100:00:00,000 –> 00:00:11,420The leaves which are necessary are obvious and they are in abundance but Jesus is not200:00:11,420 –> 00:00:17,840impressed with the leaves of ministry he pulls back the leaves to see if there is any fruit300:00:18,840 –> 00:00:19,840he is looking for?400:00:19,840 –> 00:00:25,080Welcome to Open The Bible with Pastor Colin Smith, I’m David Pict and Colin, what is the500:00:25,080 –> 00:00:27,040fruit that Jesus is looking for?600:00:27,040 –> 00:00:31,120And we are in Mark’s Gospel and Jesus is coming to the fig tree and he is pulling back the700:00:31,120 –> 00:00:34,660leaves and it is almost a kind of a symbol of what’s happening because he is going to800:00:34,660 –> 00:00:40,520go into the temple and that’s meant to be a place of prayer where people from all nations900:00:40,520 –> 00:00:47,200can come and seek and find God and what Jesus finds there is that instead of the fruit of1000:00:47,459 –> 00:00:54,060seeking and finding God, there is basically this market place and convenience and profit1100:00:54,060 –> 00:00:58,560has taken over from prayer and from seeking after God.1200:00:58,560 –> 00:01:05,500This speaks so powerfully into the world of the church in America today.1300:01:05,500 –> 00:01:12,559How easy it is to slide form God’s people being about seeking his face and coming together1400:01:12,620 –> 00:01:18,180from all our different backgrounds on our knees before him and doing his work in the world1500:01:18,180 –> 00:01:22,459into the church being something that’s all about us and instead of a place of worship1600:01:22,459 –> 00:01:25,620and seaking him, it becomes what’s for our convenience?1700:01:25,620 –> 00:01:26,620What do we want?1800:01:26,620 –> 00:01:27,620What products are out there?1900:01:27,620 –> 00:01:34,099And all of this stuff and may God mercifully cleanse his temple.2000:01:34,099 –> 00:01:36,400Jesus comes in and he does that.2100:01:36,400 –> 00:01:38,400How much that is needed?2200:01:38,400 –> 00:01:40,779We need the Lord to cleanse the temple of our hearts.2300:01:41,500 –> 00:01:44,120We need him to cleanse the temple of our churches.2400:01:44,120 –> 00:01:48,779And this scripture is desperately needed for all of us and among all of us today.2500:01:48,779 –> 00:01:52,019Well, the scripture is Mark, chapter 11.2600:01:52,019 –> 00:01:57,000So join us in your Bible if you can, as we begin the message, Jesus looks for fruit among2700:01:57,000 –> 00:01:58,000his people.2800:01:58,000 –> 00:01:59,000Here’s Colin.2900:01:59,000 –> 00:02:06,120I want you to notice as we come to the turning point in Mark’s Gospel that with Chapter 113000:02:06,120 –> 00:02:12,160we are coming today to the beginning of what we call Holy Week, that is, the account in3100:02:12,160 –> 00:02:18,000the Gospel of the week that led up to the death of Jesus on Good Friday and his resurrection3200:02:18,000 –> 00:02:20,440on Easter Sunday.3300:02:20,440 –> 00:02:28,279And Mark devotes six chapters of his Gospel to this one week in the life of Jesus beginning3400:02:28,279 –> 00:02:33,919with the story of Palm Sunday and moving through to the wonderful triumph of Easter and our3500:02:33,919 –> 00:02:39,559plan is to follow that story of this one week in the life of Jesus from Mark’s Gospel,3600:02:39,559 –> 00:02:44,639chapter 11 through 16 in the run-up from now until Easter.3700:02:44,639 –> 00:02:49,800Just to give you a sense of where we are in relation to Holy Week, let’s think about where3800:02:49,800 –> 00:02:51,820we are in Chapter 11.3900:02:51,820 –> 00:02:58,279That obviously relates to Palm Sunday when Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey and4000:02:58,279 –> 00:03:01,619receives this rapturous welcome from the crowd.4100:03:01,679 –> 00:03:04,839That’s Chapter 11 and verses 1 through 11.4200:03:04,839 –> 00:03:09,380And then