2819 Church - ENTRY & END TIMES | Fruit And Faith | Matthew 21:18-22 | Philip Anthony Mitchell

Episode Date: February 10, 2025

In week three of “ENTRY & END TIMES,” Philip Anthony Mitchell unpacks the deeper spiritual significance behind the cursed fig tree in Matthew 21:18-22. Welcome to the official YouTube channel for 2819 Church. This channel features powerful and life-impacting messages from Philip Anthony Mitchell and guest communicators.As you listen to these sound biblical messages you can expect to be challenged, stirred, matured, and inspired in your faith and walk with God. For more information about us visit 2819Church.org.

This is week three of a brand new series called Entry and End Times. We're walking through Matthew chapter 21 to 25 together, and in this series we're doing two things. We are marveling at the final actions of Christ in the final weeks or days of his life, and we are going to be awakened, I'm telling you, on the back half of the series, it's going to be heat. We are going to be awakened by the words of Christ about what Christ said, about what's going to happen in the end times for this nation, for the nations of the world, and

nobody is going to escape that. We would do ourselves a favor to be those who are informed and those who are saved when those times come upon us. Amen, anybody. Our text today is coming from Matthew chapter 12, verse 21, or Matthew chapter 21, verse 18 through 22. Eternal God and ever wise Father, Lord, I just ask in humility for strength to proclaim Your Word. I ask that You would open the eyes of Your sons and daughters. I pray that You would encourage us and strengthen us and that we leave here full of faith and

full of fire. I ask this in the mighty and the majestic and the matchless name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and all God's people said amen. Family, as I was kind of sitting with this text this week, I was thinking about something that I've experienced personally and something I know that is very difficult for a lot of people. And as I was wrestling with this text, one of the things I was thinking about this week is that probably the most painful emotional cocktail that a human being will ever feel in their heart is when true love is met by rejection. When someone you love with your whole heart does not accept your love or buffet your love

or reject your love, that cocktail your love or reject your love that cocktail that cocktail that that mixture of pure love and rejection is probably one of the most painful things that a human being can feel it's a pain I would not wish on my worst enemy it's a pain that I know personally when you love someone who does not love you back when I was thinking about this passage I was remembering about a time when I knew a dude who fell in love with a young chick from the hood, a young female who was beautiful and he loved her with all of his heart. He approached

her correctly, giving off all the vibes that he had her very best interest at heart. And as they began a relationship over a period of time he began to feel some resistance from this female that she began to buffet his love he was confused about that because in his knowledge she had done everything he knew to love her to affirm her to provide for her to care for her he gave her every intention that he truly cared about who she was as a person, but at some point in time during their relationship things began to change and she began to reject all this man's love because sometimes some people are so broken they can't

even understand real love. And after a period of time went on, he would find out that she went on to have another boyfriend, another lover, and he was completely rejected by this female. He thought to himself, man, what did I do to deserve that? What could I have done more? What could I have done to change the situation? He was left to pick up the pieces, true story, of a broken heart that was bruised because his love for that woman was rejected. He had unmet expectations.

He was rejected from that woman, and he was left behind to pick up those broken pieces. Family, hear me. It is unmet expectations, and it is rejection from someone you love. These are the complex emotions that are sitting just underneath the surface of this text that we're about to unpack today. A very important periscope of Scripture in these final chapters, leading to the end of Matthew chapter 28. Hear me. In week one, we taught you that Jesus enters the city of Jerusalem on a donkey fulfilling biblical prophecy. He goes to the temple and his heart is broken by what he sees. In week two, we understand that he cleanses the temple because his heart was broken by what he sees.

Now what we're about to read is a narrative that Matthew writes out of chronological order, but Mark writes about this event that we're about to read happened over a period of two days. I only mention that because there are people who think that the Scriptures contradict themselves, and we say things like that when we're not properly read or we don't know how to study properly. So what we're about to read, Matthew takes an event that happened over two days and he merges it into one narrative because his focus is not so much the chronologically order of everything but his focus so much is on the lessons that are learned in this passage. So in Matthew chapter 21 and beginning in verse 18, Matthew writes these words. He says, in the morning as he was returning to the city, that is Christ, you remember that the Lord was in Bethany.

