1 00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:10,720 Matthew 13, Matthew 13. We're in parables of Jesus. 2 00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:14,880 I was only going to do 1, but we're going to do all of chapter 3 00:00:14,880 --> 00:00:19,480 13 tonight. So several parables, A parable. 4 00:00:19,480 --> 00:00:22,720 What is a parable and why did Jesus speak in parables? 5 00:00:23,040 --> 00:00:27,840 Bit of a recap. Parable is just an ordinary 6 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:32,040 story, an earthly story, but with a heavily meaning. 7 00:00:33,760 --> 00:00:38,920 Jesus is trying to teach us something important and there 8 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:42,400 came a time in Jesus ministry and we're in that Matthew 13 9 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:46,840 where Jesus from now on, when he spoke to the people, when he 10 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:51,360 preached, he didn't speak in parables at every time that he 11 00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:55,800 opened his mouth, but when he proclaimed to the public the 12 00:00:55,800 --> 00:00:57,880 word of God, he spoke in parables. 13 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:04,599 The reason being the religious leaders have persecuted him, his 14 00:01:04,599 --> 00:01:07,000 disciples, They weren't listening. 15 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:09,800 They'd seen the miracles. They said, oh, you're doing this 16 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:12,520 on the Sabbath day. You're working and now you're 17 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:16,640 healing on the Sabbath day. And, and also we see that you're 18 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:19,200 healing on the Sabbath day, but also the way that you're healing 19 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:23,520 you, you're doing it by demonic means, by the power of Beatles 20 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:26,640 above. And from that moment on, Jesus 21 00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:30,400 said, OK, from now on, I'll teach in parables. 22 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:35,320 And the reason was that those who had hearts for God, those 23 00:01:35,320 --> 00:01:39,600 who wanted to know about Christ, those who are thirsty for the 24 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:43,200 things of God would inquire, I want to know, what does that 25 00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:45,040 story mean? What are you? 26 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:48,560 What are you saying here? But the religious leaders and 27 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:54,240 those who had hard hearts and we're against Christ, we go, I 28 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:55,640 can't understand what he's talking about. 29 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:57,200 I have no idea what he's talking about. 30 00:01:57,520 --> 00:01:59,560 It's a hard saying. Who knows what he's talking 31 00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:01,680 about? And there was this great divide. 32 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:07,240 So we pick it up in Matthew 13, we looked at the parable of the 33 00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:11,240 sower of the seed. And in verse 24, Now tonight 34 00:02:11,920 --> 00:02:17,600 we'll see in that chapter we'll see false Christians spoken of 35 00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:23,440 in a parable, false growth of the church spoken of in a 36 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:28,080 parable, and then we'll see false teaching spoken of in a 37 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:32,160 parable. We know that Satan is the great 38 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:36,760 imitator and Jesus is going to show us much of this tonight in 39 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:40,640 these parables. So verse 24, another parable he 40 00:02:40,640 --> 00:02:45,120 put forth to them saying the Kingdom of heaven is like, so 41 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:48,440 he's using a story to explain the Kingdom of heaven. 42 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:54,840 It's like a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while men 43 00:02:54,840 --> 00:03:01,080 slept, his enemy came and sowed tears. 44 00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:08,760 Now tears in the Greek here are the Darnell seed, Darnell and 45 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:15,240 the Darnell plant. I remember the Latin, but I'm 46 00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:16,440 not going to try and pronounce it. 47 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:19,920 It's poisonous. But as it grows, if you get 48 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:24,520 wheat and a Darnell plant growing, you cannot tell the 49 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:29,120 difference as they grow until the wheat bears fruit and the 50 00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:34,240 Darnell plant does not. So they as they're growing, 51 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:36,600 there's no way of knowing all that's the Darnell, that's 52 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:38,000 wheat. You can't, you can't tell. 53 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:43,200 And so when the grain had sprouted, produced the crop, 54 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:48,800 then the tears also appeared. So the servants of the owner 55 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:54,240 came and said to him, Sir, did you not sow good seed in your 56 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:55,360 field? Question. 57 00:03:56,200 --> 00:04:00,440 How then does it have tears, those without fruit? 