Our text this Lord's Day is from Mark chapter 11, two sections of Mark chapter 11, verses 12-14 and verses 20-21. The cleansing of the temple by Christ and driving out the buyers, the sellers and the money changers revealed about as much about the sin of hypocrisy as any other event in the ministry of Christ. For they pretended to carry on a religious service in selling sacrificial animals and in exchanging foreign coins into half-shekel, the half-shekel that was required within the temple. But it was all for financial gain. The high priest gave a pretense of caring for those coming to the temple by offering a consumer-oriented one-stop shopping in the court of the Gentiles. where all that the worshipper may need he may find there in the court of the Gentiles. But in so doing, the high priest had, in effect, bulldozed the only part of the temple where the Gentiles might gather to hear instruction from the Lord God and to pray and call upon the Lord. The religion of the Jews had, for the most part, become a religion of mere pretense, outward show, mere ceremonies, and merely going through the motions of a dead or dying faith. How does hypocrisy, dear ones, manifest itself in your life and in mine? Well, we can go through the mere motions of prayer, singing the songs of listening to the Scripture being read, sitting there quietly while the sermon is being preached, but our mind can be a million miles away. Now, I may not know it, but you know it, and God knows it. That's hypocrisy. We can outwardly profess our love for the brethren, but in our hearts despise and disregard them, even when there are very evident and obvious needs. We can be a model of moral purity before others, but secretly feed upon pornography and every lustful thought and desire. We can receive the forgiveness of sin as a free gift through the Lord Jesus Christ, and yet refuse to forgive those who have sinned against us. We can commend the preaching of God's word, but then neglect or forget to live out in our lives that which was preached and that which we heard. That which pierced our hearts, when we heard it, we can entirely forget about it the very next day and go on our merry way. You see, these are evidences of hypocrisy in our lives. And when hypocrisy takes root in a person's heart, it brings with it a blindness and a self-delusion so that one may think really all is well. when in reality it is not well at all. Hypocrisy, dear ones, has the effect of deadening the conscience and sending a man whistling all the way to hell. Lord Jesus displays in the text before us the sin of hypocrisy that had engulfed not merely an individual but the visible church of the Jews at the time of Christ. Dear ones, this same delusion of hypocrisy will likewise encompass us as a church and as individuals if we do not carefully heed the warning of our Lord found in our text today. The main points from our text are these. The hypocrisy of Israel, in Mark 11, verses 12-13a. Secondly, the fruitlessness of Israel, in Mark 11, verse 13b. And thirdly, the curse upon Israel, in Mark 11, verse 14, and verses 20-21. Let us consider then our first main point, the hypocrisy of Israel, and I will be reading from Mark 11, verses 12-13a. And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry. And seeing a fig tree afar off, having leaves, he came, if happily he might find anything thereon. Our text in Mark 11.12 begins on Monday morning of Christ's Passion Week by detailing the account of Christ cursing the fig tree. However, the full account of this cursed fig tree is temporarily interrupted, as we saw last week, by Mark 11.15-19. wherein we find Mark's inspired description of events later on that same day, there in the temple, where the Lord drove out of the temple all those who profaned that most holy place by treating the temple as if it was a common marketplace. After the cleansing of the temple, Jesus then takes advantage of the situation to give further instruction to those who witnessed his miraculous cleansing of the temple, according to Luke 19, verse 47. And as the second day of Christ's Passion Week draws to an end, he returns to Bethany to rest, as we find in Matthew chapter 21, verse 17. Now, the following day, after those events, that is, the third day of the week, or our Tuesday, the Lord leaves Bethany in the morning to continue his ministry in Jerusalem. And along the way, Peter draws Christ's attention to the withered fig tree, which he had cursed the day before. And thus it is important to note that the cleansing of the temple by Christ actually cuts the cursing of the fig tree into two equal halves. There's a portion of the cursing of the fig tree before the cleansing of the temple, and there's a portion that occurs after the cleansing of the temple on the following day. Mark chapter 11 verse 12 states that the day following Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the Lord left Bethany for Jerusalem, a distance of about two miles from Jerusalem. And