Good evening. It's a joy to be back at Bethel Church and to greet my brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ here in this place tonight. And on behalf of my wife Brenda and I, We just want to say thank you for your prayers and for your attendance in the service tonight. And thank you for being a part of this meeting this evening. It is always something that we look forward to when we are planning to come to Bethel. Mike and I had actually talked some time back, and we had set these dates, September the 6th through the 10th. But he said, I need to make them tentative for the present. because at the time he was not certain as to when his surgery was going to be. And he didn't want to miss the revival if they couldn't work it in or he didn't know all of the details and particulars at the time that we set it. But I praise the Lord that they got the surgery done and we were praying for your pastor and holding him up before the throne of God. Thank you, JR. And trusting God to restore him and heal him. And we've been much in prayer for him, and it's a joy in my heart to see Brother Mike being able to live without some pain in his back. And we're just trusting God to continue to give him His grace and continue to heal him. In the meantime, I should have called Brother Mike to see if he wanted to have the meeting, but I got busy this summer. It's been one of the busiest years of my life and didn't think about it. And I thought, well, I guess if he still plans to have it, he'll have it. And then he contacted me and said, do you know where we can send help to hurricane victims in Houston? We contacted a pastor, got that information for Brother Mike. And the last text he texted said, I'll see you Wednesday night. And I put Wednesday night question mark. And I thought, I better call Brother Mike. And I did. And it was just a miscommunication. But I saved the dates. And I'm glad that I did. And I'm so excited and thankful to be here. Another pastor had called me. But he moved to October. And I'm glad that he was gracious enough and willing to do that. And we appreciate wherever God allows us to go. I'm like yourself. I'm just a human person. I struggle with physical things in life, weaknesses. I struggle with trials and tests. And I grow weary. And in the weariness, I find that sometimes it's when I'm tired and when I'm weary that it seems like the devil attacks me. And I guess when we're like that, we're more vulnerable to Satan trying to tear us apart or tear us down. And for about three weeks, I've been struggling in the flesh, physically, as far as health is concerned. And we've had a good year, and we've seen a number of people saved through the course of this year. And anytime God's doing something, how many of you understand tonight the devil's going to try to thwart that purpose. He wants to try to knock us out if he can. And there's been times he's knocked me down this year, but he's not knocked me out. And I was, we was riding down the road today and God spoke to me about the message tonight. And I had read this chapter, but I, there was a verse in there that's one of my favorites. And the Lord said, you seem to have forgotten a commitment that you made. And that is that in Mark 11, 24, the Bible says that what things soever you desire when you pray, believe you receive them and you shall have them. And that's always been my victory verse. What things soever you desire. And I'm not asking God for wealth. I don't want wealth. I just want to be honest in life and pay my debts and live life and do it honorably. And I'm not asking God for fame. It's irrelevant if anybody knows me, but if I can lead them to Jesus Christ, that's what's most important to me. And I'm not asking tonight for foolish things, but I do want the presence of God and I want the power of God. And I don't believe that we're living at this hour for no purpose. I believe that there is a purpose to our lives at this present hour, my life and yours. And I believe tonight that we need to be careful that we don't just be passive about everything that's going on. I recognize that there are problems in America and problems actually throughout the entire world. But there is a God who created this universe, who is sitting on a throne in heaven, who is consciously aware of everything that's happening. And while these things surprise and sometimes shock you and I, they don't Him. And I'm satisfied tonight that God's in control. I'm not in control, and neither is anyone else in the world. But God is in control. And we often hear that said, and we wonder if He is, then why don't He do something? But I believe tonight that God is doing something, just like Brother Mike said. But we look at some things like hurricanes and those types of things, the storms, and we wonder, does God work in the midst of all them? And all you've got to do is come to the Bible and see that in the midst of storms, God has done His greatest works. And I believe tonight that in order for God to get some people's attention, or perhaps all of the people's attention in America, that God may have to allow some calamities. Because we are such an over-blessed, spoiled nation. We have so much. And if we don't have everything the way we want it, we're complainers. We're used to great comfort and we're used to great ease. And please don't misunderstand me. I don't like discomfort. And I don't want hardship or heartache. I'm thankful God has allowed us to have what we have in this country. But folks, I want to tell you, the more we get materially, the less we serve God. That's the way it seems. And it seems like that sometimes the only time this nation cries out to God is when there's a national crisis. And I don't want there to be a national crisis, but I do want this nation to cry out to God. And I've had some to say to me, why at the age of 64 years do you run around the country still preaching? I've got ten reasons. I've got five grandsons and five granddaughters. And I want them to have a society and a world where there's a God that is on the throne and churches that are on fire for Him. And not that I'm the one that's going to stir that, but I'm going to do my part to put into this thing everything that I can for as long as I live so that my grandchildren maybe can have what I've been privileged to know and experience about the Lord Jesus Christ. So tonight I want to encourage you and I want to challenge you that let's don't just come in here tonight and go through the motions. Let's don't just come in here tonight and just do a normal service. But in your heart and in your thoughts, would you ask Jesus to move in on you? Would you ask Him not only to move in on you, but move upon you and draw you closer to Him more so than you've ever been? Would you ask Him tonight to help you by giving to you a hunger and a thirst for His righteousness and for His will in your life greater than you have ever known it in your entire lifetime. And can I tell you tonight, if you'll honestly and earnestly seek the Lord with all your heart, you'll find Him. The devil is going to try to stop you, if he can, from coming to the meeting, but don't let him do it. And some of those that are watching by social media, He may try to distract you or cause you to look at other things that you might be turned away from, but don't allow it. Stay tuned in and let God have His way in your hearts tonight. I want to ask you to turn two places