The Lord had come into the temple. He had seen what was going on. He retreated back to a suburb called Bethany. It was in that suburb he probably stayed in the house of a family named Mary, Martha, and Lazarus who he had raised from the dead. He is now leaving Bethany and he's traveling back to the city of Jerusalem. And Matthew tells us that in the morning that he was returning back to the city of Jerusalem. He became hungry now stop Now I want to draw your attention to the words He became hungry and I just want to use this to insert a very important truth for those of you who need to be

reminded of this Now we do know Theologically that when Christ was on the earth, that he was God in the flesh. He was the Son of God. Hear me. And oftentimes, or the majority of times, whenever we talk about the Lord or whenever we preach about the Lord or whenever we post about the Lord, we generally talk and preach and sing and post about his deity, about the fact that he was God in a body. But I like the fact that Matthew mentions here that Jesus became hungry as he was walking

towards Jerusalem. Because the fact that he was hungry, this one word, reminds the reader of the humanity of Christ. That when Christ was on the earth, the earth, he was fully God and he was fully human at the same time. This is a theological term called the hypostatic union, the fact that deity became merged with flesh and became a God-man, a human being who was God in the flesh. I only mention this to you so that I can remind some of you that because Jesus was a God-man, a human being who was God in the flesh. I only mention this to you

so that I can remind some of you that because Jesus was a human being… Listen. He is intimately acquainted with all of your emotions and your suffering. There is nothing you will ever feel in your heart that Christ does not understand. If you've ever felt wary, he understands that. If you've ever felt betrayed, he understands that. If you've ever felt tired, he understands that. If you've ever felt frustrated, he understands that. If you've ever been hurt in the context of a relationship, he understands that. If you've been through a divorce, he understands that. If you're in a difficult marriage, he understands that. I mean, the Bride of Christ, we make things difficult for him all the time. If you've ever been praying and felt like

the Father can't hear me, he understands that. If you've ever been frustrated, he understands that. I just want to encourage somebody under the sound of my voice that there is nothing you would ever feel or nothing you're feeling right now in your heart, no trouble, no sorrow, no heaviness of heart, that the Lord cannot understand that he lived a human life for 33 years just without sin. I'd like to remind you of this all the time. That is for this reason, my brothers and sisters, I want to encourage as many of you as possible to stop sanitizing your prayers when you go into the presence of the Lord. That when you get in there, that's the place to be

honest and to cry and to tell them you're angry and to tell them you're frustrated and to tell them you're lustful and to tell them you're vengeful and to tell them, help me with pornography and help me with masturbation and help me in my marriage and tell them you're mad. It's okay for you to even tell them you're mad at him. Like, Lord, I feel like you're not listening to me when I pray. Lord, I feel far away from you. Listen, he can handle all of your real emotions. It's crazy to me that people will go into the presence of God and try to hide from someone who is sovereign.

That what a lot of you need to feel when you go into your secret place, watch this world, is release. Ongoing release from the heaviness of your heart. This is me going into my secret place and saying, Lord, how many are my foes? How many are my enemies? Lord, look at the people in the country who speak evil of your servant. Lord, I pray you would defend your servant. Lord, I pray you would bless my enemies. Lord, I pray you would make my enemies friends. I pray you would cause some of them to drop their weapons. I pray you prepare a table before me and like this is you being honest about the things that's going on in your heart. Lord, I'm frustrated in this marriage. Lord, I'm frustrated on this job. Lord, I feel tired and weary in this

season. Like, do you know how much fulfilling prayer would be if you learn to go in there and just be honest? This is why the unknown writer of Hebrews encourages you to say, listen, man, when you go to the throne of God, you should go to the throne of God how? Goldy. Why? Because you're going to a high priest who can identify with all of your weaknesses. This is why I love when the psalm says that he knows your frailty.

