7/14/02

FAITH BIBLE CHURCH - www.faithbiblechurch.net

RAY RUSS - PASTOR-TEACHER

MATTHEW:  THE KING HAS COME, WEEK 165  

TITLE: THE PARABLE OF THE FIG TREE  

TEXT:  MATTHEW 24: 32-35

INTRODUCTION: (1) THE THEME OF CHRIST’S SECOND COMING PERMEATES THE NEW TESTAMENT AND IS THE GREAT ANTICIPATORY REALITY OF CHRISTIAN LIVING.

* THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST IS NOT A POSSIBILITY BIBLICALLY – FICTION, BUT A REALITY THAT WILL TAKE PLACE JUST AS SURE AS HIS FIRST COMING, A FACT OF SCRIPTURE.

** AND AMONG THE MANY PASSAGES IN SCRIPTURE THAT DESCRIBE THE LORD’S COMING AGAIN, MATTHEW 24&25 IS UNEQUALED BECAUSE IT IS THE MESSAGE FROM JESUS’ OWN LIPS ABOUT HIS RETURN.

*** IN IT HE SPEAKS OF SOME BIRTH PAIN SIGNS THAT WILL PRECEDE HIS RETURN AND THE SUPREME SIGN OF HIS PERSONAL APPEARANCE AND COMING WITH POWER AND GREAT GLORY, WHICH WE LOOKED AT LAST SUNDAY.

**** NOW TODAY IN OUR TEXT, JESUS GIVES ANOTHER PARABLE ABOUT A FIG TREE, WHICH SUMMARIZES AND ILLUSTRATES WHAT HE HAD JUST SAID PRIOR TO THIS, AND ACTS AS A TRANSITION TO HIS ANSWER TO THE DISCIPLE’S QUESTION ABOUT WHEN HIS COMING WOULD BE IN V. 3 OF MATTHEW 24 (READ IT).

(2)  NOW IN ANSWERING THIS QUESTION TODAY IN OUR TEXT, JESUS GIVES A BRIEF PARABLE TO UNDERSCORE THE LESSON HE HAS BEEN TEACHING THEM.

* AND UNDERSTAND THAT PARABLES HAD A TWO-FOLD PURPOSE IN JESUS’ MINISTRY.

** WHEN UNEXPLAINED, THEY CONCEALED TRUTH; WHEN EXPLAINED, THEY REVEALED TRUTH.

*** FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN JESUS GAVE A PARABLE TO THE MULTITUDES OR TO THE UNBELIEVING RELIGIOUS LEADERS WITHOUT ALSO GIVING AN EXPLANATION, IT WAS A RIDDLE TO THEM.

**** WHEN HE GAVE A PARABLE TO HIS DISCIPLES AND EXPLAINED IT, IT WAS A VIVID ILLUSTRATION THAT MADE A TRUTH CLEAR AND UNDERSTANDABLE, AN EARTHLY ILLUSTRATION OF A DIVINE PRINCIPLE.

(3)  TO FURTHER ILLUSTRATE BIBLICALLY WHAT I MEAN, WHEN THE DISCIPELS ASKED JESUS IN MATTHEW 13:10&11&13, “WHY DO YOU SPEAK TO THEM (THE MULTITUDES) IN PARABLES? 

* HE REPLIED, “TO YOU IT HAS BEEN GRANTED TO KNOW THE MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, BUT TO THEM IT HAS NOT BEEN GRANTED… THEREFORE, I SPEAK TO THEM IN PARABLES, BECAUSE WHILE SEEING THEY DO NOT SEE, AND WHILE HEARING THEY DO NOT HEAR, NOR DO THEY UNDERSTAND.”

** THEN JESUS SAID TO HIS DISCIPLES IN MATTHEW 13:16&18, “BUT BLESSED ARE YOUR EYES, BECAUSE THEY SEE; AND YOUR EARS, BECAUSE THEY HEAR.”

