Well, we return to Matthew, Matthew 21. We'll read verses 17 to 22 as we consider these verses this morning and this afternoon. One aspect of these verses this morning and another this afternoon. First, the significance of our Lord's cursing of the fig tree, and then this afternoon, Lord willing, the response of His disciples as they were amazed at what he had done. Matthew chapter 21 verses 17 to 22. And he left them and went out of the city into Bethany and he lodged there. 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 henceforward 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 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 thou cast into the sea, it shall be done. And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. May the Lord help us to understand His powerful act and His powerful words as He speaks. I want to direct your attention this morning to what I would call a unique event, a profound event, an event in the life of our Lord that has sobering significance and meaning, especially as I believe seen in the reaction of the disciples as we hope to consider this afternoon. What is this unique event? What is this profound event? What is this sobering event that I declare has awesome significance, if we understand it correctly, is what we have just read in the cursing of this fig tree. Now, why do I say that it's unique? Well, as far as I know, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, and I welcome any correction if I am incorrect here, but as far as I know, in my reading of the Gospels, This is the only, what I would call, destructive miracle of our Lord. There was the time where He gave leave to the demons to go into those... what is it, a herd of pigs? I don't know if that's the correct... swine? Yeah, is it a herd? Well, that grouping of pigs He gave them leave. He didn't send them there as it were. He gave them leave. They caused the pigs' destruction. What a testimony. Those swine knew better than many people who worship devils today. Sadly, we're in that time of year, aren't we? But here we have what I call a unique miracle. A destructive miracle. Because in this destructive miracle. Our Lord, as I hope to show, is describing an earth changing event. And so it is profound. It is unique. It is sobering because of what it displays. But here we see the reality. The judgment is in the hands of the Lord. He's about to enter Jerusalem. He's about to go to His cross. But He knows what is going to happen to those who will place Him on that cross. And we see it pictured here. But the interesting thing is, as Matthew records, what does he say? When did it happen? When did our Lord curse this fig tree? Well, very simply, when He was hungry. Here's another testimony in the Gospels to the fact that our Lord is truly human. In his deed, he never hungers, he never thirsts, but in his humanity, in his sinless humanity, he was truly human, apart from sin. He knew the effects of the fall. And here, as he's about to go back into Jerusalem, Matthew records that he was hungry. He knew the effects of the fall. That is why, dear brethren, when you hear that common expression, to err is human, To forgive divine, oh, to err is a mark of fallen humanity. It is not a mark of perfect humanity. But here in our Lord is the reality they took upon Himself humanity apart from sin, and so knew the reality of being hungry. But He uses this natural me to teach us a significant and a sobering lesson. Notice, He doesn't here command figs like the devil had tempted him to tell the stones to become bread. No, he curses this fig tree to teach us something. And the challenge for us is, are we listening? Are we listening to what he is teaching in this unique miracle? Because sadly, rather than wanting to see and to understand what our Lord is saying to us in this unique miracle, in this destructive miracle, if I can call it that, the focus sadly of some is on the fact that Matthew and Mark have different accounts. Matthew and Mark are the only two Gospels that record this event. Matthew here in 21 and Mark in chapter 11 of his Gospel. But they give different accounts. And they say, oh wow, see, this is evidence of a contradiction. No, what this shows us, dear brethren, is that there was no collusion. When the Gospel writers got together, they didn't get to write, well, you write this, I'll write that. No, the Holy Spirit guided each one so he would write his own unique account of the events that took place. Matthew records our Lord cursing the fig tree after the cleansing. Mark records both before and after. Mark gives us details that Matthew does not. Because remember, Jesus traveled to Jerusalem more than once during this last week on His way to the cross. They heard him curse the fig tree on the day he cleansed the temple, and then he asked about it when they saw the effects of it the next day. You just look at it and you think for a while, oh, this isn't an evidence of contradiction. It's an evidence of the fact that the Lord used Matthew and he used Mark uniquely in writing their gospels. But when did this unique, destructive miracle take place? It took place, dear brethren, after three years. after three years of ministry. See the amazing patience of the Lord. Some might say, oh wow, that's a very negative thing for the Lord to wither a fig tree. But as we'll see what it means in a moment. But dear brethren, before we reach that point, look at the patience of our Lord. When did this take place? It took place after three years of ministry. It took place after He had to cleanse the temple twice. Once at the beginning of His ministry, and once at the end. It took place after three years of, if I dare put it this way, never-ending miracles of healing and of helping. And even after three years of this constant, never-ending ministry of truth and of healing, they