The Ax Is Laid to the Root of The Trees

All right last time in Matthew chapter 3 we looked at the beginning of John the

Baptist's ministry and he's called John the Baptist because he called the nation of Israel to submit to a baptism of repentance.

So when the people were baptized with water that was symbolizing that they had a change of mind.

A change about their life, about the direction that God was going to lead them.

The nation of Israel had really fallen into a state of turmoil and apostasy and John his message was repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

So in a sense what John was saying is your king is coming to you but you're not ready and I think that same thing could be said today that Jesus he is coming and most people are simply not ready.

So this message of repent it was received by the average people of the nation.

They received it were baptized publicly but the prideful ruling elites did they come to John's baptism?

Actually they did but they didn't they didn't come to be baptized. The scribes and the Pharisees, the chief priests, some of them showed up and you remember that's when

John kind of lambasted them and who warned you to flee from the wrath to come.

So turn to Matthew 3 we're going to look at just a few verses 10 through 12.

Try to figure out why is John saying this? What's going on here?

They were the leaders of the nation, the chief priests, the Pharisees and most of the people you know how it is people kind of go along with the flow and in this country and just the average

Christian we live in this world the things around us influence us and and maybe people are inclined they want to do the right thing but they just kind of get swept up with what everyone else is doing.

So John is really I think trying to shake people into waking up and realizing what is about to happen.

So the main overarching point of this message where the axe is laid to the root of the trees

Matthew 3 10 through 12 John is telling them wake up everything is about to change.

So let's look at these verses Matthew 3 verse 10 John says and even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire

I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance but he who is coming after me is mightier than I whose sandals

I am not worthy to carry he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire his winnowing fan is in his hand and he will thoroughly clean out his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn and he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

So John's point and Matthew's point in recording this is that yes everything is about to change so get ready the old system is going to be replaced and what's the old system what's the system that's in place right now yeah the sacrifices and offerings it's it's the old covenant it's the covenant of the law now there is nothing wrong with the law right the scripture talks about the law that the law is holy so the problem is not with the covenant what's the problem with yeah the problem is with the people because ever since the covenant was made at Mount Sinai except for a few periods in their history the

Israelites really were not keeping the covenant so the problem was with them so just this term the axe is laid to the root of the trees it gives you the impression okay the old system it's all gonna be chopped down what were a few periods in Israel's history where they were keeping covenant with God okay the the ministry of David that was a bright spot in their history and even then of course there's still it's still kind of a struggle

I think the book of Joshua as we talked about that was kind of a bright spot at least for a while so yeah

David there is another King Josiah that was a time of great reform but at this point in their history around the turn of the millennium things had just started to get worse and worse and they were gonna continue to get worse and worse so just in way of review

I had said last time that John's ministry the way John presented himself the way he talked the way he dressed the way he acted he was reminiscent of what

Old Testament figure John the Baptist was like who the

Prophet Elijah so he dressed in a similar manner plus you add to that the angel of the

Lord and Luke told his father Zacharias that John would come remember in the spirit and the power of Elijah so before the

Messiah showed up the Jews were expecting Elijah to come and that did happen in a sense with the ministry of John the

Baptist so John we talked about the dual fulfillments of prophecy remember this this sounds familiar so John in a sense fulfills prophecy that he is a type of Elijah so in preaching this message and instituting this ordinance of baptism

I look at it this way that the Jews are being given one last chance but God knows all things so the

Lord knows what's going to happen so that's why we see this judgment language verses 10 and 12 the statement how the axes lay to the root of the trees and then unquenchable fire what's the unquenchable fire was it hell

I think that's what it is it's either eschatological judgment like the day of the Lord and Armageddon or it's like the baptism of fire would be the the lake of fire

I mean if you are thrown into the lake of fire you're baptized with fire so this is not the day of Pentecost where the

Apostles are filled with the Spirit there is the baptism of the Spirit and they have the little flame of fire above their head or something like flames of fire

I don't think that's what it's talking about this is judgment language okay so hopefully hopefully we get that let's turn to Matthew 21 as far as this statement the axe is laid to the root of the trees

Matthew 21 we see the withering of the fig tree this is one of the miracles of Jesus that doesn't get a lot of attention when you think of the miracles of Christ you think of what turning water into wine walking on water raising of Lazarus from the dead these are kind of the big miracles of defeating the 5 ,000 feeding the 4 ,000 but what's that yeah well that young Moses parting the

Red Sea but the miracles of Jesus this one you really don't you don't focus on it too much that Jesus cursed the fig tree now why would the fig tree be why would it be significant what is the fig tree a symbol for you've probably heard this over the years would you say

