https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/DeathOfAFigTree.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
I. Matthew 21:18-22<\/p>\n
A. I get uncomfortable reading this passage. <\/p>\n
1. Here is a fig tree, that happens to lack figs when Jesus walks by.<\/p>\n
2. Then Jesus kills it<\/p>\n B. The disciples are caught up in amazement that by simply speaking, Jesus killed a\nfig tree.\n
1. But why destroy a tree to make this point?<\/p>\n
2. Jesus’ miracles are usually beneficial. Why is this one different?<\/p>\nII. People who believe in that God is so loving that He will not destroy mankind have a hard\ntime with this passage.\n
A. Romans 11:17-22<\/p>\n 1. God dealt severely with the Israelites. They were not obedient, so God cut\nthem off.\n
2. And we, the Gentiles, will not be treated any differently<\/p>\n
B. John taught that the rejection of the Jews was fast approaching – Matthew 3:7-10<\/p>\n
1. The Jews were no longer productive for God.<\/p>\n
2. They were no longer obedient to God’s Will.<\/p>\n
C. This is not usual. God had rejected the Jews before – Isaiah 5:1-7<\/p>\n
1. A vineyard that will not produce grapes is not worth cultivating.<\/p>\n
2. A people who will not follow God is not worth saving.<\/p>\n
3. Fig trees put on fruit before the leaves come out. <\/p>\n
a. In fact the presence of leaves is an indication that the figs are ripe.<\/p>\n
b. This tree had leaves, but no figs, not even unripe ones.<\/p>\n c. It was a type of the Jews of Jesus’ day. They looked righteous but\nwere unproductive – they had no fruit\n
D. God will not always be tolerant of our misdeeds – Luke 13:6-9<\/p>\n 1. The Jews thought they were something special because they were God’s\nchosen people. \n 2. Christians can fall into the same trap. We are specially protected from the\nwrath of God. We too must be productive for our Lord.\n
E. John 15:1-8<\/p>\n
1. We must bear fruit or we will be discarded.<\/p>\n 2. A vine-dresser does feel sympathy for a dead branch. It is removed before\ndiseases spread to the healthy vines.\n
III. Some Christians look healthy, but they are not<\/p>\n
A. Some have only a form of godliness – II Timothy 3:5<\/p>\n
1. U.S. Congregation Survey, 2001, Church leaders’ answers<\/p>\n a. “The Bible is the word of God, to be taken literally, word for\nword”\n b. “The Bible is the word of God, to be interpreted in the light of its\nhistorical and cultural context”\n (1) The intent here is to measure those who think the message\nof the Bible changes because we don’t live in the same\ntime.\n c. “The Bible is the word of God , to be interepted in the light of its\nhistorical context and the church’s teachings.”\n (1) The intent is to measure those who think the message of the\nBible can be changed by the church\n d. “The Bible is not the word of God, but contains God’s word for\nus.”\n
(1) Those who reject inspiration<\/p>\n
e. “The Bible is not the word of God but is a valuable book”<\/p>\n\t
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/DenominationalLeadersViewOfTheBible.gif\")
<\/p>\n\t 2. In a survey of 103 bishops in the Church of England, only 3 believed the\nBible’s version of creation as truth, 80 doubted the story of Adam and Eve,\nabout 25 did not believe Jesus was born to a virgin.\n 3. Clergy, in answer to the statement: The Scriptures is the inspired and\ninerrant Word of God in faith, history, and secular matters, answered\n“No.” [Jeffery Hadden, 1987 survey of 10,000 American clergy]\n
a. 95% of Episcopalians<\/p>\n
b. 87% of Methodists<\/p>\n
c. 82% of Presbyterians<\/p>\n
d. 77% of Lutheran<\/p>\n
e. 67% of American Baptists<\/p>\n 4. It makes you wonder why they are in their occupation. They are only there\nfor show.\n 5. This is why so many are comfortable with voting on the commandments\nand teachings of God.\n
B. Some claim to follow God, but their deeds show otherwise – Titus 1:16<\/p>\n
1. It is not what you claim, but what you claim and do.<\/p>\n 2. Far too many Christians will talk about their faith, but their lives show that\nworldly things are far more important to them.\n C. “A small business man was having sales trouble. His product was good, his prices\nwere fair, and he had a large sales force. He decided to call in an expert to given\nhim an outsider’s viewpoint. After he had gone over his plans and problems, the\nbusinessman took the consultant to a map on the wall and showed him the brightly\ncolored pins stuck wherever he had a salesman. Looking at the expert, he asked,\n‘Now, for a starter, what is the first thing we should do?’ ‘Well,’ replied the\nexpert, ‘the first thing is to take the pins out of the map and stick them in the\nsalesmen.’\n
