 In Matthew 21, we're going to be looking at verses 18 through 27 and what I've done is I basically have taken two studies that at one point were actually study in and of themselves. For example, I took verses 18 through verse 22 and then I moved into verse 23 through 27. Those would have been originally two different Bible studies. So I combined those today and so you'll have part one and part two as we continue here in the Gospel of Matthew in chapter 21. And so verses 18 through 22 are the first verses that we'll be looking at. And so let's begin reading Matthew chapter 21, verse 18. I'll read to verse 22 and we'll get into our study. Beginning at verse 18, Matthew writes, now in the morning as he returned to the city he was hungry, seeing a fig tree by the road he came to it and found nothing on it but leaves and said to it, let no fruit grow on you ever again. Immediately the fig tree withered away. And when the disciples saw it, they marveled saying, how did the fig tree wither away so soon? So Jesus answered and said to them, assuredly I say to you, if you have faith, do not doubt. You will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, be removed and be cast into the sea, it will be done. Whatever things you ask in prayer, be leaving, you will receive. So as we begin this, I'm glad that we have different Gospel accounts because you can begin to look at what one Gospel writer wrote, then combine it with the other and begin to fine tune and you get a full picture. So when you take Mark and you take Matthew, and they both write concerning the same event and you begin to look at it closely, you will see that there's a chronology that Mark wrote by and there's a topical approach that Matthew wrote by. So by combining the two, you get an idea of what is taking place because we know that the Lord Jesus Christ came into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. We know that he went in, looked around at the temple, went to Bethany, a small village a couple of miles just east of the city of Jerusalem, spent the night. Then the next day he came in and as he was on his way, Matthew tells us he actually came into the city and he cleansed the temple. But when you get Mark's account, Mark makes it a little more full for us by telling us that actually before he came and cleansed the temple, he cursed a fig tree. So when you take Matthew and you take Mark and you combine them, you get a full account of what is taking place. Jesus had come in on the Monday in order to cleanse the temple. On the way in, Jesus encountered a fig tree. We'll look at that in just a moment. And because a fig tree had a promise of fruit but was not producing it, he cursed it, went on in, cleansed the temple, went back to Bethany. The next day he came and as they were coming back into the city, that's when the disciples saw that the fig tree had been withered and that's what Matthew is making reference to here in Matthew's account of it. And so we're looking at, in the first portion of our study, we're looking at the cursing of the fig tree and we're looking for the spiritual reason for this. Why did Jesus kill a fig tree? And so we're going to see that as we go through this. And so as we look at that, we know that Jesus has risen early, Jesus is on his way into the city. According to verse 19 in Matthew 21, it says, seeing a fig tree by the road he came to it, found nothing on it, but leaves and said to it, let no fruit grow on you ever again. Immediately the fig tree withered away. And so we're going to look first at the, at the meaning of a fig tree. What's the purpose of this? Why would we have to know that it was a fig tree? Well, when you look in the book of Genesis, all the way at the beginning in Genesis chapter three, we know that Adam and Eve fell. We know that when Adam and Eve fell, there's a curse that comes upon, upon everything. And one of the things about it is that it makes it very clear that that's the first time we're going to see a fig tree mentioned in scripture. Because in Genesis chapter three, verse seven, it says the eyes of both of them were opened. They realized they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. So when you read your Bible, you're going to discover that the fig tree was spoken of very early. As a matter of fact, it was in the Garden of Eden. Over time, this fig tree or the fig tree itself came to symbolize the land, the land that God was going to give to the nation of Israel. And we see that in another Old Testament book in the book of Deuteronomy, where God uses the fig tree to refer to his blessings on the nation. You see that in Deuteronomy eight verse eight, where it says concerning the promised land. It is a land of wheat and barley of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey. And so one, we see it originally mentioned in Genesis and the fig leaf was used to attempt to cover sin. Then you see it later as a symbol of the promised land that the children of Israel were to inherit. And then it became a symbol of the national condition. And the national condition would have been one of peace and security. So a fig tree came to represent security and peace. You see that in 1 Kings 425. It says during Solomon's lifetime, Judah and Israel from Dan, from the north to Beersheba to the south, Israel lived in safety, each man under his own vine and fig tree. And so the fig tree came to represent security and peace, prosperity, blessing. The land of Israel was originally referred to as being used to cover sin. So it has a lot of symbolism in the history of Israel. Now normally a fig tree produced fruit before it sprouted leaves. So when Jesus found no fruit on this tree, he curses it. And that's why he says, let no fruit grow on you ever again. And immediately, according to verse 19, the tree withered, meaning it died at once. So why would Jesus curse a fig tree? Why would he do that? Again, I just said a fig tree produced fruit before it sprouted leaves. Jesus examines the tree, it has no fruit, he curses it. Well, this tree symbolized national Israel, a spiritually dead nation. The fig tree had the appearance of life. It had the appearance of fruit, but it wasn't producing fruit. We see Jesus giving us more insight in Luke 13 when