JEREMIAH 242009 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Jeremiah 24

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2009. All right, Jeremiah chapter 24. We pick it up in verse 1. It says,

After Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had carried away captive Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah with the craftsmen and smiths from Jerusalem and had brought them to Babylon.

Jeremiah 24

And in those baskets, one of them is, actually both of them are figs, and then he's going to talk about the different kinds of figs. One of them is good figs, and one of them has bad figs. But he makes reference, first of all, to the time. So he places this within the context of Israel's history for us. Now, the nation of Judah is about at its end as Jeremiah is prophesying these things.

The nation of Judah has been rebelling against God and continued to refuse to listen and respond when God would send Jeremiah and other prophets. And so God is using the surrounding nations to bring judgment upon the nation of Judah. And the nation of Babylon is the nation that God is going to use to bring the final destruction.

And so Jeremiah makes reference to when this took place, when this happened. And he says, it happened after King Nebuchadnezzar, or Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had carried away captive Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim. Now, Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalem three times. The first time he attacked Jerusalem, there was a king in power. His name was Jehoiakim.

And at that time, Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem. He defeated Judah, but he didn't demolish the city. Instead, what he did was he set up a new king, and he took away captives. He took some of the royalty, some of the king's family, some of the high officials. King Nebuchadnezzar returned or took back to Babylon with him.

Daniel, the prophet Daniel that we'll get to in a few months, he was one of those that was taken as we see in Daniel chapter 1. And so there's a group of people that were led away captive. There was a new king that was set in power and now this new king is Jeconiah. Well, Jeconiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar and so Babylon had to

Come again and conquer Jerusalem. So Nebuchadnezzar comes back to Jerusalem, conquers Jerusalem again, and now takes away Jeconiah and Nebuchadnezzar.

He already took away the royal line. He already took away some of the royal family. And so this time he takes more captives, but he doesn't demolish the city. And here specifically it tells us that he took the craftsmen and the smiths, the tradespeople, those who would be able to really be a strength for the nation of Judah. He took those. In fact, at this time when Nebuchadnezzar goes back to Babylon,

He leaves in Jerusalem only the poor. There's the peasants and the poor people that are left, and that's all that Jerusalem consists of. At that time, Nebuchadnezzar puts Zedekiah in power. So that was the second attack of Nebuchadnezzar upon Jerusalem. And it was after that attack that Jeremiah had this vision.

At this time, Zedekiah is in power. Babylon is going to come one more time because they continue to be unfaithful to God and they continue to rebel against Babylon. And this third time will be complete destruction. The whole city of Jerusalem is going to be demolished and the rest of the inhabitants are going to be led away captive. So it's at that time. The second captivity has taken place.

The new king is in power and God begins to speak to Jeremiah about some figs. There in verse 1 again, the Lord showed me and there were two baskets of figs set before the temple of the Lord. So there before the temple of the Lord, Jeremiah sees two baskets of figs.

Figs are a common fruit in Israel. They are used throughout the scripture to speak of Israel. And there's a lot of things that we could go into about that. But basically, Jeremiah sees two baskets of fruits.

Now, figs I've not tasted, and so I don't have a good reference for you to share with you what they're like. Anybody taste figs? Let's just kind of by a show of hands. Who's tasted figs? Okay, maybe a few of you. I really tried. I sent Mario to the store to get some figs, but apparently you can't get them from Cardenas, so we'll have to try to find somewhere else and see if we can find some figs to taste. But,

These figs were there in baskets. Now, God is going to be using this picture, using this thing that he has shown Jeremiah to speak to him a lesson. And so let's look at verse 2. He says, "...one basket had very good figs, like the figs that are first ripe, and the other basket had very bad figs which could not be eaten. They were so bad."

