1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:02,520 So we'll see what happens. It's going to be in Matthew, chapter 2 00:00:02,520 --> 00:00:05,560 13. Grab your Bibles. Matthew, chapter 13. We're going to start 3 00:00:05,560 --> 00:00:09,640 in verse 24 in just a second. But while you're finding Matthew 4 00:00:09,640 --> 00:00:14,080 13:24, I want to begin with a question for you. And I really want 5 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:16,880 you to wrestle with it. You don't have to raise your hand. You 6 00:00:16,880 --> 00:00:19,400 can just nod or look my direction or whatever. But have any 7 00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:24,280 of you ever wrestled with the question, why does a good God let 8 00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:27,540 bad things happen to good people? Any of you ever wrestle with 9 00:00:27,540 --> 00:00:31,740 it? Look at me and blink. Whatever. Just some way. Okay, there's 10 00:00:31,740 --> 00:00:34,220 a few of you who've wrestled with that question. It is one of 11 00:00:34,220 --> 00:00:38,060 the biggest questions that people outside the faith wrestle 12 00:00:38,060 --> 00:00:43,740 with. How could God, if he's good, let bad things happen to people, 13 00:00:44,140 --> 00:00:48,860 especially people we perceive as good? I'm praying that a friend 14 00:00:48,860 --> 00:00:52,780 of mine is gonna watch this message. So, Charlie, this is for 15 00:00:52,780 --> 00:00:55,340 you. I'm asking you to listen into this one. Cause Charlie and 16 00:00:55,340 --> 00:00:58,650 I had this really long conversation about this particular 17 00:00:58,650 --> 00:01:02,970 issue. He was with me when we went over to Tanzania, and we were 18 00:01:03,370 --> 00:01:06,330 with Compassion International, which does a lot of good work of 19 00:01:06,330 --> 00:01:09,610 providing food for children and families who don't have much 20 00:01:09,930 --> 00:01:14,050 people in abject poverty. And we had had those visits. And then 21 00:01:14,050 --> 00:01:17,370 we went up on the mountain and on our way down, we were talking 22 00:01:17,610 --> 00:01:20,970 about Christianity and about faith. And he knew it was a bunch 23 00:01:20,970 --> 00:01:23,450 of pastors on the trip. And he grew up all around Christianity. 24 00:01:23,450 --> 00:01:25,610 But I'm just really struggling with this question. Like, I mean, 25 00:01:25,610 --> 00:01:30,690 if we just. Jason went into people's homes and they were in abject 26 00:01:30,690 --> 00:01:37,170 poverty, like dirt, floor, mud walls, so many of them hungry and 27 00:01:37,170 --> 00:01:42,129 hurting, and he's going, if God is who he says he is, he's got 28 00:01:42,129 --> 00:01:45,410 the power to help him. Why does he just sit back and do nothing? 29 00:01:46,610 --> 00:01:52,290 It's a good question. Why? Why would God, a good God let. Why would 30 00:01:52,290 --> 00:01:56,990 a good God let there be child slavery even today? Why does a good 31 00:01:56,990 --> 00:01:59,510 God let there be cancer? Why does a good God let there be death? 32 00:01:59,510 --> 00:02:01,830 Why does a good God let there be failure and broken relationships 33 00:02:01,830 --> 00:02:06,710 and broken men? Why does a good God allow this? This is a question 34 00:02:06,950 --> 00:02:09,630 that if you haven't heard, it's a philosophical argument called 35 00:02:09,630 --> 00:02:12,150 the problem of evil or the problem of suffering. Let me tell 36 00:02:12,150 --> 00:02:15,230 you how the argument goes. Now, I'm not trying to arm you with 37 00:02:15,230 --> 00:02:17,830 unbelief. I'm trying to arm you with facing the questions that 38 00:02:17,830 --> 00:02:22,990 you need to answer. So it goes like this. If God is who he says 39 00:02:22,990 --> 00:02:28,270 he is in the Bible, then he's all good, all knowing, and all powerful. 40 00:02:28,990 --> 00:02:32,190 And if those are true, then evil shouldn't exist. You say, okay, 41 00:02:32,190 --> 00:02:36,310 if God is all good, then he shouldn't put up with evil existing 42 00:02:36,310 --> 00:02:39,870 in the world. And if God is all knowing, then he should know 43 00:02:39,870 --> 00:02:42,390 exactly what to do about the evil in the world. And if God is 44 00:02:42,390 --> 00:02:44,510 all powerful, he should have the ability to do something about 45 00:02:44,510 --> 00:02:49,150 it. So if evil exists in the world, therefore it must mean the 46 00:02:49,150 --> 00:02:52,720 God of the Bible does not exist. That's the philosophical argument 47 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:56,960 called the problem of evil. Once you know, it sounds like an 48 00:02:56,960 --> 00:03:00,920 ironclad argument, like, what you gonna say about that? But interestingly, 49 00:03:00,920 --> 00:03:04,560 today, Jesus is actually gonna answer that question, not for us, 50 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:07,720 but for the original audience, and we're gonna see him deal