Are there problems with the fruit we bear?
How do we know whether we are bearing fruit as Christians? Have you ever pondered this question? Many times as Christians, we wander aimlessly without direction or consideration to the fruit we bear. Imbedded in the story of the clearing of the temple is another story. It is a story of a fig tree that becomes center stage of an issue that we struggle with every day of our lives; authority. Who has authority over us? Do we? Does God? If He does, then how are we showing it? Today we are going to discuss these issues.
Our text for today is going to be Mark 11:20-24. I will also be giving some background information in verses 12-14 as well. If you would, please read along with me starting at verse 12
12 The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. 14 Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.
Let us skip down to verse 20.
20 In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 21 Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!” 22 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. 23 “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
Let us go to the Lord in prayer (Say prayer).
At first, we see Jesus wanting something to eat, a very typical need. Therefore, Jesus went up to this tree to see if it had fruit. As Christians, we must develop, just like a fig tree, the ability to produce fruit. In this story however, the fig tree that Jesus sees is in leaf, but not bearing fruit because it is not the right time of season for it yet. As a demonstration of authority, Jesus curses this tree so that no one else in the future will be able to eat the fruit. As we apply this to our lives today, we can see all the time that as a demonstration of His authority and power, God lets things happen so we may see His awesome might and power. Couple this together with having to develop like a fruit tree, we too, must endure developmental stages in life and hard times-curses, if you will, for our curse is sin. For us as ministers, we are in the midst of developmental years, some of us may be producing fruit as Christians, others may not be, and it all depends on where we are in our walk.
Let us move on to verse 20. Here we see the group passing alongside of the same fig tree. It says that the tree was “withered from the roots”. If we follow our line of thinking from the other verses, when it describes the roots being rotted, perhaps we can see that if we are not bearing fruit, maybe our roots in our faith have rotted or gone bad. Are we in need of a transplant? Maybe we need to refit ourselves back into God’s word and the Christian lifestyle again. Even as ministers, we can be caught up in the everyday running of the business. We can be so swept up in the concerns of the congregation that we forget to nurture our own faith as well. Keep an eye on the root system…when things are wrong, chances are something is wrong at the roots rather than where the fruit is.
In verse 21, Peter makes the statement that the tree is withered; to me it sounds as if he is actually surprised that it was indeed rotted. We too get surprised when God follows through with His statements, don’t we? We doubt the authority God has over our lives and we are reluctant to give ourselves over fully to the Lord. We have control issues. If we can go along in our lives thinking we are in control of it, we have a better sense of security in our own flesh. Unfortunately, we will never realize the full potential of what the Lord can actually do with us.
I grew up Catholic. I was baptized as an infant, went through first communion in second grade, and confirmation in eighth grade. Submission of our lives to the Lord was always addressed, but I never really took it seriously. I was called to ministry in high school around the time of my parents’ divorce. I ended up running the opposite way, wanting control of my life. I was in charge and I could do what I wanted. I did not have to do what God was calling me to do. Years passed and after a failed marriage, sins of the flesh, and a very miserable lifestyle later, I came to the understanding that God was TRULY in charge of my life and I really could not get away from that fact. One year ago last month, I committed myself fully to the Lord. I gave up the control of my life and promised to follow where He lead. It has been the hardest, yet most rewarding year of my life so far. You see, I did not tell this story to brag about where I have come from. I have told it so that you can see what can happen when you submit to His authority. I still struggle with this every day. We all continually have to submit daily to what God wants of us. We have to open our ears and listen for the Holy Spirit talking in our lives.
A minister that I know, a very dear friend of mine, told me a story once that has changed the way I listen and submit. He was sitting in his office working and all of the sudden he felt the Holy Spirit call to him very strongly to go and see someone. He got up, drove to their house and upon knocking on the door, found a man who was desperately in need of him. They spent a few hours talking and left the situation better than it had been. It was not perfect by any means, but it was better. A few weeks later, he was driving and felt the same call, this time a little different. It was stronger than before; He knew whom he needed to attend to, but not what he was supposed to do. For one reason or another, He chose to ignore the call. He told me that was the last time he ignored the Holy Spirit. The man ended up committing suicide that day. Whether or not we are listening and submitting to the Lord’s authority can make all the difference in the world. Sometimes, it is even a matter of life or death.
