Parable of the Budding Fig Tree

& Staggering Things to Come

 

by Frederick Hoehn, copyright 2014, all rights reserved. 

 

Chapter 1

 

Here is Matthew chapter 24 from the Holy Bible, Hoehn Version--

 

___Matthew chapter 24

1 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple, and his disciples came to him to show him the buildings of the temple.

2 And Jesus said to them, "Don't you see all these things?  Truly I say to you, there won't be left here one stone on another, that won't be thrown down."

3 And as he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, "Tell us, when shall these things be?  And what shall be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the world?"

4 And Jesus answered them, "Make sure that no man deceives you.

5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many.

6 And you'll hear of wars and rumors of wars.  Make sure you're not troubled, for all these things must happen, but the end is not yet.

7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in various places.

8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

9 Then they'll deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you, and you'll be hated by all nations for my name's sake.

10 And then many shall be offended, and shall betray each other, and shall hate each other.

11 And many false prophets shall arise, and deceive many.

12 And because sin shall be abundant, the love of many shall grow cold.

13 But he that endures to the end, shall be saved.

14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness to all nations, and then the end shall come.

15 Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken about by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoever reads, let him understand,)

16 Then let those who are in Judea flee into the mountains,

17 Let him that is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house,

18 Nor let him that is in the field return back to take his clothes.

19 And woe to those who are with child, and to those who are nursing babies in those days!

20 But pray that your flight won't be in the winter, nor on the Sabbath day,

21 For then there shall be great tribulation, such as hasn't been since the beginning of the world until that time, no, nor ever shall be.

22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved, but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

23 Then if any man says to you, see, here is Christ, or there, don't believe it.

24 For false Christs shall arise, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, so that, if it were possible, they'll deceive the very elect.

25 See, I have told you beforehand.

26 So if they say to you, See, he is in the desert, don't go out, See, he is in the secret rooms, don't believe it.

27 For like the lightning comes out of the east, and shines all the way to the west, so also shall the coming of the Son of man be.

28 For wherever the carcass is, that's where the eagles will be gathered together.

29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give its light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.

30 And then the sign of the Son of man shall appear in heaven, and then all of the tribes of the earth shall mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

32 Now learn a parable from the fig tree, when its branch is yet tender, and puts out leaves, you know that summer is near.

33 So likewise you, when you see all these things, know that it's near, even at the doors.

34 Truly I say to you, this generation shall not pass, until all these things have been fulfilled.

35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

36 But regarding that day and hour no man knows, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

37 But as the days of Noah were, so also shall the coming of the Son of man be.

38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark,

39 And didn't know until the flood came, and took them all away, so also shall the coming of the Son of man be.

40 Then two shall be in the field.  One shall be taken, and the other left.

41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill.  One shall be taken, and the other left.

42 Be ready therefore, because you don't know at what hour your Lord comes.

43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known at what time the thief would come, he would have stayed awake, and would not have allowed his house to be broken up.

44 Therefore, you be ready also, for in such an hour as you think not, the Son of man will come.

45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord has made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?

46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he comes shall find doing so.

47 Truly I say to you that he shall make him ruler over all his goods.

48 But if that evil servant says in his heart, My lord delays his coming,

49 And begins to strike his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken,

50 The lord of that servant shall come on a day when he's not looking for him, and at an hour that he's not aware of,

51 And shall cut him in pieces, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites.  There shall be crying and gnashing of teeth."

 

Chapter 2

 

In the above chapter, verses 32 to about 44, Jesus gives us the Parable of the Budding Fig Tree. 

 

When the fig tree begins to bud, you know that summer is near.  So also, when you see the things Jesus has been talking about in Matt 24, you know that staggering things are happening, and will happen. 

 

What things should we be looking for?

 

In vs. 1 & 2, Jesus and the disciples talk about the temple.  Jesus said it would be torn down. 

 

That, of course, has already happened.   

 

In vs. 5, Jesus talks about false Christs.  What about David Koresh with the Branch Davidians?  He represented himself to be some kind of Messiah. 