58 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:06,040 And he said to them, he repeats, An enemy has done this. 59 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:09,840 The servants then said to him, Do you want us to go out and 60 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:12,320 gather up all the down owls, all the tears? 61 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:18,440 But he said to them, no, lest while you gather up the tears, 62 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:22,120 you'll also uproot the wheat with them. 63 00:04:22,840 --> 00:04:25,080 You'll get them mixed up and you'll pull out a good plant. 64 00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:32,560 Let both grow together until the harvest and at the time of the 65 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:34,840 harvest harvest they'll be sorted. 66 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:41,880 I will say to the reapers first gather the tears, bind them up 67 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:48,600 in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn. 68 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:54,600 So let's drop down to verse 37 or verse 36 and we'll go back 69 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:57,200 because we have Jesus explaining. 70 00:04:57,200 --> 00:05:00,760 Then Jesus sent the multitude away, went into the house and 71 00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:05,680 his disciples came to him saying, Hey, tell us, what do 72 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:07,800 you mean? Here's So here's the reason 73 00:05:08,960 --> 00:05:12,360 those who want to know the things of God inquire in, lean 74 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:16,240 in, explain to us the parable of the tares of the field. 75 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:19,880 Other people went, I don't know what he's talking about. 76 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:22,160 It just went on. So there's the there's the 77 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:24,800 reason why Jesus began to speak in parables. 78 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:29,040 He answered and said to them, Now he explains it. 79 00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:34,600 He who sows the good seed is the son of man. 80 00:05:36,280 --> 00:05:42,320 The field is the world, the good seeds of the sons of the 81 00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:45,200 Kingdom, those who received Christ as their Lord and Saviour 82 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:49,640 believers. But the tares are the sons of 83 00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:54,400 the wicked one, children of the devil, the enemy who sowed them. 84 00:05:54,920 --> 00:06:01,480 The enemy is the devil. The harvest is at the end of the 85 00:06:01,480 --> 00:06:08,240 age, the end of the age. We talked about that when we 86 00:06:08,240 --> 00:06:09,800 went through Revelation, didn't we? 87 00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:14,120 The Millennium, Great white throne, judgement, sheep and 88 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:21,000 goats, judgement, separation. Therefore, as the tares are 89 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:25,280 gathered and burned in the fire, what's going to happen to every 90 00:06:25,280 --> 00:06:27,600 unbeliever cast into the Lake of fire? 91 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:31,720 So it will be at the end of this age. 92 00:06:32,280 --> 00:06:36,360 It's the Greek aeon. The Son of Man will send out his 93 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:40,840 angels and they will gather out of his Kingdom all things that 94 00:06:40,840 --> 00:06:44,720 offend those who practise lawlessness. 95 00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:48,160 Interesting lawlessness. Where do we, where do we see 96 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:54,640 that lawlessness? Matthew 7 It says when Jesus 97 00:06:54,640 --> 00:06:59,080 returns, there's going to be people pretend believers who 98 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:03,080 say, Oh Lord, Lord, we've done this in your name and that in 99 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:07,520 your name cast their demons and we well, we did all this and 100 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:12,200 Jesus says depart from me, you workers of iniquity, 101 00:07:12,200 --> 00:07:15,440 lawlessness, for I never knew you. 102 00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:20,680 So there's this separation of the tares from the wheat and 103 00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:26,480 they will gather out of his Kingdom all things that offend 104 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:30,520 those who practise that means they that their lifestyle. 105 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:35,840 Paul said in the last days is going to be believers or people 106 00:07:36,040 --> 00:07:40,120 calling themselves believes churchgoers who are forever 107 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:44,560 learning, never coming to the knowledge of they have the the 108 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:47,880 the chameleon look of being a believer. 109 00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:50,600 You might even carry a Bible. You might go to every church 110 00:07:50,600 --> 00:07:52,480 service. You might even teach a Sunday 111 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:57,200 school, might be an usher of servant, but have you given your 112 00:07:57,200 --> 00:08:05,040 life to Jesus Christ? The Son of Man will send out his 113 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:07,600 angels, he'll gather out of his Kingdom all that offend those 114 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:10,480 who practise lawlessness. Practise means that your 115 00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:14,360 lifestyle, you do it every day. And we'll cast them into the 116 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:21,040 furnace of fire we call like fire, where there will be 117 00:08:21,040 --> 00:08:27,320 wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine 118 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:31,000 forth as the Son in the Kingdom of their father. 