Why Are You Still Alive?

Heaven is much more than a destination. And you'll find out what that means if you come back each evening. And we promise to let you out on time.

I don't want you to miss Lawrence Welk or whatever else may be on tonight. We're competing with the president tomorrow night. My that's a challenge.

Luke chapter 12 beginning at verse 54. Our Lord is speaking. Then he also said to the multitudes whenever you see a cloud rising out of the West immediately you say a shower is coming.

And so it is. That was true. On the West was the Mediterranean Sea and that's where the weather came from.

And when you see the south wind blow you say there will be hot weather and there is. Because the south wind came from the desert, the Negev area of the Holy Land. Some of you have been there.

Hypocrites. That's a nice thing to call the people who tell you about the weather. We live in Nebraska.

We're a rather poor state. We can't afford weather. We get our weather from Colorado and Kansas.

It's miserable. You know, if there's no weather in heaven, what are people going to talk about? That's all they talk about is the weather. You can't do anything about it.

Hypocrites. Now, what is hypocritical about knowing the weather report? You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth. But how is it you do not discern this time? And they didn't.

God was standing in their midst and they didn't understand kind of day we're living in today. God is speaking very loudly and very clearly. And people do not understand what he's saying.

Verse 57. Yes, and why even of yourselves do you not judge what is right? When you go with your adversary to the magistrate, you owe a bill. You haven't paid it.

You were in an automobile accident and you drove away and shouldn't have done that. They come and get you. When you go with your adversary to the magistrate, make every effort along the way to settle with him, lest he drag you to the judge.

And the judge deliver you to the officer. And the officer throw you into prison. I tell you, you shall not depart from there to have paid the very last mite.

They were present at that season, some who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answered and said to them, do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans? Because they suffered such things? I tell you, no. But unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

Or those 18 on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them. They had towers to fall back in Jesus' day. Do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no.

But unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. He spoke also this parable. Now, whenever you come to a parable in the Gospels, fasten your safety belt.

Be prepared. A parable is not an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. That's too tame.

A parable is one of the most dangerous things in the Bible. Because a parable begins as a picture. You say, oh yeah, yeah, I recognize that.

But the longer you look at the picture, the more it turns into a mirror and you see yourself. Say, wait a minute. I didn't know that about myself.

I, oh, what am I doing there? And then if you look long enough at the parable and walk through it, watch, it turns into a window and you see God. And God says to you, yeah, that's the way it is. Now, what are you going to do about it? Parables are dangerous.

So fasten your safety belt. He spoke also this parable. A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard.

Not that they did that because they didn't want to waste space. Here were all the vines growing and there was space for other crops. But it could not be the kind of crop that you walked on.

You don't want to walk on your crops. So they would plant fig trees and it wasn't in the way. It didn't hinder the vines and they could get another crop.

And he came seeking fruit on it. That's what you would expect. And he found none.

And then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and I find none. Cut it down. Why does it use up the ground? Another translation.

Why is it wasting all this space? But he answered and said to him, sir, let it alone. Let it alone this year also until I dig around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well.

But if not after that, you can cut it down. It's been a little over a year since the 9-11 tragedy. And when it occurred, I thought of this passage because they had tragedies in Jesus' day.

They hadn't built skyscrapers yet, but the tower fell down, killed some people. They didn't have a democracy such as we have, but they had crooked politicians and rulers. Like Pilate.

People traveled from Galilee down to Jerusalem to offer their sacrifice and did something Pilate didn't like. He killed them. And had there been newspapers in that day and had there been television with anchor men and women and all sorts of analysts.

My, how they would have discussed it just the way we're discussing 9-11. And our Lord is telling us here. That when there's a tragedy and there are all kinds of things happening today.

We need to be very careful how we analyze it. God may be speaking to us about something and we might miss the whole thing. Now, our Lord gives to us here three cautions.

He wants to caution us. Here was a crowd saying, what about Pilate? What about this? What about that? And our Lord was saying, now, let me just caution you a little bit. In the light of events that are happening in our world today.

His first caution is don't judge the victims. 9-11 had no sooner become great news when some preachers were telling us why it happened. I don't know who told them.

Now, America is not a godly country. I'm sorry. I've traveled this country or it's not a godly country.

We are exporting in movies and videos and books. Some of the filthiest, dirtiest literature and drama that's ever been produced. We're not a godly country.

We spend more money each year on dog food than we do on missions. Now, I'm not saying starve the dogs, not in the least. We're not a godly country.

And Jesus said, now, look, don't judge those victims. Pilate killed the Galileans. Don't say those Galileans were sinners.

The tower fell on these men and killed them. They were at work. Don't you say that those people were worse sinners than anybody else.

Job's friends were very good at that. When I read the book of Job, I feel like crying and I feel like laughing. And I get angry and feel like hitting somebody.

Because these men didn't understand. One of them looked at Job and here's Job covered with sores and he's feeling terrible. And his wife has said, why don't you commit suicide? That's encouraging.