he says in verses six through nine, he gives a parable. It says, a man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, for three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down. Why should it use up the soil? Sir the man replied, leave it alone for one more year and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine. If not, then cut it down. So here we go. Why would you curse the fig tree? As a nation, Israel appeared religiously alive, but in fact was not producing any fruit. It had the appearance of righteousness. It had religion. It had a temple. It had sacrifices that were being offered. It had a priesthood. It had scribes and teachers of the law. It had every outer appearance of life. But in fact, it wasn't alive. It only looked alive. It looked like it had a religious faith. The nation looked like it was worshiping the true God of Israel. But in fact, it was a nation that was not connected to God and producing fruit of righteousness. It appeared religiously alive, but in fact did not produce that kind of fruit. It had the appearance of religion with the temple, the priesthood, the sacrifices and all, but they were not producing anything that was alive. It was really dead. Paul speaks about that in Romans 10, 1 and 2, when he said, brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved, for I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. There are many people who have an outer appearance of being just simply good people, even religious people. And you speak to them, and they're people who will go to church. They're people who are actually outwardly doing the right kinds of things. They're the ones who can say, I've always lived by the book. I've always done the right thing. And but in fact, they don't have a relationship with God at all. There are a lot of good people like that. I thank God in some ways for people who have at least the desire to do the right thing. That's a lot better than the one who has been done always doing evil. But the fact is there are a lot of people who are religious, but not righteous. They know of God, but don't know God. They're able to speak of prayers, but they don't speak in terms of like God answering and really answering. There are people that you see all the time who make all kinds of religious comments and everything. They believe in heaven and all of that, but they don't know how to get there. You know, I've mentioned to you my own wife, Marie. I mean, if you'd have met her as a young lady going to college, and she had every appearance of being a righteous young woman, all the appearance. She was very religious, and she grew up in a religious home. She tells me that as a young woman in college, her mom would come in and her mom being a Catholic. Her mom would come in with holy water, and Marie said there were times she was asleep, but she'd fill water on her face because her mom was coming in with water and dropping it on her, hoping that somehow she wouldn't meet a guy like me. And she was very religious. I mean, she had a statue, a little teeny statue of Joseph, which was her patron saint, and Joseph was placed on the dashboard of her car. And, you know, it's funny because when you saw that statue, his hands were over his eyes because it was facing traffic. I mean, that's how she drives, but eventually what happened is the sun melted him. So he was all like hunchback like that. And that was her patron saint. And she carried a little scapular, a brown scapular, and in her purse, you know that if she died, she'd instantly go to heaven and things of that nature. She was a very religious girl, very religious. When you speak to her, when you would speak to her at the young age that I met her, you would think this is a great girl. This is a sweet lady. She's a, I really took a like into her immediately. She just was that way, but she didn't know the Lord. She had the appearance of righteousness, but denied the power thereof. She had a knowledge of the things of God. She was like the fig tree that had the promise of fruit that would satisfy a life. Remember that fruit is not for the tree. Fruit is for other people. When you grow a tree in your backyard, your orange, your tangerine, the pear, apple, whatever it may be, it isn't for the tree that the fruit is being produced. It's for the people who consume it. And this tree was not producing any fruit for other people. It had the appearance of fruitfulness, but there was no righteousness, even though it had a temple, even though Israel had a priesthood, even though Israel had sacrifice, there was still no presence of God. And that's what the symbolism is all the way back to Genesis, where the fig leaf was used to cover over Adam's own earthly effort to hide his sin. Then you see that God says, I'm going to give to you the land of Israel, a land that has fig trees. And then later on, you see every man will be under his fig tree as a symbol of safety and security. So it has an ancient kind of a symbolism of the nature of Israel. And here comes Jesus. And he sees this tree that appears to be producing fruit when, in fact, there's none there whatsoever, spiritual fruit, evidence that you are abiding in Christ, demonstrate salvation. In Matthew, in chapter seven, verses 18 and 19, Jesus said, a good tree cannot bear bad fruit. A bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. In John 15, verse five, Jesus said, I'm the vine. You are the branches. If a man remains, abides in me, and I and him, he will bear much fruit for without me. You can do nothing. You can have the appearance of righteousness. You can. And this is what we see as we studied through Matthew. Jesus could see people who were standing on corners praying. He had seen people who disfigured their faces as if they were fasting. He saw the ostentatious way that they would give their offerings. And he said, these are all appearances of religiosity. These are all things that truly religious people do. A person who knows the Lord does fast. A person who knows the Lord does pray. A person who knows the Lord does give their offerings. That's what Christians do in a Christian sense. That's what religious people did during the time of Christ. He said, but these people have all the outside appearance, but