In verse 22, it states arguably the most important statement for our lives. Jesus says to have faith. Successfully submitting to the Lord requires that we must first have faith in God that He will carry us through to the end. We cannot doubt for a moment Jesus’ authority or that we will indeed get what we are asking. Verse 23tells us that we can tell a mountain to throw itself into a sea and it will be done. Now, this is not meant to be literal, but what we ask for in prayer as verse 24says, we will surely receive.
Jesus refers to prayer here. Imbedded in the subject of prayer is proper prayer. Selfish prayer, from what I call it, is not a proper prayer. Prayers for wealth, material gain, power, job advancement, all are improper. Instead, we should be asking for guidance, wisdom, knowledge, courage, and above all, God’s will. God will never deny us the proper path. We will surely receive these gifts when we ask. We must be paying attention when they arrive however.
Submission to the Lord’s authority and rightful prayer has profound impact on the fruit that we bear as Christians. If we do not properly submit to the Lord, how can we bear the fruit that He wants of us? John 15:1-2 says:
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
God works with us and in us in order that we might bear fruit for the kingdom. As in John 15:2 says, concurs with Mark 11:20 in that if we are not bearing fruit God will cut us off if we are not, we will rot from the roots upwards and our lives will become morally and spiritually bankrupt.
We have all seen what we thought were strong Christians falling away from God. They had to be cut off the vine in order for the fruit present to be able to bear the best fruit possible. Gardeners do this all the time. My grandpa has what we call a green thumb. He has that true gardeners touch. He can nurse a near dead plant back to health again without thinking about it. He is always nipping and pruning flowers, bushes, vegetables in the garden, and trees. He does this so that the healthy fruit grows properly and bears a product that is worth having. This is exactly what the Lord does with us. We, as a church, are fruit of the vine-of Christ-and if we are not properly bearing the fruit we should, He will prune us off in order that the rest is a product worth having. It is all the more important as ministers that we recognize this not only with our congregation, but also with ourselves. If we are falling away and feeling morally and spiritually bankrupt, as if we have lost the connection with God, we are in danger of leading many other Christians astray as well. We are held to a higher standard for we are preachers of the gospel; we must live the life we preach. God demands that we spread the good news of the gospel to all nations. However, more than that, we must live the life as He has set forth before us. He has shown us the example through Jesus. Jesus is the authority by which all is done.
Do we really believe that Jesus is the ultimate authority? Do our actions show it? Fruit is the measure by which our belief is truly measured. Believing is a process in the Christian faith, not just a word. It is the process of many steps in becoming who we are in Christ, steps such as baptism, repentance and sanctification. In the movie Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Luke is trying to raise his ship out of the water and after an unsuccessful attempt, he accuses Yoda of wanting what’s impossible and storms off in anger and frustration. Yoda then proceeds to bring the ship out of the water and bring it gently down on land. Luke approaches Yoda, innocently states, “I don’t believe it!” Without missing a beat, Yoda wisely states back, “That is why you fail” . Are we failing at Christianity because we really do not believe? Are we attending church regularly, doing volunteer work, and keeping ourselves busy with what we think we should be doing? Or are we actually doing it because we have submitted our control to God and bearing the fruit He demands? Good works do not bring faith, faith brings good works.
The story of the fig tree can be the hardest lesson to learn even for the most seasoned Christian. Full submission to the Lord Gods’ authority is not easy to do. In order to improve on this, I want to suggest the following statement: Fully submit daily to the Lord’s authority, because the gardener prunes those who do not bear fruit. Our faith will produce the good works, which will actually bring forth the fruit or as Matthew 28:18-20 states:
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
The key words here are “all authority in Heaven and on Earth”. By this authority, our fruit is to make disciples and to teach them to obey as well. Are you producing fruit? Do your actions show it? Jesus is the authority by which we should live our lives and God is the gardener. So, which do you chose? To be the plentiful fruit that will abound in the harvest, or will you be pruned off in order for the healthier crop to grow?