Israel I mean most people would agree that the fig tree is symbolic for Israel look at Matthew 21 18 and 19 so this is hopefully lining up Jesus cursing the fig tree and John statement the axe is laid to the root of the tree either way the trees dying the trees getting cut down Matthew 21 18 and 19 says now in the morning as he

Jesus returned to the city he was hungry and seeing a fig tree by the road he came to it and found nothing on it but leaves and he said to it let no fruit grow on you ever again and immediately the fig tree withered away so you see how that's similar to what's happening in Matthew 3 either produce fruit or the trees getting chopped down Jesus shows up this tree there's no fruit on it he curses it it withers away so if the fig tree is symbolic for Israel which

I do believe that it is what does that tell you this is not good for Israel in Mark's account of this in Mark chapter 11 it says that Jesus is explicitly says

Jesus cursed the fig tree okay now skip down to Matthew 21 43

Jesus continuing with this idea he says therefore

I say to you the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it and whoever falls on this stone will be broken but on whomever it falls it will grind him to powder now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard his parable they perceived that what he was speaking about them was he speaking about them yes but when they sought to lay hands on him they feared the multitudes because they took him the people did for a profit and that's the same situation we saw with John the

Baptist he also directed his message of judgment so both John and Jesus are directing messages of judgment against Israel and Israel's rulers okay any questions or comments so far you agree with that you agree with this this is what's what's happening okay so again if the fig tree is symbolic for Israel and I believe it is then you have

Israel or at least the the rulers of Israel but Israel itself being cursed by Jesus the fig tree withering way similar to John talking about it being chopped down both

John and Jesus are speaking judgment against Israel's ruler rulers and the kingdom is going to be taken from them from Israel and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it so what is that nation that is going to receive the kingdom what yeah okay so Israel has the kingdom right the kingdom is offered to them and they're not bearing fruit they're given one last chance and then

Jesus curses the fig tree and says I'm going to take the kingdom which Israel has and I'm going to give it to a different nation so he's taking the kingdom from Israel and giving it to somebody or something else the

Gentiles more specifically though the the

New Testament Church okay let's turn so I don't know if I believe that I don't know if I agree with that let's turn to 1st

Peter chapter 2 you know someone might be thinking well

I thought God isn't done with Israel he's not so this isn't

I don't believe this is final I'll get into that in a moment but as you're turning there remember who is

Matthew writing to who is his audience primarily it's a

Jewish audience the first Christians were ethnically

Jewish and I only point this out because there are some people who they'll listen up until this point and maybe try to misconstrue all of this this is not

Jesus condemning Jewish people right some people they think the

New Testament this is kind of the play right now it's nothing new but they say you know the New Testament is an anti -semitic book there's a guy who wrote a letter to the paper a while ago and you know

Christianity and the New Testament he kind of tried to smear it all as being anti -semitic and I mean it's so dumb because Jesus is

Jewish and the Apostles are all Jewish the one preaching this the one right they're all

Jewish so it this is obviously not a condemnation of all Jewish people but that's the way some people try to misconstrue these things so it's a ridiculous charge again the first Christians were

Jewish so the judgment look at it this way the judgment is not really towards the

Jews it's towards unbelievers because that's why they're being cursed because they do not believe

I mean isn't that true ultimately the curse is upon it's because of unbelief it really has nothing to do with ethnicity whether you're

Jew Gentile black white male or female as really no bearing what matters is do you believe do you receive the

Lord or do you reject the Lord that's the real issue so Israel was a nation under judgment why they didn't believe and they weren't producing fruit okay the unbeliever or the that's that's them they're the unbelievers but who now is the nation that's going to believe and receive

Jesus said the Gentiles it's it's the New Testament Church okay let's look at first Peter 2 4 through 10 so something new is happening the

Old Testament era is coming to an end and the New Testament period it's arriving it's it's here so first Peter 2 4 through 10 it says coming to him as living as a to a living stone rejected indeed by men but chosen by God and precious who is this talking about Jesus right so Jesus is him as to a living stone he's rejected by men but Jesus is chosen by God and precious you also as living stones are being built up into a spiritual house a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ therefore it is also contained in the scripture behold

I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone elect and precious and he who believes on him will by no means be put to shame therefore to you who believe he is precious but to those who are disobedient the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense they stumble being disobedient to the word to which they also were appointed so you can see this is a matter of do you believe or do you not believe the