their hearts are far from God. You see, empty religion can always have an appearance of life. But upon closer investigation, religion without God does not bear good fruit. And Israel had an appearance of godliness, but did not have the power of godliness. Israel was about to reject their messiah. Israel was about to be judged. So the cursing of the fig tree represents what's about to occur to national Israel. They had outward religion, but they had no real faith. And outward religion without genuine faith and trust in God is an abomination to him. And I think sometimes when we're here in the study, we need to examine our own hearts. We have to ask ourselves, does Christ really abide in me? Do I desire to bear fruit? Do I desire to live for Christ? Do I care about others? What is it, Lord? Am I real with you? Because I guarantee you there are people even today who are listening to this or perhaps over the radio someday may hear this who are outwardly religious, but inwardly are still far from God because they're not really bearing fruit. They just have the appearance, but not the reality. And so as this is taking place, according to verse 20, after the tree has withered away, the disciples saw it and they marveled, saying, how did the fig tree wither away so soon? How did that happen? And Jesus answered and said to them assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, be removed and be cast into the sea, it'll be done. Whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive. And so what are we looking at? We're looking at prayer. You see, obviously, Jesus is speaking figuratively. He's not saying that you ought to go out and perform these amazing miracles because miracles are not performed as what we used to call carnival attractions. And Jesus was not emphasizing that they should just have faith. Jesus was saying your faith needs to be directed because there are those who have faith, but it's not saving faith. It's not a grace field faith. It's just kind of like this. I believe in something out there. When you compare this with Mark's account in chapter 11, you get more clarity because in Mark chapter 11, verses 22 through 24, this is what Jesus said, have faith in God. I tell you the truth. If anyone says to this mountain, go throw yourself into the sea and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. And therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you've received it and it will be yours. Faith is actually trusting in God, trusting in his revelation through his word. Faith is trusting in his faithfulness and in his love, trusting in a personal way in his power. You know, we all can say I know somebody because if I said to you, do you know President Obama? You can say, well, I know him. No, what you're saying is what we would say. You're simply saying, no, I know of him. I know he is the president and this and that. You can say that about a lot of people you don't personally know. Or do you know someone? Oh, yes, I know. What you're really saying is I know of him. And so there's a difference between knowing of someone and knowing someone. There's a difference between having a relationship over a screen versus having a face-to-face relationship. And so there are a lot of people who have faith, but they have faith in their faith. They believe, but they don't have any personal assurance or a confidence that the one that they have faith in has a relationship with them. And that's where a problem can be. Because a lot of times there are people who have faith in faith. And so what we're looking at is what Mark says when Mark said have faith in God. Because true faith is trusting in the revelation of God, trusting in him as a person, trusting in his promises, trusting in his power. And when you know the Lord and you know his word and you obey and honor his word, God has a way of coming through. Jesus in John 16, 24 said it like this. He said, until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive that your joy may be full. In 1st John chapter 5 verse 14, John said if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And in Matthew chapter 7 verses 7 and 8, Jesus said ask it will be given to you. Seek you will find, knock and it will be open to you. For everyone who asks receives, he who seeks finds to him who knocks. It will be open. See we know a lot about prayer, but it's not prayer that we're supposed to simply know about. It's the one who answers prayer. A lot of people feel that they'd like God to do certain things. And Jesus is saying, no, when you pray, you pray in faith and you trust and you believe. You have a confidence that God will listen. It's not always easy to pray like that. It isn't, I don't want to stand up here pretending that that I am the most faith filled individual and every time I pray, I see these heavens open and God's saying, what do you want, Dave? I'm not saying that at all. I'm saying that in prayer, you begin to grow in confidence and understanding. If you go through the word of God and you begin to see scriptures that relate to God's promises and you start saying, well, Lord, this seems that this is a promise that's not simply to Israel or to a single individual. This seems to be a promise that I can ask you about on my own behalf. And you say that you will answer. You know, I have a mountain in front of me, Lord, and I don't know what to do about it. It's something that's bothering me because Jesus is speaking figuratively. He's not saying that he's going to start a mountain moving company, you know, Jesus and brothers, and we're going to remove mountains. What he's saying is there are obstacles in front of you that are heavy that without God's supernatural power and intervention are going to remain obstacles. And so you trust the Lord and God has a way of coming through and he says, but you need to believe, you need to trust him, you need to have confidence in him and not just just say things mindlessly. You know, when Jesus was speaking concerning prayer and when he was teaching what we have commonly referred to as the Lord's prayer, the our father, you know, that was not for us to simply repeat those words mindlessly, but those were insights into what prayer actually is, knowing that he's our father, that