Pastor Grant Brown's sermon, 'The True Temple,' focuses on Mark 11:12-21, where Jesus curses a fig tree and cleanses the temple. Pastor Brown explains that the fig tree represents hypocrisy, as it had leaves but no fruit, symbolizing the outward appearance of religiosity without true godliness. Similarly, the temple had become a place of hypocrisy, preventing Gentiles from worshiping and robbing God of His glory. Jesus' actions in the temple, including driving out merchants and overturning tables, signify His authority as God and His role as the new and true temple. Pastor Brown highlights that Jesus fulfills the roles of prophet, priest, king, and temple, emphasizing the need for true worship and the rejection of hypocrisy. He calls on believers to repent, bear fruit, and embrace Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice and high priest, who unites all people in worship of God.

Stand. Mark chapter 11 beginning in verse 12 and we'll read all the way through verse 21. Thus saith the Lord. On the next day when they had left Bethany, he became hungry. Seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, he, that is Jesus, went to see if perhaps he would find anything on it.

And when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. He said to it, may no one ever eat fruit from you again. And his disciples were listening. Then they came to Jerusalem and he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. And he would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple.

And he began to teach and say to them, Is it not written, My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations? But you have made it a robber's den. The chief priests and the scribes heard this and began seeking how to destroy him, for they were afraid of him, for the whole crowd was astonished at his teaching. When evening came, they would go out of the city. As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up.

Being reminded, Peter said to him, Rabbi, look, the fig tree which you cursed has withered. May God bless the reading of His Word. Amen. You may be seated. Would you please pray with me?

Father in heaven, what we do not know, I ask that you would please teach us what we think we do not have. Remind us that in Christ your Son you have given us all that we need pertaining to life and godliness. What we are not yet, I ask, Lord, that you would kindly make us for your son's sake. For it's in his name we pray, amen. So far from the middle of chapter 10, all the way through the middle now of chapter 11, here is what Jesus has taught you and taught me.

Here's what Jesus has taught us. Number one, to belong to Christ is to be truly rich. Number two, Christ Jesus himself is true greatness. Number three, Jesus is the true long expected prophet foretold in the Pentateuch. Number four, Jesus is the true promised king from the prophets coming on a donkey.

Number five, King Jesus is the true prophesied glory of God returned. True riches found in Christ alone. True greatness Found in the King of Kings coming not to be served but to serve and giving his life as a ransom for many Jesus is the true prophet. You must listen to him in his word Jesus is the true king you must submit to Him as Lord over every facet in your life. And Jesus is the true glory.

You must bow down and worship Him. Prophet, King, glory, what's left? What else in the Old Testament has Mark not yet used to make it plain to you who this Jesus is and what this Jesus came to accomplish? How about priest and temple? What's chapter 11 all about?

What are chapters 11 through 14 all about? Well we can begin to answer that question by asking another question. What do they all center around? What location does Mark just keep coming back to again and again and again in chapters 11 through 14? The temple.

Let me show you. Mark 11 verse 11. Jesus entered the temple. Look at verse 15. He entered the temple.

Verse 27. They came again to Jerusalem and as he was walking in the temple. Chapter 12 verse 35. Jesus taught in the temple. Chapter 13 verse 1.

He was going out of the temple. Chapter 13 verse 3. He sat opposite of the temple. Chapter 14, the temple mentioned again. The temple.

You're not going to understand why Jesus does what He does in our passage this morning, unless you realize the truth about Jesus that Mark is making abundantly plain here. That Jesus is the new and true temple of God. Jesus Christ is the new and true temple of God. This whole swath of Scripture is centered around the temple. And this morning I want you to see that.

I want you to see Him as the new and true temple of God. And then as a result of that, I want you to go to Him in worship of the one true living God. I want you to run to this Christ who is the way, the truth, the life. No one comes to the Father except through me, he says. I want you to come to him with zeal.