119 00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:35,360 Then he says he who has ears to hear, let him hear. 120 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:38,640 In other words, listen to what I'm saying. 121 00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:47,240 Understand, Understand there is a fake and a real. 122 00:08:50,600 --> 00:08:54,920 You know, people often think that the church is perfect. 123 00:08:56,120 --> 00:08:59,120 Well, the moment you walk into the door, it's no longer 124 00:08:59,120 --> 00:09:02,320 perfect. The moment I enter the church, 125 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:07,520 it's no longer perfect. And there are pulpits today. 126 00:09:07,760 --> 00:09:13,520 People dress in certain garbs and robes and so forth who don't 127 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:16,600 believe that Genesis is the word of God. 128 00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:19,720 They don't believe in the Book of Revelation. 129 00:09:19,720 --> 00:09:21,960 They don't believe that Jesus is coming back again. 130 00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:25,440 Actually, they don't believe that the Bible is the word of 131 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:26,920 God. They just think it's a bit of an 132 00:09:26,920 --> 00:09:28,560 allegory. It's sort of something we can 133 00:09:28,840 --> 00:09:31,000 adapt and change. It's something nice for us to 134 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:35,600 learn. And it's interesting that I find 135 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:39,000 particularly around great events like Easter comes, Christmas 136 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:42,120 comes and there's, there's they're always, you know, you 137 00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:46,080 see them in the paper that the experts tell us, tell me what 138 00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:49,520 the religious experts tell me what Eastern Christmas means. 139 00:09:49,520 --> 00:09:52,240 And we got people get on there and they're dressed in their 140 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:54,680 garb. And every occasionally I'll have 141 00:09:54,680 --> 00:09:57,400 one or two good people who speak about Christ. 142 00:09:57,400 --> 00:10:00,360 And I'm thinking, well, it's about the problems that we're 143 00:10:00,360 --> 00:10:02,320 having in Gaza. We need peace. 144 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:05,000 It's about used to be about land rights. 145 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:10,120 Oh, we're persecuting our world, you know, climate change. 146 00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:13,600 And we need to be people who are looking after our planet and 147 00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:15,280 you're going, where did you come from? 148 00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:17,640 Because you're not teaching the word of God. 149 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:26,960 And so the enemy is Satan and the harvest at the end will be a 150 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:30,200 separation. So we're not, we're not God's 151 00:10:30,200 --> 00:10:32,240 police going out. You Christian, you Christian, I 152 00:10:32,240 --> 00:10:33,760 don't know about you, a real believer. 153 00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:36,920 What Bible do you use? You know, how do you, how do you 154 00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:40,240 baptise you? You go 4 or half or three chord. 155 00:10:40,240 --> 00:10:43,560 Do you do a 4 1/2 with a Pike? You go on the river, you go on 156 00:10:43,560 --> 00:10:47,760 the sea or what do you do? There's always people around who 157 00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:50,800 are trying to come up with the rules and regulations, and 158 00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:54,080 churches try to come up with rules and regulations to try and 159 00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:59,360 make the church perfect. It's not going to happen because 160 00:11:00,240 --> 00:11:05,720 every church, every fellowship is going to have wheat and tears 161 00:11:06,480 --> 00:11:09,040 growing up, and only the Lord will know. 162 00:11:10,160 --> 00:11:14,360 Only the Lord will know. The harvest will separate. 163 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:17,640 But Satan is always the great imitator. 164 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:28,800 So the field is the world and the seed, the good seed, the 165 00:11:28,800 --> 00:11:31,800 sons of the Kingdom, people who come to Christ. 166 00:11:33,240 --> 00:11:37,960 Jesus comes and came to this world to rescue us. 167 00:11:40,600 --> 00:11:46,560 And as you and I grow, we often see people come and go. 168 00:11:46,560 --> 00:11:48,880 How are they walking with God? You know, they're here and 169 00:11:48,880 --> 00:11:49,520 there. They're not there. 170 00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:52,720 John tells us there will be. People will look. 171 00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:56,320 Paul had Demas Demas who has forsaken me. 172 00:11:56,400 --> 00:11:58,160 He's gone back to the things of the world. 173 00:11:58,160 --> 00:12:02,120 Now he's more interested in making a making a, a living out 174 00:12:02,120 --> 00:12:04,240 of the world. He's he's forsaken being a 175 00:12:04,240 --> 00:12:06,400 partner of Paul, being along with Paul. 176 00:12:07,840 --> 00:12:15,600 And also we see that in John, when John, John says there were 177 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:22,320 people who leave, come and go, and he says they were never part 178 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:23,960 of us. They were never part of the 179 00:12:23,960 --> 00:12:26,720 church to start with. And we kind of go and people 180 00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:29,080 often say, do you have a follow up programme? 