he's in heaven, et cetera. He wanted us to know how to pray and who we're praying to. But he wasn't saying just mindlessly say this. He was saying, understand what it means to have a relationship with my father. And my God is able to do abundantly above all I could ask or even think. And you discover that over time. And you discover that part of the way you discover that is through your prayer life, where you say to the Lord, there's a mountain, Lord, there's an obstacle here. Please, would you remove it and Lord cast it into the sea? And we do that sometimes on behalf of friends who you love and they don't know Christ. And you see the obstacles of their life, the things that they're doing, the things that they believe, the things that that are disrupting their entire life. And you see it and you say, God, these people aren't saved and they're going to perish without you. And Lord, I'm asking, would you please do a work in their life? And Father, I can do that because I've read your word and you said you're not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And I know that you are the Savior of all men, especially to those who believe. And so I'm asking that you would open their blind eyes. Would you remove the mountains from their sight, Lord, that they might see you and they might come into a faith relationship with you? Or you may have a situation where your boss has said, you're not going to work this upcoming Monday. We're letting you go and you say, God, you know I have bills and you know there are needs of my family. I don't know what to do. Lord, if I didn't know what to do, I'd probably do it without asking you, but I don't know what to do. Therefore I'm asking you, could you help me? Lord, would you move? Father, would you act? Because I don't know what to do. Like when my father, my father had worked this one job for many years and I was 23 years old. I'd just gotten out of the military and I was in my parents' home and my mom was speaking to me and she says, your dad is real down. He's depressed, but she used to just say down. Your dad is really down. His spirit is down and I said, why? Mom, what happened? She said your dad was just terminated. My dad, from the time he had gotten out of the Navy until he was 47 years old, had not had a day where he didn't have a job. He worked consistently and had consistently worked for this one warehouse. My father was a truck driver. So he loved what he did. He had so much years there on the job that he had all the perks and all he was, you know, six weeks of paid vacation and quite a number of things. And my dad had worked so many years. He and his brothers had worked so many years for this company and then they sold out and on a Friday he was given his last check and he came home and my mom said, your dad is really, really down David because for the first time in his adult life, your father doesn't have a job. And all of us know that your bills keep needing to be paid whether you're working or not. People still need to eat whether you're working or not. And my dad had never been a man who did not take care of his bills. And it really, really just laid him out. And so my mom told me, she said, your dad doesn't have work and it's the first time. And so my dad walked into the den a little while later and I was talking to him and I said, Dad, now who am I to say this? I'm 23 years old. You know, I'm somebody who would work a few months and then quit. I wasn't like a solid employee of any sort. I didn't have lots of wisdom to give to my father. This is my dad. And yet I'm a Christian now and I'm learning the ways of the Lord. And my dad walks into the den and I walk up to him and I said, Dad, mama told me that you lost your job. And my dad was a very close kind of man. He didn't show his emotions and he looks at me and he goes, that's right, son. I said, mama says you were let go. Yes. I said, Dad, all I know is this, my God shall supply all your need according to his riches and mercy in Christ Jesus. Dad, I know that. My dad looks at me like, what do you really know? You're a snotty nose kid. You don't even work. You know, you're going to college. What do you really know about taking care of a family, about paying bills, buying a home, paying a car off? What do you know about putting food on a table? What do you know about keeping your name spotless and your credit right? There was anything that my dad had. It was spotless credit. And for him, the thought of losing his credit rating was terrible. It was just horrible. And I said, listen, Dad. I said, I don't know anything other than this. I know my God shall supply all your need. I know my God answers prayer. I know my God is able. I know he is. If he transformed our lives with the power of his spirit, Dad, if he gave us promises in his word, that he said, I will supply your need, I trust that he will, because I can do these things through Christ. He does strengthen me. And my dad just looks at me and that this is a Saturday. No, it's a Friday afternoon. He just looks at me. I said, Dad, I know right now you probably don't know how to pray. And he said, frankly, I don't either. But I do know my God. I do. And I remember, and it was a humbling thing. And you put it in context. I was 23. My dad was 47. I had only been a Christian for two and a half years. I'd been in the military for two. I just came out. I'm living at my parents' home. And he hasn't even been connected with me for the two years that I was in the service trying to learn the ways of the Lord. This is all fresh for him. And now he doesn't have a job. And I put my hand on his shoulder. And I said, Father, in Jesus' name, I do pray that you will provide for my father both comfort because of his concern in his heart and a job so that he can provide for his family. That was a Friday. On Saturday, my dad got a phone call and was hired with the company that had bought out his old company. My dad didn't lose a day of work. My dad stopped working for this warehouse on this Friday. And on Monday, he started with his new job. And not only did my dad get hired, but his two brothers who worked alongside of him in this other warehouse got hired also. He didn't miss a day of work. Our God shall supply my God answers