First_Baptist

Pastor Lars Larson, PhD                                                                                                   FBC Sermon #617
First Baptist Church, Leominster, MA                                                                                June 19, 2011
Words for children: fig tree, fruit, judgment,                                                                        Text: Matthew 21:18-22
Scripture reading: Luke 13:6-9

The Gospel of Matthew (81)
The Withering of the Fig Tree

Our current progress through Matthew:

I. Prologue (chs. 1, 2)
II. The Kingdom Comes (chs. 3-7)
III. The Works of the Kingdom (chs. 8-10)
IV. The Nature of the Kingdom (chs. 11-13)
V. The Authority of the Kingdom (chs. 14-18)
          A. Jesus’ Character and Authority (chs. 14-17)
          B. The Fourth Discourse: The Character and Authority of the Church (18:1-35)
VI. Kingdom Blessings and Kingdom Judgments (chs. 19-25)
          A. From Galilee to Jerusalem (chs. 19, 20)
                    1. Family Life within the Kingdom (19:1-15)
                    2. Entering the Kingdom (19:16-20:16)
                    3. Opening the Eyes of the Spiritually and Physically Blind (20:17-34)
          B. The King enters Jerusalem (chs. 21-23)
                    1. Triumphal Entry and Cleansing the Temple (21:1-22)

*****************

I. The cursing of the fig tree (21:18-22)

Today we will consider one last episode that is linked with our Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem and the cleansing of the temple. The Lord Jesus had entered the city on Sunday, who was heralded by the people as the arriving promised King, the Son of David. This was Palm Sunday. The next day, Monday, our Lord cleansed the temple and healed the people who came to Him. He then returned and spent a second night with His friends in the village of Bethany, which was a few miles just east of Jerusalem. This next event that is recorded occurred perhaps also on Monday morning. We will read Matthew 21:18-22.

          18In the morning, as He was returning to the city, He became hungry. 19And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, He went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And He said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once.
          20When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?”
          21And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. 22And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

Fig trees were common in the Middle East. They would normally bear fruit twice a year. There was smaller fruit that grew at the same time as the leaves came upon the tree in the Spring. Later in the autumn larger fruit would ripen and be harvested. This event took place at Passover, in the Spring of the year, probably in the month of April. When Jesus saw leaves on this tree, He could well expect to find the earlier but smaller figs on the tree. But there was none. The tree was barren. Jesus was “hungry”, looking for fruit that should have been there. But when He discovered there was no fruit, what good was the tree? He cursed it and it withered.

Now we said that this event may have occurred on Monday morning. It is difficult to determine with certainty because Matthew’s account is probably a condensed version of what occurred in two days time. In other words, our Lord came to the fig tree and finding no fruit on it, cursed it. The next day the disciples saw that it was withered, although Matthew recorded that the withering of the fig tree occurred “at once.” We read on this in Mark 11:12-15 and 19-26.

          12On the following day, when they came from Bethany, He was hungry. 13And 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. 14And He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.”
          And his disciples heard it.
          15And they came to Jerusalem… 19And when evening came they went out of the city.
          20As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. 21And Peter remembered and said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” 22And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. 23Truly, 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. 24Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25And 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.”

A careful reader of Matthew and Mark’s accounts would also recognize a difference in order of events in the two Gospels. Matthew records the withering of the fig tree after our Lord cleansed the temple. Mark records the cursing of the fig tree before the cleansing of the temple. The events in Mark’s Gospel were probably written chronologically; Matthew recorded the events not in order that they took place, but rather he described the details topically. Here are the words of William Hendriksen, a respected reformed commentator of Matthew’s Gospel:

