SS-10 The Cursed Fig Tree

The Cursed Fig Tree

12 On the next day, when they had left Bethany, He became hungry. Seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. He said to it, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again!" And His disciples were listening. As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up.
20 Being reminded, Peter said to Him, "Rabbi, look, the fig tree which You cursed has withered." And Jesus answered saying to them, "Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you. Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions."

The Word of God

Not a word of God will pass away even though heaven and earth pass away. It is more difficult for a stroke of the word of God to pass away than the universe to pass away. We are referring to the original Bible when we discuss the word of God, not translated versions.

Therefore the words in each and every verse of the Old and New Testaments available to us now are more powerful than those of all the books under heaven and earth. All the books under heaven written by mankind cannot weigh more than a stroke of the Word of God. We should believe this first. The stroke cannot be done away with eternally nor is it to be done away with, but countless books containing human knowledge will be burned up and gone away. It is said that they will be abolished all.

When we listen to and learn the word of God, it is important whether we listen to a right word or a wrong word. If we listen to a right word, then we have received the powerful word which is weightier than the universe, and the authoritative word, and the absolute word. If we, however, listen to a wrong word as the word of God, then we have received impotent human word instead of the word of God, however fluent and vast human knowledge it may contain. Then we will have suffered an incalculable loss.

We have to give up listening to the word of God as a means of refresher, euphoria, or rhetoric. Then the point is whether a right word of God is testified or not. It seems to matter little to talk about the word of God in general terms among the laity, but when we talk about the word of God in terms of doctrines and articles of faith, a slip in one word can make one a heretic; he cannot defend himself. However prestigious he may have been, it is one erroneous point in his thinking that renders him condemned as heretical. It has been true throughout history; a single wrong doctrine was enough to make a bearer of the doctrine a heretic, and the person was sentenced to death.

In a degenerate world like the present one, people like Mr. Moon, Sun-Myoung or Mr. Park, Tae-Sun will remain unexposed since secular laws are not strictly enforced. Nonetheless we will all be before the judgment seat of God, and everything will be fulfilled as we believe. Eternal salvation will be achieved. It will be good for nothing if we believe something that is wrong.

What do people expect when they listen to the word of God? They expect something to refresh their hearts. They are waiting for something fit for their dispositions. They want a word of God fit for their dispositions which are more deceitful than all else. Now that the word of God is true and man is false, degraded, and faded to become futile, we must go forward correcting ourselves according to the true word of God.

The Word of Revelation Given As the Way of Truth of Salvation

I have come to be motivated to deliver a sermon on the fig tree since I listened to a radio program concerning the passage of fig tree which was a sheer nonsense. It is noticeable that the program is the most popular and everybody loves it. We should be aware of this.

Now, something strange is written here. It says about a fig tree, about a power to cast a mountain into sea, and about forgiveness for others. Here, Jesus being hungry went to a fig tree to see if he could get a fig, but he found nothing but leaves. Then immediately Jesus cursed the fig tree. "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." In Matthew 21 where the same account is written, the fig tree is seen to wither at once. It is seen to wither at once on the very spot. Here in Mark 11, it is seen to have withered when they pass by the tree the next day in the morning.

When told, "The fig tree which you cursed has withered," Jesus said, "Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him." Then He said, "Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you. Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions." Now, in what Jesus is saying, it seems that there is no order, no sequence, or no reason. It sounds like what an insane person utters.

We must understand that this is meant to teach us a way of truth to believe, and has nothing to do with the fig tree itself. A fig tree is referred to as saints and the people of God. For instance, in Matthew 24:32, "Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near," the fig tree means the Israelites. That passage means, "You should know that Israel will be restored when such things happen in Israel." In this passage, the fig tree means the people of God.

