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Good to see everyone out.

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We're going to begin with a word of prayer and then we'll get into our text.

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oh

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Gracious Father in heaven we bow before your throne grateful for your day that you've
blessed us with the beauty of it the opportunity that we've had to And the energy that

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we've had to be able to be involved in it We're grateful for the ability that we have to
assemble together To study your word to learn more about your will for our lives and for

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the church for those who are disciples of Christ

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Lord, as we look into the life of Christ and the things which He did, may we have the zeal
for Your Word that He had.

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May we be willing to stand boldly for the truth as He did.

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And may we also be willing to be patient and understanding with people as they learn and
as they grow.

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May we always seek to speak the truth and to do so in a way that people will hear it, will
understand.

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be convicted by it, but will repent and change and become closer to you.

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Lord, we pray that you be with this nation that we live in.

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We pray that you be with leaders throughout the world.

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May the choices that they make be those which are in accordance with your will and in
accordance with your word.

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And may their actions produce peace through which the gospel can be spread.

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All this we pray and ask in Jesus' name.

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Amen.

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Chapter 11 verse 11, Jesus arrives in Jerusalem, the people having fallen down, having
cried out, Hosanna to the highest, having laid the palm leaves there as He rode in on the

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colt.

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He enters Jerusalem and then He enters the temple.

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Verse 11, so when he had looked around at all things as the hour was already late, he went
out to Bethany with the twelve.

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And we know from another text that Bethany is about two miles from Jerusalem.

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So he would come into the city.

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Then at evening time, he didn't stay in Jerusalem.

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at least not during this period of time.

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We already know that the disciples are on guard in anticipating trouble because when Jesus
went to Bethany prior to these events, because Lazarus had died, what is it that Thomas

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said?

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Well, he said, let's go with him.

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If he's going to die, we'll die with him.

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And so they're already recognizing that there's trouble coming.

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And Jesus has been telling them that there's trouble coming.

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And now as they come into the city of Jerusalem, they get this reception, which is truly a
positive reception, or at least seems to be.

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But by the time they arrive in the city, it's late in the day, goes into Jerusalem, goes
into the temple.

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And the text tells us that he did what?

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while he was in the temple.

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looked around.

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So back in April when I went out and helped with the Bitcoin conference, uh first thing
Sunday morning before I headed to church there in the congregation in Las Vegas, I got up

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early just because I wanted to go down into the conference center and see what all had
already been set up because a lot of things were getting set up later that day.

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And so basically it was me and about

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12 other people in this great big Giants conference center.

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And as you're going around, you just look at everything.

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You see behind the scenes.

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You see what all's not finished yet, what all's in process.

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And there's a feast coming.

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There's a feast day that's going to arrive in the coming days.

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So you can imagine there in Jerusalem, there in the temple, there are preparations
happening.

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for the feast.

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And so, as all of these things are going on, Jesus comes into the city, goes into the
temple, is looking around, not doing anything.

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Not teaching, not saying anything.

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Goes in, looks around, and then leaves.

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But that's not how the rest of the week's gonna turn out.

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That's not how the coming days are going to go.

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But they come into the city, the fanfare of the arrival was outside the city as they were
entering, and then when he comes in, nothing happens.

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turns around, goes out for the night to Bethany.

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Now why do you think he went to Bethany at night?

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All right, that's where Mary, Martha, and Lazarus lived.

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So they had a lodging place there with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.

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So there's some indication that Judas' father, uh Simon, or Simeon lived there.

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uh One of the things John tells us after he records the raising of Lazarus is that after
Lazarus was raised from the dead, what were people trying to do or plotting to do to

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Lazarus?

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Kill him.

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So not only,

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Are they now out for Jesus's life?

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They're out for the life of Lazarus.

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Well, do you think if you were to just give a natural evaluation to it, Lazarus being
someone who the people in Bethany knew, Lazarus having been dead just a few days before

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and now alive, do you think Jesus was safer in Bethany amongst the people who knew Lazarus
or in Jerusalem?

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I dare say Bethany.

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So I think there's a reason why Jesus is going out to Bethany at night and not staying in
Jerusalem.

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And I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that there is a point in time where it
was the right time for the betrayal and for these things to occur.

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And by the way, when the betrayal and those things occur, is it gonna be in the middle of
the day?

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Is it gonna be while he's teaching in the temple or is it gonna be in the midst of the
night?

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Okay?

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The very first night that Jesus stays in Jerusalem, he is arrested, put on trial, and
taken to be crucified.

