1 00:00:01,240 --> 00:00:06,040 Matthew chapter 13. I was able to listen to Alex's 2 00:00:06,040 --> 00:00:08,360 message from last week. Isn't Alex such a blessing? 3 00:00:09,680 --> 00:00:14,960 Him and his family and just so thankful for him and for them 4 00:00:15,560 --> 00:00:20,200 and just such a faithful man of God and a dear friend as well. 5 00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:25,120 And he loves you. So it's nice to to know that the 6 00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:29,040 church is obviously being well taken care of by men that I love 7 00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:31,680 and trust and who I know are going to love and care for Jesus 8 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:37,520 church well whenever I'm gone. So in Matthew chapter 13, Alex 9 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:42,040 had the privilege of giving you the parable of the parable of 10 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:44,200 the sower. It's been called the parable of 11 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:45,680 the sower. It's been called the parable of 12 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:47,880 the soils. But there Jesus showed us four 13 00:00:47,880 --> 00:00:50,800 different kinds of soils and then he told us what these 14 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:54,440 different kinds of soils were. We're going to review just for a 15 00:00:54,440 --> 00:00:57,120 second idea of parables at all. Why? 16 00:00:57,120 --> 00:01:00,640 Why did Jesus speak in parables? And this whole passage tells us, 17 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:03,160 if you want to know again, why does Jesus talk in parables? 18 00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:06,840 The passage lays it out and then he explains, well, it's 19 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:08,880 ultimately the the thing we often hit. 20 00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:12,080 It's God opposes the proud and he gives grace to the humble. 21 00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:15,040 So whenever a person's has hardened their heart, look at 22 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:16,560 the context here where he's done it. 23 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:20,320 Remember, he's just been going nuclear on the Pharisees for I 24 00:01:20,320 --> 00:01:22,440 mean, we were, we were there for weeks where he's just putting 25 00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:24,560 them on blast, on blast, on blast. 26 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:28,280 So much so his own mother and brothers come to seize him to 27 00:01:28,320 --> 00:01:31,200 interrupt him and go, hey, he's out of his mind. 28 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:33,880 Thank God they repented of that foolishness. 29 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:36,240 But at that time they're panicked and they're going, he's 30 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:38,840 saying some strong things. Jesus is telling them they have 31 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:41,320 committed an unforgivable sin. They've hardened themselves so 32 00:01:41,320 --> 00:01:44,080 much now is it that they can never turn? 33 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:45,080 Yes. Well, why? 34 00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:48,200 Because the Lord has given them over to what they pursued. 35 00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:52,720 The only way any person can ever repent is by the grace of God. 36 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:55,760 And the Lord has said, I was gracious and you sinned. 37 00:01:55,840 --> 00:01:58,040 I was gracious and you sinned. I was gracious and you sinned. 38 00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:01,760 I was gracious and you sinned. But you've gone so far now that 39 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:04,360 I will not offer you any more extension. 40 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:07,440 Therefore, you won't repent. So we talked about how well, 41 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:09,360 what if I'm I'm afraid I've committed that sin? 42 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:12,160 Well, you haven't by evidenced by the fact that you care. 43 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:15,680 The person who doesn't care is the person, unfortunately, who's 44 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:17,160 lost. So that's the context we're 45 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:19,520 moving forward through here. Jesus is putting them all on 46 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:24,320 blast and it says in chapter 13, verse one, that same day Jesus 47 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:26,560 went out and started teaching in these parables. 48 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:28,400 So this is fresh in the Lord's mind. 49 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:30,720 This is fresh in the Lord's heart, this perspective, he's 50 00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:32,280 going, everybody just saw this happen. 51 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:35,360 Let me connect some more dots for everybody the same day. 52 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:38,600 A lot of times in the gospels, we don't really know timelines. 53 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:41,480 We just the writer just goes and then this and we're like, was it 54 00:02:41,480 --> 00:02:43,280 a month? Was it the next week? 55 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:46,240 Was this was this gospel writer even keeping everything 56 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:48,160 chronological like maybe this one did? 57 00:02:48,640 --> 00:02:52,560 But in this case, Matthew says the same day and now he tells 58 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:53,920 about the four different kinds of soil. 59 00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:57,320 So you can see pretty clearly as you look at these different soil 60 00:02:57,320 --> 00:03:00,080 types. You can go, oh, well, the, the 61 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:02,760 Pharisees probably. So the temptation, of course, is 62 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:05,160 to just look around and inspect other people go, I wonder what 63 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:08,440 kind of soil Natalie is. I wonder what kind of soil Matt 64 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:10,920 is. Well, it's not that you can't do 65 00:03:10,920 --> 00:03:13,200 that, but that's certainly not your starting point. 66 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:15,520 Your starting point, of course, and your primary focus is all 67 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:17,400 you got. What kind of soil am I? 68 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:21,680 Lord, help my heart and help me to be faithful to you. 69 00:03:21,880 --> 00:03:24,160 So the purpose of the parables, the humble and hungry, they'll 70 00:03:24,160 --> 00:03:28,040 stay close to Jesus, not just for miracles, but for the words 71 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:31,400 of life. Do you understand church, 72 00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:33,320 everything that Jesus says and does? 73 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:34,960 Do you understand everything in your Bible? 74 00:03:35,080 --> 00:03:38,000 I don't. But the humble and hungry still 75 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:42,240 cling to Jesus, like Ruth, to Naomi, like Jonathan to David, 76 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:45,520 or like Jacob, to God himself. I won't let you go. 77 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:47,720 And that's what the humble and hungry will do. 78 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:50,600 When Jesus says things that are hard and difficult and you go, I 79 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:53,520 don't know what that means. And everybody leaves and he 80 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:57,560 turns to the 12 you guys leaving 2 And Peter goes, I don't know 81 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:00,480 what that means, but you have the words of life. 82 00:04:00,760 --> 00:04:04,280 Where else would we go? I'm hungry and humble and I'm 83 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:07,440 submitted to you. So that might not be the the 84 00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:11,160 fullness of knowledge, but it is a great love and it is a great 85 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:12,960 devotion. So we're going to recap the 86 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:16,480 soils before we continue here. The good soil, this is the one 87 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:20,920 that we want to be. The good soil is the good heart 88 00:04:21,959 --> 00:04:24,920 that produces good fruit even though it doesn't understand 89 00:04:24,920 --> 00:04:27,000 everything. It is submitted to the farmer 90 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:29,880 and to his tools. That's the good soil. 91 00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:32,320 That's our desire, the hard soil. 92 00:04:32,960 --> 00:04:35,440 Jesus called this the path. Some seed falls along the path. 93 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:40,120 The path is the hard heart. This is the Pharisees very, very 94 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:42,760 clearly, obviously people who Jesus saying have committed the 95 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:46,200 unforgivable sin. This is the Pharisees hard 96 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:48,680 hearts they reject right away. This is who the Jewish leaders 97 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:52,640 were, not all of them, but most and many of the people you know, 98 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:55,800 people like this as well, by the way, these are people who want 99 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:57,760 absolutely nothing to do with Jesus. 