prayer. And that's what Jesus is teaching us. That that it's so it's so basic. It's so practical. And the enemy whispers in our ear and says, nobody cares. It's not going to happen. You're just speaking to the ceiling. Your words go up and then they fall to the ground. There's no ear listening to you. But the Bible doesn't teach that at all. The Bible teaches me that that God gives heed to the prayer of the righteous. And we've been made righteous through Jesus Christ through the washing of the blood of Christ. We're not perfect, but we're His children. And He listens to us when we cry and His ears open to our crying. If we understood that, we would be praying much more often because the Lord is, you know, I've gotten into this conversational relationship with the Lord. Now that I am reminded myself, even as I'm speaking to him, I say things to him. They already knows. But I'll say, you know, Lord, you know, I remember the earlier days of my walk with you, how I knew that the minute I spoke, you would listen. Lord, remind me of those days, because sometimes I forget. And so if I forget, I assume others can too. You know, the Lord is there. And so Jesus is saying, listen, He's saying, if you understood, then you'd look at a mountain and you'd say, be removed, but you have to have faith in God. It's not faith in my faith. It's not me trying to have huge faith because all I need is a mustard seed faith. A small amount of faith in a great God goes far. And so He's saying that to us. He said, you can say, be removed and cast into the sea. It will be done. Whatever thing you ask in prayer, believing you will receive its prayer. We ask the Lord any answers. That's part one, part two. Second sermon, verse 23. Now, when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching and said, I what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority? But Jesus answered and said to them, I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, where was it from? From heaven or from men? They reasoned among themselves saying, if we say from heaven, He will say to us, why then did you not believe Him? But if we say from men, we fear the multitude for all count John as a prophet. So they answered Jesus and said, we don't know. And He said to them, neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. Now, remember, Jesus has cleansed the temple and people are approaching Him for ministry. Luke tells us in chapter 20, verse 1, it happened on one of those days as He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel that the chief priests and the scribes together with the elders confronted Him. So we know the setting. He's teaching and He's preaching and is now being confronted by a group of religious leaders. Chief priests included the high priest Caiaphas, those who formerly held the position, such as his father-in-law Annas, and a select group of dignitaries. That would have been the chief priests. The scribes are the teachers of the law. They were the experts on Jewish religion and lifelong students of the law of Moses. And then you had the elders. The elders were key leaders from various key villages and towns in Israel. They were more than likely members of what it was called the Jewish High Council or the Sanhedrin. And during Jesus' day, the Sanhedrin wielded great social and religious authority. They had tremendous power and they enjoyed it. And they had become concerned with the popularity of Christ. In John chapter 11 verses 47 and 48, it says, then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council and said, What do we? For this man does many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation. And so what they're doing here is they're coming up with authority questioning his. That's what's taking place. That's what they're saying in verse 23, by what authority are you doing these things who gave you this authority? In other words, where did you get this authority? You were never recognized by any approved means. You see, during that time ordination occurred and it would occur after serving an apprenticeship under a recognized rabbi. So they're saying you didn't complete the necessary requirements to become a rabbi. What gives you the right to do and to say the things that you've recently said and done? Remember that Jesus had just ridden into town triumphantly. The people were crying out to him. Hosanna saved now. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. He had gone into the temple and cleansed it. And when he went into that temple and cleansed it, they were revealed for being the kinds of people that they were. And so they were very convicted by that. And so they're asking him, who gives you the right to do these things? And who gives you the right to say these things? And Jesus has been teaching. He's been preaching. He's healing the sick. And when he had cleansed the temple, he railed against the abuse of power that had been displayed. So they're angry. And they have the audacity to challenge him. Here's a practical application. Listen, remember this. Whenever people's actions are challenged, very often the carnal response is an attack. The carnal response is an attack. When somebody's belief system can be challenged, first thing they do is they fight and they argue. First thing. When somebody does something wrong and somebody corrects them for doing whatever it is that is wrong, very often the first thing that you'll see is an anger and a response of anger. Who gives you the right to judge me? When did God die and leave you in control of the universe? Sometimes they'll say. Who gives you the right? What gives you the right to say these things to me? Who are you anyway? You see, what had happened is they had done personal research on Christ and they had formed a smear campaign against him. You see it throughout his ministry. It's interesting how the writer of Proverbs in chapter 16 wrote in verses 27 and 28. Listen, an ungodly man digs up evil and it is on his lips like a burning fire, a perverse man so strife and a whisperer separates the best of friends. An ungodly man goes on Facebook, digs up. That's an interesting phrase, digs up evil. An ungodly person digs up searches for it as if somebody was looking for treasure. But the ungodly man is