I love this part. And he knows that you was made from dust So because the Lord knows your frailty and because the Lord knows you made from dust You know what you find when you go into his presence honesty you find grace You find love You find healing you find mercy when you go in there be honest and just cry you feel him wrap his arms around you Even when you're confessing, watch this, your sin. So yeah, I want to pause on one word, hungry, to remind everybody about the humanity of Christ. That he's not just a God on heaven trying to strike you dead

No, he is a loving Savior that will listen to everything that's happening in your heart He understands the frailty of your humanity. I Feel something in my spirit there men listening to me right now. You got great insecurities Let me just put everybody in there. They're women in here too who got great insecurities. He knows why you're half-naked on every post. He knows what you're searching for. He knows what's going on in your heart. He knows about the brokenness. He really knows. And you can go in there and weep and cry and be honest and say, Lord, man, this is going on. And it's, yeah, I got great insecurities. I feel this way every time I go here, see that, like, tell him what's

going on. Hear me, family. Your prayer life will change when you just start being, watch this word, naked and honest with the Lord. Instead of going in there like Adam and Eve and trying to hide your nakedness with leaves, you're trying to hide your nakedness like there's no ambiguity with sovereignty. So I just want to encourage somebody, go in there naked and be honest with the Lord about everything that's going on in your heart because of his humanity. He understands. Now, Matthew says, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry.

Verse 19, and seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves stop Now I want to draw your attention to one phrase in this verse and the phrase I want to draw your attention to is he went to it watch and found nothing on there, but only leaves Now family that phrase is a revelatory phrase Because it signals to the reader that something happened in this moment that was outside the realm of ordinary. Watch. So, if I read the whole text, there's a couple of things I can assume from the text.

Number one, I can assume that the Lord walked up on that tree with an expectation. Two, I can assume from this text that the Lord walked up on that tree hoping to find something to eat to satisfy his hunger. And three, I can assume that the Lord walked away from that tree with disappointment in his heart. Now hear me. Mark wrote that at this time in history, the Passover, it is April. It was not the season for figs. So, if it's

not the season for figs, why is Jesus in April walking up to a fig tree to try to satisfy his hunger if he knows it's not the season for figs. So my wife and I, we have a fig tree in our front yard. And the fig tree in the Scriptures is synonymous with God's blessing and prosperity and favor in a land. Now I know something about the fig tree because it's been in my yard for five years. Here's what I've learned about the fig tree. In late spring or early summer, if you get up on that fig tree, you start to see these little polyps start growing all over the branches of the fig tree, and then they ripen into

these figs. My kids have been picking that off the tree and eating it for years. It's sweet and it tastes good. The figs grow first on the fig tree, and then the leaves follow the figs. So then if you came to my house in June and pulled up in my driveway, you would see this big, beautiful green tree with a nice canopy for shade. And because that tree was there, if you stared at that tree from a distance, you could not see the fruit on that tree.

But if you came up my driveway and got up close on that tree, as soon as you got behind the leaves, you would see all the fruit hanging on that tree. From a distance, you cannot see the fruit. You can only see the leaves. But when you get up on the tree, you can see the fruit. You can only see the leaves. But when you get up on a tree you can see the fruit. Watch. If you see leaves on a fig tree without fruit then that would be a signal to the person that something is wrong with that tree. Because since the fruit grows first, if a tree has leaves then it automatically assumes that if a fig tree has leaves

Then a fig tree must have fruit Because the leaves and the fruit are synonymous with each other So there is the Lord walking towards Jerusalem and he's hungry and he sees a fig tree and He sees leaves and he gets up on the fig tree, and Matthew says, there was nothing on the tree, watch, except leaves. This was, watch, a barren fig tree. A tree with leaves, but no fruit. Now family, don't get lost in the text.

We will learn from Scripture all throughout the Old Testament that the fig tree is also a picture of the nation of Israel. And what the Lord will do in this moment in history is use a barren fig tree to teach us followers one of the most important lessons they will ever learn. So the Lord walks upon this fig tree and he realizes that it is barren. This fig tree is a picture of the nation of Israel. It is the picture of the barrenness of Israel. That is, the fig tree represents a nation that is religious and not saved. that is religious and not saved. They got religion and not saved. They got antics and not saved.

