The Fig Tree

[Speaker 1] Churches and fellowships cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God greatly desires a godly home front. These are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness from Family Tent Ministry. May ye be blessed as you listen. [Speaker 2] We appreciate him for our Singles Club, a program for young people who are yet to be married, particularly focused on them. It is also a program for individuals who might be married but intend to follow us on what we are doing and also who want to invite a lot of other people alongside and listen alongside with them. So as we gather together this morning, we want to trust the Lord that the Lord himself will meet with us. The Lord himself will bless us. The Lord himself will accomplish his purpose in our lives in the name of Jesus Christ. We trust the Lord again that as we gather from on different platforms this morning, our brethren on Telegram, our brethren on Mixlr, and we who are here reaching out from Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria, we trust the Lord that all of us as one people, the Lord himself will bless us in the name of Jesus Christ. Now, like I noted in the message I sent to all of you, in today's Singles Club, we will be dedicating some time of the time to pray for Nigeria. We will begin with praying for Nigeria, and then we will come into the topic for today. The topic for today is "The Fig." The Fig. We trust the Lord that as we look at the matter together as young men and women and as others who will be following us, may we be truly blessed in the name of Jesus Christ. So we will be looking at the fig for this first Saturday of November. For that of October, we looked at the life lessons from the life of Joseph in the house of Potiphar. And I believe that those of us who were able to connect with us, I believe you could still remember the things we discussed. So much lesson for young people today in the life of Joseph. One thing that keeps coming back to my mind from that discussion is what happened, the ability of Joseph in his ability to stand against the advances of the wife of Potiphar. His constancy, his consistency, his standing firm, his standing strong. Something today that our young men so much need. Something so crucial today for our young men. Something that the nation today needs. Young men who can stand resolute, consistent, firm for the truth of the gospel, for that which they believe in. Young men who are not carrots. Young men that are rods. He says, "The Lord will send forth the rod of thy strength out of Zion. Rule thou in the midst of your enemy." I pray that our young men today will be strong. Our young men today will be firm. Our young men today, they will not just be carrots. They will know who they believe in and be able to stand for that which they believe in, in the name of Jesus Christ. So today, like I said, we will start from lifting up our voice for our nation, the nation Nigeria. And the purpose of that prayer is just a burden that came to mind and has been coming for the past almost two months now. This burden has been coming, this prayer for Nigeria, praying diversely, severally for the nation Nigeria. And so we will begin from that point this morning, all of us together, wherever we are, to begin in praying for Nigeria. Let's open the meeting for today. Father, we commit ourselves into your hands this day. We pray that as we fellowship together in your presence, Lord our God, your Spirit will work in us. Your Spirit will work through us to the glory of your name in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord, we pray there shall be edification, there shall be comfort in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord, our eyes are on you. Let nothing prevail against your purposes our lives in the name of Jesus. Thank you, eternal Father. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. I want us to go to the book of Zechariah. Let's quickly turn to the book of Zechariah as we pray for the nation this morning. The book of Zechariah chapter 1. I will take my reading from verse 18. Zechariah 1:18-21 says: "Then I raised my eyes and looked, and there were four horns. And I said to the angel who talked with me, 'What are these?' So he answered me, 'These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.' Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen. And I said, 'What are these coming to do?' So he said, 'These are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no one could lift up his head; but the craftsmen are coming to terrify them, to cast out the horns of the nations that lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.'" I read that in the NLT translation, verse 21: "'What are these men coming to do?' I asked. The angel replied, 'The blacksmiths have come to terrify the four horns that scattered and humbled Judah. They will throw them down and destroy them.'" Brethren, wherever you are listening to me this morning, this is what we want to use to pray in the next few minutes for the nation Nigeria. The horns that scattered Nigeria. The angel said, "These are the horns that scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem." So some things you see that are happening physically in a nation, the truth is that they have spiritual representations. It may look physical that Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem are being scattered, but the Bible is making us to see that actually what was manifesting physically actually there was something controlled spiritually. So the same thing we are looking at for the case of Nigeria. The horns that have scattered Nigeria. Then I raised my eyes and looked, and there were four horns. Not just one horn, four horns. And the angel said, "These are the horns that scattered Nigeria." We want to pray. These are the horns that scattered Judah. So there are horns that scattered nations. There are horns that are responsible for scattering. When you see a nation being shattered, being scattered, there is a spiritual operation that has spiritual manifestation. And so we want to lift up our voice for Nigeria wherever you are. Please join voice this morning with us. Let us pray together. The prayer we are going to take there is in two-fold. The first fold is to realize that scattering for a nation doesn't just happen except by sin. The Bible says righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. So scattering doesn't just happen in a nation except by sin. Scattering happens as a matter of the judgment of God upon a nation as a result of the consequence of sin in a nation. So the first part of this prayer is wherever you are, you want to ask the Lord, Lord, as a nation, we admit that we have sinned. We admit that as a nation we have done what we ought not to do. We have in diverse ways, severally, differently done things that necessarily should bring scattering for Nigeria. So the first thing is that God Almighty, we acknowledge that as a nation we have sinned. We acknowledge that as a nation we have transgressed. We have done ungodliness. We have transgressed seriously. We have done evil. We have done wicked in different ways. Lord our God, both in low places and in high places, Lord, we acknowledge our sinfulness. Lord, we acknowledge our sinfulness both among the leadership and among the followership. Lord, we acknowledge our sinfulness. Lord, we say have mercy on our nation. Lord, we say have mercy on Nigeria. Lord, we