as the Lord and his disciples walk along the way, our text says that the Lord became hungry. Now, this was not a fictitious, feigned or pretended hunger, but a hunger becoming one who was truly man. I would have us not pass over this particular point too quickly, because it's an absolutely amazing statement when it says, he was hungry. For by that statement is revealed the astounding truth that He who was the eternal Son of God assumed to Himself a human nature. All of the weaknesses and all of the faulties of man, God the Son assumed, yet without sin. Think about it. As a man, the all-sufficient Son of God who has no needs became weary and hungry. As a man, the holy Son of God who cannot sin was tempted by the devil. As a man, the omnipotent Son of God suffered as no man has suffered. Why? For what purpose? that he might manifest his infinite love and grace in making lawless rebels into dear friends, in making imprisoned criminals into beloved brethren, and in making a promiscuous harlot into a chaste bride. Dear ones, it is an important point to defend about our faith. that Jesus Christ was not only fully God, but that he was fully man. For if he was not fully man, he could not have suffered as our mediator in bearing the wrath of God against us. It is because he became to us the second Adam, because he fulfilled all righteousness as the second Adam, because he suffered the infinite wrath of God as the second Adam, that we are delivered not only for time, but for all eternity from God's just wrath and condemnation. Let us never forget, dear ones, that our great high priest in heaven, who sits gloriously seated at the right hand of God, is not only fully God, but is fully man. He's one of us. He's a man. He was not simply one of us in the past. He is and forevermore will be one of us. He therefore knows, dear ones, from his own experience, our temptations, our pains, and our sorrows. Beloved, let us never accuse the Lord of being so transcendent that is infinitely above and beyond us that he cannot sympathize with us. Yes, he is infinitely transcendent. And yet, in Jesus Christ, He has come near to us. In fact, He has become one of us. In order to redeem us from destruction, and in order to bestow upon us the glories and the riches of heaven, here is one to whom you can flee. Whatever the afflictions, whatever the trials, whatever the sorrows and the pains, here is one to whom you can flee, because he hungered. The text says he hungered. He was one of us. The Lord here sees a fig tree. Having stated that he was hungry, the Lord sees a fig tree along the way, which is full of leaves. And he approaches it desiring to find fruit upon it, which might satisfy his hunger." I must at this particular point in the sermon make a couple significant observations about the fig tree. I don't think it is a mere accident that the Lord chose to curse a fig tree. that there was a purpose in mind in cursing that particular type of tree. First observation is this. Fig trees were one of the most prominent trees for nourishment and refreshment in the land of Palestine. The fig tree was a great delight to the taste of the Jew. And the large leaves of the fig tree provided great refreshment by reason of the shade which it cast. And it was very, very often the case that people would find in the heat of the day refreshment under the fig tree. After the leaves of the fig tree had fallen at the onset of winter, there would appear in the spring what was called the early figs upon the trees. And at the same time it would begin producing leaves. And so the fruit, the early figs, were produced alongside with the leaves at that particular early time of the year in the spring. And although the early figs in the spring were not the most edible figs for which the fig tree was known, nevertheless they were yet eaten by the people of the land, even in their more immature state. Thus, for the Lord to see leaves on the fig tree at this time of the year, even though the more mature fruit was not upon the tree, To see leaves, because the leaves grew simultaneously with these early figs, would lead the Lord to believe that there would be figs found upon a tree, a fig tree, where there were leaves at this time of the year, even if they were the early figs, the unripened figs, that there would be fruit of some nature upon that tree. Thus, the expectation of Christ in hungering and in seeing a fig tree that had already sprouted its leaves was that he would find fruit to satisfy his hunger. Knowledge of that fact, dear ones, is really crucial to our understanding of this passage. To put it simply, leaves imply fruit. A second significant observation about the fig tree is this. It is at times used in the scripture to signify and represent Israel. Turn with me, if you will, to Luke chapter 13. Luke 13, verses 6 through 9. The first five verses, a couple of different scenarios in which people, the Jews, have brought to Christ examples of what they perceive to be judgment