. So let's be clear on this. The Jews writ large did not reject Jesus. A certain number of Jewish leaders and those that were the majority in Jerusalem at a specific time, they did not receive Jesus as their Messiah. But a significant percentage of them after the resurrection did. This is why we can't make these really clumsy and blanket statements that the Jews rejected Jesus. That is not true. The disciples were all Jews. The early church was all Jews until you started to get the influx of the Gentiles several years later. So this is the important point. Corporately, Jerusalem was headed for destruction. That's right. But Jesus is saying, how will you write this story? And how will you write this story? And how will you write this story? And how will you write this story? And will the fruit tree bear fruit in your life, in your life, in your life? So now rather than seeing one giant fruit tree, fig tree, everybody is their own fig tree. And they will decide, like the older brother in the parable of Luke 16, how does the older brother respond? Does he repent? Is he reconciled to his father and to his brother? How does the fig tree, does the fig tree bear fruit? He give he puts them on the stage. And he says, let me see what's the answer.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:59

Yeah, I find that really interesting. And the other thing that I read along that that vein of thought is this idea of God waiting, right? I I was thinking about that that concept of God waiting. Like, you know, if you're important in society, you don't wait, right? You have front seats to the game. So you want to the all-star game, and you get to come in whenever you want to come in, right? Right. If you're in first class, you're the first one to come in. If you're an important person, you've got a schedule. So I thought to myself, like, God doesn't wait. I don't imagine God, you know, like in Michigan, the Secretary of State, the DMV, we all hate, you know, having to get there to get our paperwork done and these long lines to get your passport. Yeah. But you get this sense in the parable that God is like, hey, let's just wait this one out. And I just thought to myself, man, that's a fascinating idea. God, the creator of the universe, sitting around saying, I gotta give them a shot. I gotta give them a chance. Let's wait. Let's wait this one out. I love it. Like for me, and I think you and I are the same as we hate lines.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:03

Oh, I can't do lines. We're not. I can do many things in life that I don't like, but I cannot do lines. I know, like when we go to eat at places, you you just sit down on the side. I'm happy to be the last people, the last person people are like, oh, they're gonna run out of food. And I say, No, I'd rather it's not heat than wait in a line. Something about my brain, I can't wait in lines.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:22

And you think about it, all the rich people don't have to wait. The great people don't have to wait. But here in this picture, you get this sense that God's gonna do something unusual, something not normal. Right. He's gonna sit and wait for feeble humanity, sin-infested humanity, people who have seen his miracles, who have heard his teachings, who have heard his preaching, who have seen people raised from the dead, and he's gonna wait. He's gonna wait. He because he believes in them. And he's not just gonna wait, like we've seen, there's a proactive component to it. Yes, he's he's gonna dig around and dig around. Separation is taking place. Maybe he's gotta take some things and crush them and break them into smaller pieces so that they can fit around the plant. He's gonna give the plant every single chance to be successful, so that at the end he can say, I did everything possible for the plant to give fruit.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:17

She actually quotes here in a little bit, she quotes Hebrews 5, uh, excuse me, Isaiah 5, where God says uh in Isaiah 5, what more could I have done? Yeah, you know, what more can I have done? This is a great point about waiting. Um so then continuing on there in that same paragraph, just down a little bit, paragraph begins, Jesus did not in the parable tell the result. Jump down halfway through. Upon them depended whether the irrevocable word should be spoken. Now jump down to the next paragraph. The warning sounds.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:44

The warning sounds down along the line to us in this generation. Are you a careless heart? A friend.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:51

Now see what she does now. Yeah, this is it. This is where she now talks about. We've been talking about the historic application, the prophetic application. Now, to the reader. Yeah. This book book was published in 1900. Jerusalem was destroyed in 8070, more than a millennia ago, right? Almost 2,000 years ago. Now she's like, okay, reader. And she asks a series of four questions. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:15

Are you, O careless heart, the fruitless tree in the Lord's vineyard? Shall the words of doom ere long be spoken of you? How long have you received his gifts? How long has he watched and waited for a return of love?

