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Hendersonville Seventh-day Adventist Church, NC

David Wright

When the Truth Stagnates

Have you ever fallen prey to false advertising?

There's a house that was listed about a year ago in Australia.

It doesn't look too bad, maybe not exactly what you'd like, but it looks quite a bit different than that.

If you can tell, that's the same house, technically, but there's a big round, I don't know if that's a water tower or what exactly that is.

But that's a little different from that, isn't it?

A house looks great online and then you go and you drive past and all of a sudden there's these huge power lines or whatever it is.

I don't know, there was some question in the article whether this person would be prosecuted or not.

In fact, perhaps from the pictures, you'll see maybe it's exactly the opposite.

It never quite comes in the package like it shows on the picture.

I saw how on some of these it takes about 4 hours to get just right and they use glue for mayonnaise and all kinds of different things.

Mashed potatoes are used in place of ice cream and and the list goes on and on.

Here are some girls, it's kind of small here, but they were looking forward to this up here, and they got in their backyard and it was a little bit different.

Yeah, it's just not the same as in the picture, mom.

Floats on water, protect your phone, and they have a display and the phone's at the bottom of the fish tank.

Here's another 1 for rope that you could get at Lowe's or something.

There's a picture of a climber on the packaging and then you turn it over and it says, not suitable for climbing.

Or this six-foot green Canadian pine tree.

That would spruce up the living room, make it look cozy.

I mean, granted, maybe if we revived it a little bit, it could look a little better, but I don't think we're ever gonna get that 16-foot green Canadian pine tree that's in the picture.

Oh my, so we're somewhat continuing this series today, why I am a Seventh-day Adventist.

This is not so much a reason today as maybe a PS to the last 1 that we talked about.

We've talked about because the truth matters.

We've talked about because our message is a safeguard to end time deceptions.

These are online, by the way, on our church website, and you can download those in MP3, listen to them on your phone or wherever you are later.

Another reason, part 3, is because God called the remnant church to preach the 3 angels' message to the world, and today is kind of a PS of that, if you will.

What happens when we don't give this message that God has given to us?

And so I've entitled today's small mini sermon, When the Truth Stagnates.

Now It's not that there's anything wrong with the truth.

Just like there's nothing wrong with those oranges that you brought home, or those potatoes, or whatever it is.

Has anybody left potatoes in a place and then you smell something a little later?

Or like the compost pile, or like our pond, for instance.

It's a beautiful piece of water to look at, but it's not 1 of those I want to jump in and swim in because it stagnates, it's stagnated, it's not moving.

And so when anything is ever just sitting still, it's not used maybe for its intended purpose, it can stagnate.

And then you get some of these other critters that come along with it sometimes.

So if you brought your Bibles, I'm gonna look at a passage of scripture where there was some false advertising, if you will.

And Jesus didn't appreciate it any more than you and I when it came to this sort of thing.

And so we read about it in Mark chapter 11.

We're gonna pick up the story now in verse 12.

This is the day following Jesus, he spent all night in prayer the night before.

We read about that in Luke 19, and here now he's on his way and we're going to pick up the story in verse 12 of Mark chapter 11.

Now the next day when they had come out of Bethany, he, Jesus, was hungry.

And when you're hungry, you're looking for?

And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, he went to see if perhaps he would find something on it.

And when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.

And so you might read that and you might say, well, what's the big deal?

This tree, this 1 singular fig tree, seemed to be in advance of all the others because it had leaves.

And it stood out and Jesus said, ah, there's a tree with leaves on it.

Because for the fig tree, Before the leaf opens, the fruit appears.

So the idea is a fig tree and leaf gives the impression that the fruit is going to be far along and maybe I can get something for my hunger.

In response, Jesus said to it, "'Let no 1 eat fruit from you ever again.' And his disciples heard it." I imagine this surprised Jesus' disciples.

They refer to it later as Jesus cursing the fig tree.

I mean this is strange for this Son of God that they have come to know, who says things like, I have not come to condemn the world, but to save it.

The Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them.

Other places he says, I delight in showing mercy, and take no pleasure in the destruction of the wicked.

He'd never used his authority before to tear down and to destroy.

Well, we keep reading, verse 15, so they came to Jerusalem, the main epicenter, if you will, of the Jewish nation.

And then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who sold doves.

And he would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple.

Then he taught, saying to them, Is it not written, my house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations, but you have made it a den of thieves." The purpose Jesus had for his people was not being fulfilled.

And the proof of that we find in verse 18, and the scribes and the chief priests heard about it and became humble and repented.

They sought how they might destroy him, for they feared him because all the people were astonished at his teaching.

And when evening had come, he went out of the city.

The Jews stood distinct from all other nations.

They professed allegiance to God, were specifically favored, laid claim to righteousness above all people.

When the Truth Stagnates

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