About this sermon
The withered fig tree stands for a fruitless Israel under the old covenant, and it points to faith in God. Jesus promises that whoever asks in faith will receive, and prosperity preachers twist those words into a name-it-and-claim-it gospel. In context, the promise concerns prayers that seek God’s kingdom and will, such as holiness, the fruit of the Spirit, and faithful witness. God answers such prayers in his time, and he calls those who pray to forgive as he has forgiven them.
Sermon transcript
Amen. Please remain standing for the reading of God’s Word. We continue to hover in Mark chapter 11. Didn’t get through the entirety of the points I was trying to make on the last Lord’s Day from this passage. So today we pick this up again, Mark 11. I’m going to read verses 12 through 25, but our focus will be especially on the cursing of the fig tree and the aftermath of that. So we’ll focus especially on verses 12 to 14 and 20 through 25. But let’s hear God’s word. Mark 11, beginning at verse 12 and reading through verse 25. Dear friends, here with reverence and awe, the Word of our God. On the next day, when they had left Bethany, he became hungry. Seeing at a distance a fig tree and leaf, he went to see if perhaps he would find anything on it.
And when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. He said to it, may no one ever eat fruit from you again. And his disciples were listening. Then they came to Jerusalem and he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. And he would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple. And he began to teach and say to them, is it not written, my house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations, but you have made it a robber’s den. The chief priests and the scribes heard this and began seeking how to destroy him, for they were afraid of him, for the whole crowd was astonished at his teaching.
When evening came, they would go out of the city. As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. Being reminded, Peter said to him, Rabbi, look, the fig tree which you cursed has withered. And Jesus answered, saying to them, have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, be taken up and cast into the sea and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. Therefore, I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them and they will be granted you. Whenever you stand praying, forgive if you have anything against anyone so that your father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions.
The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever. Please remain standing for the as we seek the Lord’s blessing upon his word. Gracious Father in heaven, once again we ask that by your spirit you would bless the proclamation of your word this morning. Open our minds and our hearts, oh God, to receive the seed of your word. And may that seed take deep root in our hearts and bear much spiritual fruit in our lives, spiritual fruit that brings glory to your name. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen. You may be seated. Title of my sermon this morning is The Cursed Fig Tree and Confident Faith. And there’s a number of key words you can be listening for my sermon today that you see in your sermon outline, trust, fruit, temple, Messiah, prayer and forgiveness.
Well, dear ones, we are reaching the point in Mark’s gospel where Mark’s narrative is bringing us to a climax. Our Lord Jesus has finally arrived in Jerusalem and he would soon face his final conflict with the religious authorities there, a conflict that would lead to his death by crucifixion at the hands of the Roman authorities. Now, of course, these from a human standpoint, these are disturbing events, but these events were ultimately all part of God’s sovereign plan. For God the Father had sent His eternal Son, Jesus Christ, into this world out of love for sinners. And He sent Christ so that Christ might die on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins and might gloriously rise from the dead so that the gift of eternal life might be secured for all those who, by grace, would come to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and Christ alone for their salvation from sin.
This is the center and heart of the good news. Now, we began considering this passage on the last Lord’s Day when we considered both our Lord’s cursing of the fig tree as well as his cleansing of the temple, both of which are recorded in this in this passage of God’s word. And as we learned on the last Lord’s Day, both the cursing of the fig tree and the cleansing of the temple are two examples of enacted parables, acted out parables or prophetic drama. And they are two separate events that convey one spiritual meaning. Dr. William Hendrickson, and I quoted this last week, but I’ll quote it again to remind us. Dr. Hendrickson said, in cursing the fig tree and in cleansing the temple, Jesus performed two symbolic and prophetic acts. with one meaning. And what was that meaning?
As Dr. Hendrickson explains, Jesus was predicting the downfall of unfruitful Israel. Not that he was, quote, through with the Jews, but that in the place of Israel, an international and everlasting kingdom would be established, a nation bringing forth not just leaves, but fruits and gathered from both Jews and Gentiles. And ultimately, that nation, that international nation is the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, the true church in union with Christ, our Lord and Savior. However, last week I did not, as I mentioned, I didn’t have time to cover verses 20 through 25 in particular, where Mark records the withering of the cursed fig tree and our Lord’s explanation of the significance of that. So let’s dive in and consider what we can learn from this portion of God’s Word. And we notice here, brothers and sisters, first of all, a call to trust God to remove every hindrance to the bearing of spiritual fruit for God.
