Today we continue in our study of the Lord's teaching in Luke chapter 13 verses 6 to 9. Luke chapter 13 verses 6 to 9, and we come to another parable. For those of you who are not familiar with what we are doing, we are right now expounding the Lord's parables in the Gospel of Luke. So today we come to this parable which is known as the parable of the barren fig tree or the unfruitful fig tree, in Luke chapter 13 verses 6 to 9.
In order to get something of the background of this passage, I will begin to read from verse 1. Chapter 13 of Luke from verse 1 to verse 9. "There were some present at that very time who told Jesus of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, 'Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered thus? I tell you, no. But unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.'" Or indeed, more correctly translated, "you will perish in like manner." There is a slight and important difference in meaning there.
Verse 4. "Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no. But unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." Verse 6. And he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vine dresser, 'Lo, these three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?' And he answered him, 'Let it alone, sir, this year also, till I dig about it and put on manure. And if it bears fruit next year, well and good. But if not, you can cut it down.'"
Now here we have a parable about a fig tree that is barren. And of course the question to be asked is, what is this fig tree telling us? What does the Lord Jesus want to say to us through this parable? Now last week we studied the parable of the rich fool, as it is called. And you will find that there is a progression in thoughts in these parables, in the arrangement of these parables. There are very many points of contact, of similarity between this parable and the parable of the rich fool. Both have to do with a fruitless spiritual life. And both end up getting cut down.
But there are also some important points of difference. That is to say, some points which come in this parable which do not come in the other parable. Now, in this parable we find two basic differences. The parable of the rich fool applies to any person. That is to say, Christian or non-Christian, Jew or Gentile, whatever. It is a very wide-ranging parable. Very suitable, for example, in an evangelistic meeting, because it applies to everyone. But the parable of the fig tree narrows the scope down, particularly to Christians or to Jews, that is, to the Israelites. It narrows it down to the people of God. And so the application is no longer to everybody, but particularly to the Jews, or by application to the new Israel, the church.
And the second thing about it is that we see that whereas there was no intercessor in the case of the rich fool, no one pleading on his behalf, on behalf of the church, or on behalf of the people of God, Israel, there is someone who intercedes, who asks for a delay of execution. Hold back the axe. You see, John the Baptist had already said to the Jews, the axe is already laid at the root of the tree. The act of judgment is going to take place very presently, very quickly now. And just as God's judgment is about to descend, you find the intercessor. You find this vine dresser who says, "I beseech you, delay the execution for just a little longer. Give this tree a little bit more time, just a little bit more."
The axe is laid at the root. Now, those of you who were at Magog, some of us were there having a good time chopping wood on one occasion. I remember Brother Joe particularly enjoyed this thing. He was so occupied with this wood chopping thing. He found this a great relaxation. And so did some of the others among us. We found that chopping wood requires some certain technique, you see. And one thing you find is that you have to lay the axe against the wood, lining up the line of chopping, as it were. You line up the axe against the point, and then you raise it, and you hopefully bring it back onto that point. Usually, without practice and experience, we miss the point that we had lined up by quite a few inches. And once or twice, we seem to be in danger, at least myself, of taking my own foot off instead of chopping the wood, you see. So what you do is you line up. So when it says the axe is laid at the root, it means the axeman is already lined up. He's lined up his mark against the tree, and the next swing is going to strike that tree right at the point that he has lined his axe at. And so the time for Israel has become very short, very, very short. The time is at hand.
Now, these are the two basic points. The first, then, to remind you is that this parable now is speaking to the church, that is, to you and to me. The first parable, we might say, speaks to everyone generally, including Christians, but also non-Christians. Now the Lord is speaking straight to us. And the second thing then is that it is telling us that though there is an intercessor, the time is short. The time is short. There is a limit to the time of grace.
But as a result of this, there comes forth another point. And the point is something that Christians seem to have utterly failed to grasp: that judgment is as much a reality for the church as for the non-Christian. There is a widespread error in the church today that Christians will not be judged. Well, if I read my Bible right, I don't see that kind of teaching in the Bible. What the Bible tells us is, in fact, that Christians will be judged more severely than the non-Christians. And this point I have mentioned elsewhere before. As God said to Israel, "You only have I known of all the peoples of the world; therefore I will judge you." Because you are my people, my standard for you is higher. I expect more from you than from those who do not know me. That is very easy to understand. But today we are constantly being told and assured, so it is called, not to say lulled to sleep, by saying that the church of God will not experience judgment. Strange, if that is the case, that Peter should say in his letter that judgment begins at the church of God. Judgment begins with the church.