I want you to run to him. I want you to see him as prophet, priest, king, true glory, the temple. That all who come to him and only him are those who can worship the Father in spirit and in truth. That all those who are in Him by grace through faith are truly Israelites and are in Christ Jesus. My hope is that you will bear fruit, that You will not be like this fig tree.

You will bear fruit. And in keeping with repentance, you will come to the temple with joy. That's my hope this morning. It's been my prayer this week. That you'll bear fruit and share in His glory.

Jesus is the new and true temple of God. I want you to look in verse 11 with me. What do you see Jesus doing in verse 11? Jesus enters the temple. We talked about this last week.

In the Old Testament, in Ezekiel chapter 10 and Ezekiel 11, we were told that the glory of God had departed from the temple because of the iniquity of the people. The glory of God had departed and left the temple and it had ascended while over the Mount of Olives. And now here is Jesus descending from the Mount of Olives. Here is Jesus the radiance of that glory descending from the Mount of Olives and He comes where? To the temple.

And what happens in verse 11 when the glory returns to the temple? The glory, Jesus looks around at everything. And what does He do in verse 11? He leaves. He doesn't stay.

The glory doesn't stay. He's not impressed. Verse 12, on the next day, when they had left Bethany, he became hungry. Seeing at a distance a fig tree and leaf, he went to see if perhaps he would find anything on it. And when he came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.

He said to it, may no one ever eat fruit from you again. And his disciples were listening. That's verses 12 through 14. And then what does Jesus do? Jesus re-enters the temple He just left the night before.

And He literally cleans house in verses 15 through 18, doesn't He? We'll talk about that in a bit. And immediately after the temple business, look in verse 19. Look at verse 19. Jesus and his disciples, they go out of the city that night.

And that very next morning, what happens starting in verse 20? As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree Withered from the roots up. Being reminded, Peter said to him, Rabbi, look, the fig tree, which you cursed, has withered. Fig tree gets cursed. Look up here.

Fig tree gets cursed. Jesus has his way in the temple. Fig tree is destroyed, withered. You see anything there? We like to call that around here a sandwich.

The more theologically accurate term is a chiasm I prefer sandwich fig tree temple fig tree if you get the fig tree you get the temple and if you get the temple you get Jesus you get the fig tree you get the temple if you get the temple you get Jesus So let's start with the fig tree this morning. The book ends. The fig tree. In verses 12 through 14, Jesus has become hungry. And by the way, if there are any among us in this room this morning who doubt the true humanity of Christ if you think that somehow Jesus is who is if you think that Jesus who is truly divine couldn't have a Physical body because you somehow think that like the Gnostics that this this is inherent evil Well You're wrong Because here is Jesus who is hungry and here is Jesus who has taken on flesh with an empty stomach And he's still righteous So Jesus is truly God and truly man.

Kind of ties in with our Sunday school lesson this morning and he's hungry. So he sees a fig tree. The text tells us that in verse 13 this fig tree is in leaf. So Jesus just come on the road with leafy branches below him, hadn't he? Leafy branches below him serving as kind of like a red carpet for the king to ride on.

So now he approaches this fig tree with leaves. What's that phrase mean in leaf? There's been a lot of confusion about this passage because of our confusion about that phrase. Well, don't make it too difficult. Fig trees had particular seasons where figs would be produced.

And when figs began to be produced on a fig tree, guess what would come alongside the figs? Leaves. Leaves would come out of that fig tree. Leaves would indicate that fruit had come. Now this isn't the season for figs, but this tree says otherwise.

This tree says, I got fruit. So even though it wasn't the season for figs, this fig tree was in leaf. This fig tree was giving the appearance of what? It was giving the appearance that it was bearing fruit. But it wasn't.

It had the appearance, but no substance. And so this tree which had an appearance of fruit but actually lacked any fruit at all, what happens to the tree? Well, it gets cursed by Jesus. May no one ever eat fruit from you again. That's 12 through 14.

