Fruitfulness in spiritual matters is at the core of being a Christian. What is a tree without fruits? In these end times, deception pervades the land, and that rightly so, as Jesus forwarned: “Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” (Matthew 24:4-5).

Many have often thought that this deception will only come through those who claim to be Jesus in themselves. But what we see in Christianity today shows that the deception comes mainly through those who come in the name of Jesus. In other words, so called pastors, prophets and spiritual leaders, will be false, but because they use the name of Jesus, they will be able to deceive many.

But as the scriptures rightly say, that by their fruits you shall know them, that remains the standard. The result of the prevalence of these false Christs is the unfruitfulness, or fruitlessness within Christendom. Many go to church, but many remain unchanged, or worse off, because all that they are been taught is to be concerned about the things of the world. They are like trees which have nothing but leaves.

In Mark 11:12-14, 20 Jesus saw a fig tree with leaves, and went to it expecting to find fruits, but the tree did not bear any. Thereafter, Jesus cursed the tree.

Luke 13:6-9 says “He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.”

Looking at the two scenarios above, it is worthy to note that the leaves on the tree called for the attention of Jesus, and his expectation was activated. Since He was hungry, He wanted to eat of it but found no fruit. He then cursed the tree saying, “May no one eat of your fruit henceforth. This means that the tree had produced fruit in past seasons, but at the point when the Master needed fruit from it, it refused to bear fruits, although it had leaves, portraying a similitude of being fruitful.

From the account in John 4:34, we know as said by Jesus that his food (meat) is to do and finish the works of God. Transposing the physical to the spiritual, we know that Jesus can feed Himself even without this tree if He really wanted to eat; but there must be some lessons beyond the physical embedded in this story.

Right from the time of old, God had instructed that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Deut. 8:3).

In Matthew 25:30-40, we can take note of the things that distinguished the sheep from the goats. The sheep ministered to Jesus while the goats ignored Him. The sheep were eventually distinguished from the goats just as the wise virgins were separated from the foolish although they all started out as virgins (See Matthew 25:1-13).

Revelation 14:3-5 says, “And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb.”

Putting together the two sets of virgins described in Revelation 14:3-5 and Matthew 25:1-13, we find a common feature applicable to both which is, first fruit and the earth’s remnant. The separating factor between the sheep and the goats, or between the first fruits and the earth’s remnant is heart-born holiness with works. The sheep were attentive to the needs of the Master, they followed Him everywhere He went; they were obedient to his words. They were virgins in the sense that they were allowing the word of God to constantly purge them and become the essence for their existence. Satan, the prince of this world could not have a part in them because they were always following the master and bearing fruits to satisfy Him.

Heart-born holiness accompanied by good works is what the Master requires of us, because that is what satisfies God. This goes beyond mere mouth confession, like the tree that was showing forth its leaves without fruits. We Christians are like trees in God’s vineyard, we are either fruitful or fruitless. Some of us are like the tree which had borne fruits in seasons past, but now has nothing but enticing leaves and just encumbering the ground. although the fig tree had been bearing fruits before, at the time it did not bear fruit was too sensitive in God’s divine plan; it was not a time when the tree should not bear. But most importantly, why should it have leaves and not have fruits? According to the nature of the vine, it is not permitted to have leaves without fruits.

Now we are in the body of Christ, we call upon the name of Christ, if Jesus comes to us, will He find fruits, or leaves? What I call leaves are all our religious paraphernalia; all the things that make people to know us as Christians and try to come close to us to have a taste of Christianity. But will Jesus be satisfied with our fruits at this moment? Will He find pleasure in it?

Jesus honored the invitation of the tree, even though He knew it had no fruits, as a witness to His disciples. We call upon the Lord in different circumstances and at different times, and He honors us. We cry to Him in our distresses and He shows up. We ask of Him to meet our needs and He supplies them. He heals and guides as we call upon Him to. When He comes, He is expecting to see fruits. So ask yourself, especially if you are a leader in the house of God, are you truly fruitful?

Having being saved, it is our duty in fruitfulness to win souls for Christ and disciple them till we all attain full son-ship and maturity; that is what satisfies God. We must always remain mindful of the fact that we are not born again because of us, we are born again because of Him. The benefits associated to being born again are intended to stimulate us towards giving Him full pleasure; it is not a point of abiding. All the manna that the children of Israel enjoyed in the course of the journey from Egypt to the Promised Land were not intended to make them overfed and remain along the way, but to give them enough strength and faith to keep moving until they get there.