with 51 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:10,920 this. Now, I don't know if you know this or not, but Bible interpretation, 52 00:03:10,920 --> 00:03:14,160 like how to rightly understand what the word of God is saying, hinges 53 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:18,180 on one overarching principle. You have to know what the original 54 00:03:18,180 --> 00:03:21,340 author is saying to the original audience. There's always 55 00:03:21,340 --> 00:03:25,140 a context in which something is spoken. So Jesus is speaking into 56 00:03:25,140 --> 00:03:28,340 a context, and you have to know the context to understand his 57 00:03:28,340 --> 00:03:31,660 words. So he's speaking into a Jewish context that lives in the 58 00:03:31,660 --> 00:03:36,060 middle of incredible oppression by the Roman regime. They 59 00:03:36,060 --> 00:03:39,220 are living under the Roman Empire, and all they can do is look 60 00:03:39,220 --> 00:03:42,870 around and see evil all around them. I don't know if you know much 61 00:03:42,870 --> 00:03:47,390 about the Roman Empire, but they had so much evil and decadence 62 00:03:47,390 --> 00:03:51,190 and sexuality, and it was just. They were oppressive people. 63 00:03:51,590 --> 00:03:54,990 They would literally take Jewish people, throw them into an 64 00:03:54,990 --> 00:03:58,630 arena, release dogs to devour them for entertainment for the masses. 65 00:03:59,750 --> 00:04:03,590 These were people who had no moral code whatsoever. And they were 66 00:04:03,590 --> 00:04:06,430 thriving in those false temples. And gods are everywhere 67 00:04:06,430 --> 00:04:09,290 and they're wealthy, and they're just living it up while the 68 00:04:09,290 --> 00:04:12,810 Jewish people are suffering and they're going, God, I thought 69 00:04:12,810 --> 00:04:17,730 you were all powerful, all knowing, and all good. How can you, 70 00:04:17,890 --> 00:04:22,370 Yahweh God let all this evil around us exist and you do nothing 71 00:04:22,370 --> 00:04:27,010 about it. So the Jewish people at the time of Jesus are suffering 72 00:04:27,010 --> 00:04:32,050 with the exact same questions. And Jesus speaks into that in this 73 00:04:32,050 --> 00:04:34,490 parable that we're going to read. So last week we had the first 74 00:04:34,490 --> 00:04:37,840 of what's going to be multiple parables. It was about the four soils 75 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:41,480 and the different ways that people respond and the heart that 76 00:04:41,480 --> 00:04:45,440 they have. But he's going to come with another agricultural parable, 77 00:04:45,520 --> 00:04:48,840 but this one is going to be about weeds and about wheat and how 78 00:04:48,840 --> 00:04:51,880 to know the difference. And he's going to explain a way for us 79 00:04:51,880 --> 00:04:54,360 to understand the problem of evil and suffering in the world. 80 00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:58,280 So let's listen to his words jumping in Matthew 13, beginning 81 00:04:58,280 --> 00:05:02,040 in verse 24, he put another parable before them, saying, the 82 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:04,560 kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good 83 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:07,680 seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy 84 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:11,360 came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the 85 00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:14,720 plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And 86 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:17,400 the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, master, 87 00:05:17,400 --> 00:05:20,280 did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have 88 00:05:20,280 --> 00:05:23,960 weeds? He said to them, an enemy has done this. So the servants 89 00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:26,240 said to him, then what do you want us to do? Do you want us to 90 00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:29,200 go and gather them? But he said, no, lest in gathering the weeds, 91 00:05:29,200 --> 00:05:32,040 you root up the wheat along with them. Let them both grow together 92 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:34,520 until the harvest. And at harvest time, I will tell the reapers, 93 00:05:34,520 --> 00:05:36,790 gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned 94 00:05:36,790 --> 00:05:40,930 and. But gather the wheat into my barn. Okay, so just a parable 95 00:05:40,930 --> 00:05:43,410 that Jesus gives. And if you know anything about the parables, 96 00:05:43,730 --> 00:05:46,090 there's a lot of significance in the different stories. He's trying 97 00:05:46,090 --> 00:05:49,010 to tell them an idea of something in a way they could understand. 