Now the fig tree here was cursed because it did not have a fig, but the fig tree had done nothing wrong since it is said that it was not yet the season for figs. Jesus went to get a fig which was out of season, only to get nothing naturally, and He immediately cursed it to wither from the roots up. This makes no sense to us and we could say that Jesus was wrong. This word, however, is given to us as a means of revelation to teach us the way of truth of salvation―a way of truth on how to believe. Now that the Lord used the tree as a means of revelation to teach us the way of truth on how to believe, we must dwell on what He teaches us in this fact regarding reason, or principle, of belief. Then we will have a right fulfillment of this revelation.

Upon hearing this word we should keep asking ourselves, "Is this word right, or wrong?" Then it will occur inside us. If our heart and mind and disposition assess the word of God to conclude that the word is wrong, the word and we are disconnected. If our spirit, sense, opinion, perception, and sentiment conclude that the word is indeed true, then this word and we have become one. One. It is when our sanctification is being accomplished. Further, if we cannot understand a word and conclude that the word is false, we will have returned to the old man again. It is when we hear and read the word of God that we become sanctified, and then we are sanctified to become a man not to perish forever.

Only the Leaves Offered

Time available to us being limited, I will talk concisely. A hungry Jesus approached a fig tree and He could not get its fruit, and he did nothing but curse the tree. This is a way of truth of salvation.

What does Jesus eat? The food of Jesus is our accomplishing God's work. It is the food of Jesus that we do the will of God and accomplish God's work. That He was hungry here means that He hungers for the saints accomplishing God's works. It was not because Jesus had not eaten that he was hungry. We can see it in John 4; disciples had gone into the city to buy food for Jesus and came back and said to Him, "Rabbi, eat," but He said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about." So the disciples were saying to one another, "Did the woman bring Him anything to eat?" Jesus said to them, "Not that the woman brought me something to eat. My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work."

Let us think about the hunger which Jesus felt. In those days, since disciples as well as crowds were accompanying Jesus, He could eat anything with no difficulty. He must have been aware that he could not get a fig since it was not the season for the tree. Jesus was not ignorant; He is the Creator. A persimmon tree has not come into blossom, and He approaches the tree to get a persimmon and finds nothing, and curses it; this must be nonsense. Or, this is to teach us a way of truth of salvation.

[Excerpt from 1981-12-19 Dawn Starts] How was it that the fig tree could not bear its fruit? The fig tree happened to be in such a normal circumstance to which it should naturally adjust itself. Man, however, cannot accomplish what the Lord wants as long as he adapts himself to his circumstances. Also the fig tree was cursed because it had abundant leaves only. Actually, it was its job to be only leafy at that time, so it acted on its instinct naturally. It behaved adequately according to its temporal circumstance.

It is the same for the Christians. As the fig tree was cursed because it had no fruit, we will not have fruit of salvation which the Lord wants if we take into consideration only our circumstances in hand. Not only that, we will also have our living only in leaves. Life with abundant leaves but no fruit―we live only in appearance of man, and that is how we live. We live only in appearance of the fallen men, which is all out of human instinct. Now that fallen men are disconnected to God, how can there be a work connected to God?

What does it mean to be abundant in leaves? They do nothing but what is of the world and what belongs to the world. What can unbelievers or fallen men do anything else on their own? It is human endeavors pursued by men only without God and the truth coming to work on―all politics, all ideas, all cultures, all business, all materialism, and all science. It is written in the Scripture that God impartially judges according to each one's work, and we are not to judge according to appearance and we will be condemned if we do. What is the appearance? It is nothing but the leaves.

However satisfactory, wholesome, extensive, and prominent in the world one's deeds may be, they will be all cursed unless their deeds have what the Lord wants, what the Lord hungers for, and what the Lord expects to get: the fruit of redemption. They will be all cursed.

The Lord will eat fruit if a fig tree has borne fruits, but he will curse the fig tree if it has not borne fruits, and the cursed tree then will not live any more. "May no one ever eat fruit from you again," He said to it, and the tree withered.