100 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:00,720 And they will tell you so quickly, you, you might start 101 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:02,760 sharing something about the Lord and you can feel it. 102 00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:05,920 You feel them bristle. You can feel the anger, you can 103 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:08,400 feel the frustration and you can sense the hostility. 104 00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:11,560 They hate you talking about him and his word and his Kingdom. 105 00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:15,120 The path soil doesn't receive anything at all. 106 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:18,360 This is the one soil I would probably say you, you're 107 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:20,400 probably not going to find in church on a Sunday. 108 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:22,480 I think you could find the others. 109 00:05:22,840 --> 00:05:25,400 And that's what's dangerous. I think it's dangerous for these 110 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:27,080 other two soils we're about to get to in a moment. 111 00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:29,400 That's why I'm sharing those with you last, the hard heart, 112 00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:32,880 though, it's kind of obvious. It's like nothing can get in. 113 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:35,800 You know, you toss a piece of seed over and it bounces back 114 00:05:35,800 --> 00:05:37,720 and hits you in the head. You're like, well, this isn't a 115 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:40,320 person of peace. This isn't a place that I should 116 00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:43,080 devote all of my time. I can give prayer to them and 117 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:46,440 pray for the Lord's mercy to breakthrough, but there's 118 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:48,480 nothing, There's no opportunity for me here. 119 00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:52,240 These next two kinds of soils are the ones that really 120 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:55,880 concerned me most about my flock and about myself. 121 00:05:56,480 --> 00:06:00,400 The Stony soil, this is the soil where there's some dirt in there 122 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:03,720 and there's some rocks in there. But unfortunately, the shout, 123 00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:07,280 the soil is very shallow. So the more shallow the soil is, 124 00:06:07,280 --> 00:06:09,120 the quicker things will sprout out up top. 125 00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:12,880 And it looks good. It looks like it's happening. 126 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:14,920 It's happening. Praise the Lord. 127 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:16,720 I remember in kindergarten, right, we planted the seed in 128 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:18,640 the cup. It's taking forever and ever and 129 00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:19,920 ever and ever. We're asking the teacher when's 130 00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:22,600 it going to grow. She's like, It is growing, it is 131 00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:24,400 growing. It's growing where it needs to 132 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:26,320 grow. It's growing how it needs to 133 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:27,920 grow. I'm like, but I want to see it, 134 00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:30,200 but it's growing where it needs to. 135 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:32,880 But if you put it in hardly any soil, it will spring up much 136 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:35,200 more quickly and have no strength. 137 00:06:35,560 --> 00:06:37,960 The Stony soil is the shallow heart. 138 00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:42,080 This person may be in church all the time, but it's all shallow. 139 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:46,680 They go that way because it's convenient, the shallow heart. 140 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:51,320 If everyone around them became a Mormon, this person would become 141 00:06:51,320 --> 00:06:54,320 a Mormon too, because they have no depth. 142 00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:58,200 Their roots are barely there. Their growth is all above the 143 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:00,960 surface, and therefore they're very vulnerable. 144 00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:04,880 Any heat, any pressure because of the faith, and they'll 145 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:06,640 wither. How do you know? 146 00:07:06,880 --> 00:07:10,040 Well, you get in your prayer closet and you get in your word 147 00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:13,000 and you say, God, help me to put down roots. 148 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:15,720 And then how? How do you know who you are, 149 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:18,200 where you are? Well, you, you continue to 150 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:20,880 submit yourself under the Lord and go, God, give me roots. 151 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:24,600 You pray for roots. God root me deeper in your word. 152 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:28,120 God root me deeper in Christ. You have a hunger and thirst and 153 00:07:28,120 --> 00:07:30,440 a fear of God that makes you go, God, give me roots. 154 00:07:30,720 --> 00:07:32,200 Don't just give me a vertical growth. 155 00:07:32,480 --> 00:07:33,840 Because when do you find that out? 156 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:35,160 You find that out when it's too late. 157 00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:37,840 You find that out when the pressure comes, when the heat 158 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:41,120 comes or when the wind blows and the plant goes, you go, I 159 00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:42,880 thought there was roots there. Yeah, we all did. 160 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:45,480 We all did. I can't believe that that guy's 161 00:07:45,480 --> 00:07:50,200 been in the church for 50 years. The church isn't these bricks 162 00:07:50,200 --> 00:07:53,760 and these windows aren't magical, being in the church. 163 00:07:54,280 --> 00:07:56,560 But are you in Christ? Are you in the faith? 164 00:07:56,600 --> 00:07:58,440 Are you sinking roots down deeper? 165 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:00,720 Or do you just have some vertical stuff that people can 166 00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:02,680 see? Pressure will reveal. 167 00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:06,280 Pressure will tell the tale. This is this is one that worries 168 00:08:06,280 --> 00:08:07,840 me for me. It worries me for you. 169 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:12,840 But the one that worries me for worries me for me most is this 170 00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:14,640 next one. It's the thorny soil. 171 00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:17,520 The thorny soil is the distracted heart. 172 00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:22,480 Idolatry takes many forms, and anything can take the Lord's 173 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:24,480 place and choke out love for God. 174 00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:28,600 The distracted heart does not hate the Lord, but it sees Him 175 00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:30,880 as a luxury and not always a need. 176 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:33,400 And this is the one, like I said, that scares me most 177 00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:36,320 personally, because thorns come up and around it. 178 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:38,679 There's still plants here. There's still fruit coming. 179 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:43,200 And yet, where's the focus? Where's the attention? 180 00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:45,560 This is the one that I have to be on guard about. 181 00:08:45,560 --> 00:08:48,560 Which one brings? Which one does the Holy Spirit 182 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:52,080 bring to you for attention? Which one do you say? 183 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:56,280 That one, That one convicts me. Don't leave that conviction 184 00:08:56,280 --> 00:08:58,680 here. Take that conviction all the way 185 00:08:58,680 --> 00:09:01,920 home to your knees. Take that conviction all the way 186 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:04,840 to your to your commute to work where you're praying and talking 187 00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:07,520 to the Lord about it. Don't leave it in this moment. 188 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:11,000 This is a reason I also recommend that you take notes, 189 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:12,200 or you at least have the ability to. 190 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:15,160 You don't have to outline my sermon as I preach it, but the 191 00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:18,480 ability to jot something down, to have a spot or a place to be 192 00:09:18,480 --> 00:09:20,240 able to do that, to carry something with you and go. 193 00:09:20,680 --> 00:09:22,360 The Lord's speaking to you while I'm preaching. 194 00:09:23,080 --> 00:09:24,840 He's saying things that Joe Michaels not saying. 195 00:09:24,840 --> 00:09:27,240 He's ministering to you in a way that Joe Michael can't minister 196 00:09:27,240 --> 00:09:29,240 to you. You don't want to just go. 197 00:09:29,280 --> 00:09:30,920 Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no, no that. 198 00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:34,480 Take it seriously, consider it deeply, meditate upon it and 199 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:37,520 continue to pursue it in prayer. This is how we sink down roots. 200 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:39,280 I'm teaching you how to be a Christian. 