in verse 11 of Mark 11, we’re told that Jesus entered Jerusalem and He went to4300:03:09,380 –> 00:03:11,899the temple and He looked around at everything.4400:03:11,899 –> 00:03:17,919But since it was already late, so that’s late Sunday, He went out to Bethany with the twelve.4500:03:17,919 –> 00:03:22,300So Sunday, Jesus comes to Jerusalem, looks around the temple and then He withdraws back4600:03:22,300 –> 00:03:25,000to the town of Bethany.4700:03:25,000 –> 00:03:28,380Then Monday, verse 12, the next day.4800:03:28,380 –> 00:03:31,380So now we’re onto Monday, Mark 11, 12.4900:03:31,500 –> 00:03:34,160Jesus sees a fig tree but it has no fruit.5000:03:34,160 –> 00:03:38,520He says to the tree, may no one ever eat fruit from you again?5100:03:38,520 –> 00:03:43,059And then in verse 15, He goes into the temple, He drives out the traders from the temple.5200:03:43,059 –> 00:03:44,979We’re going to look at that today.5300:03:44,979 –> 00:03:50,520And verse 19, when evening came, so now we’re at Monday evening, they went out of the city5400:03:50,520 –> 00:03:53,520and that was the end of the day, Monday.5500:03:53,520 –> 00:03:55,559Verse 20, in the morning.5600:03:55,559 –> 00:03:58,419So now we’re onto Tuesday morning of Holy Week.5700:03:58,479 –> 00:04:05,179Chapter 11, verse 20, just three days from the crucifixion, and on this Tuesday, Jesus5800:04:05,179 –> 00:04:08,539and the disciples find that the fig tree had withered.5900:04:08,539 –> 00:04:14,380And Jesus uses this as an opportunity to teach the disciples about faith, forgiveness, and6000:04:14,380 –> 00:04:15,380prayer.6100:04:15,380 –> 00:04:20,140Now, that’s the material that we’re going to be covering this morning in God’s Word.6200:04:20,140 –> 00:04:27,059We’re into the early part of Holy Week Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday and we’ll be following6300:04:27,200 –> 00:04:31,880the week throughout these coming Sunday mornings.6400:04:31,880 –> 00:04:36,600Now I want you to notice that there are really two stories here and they are kind of interleaved6500:04:36,600 –> 00:04:39,200together in Mark’s gospel.6600:04:39,200 –> 00:04:44,160The first is a rather strange story about a tree and the second is a rather dramatic6700:04:44,160 –> 00:04:47,299story about the temple.6800:04:47,299 –> 00:04:53,279And Mark weaves these stories together because each of them helps us to understand the other.6900:04:53,359 –> 00:04:57,940The story of the tree helps us to understand what happened in the temple and the story7000:04:57,940 –> 00:05:02,339of the temple helps us to understand what happened to the tree.7100:05:02,339 –> 00:05:04,899We’re going to learn from these stories today.7200:05:04,899 –> 00:05:06,500We’re going to see three things.7300:05:06,500 –> 00:05:10,640First that Jesus is looking for fruit.7400:05:10,640 –> 00:05:15,739And he’s looking for fruit, not only in a tree and not only in a temple but he’s looking7500:05:15,739 –> 00:05:19,040for fruit among us, his people, also.7600:05:19,880 –> 00:05:28,040Then secondly, we’re going to see that Jesus used a withered tree to teach us about what7700:05:28,040 –> 00:05:35,260happens when God’s people do not bear the fruit of seeking after and finding him.7800:05:35,260 –> 00:05:39,559And then thirdly, we are going to see that Jesus teaches his disciples and also us, how7900:05:39,559 –> 00:05:45,839we can bear the fruit that Jesus is looking for, the fruit that he did not find when he8000:05:45,839 –> 00:05:48,339visited the temple.8100:05:48,339 –> 00:05:50,260That’s a broad overview of where we’re going.8200:05:50,260 –> 00:05:54,540Let’s jump into the scriptures together and we’ll begin with the tree in chapter 11 in8300:05:54,540 –> 00:05:55,540verse 12.8400:05:55,540 –> 00:06:01,079We’re told that Jesus was hungry and as he was walking along the road making his