This recording is from Christ Kingdom Church in Avalon Park, Orlando. Visit us online at ChristKingdom.org for our calendar, driving directions, and more audio recordings. If you have a ballast with me, turn to March, chapter 11, verses 12 to 25. March, chapter 11, verses 12 to 25. It's been interesting week, hasn't it? Between at least that I know of three huge celebrities that have passed away and all kinds of things like that that captured the attention, I bet it's got some people thinking more than normal, maybe you, maybe like me, thinking about what will people remember about you? What kind of legacy will you leave behind? We're going to look at a passage here this morning that talks about the legacy of the Son of God, legacy of Jesus Christ. And we're going to look at a passage here that specifically, actually one of the few places that gives us some hints into Jesus' humanity and His full expression, even in His deity, of pictures that we don't only see, Jesus cursing things, Jesus getting angry, even as simple as Jesus being hungry. So as you look at this passage here this morning, realize you're getting a glimpse that's not the most common glimpse glimpses given. But it never less gives us a glimpse into the Son of God, a living God in His Son that walked on the earth 2,000 years ago. As you read the story, think deeply about who you know Jesus to be. I was in a meeting this past week here with us, talking to a lady and I was explaining a situation where I was saying, hey, I was seeking to be Christ-like in this situation, and she widely said, which Christ were you trying to be like in that situation? Jesus in the temple, which is what we're going to read about today, or Jesus in some other capacity. So as you look at the story here today, listen to who Jesus is. Here God's Word, as I read it together with Mark, chapter 11, verses 12 through 25. This is His Word. The next day, as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing the existence of victory and leaf, He went to find out if it had any fruit. When He reached it, He found nothing but leaves because it was not the season for things. Then He said to the tree, may no one ever eat fruit from you again. And as the disciples heard Him say it. On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the bishops of those selling does, and were not allowed anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as He taught them, He said, is it not written? My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations. But you have made it a den of robbers. The chief priest and the teachers of law heard this and began looking for a way to kill Him, where they feared Him because the whole crowd was amazed at His teaching. When evening came, they went out of the city. In the morning, as they went along, they saw the victory with it from the roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, rad I look, the victory you curse has withered. Have faith in God, Jesus' answer. I tell you the truth if anyone says to this mountain, go throw yourself in the sea. It does not doubt in this heart. But believe that what He says will happen, it will be done for Him. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you've received it and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive Him so that your father and heaven may forgive you. This is God's holy and inspired word that we read here this morning. You know what I love about this story? It starts off even the very first verse of this passage. The next day, if they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. And it kind of cools sometimes to know that God in the form of His own son, flesh and blood here on earth was just hungry. He was like you, he was like me. You know, he woke up this morning and was thinking, man, may I have anything to eat or maybe skip there the night before? Or maybe there just wasn't food and abundance at the time, but he was hungry. He was real. And the text reveals that for us. You know, the story is also quite raw as we've already talked about. Jesus comes hungry. And how many of you are ever a little bit grumpy in the morning when you're hungry? Anybody? Yeah. How many of you are lipless nights grumpy in the morning and they haven't eaten? Yeah. Okay. Jesus comes, he comes by a thick tree, expecting to hopefully find some fruit. He doesn't. What if he did? He curses it. Jesus, I don't think was as grumpy this morning. He was making a point. A point that would be remembered by his disciples, which we're going to look at in just a second. But it's pretty raw encounter. So because I was not as loud, I haven't seen him curse the tree before. It's kind of strange for Jesus, but he was just being warmed up, right? Because then he walks into the temple. The place, the holy, holy places of worship. Okay. And then he lets go on it. He's running people out. He's turning tables over. He's making a huge scene, a huge mess of the area, attracting all kinds of attention. It's very real. It's very raw. It's one of the most amazing stories that we read about Jesus. Jesus was hungry, but he wasn't hungry just for food that morning. He wasn't hungry just looking for a fig on a fig tree. He was hungry for something far more meaningful, far more important. Which he was going to make a