This world presents to us many hindrances, many obstacles to the bearing of spiritual fruit for God. But in our passage for today, our Lord Jesus calls upon his disciples and calls upon us to trust in God, to remove every hindrance to the bearing of spiritual fruit for God. Now, by way of remembrance, by way of review, let’s go back to verses 12 to 14 where we read of Jesus cursing this fig tree. And I’ll just read these verses again, verses 12 through 14. It says, On the next day, when they had left Bethany, they’re in they’re in the Jerusalem area, but they’ve been staying in Bethany and and they they’re heading towards Jerusalem. It says when they had left Bethany, he became hungry. Jesus became hungry. Jesus is God, but he’s also man. And as a man, as one with a human nature, body and soul, he experiences hunger.
Verse 13 says, seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf. This fig tree was in full leaf. It gave the impression that it would have have fruit on it. Seeing at a distance of fig tree and leaf, he went to see if perhaps he would find anything on it. And when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season of figs. Fig trees typically don’t in that area, don’t produce fruit until June. And this is probably March or April. But Jesus goes to the tree because perhaps, perhaps it has fruit that has come out early, but he sees that it doesn’t have any fruit. And then verse 14, he said to it, may no one ever eat fruit from you again. And his disciples were listening. His disciples heard him speak these words to the fig tree.
Now, our Lord’s cursing of the fig tree, it’s interesting to notice that that this event where Jesus curses the fig tree and then later on they discover that it’s it’s it is rotted to the to the very roots of the tree. It’s withered to the very roots of the tree. This is the only destructive miracle that Jesus is recorded as having performed. Think about most of the miracles of Christ. What did most of the miracles of Christ consist of? But it consisted of things like Jesus healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, giving hearing to the deaf and speech to those with speech impediments, the dumb, raising those who were crippled and even raising the dead. Also, Jesus is known for his nature miracles, stilling the storm. calming the storm, multiplying loaves and fishes, these creation miracle of immediately multiplying the loaves and the fishes walking on the waters.
And of course, Jesus is also known for his casting out of demons. Jesus demonstrated by his his ministry of exorcism that he was the victor over the forces of Satan and spiritual darkness. But here is this one miracle where Jesus does something that results in destruction. Now, many who read this account are critical of Jesus. They wonder, why did Jesus do this? It seems so childish. It seems so out of character for the Lord Jesus. Well, as we considered on the last Lord’s Day, this miracle was not an example of Jesus losing his temper or childishly venting his anger upon an innocent, helpless fig tree. Instead, our Lord’s cursing of the fig tree is likely intended by Jesus as a symbolic picture of God’s judgment upon a faithless, fruitless Israel, an Israel that was spiritually fruitless and also upon Israel’s temple, a temple that should have produced spiritual fruit, a temple that was very leafy in its external glory, but which provided no spiritual fruit. for God’s people.
So this is a symbol of God’s judgment coming upon a fruitless, faithless Israel. An Israel whose religious leaders corrupted God’s temple as our Lord’s cleansing of the temple demonstrated. An Israel that would soon murder its own Messiah. This cursing of the fig tree pictures God’s covenant curses, which would come upon Israel for their rejection and murder of the promised Messiah. The bringing of the covenant curses revealed in the Old Testament law under Moses, those covenant curses would fall upon Israel as it rejected its Messiah. So with all this background information in mind, let’s skip ahead then to verse 20. Verse 20 says, as they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. This is what happens the next day, the day after the cursing of the fig tree.
This is probably Tuesday morning of the so-called Passion Week, the week of that leads up to our Lord’s crucifixion and later on his resurrection. And it says this in verse 21. All of the disciples, by the way, in verse 20, were told that all of the disciples noticed this fig tree. The disciples had heard Jesus the day before curse the fig tree. And then as they’re walking by the next day, they notice, wow, the fig tree, which our Lord cursed, it’s withered. It’s not just withered, it’s withered to the roots from the root up, completely withered away in just less than 24 hours. And then, since Peter is typically the spokesman for the other disciples, Peter often speaks on their behalf. He verbalizes what they are thinking. Verse 21, being reminded, Peter said to him, Rabbi, Rabbi means teacher.
