Question: Have Luke 13:6-96He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. 7Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? 8And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: 9And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down. (Luke 13:6‑9) and 1 Corinthians 11:3030For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. (1 Corinthians 11:30), any application to believers now?
Answer: The parable of the fig tree in Luke refers to the Jewish nation. It is interesting to note that on three great occasions from Moses to Christ, blessing was given and fruit sought with an interval of seventy weeks (490 years) between each. Once in Solomon’s time, 490 years after Moses, when they had reached their highest position as a nation; next, 490 years after, when restored under Nehemiah; and lastly, 490 years after this, when Christ came: but according to verse 8, a further respite was still granted till the destruction of Jerusalem under Titus.
The passage in Corinthians does refer to believers, and means the death of the body. (See also Heb. 12:5-115And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 6For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 8But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. 9Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? 10For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. 11Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. (Hebrews 12:5‑11)).
Answer: This refers to Jewish professors who, after having taken their place amongst Christians and enjoyed all their peculiar privileges, turned round and apostatized from the faith. It nowhere says they had eternal life. If we compare the passage with verse 18, we learn two things: first, that the greatest amount of privileges cannot save; secondly, that the weakest faith can.
Question: Are the spirits of departed believers in an unconscious state now until the resurrection?
Answer: The idea of departed spirits being in an unconscious state is as absurd as it is unscriptural. Has Paul been unconscious for the last eighteen hundred years? If there were any truth in this notion, could he have said, “To die is gain”? Would it be gain to be unconscious? Would it be “far better” than to enjoy Christ here, and serve Him in the gospel and in the assembly?
When the Lord said to the dying thief, “Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise,” did He mean that he was to be unconscious? Why say, “with Me in paradise”? If he was to be unconscious, what difference could it make where he was to be?
When the blessed Apostle says, “Absent from the body, present with the Lord,” does he mean a state of unconsciousness?
Had Stephen nothing but a state of unconsciousness before him, when he said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit”?
It is really most deplorable to find any who call themselves Christians, holding such a miserable theory. Excuse our strong language. It is hard to speak in measured terms of such a baseless absurdity as a ransomed spirit asleep in the presence of Christ! May the Lord deliver His people from all vain and foolish notions! The word “asleep” refers to the body (1 Thess. 4:14, 1514For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. (1 Thessalonians 4:14‑15)).