*** AND THEN JESUS PROCEEDED TO TELL THEM THE MEANING OF THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER.

**** NOW IN LIGHT OF THE FACT THAT JESUS’ PARABLES WERE GIVEN FOR THE SAKE OF HELPING THE DISCIPLES UNDERSTAND HIS TEACHING.

(4)  IT IS EVIDENT THAT HE TOLD THE PARABLE OF THE FIG TREE TO GIVE THEM FURTHER LIGHT ABOUT HIS SECOND COMING.

* BUT UNFORTUNATELY, THIS PARABLE, LIKE MANY OTHERS, HAS OFTEN BEEN MADE CONFUSING AND MISLEADING BY THOSE WHO VIEW IT AS A COMPLICATED ALLEGORY RATHER THAN A SIMPLE ANALOGY.

** AND BELOVED OUR MESSAGE TODAY IS A SIMPLE ANALOGY GIVING FURTHER LIGHT ABOUT THE TIMING OF CHRIST’S SECOND COMING.

*** IN LIGHT OF THAT, I’VE SIMPLY TITLED OUR MESSAGE TODAY, “THE PARABLE OF THE FIG TREE”.

**** AND IN THIS PARABLE AND PASSAGE WE’LL LOOK AT 3 THINGS.  NO. 1 THE ANALOGY, V. 32; NO. 2 THE APPLICATION, VV. 33&34; AND NO. 3 THE AUTHORITY, V. 35, SPEAKING OF CHRIST’S WORDS THAT WILL NOT PASSAWAY.

(5)  AND WITH THAT OUTLINE IN MIND, LOOK AT V. 32 WHERE WE’LL SEE OUR FIRST POINT TODAY, THE ANALOGY.  LOOK AT MATTHEW 24:32 PLEASE.

I.  THE ANALOGY, (READ V. 32)

A.  NOW MANY INTERPRETATIONS HAVE BEEN SET FORTH TO TRY TO EXPLAIN WHAT JESUS MEANT HERE, ESPECIALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO V. 34 WHERE THE WORD GENERATION IS USED.

* FOR EXAMPLE, IT WAS POPULAR FOR SOME TIME AFTER THE FOUNDING OF THE MODERN JEWISH STATE TO SUGGEST THAT THE FIG TREE IS A REFERENCE TO MODERN ISRAEL.

** THEREFORE, MANY BELIEVED, FROM THE TIME THE “FIG TREE” STARTED TO BUD – MEANING 1948, WHEN MODERN ISRAEL DECLARED STATEHOOD – IT WOULD BE ONE GENERATION UNTIL ALL THE PROPHECIES OF THE OLIVET DISCOURSE WERE FULFILLED.

*** NOW THE TIME ORDINARILY OCCUPIED BY A GENERATION HAS BEEN CALCULATED FROM GENERATIONS IN THE BIBLE IN THIS ERA TO BE 30-40 YEARS.

**** SO BY 1988, WHEN THE HIGH NUMBER OF 40 YEARS THOUGHT TO CONSTITUTE A GENERATION HAD PASSED SINCE ISRAEL’S FOUNDING, THAT INTERPRETATION WAS NOT QUITE SO POPULAR.

1.  THEN SOME SUGGEST THAT “THIS GENERATION” REFERS NOT TO A PARTICULAR AGE BUT RATHER TO THE JEWISH RACE, USING THE WORD GENERATION TO SPEAK OF A CLASS OF PEOPLE RATHER THAN A PERIOD OF TIME.

* AND THAT’S A POSSIBLE INTERPRETATION, BUT IT SEEMS TO CONFLICT WITH THE CONTEXT, IN WHICH CHRIST IS MAKING A STATEMENT ABOUT THE SPEED WITH WHICH ALL THESE SIGNS WOULD UNFOLD.

** THEN THERE IS THE PRETERIST INTERPRETATION AND PRETERISTS PLACE MUCH STRESS ON V. 34.

*** THEY INSIST IT GUARANTEES THAT THE GENERATION ALIVE DURING JESUS’ TIME WOULD BE THE SAME GENERATION TO SEE THE COMPLETE FULFILLMENT OF ALL THESE SIGNS, AND THEY TREAT IT AS THE KEY THAT UNLOCKS THE MEANING OF THE OLIVET DISCOURSE.