Now, let me begin to describe to you this parable so that we get a clearer picture of the parable. Here in verse 6: "And he told this parable: a man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard." Now, the first question you might want to ask is, what is a fig tree doing in a vineyard? A vineyard is where you grow grapes, not figs. So some clever people might immediately think, "Aha, there must be a mistake here. I mean, you grow fig trees in an orchard, not in a vineyard." Well, to think in this way is not to be well informed. The fact is that the Jews planted a variety of fruit trees in their fruit fields and in their gardens. So it was very common practice to plant fruit trees in vineyards and to plant fruit trees even in vegetable gardens. That gave a variety of plants, and different plants apparently have different demands on the soil, and so it was good to switch things around a bit.
But here then we find, as we find in the rabbinic teaching very commonly, that different kinds of fruit trees were planted in the vineyard as well as in the vegetable gardens. The other thing we notice is that fig trees and vines — that is, grapes, vines are where grapes grow — are constantly mentioned together in the Old Testament. Very many times. They always are mentioned together, which indicates that these two types of plants were commonly grown together. There are far too many references for me to give you, but let's, if we stick to one book only, say in the book of Joel, the prophet Joel — and the reason I give you these references is because it has to do with this particular parable. In Joel chapter 1, verses 7 and 12, chapter 2 and verse 22, we find that there a fig tree and vine is mentioned together. But in chapter 1, verses 7 and 12, the fig tree and the vine have spiritual meaning. It appears to be a reference to Israel, the individual people in Israel.
And then we see that the Lord Jesus goes on to say that this fig tree, having been planted, he came to look for fruit on it, and he finds none. And he says in verse 7 to the vine dresser, "I have come now for three years looking for fruit on this fruit tree, and I don't find anything. And I must say that my patience with this fruit tree is gone. Cut it down. It is simply wasting the nourishment that it is drawing from the land."
Now, it says "three years I have come looking for fruit." We know from the Bible and from Jewish practice that when you plant a new fig tree or fruit tree, you do not take fruit from it, you do not expect any fruit from it for the first three years. So this means that when a person comes looking for the fruit, it is already in the fourth year of that tree. The first three years, you do not come looking for the fruit at all. You do not collect the fruit. You see this, for example, in Leviticus chapter 19, verse 23, and other sources in rabbinic writings, that the first three years, you do not look for fruit. That is, you don't pluck any fruit from the tree, you just let it grow. In the fourth year then, you come and look for fruit. Seeing that he has come to look for fruit for already three years, that means that this tree by now is already six years old. It has been six years since it was first planted.
Now, the significance of this number is, of course, not without point, because you can see now that the vine dresser is pleading for one more year. The figure brings it to the number seven, which as you know in the Bible is always a number of perfection, a perfect number. The idea then is to express God's perfect patience. He has waited a full seven years. His patience has been expressed to the fullest possible extent. Beyond that, it cannot go anymore. Beyond that, it would be irresponsible to let the tree continue in the ground. Because, as the verse tells us in verse 7, it is depleting the ground. "These three years, why should it use up the ground?" is the word there. It is making the ground unfruitful, using up the nourishment in the ground, and so depriving other trees which are fruitful from the nourishment that they need. It is therefore irresponsible to let it stay on any longer. It must come down.
So we find that this number of seven, when we've counted it together, by a little process of thinking and reasoning, you come to see the beauty of the parable, the beauty of that structure. So much is concealed in it. When you come to realize, that expresses God's perfect patience towards his people. He waits until there is simply no hope left whatsoever. Now notice that the owner of the vineyard doesn't take a lot of persuading. When the vine dresser says, "Give it one more year," he didn't say, "No, now it's finished, it's enough." But he willingly agrees and says, "Okay, I give it one more year, one more year." And so he comes to the fullness of seven, the perfect patience of God is being expressed.
It's also important to bear in mind, as we know from the agriculturalists, that a fig tree absorbs a great deal of nourishment. And therefore it is imperative not to let it stay around too long if it proves to be unfruitful, because it's going to weaken your soil. It's going to rob the nourishment from the soil. It soaks up a great deal. It's a very vigorous, very strong tree, and it soaks up a great deal of nourishment. And in a minute, we'll see the significance of this. This is the whole point of this parable, that you have a tree that only takes and gives nothing. It is absorbing, like so many people, absorbed into themselves, but they never give anything. Now here is the warning: if you are a Christian of this sort, God will not have long patience with that. If you are there just to collect and to receive spiritual riches into yourself, and produce nothing, then take heed that God will not tolerate this for an indefinite length of time. But we shall return to this in a moment.