brought by God. upon certain people. And in both of these cases that are mentioned by the people there in Luke 13, verses 1-5, the Lord ends by taking their attention off of the sins which they perceive the people to have committed in those instances. And he says, unless ye repent, ye will all likewise perish. In other words, the Lord is focusing their attention upon themselves. They wanted to focus their attention upon the sins of others. The Lord says, unless ye repent, you will all likewise perish. And then there comes this parable. He 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. Then 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? And the answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it and dung it. And if it bear fruit well, and if not, then after that thou shall cut it down. It's hard not to see the relationship of that fig tree to the ministry of Christ ministering three years and the Lord giving them opportunity, the Lord coming and looking for fruit from that fig tree and giving them opportunity to repent. And yet them not repenting and it being cut down. We also see, similarly, that in Hosea 9.10, very clearly, the fig tree is said to represent Israel as well. Just as Israel is signified by the grapevine in Isaiah 5.1-7, and just as Israel is signified by the olive tree with its branches in Romans 11, verses 16-24, so also here we find that Israel is represented by the fig tree. Now, I would submit, therefore, that we are to understand much more than merely Christ coming to seek some physical fruit from a fig tree that has a display of leaves upon its branches. It certainly intended to give to us more information, and we're to understand something more than simply Christ was physically hungry and desired physical fruit, and because there was no physical fruit upon this fig tree, he cursed it. I would submit that we are to understand this parabolic action of Christ of greater significance, which speaks of Christ coming to his visible church, Israel, to look for the true fruits of religion. The leaves upon the fig tree you see signify the outward displays of religion that were practiced with great pomp and circumstance by Israel. Those leaves attracted those who passed by. The visible church at that time had the temple, the priesthood, the scriptures, the sacrifices, circumcision, the Passover and other solemn festival days, days of fasting and the covenants made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The visible church at that time gloried in these grand leaves as outward displays of their privileged status among the peoples of the earth. In fact, they gloried in these external rites, privileges and ceremonies to the neglect of their faith, of their sincere faith in the living God and love for the living God. It would be, dear ones, like a husband who must be away for some time, and he leaves with his wife a special ring, a special ring to wear so as to draw her closer to himself, to remind her of his love for her, and to help her to remember him when she is even tempted to lust after other men. But instead, She falls in love with the ring itself. She glories so much in the ring that she forgets about her husband, who gave her the ring to remind her of himself. Dear ones, make no mistake. There was indeed an outward show of religion among the Church of the Jews. And yet the Lord here addresses the ministers of the visible church as representatives of the visible church itself, and he calls them hypocrites in Matthew 23 several times. A great show, but the Lord calls them hypocrites. Look at Matthew 23, verse 28. After listing many ways in which they showed and demonstrated their hypocrisy, Jesus says, Even so, ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. They had a show. Their leaves were green, as it were. They were out there for everybody to see. But as we shall see, they had no fruit. Dear ones, is there a more dangerous sin than hypocrisy? When we go through the mere motions of religion, that which is most precious, that which is most important to the Lord our God, our religion, that we merely go through the motions of it. And we do so not from a sincere faith in Jesus Christ, not from a pure love for Christ and His honor, not from a heart of mercy to help others who are in need, but in order to keep the leaves on the tree nice and green and conspicuous so that we appear to our family or to our church to be members in good standing. Beloved, it is one thing to know the sin in our hearts and in our words and in our deeds and to confess that sin to the Lord God and to confess our sin to others when we stumble and when we fall. and to seek the forgiveness of God and to seek the forgiveness of others. But it is something altogether different to sin against God and to sin against our neighbor and then lie that we have not sinned and to go forth in some self-righteous attitude. Let me give you four warning signs to look for. with regard to hypocrisy in your life and