In this sermon, Charles Spurgeon unfolds the gospel story of the withered fig tree. Going beyond the normal interpretation, he urges the congregation not to consider it only in relation to nations and churches, but to apply the lesson to their own lives, taking it “home each one to his own heart.” He goes on to consider the leafy—but fruitless—fig tree as a picture of those who profess faith in Christ, but show no fruit in their lives. He does this under three headings: there are such people in the church, these will be inspected by Jesus at the final judgment, and the results will be “very terrible.” Spurgeon concludes with a prayer that none of his hearers will suffer such a fate: “Holy Spirit, produce fruit in us this day, through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord!”
He was converted to Christ at the age of 16 and immediately began preaching. He preached in the streets and in the fields before he was 21. In his first church, he began with 100 members. It grew until he was preaching to 10,000 people in the Surrey Music Hall. His church, the Metropolitan Tabernacle, seated 6,000 people. He withdrew from every movement among English Baptists which tended to criticize the Authorized Version 1611 in any way.
Before his death, he published more than 2,000 sermons and 49 volumes of commentaries, sayings, anecdotes, illustrations, and devotions.
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