The Fruit We Bear

In our passage today, I am going to read more than what we are actually going to be able to cover in the sermon. This is because it all ties together. So the last section of verses will be our sermon next week. Think of it as a sequel next week from the sermon this week.

Mark 11:12–25 ESV

12 On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. 13 And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it. 15 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 16 And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” 18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. 19 And when evening came they went out of the city. 20 As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. 21 And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” 22 And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. 23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

I greatly enjoy getting to visit Texas from time to time. My wife’s family is from there and we will go and see her uncles and aunts and cousins. We actually get to go here next month and visit with some of them. If you have never been to Texas, there are some differences from where we live. The roads are much wider and the speed limit is higher. They measure driving distance in miles and not time like we often do. They claim to have the best barbecue, which is beef and not pork like we are used to.

There are also sayings that they have as well. One of which is perfect for our text today.

Big hat, no cattle.

A lot of people wear cowboy hats. But just because you wear a cowboy hat, they doesn’t make you a rancher. We like to refer to someone that is portraying a false image as a fraud. Big hat, no cattle.

Now, are there serious implications if you wear a cowboy hat and do not have any cows? Well obviously not. But, for the Christian, it can have serious implications. First of all, it hurts our witness when we say we are followers of Jesus but act nothing like one. Secondly, it hurts the local church and will discredit the work of the church. And thirdly, it hurts the universal church and brings a false image to all of Christianity.

So today, the sermon will be about the fruit that we bear.

We must strive to bear good fruit instead of no fruit at all

Self examination question: Am I bearing fruit that glorifies God?

As we go through the text this morning, there are 2 sub-points that we are going to look at; qualities in the text that Jesus wants us to have.

Jesus Wants Fruit-bearers

In the verses before this, we saw the entrance of Jesus into the city of Jerusalem on the back of the donkey. The people were exclaiming that Jesus was there to save them. He then goes into the temple and decides to go back to where they were staying to rest up for the night. Now, they are on their way back into town the next day.

Mark 11:12 ESV

12 On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry.

They are on their way back to the temple. Jesus has with him his 12 disciples. And he got hungry. See, Jesus even got hungry sometimes.

Mark 11:13 ESV

13 And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.

I am not the biggest fan of figs. The closest thing I might eat to that is a fig newton. But on their journey into town, they see a fig tree. We have some very important details here about this fig tree. It was in leaf we are told. I am sure that as they are walking, and they see this leafy fig tree, that they got excited. Leaves are an indicator that nature is taking its course and that there would be fruit on this tree.

But there wasn’t. Just leaves. This is where context matters. We are told that it was not the season for figs. So why would Jesus go up to this tree looking for figs if it wasn’t season for it. Ultimately, it was to give his disciples an example. But lets make it a little more basic than that. Yes, Jesus knew there would not be any figs on it. Not only was it not the season for figs, but in his sovereignty, he would have known that. But he still went.

With fig trees, they would actually have an early production of figs before the leaves came on. They would be smaller and not as good, but they were edible. But this tree did not even have that. It had beautiful leaves, but not fruit. Big hat, no cattle.

I absolutely love Immanuel Baptist. I have been apart of several churches, many of which I would have considered wonderful churches. But I firmly believe that there is something special about our church. And I know that I am somewhat biased because I am sitting in the pastor seat, but I believe that. I want this to be the only church that I ever pastor because I love this church so much.

We have had some great times as a church, but there have also been some low points. There are some things that are measurable in churches. It is hard to quantify spiritual growth, but there are some indicators. How involved a church is in the community doing missions and outreach. Church membership numbers is an indicator. In the SBC, membership is going down while baptisms are going up and attendance is staying steady. I believe this is a great indicator of a healthy view of church member by removing people who no longer function as members. Another indicator of gospel impact is baptisms. This is something I am burdened for here at Immanuel. It has been 18 months since we have had a baptism. I am afraid that if this continues, we will look a lot like the guy with a big hat, but no cattle.

Reaching people with the gospel of Christ is what we do as believers. If we are not seeing people come to Christ, one of two things is happening. Either we are being obedient to the call to share the gospel and God is not calling them to himself. Or, we are not sharing the gospel with others. Listen, this is not me trying to tear us down as believers. I want to encourage us that we are all called to share the gospel with others. For some of us, that means that we are raising up our kids with the gospel in our homes. For some of us, it may be our parents that we are sharing the gospel with. But for many of us, it will be our neighbors and friends and coworkers. And we must be obedient to the call.

Just as the 2 disciples were obedient to Jesus, and the donkey was obedient to Jesus, and Jesus was obedient to the father like we saw in our text last week. Be obedient to the call to share the gospel with other. This is us bearing fruit. Gospel witness is an aspect of fruit bearing.

I love all of the agricultural analogies in scripture because they are so true. Fruit is produced when the right elements are added. So you need a seed, soil, water, sunlight, oxygen, and time. All of these elements are vital for something to produce fruit. Our life as Christians is often compared to a plant that produces fruit.

