Where those who are prominent turn out to be all they
profess to be, they are a great blessing. It would have been
well if that morning there had been figs upon that fig tree.
It would have been a great refreshment to the Saviour if he
had been fed by the green fruit. When the Lord makes the
first in position to be first in holiness, it is a blessing
to the church, to the family, and to the neighborhood;
indeed, it may prove to ba a blessing to the whole world. We
ought, therefore, to pray the Lord to water with his own
hand those trees which he has planted; or, in other words,
to uphold by his grace those men of his right hand whom he
has made strong for himself.
But when we take the text and lay it home to our own hearts,
we need not be so gentle with it as in the cases of others.
We have, many of us, for long years been like this fig-tree,
as to prominence and profession. And in this matter, so far,
there is nothing of which to be ashamed. Yet it is evidently
to ourselves that the parable speaks; for we have stood in
open avowal and distinct service by the wayside, and we have
been seen “afar off.” Certain of us have made a very bold
profession, and we are not ashamed to repeat that profession
before men and angels. Hence the enquiry: Are we truthful in
it? What if we should turn out to be contending for a faith
in which we have no share? What if in us there should be
none of the life of love, and consequently our profession
should be “as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal”? What if
there should be talk, and no work; doctrine, and no
practice? What if we are without holiness? Then we shall
never see the Lord. Whatever terrible aspect this parable-
miracle may have, it bears upon many of us. I, the preacher,
feel how much it bears upon me. In that spirit have I
thought it over, anxiously trusting that every deacon and
every elder of this church, and every member and every
worker among you, may have great searchings of heart. May
every minister of Christ who may have dropped in here this
morning, say to himself, “Yes, I have been like that fig
tree in prominence and in profession; God grant that I be
not like it in being devoid of fruit!”
II. It is time that we remembered the solemn truth of our
second head: THESE WILL BE INSPECTED BY KING JESUS.
He will draw nigh to them, and when he comes up to them he
will look for fruit. The first Adam came to the fig tree for
leaves, but the Second Adam looks for figs. He searches our
character through and through, to see whether there is any
real faith, any true love, any living hope, any joy which is
the fruit of the Spirit, any patience, any self-denial, any
fervour in prayer, any walking with God, any indwelling of
the Holy Spirit; and if he does not see these things, he is
not satisfied with chapel-going, church-going, prayer
meetings, communions, sermons, Bible readings; for all these
may be no more than leafage. If our Lord does not see the
fruit of the Spirit upon us, he is not satisfied with us,
and his inspection will lead to severe measures. Notice that
what Jesus looks for is not your words, not your resolves,
not your avowals, but your sincerity, your inward faith,
your being indeed wrought upon by the Spirit of God to bring
forth fruits meet for his kingdom.
Our Lord has a right to expect fruit when he looks for it.
When he went up to that fig tree he had a right to expect
fruit; because the fruit, according to nature, comes before
the leaf. If, then, the leaf has come, there should be
fruit. True, it was not the time of figs; but then, if it
was not the time of figs, it certainly was not the season
for leaves, for the figs are first. This tree, by putting
forth leaves, which are the signs and tokens of ripe figs,
virtually advertised itself as bearing fruit. So, however
bad the times may be, some of us profess that we will not
follow the times, but will follow the one immutable truth.
As Christians, we confess that we are redeemed from among
men, and have been delivered from this perverse generation.
Christ may not expect fruit of men who acknowledge the world
and its changing ages as their supreme guide; but he may
well look for it from the believer in his own Word. He looks
for fruit from the preacher, from the Sunday-school teacher,
from the church- officer, from the sister who conducts a
Bible class, from that brother who has a band of young men
around him, to whom he is a guide in the gospel. He does
expect it of all who submit to his gospel rule. As Christ
had a right to expect fruit of a leaf- bearing fig tree, so
he has a right to expect great things from those who avow
themselves his trustful followers. Ah me! how this fact
should move the preacher with trembling! Should it not
affect full many of you in the same manner?
Fruit is what the Lord earnestly desires. The Saviour, when
he came under the fig tree, did not desire leaves; for we
read that he hungered, and human hunger cannot be removed by
leaves of a fig tree. He desired to eat a fig or two; and he
longs to have fruit from us also. He hungers for our
holiness: he longs that his joy may be in us, that our joy
may be full. He comes up to each of you who are members of
his church, and especially to each of you who are leaders of
his people, and he looks to see in you the things in which
his soul is well pleased. He would see in us love to
himself, love to our fellow-men, strong faith in revelation,
earnest contention for the once delivered faith, importunate
pleading in prayer, and careful living in every part of our
course. He expects from us actions such as are according to
the law of God and the mind of the Spirit of God; and if he
does not see these, he does not receive his due. What did he
die for but to make his people holy? What did he give
himself for but that he might sanctify unto himself a people
zealous of good works? What is the reward of the bloody
sweat and the five wounds and the death agony, but that by
all these we should be bought with a price? We rob him of
his reward if we do not glorify him, and therefore the
Spirit of God is grieved at our conduct if we do not show
forth his praises by our godly and zealous lives.
“This article originally appeared here at Bible Bulletin Board.”
