Those two little words, goodness and mercy, I brought an incident to my mind that happened at a very critical point in our life. During the war, my wife and I were in Cape Town on VE Day. The war was just over. And we were coming home at Furnham. I had a breakdown in health at the time, and we were in Cape Town waiting for transport to come home. It was impossible to get on an ordinary passenger ship. At that time, the troops were being removed from Africa after the North African campaign, and they were being sent home. And through France, in touch with the government, we were able to get a passage on a troop ship that was coming home with four thousand five hundred troops from Cape Town, and they were going to South Paton. Now the Japanese war was still on. And just outside Cape Town Harbor, you could see the mass of ships that had been sunk by submarines, by Japanese submarines, and just like sharks who were around the harbor. They're in Cape Town waiting for anything that would come along. It was quite a dangerous trip. We got on board, and there were four thousand five hundred servicemen on board, and there were two hundred civilians that the government very graciously allowed them to travel on the ship. I'll never forget that day just before we pulled out of the harbor. The captain and the general officer of the troops, they called us for a little conference. That was the civilians. And they said, now look here, we hope by the grace of God to get you to Southampton in sixteen days. But this absolute, they know, comfort or anything like that on board. As a matter of fact, my wife and I and three children Our boys had a sleeping hammock standing in a hole in pitch dark in the middle of the night. And we were warned that there must be no complaints. And they said, the ship is still tied up. And if you don't want to get on board the ship, well, there's still time to go ashore. But none of us went ashore. We were so anxious to get home. And just as we were pulling out of the harbor and take time and coming out into the open sea, was a clergyman, an English Church of England clergyman, who was a true believer, and he and I were standing on the bank, looking over at the humps of these ships that had been sunk by Japanese submarines. And while we were looking at these sunken ships, out of the naval base, there at Cape Town in Simonstan, we saw two long ships of ships pulling out into the ocean. They were destroyers. And one took up a position on one side of the ship, and the other took a big position on the other side of the ship, and they were our escort going through those very, very difficult, dangerous waters. And the clergyman, he turned around to me, he said, I'd like to put a name on those boys. I said, what name would you want to put on them? He said, that one's goodness, and he said, that one's mercy. And we had an escort going through these dangerous waters, pulling out into the North Atlantic, and by the grace of God, We landed safely in Southampton in sixteen days. Every time I look at these words, goodness and mercy shall follow me all that is in my life. Beloved brethren and sisters, we have an escort, and it's better than any ships of the British Navy. We have an escort of the Holy Spirit of God to take us through the dangerous waters until we finally arrive home. Now, what I thought of talking about tonight, just quite briefly. I want to speak of three symbols connected with the Lord's coming. Anyone that will look at the doctrine of the Lord's coming in the New Testament will see that it's presented in the threefold way. First of all, in straightforward doctrine. I don't need to tell you that. There are three great doctrinal passages connected with the rapture, connected with the Lord's coming in the New Testament. First of all, we find that promise, that lovely promise of the Lord Jesus in John chapter fourteen. He said, nothing here, aren't you travel? If you believe in God, believe also me in my Father's house, or many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again. I will come again. And receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And that's the very first time in Scripture. along the line of doctrine, straightforward doctrine, where we find what we call the rapture. The other passages, the passage I read this morning, we find there is coming back again, it's there in relation to Israel. But as far as straightforward doctrine is concerned, the first claim is mentioned of the rapture is by the Lord Himself. I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am there you may be also. Then when we turn over to verse Thessalonians chapter four, again we get the tremendous passage. I would not have you to be ignorant brethren concerning them which are to sleep, that you saw or not, even as others which have no hope. But we believe that Jesus died and rose again. We believe that them that sleep through Jesus will God bring with them. This we say unto you by the word of the Lord. And then he goes on to tell us that Christ will come. And he speaks about the trumpet. on the voice of the archangel and the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall arise first, and we which are alive and remain shall be caught up, raptured, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. That is the explanation of the Apostle Paul of the words of the Lord Jesus in John chapter fourteen. It's the elaboration of it. And then in first Corinthians chapter fifteen, There's a beautiful, beautiful passage there, a paragraph at the end of that chapter saying, Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment from the