SPEAKER_02 1:04:29

Hmm.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:29

Planted in his vineyard under the watchful care of the gardener. What privileges are yours? How often has the tender gospel message thrilled your heart? You have taken the name of Christ, you are outwardly a member of the church which is his body, and yet you are conscious of no living connection with the great heart of love. The tide of his life does not flow through you. The sweet graces of his character, the fruits of the spirit are not seen in your life.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:54

Yeah, yeah. And she's not here saying this is true of everybody. She begins not by making declarative statements. She begins by asking four questions. So you can just answer those questions on your own between you and Jesus, right? The questions are: you've had exposure, you've had opportunities, you've had abundant opportunity to be fruitful. Have you availed yourselves of those opportunities? Right? She's not assuming that everybody hasn't. Obviously, there are a great many spirit-filled, fruit-bearing, godly disciples of Jesus in the church in her day and in ours. But she turns the attention, because this is again, she's actually doing something very clever here. Remember this line. Remember this line here. The message of reproof is meant for another.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:34

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:34

Right? Because this is an easy one to read and be like, man, how did they miss that? It was so obvious. I mean, Jesus was right there, was all fertilized, was all dubbed around. How could they have been so idiots? And in that, how how could they have been such idiots? And in this, we're actually committing subtly something like almost something that's analogous to what the people that came and made the announcement to Jesus were committing. Hey, these people were killing. Oh man, that's it. I guess they were really bad people. And then we're like, oh man, those Jews, they blew it. And then Ellen White's like, okay, wait a minute, wait a minute. Uh, yeah, there were a great many Jews in that day that blew it. Not all of them, as we've already made that point. But what about you? Right? And this is great writing because she takes the historical, easy historical application and says, we need to look in the mirror. We need to ask the questions of ourselves. Am I availing myself of opportunities? Am I all leaves and no fruit? Am I bearing fruit? The fruit of conversion? Is the fruit of the spirit? This is exactly what we want. We want to be asked the hard questions because the last thing we want is to go unchecked, unwarned, foolishly to our own destruction. That's why Jesus was like, he didn't put a nice sweet wrapper on it. He said, Yeah, that's true. The tower did fall on them.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:52

And the same thing's going to happen to you if you don't repent. And the same is true for me, Johnny. The same is true for me. If I don't repent, not just one time, back June 6th, 1996, the day I got baptized, if I'm not living in a state of repentance before God, learning before God, trusting in God, well then what am I doing? What am I doing? And so it's an opportunity to turn the mirror around and to look at oneself and to take a sober inventory and evaluation of our own status as people that bear the name of God. Because I'm a Christian. Are you a Christian? Yes. So we have the name of Jesus. So it's entirely appropriate for us to ask ourselves and for Ellen White to ask us here, you have the name of Jesus, but do you have the character of Jesus? Yes. Do you have the disposition of Jesus? Yes. Do you have the fruitfulness of Jesus? And in case you're like, wow, this is all kind of heavy. How about when Jesus says in Matthew chapter 7, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, didn't we do this? Didn't we do this? Didn't we do this? And I will say, I don't recognize you. So it's entirely appropriate for us to have moments and seasons in our life where we do an inventory and an evaluation of our priorities, of our condition, canvassing people around us and saying, Do you see the fruit of the spirit in me? Do you see fruit in my life? Is the way that I spend my money and the way that I spend my time and the way that I spend my talents and resources indicating that I'm really living for another world? Or is Jesus just a tack on, like an add-on, like a Lego piece to a life that's really about me? Right? These are the questions we've got to ask. And I think she does a marvelous job of pointing and saying, you know, do an inventory. Okay, now let's just read a little bit more here. The barren tree receives the rain and the sunshine and the gardener's care. It draws nourishment from the soil, but its unproductive bows only darken the ground. So that fruit-bearing plants cannot flourish in its shadow. So God's gifts lavished on you conveyed no blessing to the world? Are you robbing others of the privileges that, but for you, might be theirs? Yeah. But I put it there in the interrogative. I put it there as a question because I think that's clearly how she means it. It's not accusatory. She knows not every reader is uh, you know, has the shoe fits this way. So the question is, is this is for you to evaluate, for me to evaluate in our time with Jesus, in scripture, in our community of faith, we want accountability. We want accountability from God, we want accountability from his word, we want accountability from his people, we want accountability by his spirit.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:27

And I like how she's now framing it in the positive, right? The barren treat receives the rain and the sunshine and the gardener's care. Yeah. So you got the rebuke, but you get that feel that what does that text say? That uh the the smoking uh clack clacks you will not break and bruised wreath.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:46

The bruised treat you won't break, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:48

That whole idea of God's still gonna show his mercy, he's gonna show his care, correct affection. Are you gonna be willing to receive it? Are you receptive to it? That may mean having to change some ways that we live our lives.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:59

