Matthew chapter 21, beginning
with verse 18. Now in the morning, as he returned
into the city, he hungered. Talking about Christ. 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 henceforward forever. And presently the fig tree withered
away. 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 ye
have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which
is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this
mountain, Be thou removed, and be cast into the sea, it shall
be done. And all things whatsoever ye
shall ask in prayer believing, ye shall receive. And when he
was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders
of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, by
what authority doest thou these things? And who gave thee this
authority? And Jesus answered and said unto
them, I also will ask you one thing. Which if you tell me,
I in likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things.
The baptism of John, which was it, from heaven or of men? And
they reasoned with themselves, saying, if we shall say from
heaven, he'll say unto this, why did you not then believe
him? But if we shall say of men, we
fear the people, for all hold John as a prophet. And they answered
Jesus and said, we cannot tell. And he said unto them, neither
tell I you by what authority I do these things. But what think
ye? A certain man had two sons. He
came to the first and said, son, go work today in my vineyard.
And he answered and said, I will not. But afterward, he repented
and went. And he came to the second and
said, likewise. And he answered and said, I go,
sir. But he went not. Whither them twain did the will
of his father? They said unto him, The first.
Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, that the publicans
and harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came
unto you in the way of righteousness, and you believed him not. But
the publicans and the harlots believed him. And ye, when ye
had seen it, repented not afterward that ye might believe him." Here
another parable. There was a certain householder
which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged
a winepress in it, and built a tower, and led it out to the
husbandman, and went into a far country. And when the time of
the fruit grew near, he sent his servants to the husbandman
that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandman took
his servants and beat one and killed another and stoned another.
Again, he sent other servants, more than the first. And they
did unto them likewise. But last of all, he sent unto
them his son, saying, they will reverence my son. But when the
husbandman saw the son, they said among themselves, this is
the heir. Come, let's kill him and let
us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and they
cast him out of the vineyard, And they slew him. When the Lord
therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? And they say unto him, he will
miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard
unto another husbandman, which shall render him the fruits in
their seasons. Jesus saith unto them, did you
never read in the Scriptures, the stone which the builders
rejected, the same has become the head of the corner. This
is the Lord's doing, and it's marvelous in our eyes. Therefore
say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and
given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever
shall fall on this stone shall be broken. But on whomsoever
it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. And when the chief
priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived
that he spake of them. But when they sought to lay hands
on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet." Now, everything recorded from
Matthew 21-23 all the way through Matthew chapter 25 took place
in three days. And these were the three days
before our Lord's arrest in Gethsemane. And it's amazing if you read
through these chapters how much work this man did in three days. It's absolutely astounding. Sometimes
I wrestle over this hour or hour and 45 minutes on Sundays that
I stand up here to speak to you. I labor for days preparing for
that. And then I look at what he accomplished
in three days, and I just stand there with my mouth open It's
just hard to believe that he did that much work and what an
inspiration he is to us. Here's a man who owned no property.
He had no more than the clothes on his back. He didn't take an
extra coat with him or an extra pair of socks or an extra pair
of sandals. He had exactly what he had on
his back. He was rejected by the whole
of mainstream religion And it seems like their sole ambition
was to destroy his reputation and discredit his ministry. And
yet he was enabled of God to minister to this world as no
other man ever did. It's amazing. That ought to teach
us something about materialism when it comes to ministering
the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. He takes nothing and
makes all out of it. Our Lord, He become poor, and
yet in His poverty, God made us to be rich. And He did so
that we'll give Him all the glory. Now, here's what these verses
is all about. It's about false religion. false
religion. I have two messages to you this
morning. I've got a negative, if you won't
see it that way. It shouldn't be a negative to
God's people to understand and see the reality of false religion. But it is to some. So I've got
a negative for you here this morning in the Sunday school
lesson. Everything that I read to you here is a negative. It's
a negative. And then for our main message
this morning, I pray that God will give me something positive.
Our Lord came to us. He saw leaves. And I have some
fig trees at home. Of course, we always get early
frost here. It kills all the figs. So it's not necessarily
true of my fig tree, but it is true of a regular fig tree that
it puts its fruit on first. First produces the fig, and then
the leaves come out. And so when you see a fig tree
fully leafed, it promises the fruit. The fruit should be there.
And he was hungry, and he saw this A fig tree full of leaves
and full of leaf. And he went over there to get
a fig and there wasn't any figs on it. And he cursed that tree. And the reason he did this, and
the disciples saw it, I mean, this thing, it wasn't like three
weeks later when it wilted. It died in just a matter of moments.