They are close to God with their lips, but far from God in their hearts. It's the same nation that when God says through the prophet Isaiah, man, I am fed up with all of your services. I'm fed up of your holy convocations. I'm fed up with your always gathering, but your hearts are far from me. It is a nation with corrupt priests and corrupt pastors who have an external show of holiness, but their hearts are dark on the inside. It is a nation that have laws disconnected from the Word of God, and they have practices disconnected from the Word of God. They have a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. It is a nation that has leaves, but has no fruit, no evidence of salvation, no character,

no love for God. It is a nation that's constantly rebelling against God. It was this nation that the Lord told the parable of the fig tree in Luke chapter 13. When he said, man, that there was a vineyard, and in that vineyard there was a fig tree, and for three years the master came seeking fruit on that tree and found none. And he said to the owner of the vineyard, chop down that tree and get rid of it. And he cried out, wait, have mercy. Let me just give it one more year. Put some fertilizer around it and then come back and check if there's any fruit on that tree. And that parable

represented Israel. How long did the ministry of Jesus last on the earth? Three years. And what the Lord was using that barren tree to signal to his followers, man, for three years I've been preaching to Israel and they have rejected me. For three years I've been trying to love on them and they have rejected me. For three years I've been doing miracles amongst them and they have rejected me. For three years I've been preaching truth among them and they have buffeted all of my love. I have sent them…

God has sent them prophets, promises, prophecies, and they keep straying after other lovers. They keep straying after idols. It was like nothing God did for Israel was good enough to hold them in a good relationship. They reject the one they love constantly. The evidence of their barrenness… Watch the whole text. It's the fact that before the Lord came to this tree, the night before, he's in the temple. In the capital city of Israel, in Jerusalem, he goes to the holiest place in the nation, the place where Yahweh is supposed to connect with God. Pay attention. What does the

Lord find when he goes to the temple? Corrupt priests, corrupt leaders, a marketplace. He finds his house desecrated and defiled. Here is a people… I cleansed this temple three years ago. I come back now and it's corrupt all over again. Here is the people that are hell-bent on rejecting my love. It's giving the United States of America. It's giving you and I, since you think you're so innocent. It's giving American Christians who got displays of godliness on social media, but have no fruit to back that up. No evidence of a transformed heart.

No evidence of a transformed life. So we post without fruit, we preach without fruit, we sing without fruit, we do ministry without fruit, we come to church without fruit. Man, this is American Christians. You've got God first in your profile, no evidence of a godly life. Proverbs 31, woman, in your profile, no evidence of a godly life. Preaching sermons on Sunday, no evidence of a godly life. Singing in the choir, no evidence of a godly life.

It's giving all of the antics of America, all of the antics of the Western church. It's giving all of the antics on Instagram…excuse me, Instasham, It's given all of the anstick on Instagram, oh excuse me, Instacham. Well people create all these images of godly perfection, but if you got up close on them, you won't find any fruit. So we are a nation with ministries full of leaves, but no fruit. This is us getting close to spiritual leaders, and there'll be toxicity when you get near their hearts. This is people singing on the platform and they've got nasty attitudes in person.

This is people who preach on platforms, but their wife hates them and their children hate them. All across this nation, we have a Christianity full of leaves with no fruit. I'm going to keep talking like this. Listen, I'm going to talk like this until the Lord come get me. I don't care if nobody don't like it. I am preaching to fill up no room. I'm preaching this gospel truth that can't cancel me and they can't shut me up. This is what the Lord told me to do when I was in Israel, to come back and sound an alarm, to wake up his people in this country. I don't care if it's not sexy. I don't care if they keep saying stuff about me.

I'm going to preach this gospel truth until I arrive in heaven with an army of people behind me. Come on, where the army at? Do I have an army in the building? Somebody make some noise for the Lord Jesus! We're going to preach this truth until we show up before the Messiah, where the army behind us of people who wash their robes in the blood of the Lamb came out of this life of suffering. They're going to say, thank God we heard real gospel truth and that my soul was saved and my life was transformed and I had a real

relationship with Christ. You know what's a sad narrative? To watch ignorant, watch It's about platform. It's about money. It's about following the path of the Lord. It's about following the path of the Lord. It's about following the path of the Lord. It's about following the path of the Lord. It's about following the path of the Lord. It's about following the path of the Lord. It's about following the path of the Lord. It's about following the path of the Lord. It's about following the path of the Lord. It's about following the path of the Lord.