What the Lord asks of a man is to be done on a specific time or occasion. What one fails to bear fruit about on a specific time will perish eternally if that time has passed by with no fruition accomplished. However excellent an element that men have may be, it will either bear fruit or be only leafy to be cursed eternally because of the absence of fruit. The fruit should be ready when the Lord asks, not when the Lord does not ask such as the fig tree season as in the passage, or a random human occasion when we would like to say, "We could do it tomorrow if we cannot do it today." God asked it on a specific occasion only. Now it was not available at the time, and the tree was cursed.

Every decision was made according to the Lord and what He asked for, and no circumstances of the fig tree were taken into consideration. When God requires us to say this or that to save others, what we perform to achieve at the time designated by the Lord will be accepted by God. But God will ignore what we do on a time decided by ourselves instead of the time decided by God, and what we do according to our circumstances instead of the circumstances pertaining to God.

God will require the fruit of salvation only and value it to bless it. "Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it so that it may bear more fruit." It was no use to be abundant in leaves, only to be cursed to perish. [Excerpt from 1981-12-19 Dawn Ends]

The Fig Tree in Its Own Situation

Jesus is hungry because He hungers for our doing the will of God and accomplishing His work. As we eat something to become delighted and merry when we are hungry, the Lord takes it to become satisfied and filled and delighted that we do the will of the Lord and accomplish His work.

The Lord sought for figs to eat, to no avail, and cursed. It was not reasonable to curse it since it was out of season. Then we have to perceive that the whole story tells us that the season does not matter. The Lord did nothing according to the situations of the fig tree in this affair, and He did everything according to His situations.

The Lord is hungry coming to this person or that person; He comes to and works for men so that they may do the will of God and accomplish His work. When we do the will of the Lord and accomplish His work as He asks of us, then He becomes satisfied and full as if He ate His will which has been done and His work which has been accomplished.

When He asks us to do what He wants, He will not say, "You are not in a position to do this which is the will of God. I understand that you may well avoid doing the will of God. I will be tolerant and wait for you." He will not be tolerant for human situations.

When God asks us to do His will, "Accomplish this will of Mine or that will of Mine," and when God asks us to accomplish what can be His food and delight, human situations matter nothing. They do not matter. This passage shows it. Human situations do not matter when the Lord asks us to do something.

God came to Daniel, "Now that you will be cast into lions' den if you pray, I have come to take the food, or fruit―the fact that you indeed pray." For Daniel to pray means to accomplish His work, and to give up praying means to disobey the will of God. What will be Daniel's situation? "I will be cast into the lions' den if I pray. Then how can I pray? So I will not pray." This can be Daniel's situation or circumstance.

What will happen if Daniel says, "This situation is too heavy for me not to pray, so let me stop praying"? He will be cursed. Needless to say again, he will be cursed. It shows it here that our private situations matter nothing when we deal with the Lord.

It was when Daniel was made unable to bear fruits to give to the Lord that the Lord asked the exactly same thing of Daniel. Then when Daniel obeyed to give to Him, the Lord accepted his deeds and blessed him; He did not curse him, and He blessed him instead.

We must ignore our private situations before God not to miss the occasion in which God asks something of us. We will be cursed if we calculate regarding our situations. What happens when we are cursed? We will wither with no further hope again.

On an occasion to accomplish the will of God, when God timely asks us to do it, on what account on our side do we not give the Lord what He wants? On what reason did the fig tree not give the Lord what He sought for? The fig tree could not give because it was not its season. It did not give because of its unique circumstance. The passage reveals this.

Man fails to accomplish the will of God when He asks him, because of his situation in hand, and the lost occasion will perish eternally. It will be destroyed eternally. We are missing many such occasions now, and we do not even perceive the fact that we are missing the opportunities. That is why the Lord teaches this to us using a form of revelation.

What is revealed here is, first, that the hunger of the Lord is what He feels for us and wants us to accomplish the will of God. Second, we must serve Him when He wants, and what can be achieved will be destroyed eternally if we should ever miss the occasion.

What happens to a will of God that we fail to accomplish when the Lord asks us to accomplish it? It will be destroyed eternally. This is what the Scripture teaches us, but those who are ignorant of this will interpret the Scripture erroneously.