181 00:12:29,280 --> 00:12:34,080 And I, I love what Chuck Smith talks about in, in his follow up 182 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:35,400 programme. He said, yeah, we do. 183 00:12:35,400 --> 00:12:36,920 We do have a follow up programme. 184 00:12:37,120 --> 00:12:39,040 Calgary Chapel. It's called the Holy Spirit 185 00:12:40,600 --> 00:12:43,320 because if you are a follower of Christ, you will turn back to 186 00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:45,520 Christ. You can back sleep, but there's 187 00:12:45,520 --> 00:12:47,680 something between you. It's like the prodigal. 188 00:12:48,920 --> 00:12:52,040 Imagine sometimes if someone had interfered with the product. 189 00:12:52,040 --> 00:12:53,400 Oh, yeah. You shouldn't be living in the 190 00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:53,880 pigs. Now. 191 00:12:54,120 --> 00:12:59,640 Come on, stay at my place. Well, would he have come to his 192 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:02,200 senses? Would he have come to the place 193 00:13:02,200 --> 00:13:04,000 where he's gone home and say, Dad, you know what? 194 00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:06,640 I've been an idiot. I've been a fool. 195 00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:09,960 I've blown everything. I was unkind to you, 196 00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:13,600 disrespectful. I don't deserve to be your son. 197 00:13:15,240 --> 00:13:19,600 And he comes home. You see, sometimes people 198 00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:24,160 interfere with the work that God is doing in changing us and 199 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:27,000 making us and transforming us into His image. 200 00:13:29,520 --> 00:13:34,560 Let's look at the next parable, verse 31, Another parable he put 201 00:13:34,560 --> 00:13:40,520 forth to them saying the Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed 202 00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:46,480 which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the 203 00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:49,840 least of all the seeds. In other words, it's the 204 00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:54,960 tiniest, one of the tiniest. But when this is grown, it's 205 00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:59,160 greater than the herbs and becomes a tree. 206 00:13:59,960 --> 00:14:02,000 Now not many herbs grow into a trees, do they? 207 00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:07,320 And now notice so that the birds of the air come and nest in 208 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:11,800 their branches, in its branches. Now there are Bible commentators 209 00:14:11,800 --> 00:14:13,960 who say, well, this is the church. 210 00:14:14,320 --> 00:14:17,120 You know, the church is just going to grow into this awesome 211 00:14:17,120 --> 00:14:22,920 thing, you know, and, and, and, and we're just going to be 212 00:14:22,920 --> 00:14:25,680 welcoming to everybody and everyone's going to be able to 213 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:27,000 come and we're just going to grow. 214 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:31,480 And, and that's, you know, many, many people believe that, but I 215 00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:35,120 believe in the context here. But that's not what this is 216 00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:41,440 saying that this, as I see this, I see in the context here that 217 00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:47,720 this is abnormal growth. This is false growth. 218 00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:53,720 It's like the time that Constantine thought he had a 219 00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:56,760 vision. The vision of the cross is the 220 00:14:56,760 --> 00:14:59,520 ruler of what's modern day Turkey. 221 00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:02,600 Now. Istanbul used to be 222 00:15:02,600 --> 00:15:06,120 Constantinople and he sees this and he has this great victory in 223 00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:09,480 battle. And so he is OK. 224 00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:12,280 Christianity now is the religion. 225 00:15:13,520 --> 00:15:17,000 He got his whole army, all his army, all the soldiers marched 226 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:20,520 into the ocean, You're baptised, March them back out again. 227 00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:24,840 He said. Now instead of worshipping 228 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:27,800 Saturnalia, we'll call that Christmas. 229 00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:31,680 Instead of worshipping, worshipping Astarte, we'll call 230 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:34,600 it Easter and we'll make it the time of the resurrection of 231 00:15:34,600 --> 00:15:37,880 Christ. And so there's this, this, this 232 00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:43,440 whole thing, and a lot of Babylonian rules and rituals 233 00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:49,760 were brought into the church and it had this, this abnormal 234 00:15:49,760 --> 00:15:56,000 growth. And it's like that today where 235 00:15:56,000 --> 00:15:58,760 it doesn't matter what you believe, you know, we welcome 236 00:15:58,760 --> 00:16:01,080 all, you know, it doesn't matter. 237 00:16:01,080 --> 00:16:06,200 Just come, come, take a seat. That's not the Church of Jesus 238 00:16:06,200 --> 00:16:10,560 Christ because the Church of Jesus Christ Jesus says to 239 00:16:10,560 --> 00:16:13,360 become part of it. First of all, you got to be born 240 00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:15,520 again. That means you've got to confess 241 00:16:15,520 --> 00:16:18,520 your sins and ask God to come into your life. 242 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:23,880 Secondly, you've got to deny yourself, take up a cross and 243 00:16:23,880 --> 00:16:26,880 follow him. And so there's not too many 244 00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:30,160 people in the world. Go, oh, OK, forget all about 245 00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:33,400 myself, forget about all my plans and passions. 