in your Bible. I'm going to read for a text. 1 Peter chapter 4 verses 17 and 18. But I also want you then to find or go back for Mark chapter 11. Because most all of my message will be preached out of the book of Mark chapter 11. So we'll read the text from 1 Peter chapter 4 verses 17 and 18. And then we'll come back to the book of Mark chapter 11. When you find 1 Peter chapter 4, if you are able, Please stand in reverence to God's Word as we'll read it. What I'm speaking to you on tonight is this particular thought. When judgment begins at the house of God. Now listen to me carefully. I'm not talking about a judgment of condemnation. I'm not talking about a judgment of destruction. But I'm talking about a judgment of discernment, a judgment of searching ourselves and finding out what it is that God wants us to receive from Him so that we can rightly discern what to do in order that we might really have revival. Not just a revival in a few days that we're here, but a revived spirit and a refreshed life that continues on a day-to-day basis pursuing the things that God has purposed in our life. Look, if you will, at verses 17 and 18 of the book of 1 Peter chapter 4. For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God. And if it first began at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" Do you see the questions that he's giving us here? He's saying to you and I, if you and I would judge ourselves, we are the house of God. The Scripture teaches me tonight that my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. And I need to look in on this temple tonight and see what is there in this temple. that God would have me to discern that is inappropriate or that I need to release or turn loose of and get rid of. Not necessarily there's things wrong that are sinfully wrong, except that it may be something interfering with me and my relationship with Jesus Christ. And what is it that God wants me to consider in my temple tonight? You remember in the book of 1 Corinthians, Paul wrote and said, if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. Bear that in mind. And so the question is this. If it begins with us, then where will them that obey not the gospel stand? And if you and I, being righteous scarcely, are saved, then where does that leave the sinner and the ungodly person? Those are good questions, wouldn't you say? Let's pray. Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank you for bringing us safely to this place. I thank you for allowing me to see my beloved friends and family here at Bethel Church again tonight. I feel your presence in the service and did from the beginning as we sang the first song, or actually, God, when we began to greet one another. I love it when the presence of the Lord is in the house. I love it when the Spirit of God begins to confirm things that you've already prepared us for. And tonight we didn't come to pass this way just to pass some time or just to fulfill an appointment. We've come looking. We've come hungry. We've come expecting. We've come trusting. We've come believing. We've been praying. This church has been praying. And we're counting on you, God, to help us. I want you to help me to look into my temple. I want you to help me to realize, and all that listen to this sermon tonight, to realize as we'll look in Mark chapter 11, how you looked at the temple when you came. and what you did there to bring the judgment that was needed in the temple that day. And God, tonight I pray that you'll revive us and you'll refresh us. I pray that you'll renew us. Pour into me tonight and then help me to pour out unto the congregation present one's listening online. And Father, tonight, save the lost and reclaim the backslidden of heart. And take Your children tonight, and God, lift them up and encourage them. Christians, at this present hour, I'm finding many that are really discouraged and disheartened, and they need a touch from heaven tonight. I pray, Holy One of Heaven, breathe upon us tonight life. And breathe in us tonight Holy Ghost fire. And let us truly experience the power of the Holy Spirit in this place. That when we leave here, God would be so stirred in our hearts, stirred by the Holy Ghost, that maybe, Lord, we can't sleep, but we're still strong because the Spirit of God has meat to eat that we don't even understand. Thank You, Father, tonight for hearing and answering prayer. God, we ask You now to have Your way in Jesus' name and all of God's children said, shake somebody's hand, tell them you're glad they come, and then be seated. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has made a triumphant writing into Jerusalem in fulfillment of the prophecy that was spoken of Him in the book of Zechariah chapter 9 and verse 9. There the Word of God says, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! God wants His people to be a people of rejoicing. And then He said, Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Why? Behold, thy King cometh unto thee. He is just, and having salvation, lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass. Most kings, when they rode into a town or rode into a city in a conquering victory, they rode in on a white stallion. But our Lord rode in on an animal of humility, and He came because He was showing us that the way to greatness is through humility. The Bible says that God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. And on that day, Jesus rode into the city to fulfill the prophecy that Jerusalem and the people of God should recognize who their King is. I'm asking tonight, do you rejoice in the Lord? Do you shout in the Lord at the fact that Jesus Christ is your King and your salvation? And then we realize that Jesus, when He came, the Bible said the crowds were shouting, Hosanna! Hosanna and blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord. Are we kind of like that crowd? Do we have those moments where we have an exulting moment of praise unto God? And then it's but a few hours and we're in the same place they are, frustrated and aggravated and maybe complaining. This crowd that now hails Him, will soon turn in just a few days and begin to cry out away with Him. And crucify Him would be their cry. But when Jesus comes to Jerusalem that day, He comes to the temple. He comes to the house that is called the house of prayer. He comes to a place that is His, the place that He loved, and He oversaw looking down off of the hillside of Jerusalem. He loved the place of the temple. He did this also in fulfillment of Malachi chapter 3 and verse number 1, where the prophet wrote, and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to His temple. And when he came to the temple that day, he noticed all that was going on in the temple. So tonight, my text, the Bible says that if judgment began at the house, the time has come, that judgment must begin at the house of God. And if it begins with us, where shall the sinner and the ungodly appear? People say, if we could just have a revival and people get saved, boy, that would be a revival. But I want to submit to you tonight that before the sinner will get saved, it requires you and I to get right with God. If my people call by my name, humble themselves and pray, and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, God said, then will I hear from heaven, I will forgive their sin and I will heal their land. You and I have got to get humble. That's what