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Alright, take your Bibles once again and turn to Matthew 21, please. Matthew 21. And I hope you've been enjoying the chapter-by-chapter preaching for the book of Matthew. We're now approaching the end. We're now approaching Jesus Christ going into Jerusalem. And this is basically within the same week Jesus Christ will be crucified and he'll be resurrected from the dead. So that's how close we are to the end of his ministry, okay? But the Bible has a lot to say about this final week. There's a lot of teaching of Jesus Christ during this final week that gets captured for us in the Scriptures. So Matthew 21, look at verse 16. Matthew 21 verse 16, it says, And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea, have ye never read? The question that Jesus Christ is asking these Pharisees here is a title for the sermon tonight, Have ye never read? I mean, what a question for Christ to be asking the religious leaders of the day. Have you not read the Bible? Have you not read the Scriptures? And let me ask you guys today, it's easy to point our fingers at the false prophets, at the teachers that are teaching our false things, but have you read your Bibles? You know, you picking up the Word of God, have you read the Bible cover to cover in your lifetime? And if you haven't, Jesus could honestly just say to you, have ye not read? Because there are going to be portions of Scripture that you've not read. I don't want you to be embarrassed like that. I don't want to be embarrassed like that. You know, if Jesus says, have you not read it? I say, yes, Lord, I read it. But maybe I just didn't understand it, okay? But the question is being asked, these guys did not read their Scriptures. They were religious leaders and they had not read the Scriptures, okay? So let's pick it up from verse number one, Matthew 21 verse one, and you see here, And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, so they're coming close to Jerusalem now, remember? This is the final time He's going to Jerusalem before His crucifixion. And were come to Beth-age unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus to disciples, saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an as-tide, and occult with her, loose them, and bring them unto me. So this makes it very clear as to what Jesus Christ is asking of them. The Bible refers to the as here, that's referring to a donkey. Okay, it's referring to a donkey. And if you've seen your movies of Jesus Christ and all these kinds of things, you often see this part of the story where Jesus Christ goes into Jerusalem riding on a donkey, okay? But one thing you may have missed in the detail of the story, He didn't just ride one animal. He was two. Look at it again, it says, And straightway ye shall find an as-tide, that's a donkey, and a cult with her. Okay, a cult is a baby donkey. It's a little baby, it's a little young child. It's with that as as well. It says, And bring them unto me. Okay, bring them unto me. So it's the two animals, the mother and the little baby cult that's being mentioned there. Okay, Jesus Christ came into Jerusalem riding on both those animals. Now the Bible doesn't give us a detail how that happened, but my assumption is He rode one, and then one got tied and He got onto the other one and followed through the rest of the journey. That's my assumption. The Bible doesn't tell us, but it's clear as we go through the rest of this chapter that Jesus Christ indeed rode both of them, okay? And then verse number three, And if any man say, Ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them, and straightway he will send them. All this was done, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy king cometh unto thee, meek and sitting upon an ass, and a cult, the foal of an ass. So here, this phrase is being taken from the book of Zechariah. And I think it's worthwhile, whenever we see the Bible referred to in Old Testament writing, let's go there. So keep your finger in the book of Matthew, and let's go to Zechariah chapter nine. Zechariah chapter nine. And let's look at this prophecy as to what the Old Testament prophet spoke of Jesus Christ here. Okay, let's look at this. Zechariah nine, nine. Zechariah chapter nine, verse nine. Zechariah nine, nine. The Bible says, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, shout, O daughter of Jerusalem, behold thy king cometh unto thee. Oh, stop there. You know, God is instructing the daughters of Jerusalem, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to rejoice. The king's coming. And this is, of course, prophesying of Christ coming into Jerusalem. Okay, you know, God's instructing them to rejoice. So praise God, sing out loud, shout. The king is coming. It says in verse nine, He is just and having salvation. That's important for you to remember later on. Having salvation. Of course, Jesus Christ, our Savior. Okay, lowly and riding upon an ass. Now, when it says lowly, it's speaking about him coming in humility. Okay, Christ is not coming on a war horse. He's not coming on the strength of chariots in Jerusalem. He's not coming with an army. He's coming lowly. And that's the whole point of him coming upon a donkey, coming upon an ass. This is not the time for Christ to come back on a horse. And we know later on in the Bible, Christ will come back on a horse. Okay, but let's keep reading. Let's understand this. He comes lowly, riding upon an ass, and upon the colts, the foal of an ass. The foal is again a young horse, a young child. There again, the prophecy speaks of the ass, and its foal, the youngling that Christ will ride upon. And verse number 10, look at this. Verse number 10. And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace unto the heathen, and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth. So I want you to read verse 10 for a comparison. It says when Christ comes, he's bringing peace. And when he talks about warfare there, and when he talks about warfare there, talks about the battle, it's speaking about, you know, and the horse from Jerusalem, okay? So just for you to get the picture, when Christ came that final time into Jerusalem, he was coming as a savior, he was coming in humility, he was coming to die on the cross for us. That's what he was coming for, okay? But don't forget, there will come a time when Jesus comes back on a horse, okay? And the horse represents warfare. You know, when Christ comes back the second time, it's not to make peace, it's to make war. Okay, and I'll quickly read to you from Revelation 19 and 11. You don't have to turn that, just read quickly. So when Christ comes back, he's gonna come on a horse, on a white horse, and he's coming to make war. He's coming to take down the armies of the Antichrist, take down the beast and the first prophet, and fight for his people, and fight, okay? So we see the difference of Christ coming, you know, the second coming on his white horse, okay, to make war, but this time when he's coming to Jerusalem, in peace, lowly, in humility, riding upon the ass. Okay, you can't take a donkey to war, okay? It's just not gonna be fast enough, it's not gonna be powerful enough, you know, but surely enough, when he comes on a horse, that's the reason why we'll be coming, to make war against the non-believers, to make war against those that took the mark of the beast. Go back to Matthew 21, please, Matthew 21. I hope that gives you a picture, you see the prophecy, okay, of