Look, the fig tree which you cursed has withered. And how does Jesus respond to this observation? of Peter, verse twenty two, Jesus answered, saying to them, what what’s the first thing that Jesus says as they’re inquiring about the fig tree and and that it observing that it’s been withered to the roots, Jesus says, have faith in God. Have faith in God, what does faith in God, how is that connected to the cursing of the fig tree, especially if in the context of this passage, the cursing of the fig tree is a sort of an acted out parable of God’s judgment upon a faithless Israel. Well, friends, the connection between our Lord’s instruction here on faith. And the cursing of the fig tree is well described by one commentator who writes that Jesus’s point is that they should trust God to remove whatever hinders them from bearing fruit for God.
God’s judgment was coming upon a spiritually fruitless Israel. And Israel, that on the whole, there was a faithful remnant in those days, as there is, as God preserves a faithful remnant in every period of redemptive history. But on the whole, the visible people of God, the visible church of God was spiritually corrupt and fruitless, and God’s judgment was coming upon it. It makes sense, therefore, in the context of this passage with the cleansing of the temple, and the cursing of the fig tree and the withering of that fig tree to connect the faith that Jesus is calling us to here with faith in God that he would remove all that hinders the bearing of spiritual fruit for God. And then he goes on to say in verse 23, Jesus says, truly, in other words, pay attention.
This is important. Truly, I say to you, Jesus is speaking to them with his divine authority. He says, truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain be taken up and cast into the sea and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. Now, we’ll get into the issue of how many twist these words to promote a so-called name it and claim it gospel. But let us consider, first of all. the many spiritual obstacles, the many obstacles in Jesus’s day that prevented the people of God or proved to be hindrances to the people of God bearing spiritual fruit for God. Consider, for example, that in the days of our Lord Jesus, the corrupt temple system in Jerusalem, Consider that corrupt temple system combined with the pharisaical works, righteousness approach to God that was often promoted by the Bible scholars of the day, the scribes and the Pharisees who ought to have known better.
Consider those factors combined with the political, worldly minded notions that most of the Jews in our Lord’s day had about what kind of messiah they should be expecting. Most of them were expecting not a spiritual messiah who would come to save his people from their sins, but a military political messiah who would reestablish a political kingdom, a theocratic Davidic kingdom in Jerusalem. So when you factor all of these things together, the fact that the temple system and the leaders of the temple system were corrupt. Spiritually corrupt. When you consider the fact that the doctrine that was typically taught in the synagogues, the doctrine of Phariseeism, this works righteousness, merit based doctrine of salvation that was taught. And when you combine that with with worldly minded nationalistic notions of the Messiah, all of these things, all of these factors served to hinder the professed people of God from recognizing their own Messiah. and therefore hindered them from bearing spiritual fruit for God.
But that was about to change. That was about to change. with the sacrificial death and glorious resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, followed by His ascension into heaven, His enthronement at the Father’s right hand, and His pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon the church at Pentecost. Combine that with the judgment destruction that would fall upon Jerusalem in 70 A.D. with its destruction by the Romans and the destruction of the temple. All of those things would remove these obstacles to the bearing of spiritual fruit among God’s people, at least in principle. The death and resurrection of Christ, Pentecost, and later on the destruction of the Jerusalem temple would remove these obstacles, in principle, at least. Now, it’s interesting. Let’s examine the words, the instructions that Jesus gives in verse 23. about the significance and the meaning of the of the withered fig tree.
He says this. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain be taken up and cast into the sea. What mountain is he talking about? This mountain. Well, that’s actually, the Bible scholars actually have different views on that. Many scholars think that Jesus is speaking of the Mount of Olives, where he and his disciples would perhaps have been standing at that point. But others think that Jesus may be speaking, in fact, about the Temple Mount, the mountain upon which the Temple was placed. For example, Dr. G.K. Beale and Mitchell Kim in their book, God Dwells Among Us, Expanding Eden to the Ends of the Earth, a book, by the way, that we’re studying Wednesday morning at the Smokestack Study. Wednesday morning, 8 o’clock, the Smokestack Cigar Shop. Come and join us if you’re interested in that study.