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I think there's your indication of why he's not staying in Jerusalem at night.

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Okay?

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Now.

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The next day, verse 12, when they had come out from Bethany, he was hungry.

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And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, he went to see if perhaps he would find
something on it.

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When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.

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In response, Jesus said to it, said to the tree, let no one eat fruit from you ever again.

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and his disciples heard it.

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So, Jesus is coming into the city the next day, somewhere on the path between Bethany and
Jerusalem, there was a fig tree.

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Jesus is passing by, Jesus is hungry, the text tells us this wasn't casual interest, he
was hungry.

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Maybe Martha took it to heart.

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The thing is she needed to be focused on more spiritual things, so she didn't make
breakfast that morning.

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I don't know.

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But the fact of the matter was he was hungry.

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But what did Jesus know about the season?

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Well, it's time for VIGS.

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Why does Jesus pronounce this curse against the tree if even Jesus knew it wasn't time for
there to be fruit on the tree?

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All right, so you have to go do a little bit of research into the development process of a
fig tree, but the fruit would have been there based upon the appearance of the tree.

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The fruit comes in kind of a weird order in that type of plant, and so the appr-

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appearance of the tree indicated there should have been fruit on it, even though it was
the wrong season.

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But when you arrive at the tree, when you arrive at the thing that appears to have borne
fruit, was there any fruit?

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No.

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And as is often the case, as you will see in the text as we go along, Jesus is not using
the physical circumstance

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to teach the disciples to be arbitrary in their use of God's word or curses or uh
miraculous actions, he is teaching them a lesson about their nation.

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And it's an object lesson.

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It's an object lesson in the form of a fig tree.

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So.

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The disciples heard it.

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I don't think it's coincidence that Mark makes it clear.

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Jesus said it and the disciples heard it.

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Mark is helping us to pay attention to this was not about Jesus and food.

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This was about what the disciples needed to understand.

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Verse 15, So they came to Jerusalem.

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Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the
temple.

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Now, what had he done the day before?

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Spied out what was going on.

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He had scouted out what the plans were for the feast.

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Now is this the first occasion that Jesus has driven people out of the temple?

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No, this has happened before.

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Which tells us what about the first occasion?

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It didn't stick.

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They didn't learn their lesson.

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They did not continue in what he had taught, what he had enforced upon them.

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Now what is it that uh the text here says that he drove out those who bought and sold in
the temple?

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What are they buying?

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What are they selling?

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Alright, sacrifices.

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Okay, was, indication of history is that it was very commonplace that the dove you could
buy out on the marketplace and the dove that you could buy that came from the temple that

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was an acceptable sacrifice weren't exactly in the same price region.

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It's kind of like if you go into Kroger and you buy a case of 32 water bottles,

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and then you take those home, you can drink those for about four dollars.

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If you go to the baseball game and you try and get one of those same water bottles, one of
them will cost you seven dollars, okay?

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That's what they were doing at the temple with the sacrifices.

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Now, why would anyone in Jerusalem buy sacrifices at those inflated rates?

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Why not just bring their own?

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All right, in the text back in the Old Testament, the law gave a provision for those who
traveled a long distance to, if they were from a distance and they were coming to offer

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their sacrifices, the law specifically allowed them to sell their goods back at home
instead of,

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bringing sheep and cattle and doves and all of these things from their home all the way to
Jerusalem or all the way to the temple or all the way to the tabernacle, depending on the

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time period, uh to offer these sacrifices.

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They could exchange those things for money back at home.

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And then they could come to where the tabernacle or the temple was and they could buy the
things for their sacrifices there.

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Thereby not having to transport all of those items and some of which might get lost along
the way Could you could you offer a lamb that had broken its leg along along the way?

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No, but you could sell the lamb back at home You could buy a lamb that was unspotted and
unblemished there in the temple and offer that one But what they found?

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was what they sold the ones for at home.

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They couldn't buy the same thing in Jerusalem because of the prices.

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Because, and this is the reason why Jesus ah on the occasion will say, have turned my
father's house into a den of what?

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Thieves.

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So.

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That's what they're selling.

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What are they buying?

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currency that they had to.

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Alright, absolutely.

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So when you went and sold your goods in Ephesus as a Jew living in Ephesus and you sold
your goods that you had there because you were going to travel to Jerusalem and you were

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going to observe the feast so you sold your goods in Ephesus what currency were you going
to get in Ephesus?

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Roman currency.