are asking. We come before you not standing to say we have done well. We come before you acknowledging our transgression. We come before you acknowledging our sins. We come before you acknowledging our wickedness. We acknowledge our sinfulness. Lord God Almighty, oppression, Lord, murder, stealing, crime, Lord, everything we may mention that are contrary to your ways, that are contrary to your holiness, that are contrary to your righteousness, that are contrary to godliness, Lord, we have practiced. Lord, we have done evil. We have done wickedly as a nation. Lord, we acknowledge that what is showing up in Nigeria, Lord, we indeed acknowledge that it's a consequence of our sin. It's a consequence of our wickedness. It's a consequence, oh God, of our unrighteousness. And Lord, we are seeing the consequence that sin is a reproach to any nation. Sin is a reproach. And Lord, we can see the reproach of sin spiritually, educationally, politically, socially, in the family, in the life of our youth, in the life of our children, in the life of men, in the life of women. We can see the consequences, oh God, of sin. Indeed, sin is a reproach to any people. Lord, we agree. We acknowledge your word. We acknowledge the truth that sin is a reproach. And we are seeing the reproach on our land. We have seen the devastation. We have seen the scattering. We have seen how things have been messed up. Oh Lord our God, we say have mercy on our land. We acknowledge our sinfulness. We acknowledge, oh God, the sin of our leaders, the sin of the followers, the sin of the church in this nation. We acknowledge, oh God, that we have transgressed your word. We have transgressed the truth. We have done wickedly against the truth. We say Lord, have mercy. We say Lord, have mercy. We say Lord, have mercy. We say Lord, have mercy. We say Lord, have mercy. We say Lord, have mercy. We plead, oh Lord our God, look upon us in your mercy. Look upon us, oh God, to heal again the nation that you have wounded, to heal again the nation that you have scattered, to heal again the nation, oh God, that have seen the consequence of your anger, the consequences of our sinfulness, the consequences of our transgression. Lord, let your mercy again look upon the land. In wrath, remember mercy. In wrath, remember mercy. In wrath, remember mercy. In wrath, remember mercy. In wrath, remember mercy. In your anger, remember mercy. In your anger, remember mercy. In your anger, remember mercy. In your anger, remember mercy. Thank you, Father. Thank you, Jehovah God. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. [Multiple Speakers] [background noise] [Congregational prayer continues with high intensity] [Speaker 2] We move to the second part of the prayer, which is the horns that scattered, that have scattered Nigeria. He said, "And the Lord showed me four carpenters." There were four horns. To each horn there will be a craftsman. There will be one man to one horn. We don't know how many horns are responsible for that of Nigeria. We don't know whether it is one, whether it is two, whether it is three, four, or five, or six. We don't know the actual number. But we want to ask the Lord today that for every horn that has scattered Nigeria, oh Lord, raise a craftsman that will destroy the horn. For every horn that has scattered Nigeria, Lord, we don't know how many horns, so we don't even know how many craftsmen we need. Lord our God, we don't know how many carpenters, depending on the translation—some said carpenter—we don't know how many craftsmen, how many carpenters we will need. But Lord, you know the number of horns that have scattered Nigeria. You know those horns, the operations that have scattered Nigeria, the operations that have brought Nigeria to this point where we are. Lord, we are asking first that Lord you will raise craftsmen. You will raise carpenters. You will raise men. You will raise carpenters. You will raise craftsmen for each horn a craftsman. For each horn a craftsman. For each horn that has scattered Nigeria, a craftsman that has the capacity to destroy, that has the capacity to scatter that horn, that has the capacity to destroy the horn. Lord, for every horn, oh God, we are praying let there be a craftsman that has the capacity to destroy that horn. Lord, as we are journeying and we are completing 2022 and we are looking towards 2023, Lord, we are praying that from the beginning of this month, this month of November, let there be the emergence of craftsmen. Craftsmen, the amount we need to deal with every horn. Lord, a craftsman for each horn that has scattered Nigeria. Lord, raise a craftsman for us. Lord, raise craftsmen for us. Lord, raise these craftsmen. Lord, raise them, oh God, raise them for us. Raise them in your mercy. Raise them in your almightiness. Raise them in your power. Raise them in your almightiness. Raise these craftsmen, oh God. Oh Lord, raise them. Raise them. Raise them. Raise them for us in your mercy. Oh Lord, and as you raise each craftsman, Lord, number two we are praying, we are asking, let them scatter each of the horns that have scattered Nigeria. Each of these horns that have scattered Nigeria. Let these craftsmen, oh God, let them throw them down. Let them destroy them. Oh God, let these horns be overthrown by the craftsmen. Let these horns be overthrown by the craftsmen. Let these horns be destroyed by the craftsmen in the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. Lord, none of the horns will be spared. None of the horns, none of them will be spared. Oh God, we beseech you. Arise in your mercy. Arise in your mercy. Arise in your mercy. Not on account of our righteousness, but on account of your mercy. Arise, oh God, raise the craftsmen that will destroy each of these horns. And let them destroy. We pray, oh God, that we begin to see a move of God in this nation. We want to begin to see, Lord, beginning from this November, beginning from this November, a move of God. A move of God. A move of God. The emergence of the craftsmen and the destruction, the overthrow, and the destruction of the horns. Beginning from this November 2022 that we have begun to raise our voice unto you. Lord, the emergence of the craftsmen. The emergence of the craftsmen. The emergence of the craftsmen. The emergence of the craftsmen. Lord, the manifestation of these craftsmen. Oh God Almighty, the emergence of these craftsmen for the destruction, the overthrow, and the destruction of the horns that have scattered Nigeria. The overthrow and the destruction of the horns that have scattered Nigeria. The overthrow and the destruction of the horns that have scattered Nigeria in the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. Lord, we believe there shall be answers. We believe there shall be answers. We believe there shall be answers in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank you, our Father. Blessed be your holy name, oh God. Blessed be your holy name. Wherever you are, let's begin to thank the Lord for this privilege of prayer. Let's begin to thank the Lord and say God, we thank you for answers to prayer. Lord, we thank you for answers to prayer. We will see you working in our favor. We will see you fighting our battles. We will see you bringing in the miracle of Nigeria. We will see you bringing in the miracles on Nigeria. We will see you, oh Lord, fighting our battle, the battle of Nigeria. We will see you fight the battle for us. We will see you, oh