I am saying this now, a couple minutes too late, but when we sing verses from the Trinity Psalter, the musical verses don't always line up with the verses from the psalm. So those are musically verses one and four through seven. From the psalm, it was verses one through three and verses 10 through 19. through 22. So we can also see that as we sing along. We can see in smaller print the verses from the psalm that we are taking to the Lord in song form. But our passage reading now, moving from the psalms, from Psalm 107 to Mark 11. This is our main text for this morning. You might wonder why we sang a psalm has words of judgment is because there is a parable of judgment in our text this morning. Mark chapter 11, and we'll read from verses 12 through 26, though we will only make some reference to verses 15 through 19. Mark chapter 11. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Mark chapter 11, reading verses 12 through 25. Let us hear the word of the Lord our God. On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he, that is Jesus, was hungry. And seeing in the distance a fig and leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not yet the season for figs. And he said to it, may no one ever eat fruit from you again. And his disciples heard it. And they came to Jerusalem and he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple. And he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. And he was teaching them and saying to them, is it not written, my house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations, but you have made it a den of robbers. And the chief priests and the scribes heard it, and they were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him because of all the crowd, which was astonished at his teaching. And when evening came, they went out of the city. And as they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. And Peter remembered and said to him, Rabbi, look, the fig tree that you cursed has withered. And Jesus answered them, have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, be taken up and thrown into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass. It will be done for him. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also, who is in heaven, may forgive you your trespasses. So far the reading of God's holy word. Dear congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the passage before us, Jesus is not giving us directions for gardening. Fig leaves are in view. Literally, the fig tree is seen. in the distance and they walk to the fig tree. But gardening lessons are not the purpose. The purpose is to use fig leaves to teach faith lessons. And so this event has variously been called a living illustration or a parable in deed or a living parable. All different ways of describing that Jesus is really doing something. This fig tree really was there. Jesus really did go to it. Jesus really did curse it. But the purpose is a teaching purpose. A parable acted out as it were. And so we have this spiritual lesson before us, not a gardening lesson, a spiritual lesson. And it is a lesson about the importance of faith, the necessity of faith, the extent of faith, and the extent to which it is true that judgment will come upon those who have only the appearance of faith. And so we consider these faith lessons together this morning with three points. First, the cursed fig, and then the sure faith, and then third, some words, a briefer point about pleading forgiveness. What is then this cursed fig, this living parable? Well, first let us note that it is appropriate to use a fig tree to teach a spiritual lesson. Fig trees are mentioned many times, especially in the prophets, as a picture of Israel. There are many other pictures of Israel the prophets use, but the fig tree is one which returns a number of times. Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea. I'll read just one verse. If you want to turn there, we'll turn back to this chapter in a few minutes. And that's from Hosea. chapter 9 and I'll read the first half of verse 10 where it says this, like grapes in the wilderness I found Israel like the first fruit on the fig tree in its first season I saw your fathers. So this is just one of many places where a fig tree is used to depict the nation of Israel. And so Jesus goes to this fig tree to teach spiritual lessons. He sees it in the distance, verse 13, and it's a fig tree in leaf. In other words, it's a fig tree which looks promising. It has the leaves upon it, but as he goes up to it, he finds nothing but leaves, not even unripe fruit. Now, I have never eaten figs, I don't think I've ever seen a fig tree. But we know the time of year this was, just before Passover. So the end of March or early April, just as it is for us, providentially now. And it's a time when you would not expect to find ripe figs. Figs do not normally ripen the fruit until June. But it is a time when The unripe figs should be on there. In fact, with the fig tree, sometimes the unripe fruit appears before the leaves even appear. So it's reasonable to expect that where there are leaves on the fig tree, that there would be at least this unripe fruit. And then you ask, well, is unripe fig fruit edible? And some people say no, but others say, well, It doesn't taste very good. It's not as nutritious, but it is edible. So it's barely edible, but it is edible. And so Jesus goes to this fig tree, and he has every reason to expect that there would at least be these unripe figs, but there's nothing. There is nothing. It has the promise of at least something, but it delivers nothing. So, a curse is given. The curse seen in verse 14. Jesus says to the tree, may no one ever eat fruit from you again. And then we see in verses 20 and 21 that when they come back, the fig tree is indeed withered, withered to its roots. The leaves which were there are gone. There is nothing. And even as the fig tree is a picture of Israel, the withering of the fig tree is a picture of judgment. And so we read, for example, in Jeremiah chapter 8 verse 13, when I would gather them, declares the Lord, There are no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree. Even the leaves are withered, and what I gave them has passed away from them. Or Hosea chapter 9, which I said we would return