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You're going to get the currency of the day, the Roman Empire.

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You're going to get something that had Caesar's face on it.

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Would that have been common if you had sold something in the marketplace in Jerusalem?

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Absolutely it would have.

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As a matter of fact, you remember when Jesus was there at the temple and they say, should
you pay taxes?

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And Jesus tells Peter to go and to open the mouth of the fish and pull out the money and

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Whose face is on the coin?

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Caesar's.

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You could get Roman currency in any city in the Roman Empire.

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But what could you not use to pay your sacrifices and the temple taxes and the ordinances
in the temple?

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You can use the Roman currency.

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You had to use temple.

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currency.

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You couldn't bring that stuff that had the image of that Roman guy into the temple.

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No, no, no, that stuff wasn't allowed under the law.

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So you had to have temple currency.

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So the ones who are sitting there would say, we'll buy your Roman currency.

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Here's the exchange rate.

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For anyone who's traveled overseas, a few people who know this,

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uh One of the things you do not do when you travel overseas is exchange your money at the
airport because you're getting a $7 water bottle.

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The exchange rate at the airport is about double or triple what the exchange rate is at a
bank a mile away from the airport.

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So that's what they were doing.

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If you want a dollar for dollar,

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you weren't getting it at the temple.

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If you wanted coin for coin, you weren't getting it at the temple.

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What you brought with you wouldn't buy you what you brought with you when you went to go
make your offerings.

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So, they not only were specifically doing this, they were specifically doing this in
direct assault to those who had traveled the greatest distances

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to come and worship God.

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This wasn't a problem for the people who lived in Jerusalem.

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People who lived in Jerusalem had access to the temple currency.

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People who lived in Jerusalem could bring their own lambs.

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The people who lived in Judea right around the area, they had no problem transporting
their doves to the location to offer sacrifices.

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That wasn't, it was everybody outside.

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that was getting robbed when they came to offer the sacrament.

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So Jesus, having walked into the temple the day before and observing what was going on,
comes in the next morning and drives out all the people buying and selling.

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Question?

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Okay.

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Does this mean, and is the lesson for us to learn in the text that it is

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unrighteous, unholy, ungodly to sell something on the church premises.

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No.

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It is unrighteous, it is unholy, it is ungodly to defraud someone, whether on the church
premises or not and the fact that you do it at the church does not now make it holy.

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If it would be fraud, outside.

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but that's what they were doing.

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They were saying, no, no, no, this is

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this is okay because this is at the temple.

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The money we use is holy, the gold of the temple is holy, the things of the temple are
holy.

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All these things are holy, therefore when we defraud you, we're not actually committing
fraud.

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Jesus and his emphasis here is not about, you know what, if somebody walks through the
back door and they've got a box with candy bars in it and they're raising funds for their

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baseball team and somebody says, you know, we really shouldn't be buying and selling stuff
in the church building.

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That's not what this is about.

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That's not the point.

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The point is that what they were doing

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was not only that which was not righteous, it was the exact opposite of righteous, as they
defrauded their own people who were coming to worship God.

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Now this was not new.

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Matter of fact, it goes, went all the way back to the days of Eli and his sons.

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who when the people would come and bring their offerings, they would reach in and get the
portion that belonged to the Lord.

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and they would participate in other activities there at the tabernacle that were in direct
violation of the Word of God.

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And they would claim they were holy in doings.

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So, he would not allow anyone to carry weirs through the temple.

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Is it appropriate, all right, so we talked about the idea of somebody bringing a box of
chocolate bars in and fundraiser, is it appropriate to turn the worship of God into a

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fundraiser?

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No.

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Is it appropriate to turn the house of God into a marketplace?

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No.

213
00:23:00,865 --> 00:23:12,258
Jesus is not only going to drive out the buyers and the sellers because of the things that
they are doing that is pictured in the remainder of the text and in the prior occasion,

214
00:23:12,258 --> 00:23:17,263
but you also have Jesus saying, listen, you want to go do business?

215
00:23:17,344 --> 00:23:18,915
Do it out there.

216
00:23:20,857 --> 00:23:22,174
Don't bring it in here.

217
00:23:24,057 --> 00:23:28,343
So he would not allow anyone to carry weirs through the temple.

218
00:23:28,343 --> 00:23:37,033
Then he taught, saying to them, Is it not written, My house shall be called a house of
prayer for all nations?

219
00:23:37,033 --> 00:23:40,257
But you have made it a den of thieves.