old, speaking again of the both animals, the donkey and her little baby, okay? Well, I'm sure it's not a little baby, it's big enough for Jesus Christ to ride upon it. But look at verse number 6 now, Matthew 21, verse 6. And the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon, okay? And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way, others cut down branches from the trees, and straw them in the way. Now, one thing that I forgot to mention, remember, these guys go to someone's house, and they release these animals, okay? And they said, hey, what if he asks about it, you know, it says here in verse number 3, I think I might have missed it, or did I just read over it? Sorry, go back to verse number 3. So these guys were commanders, two disciples of commanders that take these animals from someone else, from the owner, okay? And if the owner were to ask, hey, what's going on? I mean, think about this for a minute, you know, these beasts are their modes of transport. These beasts are working animals, it's their tool. Like, if someone came to your house and took your toolbox, or if you drive a ute, if you drive a ute and you need that for work, you know, someone comes and just starts, you know, opening up your ute and starts to drive away, aren't you going to be asking the question, hey, what are you doing? What's going on? Why are you taking my resources? You know, you think this person's coming to steal, but what are they to say to the owner of the animals? It says, the Lord hath need of them, and straightway he will send them. This tells me, this isn't some hocus-pocus trick, okay? It's not like he put the owner in a daze, it's like, oh man, they're taking my animals out, I take it. Oh, the owner knew who the master was, the owner knew who the Lord was, the owner knew who needed it. It says, the Lord hath need of them. This tells me the owner of these animals was a believer. This tells me this guy knew about Jesus Christ, hey, maybe he wasn't in a position to be a disciple to follow after him, but he knew of Christ, he had his faith on Christ, he maybe even knew of the prophecy in Zechariah, and so he was able to release those animals, okay? And so that should be for us, hey, if the Lord is asking something from you, the Lord is needing something from you, you should say, well, if the Lord needs it, he can have it. You know, if it's your resources, if it's your tools, if it's your working hands, if it's your heart, if it's your voice to sing his praises, if it's your hour on a Tuesday night to come to church, whatever the Lord needs from you, you ought to say, hey, if the Lord needs it, you can have it, Lord, okay? And that was the attitude of the owner. Because if you were the owner, don't you think it'd be a bit weird, these guys taking your animals, right? But obviously this guy had the right heart, he knew exactly who needed it. And let's go back, let's go back to verse number seven now. Verse number seven. And brought the ass and the coat and put on them, on them, so both, notice them, their clothes, and they set him thereon. So the reason they put these clothes on these two animals is so Jesus Christ can then ride upon them. Verse number eight. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way, others cut down branches from the trees and straw them in the way. So as Jesus Christ is coming on that donkey, there's great multitudes, all his disciples, all the people in Jerusalem excited of Christ, they're coming, they're laying down clothes, they're taking branches and they're laying, they're making like a pathway all the way to Jerusalem. And this is where we get the tradition of Palm Sunday. You know, I know as believers we don't do the Palm Sunday thing, but I remember as a child I used to go to Cabernet Baptist Church, and sometimes I would walk there, and on the way there'd be a Roman Catholic Church, and on Palm Sunday they would have, people would, I don't know if they still do it, do they still do this in Catholic churches? They would have these palms, they'd have these palms and they'd come to church with these palms, representing the Palm Sunday. Now obviously there's no point of doing that today, Jesus Christ is not riding on the donkey, but that's where the tradition comes from, that's where the idea comes from. In the book of John, it tells us that the branches that were being cut down were palm trees, they were from the palm trees, that's where it comes from, okay? They were putting down these branches, putting down their clothes, and spreading out all the way to Jerusalem, and Christ was riding on that donkey. And verse number nine, And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried. Hey, what does that mean to cry? Hey, they were shouting, okay? They were following the instructions that God had given them in the book of Zechariah, which was to shout, the King is coming, they're crying, what are they saying? Hosanna to the son of David, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest. Now does anyone know what the word Hosanna means? If you got it wrong, it's okay. Anyone know Hosanna? All right, does anyone know of Hosea, the prophet in the Bible, Hosea? Does anyone know what his name means? His name, Hosanna? Hosea, Hosea? Hosea's name means savior, okay? And it comes from the same idea here. Hosanna, all right, is a transliterated Greek word, which was transliterated from the Hebrew, which means save us, we pray. You know, we're asking you to save us, okay? So Hosanna, that first bit, Hose, is about saving, and the anor at the end is we're asking you to save us. And remember, when we looked at Zechariah, it was speaking about the King coming as the savior, okay? So they're shouting exactly the things that were instructed of them in Zechariah. Now, I don't know if they knew what Zechariah said, and so they're trying to do what Zechariah says, or they're just doing it, and of course, you know, the Lord in his full knowledge and his wisdom just wrote it down as to what was going on, you know, in his knowledge of prophecy. But I love it when the Bible just connects like that. Old Testament, New Testament, it's all aligned, it's all perfect, it all makes sense. And Hosanna in the highest, so verse number 10. And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, who is this? I mean, of course, Jerusalem, a big city of the day, and they're seeing Christ coming on the donkey, and this great multitude, right? Remember, just think about this in your mind, a great multitude just marching into Jerusalem, and it says here, the city was moved. You know what that means? That means the city was like, uncomfortable. They were troubled. What's going on? What's all this noise? What's all this celebration? What's going on here? Saying, who is this? Who is this guy that's coming? Who is this? They're putting down the branches, et cetera there. Verse number 11. And the multitude said, this is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth, of Galilee. And Jesus went into the temple of God. So now he's gone into Jerusalem. Now he's going into the temple in Jerusalem. And so look, this is so important. We can't miss this as a church, okay? Now we know the Old Testament temple was called the house of God, okay? What is the New Testament house of God? It's the church. It's a local church. It's the local congregation. What we are right now, as fellow believers gathered together, we are the house of God. God is dwelling in this place. When we congregate together, when