Then the Lord said to me, What do you see, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs, the good figs, very good, and the bad, very bad, which cannot be eaten, they are so bad. So,

Jeremiah is observing this basket of figs, and he sees that one of them has good figs. It says that they're good figs like the first ripe figs. Now, the first ripe is the first fruits that are ripe on the tree, and it was kind of a delicacy or considered something that was the best of the best to get the first ripe fruits off of the trees. And he sees that one of them has good figs.

And so Jeremiah sees these figs, and these are not just, you know, average figs. You know how it is when you go to the store and you're trying to pick out some fruit, and you don't want, you know, the kind of semi-bland fruit or watermelon or oranges or apples. I mean, you want the good stuff. And as Jeremiah is looking at these figs, he's like, hey, these aren't just, you know, figs that, okay, yeah, I could take it or leave it, but these are the best kind of figs.

In Isaiah chapter 28 verse 4, he talks about the first fruits of summer, the first ripened fruit. And Jeremiah describes it this way. He says, when an observer sees it, he eats it up while it's still in his hand. So the observer sees the fruit. Oh my goodness, this is the first one that's ripe. It's the best of the best. And so Jeremiah,

He doesn't put it down. He doesn't kind of set it aside. I'm going to come back to that or stick it in the fridge for later. He finishes the whole thing while it's still in his hand, Isaiah says. That's the idea. It's the best. And so they just consume it completely. And Jeremiah looks at this basket of figs and he says, Wow, these are some good figs. These are some figs that I would really want to eat. These are figs that are going to be really delicious. Yes.

But then he looks at the other basket. And the other basket is not the same as the good figs, which were very good. He looks at the second basket, and the second basket is full of very bad figs. Now again, not just, you know, a little bit bad, or not just maybe they're not fully ripened, or a little overripe. He says they're so bad that you could not eat them. And so, if you can, picture in your mind that

Two baskets of, if you don't know what figs are, some kind of fruit. Pick your fruit. It's okay. And in one basket is this fruit that is just very desirable. It's the best of the best. Man, it's juicy. It's flavorful. There's no bruises. There's no bumps. There's no problems or scary things. I see a lot of scary things on fruit, and I stay away from it.

There's none of that. It's just delicious. It's going to be quite enjoyable. Then, in your mind's eye, see this other basket. And this basket has, well, I think of it as rotten fruit. Fruit that you could not eat.

Fruit that you would not put in your mouth. You wouldn't kind of, hmm, well let me just taste it. If it tastes okay, I'll finish it. No, no, no. It's fruit that you wouldn't want to even take a bite of that you would be a little bit scared about even smelling. It's fruit that is very bad, Jeremiah says. And so...

We have in this picture, these two baskets of fruit, these two extremes, this incredible contrast that God is showing Jeremiah. The good fruit is very, very good. It's the best. The bad fruit is very, very bad. You could not even eat it. It's the worst.

Have you ever bitten into a piece of fruit and realized it's not a fruit that you could eat? It's too bad to even finish to take another bite.

Compare that memory, compare that thought to biting into the best piece of fruit you've ever eaten. There's something wonderful about a fruit whenever it's just right and the juice doesn't get on you and make your hand sticky and it's nice and clean and you don't have to worry about seeds. Okay, I'm thinking just for myself here.

But there's something wonderful about a good piece of fruit, you know, when my wife cuts up the apple for me so I don't have to worry about all the details and then I can just eat it and it's delicious. That's wonderful. But there's also the fruit that you don't want to eat. And so he gives us this picture here.

Now, why are we taking so much time to think about fruit and figs? Well, because that's what God is using to speak to Jeremiah a message. He wants to have this picture in our mind that he can speak to us through it. So you have your good figs that are very good, and you have your bad figs that are very bad. Well, now he begins to talk about the good figs in verse 4.

He says again, the word of the Lord came to me saying, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, like these good figs, so will I acknowledge those who are carried away captive from Judah, whom I've sent out of this place for their own good into the land of the Chaldeans. Verse 6, for I will set my eyes on them for good and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them and not pull them down and I will plant them and not pluck them up.