Absolutely. But we want to be challenged, like we don't want to go on the primary path to destruction. We don't want to deceive ourselves, as I talked about two nights ago, or maybe it was last night. You know, the easiest person to fool is yourself. Yeah. I'm gonna keep reading here. You realize, though it may be but dimly, that you are a cumberer of the ground. Yet in his great mercy, yes, God has not cut you down. Amen. He does not look coldly upon you, thank you, Jesus. Yes. He does not turn away with indifference, thank you, Jesus, or leave you to destruction. Thank you, Jesus. Looking upon you, he cries as he cried so many centuries ago concerning Israel. How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? I will not execute the fierceness of my anger, I will not again destroy Ephraim, for I am God, not man. Quoting from Hosea 11:8.9, the pitying Savior is saying, concerning you, spirit this year also, till I dig around it and dress it. With what unwearied love did Christ minister to Israel during the period of added probation. Upon the cross and prayed, Father forgive them. They don't know what they do. Luke 23, 34. After his ascension, the gospel was preached first where? In Jerusalem. Yes. After the ascension in Jerusalem, after the Messiah had been crucified by the religious leaders. There the Holy Spirit was poured out. There the first gospel church revealed the power of the risen Savior. There, Stephen said his face was like there, Stephen, uh his face like the face of an angel bore his testimony and laid down his own life. All that heaven itself could give was bestowed. What more could I have done to my vineyard? Christ said, that I have not done it. Isaiah 5, verse 4. So his care and labor for you are not lessened, but increased. Still he says, I the Lord keep it, I water it every moment, lest any hurt it, I keep it day and night. If it bears fruit, great. But if not, after that, and then we write it. Dot dot dot. Read this the last two paragraphs, John.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:55

The heart that does not respond to divine agencies becomes hardened until it's no longer susceptible to the influence of the Holy Spirit. Then it is that the word is spoken. Cut it down. Why cumbereth it the ground? Today he invites you, O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God. I will heal thy backsliding. Amen. Love them freely. Amen. I will be as the dew unto Israel. He shall grow, grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. They that dwell under his shadow shall return. They shall revive as the corn and grow as the vine. From me is thy fruit found.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:31

Beautiful. What a chapter. By the way, one one small.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:35

Go ahead, anything and that's due our rubric. I I really love that period of added probation. You know, as you know, I'm a big basketball fan. And uh one of the things, in case you haven't noticed I love overtime, right? This fight at the end of regulation. And somehow they're like we've got to have a winner. We can't just go out like that. Can't have a tie. Like in football. In football, you can have ties, soccer, you can have ties. Right. Unless it's an elimination game. Basketball, no tie. Basketball, there's never a tie. There's always a winner. Quad, triple, it is. Wow. And this is this is kind of the sense that I get a period of added probation.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:14

Overtime.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:15

God's like, you know what? I'm not finished with them. I gotta give them a few more minutes. They've but we'll call it a tie. We looked at the the review and we'll say foot was inside. We'll give them some extra free throws. A lot of grace. A lot of grace. A lot of mercy. We'll throw in an extra tech on the other team because he looked like he was at whatever we need to do. This is all basketball language. This is all basketball language for those of you who might be entering into March Madness. So this idea of like whatever we need to do. Like, I don't know if you've ever seen those games where you feel like the ref is really trying to help out that team to get the points. That's the sense that I get here. He's like, I'm gonna do everything I need to do to help bail you out.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:56

We're in overtime. I'll take it. And globally right now, friends, we're in overtime. We're in overtime. Like we are living at the very, very end of the prophetic timeline. True. I mean, we're in overtime. We're gonna talk about that when we eventually do the great controversy and acts of the apostles, but we are living in the very end of Earth's history and at the end of the prophetic timeline. We're in overtime. So if ever there was a time to be doing sober and serious and mercy-filled, grace-filled personal inventory and evaluation through God's word and in his in community, that time is now. Yeah, that's true. That time is now, Johnny.

Rubric

SPEAKER_00 1:14:39

Okay, let's uh let's do the rubric, the point, the person, the prayer, the practice, and the promise, and then we'll do our word. Uh, Johnny, for you, what was the point of this chapter?