246 00:16:33,840 --> 00:16:36,600 Put all them aside and I'll follow you and do exactly 247 00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:38,960 everything you want to say. That's not the church I'm into, 248 00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:43,160 but I can go to a church where everyone is accepted and 249 00:16:43,160 --> 00:16:47,400 anything is accepted. So it's abnormal growth. 250 00:16:47,920 --> 00:16:49,480 Well, what about the birds, Keith? 251 00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:51,280 Are the birds here, you know, aren't they nesting? 252 00:16:51,280 --> 00:16:54,280 They find a place of safety and safekeeping. 253 00:16:54,520 --> 00:16:58,440 The problem with the birds here, and I see them if you go back to 254 00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:01,840 the sower of the seed, remember the birds that came down and 255 00:17:01,840 --> 00:17:05,200 picked up the seed, thou emissaries from Satan. 256 00:17:06,280 --> 00:17:10,400 And I believe in what's called expositional constancy. 257 00:17:10,640 --> 00:17:14,040 In other words, if it means this here, it means it there and all 258 00:17:14,040 --> 00:17:21,760 the way through. So every bird can lodge in this 259 00:17:21,760 --> 00:17:25,680 false growing church in its branches. 260 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:31,200 You can find shelter, you can be in same sex relationships, you 261 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:34,800 can be sleeping together, you can be just going about your own 262 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:37,360 business. Al Capone used to go to church 263 00:17:37,400 --> 00:17:40,560 every Sunday. He was the largest tither in his 264 00:17:40,560 --> 00:17:42,600 church. Al Capone was welcome. 265 00:17:42,760 --> 00:17:45,880 He took communion every Sunday he came to church. 266 00:17:47,040 --> 00:17:51,120 Look at the the Nazi party during the time of World War 2. 267 00:17:51,360 --> 00:17:54,640 They all went to church. They sang Silent Night when 268 00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:58,600 Christmas came around. Meanwhile, the Jewish stores and 269 00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:02,200 that we're getting a smash to smithereens and the Jews being 270 00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:06,720 tracked off and here we are singing, you know, Christmas 271 00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:09,440 carols. How can that happen? 272 00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:17,640 Abnormal growth, birds nesting in this church that welcomes 273 00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:22,720 everything in. And so another thing here we 274 00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:26,360 also see in the book of Daniel, we will get to it later on when 275 00:18:26,360 --> 00:18:33,000 Nebuchadnezzar has this big time in his life where he, he turns 276 00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:37,360 into an animal basically for a period of time, seasons and, 277 00:18:37,360 --> 00:18:42,160 and, and there's a tree mentioned and a Daniel is 278 00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:46,280 involved in it and a tree in them in the, in the language 279 00:18:46,280 --> 00:18:49,040 there is that it's a world power. 280 00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:54,840 It's an empire as Babylon was. You see, the church isn't a 281 00:18:55,040 --> 00:19:00,000 world power in the sense of a worldly power because we're not 282 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:04,680 of this world never get past the job. 283 00:19:04,680 --> 00:19:07,920 Miller used to hang out with this guy and they used to go hit 284 00:19:08,200 --> 00:19:13,160 in the, in the when the 70s or the, when the Jesus movement 285 00:19:13,160 --> 00:19:14,880 started, Christians would hitchhike. 286 00:19:14,880 --> 00:19:17,440 So they'd get picked up and they'd say, Hey, you going? 287 00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:19,240 Where you going? Oh, well, I'm going to see the 288 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:20,840 king. And they would just witness. 289 00:19:20,840 --> 00:19:22,160 They'd just hitchhike, not going in. 290 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:24,960 They'd just drive around, jump at people's cars and witness. 291 00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:27,760 And then John said, I had one, one friend who as we hopped in 292 00:19:27,760 --> 00:19:31,160 the car, as the fella said, Hey, where are you from? 293 00:19:31,160 --> 00:19:33,680 He says, I'm not of this world. It's like freaky, you know, it's 294 00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:43,600 like so abnormal because there's judgement coming. 295 00:19:45,040 --> 00:19:48,320 Another parable he spoke to them, the Kingdom of heaven is 296 00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:55,360 like 11 yeast which a woman took and hid in three measures. 297 00:19:55,360 --> 00:19:59,040 They are three measures. Is an abnormal amount of meal 298 00:19:59,800 --> 00:20:05,800 for this to be made till it was all leavened. 299 00:20:06,280 --> 00:20:09,800 Some people say, well, the church, we're, we're the leaven 300 00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:13,080 where we're going out into the world while infiltrating, We're 301 00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:16,640 getting into politics, we're getting into schools and we're, 302 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:21,160 you know, we're, we're just just slowly infiltrating and helping 303 00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:26,880 people come to Christ because Jesus says beware of the leaven 304 00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:28,920 of the Pharisees. And he spoke of leaven. 