twinkling of an eye at the last trot. And then he goes on to tell there again about the Lord coming back again. So here we get three great doctrinal passages. The germ of the truth of the Lord's coming was given by the Lord himself. And these two tremendous doctrinal passages, they elaborate on it and tell us in detail what will happen at that time. Now, as well as doctrine, we also get parables. Now, we were speaking of three parables this morning in relation to the coming of the Lord, and we get that in the center of the tremendous prophetic discourse of the Lord Jesus in Matthew twenty-four, twenty-five. But tonight, I want to look at three symbols. symbols connected that are vitally connected with the Lord's coming. And the symbol that I want to speak on for a few minutes is first of all the vine. On second day the figs. And thirdly the olive. These are three horticultural symbols and they are vitally related to the coming of the Lord. And some tremendous teaching connected with it. I can't go into all the passages that I have in mind speak about. or even mention. But let me say that both in the Old Testament and the New, these three horticultural symbols are related to the nation of Israel. The vine, that is their witness. The fig tree, that is their national life. And the olive tree, that is their spiritual life. And if you look at those three symbols, you'll find that they're related to the nation of Israel, not only in the past, but in the present and also in the future. The vine is Israel in the past. The fig is Israel at the present time in our national life. And thirdly, the olive tree is what is going to happen to Israel in the coming day when they'll be restored to covenant relationship with Jehovah. So these are the three tremendous symbols. And I just want to read one passage for the sake of our time tonight in connection with the vine. Now shall we look at that well-known passage in John chapter fifteen. John chapter fifteen, commencing to read with verse one. The Lord Jesus, he said, I am the true vine. The genuine vine. Oh, and the Old Testament Israel was the vine. I want to look at that in a moment. But here the Lord Jesus, he stands up just before he goes to the cross. And he said, I am the true vine. And here the branches. Now here he's talking about a change of dispensation. while Israel was the vine, a witness for God. In the Old Testament, mentioned in many, many, many passages, here we get the Lord Himself. He says, here is something new. Here is a new witness. He said, I am the true vine, and you are the branches. And that applies to us. Now looks at what he has to say about the three branches here connected with the vine. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. On every branch that bears fruit he purchases, 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 as abide in the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in me. I and the vine, ye are the branches. He that abides in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me, You come to know them. If a man applied not on 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. And that's all I want to read here, connected with the vine. Is it other truth? Is it other truth just a link with it for the done of the passage? But I want to confine myself to what we have just read together. You know, if we'll just look at a passage concerning the faith, We will turn over to the passage that we read this morning in John, in Matthew chapter twenty four. The Lord said, When you see the faith put on its green leaves, know that the time is now, even at the doors. That is the most important passage. When you see the faith put on its green leaves, know that the time is now even at the door. Now here is the national life of Israel. And when you see it start the book and put on leaves, know that the Lord's coming is near. The Lord himself said that. And then when we turn over to the epistle of the Romans, chapters nine and ten and eleven, in chapter eleven there we'll read about an olive tree. And we'll read that that olive tree, in the Old Testament, it had to do with the nation of Israel. And the root of that olive tree was Abraham and the covenant that was made with them. but we find that Israel, on account of their sin, on account of their apostasy, on account of their judicial murder of the Messiah, that olive tree, it was had done. And read about a wild olive, branches being grafted into that olive tree. And those wild branches that were grafted in, he tells us with the Gentile, those that have been believed in Christ, they are the branches today that are grafted into the olive tree. But when Christ comes back, and that Israel is about to be restored through the Lord Himself when they confess their sin, those branches will be taken away. The church will be removed. And then the real branches, the natural branches of the olive tree will be grafted into the roots that we find in the Old Testament scripture. Do you believe that there's going to be a future for Israel? I believe with all my heart that one day Israel is going to be brought back. And I believe that the great truth here concerning these things, we get at these in these horticultural symbols, the vine and the fig and the olive tree. Now let's think of the vine just for a moment or two and what the Old Testament has to say about it. If we were to turn over to Isaiah chapter five and also in the Eighth Psalm, you'd find that Israel there is regarded as a vine that was brought out of Egypt, unplanted in the land. It's regarded as a vineyard. and we find that Israel, which was brought out of Egypt