220
00:23:43,188 --> 00:23:50,521
One more thing that comes to mind from a few places that I've traveled and a few places
I've been is...

221
00:23:52,181 --> 00:23:57,993
When you go, let's say, to a farmer's market here in the States.

222
00:23:59,669 --> 00:24:08,717
The people who are bringing the stuff and selling the stuff at the farmer's market, are
they in your face trying to sell you every single thing that they've got?

223
00:24:08,717 --> 00:24:12,681
Are they kind of sitting back just letting you browse, see what you want?

224
00:24:13,082 --> 00:24:22,390
Here in America, we kind of have this culture of the person who's selling sits back and
offers customer service.

225
00:24:23,091 --> 00:24:25,853
That's not how it is in a lot of places in the world.

226
00:24:26,873 --> 00:24:29,576
It is quite to the contrary in marketplaces.

227
00:24:29,576 --> 00:24:33,420
If you walk into the marketplace, you are their mark.

228
00:24:33,861 --> 00:24:40,548
They are coming for you to get you to spend your money and get you to buy something right
now.

229
00:24:41,470 --> 00:24:48,157
Now imagine you came into the temple to pray.

230
00:24:50,131 --> 00:24:59,317
And after the seventeenth guy came up to you trying to hawk his wares to you, were you
really in a mindset to pray?

231
00:25:03,841 --> 00:25:13,801
It is not appropriate, it is not right to turn the house of God into a marketplace.

232
00:25:18,805 --> 00:25:26,873
Jesus goes back to that passage and He says, it has it not been written?

233
00:25:27,134 --> 00:25:31,098
My house shall be called a house of prayer.

234
00:25:31,098 --> 00:25:34,541
But now notice the rest of the phrase.

235
00:25:35,903 --> 00:25:37,865
The house of prayer for who?

236
00:25:39,991 --> 00:25:42,136
all nations.

237
00:25:47,169 --> 00:25:49,810
little bit more on what they would do in the temple.

238
00:25:51,933 --> 00:25:54,951
in the temple you had the outer courtyard.

239
00:25:56,575 --> 00:26:00,067
This would be the area that was not in the temple.

240
00:26:00,067 --> 00:26:04,209
It was in the temple grounds, but it was the outer courtyard.

241
00:26:05,150 --> 00:26:09,892
In the outer courtyard, you had the courtyard of the Gentiles.

242
00:26:10,913 --> 00:26:25,221
If you were a Gentile and not a proselyte, but you desired to worship the God of Israel,
you could come into the courtyard and no further.

243
00:26:26,421 --> 00:26:28,784
Courtyard of the Gentiles was the limit.

244
00:26:30,869 --> 00:26:33,173
Then there was the courtyard of the women.

245
00:26:34,258 --> 00:26:39,379
You could come a little bit further if you were a woman and a Jew.

246
00:26:41,341 --> 00:26:42,702
and no further.

247
00:26:43,723 --> 00:26:55,493
Then if you were a Jewish male, you could actually enter into the area of the temple,
excluding obviously the holy place and the most holy place.

248
00:26:55,493 --> 00:27:00,197
So there were these tiers of access.

249
00:27:03,151 --> 00:27:17,599
And yet Jesus points out that God had said, my house is to be a house of prayer for all
nations.

250
00:27:17,599 --> 00:27:19,170
Turn back to Isaiah.

251
00:27:23,220 --> 00:27:25,444
Isaiah chapter 56.

252
00:27:41,158 --> 00:27:46,290
Chapter 56, verse one, keep justice and do righteousness.

253
00:27:46,790 --> 00:27:53,113
For my salvation is about to come and my righteousness to be revealed.

254
00:27:53,533 --> 00:28:05,638
Blessed is the man who does this and the son of man who lays hold on it, who keeps from
defiling the Sabbath and keeps his hand from doing any evil.

255
00:28:05,838 --> 00:28:09,934
The beginning of this chapter in Isaiah, Isaiah is saying,

256
00:28:09,934 --> 00:28:13,027
You need to focus on justice.

257
00:28:13,027 --> 00:28:25,037
You need to focus on righteousness because I'm going to reveal my righteousness and when I
reveal my righteousness it's going to be readily apparent if you're not righteous.

258
00:28:26,018 --> 00:28:28,380
But then he points out

259
00:28:30,360 --> 00:28:33,909
They need to be careful about the Sabbath.

260
00:28:34,833 --> 00:28:37,780
What is it they were not supposed to do on the Sabbath?