It's about following the path of the Lord. It's about following the path of the Lord. It's about following the path of the Lord. It's about following the path of the Lord. It's about following the path of the Lord. It's about following the path of the Lord. It's about following the path of the Lord. It's about following the path of the Lord.

It's about following the path of the Lord. It's about following the path of the Lord. It's about following the path of the Lord. It's about following the path of the Lord. It's about following the path of the Lord. It's about following the path of the Lord. It's about following the path of the Lord. It's about following the path of the Lord. It's about following the path of the Lord. No character. No godliness. No holiness. It's about platform. It's about money. It's about following.

It's not about souls. It's not about the gospel. It's not about the Great Commission. It's all about image. Watch. And because y'all so caught up in image, we just be running behind anybody that look like they got fruit. What you're really doing is running behind leaves. That barren fig tree, it represented the nation of Israel.

I'm going to go so far as to say, man, is giving the United States of America… Watch. It's giving the church at Sardis. Never read about that church, right? The Lord had 12 apostles. Eleven of them put to death with Matthias. They all were martyred for the faith. One of them survived martyrdom, John. They boiled him in a bat of oil, and he survived in the first century AD. Read Fox's Book of Martyrs. Because of the preaching of the gospel, they banished him to a prison island

called Patmos, about 20 to 30 miles off the coast of Ephesus. That's modern-day Turkey. And while he was on that island, the Lord Jesus Christ, in all of his resurrected glory, appeared to John. He fell down on his face like a dead man, because this ain't Christ in the manger. This is the resurrected Christ, and he fell down on his face as a dead man. The Lord told him, Get a pen, get a parchment, and write down everything I'm about to tell you. What Jesus gives to John is what we have preserved for us, the book of Revelation. No S. Christians, no S. Revelation. Y'all be on Instagram wiling out. We know you don't read.

Revelation. It's not plural. One book, Revelation. The Revelation of Jesus Christ is the name of the book. The Lord gives him seven copies, pay attention, of the book of Revelation. He said, send it to seven churches. These are the seven ancient churches of Asia Minor. I've been to all of those cities in Turkey. One of those churches was in a city called Sardis. And I want you to listen

to what Christ said to the church at Sardis. He said in Revelation chapter 3, verse 1 of Revelation, of reveling. And to the angel of the church in Sardis he said, Jesus, write. Now pay attention. It's quotations. This is Jesus talking the words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars I eat don't play with me The one who has all authority The one who has all power the one who has the final say so this is me Christ saying don't play with me

That's how he starts the letter to that church. Don't play with me. This ain't Christ in the manger. This ain't Gentile Jesus meek and mild. This is the resurrected Savior with all power, the one who got the nail prints in his wrist saying, the one who got the evidence in his wrist saying, don't play with me. Quotation marks, I know your works, i.e. I know what's going on inside every church. Can fool people, can't fool me. Can fool Christians, can't fool me. Can fool people on Instagram, can't fool me. Can fool Christians can't fool me. Can fool people on Instagram can't fool me. I know your works." He said, watch, you have the… What's the next word? Reputation. Leaves of being alive, but on the inside you are dead. You got leaves with no fruit. You got

activity with no fruit. You got programs with no fruit. You got sermons with no fruit. You got singing with no fruit. You got all of your Sunday morning garbage with no fruit. It's what he said to the church of Sardis, don't play me. He said, and then what's his instruction to them? Verse 2, wake up. How's that for a sermon? And strengthen what remains. How's that for a sermon? And strengthen what remains. How's that for a sermon? And is about to die. For I have not found your works complete in my sight of my God. Verse three, you better remember then what you received and heard. That is the authentic gospel. The gospel you abandoned, the gospel you're trying to change, the gospel you're trying

to rewrite. You can't change marriage. You can't change the gospel. You can't hide from repentance. You can't dance around sin. You better remember the gospel that came to you. Look at the instruction. You better keep it.