and redeemed by blood and power, and brought back into the land, God's purpose was that Israel be a witness for him in the surrounding nations. Instead of that, they became engrossed. And instead of being a witness to the surrounding nations of the knowledge of God, they started to apostatize. The third sad story we find in the atheist psalm what happened to them. read about the boar out of the woods. The boar out of the woods. It came and devastated that time. Now the boar out of the wood was the Assyrian power. On Nebuchadnezzar he came along with his armies and his troops, and the temple was completely destroyed at that time, and the people carried off into Babylon. This is a matter of history today. The boar out of the wood. That boar is a symbol. The wild cape. and Syria and Babylon. And they devastated that vine. And the result was that Israel lost their testimony. Do you remember what happened to Jonah? It was God's purpose that Jonah be a missionary and to send them to Nineveh and to preach to them a message of judgment. He didn't want to do it. It's the last thing he wanted to do and he ran away. We all know the story of what happened. And God had to deal with him in discipline. Israel. did not want to be a testimony for God among the nations, and the result was that God had to deal with them in discipline. First of all, they were in Egypt, the slaves, and then later the captivity in Babylon for seventy years for the fine period of discipline under which they went. At that time, on account of their apostasy and their sin, and it ended up at the end in the crucifixion of the Messiah. So that's just a very brief record. of the vine. The old vine in the Old Testament, and if you look at the passage that I've referred to, Isaiah chapter five particularly, on the eightieth psalm, you'll find that Israel as a testimony for God in the Old Testament was an object failure. They failed and it came to the point that the crucified the Messiah. Or read about the vineyard in the Gospels a number of times. Matthew twenty-one. read there about the vineyard. And you remember when the heir of the vineyard came there, they said, this is the heir, come, let us kill him. And that's exactly what they did. And they did it in the vineyard. And Israel had lost her testimony at that time. And at AD, seventy, they were carried into captivity for a long period of two thousand years. Now that's the vine. As far as Israel is concerned. But the Lord stands up here. And it's absolutely beautiful to know that the way doesn't. Israel as a testimony for God, on account of their tremendous judicial sin in murdering the Messiah, the Lord stands up just before he went to the brass, before it happened. He said, I'm the true vine. I'm the genuine vine, and my father is the husband man. And I want you to notice particularly, the Lord said, my father is the husband man. Who was it that killed the heir of the vineyard? It was the husband of man. They did it. Well, here's a different husband of man. My father is in charge. My father is the husband of man. And then he speaks about three branches in that vine. And this applies to us at the present day. It's vitally important to realize what the Lord is talking about here. Where Israel feel that the witness and the testimony for God here is the Now here is a new testimony. And when Israel was carried into captivity, and they were in that position of lo, am I, not a people, carried away to the four corners of the world, the Lord Jesus said, I am the true vine, and you, you are the branches. Now he speaks of three branches here. And when we look at the three branches that he mentions, I think there's some tremendous truth connected with the responsibility of you and me. You know, sometimes we talk about Israel. And then we forget that we have a responsibility today. For Israel failed in their responsibility as a witness for God. It is the church at the present time that's God's witness in this world. And the one who is the vine is the Lord Jesus. And we are vitally joined to him as witnesses. And we'll read about three branches. The first branch is the fruitless branch. A branch that's not bearing fruit at all. It's united with a vine, but it's not bearing any fruit. And then the second one that he mentions is the fruitful vine. And I mentioned some branches that are bearing fruit for God, and some things connected with it. And then the third branch that he mentions is the withered branch. Now here are three branches on the something vital, connects with each one, and we can apply it to ourselves here tonight. The first one is the fruitless branch. And if any branch burn that fruit, he takes it away. And that's a very solemn statement. Is there such a thing as a believer today and there's absolutely no fruit or no witness in our life of God? Is there such a thing? You know, the very fact that we have been saved and brought into the family of God, were lived here as testimonies and witnesses for God. And to take the gospel not only at our own far side, and on the place where we live, but we have the responsibility to take the gospel and witness for Christ to the uttermost parts of the earth. That is the responsibility of being linked to the vine. The vine here is witness. That is the important thing. A witness for God. And I believe it is possible for a person to be a current believer. Absolutely no fruit in their life. Well, they've made a profession and they've been truly born again. But you take... certain examples in Scripture of people that were true believers, but there hadn't any witness at all. You'd say, poor lot. That man, was he