SPEAKER_01 1:14:53

Yeah, and put simply, God has given us everything we need, and now he's looking for a return on his investment. And I got that from um that paragraph where she she uses the phrase, return on love. I guess she actually uses that word there um towards the end of it. Like he's he's looking for a return of love.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:12

It's right there.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:12

Yeah, you see that right there. Yeah, return of love.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:14

Read it for us.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:15

So she says, How long has he watched and waited for a return of love? This you get this business analogy of God making an investment and he's wanting a return on his investment, but it's not money that he's looking for, he's just wanting a return of love.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:29

He's looking for, what is it, ROI? Yes, that's it, return on investment. Return on his investment. Okay, I put here the point for me was to tie together judgment and mercy, obviously. Yes, and the destruction of Jerusalem with the final judgment of the world. Actions, not words and pretense. Words and pretendence, actions, not words and pretetense is what really matters. Yeah. Not just leaves, but fruit. That's right. Not just the indications that I'm a Christian, not just the outward sign that I'm a Christian, but the fruit. That's right. But the fruit. Okay, the person. What do we learn about God in this chapter?

SPEAKER_01 1:16:08

I put um Jesus doesn't just pray from a distance. He gets his hands dirty, cultivating our hearts, breaking up hard ground, dealing with the mess of our lives. He's actively involved in our transformation.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:20

Beautiful. So he's the fertilizer and the gardener. Let's do it one more year. Beautiful. I put Jesus is abundantly patient and merciful and loving. Leave it alone. One more year. And you can just imagine that he's like, and one more year.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:36

And just because actually, you know, Israel's probationary period was centuries. Yeah. So it was even at that, it's like one more year. One more year. Just give it another shot. One more year. And thank God for second chances. Not just second chances. And four. Third, fourth, fifth, six, seventh, eighth, nine, tenth. We need them. Okay, the prayer. How do we pray this chapter, Johnny?

SPEAKER_01 1:16:56

So I put, forgive me for the times I've been quick to judge others while blind to my own unfruitfulness. Yes. Forgive me for consuming your gifts without blessing others. Yes. But being a cumberer of the ground rather than a tree of righteousness, help me to bear fruit.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:08

Dude, that I'm gonna take your prayer. I said, Father, make me and my family a fruitful tree to your glory. But I love your prayer. I want to read it again. Forgive me for the times I've been quick to judge others while blind to my own unfruitfulness. Forgive me for consuming your gifts without blessing others, for being a cumberer of the ground rather than a tree of righteousness. Help me to bear fruit. That's beautiful, John. Well read. Um, the practice. How do we practice this chapter?

SPEAKER_01 1:17:38

So I put here, um, like at the end of the day, asking myself, what fruit did I actually produce today? Not what I intended, but what actually happened. How did I bless others? Where was I barren? And uh this idea of building self-awareness about my my patterns.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:56

I love that. This is so good and and self-evaluative thinking.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:01

I'll tell you one area that I'm this is gonna sound really bad for people. I'm not a very, how shall we say this, generous person, not even with myself. So I'm actually proposing myself to be more generous in my tipping. Like in your tipping. I know, it's all pretty bad. It's all terrible. Gotta do better than tipping. No, of course. You're a tipper. Now it's coming out. 10, 15.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:22

Oh, give me a break.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:23

But 20% is very rare. So I'm like, okay, I need to step it up. I need to start at 20% and maybe go up to 30 or 40%.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:29

But I will say this though, the tipping thing has kind of gotten out of hand. I agree with you. Listen to this. I got a bill, it's a true story. I didn't I didn't mention this because I didn't want too many people's sympathy, but we got a call recently. Okay. We got a call recently from um that we have a property that uh Violet and I own in Tennessee. Okay. And we have a renter there. She's lovely, she's amazing. We love her so much. And we got a call from our property manager, Jared. He's like, hey, David, uh, I'm here with the plumber. I'm just gonna put him on the phone. Like, okay. Plumber's like, got some bad news for you. Your septic tank needs to be replaced. Okay, I'm like, who that sounds expensive. Yeah. Eight to ten thousand dollars. Expensive. I'm like, I'm getting faint. Yeah. They're like, okay, uh, anything else I need to. So anyway, here's the point. Fortunately, thank the Lord Jesus, they were able to repair the septic tank. It was only $4,000. But here's the thing, here's the thing, here's my point. When he sent the bill, this is a true story. When he sent the bill, it came on this bill and it was like uh like a like an email. So you click it and you go down to pay the $4,000. And there's a thing there that says 10% tip, 15% tip, 18% tip, point. So there are the tipping culture's gotten a little out of hand.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:52