Watch the next instruction. And that's for America. Repent. That's for me. That's for you. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief in the night. And you will not know at what hour I will come against you." What Jesus are we serving?

What Jesus are we talking about? We are here playing around with leaves and no fruit. What Jesus do you think we're serving? The one that sees. The one that's not playing around. The one that says, repent. Watch. Everybody watch. The one that says to his children, everybody watch. I'm almost done. Look at me. No, no, no. Take my time. Who said that? You said that. What's your name? Trey? Thank you, Trey. Listen, everybody, look right at me. This is the Christ who wants his children to have a testimony that matches your words. He wants you to have a life that matches your words. He wants you to have a life that matches your words. He wants to see the stuff that you post on Instagram. He

wants to see you live that out in private. He wants to know that what you're saying on Instagram, you're living that out in the dark. This is the Lord one of his children wants to have congruence between what they say and how they live, what they post and how they live, what they post and how they live, how they preach and how they live, how they sing and how they live. This is the Lord wanting his people to stop being phony. And this grieves me in my soul. I don't know if it's from New York or because I'm feeling the Holy Spirit.

I am allergic to phoniness. It makes me sick to my stomach to be around phony people. Man, do you know how much effort it takes to be phony? I would rather be hated for who I am than be loved for something I'm not. It takes too much energy to be phony. Some of you got to have friendships because you got to be phony. You know how hard it is to keep up a friendship trying to be phony? They can't love you for you. You know why I'm serious about this?

Because there are too many unbelievers watching us, and they want nothing to do with God, not because they don is phoniness, fake-ness, and leaves without fruit? You were singing on Sunday. I bumped into you on Walmart and you was disgusting and nasty. How are you going to convince them when we're phony in public and we got a form of godliness on platforms? I'm gonna say this a hundred times until I die. That's why I encourage you

to be more impressed with character than with talent. more impressed with character than with talent. Be more impressed with character than talent. Too many of us, you're so impressed with oratory and with talent and with gifting, you don't even care that you're following, thumbing, liking, supporting, leaves without fruit. I'm trying to daughter. Look at me. Everybody look at me carefully. I don't I don't care if this hurts you. At some point in time, we have to stop being phony.

You have to start living what you profess. You can't keep posting Scriptures and you don't live them. Are we godly husbands or not? Are we godly wives or not? Are we godly wives or not? Are we real followers or not? At some point in time you have to have a personal conviction and say, watch, I want the Lord to look at me and say, I'm pleased with you son and daughter. I want you to have a life where the Lord can trust you with revelation and trust you with open doors and trust you with resources and trust you with relationships because of the content of your character. There's some of you, you think because you

bull guarded your way to a platform, you think that's trust. You know any fool with a microphone can build a following? It's the era of social media. I mean if you know how to work an algorithm, if you know how to pose, you can build a following, but then when people get up on you. Why your wife hates you? Why your children hate you? Why you got bad relationships? Why nobody want to be hates you? Why your children hate you? Why you got bad relationships? Why nobody want to be around you? We have too many leaves in the body in America without fruit.

Watch. Everybody look at me. Don't you want to be real? Don't you want to be real? Don't you want to be watch this word authentic? You know what this barren tree was i'm almost done Look at me. Look look at me. Eye contact. In the overflow. Eye contact. Look right at the screen. Screens, plural.

Look right at the screens, plural. You know what this barren tree was? It was duplicitous, and it was deceitful. This tree was living a double life. I never met anyone in a relationship that was happy with somebody living a double life. This is the Lord saying, man, y'all reject me living a double life. The tree represented the state of Israel. Watch.

Everybody watch. Eye contact. How did the Lord respond to that duplicitous barren tree? Verse 19, part B. Look what he said to that barren tree. This is how the Lord responded. Watch. And he said to it, quotations, may no fruit ever come from you again! Exclamation mark that he said it emphatically.