a believer? I haven't let him out. If you read only the book of Genesis, you would wonder. Actually, in that homosexual setting, Sodom and Gomorrah, a place he never should have been, never put his foot in the place, on the equity of sitting at the gate of the consular, in that wicked, ungodly place, Sodom and Gomorrah. But when we turn over to the second epistle of Peter, we read that that righteous man, what he saw unheard every day, he vexed his righteous soul. He was a believer, but he was in the wrong place. A man who was a believer, but not bearing fruit for God. Is there such a thing today? And all I ask myself the question, is there any fruit for God in my life? Am I witnessing for God? And every time I have the opportunity of making the gospel known and spreading it out and spreading it around, am I doing that? Or am I just as silent as flat? You know, it's possible. And what does it say? The branch that's not very fruit is it. He takes it away. And that's a very solemn thing. My dear brother, at the commencement of the meeting, he mentioned something that happened there in first Corinthians eleven. We find people sitting at the Lord's table and absolutely despising and not understanding what they were doing. The only time that I read of a person sitting at the Lord's table drunk actually intoxicated. Sitting at the Lord's table is in the epistle to the Corinthians. And Paul has to say, for this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. Now that is just not an accurate sleep. But here are people not realizing sitting at the Lord's table. unactually drunk, not realizing what they were doing, and God had to take that person to win this. Now I could give instances of things that I know and things that I've seen, where let us happen, where people were prematurely taken off the scene in God's hand and disciplined until you remove them. No fruit! God says, now you better come on home. They're believers, but at the same time, God removed them. He takes it away. But you know, in translating this passage many years ago in Africa into a language that never had been committed to writing, I was doing translation work in Sangho and translating the Gospel by John into Sangho. And when I came to this passage, I was rather disturbed by it. And I have a number of lexicons, four different Greek lexicons, and I examined them to find out what the word meant. And I found rather a remarkable thing. Now, I'm not criticizing the beautiful translation we have here. But this is what I found. That the word that's used here for he takes it away occurs one hundred and two times in the New Testament. But in forty times the word is used to elevate or raise up. Now anyone that would take the trial to investigate a Greek Mexican, you'll find that that is true. The Greek word, it's translated to remove. It's translated that way up. It's translated, in the New Testament, a hundred and two times, but forty times it is translated to elevate or lift up. So I think that there is an alternative, an alternative in interpretation. You know, the very first thing that a vine dresser does, when he's cultivating vine, you know, as soon as it starts to shoot, it's just like a tomato plant or bean or what have you. And anyone that knows anything about cultivating vines, and I know that they do right here, I came along the highway the other day and saw these beautiful vineyards right here in this area. And the first thing that the vineyard, the man in charge of the vineyard does, as soon as it starts to shoot, he has to, let's stop. It can't stand up by itself. It has to be elevated. And he puts these stakes on the ground, and he elevates the vine so that when it don't start to bear fruit, and it goes, it leans over, and the support that there is there. And when the grapes come, they're hanging there so that they can be completely surrounded by air and surrounded by vitality, the air and the sunshine and so on. If they're lying on the ground on the dirt, of course, they can't take any fruit at all. And I would suggest that maybe the word here, while it does mean, I believe, that means God's hand in discipline. He takes it away. But I think there's an alternative translation. The next thing he does is look at that. Take it up out of the dirt so that fruit may be born for God. You know, my beloved friend, here's a night when never can have any fruit ever down in the dirt. And all the microbes and the crawlers that come along. And as soon as the fruit starts to come, all lifted up. That's the truth in the epistle of Ephesians. We're not just up out of the into the heavenly places. And my beloved friend here tonight is just a picture of what should happen to the believer. Separate it from this cruel word and lift it up. And why would we have our feet on the ground? And they should be. But at the same time, actually our minds and hearts are in heaven and in touch with God. So this is the first branch here is a branch that's bearing no fruit. Under these two different translations, one means that God in his sovereign day may may his hand up on that person and perpetually take them home to heaven, or else he lifts them up, elevates them, takes them up out of the church so that fruit may be brought in their lives for God. Now the second branch here reads, those that bear fruit, read that he purges it so that it may bring forth more fruit. You know this purging operation again. I don't need to tell you that anyone who's cultivated vines, it is a very important one. First of all, it could mean washing or spraying. There's all kinds of enemies for the fruit, and it has to be sprayed. It