Jews who believed they could be part of this new spiritual nation the church so it's not really an ethnic division verse 9 but you and Peter's writing to who

Peter is writing to New Testament Christians many of them were Jewish but still he's writing to Christians Peter says you are a chosen generation a royal priesthood and what a holy nation so this is if you don't remember anything else from this passage remember this that Peter is calling the church a holy nation normally in the

Old Testament this would have described the nation of Israel but now it's being described as the

New Testament church a holy nation God's own special people that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light who once were not a people but are now the people of God who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy so the

Old Covenant is passing away the New Covenant is coming in Old Testament Israel is not producing fruit they're the tree that withers away or gets chopped down they are replaced in a sense by New Testament the

New Testament church right now now when you hear the word replaced I want to be clear because this is not what is called replacement theology who's familiar with replacement theology replacement theology is the idea that Israel is replaced once for all like God is completely finished and they are done permanently we don't believe that we believe that there is a future for ethnic

Israel and I feel like I've repeated this a thousand times I probably have but you know in the end times yes there is a restoration of the nation but until then in this age that we live in they have been replaced maybe that's not the best word to use but in the church age the age of grace whatever the last two thousand years the kingdom

Jesus said this the kingdom will be taken from you Israel and given to a nation the church that is willing to that is bearing fruit okay so John MacArthur he made a statement let's see do

I have the quote I guess

I guess I lost that but this is not where we're saying we're not saying that it's replacement theology or any questions

I just I want to make sure you're clear on that okay now when

Jesus returns at the rapture of the church that's the end of this age that's when

God's prophetic time clock for Israel starts to tick again remember the prophecy of Daniel 70 weeks we said there 70 weeks of years so how many weeks have gone by as of this point 69 weeks and if they're weeks of years how much time is left on this prophetic stopwatch or however you want to describe it how many years is left yeah seven years so there's still a one week left a week of years seven years that is where we get the idea of the seven -year tribulation so that is when

God will go back to working in and through the nation of Israel if you and we've gone through the book of Revelation but when you study

Revelation chapter 6 through 18 and the tribulation period there's not really any mention of the church it's

God dealing with Israel remember there's 144 ,000 redeemed from the 12 tribes so but until then they've been replaced by the church okay let's look at Hebrews chapter 8 and but God still loves them and part of what

God is doing in this age by blessing the Gentiles and by blessing the

New Testament Church is he's trying to make Israel what jealous so the

Israel I think they have to acknowledge that they probably wouldn't admit it but I have to think that a lot of religious

Jews see what's happened in the expansion of Christianity probably makes them upset and they don't like it but you know when they're alone in their mind and their heart they kind of have to acknowledge what

God is doing that's that's what I tend to think and hopefully that will wake them up because it didn't wake a lot of them up back then but hopefully it's waking them up throughout the ages and many have come to know

Christ as Lord and Savior but many more will come during that revival during the seven -year tribulation all right so you're turning to Hebrews chapter 8 so here's what

God is finished with God is finished with Old Testament Israel right old

Israel under the Old Covenant is done like the Old Covenant is is finished it's even on the pages of the

New Testament it's described as old and it's passing away and I don't want to be disrespectful towards people who are part of what is called

Messianic Judaism or excuse me Messianic Christianity right that's the term but some people want to kind of go backwards and kind of grab on to all the

Jewish customs and feasts and kind of blend the two so it's a blending of Christianity like the

Old Testament feasts and all that it really is done away with Peter was rebuked by Paul in the book of Galatians and did you remember what

Paul said to Peter he said you'd you don't even live like a

Jew so how can you judge the Gentiles for not living like Jews when you don't even live like a

Jew so even in the first century the Apostles had started to put all those

Old Testament things things away look at Hebrews chapter 8 verse 6 so the the

Old Covenant is is finished says but now he is obtained speaking of Jesus he has obtained a more excellent ministry in as much as he is also the mediator of what a better covenant which was established on better promises so this is speaking about Jesus the great high priest of the new covenant which is better verse 7 for if that first covenant the covenant of the law had been faultless then no place would have been sought for a second because finding fault with them he says behold the days are coming says the

Lord when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel in with the house of Judah does anyone know what this is a quotation of Jeremiah 31 31 through 34 incidentally not that this really this

Bible is opened up to Jeremiah 31 I don't that's just the way it's always been so that's it's but it's the new covenant the new covenant in Christ is better than the

Old Covenant so when you see people wanting to hold on to the Old Covenant why the new covenant is so much better the old is passing away just let it go it served its purpose and what was the purpose of the