This thing was dead, withered, and gone. And what this was was
an illustration to them about what had taken place in that
temple by these false prophets. And these false prophets who
were about to come and ask him all these questions and try to
trick him and trap him and discredit him, rebelling against the prophets
and rebelling against the God whose message those prophets
brought. And he cursed this fig tree. And I told Kathy this morning
as I read through this, I said, you know, What this thing is
a picture of actually is in my own experience. When God revealed
the truth to me, he cursed the religion that I once thought
was full of fruit. It was healthy. It was full of
fruit. It was something I partook of and went home and rejoiced
in and thought there was something there, something real. And I
was sincere in my efforts down there. And I thought it was.
But when God revealed to me what I was and what religion was,
it withered. And it withered quick. It withered
quick. I saw it. I saw it. It didn't wither over a period
of four or five years. It withered. And it was gone. Is that your experience? That's
the experience of a true believer. He comes to see the reality of
God and the reality of true religion and false religion just fades
into the darkness. He sees what it is. It's cursed
of God. Now, these Pharisees came, and
they came with some accusations. They challenged him to produce
some physical evidence of his calling. And the reason they
did this is because he did not arise from their ranks and from
their schools, and he did not have their approval. And so they
brought these accusations. They were convinced that he was
a false prophet because if he was a real prophet, he came from
them. After all, they are the ones who held all the truth. They are the ones who were appointed
of God to teach, so they thought. And so they came. But they couldn't.
They couldn't. And you can't. You can't disprove,
you can't discredit the work of God or the word of God. You're
on a foolish venture when you try to do that. And Satan knows
that. He knows he can't. What are you
going to do with the truth? The truth is the truth. It'll
stand. When everything else falls, the truth will stand. All you
have to do when you stand before a judge in this world is tell
the truth. Tell the truth. the truth will
stand. It will stand. God will see to
it that it stands. But Satan's favorite tool was
slander. And the obvious insinuation of
their questions was that if he did not have their authority,
which they believed was God-given, and they didn't have their authority,
and they didn't have They believed then that his authority
and his power must be of Satan. We say it don't say that there.
No, it don't say that there, but it says it in a lot of other
places. Several times the Pharisees and
doctors of the law accused Christ of being demon-possessed and
used by Satan to cause trouble among the people. In Mark chapter
3, verse 22, the scribes came down from Jerusalem and said,
He hath Beelzebub. He hath Beelzebub, and by the
prince of devils casteth out devils." And then in Matthew
10, 25, warning his disciples of the persecution which would
surely follow their ministry, he said, it is enough for the
disciples that they be as his master and the servant as his
Lord. If they have called the master
of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of
the household?" And then in Matthew 12, he healed a man who was dumb
and blind. And the people saw this wondrous
miracle that Jesus of Nazareth had done, and they said, surely
this is the Son of David. And then in verse 24, but when
the Pharisees heard it, They said, this fellow does not cast
out devils, but by Beelzebub, the prince of devils. So here's
the leading accusation. He does these things because
he's a Satan. And that's the thing about preaching
the gospel. I used to read the Word of God,
and then when I'd speak and talk to people, I'd wonder, why am
I not being persecuted? Why are people not upset at what
I'm preaching? I preached free will. I preached
the free salvation. Whoever wanted it, come and get
it. It's here. It's available. Come now. I preached
those things. And nobody was upset. Nobody
was mad. And I preached that He'd give
mercy to the needy and so on, but I didn't stress what that
need was. And nobody was upset. Nobody
was angry until I learned the gospel. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. Man is born in sin. It does not
make any difference if he is a Jew or a Greek. It does not
make any difference because Paul said, I have already proved before.
They are all under sin. They are all under sin. All this
man's religion did was heap hot coals on his head. That is all
that did. He is under sin. He is under
sin. Then they got mad. Then they
got mad. And that's the way it is. And
they don't know what to say about what you're saying. It's as plain
as a nose on your face in the scriptures. And you read it to
them, and they have got nothing to say about that. So they just
slander you. They just slander you. He does
this because he's blinded. Satan's inspired him. He's the
one of Satan, not us. He is. He is. And that's ever
how Satan works. He worked that way with Eve.