way8500:06:01,079 –> 00:06:09,239into Jerusalem Monday morning, he sees a fig tree and it’s bursting with leaves.8600:06:09,239 –> 00:06:14,339And this tree looks magnificent and abundant and well-watered and healthy.8700:06:14,339 –> 00:06:21,519And Jesus goes to the tree and he’s looking for fruit but verse 13, when he reached it8800:06:21,519 –> 00:06:26,399he found nothing but leaves.8900:06:26,399 –> 00:06:30,940Now Mark says, you’ll notice there, that it was not the season for figs.9000:06:30,940 –> 00:06:35,660So you certainly wouldn’t expect to find figs that were ripe and ready to eat.9100:06:35,660 –> 00:06:41,880But Dr. William Henrickson says, it’s important to point out that the earlier figs appear9200:06:41,880 –> 00:06:45,179at the same time as the leaves.9300:06:45,179 –> 00:06:49,579So the problem with this tree wasn’t simply that it didn’t have ripe fruit which you wouldn’t9400:06:49,579 –> 00:06:53,399really expect at that time of year, but the problem was it didn’t have any fruit.9500:06:53,399 –> 00:06:57,279It didn’t have any fruit even in the process of forming.9600:06:57,279 –> 00:07:02,239It was a barren fig tree.9700:07:02,239 –> 00:07:08,760Now Mark puts this story of the tree alongside the story of the temple.9800:07:08,779 –> 00:07:15,239Verse 11, when Jesus entered Jerusalem he went to the temple and he looked around at9900:07:15,239 –> 00:07:16,239everything.10000:07:16,239 –> 00:07:17,239You see the parallel there?10100:07:17,239 –> 00:07:19,859Looking at the tree, looking at the temple.10200:07:19,859 –> 00:07:24,359God’s son is coming to God’s temple and what’s he doing?10300:07:24,359 –> 00:07:28,000He’s looking for fruit.10400:07:28,000 –> 00:07:30,160He’s coming to the Holy City.10500:07:30,160 –> 00:07:34,760And there’s been this rapturous welcome, all this cheering and throwing palm branches10600:07:34,760 –> 00:07:36,200on the ground.10700:07:36,200 –> 00:07:43,160But now he looks behind the leaves and he wants to see what fruit is really there among10800:07:43,160 –> 00:07:45,320his people.10900:07:45,320 –> 00:07:52,040And what he finds on the fig tree, leaves only, no fruit, is really a kind of picture11000:07:52,040 –> 00:07:55,179of what he’s going to find in the temple.11100:07:55,179 –> 00:07:57,359Nothing but leaves.11200:07:57,359 –> 00:08:00,579See, the temple was very impressive.11300:08:00,579 –> 00:08:02,679It’s buzzing with activity.11400:08:02,739 –> 00:08:08,339It looks as if it’s flourishing, just like the fig tree.11500:08:08,339 –> 00:08:14,519But when Christ pulls back the leaves, he does not find the fruit that he is looking11600:08:14,519 –> 00:08:16,959for.11700:08:16,959 –> 00:08:20,420The temple turns out to be nothing but leaves.11800:08:20,420 –> 00:08:26,220And so the tree is a sort of parable of the temple.11900:08:26,220 –> 00:08:33,299When Jesus came, he was looking to find a house of prayer, verse 17.12000:08:33,299 –> 00:08:39,380What he actually found, we’re told in verse 15, was tables for money changers, benches12100:08:39,380 –> 00:08:47,559for traders selling doves, and people carrying merchandise, verse 16, throughout the temple12200:08:47,559 –> 00:08:48,679courts.12300:08:48,679 –> 00:08:53,239Now, it’s important for us to understand what the problem was here.12400:08:53,739 –> 00:08:59,280I smiled to myself, kind of looking back at some memories of how people think about these12500:08:59,280 –> 00:09:04,900things, some folks read this passage of Scripture they get terribly, terribly sensitive about,12600:09:04,900 –> 00:09:11,179you know, anything at all being sold in the context of a church.12700:09:11,179 –> 00:09:17,200I remember when we started supplying a Christian newspaper, in the church that I served in12800:09:17,200 –> 00:09:18,659north London.12900:09:18,659 –> 00:09:21,799And there was a little bit of