And then Jesus goes into the temple in verses 15 through 18. And Jesus leaves the temple in verse 19. And in 19 through 22, we see the fig tree again. These are all connected. Look at verse 20.

The fig tree was what? The fig tree was withered from the roots up. From The roots up. What's that tell you? It's completely destroyed.

It's completely withered. It's not like we're going to lop off half of it and wait for it to grow back. No, from the roots up. Done. Means total destruction.

This tree will not grow back. I want you to put the two bookends together. Here's a fig tree with the appearance of fruit. It declares that with its leaves that it has figs. I'm bearing fruit.

When Jesus gets to it, it's all a lie. It was an appearance only. What was that tree? It was a hypocrite of a tree. This tree is a symbol that Jesus uses for hypocrisy.

It's got all the markings of figs being produced, leaves. It's not even the season for figs, but the leaves are there. It's got all the markings of fruit being born, but upon inspection, It's fruitless. It's figless. It's worthless.

That's hypocrisy. Claiming to have something, claiming to be something, when you don't have something, when you aren't that thing that you say you are or that you have. That's what this tree is. And it's so bad in its hypocrisy that Jesus curses it. That's the front end of the fig tree.

And as a result of its hypocrisy, what does it do? It dies. It gets withered, even from the roots, it's destroyed. The fig tree is an illustration of something. The fig tree is an illustration of hypocrisy.

Jesus the prophet is doing what so many prophets of old have done throughout the Old Testament. Just look, I searched in LawGoth Bible software this week the number of times the prophets use things in nature to illustrate something that God is doing presently in their present moment. I don't even know the number. It just showed me all the times. I was like, I couldn't even count them all.

So many times Jesus is doing what the Old Testament prophets did then here. He's taking a natural object and alluding it to Israel to demonstrate what God is going to do. And so the fig tree And what happened to it is a symbol of hypocrisy and judgment. And between the hypocrisy of the tree here and the judgment of the tree here, what do you see in the middle? The temple.

The temple. You get the fig tree, you get the temple. And if you get the temple, you get Jesus Christ. So do you got the fig tree yet? Try to make it really plain.

It's a picture of hypocrisy. It's claiming to have that which it does not have, claiming to have figs when no figs are present. And the fig tree gets destroyed as a result of its hypocrisy, and in between that you have the temple. What do you think then is the issue with the Jewish temple? Go ahead and say it.

Thank you. Glad it worked. Hypocrisy. And what do you think is going to happen as a result of that hypocrisy? Destruction.

If you get the fig tree, you get the temple. And we must get the temple right to get Jesus right. And so we need to get the temple right. And that's what we do next. I want you to look at verse 15.

Then they, that's Jesus and his disciples, they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple. And he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. And he would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple. He began to teach and say to them, is it not written, my house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations, for you have made it a robber's den.

Do you see there what Jesus had seen? In verse 11 of this chapter, the glory returns. The glory enters the temple. His name is Jesus. He looks around at everything and he leaves, just like He came and looked at the fig tree.

What did Jesus see in that temple? In verse 11. He saw the same thing that He sees in verses 15 through 8. He saw the same thing he saw at the fig tree. He saw gross hypocrisy.

What has Jesus already said about the religious leaders in Mark's Gospel alone? Before this passage even begins, In Mark chapter 7, do you remember what Jesus said about the religious leaders of Israel, those that represent the nation of Israel? Well, here's what Mark 7, 6, or 8, just to jog your memory. Here's what Jesus said. He said to these religious leaders, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites.

Hypocrites! As it is written, this people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me. But in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men. Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold instead to the tradition of men. This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me.

Neglecting the commandment of God so you can hold fast to other traditions. They give the appearance of outward worship, like leaves on a fig tree, making it seem like the fig tree is going to have figs on it. But upon closer inspection, it's all a lie. Underneath the facade is corruption and deceit. Their hearts are far away from Me, Jesus said then.