What does the Lord ask of us? It is like food which the Lord will seek for when He is hungry, that is, He hungers for our righteousness in the same way He wants something to eat when He is hungry. When we accomplish a will of the Lord when He says to us, "Accomplish this will of Mine," His hunger will be resolved and He will be satisfied. Our deed has become His food.

When the Lord tells us to do this or that, we cannot accomplish it if we look at our conditions, or if we look at our situations. Then what is not accomplished on account of our taking care of our circumstances will be destroyed forever. This is how we keep destroying the functions of our mind and body in our reality one after another, and what is destroyed remains destroyed eternally. We are destroying what belongs to us.

"A hungry Jesus sought for figs, and the fig tree without fruit was cursed to wither eternally, and there was no opportunity given to the tree again. Why could the tree not offer to the Lord? It could not because it acted according to its private conditions." This is the form of revelation given to us in this passage.

Have Faith in God

Then "... when Peter saw the withered tree he said to Him, 'Rabbi, look, the fig tree which You cursed has withered.' And Jesus answered saying to them, 'Have faith in God. Whoever says to this mountain, "Be taken up and cast into the sea," and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.'"

After He told the disciples to have faith in God, Jesus says, "Whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him." Now when we see the expression, "It will be done to whoever believes without doubt," we believers are likely to interpret this as, whenever we ask anything of the Lord, "It will be done if we believe without doubt that God will perform as we have asked of Him." This interpretation will get people hyped in the rhetoric, "Believing takes care of all." Then we see that everybody is raging in greed. It cannot work. It cannot work.

It is said above, "Have faith in God." What does it mean to believe? To believe means first to admit that God is the true God. Second, there is nothing that contains no will of God. Whatever affair or whatever thing befalls us, the will of God is inside it. There is no affair or thing that carries no will of God. A will of God must be in it.

Now we have an affair or a thing in hand and we will have to decide to do this or that on the affair or thing. The affair or thing that has come to us must contain a will of God. Besides the will of God, there are millions of human will and these are to be discarded for the will of God. There is only one will of God there. 'Have faith in God' means that we should obey God, follow God, be passive to God, do as God does, and submit to God. We should yield to God.

The Scripture says that we should obey God, but we do not pay attention to the obedience mentioned here. We are only interested in asking God, saying, "Only believe, and it will be realized." Then a hundred out of a hundred and ten thousands out of ten thousands will ask God out of their greed. Men hates each other living in jealousy, envy, and strife, this one asking that that one be killed and that one asking that this one be killed. The world would perish instantly if God granted them what they want. There is no one that is an exception to this, and everyone will fall on this category and no one on the other.

[Excerpt from 1981-12-19 Dawn Starts] What does it mean, "Have faith in God?" It means that we should first define Him and admit as such and follow Him. How do we follow Him? He tells us to acknowledge what God says in the Old and New Testaments, to follow as the Scripture says, to be inspired to follow the Holy Spirit, and to admit the Holy Spirit. He tells us to change our knowledge all according to the word of God.

He tells us to be passive to God. He tells us to have our speech, deeds, mind, and thoughts passive to God. He tells us not to force our opinions to others nor to respect others' opinions, but to be passive only to God. We can believe only after we have denied ourselves. He tells us to cast off our subjectivity, activeness, and lusts. He tells us to adopt the desire of the Lord as our desire, the opinion of the Lord as our opinion, the wish of the Lord as our wish, the will of the Lord as our will, the ideas of the Lord as our ideas, the knowledge of the Lord as our knowledge, and the likeness of the Lord as our likeness. It is said in the Scripture that we should first completely deny ourselves, and do everything following the Lord, and then we should follow God. [Excerpt from 1981-12-19 Dawn Ends]

[Excerpt from 1985-09-06 Friday Evening Starts] To have faith in God means to be passive to God, and to obey God. What does it mean to obey God? If we say anything to the fig tree on our own according to our intent, nothing will come to pass. However, if we say to the fig tree not on our own, not according to our intent but from passiveness and obedience to God who bids us say it to the fig tree, then what we have said to the tree is not our word but the word of the Father who has said through us. So what we have just said is what the Father told us to say. It is what God commanded us to. So the tree now withers.