But in this excellent book, Beale and Kim make the case that the mountain in this passage is not the Mount of Olives, but actually the Temple Mount. To quote them, they explain, quote, The temple is like a fig tree that had leaves but no fruit. From a distance, the temple looked very beautiful and promised fruit and satisfaction with its, quote, leaves, but failed to satisfy hunger with any fruit. Mark 11 makes this point clear. Jesus inspects the temple. That’s recorded for us in Mark 11, verse 11. He curses the fig tree, verses 12 to 14. He cleanses the temple. verses 15 through 19, and then teaches about the cursing of the fig tree here in verses 20 through 25. They go on to say the cursing of the fig tree and the cleansing of the temple are intertwined.
Though many have tried in vain to move anthills with their, quote, faith, the context of the temple cleansing suggests that this mountain refers to the temple mount. The command to speak to this mountain is not a formula to fix our problems, as some may assert. But Jesus speaks here of the destruction of the temple that had leaves but not fruit, representing unfruitful Israel herself, failing to impart the life that it advertised. Jesus returns to the temple and exposes the ignorance and failure of the temple leaders. We’ll get to that on the next Lord’s Day in verses 27 to 33. And Beal and Kim go on to say, Jesus clears the way for the eschatological temple where outcasts are gathered and made joyful in God’s presence in his house. And he refers to the prophecy of Isaiah 56, 3 through 8.
What is that eschatological temple? That end times temple, not some future physical temple that is going to exist during the millennial period in the future. That temple, that would be going backwards in redemptive history. Rather, in union with Christ, we in the church, we are the temple of God in Christ and by the spirit. And as people come to faith in Christ, they are engrafted as living stones into the temple of Christ, the living temple, the Lord Jesus Christ. And he is the chief cornerstone. And so, friends, what’s the takeaway? What are what do we learn from this? Well, dear ones, the finished work of Christ in his cross and resurrection has, at least in principle, removed all obstacles and hindrances that would prevent us as believers from bearing spiritual fruit for God. That spiritual fruit includes such things as gratitude for his gift of salvation, a walking after a new obedience.
And of course, it involves love and the fruit of the spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. The death and resurrection of Christ, his saving work in principle removes all obstacles to such fruit manifesting itself in our lives. Let me ask you, dear listener, are you trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ and his finished work on the cross for your salvation? You see, only as you are united to Christ by faith will you be enabled to bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit in your life. The unregenerate, those who are not born again, can certainly, through God’s common grace, manifest natural virtues. They can have a level of civic virtue and kindness and so forth. But when it comes to the fruit of the spirit, you have to be united to Christ by faith before that fruit will manifest itself in your life.
You see, you can’t manifest the fruit of the spirit in the power of your flesh. It is only as you are united to Christ that your sins will be forgiven. You will receive the gift of eternal life in the spirit of God. will dwell within you and begin working in you to remake you, to transform you by the renewing of your mind more and more into the image of Christ. Do you know Christ as your Lord and Savior? If not, come to Jesus today. He invites all who would recognize their sin and recognize him as their only hope of salvation to come unto him. Come believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ this day and you shall be saved. Repent and believe. So we see here a call to faith, a call to trust God in order to enable us to overcome obstacles to the bearing of fruit for God.
But next, we see here also in verses 24 and 25, a call to believing prayer and a forgiving spirit. Jesus says in verse 24, therefore, I say to you and notice again, Jesus is speaking in the first person, speaking on his own authority. I say to you, he’s not quoting the rabbis or the experts, he says, I say to you, because he is God in the flesh, I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them and they will be granted you. Whenever you stand praying, forgive if you have anything against anyone so that your father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. Now, how do you think verse 24 is sometimes used or misused by Bible teachers and by Christians? Well, Jesus says, if I pray for something and I really believe that I’m going to receive it, then I’ll receive it.
So, Lord, I’m praying for a Tesla today. Say you really want a Tesla. Personally, I don’t. But, you know, if you’re into that stuff, You really want a Tesla and you pray and you really believe that somehow God is going to grant a Tesla to you. Does that mean you should expect a Tesla? Or maybe it’s something simpler, something more mundane, if you will. Say, Lord, I pray that you would give me the financial means to pay all my bills this month. Certainly, God is concerned for our daily needs and And as we learn in the Lord’s Prayer, we can pray, give us this day our daily bread. There’s a place for praying for God to provide for our daily needs. But Jesus is not saying that his words are misunderstood if they are yanked out of context and taken to mean that anything you want, you can ask for God and expect that he’s going to give you.
