****Sermon Outline****
Nothing But Leaves...
I. Introducton...
a) Read:
Mar 11:11 And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve.
Mar 11:12 And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry:
Mar 11:13 And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find anything thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.
Mar 11:14 And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter forever. And his disciples heard it.
b) Be Fruitful...
How many came in here expecting something this morning?
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How many in here this morning knows that
Jesus requires (expects) us to be fruitful?
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Since the beginning of time He’s commanded
man to be fruitful.
It started with Adam and Eve in the Garden of
Eden when He commanded them to "be fruitful
and multiply".
He commanded them to be fruitful by increasing
in number.
He wanted them to populate the Earth with other
people just like them.
He was saying my desire is for you to bear fruit.
II. Two-fold Fruit of the Church...
How many knows that the Church is called to be
fruitful and multiply?
Now I’m not talking about the same kind of
multiplying as Adam and Eve in the Garden,
But I’m talking about a two-fold fruitfulness that
should be evident in the life of every believer.
1. See, first God has called us bear the fruit of the Spirit.
Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
We should constantly be growing in spiritual
things and bearing spiritual fruit. Amen?
2. And that also means that as we grow and bear
fruit we will also bear fruit through our ministry.
We will grow in number because we will sew the
seeds of our spiritual fruit into the hearts of men.
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We will fulfil our commission,
And through our ministry, just like Adam and
Eve were to populate this Earth with other humans,
We are to populate this earth with other fruitful
Christians.
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See, the early church knew how to be fruitful and
multiply.
Act 16:5 And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.
How many knows that we need to get back to
that old time religion?
I’m not talking about grandma’s way, etc
I’m talking about God’s way.
We need to be fruitful and get back to the way it
was when God’s word says...
"the Lord added to the church daily such as
should be saved."
III. Professing or Possessing...
The problem today is that there’s too many
professing Christians and not enough possessing
Christians.
They’re claiming to be fruitful but there’s no fruit
on their branches.
Instead of the fruit of the Spirit being evident in
their lives there’s nothing but leaves.
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Many Christians today even use the excuse that
their fruit hasn’t manifested yet.
They’re still growing.
They’re trying to make it by with their bumper
sticker that says I’m not perfect just forgiven. (Cop Out)
Looking back at our scripture this morning the
Bible says that Jesus was hungry:
Mar 11:13 And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find anything thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.
Scripture says that it wasn’t fig season yet
But Jesus cursed the tree for not bearing fruit.
Why did Jesus come expecting figs even though
they were out of season?
And why when He found only leaves did He
curse the tree knowing that it wasn’t time for
fruit?
To know the answer to that question you have to
know a little bit about the fig tree.
See the fig tree always bears fruit first and then
leaves.
In some cases the leaves accompany the fruit but
they never precede it.
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So when the scripture says that Jesus saw the
leaves from afar off,
What it’s saying is that He heard the profession
of that tree.
It was saying I am fruitful because I have leaves,
And Jesus knew that leaves came after the fruit.
It was making a loud profession with it’s leaves
but there was no possession.
Alot of people today are professing Christ but
they aren’t possessing Christ.
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IV. Conclusion...
Iwant to encourage you this morning to inspect
your fruit.
Tend to your garden.
Dig out the weeds and only sew good seed that you
might be fruitful and multiply. Amen?
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It’s been said that seasoned Alpine mountain
climbers can tell you their altitude just by the
type of vegitation they see growing around them.
I want to encourage you this morning to sor to
new heights in your relationship with Christ.
And as you reach these new levels look around
you and inspect the vegetationon the ground.
Is there fruit or only leaves?
And if there’s only leaves I urge you to get rooted
in the fertile soil of the word,
that you might possess the fruit that God expects
you to have.
See, Jesus is hungry for fruitfulness and He’s
looking for us to satisfy that hunger as we live
our lives for Him.
But if we fail to do that it just proves who we
were really living for.
He said many will say unto me Lord Lord.
Many will make that half hearted profession,
but who will possess all that I have to give.