201 00:09:39,280 --> 00:09:42,440 I'm teaching you how to grow. Not just with I heard a sermon, 202 00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:45,040 I have more knowledge, but I'm teaching you some practicals of 203 00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:47,680 what it would look like to actually say, Oh, is that 204 00:09:47,680 --> 00:09:49,040 something you should do? Well, yeah. 205 00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:51,480 You should treasure those moments when the Lord brings you 206 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:53,160 direction and conviction. You should know that you're 207 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:55,640 being loved and you should do something with it, do something 208 00:09:55,640 --> 00:09:57,520 about it. So those are the soils. 209 00:09:57,520 --> 00:10:01,240 We want to be the good soil. So now we're going to go to our 210 00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:06,400 passage for today to verse 24. We're going to look at verses 24 211 00:10:06,400 --> 00:10:08,440 through 30 and then 36 through 43. 212 00:10:08,640 --> 00:10:11,800 Thankfully, this parable today Jesus explains for us the play 213 00:10:11,800 --> 00:10:18,080 by play chapter 13, verse 24. He put another parable before 214 00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:22,640 them, saying, The Kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man 215 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:24,760 who sowed good seed in his field. 216 00:10:25,360 --> 00:10:29,320 But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed seeds 217 00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:33,120 among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and 218 00:10:33,120 --> 00:10:36,600 bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 219 00:10:37,520 --> 00:10:40,320 And the servants of the master of the house came and said to 220 00:10:40,320 --> 00:10:43,240 him, Master, did you not sow good seed into your field? 221 00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:46,760 Helen doesn't have weeds. And he said to them, An enemy 222 00:10:46,760 --> 00:10:49,920 has done this. So the servants said to him, 223 00:10:50,560 --> 00:10:52,120 Then, do you want us to go and gather them? 224 00:10:52,840 --> 00:10:55,720 But he said no, lest in gathering the weeds you root up 225 00:10:55,720 --> 00:10:59,360 the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the 226 00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:02,800 harvest. And at harvest time I will tell 227 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:06,640 the reapers, gather the weeds 1st and bind them in bundles to 228 00:11:06,640 --> 00:11:10,640 be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn. 229 00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:15,640 Now to verse 36. Then he left the crowds and went 230 00:11:15,640 --> 00:11:19,640 into the house, and his disciples came to him, saying, 231 00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:21,880 Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field. 232 00:11:22,560 --> 00:11:26,840 He answered, The one who sows the seed, the good seed is the 233 00:11:26,840 --> 00:11:33,120 son of man, the field is the world, and the good seed is the 234 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:37,160 sons of the Kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the 235 00:11:37,160 --> 00:11:40,480 evil. 1 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. 236 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:45,800 The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the 237 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:49,360 angels. Just as the weeds were gathered 238 00:11:49,360 --> 00:11:52,680 and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the Age. 239 00:11:53,400 --> 00:11:56,800 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out 240 00:11:56,800 --> 00:12:01,800 of His Kingdom all causes of sin and lawbreakers, and throw them 241 00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:06,440 into the fiery furnace, and that place there will be weeping and 242 00:12:06,440 --> 00:12:09,800 gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine 243 00:12:09,800 --> 00:12:11,720 like the sun and the Kingdom of their Father. 244 00:12:12,360 --> 00:12:16,520 He who has ears, let him hear. God, give us ears to hear. 245 00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:19,640 Today we pray that we would not be dull, that we would not be 246 00:12:19,640 --> 00:12:21,600 blind, and that we would not miss out. 247 00:12:22,080 --> 00:12:24,520 Lord, even if we don't have the fullness of understanding, give 248 00:12:24,520 --> 00:12:27,080 us the fullness of humility and the fullness of love and the 249 00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:29,840 fullness of devotion. But I pray that You would open 250 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:33,960 the eyes of our hearts. Now we're not just chasing you 251 00:12:33,960 --> 00:12:36,400 because of the blessings that you bring, although they were, 252 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:39,280 there are many. We chase you and pursue you 253 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:41,800 because you have the words of life and because you are the 254 00:12:41,800 --> 00:12:44,160 resurrection and the life, because you are the light of the 255 00:12:44,160 --> 00:12:47,120 world and because you are the good farmer. 256 00:12:47,640 --> 00:12:51,440 You sow good seed and you take bad seed and even make it good. 257 00:12:52,040 --> 00:12:54,440 We thank you for your love and compassion for us today. 258 00:12:55,360 --> 00:12:58,640 Grow us and strengthen us. Help us to receive all that you 259 00:12:58,640 --> 00:13:01,160 intend for us in Jesus name, Amen. 260 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:04,920 So Jesus explained this parable clearly. 261 00:13:04,920 --> 00:13:07,240 So there's no question for what this one's about. 262 00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:08,760 That's not the case with all the parables. 263 00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:12,360 With some of the parables, we say some folks think this, some 264 00:13:12,360 --> 00:13:15,280 folks think that, some folks think maybe he was saying both 265 00:13:15,280 --> 00:13:17,640 of those things. We'll do the best we can with 266 00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:19,440 those as we get to them next week. 267 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:23,480 Got to get to get to some some more where Jesus doesn't 268 00:13:23,480 --> 00:13:25,800 necessarily spell it out plainly. 269 00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:30,480 But the only question for this one is what should our response 270 00:13:30,480 --> 00:13:31,880 be to it? And we're going to get to that. 271 00:13:32,760 --> 00:13:37,040 But the man is Jesus, the field is the world, The good seed is 272 00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:38,920 the sons of the Kingdom. Those are Christians. 273 00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:41,480 The bad seed is the sons of the devil. 274 00:13:41,480 --> 00:13:44,760 Non Christians, the enemy who planted the bad seed is the 275 00:13:44,760 --> 00:13:46,840 devil. The harvest is the end of the 276 00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:52,040 age and the reapers are angels. Just another thing, just really 277 00:13:52,040 --> 00:13:53,640 surface level that we can't avoid. 278 00:13:53,640 --> 00:13:55,920 And it's super obvious. Look at the language that Jesus 279 00:13:55,920 --> 00:13:58,080 uses. Again, not the modern 280 00:13:58,080 --> 00:14:00,800 evangelical kind of language to describe everything, right? 281 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:05,600 He is black and he is white. He is saying the sons of the 282 00:14:05,600 --> 00:14:08,720 devil and he's saying the sons of God. 283 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:12,760 It's just very plain spoken in his language instead of, well, 284 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:15,480 you know, some folks have some misunderstandings. 285 00:14:15,920 --> 00:14:20,840 So do we do we love the words of Jesus because because we want to 286 00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:23,080 shame people? No, we just love the words of 287 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:25,720 Jesus because they're the words of Jesus and we want to have his 288 00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:28,120 heart and we want the fullness of who he is. 289 00:14:28,120 --> 00:14:29,920 We keep saying that as we go through Matthew. 290 00:14:30,160 --> 00:14:33,600 We see both the God to be feared and the God to be loved and 291 00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:35,320 adored. We see both all at the same 292 00:14:35,320 --> 00:14:37,960 time. We don't, we should not pick one 293 00:14:38,120 --> 00:14:40,520 or the other. You're not mature to pick one or 294 00:14:40,520 --> 00:14:42,080 the other. You're mature when you can 295 00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:44,480 handle the tension of the Scriptures and you can handle 296 00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:46,840 who Jesus is the right thing at the right time. 297 00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:49,800 But He's always the truth. He's always the truth. 298 00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:52,800 And again, we just see Him speaking plainly in ways that 299 00:14:52,800 --> 00:14:56,200 are not pleasant for those who are not in his Kingdom to hear. 300 00:14:57,160 --> 00:14:58,920 Now the context. Of course, He's talking 301 00:14:58,920 --> 00:15:02,880 privately to his disciples, and yet He has no problem laying out 302 00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:05,320 with clarity, as He has been doing throughout Matthew. 303 00:15:05,800 --> 00:15:08,960 So Matthew's continuing to raise up and show the Jews, his Jewish 304 00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:12,120 readers, this Messiah. He's continuing to show the 305 00:15:12,120 --> 00:15:14,680 authority of Jesus and all that he's talking about and all that 306 00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:16,960 he's teaching. There's something interesting 307 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:20,400 about ancient times. It was illegal in ancient times 308 00:15:20,400 --> 00:15:25,480 and different cultures to sow seed, to sow weed into anyone's 309 00:15:25,480 --> 00:15:27,400 field. So that was a common enough 310 00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:29,480 practice that they said this is a particular law. 311 00:15:29,480 --> 00:15:32,160 Now, it's not just something slight, but this is something 312 00:15:32,160 --> 00:15:34,800 that can be punished to some degree because it was a way that 313 00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:37,160 you can manipulate someone else. It was a way you could harm 314 00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:39,640 someone else. You know, you're, you're in that 315 00:15:39,640 --> 00:15:41,240 context, you're harming their harvest. 