we assemble together to worship the Lord, this is his house, okay? So the lesson that we get of Jesus here in the temple is a lesson that we as a church need to apply here, okay? We need to make sure we take the lesson and apply it to this house, okay? And it says here, Jesus went into the temple of God, verse 12, and cast out all them that sowed and bought in the temple and overthrew the tables of the money changers and the seeds of them that sowed doves and said unto them, it is written, my house should be called the house of prayer but ye have made it a den of thieves. This is Christ coming. The Bible just said he's coming in meekness. He's coming in humility. But then he sees what's going on in this temple and he's angry and he casts out these money changers. He turns the tables. He cleanses the temple of these that are buying and selling in the temple. Say, what's going on? Keep your finger there. I want you to turn to John chapter 2 now. John chapter 2. Now remember, where are we in Matthew? We're in his final week before he gets crucified, okay? This is Sunday. He's coming to Jerusalem on a Sunday and he gets crucified. He dies Wednesday evening, which is the start of their new day, like a Thursday if you want, okay? But Wednesday evening, Christ is crucified. So it's only a few days before his crucifixion and his death, all right? So this is toward the end of his ministry when he's cleansing the temple, okay? Now this is another thing that a lot of people aren't aware of but this is not the first time that Jesus cleanses the temple of money changers, okay? This is why I've got you to turn to John chapter 2. Now the fact that you're in chapter 2 of John, shouldn't this tell you immediately this must be near the beginning of his ministry? You know, I have to give you chapter 2. There's plenty of chapters to go. So John chapter 2 verse 13. John chapter 2 verse 13. It says here And the changers of money sitting. So this is the first cleansing early in his ministry. He goes into Jerusalem for the Passover and he casts out the money changers and then at the end of his ministry he does it again. He does it again. He does it twice, okay? Look, if Jesus did it twice, don't you think it's important for us to pay attention, okay? If it's a one-off, you might say, ah, it's just a one-off. He did it twice. This is how much it bothered Jesus that he would make a whip and drive these people out of his house. It's his house. He's God, okay? It's his house. The temple was his house and again, this church, New Life Baptist Church here in Sydney, this is the house of God, okay? So what's the lesson? That we are not to make this house a house of merchandise, okay? The church is not a place to buy and sell things. You don't come here to make a profit. You don't come here and say, well, there's a group of people, maybe I can sell them my products. No, no. Hey, if that's you, I'll get a whip and I'll chase you out of here, okay? Because we're following the example of the Lord Jesus Christ, alright? We are not to make this place where you buy or sell things. Now you guys are in Matthew, sorry, John chapter 2. Just stay there for a moment. Let's look at some of the problems because what's the problem with the animals? They were selling doves, oxen, why do you think they were selling these animals, by the way? Oxen, sheeps and doves and stuff like that. You know why they were selling it? For sacrifice, okay? Because when you go into the temple, you offer your sacrifices, you'd have to bring them certain animals and these were the animals you were permitted to bring, okay? Now obviously, not everybody had a farm. Not everybody had animals. So for others that did not have sheep and goats and doves or whatever, actually the doves were for people that were poorer, okay? And if you remember the story, when Mary, Jesus' mother, came to offer a sacrifice, she came and brought two total doves because they were a poorer family, okay? So you're allowed to do that. But the lesson here is there's nothing wrong with actually purchasing animals for sacrifice, bringing them to the temple and giving them up as a sacrifice, okay? There's nothing wrong with that. The problem is not what they were doing. The problem is where they were doing it, okay? And they were doing it in the house of the Lord. They made it a house of merchandise. So let's think about this for a minute, okay? I've got four problems when it comes to buying and selling a church. This is why we will never buy and sell in this church, okay? And I wish my Baptist brethren, and not all of them do this, but a lot of churches have on the back shelf some books and Bibles and other things, CDs, and they're selling them in the house of the Lord, okay? And this is a big mistake. If Jesus Christ was walking along, he'd get that whip and get them out of there, okay? He'd take down that merchandise, all right? Now let's think about this. Problem number one is that selling for religious purposes was not to be done in God's house. Now, were they allowed to sell oxen and sheep and dove? Of course, but not in God's house, okay? And they were for good religious purposes. It was to come to the temple and offer a sacrifice. They weren't selling, you know, the world's junk. They weren't selling Hollywood movies. They weren't selling, you know, the world's music. No, they were selling things for the house of God, but they were doing it in the wrong place, okay? So lesson number one is that even for religious purposes, even religious material, things that you might use in your church, it's not to be sold in the house of God. It's not to be sold in church. That's number one. Number two, it said the church is not a house of merchandise. What is merchandise? You guys know the definition of merchandise? Well, a merchant is a seller. If you're a merchant, you're someone that sells. So merchandise is the goods that the merchant sells, okay? So whatever that is, clothing. Well, whatever the merchant's selling, that's merchandise. So we are not to sell any merchandise in the house of God, okay? There are actually products that have been sold here. And then when we look at how Jesus worded this in John chapter 2, he called it a house of merchandise, and when we look at how he worded it in Matthew chapter 21, verse 13, he called it a den of thieves, okay? Let me just read it again from Matthew 21, verse 13. And he said unto them, it is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves, all right? And then in John 2, 13, it said, And he said unto them, that so doves take these things hence, make not my father's house a house of merchandise, okay? So what is it that made it a den of thieves? It's because it was a house of merchandise, okay? It wasn't that they were ripping people off. That wasn't the problem. They were ripping people off. I've heard that teacher. No, that's not the issue. The problem, what made it a den of thieves is they were selling merchandise, okay? So, you know, house of merchandise and den of thieves is used interchangeably, all right? And the points that I wanted to bring there is basically, you know, just that false idea that it's okay to sell in the house of God as long as we're not ripping people off. Or if it's at cost value or something like that. No, no, no, that's merchandise, okay? And as I said, I do not want this church to ever be that way, okay? Ever, okay? And you shouldn't be someone that comes into church and says, well, you know what? Church people are normally