That the Gospel writers were not mere copyists but independent authors, each using his own method, appears very clearly in the present instance. Since part of the Fig Tree story occurred on Monday and part on Tuesday (Mark 11:11, 12, 19, 20), with the cleansing of the temple taking place (on Monday) between these two parts, it is clear that this story could be handled in two ways: a. chronologically or b. topically. Mark follows the first method… Matthew, on the other hand, uses the second method. He wishes to tell the entire story at once, one connected and uninterrupted account. In doing this he does not come into real conflict with Mark, for his (Matthew’s) time indications are very indefinite. For example, he says, “Now in the morning” (21:18), but does not indicate which morning. He does not say, “on the following day” (as he does in 27:62). Also, when he begins to report the second part of the Fig Tree story he simply says, “And when the disciples saw it…” (21:20). He does not indicate on what day this conversation between Jesus and his disciples took place. It is Mark that makes it very clear that what Matthew states in 21:18, 19 occurred on Monday; and what Matthew says in 21:20-22, on Tuesday. Each of these two methods (chronological and topical) has its merits. The combination of the two is something to be thankful for.[1]

We should be careful not to assume all things that we read in the Gospels are chronologically ordered by the writers. I believe that we will also see the order of events differing from one another when we arrive to the trials of our Lord in the Synoptic Gospel accounts.

There is an Old Testament passage that should be considered when attempting to understand the spiritual significance of this event. When God purposed to judge Judah through His instrument, Babylon, with its king Nebuchadnezzar, God described Judah in terms of a fig tree that Jeremiah 24:1-8 records these words:

          1After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD. 2One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3And the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?”
          I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.”
          4Then the word of the LORD came to me: 5“Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up, and not tear them down; I will plant them, and not uproot them. 7I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.
          8“But thus says the LORD: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. 10And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.”

The fig tree was a commonly recognized emblem for the nation of Israel. It was so in the days of Jeremiah, and it was still recognized as such when our Lord spoke these words before His disciples. And so, even though there is no direct mention of the nation of Israel in the context of Matthew or Mark recording our Lord’s words regarding His cursing the fig tree, nevertheless, it may be understood to be speaking of the fruitless condition of Israel when our Lord visited Jerusalem. Our Lord cursed the fig tree because of it was without fruit; Jesus also cursed Jerusalem, and by it Judah as a whole, because it was without fruit. Charles Spurgeon applied the analogy to the nation of Israel.

Looking for food, a fig tree in full leaf promised him a little refreshment. This fig tree was, apparently, no one’s property; it stood in the way, it was growing in the public highway, all by itself. Its position was conspicuous and its appearance striking, so that he saw it at once. It was not the time for figs; but the fig tree has this peculiarity, that the fruit comes before the leaves; if, therefore, we see leaves fully developed, we naturally look for figs fit to be eaten. This tree had put forth leaves out of season, when other fig trees were bare, and had not begun to put forth their early figs. It, so to speak, outran its fellows; but it’s premature growth was all deception. Our Lord, when he came to it, found nothing thereon, but leaves only. It had overleaped the needful first stage of putting forth green figs, and had rushed into a fruitless verdure. It was great at wood and leaf, but worthless for fruit. In this it sadly resembled Jerusalem, which was verdant with religious pretense, and forward with a vain enthusiasm; but it was destitute of repentance, faith, and holiness, which are far more important than pious formalities. The Lord Jesus used this green, but barren, and disappointing, tree as an object-lesson. He came to it as he came to the Jews; he found nothing but leaves; he condemned it to perpetual fruitlessness: “Let so fruit grow on thee henceforward forever;” and he left it under a sentence which was right speedily executed, even as Jerusalem would soon be destroyed.[2]

J. C. Ryle also wrote of the significance of the event as prophetic of Israel:

That fig tree, full of leaves, but barren of fruit, was a striking emblem of the Jewish Church, when our Lord was on the earth. The Jewish Church had everything to make an outward show: it had the temple, the priesthood, the daily service, the yearly feasts, the Old Testament Scriptures, the courses of the Levites, the morning and evening sacrifice. But beneath these goodly leaves, the Jewish Church was utterly destitute of fruit. It had no grace, no faith, no love, no humility, no spirituality, no real holiness, no willingness to receive its Messiah (John 1:11). And hence, like the fig-tree, the Jewish Church was soon to wither away. It was to be stripped of all its outward ornaments, and its members scattered over the face of the earth; Jerusalem was to be destroyed; the temple was to be burned; the daily sacrifice was to be taken away; the tree was to wither down to the very ground. And so it came to pass: never was there a type so literally fulfilled. In every wandering Jew we see a branch of the fig-tree that was cursed.[3]

Matthew recorded, “And the fig tree withered at once” (v. 19). The disciples saw that the green leaves of the fig tree had completely withered after Jesus had cursed it. They were amazed. Verse 20 reads, “When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, ‘How did the fig tree wither at once?’” Jesus then instructed His disciple on the matter of faith when praying.