Let us now consider also who is the vine dresser. We read here of the vine dresser who intercedes. So the question arises, who is the owner of the vineyard and who is the vine dresser? Now from the parables of the Lord Jesus, we know at once that the owner of the vineyard is God himself. Matthew 21, verses 33 and following, for example, will make it plain to us right away that God is pictured by the owner of this vineyard. He owns this vineyard. Then who then is the vine dresser? The picture also begins to get clear. Who else intercedes and pleads for mercy? Who is the mediator between God and man? Who is the mediator, the high priest in the church who pleads for his church? None other than Christ himself, of course, who is pleading for yet a little bit more mercy towards the church. Not because God is unwilling to grant it. Do you see that God the Father is very willing to grant it? But still, there must be someone who intercedes, and Jesus intercedes for us.
The beauty of this picture of Jesus as intercessor is seen also, for example, in Luke chapter 22 and verse 31. You remember where the Lord Jesus says in Luke 22:31 and the following verses, where the Lord Jesus says to Peter, "Peter, Peter, Satan desired to have you, but I have prayed for you. I have interceded for you." There he is again interceding for Peter, praying that Peter might still receive the full grace necessary to stand firm in the severe test that was coming ahead that Satan would put on him. It is a joy to know that the Lord intercedes for us. We have so many weaknesses, so many failings, so many inadequacies. None of us are without inadequacies. But it is a joy to know that the Lord is ever there, a high priest, merciful and gracious, pleading for us. I wonder where most of us would be if he hadn't constantly, over the years, interceded for us. Where would you and I be? How many times we might have fallen never to rise again, but he pleads for us, and we, by his grace, are lifted up once again out of the miry clay upon the solid rock.
So here then the picture becomes quite plain. But one more question then: what about the fig tree? But before we get to the fig tree, perhaps I should mention one more thing about the vine dresser. Here it pictures the Lord Jesus not only as intercessor, but pictures him as a servant. That's very important to see. In the Old Testament, the Lord Jesus is pictured as the suffering servant. He intercedes for us as having borne our iniquities and our sins in Isaiah 53. He is the servant. And the reason I mention this is when you study the word "vine dresser" in the Old Testament, you will notice that the word is always used with reference to a servant class, to the low class in society. If you look at, for example, Isaiah 61 and verse 5, or Jeremiah 52 and verse 16, or 2 Kings 25 and verse 12, you will find in all these places that the vine dresser is linked with the plowman, the person who plows the field, who stands behind the ox and guides the plow in the field. And it tells us in these passages that they are selected from the poorest of society. They are what is called the low class. But that is what the Lord Jesus came to stoop on high, to the lowest position on earth, as Philippians chapter 2 tells us. He took upon himself the form of a servant and was obedient unto death. This is the beauty that comes out in this picture. The incidental beauties that come out in what seems to be a parable which seems to say nothing very much. But how much riches is in this parable. In fact, far too many riches for me to go through today. And so, in fact, on this parable alone I can single out nine spiritual points. And if I were to go through all nine spiritual points, you would have an awful long time here. So I will dwell only on one central issue in a moment.
Now the next question is, who is or what is the fig tree representing? Well, the fig tree is a picture of Israel, as I have already hinted to you right at the beginning. Take for example the whole of Jeremiah chapter 24. In Jeremiah chapter 24, the Israelites are pictured, the individual Israelites are pictured as figs from the fig tree. That means the whole nation is pictured as one or more fig trees and the individual Israelites as the figs, in Jeremiah 24. So also I had mentioned Joel chapter 1 verse 7, and there it speaks of the attack upon Israel by the hostile northern power and stripping the fig tree and the vine. There the fig trees are representing the people of Israel and has much more than the literal fig trees in view.