nice people. You know, maybe it'd be easier to sell products to them. You know, I've got a business opportunity. I'm going to come and make a profit on the people of God. No, if you're that way, if someone comes to you trying to sell things to you, I'm not saying outside, but I'm saying in the congregation, they come to church for that purpose, I want you to tell me, okay? Because we need to chase these people out, okay? We need to chase them out. We're not going to turn God's house into a house of merchandise, okay? It's meant to be a house of prayer, okay? And of course, that tells me that if the church is a house of merchandise, then it prevents people from making it a house of prayer, okay? It's comparing those two things, okay? If you've got a church that has merchandise, it's going to limit the house of prayer that it should be, the church should be, okay? So let's go back to Matthew 21 verse 14. If you have any questions for me regarding that, please ask me afterwards, please. Matthew 21 verse 14 now. Matthew 21 verse 14. Matthew 21 verse 14. Look, Christ is performing miracles in the temple. He's healing people. And these religious leaders, the chief priests, the scribes, they see it. They see the wonderful things that Christ did. And it says, How in the world? These religious leaders, they see the miracles. They see little children praising God. And these leaders, what are they? Are they happy? Are they rejoicing? No, they're displeased. Okay, they're envious about the attention that Jesus Christ. It's Jesus Christ, the Lord of the universe, right? Jesus Christ, the one who the house belongs to, the one they're meant to be worshiping to. He's right there in the midst, and they don't like the attention that Jesus Christ, the Lord God, is getting, all right? And then it says here in verse number 16, Don't you hear what they're saying? That's what the scribes are asking Jesus. He says, Out of the mouth of babies. Babies and children were praising God. And once again, this is why we want kids in our church. We want kids in our congregation. We want them to hear the Word of God. We want them to sit here and sing with us. Because it's the kids. The Bible says here, You know, God loves it when children sing the praises of God. We should not discourage that. We should encourage our children to lift up their voices and praise the Lord God. Now I want you to hold your finger there and turn to Psalm chapter 8, please. Psalm chapter 8. Because Psalm chapter 8 is where the scripture is found that Jesus referred to. Psalm chapter 8 verse 2. Because I love the extra information that's in Psalms. Because it makes sense as to what's going on here. Okay? Because one thing you come to realize is these scribes and chief priests, they wanted to kill Jesus there and then. Okay? And there was something preventing them from doing that. And that was the multitudes. Because the multitudes love Jesus. The children love Jesus. Right? And it says here in Psalm 8 verse 2, The babes and sucklings thou hast ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest steal the enemy and the avenger. So it says here, this doesn't make a lot of sense when you're reading the book of Psalms. But it says here that when the babes and the sucklings, the little children are praising from their mouth, that it's going to calm or silence the enemy and the avenger, those that want to hurt you, those that want to, you know, persecute you. And that's what was playing out on this day. Is these scribes and priests, they wanted to get Jesus. They wanted to get him. But the multitudes loved him. The children were praising his name. And that was preventing these religious leaders from taking hold of Jesus right there. Because he would have caused a riot. You know, they're taking the man of God. They're taking this great prophet. They're taking this person that's performing these amazing miracles. So I wanted to show you how the Psalm, it's so good to go back to the Old Testament and have a look because it gives us that extra information sometimes that we need to have that fuller understanding. And if you just drop down, so verse number 17, Matthew 21 verse 17. Back to Matthew 21 verse 17. It says, And he left them and went out of the city into Bethany, and he lodged there. But before we keep reading, I want to just drop down all the way to the last verse. Verse number 46, verse number 46. Okay. Verse number 46, last verse, it says there, But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet. Okay. So again, this is like confirmation. These scribes, these Pharisees, these leaders, they wanted to take him. They wanted to kill Jesus, but they couldn't because they feared the multitude. Remember the multitude of praising God. They're rejoicing in Jesus Christ. Okay. Now we're going to skip verses 18 to 22 for now. We'll come back to it later on. Let's drop down to verse 23. Verse 23. Matthew 21 verse 23. And when he was coming to the temple, so this is something in his last days you'll keep noticing that Jesus goes to Jerusalem, teaches, performs miracles, and then he goes to the Mount of Olives and stays there overnight. And the next morning he'll come back and he does that for the number of days leading up to his crucifixion. All right. Verse 23. And when he was coming to the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching and said, By what authority doest thou these things, and who gave thee this authority? And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things. So if you answer my question, I will answer your question. Verse 25. The baptism of John. Whence was it? From heaven or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say from heaven, he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him? But if we say of men, we fear the people, for all hold John as a prophet. And they answered Jesus and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things. Okay. So think about this for a minute. Now, keep your finger there once again and turn to Matthew chapter three. Matthew chapter three. Okay. We're going back to the story of John the Baptist. Okay. Matthew chapter three. Now remember, you know, they can't say things against John the Baptist. Okay. Because the people, the motivation, not only do they see Christ as a prophet, but they also consider John the Baptist as a prophet. Okay. Now look at Matthew chapter three, verse one. Just very quickly. Matthew chapter three, verse one. In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet of Seir, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his path straight. So, yeah, make his path straight. That's what I wanted to show you. So this is John the Baptist going into the wilderness. And if you know, remember his story, he's got multitudes. He's got thousands of people flocking to him, you know, believing on Christ. He's pointing them to the Lamb of God. They're receiving Christ. They're putting their faith in the Lord. They're getting baptized. John the Baptist is doing this amazing thing. And the whole purpose of John the Baptist was to prepare a new generation from the Lord. Because at this point in time in Israel, that was spiritually darkened. They were in a really bad place, Israel, okay? And John the Baptist was like this man of light, shining through in the wilderness. People just wanted to come and hear the teaching of the Word of God. And he generates a new generation of believers, a new generation of Israelites that would come and believe on Jesus