**** BUT THERE’S A BIG PROBLEM WITH THAT.  THEY TAKE THIS VERSE LITERALLY AND ALLEGORIZE AND USE SYMBOLS TO INTERPRET THE REST OF THE TEXT, THE CONTEXT.

2.  AND CONTEXTUALLY THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION V. 15, THE PERSECUTIONS AND JUDGMENTS VV. 17-22, THE FALSE CHRISTS AND PROPHETS VV. 23-26, THE SIGNS IN THE HEAVENS VV. 27-29, CHRIST’S FINAL RETURN V. 30 AND THE GATHERING OF THE ELECT BY THE ANGELS V. 31, DID NOT TAKE PLACE IN THEIR LIFETIME AS MUCH AS THEY TRY TO FIT SOME OF THESE THINGS IN HERE AND THERE AND SYMBOLIZE THE REST.

* AND THE MEANING OF SCRIPTURE IS ULTIMATELY DECIDED BY THE CONTEXT.  STARTING WITH THE FLOW OF CONTEXTUAL THOUGHT IS VITAL HERE.  CONTEXT, CONTEXT, CONTEXT IS THE KEY HERE.

** AND AS WE GO BACK TO V. 32, IN THE CONTEXT OF WHAT OUR LORD HAS JUST BEEN SAYING, THE PARABLE IS SIMPLE.

*** PALESTINE HAD AN ABUNDANCE OF FIG TREES, WHICH WERE NOT ONLY GROWN COMMUNALLY BUT WERE ALSO FOUND IN MANY FAMILY YARDS, FOR THE SAKE OF RELIGIOUS FRUIT AS WELL AS FOR THE SHADE THEY PROVIDED DURING THE HOT SUMMER MONTHS.

**** SO FEW FIGURES WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER KNOWN TO PEOPLE LIVING IN PALESTINE IN THAT DAY.

3.  AND PEOPLE LIVING IN THAT AREA WOULD KNOW THIS COMMON FACT, “WHEN ITS BRANCH HAS ALREADY BECOME TENDER, AND PUTS FORTH ITS LEAVES, YOU KNOW THAT SUMMER IS NEAR.”

* IN OTHER WORDS, WHEN THE SAP BEGINS TO FLOW INTO THE BRANCHES, MAKING THEM TENDER, AND NEW LEAVES APPEAR ON THE TREE, YOU KNOW THAT SUMMER IS NEAR.

** AND EVEN CHILDREN KNEW THAT A BUDDING FIG TREE MEANT IT WAS SPRING AND THAT SUMMER WOULD SOON FOLLOW, WHEN THE RIPENED FIGS WOULD BE HARVESTED.

*** SO NOTHING IS HIDDEN OR COMPLEX IN THIS PARABLE, WHEN THE LEAVES APPEAR, ONE SHOULD KNOW THAT SUMMER IS NEAR.

**** AND THAT’S THE SIMPLE ANALOGY, NOW THE APPLICATION OF THE ANALOGY FOLLOWS IN VV. 33&34, SO LOOK AT V. 33 TO BEGIN WITH PLEASE.

II.  THE APPLICATION, (READ V. 33)

A.  NOW WHEN THE CONTEXT IS STUDIED CAREFULLY, CHRIST’S APPLICATION OF THE PARABLE IS AS UNMISTAKABLE AS ITS ANALOGY IS UNCOMPLICATED, AT LEAST TO ME IT IS CLEAR.

* AND THAT IS “ALL THESE THINGS” CAN ONLY REFER TO WHAT JESUS HAS BEEN TALKING ABOUT.

** AND WHAT HAS HE BEEN TALKING ABOUT?  WELL, THE BIRTH PAINS IN VV. 4-14, THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION, V. 15, THE NEED TO FLEE BECAUSE OF THE IMPENDING PERILS, VV. 16-28 AND THE SIGNS IN THE HEAVENS, V. 29.