And so God now begins to speak to Jeremiah. And he says, Jeremiah, I'm not trying to teach you to be a farmer and recognize good fruit and bad fruit. This is symbolic. It's a picture.

The good fruit is speaking about a particular type of person there in the land of Judah.

He says, this kind of person that I'm speaking about, it's the good figs of the land of Judah that I'm going to bring out. I'm going to send them away for their own good, God says. This is something I'm going to do. They need to be sent away from Judah into Babylon. And so for their good, I'm going to send them away and I'm going to set my eyes on them and I'm going to take care of them. I'm going to build them up

And then when the time is right, I'm going to bring them back into the land. And so the good figs are a picture of those in the nation of Judah that God is going to send away for their own good, that he might build them up, that they might return, that they might be able to replenish the land and come back into the land and have a relationship with God.

He says, I'll give them a heart to know me that I am the Lord and they will be my people and I will be their God. This is what the good figs represent. These that God is protecting. He's sending them out, but he's going to bring them back. He's preparing them for this future work that he's going to do.

Well, now he goes on to talk about the bad figs. So if the good figs represent this kind of person, this type of population within the nation of Judah, you can imagine what the bad figs represent. Look at verse 8.

He says,

I will deliver them to trouble into all the kingdoms of the earth for their harm, to be a reproach and a byword, a taunt and a curse in all places where I shall drive them. And I will send the sword, the famine and the pestilence among them till they are consumed from the land that I gave them and their fathers.

So the picture of good figs is a picture, it's referencing, it's symbolic of those that God's going to send out, but he's going to build them up and then bring them back. The bad figs, they represent those that are going to be consumed by the judgment of God.

He says, I'm going to give up Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and his princes, and he calls them the residue of Jerusalem. They're the scum, essentially, of Jerusalem. This new king that's in power, Zedekiah, God calls him the scum of Jerusalem. He is the last king here in the nation of Judah because he too refuses to be obedient to God. He rebels against God.

And so God says he's like a bad fig and he is going to be thrown out. He's not pleasant. He's not pleasing. He's not useful. He's just good for garbage. And so he says the residue of Jerusalem, those who remain in this land, those who are bad figs in this land, I'm going to deliver them into trouble.

And boy, are they going to have trouble. The kingdoms of the earth are going to be used to inflict harm upon them, God says. And there's going to be a reproach and a byword and a taunt and a curse within the lands and all the areas that God will drive them. God says, I'm going to send the sword, the famine, the pestilence.

You get the idea. It's a long list of things that God says, this is what happens to bad figs. They receive the punishment, the judgment for their rebellion against God. And He says, until they are consumed or destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers. The promised land that God had given to the nation of Israel. That God had promised to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. And here were God's people there in the land saying,

Yet they rebelled against God to the extent that now they are being completely driven out to be consumed. That's the bad figs that are there within the nation of Judah. Now, as we look at this little example of what God had spoken to Jeremiah throughout his ministry, of course we can relate a lot of it to what Jeremiah has already shared, but

I'd like to just consider and just meditate a little bit on this idea of these baskets of figs. Because God gives us these pictures so that we can understand what He's doing and why He does what He does. There's two extremes that we see here.

The good figs are very good. And God says, these are like these people and I'm going to bless them and build them up and I'm going to bring them back. They're good figs. The bad figs, they're very bad. They're not going to be rebuilt. They're not going to be brought back into the land. They're going to be recipients of the judgment of God and they're going to be consumed by it. They're going to be completely destroyed. The good figs,

Very good. Built, blessed, watched over. Even in captivity, God's going to bring them back. The bad, consumed, destroyed, and judged. Now here's the question that I ask. What makes the good figs good? We have this picture of these two baskets of fruits. Some are good and some are bad. What makes the good figs good?