21And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. 22And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” (21:21f)

          Our Lord assured His disciples they would be able to accomplish anything that was necessary in their efforts to further the kingdom of God. Our Lord’s reference to “this mountain” was the Mount of Olives on which they stood. “The sea” is probably a reference to the Dead Sea, which lie to the South East, about 4,000 feet lower in elevation.
          Now some take accounts like this and give undo emphasis to the nature and role of faith, as though the power resided in faith itself. The “health and wealth” teachers tend to do this. They say that power is in faith itself. Some go so far as to say that God Himself works powerfully because of “faith” He has. This is terrible error. The power to see mighty things dome is not in faith, but in God alone, who chooses to act on behalf of those who have faith in Him.
          It is also important that we understand that our Lord was not giving a “blank check” to His disciples to do anything they wanted to do as long as they had faith. In order for us to move a mountain by faith and have it cast into the sea, it would have to be the will of God that mountain be thrown into the sea. What our Lord was assuring His disciples and all of His disciples that would follow them is that if we believe God there is nothing that God asks us to do or expects us to do that He will not do if we have faith in Him to do it.
          When we pray, we are not to doubt God’s ability to answer whatever it may be that we ask of Him, again, as long as we know that we are asking something that is in accordance with His will. We know that God will hear us and do whatever we ask and we are never to doubt His ability. As John wrote:

And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him. (1 John 5:14f)

On an earlier occasion our Lord used the analogy of the fig tree to refer to the judgment that would come upon Israel if it failed to bring forth “fruit.” It is recorded in Luke 13:6-9 and is generally called the Parable of the Fig Tree.

And He told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ 8And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. 9Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

By the time of the event in Matthew 21 the three years had passed and no fruit was evident. Whereas in the account of Matthew the fig tree is withered, the account in Luke 13 would have the tree cut down. Both accounts speak of the judgment of God that came upon Israel for having refused to respond to its Messiah.
John Bunyan, the author Pilgrim’s Progress, wrote a lengthy “sermon” or tract, on this passage in Luke 13:6-9. It is entitled, “The Barren Fig Tree; or, The Doom and Downfall of the Fruitless Professor: showing that the day of grace may be past with Him long before his life is ended; the signs also by which such miserable mortals may be known.”[4] In this book Bunyan sets forth five characteristics of one who has so sinned against God’s grace, that the day of grace has passed for him and God has purposed to damn him. Here they are in his words:

First sign. The day of grace is like to be past, when a professor hath withstood, abused, and worn out God’s patience, then he is in danger; this is a provocation; then God cries, ‘Cut it down.’ There are some men that steal into a profession nobody knows how, even as this fig-tree was brought into the vineyard by other hands than God’s; and there they abide lifeless, graceless, careless, and without any good conscience to God at all.

The second sign. That such a professor is almost, if not quite, past grace, is, when God hath given him over, or lets him alone, and suffers him to do anything, and that without control, helpeth him not either in works of holiness, or in straits and difficulties. ‘Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone’

A third sign that such a professor is quite past grace is, when his heart is grown so hard, so stony, and impenetrable, that nothing will pierce it. Barren fig-tree, dost thou consider? a hard and impenitent heart is the curse of God!

A fourth sign that such a professor is quite past grace, is, when he fortifies his hard heart against the tenor of God’s word (Job 9:4, &c.) This is called hardening themselves against God, and turning of the Spirit against them. As thus, when after a profession of faith in the Lord Jesus, and of the doctrine that is according to godliness, they shall embolden themselves in courses of sin, by promising themselves that they shall have life and salvation notwithstanding.

A fifth sign of a man being past grace is, when he shall at this scoff, and inwardly grin and fret against the Lord, secretly purposing to continue his course, and put all to the venture, despising the messengers of the Lord.

