A Sober Warning
Mark 11:12-14, 20-21
* As I read this text I am reminded once again of why I love to preach through books the Bible and why I believe God leads me to preach through books of the Bible. It is because messages like this get overlooked if you just preach on subjects. In this message today is a needed message for us in America. Let’s review the story and be reminded of the facts that are in front of us.
* Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the little donkey, he went and checked out the temple, He then went probably to Bethany to spend the night, and on Monday he came back into town being hungry. He saw the fig tree in the distance and the fig tree had leaves on it, which said to those who observed, “I have fruit.” When Jesus went up to the fig tree, looking for fruit, He could find none. From a human perspective Jesus was already disturbed about what was going the temple and now to see this fig tree appearing to be one thing and in fact was something else, Jesus pronounced a curse on the tree right then and there. This was on Monday. It was the Monday that Jesus cleansed the temple. After cleansing the temple and teaching the people Jesus once again return to Bethany for the night. Now the day is Tuesday as he arrives back in Jerusalem. It’s obvious that the fig tree was on the path between Bethany and Jerusalem because Peter just happened to see that the fig tree Jesus had cursed had now withered and died.
* Today let’s take a look at that fig tree on Monday (pic). It appears to be healthy, prosperous, growing, and producing fruit – but it’s not fulfilling its mission/purpose/vision as given by its creator. On Monday, the tree looks like this &Jesus pronounced the curse. On Tuesday, the tree looks something like this. (Picture on the screen) This story offers us 4 sober warnings.
1. A practical warning- I love the practical. The practical part is that which you can put your hands on, feel, and see. The fig tree gives us a perfect practical warning. Not only did it die, it died all way down to the roots. This brings to the forefront two parallel truths: a) No person or thing can live without the blessing of God. b) No person or thing can survive the curse of the Lord. The curse of the Lord eradicated the tree (although this picture does not show it, the scripture records the tree was withered to its ROOTS). That’ll do it, there was no hope of new life in the springtime because the tree, the branches, the leaves, and the roots were now rubbish. No more life flowed through this tree. That’s what happens when God, the King of Kings and Lord of glory, pronounces a curse. It removes all semblance, possibility, and opportunity for life. The tree died because it could not exist without the blessings of its creator. It is amazing when you preach a message like this & somehow, people don’t want to believe it. However, everyone & everything God has made, He has given a purpose to complete - & He expects us to do it.
* For most of us today, purchasing an automobile is a huge purchase. Quite likely, it is the second-largest outlay of money we may have to spend (second only to our house). Let’s say you spend $55k on a new Mercedes. You park it in your driveway, it looks good; you sit in it, it makes YOU look good; you crank the engine & it sounds good; BUT you put it in drive & it won’t move. I want to be clear, HOPEFULLY, you wouldn’t speak ‘curse words’ at the car, but you may well speak a curse ON the car. You know what curse you put on automobile? I know. It would be the curse of returning it. Why would you do that? Because you bought the automobile to fulfill a specific purpose in your life and if it didn’t fulfill that purpose it would be of no use to you. Now, apply the same principle to our story. The tree didn’t fulfill the creator’s expectation so it died. The dying fig tree is a very practical warning. The Lord expected fruit & the tree didn’t produce any so Jesus pronounced a curse & the tree died. What a warning! It is indeed sobering!
2. A prophetical warning- Once again, this warning centers on the fig tree. In the Old Testament the Nation of Israel was referred to as the fig tree. The passages are many. But consider this, since Genesis 12, God’s chosen people have been the Jewish people. He chose the nation of Israel to complete specific tasks. He wanted the Jewish people to occupy the Promised Land, but the huge task was for His people was for the Messiah to be born through their lineage. All in all, God’s chosen people were pretty special to Him. Yet, on more than one occasion, God’s people felt the curse of God. You see, when they turned their backs on God, abandoned God, and/or replace Jehovah as their God, He withdrew His blessings to the point even sending a curse. One time this came by God’s allowing His people to be divided into 2 nations. When this didn’t get their attention, God allowed both countries to be taken captive. Literally, God sent all His special chosen people into captivity. For hundreds of years there was no nation of Israel, because they had actually turned their back on Him. We might want to think: If God would do this to HIS people, wonder what he would do to a nation such as, say, the United States.
* Let me be clear, the United States is not a people chosen by God on the same order that the Jewish nation was chosen by God. Some people think we are, but we are not. However, the United States of America would not be in existence today without the support of Jehovah God. There is no human reason nor is there a way that this nation should have been able to win their independence or establish this experiment in government, without the Almighty, the divine, and the providential hand of Jehovah God. As an aside, I am thankful that we’re not establishing a government today because we do not have the deep and selfless thinkers today that our forefathers were. The men who wrote our founding documents were able to put aside their selfishness for the greater good. They were what we call, “Statesman.” Today we have many politicians but very few, if any, Statesman.