316 00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:43,960 Their harvest is not getting all the nutrient that it could 317 00:15:43,960 --> 00:15:46,320 possibly get. It's having to share nutrient 318 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:49,680 with the weeds. There's a weed called Darnell, 319 00:15:49,720 --> 00:15:53,640 and this is the one that we suspect was probably what Jesus 320 00:15:53,640 --> 00:15:55,960 was referencing. And this is a weed that looks 321 00:15:55,960 --> 00:15:58,880 exactly like wheat. They're identical. 322 00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:02,120 And you can't tell until everything ripens. 323 00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:04,280 You don't know. So they're growing up. 324 00:16:04,280 --> 00:16:05,360 You're going look at all that wheat. 325 00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:08,320 Look at all that wheat, man. It's a good harvest. 326 00:16:08,880 --> 00:16:12,480 Man, this is such a blessing. And it looks so good and so 327 00:16:12,480 --> 00:16:15,040 wonderful. And then finally it starts to 328 00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:19,360 turn and it starts to come to a head and you go, oh, no, they, 329 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:22,480 they're the, the wheat is the, the golden brown that we're 330 00:16:22,480 --> 00:16:25,160 familiar with when we think of wheat, Darnell turns black. 331 00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:27,560 So there's these distinctions between them. 332 00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:31,480 And you go, what happened here? An enemy has done this. 333 00:16:32,400 --> 00:16:35,040 I didn't plan all that, but an enemy has done this. 334 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:39,000 So you can't tell which is which until it's ripe. 335 00:16:39,800 --> 00:16:41,880 When it comes to parables. The other thing is we have to be 336 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:44,800 careful to not go too far into the analogies. 337 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:48,760 One pastor once said even the very best analogy limps. 338 00:16:49,320 --> 00:16:52,040 So as opposed to just walking with perfect strength, it's 339 00:16:52,040 --> 00:16:55,040 still an analogy. So we we need to make the point 340 00:16:55,040 --> 00:16:57,200 out of a parable that Jesus makes with the parable. 341 00:16:57,520 --> 00:17:00,200 And then there's other things that we could say, this could be 342 00:17:00,200 --> 00:17:02,200 considered, this could be considered, but we never want to 343 00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:05,000 take a point and bring it too far and try and squeeze juice 344 00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:06,720 where there's not juice intended from the Lord. 345 00:17:07,200 --> 00:17:10,839 So This is why, you know, I want to walk in wisdom and humility, 346 00:17:11,040 --> 00:17:13,560 but I want to teach you these things so that you're also 347 00:17:13,560 --> 00:17:15,079 aware. I don't want you to be baby 348 00:17:15,079 --> 00:17:17,359 birds who hang on every word that John Michael has to say. 349 00:17:17,640 --> 00:17:19,760 I want you to be baby birds who hang on the every word that 350 00:17:19,760 --> 00:17:22,920 Jesus has to say. And then with that wisdom, you 351 00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:26,240 can recognize like, OK, maybe pastor overstated his case. 352 00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:28,240 Good. You should be able to notice 353 00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:29,400 that. You should be able to see that. 354 00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:32,640 And by God's grace, I pray that I won't do things like that. 355 00:17:32,640 --> 00:17:35,360 I pray that I will continue to grow in wisdom and maturity. 356 00:17:35,520 --> 00:17:36,960 Why? Because those who teach will be 357 00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:39,640 judged more harshly. So that scares me. 358 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:43,000 But I want you to be equipped. I want you to pay attention, and 359 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:45,720 I don't want you to, like I said, to just take what I'm 360 00:17:45,720 --> 00:17:46,960 saying. I want you to take the word of 361 00:17:46,960 --> 00:17:48,000 God. But we're going to look at what 362 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:50,000 Jesus intended. And yes, we're going to pay 363 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:51,840 attention to some other consequences here. 364 00:17:52,320 --> 00:17:54,640 The weed grows along with the wheat. 365 00:17:55,120 --> 00:17:58,000 And even then Darnell, obviously when you plant 2 plants side by 366 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:00,040 side, their weeds are going to their, their roots are going to 367 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:02,640 intertwine. So that's what happens with the 368 00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:06,480 Darnell and with the wheat. Their, their, their roots are 369 00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:08,520 intertwining. Jesus is telling us with this 370 00:18:08,520 --> 00:18:11,280 parable, we're all going to be together until the end. 371 00:18:12,680 --> 00:18:18,160 The evil of the world that grieves us, that can overwhelm 372 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:20,440 us at times, that can discourage us. 373 00:18:21,480 --> 00:18:24,400 He's telling us you're going to be with it until the end. 374 00:18:24,520 --> 00:18:27,920 This is the way it is. Wheat, meat, weed. 375 00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:30,320 Well, how do you know? Sometimes the wheat can't tell 376 00:18:30,320 --> 00:18:33,280 the difference. You might not know until much 377 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:35,000 later. You might not know until the 378 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:38,160 judgement in some cases. I thought that was wheat. 379 00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:40,160 The judgement revealed otherwise. 380 00:18:43,080 --> 00:18:44,520 Wow. What do we do with that? 381 00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:47,040 We already covered what we do with that, if that. 382 00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:49,560 If that puts the fear of the Lord in you as it should, then 383 00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:51,880 that should drive you to your knees and that should drive you 384 00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:54,640 to wring out your heart before the Lord and say, God make me 385 00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:57,600 good soil, make me good soil. God make me wheat. 386 00:18:58,520 --> 00:19:01,200 And that humility the Lord works with and blesses and then 387 00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:05,240 comforts and reassures. But Darnell hears this and goes, 388 00:19:05,240 --> 00:19:09,640 Yikes, Darnell, if that's you, God loves you and calls you to 389 00:19:09,640 --> 00:19:12,160 repentance. He changes Darnell into wheat. 390 00:19:12,640 --> 00:19:15,440 He doesn't do that in this parable, but we know from all of 391 00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:17,360 Scripture that that's what he does. 392 00:19:18,800 --> 00:19:21,000 So Jesus is telling us we're all going to be together until the 393 00:19:21,040 --> 00:19:24,920 end, and at the end he is going to sift out appropriately. 394 00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:29,080 We need to add here, every parable is good and useful, but 395 00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:32,320 every parable doesn't tell us every single thing that we need 396 00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:35,280 to know about something. So, for example, this parable 397 00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:40,240 taken by itself could make it sound like whoever is a 398 00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:43,200 Christian and whoever isn't will stay that way until the end of 399 00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:45,000 time, but that's obviously not the case. 400 00:19:45,520 --> 00:19:49,280 But if we took this parable alone to its logical extremes, 401 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:53,240 we could say, and we'd say, does Darnell ever turn into wheat? 402 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:55,640 Well, of course not, but that wasn't the point of the parable. 403 00:19:56,120 --> 00:19:59,280 But we know from Scripture that Jesus does turn Darnell into 404 00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:01,440 wheat because, by the way, where does wheat come from? 405 00:20:02,200 --> 00:20:04,640 Did you become wheat all by yourself, or did you used to be 406 00:20:04,640 --> 00:20:07,240 Darnell? We all used to be the weed, the 407 00:20:07,240 --> 00:20:09,960 worthless weed. So Jesus obviously had to make 408 00:20:09,960 --> 00:20:11,680 us new. So it's obviously not the case. 409 00:20:12,720 --> 00:20:18,160 But the Christian, it's obviously not the case that we 410 00:20:18,160 --> 00:20:22,480 have to stay what we are because the Christian obviously used to 411 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:25,440 be the son of the devil. So there are points to be made 412 00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:27,600 about Christians and non Christian that Jesus makes 413 00:20:27,600 --> 00:20:29,840 throughout the Gospels, but he's just not doing that. 414 00:20:29,840 --> 00:20:32,240 All right. Here He is saying what he is 415 00:20:32,240 --> 00:20:34,640 saying and he's not saying what he's not saying. 416 00:20:35,440 --> 00:20:38,640 So now what should our response be to this parable? 