Thomas Boston also wrote a sermon on this passage of Luke 13, particularly verse 7. The title of his sermon was “Unfruitful Professors Cut Down as Cumberers of the Ground.” In it he described different types of “trees” that were under God’s curse: There are dead trees, rotten trees, withered trees, barren trees, and lastly, degenerate trees. We do not have time to explore these but I commend the message to you.[5]

II. Lessons for us

The Lord taught His disciples that God to Whom the Israel of His day belonged, expected them to live before Him in love and obedience. They had failed to do so. They had not yet suffered His judgment, but they should not think that means they will escape it. It was only due to God’s mercy that they have not been destroyed already. But now the time was short, they must repent of their sins and turn to God immediately.
In the giving of this parable God was not only announcing His certain and impending judgment upon Israel, but His Words have application for all people’s everywhere, but the metaphor of a fruitless tree that is cursed of God is more particularly a lesson for professing believers, those who claim to be Christian, but whose lives do not bear the fruit of their claim to faith. Now it is true that God expects “fruit” from all people everywhere. God is the Creator of all people everywhere and He expects everyone everywhere to have faith in Him and to order their lives according to His will. He gave warning to Israel, and He has given warning to all men everywhere. As Paul would proclaim at a later time in the city of Athens,

The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent, because He has fixed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by a Man whom He has appointed; and of this He has given assurance to all by raising Him from the dead.” (Act 17:30f)

But more specifically, God is calling us, we who claim to be Christian, to live lives of righteousness, bringing forth fruit unto God. Let us remember the words of John the Baptist to the professing people of God on the shores of the Jordan River:

          7He (John the Baptist) said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 9Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
          10And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?”
          11And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.”
          12Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?”
          13And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.”
          14Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?”
          And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.” (Luke 3:7-14)

God is calling us to repentance and faith. We are to respond to Him fully and immediately. Our Lord causing the withering of the fig tree is a warning against complacency with respect to God’s judgment, when we think, “It is not all that serious a matter.” It speaks against our procrastination with respect to responding to God, when we say in effect to God: “I should, I know I should, but not now!” Certainly it should dispel any notion of presumption we may have with respect to His mercy, in which we think, “It won’t happen to me!”

What may we say with respect to God and ourselves in the light of these words?

A. First, with regard to those professing Christians whose lives do not conform to His will, consider…

1. We are God’s property and owe Him our love and obedience.

Now it is true that the immediate context is referring to the Israel of His day, but the principle is the same for all who dwell on the face of the earth. We each are God’s property, much more so than a tree which belongs to a man. God made us. And God made us for a purpose, to render fruit unto Himself--faith, faithfulness, and righteousness. And it is fit and proper that He expect these things from His creatures.

2. He has resolved to destroy all those who fail to render to Him the things we owe Him.

God’s wrath upon our sin is fit and proper. A man has a right to cause a tree to wither or to pull a fig tree out of His garden if it fails to render to Him that for which He planted it. So God has the right to remove any and all Who refuse to render to Him His due. And He has resolved this will be so.
There will be a day when He will remove all that offends, all that defiles, and all that defies Him. Of the new heavens and new earth, particularly the New Jerusalem, He says that “nothing unclean and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it.!” He has resolved that this is the way it will be, and it will be so. The time will come when the unrepentant and the disobedient will die; the world will be, as one once put it, “delivered from the burdensome presence of barren souls.”

v 3. He has been and is now watching and waiting. It is not as though God has not been patient, He has been. But that space of time given for repentance is finite. It is like the cessation of fighting as the soon to conquer general issues an ultimatum--the terms being unconditional surrender are demanded -- before the final push which will vanquish the enemy. God is under no obligation to forestall His judgment. He has given ample time and ample opportunity, and ample cause to yield to Him.

a. Sufficient time has been given and you have not repented as yet. In the parable recorded in Luke’s Gospel the owner of the vineyard had already waited through three fruitless seasons, a good portion of a productive life for a fruit tree.

b. Sufficient opportunity. Seasons of His blessing have been experienced--Spring-time blessings of His kindness and grace; summer seasons of warmth and encouragement to do so; and even wintery seasons which should cause a person to assess his situation.

c. Sufficient cause has been given, all things considered, to render to our owner that which is rightfully due Him. He has given you every good thing--life, a free-society in which you can freely serve Him, a Bible in which to discover how to know Him and serve Him. He has deal with you in kindness, in patience. He has given you sufficient cause to turn to Him.