*** AND WHEN THOSE THINGS HAPPEN, THEY INDICATE THAT CHRIST IS NEAR, RIGHT AT THE DOOR.

**** SO THOSE THINGS WILL INDICATE THAT HE IS NEAR, JUST AS THE BUDDING FIG TREE INDICATES THAT SUMMER, THE HARVEST TIME IS NEAR.

1.  NOW NOTE THAT SOME TRANSLATIONS TRANSLATE HE IS NEAR RIGHT AT THE DOOR, AS IT IS NEAR RIGHT AT THE DOOR.

* AND EITHER TRANSLATION COMMUNICATES THE SAME TRUTH, THE COMING OF CHRIST IS HERE, HE’S STANDING AT THE DOOR READY TO RETURN.

** IT IS NEAR, HIS COMING, OR HE IS NEAR, HIS COMING BEING THE TRUTH.

*** NOW LET ME GO BACK TO THE BEGINNING OF V. 33 AND REMIND YOU ABOUT THE PLURAL PRONOUN YOU, USED TWO TIMES.

**** AND AS I MENTIONED EARLY ON IN OUR STUDY OF MATTHEW 24, JESUS WAS SPEAKING AS SOME OF THE O.T. PROPHETS OFTEN SPOKE, AS IF THEY WERE STANDING DIRECTLY BEFORE FUTURE GENERATIONS.

2.  THE “YOU” IS A PROPHETICALLY DISTANT YOU.  IT IS WHAT IS CALLED “PROPHETIC FORESHORTENING”.

* MEANING THE O.T. PROPHETS FREQUENTLY ADDRESSED MESSAGES TO PEOPLE YET UNBORN, SOME OF WHOM WOULD LIVE HUNDREDS OF YEARS IN THE FUTURE.

** GOD WOULD PICK UP THE PROPHET, AS IT WERE, AND TRANSPORT HIM TO THE TIME OF WHICH HE WAS TO PROPHESY, AND HE SPOKE IT AS IF HE WERE STANDING DIRECTLY BEFORE THOSE FUTURE GENERATIONS.

*** SO JESUS WAS SAYING IN EFFECT, “YOU WHO ARE ALIVE AT THAT TIME”.

**** LET ME ILLUSTRATE WHAT I MEAN BY GOING BACK TO TWO PROPHECIES ABOUT CHRIST’S FIRST COMING FOUND IN THE BOOK OF ISAIAH.

3.  IN ISAIAH 7:14 THE LORD’S FIRST COMING IS TALKED ABOUT IN V. 13.  THE HOUSE OF DAVID IS TOLD TO LISTEN, AND V. 14 SAYS (READ IT).

* NOW THE YOU IN V. 14 IS NOT TALKING TO THE PEOPLE AT THAT TIME, BUT THE FULFILLMENT OF THAT SIGN WILL BE IN MATTHEW 1:23, TO THOSE JEWS LIVING APPROXIMATELY 700 YEARS LATER.

** ANOTHER ILLUSTRATION – IN ISAIAH 9:6.  IT SAYS (READ IT).

*** NOW WAS THE SON GIVEN TO “US” OF THAT DAY?  NO.  THE SON WOULD BE GIVEN APPROXIMATELY 700 YEARS LATER.

**** AND IN MY UNDERSTANDING, THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT WE HAVE IN MATTHEW 24, FOR THE CONTEXT DICTATES THESE THINGS ARE FUTURE.  JESUS IS NOT SPEAKING TO THEIR GENERATION, BUT ONE IN THE FUTURE.

4.  AND THEN YOU MIGHT RESPOND AND SAY, WELL, RAY, WHY THEN DID CHRIST TELL THESE THINGS TO HIS DISCIPLES?

* AND THE ANSWER IS BECAUSE THEY ASKED HIM IN MATTHEW 24:3 (READ V. 3).

** BUT JESUS WAS NOT APPLYING IT TO THEM WHEN HE USES THE PLURAL PRONOUN YOU, BUT THE PROPHETICALLY DISTANT YOU.

*** AND THE GENERATION THAT IS ALIVE WHEN ALL THE SIGNS OF MATTHEW 24:4-31 TAKE PLACE WILL NOT PASS AWAY.  LOOK AT V. 34 PLEASE.