discussion, well, you know, it’s a newspaper and it was13000:09:21,900 –> 00:09:26,460forty pence or whatever it was back then, and was this selling something in the church13100:09:26,460 –> 00:09:27,780on a Sunday?13200:09:27,780 –> 00:09:31,820Some folks had a very sensitive conscience, and so someone said, well here’s what we’ll13300:09:31,820 –> 00:09:32,820do.13400:09:32,820 –> 00:09:35,640We’ll have a box that people can put the money in, but we mustn’t have anyone standing13500:09:35,640 –> 00:09:38,580there taking the money, because otherwise you know, that would offend against Mark’s13600:09:38,580 –> 00:09:40,179gospel in Chapter 11.13700:09:40,179 –> 00:09:45,320Well, let’s just clear that away, because that really isn’t the issue here, and it’s13800:09:45,320 –> 00:09:50,900very important for us to understand what the issue was so that we understand what it was13900:09:51,020 –> 00:09:58,780that made our Lord Jesus Christ furious, because that is really the only appropriate word to14000:09:58,780 –> 00:10:05,219describe the response of Jesus when he came to the temple here.14100:10:05,219 –> 00:10:15,419Very simply, in the Old Testament, God’s people were required to pay a tax to the temple.14200:10:15,419 –> 00:10:19,239That was the way in which the ministry of the temple and all that went on there was14300:10:19,460 –> 00:10:21,460maintained.14400:10:21,460 –> 00:10:25,000The temple tax had to be paid in sheckels.14500:10:25,000 –> 00:10:31,599And, you’ll remember that Israel at the time was occupied by the Roman army,14600:10:31,599 –> 00:10:35,679and the Romans had imposed their currency on the people.14700:10:35,679 –> 00:10:37,580So you’ll remember, in fact, we’ll come to it next week,14800:10:37,580 –> 00:10:41,719when Jesus was asked about paying taxes, he asked for a coin, and he said,14900:10:41,719 –> 00:10:44,640now whose head is on the coin and whose head was on the coin?15000:10:44,640 –> 00:10:46,719Whose head was on the currency?15100:10:46,719 –> 00:10:47,719Caesar’s!15200:10:47,840 –> 00:10:51,760They were using Roman currency at the time.15300:10:51,760 –> 00:10:55,119But the temple did not recognize or use Roman currency.15400:10:55,119 –> 00:10:56,739They used the Jewish sheckel.15500:10:56,739 –> 00:11:02,500And the Romans, very wisely, did not interfere with the religious liberties of the Jews.15600:11:02,500 –> 00:11:05,799They were very circumspect about that because they knew they would have trouble15700:11:05,799 –> 00:11:07,719if they tried to interfere there.15800:11:07,719 –> 00:11:12,200So they allowed the temple to run its own currency and its own traditions.15900:11:12,359 –> 00:11:17,520So, when God’s people came to the temple with their Roman currency16000:11:17,520 –> 00:11:22,520and they were to pay the temple tax, they needed to change their money.16100:11:22,520 –> 00:11:28,419And that is why, of course, there were money changers at the entrance to the temple.16200:11:28,419 –> 00:11:33,619Beside them, Jesus saw people who were selling doves.16300:11:33,619 –> 00:11:38,099Now, the doves, of course, were used as offerings by the poor.16400:11:38,099 –> 00:11:40,960Richer folks would bring a lamb.16500:11:41,119 –> 00:11:44,340But poorer folks who couldn’t afford to do that16600:11:44,340 –> 00:11:51,599were permitted to bring as an offering and a sacrifice either two doves or else two pigeons.16700:11:51,599 –> 00:11:56,099You may recall from the story in Luke’s Gospel after the birth of Jesus,16800:11:56,099 –> 00:11:59,679when Mary and Joseph came to the temple for Jesus to be circumcised,16900:11:59,679 –> 00:12:06,580Luke tells us that they came to offer the prescribed sacrifice two doves or two pigeons.17000:12:06,580 –> 00:12:08,940And so in order to facilitate that,17100:12:08,940 –> 00:12:16,559there was a kind of concession stand at the entrance to