I pray tonight that we all will have the strength in and through Christ to be brave enough to daily submit to His authority.
Our text for today is going to be Mark 11:20-24. I will also be giving some background information in verses 12-14 as well. If you would, please read along with me starting at verse 12
12 The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. 14 Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.
Let us skip down to verse 20.
20 In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 21 Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!” 22 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. 23 “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
Let us go to the Lord in prayer (Say prayer).
At first, we see Jesus wanting something to eat, a very typical need. Therefore, Jesus went up to this tree to see if it had fruit. As Christians, we must develop, just like a fig tree, the ability to produce fruit. In this story however, the fig tree that Jesus sees is in leaf, but not bearing fruit because it is not the right time of season for it yet. As a demonstration of authority, Jesus curses this tree so that no one else in the future will be able to eat the fruit. As we apply this to our lives today, we can see all the time that as a demonstration of His authority and power, God lets things happen so we may see His awesome might and power. Couple this together with having to develop like a fruit tree, we too, must endure developmental stages in life and hard times-curses, if you will, for our curse is sin. For us as ministers, we are in the midst of developmental years, some of us may be producing fruit as Christians, others may not be, and it all depends on where we are in our walk.
Let us move on to verse 20. Here we see the group passing alongside of the same fig tree. It says that the tree was “withered from the roots”. If we follow our line of thinking from the other verses, when it describes the roots being rotted, perhaps we can see that if we are not bearing fruit, maybe our roots in our faith have rotted or gone bad. Are we in need of a transplant? Maybe we need to refit ourselves back into God’s word and the Christian lifestyle again. Even as ministers, we can be caught up in the everyday running of the business. We can be so swept up in the concerns of the congregation that we forget to nurture our own faith as well. Keep an eye on the root system…when things are wrong, chances are something is wrong at the roots rather than where the fruit is.
In verse 21, Peter makes the statement that the tree is withered; to me it sounds as if he is actually surprised that it was indeed rotted. We too get surprised when God follows through with His statements, don’t we? We doubt the authority God has over our lives and we are reluctant to give ourselves over fully to the Lord. We have control issues. If we can go along in our lives thinking we are in control of it, we have a better sense of security in our own flesh. Unfortunately, we will never realize the full potential of what the Lord can actually do with us.
I grew up Catholic. I was baptized as an infant, went through first communion in second grade, and confirmation in eighth grade. Submission of our lives to the Lord was always addressed, but I never really took it seriously. I was called to ministry in high school around the time of my parents’ divorce. I ended up running the opposite way, wanting control of my life. I was in charge and I could do what I wanted. I did not have to do what God was calling me to do. Years passed and after a failed marriage, sins of the flesh, and a very miserable lifestyle later, I came to the understanding that God was TRULY in charge of my life and I really could not get away from that fact. One year ago last month, I committed myself fully to the Lord. I gave up the control of my life and promised to follow where He lead. It has been the hardest, yet most rewarding year of my life so far. You see, I did not tell this story to brag about where I have come from. I have told it so that you can see what can happen when you submit to His authority. I still struggle with this every day. We all continually have to submit daily to what God wants of us. We have to open our ears and listen for the Holy Spirit talking in our lives.
A minister that I know, a very dear friend of mine, told me a story once that has changed the way I listen and submit. He was sitting in his office working and all of the sudden he felt the Holy Spirit call to him very strongly to go and see someone. He got up, drove to their house and upon knocking on the door, found a man who was desperately in need of him. They spent a few hours talking and left the situation better than it had been. It was not perfect by any means, but it was better. A few weeks later, he was driving and felt the same call, this time a little different. It was stronger than before; He knew whom he needed to attend to, but not what he was supposed to do. For one reason or another, He chose to ignore the call. He told me that was the last time he ignored the Holy Spirit. The man ended up committing suicide that day. Whether or not we are listening and submitting to the Lord’s authority can make all the difference in the world. Sometimes, it is even a matter of life or death.