In our life, we need what is often called spiritual disciplines for us to be able to produce fruit. Regular bible study, prayer, journaling, generosity, gospel sharing, gospel relationships, worship. All of these things are like the water, soil, sunlight, oxygen, and time for a plant. This stuff isn’t the fruit, but is necessary for the fruit. In the Christian life, our salvation is the seed. So we can do all of these things, but without the seed, no fruit is produced. But at the same time, if you take a seed and do not add these things, nothing is produced.

We do not want to be like the fig tree in this story. Looks real good to those who are walking by, but once you get close everyone realizes that it is a fraud. Nice leaves but no fruit. And we see what Jesus thinks about this.

Mark 11:14 ESV

14 And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.

May no one ever eat from you again. Let’s be clear here, Jesus was not throwing a temper tantrum here. In fact, I believe that he knew that it had no fruit on it before he ever went up to it. Just like he knew that Judas would betray him, just like he knew that all of his disciples would fall away after his arrest, just like he knew that Peter would deny him 3 times before the rooster would crow, he also knew that this tree had no fruit on it.

So why? Why go to all of the trouble just to make a point. Well, just like most of us being visual learners, it would have made a greater impact the next day when they walked by it again and saw that it was dead. See, this event on the way to the temple, the events that happen at the temple, and the events of the next morning all culminate into this great lesson that Jesus is teaching them.

When reading this, we should ask ourselves, “If Jesus came to my life and wanted fruit from it, would he be able to eat of it or would he curse me?” This is something very serious. If you believe the gospel and have surrendered your life to him, this means that you are bearing fruit for him. If you are not, it is time to diagnose the problem and lean into the healing power of God to help you with this. We cannot do the Christian life alone. We need other believers beside of us lifting us up. But we also must rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to strengthen us as well. It should be our desire to bear fruit. Jesus died for you, live for him. Jesus wants fruit bearers.

Jesus Wants Prayer Warriors

Charles Spurgeon serves as pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London for 38 years in the 1800’s. During his time there, the church grew so large that they had to build a new building and after he was there 7 years, they built a much larger building. In the Metropolitan Tabernacle, there was a room in the basement called the Furnace room. Now, many of us know what a furnace room is, but this one was unique. This wasn’t a room that had fire in it to warm the air of the building. This room was filled with the fiery power of prayer that radiated throughout the entire building. Most Sunday mornings, while Charles Spurgeon was standing in the pulpit expositing the word of God, there were over 100 people in that furnace room praying for him.

Jesus wants prayer warriors. Not only does Jesus want prayer warriors, he wants his house to be a house of prayer. As we continue, the scene seems to transition somewhat, but Jesus takes with him the same point he was making at the fig tree.

Mark 11:15 ESV

15 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.

He entered the temple and began to drive out people. You know, I have been reading this bible for most of my adult life and I still have not found this “tolerant” Jesus that people keep saying they are following. Because when I read a passage like this, Jesus is not tolerant of sin. He sees sin, and he addresses it and makes the ones who are sinning know how they sinned.

The week that this is going on is Passover. People would come from all over to the temple here for this. There would be hundreds of thousands of people that would come in for this festival. A historical record tells us that in the year 66 AD, there were over 250,000 lambs bought, sold, and sacrificed during this week. Because of the large influx of people, there was a lot of money to be made. So they turned the temple courts into a market.

Up until the year 30 AD, they had to set this up a great distance away from the temple on the Mount of Olives, but when Caiaphas became the High Priest, he began to permit them to set up the market in the temple courts. So this would be on the outside of the temple surrounding the actual temple. But, the caveat to this also, is that the Priests had to approve of this “perfect” sacrifice that these people were bringing to the temple. The priest would make them buy the animal from the courts, at a rate that was sometimes 16x the normal price, just to bring to them for it to be approved. This is a lot like the mafia today.

Jesus knew what was going on. He had come the night before, knew it was too late to deal with it, and now he is back. He was broken over what these so called “men of God” had turned the temple into. So he did something about it. There is a term that we have for what is going on in this moment with Jesus - righteous indignation. A strong feeling to disapproval over something that is wrong. What what going on it the temple was wrong.

Just like our hearts, the temple needed cleaning up. Jesus goes in and starts flipping over tables, driving out everyone who was participating in this act. In the book of John, in what is possibly a separate incident when Jesus did the same thing, it says that he took cords and tied them together to make a whip to drive them out. In many ways, this is what Jesus does in our hearts. We are full of corruption and Jesus comes in flipping over the tables of our hearts to clean it up. And he continues to do it.

Mark 11:16 ESV

16 And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple.

They tried to grab their stuff and run through the temple to avoid him, but he would not let them do that. During the time of Jesus, the average height for a man was between 5’1” and 5’5”. If Jesus was an average size man, he was not overpowering figure. But in this moment, he turned into a bouncer in the temple. He took control of the situation and removed those who were not supposed to be there.

It didn’t stop there. He didn’t just show some fit of rage and leave. He took those around him, and began to teach. I am sure, that like I experienced as a child, many of you here got your fair share of whoopins growing up. I never got a spanking, I got whoopings, and there is a big difference. But what kind of loving parent would walk in, give their child a whoopin, and then leave and not explain to them why they were in trouble. Correction is the most important part of discipline. And Jesus gives them that here.