And no doubt Jesus says here now in our passage, in vain do they worship me. That was Mark 7. Four chapters later, Here in Mark 11, Jesus has come to the temple, the place of worship of God, and all he sees is that same hypocrisy that he called out in chapter 7. But the question is, I hope for you, How so? What's the hypocrisy?

Well, you need to understand something about the temple. I'm going to show you a picture that I have. This is a rendering. It might not have been exactly like this, but this is a good indication of what it probably looked like. The temple had a place called the court of the Gentiles right here the court of the Gentiles the court of the Gentiles and The court of the Gentiles was this large gathering place that was open to all the peoples, to the foreigners.

It was a place for the Gentiles to enter into the temple so that the Gentiles could join with Israel in the temple in worshiping the one true living God. I'm not making it up. And this had been God's design from the beginning with Israel. God had always had a means for which the foreigner, for which the stranger, the alien, the exile, the gentile could become a part of Israel and join in the worship of the one true living God. When you study the law in the Old Testament, study the law given to Israel and you'll see time and time again the Lord God Almighty inviting the alien, inviting the Gentiles, making provision in his law for the nations to be brought into Israel.

If you doubt that, it's all over the Old Testament. Look two places. Look at Leviticus 22 and Numbers 15. God's provision for the Gentiles. And it's on display here very much in this temple design.

God's provision for the nations. And then years later, years and years later, after God gave the law, Israel gets exiled. The prophet Isaiah makes it even more plain after Israel's exile, Here's God's command regarding the Gentiles. Here's God's expectation of you Israel regarding the foreigners. Here's what he says, for the Gentiles should join Israel in worship in Isaiah 56.

Isaiah 56 verses six through, I'm gonna read it for you. Isaiah 56. See if it sounds familiar to you. To the foreigners who joined themselves to the Lord, could be translated to the Gentiles, who joined themselves to the Lord to minister to Him and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants, everyone who keeps from profaning the Sabbath and holds fast to my covenant, God says, even those, even these Gentiles who are mine, I will bring them to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings, the Gentile burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on my altar.

For my house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples. The Lord God who gathers the dispersed of Israel declares, yet others I will gather to them those that are already gathered. That's a glorious passage, especially if you're a Gentile. My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples, Jesus says. I will gather the Gentiles in.

Isaiah says the same thing. Isaiah says, God says, my house is to be a house of prayer for all the peoples. The Gentiles are to be gathered in. What was that supposed... When was that supposed to happen?

When was that supposed to happen? When was that supposed to happen? Well Jesus in verse 17 of our passage, if you look there, Jesus in verse 17 quotes that passage in Isaiah 56 that I just read. He quotes it in Mark 11. He quotes Isaiah 56 verse 7 and he says to the Israelites, the Jews in Mark 11, you should be doing Isaiah 56 right now.

You should be doing what Isaiah 56 says right now. That's why this whole thing is the problem. He's holding these people accountable to this command right now in our passage. Is this passage in Isaiah 56 something that Israel was supposed to only do in the future? Jesus answers the question.

No. Jesus says, I expect you, I've already expected you, God has expected you, in Mark 11 to already be doing it. That's why Jesus goes in and does what he does in verses 15 through 18. He's holding this people accountable to the command of Isaiah 56. You should be welcoming the Gentiles in now.

This temple, this place, God designed it to be a place where the Gentiles, where all the peoples, all the nations of the world could come and pray. They could come and offer sacrifice and worship Almighty God in truth alongside you Israel right now. And you know what these people are doing they're robbing the nations of the world of that privilege you're robbing them Israel Jesus says you're robbing them You're robbing the Gentiles of their God ordained, God commanded place in His temple. You're robbing the peoples of the world of their very obedience. How can you expect the peoples of the world to obey Isaiah 56 if you won't let them?

You're robbing God of His glory too. That was, do the nations. That's what Jesus is saying. God had commanded my house to be called the house of prayer for all the nations and yet you've made it a robbers den, " Jesus says. That's a quotation there at the end, a robbers den.