in mine. Four warning signs to look for. And when these things begin to show up, and you get on the monitor of your conscience these things, you know that you need to deal very seriously with the sin of hypocrisy. First of all, When we act differently in public than we do in our own families. Or when we act differently in public than we do when we're entirely by ourselves and not even any member of our family is watching. When we're up late at night watching television. and no one is around, what do we allow ourselves to watch then? When no one is watching us and we're on the computer, what do we look at when no one is watching? When we walk by the bookshelf or the magazine shelf at the store, and there's nobody around watching, How closely do we look at the magazines or the books there that are on the shelf? Because no one's watching. See, that's hypocrisy. God sees. God knows. And that should be sufficient. And if that's not sufficient, I declare unto you that we're practicing hypocrisy. We're practicing two different forms of religion. One we practice when everybody sees us, and another one we practice when nobody sees us. A second warning sign. When we find ourselves merely going through the motions of worship, whether secret, family, or public worship. When we find ourselves and our minds being again so far away from God, and yet we can just continue, because nobody else, again, sees or knows. But we just continue going on, having our thoughts, whatever they may be, and going to the form of worship, the outward form of worship. Our heart is not in it. Our faith, our trust in Christ is not present. Our love for the Lord does not move and motivate us. We do not do so for the glory of Jesus Christ. We need to take serious inventory when that begins to happen, and if it continues on, to realize we're practicing hypocrisy. Thirdly, a third warning sign. When we judge others more harshly and severely than we judge ourselves. When others receive the brunt of our criticism and our judgment, and similar types of sins almost go on without notice within our own lives. Jesus says in Matthew chapter 7, He calls those who do not take out the beam out of their own eye before first seeking to take the mote or the speck out of someone else's eye, he calls them a hypocrite. That's hypocrisy as well. Be sure, dear ones, that in judging others' sins, you always begin by taking inventory of your own lives and looking at yourselves. And fourthly, There are probably many other warning signs, but these four I give to you, the fourth one. When we obey more for the consequences we will receive if we don't obey than for the glory and the honor of Jesus Christ. Certainly, consequences play an important part in keeping and restraining us from falling away from God or from falling into certain sins, the consequences. That plays an important role. But when that becomes predominant in our lives, and the glory and honor of Christ really are immaterial to us, but we're just simply doing so because we don't want to get caught, then I submit to you that we have fallen into hypocrisy. Well, if we would see hypocrisy crucified in our lives, in our church, in the ministry, let us give heed then to these few means of grace. First of all, let us embrace Christ as our only hope of eternal salvation, as our only hope of a clear conscience. as our only hope of being sincere in faith and in life, as our only hope of peace and joy and contentment. Let us remember, dear ones, that only He can purge our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. If we do not in faith come to the Lord, If we are not trusting in Him, not only in worship, but in all that we do, that if we're not focused upon our trust in Him. And then we begin to trust merely in ourselves, in our own abilities. We begin to trust merely in other men. We begin to trust in even the ordinances. Rather than trusting in Christ, we have misplaced faith. We need, again, to continually look at who are we trusting in, in all areas of life. Jesus Christ died, dear ones, to set us free from hypocrisy. Let us not forget that he is ultimately, primarily, a source of overcoming hypocrisy in our lives. second means of grace. We must draw near to the Lord and enjoy communion with him through fervent prayer and study of his word. We must see, dear ones, that the ultimate goal in the Christian life for all that we do is God's honor and glory. and our enjoyment of God. If you are not enjoying God, if you are not enjoying Jesus Christ, dear ones, go back and begin to do a spiritual inventory as to why you're not enjoying Christ. Seek advice. Seek counsel. Don't simply leave it. Oh, I guess I'm just not destined to enjoy Christ. Seek all the help you can and continue to come before the Lord and ask Him to give to you the grace to enjoy Him. Do not allow worship to become a mere ritual. Do not allow service to God to become to you mere ceremonies or just going through the actions of obeying God. Thirdly, We