point, clearly to his disciples that day. And to make a point for us, to read about two thousand years later in this. Jeremiah 12. Jeremiah 24, a very famous passage, which had been studied a lot by any rabbi like Jesus. And his disciples, no doubt, would have been talked about. Jeremiah, the prophet, actually uses the example of figs. And the fig tree, to pronounce judgment upon the people of God as they were being led to exile. He talks about the good fruit of the fig and the bad fruit of the fig. And how the good fruit was actually going to be exiled into a foreign land. The bad fruit would be left. So the whole idea of the fig tree here was very symbolic. Would have registered in their heads as the day went on. And then Jesus explains what he's doing. But I want you to realize that he catches it too. The fig tree, Jesus is going to make a powerful point with that morning. A powerful point of something about judgment as well. Well, let's look at two primary fruits this morning that he was looking for. Two primary fruits. Because it wasn't just fruit on a tree he was looking for. Something much more meaningful. Number one, if you're following along your outline and your bulletin or care to take notes. Jesus hungers for the fruit of salvation. Jesus hungers for the fruit of salvation. Oh, in any case you're wondering that is a fig tree. A picture I found and one that looks like it may have been cursed as well too. But just wanted to give you a visual there. He hungers for the fruit of salvation. The quick context here, if we had read more and had time to read more, you would have just heard before this the what we call the Palm Sunday, the triumphal entry. Jesus had just entered Jerusalem. Jesus in a matter of days is going to be hung on a cross. He is fully aware of that. And Jesus coming in had come in writing on the donkey with shouts of what? Housanna. Let's just see who comes in the name of the Lord. Coming in like a king. Palm branches and clothing were draped down here. He was treated with royalty coming in to the city. That happened the day before this. That's how he'd been welcomed. With the crowds of Housanna, which means translated save or save us. Here's our team. Save us team. They're replacing their hope in him. They had shouted it out to him. Of course, he knew that days later their shouts would change from Housanna to crucify him. But nevertheless they had been looking to him as the one who would save. And they were right. He was hungry to save. He came in and he was hungry for salvation to happen. But like the victory, the temple gave a picture of what was supposed to represent worship. What was supposed to represent the people of God's passion for him. You see in the first place here Jesus comes in and he's passionate about salvation. He's hungry for salvation for his people, for the Jews. And the temple was the representation. The primary representation of the worship of God. It began with a tapernacle, but it had been completed with the temple, at least at this one time. This was the place. This was the central spot where people would encounter the presence of God. And Jesus knew that. And Jesus was there. In fact, I think I have a picture of the temple this next slide here. This is a picture of Herod's temple. It's not Solomon. Solomon's temple had been destroyed. But as you look here, you get a picture of kind of what it looked like. And where the court of the Gentiles was. Which by the way, that's where they were selling on both sides. That's where they would have been selling and new merchandise. And where the court of women was here in the front part. And as you moved in past the brazen altar, the holy place. And inside of that was the holy holies. Which inside of that had the arch of the covenant. Which represented the very footstool of God, according to the scriptures. And this is where Jesus was coming into this court of the Gentiles area in the temple for that. The temple represented the presence of God. I mean, think back. First, again, it was the tabernacle. It was a portable temple because the Israelites were on the move in the Old Testament. But think about Moses. When Moses needed to hear from God, when he wasn't going to the mountain top, he began to go to the temple. In the presence of the cloud, the pillar fire would come and it would consume the tabernacle. It would rest upon it. And Moses would get the very word of God. Remember Joshua. Joshua, who would be the leader to follow Moses. What would he do? He would hang out by the door of the tabernacle. He just wanted to be close to God's presence. Because he knew that's what it represented. And of course, when the time came and Moses got to him home, within Joshua was raised up. Because Joshua was a passionate man for the presence of God. Think about the temple itself. Remember the story of Samuel, the young boy who had prayed for God to give her a child, who got into the prayer. She gave him back to the Lord. He served in the temple of the Lord. You remember the story of Samuel? God comes several times in the night. He says, Samuel, come here. God calls to him. Where in the temple? Daniel thinks that's the priest. You know, the high priest there and goes to the age. You call me? He realizes that, no, it was very God. It was God himself calling