has to be washed. And another word that could be applied to this word, purchase it, it must be pruned. And mind you, the man that holds the knife and does the pruning, he has to be an expert. There's no amateur who will take that knife and do the pruning. of the vine. It's a man that knows what he's doing. I have a friend in Johannesburg. I don't know whether Brother Thompson knows of or not, but it's the head diamond cutter in the De Beers Corporation in Johannesburg, a man who has a very important position there. When those beautiful diamonds are dug out of the chimney out of the mines and brought up there to Johannesburg, his job is to examine those beautiful, beautiful jewels that have been brought up from the heart of the earth. and it's his job to cut them or to survive the cutting and the punishing of those beautiful jewels. But he has a second job, and he does it as a sideline. He's an expert in cultivating vines. And he took me out one day to the vines that he was cultivating, and he taught me some things that would take a long time for to start to explain here tonight. But there's one thing he told me, and it was this, always in pruning the vines, It has to be an expert. There's no amateur to do that. He could spoil it or smash it a piece. It's a most expert operation in the pruning. And the second thing he said was this. Do you know what the best fertilizer is for a vine? I said, no. He said, it is blood. He said, when the vines are being cultivated, he said, I go to the abattoir and I get the blood from there. And he said, I pour it around the roots of the vine. He said, the best fertilizer for a vine. He said, there's blood. Now that taught me a lesson. There's one thing I'm awfully thankful for. My father is the husband man. And the one that holds that knife, the pruning knife, in my life is no amateur. My father is the husband man. Do you know anything about the pruning knife? It's a painful experience. And I could tell stories here tonight. that could bring tears to your eyes of dear, dear, dear friends, outstanding believers and the things that they have gone through in their life. There's a child here that I started to tell you. There's one dear brother, and I don't mind mentioning his name at all. He's one of my dearest friends, and he's in the wonder today in Angola. The only man from the assemblies that's there at the present time. His name is Charlie Sharpton. And some of the things that have happened to that dear fellow, if I were to go into detail about it, it would shock you. So I'm now going to tell sad stories. I don't believe in doing that. But I don't know anybody in my life, or among my friends, who suffers so much as that dear fellow. And yet a gracious, kindly soul. I tell you, the pruning knife has been made in his life. And not only that, but it has brought out that grace. on kindness and love, on compassion, on sympathy for other people. You know, the only way that you can learn sympathy is to suffer yourself. As a matter of fact, that's what the word means. It means to suffer together, sympathy, to suffer together. And the only way that we can suffer together is by suffering ourselves, and we can sympathize with other people. Beloved friend, I don't know who I'm talking to here tonight. There may be someone here that has passed through a difficult, difficult experience in these past few days. But my beloved brother or sister, let me say this, that the person who holds the knife is no human being. It's my father. My father holds that knife. And when he applies it, it's always for to bring fruit out of my life. That's the reason for it. The pruning knife is that there may be more fruit and much fruit. So first of all, there's a fruitless branch, and secondly, the fruitful branch, and it needs purging or pruning. But then there's a withered branch. What does this mean? You know, when I was a young believer, I thought of a person that wasn't a Christian at all. But I'm quite convinced that this withered branch, it was once joined to the vine, and notice its witness here. It's not life. It's not what we would call eternal life. but it's witness for God. On this branch here, a withered branch, we read that it's withered, a man under Kutpa, a man gather them, and cast them into the fire on day or hour. I believe that such a thing can happen in a believer's life. Some sin can be committed that that person, as far as their testimony, not their life, not their eternal life, but their testimony for God is ruined. They're never able to open their mouth again in public on account of what has happened in their life. I'll give an illustration to show what I mean. Possibly. Some may disagree with me about the interpretation of the passage, but I believe that this branch once was joined to the divine, but something happened in the life, and read here, men gather them, men gather them, and cast them into the fire and there it burns. I mentioned going home on the last, starting off from home on the last day of the war, VE Day. When I arrived at my home, by the way, I was going to Ireland at that time, there was a young man who had been saved quite recently. Before he was saved, he was a nectar. He earned his living on the variety stage. Big, tall, handsome, dark, well, a perfect man for that type of work. very, very clever. And he came to some gospel meetings and God said to him, I haven't a doubt in my life that that young man was truly born again. But afterwards he became, he just grew like a mushroom. Very clever. And as far as preaching and teaching the word of God is concerned, at a very short time he was preaching around among the