Hath God surely said? First thing he did was slander
the character of God. Well, my soul, if you won't bend
and bow to the character of God and reason with me from the character
of God and from the Word of God, I've got nothing else to say
to you. You're just arguing on whims and wishes and ignorance. But if we use this as the foundation
of our argument, then these things stand clear. And Satan can't
do anything about it, so he just slanders. And that's what they
were doing. They were slandering. And that's
what false religion does. And I've warned you, and I've
warned you, and by the grace of God, I'm going to keep on
warning you that the religion of this world is inspired of
hell. And their doctrines, according
to the Scriptures, are doctrines of devils. Let me show you that.
Turn with me over to 1 Timothy chapter 4. I Timothy 4, verse 1, Now the
Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall
depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and
doctrines of devils. That's what he calls them. Well,
what are these doctrines? Well, he tells us in Galatians
that one of those doctrines is the doctrine of man being born
of God, Saved by the free grace of God and then perfected by
His works. And Paul said, if they come preaching
that, they're preaching another gospel. And he said, I don't
care if an angel from heaven comes down and preaches that.
Let him be accursed of God. Let him be accursed of God. It's the doctrines of devils. Self-righteousness is the doctrines
of devils. Free will is the doctrines of
devils. Twice in the scripture, he tells
us, it's not of him that willeth. It's not of him that willeth. And yet thousands are standing
up this morning saying, you have a free will. And if you will,
you can have this. That's a doctrine of a devil.
That's what that is. In Revelation chapter 2, where
we studied from Wednesday night, he said to the church of Smyrna,
he said, I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews
and are not, but are of the synagogue of Satan. Ain't that what he
called that? The religion of this world is
not just made up of well-meaning folks who are ignorant of a few
unimportant doctrines. They are totally under the power
and rule of the Prince of Darkness. Now that is just so. Can you
make good on that, preacher? I think so. Turn with me to Ephesians
chapter 2. Paul describes in the first three
verses of Ephesians chapter 2 the spiritual death of this world
from which the believer has now been resurrected. And then in
Ephesians 2, verse 1, he said, And you hath he quickened, talking
now to believers, those regenerated by the Spirit of God, under the
converting power of the Holy Spirit, you hath he quickened
who were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past ye
walked according to the course of this world, Now listen, according
to the prince of the power of the air, even those now converted
by the spirit of God once walked according to the course of this
world, the whole world. And their course was also according
to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now
worketh in the children of disobedience. Preacher, how do you know that
the religion of our day is the same as the Jews of old? How
did you arrive at that conclusion? Very easy. They reject the Christ
of God as God has set him forth, both in the scriptures and by
the testimony of his preachers. They reject him. They reject
him. In John 8, verse 41, the Pharisees
came to our Lord and they said, we'd be Abraham's children. He
said, if you were the children of Abraham, you'd do the works
of Abraham's children. And he said, and you despise
me. This did not Abraham. He didn't
do that. But you do that. And they said,
now wait a minute. We'd be not born of fornication.
Is that what you're saying? We're born under sin? You're saying that we're sinners?
You're saying that we're not righteous? We'd be not born of
fornication. We have one Father, even God. Now listen to what our Lord told
them. If God were your Father, are you listening? If God were
your Father, you'd love Me. Huh? Here's the point of division
right here. It's the Christ of God as God
has set Him forth in His Gospel. That's the dividing issue. If
God were your father, if you've been chosen as a son of God,
regenerated of God, you'd love me because I proceeded forth
and came from God. I'm all you're ever going to
know about God. That's what our Lord said. And
you hate me. You despise me. He said, I'll
tell you who your father is. You are of your father the devil.
and the works of your Father you will do." That's false religion. I'm telling you, it's inspired
of hell. It's demon-possessed. It's all
of the devil. And in our day, and according
to the prophecy of the Scripture, Antichrist's religion has spread
to every corner of the earth like a plague. Now, I don't care
if you're talking about Catholicism, or Fundamentalism, or Ceremonialism,
or Legalism, or Free Willism, or Decisionism. It's everywhere
you go, and it's not of God. The great whore has in its stable
exactly whatever your heart desires, and he has them on every corner
working night and day. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians
chapter 11. The religion of Antichrist so
dominates this world that when John saw it in his vision, he
saw God's witnesses in our day as dead and lying in the street. That's how much it dominates
this world. He saw God's witnesses dead in
the street. Now watch this here. Paul said, we wrestle not against
flesh and blood. You know, preaching is not just
a matter of convincing men of some facts, not just a matter
of overcoming their ignorance, but against principalities, he
said, and powers, and against rulers of the darkness of this
world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Now look here
in 2 Corinthians 11, verse 2. Paul said, I am jealous over
you with a godly jealousy. For I have espoused you to one
husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. Now that's what true preaching
is. That's what it is. We preach to shut men and women
up to Christ alone. That's what Paul is telling them.
