Beware the Fruitless Life

Passion Week  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
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A Very Odd Encounter

On this Tuesday of Holy week i wan to share with you probably the oddest encounter of the week.
Matthew 21:18–22 CSB
Early in the morning, as he was returning to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, he went up to it and found nothing on it except leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” At once the fig tree withered. When the disciples saw it, they were amazed and said, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” Jesus answered them, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you tell this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will be done. And if you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
Lesson on Fig trees
Fig trees bear fruit first and then leaves appear or the fruit and leaves appear at the same time
Jesus saw a fig tree full of leaves and yet there was no fruit
Through this tree - Jesu teaches us a couple of very important lessons
Look the Part but Bear No Fruit
The fig tree was often a symbol of the Nation of Israel in the OT
The Jewish leaders looked the part - they were so religious
There was no fruit to be found - in fact in a few days they would reject their King
How often to play the part
We know what to say and do and yet we see no fruit - no growth
We will be judged by the fruit of our lives
A fruitless life, no matter how good it looks, is a withering life
A Life of Faith is a Life of Fruitfulness
Matthew 21:21 CSB
Jesus answered them, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you tell this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will be done.
A Life of Faith is a Life of Fruitfulness
it is knowing that we don’t make the fruit
Having faith God will bring about fruit in our lives
It is obeying and acting on that obedience in faith
Faith and works are bound up in the same bundle. He that obeys God trusts God; and he that trusts God obeys God. He that is without faith is without works; and he that is without works is without faith.
- Charles Spurgeon

Beware the Fruitless Life

Surrender your life and stop playing the part
Step out in faith and share with someone the story of Easter, invite them to church
Ask God to prune what needs to be pruned to bear more fruit
Though the cross of Christ has been beautified by the poet and the artist, the avid seeker after God is likely to find it the same savage implement of destruction it was in the days of old. The way of the cross is still the pain-wracked path to spiritual power and fruitfulness.
A W Tozer
There is only 1 path to a fruitful life
The Jewish people rejected Him
What will you do with Him this Easter?
Let’s Pray
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