Matthew 15:13 - “But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.”

I don’t know that I have ever heard a preacher comment on this verse in any other way but to show the doom in store for false religious bodies. It is certainly true that Jesus built “one” church (Matthew 16:18), that He is the head of “one” church (Ephesians 1:22-23), and that He will save “one” church (5:23). No church built later than His, and headed by person or persons other than Jesus, will be saved from the wrath to come (I Thess. 1:10). But have you ever noticed, dear brothers and sisters, that the context of this familiar warning by our Savior concerns the fact that individuals were offended at the teaching of Jesus? There is nothing in the noun “plant,” nor in the verb “planted” in this verse that implies - or even suggests - a religious sect (yes, the context allows the right application of the words and the warning to such, but the words themselves do not necessarily imply organizations). The “plant” immediately in consideration was the individual who judged the words of Jesus as unacceptable, rather than to listen and learn from the Son of God and be led by Him into truth on all matters. Dear child of God, you won’t have to be in a man-made sect in order to be “rooted up” in the judgment day. It will be enough that you will have sorted through the words of Jesus, obeying some and rejecting others as not being what you want to believe or do. The “sum” of God’s word is righteous (Psalm 139:17), not just “some” of it (John 17:17).

Matthew 21:43 - “Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.”

The warning was due to the rejection, by the chief priests and elders of the people, of the stone which became the head of the corner (23, 42). But what was that nation? The New Testament does not record that any one nation was more receptive of the gospel than others. Likely Jesus had reference to the Gentiles as opposed to the Jews (Acts 13:46). But if He had in mind a particular nation as we think of nations, what was that nation? Was it the United States of America? The churches in the cities of Antioch and Thessalonica were noted above others for sending out evangelists (Acts 13:1-3; I Thess. 1:8) - and of course there was the mass exodus of evangelizing Christians from Jerusalem (Acts 8:4) - but history records missionaries going everywhere preaching the gospel from no country more than from the United States. The gospel grew rapidly here from the early-19th through the mid-20th century. Christians from America have preached the gospel in almost every country in the world so that the church became known to the world more than at any time since the 2nd century. And now in America the popular opinion is that God and the church should be removed from society. Jesus was speaking to religious leaders, not governmental authorities, and in our day even those who have in past led the church rightly are now leading many away from the Lord’s true word. If Jesus were speaking to us today, would He repeat the warning He spoke to the priests and elders? Will God take the kingdom away from America and give it to another nation? He promised to spare Sodom if 10 righteous souls could be found there (Genesis 18:32). Will you be one who stands to turn America back to God?