Christ. And where are these believers now? They're at the temple. They're at the temple giving their tithes, doing their offering, giving their sacrifices, doing what's required of them under the Old Testament practices. They've gotten saved. They've gone to Jerusalem. And they're doing what they need to do in the temple. In other words, these chief priests, these religious leaders were profiting from the ministry of John the Baptist, okay? And so of course, all these people in the temple that are coming worshiping the Lord, they're disciples of John the Baptist. They're disciples of Jesus Christ. And of course, that's why they were afraid of saying negative things about John the Baptist, because they saw him as a prophet, okay? And so you see where their hearts are. They don't like John the Baptist, these chief priests. They don't like John the Baptist, but they love the fruit of John the Baptist. They love the fact that his converts were coming to the temple and doing the work. It was giving them business. It was giving them work. It was making them important with the positions that they held, all right? So that's what's going on. That's what's going on there. The people love John the Baptist. The people love Jesus Christ, but the religious leaders didn't like them, okay? And let me just tell you guys the honest truth. If you want to be a preacher one day, a pastor, someone that just preaches from the word of God without compromise, you're not going to be liked by the religious leaders. You're not going to be liked by those that, you know, if you just come in and preach in the word of God, you're not going to be liked by the religious leaders. But you know who's going to like your preaching? The children of God, the people of God. They're going to love hearing the preaching of God's word because it nourishes the new man. It nourishes the new man. It gives you spiritual food that you need in order to live out your life, okay? Matthew 21, verse 28. Matthew 21, verse 28. Now this is where Jesus starts on a number of parables here. Verse number 28. And what think ye? A certain man had two sons. So remember, he's still speaking to these religious leaders. Keep that in mind, okay, as we're going through this. It's always important that you just think about when Jesus says things, who is he speaking to? Who is he speaking to? Is he speaking to believers? Is he speaking to non-believers? At this point, he's speaking to non-believers. At this point, he's speaking to the religious leaders, okay? So you don't get confused. Otherwise, you start thinking things that are, you know, not biblically sound. Verse 28. But what think ye? A certain man had two sons. And he came to the first and said, Son, go work today in my vineyard. And he answered and said, I will not. But afterward, he repented and went. So the father goes to the first son, Son, come and work for me. Son says, no, Dad, I won't do it. I've got other things to do. But then he feels bad about it, and he goes and does it, okay? And then, verse number 30. And he came to the second, the second son, and said, likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir, and went not. So it's totally opposite, right? The second son says, yeah, Dad, I'll go and work in the vineyard. But he doesn't do it. He doesn't do it, all right? And verse number 31. Whether of them twain did the will of his father, and they said unto him the first. Of course, even though the first was disobedient to begin with, even though the first said he wasn't going to do it, he did do it, right? So the first is the one that did right according to his father. The first, Jesus saith unto them, verily I say unto you, truly, right, verily, truly I say unto you, that the publicans, look, don't miss this. Don't miss this. This is so important, okay? Verily I say unto you that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. Hey, who's you? The Pharisees, the scribes, right? He says, look, what are harlots? Prostitutes, okay? Jesus says, look, the prostitutes, the harlots, the scum of the earth are going to go into the kingdom before you, religious leaders. What a teaching of Christ. Do you think the religious leaders would love this teaching? Man, you know, it just totally destroys them, right? These harlots and, please, look, are you children of God? Do you love the word of God? Do you believe what he's saying here? Please don't be deceived by the appearance. You know, you see a so-called godly man walking the street and you see a harlot or someone that's lived a horrible life, you know, and you give respect unto the religious leader. Look at him. Look how he goes. Wow, hey, that man may not even see the kingdom of God and that prostitute may very well have received Christ as a saviour. Who are you going to give honour to, the child of God or the person that's still destined to hell? You give honour to the child of God, you give honour, you know, and respect to your brother and sister and the Lord, even if they were from the scum of the earth, okay? The harlots are going in before these religious leaders, okay? Understand the heart and the mind of Christ that's being taught here, okay? It's very easy for us to become respected of persons. It's very easy for us to look at certain people in this world and say, well, I don't want anything to do with those people, they're scum. Jesus Christ loved the harlots and the prostitutes. He was there preaching the gospel. Hey, they had hard lives, you know, they were very poor people, they were very dirty people, but they were the most receptive when it came to the gospel, okay? And this is why the reality is when you go out and preach the gospel, what are the most receptive areas? The areas that people have needs, you know, people that are struggling in life, people that don't have the money, they don't have the wealth, they don't have the position. These are the people that are more likely to come and receive Christ as their Savior and they're going into the kingdom first before these religious leaders, all right? And I'm just going to read to you from John chapter 5, verse 46 because he's saying, no, these religious leaders, they must be saved. You know, these Roman Catholic priests, they must be saved. These Pentecostal pastors and apostles, they call themselves, right? They must be saved. You know, no, no, no, no. You know, Jesus said of these religious leaders, I'll just read it to you. In John 5, 46, he says, Did these guys teach Moses? Hey, they did. They taught the Word of God. But Jesus says about them, they did not believe Moses. They did not believe the words that were in scripture because if they believed the Old Testament scriptures, if they had believed Moses, they would have believed on Christ. And anyone that's teaching a false gospel, anyone that's teaching another Jesus has not believed the scriptures, all right? Be careful as to the people you look up to, you know, the lessons we can learn here. It's very rich, the Bible. Verse number 33, let's go to verse 33. Hear another parable. And again, Christ is just demolishing these religious leaders, just demolishing them, okay? Verse 33. Hear another parable. So this householder, he gets a vineyard, he does all the work. You know, he builds a tower, he builds a wine press, it's all ready to go. He just needs workers to get in the vineyard, right? And he lends it out, you know. He leases it out, as you were, you know, to certain workers. And then it says here, and then he goes into a far