Now we have the general picture of this parable of the fig tree. But one more thing needs to be said. Israel then is an unfruitful fig tree. The Lord Jesus is going to stress that in another parable which is known as the cursing of the fig tree, and we shall — which is an acted parable — and we shall return to that at a later occasion. And that was meant as a warning to Israel, acted out to them, that because they are an unfruitful fig tree, a barren fig tree, they shall come under condemnation. Many people have been puzzled by the cursing of the fig tree because they have not understood the spiritual meaning. It is an acted parable. Many prophets in the Old Testament acted out a parable, as you would know. Ezekiel did many strange things like lying on the street side leaning on one hand and eating rations, and people would say, "Then what are you doing here?" And Ezekiel would then be able to say to them, "Well, this is what's going to happen to Jerusalem. Jerusalem will come under siege. Jerusalem will have to live on rations when it becomes surrounded by the enemy." So he lay around this model of Jerusalem to act out a parable. He encompassed Jerusalem by lying around it and eating these rations. So from this we can see this important point, that parables also can be acted out rather than preached. And this is what the Lord Jesus did, especially if he wanted to make this point very memorable. We often remember better what we see than what we hear. And that's perhaps where a film ministry has a great value, such as what Gera is having in his heart to do. Because what we see we retain better than simply what we hear. And that is the reason for an acted parable.
Now the other thing to notice here is that this fig tree is not only given another year. God doesn't just give you another chance. But he does something positive. He digs about the tree and puts manure into the ground. He digs around and puts manure into the ground. Now the experts tell me, from what I read, that fig trees don't need this kind of treatment. Fig trees are sturdy, hardy trees that can fend for themselves. They don't need manure. And it is very unusual practice to put manure around a fig tree. That means to say the Lord is doing something very unusual for Israel. He is giving them an extra measure of grace. How this extra measure of grace comes about we see in the Lord's own teaching. Before he sent to them his prophets, now the Son himself has come to tend this fig tree, to speak to Israel. We in fact are getting, as it were, the benefit of this digging and this fertilizing, because we have been spoken to not by prophets but we listen to the word of Jesus himself. We live truly in this time of grace. But this time of grace is limited. It is not going to be indefinite, and that is very important to bear in mind.
So here God is doing everything possible to cause this fruitless fig tree to become fruitful. Now this is another important thing to bear in mind. If any person fails or falls in the church — that is to say, if any Christian falls away from the Lord — you can be sure that the responsibility is not God's but that person's own responsibility. God does absolutely everything that is possible to ensure that you will be able to go on from strength to strength. He is willing to provide you with all the grace that you need so that you have no excuse for failing. What excuse does this fig tree have for failing? What will it declare? Nothing at all. There is no excuse.
But one last question in this connection about the fig tree. Why is the fig tree chosen as an example here? Sometimes Israel is pictured as an olive tree, sometimes as a vine, but here as a fig tree. The fig tree is remarkable in this respect, and this shows the appropriateness of this picture about fruit. It is because the fig tree is a most fruitful tree. There is no tree that can beat the fig tree for fruitfulness, and therefore it is chosen as the picture. That which should have been most fruitful turns out to be not fruitful at all. You see, it is one of the rare fruit trees that can bear fruit for ten months of a year. Now I don't know of any tree that can do that. It can bear fruit in winter, it can bear fruit in spring, it can bear fruit in summer, it can bear fruit in autumn. It can go virtually all around the year. Ten months of the year, the experts say, a good fig tree can bear fruit. That is incredible.
In our garden where we live we have one plum tree and one apple tree. Now if the apple tree bears fruit for say three months or four months of the year it is regarded as a very good tree. Four months of the year. And our apple tree was very fruitful this year. I counted over 250 apples from that one small apple tree, after all I also dug, I also put fertilizer into it, and I worked at it because it was rather unfruitful before. But now it is becoming fruitful. And the plum tree that never brought forth fruit before this year even brought forth some plums. Some of the people staying with me jokingly said I threatened to cut it down unless it bear fruit, and so promptly this year it bore forth fruit.
And so here we are that we find that this apple tree can bring forth fruit about four or five months. I don't think anywhere near five months, but say at the maximum of about four months or even less than that, it brings forth just one crop of apples. But the fig tree brings forth crop after crop of figs. It is a most fruitful tree when it is sound, when it is healthy as it should be. And there you see the beauty of this parable. The contrast between a tree that should be most fruitful and yet brings forth nothing. That is very striking. How well chosen the Lord chooses his pictures. How full of riches is in his pictures in the parables that he uses.
