Untitled Sermon

INTRODUCTION

*Cereal give away* Cereal is one of the greatest snacks of all time. I say snack because I don’t really believe it is a breakfast item. It is a snack. There are all sorts of good cereals.

Lucky charms Waffle crisp Life Halloween special cereal Honey bunches of oats

One of the most defeating moments is when have a craving for some cereal and you goto pour yourself a bowl, but the person who ate the cereal before you left like two bites left. At that point it’s like “Why bother?” Instead of finishing it off, it is better to just trash it.

Transition: The day after Jesus cleansed the temple he was coming back into town and saw a fig tree. Jesus was hungry so he approached the fig tree. Rather than finding ripe fruit he found leaves. So what did he do? He trashed it. Jesus wasn’t throwing a fit here tho. He was actually teaching a lesson.

FOLLOWING JESUS IS LIVING A LIFE OF FAITH EXPRESSED THROUGH PRAYER - 21:18-22

Jesus cursed the fig tree.

ILLUSTRATION: One of my first summers here we were going to binge watch an entire show that just released. We were going to make a big day of it. We were going to go eat breakfast and then come back to the house and watch the show all day. When we went to the place to eat, it was closed. When we went to the back up option, it was also closed. That has got to be one of the most frustrating things. I curse you, Daylight Donuts!

The fig tree was symbolic of the nation of Israel. Hosea 9:10 The barrenness of the fig tree symbolizes sin and corruption.

“The fig-tree which produces leaves and therefore promises fruit but offers nothing to eat is a picture of the empty worship of the temple.”

Application: Christian, are you like this fig tree? Leaves, but no fruit. You have all the signs of being a healthy, fruit producing Christian, but upon closer inspection you are fruitless?

Jesus cursing the fig tree is symbolic of judgment. Log this away. Matthew 3:10,7:16-20

Jesus taught the disciples a lesson on faith and prayer.

What do we do with a teaching like this? Do we buy it? Do we sell it? Do we test it and see if it will work? If you just have faith, pray for it and it is yours! What is the point of this? First, the point isn’t to get whatever we want from God. The point is that Jesus is teaching them that through believing prayer they can accomplish more than they ever thought possible. Why? Because the prayer of faith in overcoming seemingly impossible obstacles brings down God’s power.

Application: Here is a good question, “So what is your church asking God for that can only be accomplished by His power?” What is happening in our church or youth group that we can point to God only for?

Application

Sin will be judged. Gospel. Sin was judged once on the cross. You don’t have to be judged for your sin if Jesus was judged for you. “We don’t want to be like Israel of old, having all the signs of outward religion, but lacking real spiritual fruit. Jesus curses superficial religion throughout the Gospel of Matthew and throughout Scripture. He hates profession without practice.” Prayer changes things. Prayer invites the presence of God into a situation. The more we pray, the more we ask God to come into a situation.

Transition: After Jesus finishes instructing his disciples regarding faith and prayer, he is confronted. This confrontation definitely didn’t end the way they thought it would, with Jesus telling them that…

REJECTION OF JESUS ALWAYS LEADS TO JUDGMENT - 21:23-22:14

Jesus was confronted by the scribes and chief priests regarding where he got the authority to do the things that he was doing.

ILLUSTRATION: If you ever find yourself being confronted unjustly, just follow up their question with a question. It’ll throw them off.

Rather than telling them where he got his authority he confronted them with a question of his own in order to make a point, and then proceeded with 3 parables that fleshed out his point.

The point - your failure to repent has lost you the kingdom The point is that the tax collectors and the prostitutes who morally don’t deserve the kingdom will receive the kingdom before the morally upright chief priests and scribes because of one thing - repentance at the preaching of John that pointed to the Messiah. While the tax collectors and prostitutes repented at John’s repenting, the religious leaders rejected John and his teaching. Because they rejected the preaching of John - and not just they, but Israel as a whole, the kingdom of God was no longer theirs.

The parables

The parable of the two sons:

The parable of the two sons tells the story of two sons who were commissioned by their father to go out and work. The first son said no, but later repented and went out into the vineyard to work. The first son obeyed, but later repented and did not go out into the vineyard. Jesus tells those confronting him that they are the second son because they didn’t respond to the preaching of John with repentance.

The parable of the tenants:

The parable of the tenants tells of a man who went to great links to build a vineyard and a winepress. Upon completion the owner leased it out to tenants. Once the season for gathering came the owner sent some of his servants to get his fruit. Instead of complying with the owner, the tenants beat, stoned, and even killed the owners servants. The owner sent more servants, but it ended in the same way. Finally, the owner sent his own Son, thinking they would respect him. Instead, they killed him too. When Jesus finished the parable he posed a question to those religious leaders listening. He asked “What will the owner do to these tenants?” The answer was obvious. He was going to destroy them and give the vineyard to other tenants. It was upon this answer that Jesus applied it to them. The kingdom of heaven was going to be taken away from them and given to others who would be produce kingdom fruit - faith, repentance, and obedience.

The parable of the wedding feast:

The last parable Jesus told was the parable of the wedding feast. The parable of the wedding feast is about a king who is hosting a wedding feast for his son. The king sent out his servants to invite his guests, but they would not come. He sent even more servants, but this time the kings invitation was met with hostility and violence. The result? The enraged king destroyed those that shamed and killed his servants. What did this lead the king to do? This lead the king to invite as many as possible who were not on the original invite list to come and enjoy the feast the king prepared.

But what about the guy that go kicked out?

He may have made it in, but he did not have on the proper attire which led to his removal into everlasting punishment. Point: You must be clothed with the right attire (the righteousness of Christ) to be a proper guest in the kingdom.

Application:

The kingdom is for the Christian - be encouraged by this. The kingdom isn’t something you deserve. We are accepted because Jesus was rejected by his own people. Don’t get complacent in your faith - persist in faith which is evidenced in prayer. I know of no better expression of faith than prayer. Prayer expresses dependence upon God hardly like anything else. Are you still responding to truth? What got the religious leaders in trouble was their failure to respond to truth. It’s one thing to hear the truth, but how are you responding. How is it making a difference in your life? Non-Christians - How are you responding to the invitations of Jesus? Rejecting his invitation leads to eternal judgment. You can’t get in with your own clothes!

CLOSING

How should we respond? Christian, is their a sin you need to repent of tonight? Do you need to spend time on your knees before God and pray for something? Do you need to ask him how you can respond to truth and for him to give you opportunities to respond? Maybe you have never decided to follow Jesus before? What is stopping you? We have seen that a rejection of Jesus means that ultimately judgment will come. The gospel is simple. Jesus came to this earth, died on a cross for your sins, raised back to life on the third day, and is now calling you to repent and place your faith in him. Would you do that tonight?