must, dear ones, learn to hate hypocrisy as an enemy. As a dreaded enemy of our soul that would seek to destroy us and take us to hell. Hypocrisy is essentially lying. Lying to God, lying to others, lying to yourself. Let us hate it, not only for what it will do to us, that is the consequences, but let us hate it for the very nature of sin that it is. It is a lack of sincere faith and love to Jesus Christ. It is practicing falsehood, dissimulation before God. God despises lying. Fourthly, when looking at the sins of others, as we noted before, let us learn to begin with ourselves. Let us become very, almost second nature, that we are looking at our own sins, going to the Lord to seek forgiveness for those sins, recognizing his grace and mercy to forgive us. as we go to talk with others about their sins, or as we simply look at the sins of others. Fifthly, we must not allow the least sin to take root in our lives and to continue in our lives, for if we are unfaithful in little, we will be unfaithful in much. If we recognize that something is contrary to the will of God in our lives, No matter how others may judge it as being relatively minor and significant, how do we view it? Do we view it as something we need to work on, something we need to seek God's grace to overcome, or do we simply just pass it off? I can guarantee you, dear ones, that if you simply pass it off, that which appears to be little will become much in time to come. And lastly, hypocrisy, dear ones, will indeed enslave us. It will enslave us. It will imprison us. And we will become a person who lives two different lives. And we will begin to feel the pain of that, particularly if we're Christians. Our conscience will be pricked. There will be no rest and there will be no peace in our lives if we continue to practice hypocrisy. But dear ones, the truth of Jesus Christ, the truth sets us free from all of the lying of hypocrisy. The truth revealed in his word, the truth of his spirit will set us free. if we rely and if we trust upon him, if we call upon the Lord to show us even that hypocrisy, no matter how painful it is. Dear ones, I'm not in any way pretending to say that this is easy. This is difficult stuff when we talk about looking at hypocrisy. We can become overwhelmed at times, perhaps even at our inability to overcome the two different lives that we live at times. But, dear ones, there is grace. There is power through Jesus Christ. Jesus came to deliver us from hypocrisy. Second main point, the fruitlessness of Israel. We looked, first of all, at the hypocrisy of Israel, as indicated in this fig tree. Now we consider the fruitlessness of Israel. Look with me at Mark 11. And when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for the time of figs was not yet." The text says that when Jesus came near to the fig tree, he found leaves, but he found no fruit. The explanatory note And Mark 11.13b says that it was not yet the time for figs. That is, it was not yet the time for the fully ripened figs, although unripened figs might appear upon such a tree. It was not the time for the fully ripened figs. The Lord did not expect Dillons to find fully ripened figs upon a tree this early in the spring. But he did expect to find some unripened figs, especially with the great show of leaves that adorned this fig tree. But he found no fruit at all upon this tree. Fruitlessness in the church fruitlessness in the Christian ministry, fruitlessness in the Christian life is an indication of deep spiritual problems. When we prefer fruitlessness over even the minimal amount of fruitfulness, when we prefer the minimal amount of fruitfulness over greater degrees of fruitfulness, we've got problems. We have spiritual problems. And dear ones, just to interject a thought here, just as when we prevent fruitfulness in the spiritual realm and we recognize that is a problem, that indicates a problem in our life, so likewise I submit to you that when we prevent physical fruitfulness by taking measures not to be fruitful with regard to children and having children. When we intentionally prevent fruitfulness within our bodies, just as in the spiritual realm, so in the physical realm, when God says that the fruit of the womb is His reward, so we have problems. The desire of every Christian should be to bear much fruit unto the Lord, whether physically or spiritually, to bear much fruit unto the Lord, not the minimal amount of fruit possible, just to squeeze by, just to get by. Look with me what John 15 says. John 15 is the discourse about the vine. Christ says that he is the vine and we are the branches. Verse 2, every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. These are those who merely profess to be in the vine. They have a mere profession, but there is no reality because there is no fruit. He cuts them off. And every branch that beareth fruit, he purges it, that it may bring forth more fruit. He prunes it, that it may bring forth more fruit. So you see, the idea that God has in mind is more fruitfulness, more and more and more fruitfulness in our lives. The Lord continues, "...now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in me." The Lord Jesus is simply saying the only way that you will produce fruit is by abiding, dwelling, communing being united with Christ and communing with Christ. The natural outflow and product of union and communion with Christ is fruitfulness. Verse 6 says, If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered. and men gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." Then verse 8. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit, so shall ye be my disciples. That ye bear much fruit to the glory of God. Not fruitlessness, not the minimal amount of fruit to get by, but much fruit unto the glory of the Lord. Do you desire to bear much fruit in your lives? Or have you been just content to bear the amount of fruit that you've been bearing for the last year, two years, five years, ten years? Or do you desire to bear much fruit to the glory of Jesus Christ? What fruit ought we to be bearing? What fruit ought to be evident within the Christian church, within the Christian ministry, and within the Christian life? Let me suggest to you five fruits that ought to be in our lives. Now, again, this is not intended to be exhaustive. We could add many, many more to it, but let me suggest these five. First of all, and we always begin here, a sincere and growing faith in Jesus Christ alone, rather than a faith in our works, rather than a faith in our own abilities, rather than a faith in men, whether pastor, elder, deacon, whether doctor, rather than a faith in the church, rather than a faith in the decrees of the church, rather than a faith in the ordinances of the church, above all our faith must be in Jesus Christ. And we simply use then all of these things that the Lord Jesus has given to us, that we've mentioned here, as means and as helps and as aids. But our faith is not in these things. Our faith is in Christ alone. You see, we must not become virtual Roman Catholics in using man-made steps to show ourselves worthy of God's mercy and grace. We must not find ourselves, in order to show penance before God, our own worthiness before God, to go through various hard ordeals, to put ourselves through various trials, to show that we really are honorable and worthy to be a Christian. Dear ones, we aren't. We never could display and show ourselves worthy of all that Christ has done for us. If we could do so in a true and absolute sense, we would be working for our salvation. We could pay God and repay God for all that he has done for us. But we can't. So that all of our works, dear ones, are not acts of penance. All of our acts of obedience are not acts of penance. Our acts of obedience are simply ways in which we say to the Lord, we love you. And because we love you, and because we're so thankful to be the children of God, we desire to obey you. Even if one has only the faith of a mustard seed, the Bible says, if that faith, no matter how small, is placed in the Lord Jesus Christ, in Jesus Christ who is able and faithful to keep all of his promises, that faith will be mightily blessed in the hands of the Lord, for he is the God of the impossible. A second fruit that should be evident in our church and ministry and lives, a humility that seeks the approval of God over the applause of man. A humility that seeks to put to death all of those besetting sins within one's life. A humility that seeks to put to death especially pride and arrogance and competition and rivalry within our lives. Thirdly, the fruit of repentance that evidences itself in godly sorrow and grief for our sin and for the sins of others, but doesn't stop at godly sorrow and grief, but then continues on to seek God's forgiveness and to rejoice in the forgiveness of God. You see, repentance, true repentance, always issues forth in an appreciation for the mercy of God in Jesus Christ. If after repenting you don't appreciate God's mercy any more than you did before, then you have not understood what true repentance is. And along with that repentance, a growing hatred for our sin, but a growing love for the righteousness of God. Fourthly, an unfeigned love or an unpretended love for the Lord and for our neighbor. You see, a love that issues forth from the heart and is carried forth through the words that we speak to one another and is evidenced in the actions in obeying and desiring to obey the commandments of God so that We are not forced by mere the consequences of not obeying, but that we desire to obey, that's being motivated by an unfeigned love. Isn't that what we desire in our children? Don't we simply want our children to love us so much as parents? that the consequence of not obeying falls into the background, whereas their desire to obey us because they love us is preeminent? That's what God desires for us. And lastly, a burning zeal for the name of the Lord God. and especially in