That's a quotation from Jeremiah 7-11 where God curses Israel because of their hypocrisy. And here again is gross hypocrisy in Mark chapter 11. You claim to worship me, Israel. Your branches, you claim they're all leafy. Look at all these sacrifices going up in smoke in the temple.

Look at all these sacrifices. You're claiming that you worship me. You and your Corbin. You and your washing of pots and pans, you and your heartless sacrifices, you and all your Sabbath observances, you're claiming that you're bearing the fruit of godliness, but upon closer inspection it's the exact opposite. I've come and seen you and your business in verse 11.

I've come and seen the work that's done here at the temple, and you are in blatant Rebellion against the commands of God. You have the appearance of religion, but only death within. You like to wash the outside of a cup, but it's poison inside. That little marble statue looks real pretty, but it's actually a tomb. You've turned the place of the nations coming to worship God into a robber's den.

Now you might be asking, well how on earth have they taken the place of God for the nations and turned it into a robber's den? That would be a good question. And I want to address that next. How has Israel, how have the religious leaders taken the place that the nations could come to worship God and turn it into a robber's den? There are some who think that this is simply referring to extortion, that these religious leaders are selling sacrificial lambs and goats and doves at exorbitant prices.

Maybe there's nowhere in the text. But what is in the text is what I'm going to tell you. So maybe, OK, I'm not saying that's not it, but this is definitely here. Where were the merchants and the sacrificial animals being sold? Where?

Well look in verse 15. Jesus enters the temple and the first thing he does is do what? Drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple. He overthrew the tables and the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. Jesus enters the temple and you know the first place He would have entered?

The court of the Gentiles. And in the place where the peoples of all the nations should be being welcomed and taught and being discipled and brought in worship of God, and that place set apart by God in the Old Testament, the people of Israel, the religious leaders have set up shop in that holy place. People carrying merchandise throughout the temple, money being exchanged in the temple in the the court of the Gentiles, The bleeding of animals, the haggling over prices. All of it occurring as Jesus enters the temple. That's the court of the Gentiles.

Think about the sound. Think about the smell. Think about the voices. This was to be where the peoples of the world would be gathered in to those whom God had already gathered in Israel. And Jesus says, you've robbed the nations.

You've robbed the nations of their promised blessing, stemming all the way back to Abraham. You've robbed the nations of their worship of Israel's God. The one true living God. And ultimately, If it could get worse, you've robbed God of His glory. So what does Jesus do?

He drives them out. The other gospel mentions a whip. Oh. Mark talks of overturning tables and chairs. This is Jesus we're talking about.

And he's acting like the lion of the tribe of Judah. There's some significant violence in this passage against these men. He's not patting them on the head, please leave. Not doing that. There's violence against these men and their sin.

Righteous violence. Which by the way, you want to know what we as a nation, what we as the church could use a little bit more of? That kind of masculinity, that kind of leadership, a righteous hatred towards idolatry, A righteous and firm response towards hypocrisy. Now I'm not talking about being jerks. Don't misunderstand me now.

I'm not talking about being jerks. I'm not talking about you going home and abusing your authority. Don't be jerks. Don't abuse authority. That's sin to do those things.

It's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about not being a wimp. I'm talking about taking all the aspects of Christ's life, not just some of them, all of them, including this one in Mark 11, and using all of them to define true biblical masculinity. Wives, do you look at your husbands and want them to only be gentle and lowly? Yes, Jesus was gentle and lowly.

Yes. But he was also fearless to call out harlotry. Fearless. Just months ago, there was a satanic statue in the Iowa State Courthouse. And not a single Iowan man, myself included, went and took that statue down.

A satanic statue prominently displayed as if it were the monument of Iowa and not a single Iowan man drove it out. It took a Mississippi man, our brothers from down south, to come up and be like Jesus. A Mississippi man. Man, what are we doing? What are we doing?