Now Jesus says, "You are amazed to see the fig tree become as it was cursed. Have faith in God, that is, obey God. Do according to God's instructions, not according to your opinion, thoughts, and mind. Say what God wants you to say, start working as God wants you start, and do not do as God wants you not to do." Whatever we do as God wants us to do, big or small, is what God supervises to work out through us. All we have to do is to do it up to where we can, and then God will pick it up from where we have been up to, to accomplish the whole affair. This is what it means, "Believe it without doubt that He will accomplish it, and it will be realized." [Excerpt from 1985-09-06 Friday Evening Ends]

After this He says, "If you tell a mountain to be cast into the sea, it will be done." This does not mean that God will obey our word that we say to a mountain to be cast into the sea out of our thoughts and mind. Rather, this means that we should say as God wants us to say to the mountain to be cast into the sea.

We should obey what God would have us do, however hard it may be. First we should obey and believe without doubt, and it will be done. What is belief? Belief is to obey God. Is it a subjective action or objective action to obey God? To obey is to be obedient, then is it subjective or objective? It is objective. 'Do not doubt' means not to include our subjective deeds into what we are obeying. We should not have our subjective deeds involved. Why?

[Excerpt from 1981-12-19 Dawn Starts] "If you believe without doubt." Is this belief in subjectivity or objectivity? It is in objective obedience. Did God command us to doubt, or to obey Him? In past were we subjective or objective? We were subjective. Were we passive or active to God? We were active.

Now it will be done if our activeness remains dormant. Then what God wants us to do will be accomplished, be it easy or difficult and big or small. We must do whatever God wants us to do, and carry it out remaining passive to God. Make sure that we are nothing but passive to God without any trace of our subjectivity. We should never allow any doubt into ourselves. Also we should never be mixed with our subjectivity nor should we allow our subjectivity. What is started being passive to God should proceed being passive to God, and should end being passive to God. We should never allow our subjectivity until the end. Then it will be done. Only should we disallow our subjectivity. This is the truth taught here. [Excerpt from 1981-12-19 Dawn Ends]

This is very difficult, and it is also difficult to teach the mass congregation. Scholars will understand this better. We should move according to God. In general it is easy to find the will of God concerning us in our reality; it can be identified in most cases. We can easily see whether we should do something or not. Even non-believers say, "Treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets."

We have occasions in our life in which we can say, "This is what my district officer will not allow me to do; or this is what my district officer will praise me for; or this is what my pastor will forbid." That we know that our leader in faith will not approve something in hand reveals that we already know that what we are going to do is wrong. That we know that our leader in faith will certainly tell us to do something in a specific way reveals that we already know what and how to do about the matter.

In every reality which we face, there is a will of God for us to do, and the will can be comprehensible in most cases. Of course it can be in complete darkness and perplexing to us in some cases. Generally speaking, however, it will not be that difficult to know what God wants us to do in an individual reality of ours. Then we should do as we have understood the divine will for us regarding the matter in hand. We should do according to the will of God which we have found.

Now there must exist the will of God, and we are to find His will and do according to the will. Then when we try to do according to His will, we must carry it out however difficult it may be. It can be as unreal as "Let the mountains be taken up and cast into the sea and the land be levelled off," but it will be done as we command.

We know that it is impossible to throw a mountain into the sea. Now that we have found the will of God in our realities, we have to realize the will, and the realization of the will seem to overwhelm us as an insurmountable task. Then we will declare, "There is nothing we are unable to do if God works to realize His will." Again, we will do what God wants us to do in the way prescribed by God, and it will be God that will accomplish what we do according to His will―this is the only thing that we should do. We must not add our subjectivity, saying, "Will it be possible or not?" All we have to do is to have our subjectivity excluded.