261
00:28:39,514 --> 00:28:43,943
Work, buy, sell, trade.

262
00:28:45,670 --> 00:28:48,122
They weren't supposed to have their animals work.

263
00:28:48,744 --> 00:28:51,186
They weren't supposed to have their servants work.

264
00:28:51,688 --> 00:28:55,842
They weren't supposed to have the people who were foreigners in the land work.

265
00:28:58,630 --> 00:29:09,144
Quite often in the Old Testament when things were set right, one of the things that
prophets and kings would do to try and get the Sabbath to be observed properly is they'd

266
00:29:09,144 --> 00:29:13,346
shut the city gates on the Sabbath.

267
00:29:14,187 --> 00:29:18,228
Because if the gates were open, commerce was happening.

268
00:29:20,380 --> 00:29:23,043
And they said, that's fine, we'll just shut the gates.

269
00:29:25,804 --> 00:29:30,166
Isaiah is going to begin with justice and righteousness.

270
00:29:30,446 --> 00:29:33,927
He's going to follow that up with the Sabbath.

271
00:29:34,008 --> 00:29:44,152
Then he says, not let the son of the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord speak
saying the Lord has utterly separated me from his people.

272
00:29:46,330 --> 00:29:53,942
Now notice, this is a descendant of a foreigner, a non-Jew.

273
00:29:54,542 --> 00:29:56,543
But this person has done what?

274
00:29:56,543 --> 00:30:02,324
He has joined himself to the Lord.

275
00:30:03,605 --> 00:30:06,225
And Isaiah warns the people.

276
00:30:06,225 --> 00:30:15,928
He says, you better not let the Lord hear that you are blocking a foreigner's access.

277
00:30:16,188 --> 00:30:17,506
To the Lord!

278
00:30:20,492 --> 00:30:22,153
But what were the Jews doing?

279
00:30:23,304 --> 00:30:28,438
you can come in the temple courtyard, but you can come that far and no further.

280
00:30:29,180 --> 00:30:31,161
No, you can't approach the Lord.

281
00:30:32,383 --> 00:30:34,935
You can't approach His throne.

282
00:30:34,935 --> 00:30:37,105
No, you can't do that.

283
00:30:37,167 --> 00:30:38,527
You're not a Jew.

284
00:30:39,589 --> 00:30:40,969
He goes on.

285
00:30:42,091 --> 00:30:47,213
He says, nor let the eunuch say, here I am, a dry tree.

286
00:30:47,531 --> 00:31:01,174
For thus says the Lord to the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths and choose what pleases me and
hold fast my covenant, even to them I will give uh in my house and within my walls a place

287
00:31:01,174 --> 00:31:04,548
and a name better than that of sons and daughters.

288
00:31:04,548 --> 00:31:08,421
I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.

289
00:31:11,563 --> 00:31:19,151
For the Jewish mindset, someone who couldn't have children was an outcast.

290
00:31:19,612 --> 00:31:25,969
They were disgraced, even though the situation may have been not of their choosing.

291
00:31:27,953 --> 00:31:36,732
And yet, God says, you may not have an inheritance among my people.

292
00:31:36,953 --> 00:31:43,089
You may not have your name continue on in the land, but I'll give you a name.

293
00:31:44,875 --> 00:31:47,537
and I'll make sure it lasts forever.

294
00:31:48,218 --> 00:31:59,108
He goes down to verse 4, also the sons of the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord
to serve him and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, everyone who keeps from

295
00:31:59,108 --> 00:32:10,539
defiling the Sabbath and holds fast my covenant, even them I will bring to my holy
mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer.

296
00:32:11,179 --> 00:32:19,409
their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar.

297
00:32:22,199 --> 00:32:28,962
for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.

298
00:32:31,281 --> 00:32:35,818
Isaiah warns Israel.

299
00:32:37,855 --> 00:32:43,781
You don't get to cut off the foreigner from bringing sacrifices to the Lord.

300
00:32:45,063 --> 00:32:51,769
You don't get to abuse the foreigner and separate them from the Lord.

301
00:32:52,951 --> 00:33:01,589
You don't get to create injustice against the foreigner simply because they weren't born
in your nation.

302
00:33:04,395 --> 00:33:09,158
because my house is to be a house of prayer.

303
00:33:09,239 --> 00:33:24,470
Now, is Isaiah trying to teach us that anybody who wants to, anybody who has a desire to
worship God can just bring their religion and their history and their ideology to the Lord

304
00:33:24,470 --> 00:33:26,031
and he will accept it?