the temple providing these birds.17200:12:16,559 –> 00:12:19,000Of course, people could bring their own birds.17300:12:19,000 –> 00:12:21,159They could bring their own animals.17400:12:21,159 –> 00:12:24,520But if you were bringing a bird or an animal for sacrifice,17500:12:24,520 –> 00:12:29,119it had to pass an inspection by the priests.17600:12:29,119 –> 00:12:34,359And one thing you didn’t want was to bring an animal and then have it failed the priest inspection,17700:12:34,359 –> 00:12:36,520and then you couldn’t offer it as a sacrifice,17800:12:36,520 –> 00:12:38,880and then what were you going to do with the thing?17900:12:38,880 –> 00:12:45,640So there were some good reasons for buying a dove or a pigeon or whatever that was to be offered in sacrifice18000:12:45,640 –> 00:12:54,299from the priest’s official concession stand that was right there in the entrance to the temple.18100:12:54,299 –> 00:12:57,599Now, notice what Jesus says about these traders.18200:12:57,599 –> 00:13:04,000He describes the moneychangers and those selling pigeons or doves as robbers.18300:13:04,539 –> 00:13:05,559Now, notice verse 17.18400:13:05,559 –> 00:13:09,219My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.18500:13:09,219 –> 00:13:12,000But you have made it a den of robbers.18600:13:12,000 –> 00:13:15,659Now, it’s easy to see what had happened.18700:13:15,659 –> 00:13:19,840It happens whenever there is a monopoly, doesn’t it?18800:13:19,840 –> 00:13:26,140The moneychangers were hiking the exchange rate for the shekel.18900:13:26,159 –> 00:13:34,640And the sellers of doves were using their monopoly in order to gouge prices.19000:13:34,640 –> 00:13:39,539On top of that, verse 16 tells us Jesus would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through19100:13:39,539 –> 00:13:41,119the temple courts.19200:13:41,119 –> 00:13:49,780The temple covered a huge area, and so traders doing their everyday business didn’t really19300:13:49,780 –> 00:13:54,580want in many cases, if they had to move from one side of town to the other, to go all the19400:13:54,940 –> 00:13:58,200way around this vast area of the temple, so what did they do?19500:13:58,200 –> 00:14:02,780They nipped through the temple courts and used it as a shortcut, which made the temple19600:14:02,780 –> 00:14:07,539courts a sort of regular thoroughfare for just about every animal you could imagine,19700:14:07,539 –> 00:14:12,880with all of the kind of noise and atmosphere not of a place of worship but of a general19800:14:12,880 –> 00:14:16,320country cattle market.19900:14:16,320 –> 00:14:21,580So here’s what was happening and what Jesus saw when he came to the temple.20000:14:21,619 –> 00:14:29,099The temple that had been designed as a place of worship had become a place of convenience20100:14:29,099 –> 00:14:32,260and it had become a place of profit.20200:14:32,260 –> 00:14:36,659Jesus looks for fruit in the tree and as we’ll see in the temple.20300:14:36,659 –> 00:14:40,820You’re listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith and a message called20400:14:40,820 –> 00:14:43,359Jesus Looks For Fruit Among His People.20500:14:43,359 –> 00:14:48,200It’s part of our series, The Gospel According to Jesus, and if you’ve missed any of the20600:14:48,260 –> 00:14:51,979series, or you tuned in late, or you just simply want to go back and listen again,20700:14:51,979 –> 00:14:57,619you can do that by coming online to our website, openthebible.org.uk.20800:14:57,619 –> 00:15:01,140Also find us as a podcast on all the main podcast sites.20900:15:01,140 –> 00:15:05,900Search for Open The Bible UK and subscribe to receive regular updates.21000:15:05,900 –> 00:15:08,799Back to the message now, we’re in Mark chapter 11.21100:15:08,799 –> 00:15:10,080Here’s Colin.21200:15:10,080 –> 00:15:14,719Here’s what was happening and what Jesus saw when he came