417 00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:40,200 What should our response be what? 418 00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:43,320 What is Jesus's intention? There's three things that I want 419 00:20:43,320 --> 00:20:45,640 to point out, three responses that we should have as his 420 00:20:45,640 --> 00:20:51,000 people #1 Jesus wants his people to read this parable and to be 421 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:57,160 put at ease rather than panic. Look at verse 28 through 30 422 00:20:57,160 --> 00:21:01,920 again. He said to them, an enemy has 423 00:21:01,920 --> 00:21:04,040 done this. So the servant said to the him, 424 00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:06,400 then do you want us to go and gather them? 425 00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:09,080 But he said no, lest in gathering the weeds you root up 426 00:21:09,080 --> 00:21:12,000 the weed along with them. Let both grow together until the 427 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:14,000 harvest. And at harvest time I will tell 428 00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:17,400 the reapers, gather the weeds 1st and bind them into bundles 429 00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:20,360 to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn. 430 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:22,320 What does Jesus want for us here? 431 00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:25,880 Jesus wants us to not be overwhelmed by evil. 432 00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:29,000 He wants us to not despair because of evil. 433 00:21:29,120 --> 00:21:31,120 I get frustrated. Do you ever get frustrated with 434 00:21:31,120 --> 00:21:33,160 the evil of the world? I get angry. 435 00:21:33,680 --> 00:21:37,960 I get angry at my government. I get angry at corporations. 436 00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:41,000 I get evil at greed. Ma'am, Adam and Angelina came 437 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:42,760 back from their trip. They told me about, like Adam 438 00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:46,840 told me there's 10,000 food ingredients that are literally 439 00:21:46,840 --> 00:21:49,680 illegal in the United Kingdom that are legal here. 440 00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:52,480 If he had said like there's 26, I'd be like, that's insane. 441 00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:56,720 There's over 10,000. This makes me angry. 442 00:21:57,120 --> 00:21:58,960 There is such an evil. It's such a wickedness. 443 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:02,840 The disease epidemic of the United States, all the problems 444 00:22:02,840 --> 00:22:05,440 that we experience, how much of that is being done to us because 445 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:09,520 of and the, the plastics, right? The microplastics and in the way 446 00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:13,200 it affects the, the testosterone in men to make us more passive 447 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:15,960 and to make, you know, like I can go down a rabbit hole with 448 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:18,160 this. And, and there's much evil and 449 00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:20,720 there's much wickedness and there's a lot of it. 450 00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:23,240 And we're right to be angry. I think we're right to be 451 00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:25,560 frustrated. I think we're right to be 452 00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:27,880 grieved. And those are just some of the 453 00:22:28,120 --> 00:22:29,760 kind of the first world examples. 454 00:22:29,880 --> 00:22:32,240 Think about the believers in Nigeria right now. 455 00:22:32,640 --> 00:22:34,280 They're facing a very different kind of evil. 456 00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:37,640 You know, the persecution that the church faces throughout the 457 00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:39,760 earth. It's, you know, I'm like, oh, 458 00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:42,160 they're getting me with the micro plastics as I grab a 459 00:22:42,160 --> 00:22:44,880 plastic water bottle to to take another sip. 460 00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:49,320 But believers who are growing up beside the Darnold that trying 461 00:22:49,320 --> 00:22:53,080 to kill them, believers who are surrounded by evil all over the 462 00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:57,240 world. So it looks like something, but 463 00:22:57,240 --> 00:23:01,000 God knows who belongs to him. And his comfort to us is that 464 00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:05,280 he's not going to tarry forever. He is coming back and the judge 465 00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:07,920 will judge rightly. And this is the comfort he gives 466 00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:09,720 to you. He wants you to say, hey, you 467 00:23:09,720 --> 00:23:12,080 need to accept the fact that you're going to grow up with 468 00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:14,400 these weeds around you. And sometimes you won't know who 469 00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:16,040 the weeds are, and sometimes you will. 470 00:23:16,600 --> 00:23:18,400 But this is the comfort that the father gives. 471 00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:21,880 This is the way it is. As a father, there's times where 472 00:23:21,880 --> 00:23:25,160 I've had to teach my son some hard life lessons and it's not 473 00:23:25,160 --> 00:23:28,720 comforting for them to hear as a child, the lesson of life isn't 474 00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:32,640 fair, my son, it's not fair. It won't be fair to you. 475 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:36,960 There will be imbalances, there will be injustices and you need 476 00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:38,680 to accept it. Now that's hard for a child to 477 00:23:38,680 --> 00:23:40,840 hear. That's a difficult lesson for a 478 00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:42,720 for a naive child to hear on man. 479 00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:44,720 This is stiff, right? That's a stiff teaching. 480 00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:47,200 And the same way Jesus giving us a stiff teaching. 481 00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:50,680 He's saying church going, yes, Lord evil's going to be around 482 00:23:50,680 --> 00:23:54,120 you until the end. Like man, I was thinking maybe 483 00:23:54,120 --> 00:23:55,680 it wouldn't. Maybe, maybe you could do 484 00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:58,800 something about this. Well, keep working, keep being 485 00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:01,720 the light, keep being the salt, but also you need to accept this 486 00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:03,440 reality because this is the way it is. 487 00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:05,800 I'm telling you how I'm going to do things and you need to 488 00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:08,520 understand it. The servants go, should we sift 489 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:10,360 it out now? The Lord says I'm going to sift 490 00:24:10,360 --> 00:24:12,400 it all out at the right time. I'm the judge. 491 00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:14,880 I will clarify, I will make it right. 492 00:24:15,240 --> 00:24:17,800 Vengeance is mine. I'll repay everything just as it 493 00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:20,520 should be. I'll show you in this in Romans 494 00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:28,680 chapter 12, the Lord Jesus wants you to read this parable, hear 495 00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:33,280 this parable and be put at ease rather than panic, rather than 496 00:24:33,280 --> 00:24:41,000 worry. Romans 12 verse 17 Repay no one 497 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:46,480 evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the 498 00:24:46,480 --> 00:24:51,720 sight of all, if possible, so far as it depends on you, live 499 00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:55,840 peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge 500 00:24:55,840 --> 00:24:58,840 yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God. 501 00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:01,800 For it is written, vengeance is mine. 502 00:25:02,440 --> 00:25:05,800 I will repay, says the Lord, to the contrary. 503 00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:07,960 If your enemy is hungry, feed him. 504 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:12,960 If he's thirsty, give him something to drink, for by so 505 00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:16,520 doing you will heap burning coals on his head. 506 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:21,200 Do not overcome. Do not be overcome by evil, but 507 00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:24,720 overcome evil with good. This is what it looks like to be 508 00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:27,720 salt and light. You want to heap burning coals 509 00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:30,520 on your enemy's head. You're going to do it one way or 510 00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:34,240 another by blessing him. Either that blessing is going to 511 00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:37,960 heap burning coals of conviction on him right then that he that 512 00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:41,720 will lead to his repentance, which is what we want, or the 513 00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:45,280 tragedy, what we don't want. It will continually build 514 00:25:45,280 --> 00:25:48,240 judgment upon him where burning coals will literally and 515 00:25:48,240 --> 00:25:50,400 actually cover him for all eternity. 516 00:25:51,120 --> 00:25:54,720 The tragedy that the Church of Jesus has been spared from by 517 00:25:54,720 --> 00:26:00,960 the blood of Jesus do not be overcome by evil, but overcome 518 00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:03,800 evil with good. We're grieved by what we see 519 00:26:03,800 --> 00:26:06,520 around us. The sons of the evil ones 520 00:26:06,520 --> 00:26:08,640 surround us. They entangle their roots with 521 00:26:08,640 --> 00:26:10,600 ours. They suck nutrient and life from 522 00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:12,680 us. Don't you feel that? 523 00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:15,080 Don't you feel times where where there's a draw, where there's a 524 00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:17,880 something taken from you by the evil of the world? 525 00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:20,480 But the Lord doesn't leave you there. 