looking for evil so that they can bring it out and present it, put it on the news and say, this is the way this person is. Look at this and you see it all the time. That's part of the makeup of this ungodly society that we live in. Looking for evil and then publishing it, even if it's not true. And then people begin to believe it because after all, if two or three people repeat it, it must be true. If I share it on Facebook, it must be true. It's got to be true because it's got 15 shares. Isn't that true? That's true. I mean, I'm on Facebook. I've got three different pages. I know that happens. And some of the most odd things can be published as fact. And every once in a while, somebody will call me some kind of name and I'll write and I'll say, Marie, honey, stop calling me names in public. It hurts my feelings. You know that's true, but don't let everybody else know. No, you've seen it. You've seen it if you have Facebook or any of the social media. It has taken our world by storm. You know, my pastor Chuck Smith years ago influenced me in a certain way in many ways, but in this way, he said one of the things he had a problem with the social media, he says, is that all a person has to do is post it and other people believe it. And that's pretty much true. If somebody said it, it must be true. And so we have a way of spreading perversity and that's why we have to be wise in how we communicate and the things that we do communicate. When he says an ungodly man digs up evil and it's on his lips like a burning fire, a perverse man so strife and a whisperer separates the best of friends. Well, somebody said a worthless and unprofitable man searches for sins in others as if he were searching for a treasure. And then he digs them up. Even though they have long been buried, longing to tell others about what he finds, he then so strife and destroys relationships. That happens, doesn't it? Looking for something to say, especially when they're convicted, especially when you have changed, you've been transformed and you share out of love and concern, listen, I'm concerned for you. And they, well, wait a minute, I remember when you, who gave you the right to say, I remember when you used to lie, I remember when you stole, I remember when you, and they remember they'll never forget it. And sometimes they'll listen to you and then they'll come back later on and they'll say, you know what, I was talking to somebody about what you said and they told me you this. They dig up evil and that's what they do unfortunately, but it's true. And what they were doing is they were conducting a smear campaign against Jesus himself. You see, when you read your Bible, you discover that people attack Christ for many things. They attacked him concerning his birth. Remember that Jesus's mother had left from the city of Nazareth, had gone down to visit her cousin, had come back three months later and was now pregnant. And remember that they believed that Jesus had been born through a relationship of fornication. And later on, it says in John chapter eight verse 41, they remembered it because Jesus was speaking to these religious folks and he said, you do the deeds of your father. They said to him, we are not born of fornication. We have one father, even God. We are not born of fornication. It's an inference that you Jesus were. They would look at his friends and they would speak concerning his friends. Luke 15, 1 and 2, all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to him to hear him. The Pharisees and scribes complained saying, this man receives sinners and eats with them. They saw his personal habits and they would make comments. In Luke 7, 34, the son of man has come eating and drinking and you say, behold, a gluttonous man, a wine-biver, a friend of publicans and sinners. They spoke of his holiness in Matthew 9, 34. The Pharisees said, he casts out devils through the Prince of Devils. They questioned his faith on many occasions. He was accused of violating the law of Moses and they in this passage are questioning his credentials. You did not go through any of the rabbinic schools. You did not have a mentoring by a well-known rabbi. Those of you who read your Bibles will remember that when the Apostle Paul speaks concerning his own personal testimony, he speaks of how he was raised at the feet of a man by the name of Gamaliel. Gamaliel was one of the most renowned rabbis of his day. He was establishing his Jewish credentials. And you'll see that in his own testimony. He speaks of Gamaliel and how he sat under him. And so he went through the rabbinic courses. Jesus never did. So that's why in John 7, 14 and 15, it says about the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and taught. The Jews marveled saying, how does this man know letters? Having never studied. Letters wasn't just the ability to read and write. Letters was in reference to the knowledge of the law. And how did he have this profound knowledge and application of the law of Moses, having never sat under a well-known rabbi? So that was something they questioned about him. So they would undermine with this gossip and all. And they'll question. Do you know to this day, that's how a person's ministry is attacked and ultimately can be destroyed? And that was their desire to destroy his ministry. You read your scriptures. And there are times when they'll say, this man spoke like no man has ever spoken. Or you read your scriptures. And they'll say that he speaks with authority and not like the scribes. And they saw this in him. And the words that he spoke and the works that he performed. Who could argue with that? But they're still calling into question his credentials. So they say, who gave you the right to do what you've done? And he supplies the answer. The answer is, I have the authority of heaven. I don't need recognition from you. In John 12 49, Jesus said, I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me gave me a command. What I should say and what I should speak. Jesus had authority from the Father. But people to this day still reject heaven's authority. This happens even in our church services throughout the world. Wherever the church is meeting and teaching is occurring, there are still people who reject the