Jesus did when He rode into Jerusalem. He is the creator of this universe. He is the sovereign authority over this world. And yet He humbled Himself and was found in fashion as man. And He humbled Himself. Instead of riding in on a stallion's teat, He rode in on a little colt, a foal of an ass. He didn't come to this world to be popular. He didn't come to this world to be great. He came to this world to be the Savior of all of humanity. I'm so glad that He found me on one October night and spoke to my heart and brought me into the family of God and changed my life forever. I rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ tonight. I shout because I have a King that reigns upon my heart and He's the joy of my life. I do not shout and rejoice and then cry foul to Him or want something terrible to come upon Him as did the crowd in that day. But Jesus comes and looks in the temple and I believe that He comes and looks into my temple and your temple and into our lives and He looks round about upon all things that He sees that's going on in the temple that day. And then when Jesus had looked around and surveyed it and evaluated all that was transpiring in the temple, He didn't do anything that day plan anything that day. Not that He didn't know what He was going to do, because I believe that He knows all things and knew exactly what He was going to do. But instead, He departs and He leaves the city. Because remember, Jesus has chosen twelve men, and He's trying to touch their lives. He's trying to impact their lives. And sometimes when you work with so few, some of you that work with children, you may just have a few children and you wonder, am I doing any good? Am I helping these children? And sometimes the way they behave or the way they react or the way they respond can leave you feeling empty and void and helpless. But you continue to go back and you keep trying. I want to submit to you tonight. People have asked me, Preacher, do you like to preach to a large crowd or a small crowd? It doesn't matter the size of the crowd. Whether large or small, I'm going to pour out the same to either group and give my all because my Savior worked diligently to train twelve men and pour into the lives of those twelve men because Jesus was counting on them to impact and influence the world. They wouldn't be without help neither. He would empower them with the Holy Ghost. But He needed to teach them and train them and prepare their minds so that they could surrender to the Spirit of God. And so He has these twelve men with Him and He goes into the temple and He looks around about upon all things and He departs and He goes back to Bethany. And on the morrow, the Bible says, that He started back from Bethany to the temple, and this is the first point that I want you to get tonight. And that is that Jesus is going to curse a fig tree, and He's doing it for a specific purpose. He looks off in the distance, and He sees that fig tree. Now you say tonight, what about the fig tree? Well, the fig tree is a tree that Jesus referred to in the Gospel of Matthew, as well as Mark and Luke, and the symbolism of it was simply this. He was talking about the things that would be transpiring in the end of the days. He was talking about what it would be like when the coming of the Son of Man would come. They would be eating, and they would be drinking, and they would be merrymaking, and they would be given in marriage and marrying one another. And in those days, He said, there'll be two in a field, one shall be taken, the other shall be left. Two grinding in a mill, one taken and the other left. And He even talked about the tremendous times it was going to come to Jerusalem, for He said Jerusalem shall come passed about with all of the armies. And when you see it, you know desolation is nigh. Then He warned them that's in Judea to flee the mountains, and them that's on the housetop not to worry about the stuff inside, just get out of the country. And pray that your flight is not in the winter, Jesus said, and neither on the Sabbath day. Why? Because Jesus was warning the Jewish people of that day, of a terrible time that was coming when the Roman army would march into the city of Jerusalem and would burn the beloved temple that they loved. Remember, Jesus was there and the disciples showed Him the beauty of the temple, and all the things that's therein. And you remember Jesus said there's not one stone here that shall be left upon another. And boy, that grabbed their curiosity. When shall these things be? When is this going to happen? And what is the sign of your coming? And when shall the end of the world come? And so Jesus has been to this temple now that's going to be destroyed. And Jesus also has looked into this temple. And there are some things transpiring there that He doesn't like. I just want to ask you this tonight. What is there in your thought processes that maybe God's not pleased with? What is there in your observing with your eyesight, your vision, that maybe God is not pleased with that you're observing or you're watching? What kind of language or talk is coming out of your mouth that God may not be pleased with tonight? And what are you listening to and what are you hearing by your ears tonight that you're paying attention to? that God may not want you to be listening to. What I'm trying to do tonight is direct you to consider some things. It is important that you have a covenant with your eyes. It is important that you be careful what you listen to and how you hear. It is important for you to understand that that which comes out of your mouth is what's down in the deep of your heart. And if you're not pouring in the good things of God, the world's going to pour into you. And the first thing you know, there will come out of your mouth the things of the world that identifies that you have moved away from where you ought to be. I submit to you tonight, God's looking in, and God is searching, and Jesus is taking a close peek into your thought process, and into your vision, and into your hearing, and into your speech process. And He looks and observes what you do with your hands, and where your feet carry you, and what is the joy of your heart, and what is the complaint of your life. What are you finding fault about? What are you murmuring about? What are you complaining about? Is there no rejoicing in Jerusalem or Zion? Is there no happiness in the church? Is there nobody to shout, we are serving the King? I'm here to tell you tonight, I am one happy shouting King's kid tonight. And you ought to be as well. Now listen to me tonight. Jesus on the way back must teach His disciples some Prophecy teachers have related Israel to the fig tree as a symbol. Jesus used the fig tree and said, you know that when it shoots forth its branches or its buds, as all trees, you know summer is drawing nigh. Jesus was trying to help the children of Israel to understand some things. That while there's going to come upon you calamities and come upon you tribulations and come upon you trials, this generation, and if I've understood the Scripture correctly, He was simply giving to them a prophecy in itself that they're never going to be annihilated. They're not going to be wiped out. They'll try everything they can to get rid of them, but they're the apple of God's eye. Even though that blindness has happened to them for a while, And their table's been made a snare, and thank God it