Lord, working in the favor of Nigeria. We will see you, oh Lord, bringing in our miracle. Bringing in our miracle for Lord, you are a mighty God. You are the Almighty. You are the Almighty. There is nothing difficult for you. There is nothing difficult for you. There is nothing too difficult for you. There is nothing for with God, nothing shall be impossible. Hallelujah! For with God, for with God, for with God, nothing shall be impossible. For with God, nothing shall be impossible. For with God, nothing shall be impossible. For with God, nothing shall be impossible. For with God, nothing shall be impossible. For with God, nothing, absolutely nothing shall be impossible. Thank you, our Father. Blessed be your holy name. You are able, more than able to accomplish what concerns us today. You are able, more than able. You can handle everything that comes our way. You are able, more than able to do much more than we can ask or think. You are able, more than able. Lord, you can make us what you want us to be. Lord, you can make us, you can make us, you can make us what you want us to be. Our Father, we are grateful unto you. We thank you for this time of praying for the nation. Our Lord God, you said we should have faith in God, that if we have faith as small as the mustard seed, if we ask, if we ask this mountain to be moved and be cast into the sea, you said it will be done for us. Lord, it is in this faith that we have asked concerning Nigeria today. That Lord God, as we acknowledge our sinfulness, our wickedness, our ungodliness, our unrighteousness, that Lord, your mercy will avail for our nation in the name of Jesus. And Lord our God, we also pray for the horns, these horns that have scattered Nigeria. Nigeria is scattered. In different ways we are shattered. Horns are scattered, our academic system, our educational system, our political system, the moral life, moral decadence, family stability, political instability, insecurity, loss of life and property. Lord, we can see the scattering. We can see the waste of human lives that is going on in this country. We can see everything around us, oh Lord. Our eyes have seen, oh Lord. We are seeing it, we have seen, and we are still seeing it. Lord, we are saying that in your almightiness, on account of your mercy, you will raise in this land, Lord, all the horns, all the craftsmen that we need. A craftsman to each horn that has scattered Nigeria. A craftsman to each horn that has scattered Nigeria. And we say beginning from this month of November 2022, we will begin to see the overthrow and the destruction of the craftsman—of the horns that have scattered Nigeria. The overthrow and the destruction of each of these horns that have scattered Nigeria. Let these craftsmen, oh God, let them throw them down. Let them destroy them. Oh God, let these horns be overthrown by the craftsmen. And let them destroy. We pray, oh God, that we begin to see a move of God in this nation. We want to begin to see, Lord, beginning from this November 2022 that we have begun to raise our voice unto you. Lord, the emergence of the craftsmen. The emergence of the craftsmen. The emergence of the craftsmen. Lord, the manifestation of these craftsmen. Oh God Almighty, the emergence of these craftsmen for the destruction, the overthrow, and the destruction of the horns that have scattered Nigeria. In the name of Jesus Christ. Lord, we believe there shall be answers. In the name of Jesus Christ. Thank you, blessed Father. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen and amen. We thank God for that first section of prayer. We thank God. The Lord in his mercy will hear the voice of our cry and hear us in the name of Jesus Christ. So to the second part of today's program, which is fellowshipping on this topic: "The Fig." The Fig. I believe that the word the fig or the fig tree is not a strange word to you if you're a Bible student. In different instances in the Bible, the Bible makes reference to the matter of the fig, the fig tree. And there are so many instances, things to learn about it. But particularly today, we are taking our text from the record of the matter of the fig in Matthew 21 and Mark 11. Matthew 21 and Mark 11. That is where we are taking the account of the fig tree, the fig tree that Jesus cursed. That is the fig tree we want to look at particularly today. We want to see what lesson we can learn for our life as young men and women and as others who will be following us. Let's go to Matthew chapter 21. We first look at that of Matthew. Matthew chapter 21, from verse 18 and 19. According to the Matthew rendering of the story, it says: "Now in the morning, as he returned to the city," the person returning here is the Lord Jesus. He had appeared in the temple the previous day, and he went to Bethany to lodge. So in the morning, he was to return again to Jerusalem. "So in the morning, as he returned to the city, he was hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the road, he came to it and found nothing on it but leaves and said to it, 'Let no fruit grow on you ever again.' Immediately the fig tree withered away. And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, 'How did the fig tree wither away so soon?'" That is the text. Let's look at this same story in the book of Mark. We want to draw our lesson from both rendering of the book of Mark and the book of Matthew where the story is recorded. Mark chapter 11 from verse 12: "Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, he was hungry. And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, he went to see if perhaps he would find something on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season of figs. In response, Jesus said to it, 'Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.' And his disciples heard it. So they came to Jerusalem, and his disciples heard when he said that." Let's leave it there. His disciples heard when he said that. Let's focus on the story of the fig. Now when you look at these two rendering of this story, you will see that in the book of Mark, there is a rendering, and then in the book of Matthew, the story seems to be shorter. While in the book of Mark, the story became fuller. We got a full picture of the story. That was why I said we need to look at both. So what we read in Matthew that Jesus saw the fig tree, in the book of Matthew, what he saw in the book of Matthew, Mark made us to see that actually he saw the tree from afar. He saw that fig from afar. It was something not very close. He saw it afar off. And when he saw it afar off, he had to go, he now went close to it. He went close to it and then he saw that the thing only contained leaves. And then finding nothing in it, the Bible says he spoke against the tree that nobody should eat from that tree again. Now, what is it that we want to learn from this story? Now in looking at both stories, I want us to look at this story from two angles. Now from the Matthew angle, Zechariah 21—sorry, Matthew 21—from the Matthew angle, it is important for us to see that what happens looked—should the Lord had cursed the tree? Should he have commanded the tree to go dry? What lesson can we take home? We don't know the intent of the Lord fully. His intent is not fully said here. What we were told is that he told the fig tree that nobody will eat from you again. But the reason why that was said was not written in that scripture. So because it is not clearly written, we need to be careful