This word is for salvation of man but we put aside this aspect, and we Korean churches are perishing led astray by greed, saying, "Ask out of your own desire and believe, and it will be done to you." The problem is that this trend is being the most popular among believers. Do you understand what I am saying?

Flowerless Figs

Then Jesus says, "Forgive if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions." To forgive someone means to liberate the person.

Then in conclusion, what are we to bear as fruit? We are to bear fruits―to liberate man from unhappiness, sin, and crookedness to return to righteousness, and to rescue man from destruction, and to change a sinner to a righteous one, and to correct a person going crooked. This is the fruit which Jesus longs for.

Why is it compared to figs? Figs are fruit borne without glorious flowers. A fig tree bears figs without flowers. A secular success commands glory, honor, and promising brilliance, but this success is without brilliance. Success without brilliance. Jesus was nailed on the cross with no honor or brilliance, which resulted in the fruit that saved man. Saving man is all like figs; there is no glory, honor, or praise in the works of salvation of man. Human salvation is accomplished through reviling, contempt, and disregard.

The fruit which the Lord asks of us is nothing but the deed freeing man from sin. In hunger the Lord asks for the deed through which both we ourselves are freed from death and we free others from death. The deed which meets the demand of the Lord will result in glory, honor, and praise, and the deed which does not satisfy the demand of the Lord will all perish. It was because the tree did according to its own situations that it could not satisfy the demand of the Lord.

Summary

Peter said to Jesus, "The fig tree withered from the roots up," and He told them to have faith in Him and then mentioned casting a mountain into the sea. What the Lord asks of us is the salvation of man, and this demand of the Lord can be missed if we pay attention to our own circumstances, and what has been missed is now destroyed eternally. It will not be repeated.

"Have faith in God." There must be a will of God in every reality of ours. What is the will of God? The will of God for us is to bear figs. The fruit has no brilliant appearance but a good flesh inside. Now we will be cursed if we look at our circumstances. We must move following God without looking at our circumstances.

We say that there must be a will of God in every reality of ours. What will is in the reality? There must be a unique will of God in the reality in which we should save either ourselves or others or both. The will is in our reality. "Have faith in God." The will must be in our reality. Now that there is a will of God to save ourselves and/or others, we have to assess how much difficult it will be to achieve the will. It is as difficult as to command a mountain to be cast into the sea, and it is that impossible and that unreal. Since we are commanded to do it, we should do it following God, and that is faith. We should move following God only, and we should not doubt, that is, we should not do out of our subjectivity.

When Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water," He said, "Come," and he walked on the water. While he was walking, the water was solid as long as he was walking looking to the Lord, but he began to sink when he saw the wind instead of the Lord. What did the Lord say when Peter saw the wind? "Why did you doubt?" This means, "Why did you let your subjectivity come forward?"

The opportunity through which the Lord asks something of us is given to us in every reality of ours to work a result in which we receive the Lord. If we do in the opportunity according to our subjectivity failing to fulfill what the Lord asks of us, what can bear fruits in that moment is now destroyed eternally. It is dying a second death every day.

As Peter said, "The fig tree which You cursed has withered," the Lord replied in a little unexpected way, "Have faith in God. Then it will be done if you command this mountain to be cast into the sea." This sounds unconnected, but it is anything but unsystematic beyond our apprehension.

We ought to move following God. How do we move? We move bearing figs. What do figs mean? The fruit of freeing man from sin, or forgiving ourselves or others. The fruit of liberation.

We ought to move following the Lord. When we begin to move following the Lord, we may have a dark prospect, "This will not be possible even though we do it following the Lord." Then we will be cursed if we follow our circumstances. Even though we have found a will of the Lord, it may occur to us that the will cannot be realized and so it is out of the question. That is why the Lord says, after we have found His will and begin to work on His will, "The mountain will be cast off unless your subjectivity comes in to play a role."