was, because you and I, which were Gentiles that had no covenant, we had no promises, we were without God, and we were without Christ. When He turned from them, He turned unto us. And we, which were far off, have been made nigh by the blood of Jesus Christ. And we've been given access to God the Father by the Holy Spirit of God through the cross. And I'm not a foreigner no more. I'm not a stranger no more. I am a part of the covenants and the promises of God, and I'm a fellow heir to the throne of God. I'm about to preach my own self happy tonight. Are you listening tonight? Jesus saw the fig tree and its leaves was all bloomed out. And He was hungry. And when I come to that part hungry, I pause for a minute and I ask myself, what is hunger? And I said, Holy Spirit, I don't want to go and get man's interpretation of hunger. I want you to tell me, God, what do you mean by hungry? I understand the natural inclination that God built within the intuition of man to know when he's hungry. The purpose of that warning signal in your physical man or physical person is to help you to realize you need some nourishment. and some refreshment because your body thrives upon water and it thrives upon being sustained by food. It's what strengthens you and helps you to live. And isn't it amazing when you're the slightest bit hungry that you can take a small morsel even and just eat a little bit and the hunger will pass. There's also such a thing as a false hungering signal. Did you know that? Sometimes when you think you're hungry, you're really not hungry. And that's why you get to looking like this when you think every time you're hungry, you ought to go to the refrigerator. Amen? Now I'm working on that and I'm in the process of losing a lot of this. But listen carefully to me. That's not the kind of hunger that I'm talking about. There is also a hunger where there's an inclination in the Spirit of God where you want something more than you've ever wanted in your life, but you don't have the capacity to reach it or get it or provide it, but you've got to have some help in it. And here's what I want to challenge you in tonight. How hungry are you to experience God in a greater way than you've ever experienced Him? And how thirsty are you for His holy righteousness? The Bible said, Blessed are ye that hunger and thirst after righteousness, you shall be filled. That cannot just be some signal that comes off in your mind, oh, yeah, I'd like to have His righteousness. And then it's passing. No. I believe it's a hunger you can't get over. I believe it's a hunger that it's there in your mind constantly. It's a craving. It's a thriving crave inside of you. It's what drives you to your knees. It's what drives you to cry out. It's what causes you to say, God, search me and try me. And if you see wickedness in me, clean it out. And God, make me what I need to become so that I can have Your righteousness. The Bible said that Jesus came to that tree hungering. Now, perhaps it was referring to a physical need that He had. But I believe Jesus is going to teach His disciples a spiritual truth. What was He hungry for when He came to the temple? He was hungry not to see what He saw going on. There were money changers. There were people carrying things through the house of God. In other words, they had done in the house of God the purposes that they wanted purposed, rather than the purposes God wanted. And can I ask you tonight, are you so in control of your life that the purposes of your life are what you want rather than what God wants? I have found over the years of being a pastor, as well as being an evangelist, That if the purpose of God is convenient for most people, then they're willing to serve it. But if the purpose of God is not convenient, they're not willing to serve it. A person that I know said God called her to be a missionary. And she was emphatic about it. And she even got her some scriptures together and said that God had called her to be a missionary. And then she had the door open where she could go to a mission field. And I remember, Walt, that this person was on a mission field, they called me and they said, I don't know about this, I don't like the group I'm with, and there's no pizza over here, and there's no hamburgers and cheeseburgers. And I said, listen, when you're going to surrender to a mission field, there's a sacrifice involved. And all the comforts and ease of life that you've known in America, if you're going to a foreign land, you may not have those privileges. Those things shouldn't matter to you. What should matter to you is the will of God. What I want to ask you tonight is do you really have a purpose that you understand is the purpose of God? You think Paul could have went through all that he went through if it hadn't been the purpose of God? Have you ever just researched the Scriptures to see how much hungering relates to spiritual truth? Let me give you an example. In Matthew chapter 4, Jesus was driven into the wilderness, there to be tested and tempted of the devil. The Bible said he fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. Who wouldn't be hungry if you hadn't eat or drink anything in 40 days or 40 nights? And afterward the Scripture said, Jesus hungered. And then Satan came. He didn't come there just to test him to fill a physical need in Jesus Christ, but he came there to challenge the deity of who he was. If thou be the Son of God, said Satan unto Jesus, command the stones to be made bread. Do you know what the devil was not ignorant of? He was not ignorant of the fact that this is the Creator. All things were created by Him and for Him. And without Him was not anything made that was made. And that included Satan himself. And Satan wasn't ignorant of the fact that he was a Creator. And Satan knew he possessed the power to say to any piece of stone, turn into bread. And it would do whatever he commanded because he's the Word, he's the power, he's the authority. But Jesus said unto him, it is written. And what was he referring to? He was not referring to His own physical desire, His own physical want, but rather what the Word of God said. That's what He was going to stand upon. And so tonight, what is the purpose of your heart? And do you stand upon it based on the Word of God? Or do you try to fulfill it because it's your desire tonight? If it's your desire and not from the Scripture, you'll not succeed, but you'll fail. Jesus said, it's written, man does not live by bread alone. and he did not turn the stone to bread. And Jesus was hungry, but that was for a spiritual purpose. He overcame Satan in that occasion, also from the temple where he said, cast yourself down, and where he was tempting the Lord Jesus overcame him by reminding him of the Word of God. Then there is the matter of Acts chapter 10, where hungering is associated with Peter, who was noon and hungry and would have eaten. While he was preparing, he decided to climb upon the roof and pray. And you remember while he was up there praying and hungering, what was happening? A sheep was knit at four corners and let down from heaven to earth. And upon that sheep, it was all manner of four-footed beasts, unclean animals that Jews never eat according to their dietary laws. And God said, Peter, rise, kill and eat. Peter said, no, Lord, I've never eaten anything common or unclean. And three times that vision was shown to Peter. He's hungering. There's a