But now then let us come to the spiritual lessons that are here. When God planted Israel, what did he plant Israel for? Why did God, when God saved us, why did he save us for? Bear this thing carefully in your minds, lest you think that God saved you just because you ought to be saved or because you wanted to be saved. The way the gospel is preached today in the churches, one would think that God's only purpose of being around is to make sure that we get to heaven. Now that kind of preaching is not scriptural preaching. God saved us in order that we might bear fruit. That is, we might bear forth spiritual fruit to his glory and to the blessing of others. That other people may be blessed, that he may be glorified, and we will have joy in doing both these things. But to preach salvation, as so many preachers preach today, as though salvation is simply that you get something and that's the end of the whole business, that you just get to heaven and that's all there is to salvation, is simply not biblical teaching. Biblical teaching is that you are saved so that you will bring forth much fruit.
Now secondly, notice: how will a fruitless fruit tree be able to bring forth fruit unless there is a complete and deep inner transformation? Now if in the seventh year this fruit tree brings forth fruit, that means that there has been a great and profound deep transformation in the fruit tree. Something has happened. It can be described as a miracle of regeneration in the fruit tree, because every expert knows that a fruit tree that has failed to bring forth fruit for six successive years is just not going to do anything anymore. Therefore, this vine dresser is actually looking for a miracle, because even the owner could tell him that there was no further hope for this fig tree. There is no hope for a fig tree that does not bring forth fruit so long. The vine dresser is looking for a miracle. He is looking for a miracle in the seventh year. That is to say, it is going to be an utter transformation in the fig tree. By God's power, that can be possible. Actually, an agriculturist will tell you that this parable would not apply in real life. It is very doubtful there was the slightest chance that this fig tree would bring forth anything, even another year or another five years for that matter. But here brings forth the supernatural, the spiritual element of this parable, that God is going to do a miracle. He is going to make it absolutely possible. His whole power and grace is now made available beyond measure for this fig tree.
Well, did it work? As far as Israel is concerned, it didn't. This is the tragedy of life, that although God's full power is made available to each one of us here, so that no one has a reason for failing, and yet the tragedy of it is that there are people who constantly fail in the church, and that there are whole churches that fail. Why is this so? Why is it that God's grace is not sufficient for you? Why is it that God's grace does not avail to save? Well, we have already said it is not because his grace is not enough, it's because of us. Why are you and I not going to be going on to the full measure of God's purposes for us if we don't attain it? It is not because his grace was not sufficient, but because of our own hardness and disobedience of heart. As I look at you all, I can see that God could make out of each one of you, each one of us, a mighty man or mighty woman of God. There is no reason for any of you to be spiritual pygmies. None whatsoever. Because God's creative resources are there to transform each one of us. Okay, you may have been a Christian up to now for six years or whatever, like this fig tree, and you have not brought forth much fruit. All right. But let me say this, God is still willing to give you one more year, still willing to make you the mighty man or woman that you should be, and that I should be. Now, if we do not attain to those things, it is the problem with us. That's the problem.
Now, this brings us to the point that a fig tree, of course, does not have any will or any decision. If there is something wrong with a fig tree, it is something organically wrong with that fig tree, something wrong with its constitution, that it doesn't bring forth fruit. But with us, if something is wrong with us, it is something wrong with us spiritually, and that always has to do with our will, our innermost attitude towards God. And so this brings me to the point about this fig tree. We have noticed that this fig tree only absorbs nourishment and gives nothing. Now that brings us exactly to the problem with so many Christians today. I find there are many Christians who are willing to rush to this and to rush to that. They are willing even to go to training, to Bible college, and so forth. They are willing to absorb what there is to absorb, to soak in the riches that are there, God's riches. I don't see anything coming out of them. I don't see the fruits coming out of them. I mean, when comes the end of the absorption and the beginning of giving something out? Or can we not at the same time as taking in also be giving something out?
Now, this is the problem with this fig tree. We are there, like this fig tree, just taking things in, soaking it up, year by year. And what comes out? What is the fruit? Now, the fruit is something that the Lord is looking for, and in the same way in John chapter 15, we see the same parable being expressed now in terms of the vine tree, of the vine. That God planted this vine in order that it might bring forth much fruit. It says in verse 8, in fact, that "herein is my Father glorified, that ye bring forth much fruit." And by this, that is by the fact that you bring forth much fruit, "are you my disciple." In other words, discipleship is tested in fruitfulness.