how we want to render it, what we want to say. But in drawing lesson from this story, we can look at some things for our life as young men and young women that can help us in addressing the way we live as believers, in addressing the way we live as young men and young women. Now when we look at the rendering in the book of Mark, Mark made us to see that the reason why the fig did not have fruit was because it was not yet the season for fig. So ordinarily the fig should not have fruit as at the time that the Lord went—was looking on it for fruit. But let's look at some things that we can draw. The first thing I want us to draw from this story for us as young men and women. According to the book of Mark, we learned that the Lord saw the tree from afar. He saw the tree from afar. The tree was having leaves. You know ordinarily, if we look at your life from afar, if we are to look at your life from afar, will your life presupposes that there are fruit in your life when there is none? If we are to relate with you from afar—I'm trying to expand the word afar now—if we look at your life from afar, what your life supposes, is it real? The first thing I'm dealing with you as a young man or young woman is the matter of being real, being sincere, being true. The matter of being real, a real person. The matter of being sincere. The matter of being consistent. The matter of whatever we are looking at in your life from afar, when we draw close to your life, we are not going to meet anything different. The matter of being real today is a very serious matter when we are dealing with our young people. When we are dealing with people today, particularly when we are dealing with our young men and our young women, it is a serious matter today because many times what seems to be around the life of people are actually leaves and not fruit. What I mean by that is that what seems to gather around the life of people today are things that cannot quench the hunger of their generation. What will make people desire your life? When they get close to your life, they cannot find them. The reason is because you are not a real person. You live more by appearance. You only appear to look like a genuine Christian. You only appear to look like somebody who knows the Lord. You only appear to look like a disciple. When men encounter your life, you are not different from this fig. You are just full of leaves; there is no fruit. A way of looking at this thing today is to look at situations where your life as a young man or a young woman is full of spiritual—seemingly spiritual activities, but they are not actually spiritual activities. They are just church activities. You are just committed to church activities. You have this high commitment to the activities of the church, but actually you are not a spiritual person. When it comes to the matter of sincerity, the matter of truthfulness, the matter of the fruit of the Spirit—love, self-control, patience, faithfulness, meekness—we can't find this fruit in you. When you look at the book of Galatians, the book of Galatians chapter 5 listed the fruit that are of the Spirit. In Galatians chapter 5, from around verse 16, it says: "I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law." Then the Bible went ahead to list the things that are of the flesh and that are of the Spirit. "Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are..." The works of the flesh, they are evident. There is nothing to argue about them. They are clear. When a man is in the flesh, the works are clear. They are not debatable; you cannot argue them. When you see this thing, that person is walking in the flesh. What are these things? It says: "Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like." I take that in a simpler translation just for the purpose of clarity. I take it in the NLT translation: "When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, your life will produce these evil results: sexual immorality, impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure, idolatry, participation in demonic activities, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, division, feeling that everyone is wrong except those in your own little group (sectarianism), envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other kinds of sin." The list was not exhaustive, but it gives you some idea. Now what we are saying is this: when you are a man who look pious, you look committed to different fellowship activities, church activities, but when people move close to you—I am saying this because I'm speaking from my experience in marital counseling room. When people begin to talk about what happens in their home, you see a young man, a young woman that looks so calm, that looks so gentle. By the time they enter into marriage, you begin to see the display of all kinds of bitterness, anger, malice, revengefulness. And then you begin to wonder, are these not fig trees? Are these not the fig trees that the Lord was talking about? Are these not the fig that when you look at them before they enter into marriage, before you got very close to them, it looks like they have fruit? It looks like they can satisfy hunger. By the time you now get very close, you are now living one-on-one with them, you realize that they are very, very different from who you are seeing from afar. These are young men that are figs. They are mere figs. They are like this fig tree. Are you not like this fig tree? You don't have fruit, fruit that can satisfy, fruit that can make, fruit that can mold, fruit that can raise, fruit that can make people want to become more and more like Jesus, fruit that can make people to become godly. You have this—you don't have this fruit. You are full of leaves. Another dimension of being full of leaves are young men and women, young men and women that are very, very charismatic. Look at the two ways I'm defining leaves. Number one, I'm defining a life that is full of leaf by people who are committed to activities in their churches or in their fellowship. You see them often. They are very regular. You see them here and there. And so sometimes you mistake them for life that are full of fruit, but they don't have fruit. They are just leaves. The second dimension to a life that is full of leaf are life—young men and women, people that are full of—that are very, very charismatic. Do you understand what I mean by being charismatic? That is, they have spiritual gifts: the gift of prophecy, the gift of teaching, the gift of—they are very, very charismatic in different ways. Tongue speaking, interpretation of tongues, miracles, healing. They can do all of these things. They are very, very charismatic. But again, while they are full of the gift of the Spirit, there is the manifestation of the gift of the Spirit, their life lack the fruit of the Spirit. You say, how is that possible? Yes, there are believers like that. You will see that that was the situation of the Christians in Corinth. Let's look at the book of Corinth. You will see that it was their situation. It is possible not to come behind in any gift, but yet your life does not have fruit of the Spirit. Look at the letter of Paul to the brethren in Corinth. Look at what he has to say. Paul, I read chapter 1 from verse 1: "Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, to the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified..." You see their spiritual state. There's a difference between our spiritual state and our