98 00:05:49,970 --> 00:05:53,410 But we don't live in the same agrarian society that they lived 99 00:05:53,410 --> 00:05:56,130 in back then. And so there's some oddities of this parable that 100 00:05:56,130 --> 00:05:59,610 we have to deal with. So the first oddity, if you're looking at 101 00:05:59,610 --> 00:06:03,490 this parable, is that when somebody wanted to do something evil, 102 00:06:03,490 --> 00:06:06,310 they. Their plan was to put weeds in somebody else's garden. 103 00:06:06,950 --> 00:06:09,190 I don't know about you, but, like, if I'm gonna be evil, that's 104 00:06:09,190 --> 00:06:12,630 not where I'm going. Other things I could think of doing that'd 105 00:06:12,630 --> 00:06:14,830 be worse than, like, I got you, man. I can put some crabgrass 106 00:06:14,830 --> 00:06:20,950 up in your garden. Yeah, but apparently this was a big deal. In 107 00:06:20,950 --> 00:06:24,510 fact, there are records of Roman law around the time of Jesus 108 00:06:24,510 --> 00:06:28,070 where it said, it is a criminal offense to sow weeds into 109 00:06:28,070 --> 00:06:31,160 somebody else's garden. Now, the Romans didn't make laws like 110 00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:33,400 that unless it was a problem. So apparently this is how you went 111 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:36,800 gangsta on somebody back in biblical times. You put some weeds 112 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:41,000 up in their garden. The reason why we don't feel the same way is 113 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:43,520 because our livelihood doesn't come from our gardens like we're 114 00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:45,760 putting plant. Very few. We might have a little small vegetable 115 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:48,520 garden, but we can go to Kroger, we can go to some other. 116 00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:51,960 So we can get our food that we need. But when it's your livelihood, 117 00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:53,960 I mean, this was terribly destructive. And another thing I 118 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:59,400 didn't know was the kind of weed I got all kinds of instruction 119 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:02,000 as I was studying this passage I'd never seen before. But the weeds 120 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:05,320 that Jesus is talking about was a particular kind of weed called 121 00:07:05,320 --> 00:07:10,360 darnel. And this was an interesting thing because it happened 122 00:07:10,360 --> 00:07:13,560 to look a whole lot like wheat, but it was actually poisonous. 123 00:07:14,120 --> 00:07:16,920 And so wheat, you know, it has a little head of grain at the end 124 00:07:16,920 --> 00:07:21,250 that you could crush and turn into flour and make bread. But Darnell 125 00:07:21,250 --> 00:07:24,250 had a very similar pod at the end of it. But if you were to consume 126 00:07:24,250 --> 00:07:28,490 it, it would be poisonous, and the best case scenario would be that 127 00:07:28,490 --> 00:07:31,290 you would be nauseous and begin to hallucinate. The worst case 128 00:07:31,290 --> 00:07:35,970 scenario is it could kill you. So when you go sow this weed into 129 00:07:36,050 --> 00:07:39,050 the garden of somebody else, and they harvest it and eat it, they 130 00:07:39,050 --> 00:07:41,250 could die. So apparently, it really was gangsta, because this 131 00:07:41,250 --> 00:07:44,930 is how you kill people in biblical times. So this is a big 132 00:07:44,930 --> 00:07:47,290 deal that Jesus is talking about this. They would have been 133 00:07:47,290 --> 00:07:51,020 familiar with this danger. But there's another part of this that 134 00:07:51,180 --> 00:07:53,740 I don't really, for the longest time, didn't understand, 135 00:07:54,700 --> 00:07:57,300 and I think it's really the point Jesus is trying to make. We 136 00:07:57,300 --> 00:08:02,540 just miss it. So when the servants come to the master and they 137 00:08:02,540 --> 00:08:05,740 see that there are weeds growing in the garden, they say, 138 00:08:05,900 --> 00:08:10,100 master, owner, do you want us to go and pull up the weeds? And 139 00:08:10,100 --> 00:08:14,080 the owner says, no, don't do it. Let them grow up together, and. 140 00:08:14,150 --> 00:08:17,510 And then we'll separate them when they're fully grown. This is 141 00:08:17,510 --> 00:08:21,430 where you and I would do things differently. This is where 142 00:08:21,510 --> 00:08:24,150 we would say, that's not the right way. Like, how many of you 143 00:08:24,150 --> 00:08:26,990 in here garden? Anybody? Raise your hand if you like to garden at 144 00:08:26,990 --> 00:08:30,109 all. Like, four of us in the room. Okay? There's a few of us that 145 00:08:30,109 --> 00:08:33,990 like to garden. There's a very simple rule to gardening that's really 146 00:08:33,990 --> 00:08:38,230 important, and it's that you weed early and you weed often. You 147 00:08:38,230 --> 00:08:39,910 gotta get the weeds when they're a little bitty and they don't 148 00:08:39,910 --> 00:08:42,400 have much root. You just pull them out and. And you do it often. 