526 00:26:20,480 --> 00:26:22,800 He's got more, He's got more grace for you. 527 00:26:23,240 --> 00:26:25,200 He's got more of his spirit to fill you with. 528 00:26:25,680 --> 00:26:29,880 You're not going to run out. Just do what you should do. 529 00:26:29,880 --> 00:26:33,280 Be good wheat. Give it time and the Lord will 530 00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:36,320 judge. Do not be overcome by evil. 531 00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:39,280 Overcome evil with good. We are not being destroyed by 532 00:26:39,280 --> 00:26:41,440 the world. We're actually preserving the 533 00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:43,800 world. So although the world does make 534 00:26:43,800 --> 00:26:46,400 withdrawals from us, the thing the world is withdrawing is the 535 00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:50,080 salt and the light, and the Lord will continually provide us with 536 00:26:50,080 --> 00:26:51,960 more. So whereas the wheat in the 537 00:26:51,960 --> 00:26:55,000 field truly suffers and there's nothing, there's no hope. 538 00:26:55,360 --> 00:26:58,800 When we are rooted and grounded in Christ, we continually absorb 539 00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:01,520 all that we need from Him. You don't have to worry about 540 00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:03,520 being choked out by the evil ones. 541 00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:05,640 Yes. And we can't mix our parables 542 00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:07,000 either. So that sometimes you could say, 543 00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:09,600 oh, so because he's referencing soil and multiple parables. 544 00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:12,680 But again, each parable really is a standalone and they weren't 545 00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:14,160 intended to marry into one another. 546 00:27:15,120 --> 00:27:17,320 But you don't have to worry about the evil. 547 00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:20,000 And this is, this takes walking by faith. 548 00:27:21,120 --> 00:27:26,000 This takes walking by faith to go that was evil and I am angry 549 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:28,800 about it, but I don't just despair. 550 00:27:29,120 --> 00:27:31,000 I don't just rage posts on Facebook. 551 00:27:31,280 --> 00:27:33,480 I don't just rant endlessly at the water cooler. 552 00:27:33,680 --> 00:27:38,640 I don't just overwhelm my wife with my tyranny or with my with 553 00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:40,600 my anger at the tyranny of the microplastics. 554 00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:43,840 You know, I, I, I have to actually take these things to 555 00:27:43,840 --> 00:27:47,160 the Lord because then my heart becomes poisoned if I don't. 556 00:27:48,080 --> 00:27:50,280 Microplastics are the least of your of your worries, Joe 557 00:27:50,280 --> 00:27:51,600 Michael. They're just in your body. 558 00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:53,880 The more important thing is to keep things out of your heart. 559 00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:57,360 Because if I allow things in my heart, hatred for the 560 00:27:57,360 --> 00:28:00,520 politicians who I know hate us. I know they hate me. 561 00:28:00,520 --> 00:28:02,560 I know they hate you. I don't question that. 562 00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:05,760 I'd be so naive to think that. I know they hate us. 563 00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:08,920 But Jesus goes well. So love your enemies, Joe 564 00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:11,200 Michael. They are your enemies. 565 00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:13,960 So love them. Pray for them. 566 00:28:15,080 --> 00:28:18,680 Oh my goodness, what if this election goes so pray, Oh, what 567 00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:22,320 if so pray, so pray. Keep your heart pure. 568 00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:25,200 Keep your heart pure, that the evil's going to be around you. 569 00:28:25,760 --> 00:28:28,160 It's going to be around you until the end. 570 00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:31,080 Until I sift it and sort it. Until I pull the weeds out and 571 00:28:31,080 --> 00:28:36,040 burn them and use them as fuel. Then, then it is the way it's 572 00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:38,400 going to be. Yes Lord, steal my heart. 573 00:28:39,120 --> 00:28:42,040 Yes Lord, strengthen me. Yes Lord, fill me with your 574 00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:43,760 spirit. Yes Lord, keep me tender. 575 00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:45,440 Don't let me get filled with pride. 576 00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:47,960 Don't let me become self-righteous. 577 00:28:49,040 --> 00:28:52,320 Righteous indignation is a healthy thing, and yet I can't 578 00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:56,000 deceive myself when I really am just prideful. 579 00:28:58,720 --> 00:29:00,800 Your light is not diminished by the darkness. 580 00:29:01,640 --> 00:29:03,160 The candle is not afraid of the dark. 581 00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:06,160 Candle doesn't go to a dark room and shrink. 582 00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:09,440 The candle just says, this is what I'm here for. 583 00:29:09,920 --> 00:29:11,680 This room is so dark. Well, that's why I'm here. 584 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:14,640 That's why you're here. Salt is here to preserve the 585 00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:19,280 earth. The light is here to help the 586 00:29:19,280 --> 00:29:23,320 darkness. The first point we said Jesus 587 00:29:23,320 --> 00:29:25,760 wants his people to read this parable and be put at ease 588 00:29:25,920 --> 00:29:30,360 rather than panic #2 Jesus wants his people to read this parable 589 00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:34,880 and be motivated. Look at verse 40 of We're Still 590 00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:37,600 in chapter. Oh, sorry, I'll move just to 591 00:29:37,600 --> 00:29:50,360 Romans. Go back to Matthew 13, chapter 592 00:29:50,360 --> 00:29:53,400 13, verse 40. Just as the weeds are gathered 593 00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:58,440 and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 594 00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:02,400 The Son of Man will send His angels, and they will gather out 595 00:30:02,520 --> 00:30:04,480 of His Kingdom. Of whose Kingdom? 596 00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:07,400 It's God's Kingdom, the Son of man. 597 00:30:07,600 --> 00:30:09,280 It's all His. It's all His. 598 00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:11,680 Right now. We're not prophesying by faith 599 00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:12,800 that the earth is going to be His. 600 00:30:13,040 --> 00:30:15,120 It already is. He owns it. 601 00:30:19,520 --> 00:30:22,240 Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it 602 00:30:22,240 --> 00:30:25,240 be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his 603 00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:29,920 angels, and they will gather out of His Kingdom all causes of sin 604 00:30:30,120 --> 00:30:33,360 and lawbreakers and throw them into the fiery furnace. 605 00:30:33,840 --> 00:30:37,680 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 606 00:30:39,160 --> 00:30:41,240 How does Jesus want us to be motivated? 607 00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:44,840 Jesus doesn't want us to look at the weeds and not care at all. 608 00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:47,240 So the first point we said is he wants us to be comforted and 609 00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:49,640 say, accept this reality and understand it. 610 00:30:50,120 --> 00:30:53,680 But then he wants us to have the motive, look at the weeds with 611 00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:57,520 compassion, care deeply for the sons of the devil, and we should 612 00:30:57,520 --> 00:31:00,520 be motivated to give them the gospel of the Kingdom so that 613 00:31:00,520 --> 00:31:03,520 they are not burned with fire. What is Jesus teaching here? 614 00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:08,240 Jesus teaches that hell is real regardless of what any idiotic 615 00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:11,400 liberal heretical theologian would say. 616 00:31:12,280 --> 00:31:14,480 There's people who who would teach you and would twist the 617 00:31:14,480 --> 00:31:17,480 scriptures and say, oh, Jesus was speaking in hyperbole. 618 00:31:17,480 --> 00:31:20,160 No, he was speaking in parable when he spoke in parable, and 619 00:31:20,160 --> 00:31:23,920 now he's teaching the parable explicitly and Jesus is saying 620 00:31:24,080 --> 00:31:26,920 hell is a place. Jesus built hell. 621 00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:30,480 God made hell devils. The devils not in charge of 622 00:31:30,480 --> 00:31:31,840 hell. The demons aren't in charge of 623 00:31:31,840 --> 00:31:33,000 hell. They're not stabbing people with 624 00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:35,120 pitchforks saying ha ha, welcome to our domain. 625 00:31:35,120 --> 00:31:38,840 No, God built hell for Satan and for his demons. 626 00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:40,760 That's who hell was designed for. 627 00:31:41,960 --> 00:31:43,280 Humans aren't intended to go there. 628 00:31:43,280 --> 00:31:45,720 Humans are intended to live with God forever in his presence. 629 00:31:46,240 --> 00:31:49,120 But all the enemies of God will be dealt with in judgment if 630 00:31:49,120 --> 00:31:50,680 they don't bend the knee and kiss the sun. 631 00:31:52,280 --> 00:31:57,120 So that is why much of humanity, unfortunately and tragically, is 632 00:31:57,120 --> 00:31:59,960 going to hell. But this should motivate us. 633 00:32:00,120 --> 00:32:02,560 This should compel us. This shouldn't go well. 634 00:32:02,880 --> 00:32:05,160 He's coming back with a sword. I can't wait for that day. 635 00:32:06,040 --> 00:32:08,520 Well, I love my Lord, and I can't wait for him to come back. 636 00:32:08,520 --> 00:32:13,760 But at the same time, I'm grieved so that the loss won't 637 00:32:13,760 --> 00:32:15,840 be lost. People are. 638 00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:17,880 People are going to stay conscious. 639 00:32:17,880 --> 00:32:19,920 When people die, they don't lose consciousness. 