Turn back with me if you would
to Mark 11. Mark 11. There is not one account in here,
not one story in this book by chance. Not one, just randomly
put in there. I took a college class one time
and the professor said that this was all assembled by chance.
They threw this one out and they stuck this one in. That's why
we look to these other writings too. That's not true. Not one
story, not one account is in here at random for no reason. There is not one idle verse in
this book. Not one. Not one unnecessary
verse. Every word in this book was written
on purpose for a purpose. Every single one. I love the
story of a young man, this was years ago, years and years ago,
maybe in England or something like that. years ago. This young man was called on
to fill the pulpit for the pastor. He was going to be gone. And
he studied. Boy, he studied. He got all of
his notes together and the time came and he stood up there and
he delivered everything he had. And when it was over, he came
down and he asked one of the old believers in the congregation
A man who'd been under the gospel for years and years, a faithful,
stable believer, he asked him, what did you think of my message? And after you preach a while,
you learn, I don't think I want to ask that question anymore. But he asked him, what did you
think of my message? And that old believer said, I
thought it was a very poor message. Shocking. He said, why? He said, did you not think I
put in the time in study? He said, no, you clearly put
in the time. He said, well, did you think
that my delivery was too hard to follow? And he said, no, everything
you studied was very clearly delivered. He said, your message
was poor because Christ wasn't in it. And the young man said, well
Christ wasn't in the text. And that old believer said, Christ
is in every text. He said, in every portion of
scripture there is a road that leads to Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. And He said, as we are called
on to preach, our business is to find that road and get on
it. And that's the truth. I mean,
that's the truth. The business of a God-called
preacher is to point men to lead men, to drive men to Jesus Christ
crucified every time. The Apostle Paul said, we preach
Christ crucified. What does that mean? What does
that mean to preach Christ crucified? It means salvation comes no other
way. That's what it means. No other
way. Not through baptism, not through turning over a new leaf,
not through rededicating my heart or my life or no other way. Outside of God hanging his own
son on a cross. There is no payment for sin.
There's not one. Nothing can for sin atone, nothing
but the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing. That's what
Paul meant when he said we preach Christ crucified. Now he said
to the Jews, to those who are absolutely blinded by religion,
blinded by laws and blinded by ceremonies and blinded by their
own self-righteousness. He said to the Jews, Christ crucified
is a stumbling block. That's all it is. It's just an
annoyance. It's something in the way. It's something that
needs to be removed. It's a hindrance in the path
of my own self-righteous works. That's all it is. And he said
to the Greeks, to those who consider themselves above all of this, I'll make up my own gods. I'll
be my own God. He said to the Greeks, Christ
crucified is foolishness, just foolishness. But he said, do
you know what Christ crucified is to a sinner that has had his
eyes opened by the true and living God? To see that there is one
God and beside him there is no other. And because of the sin
that has infected every single one of us, no man shall stand
in his sight. Do you know what a sinner who
is in that condition sees Christ crucified to be? The power of
God and the wisdom of God. The absolute wisdom of God. This
is what he will see Christ crucified to be. He will see it to be the
only way that God can be just and punish a sinner. I have to be punished. I have
to be punished. And this is the only way that
God can be just and punish a sinner for his sins. And at the exact
same moment in time, justify that sinner and declare him to
be guilt-free and set him free. It's the only way. Christ crucified
is the amazing news of substitution. the amazing news of substitution
Christ took my sin upon himself and as soon as he did that God
killed him and when God killed him my sin
was paid and God set me free now after such an amazing and
wise and merciful transaction That's an amazing transaction.
Wise and merciful. Between God the Father and God
the Son for a vile sinner like me. After all that, how could
I try to bring his glory down? And how could I insult him? And how could I insult his accomplishment
by trying to add something to what he did? How could I do that? How could I look him straight
in the face and say, it wasn't enough. Now I need to add something
to that. In our account this morning,
we just had an account read to us. And in our account, we're
going to see three things. Number one, we're going to see
God curse a fig tree. And then the second thing we're
going to see is God purge his temple. Purge his temple. And then the
third thing we're going to see is God lead his own to the way
of life. That's called the gospel. It's
the gospel. This is what our Lord does for
and this is what our Lord reveals to every sinner that Christ was
crucified for. Now look with me at verse 11. And Jesus entered into Jerusalem. and into the temple. And when
he had looked round about upon all things, and now the even
tide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve." Now
a few things are important for us to understand in this. The
end of verse 11 right there says he was with the twelve. He was
with his own. He was with His own. He revealed
these things to His own. He didn't reveal them to the
world. He revealed them to His own. If He reveals the truth
to us in what we're about to see, then that's an evidence
that we are His own. We belong to Him. He revealed
some things to a man named Manoah and his wife back in the book
of Judges. And after Manoah saw His holiness and saw His own
sinfulness. He told his wife, God is going
to kill us. And his wife said, no, he's not
going to kill us. If he were going to kill us,
he would never have shown us these things. He would never
have revealed the truth of the gospel to us. And we can say
the exact same thing if he reveals Christ crucified to us in his
word. Then it's our evidence that we
belong to him. Verse 12, it says, And on the morrow, when they
were come from Bethany, he, the Lord, was hungry. How can that
be? How can that be? How can the God of all eternity,
the God who created all things? It's the Lord Jesus Christ who
created all things, the God of eternity. The self-sufficient
one, the one in whom all fullness dwells. How can he have a lack? How could he have a lack? The
answer is he became a man. He became a real man. The God
of heaven humbled himself all the way down and he became a
man for us and he lived for us as a man. That's so important.