assemblies at home. And when I arrived home, he came to me and he said this, He said, I haven't very much burdened an exercise about going to Africa. He said, not, he said, as a full-time missionary, but he said, I want to go there and earn my living. He was not only was he an actor, but he had had some training in the jewelry business, and I said, I want to earn my living, and at the same time engage in the Lord's work. I did everything possible to encourage him. He was marrying. He had three children. And we were able to get a passage for him. and I went over to Cape Town, and I was there for some little time, and we were home in furlough. And while I was in furlough, I heard some reports of some things that were happening. And just to put it in a nutshell, he was misbehaving with a young woman, eighteen years of age, although he was a married man with three children, he left his wife and three children at home because they couldn't get a passage, overtook Cape Town, but he himself was able to go. And I heard through reliable sources that he was misbehaving with a young woman. After her furlough was over, I got shipped, and I landed in Cape Town, and he met me at the boat. And when I shook hands with him, I mentioned his name, I said, Brother. I said, I've heard some things that have disturbed me. Oh, well, he said, come, let's have a meal together. We went to a restaurant and sat down at the table. And I said, tell me just exactly what has happened. He was a little bit deliberate about going into detail. But finally he told me this. He said, I'm determined. He said, that I'm going to divorce my wife. And he said, I'm going to marry this here. Well, you know, if it had hit me between the eyes, I couldn't have been more surprised or more upset. And he said, my dear brother. I said, I'm not speaking to you in any hard or own kind way. But I want to warn you. I said, if you do what you say you're going to do. I said, the first thing you're going to do is break your wife's heart. over there at all. And the second thing you're going to do is write a stigma over the head of your three children. And I said, the third thing is, I don't know of any assembly anywhere that would tolerate that kind of conduct. And I said, you'll have to be disciplined. And I said, your mouth would be shut. And every argument I could think of, and in a kindly, gracious way, I fled with them. I said, please, I said, please move to it. And after I was through, he put out his hand, and he shook hands with me. He said, I want to tell you, he said, I want to thank you for your faithfulness. But he said, I'm determined what I'm going to do. And he did. And it all happened. He broke his wife's heart. Not one of his children would put their food in any place where the gospel was preached, on the count of what Father called it in. And a little while afterwards, he had gone up into the interior. And in Johannesburg I picked up a newspaper and I read about an airplane crash that happened in the old German southwest Africa and the plane had crashed. And when I looked at the list of those have been killed in that plane, I found his name. His name was there. He was killed in that crash. Men gather them. Men gather them and cast them into the forest. And there it burns. Was he a Christian? I believe he was. And you know what's happening today everywhere. My beloved brethren, I don't need to tell you that what I have related here is happening all the time. Men gather and cast them into the fire on day or burn. They may be a Christian, truly born again, but they're much as close. No longer are they able to witness for God on account of what has happened. And to me, that's a very solemn warning. Very solemn. And I want to speak kindly to each one of us here tonight. Beloved brethren, it says, let's try as far as we possibly can to have a witness for God. Christ is divine and we are united to him. And the whole picture that we get here is not so much eternal life. That is not the point in the witness. It's a witness for God. And those that are linked to the vine and when we abide in him, then God can bless our testimony with those with whom we come and contact. So here first of all is the vine. And the vine in the Old Testament failed on account of what happened to Israel. But here is the testimony for God today. And that testimony is Christ as the true vine and you and me as branches. You might have true that vine and bearing witness for God. Now the second one is the faith. That is the national life of Israel. And it would be interesting to look at the different mentions, the different contexts where we find the fig mention. We find it in the Gospel according to Luke about a fig tree in the middle of the garden, in the middle of the vineyard. And the Lord, the parable that he spoke, connected with it, he said, when the vine dresser came through it, he found that it wasn't bearing any fruit. And he said to the man in charge, he said, cut it down. Why does it come to the ground? What? The man in charge, he said, well, let's fertilize it and dig around it, fertilize it and see if it burst fruit. And for three years, worried that that happened. But then there was no fruit, and therefore the fig tree was cut down. I believe that those three years, for that three years of ministry of her blessed Lord, oh, Israel was the vine, and Anson, it was the fig. And their national life, I don't need to tell you what happened. At the time went on, we find that Israel emerged as a Messiah. The crucifixion took place on their national life, a snuff out, on account of what they did. We'll read about that again in