Old Covenant ultimately to point people to who Jesus so when

Jesus came he fulfilled the law it's finished so we we should never want to go of we're not

Jewish anyway so why would we go back it was never our covenant to start with but yet some people do but that's why

I don't think that's the right way to go so verse 9 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when

I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt because they did not continue in my covenant and I disregarded them says the

Lord for this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days says the

Lord I will put my laws in their mind and write them on their hearts and I will be their

God and they shall be my people so in the new covenant instead of having

God's law written on tablets of stone they're written on what our heart verse 11 none of them shall teach his neighbor and none his brother saying no the

Lord for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest of them for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their lawless deeds

I will remember no more and in that he says a new covenant he has made the first what obsolete so the old covenant is obsolete and that what is becoming obsolete is growing old and is ready to vanish away or in other words we're chopping down the tree the fig trees withered it's finished the kingdom's taken from them given to the

New Testament Church pretty clear I I think it should be now has this this prophecy of the new covenant mentioned in Jeremiah 31 that's quoted in Hebrew has this come in yet when we are in the

New Testament era right but are the Jews have the Jews received the new covenant well some of them have right that small remnant have but the real answer is no this is not yet taken place you cannot say about the

Jewish people that they they all know the Lord is not what it says and we just read in Hebrew they will all know the

Lord so obviously this is not yet taken place so again with the dual nature of prophecy in the early church there was the remnant the

Apostles were Jewish they they were saved but we're still waiting for the day of the

Lord in the tribulation when this will catch leads the Millennium when this is really going to happen because in the

Millennium when the Millennium starts that's when all Israel will be saved course

Armageddon all the believers are what just all unbelievers are judged when

Jesus comes back so the only ones entering into the kingdom are our believer so this stuff is fulfilled then up until then the

New Testament church is going to be built up stone by stone so you can view yourself every true believer is you think of the structure of the temple the member

Jesus said not one stone will be left upon another so the temple in Jerusalem was built stone by stone by stone this massive structure well the

New Church New Testament church is a spiritual house and it's made up of living stuff so each believer is like a stone built up into the spiritual house so who is the kingdom belong to us doesn't it right it belongs to believers and then once the

Jews believe it belongs to them too so it belongs to all of us and I Jesus talked about he was speaking to the

Jewish people he said there are other sheep that I have that are not of this fold them

I will also bring with me speaking of the Gentiles and there will be what one flock and one shepherd but again that still in the future so the

Gospel of Matthew with these statements the message that John is giving this is a new thing that's coming this marks a time of transition the

Gospels in the book of Acts marks the end of the old covenant in the beginning of the new covenant unless this all seem to be at odds with God's promise to keep

Israel and to keep his promises to them remember every single

Jew in Israel two thousand years ago they all had an opportunity to believe didn't they and every

Jew today and really all people all over the world everyone has an opportunity to believe in fact

Jesus if you remember Jesus went to them first there are times in Jesus ministry where he didn't even want to talk to non -jews there's the

Syrophoenician woman and there were time where Jesus no I'm gonna focus on the Jews I've come to the lost sheep of the house of Israel so he went to them first so if anything the

Jewish people were privileged but they were all offered something better and then in Hebrews chapter 9 it talks about the earthly sanctuary all the ordinances about what foods you could and couldn't eat the ceremonial washings all that the

Old Testament included verse 10 of Hebrews 9 if you're still in Hebrews you can follow along but verse 10 of Hebrews 9 says that these things were imposed until what the time of Reformation now when we think of the

Reformation we think of right the 1500s and the Protestant Reformation that's obviously not what he's talking about here if you think about it

Matthew chapter 3 or the whole Gospel of Matthew John the Baptist is showing up this was a

Reformation think about how the church changed in the 1500s okay but there is an even greater change back 2 ,000 years ago when everything changed and the kingdom was taken from Israel and given to the

New Testament Church this is a time of Reformation one dispensation you could say the

Old Covenant is finished and now a new dispensation or a new set of rules a new order is brought in how is the

New Testament Church this new spiritual nation in what ways are we different from the old nation think of the ordinances they had and the customs they had what are some of the differences today okay we can go directly to God we do not need to go through the priest they offered the animal sacrifices we offer sacrifices of praise which is the fruit of our lips so we don't have to go through a priest which going back to last

Wednesday's message that's why it's so objectionable the idea that we need a special priesthood that you can't get to God you need to go through a

Roman priest that's not what the New Testament is New Testament is better you can go directly to God through your high priest

Jesus not not some guy in a confessional booth what's another difference another difference

