Sermon Series: “The Gospel and the Parable”

Sermon 2: “Fruit is the Goal”

Luke 13:6-9

Jacob Anderson

June 14, 2026

 

If a plant doesn’t produce fruit, it is found to be worthless and is chopped down and burned.

 

Matthew 12:33 Jesus says the same thing about Christians. Jesus says, “A tree is known by its fruit.”

 

Galatians 5:22 – 23 “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

 

Matthew 12:33 “A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad.”

 

Matthew 7:19 “Every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire, so then you will know them by their fruits.”

 

Every parable Jesus tells has a deeper spiritual truth to it.

 

In order to understand this parable, we must first look at Luke 13:3 “But unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

 

One word in that verse represents the whole theme of today’s parable, and that word is “repent”.

 

Jesus begins to tell this parable to the listening crowd, He starts off by telling them that no one is more sinful than any other, but we are all equally guilty before God.

 

Luke 13:2 – 5 “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered this way? No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam collapsed on them: Do you think that they were more sinful than all the others living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

 

Right before Jesus goes into His parable, He says again in verse 5 “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

 

Luke 13:6 “And Jesus began telling this parable: ‘A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any.”

 

 

When the owner planted the tree, the purpose of the tree was to produce food for him. The tree is worthless if it doesn’t fulfill its purpose.

 

When we are brought into the family of God, there are certain expectations put upon us; God expects us to produce the fruits of the Spirit.

 

When God comes to check in on us, are we producing fruit or are we disappointing God when He sees how unproductive we are.

 

Luke 13:7 “And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’”

 

The patience of the vineyard owner is exceptional; he waited three years to see this tree produce fruit for him.

 

II Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”

 

As new believers, God begins to work in us as He moves us towards becoming productive members of his kingdom.

 

But if we continue in II Peter and look at II Peter 3:10 we read “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away.”

 

God is very patient, but just like the vineyard owner, his patience isn’t infinite.

 

Matthew 7:19 “Every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

 

As Christians we are born-again for a purpose. Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

 

Every Christian must continually evaluate their lives, and ask themselves one simple question, am I producing fruit for the kingdom of God?

 

Luke 13:8 “And he (the vineyard-keeper) answered and said to him, ‘Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer.’”

 

Just like in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, when Abraham pleads with God not to destroy the cities, so the vineyard-keeper pleads with the owner not to cut down the tree, but to give it more time to produce fruit.

 

As Christians we need to be aware of the lives of people around us, so we can pray for them and ask God to be patient just a little while longer.

 

James 5:16 “The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”

 

We also read that the vineyard-keeper intended on spending extra time caring for and fertilizing the fig tree.

 

As Christians we need to be willing to invest our time and energy into the lives of others in order to help them grow and to produce fruit for the kingdom of God.

 

Our purpose is to produce disciples for Christ.

 

If we don’t invest our time and energy into people’s lives, then we aren’t producing disciples we are producing converts, and converts are those people who will end up becoming trees that don’t produce any fruit.

 

The American church is no longer producing disciples, but it is producing fruitless converts who are destined to be cut down and thrown into the fire.

 

Instead of caring about how many trees we have in our vineyard, let us instead care about how much fruit the trees in our vineyard are producing. When our vineyard begins to thrive and produce lots of fruit, then the seeds from the fruit will naturally produce more trees.

 

Luke 13:9 “If it bears fruit next year, fine, but if not, cut it down.”

 

The owner is willing to continue investing his time and energy into the fruitless tree, but he pronounces a judgment; if after one year it still doesn’t produce any fruit, then it needs to be cut down.

 

We must work hard, pray hard, and dedicate ourselves to see people's lives changed.

 

The ultimate goal of every believer is to produce fruit for the kingdom of God, and we reach that goal through intense discipleship and dedicating our lives to serving others.

 

One of the biggest issues is what I call the number dilemma. If your church isn’t growing in numbers, then your church isn’t growing. This has been the philosophy for most of my life, but it isn’t a biblical philosophy.

 

Instead of caring about how many trees we have in our vineyard, let us instead care about how much fruit the trees in our vineyard are producing.

 

Remember what Jesus said in the Great Commission? Did He say go and make converts, no, He said, go and make disciples. But then what did Jesus say, teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you.

 

When our vineyard begins to thrive and produce lots of fruit, then the seeds from that fruit will naturally produce more trees.

 

Let us make sure the people in the church are producing fruit for the kingdom of God, before we turn our focus to the lives of people outside the church.

 

The goal of this church should always be “making disciples who make disciples”. If that goal stays at the forefront of everything we do, then growth will happen, and when it does it will be beautiful.

 

The future holds great things for us if we trust God and if we produce fruit for the kingdom of God.

 

Let’s produce a heavenly harvest unlike anything this church has ever seen before, and watch the hand of God begin to work in our community.