physical desire. But God wanted him to get a spiritual desire and have some spiritual learning and some spiritual understanding. And Peter saw the sheep and he saw the animals that according to the dietary laws of Jews he couldn't eat and he would not. He said, I've never eaten anything common or unclean. And God said, what I cleanse don't you call common or unclean. In other words, God was fixing to do something with Peter down the road when He would send him to the house of Cornelius, open the gospel to the Gentiles, and the Gentile nation could be birthed into the family of God, all associated with hungering. And when I said what I did a while ago about Paul, 2 Corinthians 11, 27, where Paul talks about being in the deep and being in perils and hungering and thirsting, all of that was because Paul spiritually was going out to fulfill the calling of God upon his life. And so what I'm trying to help you realize when Jesus come to that fig tree, he had a physical hunger, but he's going to teach a spiritual application. And though the tree looked like a tree that ought to have fruit, it had none. And Israel was a nation that ought to have had fruit, but they had none. And Jesus spake to that tree and said, Let no man eat fruit from you henceforth. And nothing changed right at that moment. And nothing happened right at that moment. And you know what? The disciples listened to that and they watched that and then they followed Jesus on to the city. You know what Jesus did to that tree? He cursed that fig tree. The curse that I'm speaking of tonight was that He was one with a divine desire, a hungering for the fruit of that tree, and there was none. And He has a divine desire to see some fruit in my life and yours. The Bible says that it's with much fruit that we please our Lord. There was a disappointment, though, in Christ when He found none on the tree. And I can assure you tonight that no matter what we talk or what we say, if He doesn't see fruit that glorifies Him, He's disappointed with us as well. The phrase that you read in this story, the time of figs was not yet, means that the harvesting of the figs was not yet to come. And can I tell you, God's not through with Israel yet either. even though the tree had a curse placed upon it. And a curse is upon Israel to the point that their eyes are blinded, their tables are snared. And Paul writes about it in the 11th chapter of the book of Romans, the 9th chapter of the book of Romans. But thank God that by their rejection of the Lord and their cutting off and their being the natural branches, you and I were grafted in and made part of the family of God. Are you glad about that tonight? And so Jesus' declaration to that tree was, no fruit will grow on thee hereafter forever. The day following that, they would pass that tree on the way to the temple, and suddenly they noticed that that tree was dried from its roots upward and withered. And Peter said unto Jesus, Behold the tree, and how that it is withered. And Jesus said to them, If you'd have faith in God, You can say to a mountain, be removed, and it'll remove. You know what the Lord is telling us? The kind of fruit that God's looking for in our lives is genuine faith in His powerful Word. The problem is we're afraid to say it. If I say it, it's not what my denomination believes in. Who cares what the denomination believes? Do what the Word of God says. If God puts it in your heart to say it, say it! That's why Jesus said, whatsoever things you desire when you pray, believe you receive them and you shall have them. And sometimes you need to declare to God, here's what I want in God and I'm going to receive it because you told me to and I'm going to start believing it. And God can bring it to pass. I believe that with all my heart. God wants us to have faith. in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So tonight, when Jesus took that opportunity there at the tree, He taught them to have faith in verses 22 through 24, and He also taught them to have forgiveness. Listen to me, look up here. God, when He looks in your heart, your fig tree, He's looking for fruit. He's looking for fruit out of your life. The two important fruits, and there's three that I'm going to give you, but the two that he teaches in this chapter is faith in God and forgiveness. What does he mean by that? Jesus said, forgive men their trespasses. If you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you. Far too much in this life we harbor feelings. We hold on to things. We let things that hurt us or things that frustrate us or even things that downright anger us. We hold on to it in bitterness and we do not let it go. Now you listen to me tonight. I don't believe forgiveness means you forget it. You can't forget it. But forgiveness means that you don't treat that situation with perpetual will to harm. If someone offends you or someone hurts you and says, I'm sorry, forgive me. You forgive them, but you still remember what they've done. And that doesn't mean you're going to relate with them anymore. It doesn't mean that necessarily you can have relationship with them anymore, but you better let it go and you better release it. And can I tell you all across the land tonight, churches are full of unforgiveness, full of bitterness, and lacking in faith to trust God. So the cursing of the fig tree was symbolic to the disciples to learn that it may be that God is going to have to place upon Israel something that they should not have to have placed upon them. Hey, listen. They had the covenants. They had the promises. All of the oracles of God was given to them. Theirs was the Father's. and yet they squandered it. And the blindness came and their table was snared. And they were cursed, if you will, like the fig tree that Jesus had to show the disciples at the entering of Jerusalem. Here's the second thing. There's the cleansing of the temple. When He looked and saw what was going on in the house of God, He was coming back to do the cleansing of the temple. In fact, if you look in verse 17 of St. John chapter 2, the Bible says it was the zeal of the Lord's house that eat him up. Jesus, when he came there that day, and he saw the money changers, and he saw the doves that they sold, and he saw people carrying things through the house of God, he said, you've made my house a house of merchandise. But is it not written that my house shall be called a house of prayer by all nations? They traded the purposes of God for their own purposes. And they even traded the power of God and the price and peace of God for the price of whatever they sold in the house of the Lord. God was dissatisfied with it. You know, something never been heard in the temple was ruckus. Now, I'm not here to suggest tonight that we have a ruckus, but I'm going to tell you, I've seen a few churches that a ruckus probably would have done us some good. What kind of a ruckus are you talking about, Brother Mike? I'm talking about a work of cleansing. In verse 15 of my text tonight, chapter 11, Jesus took action. The Bible says in that verse that Jesus began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and then He began to overthrow their tables of the money changers. If I was to get down here on this floor and overthrow that table, and everything on it would go flinging across the floor, and if I overturned those altars, that would be a ruckus. And some people think more of these things than they do of