Christ alone, to the Christ of God. as God has set him forth in the
Scriptures for obedience of faith. And in his offices, we preach
him in his offices, just as God has appointed him. We preach
him in his accomplishments, in his true character and power,
and in his sacrificial love, and in his life and death on
the cross. One faith, that's what Paul said,
one faith. One hope of your calling. One spirit, one body, one baptism. One husband. That's what Paul
said. I have espoused you to one husband. And Christ is that
husband. He is that husband. But he said,
verse 3, But I fear lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled
Eve through his subtlety, so your mind should be corrupted
from the simplicity. That word means singleness. That's exactly what you look
it up. That's what that word means. Singleness. From the singleness
that is in Christ. And everything else falls under
the category of another Jesus. Of another Jesus. And then look
down here at verse 13 in that same chapter. He goes on and
he said, For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming
themselves into the apostles of Christ. They stand and they
talk about Christ. They say, I'm here in His stead. I'm Christ's ambassador. I'm
Christ's servant. They're false apostles transforming
themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel, for
Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Now listen
to this. Therefore, it is no great things
if His ministers. Whose are they? His ministers. be transformed as the ministers
of righteousness, whose end should be according to their work. I don't know, perhaps, the best
term in the Bible to describe the Christ of God is this word,
singleness. It's Christ alone that saves,
not Christ plus your faith, not Christ plus your works, not Christ
plus your reputation. Christ alone saves. And Christ
alone that reveals to us the Father. No man knoweth the Father
save the Son, and He to whom the Son will reveal. Christ alone
that gives us access to God. Christ alone that is our righteousness. You ever been shut up to cry?
Shut up to cry? That's what it is. That's what
salvation is, being shut up to cry. Everything else is cut off. It's cut off. There's nothing
out there. Just Him. Just Him. And we cling
to Him. That's what believers do. Everything
else, Antichrist. Antichrist. It's the singleness of Christ.
And you can see this in Romans 10.3. He's the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believeth. You can see it
over in Hebrews chapter 4. They that believe do enter into
His rest. You can see it in His invitations,
if you want to call it an invitation. I was talking to a young preacher
this week, and he told me, he said, you know, I just have an
awful problem with that word invitation. Because he said,
I know our Lord's a king. He sits upon a throne, and he
commands things. He don't ask for you to pretty
please do. He commands things. And I said,
well, that's where your problem is. The invitation of Christ
is a command. It's a command. Now, I'll tell
you something. If I invite you for supper, you
may say, well, I'm coming, and then not show up. But if the
President of the United States invites you, you're going to
take it as a command, ain't you? Sure you are. That's the difference. That's the difference. Come unto
Me, He said, and I'll give you rest. You know, in six days, God created
the world. And then it said on the seventh
day, He rested. He rested. How could He rest? God knows everything. Didn't
He know Satan was still walking to and fro in the earth? Didn't
he know Satan could get into that garden and tempt Eve and
through Eve cause the fall of Athens? Did he not know those
things? Didn't he know that every imagination
of man was wicked continuously? Didn't he know that he'd have
to destroy the world with water? Didn't he know that they'd build
a Tower of Babel? Was God ignorant of all these
things? Those things slip up on God? No. Well, then how did
he rest? who first rested in Christ. That's right, Ephesians 111,
who first trusted in Christ. God rested because he created
this world through a mediator. He appointed him head before
he ever made a man. That's how he could rest. He
rested in Christ in his world. And you can just go on and on
through the book of John. He said, I am the Good Shepherd.
I am the resurrection. I am the way, the truth, the
life. I am the true bread sent down from heaven. I am the vine.
I am the light of the world. It's all in Him. It's not in
things. It's not in popes. It's not in
preachers. It's in Christ. It's in Christ. And to preach Christ, to believe
on Christ, to rejoice in Christ is to do those things in Christ
alone. Christ would be all or he would
be nothing. He would be nothing. And then he told them this. He
came to them and he said, the publicans and the harlots,
you know the two things that the Pharisees despised the most
were publicans and harlots. That old publican bowed his head
and prayed and that proud Pharisee, he said, I thank God I'm not
like him. No, you're worse. You're worse than him. The publicans
and the harlots are going to go in to the kingdom of God before
these men who stood before him in their proud religion, looking
down their color at them and saying, you do these things of
Beelzebub. He said, the harlots are going
to enter into the kingdom of God before you.