Many of you know the parable of the fig tree. I want to draw your attention to its fate. Let us have a look at what the Word of God is telling us here.
Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, "Let no fruit grow on you ever again." Immediately the fig tree withered away. And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, "How did the fig tree wither away so soon?"
Matthew 21:18-20
So Jesus went up to a fig tree to satisfy His hunger, but found no fruit on it and said: "Let no fruit grow on you ever again". How are we to understand this? Can it really be that Jesus cursed the fig tree just because He was hungry and there were no fruit on the tree? Or maybe he was experimenting. He had power and He was wanting to demonstrate that power. No, that was not the case. Well, what then does this parable teach us?
Jesus, the Son of God, knew that everything that God has created has a particular function and purpose. The fig tree was created that it might bear fruit and feed hungry people. Jesus walked to the tree at a time when it was supposed to be bearing fruit, but He found nothing on it except for leaves. So He cursed the fig tree because it was not fulfilling its purpose.
Everything that God has created has a particular function and a specific purpose. For example, every tree (not just the trees that produce fruit) is created for some kind of purpose, and when people thoughtlessly destroy them, irreversible ecological changes take place.
Everything that God does is for a specific purpose.
So if God does not do anything just for the sake of it, then it surely follows that everything you see must exist for a particular purpose.
God gave you life for a purpose. You have a particular purpose to fulfill, and you must understand what this purpose is and fulfil that particular purpose. So if God has created you, then there are specific tasks that He has purposed for you to accomplish, tasks which only you and nobody else can fulfill.
You may not know what this purpose is yet, but this doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist.
Each one of us has to be aware of his or her purpose in life. If we don’t know for what purpose we have been created and what our calling is, then we will inevitably misuse our life and our time. There are many people who live without a purpose, without a dream, without a vision for the future. They simply exist and bear no fruit.
But misuse is the same as destruction, the same as inevitable ruin. In the Bible we read: "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" (Hosea 4:6). That means, ignorance and lack of knowledge can be the cause of a Christian’s ruin.
Hear the word of the Lord, You children of Israel, For the Lord brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: "There is no truth or mercy Or knowledge of God in the land. By swearing and lying, Killing and stealing and committing adultery, They break all restraint, With bloodshed upon bloodshed. Therefore the land will mourn; And everyone who dwells there will waste away With the beasts of the field And the birds of the air; Even the fish of the sea will be taken away.
Hosea 4:1-3
Ignorance is dangerous, because it leads to ruin and destruction. But knowledge gives freedom. That’s why it is written: "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). The truth on its own can not make you free. You are made free when you know the truth. Knowledge is your strength.
Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding. Let not mercy and truth forsake you. Bind them around your neck. Write them on the tablet of your heart.
Proverbs 3:13,3
Without knowledge there is no progress, there is no development. Apply maximum effort. Do all you possibly can to acquire knowledge. Knowledge is the light that dispells the darkness of ignorance. Some people have a high position in society because of their vast knowledge in one area or another. For example, your boss at work. He is the boss because he knows more than the rest of you. Why has a particular person become your leader at church? Because he has reached a particular level. He has reached a level that you have not yet reached. He knows things that you still don’t know. Even if you already hold some kind of position, unless you have the necessary knowledge and understanding that goes along with it, you may end up losing your position to someone else who does have it.
So it’s knowledge, then, that guarantees your security and direction in life. Keep striving to perfect yourself in your own particular area or field, press on to learn as much as you possibly can. Grow spiritually by reading and studying the Bible and other Christian books, and by listening to sermons.
Remember: where there is no knowledge of purpose, misuse, ruin and destruction are inevitable.
Ignorance is darkness. You know that the devil, who is the prince of darkness, wants people to be kept in ignorance, because that gives him the possibility of ruling over them. He will always rule over you in those areas of life where things are still not fully clear to you.
But as for those who have come to God, their lives have changed. The knowledge of the Word of God has made them free. The light of God’s truth has dispersed their darkness and joy has come into their lives. Depression and feelings of hopelessness have all been left behind in the past. By the stripes of Jesus they have been healed, and so they don’t allow the devil to oppress them anymore through sickness. They know that the joy of the Lord is their strength and their fortress. They are no longer afraid of people, because they know that it is the devil who is trying to lure them into a net of fear. God, however, has not given them a "a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7).