B.  READ V. 34.  NOW THIS GENERATION REFERS TO THE GENERATION LIVING DURING THE END TIME.

* THE SIGNS OF MATTHEW 24 WILL BE EXPERIENCED WITHIN ONE GENERATION, THE GENERATION LIVING WHEN CHRIST RETURNS.

** CHRIST IS SAYING THAT THE GENERATION ALIVE WHEN THE TRUE LABOR PAINS BEGIN WILL BE THE SAME GENERATION THAT SEES THE DELIVERY.

*** THESE THINGS, WHEN THEY HAPPEN, WILL NOT STRETCH OUT ACROSS GENERATIONS.

1.  AND HERE IS WHAT I BELIEVE TO BE THE SIMPLE AND MOST REASONABLE INTERPRETATION.

* THE LEAVES OF THE FIG TREE REPRESENT THE BIRTH PAINS AND THE OTHER SIGNS OF HIS COMING JESUS HAS MENTIONED IN THIS CHAPTER.

** AND THAT THIS GENERATION REFERS TO PEOPLE LIVING AT THE END TIME WHO WILL VIEW THOSE SIGNS.

*** AND I’M BEING REPETITIOUS SO THIS IS CLEAR, WHEN THE FIG TREE STARTS TO BUD, YOU CAN VIRTUALLY COUNT THE DAYS UNTIL SUMMER.

**** LIKEWISE, FROM THE TIME WHEN THE ACTUAL BIRTH PANG SIGNS BEGIN, THERE IS A SET TIME UNTIL ALL THESE THINGS WILL BE FULFILLED – SEVEN YEARS TO BE EXACT.

2.  SO THE OLIVET DISCOURSE COVERS A RELATIVELY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME, NOT A LONG ESCHATOLOGICAL AGE.

* IT IS ESSENTIALLY A SEVEN-YEAR PERIOD, THE SEVENTIETH WEEK OF DANIEL’S PROPHECY.

** AND THE GENERATION THAT SEES THE START OF IT WILL BE THE SAME ONE THAT SEES THE FULFILLMENT OF ALL THINGS CHRIST PREDICTED.

*** AND FOR TRIBULATION SAINTS, PEOPLE SAVED DURING THE TRIBULATION HOUR, THESE TRUTHS WILL GIVE THEM HOPE AND ENDURANCE.

*** FOR AS LUKE 21:28 SAYS, WHICH IS THE PARALLEL TEXT, THE COMPANION PASSAGE IN LUKE’S GOSPEL, IT SAYS:  “BUT WHEN THESE THINGS BEGIN TO TAKE PLACE, STRAIGHTEN UP AND LIFT UP YOUR HEADS, BECAUSE YOUR REDEMPTION IS DRAWING NEAR.”

**** AND THIS WILL BE HOPE THAT HELPS THEM TO ENDURE THE TERRIBLE JUDGMENTS AND THE PERSECUTIONS OF THE TRIBULATION.

3.  AND THAT IS THE APPLICATION OF THE ANALOGY, WHICH LEADS US TO OUR THIRD AND LAST POINT TODAY, THE AUTHORITY, LOOK AT V. 35 PLEASE.

III.  THE AUTHORITY, (READ V. 35)

A.  NOW ONE DAY HEAVEN AND EARTH WILL PASS AWAY, THIS IS NOT A POSSIBILITY BUT A PROPHETIC PROMISE.

* ONE DAY THERE WILL BE A NEW HEAVEN, A NEW EARTH AND A NEW JERUSALEM, REVELATION 21.

** AND THE POINT IS THE PRESENT STATE IS TEMPORARY, HEAVEN AND EARTH WILL PASS AWAY, THE UNIVERSE WILL CHANGE, BUT CHRIST’S WORDS WILL NOT PASS AWAY.

