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Worship: For Heaven’s Sake Profession of godliness is not enough. We must give evidence. We must bear the fruit of godliness. (Read more below.)
Wellness: For Health’s Sake Pastor Flemons, a doctor of biblical wellness, explained that self-control is temperance and is one ingredient of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. (See Galatians 5:22-23.) Self-control is essential for healthy kidneys. (Read more below.)
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FaceBook – Why the Fig Tree Died (A Doomed People)
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TOPICS THIS WEEK – July 16 – July 22
Worship Sunday – Zacchaeus; Monday – The Feast at Simon’s House – Tuesday – Thy King Cometh; Wednesday – A Doomed People; Thursday – The Temple Cleansed Again; Friday – Controversy; Saturday, the Sabbath – Woes on the Pharisees [All topics per Desire of Ages by Ellen G. White.]
Wellness Sunday – Rely on God for Healthy Kidneys; Monday – Eat Healthy for Your Kidneys; Tuesday – Fresh Air, Rest and Healthy Kidneys; Wednesday – Self-Control for Healthy Kidneys
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Words of Encouragement
Proverbs 18:10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it and is safe.
Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
For Heaven’s Sake…
The Bible describes the fruit of godliness as the fruit of the Holy Spirit. The ingredients of the fruit are listed. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.” (See Galatians 5:22-23.) These characteristics are to be seen in the life of the Christian. And they are to be developing in quality and cohesiveness throughout the life.
The story of the fig tree is significant to everyone personally. Fig trees that are full of leaves signal that there is fruit. The fig tree was full of leaves. But it was barren. It yielded no fruit. Its appearance was deceptive. Jesus, therefore, uttered a withering curse against the fig tree. “Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away” (Matthew 21:19).
“The cursing of the fig tree was an acted parable. That barren tree, flaunting its pretentious foliage in the very face of Christ, was a symbol of the Jewish nation. The Saviour desired to make plain to His disciples the cause and the certainty of Israel’s doom. For this purpose He invested the tree with moral qualities, and made it the expositor of divine truth. The Jews stood forth distinct from all other nations, professing allegiance to God. They had been specially favored by Him, and they laid claim to righteousness above every other people. But they were corrupted by the love of the world and the greed of gain. They boasted of their knowledge, but they were ignorant of the requirements of God, and were full of hypocrisy. Like the barren tree, they spread their pretentious branches aloft, luxuriant in appearance, and beautiful to the eye, but they yielded ‘nothing but leaves.’ The Jewish religion, with its magnificent temple, its sacred altars, its mitered priests and impressive ceremonies, was indeed fair in outward appearance, but humility, love, and benevolence were lacking. DA 582.4
“All the trees in the fig orchard were destitute of fruit; but the leafless trees raised no expectation, and caused no disappointment. By these trees the Gentiles were represented. They were as destitute as were the Jews of godliness; but they had not professed to serve God. They made no boastful pretensions to goodness. They were blind to the works and ways of God. With them the time of figs was not yet. They were still waiting for a day which would bring them light and hope. The Jews, who had received greater blessings from God, were held accountable for their abuse of these gifts. The privileges of which they boasted only increased their guilt. DA 583.1
“Jesus had come to the fig tree hungry, to find food. So He had come to Israel, hungering to find in them the fruits of righteousness. He had lavished on them His gifts, that they might bear fruit for the blessing of the world. Every opportunity and privilege had been granted them, and in return He sought their sympathy and co-operation in His work of grace. He longed to see in them self-sacrifice and compassion, zeal for God, and a deep yearning of soul for the salvation of their fellow men. Had they kept the law of God, they would have done the same unselfish work that Christ did. But love to God and man was eclipsed by pride and self-sufficiency. They brought ruin upon themselves by refusing to minister to others. The treasures of truth which God had committed to them, they did not give to the world. In the barren tree they might read both their sin and its punishment. Withered beneath the Saviour’s curse, standing forth sere and blasted, dried up by the roots, the fig tree showed what the Jewish people would be when the grace of God was removed from them. Refusing ‘to impart blessing, they would no longer receive it. “O Israel,’ the Lord says, ‘thou hast destroyed thyself.’ Hosea 13:9. DA 583.2
“The warning is for all time. Christ’s act in cursing the tree which His own power had created stands as a warning to all churches and to all Christians. No one can live the law of God without ministering to others. But there are many who do not live out Christ’s merciful, unselfish life. Some who think themselves excellent Christians do not understand what constitutes service for God. They plan and study to please themselves. They act only in reference to self. Time is of value to them only as they can gather for themselves. In all the affairs of life this is their object. Not for others but for themselves do they minister. God created them to live in a world where unselfish service must be performed. He designed them to help their fellow men in every possible way. But self is so large that they cannot see anything else. They are not in touch with humanity. Those who thus live for self are like the fig tree, which made every pretension but was fruitless. They observe the forms of worship, but without repentance or faith. In profession they honor the law of God, but obedience is lacking. They say, but do not. In the sentence pronounced on the fig tree Christ demonstrates how hateful in His eyes is this vain pretense. He declares that the open sinner is less guilty than is he who professes to serve God, but who bears no fruit to His glory. DA 584.1
“In this generation there are many who are treading on the same ground as were the unbelieving Jews. They have witnessed the manifestation of the power of God; the Holy Spirit has spoken to their hearts; but they cling to their unbelief and resistance. God sends them warnings and reproof, but they are not willing to confess their errors, and they reject His message and His messenger. The very means He uses for their recovery becomes to them a stone of stumbling. DA 587.4
(This study is based on Mark 11:11-14, 20, 21; Matthew 21:17-19; and chapter 64, “A Doomed People” in The Desire of Ages (DA), by Ellen G. White.)
For Health’s Sake…
Self-control is essentially abstaining from all things harmful and doing only in moderation those things that are good. For instance, honey, which is good for the body, will cause vomiting if too much of it is consumed. But consuming even a small amount of poison is harmful to the body system and to the kidneys in particular. “Doing anything in excess is harmful,” says Pastor Flemons. Working and eating is good. But overworking and overeating is toxic. Toxins are at the root of all disease.
Drinking alcohol is toxic. Wine in the Bible, when it is unfermented, is that which is found in the cluster: the juice of grapes. Grape juice is how we refer to it today. It is good for the body. (See Isaiah 65:8.) However, the Bible warns against drinking fermented wine. Actually, it warns against even looking at “wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright” (Proverbs 23:31). Sorrow, babbling, illusion, red eyes, instability, and addiction come with it, as described in Proverbs 23:29 to 35.
The same is true for smoking. It is poisonous and addictive. Every cigarette smoked decreases the life expectancy of the smoker. In fact, there is really nothing healthy that is smoked, says Pastor Flemons. Breathing in smoke is simply harmful. It only adds toxins to the body system, just as do all drugs, including prescription medication. “They all have a negative effect on the kidneys,” he says.
The kidneys are designed to rid the body of toxic wastes in the blood. It is the primary organ that filters out toxins from the body. Obviously, the more toxins allowed into the body places an unnecessary burden on the kidneys. When the kidneys fail, life is at risk. Generally, when physicians announce that the kidneys are shutting down, they are saying that the body is shutting down, and death is to be soon expected.