First Baptist Church Delray

Sermon Application Questions

February 8, 2026

Pastor Steve’s Message: “Borrowed Time”

Scripture: Luke 13:1-8 (ESV)

Review the Exegesis of the Scripture

Read Luke 13:1

There were some present at that very time who told him (Jesus) about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.

1.     What were Roman leaders notorious for doing to some of the Jews?

2.     If the Jewish leaders who were jealous of Jesus’s influence with the people brought this up to Him to get him to take the bait and denounce Pilate and the brutal Roman government in general, what could they have gotten the Roman government to, in essence, do for them?

3.     Was Jesus’ actual mission in this world to stop the Roman government and restore Israel’s independence?

Read Luke 13:2–5

And he (Jesus) answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

4.     Why did Jesus answer them spiritually instead of politically?

5.     Is it true that God sometimes judges sin, such as with Sodom and Gomorrah and the times His people abandoned Him and rebelled into idolatry?

6.     Is it also true that God sometimes disciplines His people so we can know Him and His purpose, such as with Job?

7.     What did the Apostle Paul say about the fact that each of us live on borrowed time and our time is not our own?

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19–20

Read Luke 13:6–9

And he (Jesus) told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

8.     Jesus is the God of the second chance, but do opportunities for His grace come to an end at some point?

9.     What does the Psalmist remind us?

a.     I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Psalm 18:1–2

b.     Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him. You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah Psalm 32:6–7

10.  What did Jesus say about how this life could end at any instant with no more chances to receive Him by faith?

(Jesus said,) “But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’” Luke 12:20

Make Personal Applications of the Scripture

11.  Have you been taking the prosperity or lack of disaster in your life as proof that you are approved by God and so repentance is unnecessary?

12.  Will you recognize your need to shift, or shift back, to living a life of repentance?

a.     I have been misinterpreting my prosperity and the absence of disaster as God’s stamp of approval on my life.

b.     I realize I am living on borrowed time.

c.     I know I will one day experience death just everybody else.

d.     Repentance is the only cure for the disaster of death without Christ that leads to eternity without Him.

13.  Consider fact that people typically drift away from repentance, and let the Holy Spirit search your heart for sin, especially ones we rarely notice and deal with:

a.     Pride – putting yourself in God’s place

b.     Idolatry – giving God’s place to someone or something else

c.     Faithlessness - claiming to know Jesus but living like you don’t

d.     Dishonoring parents – forgetting the command to honor the source of your life

e.     Failure to rest one day each week – forgetting the command to Sabbath

f.      Anger – quiet seething or loud outbursts in reaction to not getting your way

g.     Unforgiveness – holding sin against others while Christ offers forgiveness to you

h.     Gossip – using the power of knowledge to make others look bad

i.      Coveting – wanting what others have instead of being thankful for what God has provided you

14.  What did John teach about repentance?

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

15.  Consider a sinful attitude or behavior that you easily fall into and confess it to God, ask Him to forgive you, cleanse you, and empower you to overcome it through the power of the Holy Spirit. Will you make this process of repentance a daily part of your walk with Christ?

16.  Which benefits of repentance have you enjoyed, or which ones would you like to enjoy?

a.     Pride turns into humility.

b.     Guilt turns into innocence.

c.     Distance from God turns into intimacy with God.

d.     The power of Satan is broken by the power of Jesus.

e.     A filthy heart becomes a clean heart.