149 00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:45,360 You just pull them out and get it out so that it doesn't take up 150 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:49,080 soil and nutrients and choke out the plants. So weed early, weed 151 00:08:49,080 --> 00:08:52,480 often. That's the general rule for gardening. Well, this is the 152 00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:55,480 exact opposite of what the owner's doing. He said, no, no, no. 153 00:08:55,480 --> 00:08:59,920 Just let the weeds grow up in there. Don't pull them out. Now, 154 00:08:59,920 --> 00:09:02,440 again, I look at this and I go, that's not what I would have 155 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:05,760 done. This is the same issue that all of us have with God when 156 00:09:05,760 --> 00:09:08,690 it comes to the problem of evil. Like, that's not what we would 157 00:09:08,690 --> 00:09:12,450 do. God. I mean, if we were in control, we would rip out all the 158 00:09:12,450 --> 00:09:16,610 evil so that there was only paradise and good on earth. We don't 159 00:09:16,610 --> 00:09:19,410 understand what you're doing. And I didn't really understand the 160 00:09:19,410 --> 00:09:22,530 parable until I studied it and realized why the owner was saying 161 00:09:22,530 --> 00:09:26,570 what he was saying. So I had never seen a picture of Darnel before 162 00:09:26,730 --> 00:09:29,490 until I studied it. I think we have one up here. Let's bring it 163 00:09:29,490 --> 00:09:33,540 up. Look how similar the darnel looks to the wheat, down to 164 00:09:33,540 --> 00:09:37,180 the little pod and the thing that sticks off. They're almost identical. 165 00:09:37,180 --> 00:09:39,980 And here's what's crazy about it. The color change is different, 166 00:09:39,980 --> 00:09:42,300 but as they're growing up, they're both the exact same green 167 00:09:42,300 --> 00:09:45,300 as the Darnel. That's just when the wheat dries up on the left 168 00:09:45,300 --> 00:09:49,500 side and they come out of the earth the exact same way with the 169 00:09:49,500 --> 00:09:52,700 exact same look and a stalk that goes up and it has the same 170 00:09:52,700 --> 00:09:55,620 color branches that go out to the side, and you don't know the 171 00:09:55,620 --> 00:09:57,580 difference. So, like, go to the next picture, and you'll see 172 00:09:57,580 --> 00:10:00,170 that when they're clumped together and they get kind of the 173 00:10:00,170 --> 00:10:02,090 same color. Could you imagine these growing together? You don't 174 00:10:02,090 --> 00:10:07,690 know which one is which. Now, that's incredibly important, because 175 00:10:07,690 --> 00:10:10,690 the servants come up and they say, would you want us to go out 176 00:10:10,690 --> 00:10:15,410 and rip up the weeds for you? And the owner knows. They have no 177 00:10:15,410 --> 00:10:19,570 idea which one is a weed and which one is wheat. And if they were 178 00:10:19,570 --> 00:10:22,530 to try, they would rip up the wrong plants. He knows that about 179 00:10:22,530 --> 00:10:26,850 them. And he also knows that by the time you can recognize the 180 00:10:26,850 --> 00:10:29,970 difference between the two when they're fully grown, that their 181 00:10:29,970 --> 00:10:33,290 roots have intertwined completely. And so when it's full 182 00:10:33,290 --> 00:10:35,930 grown, you're like, oh, okay, now I can recognize that's darnel. 183 00:10:35,930 --> 00:10:37,770 That's not wheat. And you try to pull it, you would rip the wheat 184 00:10:37,770 --> 00:10:42,170 right up with it. So the owner knows that to try to separate them 185 00:10:42,170 --> 00:10:45,370 before the harvest time would kill everything. And he says, don't 186 00:10:45,370 --> 00:10:48,610 do it. So let me tell you, Jesus point. I want you to write 187 00:10:48,610 --> 00:10:51,010 this down. This is the most important point for you all morning 188 00:10:51,010 --> 00:10:53,940 long. Whenever you're taking Sam. I hope you have your little 189 00:10:53,940 --> 00:10:56,340 booklet. You gotta take your notes right there. Thank you. Here's 190 00:10:56,340 --> 00:11:00,500 the note that Sam is gonna write on his little booklet. Trust 191 00:11:00,500 --> 00:11:06,060 the owner. He knows what he's doing. Write that down. Trust the 192 00:11:06,060 --> 00:11:10,660 owner. He knows what he's doing. See, our problem is we look 193 00:11:10,660 --> 00:11:13,340 at this and we say, it doesn't make sense that I would do it differently. 