There's those in the nation that God says, I'm going to build them and protect them. Then I'm going to bring them back. Now remember, the nation of Judah is experiencing the judgment of God. Babylon is going to conquer the nation because as a nation, as a whole, they were all in rebellion against God. If you looked at their actions at the moment, you would not come to the conclusion that they were good figs. Why are they good figs? What makes a good fig good in talking about the nation of Judah?

Well, God gives us the answer at the end of verse 7. He tells us all the things that He's going to do for the good figs, for those who are like the good figs in the nation of Judah. And then He comes to a conclusion at the end of verse 7. He says, Here's the reason. Here's what makes a good fig good. It's not based necessarily upon the immediate situation.

But God, knowing those who would return to Him, as He looks down at the nation of Judah, He knows which ones are good figs and which ones are bad figs. Which ones are the ones that will respond to Him and will return to Him even in the midst of their current rebellion. The good figs are good figs because they are the ones who will return to Him with their whole heart.

Now they were all bad in the sense that they were in rebellion against God and that's why judgment was coming. But there were those who would return to God with their whole hearts. And that made them good figs. That's good news. Because it means that when you and I mess up, when we get caught up in rebellion, when we get caught up in disobedience, when we get caught up in the things...

Well, like the author in Hebrew says, the sin and the snares that so easily entangle us, the weights that hold us back, that weigh us down, those things that wrap us up and we get caught up into activities and lifestyles and attitudes, and they're not of God. But as God looks at us, He doesn't just give up on us because of our current activity, but

He deals with us according to how we will respond to His Word. And if we will return to Him with our whole heart. Here's another thing to consider though as we look at these two baskets of figs. Notice that there's only two baskets of figs.

There's not three baskets of figs. There's not the good which are very, very good, and then the bad which are very, very bad, and then kind of the medium figs that are very, very medium. No, there's the very, very good figs. There's the very, very bad figs. There's only two baskets. That's all there is. In the nation of Judah, there was only good figs and bad figs when God looked at the people of the nation of Judah.

There were those that he was going to send them out of the city. The captivity was going to take place. But there he was going to build them up and bless them and then bring them back and establish them and they would return to him. There were those kind of people. And then there were the kind of people that God was just going to allow his judgment to come upon them that they be consumed and destroyed.

because of their rebellion against God. They were both in rebellion against God, but there was those who would be brought back because they would return to God, and there were those who would not be brought back because they would not return to God. Two kinds of figs there in the nation of Judah. There's two baskets. We're either one or the other. You're a good fig or you're a bad fig. And if you're a good fig, then you're very, very good. And if you're a bad fig, then you're very, very bad.

You're not a medium fig. It doesn't exist. As Jesus said, you're either for me or against me. You're not in between, on the fence. We may use those terms to describe ourselves, but it doesn't make it accurate. It doesn't make it right. The reality is, we are good figs or we're bad figs. But the good news is, we get to choose which type of fig we are. It's not that...

Well, I'm just a bad fig and that's all there is to it. There's nothing I can do about it. No, we get to choose. And we choose the type of fig that we are by whether or not we follow the Lord with our whole heart. Again, at the end of verse 7, he says, For they shall return to me with their whole hearts. These are the good figs. Now, those who follow God with their whole hearts, he says, they're like good figs. They're very good. They're the best of the best.

Not because of their own righteousness, of course. Even at this time, they're in rebellion. But because of the righteousness of God that comes by faith. You see, because God, what He really wants, is He wants relationship with us. But God doesn't want a half-hearted relationship, at least half-hearted on our part. He doesn't have such things. But He doesn't want us to relate to Him half-heartedly. He doesn't want us to be about, you know, 50%.

committed in our relationship with the Lord. Alright, alright God, I know you want to speak to me, so I'll give you 75%, Lord. That's not what he desires. He says, look, these good figs are the ones who return to me with their whole heart. And those who turn to God, those who commit to God, those who walk with God...

