Turn with me, if you would, to
Matthew 21. I felt led to be in Matthew 21
for both of our services this morning. As I mentioned to you last week, We're going through the book
of Matthew. And Matthew 21 begins the week of
our Lord's crucifixion. Quite a few chapters here. Declare quite a bit. Sometimes
the scripture can move very quickly. You can cover a lot of ground
in a few verses. And sometimes it takes many chapters
to cover a small space of time. And from Matthew 21 through most
of the end of the book of Matthew, this is all the same week of
our Lord's crucifixion. It was also the particular week
of the year that the Passover was held. The Passover was an ordinance
that the Lord gave 2,000 years before this moment to point all
of God's people to this moment. This was the culmination of the
Passover. This was the point of the Passover. On the night that Israel was
delivered out of Egypt, the Lord said to his people, Let every
house take a lamb." And he said, I want you to slay
that lamb as a substitute for the firstborn death that I am
going to bring to every single house in Egypt because of sin
against me. That's the whole reason for it,
sin against me. He said, death is coming to every
single house. He didn't say death is coming
to the Egyptians, but not to the Jews. He didn't say that.
He said, death is coming to every single house. But he said, when I see the blood
of your substitute lamb on your doorpost, I will know that death has already
been here and I'll pass over you. That's what he said to his
people. Moses, you tell my people, you
tell them to listen up very carefully. You let every house take a lamb.
I'm coming through, death is coming through. You tell them
death is coming, death is coming. You tell them to get a lamb.
Slay that lamb. put the blood on the doorpost,
and when I see the blood, I will pass over you." The Passover
was God's passing over the houses of His people, not delivering
death to His people because death had already come to them through
a substitute sacrifice. That's what Christ's death on
the cross was. It was a substitute sacrifice. That's what it was. It was not
the culmination of His martyrdom. It was not the finished work
of wicked men. They only did what God predetermined
for to be done. Christ's death on the cross was
a substitute sacrifice for God's chosen people. He said to this
world, Egypt, the world, death is coming, judgment is coming. But He said to His people, behold
the Lamb of God. Behold, the Lamb of God, through
His death on the cross, the Spirit of God has placed His blood on
the doorpost of the souls of God's people. Blood all over the doorpost of
the souls of God's people. And forever in heaven, God's
promise to His people will hold true. He said, when I see the
blood, of my provided substitute for
you, no death will come to you. I will see that judgment for
sin has already been served. That's what Christ's death on
the cross was. It was judgment for sin against
God served to all of God's chosen people. He said, I will see that
punishment and condemnation for sin has already been carried
out. This is a holy God who must punish sin. And guess what? I'm
a sinner. And I have to be punished. I
can't be set free. I can't be swept under the rug.
I can't be set aside and say, well, I'll tell you what, you
don't count. We'll just take you out of the judgment of God
against sin. Absolutely not. He said, when I see that judgment
has been served, the punishment has been carried out, condemnation
has taken place for the sin of all of my people in their substitute
sacrifice. He said, when I see that, I'll
be satisfied. My holiness will be satisfied.