Maybe he yelled. He said, no fruit will ever come from you again. You know what he did? He cursed that tree. Watch. He killed it with his words. He murdered that tree with a sentence, and he's going to murder fake trees again with a sentence when in the judgment he says to fake trees, depart from me, you workers of iniquity. I never knew you ever. All of his ministry, he used his power for good. Now here is the first time he used his power for destruction. And when the Lord cursed his

victory, watch, this was him showing the followers his rejection of the nation of Israel, his, watch, judgment on the nation of Israel. Since you reject my love, since you don't want me, since I'm not good enough, I speak judgment on you. It's what he said to the nation of Israel. The evidence of his judgment in the year AD 70, just 40 years after this moment, Jerusalem was sacked by an army led by Titus, and they destroyed the temple and left Jerusalem in ruins. I would go so far as to say that the nation of Israel today is still under the judgment that Jesus spoke. His words ain't left. Look at the nation, man. Watch. I've been to Israel.

They have a reverence for Yahweh, a reverence for the Old Testament. Watch. They are still waiting for the Messiah. The only person in human history to fulfill all these Scriptures, they're still waiting for the Messiah. To this day, they're still rejecting their King. There's no wonder that their nation has no peace and always at war and everybody's trying to kill them. Man, listen, they're still dealing with the judgment of God. They're still blinded by the fact that their Messiah came in the first century and they rejected him.

Still, watch this, I'm almost done, still searching for a Messiah. This is why what happens when you reject truth, your heart turns to all that lie. This is why the Scripture tells us, read your Bible, that a time is coming when the nation of Israel still searching for a Messiah is going to sign a seven-year peace treaty with the Antichrist, thinking he is the Messiah. They will realize three and a half years in that he is a phony. This is called the Great Tribulation Period. That's coming very soon after the rapture of the church. And it's in that seven-year period where the Lord said if he didn't shorten it down to seven years

All human beings would die because what's gonna happen in the earth? We're gonna get to that in this series Watch and it's at that time the Lord will turn all of his attention back to the nation of Israel To give them one more opportunity One last chance to repent Watch this we can help our politicians. It's all written Have you not heard let's go deeper have you not read Have you not heard? Let's go deeper. Have you not read?

See, we can help some of our politicians say some of the stuff you pass the laws of stuff that's not gonna work Have you not? It's all in there All right, let's finish verse 20 and All right, let's finish. Verse 20. And the fig tree had withered at once. Do y'all see that? Jesus spoke and the fig tree had withered. This is right before verse 20.

It withered at once. As soon as he spoke, the fig tree withered. And the same thing is going to happen to every duplicitous believer. Your testimony will wither. Your witness will wither. Your credibility would wither. If we keep living duplicitous lives, all of the intangible things are going to wither, your witness will wither, your credibility would wither. If we keep living duplicitous lives, all of the intangible things are going to wither away. And when the disciples

saw it, they marveled, saying, how did the fig tree wither at once? Stop. I just want to bring to your attention that watch, the disciples did not walk past this moment They saw a man curse a tree and it died And when they saw that they was watch Curious and because of their curiosity they were marveling over what Jesus did and watch what happened their curiosity led them to ask a question and happened. Their curiosity led them to ask a question, and because of their question they will get on the backside of that one of the most important lessons Jesus has ever taught. I just want to point this out to you before I land the plane.

The reason they are marveling is because they have guarded their hearts from what too many of us are suffering right now. I want to ask some of you, beg some of you, plead with some of you, please. You need to protect your heart from familiarity with Christ. That you're bored with him, you're bored with his Word, you're bored with church, and so you're bored with the Scriptures. You don't ask questions of the text, you don't think, you don't think, you don't study. They saw something and marveled. What's that? They had awe and wonder. Man man when I sing about him I have all when I hear his name

I have all when I think about what he's done for me in my life I have all when I get a flashback of where he brought me from I have all wonder when I think about he's a provider I got all he's a protector. I have all He's my deliverer. I have all He fights my battles. I have all he's my vindicer. I have awe. He fights my battles. I have awe. He's my vindicator. I have awe. No familiarity. They have wonder over God, and it's their curiosity that leads them to ask a question, and because of their questions we get revelation How did he do that And Jesus