305
00:33:27,526 --> 00:33:28,496
No.

306
00:33:29,057 --> 00:33:30,859
The text is already very clear.

307
00:33:30,859 --> 00:33:38,024
These are individuals who are foreigners who have joined themselves to the Lord.

308
00:33:38,504 --> 00:33:41,347
These individuals are in fellowship with God.

309
00:33:41,347 --> 00:33:44,529
The problem is not their fellowship with God.

310
00:33:44,529 --> 00:33:52,715
The problem is that those people who are Israelites are blocking the access to God.

311
00:33:54,939 --> 00:34:09,147
And Isaiah stands way back 800 years before the days of Christ to declare that this is not
to be done.

312
00:34:10,833 --> 00:34:12,728
yet in Jesus' day.

313
00:34:13,434 --> 00:34:14,797
Is it being done?

314
00:34:15,944 --> 00:34:17,197
Absolutely.

315
00:34:22,311 --> 00:34:43,289
That last verse there in verse 8 of Isaiah 56, the Lord God who gathers the outcasts of
Israel says, yet I will gather to Him others besides those who are gathered to Him.

316
00:34:45,371 --> 00:34:48,247
Isaiah as he looks forward towards the Messiah.

317
00:34:50,195 --> 00:35:03,675
says, here's a nation that thinks they're surrounding God, that they are joined to God,
that they are gathered to the Lord.

318
00:35:05,799 --> 00:35:08,738
And Isaiah says, I'll tell you who's actually gathered to the Lord.

319
00:35:10,319 --> 00:35:23,973
all the people those people reject, all the people who are outcast by those people, all
the people who care more about the Lord than they care about themselves.

320
00:35:28,241 --> 00:35:30,951
when you come back to Mark chapter 11.

321
00:35:30,951 --> 00:35:32,395
oh

322
00:35:35,923 --> 00:35:43,223
the scribes and the chief priests, verse 18, heard it and sought how they might destroy
him.

323
00:35:43,643 --> 00:35:50,603
Why do you think the scribes and the chief priests are trying to get rid of Jesus because
of this act?

324
00:35:53,752 --> 00:35:57,380
Alright, it hurt their pride and their pocketbooks.

325
00:35:59,037 --> 00:36:05,610
Who do you think gets paid for you to have access to be a buyer or a seller in the
marketplace or in the temple?

326
00:36:06,031 --> 00:36:08,612
That's right, the people in charge of the temple.

327
00:36:09,452 --> 00:36:14,395
And whose authority do you operate under?

328
00:36:15,015 --> 00:36:16,736
Their authority.

329
00:36:17,196 --> 00:36:22,579
So when Jesus drives out the buyers and the sellers and all those doing commerce in the
temple,

330
00:36:24,625 --> 00:36:31,127
He's not only taking away their authority, he's also taking away their cash flow.

331
00:36:33,757 --> 00:36:43,793
So when they heard about it, they sought how they might destroy him, for they feared him,
because all the people were astonished at his teaching.

332
00:36:44,835 --> 00:36:47,736
When evening had come, he went out of the city.

333
00:36:48,457 --> 00:36:56,542
Now in the morning, next day, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the
roots.

334
00:36:57,083 --> 00:37:03,527
And Peter, remembering, said to him, Rabbi, look, the fig tree which you cursed has
withered away.

335
00:37:04,173 --> 00:37:07,844
So Jesus answered and said to them, Have faith in God.

336
00:37:07,885 --> 00:37:17,689
For assuredly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, be removed and be cast into the
sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done,

337
00:37:17,689 --> 00:37:19,609
he will have whatever he says.

338
00:37:19,609 --> 00:37:26,132
Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive
them and you will have them.

339
00:37:26,132 --> 00:37:31,634
And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him.

340
00:37:32,044 --> 00:37:37,259
that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.

341
00:37:37,541 --> 00:37:46,250
But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.

342
00:37:48,290 --> 00:37:56,104
What are the two lessons from the fig tree that Jesus applies here in his response to
Peter?

343
00:38:03,896 --> 00:38:07,381
Alright, the prayer of faith.

344
00:38:09,198 --> 00:38:14,430
and the requirement to forgive in order to be forgiven.

345
00:38:16,664 --> 00:38:27,708
the requirement to remove yourself from first place and put someone else there in order to
receive forgiveness from God.

346
00:38:31,194 --> 00:38:35,394
as the disciples look at the tree.