Let us take our cues less from our hyperfeminized culture and more from Jesus. Don't Put on me things I'm not saying now. I've gave all the qualifications I need to give. Be more like Jesus, men. Yes, let us humbly serve by giving ourselves in the place of the weakest and the least.

You must do that. Christ did that. Yes, let us pick up our crosses daily. Christ did that. You must do that, men.

Let us live our lives marked by humility and not a desire to be served but to serve, Even giving our lives if necessary. Yes, yes, yes. But let us also drive out idolatry and harlotry and hypocrisy from our households, from this church, from this state, from this nation, for the glory of Christ and the love of your neighbor. Let us look at sin in our own lives. Let's start there.

Start in your own heart. And be violent against such sin that wages war against you. Let you put hypocrisy, let each of us put hypocrisy to death within us. You see where hypocrisy leads. Let us put hypocrisy to death within us.

Let us with a wellspring of love in our hearts for our children, with tears in our eyes, let us drive out foolishness and hypocrisy from our own children by not sparing the rod? Let us call out sin and not stand for it in this day. Let us look to Jesus and be men. Men like Christ. You can pray for me.

I have an interesting thing ahead of me. I'm totally going off notes here, but I have an interesting thing in preparing this sermon. I have to preach it to myself first. And I am going to go to the Baptist Convention of Iowa in November, and there is a speaker there that I know to be in sin, and not just little sin, abominable sin. I need to be a man.

You pray for me that I would have wisdom. These religious leaders, these merchants, they were robbing the nations of worship. They were robbing God of the glory due His name. They were claiming to worship God. They robbed Him instead.

That is hypocrisy, And it's deadly. You see how they're robbing them, right? This is supposed to be the place for the Gentiles. You've set up shop there. They can't go there anymore.

You've robbed them. And they say with their mouths that they are worshiping God while they're disobeying the command that God said in Isaiah 56. That's hypocrisy. And it's so deadly. Beloved, many of us, we need to go home and confess some hidden sin to our wives.

Many of the women in here need to go home and confess fakeness and insincerity and hidden sin to their husbands and come out in all kinds of ways, right? Gossip, slander, children. You need to go home and confess the ways in which what you say you believe out of your mouth gets contradicted by what is in your heart and what you do with your body. That's called hypocrisy, children. And there's only one way to deal with that hypocrisy.

That's to bring it to the Lord Jesus Christ. We should as a church plead with God that we would run away from the same hypocrisy that plagued this temple. That we as a church as ambassadors for King Jesus would not in the same way work against bringing the lost into our midst, evangelize and disciple and be ambassadors for Christ. We can find ourselves being hypocrites in the same way these people were being hypocrites, by not bringing the nations in. Who's the last time you prayed for the nations?

Let us repent of any hypocrisy church that we possess. Many of us, all of us, we need to look at what Jesus does here. And we need to treat our sin of hypocrisy in the same way that He did to these people's sins. We need to drive it out. And let me tell you, children, I just talked to you, I need you to listen again.

You are time and time again a hypocrite. Here's how you drive the deadly poison of hypocrisy out of your little heart. Each of you, and each of you parents, fathers, mothers, children, you need to take your hypocrisy and bring it before the Lord Jesus Christ who breaks the power of canceled sin, who delights to set the prisoners free. His blood can make the foulest clean. His blood will avail for thee.

The temple is rife with hypocrisy, the robbing the nations of worship, and the robbing God of His glory in His temple. And now here is Jesus in verse 15 through 18. What's he doing? Rearranging the furniture. Rearranging what happens in the temple.

Let me ask you something. If someone came over to your house, brothers and sisters, and they started rearranging the furniture in your home, what would you say to them? If someone came into your home and said, actually, this can't go there. Actually, you can't do that here. You can't eat here.

You gotta eat over here now. What would you say to that person who barged in? No! Why would you say that though? This is my home.