daily life. What—who we are in Christ. Once we come into Christ, certain things become our blessing because we are in Christ. But we may not have made them real in our physical life. That is why it becomes important. The Bible says, "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind." So it's not as if these people they are not Christians. They are the ones we describe as carnal Christians. You see that later in 1 Corinthians chapter 3. He will describe them as carnal. They are Christians but they are carnal. That is, their life is full of charisma but it has no fruit. No fruit. Now, he says to the church, so who are sanctified in Jesus Christ? Call to be saints. They are saints. So when somebody is a saint, you don't mean that the person is dead. You don't mean that the person is somebody who have become matured. Anybody who gives his life to Christ and truly comes into Jesus is a saint. He's a saint. So there's nothing special about calling somebody saint. Anybody who is a believer is a saint. Sanctified in Jesus Christ, called to be saints, with all everywhere in every place calling on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ. "I thank my God always concerning you." Are you seeing something? "I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Jesus Christ, that you were enriched in everything by him in all utterance and all knowledge." Are you seeing that? You will hear brethren who when it comes to utterance, teaching, speaking of the word of God, wow, you will say fantastic. Because it is important that a tree should have leaf. There is nothing bad about the fig having leaves. What was bad was that there was no fruit. Because if it has not leaf in the first place, that fig will not be able to attract the Lord. So the leaf is something very good. So don't think that I am condemning being committed to fellowship activities. There's nothing wrong with those things. Any tree that does not have leaves also has problem. So there should be leaf. We are only talking today particularly about fruit. We are talking about fruit. So don't think that we are undermining the need for leaves. Please, there is nothing wrong with having leaves. But a lot of things are wrong if it is only leaves without fruit. Then there is a big problem. That's what we are saying. That's what we are looking at with you today as a young man, as a young woman. As you are growing in the faith, as you are adding days to your life, are you sure you are adding life to your days? As you are adding days every day, day and day is growing, are you sure you are adding life to these days? Are you bringing in fruit beyond the leaves? Are you bringing in fruit? So you are looking at the matter of the leaf. That's what I am describing for you. "I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which is in you, that you enriched in every way by him in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you." So you see these people are believers. The testimony of Christ was confirmed in them of course because they have leaves. "So that you come short," look at it, "so that you come short in no gift." Are you seeing something? "So that you come short in no gift." There was no gift in which they come short. There was no gift in which that church come short. Leaves were not lacking in their life. There was no gift in which they come short. All the gifts were there, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. So you see that what he said. But when he got to the verse 10, look at what he said. He said, "Now I plead with you, brethren." We are now coming to the matter of fruit. "Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, that there be no division among you." Are you seeing the fruit of the flesh now that was among them? Are you seeing the problem that was among them? The matter of not having the fruit of the Spirit. "That there be no division among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe's household, that there are contentions among you." Are you seeing the problem? That was the matter that took us to chapter 3. He said, "And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as spiritual people." Are you seeing that? Once there is no fruit, you are still not spiritual. Spirituality is beyond the matter of the gifts. It's beyond the matter of the activity. Satan also have gifts. Satan also have activities. So gifts and activity does not make a man spiritual. Do not make a man spiritual. Are you getting me, brethren? It only makes that life to be full of leaves. And honestly, a tree must have leaves. It's very important. It's a sign that the tree is alive. So if you are not born again, of course there cannot be leaf. The sign that you are born again, there will be leaf. There will be gift. There will be activity. But this sign of the spiritual go beyond that. Spirituality is a matter of the fruit. So you see everything, after he has talk about all their gift, he said, "But I, brethren, could not speak unto you as spiritual people but as carnal, as babes in Christ." Are you see? Normally when you plant something, what will it first bring? It will first bring out leaves. When it now begin to grow and grow and grow and grow, and it becomes matured, what will it now bring? It will bring fruit. So fruit is the sign of maturity. Leaf is the sign of being a baby. Spiritual gift, spiritual activity only told us that a child have been born. It is not telling us that the child is matured. If you marry a man, if you relate with a man that is matured on the basis of his gift, then you are not wise. And I want to tell you one major problem today why it looks as if many young Christians are having great challenges in their marriages is this problem. Many of them are full of leaves. They are not really matured. Maturity is not a matter of having money in your pocket. Maturity is not a matter of having a first class in a university and graduating. It's not a matter of driving cars and being able to build a house. It doesn't mean that you are matured. Maturity is the ability to display the character of Christ in dealing with every situations of life. That is where we are talking about maturity. That is what is lacking today. And the question I'm asking you as a young man as a young woman is how is your life? Today we just want to examine ourselves. How is your life? Are you sure it is not a matter of leaves against fruit? You are just full of leaves. It is not wrong. It's a sign that you have been born. But please you need to take some step ahead. Begin to add life to your days. Don't just add day to your life. That is, don't just grow old. Please grow up. Don't grow old. Be growing up. Some of you are just growing old. The Yorubas will say, "Ẹ kàn ń dàgbà ṣùgbọ́n ẹ ò dánú." You are becoming more knowledgeable, but you are not growing wise. Wisdom is with all your getting, get understanding, get wisdom. Wisdom is profitable for direction. You are very knowledgeable, you know this, you know that, you are here, you are there, you are being celebrated here and there. But when it comes to the seat of wisdom, you are lacking. So you should grow in all. That's what I'm trying to say. So today's discussion is not a matter of coming to condemn, but trying to make you see a very, very important thing about the life. And to make you see how important fruit is. In that story, was that you notice that the Lord eventually cursed a fig that has leaf but does not have fruit. The Lord cursed