Matthew chapter twenty-one. The Lord coming along and seeing the fig tree, he came to see if there's any fruit on it. There's no fruit. And we'll read that he cursed it. And we'll read it with it from the ground up. That is a parable. It is a picture of what happened to Israel. of the faith their national life was snuffed out on account of their tremendous sin against Almighty God. But then in Matthew twenty four, read, when you see the big tree put on its green days, no, the time is not, even at the door. I would love to occupy time tonight and going into a little bit of Israel's history and what has happened in our day, not going back too far. My father, was a soldier from the British Army. I think I mentioned that last night. My father was in General Allenby's army. In the nineteen seventeen, from the British Army leaving their headquarters in Egypt at a place called El Cantara and coming up through the Gassas Strip. And General Allenby, in a whirlwind campaign, he came and he surrounded the city of Jerusalem with his men. My father was present at that. And he saw what happened. Allenby was a real believer, a born-again man, and he did not want to open up with his artillery on the city. He was afraid to do that. At that time, King George V was on the throne in England, and Lloyd George at that time was the Prime Minister. And then this General Allenby had his headquarters in El Cantera, where the Commander-in-Chief was there, and he sent for orders to the Commander-in-Chief in Egypt and asked for orders what he should do. And the man there in Egypt didn't want to take responsibility for ordering to open up with his artillery. So he passed it on. It's Lloyd George in England. And Lloyd George, who I believe too was a Christian, he didn't want to take responsibility. And he handed the telegram over to King George. And King George V. He sat down and he wrote a telegram to Allenby. And the words on it were, man, come such a master. And when that telegram arrived, Allenby was on his knees inside his tent asking God to guide him, what he should do? And when he was on his knees there, there was a corporal acting as guard at the door of the tent. He saw, the corporal saw a flag party coming out of one of the gates of Jerusalem with a bed sheet on the top of a pole and a flag party coming out to offer the surrender of the city. And they came over. And when Allenby saw that, and they went out and they accepted the terms of the flag party that came along and surrendered. And calling his men together on his horse, he went up to the gates of Jerusalem. And when he arrived at the gate, he got off his horse and put his arm on the halt of the horse and taking off his cap, he walked into the city of Jerusalem and was surrendered without firing a shot. Now, that was nineteen seventeen in November. And you all know what has happened from that time. The fig tree has put on its green I can't take time to go into all the detail, but it's a thrilling, thrilling story. Did you remember that other occasion too? On the eighteenth of May, nineteen forty-eight, David Ben-Gurion, he stood up on the Knesset there in Jerusalem, and he proclaimed the sovereignty of the nation of Israel after a period of almost two thousand years. So that was an echo. And don't tell me, I wouldn't believe anybody, they didn't say that God was behind the whole thing. On Israel, for the first time in two thousand years, the big tree has been on its green leaves. And from that time on, we all know the politics of the Middle East and all the different things that are happening here. God is laying the foundation for the Battle of Armageddon. And beloved brethren, I believe with all my heart that the Bible points with one earring finger at the coming heart. Blessed Lord. Read, will you see the fig tree put on it, we need to know that it is nigh, even at the door. So that's what we're looking for today. And I believe it will be fulfilled. And then of course the whole story, when the Lord comes, we find the tribulation and so on coming for us. And afterwards the seven year period, divided in two parts, the beginning of sorrows and the great tribulation, the Battle of Armageddon, and then Christ shall come. Sleep on the Mount of Olives. And they'll come and they'll look at them and they'll say, what are these wounds of thy hand? And he'll say those which I was wounded in the heart of my friend. And poor Israel that has been so dismembered and tortured and beaten right through the ages. As a ruler. And realize the enormity of their sin will get down before them. And separate into tribes. Separate into families. Separate into individuals. And get down at the streets and confess their sin. And when they do. When they confess their sin. A nation will be born in the name. and read that the olive tree, the branches have been grafted in again, the will be restored to Jehovah as it were in the Old Testament signs. So these three different pictures, these three symbols, first of all the vine, what is their witness, and secondly the fig tree, their national life, and then thirdly, their spiritual life represented by the olive tree. These three symbols give us a beautiful, beautiful picture not only of the nation of Israel, but of ourselves too. Oh, beloved brethren, why don't we have the opportunity? Let's take, by all means, don't be a fruitless branch. Don't be a withered branch, but be a fruitful branch. And if you get the pruning knife, note that the kindly hand of her father was stirred, to keep us near to himself and to cut away anything in our life that's not according to his blessing. Thank you, my pleasure.