My justice will be satisfied and you'll live. You will live
as a free and redeemed soul, pardoned justified, cleansed,
all because of your substitute Passover Lamb. All because of
that Lamb. All because of that Lamb. So,
everything in the Old Testament points to this moment. And everything in the New Testament
looks back on this moment. All hope is in this moment. And
it's such a beautiful thing to me. It's just so kind and so
loving to think that our Lord came into Jerusalem for a whole
week. This is just so, this ought to
tell you something about the character of our Lord, the kindness
of the Lord. He came into Jerusalem for a
whole week before this great event, just for the purpose of
preaching to men and women. That's how he spent the week
leading up to his crucifixion, preaching, preaching, preaching,
preaching. He came five days before the
Passover. And verse 16. which is where we just finished
our Bible study a moment ago, this ends his preaching on day
one. And we know this by the other
gospels. When you put them all together, it tells us some things
that we're about to find out, but it ends his preaching on
day one in verse 17 says, and he left them and went out of
the city into Bethany and he lodged there. Each morning for the entire week
leading up to his crucifixion, he would come two miles into
Jerusalem and he would preach in the temple. This is what he
did each day. And then at the end of each day, he would leave
Jerusalem and he would go two miles back to Bethany and sleep
there. This was his routine for the week. Wake up the next morning,
he'd come and he'd preach all day long. And then he would retire
back to Bethany. The town of Bethany is where
Lazarus, Martha, and Mary lived. And another man lived there called
Simon the leper. And I can only imagine that he
probably stayed in one of those two homes. He was so close to
Lazarus, Martha, and Mary, I imagine him staying there. I just personally
imagine him staying there. As I was thinking about this,
I couldn't help but let my imagination run with what it must have been
like for Lazarus, Martha, and Mary to have him in their home
that whole week. Can you imagine? It's like I
was studying this and I just kind of have to take a little
sidestep here for a minute. We just have to take a minute
with this. What a glorious week that must
have been. Can you picture Martha making
him, and all of them, breakfast each morning before he left for
his two-mile journey into Jerusalem? Except for the first morning,
we're about to see that he was going to preach a parable because
he hungered. So not the first morning, you
know, no thank you, Martha. That's very sweet, but no thank
you. I can imagine her spending the
day preparing for him to come back home. straightening things
up, planning out a meal. Can't you see her doing this? Can't you imagine the thrill
it must have been for them to see him walk through the door
of their house again at the end of the day? I can see them sitting and talking
about his events that day, him telling them what all happened
that day. I can see them sitting before
dinner, during dinner, after dinner. I can see them asking him questions. Can't you see them just sitting
there for hours asking him questions? I can see him answering all of
their questions. You ask, you'll receive. You
knock, it'll be given to you. I can see Him hiding nothing
from them. Our Lord did none of these things
in a corner. None of them. He hid nothing. I can see Him telling them secrets
of the mysteries of God. Telling them who He really was. What He was really about to do.
What it meant for them. I can imagine their hearts hanging
on his every word, just not having the capacity to fully understand
it. That was the problem for all
of his disciples. He told them plainly. They just
couldn't understand it. He has told us things plainly
that we haven't understood yet. But oh, how blessed any of us
are to just have a word from him, whether we fully understand
it or not, just that he would be mindful of us and that he
would think on us to do these great things for us. We're so
blessed. Bethany was so blessed. It was
so blessed. Every soul who the Spirit of
God truly opened the ear and the heart To hear him preach throughout
that week, that was a blessed person. That was a blessed person. Verse 18, Matthew 21, verse 18,
it says, now in the morning, as he returned
into the city, he hungered. And when he saw a fig tree in
the way, he came to it and found nothing thereon but leaves only,
and said unto it, let no fruit grow on thee henceforth, henceforward
forever. And presently the fig tree withered
away. I googled a little bit about
fig trees. I don't know anything about fig
trees. But I Googled just a little bit and apparently on a fig tree,
the fruit comes in before the leaves do. The fruit comes in before the
leaves do. So if you see a fig tree with leaves on it, you should
expect it to already be full of fruit. But our Lord walked
up to this fig tree, boasting all of its leaves and found no
fruit on it. So he cursed it. And immediately it withered away.
Verse 19. When he saw a fig tree in the
way, he came to it and found nothing there on but leaves only
and said unto it, let no fruit grow on thee hence forward forever. And presently the fig tree withered
away. And when the disciples saw it,
they marveled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away?
Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you,
If you have faith, and doubt not, you shall not only do this
which is done to the fig tree, But also if you shall say unto
this mountain, be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea,
it shall be done. And all things whatsoever you
shall ask in prayer, believing you shall receive. Now in all of the messages and
the parables that our Lord preached in this week leading up to his
sacrifice, in every one of them he plainly set forth that man
is not saved by his own works. We're going to see that over
and over again. We're going to study our Lord's parables here
over and over again. And that's what he said time
and time again. Man is not saved by his own works. Men and women
are only saved by the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. The message of our Lord was it
is not by man's works. It is by God's grace. It's by
God's grace. That's what he said when he purged
the temple. That's what he said when he cursed
the fig tree. Salvation is not by man's works. It is by the blood of God's free
and sovereign mercy and grace. Turn with me, if you would, to
Genesis 3. I just asked our brother to read this for us. Genesis
3. Genesis 3 verse 1, it says, Now
the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which
the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea,
hath God said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
And the woman said unto the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the
trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in
the midst of the garden, God hath said, you shall not eat
of it, neither shall you touch it lest you die. And the serpent
said unto the woman, you shall not surely die, for God doth
know that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall
be opened and you shall be as gods knowing good and evil. And
when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it
was pleasant to the eyes and a tree to be desired to make
one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did eat and gave
also to her husband with her and he did eat. Now watch verse
seven. And the eyes of them both were
opened and they knew that they were naked. They knew they had
sinned against God. And they sewed fig leaves together
and made themselves aprons. Since the beginning of man, fig
leaves have represented the works of man's own flesh to try to
cover his own sin. Fig leaves. Fig leaves in the
scripture represent man's own effort to save himself. Man's own effort to right his
wrong. Fig leaves represent man's own
attempt to make an atonement for himself. An atonement means
a covering. That's what it means. A covering. Nothing will make an atonement
for the soul but the blood of Jesus Christ. Nothing will cover
a sinful soul from the judgment of God, but the blood of Jesus
Christ. What can wash away my sins? Nothing
but the blood of Jesus Christ. But by nature, mankind does not
know that. Okay. We're born into this world,
not knowing that. And until God reveals it to us,
we'll grow up in this world not knowing that. And we'll die in
this world not knowing that if God doesn't reveal it to us.
Adam and Eve did what came natural to them. They tried to hide their
sin. As we sin, not if, and we try
to hide it. Isn't that what we do? I don't
want anybody to find that out. I'm gonna do everything I can
do to hide that. That's what came natural to them. God's work
in a sinner says, Lord, I hide nothing. I expose myself. You
don't have to expose me. I expose myself. Against thee
and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight.
That's the work of God in a sinner, but man by nature tries to hide
what he has done, and that's what Adam and Eve did. They did
what came natural to them. They tried to hide their sin
by the works of their own hands, not realizing that the works
of man's hands cannot produce a hiding place. Man's works is
no hiding place. There's only one hiding place,
and it's in the cliff to the rock. The broken place of the
rock, the place where the rock was broken, and that place is
Calvary. And that rock is Christ. Turn
with me over to John chapter 1. John chapter 1, this is what
the Lord says to all of His people when salvation comes to them,
this quickening of life comes to them. John 1 verse 43, it
says, The day following, Jesus would
go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow
me. Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
Philip findeth Nathanael and saith unto him, we have found
him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write, Jesus
of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said unto him,
can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip said
unto him, come and see. Verse 47 says, Jesus saw Nathanael
coming to him and saith of him, behold an Israelite indeed in
whom is no guile. Nathanael saith unto him, whence
knowest thou me? How do you know me? Jesus answered
and said unto him, before that Philip called thee, when thou
wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. When you were still in
your own works, that's what he's saying to him. While you were still in your
own works, lost in the cursed religion of your own works, I
saw you and I knew you. And when that announcement comes
to the child of God, faith comes to the child of God, and this
is what God-given faith causes that child to say in return.
Verse 49, Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou
art the son of God. Thou art the king of Israel.
Jesus answered and said unto him, because I said unto thee,
I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? Thou shalt see
greater things than these. And he saith unto him, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Hereafter you shall see heaven open and
the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. He said, With the faith that
has been given to you, you believe on Christ. That's my commandment
to you. You stop looking to yourself
and you look to Christ and believe on Christ and his works and his
salvation and his blood and his sacrifice. And he said, if God
gives you the ability to do that, heaven will be open to you. Turn from trusting in your flesh
and believe on the finished work of Christ and heaven will be
opened unto you. Go with me back to Matthew 21. Verse 18 says. Now in the morning, as he returned
into the city, he hungered. And when he saw a fig tree in
the way, he came to it and found nothing there on but leaves only
and said unto it, let no fruit grow on thee hence forward forever. And presently the fig tree withered
away. And when the disciples saw it,
they marveled saying, how soon is the fig tree withered away?