the things of God. Billy Sunday once had a replica made of a communion table because he knew that it had become an idol in the church that he often preached in. He had him to remove the high dollar one and he moved the cheap one in. Because Billy Sunday was known as the chair-breaking Billy Sunday. And this Sunday while he was preaching, he didn't have a chair on the platform and he said, I always break a chair while I'm preaching and there ain't a chair. So he said, I'm going to walk out here on this communion table. It's of high quality. Surely it can withstand Billy Sunday. And he stomped it to the ground. And several women fainted because they thought he'd stomped down their fabulous table. And he pointed out to him, you've put so much concern and so much interest and so much stock in that. And there's nothing wrong with treating things right and treating things nice. But be careful that that don't become the whole object of why you do what you do. He alone should be your hope, your joy, and your purpose of living. And they had taken and moved into the house of God, and they had started selling and exchanging money in the house of God, and there was no prayer going on in there. and they traded prayer for price. Let me ask you, what have you traded? What's your prayer life? Remember, if the house of God was to be a house of prayer, and that was the temple then, and now we're a temple, how much time do you spend talking with the master? You see, when I'm praying, I'm talking with him. But when I'm through praying, I need time then to sit down and let God talk to me. And if you're just praying all the time and you're never coming to the Word of God, you're doing all the talking and you're not listening to God. And we're living in a generation where people, they live like they want to live, and they do as they please, and they justify it, and they think it's all right, and they act like God will accept everything. But my beloved, He is such a holy God, He will not violate this Word. And that's why we have this generation that's pure in our own eyes and are not washed from their filthiness. The temple of God was filthy and it needed cleansing. And Jesus came in and took action and began to cast out them that sold doves and He overturned their tables. And in verse 16, He sets things aright. He would not suffer any man to carry a vessel through the temple. In verse 17, He gave this admonition, My house shall be called a house of prayer by all nations. But notice what He said, You've made it. You've made it a den of thieves. When I think about a den, I think about the fact that it's the place where an animal like a lion's den, the lion lives. What is the house of God if it's a den? What should it be? Should it not be a house of joy? A house of rejoicing? A house of shouting? A house of where we can pray and get the power of God? Should it not be a house of faith? And should it not be a place where forgiveness is supreme? Forgiveness of my sins and forgiveness of your sins and forgiveness of one another. If only we could grasp that and get a hold of that and cleanse ourselves. In other words, are we a cursed person because that we're not bearing the fruit. We have no fruit of faith. We have no fruit of forgiveness. And the third thing is fruit of obedience. Listen tonight, God wants obedience from my life. He doesn't want sacrifice. He wants obedience. what? To thus saith the Word of God. Can I tell you that sometimes when I've studied and read the Word of God, I've found that obedience is difficult for me to fulfill only when it's my will that I want. When I get my will out of the way, obedience becomes natural because the Holy Spirit will usher you into the obedient realm of God. So there was the cursing of the fig tree. The disciples learned about that. And then there was the cleansing of the temple. They learned about that. That's judgment. I need to judge myself. I need to discern myself. I need to look, what is my hunger? And the Holy Spirit told me that hunger is that desiring you to pursue after God until you're satisfied with Him. And you know what I found in pursuing Him? No matter how much I pursue Him, I'm never satisfied because He's more than I can possibly grasp. I'll never comprehend him, but I'm going to keep pursuing him until I meet him face to face. If I were chasing you in the woods because you're somebody I wanted to see, and you were pretty good at escaping me, after a while I'd begin to look for other ways to get to you. Now, if you were omniscient like God, I'd never be able to do it, because you're all-knowing, so you'd know what I was going to do, wouldn't you? But since you're not, I probably could sneak up on you and find you. But God is so far beyond man. His thoughts are so higher than man. His ways are so far beyond us that I'm gonna keep pursuing Him and keep searching after Him. But you know what'll happen? When I find Him, I'll be in His presence. And it'll be so wonderful. And I'll never have to leave it ever again. But I need to take a good look at this house. Judgment. I need to discern. Is there any fruit here that God can get glory from? And is there any cleansing in this temple that God needs to take care of in my life? Here's the third thing that I want you to see real quick. The contending tests. Look at verse 27. After Jesus done all these things, he was walking in the temple and they come to him and said, by what authority do you do these things? And you remember what Jesus said? I will ask you a question and if you answer me, I will give you the answer. The baptism of John, was it of heaven or was it of men? And when I looked at that and those men said, well, if we say it's of heaven, he'll say, why didn't you believe? And if we say it's of men, we fear men. Isn't it terrible to be in a dilemma where you know what the right answer is, but you're not willing to give it? And you're so afraid of what men think that you're not going to say? Who wants to live like that? And can I tell you, that's the reason why Jesus had to cleanse that temple. Because those in leadership who knew what the truth was but did not follow the truth. And Jesus did not answer them by what authority because they did not answer Him. In chapter 12, verses 1 through 12, you find Jesus speaks to their abuse. Remember He said, that in chapter 12 he talks about how the Lord planted a vineyard and he hedged it about and he dug a wine press in it and he built a tower and he let it out to a husband and he took the far country. Remember he sent a servant and they treated him terrible and he sent another and they stoned him. He sent another and they beat him and another one and they killed them. And then he said, I'll send my son, they'll reverence him and they didn't reverence him. Jesus said, what will they do to that person? He said, here's what they'll do. They'll take that vineyard from them and give it to a people who bear the fruits. You know what? Jesus prophesied the fig tree that Israel is going to be turned away. He prophesied to Israel's leaders that you've abused this as far as you're going to abuse it and it's going to be taken from you and given to another nation. But can I tell you as I stand here and preach tonight, we Gentiles now are doing the exact same thing the Israelites did. Jesus not only reproves them, speaks of their abuse, he addresses their aim. They come to him and said, do we pay tribute or not? And he said, you