Mark 11:17 ESV

17 And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.”

Jesus quotes Isaiah 56:7 right here. In one sense, he is quoting the scripture. In another sense, he is making yet another declaration that he is God and that his house has been corrupted. They had taken the temple, the place where God’s people came to worship, and turned it into a “den of robbers”. The passover brings in people of all nations. And the priests could have taken this opportunity to make right the words of the prophet Isaiah and made it a true house of prayer for all nations, but they squandered the opportunity away because of corruption and greed.

A house of prayer for all the nations. I believe that Jesus is being both descriptive and prescriptive in this statement here. He is describing the church that is made up of believers all over the world, all over time. The church that is talked about in Revelation being made up of people of all nations. So, in one sense, he is pointing to what the church will look like. But I believe there is also some prescription going on here.

Let’s take Immanuel Baptist for an example. We are located here in a neighborhood in Albemarle, NC. There may be some other nations that are represented here where we live, but not all nations. With that being said, Immanuel Baptist could not hold people from all nations. But, we can hold people who are representing different ethnicities who live in our community. I have certain prayers that are written on the board in my office that I have been praying for our church since last year. I have been praying for teachers to come, for strong Christian men to come, for someone who can lead our music to come, and for our church to start looking more and more like our neighborhood. I believe that God is answering those prayers.

But Jesus is not just making a point here for a multi-ethnic church. He is also saying that a church should be devoted to prayer. A shift has occured in the church in America over the last many decades where churches have shifted from being houses of prayer, to centers for entertainment. I think that we have come a long ways in protecting ourselves from that here, but I also think that we are far from where we need to be.

When Jesus is talking about prayer to these people, I am not sure that he is talking about praying for Aunt Sally’s knee, although we should be spending time praying for things like that. But if we documented the things that we pray for, what would the ratio of prayers be comparing the amount of prayers we pray about someones health to the amount of kingdom prayers that we pray.

When I say kingdom prayers, what I am talking about is praying for someone’s salvation, for the gospel to go forth in our community, for God to build his church, for the hurting to hear the healing message of Jesus, for addictions to be broken, for family relationships to be healed, for churches who have gone the wayside to repent and turn back to Jesus, for churches that are struggling and on the brink of death to be restore to being a gospel presence in their community. What is our ratio?

This is why we are seeing shift somewhat in the way that we pray here during our service. I want to assure you that we are taking time on Wednesday nights and during Life Groups and we are asking God to intervene in the health and wellbeing of our loved ones. But our prayers should not only be inward focused on our life and those close to us, but also outward to advance the kingdom.

The fruit that Jesus was seeing in the temple here was not a healthy fruit. But he was making sure to teach them what a healthy temple looks like. A healthy church today is not one that focuses on the entertainment and amusement of those who are there, but one that is focused on the glory of God through right worship and right prayer.

This event did not please those who were in charge. In fact, it enraged them.

Mark 11:18–19 ESV

18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. 19 And when evening came they went out of the city.

The series of events that lead to Jesus going to the cross continue to unfold. The priests and scribes feared Jesus because of the truth that he was teaching. He was stepping onto their turf and ruining their financial wellbeing by shutting down this marketplace that was disrespecting the institution of the temple. As we continue through the book of Mark, we will continue to see this unfold.

Conclusion

Our passage today is a very powerful yet convicting passage. It makes us dwell on how we bear fruit individually and how we bear fruit corporately as a church.

What I want to do right now is to take what God is saying here in the gospel of Mark and look at what it means for us today. I want to first deal with fruit bearing and then deal with prayer.

Fruit - We first must do some self examination with this. We need to see how healthy the fruit that we are bearing is. Just like a seed needs things like water and soil and sunlight to grow, we need to make sure we are adding the elements that we need to grow healthy fruit. Bible studying, worship, evangelism, prayer, being good stewards. You will never have good fruit without these things. I have heard it said that the quality of the root will determine the quality of the fruit. And fruit will show itself in how we love and serve others. Good fruit will seek to glorify God in all that we do.

Prayer - Prayer is a great indicator of what is important to us in life. Jesus makes a point that his house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations. If we want this to happen right here at our church, and I think we all do, then it must start on an individual level in our private prayers. We need a good balance of personal prayers and kingdom prayers.

I believe that there is a very easy way for us to be able to keep track of these things and measure them. So my challenge to you is to find a journal, if you need one I have some extra ones, and start keeping track of these things. When you open up your bible and read, grab a pen and write down about what you read. Write down the things that are worthy of worship that God is doing in your life. When you get a chance to share the gospel with someone, grab the journal and write down what happened. And keep track of your prayers. Write down specific things that you want to pray for and see which ones are personal prayers and which ones are kingdom prayers.

I pray that I have been able to give you tools for your toolbox. I feel certain that everyone here desires to produce good fruit. My challenge is that when we get home and get into our weekly routine, that we don’t forget about it till next Sunday. Let’s put in hard work in our personal lives to be able to produce good, God glorifying fruit.