194 00:11:13,340 --> 00:11:17,100 But the owner knows things that you and I don't know. And when 195 00:11:17,100 --> 00:11:21,420 I say the owner, I mean the owner. Isaiah 55, 9, one of the most 196 00:11:21,420 --> 00:11:24,500 beautiful passages says, as the heaven is higher than the earth, 197 00:11:24,580 --> 00:11:27,500 so are his ways higher than our ways and his thoughts higher 198 00:11:27,500 --> 00:11:31,900 than our thoughts. Could it be that maybe, just maybe, God knows 199 00:11:31,900 --> 00:11:36,500 things that we don't know? That maybe, just maybe, his ways 200 00:11:36,500 --> 00:11:39,500 are higher and he knows what we don't know. And we could trust 201 00:11:39,500 --> 00:11:42,100 him even when we don't agree with him because we don't know what's 202 00:11:42,100 --> 00:11:46,300 going on. Trust the owners. Jesus is trying to teach this to 203 00:11:46,300 --> 00:11:48,980 these people who are going, look at this Roman Empire right now 204 00:11:48,980 --> 00:11:51,960 that is just hurting us and oppressing us. Yahweh, when are you 205 00:11:51,960 --> 00:11:55,160 going to do. And he's going, trust the owner. He knows what he's 206 00:11:55,160 --> 00:11:59,040 doing. And he's saying that to you and to me this morning, whatever 207 00:11:59,040 --> 00:12:01,800 is going on in your life right now, however hard it may be, however 208 00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:04,400 different you would have done it, he's saying, trust the owner. 209 00:12:04,960 --> 00:12:10,120 He knows what he's doing. He's not making a mistake. Scripture teaches 210 00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:13,800 that God actually causes all things to work together for the good 211 00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:16,000 of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. 212 00:12:16,810 --> 00:12:21,810 Not the things we agree with alone, but all things. Trust the 213 00:12:21,810 --> 00:12:25,490 owner. He knows what he's doing. Jesus whole point in this 214 00:12:25,490 --> 00:12:28,250 story is in God's perfect timing. You're going to see it's 215 00:12:28,250 --> 00:12:31,690 going to work out exactly the way it should. This is the interpretation 216 00:12:31,690 --> 00:12:34,730 that Jesus gives of this story. So I'm going to do something 217 00:12:34,730 --> 00:12:36,890 I don't normally do. I'm going to skip over some verses. I'm going 218 00:12:36,890 --> 00:12:39,290 to come back to them before the sermon is over. But we're going 219 00:12:39,290 --> 00:12:42,650 to skip over 31 to 35. I'm going to go to verse 36, because 220 00:12:42,650 --> 00:12:45,920 here the disciples go to Jesus and say, tell us what that whole 221 00:12:45,920 --> 00:12:49,080 parable was about. So he gives them the explanation. So I want to. 222 00:12:49,080 --> 00:12:51,360 I want to pick back up. I want you to see how much it has to do 223 00:12:51,440 --> 00:12:56,280 with timing. So picking up in verse 36 of Matthew 13 says, Then 224 00:12:56,280 --> 00:12:58,760 he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples 225 00:12:58,760 --> 00:13:01,520 came to him saying, explain to us the parable of the weeds of the 226 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:05,360 field. He answered, the one who sows the good seed is the Son 227 00:13:05,360 --> 00:13:08,640 of Man. That's just talking about Jesus. The field is the world, 228 00:13:09,130 --> 00:13:12,770 and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the 229 00:13:12,770 --> 00:13:15,290 sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. 230 00:13:15,690 --> 00:13:19,210 The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 231 00:13:19,450 --> 00:13:22,290 Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it 232 00:13:22,290 --> 00:13:25,410 be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, 233 00:13:25,410 --> 00:13:28,210 and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and 234 00:13:28,210 --> 00:13:31,490 all law breakers and throw them into the fiery furnace. And 235 00:13:31,490 --> 00:13:34,050 in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then 236 00:13:34,050 --> 00:13:36,715 the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. 237 00:13:36,715 --> 00:13:40,810 And he who has ears, let him hear. So he says, here's the interpretation. 238 00:13:40,810 --> 00:13:44,010 I don't want you to miss any of the details. So you got the whole 239 00:13:44,010 --> 00:13:47,170 world. That's the field. Jesus is the one sowing the seed, the good 240 00:13:47,170 --> 00:13:51,370 seeds that becomes wheat. Those are believers, the darnel, 241 00:13:51,370 --> 00:13:54,370 the weeds that come up. That's the Son of the evil One. That's unbelievers. 242 00:13:55,010 --> 00:13:57,250 And he's saying, don't worry about it. They're growing up together, 243 00:13:57,250 --> 00:14:00,090 side by side in this world. Even in the same churches, sometimes 244 00:14:00,090 --> 00:14:02,290 in the same kingdom. It looks like it. But there's going to come 245 00:14:02,290 --> 00:14:05,010 a moment at the end where God's going to send his angels to 246 00:14:05,010 --> 00:14:07,890 work it all out. And those who have done evil will be punished. 