With their whole hearts, they're wholly devoted to Him. They're completely set apart for Him. They're given over to following Him, to knowing Him. That's what consumes them. God says, those people are like good figs, which are the first ripe figs. They're the best kind of fruit that there is. The other category is bad figs. Now, we get to choose. I think we would love for there to be a middle basket. I'll just kind of settle for this one. This one's okay, Lord. I mean, that...

Do I have to be wholly devoted? Does it have to be with my whole heart? I'm not even sure if I understand what that means, but I don't think that I can do it. And so, could there be like a middle one, you know, where I just kind of, I'm mostly devoted, but there's two baskets. Jesus said, you're for me or you're against me.

Notice too that the figs are separated. The basket of good figs has all good figs and the basket of bad figs has all bad figs. It's not that there was two baskets of figs and all in there was some good and some bad. No, they were completely separated. There was distinguishing between them. There was a basket of good and then there was a basket of bad. Because God, as He looked at the nation of Judah, He didn't have any...

about which figs were good and which figs were bad. It wasn't a mystery to him. It wasn't that they were just kind of all jumbled up there. No, as he looks at the nation of Judah in the same way as he looks at us, he knows which of us are good figs and which of us are bad figs. He knows which of us are turning to him and following him with our whole heart and he knows which of us are not. He knows which of us are playing church, just putting on the show, living in hypocrisy,

But still being around and still being religious and still pretending to have right relationship with God. He knows which ones are right on and He knows which ones are not. God knows. There's two baskets. The question is, which basket are you in? He gives us these two extremes. Now, listen, if you follow God with your whole heart, if you surrender to Him, if you commit yourself to Him completely, God compares you to a...

A very good thing. The best of the best. Not because you're so excellent, but because of the righteousness of Christ. Those who have the righteousness of Christ covering them by faith, well, they're very good. They're the best of the best. God has imputed to our account the righteousness of Christ so that we have right standing with God as if we lived the life that Jesus lived.

Which, of course, we haven't. But that's the standing we have with God. We have right standing with God. We have the best of the best as far as standing before God by faith in Jesus Christ. As we follow Him, as we are wholly devoted to Him. But if we're bad faiths, this is why you cannot even consider about earning your way into Heaven. Because...

The standard is very, very, very good figs, the best of the best. And that doesn't describe any of us. And no matter how hard we work and how much we do and how legalistic we are and how much we read and how much we give and how much we try and try and try and be determined, it's not enough to make a good fig or a bad fig a good fig. No amount of work can do that. If we're bad figs, we're bad figs. We're very bad figs because...

Well, of our sin and our sinful nature. And it's a sin that deserves judgment. And bad figs will be judged. They will be consumed, just as God explains here. I will deliver them to trouble. It will be for their harm. And there's going to be a reproach and a byword and a taunt and a curse. And I'm going to send the sword and famine and pestilence. There's going to be all kinds...

of judgment and trouble that comes upon these bad figs until they are consumed, God says. There's no escape. And so if we're a bad fig, then the judgment will be complete. And no amount of good works can change it. No amount of running can escape it. Bad figs will experience the judgment of God. But again, the good news is we get to choose. We get to choose. God gives us the opportunity to choose whether we be a good fig or a bad fig.

And it all comes back to those who will turn to God with their whole heart. Does that describe you this evening? Have you turned to God with your whole heart? Or are there areas in your life that you're holding back? Are there areas in your heart that you are reserving for yourself? Are you willing to be completely surrendered to God? Wholly devoted to God? Because there's only two baskets. Now...

Let me remind you about what Jesus told the church of Laodicea in Revelation 3, verse 16. I'm sure you'll remember as soon as I start to share the verse. He says, These were people who were trying to fit into a middle basket.

They were mostly devoted to the Lord, but partially devoted to the world. Or mostly devoted to the world and partially devoted to the Lord. And they were trying to play the middle of the road game. But I'm telling myself the joke in my head before I tell you, and it's making me laugh. You know what Mr. Miyagi said about playing the middle of the road, right? It's yes or no. If you go this way, it's splat, squish, whatever he said. Right?