 

Wasn't it Jim Jones who took his group to Central or South America?  He represented himself to be some kind of Messiah, and they all committed suicide. 

 

An East Indian man took out a full page ad in an American newspaper, announcing that he is Christ (but he is not.)

 

Vs. 6, Wars and rumors of wars.  We already have that. 

 

Vs. 7, Nation rising against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, earthquakes & pestilences (such as the current ebola epidemic now in the world.)

 

Many of the things Jesus talked about in Matt chapt 24 are already happening. 

 

Vs. 8, “All these are the beginnings of sorrows...”  The sorrows are only beginning. 

 

Vs. 9, Persecution of Christians.  Christians are already persecuted in Muslim nations. 

 

Vs. 12, Because sin is abundant, the love of many will grow cold. 

 

I grew up with a man, as a boy, and as a teenager, who went to the same Protestant church that I went to.  He was a Christian. 

 

But after he retired from his career, he quit being a Christian.  I believe he got swallowed up by sin. 

 

You know how these cell phone companies have lots of different plans? 

 

If you do a lot of texting, they have a plan for that.  If you move a lot of data, they have a plan for that.  If you need four or five lines to accommodate the size of your family, they have a plan for that. 

 

But God just doesn't have a plan for people who go half way as a Christian and then quit. 

 

You don't get partial credit for that. 

 

No, Jesus said, “he that endures to the end, shall be saved.” (Matt 24:13, above)

 

Jesus said, “Be faithful until death, and I will give you a crown of life.” (Rev 2:10)

 

God told the Prophet Ezekiel, “When a righteous man turns from his righteousness to wickedness (sin), all his righteousness will be forgotten.”

 

So it is as though that man who quit being a Christian had never been a Christian.

 

Someone might say, “Maybe he'll turn back to being a Christian.” 

 

No, I don't think so.  I believe the Lord has shown me that this man is a Hebrews chapter 6 person, where it says, “It is impossible to renew them again to repentance.” 

 

I believe it's too late for that particular man. 

 

That man got sloppy as a Christian, and was not “working out his own salvation with fear and trembling.” (Phil 2:12)

 

Vs. 13, If you endure to the end, you're saved.  Not half of the way.  Not three quarters of the way.  No, you endure to the end.  You're faithful to the Lord until your natural death. 

 

And then, you get what reward?  You get to spend the rest of eternity (it never ends) in heaven with Jesus and all the famous names in the Bible and all the saved people. 

 

But if you miss heaven, all your neighbors in hell will be nasty people that you didn't want as neighbors. 

 

And there will be the fires of hell, and the worms, and the crying and gnashing of teeth. 

 

So, may I please recommend that you “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” (Phil 2:12)

 

But why with fear and trembling?

 

Because it's so easy to get a little sloppy, a little lazy, a little slothful, to watch so much TV that you don't have time for Bible study and for prayer. 

 

Things like that can send people to hell. 

 

“Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, like a roaring lion, walks around, seeking whom he can devour, Whom resist, steady in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brothers that are in the world.” (1 Pet 5:8,9)

 

If you let the devil devour you, you'll wish you hadn't. No, we must “Resist the devil, and he'll flee from you.” (James 4:7)

 

Vs. 15, The abomination of desolation.  This is the Antichrist, the Beast, who has not yet assumed power. He'll rule the world for a period of seven years, called the Great Tribulation. 

 

Vs. 26, If they say Christ has returned, and you can go see him, it's a lie. 

 

It will be like a flash of lightning.  In the blink of an eye. 

 

When that has happened, you were either “Raptured,” or you were left behind. 

 

Although the word Rapture is not in the Bible, it is a word that Christians use to mean the catching away of the church, as in 1 Thess 4:13—17

 

13 But I don't want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who've died, so you don't sorrow, like others who have no hope.

14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so those also who've died in Jesus, God will bring with him.

15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain at the coming of the Lord won't go ahead of those who have died.

16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first,

17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we always be with the Lord.

 

Vs. 35, Jesus says, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”

 

Vs. 37—39, It will be like in the days of Noah. 