Well, what then is fruitfulness? What is meant by fruitfulness? Fruitfulness is expressed in two ways in the Bible. First, it is expressed in the qualitative change of your life, as we see in Galatians chapter 5, verses 22 and 23, the fruit of the Spirit. You bring forth the fruit of the Spirit, there is a qualitative change in your life. That is number one in the meaning of fruit bearing. And secondly, it means bringing forth good works. I am not afraid to use this word, "good works," because Paul is not afraid to use it. Colossians chapter 1, verse 10, "that you may be fruitful unto every good work." Colossians chapter 1, verse 10. Fruitful, in what way? In every good work.
So there must be first, and the order must be gotten right. The first is the qualitative change in your life. When you come to listen to the gospel week by week, one must be able to see that your life is changing. There is a qualitative change from what is bad to what is good, as we see in Romans. From what is selfish to what is loving. Qualitative change. And secondly, this qualitative change cannot say, "I have qualitative change." It must be expressed in what you do, in what you say, in how you live, in how you help others. That is expressed in the fruitful development.
# The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree (Part 2)
...that your time is running out. The axe is being lined up at the root of your tree. And one of these days you will fall, like so many Christians have fallen. Their time has just run out. And don't think that you have to wait to the day of judgment. Your time can well run out even now in this present time as it ran out for Israel. They didn't have to wait for the final judgment. They got cut down long before the final judgment. I have seen Christians cut down because they are wasting the soil on which they stand. They hinder other people. And God is going to deal with this at some time or other.
Bear always in mind, there is a limit to the time of grace. God's perfect patience is truly perfect. But there will be a limit. That is scriptural teaching, not my teaching. You see that also in the Old Testament. Proverbs chapter 6 and verse 15, for example. Proverbs chapter 29 and verse 1, for example. 2 Chronicles chapter 36 and verse 16, for example. And so on and so forth. That when a person has been often reproved, often reminded, often warned, often exhorted, and does not listen, he will be suddenly cut off. And that's without remedy. Don't think that you are okay until the day of judgment. That is another fallacy. Many have fallen long before that time.
But now then, let us examine this attitude which always regards it as desirable just to take in. They seem, for example, to think of the church as a place to absorb spiritual riches, but to give nothing. That having taken in, they just disappear as quickly as possible. After all, they got what they wanted. What else do they want? Off to go. It's not that there's any desire to minister, to give, out of that which they have received.
Now there, I would like to stop for a few moments before we close, to ponder this part. The Lord has a teaching in Acts chapter 20 and verse 35. These words are quoted — the Lord's words are quoted by the Apostle Paul — in which he says, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Now the great problem with this fig tree is that it never learned this lesson. It never had a change of attitude. It thought it was more blessed to receive than to give. And so it gave nothing. It just came and soaked in. But the Apostle Paul quotes in Acts chapter 20 the Lord's words, chapter 20 and verse 35. These words of the Lord Jesus do not appear in the Gospels, but are known to the Apostle Paul, and he quotes these words here. "It is more blessed to give than to receive."
Let's try to analyze this thought for a moment, and then compare whether that's your thinking or not, whether that's my thinking or not. And I can guarantee you that that is simply not the thinking in the church today. And the church, brothers and sisters, is in big trouble. This parable is directed to Israel. This parable is directed to the new Israel as well. Because we are told in 1 Corinthians 10 that what was said to Israel of old, all the things that happened to Israel of old, is a warning to the church today. That what happened to them can and will happen to us. What is more, the Apostle Paul reminds us of exactly that very thing in Romans chapter 11 and verse 22. He said, indeed, Israel got cut down. But he said to us Christians, in Romans 11, verse 22, that unless you remain in the goodness of God and in his kindness, and persevere in his kindness, you also will be cut off.
Now today, the church doesn't want to listen to this. They don't want to hear this. Just like Israel of old didn't want to hear that. They were annoyed at the prophets of God, like Jeremiah, who told them this. Today, they don't want to hear this too. And those of us who warn the church of that are being constantly maligned and attacked. That's alright. I am here to please God, not to please men. I am here to preach his word, and not to preach the words of men. God says this, and I have to say it. Paul warns us. They got cut off, it's true. And you also will be cut off unless you abide in his kindness and you stand fast in faith.
