Sermon Tone Analysis

Unfruitfulness

Its important to know that unfruitfulness in a Christian life is unattractive to God.

Here in Jesus shows God’s displeasure thru the parable of the fig tree.

See figs were a very familiar fruit to the Isrealites.

It was in Jeremiah the question is ask about the two baskets of figs.

One rotten and the other good .

Then the Lord asked me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?”“Figs,”

I answered.

“The good ones are very good, but the bad ones are so bad they cannot be eaten.”4

Then the word of the Lord came to me: 5 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Like these good figs, I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I sent away from this place to the land of the Babylonians.[b]

6 My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land.

I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them.

7 I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord.

They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.8

“‘But like the bad figs, which are so bad they cannot be eaten,’ says the Lord, ‘so will I deal with Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials and the survivors from Jerusalem, whether they remain in this land or live in Egypt.

9 I will make them abhorrent and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a reproach and a byword, a curse[c] and an object of ridicule, wherever I banish them.

10 I will send the sword, famine and plague against them until they are destroyed from the land I gave to them and their ancestors.’”

Jesus curses a fig tree in around verse 13 and 14 when he reached for a fig and could not find one.

Jesus makes it quite clear that God does not appreciate unfruitfulness.

God just like the owner of the vineyard comes to see what we have produce and is disappointed that we have not produce any fruit.

We continue to use feable excuses on why we wont evangelize.

why we cant our family and friends to come to church.

why no one knows we are saved.

We are like the fig tree that for three season have not produced any fruit.

What is wrong with us?

Look at this text:

He also spoke this parable: A certain man had a fig-tree planted in his vineyard.

And he came and sought fruit on it, and found none.

And he said to the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig-tree, and find none.

Cut it down, why does it encumber the ground?

And answering, he said to him, Lord, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and throw manure.

And if it bears fruit, well; and if not, then after that you shall cut it down.

When we genuinely repent and begin living for God, fruit will be born in our lives that will soon be evident to all that pass by.

Likewise, a failure to repent and live for God will show a lack of fruit, equally evident.-

The presence or absence of fruit in the lives of those who claim to be God's people is an important issue in God's word.

"Bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance," said John the Baptizer in .

John records Jesus as saying, "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit."

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"By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit..." said Jesus in .

"Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire," said John the baptist in .-

Fruit - real and visible spiritual fruit - is a necessary concern for anyone who loves God and desires to go to heaven.-

In Jesus' day, this was a parable about the Jewish nation but it also contains some important lessons for us.-

The Biblical issue of fruit bearing and the principles put forth in this parable also apply to the church.

They concern you and me.-

We are Gods Personal Possession.-

Verse 6 says that "a certain man had a fig tree."

There are actually two men mentioned in this parable: The owner of the vineyard (it says that he planted the tree in "his vineyard") and the vineyard keeper who was probably an employee of the owner in charge of doing the actual work.-

Cutting down the fig tree was a drastic action, but it was well within the rights of the owner.

It was his vineyard.

It was his tree.

He could do with it as he pleased.-

The right of ownership carries the right of determination.-

God owns the world and everything in it and He also owns each one of us, it is simply not right for us to object to His dealings with us or claim that He has "no right" to do this or expect that in our lives.-

He has every right to expect anything He chooses in our lives.

He is the owner.

Paul asks in :Who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?'" (NIV)

We live in a day when people "talk back to God" all the time.

Having long forgotten that they are His creation, they think they are autonomous and that God has no right to tell them what to do or expect anything from them.

How many parents that still remind their Children who is boss?

Its my house you do as I say!

Though they are in His vineyard and are, indeed, His possession, they don't act like it.

I think we can expect unbelievers to be this way, but surely such an attitude should not be found in the church!

Yet it is seen far too often.One of the first things we need to teach every new Christian is what Paul says in :"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?"- God has the right to tell us what He expects and the right to expect it and the right to deal with us as He pleases if we don't do what He expects.

He is the owner.-

We are going to learn from this parable that God expects you and me to produce fruit in our lives for Him.

I just want you to remember that such an expectation is well within the realm of what is right because we belong to Him.

We have a Privileged Position to be his!

Sometimes we forget how good we have it!

We are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a peculiar people.

Have you really appreciated where God has you?

Verse 6 says, "a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard."-

This fig tree enjoyed certain advantages not possessed by all fig trees.

Many fig trees grew along the roadsides.

They were, in essence, wild.

No one fertilized them.

No one cared for them.

They had to survive in rocky, shallow soil with sparse nutrients.-

But this fig tree was different.

It was purposely planted in a vineyard.

It enjoyed better soil.