country. Verse number 34. Now this becomes very important to the rest of the chapter, this teaching of the fruit, okay? So obviously when there's a vineyard, you expect fruit to come out of the vineyard, okay? That's what's going to be profitable, that's what the owner's going to be able to eat of, that's what he's going to be able to sell at the market to make a profit. The fruit is important here, okay? And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husband men, that they might receive the fruits of it. And when the husband men took his servants, they beat one and killed another and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first, and they did unto them likewise, okay? So the owner of the vineyard sends his servants, go get the fruits, go get the profits. The workers, they get there, they stone them, they stone the servants, they kill one of them, and they beat them up, hey, they don't want to give the fruits to the master. They want to hold on to the vineyard, they want to take ownership of the vineyard and not give it back to the person that owned it, okay? What's the lesson there? What's the lesson there? This becomes very obvious, that this is speaking about these religious leaders. The servants that the owner is sending, they're the Old Testament prophets. Hey, this is like John the Baptist. People that are being sent and, you know, preaching the word of God, and instead of taking them in, instead of taking in Israel as a whole, these religious leaders, instead of receiving the words that are being taught, they kill the prophets. Okay, and quickly turn to Matthew 23. Matthew 23 verse 37. You guys are close there. Matthew 23 verse 37. This is what Jesus Christ says of Jerusalem. Matthew 23 verse 37. Isn't that like the parable? It's killest and stone. You know, Christ is, you know, I would have just loved as a motherly hand taking you under my wings, like the little chicks my mother would protect them with. I would have loved to do that to you, Jerusalem, but you would not. You would not receive me, and you did not receive the prophets of old. This is what's been described in this parable here in Matthew 21. Go back to Matthew 21 verse 37. Matthew 21 verse 37. Continuing the parable. So what do you think? I don't have to explain. This is easy, right? Who's been sent here? This is the story of God the Father sending his only begotten son. He says, Surely they will listen to my son. They didn't listen to the prophets, but surely my own son, they will reverence him. They will give him honor. They will listen to him. Surely. Verse 38. His inheritance. Do you notice? They know this is the son of God. They know. They saw the miracles. And how are the religious leaders going? Well, let's kill him. Let's kill him. Let's seize on the inheritance. You see, these people, these religious leaders, these Jews, alright? And look, Judaism is a false religion. Please never in your mind think, well, Judaism is just Old Testament Christianity. No, it's not. If it was Old Testament Christianity, they would have believed on Christ. They would have believed on Christ, as we read earlier. That's a false religion. And they want nothing to do with the son of God. They want the kingdom of God. They want to seize the inheritance. And we know what they did to the Christ. We know what they did to the son of God. They killed him, just like this parable. They seized the inheritance. And verse 39. And they caught him. This is the parable. They caught the son. And cast him out of the vineyard and slew him. When the Lord, therefore, the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? That's a good question. So when the father finds out they killed his son, what do you think he's going to do to them? Again, look, I love my Baptist brethren, guys. I do. I do. But this is how they would respond to this question. Well, he'll give them another chance. At the end of the tribulation. All the Jews will believe on Christ and they will inherit the kingdom. Is that how Jesus teaches this? Let's keep reading. Listen, what would you do if you sent your own child to get the fruits that you've invested in and they kill your child? How are you going to feel about it? You're going to give them another chance. You're going to send another son. What are you going to do? This is a straightforward question. This isn't complicated. Verse 41. He will miserably destroy those wicked men and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen which shall render him the fruits of their season. So what's he going to do? He's going to destroy them. If you reject Christ, you're a Christ-rejected person and Judaism is a Christ-rejected religion. What does it say here? God's going to destroy them. They're not given a second chance. God's going to come and destroy them. We keep reading because this becomes very important because a lot of our brethren believe Jews, like physical Jews, are special people. They're special DNA. Special descendants of Abraham. That's debated. Are they even descendants of Abraham? Who knows? Physically, it's not important. Genealogies, all of that is not important now in the New Testament. I'm not teaching you something that Jesus Christ is not saying himself in this chapter. Let's keep reading. This isn't just me misunderstanding one parable. Jesus goes over this again and again and again. Verse 41. He says what's going to happen? He's going to destroy those wicked men and then let his vineyard unto other husbandmen. He's going to get other workers. Other workers that do what? Which shall render him the fruits in their seasons. He's going to get the right kind of people that are going to come and offer the fruits or the work of their hands to the Lord God. That's what he's going to give it to. And we'll look at that later on. What is that about? Verse number 42. Once again, these are religious men that don't read their Bibles. If they read it, maybe they could understand. This was the Son of God right here. This was the Messiah. This was the Savior. I should believe in him. But they did not read the scriptures. Please, don't be a Christian that does not read the scriptures. Otherwise, you're following the steps of these men. If you don't read the scriptures, read them. Did you not read the scriptures? The stone, verse 32. What is the stone that was rejected in the parable? Speaking of the son that was rejected, right? In the parable. In the parable. The same stone that was rejected has become the head of the corner. Becomes the head of the foundation. This is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes. Therefore, I say unto you. Look at this. Therefore, I say unto you. Jesus is saying these words. Not Pastor Kevin. Not any other pastor. These are the words of Jesus Christ. Therefore, I say unto you. The kingdom of God shall be taken from you. Hey, the kingdom of God was taken from the Jews. Was taken from these Pharisees. You know, these religious leaders. He was taken from the nation of Israel of old. Right? I don't want you to look today at the nation of Israel and go, oh man, God's chosen wonderful people. Hey, these are wicked people that reject the Lord Jesus Christ. Okay? That's what they are. They're wicked people that have rejected the Lord Jesus Christ but they're like anybody else that's rejected the Lord Jesus Christ. They need the gospel. Okay? They need to hear the gospel. If I'm out there knocking doors and I knock on the door of a Chinese man, I'm going to give him the gospel. If I knock on