maintaining the purity of doctrine and worship and government in his church. Another fruit, how zealous are we for God's house? Does the zeal of the Lord consume us for his house as it did the Lord Jesus Christ? Again, I would have you remember before we briefly mention the third and final point, that we cannot produce this fruit for the Lord in our own strength. Remember what John 15 said, without me ye can do nothing. Not that you can do some things, but you can do nothing without me. You cannot have true fruit without Christ. Without being in union and enjoying communion with Christ, there cannot be fruit that will last in your life or mine. And thus, because it is Christ who produces the fruit in our lives, shame upon us whenever we take credit and glory for that which he has worked within us. Shame upon us. We can look at it, and we can glory in it, and we can praise the Lord for what's in our lives, because he's worked it in our lives, not because we have worked it into our lives. The third and last point is the curse upon Israel. In Mark chapter 11, verses 14 and 20-21, Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter forever, and his disciples heard it. 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 cursest is withered away." Dear ones, here we are to understand the curse that befell Israel for her hypocrisy. God gave Israel over to blindness and sent the Roman troops against her in 70 A.D. to wither its tree nationally and ecclesiastically. It would appear that the actual tree itself, when the Lord says that it's not to bear fruit forever, pertains to the tree uniquely, not to the nation of Israel or to the church of Israel. for as we shall soon see, that that particular curse was to be removed. It would appear that the withering process within this tree began immediately from what is stated in Matthew 21.19, because it says, forthrightly, presently, they noticed that it was withering. It was withering away in Matthew, but here in Mark, it was completed. The next day as they approach it, Peter says, it's withered away from the root. So it was totally, completely withered up the following day when they passed by. Dear ones, let us again not take lightly the sin of hypocrisy. Job chapter 27, verse 8, gives to us very sobering words. concerning the hypocrite. And it says, for what is the hope of the hypocrite? Though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul. When we see hypocrisy in our lives, dear ones, let us not toy and play with hypocrisy. It is a deadly, deadly sin. By God's grace, let us put it to death. Judas is one whom we think of amongst the disciples of Christ who pre-eminently and prominently displays this particular sin of hypocrisy, merely going through the motions, pretending to be one in heart who is united to Christ, who is a true disciple of Christ, but yet, Jesus says, from the beginning was a devil. He's called the son of perdition. He carried forth by way of pretension, by way of leaves on the tree. He was able to, no doubt, perform miracles. He was there receiving instruction along with the rest of the disciples, going forth and teaching along with the other disciples as they went out two by two, but never one of his. In Judas it is fulfilled, the words of Jesus in Matthew chapter 7, where he says on the last day, many will come to me and say, Lord, Lord, didn't we perform many mighty works in your name? Didn't we prophesy in your name? Didn't we do all of these things in your name? The Lord will turn to them and say, depart from me, you workers of iniquity. I never knew you. I never knew you. Not I knew you at one time, but now I don't, but I never knew you. There's another son of perdition that's mentioned in the Scripture. 2 Thessalonians 2. also would give to you or submit to you that this is preeminently the hypocrite who pretends to be the vicar of Christ, the representative of Christ upon the earth, who leads millions to destruction, who persecutes the church of Jesus Christ, those who are truly faithful, the papacy. He sits upon the throne within the temple, the church of God, and takes upon himself divine qualities and attributes and powers and authority. But he sends forth great delusion. Satan uses him to send forth great delusion to deceive and to bring others into the state of hypocrisy. This is the Roman Church, which is to be avoided. And this particular hypocrisy, dear ones, that comes from the man of hypocrisy, the man of sin, the son of perdition, is permeating church after church after church in this day and age. We need to pray for those who are God's elect within the Roman Church, that God would deliver them and bring them out of that church. And of all of those other churches who have imbibed the doctrine, the worship, and the government of the papacy, to pray that God would bring them out as well to enjoy the true Christian religion. I would have you see, as I close this Lord's Stage, that the curse that was pronounced upon Israel through this