That’s not what it is saying. So how do we counteract the prosperity gospelers, the the false teachers out there who preach this prosperity, name it and claim it gospel? And they use passages like this one. They say, hey, Jesus says, if you’ve got enough faith, as long as you have enough faith, if you name it, you can claim it. So if you’ve got cancer, for example. You can just pray, Lord, heal me, and if you have enough faith, You’ll be healed, right? Doesn’t it say, Jesus says, all things which you pray for and ask, believe that you’ve received them and they will be granted you. The implication being, if you don’t get the healing you pray for, it’s your fault. Which, by the way, that’s an incredibly cruel doctrine. So how do we counteract the prosperity gospel, name it and claim it, distortions of passages like this one?
Well, friends, the answer to that question is that context is the key. I’m sure you’ve heard that saying. That’s repeated ad nauseum almost in our churches. But what? A text without a context is a pretext, right? And that’s so true. We must avoid taking a proof text approach to Scripture. There’s a legitimate way to proof text, to use texts of Scripture to support doctrine. But it requires that you read the scriptures in their context. And what is the context of this passage? Well, first of all, it’s important to understand that our Lord is here very likely using what’s called hyperbole and children. Hyperbole is intentional exaggeration. It’s not lying, it’s not fibbing, but it’s using exaggerated language to drive home a point. This was a very common teaching device in Jesus’s time. It’s my understanding that this was was commonly used among the rabbis of Jesus’s day.
So when Jesus said things, I mean, one example of an extreme hyperbole that Jesus uses. Remember, Jesus says, if your if your right hand causes you to sin, do what? Cut it off. It’s better for you to enter life, eternal life lame or maimed than to with your whole body be cast into the eternal fire. Or if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. Now, is Jesus there teaching that we should engage in self mutilation? Of course not. And Jesus’s original listeners and audience, his disciples and those whom he preached to would have understood that Jesus is using this shocking imagery to drive home the point that, look, sin is so serious. that you need to deal radically with it, even if it involves self-sacrifice, even if it involves pain. You need to root out sin in your life.
Jesus was using hyperbole there to drive home the lesson that he was driving home about dealing radically with sin. Well, likewise, when we see Jesus saying in verse 24, whoever says to this mountain, whether it be the Mount of Olives or the Temple Mount, Whoever says to this mountain, be taken up and cast into the sea and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted to them. Jesus is using hyperbole there. He’s not saying that, you know, that we should literally go speaking to mountains or to anthills or to anything else like that, commanding them to be uprooted and cast into the sea. No. However, we identify this mountain, Our Lord’s intention here is to use this shocking image of commanding this mountain to be taken up and cast into the sea to underscore the boldness and confidence of believing prayer.
We should approach God with boldness and confidence when we pray for the things that are according to his will. And I have a feeling that a Tesla may not be in God’s will for me, probably not for you either, depending. Friends, The point here is that we are to trust in God and we are to approach God with boldness in prayer. But boldness in prayer does not mean bossing God around. Prayer is an expression of dependence upon the Lord, submission to the Lord and His will. And so, friends, however we understand the words of our Lord here in verses 23 and 24, We need to interpret our Lord’s teachings here on prayer in this passage in the light of what Jesus teaches elsewhere about prayer. And indeed, in light of the whole of scripture, we need to compare scripture with scripture.
For example, consider what our Lord Jesus teaches in John 15, verse seven, which has powerful implications for our life of prayer. John 15, verse 7, which is the Jesus is giving the discourse on the vine and the branches. Jesus is the vine. We are the branches. Jesus says this, and this has so many implications for our prayer life. He says, if you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you. There’s a condition attached to the promise there, isn’t it? If you do what? Abide in me. That’s the language of faith. Faith connects us to Christ as branches are connected to the vine. As you abide in me, as you trust in me, Jesus is saying with a living faith and my words, that is my teaching, my word.