640 00:32:20,680 --> 00:32:26,360 They die here and they wake up one of my nephew's, he had a 641 00:32:26,360 --> 00:32:30,200 grandparent die and the way they explained it to him, he was how 642 00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:34,840 old was he? Tucker was about 7:00 or so. 643 00:32:35,160 --> 00:32:37,960 And the only way they, they were trying to teach him to explain 644 00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:40,840 to him that and this his granddaddy was a believer, thank 645 00:32:40,840 --> 00:32:43,640 God, but they were trying to explain to him that granddaddy's 646 00:32:43,640 --> 00:32:45,520 died. And he said, I know, I know, I 647 00:32:45,520 --> 00:32:47,120 understand. He responded in heaven. 648 00:32:47,560 --> 00:32:49,960 So that's a that's a video game term. 649 00:32:49,960 --> 00:32:53,080 Like your character dies and then you and then you're like 650 00:32:53,080 --> 00:32:55,120 blue, you respond. You could respond a different 651 00:32:55,120 --> 00:32:57,480 location on the map. But like in Tucker's mind, he's 652 00:32:57,480 --> 00:33:00,200 like, no, I get it, guys. Like he respond like so. 653 00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:04,080 But Tucker's right, we respond, but you don't lose 654 00:33:04,080 --> 00:33:06,880 consciousness. And for the Saints, this is a 655 00:33:06,880 --> 00:33:10,160 deep comfort. But for anyone who's not, it is 656 00:33:10,160 --> 00:33:12,840 a horrific tragedy. It is the tragedy of all 657 00:33:12,840 --> 00:33:15,320 tragedies. It's the terror of all terrors. 658 00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:17,360 You've never had a nightmare? Scarier. 659 00:33:17,480 --> 00:33:19,280 You've never seen a movie? Creepier. 660 00:33:19,440 --> 00:33:22,480 There's nothing more tormenting and awful than burning in hell 661 00:33:22,480 --> 00:33:25,000 forever. Pastor, this is strong, man. 662 00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:27,600 We got to stay with Jesus. The word is true. 663 00:33:28,200 --> 00:33:30,960 The word is faithful. You're just trying to scare 664 00:33:30,960 --> 00:33:32,440 people. I'm trying to be faithful to the 665 00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:35,600 word, and I'm. Is this fire and brimstone? 666 00:33:35,600 --> 00:33:39,560 Well, yeah, literally it is. It is because the Word of God 667 00:33:39,840 --> 00:33:42,680 tells us the whole truth and not just a part of it. 668 00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:48,400 So when someone dies outside of Christ, it's a tragedy. 669 00:33:48,800 --> 00:33:53,040 We mourn and we weep and it's so heavy and so devastating. 670 00:33:53,480 --> 00:33:55,320 This is why you should be praying for your friends and 671 00:33:55,320 --> 00:33:58,600 your loved ones who don't know the Lord. 672 00:33:59,160 --> 00:34:02,480 I've got friends and loved ones that I'm praying for and the 673 00:34:02,480 --> 00:34:05,760 thought of them in hell is a motive for me because I know 674 00:34:05,760 --> 00:34:08,120 it's real and I know that is exactly where they're going to 675 00:34:08,120 --> 00:34:09,960 go and that's exactly what's going to happen to them. 676 00:34:10,239 --> 00:34:13,320 And everyone who's ever died and gone to hell, a man who died and 677 00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:17,159 went to hell 100 years ago, he's been there for 100 years. 678 00:34:17,880 --> 00:34:19,960 While you and I were having breakfast this morning, he was 679 00:34:19,960 --> 00:34:23,520 there this afternoon when I take a nap and I enjoy this beautiful 680 00:34:23,520 --> 00:34:27,199 day with my family. He's still going to be there and 681 00:34:27,199 --> 00:34:31,360 he has no hope of ever escaping. And the man, that's true for the 682 00:34:31,360 --> 00:34:35,880 man of 1000 years ago, and it is perfectly just and it is 683 00:34:35,880 --> 00:34:38,120 absolutely right and it is totally what I deserve. 684 00:34:38,760 --> 00:34:41,440 I deserve every bit of it. I deserve to suffer. 685 00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:44,239 How could a perfect God, once you sin against him, how could 686 00:34:44,239 --> 00:34:47,920 there ever be a finality to your, to your punishment? 687 00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:51,360 You sinned against the infinitely Holy One, the only 688 00:34:51,360 --> 00:34:53,440 possible way. And justice will still never be 689 00:34:53,440 --> 00:34:57,280 satisfied fully in eternity, because how could you? 690 00:34:57,640 --> 00:35:01,720 There's no way to repay my sin against God, who is infinitely 691 00:35:01,760 --> 00:35:04,240 holy. The only possible solution is 692 00:35:04,240 --> 00:35:08,120 infinite punishment for me. But annihilation and ending that 693 00:35:08,120 --> 00:35:09,840 would be. I mean, that would be. 694 00:35:10,360 --> 00:35:11,720 That would be not justice for me. 695 00:35:11,720 --> 00:35:13,880 It'd be like, OK, a million years for John Michael was 696 00:35:13,880 --> 00:35:17,200 enough and now I'm going to squash him like a bug and cease 697 00:35:17,200 --> 00:35:21,280 his entire existence. People in hell would beg for 698 00:35:21,280 --> 00:35:23,240 that. People in hell would beg for 699 00:35:23,240 --> 00:35:24,960 annihilation. And these are the false 700 00:35:24,960 --> 00:35:27,320 doctrines of the world. The false doctrines of the world 701 00:35:27,320 --> 00:35:30,760 teach that there's such a thing as annihilationism and there's 702 00:35:30,800 --> 00:35:33,520 their heretics. These are false believers, false 703 00:35:33,520 --> 00:35:36,600 prophets, wolves in the church who write books and teach these 704 00:35:36,600 --> 00:35:39,600 things that there comes a time when when everything stops. 705 00:35:39,600 --> 00:35:41,640 So there comes a time when everything is somehow turned 706 00:35:41,640 --> 00:35:44,680 again and and everyone is eventually brought into the 707 00:35:44,680 --> 00:35:47,320 eternal Kingdom. But if that's true, if one 708 00:35:47,320 --> 00:35:49,920 person could ever make it into heaven without the blood of 709 00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:53,640 Jesus, then that also means that the blood of Jesus is completely 710 00:35:53,640 --> 00:35:56,640 worthless. Because if one person can get in 711 00:35:56,640 --> 00:36:01,120 without the blood, then everyone logically can get in without the 712 00:36:01,120 --> 00:36:03,120 blood. And the blood of Jesus is not 713 00:36:03,120 --> 00:36:04,960 worthless. It is costly. 714 00:36:04,960 --> 00:36:08,240 And the Father loves the Son, and he is pleased with the Son, 715 00:36:08,360 --> 00:36:10,800 and he will not allow one person to dishonor his Son. 716 00:36:11,200 --> 00:36:14,680 That's why he has given him the name above every names above 717 00:36:14,680 --> 00:36:16,600 every name. And that's why Jesus will come 718 00:36:16,600 --> 00:36:17,840 to judge the living and the dead. 719 00:36:18,040 --> 00:36:20,560 Who else is worthy? Who else is qualified? 720 00:36:20,680 --> 00:36:24,480 Who else can open the scrolls except for the Lord himself? 721 00:36:26,240 --> 00:36:29,000 Hell is real and the reapers are coming. 722 00:36:29,360 --> 00:36:32,000 This gives us great compassion. This gives us great love. 723 00:36:32,280 --> 00:36:33,920 This doesn't make us go. I don't like that. 724 00:36:33,920 --> 00:36:37,640 This makes us instead go. God, send me here am I send me. 725 00:36:37,640 --> 00:36:40,120 Here am I send me. He's coming to judge the living 726 00:36:40,120 --> 00:36:41,680 in the dead. What is your life, Church? 727 00:36:41,680 --> 00:36:44,320 What is my life? Our eternity is secure. 728 00:36:44,920 --> 00:36:47,680 If you're the wheat, then your life is settled. 729 00:36:48,200 --> 00:36:49,600 I don't have to survive this thing. 730 00:36:50,880 --> 00:36:52,840 My life doesn't matter. Joe Michael doesn't have to 731 00:36:52,840 --> 00:36:55,600 survive. God, just let me be faithful. 732 00:36:56,520 --> 00:36:59,720 I win whatever happens. If I lose, I win. 733 00:36:59,720 --> 00:37:03,840 If I win, I win. I win because Jesus is 1 and I'm 734 00:37:03,840 --> 00:37:08,880 with him. He is coming to judge the living 735 00:37:08,880 --> 00:37:11,480 in the dead in light of his appearing and His Kingdom. 736 00:37:11,640 --> 00:37:15,120 Preach the word again. The candle is not afraid of the 737 00:37:15,120 --> 00:37:17,200 dark. The candle changes the dark. 738 00:37:18,600 --> 00:37:20,880 If the weeds didn't intertwine with the wheat, they couldn't 739 00:37:20,880 --> 00:37:23,920 even survive. You are the nutrient of Jesus to 740 00:37:23,920 --> 00:37:27,640 the world. So that's the second thing Jesus 741 00:37:27,640 --> 00:37:29,520 wants us to be motivated by this parable. 742 00:37:29,720 --> 00:37:32,880 And then the third thing Jesus wants for us from this parable. 743 00:37:33,080 --> 00:37:37,520 He wants us to be hopeful. Read in verse 43 with me. 744 00:37:39,720 --> 00:37:44,920 Then the righteous will shine like the sun and the Kingdom of 745 00:37:44,920 --> 00:37:49,160 their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. 746 00:37:50,480 --> 00:37:52,040 The righteous will shine like the sun. 747 00:37:53,120 --> 00:37:56,480 That's the wheat. If that's you, then that's your 748 00:37:56,480 --> 00:37:59,560 promise, that's your reward, that's your blessing, that's 749 00:37:59,720 --> 00:38:02,160 your peace, that's your satisfaction, that's your 750 00:38:02,160 --> 00:38:04,960 delight. It is something to look forward 751 00:38:04,960 --> 00:38:07,400 to. How can we hold all these things 752 00:38:07,400 --> 00:38:11,000 in our heart at the same time? By God's grace, because we 753 00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:13,720 should, we can. Have you been happy and sad at 754 00:38:13,720 --> 00:38:16,280 the same time? It's a it's a strange thing. 755 00:38:18,320 --> 00:38:21,560 We're complicated creatures, but the Lord equips us and fits us 756 00:38:21,560 --> 00:38:25,400 for this work. Have faith in Jesus because this 757 00:38:25,400 --> 00:38:27,840 is your destiny. This is what's coming for his 758 00:38:27,840 --> 00:38:30,920 church. His Saints are going to shine 759 00:38:31,120 --> 00:38:34,040 like the sun. We will rule and reign with him 760 00:38:34,040 --> 00:38:36,440 forever. We will judge the angels. 761 00:38:38,480 --> 00:38:39,960 It's so funny. Paul writes out, he says, do you 762 00:38:39,960 --> 00:38:41,040 not know that you'll judge the angels? 763 00:38:41,040 --> 00:38:42,440 Like actually, I didn't know that, Paul. 764 00:38:43,120 --> 00:38:46,760 Glad you threw that in. I did not know that was coming. 765 00:38:47,720 --> 00:38:49,160 We're going to shine like the sun. 766 00:38:50,320 --> 00:38:53,880 It's going to be good. Go to Revelation chapter 22. 