fig tree was not an eternal, perpetual curse, but one, dear ones, that was to be lifted in the future. The Apostle Paul, in Romans chapter 11, speaks of a blindness in part that has come upon Israel. He says, in part, because there are Jews, Paul says, I'm one of them. who has come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. But by and large, there's a blindness which follows from this curse that God has brought upon Israel nationally and ecclesiastically. But that curse, the Lord, through Paul, predicts will be lifted. Why? Because of the tender mercies of our God. because of the covenant which he has made and which he will not and cannot break to his people, which should assure us of the covenant that he has made with us, dear ones, that he will not break. And though we may fall into sin, and though we may feel the rod which comes upon us, the judgment of God that comes upon us, Yet the Lord will show us mercy and He will restore us, even as He has promised that He will restore Israel unto Himself after the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. Dear ones, not only look at the hypocrisy and the effects it has in your own life, consider how your hypocrisy affects your children. If your children grow up seeing you live two different types of lives, one in public and one in private, what will they think about your religion? God help us all to pass on to our children not a hypocritical religion, but one that is true, one that is sincere, one that is filled with unfeigned faith and love for the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us stand together in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, We do praise Thee and thank Thee that Thou dost love us so much as to warn us about this sin of hypocrisy, for it is so subtle in our lives, and it does deceive us, it does delude us, and unless, Lord God, we are looking for it and watching for it and standing on guard for it, it will overwhelm us. We pray, Heavenly Father, that Thou would grant to us the grace, grant to us, O Lord, the alertness, the diligence, to sight it, to see it, and to, O Lord, by Thy grace and by the means of grace, by the power of Christ, to put it to death, so that we do not practice two different forms of religion. We ask, Lord, that Thou would preserve not only us, but our children and our grandchildren, and that, Father, there would be a sincere and faithful religion that is passed on, the true Christian religion that is passed on for generations to come. We ask, Lord, these things, trusting not in ourselves and in our own abilities, but looking to Jesus Christ alone to preserve us, to keep us, to purify us. Amen. This Reformation audio track is a production of Stillwater's Revival Books. You are welcome to make copies and give them to those in need. SWRB makes thousands of classic Reformation resources available, free and for sale, in audio, video, and printed formats. It is likely that the sermon or book that you just listened to is also available on cassette or video, or as a printed book or booklet. Our many free resources, as well as our complete mail order catalog, containing thousands of classic and contemporary Puritan and Reform books, tapes and videos at great discounts, is on the web at www.swrb.com. We can also be reached by email at swrb at swrb.com, by phone at 780-450-3730, by fax at 780-468-1096, or by mail at 4710-37A Edmonton, that's E-D-M-O-N-T-O-N, Alberta, abbreviated capital A, capital B, Canada, T6L3T5. You may also request a free printed catalog. And remember that John Calvin, in defending the Reformation's regulative principle of worship, or what is sometimes called the scriptural law of worship, commenting on the words of God, which I commanded them not, neither came into my heart. From his commentary on Jeremiah 731, writes, God here cuts off from men every occasion for making evasions, since he condemns by this one phrase, I have not commanded them, whatever the Jews devised. There is then no other argument needed to condemn superstitions than that they are not commanded by God. For when men allow themselves to worship God according to their own fancies, and attend not to His commands, they pervert true religion. And if this principle was adopted by the Papists, all those fictitious modes of worship in which they absurdly exercise themselves would fall to the ground. It is indeed a horrible thing for the Papists to seek to discharge their duties towards God by performing their own superstitions. There is an immense number of them, as it is well known, and as it manifestly appears. Were they to admit this principle, that we cannot rightly worship God except by obeying His word, they would be delivered from their deep abyss of error. The prophet's words, then, are very important, when he says that God had commanded no such thing, and that it never came to his mind, as though he had said that men assume too much wisdom when they devise what he never required, nay, what he never knew.