to, speaks about the fig tree as a picture of Israel, which was found by the Lord in verse 10. And then we read this in verses 15 beginning at the middle of verse 15 and into verse 16. Because of the wickedness of their deeds, I will drive them out of my house. I will love them no more. All their princes are rebels. Ephraim is stricken. Their root is dried up and they shall bear no fruit. Even though they give birth, I will put their beloved children to death. My God will reject them because they have not listened to Him." See, people of God, it is a living illustration and one which appropriately, appropriately uses the fig tree in the image of withering consistent with the words of the prophets. This also helps us to understand why this event is sandwiched around the account of the cleansing of the temple. We looked at those verses last week and now we see how they fit into place, do we not? The temple It doesn't have the glory of the first temple, but the second temple is still glorious. It still has the holy of holies at its center. Surely this temple in Jerusalem on the holy mountain of Zion has great leaves. It looks like it has much to offer. But when you approach, you find that In all its leaves of splendor, there are no fruits of true holiness. Instead, the house of God has become a den of thieves. And then we see not only the immediate application, in the days of Jesus, even shown in the text, sandwiching that cleansing between the accounts of the cursing of the fig tree and the withering of the fig tree. No, now we can easily apply it to our own day, can we not? Outward religion is not nothing. The leaves of religion, the true preaching of the word, the administration of the sacraments, the fellowship of the saints, these are all good things. I mean, how often do you see good ripe fruit without any leaves? But they are not enough. It is possible to see all the leaves and yet for it to be a fruitless tree. This is true not only on the church level but on the individual level. Who is being warned here? False churches are being warned and hypocrites are being warned. This does not mean that we should love Jesus but hate religion, that phrase which has gone around recently in recent years. No, again, we would expect where there is fruit that there would be leaves. This isn't saying do away with religion entirely, but this is showing us that even as we should not say I love Jesus but hate religion, we should also certainly not say that I love religion but hate Jesus, for that too brings judgment. that is leaves only with no fruit and it will be cursed and it will wither and die. This is the teaching before us. And if there is any doubt that this is the purpose of what Jesus is doing, that doubt is removed as we come to our second point and as we come to verse 22. Because what does Jesus say? Basically, verse 21 is Peter saying, look, it's cursed. And then there's kind of an implied question there, right? Like, well, why is it cursed? What's going on here? And what does Jesus say in verse 22? Well, again, Jesus does not say, well, here's lessons for gardening. If a tree isn't bearing fruit, take out the ax and cut it down. No, that is not what's going on here. That is not what Jesus says. It is spiritually focused. It is faith focused. Jesus says this, have faith in God. That's what this is all about. That's why the fig tree was cursed. in order to teach this lesson, to demonstrate it visibly. Have faith in God. So there's three things which it's not. It's not a lesson in gardening. It's not a go and do good work. So we might expect that too, right? Fruits is associated with bearing the fruits of the spirit, good works. And so we might think Jesus says, you know, do good works. Well, he doesn't say that either. He says, have faith. So it's not a lesson in gardening. It's not a lesson in doing good works as the foundation for salvation. It's not a lesson in having faith in yourself. That's another thing which we hear all too often today, isn't it? Oh, you just believe in yourself. Just have enough confidence in yourself and it shall be done. No, no, no. It is none of these things. have faith in God. Faith in God in both the broad and general sense, because it is both that saving faith, which would look to God for salvation itself, and then everything that accompanies that faith. And in this way, good works are included as the fruit which comes from having faith in God as those things which go along with faith. And so this is a call to have faith in both the narrow and the broad sense. Have faith in God. Lord, bring me to yourself. And in you, make me to be increased in my fruits of faith. We could say the prayer in that way. Faith is what this is all about. Faith in everything that must come along with true faith. Faith in God. Faith which can move mountains. So we come to verses 23 and 24. Now there are two basic conditions for a faithful prayer to be answered, one of those two conditions is the focus here, that you must believe, that you must be a believer. God does not hear the prayers of unbelievers, certainly not in the same way that he hears the prayers of his own people. You must believe in God, you must have faith in God, and you must come to him believing that he will answer prayer. Now, there is also another condition not expressed here, but expressed so clearly in 1 John 5, verse 14. And this is the confidence that we have toward him that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. So what does that mean? Well, that means that we must understand both of these conditions. and that since we cannot know the will of God concerning the moving of physical mountains, this is not a call to expect a mountain to move when you pray it. You might be a true believer in God, you might truly trust that God will answer prayer, but you don't know what God's will is concerning the moving of mountains. But let us not explain away these verses. Let us not pretend that these verses have nothing to say then. No, no, not at all. Believe and in believing and in praying according to the will of God, great things do come about. That is certainly true. And so what is just one example of that? William Hendrickson in his commentary on this passage. He says this, does not the entire book of Acts prove that what Jesus said