Answered them here is the answer to how I spoke and the tree died Truly I say to you, son, daughter, Lord help us, if you have faith and do not doubt in your heart, you will not only do what has been done to the victory, but even if you say to this mountain, this problem, this issue, this circumstance, be taken up and thrown into the sea, it will happen for you. When I listen to the sound of power on my lips, who are you, great mountain, that you should not bow low? But Jesus said, if you got faith in your heart, man, you can speak to things in your life and see things change. Now, this ain't prosperity gospel, and this ain't name it or claim it, and this ain't

demonic manifesting. No, this ain't that. This is me using my mouth in prayer and prophecy to agree with everything God already told me and see it. That if it's in his word, I can believe for it. I like the fact that he used a mountain. He used something, watch this, that is impossible for a human being to do, but it's not impossible for God to do. That what the Lord is saying, there is nothing that is impossible for God and that if he has said it you can agree with him about it. That you can believe that a lost person could be saved. You can believe that a sick body could be healed. You could believe that cancer could be dried

up. You could believe that a marriage could be restored. You could believe, man, that a dead person could be brought back to life. There was a barren woman in our church, her husband, believing God for children, and couldn't have no kids. But I know the Scripture says that we should be fruitful and we should multiply, and that the Scripture says if we lay hands on the sick, the sick shall recover. And I remember the day my wife got down and laid hands on that barren womb and prayed, God, open this barren womb. According to the Scriptures, she just gave birth to twins two weeks ago. Nothing is impossible for the Lord. If it's in his Word, you can believe him for it.

He says if you pray, you will have whatever you have faith for. And this is in the context of Matthew that if your heart and your life is inside the will of God then you can pray in his will watch this and expect him to move you can pray in his will and expect him to move. That although we have no guarantees, yours is to just pray with faith. His is to move according to his power. And what is it that hinders that? What is it that hinders your faith? You know what hinders your faith? Doubt. That was Israel's sin.

Unbelief. Didn't believe in Christ. Didn't believe in his prophecy. Didn't believe in his power. That's what the right of Hebrew calls evil, to doubt God. You know what I want to do? I want to close out this message by praying for everybody who has injured faith. Life has injured your faith. A divorce has injured your faith.

A betrayal has injured your faith. Time has injured your faith. Pain has injured your faith. L betrayal has ended your faith time has injured your faith pain has injured your faith Lost has injured your faith You are so broken that you are afraid to believe because you're trying to protect your heart from disappointment God help us faith is about to come to this room right now Who's ready for this I said who's ready for this I said who's ready for this? I said, who's ready for this? I said, who's ready for this? We're going to come against doubt together.

We're going to pray for increase of faith together. We're going to pray with faith and believe with faith and cry out to God with faith. Man, who want this? In the overflow, who want this? Across that camera, who want this? Father, in the name of the Holy One, Jesus, I pray over everybody wrestling with doubt that you would drive it out of their heart, for you said faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

And I pray through the proclamation of your Word, faith would rise up in your people right now to believe you for everything you have said in your word. I pray fire come to their mouths and fire come to their hearts and fire come to their knees. I pray you would heal us from injured faith. Heal us from the wounds that keep us from believing. I pray you would drive out the evil of doubt and that faith would arise and the lives of the enemy will be scattered. I pray we will pray with radical faith. We will prophesy with radical faith. We will believe with radical faith and we will see the fruit Signs and wonders if you receive that somebody give Jesus praise in this

Somebody shout I feel fire. I feel fire in this room right now. Somebody give Him praise and say, I feel fire. I feel fire. I feel fire in this room right now. Somebody give Him praise and say, I feel fire. I feel fire. I feel fire. I feel fire. I feel fire. I feel fire. I feel fire.

I feel fire. I feel fire. I feel fire. I feel fire. I feel fire. I feel fire. I feel fire. I feel fire.

I feel fire. I feel fire. I feel fire. I feel fire. I feel fire. I feel fire. I feel fire. I feel fire. I feel fire in this room right now. Somebody give Him praise in this room. Hallelujah. Come on, praise Him, praise Him, praise Him.