*** AND TO ADD WEIGHT TO WHAT HE HAD JUST SAID, OUR LORD ADDED THAT HIS WORDS WERE MORE LASTING THAN EVEN THE UNIVERSE ITSELF.

**** THE HEAVEN AND EARTH WILL BE TAKEN AWAY, BUT WHAT HE HAS PROCLAIMED WILL LAST ETERNALLY AND IT SURELY WILL COME TO PASS.

1.  SO THE TRUSTWORTHINESS OF THE TRUTHS JESUS HAS COMMUNICATED IS UNDERSCORED BY THE ETERNAL VALIDITY OF JESUS’ WORDS.

* AND TO FURTHER MAGNIFY ON THIS GREAT STATEMENT, ON ANOTHER OCCASION JESUS SAID IN LUKE 16:17 (READ IT).

** AND THE LAW, HIS WORD REVEALED IN SCRIPTURE WOULD NOT FAIL.

*** AND WE CANNOT SEPARATE CHRIST’S WORDS FROM THE WORD OF GOD.  THEY ARE ONE AND THE SAME.  THEY ARE ETERNAL, UNCHANGING AND WILL COME TO PASS.

**** AND AS JOHN 10:35 SAYS, IT IS NOT POSSIBLE FOR THE WORD OF GOD TO BE BROKEN.

2.  EARLIER IN MATTHEW, IN MATTHEW 5:18 JESUS SAID:  “FOR TRULY I SAY TO YOU, UNTIL HEAVEN AND EARTH PASS AWAY, NOT THE SMALLEST LETTER OR STROKE SHALL PASS AWAY FROM THE LAW, UNTIL ALL IS ACCOMPLISHED.”

* AND THEN IN THE O.T. WE HAVE THE SAME PRINCIPLE COMMUNICATED ABOUT THE WORD OF GOD, FOR IN ISAIAH 40:8 IT SAYS:  (READ IT).

** AND THE PSALMISTS ESTABLISHED THIS SAME TRUTH IN PS. 12:6&7 AND PSALMS 19:9 (READ THEM).

- AND WITH THOSE TRUTHS IN MIND ABOUT CHRIST’S WORDS AND THE WORD OF GOD, AS I WRAP UP THINGS TODAY, LET ME ASK YOU BELIEVER, WHAT ARE YOU BUILDING AND BASING YOUR LIFE UPON?

(1)  THE ETERNAL WORD OF GOD AND CHRIST OR THE TEMPORARY THINGS OF THE WORLD?

* FOR ONE THING WE CAN SEE CONTEXTUALLY FROM OUR PASSAGE IS, THINGS ARE NOT GOING TO REMAIN THE WAY THEY ARE.

** CHRIST IS COMING BACK, HEAVEN AND EARTH WILL PASS AWAY.  SO ARE YOU LIVING FOR THE TEMPORAL OF THE ETERNAL?

*** IS YOUR WORLDVIEW BASED ON OPINIONS INCLUDING YOURS AND PHILOSOPHIES OF MAN OR ON THE ETERNAL WORD OF CHRIST?

**** WHAT ARE YOU LIVING FOR?

(2)  WHAT IS YOUR PASSION?  MONEY, THINGS, SPORTS, SUCCESS OR WHAT LASTS FOREVER AND EVER.

* AND MORE THAN EVER OUR LIVES NEED TO BE BUILT UPON THE BOOK, THE BIBLE.

** AND IT NEEDS TO SO PERMEATE OUR THINKING THAT WE WILL BE ABLE TO SEE LIFE AND THINGS FROM CHRIST’S PERSPECTIVE.

*** BELOVED, WE NEED TO THINK AND LIVE BIBLICALLY, AND RUN EVERYTHING THROUGH THE GRID, THE FILTER OF GOD’S WORD.

**** WHY?  HEAVEN AND EARTH ARE GOING TO PASS AWAY.  BUT CHRIST’S WORDS AND HIS TRUTH AND THINGS DONE FOR HIM WILL NOT PASS AWAY.

- I CLOSE WITH ONE TRUTH FOUND IN I COR. 15:58 (READ IT).