247 00:14:07,970 --> 00:14:11,850 And those who have done good will get eternal life and experience 248 00:14:11,850 --> 00:14:14,090 the blessings of Almighty God. It's going to work out. Trust the 249 00:14:14,090 --> 00:14:18,650 owner. He knows what he's doing. Now, there's some things that 250 00:14:18,650 --> 00:14:21,210 I don't think you and I ever stop and consider that Jesus is trying 251 00:14:21,210 --> 00:14:25,170 to explain to us through this passage to help us understand why 252 00:14:25,170 --> 00:14:28,250 we must be patient. I don't know if you ever stopped and thought 253 00:14:28,250 --> 00:14:30,810 about it, but I think the majority of us in this room, in fact, 254 00:14:30,810 --> 00:14:33,830 in the last service, I said this, and I got some amens. It's 255 00:14:33,830 --> 00:14:35,950 not what I wanted to be. Amen. Let me just go ahead and forewarn 256 00:14:35,950 --> 00:14:39,990 you. But if we had our choice, we would say, God, rip out all the 257 00:14:39,990 --> 00:14:42,710 evil people. Right now. We don't want them in this world, just 258 00:14:42,710 --> 00:14:46,350 rip them out. But we don't stop and think about the implications 259 00:14:46,350 --> 00:14:51,030 of that. The way the Father Does. Maybe you've heard of the concept 260 00:14:51,030 --> 00:14:52,910 of the Rapture? I don't know if you've heard of that concept. 261 00:14:53,070 --> 00:14:56,390 The idea. It's the whole Left behind series. So is there a moment 262 00:14:56,390 --> 00:14:58,630 when the trumpet sounds and all the believers are whisked up 263 00:14:58,630 --> 00:15:01,070 into the sky with the Lord and only unbelievers are left on earth? 264 00:15:02,240 --> 00:15:06,720 Well, this is the opposite of that. This is like the opposite rapture, 265 00:15:06,720 --> 00:15:10,880 where only the evil people are taken out and all that's left on 266 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:15,080 earth are the Christians. Now, that may sound like a good idea, 267 00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:18,280 but let me tell you what the problem is with that. There aren't 268 00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:21,440 nearly as many Christians on this earth as there are evil people. 269 00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:26,080 Jesus talked about this back in the Sermon on the Mount. He was 270 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:32,510 very clear when he was saying, like, the gate is wide and broad 271 00:15:32,510 --> 00:15:36,070 that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many, but 272 00:15:36,070 --> 00:15:38,990 the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those 273 00:15:38,990 --> 00:15:44,390 who find it are few. And he's saying the vast majority of people 274 00:15:44,390 --> 00:15:47,070 are going to take the easy way to destruction. There's very few 275 00:15:47,070 --> 00:15:50,430 people that actually find life and live. For me, let me tell you 276 00:15:50,430 --> 00:15:54,550 what that means. If God were to rip out all the unbelievers from 277 00:15:54,550 --> 00:16:00,350 this world, society as we know it would collapse. That phone you 278 00:16:00,350 --> 00:16:02,430 have would stop working because the people who work behind 279 00:16:02,430 --> 00:16:05,070 the scenes, a whole bunch of them, are not believers. They'd be 280 00:16:05,070 --> 00:16:07,710 gone. You go to the gas station to pump, and guess what never 281 00:16:07,710 --> 00:16:10,070 showed up. The gas truck that has the gas because the dude driving 282 00:16:10,070 --> 00:16:14,350 the truck was an unbeliever, has gone. Society as we know it would 283 00:16:14,350 --> 00:16:17,790 collapse because our lives are intertwined at the root system, and 284 00:16:17,790 --> 00:16:21,760 he loves us too much to let us get what we want. He knows things 285 00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:24,880 that we don't know, and so he's letting us grow up together 286 00:16:24,960 --> 00:16:27,440 so that society doesn't collapse, so the word of God can 287 00:16:27,440 --> 00:16:30,760 spread. Let me tell you another reason why he doesn't just 288 00:16:30,760 --> 00:16:34,200 rip out all the evil people. Because you and I were evil before 289 00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:38,200 we were redeemed, we would have been ripped out. I mean, the 290 00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:41,160 craziest message of the whole gospel is that we were weeds that 291 00:16:41,160 --> 00:16:45,640 got transformed into wheat. And if God Weren't Patient, 2 Peter, 292 00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:48,080 chapter three talks about this. God is not slow in what he's 293 00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:51,890 doing, but he doesn't want any to perish, but all to come to salvation. 