In verse 22, it states arguably the most important statement for our lives. Jesus says to have faith. Successfully submitting to the Lord requires that we must first have faith in God that He will carry us through to the end. We cannot doubt for a moment Jesus’ authority or that we will indeed get what we are asking. Verse 23tells us that we can tell a mountain to throw itself into a sea and it will be done. Now, this is not meant to be literal, but what we ask for in prayer as verse 24says, we will surely receive.
Jesus refers to prayer here. Imbedded in the subject of prayer is proper prayer. Selfish prayer, from what I call it, is not a proper prayer. Prayers for wealth, material gain, power, job advancement, all are improper. Instead, we should be asking for guidance, wisdom, knowledge, courage, and above all, God’s will. God will never deny us the proper path. We will surely receive these gifts when we ask. We must be paying attention when they arrive however.
Submission to the Lord’s authority and rightful prayer has profound impact on the fruit that we bear as Christians. If we do not properly submit to the Lord, how can we bear the fruit that He wants of us? John 15:1-2 says:
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
God works with us and in us in order that we might bear fruit for the kingdom. As in John 15:2 says, concurs with Mark 11:20 in that if we are not bearing fruit God will cut us off if we are not, we will rot from the roots upwards and our lives will become morally and spiritually bankrupt.
We have all seen what we thought were strong Christians falling away from God. They had to be cut off the vine in order for the fruit present to be able to bear the best fruit possible. Gardeners do this all the time. My grandpa has what we call a green thumb. He has that true gardeners touch. He can nurse a near dead plant back to health again without thinking about it. He is always nipping and pruning flowers, bushes, vegetables in the garden, and trees. He does this so that the healthy fruit grows properly and bears a product that is worth having. This is exactly what the Lord does with us. We, as a church, are fruit of the vine-of Christ-and if we are not properly bearing the fruit we should, He will prune us off in order that the rest is a product worth having. It is all the more important as ministers that we recognize this not only with our congregation, but also with ourselves. If we are falling away and feeling morally and spiritually bankrupt, as if we have lost the connection with God, we are in danger of leading many other Christians astray as well. We are held to a higher standard for we are preachers of the gospel; we must live the life we preach. God demands that we spread the good news of the gospel to all nations. However, more than that, we must live the life as He has set forth before us. He has shown us the example through Jesus. Jesus is the authority by which all is done.
Do we really believe that Jesus is the ultimate authority? Do our actions show it? Fruit is the measure by which our belief is truly measured. Believing is a process in the Christian faith, not just a word. It is the process of many steps in becoming who we are in Christ, steps such as baptism, repentance and sanctification. In the movie Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Luke is trying to raise his ship out of the water and after an unsuccessful attempt, he accuses Yoda of wanting what’s impossible and storms off in anger and frustration. Yoda then proceeds to bring the ship out of the water and bring it gently down on land. Luke approaches Yoda, innocently states, “I don’t believe it!” Without missing a beat, Yoda wisely states back, “That is why you fail” . Are we failing at Christianity because we really do not believe? Are we attending church regularly, doing volunteer work, and keeping ourselves busy with what we think we should be doing? Or are we actually doing it because we have submitted our control to God and bearing the fruit He demands? Good works do not bring faith, faith brings good works.
The story of the fig tree can be the hardest lesson to learn even for the most seasoned Christian. Full submission to the Lord Gods’ authority is not easy to do. In order to improve on this, I want to suggest the following statement: Fully submit daily to the Lord’s authority, because the gardener prunes those who do not bear fruit. Our faith will produce the good works, which will actually bring forth the fruit or as Matthew 28:18-20 states:
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
The key words here are “all authority in Heaven and on Earth”. By this authority, our fruit is to make disciples and to teach them to obey as well. Are you producing fruit? Do your actions show it? Jesus is the authority by which we should live our lives and God is the gardener. So, which do you chose? To be the plentiful fruit that will abound in the harvest, or will you be pruned off in order for the healthier crop to grow?
I pray tonight that we all will have the strength in and through Christ to be brave enough to daily submit to His authority.
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