347
00:38:35,394 --> 00:38:40,554
There's a couple of interesting statements that are in this text that you shouldn't miss.

348
00:38:40,554 --> 00:38:44,166
Number one, how was the tree dried up?

349
00:38:47,768 --> 00:38:49,374
from the roots.

350
00:38:51,126 --> 00:39:00,232
When wintertime comes and when the seasons change and when the natural order of things
occur, which part of the tree dries up?

351
00:39:02,286 --> 00:39:04,649
part of the ground, leaves.

352
00:39:05,472 --> 00:39:08,195
If you're tired of raking, you know.

353
00:39:08,958 --> 00:39:11,501
If you're gonna be tired of raking, you know.

354
00:39:12,864 --> 00:39:16,700
It's not the base that falls over, it's the leaves that fall out.

355
00:39:19,128 --> 00:39:22,096
But if you had observed this fig tree...

356
00:39:24,054 --> 00:39:27,825
you would have noticed likely...

357
00:39:30,744 --> 00:39:32,585
The leaves were all still there?

358
00:39:34,840 --> 00:39:36,692
but the tree itself.

359
00:39:39,106 --> 00:39:41,052
had dried up and withered.

360
00:39:43,128 --> 00:39:51,008
the exact opposite of the natural order the exact opposite of the way that it should have
been seen

361
00:39:53,902 --> 00:39:59,376
and that's causing Peter to go master.

362
00:40:00,878 --> 00:40:02,260
Do you see the tree?

363
00:40:06,412 --> 00:40:09,644
the first lesson that Jesus teaches from this.

364
00:40:12,053 --> 00:40:13,033
is that.

365
00:40:15,020 --> 00:40:20,882
You should not doubt the power of God.

366
00:40:23,272 --> 00:40:24,607
struggle for us.

367
00:40:27,473 --> 00:40:32,686
We're not living in the age of the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit.

368
00:40:34,481 --> 00:40:39,905
Nobody's going to be walking down the street and suddenly say, tree?

369
00:40:41,705 --> 00:40:43,767
You're going to be withered by tomorrow.

370
00:40:44,709 --> 00:40:47,803
And then the tree's gone the next day.

371
00:40:49,797 --> 00:40:56,969
And by the way, who is he instructing and who is he not instructing?

372
00:40:56,969 --> 00:41:01,200
Who's in his immediate presence when he teaches this lesson?

373
00:41:02,477 --> 00:41:05,121
All right, the apostles.

374
00:41:05,882 --> 00:41:16,455
Do we realize, we should, do we realize that there's a difference between the things Jesus
said to the apostles and the things he said to everybody else?

375
00:41:18,003 --> 00:41:31,299
Certainly, this same statement is one that he is going to make to those who will receive
the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

376
00:41:34,451 --> 00:41:54,226
So when Paul, in Acts chapter 13, is standing before the procounsel and teaching him the
truth, and Bar-Jesus comes and starts trying to persuade the procounsel to not accept the

377
00:41:54,226 --> 00:42:01,571
truth and the gospel, and Paul tells Bar-Jesus, you're not going to see anymore.

378
00:42:04,115 --> 00:42:07,969
From that moment, that man goes blind.

379
00:42:10,557 --> 00:42:12,577
That's what Jesus is telling.

380
00:42:14,545 --> 00:42:19,735
when Elijah way back in the Old Testament...

381
00:42:22,451 --> 00:42:31,853
told King Ahab, it's not going to reign in the northern kingdom of Israel until I say so.

382
00:42:33,649 --> 00:42:35,431
wasn't a statement of pride.

383
00:42:36,113 --> 00:42:40,077
It wasn't Elijah being too big for his own britches.

384
00:42:40,599 --> 00:42:48,079
As a matter of fact, it wasn't going to rain for three and a half years until Elijah said
so.

385
00:42:50,502 --> 00:42:51,418
Why?

386
00:42:53,063 --> 00:43:03,405
because Elijah knew that when he spoke, he spoke the words and the commands of God.

387
00:43:07,335 --> 00:43:16,831
And when Paul spoke to Bar-Jesus, Paul didn't have some secret acid in his back pocket
that he tossed in the guy's eyes to where he would go blind.

388
00:43:16,831 --> 00:43:21,583
He knew that he spoke by the authority of God.

389
00:43:27,057 --> 00:43:32,648
Jesus is trying to get His disciples to realize.