294 00:16:51,890 --> 00:16:56,370 So he is waiting so that more and more can come. You know the kind 295 00:16:56,370 --> 00:16:58,570 of heart that says, yeah, rip all the evil people out of here. 296 00:16:58,570 --> 00:17:01,930 Forget that they were once evil. It's the patient heart that 297 00:17:01,930 --> 00:17:04,370 says, save more, God. Give us a little bit more time. Save some 298 00:17:04,370 --> 00:17:07,130 more. Don't rip them out yet, God. Cause more might become wheat, 299 00:17:07,130 --> 00:17:12,250 more might become your people. God is not wrong or evil or bad. 300 00:17:12,250 --> 00:17:15,890 He's patient because he knows there's more transformation. He knows 301 00:17:15,890 --> 00:17:18,410 what we need and what we don't. His ways are higher. He might 302 00:17:18,410 --> 00:17:22,990 just know things, but we don't trust the owner. He knows what he's 303 00:17:22,990 --> 00:17:27,030 doing. And because of it, right now, you and I live in this 304 00:17:27,030 --> 00:17:31,430 weird already, but not yet kingdom of God. Like the kingdom 305 00:17:31,430 --> 00:17:34,590 of God's already here, but it's not yet fully here. And so we 306 00:17:34,590 --> 00:17:39,230 live in this intentional limbo, intention from God. And there 307 00:17:39,230 --> 00:17:42,630 are a couple things we can learn from Jesus teaching that helps 308 00:17:42,630 --> 00:17:45,590 us live a little better than we actually do in this limbo season. 309 00:17:46,020 --> 00:17:49,100 So a couple more things I want you to write down. Here's the first 310 00:17:49,100 --> 00:17:52,620 one I think Jesus is trying to teach us. Don't judge what you don't 311 00:17:52,620 --> 00:17:58,340 know. I think the church could benefit so stinking much from this 312 00:17:58,340 --> 00:18:02,340 simple word. Don't judge what you don't know. Let me tell you what 313 00:18:02,340 --> 00:18:06,460 I mean by that. I find way too many Christians think they got it 314 00:18:06,460 --> 00:18:09,700 all figured out, okay? You're not a believer. You are a believer. 315 00:18:09,700 --> 00:18:12,900 You're not a believer. You are a believer. We know which one's which. 316 00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:16,320 I don't know if you remember the story, but he actually says the 317 00:18:16,320 --> 00:18:18,880 angels are the one of the inns who are gonna distinguish between 318 00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:21,200 the darnel and the wheat. Like they're the ones who know who could 319 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:25,000 separate. The servants think they know. And the owner says, no, 320 00:18:25,000 --> 00:18:28,280 don't. You're gonna mess up the harvest. Don't even try. I wanna 321 00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:31,640 remind you, we're the servants, we're not the angels. Some 322 00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:33,600 people have this wrong. They think that when they die, they become 323 00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:37,120 angels in heaven. That's not how the whole thing works. We're 324 00:18:37,120 --> 00:18:40,320 the servants, not the angels. We don't know which one is which. 325 00:18:41,030 --> 00:18:44,550 And it's not our judge. Our job to go judge the world. And saying, 326 00:18:44,550 --> 00:18:46,950 you're in, you're out. I think we're gonna be shocked by some people 327 00:18:47,510 --> 00:18:50,390 who have eternal life that we didn't think, didn't. And we're gonna 328 00:18:50,390 --> 00:18:52,990 be shocked by some people who aren't there that we thought were 329 00:18:52,990 --> 00:18:57,390 gonna be there. Don't judge what you don't know. I think the 330 00:18:57,390 --> 00:19:00,190 world would really appreciate it if we would start getting that 331 00:19:00,190 --> 00:19:03,390 right. But there's another side to that same coin that I think 332 00:19:03,390 --> 00:19:06,630 Jesus is trying to teach us. And this is where Jesus is gonna 333 00:19:06,630 --> 00:19:10,100 do the little gut punch on us. So just remember, blame him, not 334 00:19:10,100 --> 00:19:14,220 me. Here's what he's going to say. Looking like a Christian on 335 00:19:14,220 --> 00:19:19,660 the outside does not make one a Christian on the inside. Yeah, 336 00:19:19,660 --> 00:19:26,660 that's when I wrote that. I was like, ah, that's ugly. Looking 337 00:19:26,660 --> 00:19:30,260 like a Christian on the outside does not make one a Christian 338 00:19:30,260 --> 00:19:32,820 on the inside. Let me tell you what I mean by this is the thing 339 00:19:32,820 --> 00:19:36,160 I'm probably the most concerned about. For a church our 340 00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:40,120 size, with all the people who are part of this, it's really easy 341 00:19:40,120 --> 00:19:46,240 to think, because I go to church, because I know the songs, 342 00:19:46,240 --> 00:19:48,840 because I act like a Christian, I listen to Christian 343 00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:52,200 music, I dress like a Christian, I give money away like 344 00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:54,440 a Christian. I do all the things on the outside that look like 345 00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:58,960 a Christian. I must be a Christian. But you can look like 346 00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:01,000 a Christian, sound like a Christian, sing like a Christian, 347 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:03,600 act like a Christian, and still not be a Christian on the inside. 