I agree.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:52

If I'm sitting at a restaurant and somebody comes up and waits on me, I will tip it. Of course. But if I'm standing at a if I don't sit. If I don't sit down, you're not getting a tip, right? And can you imagine my plumber sit? I mean, I guess it's probably just a form, but what? Oh yeah, you know what? I'll give the few $500. I'm gonna go $4,500 because I'm just swimming in cash over here. I'm like Scrooge McDuck. Anyway, I was like, what on earth? So Johnny, but we gotta be generous and more. You gotta be generous.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:20

I'll give him a smile too.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:22

No, I'm just kidding. Johnny. Oh man. We have to be more generous. Okay, we gotta be more generous. I said, discern the signs of this is a practice. Okay, discern the signs of the times, see the handwriting on the wall. This world is not our permanent haunt. Just as Jerusalem was destroyed, this world too will one day be destroyed. Be aware, be ready, and by God's grace, be fruitful. Practice. And what's your promise?

SPEAKER_01 1:20:54

Promise, I just quoted Psalm 86.5. For you, Lord, are good and ready to forgive, and abundant and loving kindness to all who call upon you.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:01

Psalm 86.5. And my promise was the very promise that she closes on in Hosea 14. O Israel, return to the Lord your God. I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, I will be like the dew to Israel, he shall grow like the lily and lengthen his roots like Lebanon. Those who dwell under his shadow shall return, they shall be revived like grain and grow like a vine. Your fruit is found in me. Isn't that correct? Your fruit is found in me. By the way, how are you not reading here from the updated types and symbols version? Do you own the types and symbols versions? I think so.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:39

You are cheap, dude. No, it's not so cheap. I like the electronic stuff. I'm not like the physical. Yeah, but you can also do it on Kindle. I'm gonna have to do it.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:47

I mean, you're over there for the you cumber. But I remember that last promise. Go back, go back, go back. That's right. No, no, go to you, go to the go to the the actual chapter. Uh yeah, yeah. And look at the last paragraph.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:59

Okay, let me read this. Today he invites you always to return unto the Lord thy God. I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, I will be as the dew unto Israel, he shall grow as the lily, cast forth his roots as linen. So far, so good. They that dwell under the shadow shall return. They shall revive as the corn and grow as the vine. For me, from me is the fruit.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:18

Is thy fruit found? That's a little What does it say on yours? How about this? Your fruit is found in me. That's kind of straightforward, isn't it? Because that's how we actually talk now, Johnny. I like you. By the way, I don't mind the King James version, but I don't know. It was translated in 1611. And above. You might have noticed it's 2026. So get the types in Simon. Come on. Update to the new King James. Um, okay, everybody, let's do our word. Let's see what your word was. Now, Johnny, here's the rules. If you see your word on here, if you see your word on here, then you gotta say, yeah, that's my word. Okay. Okay, so let's see what we've got here. Cassandra says, I have it on Kindle, Johnny. I love it. I mean, it's like it's like 30 or 40 bucks, dude. Come on. I gotta read that. Okay, so fruitful. Uh let's see. My word is that's my word. My word is fruit. Because you can do fruitless, fruitful, fruitfulness. My word is fruit.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:13

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:13

Okay, fertilizer. Jennifer says she likes the King James language. Well, I like it too, but you should have the other as well. Self-evaluation, self-evaluate. Um unwearied, his love to us. Thank you, Sarah. Beautiful. Probation, says Deb. Unwearied, fruit, unwearied. Well, a lot of unwearied. Pursue. Christ continually pursues us to save us. Flourish. Fruit. Fruit, says Mary on one one, Mary and 1193. Second chances. Love it. Uh types and symbols uh set for me for Christmas, David. Next year, start saving. Okay, I can probably do that. Fruit. Jennifer's another one like you. She does not spend money. Fruit, fruit, warned, fruitfulness, probation. Bless Chuck Seven says my words were mercy, spare, but I also like Johnny's overtime. Overtime's. Is that your word? It's not. Okay. Um, spare. I agree with David. I love types and symbols, me too. Reboot. Depend overtime. Dude, Johnny, you've influenced people here. Share, bear. God bears law with us, and we must bear fruit. Oh, that's very good. I love the double meaning there. Careful, cultivating. Return. Let's return to Jesus. Now he returns to this earth.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:27

Signs.

