Eight Days that Changed the World (Pt 2)

Series: “The Gospel Truth”

Text: Matt 21:12-45; Mal 3:1-4; Jer 7:9-11

Introduction: (What?)

In our last message we looked at what the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem taught us about who Jesus really was and is. This week we will overlap a bit as we consider Jesus as the Authoritative King. This king is not the “gentle Jesus, meek and mild” but rather the king who demonstrates His authority here on earth and we will look at how we should respond to Him. He is also the king who delegates authority to His disciples…and today that is all who are Christ followers.

Examination: (Why?)

1. The Authoritative King (Matt 21:12-27; Mal 3:1-4; Jer. 7:9-11)

Matt 21:12-27 “12 Jesus went into the temple and threw out all those buying and selling. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves. 13 He said to them, “It is written, my house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of thieves!” 14 The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15 When the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonders that he did and the children shouting in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant 16 and said to him, “Do you hear what these children are saying?” Jesus replied, “Yes, have you never read: You have prepared praise from the mouths of infants and nursing babies?” 17 Then he left them, went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there. 18 Early in the morning, as he was returning to the city, he was hungry. 19 Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, he went up to it and found nothing on it except leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!’ At once the fig tree withered. 20 When the disciples saw it, they were amazed and said, ‘How did the fig tree wither so quickly?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you tell this mountain, ‘be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will be done. And if you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.’

23 When He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him as He was teaching and said, ‘By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority?’ 24 Jesus answered them, ‘I will also ask you one question, and if you answer it for Me, then I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 Did John’s baptism come from heaven, or was it of human origin?’ They discussed it among themselves, ‘I we say, From heaven, He will say to us, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 26 But if we say ‘Of human origin,’ we’re afraid of the crowd, because everyone considers John to be a prophet.’ 27 So they answered Jesus, ‘We don’t know.’ And He said to them ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.’” Also Jer.

When Jesus entered the temple, He did so with a flourish. In Mark’s gospel we are told that He had gone into the temple the night before and had observed all that was going on. What He did the next morning was not done in a fit of anger, but rather as a carefully thought out response to the fact that the merchants were gouging people as they had to buy acceptable sacrificial animals and as they had to exchange their currency for temple money. In addition they were doing this in the Court of the Gentiles, the only place that non-Jews could worship in the temple. In addition, He was fulfilling the prophecy of

Mal 3:1-4 “1 “See, I am going to send my messenger, and he will clear the way before me. Then the Lord you seek will suddenly come to his temple, the Messenger of the covenant you delight in—see, he is coming,” says the Lord of Armies. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming? And who will be able to stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire and like launderer’s bleach. 3 He will be like a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. 4 And the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will please the Lord as in days of old and years gone by.”

Also the prophecy of Jer. 7:9-11 “9 “ ‘Do you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known? 10 Then do you come and stand before me in this house that bears my name and say, “We are rescued, so we can continue doing all these detestable acts”? 11 Has this house, which bears my name, become a den of robbers in your view? Yes, I too have seen it. This is the Lord’s declaration.”

The application for our day is that if we in anyway discourage or hinder the worship of people who are not like us, God will hold us accountable. I have a friend, a former pastor who no longer has anything to do with the church, who loves to point out all that is wrong with the church. His declarations on social media give comfort to those who never darken the door of a church and who are lost. In essence he is doing what the Jews were doing that day in Jerusalem. Jesus, with the authority given Him by His Father, will be the one who cleanses the church. Paul wrote in

Eph 5:24-27 “24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives are to submit to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word. 27 He did this to present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless.”

Our King has authority over the Church. When He finds an unfruitful church, like the fig tree with no fruit, He takes action against it. Just because the architecture, the steeple on top or the stained glass windows say “This is a church” doesn’t mean that it is fruitful. The fruitful church, and the fruitful people who occupy the pews are the real church. The church that is not “making disciples of all nations” is un-fruitful and has already been condemned by Christ. All over the world there are edifices that seem to be churches, but inside they are empty and barren. In essence they have “withered from the roots up”. We would do well as individuals to ask ourselves, “Where is my fruit?”

2. It is what you DO that counts (Matt 21:28-32)

Mt 21:28-32 “28 “What do you think? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘My son, go work in the vineyard today.’ 29 “He answered, ‘I don’t want to,’ but later he changed his mind and went. 30 Then the man went to the other and said the same thing. ‘I will, sir,’ he answered, but he didn’t go. 31 Which of the two did his father’s will?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you didn’t believe him. Tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; but you, when you saw it, didn’t even change your minds then and believe him.”

This parable is much like the story of the sheep and the goats that we will see later in Matthew 25. It is not what you say that makes you a follower of Jesus, but rather what you do. Those who play at Christianity without getting their hands dirty in ministry to a lost world will be the ones who will hear the awful words of Jesus in Mt 7:22-23 “22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name?’ 23 Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you lawbreakers!’”

3. Fruit-bearing brings rewards (Matt 21:33-45)

Mt 21:33-45 “33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner, who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower. He leased it to tenant farmers and went away. 34 When the time came to harvest fruit, he sent his servants to the farmers to collect his fruit. 35 The farmers took his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Again, he sent other servants, more than the first group, and they did the same to them. 37 Finally, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. 38 “But when the tenant farmers saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ 39 So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?” 41 “He will completely destroy those terrible men,” they told him, “and lease his vineyard to other farmers who will give him his fruit at the harvest.” 42 Jesus said them, ‘Have you never read in the scriptures: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is what the LORD has done and it is wonderful in our eyes?”

Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing fruit. Whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will shatter him.’

When the chief priests and the Pharisee heard his parables, they knew he was speaking about them. Although they were looking for a way to arrest Him, they feared the crows, because the people regarded Him as a prophet.”

Although Jesus was speaking of the nation Israel, He was also addressing those of the modern church who want all the perks of Christianity without putting in the labor of disciple-making. Read John chapter 15 to see how God deals with unfruitful vines. It isn’t pretty. However, the fruitful vines are tenderly nurtured and cared for so that they can produce more fruit.

Application: (How should I respond to this message?)

There are two types of people in the modern church. There are those who “sit, soak and sour” and there are those who produce MUCH fruit through their obedience to the Great Commission. Today I ask, which type are you?

If you are one who “sits, soaks and sours” and you realize it, it is not too late to repent and show your repentance by your obedience to the Commission. I urge you to do that today.

If all of this is gooble-de-gook” to you, it is most likely because you have never surrendered your life to Christ. I urge you to do that today. Come and let me or one of the deacons pray with you as you surrender to Christ.