NATURE OF TRUE WORSHIP

Mark 11:12-19

The Fig Tree

MARK 11:12-14

The next day when they came out from Bethany, He was hungry. After seeing in the distance a fig tree with leaves, He went to find out if there was anything on it.

When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And His

disciples heard it.

LUKE 13:6-9

Then Jesus told this story: “A man planted a fig tree in his garden and came again and again to see if there was any fruit on it, but he was always disappointed. Finally,

he said to his gardener, ‘I’ve waited three years, and there hasn’t been a single fig! Cut it down. It’s just

taking up space in the garden.’

LUKE 13:6-9

“The gardener answered, ‘Sir, give it one more chance. Leave it another year, and I’ll give it special attention and plenty of fertilizer. If we get figs next year, fine. If

not, then you can cut it down.’”

MARK 11:20-21

Early in the morning, as they were passing by, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. Then Peter

remembered and said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that You cursed is withered.”

The fig tree represents Israel

The fig tree represents Israel

Israel has an appearance of life, but not fruit

THE PROBLEM: Inauthentic Worship

Why does God hate inauthentic worship?

Why does God hate inauthentic worship?

1.  Inauthentic worship is ultimately about self not God.

JOHN 4:23-24 But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when

true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship

him must worship in spirit and in truth.

Why does God hate inauthentic worship?

1.  Inauthentic worship is ultimately about self not God.

2.  Inauthentic worship yields terrible consequences

PAUL TRIPP

“Human beings by their very nature are worshipers. Worship is not something we do; it defines who we are.

You cannot divide human beings into those who worship and those who don’t. Everybody worships; it’s

just a matter of what, or whom, we serve.”

PSALM 115:2-8 Why let the nations say, “Where is their God?”3 

Our God is in the heavens, and he does as he wishes. 4  Their idols are merely things of silver and gold, shaped

by human hands. 5 They have mouths but cannot speak, and eyes but cannot see. 6 They have ears but cannot

hear, and noses but cannot smell. 7 They have hands but cannot feel, and feet but cannot walk, and throats but

cannot make a sound.

The Cleansing

MARK 11:15-17

They came to Jerusalem, and He went into the temple complex and began to throw out those buying and

selling in the temple. He overturned the money changers’ tables and the chairs of those selling doves, and would not permit anyone to carry goods through

the temple complex.

MARK 11:15-17

Then He began to teach them: “Is it not written, My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations?

But you have made it a den of thieves!”

HOW DID THE TEMPLE GET SO BAD?

Greed and Power

LUKE 16 13 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” 14 The Pharisees, who dearly loved their money, heard all this and scoffed at him. 15

Then he said to them, “You like to appear righteous in public, but God knows your hearts. What this world honors is detestable in the sight of God.

JOHN 12:3-8

Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed

Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance. But Judas Iscariot,

the disciple who would soon betray him, said, “That perfume was worth a year’s wages.

JOHN 12:3-8

It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.” Not that he cared for the poor—he was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples’ money, he often stole some for himself. Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial. You will

always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

THOMAS HARRIS

“Nothing makes us more vulnerable than loneliness, except greed.”

MARK 11:18-19

Then the chief priests and the scribes heard it and started looking for a way to destroy Him. For they were afraid of Him, because the whole crowd was astonished

by His teaching. And whenever evening came, they would go out of the city.

Application

1.  Let the gospel invade your heart. 2.  Give generously