Children have all been buried. One of his friends looks at him and says, whoever perished being righteous. Wouldn't that encourage you? Now, if I'd have been there, I'd have said, hey, you big fool.

I can tell you one who perished who was righteous. His name is Jesus. God made him to be sin for us.

He who knew no sin. That we might become the righteousness of God in him. And we weren't quick to judge people.

Well, I know why that accident happened. Oh, do you? You know, one of the joys of heaven is going to be when we get there. To sit down and see an IMAX screen all the way from Mars to the moon.

And no admission charge. And God's going to say, this is your life. And we're going to see why the accident took place.

We're going to see why we lost our job. We're going to see why the baby died. We're going to see why mother was so sad.

We're going to see and understand. And we're going to praise God. Because we're going to understand that we aren't the judges.

God's the judge. So our first caution, don't judge the victims. Now, Jesus gives us a second caution here.

He says, don't judge the Lord. Pilate killed the worshipers in the temple. But don't blame God for that.

Man's heart is sinful. Wicked. Ever since the fall of man, sin has been reigning.

You ever read Romans 5 and notice the king is in Romans 5? Paul says, sin is reigning. And because sin is reigning, death is reigning. But thank God, grace is reigning.

Grace is reigning through Jesus Christ. Then in verse 17 of chapter 5, Paul adds a sweet little word and says, and by the way, you can reign in life through Jesus. Every lost sinner is a slave, a prisoner.

But when you know Jesus as your Savior, you can reign in life. But death is reigning. And don't blame God that the tower came down.

Paul wrote in Romans 8 that all of creation is groaning, travailing in pain. Ever since the fall of man, this world's been sick. So you don't judge God.

The insurance companies, and if you're an agent, I'm not criticizing you. The insurance companies have a little phrase, acts of God over which we have no control. Floods and so forth.

By the way, it's destined for us to die. Now, Jesus may come back. I hope he does.

I hope he does. Years ago, Brother Estep published a magazine called The Uplook. Some of you have them in your closet at home now, collector's items.

The Uplook. Somebody sent me a little plaque one day that said, when the outlook is bleak, try The Uplook. The outlook is bleak.

If Jesus does not come back, we're going to die. Now, how a person dies is inconsequential. A drunken driver almost killed me out here on the highway back in 1966.

I said, no, he better stick around for a while. But we're going to die. People are dying that never died before.

I once asked Howard Sugden, what's the death rate in Michigan? He said, one apiece. So, how you die is inconsequential. Being ready to die is what's consequential.

So, you don't judge God and you don't judge the victims. But there's a third caution here. We must judge ourselves.

The whole point of this paragraph in Luke's Gospel is this. The big question is not why did over 3,000 people die at the 9-11 catastrophe. That's not the question.

The question is, why are you and I still alive? Jesus said unsaved people are like a prisoner being led by a policeman to a judge who turns him over to an officer who puts him in prison. That doesn't take too long to do that. They come to the house.

They get you. They take you. You're in prison.

That's like unsafe people. Unsafe people are walking toward judgment. And Jesus says, while the time is there, while the opportunity is there, straighten it out.

If you don't know Jesus this morning, you say, well, I got plenty of time. No, you don't. You're walking toward judgment and there's no escape.

You're going to pay to the last penny. But there is time now for reconciliation with God. There's time now for forgiveness.

There's time for saying, I am sorry. There's time for believing on Jesus. Then you won't go to prison.

There's where he talks to the unsaved. And if you don't know Jesus today, the issue is not why did 3,000 some people die in New York City. Why are you still alive? What we have thought, what we have said, what we have done proves that we deserve death.

The wages of sin. Now, you know why you're alive? Because God, the judge, says, let's wait a little while. God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

God who will have all people to be saved. But with the fig tree, he talks not to the unsaved people, but to the believers. Christians are supposed to be like trees.

Churches are supposed to be like trees. Most important part of the tree is the root system. Most important part of your life is your root system.

The part only God sees. We can come to church on Sunday and we can put on a front. We can fool people some of the time.

But God looks down, he sees a root system. And the Lord comes and says, where's the fruit in this fig tree? You know what God's looking for from this church and the church Betty and I go to in Lincoln? Fruit. Not results.

You can manufacture results. You can't manufacture fruit. Fruit comes from life.

And when the roots of a church or the roots of a ministry or the roots of a life or a family are down into the water of life, the Holy Spirit of God, he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth fruit. Fruit comes from life. And fruit has in it the seed for more life.

So that when somebody comes to Christ, that's fruit. And that person leads somebody else to Jesus. And they plant the seed and the fruit keeps coming.

More fruit, much fruit. Some of you remember Vance Havner. I miss him.

We used to be in conferences together. What a man. And he used to say in his own inimitable way.

First, there's a man. And then there's a ministry. And then there's a movement.

And then there's a machine. And then there's a monument. And that just about describes a lot of what I've seen in the last 50 years.