305 00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:30,920 And leaven is always like in Passover. 306 00:20:31,120 --> 00:20:33,000 It's always symbolic of what sin. 307 00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:40,040 So leaven is sin. And what does leaven do? 308 00:20:40,280 --> 00:20:43,840 It works without you seeing it. We have a bread maker at home, 309 00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:46,720 electric one. And I've got to get the yeast 310 00:20:46,720 --> 00:20:48,760 right. Either I put too, not enough in, 311 00:20:48,760 --> 00:20:51,400 or I put, I put too much in. It blows the top up. 312 00:20:51,400 --> 00:20:53,400 And I got this like big mushroom thing coming out. 313 00:20:56,240 --> 00:21:01,960 What does leaven do? Leaven puffs up churches full of 314 00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:05,040 themselves come to our church and I always listen to people 315 00:21:05,040 --> 00:21:08,320 when they invite other people to come to their church and and how 316 00:21:08,320 --> 00:21:10,400 they put they put the spiel. Our church. 317 00:21:10,400 --> 00:21:13,760 We have the best worship, we've got the best pastor, we have the 318 00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:15,760 best Sunday school, we've got the best programmes and I go 319 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:21,400 great. I'd like to hear about Jesus 320 00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:24,760 Christ. I'd be I'd like to see that as 321 00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:30,000 the invitation because you know, people always say So what church 322 00:21:30,080 --> 00:21:34,400 do you and do you well, our church, we have this, you know, 323 00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:40,920 and so 11 puffs up and I and I see that that when Jesus speaks 324 00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:47,320 in the in in Matthew's Gospel back a chapter or two, Jesus 325 00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:50,960 says come to me, all ye who labour and heavy laden. 326 00:21:51,360 --> 00:21:54,880 I I will give you rest, take my yoke upon you and learn from me 327 00:21:55,080 --> 00:21:58,680 for what I am gentle and what lowly in heart. 328 00:22:00,360 --> 00:22:03,600 There's there's too much, you know, and there was a there was 329 00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:06,520 a some of you may remember, if you've been believers that long, 330 00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:09,920 that while back when there was a thing called the King's kids, 331 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:13,920 we're King's kids and everyone was demanding from God. 332 00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:16,600 You know, when you pray, you demand God, God, I want you. 333 00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:20,800 No, you don't do that to the almighty God. 334 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:25,440 And if you're a King's kid like that, you're you're a sport 1. 335 00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:34,200 You need to just good smack. So 11 and that's what's going to 336 00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:37,120 happen. There's going to be 11 and it's 337 00:22:37,120 --> 00:22:40,800 going to creep into churches. It's just one out, you know. 338 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:44,080 Well, I know you guys believe in this, but you know, I don't 339 00:22:44,080 --> 00:22:49,440 really believe in creation. I'm a creation evolutionist. 340 00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:54,960 I mean, I think that God started it, but then we have evolution 341 00:22:55,200 --> 00:22:57,400 kicked on. So we, we add this and mash it 342 00:22:57,400 --> 00:23:00,560 together. So we get this, this, this, 343 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:05,680 these, these doctrines coming in that I'll never forget. 344 00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:08,640 We're witnessing in Perth and the streets of Perth. 345 00:23:08,640 --> 00:23:11,520 We used to do it on a Friday and a Saturday evening and, and 346 00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:13,560 there's all the crazy people walking around Perth on a 347 00:23:13,560 --> 00:23:18,440 Friday, Saturday evening. There's one group who came up to 348 00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:20,320 us and said, hey, what church are you from? 349 00:23:20,520 --> 00:23:22,480 We said, oh, we're church just Jesus. 350 00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:26,240 You know, we're just Christians because we went into the label 351 00:23:26,240 --> 00:23:28,240 thing. Do you believe it? 352 00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:31,240 Do you speak in tongues? I said, well, I believe it's in 353 00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:34,880 the Bible and I believe, you know, the Bible talks about it 354 00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:36,680 that clearly that Christians can. 355 00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:38,160 You know, I believe in the gifts. 356 00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:42,080 Chapter 12 talks about it. Chapter 13 talks about how love 357 00:23:42,080 --> 00:23:45,400 and chapter 14 tells it how it should operate and so forth and 358 00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:49,280 so on because, you know, you can't be saved. 359 00:23:49,280 --> 00:23:52,120 You don't speak in tongues. And I went, oh, is that right? 360 00:23:53,080 --> 00:24:00,440 I said, so the thief on the cross, I'm speaking in tongues 361 00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:04,560 as Jesus said to him, today you'll be with me in paradise 362 00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:10,000 and been baptised either. I just got no chance, said Jesus 363 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:13,160 said today you'll be with me in paradise, Lord, Lord, Remember 364 00:24:13,160 --> 00:24:17,640 Me. And then I said also, so if I 365 00:24:17,640 --> 00:24:20,800 happen to be of the unfortunate condition where I'm born and I 366 00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:25,560 cannot speak my tongue is a foam I'm a goner. 