still wanted to see Him hung on that cross. Jesus knew what was going to happen to him as he entered in Jerusalem. But he also knew what was going to happen to them because of what they did to them. And here he gives a sobering picture of it. He warned them and he also wept over Jerusalem. It's interesting to note the very walls that He says later in this Gospel that will be surrounded by the armies of Rome and laid waste. Even as the locusts mentioned in Joel 1.7 laid waste to this fig tree of God. And notice, dear brethren, how He does it. He doesn't take Roundup made by Monsanto and spray it. He speaks a word. He speaks a word, dear brethren. He spoke and it stood fast. He spoke and it withered. And that's why I said, what a unique miracle. As far as I know from my reading of the Gospels, this is the only time that the Lord worked in such a miraculous way to negative something. Think of all the other things that He did when all He needed to do was speak. He spoke and eyes were opened. He spoke and ears were unstuck. He spoke and the lame walked. He spoke and storms were calmed. He spoke and the dead were raised. He spoke and a plant, a fig tree, is withered. What must this mean? He went around doing good. And this is a good thing that he did. Because it will teach us if we're open to hearing what he has to say. But dear brethren, see the folly of not listening to him, of not believing on him. All he has to do is speak. We talk about the importance of let no corrupt communication proceed out of our mouths in the earlier hours. But can you speak and have something with her? Oh, we might affect someone personally, but here he shows that he can speak a word and have things happen that no one else can cause happen. See, the folly of people saying, oh, well, I don't need to listen to Jesus. Oh, you should be listening to Jesus because he can speak and have things done that you have no ability to do. He has the keys of Hades and of death. How many foolishly and dangerously think, oh well, physical death, that'll separate me from ever having to meet the Lord. When you're physically dead, you're physically dead, I'll cremate my body, I'll have those ashes taken up in a spaceship, and I'll have those ashes scattered over the universe, as it were. So I'll never be able to be brought back to face God in judgment. All those who are in the grave will hear His voice, even as this fig tree heard His voice and said, Wither! And it withered. On that grave day, dear brethren, there's not going to be anyone saying, Oh, I'm not coming, Lord. You bid me to come, but I'm not coming. Oh, what a testimony to the power of the Lord. When He speaks, things happen. Even as He speaks and this fig tree withers. Why? Why does He do this? Why does He do this unique, destructive miracle? Well, He is showing us in very powerful, in a very powerful physical way, the end of Old Covenant Israel. He is predicting the end of Old Covenant Israel, the end of the nation of Israel as a unique nation in the world. Jesus knew what their impenitent, constant rejection of Him would result in for them. And He displays it here. But He not only displays it here in the cursing of the fig tree, He declares it to them personally. As you see recorded in Mark chapter 12, in a parable of the vineyards. For how does He... He not only pictures it here in the cursing of the fig tree, but He tells them to their face because of their rejection of Him, what is going to happen to them. Mark chapter 12, we begin to read in verse number 1. And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set a hedge about it, and digged a place for the wine that, and built a tower, and led it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country." He's talking about the nation of Israel here. Verse 2, And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard. And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. And again he sent unto them another servant, and to him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled. And again he sent another, and him they killed, and many others, beating some and killing some." Where do we see a picture of this, dear brother? Jeremiah. Jeremiah is coming and telling them, give up your following of idols. Give up the sacrifice of idols, the sacrificing of your own children to idols. And they didn't want to hear of it. But what happens next? Verse 6, Having yet therefore one son, his well beloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son. But those husbandmen and among themselves, this is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours. Look at the blindness of religious people. We'll kill the heir, and then we'll inherit what belongs to him. the folly of men blinded by religion. Verse 8, And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. What shall therefore the Lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others. And have ye not read this scripture? The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner. This was the Lord's doing, and is marvelous in our eyes. And so here, as he enters into Jerusalem, he curses the fig tree, but here to their very faces, he declares that this is going to happen to them. But why? and they sought to lay hold on Him, but feared the people, for they knew that He had spoken the parable against them, and they left Him and went their way." Jesus not only displays what's going to happen to Jerusalem because of their rejection of Him, but in the parable of the vineyard, He declares that they reject Him, even though He's telling them. Have you ever told someone That if they don't flee to the Lord Jesus Christ, they'll be lost. And they don't want to hear it. Here is Jesus warning these very people, you crucify me and you will be the losers. But what did they do? They went out and they plotted how they might destroy him. He knows, dear