 

37 But as the days of Noah were, so also shall the coming of the Son of man be.

38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark,

39 And didn't know until the flood came, and took them all away, so also shall the coming of the Son of man be.

 

40 Then two shall be in the field.  One shall be taken, and the other left.

41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill.  One shall be taken, and the other left.

 

42 Be ready therefore (be alert), because you don't know at what hour your Lord will come.

 

Vs. 44, Be ready, and stay ready. 

 

44 Therefore, you be ready also, for in such an hour as you think not, the Son of man will come.

 

Vs. 46, Two categories here, and every human being falls into one or the other of these two categories: EVERLASTING PUNISHMENT (HELL), or LIFE ETERNAL (HEAVEN). 

 

What about you, friend?  Which of the two categories for you?

 

 

___James chapter 1

1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes that are dispersed around, greetings.

2 My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into various temptations,

3 Knowing this, that the testing of your faith works patience.

4 But let patience have its perfect work, so you'll be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God for it, who gives to all men liberally, and won't find fault, and it shall be given to him.

6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.  For he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven by the wind and tossed.

7 For let that man not think that he'll receive anything from the Lord.

8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted,

10 But the rich, in that he is made low, because as the flower of the grass he'll pass away.

11 For the sun has no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withers the grass, and the flower of it falls, and the grace of the fashion of it perishes, so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.

12 Blessed is the man that endures temptation, for after he's been tested, he'll receive the crown of life, that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

13 Let no man say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God," for God can't be tempted with evil, nor does he tempt any man,

14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed.

15 Then when lust has conceived, it produces sin, and sin when it's finished, produces death.

16 Do not err, my beloved brothers.

17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, nor shadow of turning.

18 He chose to father us with the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

19 So, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger,

20 For the anger of man doesn't accomplish the righteousness of God.

21 So, lay apart all filthiness and the unnecessary naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like a man seeing his natural face in a mirror,

24 For he sees himself, and goes his way, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.

25 But whoever looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues in it, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

26 If any man among you seems to be religious, and doesn't bridle his tongue, but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is for nothing.

27 Pure religion and undefiled before God the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

 

___James chapter 2

1 My brothers, don't have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.

2 For if a man with a gold ring comes to your assembly in fancy clothes, and a poor man in dirty clothes comes in also,

3 And you have respect to him that wears the fancy clothes, and say to him, "Sit here in a good place," and say to the poor, "Stand there, or sit here under my footstool,"

4 Aren't you then partial in yourselves, and have become judges with evil thoughts?

5 Listen, my beloved brothers, hasn't God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?

6 But you have despised the poor.  Don't rich men oppress you, and bring you before the judgment seats?

7 Don't they blaspheme that worthy name by which you're called?

8 If you fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor like yourself," you do well,

9 But if you have respect of persons, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as sinners.

10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

11 For he that said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not kill."  Now if you don't commit adultery, yet if you kill, you've become a breaker of the law.

12 Speak in such a way, and do, as those who'll be judged by the law of liberty.

13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that has shown no mercy, and mercy rejoices against judgment.

14 What does it profit, my brothers, though a man says he has faith, and doesn't have works?  Can faith save him?

15 If a brother or sister needs clothes, and lacks daily food,

16 And one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you don't give them the things that are needed for the body, what good is that?

17 Even so faith, if it doesn't have works, is dead, being alone.

18 Yes, a man could say, "You have faith, and I have works, show me your faith without your works, and I'll show you my faith by my works."

19 You believe that there is one God, you do well, the devils also believe, and tremble.

20 But don't you know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

21 Wasn't Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son on the altar?

22 Do you see how faith worked with his deeds, and by works faith was made perfect?

23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness, and he was called the friend of God."

24 You see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

25 Likewise also wasn't Rahab the prostitute justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?

26 For like the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

 

___James chapter 3

1 My brothers, don't be many masters, knowing that we'll receive the greater condemnation.

2 For in many things we offend all.  If any man doesn't offend in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.

3 See, we put bits in the horses' mouths, so they'll obey us, and we turn around their whole bodies.

4 Look also at the ships, which though they're so large, and are driven by fierce winds, yet they're turned around by a very small helm, wherever the captain wants.