Now, this is the mentality we are brought up in. I remember I was brought up in the mentality as a Christian that every time I got something for nothing, I thought, "How God has blessed me." I find this mentality among Christians so common today. We regard ourselves as blessed because somebody gave us something for which we didn't have to pay. That's God's blessing to us. So if you got suddenly, out of the blue, a salary increase, that's God's blessing. If somebody gave you a nice jacket or a nice pullover, that's God's blessing. Well, sure, these are God's blessings, you know. No one is denying that. That is God's blessing. But if we stop there, we are going to be in disaster. Because then we develop a mentality that God's blessing means only that I receive. That's blessing. But when I give, that's not blessing.
Now, if we understood the Lord's teaching, it's in fact the other way around. The person who gave you the jacket, or the person who gave you the money in your need, the person who gave you the pullover or whatever, is more blessed than you are. It is more blessed to give than to receive. That person gets more blessing from God than you do. How we need to change our thinking. So next time, when you receive a gift of money, thank God for it. But remember this: that person who gave it to you is more blessed than you are before God. That person is more blessed. So it is blessed to receive. It is a blessing to receive. But it is even a greater blessing to give. It is more blessed to give than to receive, the Lord says.
Now, that is a mentality that is completely contrary to our natural thinking. And that is a thinking that this fig tree, if I may put the picture on there, simply never learned. It thought it is a blessing to soak up the riches, to grab, to get, and never to give. And there are so many Christians just like that today.
Have you ever felt, for example, that when you put the money into the offering, you thought, "Ha, that is ten dollars I will never see again." But when you go to the shop and you put in ten dollars, well, you got something for it. I mean, you received something for it. You got maybe a pair of gloves, or a scarf, or whatever it is you bought for ten dollars. You got something to look at for your ten dollars. When you put money into the offering box, you got nothing for the ten dollars. Nothing. And if you give it to a brother or sister in need, what did you get for ten dollars? You got nothing. And so we think, well, it's more blessed to receive than to give. What a mistake. What a mistake. Let us learn to transform our thinking. Let us let God change our hearts and our thinking. Otherwise, we are going to end up like this fig tree, and we are going to be in trouble.
Now, why is it more blessed to give than to receive? More blessed means God blesses you more. That's what it means. It is more blessed because God will give you more blessing. Now when you receive a gift, that is a blessing. But you have already received your blessing. The person who gives it is only then going to receive his blessing from God. Now when you receive, say, a jacket, you receive the material blessing. The person who gave you the jacket lost the jacket, but he got spiritual blessing. Do you see? Do you understand the logic of that?
It's more blessed to give than to receive because it is more pleasing to God. That's the first point. It is more pleasing to God. And it is more pleasing to God because it expresses faith and love. Faith and love. Why does it express faith, first of all? Well, it expresses faith because the person who gives for the Lord's sake is not looking for a material gain. Now, you must have faith in order to do that. A person who puts, let us say, ten dollars in the offering box, if he puts it in because of the love of God and not just out of some sense of duty alone, he puts it in knowing he will not get any material benefit from this ten dollars. So why does he put it in? Only unless he has faith. Unless he has faith, he will not put it in. But he puts it in because he looks for spiritual blessing in return, not material blessing.
That is why I thank God for those people. I know their faith from this very fact: that they don't look for any human return. You remember when we were at the old church, how wonderfully also God did amazing things. At one time, we had somebody throw in, literally throw in, somewhere flying in through the door, simply with the name of the church on it, a gift of three hundred dollars. And the next time, the envelope flew in with four hundred dollars. And we have never been able to trace who was the giver. And another time, the envelope arrived in the church and flew in through the door, somehow again, with seven hundred dollars. Who is this person who would give seven hundred dollars, and a total of well over a thousand dollars, nearly a thousand five hundred dollars, not even wanting to be recognized as to who he is or who she is? I don't know who. But giving it — why? This person does that, and by doing this anonymously, he will not even get a word of thank you, because we don't even know who the person is. But a person like that expresses his faith, or her faith, in the Lord. Because this person is looking for reward from God. That is faith. Not looking for reward from men. No one without faith can do such a thing.
You remember another time, we were sitting at Bible study, and somebody banged on the door. And I went to the door and opened it. And I looked up and down the street, and I couldn't see anybody. There's no one to be seen. And there stood outside this gift of the cassette recorder. That is recording right to this day the messages. This stereo cassette recorder that we are using to this day. That was a gift that came in. That recorder costs two or three hundred dollars. And there were earphones and everything provided with the cassette recorder. Who did this? We don't know. But this person who gave this recorder to the church was concerned that God's word may be recorded and bring blessing to others. But was not looking for any recognition or any reward. We don't know who the person is. That is the expression of faith. They look for their reward from God, not from men. They don't want any reward from men.