Samuel one of the greatest prophets ever. David himself, King David, knew the Lord's presence. There, David would go. David would go and escape and hide in the temple at one place in one time. David knew the presence of the Lord was there. Think about even just recently to this story here, Zachariah himself, one of the priests had come in, his wife gave birth to John the Baptist. But it was where, in the temple, that he saw the angel. He got the word from the Lord that he was going to have a baby. Even though his wife was advanced in years. And that he would be a great prophet named John the Baptist. It was the temple. It represented the presence of God. It represented where you were to meet with God. Where would you be able to come in contact as close as any human could here on earth? It was in the temple. You know, we're talking about the talk about the King of Pop this past week. And of course, there's brought lots of parallels to what the King of the Rock, who died many years ago, Elvis Presley himself. You remember some of the interesting things whenever you saw old videotape. Maybe some of you were old enough to actually be at Elvis concert. Anybody ever been to an Elvis concert? I just got to ask. Anybody? You were, huh? There was a little child. That's cool. What? Maybe half an hour before the show. People were there. They were chanting. They were ready for you. You've probably seen this on video. And the loudspeaker might would come on the loudspeaker and say, please enjoy the movie. What would you say? Tell Joseph. It turned to you. Thanks for having fun. And the crowds would go crazy. Now they already had all of albums. They had eight tracks of that time or whatever it was. But the thought that Elvis himself was in the building, aw, gave goosebumps down people. Women were already beginning painting at that point. He hadn't even made it to the stage. But he had entered the building. Guess who enters the temple that day? The word that became flesh. God who put on skin. God who had blood running through his body. God who became man. Jesus, the presence of God, enters the temple. In a way, it never did before the life of Christ. And where everybody in the temple would have been realizing very quickly. As you see, as you come in, you can see quite clearly where the holy place is. Gentiles weren't allowed to get that close to it because you were sinners. You were not holy instead of part for God. Women could only get a certain closeness to it too. You see that here? Where the women's fort was. And then they had to stop. And then only the men could come to a certain place. And then only the priest could go into the holy place. And only the holy, holy is the high priest only one time a year. So you had this constant reminder of how you're close to God but can't quite get to him. He's there. He's so holy that my presence can't come to him. And end walks. Jesus. Jesus himself. The same Jesus who told Thomas when Thomas said, hey, just show us the Father. And there'll be enough for us. Remember doubting Thomas? That same guy. Just hours before Jesus Christ died. Jesus says, you don't get it. If you've seen me, you have seen the Father. That's what Jesus said. I'm a living, moving picture of the holiness and the presence of God. Right here. Thomas didn't get it at the time. You got it later. That's the picture that's going on here. Jesus enters the temple. And he's hungry. He's hungry. Jesus was the son of God. And he was rejected largely by the people and the Jewish leaders especially. In fact, we're told in this very story that they begin to plot how they're going to kill him after this particular spot there. And why was he so upset? What are several things that are going on here? Yes, there was this merchant dying thing that was going on. If you see there in the court of Gentiles, they were selling. They were trading. The problem is not that they were selling and changing currency. That they were selling does and stuff like that. That was a necessary part of coming to temple worship. You needed to come. And you're going to make your offering. You needed to be in the local currency. So that's not the problem. The battle's happened. The problem was that people saw, hey, this is an opportunity. I've got four hours time. And they don't have just right, the quite right offering. If they're animal or dog or whatever is not quite pure enough, they probably need to buy one. And since I've got a corner on the market here, and since some of these people might be Gentiles and so on, people don't even like. It's a time for me to make a little extra cash. That was part of what was going on here. People were passionate about making money in this situation. People were passionate about charging a little extra to come and have your currency exchanged out. There was a view of merchandise going on here. Where were they doing it? They were doing it in the court of Gentiles. Where they even shouldn't be doing something like that. That should happen outside the temple. There was a little more convenient. Maybe a little more protected. Maybe a little easier spot to get a corner on the market. That's what kind of stuff was going on. There was a neglect for the presence of God. There was a lack of passion for him, Jesus saw it. And it enraged