hypocrites, why do you tip me? Show me the penny. And he said, whose inscriptions is this? They said, Caesar. He said, then give Caesar those things that are his and God those things that are his. They weren't interested in whether to pay tribute or not. What they were interested in doing was trying to find a reason to fault him. Can I tell you tonight that another reason we need to examine this temple of ours and go through some contending tests is to find out, am I in love with Jesus and am I serving Him or am I abusing Him? What is my aim? And what are the angles? They came to Him in the Sadducees. They didn't believe in the resurrection. And so they wanted to trap Him. They told the story about the man that married a wife and he died and had no children. And so according to the law, they believed in the law. His brothers should marry her and raise seed to the dead. But all seven brothers had her and none of them left seed and they died. Whose shall she be in the resurrection? That was their question. See, they don't believe in the resurrection. There's things that you and I don't believe. that the Bible teaches to be a truth. And we try to argue against it. And Jesus said to them, you do err not knowing the Scriptures, because he said in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage. But since you believe in Moses who spoke about that law of marriage, since there's no seed, did you now also read where God spoke to Moses out of the burning bush? And he said, I'm the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. I'm not the God of the dead. I'm the God of the living. Wow, boy, he tore their theology apart, didn't he? And can I tell you tonight, sometimes what we need to judge is our theology. Especially if we're trying to be contradictory to the things of God. And finally, Jesus abolished all their questions when one asked him, what is the first and great commandment? He said, it is written, O Israel, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all your mind, strength, soul, and body. And the other is that we'll love our neighbors, we love ourselves. And that Pharisee, that teacher of the law spoke up and answered Jesus back in such a way that he got so close to the kingdom of God that Jesus said, you're not far from the kingdom of God. I wonder when I read that how close is some people come to heaven and still miss it. I hope you're catching why I'm talking about judgment must begin at the house of God. I'm not talking about falling under condemnation. I'm talking about discerning our own lives. Is there fruit in us in this tree that God would be pleased with? Is there a cleansing in this life that needs to be cleansed? Are there some contending tests that we need to answer to? Let me give you the concluding thoughts of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at chapter 12. Verse 35, look at this with me for just a moment. Notice in verses 35 through verse 37, when Jesus was done with all this, here's what He said to them. How say the scribes that Christ is the Son of David? He's asking them a question now. For He said, David himself said, By the Holy Ghost the Lord has said to my Lord, Set thou on my right hand. till I make thine enemies thy footstool. David therefore himself calleth him Lord, and whence is he his son?" Now look up here for just a minute. A simple question that Jesus was asking was something that they gave heed to and didn't even know how to answer Him. He's only called the Son of David by genealogical record, but He was David's Lord. Through the seed of David came the fleshly birth of Jesus Christ. but not by the seed of man, but by the seed of the Holy Spirit. They didn't understand that. What Jesus was concluding in His thoughts with them was simply this. Christ is the Son of God and David recognized Him as Lord and yet He came by the seed of David. How is it that you say you're the teachers of the law and you can't even understand this? In verses 38 through verse 40, He gave a condemnation to the scribes. Look at what He says. He said to the scribe, beware of the scribes which love to go in long clothing and love salutations in the marketplaces, chief seats in the synagogue and the uppermost rooms at feasts, and devour widows' houses, and for pretense make long prayers. They shall receive greater damnation." Look up here. What am I talking about? Judgment in the house of God. We should be careful that we don't desire recognition, make pretense prayers, or desire chief seats in the house as though we're something grand or great. There's only one grand, great one among us tonight, beloved, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. None else. It's not the preacher, it's not the deacon, it's not the Sunday school teacher, although their jobs are highly important. But their job's not to exalt themselves, their job is to exalt Christ. And so Jesus was condemning the scribes and the Pharisees for their behavior. Then finally, in verses 41 through 44, Jesus went over and sat down and watched while they took the offering. And he observed all them that cast into the treasure, and some that were rich gave a lot. But there come in this little widow, and the Bible says that she cast in two mites. Two mites equals a farthing. You don't know any more than you did, do you? a farthing in American dollars is 3.75 cents. Almost four pennies. Now what do you suppose in the Pharisees' minds they would have looked at that lady and thought? It didn't matter whether she put anything in or not, we could live without those four pennies. See, now I'm talking to us about judgment must begin at the house of God because if it begins with us, where shall the sinner and the ungodly appear? And if we the righteous are scarcely saved, where does that leave everybody else? See, God wants me to look into this temple and ask myself, do I bear the fruit of faith? Do I bear the fruit of forgiveness? Do I bear the fruit of obedience? Is there anything in this temple that needs taken out? Anything in this temple that needs to be changed? Perhaps I'm not a prayer warrior like I used to be. Perhaps I'm doing all the praying and God's not getting any time to speak to me because I'm not in the word of God. Perhaps there's too many other worldly activities that captures my time, and God gets very little of my time. Perhaps there's too many things that I'm covetous about. Covetousness is idolatry. And that's the one sin God hates. You've heard it said God hates adultery worse than any. He wrote a lot about adultery, but idolatry is the one sin God hates above it all. You know why? Because that's the first thing God said, thou shalt have no other gods before me. God is what you give yourself too much to that becomes so important to you. I saw a man divorce his wife over this. He played softball perpetually. He canceled dates that he had with his wife and children for outings because he was called on to play softball. He was so wrapped up in winning. He had such an ego because he was a tremendous softball player. He liked all the accolades and all the pats on the back. And one day when he come home, his wife had all of his trophies in the middle of the floor. They had all of his ball paraphernalia that he had won over all the years. And he had, she and all the children were bowing up and down, worshiping those things. And he come in and he said, what are you doing? And she said, we've decided that since this is