“Arise, Shine…”

 

LESSON FROM FIG TREE

Job Anbalagan

 

During the days of His earthly ministry, Jesus was like any of us suffering hunger or physical want.  He was hungry and thirsty. He was also weak in His body.

 

Let us mediate on Mark 11:12 – 14 and 20-24. When He had come out from Bethany along with His beloved disciples, He was hungry.  If any servant of God lacks a material blessing today, let us not judge that God has forsake him/her.  If God has blessed you with material things, you should to minister to him/her, and meet his/her physical need immediately.

 

Jesus saw from afar a fig tree having leaves.  As He went to see if perhaps He could find something on it.  But when He came to it, He “found nothing but leaves”, for “it was not the season for figs”.  Jesus was disappointed!  Does this sound strange to us?  How is it that the Lord Who could foresee everything, and Who Himself is the Wisdom of God, could not see from afar that the fig tree had no fruits on it? Why did He take the trouble of going near the fig tree just to find out that the fig tree had nothing but leaves? The Lord could have seen through His prophetic eyes that the fig tree had no fruits on it and that it was not the season for figs. Jesus could have used His supernatural powers to find out this simple thing.

 

Do we crave for the supernatural power of God to meet our own physical needs? Do we crave for a prophetic insight into some knot, which we could not undo? When we faced disappointments, we were prompt in pointing our finger of accusation at the Lord and told Him, “You could have given me a revelation so that I was not disappointed”.

 

Hunger! Want! Disappointment! The Holy Spirit at times teaches us the way of His Cross as we have to deny ourselves, take our cross and follow Him. This is the one side of the Word of God. These days, many ministers preach always on material prosperity but ignore the way of His Cross.

 

On the other side of the Word of God, we find that Christ suffered hunger physically and bore on His body the agony of His people who are hungry today so that these people may be filled with His material blessings.  Christ suffered disappointment so that His people may be shown the right path in their lives.

 

Let us give equal importance to the two-edged Sword of the Spirit. Let us not ignore either side of the Word.

 

Jesus spoke to the fig tree, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again”.  And His disciples heard it.  In the following morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.

 

Do we find any fault with the fig tree, which could not bear fruits out of the season? Why did then the Lord curse the poor fig tree?  Christ had to curse this fig tree symbolically so that it could serve as a warning to His disciples who were not exercising their faith in God.

 

 Jesus said to them, “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea’, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore, I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them”.

 

This interesting episode of the Gospel, which begins with the physical want of the Lord ends in the revelation of His supernatural power which was finally released through faith. The Lord used His hunger to teach a lesson of faith to His disciples. He did not use His supernatural power to meet His physical need. The Bible does not tell us how the Lord fulfilled His appetite. A minister of God, who himself is in want, has to teach his sheep about reaping the great blessings of God, that are in store for them, through faith.

 

(Article-23)

“Arise, Shine…”

Job Anbalagan

 

The Church, the Spiritual Jerusalem, was born on the day of Pentecost.  Since then those who are individually redeemed by the blood of Jesus and filled with the Holy Spirit, enter the Mount Zion, the city of God, and thus become the citizens of Zion.

 

Isaiah’s prophecies about Zion stand fulfilled with the birth of the Church on the day of Pentecost.  Still we are yet to grab the great blessings of God that are in store for us.  We still grope in the dark.  It is written in Isaiah’s Chapter 60:1-4:

 

“Arise, shine: for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.

 

For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee.

 

And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

 

Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side”

 

We, the Church, should arise and shine for our Light has come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon us. We possess the Light in our earthen vessels and the glory of the Lord is upon us!

 

Isaiah predicted a covering of darkness on the earth and a covering of gross darkness on the people. The darkness stands exposed with the advent of the Light into this world (John 1:5). In these days, though the darkness does cover the earth and gross darkness the people, yet the Light shines through us, the Church and exposes the darkness and gross darkness.

 

The Gentiles are supposed to come to our light and kings to the brightness of our rising.  Dear minister of God, you should rise and shine.  Then you should claim this prophecy:

 

“The Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising”

 

Unless we rise and shine and claim this prophecy, we cannot expect the Gentiles to come to us and kings to the brightness of our rising.  Where is the brightness of the rising of the churches of God? Unfortunately, the churches of God do not rise above the world.  Though Christ has made us sit with Him in the heavenly places, we are still entangled with the filth of this world. The Gentiles should see the churches as the one body of Christ. In place of the one universal body of Christ, the Gentiles now see many divisions in the body of Christ. The churches compete with one another in augmenting their memberships and resources but do not present themselves in the one body of Christ to the world.

 

The kings of the earth are supposed to come to the brightness of our rising. But what happens today?  We go the rulers of this world for their favors.  Instead of rebuking them for their unrighteousness and for their disobedience to God’s Word, we try to please them and prophesy according to their will.  The servants of God thus become the false prophets in the eyes of God.

 

The Church is the prophet of God to the Gentiles and kings. Prophet Nathan boldly admonished King David who disobeyed God. Submission to the authority of the ruler does not mean compromising the truth of His Word.  Let the kings seek the servants of God for godly counsels and godly wisdom. 

 

We are supposed to declare the will of God for our rulers on the basis of the Word and not to dance to their tune.  Let the rulers come to the brightness of our rising.  Let the brightness of your rising be seen by them and let them come to you. Today, the servant of God looks for the opportunity to meet the ruler, whereas the ruler does not need the servant of God for getting the counsel of God.  The servants of God flock to the ruler and justify his action. The servant of God should serve the King of Kings, and not the worldly ruler. If the servant of God arises and shines with the glory of God upon him, the ruler shall come to him.  The servant of God should not seek the favor of the ruler with a begging bowl in his hand.

 

The Gentiles and kings gather themselves together and shall come to us.  Our sons, the spiritual children, whom we have begotten in Christ Jesus, are scattered all over the world, in every nation, in every continent. They will come to us.  For example, the spiritual sons in a European nation go to their spiritual parents in an Asian nation for learning the Word.  It is also vice versa.  Similarly, the spiritual daughters whom we have begotten in Christ Jesus are nursed at our side.  The Church, the universal body of Christ, has spiritual daughters too.  The sons and the daughters here are not the physical sons and the physical daughters. The sons are those children of God who as soldiers of Christ fight against the Devil and his forces. The daughters are those children of God who need spiritual nursing by their spiritual parents. Our daughters are nursed at our side.

 

These days, there is a gathering of the people of God all over the world through fellowship by means of electronic communication systems like satellite TV channels and electronic mails.  God has tremendously opened these media in the recent past for the fellowship and communication of His people throughout the world.  There are many ministers of God who nurse the daughters through these ministries.