to the temple.21300:15:15,059 –> 00:15:22,599The temple that had been designed as a place of worship had become a place of convenience21400:15:22,599 –> 00:15:26,960and it had become a place of profit.21500:15:26,960 –> 00:15:30,140And Jesus was furious about this.21600:15:30,140 –> 00:15:35,159Zeal for God’s house consumed him.21700:15:35,159 –> 00:15:39,739And verse 15 tells us he overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those21800:15:39,739 –> 00:15:41,299who were selling doves.21900:15:41,299 –> 00:15:47,219And he would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts.22000:15:47,219 –> 00:15:52,559By the way, the fact that he did this indicates how popular Jesus was at the time.22100:15:52,559 –> 00:15:59,059And surely he could not have done this – apart from a miracle of divine power – without22200:15:59,059 –> 00:16:01,520the overwhelming support of the people.22300:16:01,520 –> 00:16:03,500But that’s what he had at this moment.22400:16:03,500 –> 00:16:09,099They’d cheered for him coming into Jerusalem.22500:16:09,159 –> 00:16:12,799What do you feel if some price gouger gets his comeuppance?22600:16:12,799 –> 00:16:16,159Well, you’d cheer as well.22700:16:16,159 –> 00:16:20,440And although Mark does not record this, I have no doubt in my mind that when the tables22800:16:20,440 –> 00:16:23,460went over the people were cheering.22900:16:23,460 –> 00:16:26,460At last!23000:16:26,460 –> 00:16:29,359Someone’s given them what they deserve!23100:16:29,359 –> 00:16:33,479And the priests you see are not prepared to move against Jesus at this point because of23200:16:33,479 –> 00:16:37,080the immense popular support that he has, they feared him.23300:16:37,159 –> 00:16:41,900We’re going to see next week that Mark tells us in his gospel that when Jesus got into23400:16:41,900 –> 00:16:47,719question and answer with the Pharisees and with the scribes, that the people, Mark says,23500:16:47,719 –> 00:16:49,840listened to Him with delight.23600:16:49,840 –> 00:16:53,000They loved him sticking it to the Pharisees.23700:16:53,000 –> 00:16:55,359There’s tremendous popularity.23800:16:55,359 –> 00:17:00,979Here’s Jesus, now, putting things right in the temple and addressing things that have23900:17:00,979 –> 00:17:07,520so obviously been so very wrong for a long time.24000:17:07,520 –> 00:17:12,020Now what was the fruit that Jesus Christ was looking for in His temple?24100:17:12,020 –> 00:17:14,979Let’s focus in on verse 17.24200:17:15,819 –> 00:17:27,040My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.’24300:17:27,040 –> 00:17:38,219My house, this temple Jesus is saying, what it’s here for is to be a place where folks24400:17:39,219 –> 00:17:50,219background all nations can come and seek and find God. That’s what it’s meant to be.24500:17:50,219 –> 00:17:57,219Now isn’t this a marvelous vision? I found my own soul lifted just by reflecting on these24600:17:58,219 –> 00:18:08,219words of Jesus, a place where folks from very different backgrounds – Jew, Gentile, black,24700:18:08,339 –> 00:18:20,319white, young, old, rich, poor – come together to seek and to find the living God. Now that24800:18:20,400 –> 00:18:29,439is what God intended His temple to be. A house of prayer for all nations, a place where people24900:18:29,619 –> 00:18:38,459from every background could come and seek and find Him. But when Jesus came to the temple,25000:18:38,520 –> 00:18:44,239it evidently wasn’t happening there. Instead of being a place where folks from every background25100:18:44,239 –> 00:18:48,900were coming to seek and to find Him, it had become increasingly a place of convenience25200:18:48,900 –> 00:18:55,439and it had become a place of making money. And Jesus, when He pulls back the leaves to25300:18:55,439 –> 00:19:02,439see if there is the fruit He is looking for, finds that in the temple it is nothing but25400:19:02,959 –> 00:19:09,959leaves.’ What does this have to say to the Church? That’s really the question for us.25500:19:10,380 –> 00:19:17,380Surely, these Scriptures point us to the immense danger of being unfruitful in the very thing25600:19:18,920 –> 00:19:25,920that Christ is looking for. We’ve been told here that the Lord Jesus Christ comes observing,25700:19:26,599 –> 00:19:33,599looking, examining, pulling back the leaves of activity to see whether there is any fruit.25800:19:33,640 –> 00:19:40,640He observes our church today, a church that has every indication of flourishing, known25900:19:49,160 –> 00:19:56,160for many good things. The leaves which are necessary are obvious and they are in abundance,26000:19:56,959 –> 00:20:03,959but Jesus is not impressed with the leaves of ministry. He pulls back the leaves to see26100:20:07,079 –> 00:20:13,800if there is any fruit, and what is the fruit he is looking for? Is this a place where people26200:20:13,800 –> 00:20:20,800are seeking God and finding God? That really is the most important question26300:20:21,560 –> 00:20:28,560question to ask of any ministry. Is this a place where people are seeking God and finding26400:20:34,719 –> 00:20:41,719God? That’s the fruit that Jesus is looking for.26500:20:41,800 –> 00:20:46,800Our Lord has something very important to say to us in26600:20:49,719 –> 00:20:53,160relation to how this fruit is produced , but I want us to see26700:20:53,160 –> 00:20:57,839first the illustration that he uses to warn us about what26800:20:57,839 –> 00:21:03,839happens to a fruitless tree. Let’s look at verse 14.26900:21:03,839 –> 00:21:08,839Jesus says to this tree, we go back to the tree again, which27000:21:09,619 –> 00:21:12,479throws light as it were on the temple and on what God is27100:21:12,479 –> 00:21:16,479saying to us. And Jesus says to the tree, may no one ever eat27200:21:16,479 –> 00:21:22,479fruit from you again. Now, the story of the tree is given to27300:21:26,160 –> 00:21:30,359help us understand the story of the temple. What happened to the27400:21:30,359 –> 00:21:33,859fig tree was a way of representing what was going to27500:21:33,859 –> 00:21:37,640happen to the temple in Jerusalem. And you can see that27600:21:37,680 –> 00:21:40,400if you turn just a couple of pages forward to Mark chapter27700:21:40,400 –> 00:21:44,180thirteen in verse one, where at the beginning of Mark chapter27800:21:44,180 –> 00:21:50,380thirteen, Jesus leaves the temple. And uh as they’re27900:21:50,380 –> 00:21:53,880leaving, the disciples say, well, what magnificent buildings28000:21:53,880 –> 00:21:57,619these are and Jesus says, you see these s needs, not one28100:21:57,619 –> 00:22:00,819stone here will be left on top of another, every one of them28200:22:00,819 –> 00:22:06,040will be thrown down. In other words, just as the fig tree that28300:22:06,079 –> 00:22:10,180looked so marvelous but was without fruit withered in a day?28400:22:10,180 –> 00:22:14,180so this temple that is so full of bustling activity that turns28500:22:14,180 –> 00:22:17,339out to be nothing but leaves. It s going to be destroyed. It’s28600:22:17,339 –> 00:22:23,119going to implode in exactly the same way We have to pause the28700:22:23,119 –> 00:22:25,979message there but we will be back again in the next28800:22:25,979 –> 00:22:29,459broadcast. The message is called, Jesus looks for fruit28900:22:29,459 –> 00:22:32,859among his people. It’s part of our series, the gospel according29000:22:32,880 –> 00:22:37,000to BJJ based on the book of mark. If you’ve missed any of29100:22:37,000 –> 00:22:39,280the series so far, or if you want to go back and listen29200:22:39,280 –> 00:22:42,420again, you can always do that by coming online to our website29300:22:42,420 –> 00:22:48,500OpentheBible.org.uk you can also find Pastor Collin’s