4. The time will come when He says to the barren soul, “No Longer”

This, from His perspective, is a most reasonable thing to do. God has been merciful and gracious, patient while waiting for you to respond. If after there is non-responsiveness, what is He to do? “Cut it down!”

5. Therefore, turn from sin now, seek to honor and obey Him

a. Repentance from sin -- simply stated, that means stop living a self-directed lifestyle which is according to you the laws of your choosing

b. Repentance toward God -- Purpose before God, as He enables you, to order your life according to His Law, submitted to His Son, Jesus Christ, the Lord.

c. Faith in the Lord Jesus -- Trusting Him and Him alone for God’s pardon of your sin, due to His death on the cross in the place of sinners. Trust Him to do a work in you. He can do so. He is able to enable you to bear fruit unto God.

B. Second, with regard to those professing Christians whose lives do bring forth fruit of righteousness in their lives, consider the glorious promises and the certain future that is yours.

“Fruit” and “fruitfulness” is a common metaphor in Scripture. Depending on the context, it can convey several different ideas regarding the Christian.

a. Fruit can be seen as the increase that one sees when used of the Lord to bring others to Christ in salvation.

John 4:35ff. “Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. 36Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

b. More commonly, “fruit” is a description of the righteous actions and life that a Christian manifests.

John 15:1-6. “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”

Here we see a similar idea to what Matthew recorded for us in our text, only there the analogy was to a fig tree, but here it is a grape vine. God is concerned that we bring forth “fruit” unto Him, that is, that we live lives of obedience and righteousness before Him. The one who is fruitless God judges.

The Apostle Paul spoke of the non-Christian life that bore no fruit in contrast to the Christian, who bears fruit unto God.

Romans 6:21f. “But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.

In the next chapter of Romans, the apostle describes how the Christian cannot bring forth fruit while under a pure legal system, but only through the power of the Holy Spirit can true fruit be produced in the Christian life. The “fruit of righteousness” is produced by God’s grace not through legalistic living.

Romans 7:4-6. “Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to Him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 6But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.”

The Lord produces “fruit” in us chiefly through the gospel. As we believe the promises of God given to us in Christ, He works in us, enabling us to bring forth a life of fruitfulness before Him.

Colossians 1:3-6. “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing--as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth…

Conclusion:

Fruitfulness in one’s life begins with repentance from sin. We may be liken repentance to the preparing and caring of a garden. We are to be caring for our hearts and lives as we would a garden with the view of harvesting a crop at the end of the season. In order for this to be accomplished, some weeding must occur. Repentance is like weeding. It must be done thoroughly to begin with, and it must be maintained throughout the growing season. The corruptible seeds of weeds which will choke out any life- bearing life are there in the heart, and they will spring up, but they must be yanked up by the roots at their first appearing.
May our Lord continue to work grace in us that we might bring forth an abundance of fruit toward God, resulting in being a blessing to Him, to others, and to ourselves.

**********************

Footnotes

[1] William Handriksen, Matthew, New Testament Commentary (Baker Academic, 1973), p. 773.

[2] Charles Spurgeon, Spurgeon’s Popular Exposition of Matthew (Zondervan, 1962, orig. 1893), pp. 180f.

[3] J. C. Ryle, Matthew, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels (The Banner of Truth Trust, 1995, originally in 1856), pp. 269f.

[4] John Bunyan, “The Barren Fig Tree”, in The Works of John Bunyan (The Banner of Truth Trust, 1991), vol. 3, pp. 560-585. Also, The Barren Fig Tree (Reiner Pub., 1974).

[5] Thomas Boston, “Unfruitful Professors” in The Complete Works of the Late Thomas Boston (Richard Owen Roberts Pub., 1980), vol. 3, pp. 379-384.