* A politicians seems to put his finger in the air and vote by popular opinion, while a statesman does what’s right for the greater good. Our founding fathers were so smart that they seem to be able to look into the future and see a day like we live in. It seems to this country preacher that they suspected that when this country would become prosperous that the people may well turn their backs on the very God who gave them life and liberty. It would seem that they foresaw revisionist historians who attempted to take God out of our nation’s history. To that end, when they & their successors built a building, put up a monument, or constructed anything which marked the founding of this country, they inscribed in stone words that would never let us forget where we came from. (Washington Monument - “Laus Deo” – Praise Be to God, Capitol Building is replete with reminders of God in America, Jefferson Memorial, “The God who gave us life gave us Liberty,”, The Supreme Court building – has posted several places in the building the same 10 Commandments which they declared ‘unconstitutional.’ – and the list goes on).
* Yet today, the same nation which was so dependent on Jehovah God in early days has now turned her back on Him. We have taken the teaching of biblical principles & prayer out of the schools & replaced it with humanistic and secularist principles. This is why the USA, the greatest country to ever to exist on planet earth, is now deteriorating, disintegrating, and disappearing. No person, country, nor tree can live without the blessing of the Lord or under His curse of God.
3. A pulpit warning – For most in this room, this warning means little. However, almost every time I attend a ‘preacher’ meeting, I hear the reason this country & culture is so perverse is found in our pulpits. History records that, in this nation, the pulpits aflame with truth & God’s word has kept this culture on track. Conversely, when the pulpit goes soft & refuses to be the voice of God–the culture has no conscious. Too many preachers are trying to be therapist, counselors, or psychologist. We don’t need more Dr Oz, Dr Phil or Oprah, we need Jesus, we need His word.
* When all is said and done, my prayer is that you will say of me: He may have made some mistakes and did some things better than other, but when He stepped in the pulpit, He did His best to deliver God’s word, uncompromised, and unchanged. For you see, the warning to me is to rightly divide God’s word so that all can hear and know the truth – so you will have the opportunity to respond to His call & be saved. Which brings us to the last warning.
4. A personal warning- The image of the fig tree is indeed a personal warning for every person, everywhere. It is impossible to have real life without the blessing of the Lord & it is impossible to survive under the curse of the Lord. Some will counter, “The Lord would never curse us.” Yet, the Bible (you know, God’s word) teaches us differently than we care to hear. God did, in fact, place a curse on the man, the woman, and the snake, in the Garden of Eden. Every one of us lives under the curse, as we have come to know it, of sin. Think about it; who among us had to teach our kids to sin? No one. Why? It is the curse under which we live. The warning is that the wages of sin is death, no exceptions. Candidly, for the person who chooses to live under God’s curse and without God’s blessing will find himself spending this life struggling and being punished for eternity. So the question is “How do I heed this sobering warning?” AARP is a familiar acrostic – let me change one letter to AARR to show.
* Acknowledge – The first step in any healing is to acknowledge where you are & what you need. I submit you need to acknowledge your condition, that you are living under the curse of God which we know as sin & that, while God has given you the blessing of earthly life – you have never asked for anything else from Him – so you are unsure about His blessing for eternal life.
* Admit – In our culture we have a phobia; it seems, about ‘admitting’ anything. Yet, to heed our Lord’s sobering warning we must admit we need help and we need Him. Friends, too many have bought into the idea that ‘we can do it on our own’ & we can’t. He is our answer.
* Repent – Please hear these words; not only can you repent or should you repent, but the Bible teaches you MUST repent. In order to truly repent, you must understand repentance. The most practical lesson I ever learned about repentance was from Scott Urlocker. Scott was a big, burly, football player type of young man in his junior or senior year of high school. It was on a Wednesday night and I was leading the students in a discussion about repentance & what it was. The discussion centered on ‘feeling sorry for sin’ for asking to be ‘forgiven of sin’. Scott spoke in his big voice & said (with passion) “It’s not repentance if you intend on doing it again.” What a word. Repentance means an about face. You can never turn to the Lord without turning your back to your sin. You WILL never turn your back to sin until you turn your face to the Lord. Repentance is a non-negotiable. (Acts 2)
* Receive – John 1:12 says, “As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the Sons of God, to those who believed on His name.” Jesus died for you. He died that you might live. But you only live when you acknowledge, admit, repent, and receive His gift of forgiveness, abundant life here, and eternal life beyond the grave. But it centers on you opening your heart.
* I end with a sobering caveat. Verse 20 tells us this “As they passed by in the morning.” Every morning Jesus passes your way – what does He see? Do He see you like the fig tree when it was showing its leave (looking good)? What type of fruit does He find? Or are you withering down to your roots because you’re trying to live without the ‘blessing of the Lord (salvation)’ or are you trying to live under the ‘Curse of the Lord (sin)?’
* I implore you – ‘Heed this warning’ today.