your God, we're trying to figure out if we can follow you. Because that's the only thing you seem to serve. And he flew into a rage and he flew into the midst of it and he kicked all them trophies and scattered all that stuff and he was angry. And they called me in for counsel and he didn't like my counsel. I said, why did you fly into a rage? He said, because it was ridiculous. I said, that ain't why you flew into a rage. Because it flew in your face that idolatry was what you were committing. And you didn't like it. And so you flew in and started kicking all the stuff that had taken you out of the will of God. I've learned something, and I told this fellow that night, I said, here's what you're gonna do. You're either gonna rebel and go further away from God than you've ever been in your life, or you'll repent. And I said, I'm not gonna ask you to do anything right now because you're still angry. And I think your wife and your children need to get away from you till you cool your head. And you let God speak to you. And you know what he did? He rebelled and divorced her and married a girl as young as his oldest daughter. And he's lived in hell ever since. And he's been through one heartache and one heartbreak after another. And a few years ago, he came into a camp meeting that I was at, and I didn't even know he was there, and I'm live streaming, and he grabs me and he hugs me and he said, oh, if only I would have listened to you. What do you think God chose us to preach? He didn't choose us to preach to hurt or harm people, but he does require us to tell folks the truth, because only the truth can make you free. I watched his little children bow at the altars and weep and cry. And one of them said to me one night, she looked at me and she said, preacher, she was a little bitty thing, five years old, she said, if only my daddy had died. If only my daddy had died. And I said, why would you say that, baby? And she said, because at least I could go there and know that that's Fima. And I could deal with that. But she said, I can't deal with what he's done to us. And that girl still can't deal with it. And do you know what happened to his kids? Only a few of them ever served God. See, if we don't judge ourselves, we may bring upon our families things that our family can't accept or live with the rest of their lives. When Jesus saw that woman cast in those mites, which meant nothing to nobody in that church, here's what she said. Jesus said, they of their riches have cast in abundant. But she of her want hath cast in all her living." Do you know in the eyes of Jesus, she gave more than they gave out of the abundance of their riches. Why? Because it was her desire. It's what she wanted to do. And she gave it all. What do you want to do tonight? What are you giving to Him tonight? Are you willing, during this revival and going forward, to look in? and discern where you're at as a child of God. Let's stand and bow our heads. Tonight I'm going to ask Sister Alicia, if she would, to come, Brother Mike, whoever. Just play on the piano the music. And I'm not trying in any way tonight to move you, solely speaking, that is I'm not trying to get you into the order to satisfy me, I'm asking you to search yourself. Look into your heart. Is there the fruit of faith in you, real faith, such faith that you can believe what God's Word says to the place that you can say to the mountains that get in your way, be cast into the sea and it'll obey you? Are there things that would glorify God that you could Maybe say, but you're afraid to say, because you're afraid of what people will think because you cast a doubt in your mind right away. Well, what if it don't happen? You need to get the doubts out. Are there unforgiveness in your heart, unforgiveness between husbands and wives, unforgiveness between family members, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, church family? What about your obedience tonight? If you're a tree that's just got all of the look of a tree with blooming fruit and there's nothing there, God cursed that fig tree because there was no fruit there on. And it's time for you to look in tonight into the temple and do something about the things that's going on in there. Have you traded prayer for price, purpose for your own purposes? Are there things in your life tonight, in your own temple that needs cleansing? Are you watching some things you need to quit? Listening to some things you need to quit? Doing some things you need to change? How about it? Then let me ask you this tonight. Are there things in your belief system that you're uncertain of or you don't know? You're better off to admit to God, I don't know the answers to those things. But Lord, I want to hunger for the truth of your precious word. Because in your concluding thoughts, I realize that here's leadership, God. They don't have the answers. And here's a widow that she has very little, but she gave it all because she wanted. And God, I'm not giving my all. Now, God doesn't want all your living, but he does want all of your life. All of it. Not some of it, but all of it. So tonight I'm going to just ask you, would you be willing tonight, you don't have to tell me anything, but will you come tonight around the altar, personally, individually, and begin a judgment in the house of God tonight. Would you do that? Those that are watching online, I'm going to encourage you to kneel beside your chair or your sofa or wherever you're sitting and watching. And I'm going to ask you, would you be willing this night, to begin a judgment in your own house, your own temple, searching your own heart, your own life, to see what it is in you that God needs to cleanse and that God needs to work out of you. If we don't do this in this generation and in this nation, if the people of God called by His name don't humble themselves and turn from their ways, their wicked ways, seek His face, we're never going to get forgiveness, we're never going to get healing. Father, I pray now, Lord, for all these that are praying here at this altar at Bethel and those all around the world that may be listening and watching. I pray that you'll search us, God. I pray that you'll examine us thoroughly. I pray, God, that you will help us to look and see what is the fruit that we bear. Help us to look into the temple and see the things, God, that you may not be pleased with. and that we need to cast it out and that we need to get rid of it and we need to turn loose of it. And Father, I pray in the name of Jesus tonight that we'll cease any abuse and we'll not try to fulfill our own aims or our own angles to try to work it to satisfy our flesh. But may we come like this little widow, God willing in heart and willing in spirit. to cast in our heart and our life to You and give You all of our life. And those things that we think we love that we don't think we can do without, God, Father, tonight I'm convinced that You have the power to take the desire of that away and create in us a new desire after the things of God. You said, Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness. They shall be filled. Oh God, I pray that we're not just passing here for a little while and not having sincerity of desire, but may we be determined we're going to get close to you in this revival. Revive us, refresh us, renew us, empower us, God, to do greater things in days to come. Bless this people, I pray. Have your way in Jesus.