here is true? Now what is the book of Acts about? The book of Acts is about the gospel going forth for the first time. The book of Acts is about the gospel going forth from the day of Pentecost and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria to the ends of the earth. So what is the point here? The point is, pray that mountains would be moved, that whole nations would be moved in faith toward God. And that prayer has been answered many times, in many different centuries, on many different continents, in many different countries. It is no less than the moving of a mountain into a sea when hearts in mass are moved toward God. You see, this prayer has been answered more than once. Answering the prayer of believers, answering prayers which are made according to God's will. How then should we pray? We pray dependent upon God's will, that's that first condition. If we ask anything according to His will, He will hear us, 1 John 5. But we also pray confidently as believers, knowing that God does hear believers, that God does answer believers, expressed so beautifully in that verse from Isaiah 65. Before they call, I will answer. While they are yet speaking, I will hear. God hears the prayers of His people. And then this comes back around to the importance of faith. And that's the movement from verse 22 into verses 23 and 24. Believe in God. Believe in God. He hears the prayers of believers. He hears the prayers of those who have true faith in Him. These are faith lessons from fig leaves. What then is the third point? Well, the third point is to plead forgiveness. And so the connection now is that we must have faith in God. We must truly look to God. We must truly be dependent upon God. And so Jesus adds words about praying and forgiveness in verse 25. Notice again, there are words about the posture of prayer. Whenever you stand praying, Scripture mentions prayers of kneeling. Scripture mentions prayers of falling down on one's face. Scripture mentions prayers of standing. What matters is not your physical posture, what matters is the posture of your heart. And that's what verse 25 is about. What is the posture of your heart in prayer? Are you one who is bitter against other people, holds malice? Those are things which are the opposite of being forgiving towards others. If your heart is such a heart, then you are not one with faith in God. This comes back to that basic part in the middle of the Lord's Prayer. Forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors. And so we see it here. We must be those who stand ready to forgive, not having anything against anyone, so that our Father who is in heaven may also forgive our trespasses, something which applies to all believers. We do not all have the same spiritual gifts. We are not all called to do exactly the same thing in that sense. But in this application, we are all sinners who must come before God for forgiveness, and we are all those who are called. This isn't some spiritual gift-dependent thing. This is an every-believer thing. Be forgiving toward others and ask forgiveness from God. This brings me to an illustration. If you first heard this illustration from a member of our church on the last Sunday when we were actually able to gather together, I have since seen this illustration elsewhere and I now expand it for all of us. And that is an illustration of what is the worst virus in the world. And that of course is the virus of sin. You see, we need forgiveness. We need to ask God for forgiveness. Because the virus of sin is so much worse than any other virus, including, of course, the coronavirus. So let's think about some comparisons between these two viruses. What's the infection rate and the infection transmission between the coronavirus and the virus of sin? Well, the coronavirus, it spreads quickly. It has infected thousands, but not even millions. And it has only infected people who are alive now. It's never before been seen. What about sin? Well, since the fall, this is a virus which infects 100% of the world's population at every time, and it spreads from conception itself. In sin, my mother conceived me, the psalmist says. What about the symptoms and the death rate? Well, for the coronavirus, difficult to know. It looks like it has about a 15% hospitalization rate, which may explain why we don't really know what the death rate is, because hospitals being overwhelmed or not seems to make a very significant difference. But let's just consider the hospitalization rate, 15%, that means 85% of people don't even need to go to the hospital. 15% is still a big number compared to any other disease, but what's the point? The point is it's much, much different than the virus of sin, which not only has an infection rate of 100%, but without treatment has a 100% death rate. 100% are infected, 100% will die without treatment. Are you afraid of the coronavirus? Are you not afraid of the coronavirus? This we know for certain, be afraid of the virus of sin. But that brings us to the cure and the recovery. Because to speak about the cure for the coronavirus, There's no cure, although good treatment in hospitals does seem to save many lives. What is the recovery? In some cases, permanent lung damage, but in many cases, there can be full recovery. What about sin? There is a cure, there is one cure, and that cure is Jesus Christ. and his death on the cross, which removes sin. You see, if there was good news tomorrow that they not only found a vaccine, but also a way to mass produce it, so that anyone who trusted in it and went in it could go and find it or whatever, right? That would be exciting. People would run to get that, right? And what about the virus which is so, so much worse? And yet, as so much more certain of a cure, run to Jesus, run to Jesus Christ. Salvation from a virus which everyone should be afraid of. Why do we need forgiveness? Because we are all infected with the virus of sin. But there is a cure. Faith in God. Not religion itself, though it is good to have leaves on the tree. Faith in God. True faith. dependence upon Him, trust in Him, belief in Him. This is the cure. People of God, may we see that outward faith is not enough. May the image of the withered tree be known to us. And let us look to life, the remedy, the cure in Jesus Christ. Amen.