June 6, 2025 Morning Devotional
Morning Devotion: Read Luke - The Lesson of the Fig Tree
Luke 21:29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; 30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. 31 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. 32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. 33 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
Our Lord is a loving Lord and our Lord always gives warning before He brings judgement. Judgment always comes before salvation. Jesus was judged on the cross of Calvary and salvation is thus offered to the world.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
However, the world, over all, has rejected the Lord Jesus Christ and embraced sin. Just as in the days of Noah the world has followed their own pernicious ways.
God, once again chooses to send warning before He sends judgment. He gives us the word of God which reveals to us what is about to happen. In our text the Lord speaks of the fig tree and how we know summer is getting close because of the spring time growth of trees and plants.
Just as the spring brings forth the tender leaves and shoots and then the buds and flowers, so, the Lord tells us, when we see the things spoken of in Luke 21 and Matthew 24 and the others gospels and the rest of the bible like Ezekiel 38 and 39, and Revelation 13, we should know that the time is at hand.
The problem is this, most people are not watching, they are not looking. The Lord says, “behold the fig tree” and “So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass.” These phrases mandate we look, we check, we search and are aware of what is going on around us for the time is at hand.
I refer you back to Luke 21:25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
The Lord says “and upon the earth” meaning here on earth there will be things brought to pass that will cause distress and perplexity.
The word distress in the Greek, means to a holding together, a narrowing a contracting of a way or to cause straits and anguish. (Do you feel squeezed, controlled, constrained and manipulated?)
According to Websters dictionary of 1828, DISTRESS, verb transitive
1. To pain; to afflict with pain or anguish; applied to the body or the mind. [Literally, to press or strain.] 2. To afflict greatly; to harass; to oppress with calamity; to make miserable.
PERPLEX', verb transitive means to twist; to make intricate; to involve; to entangle; to make complicated and difficult things to be understood or unraveled.
To embarrass; to puzzle; to distract; to tease with suspense, anxiety or ambiguity. It means to cause vexation or worry.
It means to confuse the general truths. Without truth you have no stability everything becomes relative and movable and you have nothing upon which to stand. (Do you feel perplexed, confused and complicated about what is happening in the financial world, the medical world, the political world, etc.?)
Very few people know what is going on, except the person who looks at the biblical signs of the times and sees the fig tree example.
God gives great hope to the believer. 2Corinthians 4:8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
The prophecy of Daniel tells us that knowledge shall increase. It is not the knowledge of some obscure things in the world or in the depths of the sea, it is knowledge about you.
Daniel 12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
My friend, there is great stability in Christ Jesus. Malachi 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not;
Place your faith and trust in something that never changes and you will have great stability, and less distress, and less perplexity.
Jesus said in John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
The choice is still yours,
Pastor Cook