the door of a Syrian man, I'm going to give him the gospel. If I knock the door of a Korean man, I'm going to give him the gospel. If I knock the door of a Jewish man, what am I going to do? I'm going to give him the gospel. We're called to preach the gospel to every creature. Every creature needs to hear and have the opportunity to place their faith on Christ. That's our job as a church. Okay? We ought to love the Jewish people. We ought to love them with the gospel. Going to them, preaching them the gospel. But you saying, hey, they're chosen. They're special. God's going to give them another chance after killing their son? No, that's not going to happen. Hey, that's racism. When you lift up one race above another, that's racism. When you elevate one race of people above another, that is racism. All right? I don't want you to be racist. I want you to understand that every man is the same and every man needs to believe on Jesus Christ as their Savior. Okay? There's no nation on this earth today that is God's people. Well, there is a nation. We'll have a look at it soon. All right? I'm talking about a physical nation. All right? There's no physical nation on this earth where you can just say, well, these are God's people. This is God's nation. Okay? Not a physical nation on the earth today. Why? Because Jesus just said, right? Therefore, I say unto you, the King of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof. Pay attention. Pay attention. Who's it being taken from? From the nation and given to another nation. Another nation. Okay? The King of God has been taken from Old Testament Israel. It's been given to another nation. Say, what's that nation? Is it Australia? You know? The Bible's got the answer for us. We don't need to worry. You know, the Bible's got the answer for us. Please. Actually, let's keep reading. Just verse 44. Verse 44. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken, but on whomsoever it shall fall, it shall grind him to powder. Let's cover that very quickly. Verse 44. For the Jews, Christ was a stumbling stone. They failed. When Christ came to these religious leaders, they stumbled. They did not know what to do with Christ. Okay? And that's one thing to stumble on the stone, but it's a totally other thing here when it says, but on whomsoever it shall fall, it shall grind him to powder. You see, there is coming a day when Christ will come and judge this earth. There is coming a day when he comes on that white horse making war and bringing judgment. Okay? There is coming a day on the great white throne of God when the unbelievers are going to stand before God and they're going to be cast into the lake of fire. Okay? And that's the day when that rock will grind them to powder, utterly destroy these people, and they're going to be cast into the lake of fire. That's the destiny for these false prophets that did not believe on Christ, these false religious leaders. Go to 1 Peter 2, verse 6, please. 1 Peter 2, verse 6. Because Peter gives us commentary to what Jesus just taught in Matthew 21. Okay? This is his commentary. You know, Peter, one of his apostles, one of his main apostles, he writes this, Wherefore also, in verse number 6, 1 Peter 2, verse 6, Wherefore also is contained in the scripture, behold, the Lord is with thee. And he is with thee. And he is with thee. And he is with thee. And he is with thee. And he is with thee. And he is with thee. And he is with thee. And he is with thee. And, again, in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, elect, precious, and he that believeth on him Shall not be confounded. If you believe on Christ, Christ the stone is precious to you, right? Elect, precious, for you. Verse number 7, Unto you, therefore, which believe he is precious, But unto them which be disobedient, The stone which the builders disallowed, The same is made ahead of the corner. Isn't that what Jesus Christ was teaching? Exactly the same thing, right? Verse number eight. And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed. So okay, that's the teaching of Christ, okay? And Christ said it's going to be taken from that nation and given to another nation. The kingdom of God will be taken from them and given to another nation. What's the other nation? Well, the answer's here, verse number nine. But ye, now this is to you, you Christian, you children of God, you that believe on the precious cornerstone. This is who he's talking to, talking to you. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and holy nation. Did you know you're part of a nation? That's not just Australia. You're part of a spiritual nation belonging to God, okay? The kingdom of God's been taken from Old Testament Israel and has been given, oh sorry, I should say just Israel, and given to the believers of Christ, those that have placed their faith on Christ. We are a holy nation, okay? Not Australia, believers, okay? Those that make up the house of God, we are that holy nation, our peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who have called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, all right? So I want you to understand this about the Israelites of old. A lot of Israelites believed on Christ. A lot of them were praising Christ in the temple, okay? They were saved. They had their faith on Christ, okay? They were part of the physical nation of Israel, but they were also part of the spiritual nation of Israel, okay, and those that believed on Christ, they're still the children of Israel. They're still part of that holy nation, and we make up that nation with them as believers in Christ, okay? But those that were part of the physical nation but never believed on Christ, such as a lot of these religious leaders, the kingdom of God's been taken from them and given to us. That's what the Bible teaches, okay? You're special because you're God's people. You're special because you're in Christ, okay? You're not special in your flesh. I don't care how strong you are or good-looking you are or how much money you make. I don't care. That's not what makes you special. What makes you special in the eyes of God is that you've believed on the precious cornerstone. You've believed on Christ. That's you, and if that's you, you make up this holy nation that the kingdom of God's been given to. What an honor that we've been given the kingdom of God. What an honor, you know? What an honor. Go back to Matthew 21, please. Matthew 21. We're almost done now. Matthew 21. Matthew 21. And now, because we understand these parables, I wanna go back to verse number 18 now, verse number 18, all right? Verse number 18. Now in the morning, as he returned into the city, he hungered. So Christ wanted a bit of breakfast, right? Verse 19, and when he saw a fig tree in the way. Now just remember this. Remember this. Israel of old, these non-believing Jews, the kingdom was taken away from them because they did not give the fruits to the master. They did not give fruits, remember? The fruit was the issue, okay? Now have a look at the fig tree. Verse 19, when he came and saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it and found nothing thereon, but leaves only. So he finds no fruit on this tree, on this fig tree, just leaves. Just the appearance of good. Just the appearance of healthy, but no fruit on it, okay? And then it says, and said unto him, let no fruits grow on thee, henceforward forever. And presently the fig tree withered away. Look, Christ did not find any fruit on this fig