390
00:43:35,404 --> 00:43:54,687
Number one, if they would trust God, if they would have complete and utter faith in God,
in God's ability, you remember Abraham said, with God, anything is possible.

391
00:43:57,003 --> 00:44:04,361
If they would trust God, then what they needed, when they needed it, would be there.

392
00:44:05,523 --> 00:44:10,909
What they said would happen and it would happen,

393
00:44:13,519 --> 00:44:15,466
but if they doubted God,

394
00:44:17,081 --> 00:44:18,526
what would they become

395
00:44:21,135 --> 00:44:22,506
trees that bear no fruit.

396
00:44:24,609 --> 00:44:39,817
If they didn't have faith in God's ability, they would become trees that bear no fruit

397
00:44:42,233 --> 00:44:45,138
because he's about to die.

398
00:44:46,121 --> 00:44:50,229
All the way up till this point, they just relied on his faith.

399
00:44:52,387 --> 00:45:00,343
When they were in the boat and the storm was going to overcome the boat did they rely on
their faith?

400
00:45:02,285 --> 00:45:02,616
No!

401
00:45:02,616 --> 00:45:05,613
They said, Master, wake!

402
00:45:05,736 --> 00:45:07,298
We're gonna die!

403
00:45:07,805 --> 00:45:09,525
They relied on his faith.

404
00:45:11,567 --> 00:45:27,081
Jesus is making it very clear to them, they cannot afford to rely on his faith anymore, or
they will become trees that bear no fruit.

405
00:45:28,921 --> 00:45:30,656
second lesson and we'll close.

406
00:45:33,750 --> 00:45:34,754
is real.

407
00:45:36,810 --> 00:45:42,495
Israel was in the state it was in as a nation.

408
00:45:44,569 --> 00:45:47,157
because they no longer cared about people.

409
00:45:49,091 --> 00:45:51,482
They no longer loved the outcasts.

410
00:45:52,444 --> 00:45:54,805
They no longer loved the foreigner.

411
00:45:55,686 --> 00:46:00,069
They no longer wanted to see the Gentiles worship the Lord.

412
00:46:00,389 --> 00:46:03,091
They couldn't care less about the Gentiles.

413
00:46:03,992 --> 00:46:09,115
They weren't interested in people coming to the Lord.

414
00:46:10,457 --> 00:46:16,481
Jesus will later on in the week tell that the Pharisees would go out.

415
00:46:16,801 --> 00:46:25,719
and they would search high and low to make one Gentile a proselyte only to turn them into
twice the child of hell that they were.

416
00:46:28,325 --> 00:46:29,651
They don't care about people.

417
00:46:32,343 --> 00:46:37,565
In order to forgive people, you have to care about people.

418
00:46:39,619 --> 00:46:41,226
And they didn't.

419
00:46:43,827 --> 00:46:51,901
And if authority, I believe there's a reason why these lessons are given in this order.

420
00:46:53,202 --> 00:47:06,799
Because when you are tempted to allow great authority to go to your head, you no longer
care about the people you have authority over.

421
00:47:08,424 --> 00:47:22,416
And here are these apostles and they're about to be going from servants of the master to
the ones who are finally given authority.

422
00:47:25,064 --> 00:47:34,856
and Jesus is going to make it clear to them, they have to have enough love for people to
be willing to forgive.

423
00:47:36,038 --> 00:47:41,274
And they have to remember that just because they have authority doesn't mean they no
longer have a master.

424
00:47:43,102 --> 00:47:50,168
and that their Master in heaven will withhold forgiveness if they do.

425
00:47:52,298 --> 00:48:06,514
fig tree teaches the lessons that if we do not have faith in God, if we don't trust God to
do His part and just do what He says do,

426
00:48:08,414 --> 00:48:09,685
we won't bear fruit.

427
00:48:10,988 --> 00:48:18,650
If we trust God and we just do what we're supposed to do and let Him do what He said He'll
do, we'll bear fruit.

428
00:48:21,408 --> 00:48:34,672
but if we don't care about people, if we don't love people and we won't forgive people, if
we believe that we are beyond the point of ever having to forgive.

429
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then ultimately the person who will never be forgiven is us.

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Isaiah wrote about the foreigner who was joined to the Lord.

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And at end of Matthew chapter 23, Jesus is going to talk about a nation?

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where God was as a mother hen who desired to gather her chicks and they would not.

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Here are these foreigners that they want to know the Lord God Jehovah of Israel.

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And here's God's own people and they're like, we don't want anything to do with

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There's the lesson from the fig tree.