Abide in you as you are informed by and directed by and governed by the Word of God. Ask whatever you wish for and it will be done for you. Why? Because you are asking in faith and your priorities in prayer will be informed by the Word of God. And so, for example, when we pray, We ought to pray for things that God has shown us that he wills for us. What are some of the things that God that we can know as as believers that God wills for us? Well, God wills that we be holy. How many times have you prayed, Lord, give me the grace to be more holy. The Lord wills for us to be forgiving. Lord, give me the grace to have a forgiving spirit. The Lord wills for us to experience his joy even in the midst of trials.
Lord, grant me the grace to be joyful in the midst of my trials and so forth. But then verse 25 goes on to say, whenever you stand praying standing, the posture of standing was a typical posture of prayer in those days. Whenever you stand praying, forgive if you have anything against anyone so that your father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. Now, the point of Jesus is saying here is that there is a connection between a forgiving spirit towards others and effective prayer. Again, we should not understand our Lord saying here in this verse to mean that that the evangelical forgiveness of our sins is somehow conditioned upon us first forgiving the sins of others against us. For the scriptures teach and Jesus himself elsewhere clearly teaches that we are forgiven of our sins and justified before God by his grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, apart from works, including the good work of forgiving others.
However, if we have truly received the forgiveness of God in Christ, then our faith in Christ ought to produce within us a desire to extend forgiveness toward others, just as God, our heavenly father, has extended his forgiveness toward us in Christ. Our Shorter Catechism addresses this very well in Question and Answer 105. If you want to follow along, you can turn to page 976 in the back of your Trinity hymnal, your Psalter hymnal, 976. Question 105 is on the fifth petition of the Lord’s Prayer. Remember, the Lord’s Prayer is a model prayer. Yes, we pray it every week. We use it as an actual prayer, but it’s also a model prayer for us. And the question is, what do we pray for in the fifth petition? The Bible based answer is this in the fifth petition, which is and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
We pray that God, for Christ’s sake, would freely pardon all our sins, which we are the rather encouraged to ask, because by his grace we are enabled from the heart to forgive others. Our forgiveness of others is the outflow of us having received God’s gracious, undeserved forgiveness in Christ. So in closing, my friends, let me ask you, what do you typically pray for in your prayer life with the Lord? Do you pray for those things which God has revealed that He wills for His children? Things like greater holiness, greater patience, greater conformity into the image of Christ, a deeper love for the Lord and His Word, greater contentment in the face of trials and struggles, and so forth. Is that what the bulk of your prayer life consists of? Praying those kingdom-focused prayers? Or are your prayers more self-focused on your own personal wants and desires?
Again, there is a place for praying for God to provide for our daily needs. God is concerned about our daily needs. And so we pray, give us each day our daily bread. But if you study the Lord’s Prayer, you’ll notice that most of the petitions are God focused. Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Are your prayers focused on God? You can be assured if you pray for the things that God has revealed, that he wishes and desires for you, that he has planned for you as a believer in Christ, things like godliness, greater conformity into the image of Christ. He will answer your prayers. He’ll do so in his time and in his way.
But pray for the things that God has willed for you in his word, holiness, the bearing of the fruit of the spirit, a closer walk with the Lord, a greater effectiveness and faithfulness in confessing Christ. And are you characterized by a forgiving spirit, a spirit that is willing to extend grace to others, even as you have received grace from your loving heavenly father? Or are you characterized by an embittered, angry spirit? If you have an embittered, angry spirit, bring that before the Lord. Ask God in his grace to remove that spirit from you and to open your eyes and help you to experience afresh his amazing grace in your life. And then that will transform you and enable you to be forgiving toward others. Amen. Let us pray. Gracious Lord and Father in heaven, We do thank you and praise you, O God, that you are so kind and merciful to us.
And we thank you that in Christ, by your spirit, all obstacles to the bearing of spiritual fruit have been, at least in principle, removed. We ask that you would give us the grace to live in the light of these truths. And so grant us the grace, O Lord, more and more to take up our cross daily and to follow Jesus as becomes those who bear His holy name. We pray these things in Jesus’ name and all of God’s people said, Amen. As we respond to what we’ve heard from God’s Word, let’s rejoice in our Lord with hymn 291. Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing. 291. We’ll rise and sing together. Oh for
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