authority of heaven. If the message says something they don't believe, they simply reject the message. They say, well, that's wrong. If they don't like what that message is, they may even reject the messenger and question what gives that person the right to say such things. I remember when our church was only a few months old, and I was giving a study. A young woman approaches me to keep it in context. I was I was 31 at the time and a young woman comes and speaks to me. And she says, I didn't appreciate what you said in your study. And I said, really? And she says, yes, I did not appreciate what you said. And I said something like, what is it exactly that I said that you didn't appreciate? She said, I don't like the way that you attacked my religious, my religious faith. I said, when did I attack your religious faith? She said, when you said, and then she quoted me. And I said, I hate to tell you, but your religious faith, the way you practice your faith, that's not the only church system that does that. There are other church systems that do that. And I was making a point. She says, no, don't say that. You know you were attacking. And I smiled at her because in how do you argue with somebody who already knows what you did, even though you didn't do it. But then she stepped over the line and she said, well, that's just your opinion. And your opinion and my opinion are equal. And I said, now that's where you're wrong. I said, I've been studying and teaching the Bible. I've been saved since 1970 teaching the Bible since 1973. And you don't even pick up the Bible to read it as a hobby. You don't know what the word of God says. So who are you to say that your opinion is the same as mine? It's not. It can't be. Mine's informed and yours comes from your flesh. Now, I used to be more direct. I'm not that way anymore. But that's true. Am I light? No, that's the truth. You didn't like it because you're that dog in the pack and the rock hit you and you barked. Why don't you just admit you were convicted instead of trying to say that you know what you do not know. And today, just because you can Google something doesn't mean you know something. That's a fact. That's a fact. People get upset. What gives you the right to say who are you? You didn't smile when you said that. You're not loving. You're not caring. You're not this and that. No, the problem is is you were convicted. And when you were convicted, you try to find a way out from the conviction. Listen, when the Holy Spirit convicts you, sometimes it's like the heavy hand of God on your heart. And he's pinning you. Understand that. You'll be okay. 14 years old. I'm aching on the side. My mom takes me to the doctor. This boy has a bad appendix. We've got to cut it out. They put me under. They say, start counting from a hundred and see how far down you can go. I get to 90 and I'm out. I'm just laying there. But somehow during the operation, I woke up and as I woke up, and as I woke up, I still remember the lights that were similar to this, the lights here, on me and the doctor on my right side. And he says to the nurse, scalpel. And I see this hand cross the table, handing him a scalpel. And I'm looking when he puts it in my side. And I fainted. Who needs an anesthetic? I was out. Lord began to teach me something. It's a simple principle. Let me share it with you. When God is operating, lay still, lay still. There are so many people who want to jump off of the operating table. But my mom said, son, when they pulled your appendix out, it burst in the hands of the doctor. And he said, if that appendix would have burst in you, it would have poisoned your entire system. They got it out just in time. Here's the question. What does God want to remove from us? What does he want to remove from you? What is it that is killing you that you want to get off the operating table? Listen, when the Holy Spirit convicts you, stop fighting. Stop arguing with God. This is old saying, your arms are too short to box with God. You can't beat him. He's undefeated. He's the king of the universe. Who can beat him? Just give up. And when the Holy Spirit says, this is a sin, get rid of it, then agree with him. See, the word confess, if we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. First, John 1.9, the word confess, homilagale, simply means if we agree with him, if we say the same thing, God says this is a sin. God says this is a sin. A confession is simply agreeing with him, rather than arguing with him. Because we have a tendency of wanting to argue with authority. It happens in every sphere of the human life. We argue authority in families. We argue authority in the church. We argue authority in government. We argue about authority. Where does it get you? You're driving your car. You get pulled over. What's the first thing you say? Well, listen, officer, the reason I was going that fast is because we got an explanation. We used to be able to go to court. Some of you know this. You've been there more than me. Where you say, how do you plead? They say, and you say guilty with an explanation. I had a lot of explanations. Guilty with an explanation. I was driving by my home. It's been years now, about 10 years ago. I was driving by my home. There's a car on the side of the road. A truck on the side of the road there. And he pulls out and he's going like 15 miles an hour. It's a 45. So I go around him and there's a motorcycle police officer waiting for me. Become my friend. He asked for my autograph and pulls me over. It's always terrible when the truck driver, whoever passes by smiling at you, like, but anyway. And the officer approaches me and he says, do you know what you did wrong? I said, I, yeah, I crossed the yellow double. And he goes double line. He goes, yes, you did. I didn't give an explanation, but I did say this. You know, I haven't had a ticket in over 38 years. And I hadn't. At the last ticket I got, I was 18 years old. And I was in my 50s. I said, I haven't had a ticket in 38 years, hoping for mercy. And he says, well, congratulations. Here's your first one. But I'm not standing up here saying to you that I can't argue with authority. I do in my heart, like anybody else. But the bottom line is how can I win an argument with God? I can't. And