him. But he knows when he comes in, he doesn't come in going, look, I'm the son of God. He's enraged and he's passionate by his father's glory. He comes in the rebuked stone and he says, this is what you call a house of prayer for the nations. But you've made it a dinner of robbers. You've come in and made it up merchandise. The place where the nations were the only place of Gentiles is close as they could get to the presence of God. You're filling it up to make a profit. And you're missing the passion of my father who's represented here in the ark of the covenant that's represented in the Holy Holy here. Jesus comes in and he's passionate. But don't miss the irony that the Holy Holy itself walks in this day. He's not behind a curtain. He's not only accessible by the high priest. He's accessible by all that Jesus comes in. Because he was hungry for the salvation of his people. We wouldn't have just hungry for the salvation of the Jews. God chose the people he was hungry for the salvation of the Gentiles. Again, I've already alluded to it here. He wanted the court of the Gentiles to be free for the nations to come and worship the living God. To come and pray before the living God. To come and seek mercy for him. He was hungry for the salvation of the nations as well too. Jesus hungry for the glory of his father in heaven and a disregard for his own as his evidence here. And Jesus, don't forget to fake tree. Jesus is saying wherever there is not fruit that should be there, it will be cursed. Listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 7. By their fruit, you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit. And a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit. And a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into fire. Thus by their fruit, you will recognize them. Jesus's own words and is telling them out. Oh, Jesus was not just hungry, grumpy, and mad, and didn't have fine fruit on a tree. Because it wasn't the season for it. And he knew it. He was making a point. If there was any place in all of Israel that should experience and be an evidence of the fruits of salvation in the temple, it's not happening there. And there's not room for the Gentiles for the non-chosen people of God to come and find them. And Jesus is angry by a holy, holy anger. The fig tree cursing was reminding that whatever does it produce the fruit of salvation, is cursed. And Jesus, even in another account, because we believe that Jesus is probably purified, the temple probably did its very same thing, several other times, at least one other time, maybe more. So they've been a common occurrence. But in other places there, he's challenged by the leader, say, by what authority are you coming to do this? In Jesus's head, you turn down this temple in three days later, I'll rebuild it. They're not going. What are you talking about? It's temple took 40 years to build. What was Jesus getting here? Jesus is looking at this temple is going to be cursed, because it is not producing the fruit of salvation that it's supposed to be. It was only image. See that brazen altar that's up there? Ah, I've been used for years and years and years. There's going to be one last place of an altar that's going to be on a cross to say to you now. Personally, one of my personal reasons why I think that temple still is in ruins, and I believe won't ever be rebuilt, at least not like it was in the temple mount. The way it is is because it is a cursed place. It is a place that no longer has a place for people to come to worship living God because it's far inferior to what God ultimately was doing. When he said, I will come and tabernacle in you, my holy spirit. I will come through Jesus and walk here on earth and get salvation, spread it to the rest of the world through my spirit. And the temple will become your heart if you have faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Jesus cursed a sanctuary. I believe this day he also, in some ways, cursed a temple because it was inferior because it was going to be superseded by something far better. And in 70 AD, you know your history the temple was destroyed and it hasn't been rebuilt since that time. Let me ask you this morning, how is your fruit as your life produced the fruit of salvation? Have you come to a place to place your faith and trust in Jesus Christ? Not as somebody who keeps you out of hell and wants you to be your king. It's not like you're a Lord. It's not like a follow. You made that kind of choice. You experienced that kind of fruit in your life. And you come to trust him as your Savior to keep. I remember when I went to Disney World one time at Davis at early age. He was such a big Buzz Lightyear fan. I mean, big time. We watched Buzz Lightyear, something of the movie, Toy Story, so many times. You can add nauseam so many times. And then we got Toy Story 2, and we had to watch that one. But notice Davis's reaction meets Buzz Lightyear for the first time. He freaked out. His hero, when he saw him in person, freaked him out. Let me ask you this, think about your own heart. It's a whole lot easier to worship God in the temple than it is to worship God face to face. It's scary. And we talked about praying. People prayed in the temple all the time. But the very presence of God that