that tree. You will say, how does this represent? It represent in many way. There is no good calling him Lord, Lord, Lord, when you are full of the fruit of—the fruit of the flesh. Immorality, division, all of that. He says, "Why call me Lord, Lord, and you don't do what I say?" So you are trying to see that truly knowing the Lord, when a man begin to truly know the Lord—maybe I should explain it with the word of Paul in Philippians. He said, "That I may apprehend that for which I am apprehended of God." You see when you become born again, the Lord—you have been apprehended by God. When you are getting matured, you are apprehending that for which you have been apprehended by God. You are getting to understand the purpose for which God brought you in. And it's very, very crucial. It's very, very crucial. So you see he says, "I could not speak to you as spiritual but as carnal, and as babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not solid food, for until now you are not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able." Ah! Are you see the state of these people? Despite everything, the utterance, the knowledge, the gift and everything, he says, "For you are still carnal. For there are envy..." Are you seeing the matter now? "There are envy..." There is no fruit. There are no fruit. Fruit of the Spirit. "There are envy, strife, division among you. Are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?" So when you behave like mere men, when you talk like mere men, of course we have just prayed about Nigeria. We are all Nigerians, but we are while we are all Nigerians, for men who understand who they are, they know that they are also citizens of heaven. In Nigeria, they want to represent God. They want to live as citizens of heaven in Nigeria. That is why you are a Nigerian. You want to live as—you want to represent God in Nigeria. Don't live as mere Nigerians. Don't live as mere Nigerians. "Nàíjíríà la wà," "we are in Nigeria anyhow." Young man, be delivered from that mentality in the name of Jesus. It's a wrong mentality. It's a bad mentality. "Oh, Nigeria everything goes." That's a bad mentality. That's a foolish mentality. No! We are Nigerians, but we want to represent Jesus. We want to stand, we want to show men another kind. We are not mere men. He said, "You are behaving like mere men." And many young people today, many young men, young women who have given their life to Jesus, they are just living as mere Nigerians. May there be revival in our land in the name of Jesus. Don't be mere men. Don't be mere Nigerians. Understand your identity. Understand who you are. Grow from just having leaves to having fruit. That's the second way of looking at the matter of this fig tree. The fig tree. The fig tree. So where do you stand in this matter? I want you to check your life as a young man, as a young woman. Check your life. Examine yourself. Examine your ways. That's my first concern in this meeting today. And it is on this burden that I will close this meeting. Examine your life. We will—I don't know what dimension the Lord will be taking us, but we will—you want to have another burden again. We will be looking at the other burden: the Lord cursed the fig tree. Implications of being full of leaf. I'm going to have—because there are so many things to say about that, I will fix it in another meeting. The Lord cursed the tree. Today I'm concerned with the tree full of leaves. The tree full of leaves. And I am saying three important things. Very, very important. Before I move to something else I want to add to this thing that I'm saying. Note back the things that I have said earlier. I have said there is nothing wrong with having leaves. When you plant a plant, once you put the seed into the ground, when the seed of God—the Bible says the seed of God is in us. He that is born of God cannot continue to sin because the seed of God is in him. When the Lord plant his seed into us, the immediate implication of that seed is leaves. You just see once you put a plant into the ground, you just see the leaf will just come out. For some plant, it will first bring out two leaves, and then three, then grow up, then stem, then like that, like that. So when we encounter Jesus, the sign that there is an encounter, there must be a change in our activities. There must be a change in utterance. A change in direction. That change must come. If that something truly grows, there must be leaves. But that is not the end of it. It is just a sign that yes, it has been planted and it is growing. That is just what it is telling you. And honestly, you can see from the illustration I'm giving, you cannot undermine leaves. Do you know that if you look at it in the plant, if there are no leaves, can there be photosynthesis? No. So nobody is undermining leaves. There will be leaves and then photosynthesis, then the thing will be producing food, it will be growing. It will be growing. It will be growing. And then it comes to a maturity. So you see that there is somehow there is a connection between the leaf and the fruit. Because if the leaf is not bringing out food like that, like that, like that, like that, bringing out food for the plant, eventually what will happen? There will be no fruit eventually. What I'm trying to say is that all of these things is from the same Spirit. The gift is of the Holy Spirit. The fruit is of the Spirit. Why the fruit actually is of a renewed spirit? When we say we become new men, it's a new creation. That new creation that you became when you gave your life—you know the Bible says we were once dead spiritually, we came alive. Once we come alive, it is the fruit of the Spirit that came alive actually. But understand it. I want you to understand it. Why some people normally say that no, it's also the fruit of the Holy Spirit. The truth is that it was the renewal of the Holy Spirit that got our spirit alive. So you cannot really separate these things. So whether you say it is the fruit of the Holy Spirit, or the fruit of the renewed human spirit, you are still saying the same thing. It is all about the Spirit of God that brought all of these things. So anyhow you look at it. But what I'm trying to make you see is that that Holy Spirit, the gift that we are calling leaves is also the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is the gift. Bible says there are different manifestation but the same Spirit. Different operation but the same Spirit worketh in all. They are all gift of the Spirit. So you can see that the way it is connected in the plant that we see is the way it is connected in our Christian walk. That's why I'm using something that you can easily relate with. So when you plant, that seed producing fruit, that is who we are. We are supposed to be—you know there are plant that does not produce fruit. That is not the kind of plant we are. We are fruit-producing trees. That's what we are. That is why you noticed in John chapter 15, it says, "Abide in me and I in you. If you abide in me, you will bear fruit." So we are actually fruit-producing trees. We are not just any type of plant that will just be full of leaves. That's what they are. But that's not what we are. That was why when the leaf attracted the Lord to that life, what the Lord—what will satisfy the hunger of the Lord is not leaves but what? Fruit. If you look at it, he says, "I have appointed you that you should go and bear fruit." It's about fruit. It's about to become the life of