You've got to pick one side of the road. You can't go down the middle. You're going to get squashed. This is what Mr. Miyagi said. Jesus said, Hey, if you're lukewarm, trying to play the middle of the road, you're neither hot nor cold, I'll spew you out of my mouth. There's two baskets, the good fig basket and the bad fig basket. There's two options that we have. It's one choice we must make. There's no other areas. There's no middle ground. There's no alternatives. There's no hidden baskets.

We have to make the choice. Will we turn to God with our whole hearts? Now the good news is, even if we've been trying to play the middle of the road, or even if we've been in full-out rebellion against God, it's not too late. That's how the nation of Judah was. But God said, hey, there's some good figs in there. They're those who are going to return to me.

They're going to return to me with their whole heart. And so I'm going to protect them and I'm going to care for them. I'm going to bless them and I'm going to bring them back and I'm going to build them up. I'm going to establish them. They're very good figs. And we can look on the outside and say, are you sure, Lord? I mean, kind of look at what they're doing. Look at how their life is. And God says, no, those are some good figs. I'm going to take care of them. We have the opportunity. We have the choice. But we need to understand that there's two options here.

And there are two extremes. We don't like to think in these kind of extremes. Turn with me please to John chapter 15. In John chapter 15, Jesus shares with his disciples the famous illustration of the vine. That he is the vine. In verse 1 he says, I am the true vine and my father is the vine dresser.

Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. And every branch that bears fruit, he prunes that it may bear more fruit. So as Jesus is talking here, he says, I'm the vine. My father is the vine dresser. He takes care of the branches that are in the vine. And he says, there's two kinds of branches. There are branches that bear fruit and there are branches that do not bear fruit. There's not a third kind of branch. So there's two kinds of branches. Branch that bears fruit

The branch that doesn't bear fruit. Just like there's two kinds of figs. There's a good fig and then there's a bad fig. The branch that bears fruit, Jesus says, well, the Heavenly Father prunes. He develops it. He cultivates it that it may bear even more fruit.

Those who will respond to Him, those who will turn wholeheartedly to Him, God develops. He continues to work in us, just like He said He would there for the nation. He said, hey, they're very good figs, so here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to send them out. And notice God said in verse 5, back in Jeremiah 24, He says, I'm sending them out of this place for their own good.

I'm sure it seemed to them like the worst thing ever possible is they're being led away into captivity. But God said, no, this is for their good. There's some discipline that needs to take place. There's some lessons they're going to learn. I'm going to build them up. I'm going to take care of them. I'm going to prune them that they will bear more fruit, in essence, is what God is saying in Jeremiah. And that's what Jesus said. The branches that bear fruit, God prunes that they may bear more fruit.

But there's two kinds of branches. The branches that bear fruit and the branches that do not bear fruit. Look at verse 4. He says, Verse 6.

If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered. And they gather them and throw them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in Me and My words in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you. Jesus now goes on to talk about this example of Him being the vine and we are the branches. He says, look, here's what you need to do. You need to abide in Me. And He gives us the picture. As the branch can't bear fruit of itself. So, you take a branch off of a tree and

and you bring it into the house and you set it on the table, it's not going to produce fruit. It doesn't matter how long you sit there. You could even water it if you like. It's not going to produce fruit. It has to be attached to the vine. Jesus said in the same way, Hey, unless you're abiding in me, unless you're attached to me, you're not going to bear fruit. Now Jesus says there's two kinds of branches. He says there's those who abide in me and there are those who do not abide in me.