he came to talk to Jesus, he talked back. He said, Jesus, what am I doing to be saved? I kept all the commandments. He would say things like, oh, go sell all that you have and give to the poor and you will have rewarding heaven and kind of follow me. He made a kind of guy that said, hey, drop your nets. You think fishing for fishes is cool when you tell you how to fish for men. It will change your life when you ever want to go back. He's a kind of guy that said, take it across and follow me. That's scary. That kind of God. What's the fruit like in your life? Are you a temple worshiper? Are you a Jesus worshiper? Because he's alive. And his spirit is poured out in this church among the leaders here today. He invites you to come worship him as living God even this morning. Jesus hungry. Questions are you? Well, not only does Jesus hunger for the fruit of salvation and number two, he hunger for the fruit of faith. He hunger for the fruit of faith. Notice this story after Jesus leads the temple. Peter and probably the rest of the disciples are with them. Come out. And they're totally amazed because they just thought Jesus was going to find out a bad day with the fig tree. But the fig tree now is dead and it's in the corner of the taste all the way down from its roots. And we're talking about the 24-hour period as it happened. Now some of you are pretty good at a green thumb and having nourishing stuff like that. But the whole tree, unless it's struck by lightning or something, even that, wouldn't be dead within 24 hours to this degree. And they're amazed at it. They're like going, wow, how else? You just, when you said that, they're amazed at this. And then Jesus comes back and he says, look, don't get amazed at that. And you could say, a mountain, you have enough faith to get up and move, and it would move. I just cursed the tree. Don't get amazed at that. It reminds me of some of my kids and I've had them younger and some of you've had young kids or been around them. You know, when they're really young, like age one or two, Christmas morning is not all about the gift, right? It's all about what? The box, the paper, the ribbon. And of course, when you get enough of a pile, it's like, oh man, it's like just in the leaves. Like, ah. You know, you're one, two-year-old kids. They love the paper and the box and they're opening it up with the actual gift with it. Jesus, in a similar way, is going to look. Don't be immature. Don't be like the little baby. Don't miss the gift. You don't think it's cool that the tree got cursed by me in his bed today and it wasn't yesterday. Don't miss what's really going on here, because I'm hungry for the fruit of faith. Jesus is making much deeper points. He was hungry for the fruit of faith among his followers. Well, Jesus was hungry in at least a few different ways. He was hungry in at least a few different ways. He was hungry to see them have real faith in God. He was hungry to see them have real faith in God. Notice the verse 22, right after they've been surprised at the cool-looking tree now that's withered, he says this. He says, have faith in God. Jesus answered. Peter's like going, and Peter, you know, he's outspoken with everybody. He's saying, everybody's thinking, but now I will say, Peter says, Peter's like, look at the tree! Okay? And Jesus comes back to look. Trees me, whatever. Has faith in God. You know, he incurs a tree, he can throw a mountain into the sea, has faith in God. Don't let that run by there is too quick and miss it here. He was hungry to see them have a real faith in God. Dechern to the living God. Dechresting what God says to desire to please them in honor of him. First John 5 says this. This is the confidence we have in approaching God that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know what he hears us, whatever we ask, you know that we have, what we have asked him. Want to know the key and the answer of our prayer? How to get God into your prayer? Pray according to his will, according to the text. Have faith in God. It's not thinking curses trees of school or throw mountains in the ocean of school have faith in God. Align yourself with this will, and you will see power in your prayer if you've never seen before. And that was the second thing. Jesus was hungry to see them have real faith in God and next he was hungry to see them prayed boldly and expectedly. Because he goes on to say that the next couple of verses. He says, have faith in God. I tell you the truth. If anyone says this now, and goes through yourself in the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen will be done for him. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you've received it, it will be yours. I don't misunderstand, this is not only his claimant, name a claimant type of theology. This is not a hate. What do you want? Ask God and believe it. If you want to do that, you don't watch over anybody to book the secret. Because that's all about that kind of stuff. If you can visualize and believe yourself to have it, you can have anything you want. But the only problem with that is that, you know, al-Qaeda can do that. Okay? Petapiles can do that. Do we really want to go and believe and teach that? It's just a matter of what everybody wants to dream for themselves to happen, what their form of reality is. Well, think so. Mind yourself of the will of God. God has a will. God has a desire. God has a character that's holding it flawless. God has commandments that he's given us. God has a heart for salvation for people. As we've already read about and talked about, align yourself with God and then pray boldly and expectantly, expecting to do great things. I remember, you know, my kids asked me a lot of different things and different times. You know, can I have a bike? Can I have money to go do this? Can I do that? But there's a few times that they've come along and they've asked me something. And it's as good as gold, but the answer's going to be yes. I can remember a year or two ago. Michael came up and just said, hey, dad really wanted to get a study Bible. Do you think he could give you a study Bible? My first reaction was kind of like, with everything else. Well, you know, it would be great thing you asked for Christmas, you know, or Winter Birthday coming up. You know what? When you ask something according to the wills of your earthly father, and they want you to have it, and they know it's good for you. Okay, you're going to get it. Because that's a good tip for you. Ask for stuff that you need to know. And you know what? And then, a short time, you have a study Bible. A good one. A nice one. Yeah, no, no, no, no. I'm ever going to have to go ahead and you can ask where. But when you ask something according to the wills of your earthly father, and they want you to have it, and they know it's good for you. Okay, you're going to get it. Ask for stuff that you know your parents want for you and you want to have it. Because it's going to happen. Why do you think they're different with God and Heaven? Do you align yourself up with Him? Because if you think prayer, okay, it's all about going and getting what you want, and you've missed a point. Prayer is about a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, and aligning yourself with Him, and learning that you know what? He knows what I need, and he has the best gifts for me, and ready to be trying to figure it out and run my own life. Because you know what? He would give me His own son that's sitting here to earth for me, and he says, that's just the beginning. Everything else has got to be. It's got to be great. I'm going to trust Him. I'm going to pray what He wants for you to have. I'm going to trust Him. Jesus was hungry to see real faith in God. He was hungry to see prayer that was bold and expected. Because Jesus was hungry for the fruit of faith. And also, He was hungry for them to live in the ministry of reconciliation and ministering to others. That's the last verse. And when you stand praying, and Jesus has told him, pray secondly, pray boldly, pray according to God's will, have faith in God. Remember the big tree. Remember mountains being thrown in the ocean. Come before Him. He said this. When you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them so that your father and heaven may forgive your sins. Don't let that slip by. The scriptures tell us that we've been given in ministry of reconciliation. Why? Hello? You've been reconciled to God. You're part of the human race. And the very thing that you need as other people need. And the God is forgiving you of your sins and understanding that and walking in that forgiveness, walking in that mercy and grace, receiving it, changes you into a person who wants to extend it to others. And Jesus is long for that kind of faith. So I need to be direct as pastor to many of you, maybe just a local friend of some of you that are here visiting this morning to say, no, if you are struggling with forgiving other people, don't make it flip and they'll go, I'll get off of you. But you need to go there. You need to go deep into how God's forgiving you. You need to see how He's forgiving you for things. You don't need to commit it against them. Sins of commission. Sins of omission. The thing He's told you to do that you don't do. You need to see how rich His lavish His mercy upon you. You need to let that fuel you to go to the heart places. Because it's hard to forgive people, it's just really forgive people. And it takes His faith. But you got to go there if you're a follower of Christ. And it may take a year and it may not get a fully restored relationship with people that have rooted you. But as far as you are responsible, you've got to go, you've got to trust God and go to difficult places like that. Jesus hungers for the fruit of faith. He says very clearly, that scene in expressive forgiveness for others, experiencing pursuing reconciliation. When we don't walk in faith, though, we are living not under the blessings of God, but we're living under the curse. Because you can't forget the victory here. Jesus is the same. A victory that doesn't produce fruit should be cursed. A temple that doesn't produce fruit should be cursed. A life that doesn't produce fruit is in worldly curse. Without Christ, without faith in Him, your life will ultimately be cursed. You will not have security every time of life when you die. You do not have the hope that promises of God are true for you today without faith in Christ. It's a hard teaching, but it's true. You need to hear it. You want to experience the