tree. He curses the fig tree and it withers away. Why did he curse it? Because he had no fruits. What did he say about non-believing Jews? They had no fruit. They would not give their fruits. Remember that? This is what's happening. Judaism, non-believing Jews, those that follow that rejects Christ, okay? They are a withered fig tree, okay? Oh, they're gonna make a comeback. What did Jesus say? Are they gonna make a comeback? He said in verse number 19, let no fruits grow on thee, henceforward forever. Look, Israel is not making a comeback, okay? Israel, today, what you look at, that's not making a comeback. They're not gonna become believers of Christ. The only opportunity that Israel has is in the millennium, when Christ comes back and he rules and reigns from Israel, he rules and reigns from Jerusalem. Hey, but that nation of Israel's not gonna be made up only of Jews, it'd be made up of every believer of Christ. We're all gonna have the opportunity to rule and reign with Christ in the millennium. That's the hope for Israel, okay? That's the only physical hope is the millennium and going into the new heavens and the new earth. But look, 1948 Israel, that's not, that's still the cursed withered fig tree, okay? They're not coming back. Jesus Christ, they're not going to bring forth any fruits. All right? So please don't be a racist, okay? I'm not a racist. I love the Jews, I want them to get saved just like any other nation under the sun. Just like any Australian, anybody, anyone that lives around here, I want to see them saved as much as the next Jew, okay? But you start elevating people above others, you're a racist and you're going against what Jesus Christ taught, okay? You're the holy nation. You wanna pray and ask God to bless the nation? Ask him to bless your brothers and sisters in the Lord. Ask him to bless your like-minded believers, the pastors and the preachers that can't preach in the word of God without compromise. Ask God to bless these people, the children of God, okay? That we would be fruitful, okay? And let's keep reading, verse number 20. And the disciples saw it, the withered fig tree that is. They marveled, saying, how soon is the fig tree withered away? Jesus answered and said unto them, verily I say unto you, if ye have faith and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea, it shall be done. And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believe in, ye shall receive. Now I'm gonna give you my thoughts on verse 21 and verse 22. I'm not gonna be dogmatic, I'm not gonna say if you disagree with me, you're wrong, or anything like that, okay? This is how I understand this, because I've often talked about you, about these miracles that God says. And he says, look, if you had enough faith, you'd be able to cast this mountain into the seas. All right, so who can do that? I mean, you know, that's centurion, came to Jesus asking that his son will be healed. And Jesus says, man, you know, this guy has the greatest faith, and you know, nobody else in Israel has as much faith as this guy. I don't read about that centurion casting a mountain into the sea. He had a great faith, right? I don't read of John the Baptist, you know, that Jesus Christ says he's the greatest, you know, amongst people, those that were born of women. I didn't see John the Baptist casting a mountain into the sea. You know, and so what I believe this is, just very quickly guys, is just some figurative teaching from Jesus Christ. Because when you think of the mountain, and you think of, just keep in context what's going on, the kingdom of God, right? The kingdom of God is the issue here, you know, being taken from the Jews and given to another nation. And if you guys are familiar with the book of Daniel, and you know of Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the statue, of, you know, the head of gold and the silver chest and et cetera, well, the end of the dream goes that there's a rock that's cut from a mountain, and that rock comes and hits the feet of the statue, and that rock grows into a great mountain, okay? So let me just give you some thoughts there. You know, that mountain represents the kingdom of Christ, because at the end of all of the kingdoms of the earth, then Christ will come and set up his millennium kingdom. So that's what the mountain represents. So I believe the mountain that Jesus Christ is speaking of here cryptically is a reference to the kingdom of God. And when he says that it's cast into the seas, sometimes in the Bible, the seas are referred to the nations or the Gentile nations, okay? And again, he's speaking of the withered fig tree, okay? So what I believe cryptically that Christ is teaching here, remember the fig tree represents a false religion, a Christ-rejecting religion. And it says, look, if you have the faith, you too are gonna be able to do the same thing. You're gonna be able to wither that tree away. In other words, as people that come and preach in the gospel, we come preach in the kingdom of God, we are gonna have the power and the authority to wither away the false religions, okay? People that believe in a false religion, we come, we preach the gospel to them, that false religion will wither away. You know, they'll come and believe the gospel. We come, we bring that mountain, we go and preach the gospel to all the nations. That's what the seas represents. We bring that mountain of God's kingdom. And that's what I believe it's about. I believe it's a cryptic teaching of soul winning, going out and preaching the gospel to the Gentiles. Now, I'm not gonna be that dogmatic about it and say, hey, you're gonna agree with me on this one. But that's what I believe it pictures, because I don't know of anyone else, I don't know of anyone in the Bible that's moving mountains literally into the sea, all right? So let's leave it there. Actually, one more thought, one more thought, one more thought, okay? The fig tree did not produce fruits. So God cursed it and it withered away. That's Israel, that's Israel. But my last thought is this, guys. This can happen to you. This can happen to you. And the Bible speaks many times about Christians who are unfruitful Christians, and they become stale, or they become withered, okay? This can happen to us if we are people that are not trying to seek and grow fruits. We're not getting out there and winning souls, we're not preaching the gospel, we're not doing the works of God. You can become a withered Christian. You know, when Christ speaks also of the soul that's lost its savor, who can salt it again? Hey, once salt has lost its savor, it's no use anymore. It's just to be trodden under the foot of men, okay? As Christians, you know, you can get to a stage where you can't soul-stale. You know, you just don't do the works of God. You don't care about his kingdom. You gotta be careful, because you might wither away. Now, I'm not saying you're gonna go to hell, or you're gonna do anything like that, okay? But I'm saying that as a Christian on this earth, you can become just as unproductive as that withered fig tree. So please let that be a word of caution to you, okay? You know, get out there, you know, be fruitful. I know not all of you can necessarily get out there every week and preach the gospel with a team. Hey, but if you're in your own time, your own friends, your own family, your own neighbors, the people you come across with, hey, find those opportunities, and make sure you're a fruitful Christian. All right, let's pray.