5 Even so, the tongue is a little member, and boasts great things.  See how great a matter a little fire kindles!

6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of sin, so is the tongue among our members that it makes dirty the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire by hell.

7 For every kind of animals, and of birds, and of snakes, and of things in the sea, gets tamed, and has been tamed by mankind,

8 But no man can tame the tongue, it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

9 With it we bless God, the Father, and with it we curse men, who are made after the likeness of God.

10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing.  My brothers, these things ought not to be.

11 Does a fountain send out at the same place sweet water and bitter?

12 Can the fig tree, my brothers, produce olive berries?  Or a vine, figs?  So no fountain can yield both salt water and fresh.

13 Who is a wise man, possessing knowledge among you?  Let him show out of a good lifestyle his works with meekness of wisdom.

14 But if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, don't glory, and don't lie against the truth.

15 This wisdom doesn't descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.

16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be reasoned with, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

18 And the fruit of righteousness is planted in peace by those who make peace.

 

___James chapter 4

1 Where do wars and fightings among you come from?  Don't they come from your lusts that war in your members?

2 You lust, and don't have, you kill, and desire to have, and can't obtain, you fight and war, yet you don't have, because you don't ask.

3 You ask, and don't receive, because you ask wrongly, so you can consume it on your lusts.

4 You adulterers and adulteresses, don't you know that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God?  Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world is an enemy of God.

5 Do you think that the scripture says for nothing, "The spirit that lives in us lusts to envy?"

6 But he gives more grace.  So he says, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

7 Submit yourselves therefore to God.  Resist the devil, and he'll run away from you.

8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.  Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded.

9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and cry, let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.

10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he'll lift you up.

11 Don't speak evil about each other, brothers.  He that speaks evil about his brother, and judges his brother, speaks evil about the law, and judges the law, but if you judge the law, you're not a doer of the law, but a judge.

12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy, who are you that judges someone else?

13 Go on now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we'll go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and make a profit,"

14 Actually, you don't know what will happen tomorrow.  For what is your life?  It is a puff of steam, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away.

15 For you ought to say, "Lord willing, we'll live, and do this, or that."

16 But now you rejoice in your boastings, all such rejoicing is evil.

17 Therefore to him that knows to do good, and doesn't do it, to him it is sin.

 

___James chapter 5

1 Go on now, you rich men, cry and howl for your miseries that shall come on you.

2 Your riches are corrupted, and your clothes are moth eaten.

3 Your gold and silver are rusted, and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh like fire.  You've heaped treasure together for the last days.

4 See, the wages of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which you've kept back by fraud, shouts, and the shouts of those who've reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabbath.

5 You've lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton, you've nourished your hearts, like in a day of slaughter.

6 You've condemned and killed the just, and he doesn't resist you.

7 Be patient therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord.  See, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for it, until he receives the early and latter rain.

8 You also be patient.  Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is getting near.

9 Don't grudge against each other, brothers, so you won't be condemned, see, the judge stands at the door.

10 Take, my brothers, the prophets, who've spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.

11 See, we count them happy that endure.  You've heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

12 But above all things, my brothers, don't swear, not by heaven, nor by the earth, nor by any other oath, but let your yes be yes, and your no, no, so that you don't fall into condemnation.

13 Is anyone among you afflicted?  Let him pray.  Is anyone merry?  Let him sing psalms.

14 Is anyone sick among you?  Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord,

15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up, and if he has committed sins, he'll be forgiven.

16 Confess your faults to each other, and pray for each other so you'll be healed.  The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man is does a lot of good.

17 Elijah was a man subject to the same kind of passions that we are, and he prayed earnestly that it wouldn't rain, and it didn't rain on the earth for three years and six months.

18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

19 Brothers, if any of you strays from the truth, and someone converts him,

20 Let him know, that he that converts the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.