He died for us as a man, the perfect man. And the reason he
had to do that is in verse 13. Seeing a fig tree afar off having
leaves, he came, if happily he might find anything thereon. And when he came to it, he found
nothing but leaves, for the time of figs was not yet. And Jesus
answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter
forever and his disciples heard it. That's why God became a man. That's the whole reason God became
a man. What in the world are you talking
about? What are you talking about? What
do fig leaves have to do with God becoming a man? He went out
to this tree and he was going to see as if he didn't know.
If happily, if his hap might be. If it just so happened that
there was fruit on it and there wasn't any. It was just fig leaves,
that's all it was. And he cursed that tree. He said,
you're going to be cursed from here on. No one's ever going
to eat fruit of you. Now turn with me over to Genesis
chapter 2. Genesis 2 verse 16, And the LORD God commanded the
man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely
eat. But of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it. For in the day that
thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. God gave His law. Now look with me at chapter 3
verse 6. 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 unto her husband with her and he did eat. And
the eyes of them both were opened and they knew that they were
naked and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves
aprons." Those fig leaves. are the works that man produces
trying to cover his own sin. You know why men and women do
good deeds? Really and truly is it because
of all the love in their heart? No. They are trying to cover
their own sin. It's the works of men's hands
trying to cover their own sin. God made man in his own image.
And man was good and he was righteous in God's eyes, right and holy
in God's eyes, but man sinned against him. And man fell from
God and he died spiritually at that moment. Verse 17 says, And
unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice
of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded
thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it, cursed is the ground
for thy sake. In sorrow shalt thou eat of it
all the days of thy life." And that's where man remains. That's
where he remains. Cursed because of his sin. And
man tries everything he can do to cover that sin. Cover the
sin that he is. And he tries everything he can
do to regain that righteousness that he once had. But all of
his works are cursed. They're just all cursed. They're
dead. They cannot produce a living fruit. For that reason, God became
a man. That's the whole reason God became
a man. And he did something about every
bit of this. He righted all of the wrong. Turn with me over
to second Corinthians chapter six. Second Corinthians six. And look with me at verse 16. And what agreement hath the temple
of God with idols? For you are the temple of the
living God. As God hath said, I will dwell
in them, and walk in them, And I will be their God, and they
shall be my people." God said, you are the temple of the living
God. You're the temple. God gave each one of us a body,
a temple to house our soul. And this temple was created,
God created this temple to be a house of prayer. When he created man, created
this body. He made it to be a house of prayer.
Man was created to worship God. Man was created to praise God. But do you know what our sin
has turned this temple into? A den of thieves. That's what it is, a den of thieves.
We've tried to steal God's glory in salvation. Isn't that what
man has done? Steal God's glory. I have a part
in it. I have a part in it. We've tried
to steal his honor by saying me and Jesus have a good thing
going. We're doing it together. That's what man says. We're doing
it together. Here's the truth of the matter. The only hope
that a sinner has is if Christ will enter this temple and purge
it. That's the only hope. All of
man's works are cursed. None of man's works can produce
any living fruit. And the only hope that a man
has is if Christ will come to that man and purge that temple. Now go with me back to our text
in Mark 11. I have a heading at the top of
my page and it says, Christ rideth into Jerusalem. and purgeth the
temple. And that's what he did for us.
Verse 15 says, And they come to Jerusalem, and Jesus went
into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought
in the temple. Who's that? That's this old man
right inside here. He is sold out to sin. Sold out to sin. Verse 15, he
went into the temple and began to cast out them that sold and
bought in the temple and overthrew the tables of the money changers.
Who's that? It's this old man right inside
here. He cares more about money than the God who made him. Is
that not true? He overthrew the tables of the
money changers and the seats of them that sold doves. He came
in and purged every bit of it. He exposed the sin of every bit
of it. Yeah, but we're doing this in
the name of religion. Isn't that what so many are going to come
to our Lord and say? But Lord, we cast devils out of people.
We preached in thy name. We're doing all this in the name
of religion. We're turning a profit on religion.
