GRAPES AND FIGS,
OR THISTLES AND THORNS?

Romans 11:16-21  For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.

Note the braggadocios attitude that is warned against in this discussion of a warning about being broken off the tree.

John 15:1-13  I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
John 15:13  Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Matthew 7:1  Judge not, that ye be not judged.

Matthew 7:13-20  Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:  Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.  Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Compare Matthew 7:1 with 7:20.

Don't judge the person, judge their fruit.

ALL OF THESE passages speak the same message.

• We are meant to be branches of Christ.
• And we are meant to therefore bear fruit of Christ.
• Jesus tells us to recognize true believers by the presence or absence of fruit in their lives.

•  Eden was and still is God's place for mankind to dwell.
•  In Eden there was a way to the tree of life (Genesis 3:24).
•  In Matthew 7:14 there is a way that is narrow that leads to life.
•  And in Eden there was fruit that the serpent handed forth to kill Adam and Eve.
•  Jesus said in Matthew 7 that false prophets offer fruit that is corrupt.
•  This forbidden fruit keeps you both out of the Garden if you seek to enter, and casts you out if you are inside.

Back in Romans 11, Paul taught that we were broken off the wild olive tree, so to speak, and grafted onto the pleasant Olive tree.

•  Now, if Jesus is the vine and we are the branches, then obviously the pleasant olive tree is Jesus Christ.
•  Remember that John saw Jesus in Revelation in the midst of seven candlesticks.
•  Those candlesticks were shaped like branches from a tree, giving the picture that Christ is the vine and the churches are the branches.
•  Paul said the Jews, who did not accept Christ, were broken off the olive tree because of UNBELIEF.
•  They would not adhere to Jesus by believing in Him.
•  They could not receive His sap-life-flow if they did not abide in Him as branches.
•  And Jesus said that branches that do not bear fruit are cast off and gathered to be burned.
•  Its interesting that Jerusalem was destroyed and burned one generation after Jesus was rejected.

• Notice also that these two specific plant-trees are noted in the Garden of Eden.


Genesis 3:7  And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

Genesis 3:17-18  And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

Inside the Garden were fig trees.

• Outside were thorn bushes!

Romans 11:20  Well; because of unbelief they were broken off,

Hebrews 3:18-19  And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

The Garden of Eden and the Promised Land represent the same place where God wants us to dwell today!

• The Kingdom of God.

• God doesn't give that blessing to everyone who calls themselves Christians.

If Jesus is the Olive Tree, the grape vine, the fig tree, then who is the thorn bush, the thistle tree, the corrupt tree?

•  If He is the vine to whom we must attach in order to bear figs or grapes, then what or who is the source of fruit borne by the people who bear thorns and thistles?

•  Jesus

•  Life

•  Knowledge of good and evil.

•  Satan, the serpent.

• Sharp attitudes as opposed to loving attitudes.
• Thorns sting.


1 Kings 4:25  And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.

After all, the fig tree was in the Garden, specifically!

So reminiscent of the new world into which the ark carried Noah, we read in Song of Solomon:

Song of Solomon 2:10-13  My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.

•  - Just like we leave the old world of sin and enter the Garden of God once again.
•  - Just like Israel left Egypt and entered into the land of Canaan with its grapes of Eshcol.

Figures of blessings and goodness... of the new world and a veritable Garden of Eden!

God rebukes Jerusalem and says this:

Jeremiah 8:12-13  Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, saith the LORD. I will surely consume them, saith the LORD: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them.

• God told Jerusalem that this was their fate.

Just as if the branches were broken off, the figs don't grow and the grapes cannot grow.

What is it that causes the figs to grow and the grapes to grow?

•  - It is abiding in Jesus.
•  - It is allowing His word to abide in you.
•  - It is keeping his commandment.
•  - It is loving each other as He loved us.
•  - And how did he love us?
•  - He gave his life for his friends.


John 15:6  If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

•  - Are you withered?
•  - Do you have fruit of the Spirit?
•  - Is Christ's life flowing into you so that you are actually producing a supernatural love for souls?


John 15:11  These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

Notice that after speaking about fruit on a branch, we read about joy being full.

Its no wonder that the fruit of the Spirit includes JOY.

Galatians 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

Romans 14:17  For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
 
•  - The Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.
•  - What kind of peace?


Romans 14:19  Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.

One thing I have strived to do is to get along with people whose personalities may clash with my own.

•  Some people just have to pop off attitudes to those whose personalities clash with their own.
•  But those whose personalities clash with you are still souls.
•  And you need to be able to minister to anybody, regardless of whether their personalities clash with yours or not.
•  If you are too self focused, you will refuse to have anything to do with those whose personalities clash with yours.
• You are useless in the kingdom of God as far as that person is concerned.
• And You are a hindrance to the work of God to others.