367 00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:29,920 You see how foolish you can bring you know, you can just 368 00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:34,160 make and they're they're big on Mark 16 and and and you know, 369 00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:37,520 taking up poisons and all that you you where you major on the 370 00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:42,480 minor you become dangerous. We need the full counsel of God. 371 00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:48,920 All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables and 372 00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:51,640 without a parable. He did not speak to them. 373 00:24:51,800 --> 00:24:56,360 Why that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet 374 00:24:56,360 --> 00:24:59,800 saying I will open my mouth in parables. 375 00:25:01,120 --> 00:25:06,120 Other things kept secret from the foundation of the world down 376 00:25:06,120 --> 00:25:10,320 to verse 44 because we've done the other verses again. 377 00:25:10,320 --> 00:25:17,360 The Kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which 378 00:25:17,360 --> 00:25:22,600 a man found and he hid, and for joy over it he goes and sells 379 00:25:22,600 --> 00:25:25,680 all that he has and buys the field. 380 00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:30,080 And so there are those who say, well, this is what this is, is 381 00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:33,880 this is how believers, you come and find Christ and you go, this 382 00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:36,480 is the greatest thing ever. And you, you sell everything and 383 00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:38,440 you become a Christian. That's not what it says. 384 00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:47,400 Jesus is the man, the world, the field is the world. 385 00:25:49,360 --> 00:25:52,880 There's 2 two things I want to pop in here because many people 386 00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:59,440 believe chapter verse 44 is related to Israel, that they are 387 00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:02,240 God's treasure. And I, I will go along with 388 00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:04,040 that. But I also believe it's also 389 00:26:04,040 --> 00:26:06,600 because of why we can get to the next parable. 390 00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:10,560 But I believe it's probably broader than that and includes 391 00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:12,560 the church. But I'm I'm pretty happy with it 392 00:26:12,720 --> 00:26:17,520 calling it Israel. But Jesus is the man and he 393 00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:21,800 gives all to buy the field. Remember the story of Ruth and 394 00:26:21,800 --> 00:26:27,280 Boaz. Now Boaz, he, he fancies Ruth. 395 00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:33,560 So to get Ruth to be his bride, what does Boaz do? 396 00:26:33,920 --> 00:26:38,000 He buys the farm and he gets the bride. 397 00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:42,320 That's part of the deal. So there's that, that, that that 398 00:26:42,600 --> 00:26:45,000 picture there to obtain his bride. 399 00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:52,040 But notice which a man found and hid, and hear this, and for joy 400 00:26:52,040 --> 00:26:56,560 over it he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that 401 00:26:56,560 --> 00:27:00,560 field. For God so loved the world that 402 00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:03,920 he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him 403 00:27:03,920 --> 00:27:07,560 should not perish, but have everlasting life again. 404 00:27:07,560 --> 00:27:10,800 The Kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful 405 00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:13,440 pearls. Now why they say the first one 406 00:27:13,440 --> 00:27:17,320 is about Israel and this one is about the church is because 407 00:27:17,320 --> 00:27:20,600 pearls to Jews at that time they weren't interested in them, 408 00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:22,480 didn't care for them. You know what? 409 00:27:22,600 --> 00:27:30,080 No, they're not into pearls. In Jesus time, however, a Pearl 410 00:27:30,360 --> 00:27:36,320 was the loveliest of all positions to a Gentile, to the 411 00:27:36,320 --> 00:27:41,320 Gentile, not to the Jews. So again, the Kingdom of heaven 412 00:27:41,320 --> 00:27:46,120 is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, whom when he 413 00:27:46,120 --> 00:27:51,680 had found one Pearl of great price, went and sold all that he 414 00:27:51,680 --> 00:27:58,520 had and bought it. So again, is this someone? 415 00:27:58,520 --> 00:28:00,680 So I found Christ. Oh, it's the greatest thing 416 00:28:00,680 --> 00:28:06,080 ever. No, Jesus is the buyer and you 417 00:28:06,080 --> 00:28:10,680 know who's the Pearl you are you and I are, you know the 418 00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:15,560 interesting thing about pearls, Pearls are formed by irritation. 419 00:28:17,440 --> 00:28:22,360 It seems them to me because then it puts that, that, that, that 420 00:28:22,360 --> 00:28:26,000 layer around it because it irritates and coats and coats 421 00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:29,720 and coats. Seems to me I, I probably 422 00:28:29,720 --> 00:28:32,840 irritate God a fair bit And I, I don't say that irreverently, but 423 00:28:32,960 --> 00:28:36,240 man, I used to say, man, you got to come to heaven because you're 424 00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:45,320 wearing out all my angels. But he's, as I irritate him in 425 00:28:45,320 --> 00:28:50,360 my weaknesses, he's making me more like his son. 426 00:28:51,840 --> 00:28:55,880 Isn't that my amazing? You come to God with nothing. 