And it expresses love, because as you can see, a person who bought this recorder, for example, was thinking about the blessing that will come to others through God's word. What does he get from that? Nothing. But he expresses his love and concern that others can receive God's life-giving word. That's love. A love that does not seek any praise from men, that does not look for recognition, that does not look for reward. That is the expression of faith and love.
Now, it follows then that the reverse — the person who seeks to receive rather than to give — has neither faith nor love. That is precisely the condition of this fig tree being expressed. It soaks in nourishment and gives nothing. It has neither faith nor love. But the person who gives and regards it as more blessed to give than to receive — can you see now? — expresses both faith and love. Therefore, it is saved. It is saved through faith that works by love. You see that the whole doctrine of salvation is found even in this verse, in this parable. It is so beautiful, God's parables, the teaching of the Lord Jesus.
And so, on this point, I would like to close for today. I would like you and me to examine our thinking. How do we feel about this thing? I thank God for many of you in this church, because I know that you have faith and love. And I know it by the way that you give. Now, I may not know who gives and who gives how much. And I am not interested to know that. These matters the treasurer deals with; I don't deal with this kind of thing. But I know, when I look at the figures, that there are many people in this church who give, and give sacrificially. And I thank God for them, because it expresses their faith and their love. They don't look for material gain. They look for that reward that comes from God. They are like Abraham, who seek not a city in this world, but a city that has foundations, that abides forever, namely the new Jerusalem. They look for the kingdom of God.
Now, many of us, though, I find still need to learn ever more deeply this faith and this love, of learning to pour out ourselves — not only in terms of money, but in terms of our time, of our energy, of our concern — the way that we think more about others than about ourselves. That is so fundamental. I pray to God that we may change in this way, that God may have the fruit in our lives and so be well pleased.
You see, fruit — when you think of this fig tree, the fruit that comes from the fig tree is eaten by whom? By the fig tree? No, the fig tree doesn't eat its own fruit. The fig tree only gives the fruit away. It gets nothing. It soaks up the nourishment indeed in order to produce fruit that will be the joy of others, that nourishes other people, that brings glory to God, for which people give thanks to God for this delicious fruit. You know, sometimes when I eat the fruit and it tastes so delicious, my heart is just filled with thanksgiving to God. I say, "Lord, how come you created something so delicious?" During the summer, there are those delicious peaches, you know. Oh, so juicy. It's so delicious, indescribably delicious, and it really causes you to worship God. I often say, "Lord, there's no cook in the world that can produce something as delicious as this. It is just so good, your creation, your design, that you made these fruits for our enjoyment and our nourishment." I mean, we could eat things which are pretty tasteless and they still nourish us, but God has such love for us that not only does he give us the good nourishment, but he makes it so delicious on top of that. Oh, that is so good.
And so, in the same way, we should produce the fruit — not only as enough to cram down somebody's throat and might just about keep them alive, but may the fruit be fragrant, and delicious, and beautiful. Look at the peach: the color is beautiful, the form is beautiful, the smell is beautiful, the taste is beautiful. What else can you ask? Everything that God does is so wonderful. Some Christians just about keep going and just about manage to survive, and they produce something or other, whatever it is, if you can call it fruit, that might be not all that good tasting, but if you eat it, you might just about keep alive — which makes me think of some forms of preaching. But how much more wonderful if that fruit is delicious and tasteful. Oh, may God make us beautiful, that others may be blessed, our own hearts rejoice, and above all, God is glorified.
I really would like you to ponder these words in Acts 20:35, because there is the key to this parable: "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Now we don't learn this lesson very quickly, but may God transform us that we may learn this wonderful lesson. Then we will go forth and become a channel of God's grace in this world. Then will come the day when people will say, "I thank God for the day I met you. It was such a blessing to meet you, to know you, because through you I tasted the good fruits of God's mercy. Through you I received the fruits of life. You became a tree of life to me that sustained me when I was famished, when I was dying of hunger. You nourished me." And you will say, "I am nothing but what I am by the grace of God. Nothing that I have that I didn't receive. I received this, and I passed it on to you in the form of fruits, and all that is God's grace."
Would that this whole church become a church that is a vineyard of God, full of these luscious fig trees that bring forth delicious fruit. Let us be quiet before God in prayer. Thank you.