I get to decide where things are. I as the owner of the house decide what goes here, what goes there, what happens here, what happens there. I get to say those things. I bring order in my house because it is my home. Do you know the only person who is supposed to have authority to rearrange what happens in God's house?

In the temple of God, the owner. Only God gets to rearrange furniture in His house. And now here is Jesus doing what? Doing just that. It's pretty clear, isn't it?

What's that tell you about Jesus? Jesus is God. If he's moving around the furniture, he's the owner of the house. If he's the owner of the house, if he's the owner of the temple, he's God. And he does not like what evildoers have done with his house and with his temple.

I want you to think back from last week in Genesis chapter 49. Think about Genesis chapter 49. This was last week. The prophecy was for the king to come from Judah like a lion. That lion from the tribe of Judah would come and what was he going to have?

He was going to come on a donkey and what was he going to have? He was going to come on a donkey, and what was he going to have? It was at the end of our passage there in Genesis 49. To him was given the obedience of the people. All the peoples, all the nations would stream to this coming king who would come on a donkey.

That was promised from the beginning book of the Bible. And that king prophesied in Genesis, that king who was promised the obedience of all the peoples, is now here in Mark 11 at the temple where the peoples, the Gentiles of the nations, should be streaming to Him, should be welcomed and ushered into His courts with praise, and instead, those who claim to worship God are in blatant disobedience as they exclude the very people that this king should have their obedience. That is rebellion. And so what will happen to this temple, which had the appearance of godliness, but denied its power? What will happen to this temple and its religion of the temple that claimed to be the truth, but practiced lies?

What will happen to it? Just like the fig tree, it will be destroyed. It will be destroyed. And that's exactly what happened. Less than 40 years later after this occurred in Mark, chapter 11, less than 40 years later, every stone, every single stone of this temple mentioned in Mark 11 was torn down.

Not one stone was left upon another as the Romans came and the judgment of God, and destroyed this temple literally from the roots up. But, let me tell you about another temple. Let me tell you about another temple. Let me tell you about another temple. In Exodus, God visited his people in the tabernacle.

You know what a tabernacle was? It was a transportable temple, right? And then later, there was a more permanent tabernacle that was built, a physical temple in the day of Solomon. But it was torn down. But after the exile, it was rebuilt, though it wasn't as glorious.

But even that tabernacle, that temple, this temple built by hands, was destroyed in 70 AD. Jesus promised it. Just like the fig tree withered, he promised the destruction of the temple. And it happened. It was destroyed.

And no one was to eat fruit from it again. But another temple has come. Oh, this is so good. Another temple has come. An infinitely better tabernacle an infinitely better temple John chapter 1 and the word became flesh and Tabernacled dwelt among us that word there and John 1 Versus the word became flesh and dwelt among us, it could just as easily be translated, probably should be translated, the word became flesh and tabernacled among us.

And we have seen His glory full of grace and truth. His name is Jesus. Jesus is the new and true temple. In verse 18, the chief priests and the scribes, they heard all that Jesus was doing and they began seeking how to destroy Him. For they were afraid of Him, for the whole crowd was astonished at His teaching.

Now talk about whims. They want to kill him, but afraid of the people. But they want to kill him. Want to destroy him. Think about earlier on in Mark, multiple times you read in the earlier passages of Mark, and we pointed these out as we've gone, the scribes and the Pharisees, they had been seeking to destroy him.

Started with the scribes, then the Pharisees, and now here towards the end of Mark's gospel, even the chief priests want to destroy Jesus. So what does that tell you? There is not a single category of Jewish leadership who represent Israel and the Temple of Judaism. There's not a single category there that is not out to destroy Jesus now. Categorically.

They're out to destroy the Son of Righteousness. They're out to destroy Him who has known no sin. You think about what they're saying. We worship God. We're going to murder someone who's sinless.