brethren, what's going to happen to the nation of Israel because of its rejection of Him, even as He told them to their face. What does this mean? Well, I have four things. I'm sure there are others, but I have four this morning. What does the cursing of this fig tree tell us? It tells us about the end of the Old Covenant in Israel, as I mentioned, and the establishment of New Covenant Israel. The believing church is seen in the Lord establishing the New Covenant community in the upper room before He goes to the cross. What this means, dear brethren, despite what some misguided evangelicals say, that no nation has a unique place in the plan of God anymore. Not even the Jewish nation. And it's not anti-semitic to say that. And it's not anti-semitic to desire to see the gospel preached to the Jews. Because they need the gospel just as much as the Gentiles need the gospel. Here we see the consequence of not believing the old covenant scriptures. Of the fact that our Lord would send the Savior of the world into it. As I'll mention in a moment, these men were in love with their religion, not with the revelation of God. Here we see the consequence of that. the end of the old covenant system that had been turned into a religion. Because if these men, who he is predicting will be destroyed here in the cursing of the fig tree, had believed the old covenant scriptures, what would they be doing? They'd be confessing Hell. It's not antisemitic to preach the gospel of Christ to the Jews because, dear brethren, who were the first ones to preach the gospel after the ascension? Who were the first ones to preach the gospel after the ascension? Believing Jews. And who did they preach that gospel to? Who were the first ones to hear Acts 4.12, that salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name given among men whereby we must be saved? Who were the first ones to hear that message? It wasn't Gentiles! It was Jews. It was the very ones in Jerusalem that Jesus is warning us here. See the long-suffering patience of the Lord. The fulfillment of this wouldn't come about until 70 AD. A whole generation would pass before the reality of the meaning of this cursing of this fig tree would take place. And in that time, as Luke records in Acts, a large number of the priests became obedient to the faith. They came to see the reality of the one they had crucified and they cried out, Lord have mercy on me, a sinner that I would take part in the crucifixion of your only begotten son. Here we see the end of the old covenant and the establishment of the new covenant, which means, dear brethren, secondly, the establishment of the universal gospel of Christ. He brought this to an end so that the reality of the gospel needed to go into all the world would be more clearly seen. No fruit from you forever again. What a sign. It's over. The Lord dealing with the world through a particular nation is over because it is now, brethren, through the worldwide preaching of the gospel-believing church. that He reaches out into this lost and dying world, made up of believers from every kindred and every tongue, that the Kingdom of God is being built. What does Jesus say at the end of Mark's Gospel? Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. To the Jew first and then to the Gentile. With the ending of his using of the nation of Israel for the bringing in of the Messiah, we see the establishment of the universal gospel of Christ. Dear brethren, no nation on earth can claim to be God's people. Not Israel, and not the United States of America. God's people are in the nations of the world. God's people are in Israel. God's people are in the United States of America. God's people are in Canada. They're in Turkey. They're in China. God's people are found wherever there is a gospel-believing church. No nation on earth can claim to be in the position that the nation of Israel was in before the coming of Christ. And however upsetting this is to many evangelicals in this nation today, unbelieving Israel is not the people of God. Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are, regardless of their nationality. Because what does John record in his opening chapter of his Gospel? He testifies to what our Lord is illustrating here, the consequence of their rejection of Him in the cursing of the fig tree. Why John chapter 1 verse 11? He came to His own, and His own received Him not, a reference to national Israel, but as many as received Him, to them gave He power to what? Become the sons of God. Even to them that believe on His name, which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Our Lord removed, as it were, the unbelieving nation of Israel so that He could establish His new covenant Israel, the believing church. And so wherever the believing church is today, however small it is or however large it is, there is the Kingdom of God. There are the people of God. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst. But a third thing that can be seen from our Lord's cursing of this fig tree, a picture of the coming destruction of Jerusalem because of its rejection of the Messiah of the world, the rejection of the Savior, is thirdly what I call, dear brethren, the folly of religion. The folly of religion. Because, dear brethren, what had the religious authorities in Jerusalem done? They had turned the saving revelation of God, which should have been pointing them to Christ! Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, Micah 5-7, follow the various texts of Scripture that should have been pointing them to Christ! What did they do with all this revelation? What did they do with it, dear brethren? They turned it into a religion that rejected Him and ultimately killed Him. Dear brethren, the saving gospel of Christ is not the Judeo-Christian religion. The saving gospel of Christ is the saving revelation of God in Christ. All believers throughout time have believed in the one and only Savior of men, the Lord Jesus Christ. Abel believed in Christ. He was a Christian. Because he was doing what? Looking for Him to come. Job trusted in Christ. He was a Christian. Why? Because he was looking for the Messiah to come. I know that my Redeemer liveth and He will one day stand on the earth. What was he doing? He was looking forward to the coming of Christ. He wasn't a religious person. He was a redeemed person. Abraham looked for the coming of Christ. What did Jesus say? Abraham rejoiced to see my day and was glad. Abraham was a Christian because he was looking for the coming of Christ. Moses looked for the coming of Christ. He chose to suffer affliction with the people of God rather than enjoy the passing pleasures of sin for a season because he looked forward to the coming of Christ. These men were looking for the coming of Christ. Because what did they want to do? And what did they do? They crucified Him. And Jesus tells us the consequence of that foolish religion. What did Paul trust in to make himself right with God before he was saved by God on the Damascus Road? His Judaism! His religion! He thought his religion would save him! And how many dear brethren are looking to their religion today, even their so-called Christian religion, to save them? Their rituals, their sacraments, their this, their that. Religion can bring forth no fruit in Christ alone can. Don't dishonor Christ by calling His gospel, His saving gospel, a religion. For see what He thinks of religion in the cursing of the fig tree. You want to know what the Lord thinks of religion? See what He did to the fig tree. Religion blinds men to their need of Christ even as they think that what they are doing in their religion is acceptable to God. These men thought that by crucifying Christ they were doing God's work. From the standpoint of the decree of God they were, but not from their standpoint. They wanted what? Him eliminated. It's better that one man die than the whole nation perish. I know that ultimately, it's our sin that was the cause of the death of Christ. But you know what human thing crucified Christ as well? Religion. Religion crucified Christ. Men saying, we will pave our way to God. We will tell you what's acceptable to God and what is not. And Christ said, no, I'm the only way that you can be accepted with God. And they would not accept that. So they suffered the sobering consequences of their rejection of the only way back into the presence of God. Which brings me to my fourth and final thing this morning. See the supreme Sometimes the number of words that should be used to describe this are more than I can lay my feeble mind around. But see in this cursing of the fig tree the supreme folly of rejecting the person and work of Christ. Here was a generation of men who had heard of and had seen Jesus do innumerable miracles, who had answered every one of their questions, and as we'll go on to see, they could not trip Him up despite how many times they tried. And yet they went on in their rejection and folly of rejecting Him. And Jesus is telling us the consequence of rejecting Him in the cursing of the fig tree. to the reality of what it means to reject Christ. You're cursed, not blessed! You can't reject the Gospel of Christ and expect to be blessed. These men rejected Christ. They rejected His Gospel, and He tells us here what is going to be the consequence of that rejection. You cannot reject the truth of who Jesus Christ is and expect to be blessed. These men rejected the truth of who he constantly declared himself to be before them. But he stood before them and they asked him, Are you the Christ, the Son of God? He said, I am! And what did they say? Did they say, Praise God, the Messiah has come? No, they said he spoke blasphemy. Look what religious men can do! They can call the sinless Son of God a blasphemer! Jesus is picturing here in this one unique destructive miracle the consequence of not believing in the truth of who He is. You cannot reject the Gospel and prosper, but you can believe. the gospel and be saved. That's the wonder. That's the beauty. If you reject the gospel, the only thing is being cursed. But if you believe the gospel, the only thing is to be blessed and to be blessed forever. cannot reject the truth of who Christ is and what He alone can do and does for sinners and repent. Consider, dear brethren, what happened in Jerusalem in 70 A.D. in fulfillment of this prophecy. That's the problem. Men think, oh, well, if it happened before 1950, we don't need to be concerned about it. No. Consider, dear brethren, what happened in of preaching the saving gospel of Christ. And so I ask you, dear brethren, what lies ahead for this nation, in its 250 years of existence, has had the gospel since the day it was founded? Has had preachers of the gospel since the day it was founded? And how many believe the gospel in the United States of America today? You would not have abortion on demand in this country if the saving gospel of Christ was believed. You would not have men trying to redefine what marriage is if the saving gospel of Christ was believed in this nation. What lies ahead for this nation that's rejecting the truth of the saving gospel of Christ? Look at what happened to the nation of Israel. Because it rejected the Son of God when He walked on the earth! Repent and believe the Gospel, and you will live eternally. Refuse to repent and believe, and you will die eternally, just as this fig tree shriveled up at the Word of Christ. The day is coming, dear brethren, when Jesus is not just going to speak to a fig tree. He is going to speak to every one of us. What will His Word be to you? Will it be, enter into the joy of your Lord, or depart from Me? I never knew you. Let us pray.