“But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
6 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’
8 “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”
The fig tree in this passage of scripture, and in others, is a depiction of “Israel,” which today is the church, i.e. only true believers in Jesus Christ are God’s people. We are God’s vineyard that he has planted on this earth to bear fruit for Him and for His kingdom. He has given us plenty of time to bear fruit. The man taking care of the vineyard is truly Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit, though God has also chosen human shepherds to care for his vineyard, as well. The man asking for one more year thus could be a picture of Jesus’ grace in giving us more time or it could be a picture of the compassion of those in Christ Jesus who are crying out to God for revival in the church and are asking God for more time in order for the vineyard, i.e. the church, to be fruit bearing before God brings his final judgment on the earth.
The man (God) who planted the vineyard asked the question, “Why should it use up the soil?” I believe that is a picture of much of today’s church where believers in Jesus Christ are just “using up the soil” but are not being fruit bearing disciples of Jesus Christ. And, I believe the “digging around it” and the “fertilizer” is going to involve a process of revival which includes hardships, trials, tribulations, etc. in order to bring God’s people back into a right relationship with Him. If a person has cancer, part of that healing process involves digging the cancer out and applying treatments to see that the cancer does not return. To get the church back to where it needs to be in relationship with Jesus Christ as fruit-bearing disciples, this kind of digging out of the cancer, i.e. heart surgery is what is needed. And, then the wound needs to be treated with the truth of God’s word for healing to take place.
A friend asked my husband and me to study 2 Peter 1 this week, taking it one phrase at a time, so we have begun that process. Beginning with verse 3:
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.
10 Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
I saw immediately how this portion of 2 Peter 1 went right along with the story of the fig tree. When we believe in Jesus Christ and we repent of our sin, digging takes place as we must allow Jesus to eradicate (to destroy or get rid of something completely, so that it can never recur or return) from our lives our past sins. Sometimes, over the course of time, old sin habits begin to creep their way back into our lives for various reasons, partly which is because we are not doing the things described here in vv. 3-11 of 2 Peter 1. If we are not doing these things, then we are vulnerable to fall again into a pattern of sin and to forget that we have been cleansed from sin, not just from the ultimate penalty of sin but cleansed from bondage to and the control of sin over our lives. [Eradicate: definition from Encarta.]
Yet, if we do these things, they serve as fertilizer to our souls in helping us to grow spiritually, to be fruit-bearing disciples, to escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires, and to be effective and productive in our understanding of who Jesus is, what his word teaches us, and in the application of his truths to our daily lives.
Prophecy of Scripture
12 So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. 13 I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, 14 because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.
16 We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” 18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.
19 And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
Immediately the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart as I read these words. I recalled how he has given understanding of the application of his word to today and how he is revealing to many of us that we are living on borrowed time, i.e. we are nearing the end of time as we know it. Peter, in realizing the shortness of his time left on the earth (in the tent of his body) recognized that he needed to make every effort to see that after he left this earth that he would leave something behind that would always be a reminder to Jesus’ followers as to the truth of Jesus’ teachings concerning how we are to live out our daily lives. This is called leaving a legacy, i.e. something that is handed down to those we leave behind.
I see that this passage of scripture describes many ways in which we can leave behind us a legacy that will help future generations to live righteously before God. The first and foremost is that we have faith in Jesus Christ and that added to that faith are the qualities of goodness, knowledge (understanding), self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love. Second to that is that we share the truths of God’s word, the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the pattern for godly living described in God’s word with the people in our lives so that when we are gone, they will be reminded of the things we have taught them by our lives as well as by the words that we have spoken.
When I read in v. 19, “And we have the word of the prophets made more certain…” what immediately came to mind is that the words the prophets spoke concerning the final days on the earth are now being made more certain through current world events as we are seeing more prophecy of scripture being played out before us on the world stage day by day. The Lord spoke in scripture of the necessity of us recognizing the signs of the times and of not being deceived via the great deception of the last days, so when v. 19 said, “…and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts,” I could not help but think of these warnings all through scripture to pay attention, to wake from our slumber, to watch and wait, and to not be deceived. We need to be paying attention, not only to our own lives and in making sure we are living holy lives, but we also need to be watching and listening to what is going on in our world so that we can see how the words of the prophets are being made more certain as The Day approaches, so that we are moved in our spirits to be fruit-bearing disciples of Jesus Christ instead of just taking up space.
The Lord put this song in my mind this afternoon. This is the prayer of my heart:
Constantly Abiding / Anne S. Murphy
There’s a peace in my heart that the world never gave,
A peace it cannot take away;
Though the trials of life may surround like a cloud,
I’ve a peace that has come here to stay!
All the world seemed to sing of a Savior and King,
When peace sweetly came to my heart;
Troubles all fled away and my night turned to day,
Blessèd Jesus, how glorious Thou art!
This treasure I have in a temple of clay,
While here on His footstool I roam;
But He’s coming to take me some glorious day,
Over there to my heavenly home!
Constantly abiding, Jesus is mine;
Constantly abiding, rapture divine;
He never leaves me lonely, whispers, O so kind:
“I will never leave thee,” Jesus is mine.
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