We're making religion work for us. The wickedness of man. This is
what David said. This is the heart of a believer
that Christ has purged. David said in Psalm 139, Search
me, O God. Don't you want that? You know
what the flesh says? No, I don't. You know what God's
spirit cries? Search me, O God. Search me and
know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts and
see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way
everlasting. You know, I acknowledge I have
no hope. If you don't do something for
me, I don't have a hope. All that I am are fig leaves. I'm
cursed. I'm just a cursed man. And I
need you to purge me. I need you to purge out this
wickedness that's in me." Thank God that's what Christ
did. That's what Christ did. That's what He came to do and
that's what He did. Verse 15, they come to Jerusalem and when
Jesus went into the temple, He began to cast out them that sold
and bought in the temple and overthrew the tables of the money
changers and the seats of them that sold doves. and would not
suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.
He completely took man out of the equation. You can't even
carry a vessel through the temple. What do you want me to do? Rest. Sit down. This work of purging is a work
that Christ has to do alone. He has to do it alone. Hebrews
1.3 says, when he by himself purged our sins, he sat down
on the right hand of the majesty on high. He by himself purged
our sins. That's good news. That's good
news. How did he do that? David said, if you purge me with
hyssop, I'll be clean. Purge me with hyssop and I'll
be clean." Hyssop is what they dipped in that blood and sprinkled
on the mercy seat. You think about that priest going
in before God Almighty on the behalf of the sins of the people
and he had blood in the vessel. And he took that hyssop and he
dipped it down in that blood and he started sprinkling it
on the mercy seat. Oh God, be merciful. for the
sin of your people. God be merciful. Without the
shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins. And Jesus
Christ purged that sin on the cross of Calvary. That's where
he did it. Verse 17, And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written,
My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer?
But you have made it a den of thieves. You know, our Lord said,
I don't dwell in houses made with hands. I'm going to dwell
in them. dwell in them. Verse 18, And
the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they
might destroy him, for they feared him, because all the people was
astonished at his doctrine. When God opens the ears of a
sinner, when He truly opens those ears, gives him ears to hear,
you know what astonishes that sinner? The truth. The truth. For the first time
they believe, I've heard the truth. I believe I have heard
the truth. This is the truth. This is the truth. I am what
this book says I am. And He is what this book says
He is. And fear and sobriety and reverence
comes to this temple for the first time. Verse 19 says, And
when even was come, He went out of the city And in the morning,
as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.
And Peter, calling to remembrance, saith unto him, Master, behold,
the fig tree which thou hast cursed is withered away. I've wondered why before. I've
wondered why our Lord sometimes splits His stories. He'll start
a story, go to another story, and then come back to that story,
just like He did right here. He started with this fig tree,
and He cursed it, and then we have this account in the temple,
and then He comes back to the fig tree, and they see that it's
cursed. Here's the truth of the matter.
A sinner cannot, cannot, see his own dried up works. He cannot
see his own dead, withered, dried up works until after God purges
that temple. He must purge that temple before
a sinner will ever see it. The works of man were cursed. That's why God came to purge
the temple. But until He makes it known,
until He makes it known, they just can't see the truth. Thank
God we see it, don't we? We see it. We now see that our
works, every good thing that we believe we've done, for God
to be happy with us. It's just a dead, withered, dried
up, unfruitful work. That's all it is, isn't it? That's
all it is. We didn't see that before. But
one day God came and He opened our eyes to it. He revealed it
to us. And when God reveals that purging
to a sinner, this is what He says in verse 22. Jesus answering
saith unto them, have faith in God. I love, I've got a sinner
margin right there. It says, have the faith of God. That's what it translates to.
Have the faith of God. He says, here, have this. Have
this, have this gift of faith. I've performed a work in you. The gospel is not a call to action. After the call of the gospel,
an action will take place. But it's not a call to action.
The gospel is a notification, and I adore that. I adore that. I love the certainty of what
Christ has done. You just tell sinners what Christ
has done. And after that notification goes
out, every soul that he chose to do this for, every soul that
he chose to purge receives this faith. Here, have
this. Have this gift of God. I've performed
a work in you. I've given you eyes to see it.
I've given you ears to hear it. I've given you a heart to believe
it. Now, you take this faith and you look to Christ. Look
to the one who purged you, look and live. This word says faith
is not of yourself, it's the gift of God. And when God gives
it, this is what the faith says is finished. It's finished, you're
washed. You're sanctified, you're justified. And here's what a sinner says
who receives it. I believe that. I believe that. I bow to that. I believe him. I believe him. You were dead,
but Christ came. He purged the temple and quickened
you to life. I believe that. I believe that. Salvation is totally of the Lord.
For the rest of eternity, we're going to all be crying unto Him
that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood. To
God be the glory. To Him be the honor forever and
ever. Amen. Amen. All right, let's stand
together.