blessings of God and you have to move in Him towards faith. Hebrews 116 couldn't make it more clear. And without faith, it's impossible to please God. Because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he'd reward those who are going to seek Him. If you think you can do anything to please God without having faith, trusting Him, you are deceived. This is why very sweet kind people who do good things, only one more will load up the judgment of self-righteousness. If you're motivation for being good and doing right things does not come from faith in God. Faith in Jesus Christ. Realizing that you can't do anything good enough yourself to please Him because your righteousness as Scripture says or as filthy rags that you're totally depending on the righteousness of Christ. Can you not see why self-righteousness is a stench in the nostril of God? Because I know a lot of you think, a lot of you know people you think, man, I can't believe that it's also if they were to die today, they would go to hell because they're such a nice person. They don't go to church or believe in God or announce Jesus Christ is Lord at all. But how the God do that? Because they're me. Sure they're a lot nicer than I am. How could he? Because you have a more view of the Christ as the God. You have a more view of how this is how simple humanity is. Apart from Christ. You have a more view of how much we really need Jesus. Self-righteousness is a stench before God and it's condemnable. By the eternity separating God and hell. That's reality. That's why those people need to hear the goodness of Jesus Christ more than anybody. Because by the way, living a self-righteous life is going to be very lonely. It can be very hard and painful and isolated. They need to know that it's okay to realize that they are simple and need of living God through Jesus Christ. It's not easy to tell them. You need to tell them. Jesus hung us for the fruit of faith in this. Are you following God's call on faith in your life this morning? I want you to ask yourself that. Are you getting it vocationally? By vocation, I don't mean your eight to five job or your kid, your time at school. I'm talking about vocationally and that's what you're called to do for God. Are you following God by faith or your spirit is leading you to speak the words of God? Are you following God by faith where his spirit is leading you to do the works of God? What does God call you to say to others? What is He calling you to do? Are you walking in faith in those areas? Look at this picture of the African Impala. Next slide. This is an amazing creature. This creature can run with one single leash on the highest 10 feet and its longest 30 feet. That's amazing the African Impala is. But he can be kept in an inhabited zoo with a three foot fence as long as it's a solid fence which you can't see through. Why? Because the Impala will not jump anywhere where it can't see where it's feet will land. Many of us, when he had you, are just as trapped as an Impala with a potential to see God doing great things in your heart and in your life. But because you can't see where your feet would land and you took a leap, you're not jumping. Could he tap? He'd be free in a second. Could you? Yeah. He'd be free of a life totally different. Experience God catching on the side. Jesus is hungry. You see the fruit of faith. And where is God speaking to you? This morning with that. What is your fruit like? Jesus is hungry to see that happen. The question is, are you? Let's pray. Father, as we have pondered here, the person of Jesus in some unique forms, seeing him hungry, seeing the curse of trees, seeing him turn tables over and shout and be righteously angered. It's a different picture than we often think about with Jesus. But it shows us your passion. It shows us what's so close to your heart to see the salvation of your people, to see the nations being drawn to you. God, give us that same heart. God, it shows us your heart for faith that you desire. To see people walk and be set free to experience your power working in their life. God, make us hungry like Jesus is to see that. Plant God, your seeds of salvation and faith in our hearts and our lives. So we would experience that. So we would experience not a life living under the curse, but a life living under the blessings of God. God, do that in the individuals that sit here today. Do that in the families that are represented in this room. God, do that in Christ's kingdom church. Do that in the converged churches that are in this part of town as well as your church around the globe. God, do that work in the midst of your people. I'm going to experience God, the fruits that you so are hungry for. We might experience them ourselves in our own lives. So as far as we now prepare to come to your table where you teach us our great need there, where you come and realize that the things that we've hungered for so much you've already fully satisfied and you've fully given us through Jesus Christ. That by your side trusting you, walking with you, we have the hope and the answer to all the promises that we long for. So God, prepare our hearts now to come to your table. Show us how hungry we truly are. God come and satisfy that hunger through Jesus Christ. And we pray this in His name. Amen.