It is possible that the fig tree chose not to be fruitful at that time, although it had been fruitful in seasons past. Even though birds of the air could find shade in the tree, but the Son of man could not find satisfaction in it. Lucifer, Son of the morning was once fruitful, beautiful and decked with all kinds of precious stones and ornaments and instruments of music, until iniquity (pride) was found in him. Lucifer was lifted up not in appearance, but in his heart. So maybe the fig tree was lifted up in its heart, and decided to be fruitless, by choice.

Jeremiah 8:8-12 paints a grave picture of many so called men of God today. They are no longer men of God; they have become God of men; whose members refer to without making recourse to the name of Jesus. Many of them are the alpha and omegas both of their ministry and their congregants. Are you one of such? Do your members pray in your name instead of the name of Jesus? Hear the word of the Lord: “you may seem to be bringing forth fruits now, but the axe is laid to the root of the tree, the Lord God will by Himself cut you down, except you repent!”

Basic characters of a fig tree

1. Every fig tree is deeply rooted. It does not have fibrous root, it has tap roots. Do you realise that your works are what will determine your heavenly reward even though you have received salvation for free? (1 Corinthians 5:20; 3:11). We are not saved by works but we are saved to work. Can you say you are doing your best as a tree that God has planted? Are you doing more of showing off your clothes, your position, or your job? All those are leaves; the fruit is to be a witness and make disciples for Christ while you are already sanctified and standing strong.  

This is a call to increasing fruitfulness in an aggressive manner, knowing that our reward will be based on it. Be mindful of your seasons in life. These are not seasons to get weary because there is weariness everywhere! And the biggest place that the weariness is coming from is from churches, not the body of Christ.

• A fig tree bears fruits before, or at the same time it bears leaves. In other words, you cannot see its leaves without its fruits.  So your leaves are inconsequential if the fruits are not there. Even if you were fruitful ten years ago, how about today? Is your character consistent with the nature of Christ? Are you Christ-like in behavior to corroborate your profession of Christianity? You say you are born again, but what is the evidence? Be a reflection of the image of God. Let men see you and run to God.
• Once a fig tree starts bearing fruits, it continues throughout the year; agriculturists say twice a year. Any tree that bears two times in a year is bearing fruit all year round. So ask yourself, are you bearing fruit as a Christian? If you are not bearing fruits, then there is a problem, which is most likely that you have dissociated from your source.
• The owner of the vine is satisfied in its fruits, not the leaves. There is nothing wrong in being beautiful or in being blessed, but that does not count in eternity.

Efforts made by the Vine owner to redeem the tree

1. The tree was well nurtured in its owner’s vineyard, and the owner had high expectation of it. A lot of investment (knowledge, teachings, prayers and prophecies) has been made in you and I, we must show them forth. Go to your roots and begin to take nutrients from there and see whether you will not bring forth fruits. How long are we going to cumber the ground? How long will we bear a name that we are alive whereas we are dead? How long are we going to play church when the Master needs to be satisfied?

Unfortunately, the tree was still taking space on the ground where another tree probably would have been planted. Don’t be like the Pharisees whom Jesus described as twice dead, refusing to enter, yet hindering others from entering into the kingdom of God?

• The tree was left for three years with two season each , that means the owner came six times to receive fruits from it  but found none.

After three full cycles of frustrating the owner, cumbering the ground and fruitless leaves, it was given another full season. God is kind; He gives opportunity for repentance, with Jesus interceding on our behalf. But what then happens if the tree still refuses to bear fruit in the extra season? It means that anyone who is like that will not have the opportunity to repent again. Remember Judas Iscariot? He got to a stage where even he could not change his ways again. May that not be the portion of any of us to be cursed like that fruitless tree.

At the point where the tree was cursed, there was no reversal again. Let’s ensure we do not get to a point where we have grieved the Spirit of God and there is no more intercession for us again. What happens at that point is judgment. The tree was still in the master’s vineyard, even at the time of its judgment. This is a warning: O Prophet, that prophecy on the behalf of people, has the Lord sent you? You priest, that intercedes for people, have you turned it to a means of merchandise? Are your wives and family members the only ones that sell anointing oils, handkerchiefs and other paraphernalia so that you can make merchandise of people?

It is bad enough that many today build temples not commanded by God, but it is worse that they commit sacrilege in those temples, in the name of the Lord. I am not against building fanciful churches, but my question is, “Is God in it?” if your answer is, “God was in it”, how about now, is God still in it? Do you know that you can be on your path to hell and still be sending people to heaven? Are you one of those who extort money from people all in the name of praying for them? Woe unto you! Are you one of those who make light of weightier matters and cover u p sins with the application of grace?

This is a call to genuine repentance for every one of us who is called by the name of the Lord.  May we not begin our spiritual journey in the spirit only to end up in the flesh. Now that there is still opportunity to repent, let’s take advantage of it.