Look at verse 6. It says, if anyone does not abide in me. What does this word abide mean? Well, it means to abide. It means to live. How many of you have trees that have migrating branches? Anybody? You know, sometimes the branch is on your tree, but then sometimes it goes across the street to your neighbor's tree. Has that ever happened? Maybe at Larry's house, because he's an expert and he can swap them out and

makes special kinds of unique fruits, but branches don't migrate. They don't, you know, remove themselves and then come back and then, you know, you don't ever have to walk out and wonder, hey, I wonder if the branch moved to a different tree today. If it's attached to the tree, it's attached to the tree and it's abiding in the tree and there's only two kinds of branches. A branch that is attached to the tree and a branch that's not attached to the tree.

Jesus says, there's the branches that abide in me, and the ones that abide in me, they bear fruit. So, Jesus said before there's two kinds of branches, the ones that bear fruit, the ones that don't. Makes sense, right? The branches that abide in him, the ones that are attached to him, those are the ones that bear fruit. And the ones that are not attached, those are the ones that don't bear fruit. There's not a third kind of branch that kind of rotates, and sometimes it's attached and sometimes it's not. There's those who are, those who have turned to God with their whole hearts, and those

And those who have not. There's good figs and there's bad figs. Jesus said, you're for me or against me. He said, if you are lukewarm, I will spew you out of my mouth. You're neither hot nor cold. I could wish you were one or the other, but you're lukewarm, I'll spew you out of my mouth. Jesus said, abide, but sometimes we feel okay if we just kind of visit from time to time. He wants our whole heart. Not only does he want our whole heart, but...

Only in wholly devoting ourselves to Him can we bear fruit. Only in wholly devoting ourselves to Him can... Well, He goes on in verse 7. He says, If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified that you bear much fruit, so you will be My disciples. Jesus said, Look, the only way to be My disciple is to abide in Me, to be wholly devoted, to be wholehearted in your relationship with Me.

God wants to challenge us this evening. We see in the figs, there's a choice to be made. There's two kinds of figs. As we look at temperature, there's two kinds of temperatures. Hot or cold, lukewarm doesn't work. When it comes to the picture of the vine, there's two kinds of branches. Today, God wants to challenge us. This evening, He wants us to know, where do we stand with Him? Which basket are you in? There's still time to make a change if you're in the wrong basket.

Just as the nation of Judah, you can turn to Him with your whole heart. And maybe there is some bad figs that are listening to this. You need to turn. You need to stop playing around. You need to stop trying to live a double life, trying to play church. Or you need to stop outright rebelling against God. Because those bad figs experience the full, complete judgment of God. But the good figs... Now, these...

good figs in the nation of Judah. They were messed up. They had all kinds of problems. They worshipped false gods. They were all mixed up. They were confused. But God can take care of all that. So many times people want to clean up their lives and then try to come to God, try to get right with God. Listen, God can take care of all that. He knows which ones are good figs and which ones are bad figs. You don't have to try to make yourself into a good fig so that God will

Look what God says about the nation of Judah. He says, look, there's good figs there and here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to take care of them. They're all messed up, so I'm going to send them out for their good and I'm going to build them up and I'm going to protect them and I'm going to bring them back. I'm going to do the work, God says. I'll take care of them because when I call to them, they turn to me with their whole hearts. I think God wants to challenge us this evening on where we stand in our relationship with Him. If we're wholly devoted,

Is He really the most important in your life? Is He really all that you need? Is He really what you live for? Is He the one you wake up thinking about and talking to? Is He the one that consumes your life? Have you turned completely to Him? The worship team is going to come up and lead us in some worship. I want to encourage you as they do. It's a great time for us, a great opportunity for us.

knowing there's two baskets, knowing that we get to choose, knowing the results of each choice, each type of fig, it's a great opportunity for us to make sure we're in the right basket. As God is speaking to us, even tonight, even this evening, we have the opportunity to turn to Him with our whole heart, to surrender completely to Him, to take care of those things that He's been speaking to us, to pursue Him,

to know Him. It's what God desires, a relationship with us. And so let's take this time to turn to God, to surrender to Him, and to allow Him to show us if we've not turned to Him with our whole heart. Let's worship together. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.