Again, there must be a will of God in our reality, the salvation of ourselves and others, and we must obey to live the will―"Have faith in God." When we try to live according to the will, it may look impossible from human assessment, but we must carry on in faith only and without having our subjectivity involved. Then it will be realized in the end, and the final outcome is the liberation of man from sin.

We must meditate on this truth again and again to comprehend, but it may be out of our comprehension. Still we should take a step to understand it and take another step to grab its implication, and we will come to understand it when we listen to the word, "Ah, this is it." Then we will be transformed according to the word. It will be easier to hear the word as we become changed once and twice and so on.

Sometimes we see a person, who used to hear the word here in Seobu Church with no demur, suffer difficulty hearing the word when he comes back after he has been away three or four months. He cannot understand the word immediately after he comes back, but he will have to spend some time before he becomes familiar with the word as before. Is it because we teach perversion that he has difficulty in hearing the word here after an absence of time? No. It is he that has become of a secular man and hypocritical, and of the secular knowledge, so that he has become ignorant of the knowledge of God. When you pray together after this sermon, you may not fully understand today's sermon; then first you may understand it discretely, or separately, and proceed to understand one part after another.

It is toward us that the Lord is hungry. He asks of us what He wants to eat. We are a fig tree. What is He asking of us? The Lord longs for our doing and accomplishing His will. The tree in the passage could not offer a fruit because of its private situations, and it was cursed to wither. This is a form which the Lord gives us to illustrate what He wants us to do, using the hunger on His part. We will be cursed if we choose to consider our circumstances over what the divine will is delighted to be offered with. Also what has not been offered is not to be given another opportunity later in which we may offer it again.

The potential element to fulfill a will of God now must be worked out now to accomplish the will, and it will not be repeated tomorrow once we have missed it today. It is concluded unfulfilled today and it is destroyed eternally.

When the disciples saw and said to Jesus, "The tree has withered. It is now perished eternally," Jesus thought that it was good for them to recognize what He had done to the tree, and that it was then enough, so that He said to them, "Have faith in God." Now disciples were expecting Him to talk about the cursed tree but He said nothing about the tree. Instead He said, "Have faith in God. Even if you command a mountain to be cast into the sea, and if you believe without doubt, it will be done," that is, "Carry on following God only and exclude your subjectivity, and it will be done."

Then He continues, "Forgive if you have anything against anyone. Free anyone if you can, and I will free you. Redeem anyone from sin, and God will redeem you." This is incongruous. Why is it incongruous? We must know what the Lord asks of us. He wants the fruit of our redeeming man from sin, and the fruit cannot be realized if we take into consideration our circumstances, and what is not realized now is destroyed eternally.

There must be a will of God in our reality and the will is to accomplish salvation of ourselves and/or others. We must find the will and do according to it. We must do according to it.

Why is a mountain mentioned to be cast into the sea when we try to accomplish the will of God? It is mentioned because it will be done even if it looks that difficult. When we are almost sure that what we have found is the will of God, we have only to obey it however fatal and destructive it may be for us. Then the great power of God will come to work the will just as a mountain is cast into the sea. We must believe to obey, and then the power of God will come to work the will. We must believe this. "Believe without doubt" means "Exclude your subjectivity." Let us receive power from this word.

One who has understood this truth as what it is will overcome for sure when tribulation comes. He will win with no difficulty when confronted by tribulation. On the other hand, when one does not understand this truth but has been accustomed to hearing pleasing words only to say, "I will only believe, and it will be done to me," such a work is not done that a mountain is cast into the sea.

Now in praying we should understand this truth, then we will say amen in our heart, then we will want to accomplish it, and then this will and we will become one, and then we will have been transformed through this word. Then when we are praying, we will understand to exclaim, "This is it," and strength will gush out inside us in spite of ourselves. This is the power. It is the power to overcome the world, to live in the eternal world, and to save ourselves and others too.

You had better not leave immediately after this sermon ends, but try to understand this truth here. You are not likely understand it once you step out of this building.

Let everyone pray on their own.