SPEAKER_00 1:24:27

Signs, signs, inclusion, patience, return. Says grace, peace, and blessings. That's Reiner and Alice. Love you guys. Possibility. Mungbean says we have been given the privilege to assess our hearts and change. Amen, sister. Preach. Linked. You haven't seen your word yet? Nope. Wow. Okay. Invites? Says Frank. Let's see. What do we got here? Shadow or fruit. I love it. Mercy. Love it. A lot of fruit. Tragedy happens. Respond. Light is given. Respond. Conviction comes. Respond. Respond. I love it, Ruben. Respond. Rooted. Tennessee Quiltbug says if Johnny wants to be generous and gift me a types and symbol set, I would accept. Perfect. Johnny, we're going to help you out with your practice here. Send a set to Tennessee Quiltbug. Ike62 says planted. Johnny, your word is he. I like how she's very. People are guessing. No. Okay. People try to guess my word too, but sometimes it's easy. What's your word? So my word is mentioned 29 times.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:35

29 times. Okay. And the word is. What does it start with? Give me the letter. Well, you can see it. No, I didn't say it. Okay. It starts with the letter N. N. Yes. N.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:47

N, and it occurs 29 times. 29 times it's mentioned there. I'm going to say no. Not. Not. Very good. Very good. Not. Not. Not.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:57

So why is not your word? You're going to have to make a case for it. So from the very beginning, the very first verse is close, the son of man is not come. And then 29 is, and then when when it comes to it, the signs of the times were not discerned. That's right. And then remember when they like they're telling the story of Jesus, and then he says, he he actually uses a different word. He uses the old English word, nay. I tell you, nay, but except you repent, you shall all likewise perish. So Maida is it's not just what God does for us, but sometimes his greatest blessings is what he does not do to us. He doesn't destroy us. He doesn't cut the tree down. He doesn't cut the tree down. He doesn't end up a probationary time immediately. He just keeps giving us chances and chances and chances. Not this year. Not this year. Not this year. I like it. Not that not the next. So all the way to the very end, 29 times that word not is mentioned all the way down.

SPEAKER_02 1:26:50

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:50

And then all the way there. The heart that does not really, but then it's also bear food well, and if not, then after that. So my word is thank you, God, for what you've not done before, and the fact that you're giving me more chances. That was my word.

SPEAKER_00 1:27:05

I love it. And then I love that at the end. The heart that does not respond to the divine agencies becomes hardened until it is no longer susceptible to the influence of the spirit. That's actually quite a good word. No, I like that. I like it. It's very clever, very creative. Excellent. Um, that was an absolute Johnny. It's always great to have you because you bring a certain energy. Tonight we got business, tonight we got generosity, tonight we got basketball overtime. We get a certain variety. We have a brand, Johnny. We get the Johnny Suarna's brand. Tomorrow night we'll be in chapter 18, everybody. It's going to be delightful. Let's close with prayer. Father in heaven, so great to be here with Johnny. We want to just pause here and thank you that you have said don't cut it down this year. Not this year. Not this year. Not this year. Father, we long to bear fruit. Lauren, we long to bear the fruit of the Spirit. We long to bear the fruit of conversions and people coming under the influence of grace through our influence. Lord, I want to thank you for the with DA community. We want to thank you that you've brought us together. We want to pray for the outpouring of your spirit on this community. Lord, help us to be agents of change, agents of blessing. Lord, we are also inheritors of that Abrahamic promise that we can bless the world. And so, Father, why we can't bless the entire world. That's up to you. You're uniquely qualified to do that. Teach us how to bless our world. Yes. Our world, our neighborhood, our family, our workplace. Father, make us fruitful. Make us fruitful. And we're so thankful that you've dug around us and you have fertilized us. You've given us every opportunity for success. And Father, we claim right now that by your grace we are succeeding. We are succeeding. We are living into this great vocation that you have called us to. And Father, in those areas of personal inventory where we see that we're not bearing fruit, rebuke us, chase us, and help us to make changes, as Johnny was talking about, to sort of evaluate and say, you know what? I can do better here, and I can do better here, and I can do better here. And Father, above all, may we never look down our long nose at others and think, well, you know, they're just not quite as good as me, not quite as spiritual as me, not quite as favorite as me. Father, we want to be servants to the world that you have put us in. We thank you for this great lesson tonight. We thank you for your mercy. We know that justice and judgment are coming. They're coming to this world, Father, just as they came to Jerusalem and just as they came to Jesus on the cross. So, Father, we want you to hide us in the cross. Please protect us from the coming judgment. We want to be aware, we want to be ready, and we want to be fruitful. And it is our great privilege to pray in the saving name of Jesus. Amen.