Christ. It is the life of Christ that we need. We need that fruit so seriously. Because if those fruit are not coming out, it's going to undermine everything that the leaves are doing. All the essence of the leaf is food for fruit. So brethren, I don't know where you stand as a young man or a young woman. I'm only trying to discuss a burden with you that the Lord pointed my attention to about young men and women today. You know the burden began gradually when we begin to see the rate of marital instability among young couples today. Young couples. And when you meet with these people, you find that many of them are sound Christians. Honestly, they are believers. They are believers. There is no doubt that they met with Jesus. Because you will see the gift of God in their life. You will see them committed to their various fellowship. I see the gift, I see it. I see leaves. And honestly, I'm not rubbing that in their life. I will never do. But as we begin to relate with them, we begin to see that when they now settle down in things like marriage, in relationship that will make them relate very closely, because I tell you, while you may need your gift on the pulpit, you need the fruit of the Spirit to run the home. You need the fruit. That fruit. If you go to that Galatians that we read, we did not allow that of the Spirit. You will find it there. The fruit of the Spirit highlighted. That is what you need if you must manage a relationship like marriage, like home, you are managing it well, and able to run it through. You look go and look at the gift of—he said, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love." You see the first thing there is. It's not while that of the flesh is works of the flesh, that of the Spirit is fruit of the Spirit. It's not fruits, fruit. Fruit of the Spirit. Time will not permit me to expand this today. That's not where I want to expand. But I want you to know that it is fruit of the Spirit. It is one thing that brings every other thing. It is one thing. It is one big thing that have different manifestation. It's not different things, but one thing that has different manifestation. The fruit of the Spirit is love. Go and check it. "He does not love me," "she does not love me." "If he truly loves me," "if she truly loves me." "Is this love? She just came for that," "he just came for that." And you will see marital instability today so much among young couples. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace. Where is peace today in most marriages of young people? Where is peace? Look at the rate of instability. Peace, peace. Longsuffering. Not been able to suffer long for each other. And you will even see some even saying it categorically. "Àwọn kan wáyé wá gbádùn, àwọn kan wáyé wá jẹyà o." That is, some have come to this world to suffer, some have come to enjoy. Me, I have not come to suffer long for anybody. I've come to enjoy my life. Anybody who allow me to enjoy my life, I cut off that person. I set the person apart. And they are talking to—they are saying this about their marriage vow. You know these are very important thing. Kindness. Kindness. Goodness. Goodness. Full of goodness. Faithfulness. Gentleness. Self-control. Hallelujah! These are the things we need. But you find out today that as young people are growing old, they are not growing up. Sometimes they mistake growing up with that they are having green leaves. "Ah, my leaf is not dry, the leaf is green." Yes, the leaf is green. But what you need much more the more is what? You need to matured up. You need to mature to bring what? Fruit. The Lord need in your life, the mandate of God over your life is beyond leaves. The mandate of the Lord over your life is beyond leaves. The mandate was that the Lord was looking for fruit. He says, "I have appointed you," John chapter 15, "I have appointed you," John chapter 15, as we try to bring the meeting to a close today. "I am the true vine, my father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. And every branch in me that bears fruit, he prunes that it may bear more fruit." Are you seeing something? As you are bearing fruit, he prunes you again that you may bear more fruit. The matter is about fruit. It's about fruit. It's beyond the leaf. If you go on again, if you go on again, if you look at verse 8 again: "By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit." Are you seeing it? It's beyond the leaf. Young man, young woman, go beyond the leaves. When the Lord will return to the city, what the Lord will be looking for, what can satisfy the hunger of the Lord is not the leaves in your life, it's the fruit. What the Lord is looking for in your fig is fruit. What will give the Lord joy over your life is the fruit. It's the fruit. His hunger. What the Lord is shorting today is fruit. It's because it is by this that my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, so that you will be my disciples. Are you seeing that? These are very, very, very important thing. Very, very important for us to note, to see, to understand. I want to read for you again the verse 16 of that chapter 15 as we close this morning. "You did not choose me." Are you seeing that? "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give you." Of course, it is also important to note that another related to this matter of fruit of the Spirit is that of the life of Jesus, is also reproducing that life in other lives. That is, the seed of evangelism. Your life, the life of Jesus is producing in you, and then you are also reproducing that life in other life. That's another dimension again of fruit. You are bringing people into the kingdom. You are not just—you are not just making them to believe, but you are also teaching them to observe all that the Lord has taught you. You are also making them disciples, not just people who just become believers. That's another level also of fruit. So it is another dimension of fruit, adding men to the kingdom and making them also to be manifesting the character of Jesus. That's another dimension again to the fruit. But of course, you cannot produce what you don't have. If your life is just full of leaf, even when you get men born again, it is with your own life again that you will scatter them. When they cannot see love in your life, they cannot see self-control in your life, they cannot see gentleness, they cannot see faithfulness, they cannot see truthfulness, the people you get born again again will get scattered. You will throw them back into the water. That's what is happening with some people who are just full of leaves and there is no fruit. Because there is nothing for those lives—there is nothing for those life to eat from your life. So these are very, very important things. So young man, young woman, technical please if there are questions let us begin to have them as we try to close for today. Either on Telegram or Mixlr, if there are any, please let us have them. So we are closing here for today. For those who have for those of you who are following us from wherever, please as we look towards next—the second aspect of this on our discussion in our Singles Club in December. My mind is that we will continue this in the month of December. That's my mind at the same time we don't know what direction the Lord will be leading us. But my mind is that in the month of December, we continue with "The Lord Cursed the Fig." The fig tree still part two. The part one is this making you to understand that what