Our church has been thinking a lot about our new building in our new location. Since the month of May three hundred loads of dirt has been delivered to prepare the lot. A foundation has been poured. Volunteers have worked security at the site around the clock. So many of us have given sacrificially for the new structure.
It has been exciting for us to prepare to build a new facility for our worship. I don’t think we would be surprised that King David longed to build a temple for the Lord’s people to worship him. There is an enormous amount of Scripture about the building of a physical structure, as a house of worship.
There is the building of the Tabernacle found in the book of Exodus chapters 25–27 and chapters 35–40. The building of Solomon’s Temple is found in 1 Kings Chapters 5–7 and 2 Chronicles 3-7. The building of the second temple is found in Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, and Zechariah.
We must remember that building any physical structure is a tool to build the church spiritually. You should know the Bible has a lot to say about building the church spiritually too. There are principles we will learn from this passage from cursing the fig tree and cleansing the temple.
We can find a blueprint in these verses and if we follow the blueprint, we can build our church spiritually. We find this blueprint when Jesus is as usual at his Father’s house. We see how zealous he is for God’s House to truly be a house of prayer.
The church must proclaim a genuine relationship with God.
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. (Mark 11:12-14)
We find Jesus the day after the triumphant entry. It is Monday morning, and he is closer with his appointment with destiny, on a cross that will take place on Friday. He is walking back to the temple on Monday morning and Jesus is hungry and sees a fig tree.
The scripture says it was not the season for figs. It was too early in the spring, but Jesus saw a fig tree with leaves on it. Fig trees are different from other fruit trees in the sense that the early fruit comes out at the same time as the leaves. That is why when you see leaves you expect fruit. So, why did Jesus curse the fig tree?
Jesus found this fig tree to be a pretender. There were only leaves and no fruit. It claimed to be something that it really was not. From a distance it appeared fruitful, but in reality, it was barren and fruitless. Jesus cursed the tree. “no one will ever eat fruit from you again.”
The action of Jesus puzzles many people. Jesus is usually healing people or restoring sight and making the lame walk even raising the dead. I suppose my own fig tree deserves the same. It is coming back from a freeze and for two years there has not been one edible fig yet.
This story was not only about a miracle, but Jesus’ action was a parable of the nation Israel and tells us about the temple. The tree represented the spiritual state of Israel. They looked religious, but it was an outward, appearance orientated, hypocritical religion. They were professing to have what they did not really have.
To build the church spiritually the foundation must be on a true relationship with God based on Jesus Christ and forgiveness when the individual repents and places faith in Jesus Christ and makes Christ death on the cross count for the payment of their own sins.
There could be two churches compared side by side. Both of them could have Sunday school at 9:45 and worship at 11am. They could have the same number in attendance, sing the same worship songs have the same fellowship meal after the service, but if one does not emphasize relationship with God through Jesus Christ then that church is as fruitless as the fig tree that Jesus cursed.
When I lived in Ft Worth Texas studying theology at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS) I lived in the dorm as a single for two years. I was getting married and had arranged for a house in their married housing area near the campus. I showed the place to my friend. He said it is a great house, but you need to call the house maintenance and get that large bushy dead tree removed from the back yard.
I never did anything about that “dead tree,” and it came to life in the spring. It was a fig tree and it blossomed and was soon filled with leaves and fruit. Here is a fig tree that represents a church that pleases God. It may not look impressive at times, but the fruit is there.
This fig tree parable that Jesus demonstrated applies to all of us personally. Is your religion nothing more than outward formalism or is it a vital relationship with God? If we are going to build our church spiritually, we have got to proclaim the gospel. Only then will the lost multitudes find a genuine relationship with God.
The church must be a genuine place of prayer.
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. (Mark 11:15-19)
The reason for God’s house, the temple, is to seek God’s glory. The outer court of the temple, the gentile court of the temple, was a place rabbis would teach gentiles that were inquiring to know God. The gentiles would come from far away to inquire about God. That is the story of the Ethiopian Eunuch.
This temple court was used to exchange money so they could pay the temple tax in the requited currency. They needed this currency to purchase animals to offer sacrifices to the Lord. This court had turned into a place of commercialism, and it was driven by materialism and corruption. That is not the purpose of God’s house.
Jesus overturned the tables of the moneychangers. Those who had benches to sell doves for sacrifices he overturned them. He would not allow people to carry merchandise through the temple courts.
They made God’s house a den of robbers. God’s purpose is that his house be a house of prayer for the nations. To build our church spiritually we need to be a people of prayer. It is our great privilege to pray. In our time of prayer, we earnestly desire the will of God.
Jesus quoted Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11. The quote from Isaiah is the hose of God is to be a house of prayer for all nations. Jesus is the expected messiah who was to come and cleanse the temple from gentiles. However, Jesus cleansed the temple for the gentiles.
The prayer of evangelism and missions for the peoples of the ends of the earth are on the heart of God. Prayer and praying for the unreached peoples are vital for a church to be built spiritually.
The church must have a genuine faith in God.
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.” (Mark 11:20-25)
Now we are back to that fig tree that Jesus cursed. The next day it was withered from the roots. Peter said, look! The fig tree you cursed is withered. Jesus uses the miracle to teach about faith. It is a lesson of vital importance. It is vitally important to build a church spiritually and it is vitally important for every individual Christian. Have faith in God.
With faith we can do what would otherwise be impossible. Jesus said faith can move mountains. The mountains of difficulty are no match for the power of God. This lesson on faith is important enough for Jesus to repeat on a number of occasions.
Here faith will cause a mountain to throw itself into the sea. In Matthews gospel faith of a mustard seed can move a mountain. It is the power of prayer manifested through faith.
He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20)
The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. (Luke 17:5-6)
The seemingly impossible will be possible. Instead of making mountains out of molehills our faith makes molehills out of mountains. We can tell mountains to throw itself into the sea. The secret is to have faith in God.
The condition is to have a forgiving heart toward your fellow man. It gives a prayer life that makes a difference. Put these principles to work in your life. Be a person of faith saved by faith and who lives by faith and forgiving others. If you apply this faith, you will grow spiritually. If we apply them together, we will build our church spiritually.
