And Peter calling to remembrance saith to Him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away! Mark 11:21
A frightening video posted on a Web site a few years ago shows a man who was preaching the Gospel in the open air in an American city being approached by police, who took him away in handcuffs. Some passers-by had complained to police that the preacher was offending them. So he was arrested and charged, and forbidden to preach there again. Is this a sign of things to come? Is the freedom to openly preach the Gospel going to disappear as apathists, atheists, and Islamists have their way? We may well be seeing the leading edge of a movement to stifle the Gospel in public places, and to eventually have it banned altogether, just as it is in Islamic and communist countries. We are about to see the fig tree dry up and wither before our eyes.
Jesus’ cursing of the fig tree was actually a reference to Israel. He had come to the tree looking for figs, but it was not yet the season for figs. So the tree was barren. This refers to Israel rejecting their Messiah and the resultant curse that saw them dispersed among the nations for almost two thousand years. But what is true for Israel is also true for the Gentiles. The dynamic powerhouse of the Gospel that was so effective and obvious in the last couple of hundred years is being replaced by a day of small things. Yes, God is still saving souls; His work is continuing. But the evidence of the power of the Gospel is waning in our western world. Rejection and apathy on the part of sinners, and lethargy and compromise on the part of saints has led to a demise of the dynamic evidence of the Gospel’s power. Our lack of fruit is placing us under a withering curse.
Although the decline in the Gospel’s evidence is a hallmark of our society and Christianity as a whole, we do not need to succumb to it as individuals or as Assemblies. We can keep our personal testimonies bright, and maintain the zeal in the Gospel in our Assemblies. We need to do so, to avoid withering away into the useless, godless, spineless dinosaurs that the denominations – and some that call themselves Assemblies – have become.
Wake up and be fruitful – or wither. -Jim MacIntosh