But how can a person find out what is his purpose and calling is in life? Don’t just look at the different possibilities you have and try to work things out for yourself. If you want to know what your purpose and calling is, then go to God and ask Him for what purpose He created you, ask Him what that calling is that He has ordained for your life. God brought you into the church and you came to your Creator, so you are already right there at the source of all knowledge. God is your Creator and He’s the only one who knows what your purpose and calling is in life.
But before God can reveal things to you and open up that calling to you, you will have to go through a time of waiting and preparation, during which the principle of being faithful in "what is least" starts to operate.
He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.
Luke 16:10
In order to prove to God your faithfulness in "what is least", you have to get involved in some kind of ministry in the church.
The person who is faithful in "what is least", God will make him "ruler over many things".
God will reveal to you what your calling is, but before He does that, He gives you the opportunity to prove yourself, by giving you a small task to do, that will help you grow and equip you with the knowledge you may need later for some greater, more important task. You are in God’ house, in the house of your Creator. He knows what you have been called to do and at an appointed time He will reveal to you what your purpose and calling is in life.
My son, if you receive my words and treasure my commands within you, so that you incline your ear to wisdom and apply your heart to understanding; yes, if you cry out for discernment and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding; He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly; He guards the paths of justice and preserves the way of His saints.
Proverbs 2:1-8
If you fulfill your calling, you will be happy and you won’t ever suffer the fate of that fig tree.
Many of you think, when you read that parable, that Jesus cursed the fig tree because He couldn’t satisfy his hunger from it. But I want to demonstrate to you that this was not the case.
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." But He answered and said, "It is written, ’Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ "
Matthew 4:1-4
Jesus fasted for forty days and when He got hungry, the devil started to tempt Him, saying: "if You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread" (Matthew 4:3). But Jesus resisted the temptation. He knew that He had to fulfill God’s purpose for His life. Jesus cursed the fig tree for the sole reason that it did not fulfill the purpose for which God had created it. And that same fate awaits any person who does not fulfill that purpose for which God has created him.
For example, when Jesus entered Jerusalem, the people didn’t understand that Jesus was the Messiah. Jesus looked at the temple and spoke out in prophecy that this beautiful, majestic temple would be destroyed.
Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation."
Luke 19:41-44
Jerusalem did not know "the time of its visitation". Ignorance and lack of knowledge result in ruin and destruction.
During the time of the Roman empire, Christians were persecuted. Because of this God’s vengeance came and the Roman empire fell. In the Soviet Union, the preaching of the Gospel was prohibited and now this country, the Soviet Union, doesn’t exist any more. The fate of the fig tree awaits any country, any nation that does not fulfill God’s purpose and plan and that does not seek to know God. This law applies to nations and governments and to individuals as well.
You are a people ordained for a purpose. You are a people with a goal to reach. I believe that each one of you is going to bear fruit for the Kingdom of God.
Don’t let your fate be like the fate of that fig tree. Start doing something and God will bring you to the place where you will be able to fulfill your calling.
I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.
John 9:4
You must work hard, serve God and be totally committed to fulfilling your calling. If you do that, then you will not suffer the fate of the fig tree.
In the Bible it says that "to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift" (Ephesians 4:7) so that you can fulfill your calling. There are different ministries: "To one is given the word of wisdom..., to another the word of knowledge ..., to another faith..., to another gifts of healings..., to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills" (2 Corinthians 12:8-11). If you are persistent in your search, God will reveal to you what your specific ministry is. But each one of you, yes, every Christian is called to the ministry of preaching the Gospel, to fulfilling the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ.
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
Matthew 28:19,20
Ask the Lord to open up for you the way to the knowledge of the truth. Ignorance is dangerous, because in the darkness of ignorance the devil reigns. Ignorance leads to destruction. Receive the light of God that dispells the darkness, that breaks the chains of hell and sets people free to know about their purpose and calling in life. Be faithful in "what is least". Minister right there where God has put you. Fulfil your calling and bear fruit. Justify the trust the Lord has put in you. Glorify His name. Spread the light of the Gospel throughout the whole world.
I believe that the fate of the fig tree will not be your fate. You will have authority to rule in this world because you shall have knowledge. You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