Old Testament Israel celebrated the Passover do we celebrate the Passover no we celebrate what that's similar

I mean it was based off of who came out of the Passover observance but where we celebrate the the

Lord's Supper right and there's plenty of other things instead of the stone temple our bodies are the temple of God right and instead of the physical nation we have a spiritual nation okay so I just want to close with this in what ways is the church a spiritual nation we read that from 1st

Peter 2 and Jesus talked about taking the kingdom and giving it to a nation bearing the fruits thereof so he's talking about the church

Peter affirms that so if we call ourselves a spiritual nation in what way are we a spiritual nation somebody is hearing that and so I don't get it that doesn't make sense to me how the church is is a nation we have a king okay so in order to have a nation you need a few different things what do you need well the king would be the government right you need a government obviously you need people so I mean we have the people

Christians and New Testament believers are the people we have a king we have a government what are we lacking though when you think of a nation and what that would include what are we lacking the obvious thing right yeah

I mean Jesus isn't present with us we're waiting for the king to come the thing we're lacking and the reason this wouldn't make sense to people how how are we a nation because we don't have a land like this world we say it and we hear a priest this world is not our home our citizenship is in heaven so we're lacking a land so if this whole idea of the church being a spiritual nation if it doesn't make sense to you here's what here's why because especially as Americans when we think of a nation we think first we think about the land with a certain you know set of borders you know no comments on the border thing but that typically that's what you would think of right a nation would have it's a specific plot of land with borders but biblically a nation it's not necessarily talking about land there are nationalities there are nations in the

Bible where the people they are a nation but they don't actually occupy a land can you give an example of that matter of fact we covered it we went through a whole book that dealt with that the children of Israel when did they become a nation at Mount Sinai they were a people at that time they had the covenant so they had their leaders with Moses and Aaron they had their religion

God was their king in a sense but did they have a land no they were sojourners and they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years so here's the thing do have a nation you don't actually need a land and as the church we are a spiritual nation we ain't got the land because we're sojourners upon the earth but another way a nation can be defined is a group of people united by common descent or we are united by identity culture we have standards and practices so does that apply to us we have a common descent biologically no but we spiritually are all children of who we're children of God so in that way we have a common descent do we have a common identity yes we have an identity in Christ do we have a culture does the church have a specific culture yeah and even though churches in the

United States are going to differ from churches in Eastern Europe in Africa there are going to be some differences obviously a true believer no matter where they are even with the language barrier if you can communicate you're gonna find you have a lot of things in common so in those ways we are indeed a spiritual nation so in conclusion this message from John the

Baptist let the people know that everything was going to change the old was on its way out the tree was going to be cut down and then the new was going to be ushered in their king was about to come but they were simply not ready so then the application for us that we have to ask are we ready their nation was not is the church as a spiritual nation are we ready to meet the

Lord in the outward sign here's the last thing I'm gonna say the outward sign the people were ready back then when

John the Baptist comes on the scene what did he ask them to do repent and be baptized and you know it's still the same message repent believe on the

Lord Jesus Christ and be baptized and if a person truly believes that and does that that is the sign that they are ready so let's be ready amen okay any final questions or comments yes

Joyce I was thinking about for the Jews to accept to let go of the old and accept the new and better of government tradition is so powerful yeah you know right to this day tradition is like everything right to let go of that right and I think you saw that just reading through the

New Testament books especially the book of Acts the Apostles did have a hard time letting go of their traditions

I said with Peter when the Jews came from Jerusalem and he separated himself from the

Gentiles and you know when the Jews weren't around from Jerusalem the Judaizers Peter let he let go but once they showed up and he was like drawn back into it and even the

Apostle Paul there were a couple times that because the Jews were totally unreceptive to his message and he's like alright

I'm done with you I'm going to the Gentiles but then I like the next chapter he's back in the synagogue trying to reach him again like they found it really hard to let go

Jesus told the disciples to go out you know disciple all the nations but for the next 10 years they all stayed in Jerusalem they didn't leave

Jerusalem until the persecution came and they didn't have any other choice so even with the twelve disciples and Paul even they from what

I can tell it wasn't easy to let go of those customs that they grew up with I think it's the same for us we have you know we love the things about what we've grown up with and this kind and the idea of Jesus coming back and everything radically changing even for spirit -filled believers it's it's kind of hard to kind of let go of everything in this world yeah

I'm gonna go and be with Christ and I want that and I'm looking forward to it but part of you is still your heart is still here with the things of the world and that's not easy to let go of but it happens slowly of course the hardest thing is the people that are here and you know that people we care about are not ready