messages29400:22:48,500 –> 00:22:52,319on all the main podcast sites. Search for Open the Bible UK29500:22:52,319 –> 00:22:56,459and subscribe to receive regular updates. Also on our29600:22:56,459 –> 00:22:59,719website you’ll find Open the Bible Daily and that’s a series29700:22:59,959 –> 00:23:03,680of short 2-3 minute daily reflections based on Pastor29800:23:03,680 –> 00:23:08,300Collin’s teachings and read in the UK by Sue McLeish. Regular29900:23:08,300 –> 00:23:11,660visitors to the Open the Bible UK website might have noticed30000:23:11,660 –> 00:23:15,819that recently the website was updated and changed and given a30100:23:15,819 –> 00:23:19,380fresh new look. Unfortunately these changes have resulted in30200:23:19,380 –> 00:23:22,920recent days in some episodes of Open the Bible Daily not30300:23:22,920 –> 00:23:26,199appearing on the website when they should, we are very sorry30400:23:26,199 –> 00:23:29,420about these issues and we can ensure our listeners that we are30500:23:29,680 –> 00:23:32,780working hard behind the scenes to resolve them.30600:23:32,780 –> 00:23:37,420So I hope you’ll keep looking for Open the Bible Daily every day.30700:23:37,420 –> 00:23:40,199Open the Bible is able to stay on this station and on the30800:23:40,199 –> 00:23:44,140internet as a result of the generous gifts made by our30900:23:44,140 –> 00:23:47,880listeners. If you’re able to begin supporting Open the Bible31000:23:47,880 –> 00:23:51,280for the first time in this way we have an offer for you31100:23:51,280 –> 00:23:53,959if you are able to set up a new Direct Debit in the31200:23:53,959 –> 00:23:58,239amount of £5 per month or a one-off gift of £50 we’d31300:23:58,319 –> 00:24:01,540love to say thank you by sending you a copy of R.C.31400:24:01,540 –> 00:24:04,579Sproul’s book, The Advent of Glory.31500:24:04,579 –> 00:24:07,760It’s 24 devotions for Christmas.31600:24:07,760 –> 00:24:10,479Colin, some of us grew up without hearing much about31700:24:10,479 –> 00:24:12,479Advent so what is Advent?31800:24:13,040 –> 00:24:17,000Advent very simply means coming or arrival, and so it can31900:24:17,000 –> 00:24:20,479refer either to the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ32000:24:20,500 –> 00:24:24,339when He was born in the manger or the glorious second32100:24:24,339 –> 00:24:26,959coming of the Lord Jesus Christ when He’s going to return32200:24:27,199 –> 00:24:29,020in power and glory.32300:24:29,020 –> 00:24:31,280And this book by R.C.32400:24:31,280 –> 00:24:34,260Sproul, The Advent of Glory, is32500:24:34,260 –> 00:24:36,140just a marvelous devotional.32600:24:36,140 –> 00:24:39,079He’s picked out twenty four words from the heart32700:24:39,079 –> 00:24:42,640of the Christmas story and about four pages on each.32800:24:42,640 –> 00:24:44,420It’s a delight to read.32900:24:44,420 –> 00:24:47,699There’s a prayer that follows each of these devotions33000:24:47,699 –> 00:24:50,579and it’s a wonderful, wonderful way to prepare33100:24:50,579 –> 00:24:51,540for Christmas.33200:24:51,540 –> 00:24:52,300Well, R.C.33300:24:52,300 –> 00:24:55,319Sproul’s book, The Advent of Glory, is our gift to you33400:24:55,380 –> 00:24:57,400for beginning to support Open the Bible33500:24:57,400 –> 00:24:59,020financially this month.33600:24:59,020 –> 00:25:01,920Full details of this offer, terms and conditions and33700:25:01,920 –> 00:25:07,180to give online at our website openthebible.org.uk33800:25:07,180 –> 00:25:09,599For Open the Bible and Pastor Colin Smith,33900:25:09,599 –> 00:25:10,439I’m David Pick.34000:25:10,439 –> 00:25:12,579I hope you’ll join us again next time.34100:25:18,739 –> 00:25:22,939You may feel that you haven’t been very fruitful for Christ.34200:25:22,939 –> 00:25:25,280That doesn’t have to be the end of your story.34300:25:25,280 –> 00:25:28,140Find out why next time on Open the Bible.