Jesus answered and said unto them, verily I say unto you,
if you have faith and doubt not, you shall not only do this which
is done to the fig tree, but also if you shall say unto this
mountain, be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea, it
shall be done. And all things whatsoever you
shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive. He said, cursed
will be every soul that stands before God outside of the finished
work of Christ. Cursed are man's works. But he
said, if God ever gives you true faith in the Lord Jesus Christ,
not only will you curse your own works. People hear this and
they think, well, I can go up to a fig tree and curse it and,
you know, go start talking to mountains. That's not what he's
talking about. That's not what he's talking about. He's saying
if God ever gives you true faith in Christ, not only will you
curse your own works, not only will you curse your
own works, all of your own works, not only will you say no fruit
of God's Spirit will ever come from this flesh, Not only will you say that which
is flesh is flesh, dead flesh. Not only will you say cursed
is every work that this flesh tries to produce from hence forward
forever. But along with that, the Lord
said, everything that stands between you and God will be removed
and cast into the sea. The mountain of sin, I'm going
to tell you, I'll give you a little, I'll confess something to you,
okay? I have a mountain of sin. I'm not just a little bitty sinner. I'm like the apostle Paul. Paul said he was the chief. I have a mountain of sin that
stands between me and God. So do you. You look to Christ. He said,
you cast your all on Christ and that mountain of sin that will
condemn you to an eternity of separation from God. That mountain of the law. Listen,
people think, well, I'm going to try to keep the 10 commandments
so I can go to heaven. Do we realize how many commandments
are in this book? You that desire to be under the
law. Do you not hear the law? It's a mountain of commandments
that no man could ever fulfill. No man or woman, never. That
mountain of the law that this flesh will never be able to step
foot on. God said, don't even try to step
foot on it, much less climb over it. The mountain of doubts, the
mountain of fears, the mountain of guilt, the mountain of regret. Does anybody here have guilt
or regret? Does anybody here wish they could
go back and do that differently? He said, if you just look to
the Lamb of God, you won't relieve from it. You look to God's slain
sacrifice for sin. You look to what God said he
would be satisfied with and he would be appeased with. God's
provided lamb, Jesus Christ. You look to his blood, his righteousness,
his holiness, his salvation, and every one of those mountains
that you believe is keeping you from Christ will be removed and
cast into the sea. Every single one of them. What gracious words proceeded
out of his mouth as he was headed to the cross. Really? Really? The cross of our deliverance. Salvation is not by man's works.
It's by God's grace. It's by the promise of God's
free and sovereign grace. And I want to close with this
glorious declaration from the book of Habakkuk. Now, I understand
it's going to take you a minute to find it. If your Bible's like
mine, it's page 1136 in the Old Testament. But it's after Isaiah, Ezekiel,
Daniel, It's after Hosea and Joel. It's before Zephaniah, Zechariah. 1163, this is Habakkuk chapter three. This is just wonderful. This
is wonderful. Habakkuk 3 verse 17. It says. Although the fig tree shall not
blossom, it's just not going to happen. Although the fig tree shall not
blossom. Neither shall fruit be in the
vines. The labor of the olive shall
fail. and the fields shall yield no
meat. The flock shall be cut off from
the fold and there shall be no herd in the stalls. Yet I will
rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength and
he will make my feet like Heinz feet. And he will make me to
walk upon my high places to the chief singer on my stringed instruments. He said, although I can't save
myself, although I cannot save myself, Christ is my salvation. He is my salvation because all
of my hope is in him. He's going to carry me all the
way home. all the way home. Amen. That's our hope, isn't
it? That He's going to carry us all the way home. Our hope
is that the one who started the work is going to finish the work
all the way home. Our hope is in the fact that
it's already finished. Everything in Christ is already
finished. Not our works, His. Not our righteousness,
His. Not our anything, His. To Him
be all the glory.