•  - Your figs will not grow and your grapes will not grow.
•  - It is abiding in Christ's love and loving in the way He did that causes us to be in the kingdom.
•  - Having Peace with each other.


Romans 14:21  It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.

• What is good?
•  - It is good to sacrifice something that you know offends your brother although you see absolutely  nothing wrong with it.
•  - It is good to let go of something that even God says is alright for you to enjoy, if it offends a brother.

•  - You sacrifice it even if you know that it is absolutely innocent.


Romans 14:14  I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.

•  - Its not a matter of whether or not something is clean of itself.
•  - Its not a matter of whether or not what meats are what meats are not allowed by Christians.
•  - The kingdom of God is not a matter of meats and drinks.
•  - Its a matter of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.


Romans 15:2   Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification. For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.

• The next verse says precisely the same thing.

John 15:12  This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

We cannot produce it in our selves.

We need a lot of patience and consoling to be able to be like this!

•  - This is not fruit produced from our own life but fruit produced from letting Jesus' life flow into our lives like sap coming from a vine into a branch that abides in that vine.


Romans 15:5-6  Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

•  - Jesus demands of you to produce fruit that you cannot produce on your own.
•  - How can we ever obey that command?
•  - How can we bear fruit that is not humanly produced?
•  - Easily.
•  - A branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine.
•  - Neither can you except you abide in Jesus!
•  - God grants this to you in the form of fruit of the Spirit.
•  - But fruit only grows if the sap flows.
•  - And the sap cannot flow into branches not abiding in Him.

•  - And if we do not love that way, then we are simply not connected!
•  - And we are then potential kindling for men who start fires.

It was distinctly said to be FIG LEAVES that Adam tore off a tree, letting us know there were fig trees in the Garden.

The promised land was a picture of the garden too, and the spies specifically brought grapes of Eshcol back to the people from the land!

What is God trying to tell us?

•  - If you live in the Garden of God's Kingdom where He wants you to live, you will be branches abiding in the vine of Christ bearing figs and grapes instead of thorns and thistles.

•  - Whenever we hate our brother we likewise press thorns into His brow all over again!
•  - For if we hate our brother we are murderers.

But Paul told us that there is one thing we must make sure we always judge.

Romans 14:13  Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.

But there is one thing Paul told us to hammer and hammer in good shape:  no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way!

The dear old saint who sees a "newbie" or a "newcomer", as they like to call them, and pops off an attitude to these new converts in a malicious manner, ought to have that attitude judged in good shape about not putting a stumblingblock in his brother's way!

What was the goal of us in loving each other in this grand way of sacrifice that Paul noted?

Romans 15:6  That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Isai 62:10-12  Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people. Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.

•  - Sinners who were guilty and sought help.
•  - And the people had to ensure that the ways into those cities were clear so nothing would trip up and cause to stumble those sinners.
•  - Such a church will be called "Sought out."


Hebrews 6:7-8  For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.

•  - But the earth that wastes this precious rain and produces thorns instead of the herbs that the rain was meant to help the earth produce, is rejected.
•  - What did Jesus say the soil and earth represents in the parable of the sower and the seed?
•  - The word is sown in the heart.


Song of Solomon 4:12-15  A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard, spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices: A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon.

Proverbs 24:30-34  I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.

•  - Feel withered?
•  - Joyless?
•  - Prickly?
•  - Abide in Jesus.
•  - Take these words dear to your heart.
•  - Don't let the enemy steal them away and cause you to forget them in two hours.
•  - Let's draw from him right now.
•  - Reach out and start to love Him.
•  - Forget about others.
•  - With joy shall ye draw waters from the wells of salvation.
•  - The joy comes when you draw from Him.
•  - Reach out in faith and ask Him to fill you with His will.
•  - Ask Him to fill you with His love.
•  - Make a commitment that you are going to make an effort to abide in Him as branch clings to a vine and draws sap from it.
•  - Reach out in deep worship right now.
•  - Have a little talk with Jesus right now.
•  - Make a commitment to refrain from stinging souls and allowing personality clashes to affect you.
•  - Drop any sarcasm you have with people.
•  - Ask forgiveness for such coldness you displayed in church services, with no worship and praise to Him.
•  - Ask forgiveness for letting people remove you from your place in Him.
•  - If someone else refuses to hear and stings you with their thorns, just look for someone else who appreciates you and loves you, and hold no feelings against the other.