so I've discovered in life that authority and questioning it is part of every relationship. The husband and the wife argue. Church and members of the church can be arguments. I don't think I think government arguments, because authority provokes us. And so that's what's happening here. Jesus has done things that cause them conviction. So the first thing they want to know is where'd you get this authority from? You didn't go through our schools. You didn't learn under any of our rabbis. Or did you learn this? Again, Jesus had already in his teaching addressed that kind of question. Matthew 11, 27, he said it like this. He said, all things have been delivered to me by my father. And no one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son. And the one to whom the Son wills to reveal him. In John 3.35, it reads, the Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. Where did you get authority from? I got authority, Jesus' answer could be from my father. But the question is, are you willing to recognize heavenly authority? Are you willing to recognize authority? Many years ago now, when I was a young college student, there was a phrase that was used at that time, and you've all heard it before. May not be as popular today as it was then. It became a slogan and it was very simply put. It was question authority. And the story goes of a professor who came into his college class and he walked in and there was a blackboard. A blackboard was something you put on the wall and they had something called chalk. And the teacher used to write on it. And then people would get the chalk, the little things that you cleaned with and they'd afterwards and they were teacher's pets. But anyway, blackboard. And some one of the students had written on the blackboard, question authority. Because I was a model in my day. Question authority. The professor walks in and he sees this on the board. He picks up chalk and writes underneath it. If authority answers, will you listen? That's the problem. I think that we should have discernment. I think that we ought to be willing to examine whether these things are so. We're not lemmings. We don't just go because someone says there needs to be discernment, study, prayer. All of that goes into it. But what happens when what is being said is accurate? What happens? I'll tell you what happens today in the church and all through the world, especially in the United States. And in this area, I can say this with total confidence is when authority answers and the word is rightly divided, people have a tendency of bouncing from place to place until they don't have to hear the same message over again because they're hiding from authority rather than yielding. And that's in the church today. It's the spirit of rebellion. It's a rejection of what God's word says because it does not line up with what I already believe. If you're going to grow in the things of the Lord, you take what you have heard and grown in and things that will stretch you, and that's how you begin to mature. It's by learning to put into practice the things that the Lord says. So the question was, are you able to recognize heavenly authority? So that's why in verse 25, Jesus brings up John's baptism. The question was it from heaven or of human origin? Was it of God or of man? Now, when Jesus asks that question, he drives them into a corner because if they say from heaven, then they're going to have to recognize that John pointed people to Jesus because that was the message. So to receive the message of John would be to receive Christ. We see in John 1, verses John chapter 1, verses 26 and 27, that John said, I baptize with water, but there stands one among you whom you know not. He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe latchet I am not worthy to unloose. And then according to verses 29 and 30 of the same chapter, the next day John saw Jesus coming to him and said, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, after me comes a man who is preferred before me, he was before me. This is the Lamb of God. Follow him. John said, I'm not Messiah. He is. And so by pointing to Jesus, that was they would have had to say that John's message was true. But to say that it wasn't true, well, according to verse 26, they feared the multitude because everybody thought of him as a prophet. In Luke 20, verse six, it says if we say from men, all the people will stone us because they're persuaded that John's a prophet. So how did they respond? We don't know. But a cop out. We don't know. We don't know. We can't answer. You know, that's still said to this day when people reject ministry. In 1 Thessalonians 5, 12 and 13, Paul said, we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you. Esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. Be at peace among yourselves. If we don't agree, then we reject. One of the ways to cop out and say, oh gosh, not sure. It's just to simply say, we don't know. No, Jesus drove them into a corner. That's the way it works. Was John's ministry from heaven? If they say yes, why did you not receive the one whom he pointed you to? But if they say no, they're afraid of people because the people were persuaded John as a prophet. And therefore, they had the truth in front of them and wouldn't respond to it. So finally, verse 27, we don't know. He said to them, neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. I'm not going to answer your question. You're guilty of rejecting the light. And I'm not giving you further opportunity. In John 12, 48, Jesus said it like this, he who rejects me and does not receive my words has that which judges him. The word that I've spoken will judge him in the last day. I'm not going to waste my time arguing with you. You did not want to answer the question. You waited out and you determined you didn't want to receive me. And thus I've given you ample opportunity and I've given you ample evidence. So when you stand before God, you stand guilty for rejecting me. Jesus was saying. So obviously the question in application and in conclusion would be when Jesus's authority knocks on the door, do I answer it? When authority speaks, do I listen? And if I say I'm a follower of Christ, God helped me to hear his voice when he speaks.