767 00:38:56,480 --> 00:39:00,680 Our future is glorious. Our eternity is secure by the 768 00:39:00,680 --> 00:39:03,640 blood of Jesus. We are sealed by the promise of 769 00:39:03,640 --> 00:39:10,040 the Holy Spirit. Revelation is the last book in 770 00:39:10,040 --> 00:39:24,440 your Bible, the very back Revelation chapter 22, the last 771 00:39:24,440 --> 00:39:30,560 chapter of the Bible, verse one. Then the Angel showed me the 772 00:39:30,560 --> 00:39:36,760 river of the water of life. Bride is crystal flowing from 773 00:39:36,760 --> 00:39:40,160 the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the 774 00:39:40,160 --> 00:39:43,120 street of the city. Also on either side of the 775 00:39:43,120 --> 00:39:46,320 river, the tree of Life, with its twelve kinds of fruit, 776 00:39:46,920 --> 00:39:50,760 yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were the 777 00:39:50,760 --> 00:39:54,960 healing for the nations. No longer will there will there 778 00:39:54,960 --> 00:39:58,960 be anything accursed, but the throne of God and the Lamb will 779 00:39:58,960 --> 00:40:01,560 be in it, and His servants will worship Him. 780 00:40:02,280 --> 00:40:06,560 They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads, 781 00:40:07,360 --> 00:40:11,680 and night will be no more. They will need no light or lamp 782 00:40:11,680 --> 00:40:14,600 or sun. For the Lord God will be their 783 00:40:14,600 --> 00:40:18,200 light and they will reign forever and ever. 784 00:40:19,280 --> 00:40:21,640 There are many beautiful promises that will reassure your 785 00:40:21,640 --> 00:40:23,120 heart here at the end of Revelation. 786 00:40:23,440 --> 00:40:26,280 I encourage you to read them. I encourage you to read all of 787 00:40:26,280 --> 00:40:28,280 your Bible. I encourage you to read all of 788 00:40:28,280 --> 00:40:31,080 Revelation, but in particular to know what's coming. 789 00:40:31,320 --> 00:40:33,280 How's this thing end up? Every guys must say, how's the 790 00:40:33,280 --> 00:40:35,000 world going to end? I don't know how the world's 791 00:40:35,000 --> 00:40:36,920 going to end. Many Christians have strong 792 00:40:36,920 --> 00:40:38,240 convictions on it's going to end like this. 793 00:40:38,240 --> 00:40:40,680 It's going to end like that. Here's what I'm sure of. 794 00:40:40,760 --> 00:40:42,760 Jesus is coming back and I'm with him and I'm not going to 795 00:40:42,760 --> 00:40:45,880 argue with however he does it. Somebody's right, somebody's 796 00:40:45,880 --> 00:40:48,280 wrong. Team Jesus, I'm all in. 797 00:40:48,280 --> 00:40:50,560 Wherever your convictions are on it, I'm good with it. 798 00:40:51,440 --> 00:40:53,840 But that's going to be a short window compared to what's 799 00:40:53,840 --> 00:40:55,280 coming. Saints, we're going to be with 800 00:40:55,280 --> 00:40:57,240 him forever. We're going to rule and reign as 801 00:40:57,240 --> 00:41:01,240 we were always intended to. We're in this gigantic section 802 00:41:01,240 --> 00:41:03,600 here in the middle between the Garden of Eden where we were 803 00:41:03,600 --> 00:41:06,840 supposed to live happily ever after, and then God's 804 00:41:06,840 --> 00:41:08,840 restoration, God's restoration plan. 805 00:41:09,360 --> 00:41:11,280 But there's coming a day where we're going to look back on all 806 00:41:11,280 --> 00:41:15,160 of this and we walk into eternity forever living with our 807 00:41:15,160 --> 00:41:17,960 Lord, living with one another, knowing each other. 808 00:41:17,960 --> 00:41:21,520 Remember, we're just respawning. But where we respond is nothing 809 00:41:21,520 --> 00:41:24,280 like where we are. It is far more glorious. 810 00:41:24,400 --> 00:41:26,840 It is far more perfect because He is there. 811 00:41:27,320 --> 00:41:30,720 He is our light. He is our everything, a heaven 812 00:41:30,720 --> 00:41:33,720 without Jesus. Please annihilate me. 813 00:41:33,720 --> 00:41:36,400 What would the point be? I don't want to just exist. 814 00:41:36,960 --> 00:41:40,320 Jesus is the only purpose of existence, to love and honor and 815 00:41:40,320 --> 00:41:41,800 walk with Him and fellowship with Him. 816 00:41:42,760 --> 00:41:44,960 If you think you would enjoy heaven without Jesus, then that 817 00:41:44,960 --> 00:41:46,520 means you probably don't have Jesus. 818 00:41:48,440 --> 00:41:51,720 But Jesus wants his people to be hopeful, to know what's coming. 819 00:41:51,880 --> 00:41:55,680 Evil will be fully put away and no one is going to get away with 820 00:41:55,680 --> 00:41:58,640 anything. His justice is perfect. 821 00:42:00,240 --> 00:42:06,360 His Saints got their sin put on Him, but all the evil ones were 822 00:42:06,360 --> 00:42:08,120 dealt with by the Lord appropriately. 823 00:42:08,560 --> 00:42:12,240 We will be glorified later, but only if we're faithful now. 824 00:42:12,240 --> 00:42:16,040 To glorify Him, the Lord plants his people all over the world, 825 00:42:16,720 --> 00:42:20,440 all over the field, and then He's coming back to harvest us 826 00:42:20,440 --> 00:42:23,520 at the right time. He told his disciples, He says, 827 00:42:23,520 --> 00:42:28,480 I go to prepare a place for you. If, if it wasn't so, I would 828 00:42:28,480 --> 00:42:31,080 have told you. That's always a comforting 829 00:42:31,080 --> 00:42:32,400 passage to me. He's all right, guys. 830 00:42:32,720 --> 00:42:34,680 I'm going to go and take care of it, and then I'm going to come 831 00:42:34,680 --> 00:42:36,920 back and get you and you're going to come be with me. 832 00:42:37,080 --> 00:42:39,080 If it wasn't that way, I would have told you. 833 00:42:39,080 --> 00:42:41,760 I would tell you guys the truth. You can trust me. 834 00:42:42,400 --> 00:42:45,960 I'm coming back. And then he leaves us and he 835 00:42:45,960 --> 00:42:48,520 says it's evil here. There's darkness around you. 836 00:42:48,640 --> 00:42:52,400 There's weeds around you. Go into all the world, do your 837 00:42:52,400 --> 00:42:55,720 work, accomplish the mission. I'm coming soon. 838 00:42:57,240 --> 00:43:00,680 I'm coming soon. Let's read that actually in 839 00:43:00,680 --> 00:43:03,360 verse. We're still in Revelation 16. 840 00:43:03,360 --> 00:43:05,920 Let's go to verse 16. Revelation 22. 841 00:43:05,920 --> 00:43:09,200 Let's go to verse 16. I, Jesus, have sent my Angel to 842 00:43:09,200 --> 00:43:11,560 testify to you about these things for the churches. 843 00:43:11,880 --> 00:43:15,240 I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright Morning 844 00:43:15,240 --> 00:43:17,840 star. Verse 17, the Spirit and the 845 00:43:17,840 --> 00:43:22,960 Bride say come, and let the one who hears say, come and let the 846 00:43:22,960 --> 00:43:26,680 one who is thirsty come. Let the one who desires take the 847 00:43:26,680 --> 00:43:33,240 water of life without price. If you're not sure that you 848 00:43:33,240 --> 00:43:37,240 belong to him, if you're not sure if you're wheat or if 849 00:43:37,240 --> 00:43:39,640 you're the weed, the good news is that Jesus wants to save you. 850 00:43:40,480 --> 00:43:43,920 He wants to save you right now. He wants to save you before the 851 00:43:43,920 --> 00:43:48,040 reapers come. He will give you a new life. 852 00:43:48,200 --> 00:43:51,960 He will make you wheat. If you say I don't think I'm the 853 00:43:51,960 --> 00:43:54,720 good soil right now, well then let's get that right with the 854 00:43:54,720 --> 00:43:56,880 Lord as well. Let's take that to Him in 855 00:43:56,960 --> 00:43:59,880 humility and repentance. God, I see a thorn. 856 00:44:00,080 --> 00:44:01,800 Lord, I feel, I feel the stab of it. 857 00:44:01,800 --> 00:44:04,480 I feel the distraction. I feel my attention wandering. 858 00:44:05,760 --> 00:44:07,520 Let's take all these things to Him in prayer. 859 00:44:07,880 --> 00:44:10,280 Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for your Word. 860 00:44:10,520 --> 00:44:12,240 Jesus, we thank you for teaching us. 861 00:44:13,520 --> 00:44:14,840 We thank you for walking with us. 862 00:44:14,840 --> 00:44:16,360 God, we thank you for bearing with us. 863 00:44:19,000 --> 00:44:23,800 We thank you for opening up the eyes of our hearts so that we 864 00:44:23,800 --> 00:44:26,280 would not despair at the evil around us. 865 00:44:27,440 --> 00:44:30,080 We would recognize it, that we would accept the reality that 866 00:44:30,080 --> 00:44:33,080 we're facing. But don't let us despair now. 867 00:44:33,080 --> 00:44:36,120 We also pray that you would fill us with motive to love the 868 00:44:36,120 --> 00:44:39,640 world, to carry the gospel, to be the witness. 869 00:44:41,960 --> 00:44:44,960 And Lord, we also pray that you would fill us with hope, the 870 00:44:44,960 --> 00:44:51,120 blessed hope, the day of your return, the great expectation 871 00:44:51,120 --> 00:44:54,280 that we have for our eternity with you, to love you and to 872 00:44:54,320 --> 00:45:00,440 enjoy you forever. Yeah, we confess our sins of be 873 00:45:00,440 --> 00:45:04,040 in the wrong soil, be in the bad soil, be in the Stony soil, be 874 00:45:04,040 --> 00:45:06,720 in the thorny soil, be in hard soil. 875 00:45:10,360 --> 00:45:16,320 God, I pray if there's anyone here or who's listening, who 876 00:45:16,320 --> 00:45:21,080 wants to be sure of their salvation, that they would come 877 00:45:21,080 --> 00:45:25,160 to you with faith, that they would come to you with humility, 878 00:45:25,480 --> 00:45:29,840 that they would come to you giving you their life fully and 879 00:45:29,840 --> 00:45:32,480 completely submitting to you, the farmer, and saying I'm 880 00:45:32,480 --> 00:45:35,400 yours. Whatever I am, weed, wheat, 881 00:45:35,520 --> 00:45:39,400 whatever I am, Jesus, I'm yours. Jesus, take me and make me 882 00:45:39,400 --> 00:45:42,400 everything you want me to be. Let that be your prayer, Saints, 883 00:45:42,640 --> 00:45:45,120 let that be your prayer. I don't know if I'm a St. 884 00:45:45,120 --> 00:45:49,400 Then let that be your prayer. Jesus, save me by your blood, by 885 00:45:49,400 --> 00:45:52,720 your sacrifice. I am a Sinner in need of you, 886 00:45:52,720 --> 00:45:55,120 the Savior. My life is yours. 887 00:45:55,760 --> 00:45:57,880 God, hear the hearts of your people and the prayers of your 888 00:45:57,880 --> 00:46:00,600 people. Go with them today. 889 00:46:02,440 --> 00:46:05,160 Holy Spirit, I pray that you will continue to prick our 890 00:46:05,160 --> 00:46:08,200 hearts, that you will continue to draw us to you in prayer, not 891 00:46:08,200 --> 00:46:12,680 just for ourselves, but for our country, for this world, for our 892 00:46:12,680 --> 00:46:16,560 loved ones. In light of your coming and your 893 00:46:16,560 --> 00:46:22,040 Kingdom, help us all to preach the Word in Jesus name. 894 00:46:24,080 --> 00:46:26,440 And now the Lord bless you and keep you. 895 00:46:27,400 --> 00:46:31,200 The Lord make his face Shinedown upon you and be gracious to you. 896 00:46:32,200 --> 00:46:35,120 The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you great 897 00:46:35,120 --> 00:46:37,720 peace in Jesus name. Amen. 898 00:46:38,280 --> 00:46:44,520 Angela and I will be in the corner over here.