the Lord is seeking in your life is the fruit. That is our burden for this meeting today. The burden of December of that of December will be "The Lord Cursed the Fig." So wherever you are as a young person, I'm just challenging you. I'm challenging you, I'm spurring you to what is right. We need young people today that can be consistent like Joseph. We need people that have strength of character. Not just speaking in tongues, demonstrating spiritual gift all around, but there is no character. We need people of character today. They are the catalyst for revival in this nation. They are the catalyst for revival in our educational system. They are the catalyst for revival in our political system. They are the catalyst for revival in the church. They are the catalyst for revival in all the professions we have. Among medical doctors, in the army, among the police, among NEPA, just call any kind of profession. We need this kind of people in every aspect of this nation today for Nigeria to be great. We need them. The question said Jesus said any branch that does not bear fruit is cut and thrown into fire. What does that mean? Oh, you're already preempting what we will discuss in December. I said we will be looking at "The Lord Cursed the Fig" in December. That there are implications when we don't bear fruit. There are implications. Honestly, there are implications. There are implications. I deliberately did not speak to that today when I read that scripture in John chapter 15, verse 2. It says every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away. It takes it away. And every branch in me that bears fruit, he does not stop there. He prunes that it may bear more fruit. Are you seeing something? As you are bearing fruit, he prunes you again that you may bear more fruit. The matter is about fruit. It's about fruit. Beyond the leaf. If you go on again, if you go on again, if you look at verse 8 again: "By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit." Are you seeing it? It's beyond the leaf. Young man, young woman, go beyond the leaves. When the Lord will return to the city, what the Lord will be looking for, what can satisfy the hunger of the Lord is not the leaves in your life, it's the fruit. What the Lord is looking for in your fig is fruit. What will give the Lord joy over your life is the fruit. It's the fruit. His hunger. What the Lord is shorting today is fruit. It's because it is by this that my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, so that you will be my disciples. Are you seeing that? These are very, very, very important thing. Very, very important for us to note, to see, to understand. I want to read for you again the verse 16 of that chapter 15 as we close this morning. You did not choose me. Are you seeing that? "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain." And the one that you quoted is in verse 6: "If anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered." May that not be your portion. That not be your portion. "And they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned." You see that is the—that is not the burden for this meeting and I will not want to go into it for today. But what I will just make you see is that you too you have pointed to it, that there are implications. There was an implication for that fig tree when the Lord was looking for fruit and there was no fruit. There was an implication. I want you to know, the Bible says to whosoever much is given, much is expected. To whosoever much is given, every privilege you receive from God makes you responsible. For every privilege you receive from God, it makes you more responsible. And if you look at—if you look at something, let me just read something to you as a way of just answering your question by passing it. I will deal with that much more in December. But I just want to read something to you, something very, very important to you about what you have raised. I just want you to see something about this matter of—the question that you have raised. Look at something in Luke chapter 12, verse 48. Luke chapter 12, verse 48. I want you to see that scripture. Luke 12:48 says: "But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask more." It was a parable. Maybe I should read 47-48 together in a simpler translation. "The servant will be severely punished for though he knew his duty he refuses to do it. Verse 48: But people who are not aware that they are doing wrong will be punished only lightly." Are you seeing something I'm trying to show you? Much is required from those to whom much is given. And much more is required from those to whom much more is given. All I'm trying to make you see is that if you become born again, you receive the grace of God, the way you will be dealt with will be different from those who didn't receive that grace. I tell people, let me make this statement, although I will be talking more in our next meeting. Many things that God overlook in sinners, he punishes in the saint. The more you receive from God, the more you become accountable. That is what I will say for now. By December we begin to expand the matter of "The Lord Cursed the Fig." But my challenge for you today is please, wherever you are listening to me, grow up. It is good that you have leaves; there is nothing wrong with your life. That you have brought forth leaves and the leaves is there and it is there and it is coming. Oh wonderful! That is great! There's nothing—there's nothing wrong with that. It's a very, very good thing. But please, move on. Move on. Move on. Move on. Move on beyond that point. Move on to be fruitful. That's my challenge for you today. Let us have a word of prayer. Our Father, we thank you for today. We bless your holy name for this time together with our young people and others who may be joining us, following us on this program. Lord our God, we pray we have challenged ourselves today. We have encouraged ourselves, we have spurred ourselves in the direction of the burden of the Lord. Your burden over our life is that we should be fruitful. Lord our God, we pray that everywhere, everywhere, there is need for amendment, there is need for a shaking up, there is need for a restarting, there is need for an ignition. Oh Lord, do so in our lives in the name of Jesus. Thank you, eternal Father. I pray none of us will remain the same in the name of Jesus. Thank you, mighty God. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen and amen. [Speaker 3] This message is coming to you from Family Tent Ministry, a Christian ministry involved in enriching the lives of singles and married through preaching and teaching of God's word, discipleship, family life enrichment, social and community development, and mission help. Our regular activities are discipleship class every Monday 5:00 PM, Adolescent and Singles Club every first Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM, Marriage Forum second Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM, family life seminars, regular school outreaches, and everyday counseling. For further counseling, you can reach us at our location: Life Camp by the first bridge, Ilere community, opposite Very Joy filling station along Ijebe Road, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. You can also reach us through our social media handles: familytent@yahoo.co.uk, familytentministry01@gmail.com, www.familytentministry.org. Our phone numbers are 08033861136, 07033613848. God bless you all.