427 00:28:55,960 --> 00:29:00,240 I come to God with the rags and the bad habits that I had. 428 00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:04,920 And what, what is God making you through this process? 429 00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:09,120 He's making you into a beautiful Pearl. 430 00:29:10,440 --> 00:29:14,840 I think that's glorious. In Ephesians 5, it talks about 431 00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:19,680 us being his bride, the church. And how do we look without 432 00:29:19,840 --> 00:29:22,120 what's a Pearl? How good's a Pearl without a 433 00:29:22,120 --> 00:29:26,200 spot, without a blemish? Magnificent. 434 00:29:27,240 --> 00:29:29,680 So how much does Jesus value you? 435 00:29:34,080 --> 00:29:37,480 He says you're of great price. What was the price? 436 00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:43,640 His Son. You know, grace is free, but it 437 00:29:43,640 --> 00:29:47,280 wasn't cheap. It cost the death of the only 438 00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:51,120 innocent man, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 439 00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:55,400 And he sold all that he had and he bought it. 440 00:29:55,640 --> 00:30:00,360 What did he do? He owns you, He redeemed you. 441 00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:07,280 He paid the price in full. It is finished. 442 00:30:07,280 --> 00:30:10,480 He said to tell us die paid in full. 443 00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:12,880 You're the treasure, you're the pool. 444 00:30:13,280 --> 00:30:15,720 Whenever the enemy whispers in your ear and says you're no 445 00:30:15,720 --> 00:30:17,880 good, you're useless, you're terrible. 446 00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:22,280 Remember, he's a liar, first of all. 447 00:30:23,640 --> 00:30:25,560 He always swings in some stuff there. 448 00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:27,560 But here's the thing to remember. 449 00:30:27,960 --> 00:30:29,760 The truth is what God says about you. 450 00:30:30,840 --> 00:30:33,000 I like what Paul says. I don't care what people say 451 00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:37,200 about me, but as God is my witness, as God is my witness 452 00:30:38,480 --> 00:30:40,440 again the Kingdom of heaven. Oh, I've got to hurry. 453 00:30:40,760 --> 00:30:44,000 It's like a dragnet which that was cast into the sea and 454 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:47,120 gathering some of every kind of fish. 455 00:30:47,120 --> 00:30:50,920 Obviously when it was full, they drew to the shore and they sat 456 00:30:50,920 --> 00:30:52,840 down, gathered the good into the vessels. 457 00:30:53,080 --> 00:30:57,040 They threw the bad away. So it will be end at the end of 458 00:30:57,040 --> 00:31:00,680 the age, Aeon, Millennial at the time of the great judgement. 459 00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:03,960 The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from the 460 00:31:03,960 --> 00:31:06,800 just, cast them into the furnace of fire. 461 00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:08,720 They'll be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 462 00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:11,800 He says that again. You know, not too many fish when 463 00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:16,520 you catch them again. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. 464 00:31:16,800 --> 00:31:18,560 Sorry. I was just getting the point 465 00:31:18,560 --> 00:31:20,600 across because it's not talking about fish. 466 00:31:22,840 --> 00:31:26,000 Jesus said to them, have you understand all these things they 467 00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:27,120 said to him? Yes, Lord. 468 00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:30,120 Yeah, we might be a bit cheeky and go, do you really? 469 00:31:30,280 --> 00:31:32,160 But Jesus doesn't say, no you don't. 470 00:31:32,640 --> 00:31:35,160 He went along with it and he said to them. 471 00:31:35,400 --> 00:31:37,760 Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the 472 00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:41,440 Kingdom of heaven is like a household who brings out his 473 00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:45,280 treasure, things new and old, you know, as you and I read the 474 00:31:45,280 --> 00:31:49,520 Bible and I pray that you are, you know what I find? 475 00:31:49,560 --> 00:31:54,480 I find treasures new and old. I find things that I didn't know 476 00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:57,480 and God reveals to me and go, man, I never knew that past 477 00:31:57,480 --> 00:32:00,280 Israel was just sharing me something about Jesus being on 478 00:32:00,280 --> 00:32:03,440 the cross. How at any moment he could have 479 00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:05,200 just said, you know what? I'm done with this. 480 00:32:05,560 --> 00:32:08,400 At any moment you could have said, stop, I'm not doing this. 481 00:32:09,560 --> 00:32:21,990 But he didn't. And there are there are things 482 00:32:21,990 --> 00:32:26,270 and Peter says that. Peter says, I know I've told you 483 00:32:26,270 --> 00:32:28,840 these things before. I want to bring them to 484 00:32:28,840 --> 00:32:31,200 remembrance. You know what I learned as I 485 00:32:31,200 --> 00:32:36,640 began to read the Bible properly many years ago, Not a bit here, 486 00:32:36,640 --> 00:32:38,600 not a bit there. That's not reading the Bible. 487 00:32:39,600 --> 00:32:42,520 You must read the phone book. That's how much you'll get out 488 00:32:42,520 --> 00:32:46,040 of it. But as I began to read through 489 00:32:46,040 --> 00:32:50,280 the Bible chapter by chapter, verse by verse, and God began to 490 00:32:50,280 --> 00:32:56,840 speak to me, You know what I noticed I that 99% of all that 491 00:32:56,840 --> 00:33:01,560 needs to be done, God does. All I have to do is accept it. 492 00:33:02,680 --> 00:33:08,480 And the other thing is this, that over and over and over and 493 00:33:08,480 --> 00:33:16,480 over God says, I love you. I'll never leave you over and 494 00:33:16,520 --> 00:33:18,200 over and over.