IV. We must produce true deeds of righteousness<\/p>\n
A. I John 3:16-18 – Love in deed and in truth<\/p>\n
B. James 1:22-25 – Prove yourselves doers of God’s Word<\/p>\n C. It does not take fancy systems or marvels of organization to spread the gospel –\nActs 8:3-4\n
1. Saul was the pin in the Christians.<\/p>\n
2. People talked where they went and people responded to the message.<\/p>\n
V. The fruit of the Spirit – Galatians 5:22-25<\/p>\n
A. Does this describe you? Are you productive for the Lord?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I. Matthew 21:18-22 A. I get uncomfortable reading this passage. 1. Here is a fig tree, that happens to lack figs when Jesus walks by. 2. Then Jesus kills it B. The disciples are caught up in amazement that by simply speaking, Jesus killed a fig tree. 1. But why destroy a tree to make this point?…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[511],"class_list":["post-62191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-apathy"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9542,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-the-fig-tree-refer-to-israel\/","url_meta":{"origin":62191,"position":0},"title":"Does the fig tree refer to Israel?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 23, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is it true that the fig tree Jesus refers to is Israel?\u00a0 Can you explain this? Answer: You really did not give me much of a clue as to what you were referring to, but I did a quick search on the Internet in order to discover what is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":86703,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-didnt-jesus-know-there-were-no-figs-on-the-tree\/","url_meta":{"origin":62191,"position":1},"title":"Why didn’t Jesus know there were no figs on the tree?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 19, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: When our Lord cursed the fig tree, did He know that there was no fruit on it, or was knowledge withheld temporarily? Answer: The account is found in Matthew 21:18-19 and Mark 11:12-14. Early in the morning, Jesus left Bethany for Jerusalem. Seeing a leafy fig tree beside the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10275,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-the-sycamore-tree-still-have-fruit-today-as-it-did-in-biblical-times\/","url_meta":{"origin":62191,"position":2},"title":"Does the sycamore tree still have fruit today as it did in biblical times?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 7, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Does the sycamore tree still have fruit today as it did in biblical times? Answer: There are actually several plants know as sycamore in today's world. In the middle east region, where most of the Bible takes place, sycamore is a type of fig. Its formal name today is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/06\/Old-Sycamore-Fig-Tree.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":39583,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/could-you-explain-jothams-parable-of-the-trees\/","url_meta":{"origin":62191,"position":3},"title":"Could you explain Jotham’s parable of the trees?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 2, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Would you please give your understanding of the\u00a0story of the trees in Judges 9:7-15? Thank you. Answer: \"Now when they told Jotham, he went and stood on top of Mount Gerizim, and lifted his voice and cried out. 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I have read passages of the Bible too,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54883,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-did-jesus-mean-by-the-kingdom-being-near-in-luke-2131\/","url_meta":{"origin":62191,"position":5},"title":"What did Jesus mean by the kingdom being near in Luke 21:31?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 20, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I had a question regarding the kingdom of God. From my understanding, the kingdom of God is another term for the church. 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