And in their hypocrisy, that's hypocrisy, in their hypocrisy, these evildoers put to death this long-awaited prophet. They put to death this promised king. They put to death the perfect and expected Messiah. And they hang him on a tree. They kill him.

And they thought that they had destroyed him. But they forgot about Mark 14. They forgot about Mark 14 where Jesus says, I will destroy this temple made with hands, but in three days I will build another made without hands. You know what that was? The resurrection.

This temple, this fig tree of a temple in Mark 11, it was destroyed as Jesus Christ brought judgment upon the house of hypocrites. In destroying the temple made by hands in 70 AD Jesus came in judgment and destroyed that temple made by hands But there was another temple Not made by hands which hung on a cross and died, but three days later was raised up in triumph. That temple is Jesus Christ risen and reigning right now. Beloved the temple made by hands, this fig tree of a temple was destroyed. And these evil men believed that they had destroyed Jesus.

They hung Him on a tree. He went there willingly for you, Christian, for you, sinner. He bore the wrath of God that you sinners deserve so that in Christ Jesus, the final sacrifice has been paid, the final blood atonement has been offered at the cross of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins. And what happened in that moment when Jesus cried out to Telestai? What happened in that moment when he said, it is finished?

The curtain of the temple tore in two. Ephesians 2 tells us in that moment, the dividing wall of hostility was forever torn down. There was now one man in the place of two. There was now no need for the temple of God that was to be built with hands, for the new and true temple had come and tabernacled among us. We put him on a tree.

He was raised up. His name is Jesus. And these evil men, this temple that they thought that they had destroyed, it has been raised up forever and it is never going back in the grave. This new and true temple, the King of Kings, He has the obedience of the peoples, all peoples. And beloved church, you are included in that.

You are included in that people, beloved, if you name the name of Christ, if you turn from your sin, if you've repented of your sins and trusted in Christ Jesus, No longer is the physical temple necessary. For Christ is the new and true temple of God. Think about it. Christ is your sacrifice. Christ is your great high priest dressed in holy garments for he himself is the holy of holies.

He wraps you in His righteous garments by faith. Christian, He is your great High Priest with your name etched into His hand. As Aaron the High Priest was to come to the Holy of Holies and he was to carry the names of the sons of Israel in his breastplate over his heart. That's in Exodus. As Aaron was to carry the names of the people of Israel on his heart, your name Christian is written on the heart of Christ.

And your name cannot, it will not ever shake loose from His breast. What glorious hope you have, Christian, when you sing songs like, He will hold me fast. Christ is your altar. Christ is your light. He's the bread of the presence, being the bread of life.

Christ Jesus is the blood of your purification. I'm just going down the list of the things in the temple. Christ is this, Christ is this, Christ is this. You get me? Go home and read about the temple.

Just see Christ everywhere. Should. All of the promises of God, even those contained in the temple instruction, are yes and amen in this Jesus Christ. In Christ and Christ alone you are clothed in righteousness. In Christ and Christ alone you are made spotless in God's sight.

In the former days such realities were only hinted at in the earthly temple. But now you have come to Christ, have you not, beloved? The new and true temple, you've come to Him. And coming to Him as to a living stone, which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For this is contained in Scripture, behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious cornerstone, and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.

Oh, how I long for you to trust Him this morning and not be disappointed. Oh, how I long for you to trust Him this morning and not be disappointed. Oh, how I long for you to run to Him this morning for you to repent and believe His gospel that you would kiss the Son of God by faith and you need not perish as this fig tree perished you need not be eternally destroyed in hell but rather in Christ and running to the true and new temple you would have life eternal that you would do that this day. Let's pray. Our Father, thank you for this, your word.

I pray that it would have its intended effect as you see fit. I thank you that in Christ all of your promises are yes and amen. Oh, that your people would leave here with a greater sense of awe and majesty and hope and belonging and security. You are the prophet, the priest, the king, the temple. You're the glory.

And no one can snatch us who believe out of such a glorious and strong and mighty hand. Thank you.