I don't want my life to become a monument. I told my wife, if I should die, put on a tombstone, he has met his last deadline. Friend of mine who's a cartoonist sent me a cartoon with my name on a tombstone that said, be finished.

We have to judge ourselves. Am I an unconverted person, arrested, already guilty, already declared guilty? The sentence has been pronounced. I'm on my way to meet God.

I better get reconciled. I better get saved. Am I a believer who has leaves in his trunk and some roots but no fruit? If God were to come to us right now and say, give me one reason why you should live, what would you say? We say this to unsaved people.

If you should die and go to heaven, what reason could you give that God should let you into his heaven? We tell unsaved people that so they'll get saved. Now, Jesus says, I want to talk to you Christian people. What reason are you going to give me why you should still live? I wonder how many times God has said, cut him down.

He's just cumbering up the earth. And so his third caution is we have to judge ourselves and make sure that we're bearing fruit. Now, you notice that the keeper of the vineyard, bless his heart, knew what to do.

He said, look, I'll tell you what's wrong. It's the roots. It's the roots.

And let me dig around the roots and get rid of some of the stuff that doesn't belong down there. And let me fertilize those roots and care for those roots because if the roots are right, the fruits will be right. You know what's wrong with many of God's people today? You know why they aren't bearing fruit? The fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patience.

Gentleness, meekness, goodness, self-control, faithfulness, all these wonderful things that keeps homes together and churches together. You know what's wrong with God's people? They aren't trees with roots or tumbleweeds that are blown about by every wind of doctrine. The biblical illiteracy in America today is appalling.

Appalling. And my Lord says to me, I'm looking for fruit. And the Holy Spirit says, let me dig around a little bit and put some fertilizer down.

During this week, we're going to try to add some fertilizer to all of our lives. And we'll see if there's some fruit. And so my message this morning is simply this.

The question is not why do people die in tragedies? Shot dead in Maryland, shot dead in the dull state of Nebraska. Five people killed in a bank robbery. Craziness.

But the issue is not why did they die. The issue is why am I still alive? Well, because God's got something for you to do. Am I doing it? Jesus uses a word that we don't like in verse 3, repent.

He uses the same word in verse 5, repent. You know what it means to repent? It means I'm going in this direction and it's the wrong direction. I stop and say, whoop, and I turn around.

To repent means to change your mind about sin, about your life, about the Christian life. About the church. Occasionally I get into missions conferences where a well-meaning but ill-instructed speaker will say, Jesus' last word to the church was go into all the world.

No, it wasn't. You know what our Lord's last words are to the church? Revelation chapter 2 and 3, repent or else. And so he says to us today, you haven't been praying.

And because you haven't been praying, you've not been bearing fruit. Repent or else. I'll cut the tree down.

You've been cultivating secret sin. You know what you're doing with your computer. You know what you're doing with your TV set and your videos.

Repent or else. You've not been faithful with your giving, your tithing and your giving. Repent or else.

The Lord is long-suffering toward us. You know why? Peter tells us why. 2 Peter chapter 3, the Lord is long-suffering to us, the believers.

Doesn't say he's long-suffering toward sinners. That's true. But in Peter's words, he says the Lord is long-suffering toward believers who are supposed to be witnessing to unsaved people because God is not willing that any should perish.

And so our Lord says to us, where's the fruit? And I certainly hope that God the Father and God the Son, God the Holy Spirit are not calling a committee meeting to determine that I should be cut down. Why should we allow him to cumber the ground? There may be some here this morning who are unsaved. And you need to repent and trust in Jesus.

Because you're on your way to judgment. And hell is an eternal penitentiary from which there is no escape. Some believers here today, if God were to come to us and say, give me one good reason why I should let you live.

We'd be speechless. He's looking for fruit. You have not chosen me, said Jesus.

I've chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit. And that your fruit should remain. And that whatsoever you ask, I shall give it to you.

Now, this story is open-ended. I would expect my Lord to say, and the man said, all right, let it live another year. And lo and behold, the next year it bore fruit.

Doesn't say that. You know why? You and I have to finish the story. Our Lord didn't finish the story.

And somebody says, well, that's all well and good, but it doesn't apply to me. So your next verse is, and therefore they did nothing and the tree was chopped down. How are you going to finish the story? You say, I've got a long time to live.

How do you know? You say, you're trying to frighten me. I'm not trying to frighten you. I'm just trying to tell you what Jesus says.

Jesus said, we are here to bear fruit. He's going to do everything he can so we can bear fruit. And if we don't, we're in danger of being cut down.

Gracious Father in heaven, some here this morning are gleefully walking toward judgment. Don't realize it. Oh, help them to see their danger and to make reconciliation and to trust Jesus.

And some of your children, Father, some of us are just not serious enough. We're not serious about fruit. Our roots are in bad shape.

We're not rooted and grounded in love. We're not rooted in the living water of the Holy Spirit, the Word of God. Forgive us.

Some of us need to make a new beginning right now. And I pray that this time of invitation will be a time of decision, not postponement. For Jesus' sake. Amen.