348 00:20:05,780 --> 00:20:08,580 There you go. Where do you get that from? Well, that was Jesus whole 349 00:20:08,580 --> 00:20:14,220 point. They look the exact same coming up. It's not until you 350 00:20:14,220 --> 00:20:19,700 see what the POD produces that you know which one is which. And 351 00:20:19,860 --> 00:20:23,540 I'm just afraid. And I say genuinely afraid. There are people, 352 00:20:23,940 --> 00:20:27,060 especially in a country like the United States of America, where 353 00:20:27,060 --> 00:20:29,940 people grow up all around church. And I hear it all the time. 354 00:20:30,020 --> 00:20:32,510 Yeah, I'm a Christian. I've always been a Christian. I grew up 355 00:20:32,510 --> 00:20:35,350 in a Christian home. I mean, I've always been a Christian. You 356 00:20:35,350 --> 00:20:38,470 know what that shows me? They think that because they look and 357 00:20:38,470 --> 00:20:40,750 act like a Christian on the outside, they're one on the inside. 358 00:20:42,990 --> 00:20:48,790 And we may. Oh, God forbid it, hundreds of people who come to this 359 00:20:48,790 --> 00:20:52,390 very church may one day realize they're actually the weeds, 360 00:20:52,390 --> 00:20:57,230 they're not the wheat. And I want you to know Jesus very clearly 361 00:20:57,230 --> 00:21:00,670 says, and the weeds will be gathered into bundles and thrown 362 00:21:00,670 --> 00:21:04,230 into the fiery furnace. If you don't know that that's a euphemism 363 00:21:04,230 --> 00:21:09,030 for hell. And Jesus talks a lot about hell. This literally is 364 00:21:09,190 --> 00:21:12,910 heaven and hell in the balance. And the most important thing 365 00:21:12,910 --> 00:21:14,990 is that you know which one you are. Because what makes a person 366 00:21:14,990 --> 00:21:17,390 a Christian isn't looking like a Christian on the outside. It's 367 00:21:17,390 --> 00:21:19,710 a redeemed heart by faith in the blood of Jesus Christ on the 368 00:21:19,710 --> 00:21:23,070 inside. That's what makes a person a Christian. And so you can 369 00:21:23,070 --> 00:21:25,470 have all the trappings on the outside. And still not be it on the 370 00:21:25,470 --> 00:21:31,330 inside. So which one are you? Heaven and hell depend on that answer 371 00:21:31,330 --> 00:21:34,770 for you. Which one are you to which you're going? Jason? I. Don't 372 00:21:34,770 --> 00:21:37,570 tell me. How do I know which you say they all look alike, act 373 00:21:37,570 --> 00:21:39,690 alike. I thought that's how I knew what I was. By how I dressed 374 00:21:39,690 --> 00:21:43,650 and how I acted. And going to church. How do I know what Jesus 375 00:21:43,650 --> 00:21:45,810 has been telling us all along? All the way from the Sermon on the 376 00:21:45,810 --> 00:21:49,210 Mount? By your fruit, you're going to know what you really are. 377 00:21:49,930 --> 00:21:52,410 He keeps coming back to this idea that he brought back in the 378 00:21:52,410 --> 00:21:55,460 Sermon on the Mount. He says every healthy tree bears good fruit, 379 00:21:55,460 --> 00:21:58,180 but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot 380 00:21:58,180 --> 00:22:00,900 bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every 381 00:22:00,900 --> 00:22:04,140 tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into 382 00:22:04,140 --> 00:22:07,820 the fire. There's that hell picture again. Thus you will recognize 383 00:22:07,820 --> 00:22:11,500 them by their fruits. So how do you know a difference between 384 00:22:11,500 --> 00:22:17,900 wheat and darnel? By what the pods the fruit accomplishes? Wheat, 385 00:22:18,540 --> 00:22:23,590 when you grind it. And when you bake, it makes bread that gives 386 00:22:23,590 --> 00:22:31,110 life. Darnel, when you grind it and you bake, it poisons. So what 387 00:22:31,110 --> 00:22:34,830 does your life produce that will tell you what you really are? 388 00:22:35,070 --> 00:22:37,630 Not how you dress, not if you go to church or not, not if you read 389 00:22:37,630 --> 00:22:40,830 your Bible and not if you try to be a good person or not the fruit 390 00:22:40,830 --> 00:22:43,550 of your life. So I think you need to ask yourself a question, 391 00:22:43,550 --> 00:22:46,230 a very serious and I've been praying that the Spirit would reveal 392 00:22:46,230 --> 00:22:49,910 to you what's really inside in this particular moment. So the Bible 393 00:22:49,910 --> 00:22:54,070 tells us what fruit looks like the fruit of the Spirit. Perfect 394 00:22:54,070 --> 00:22:58,190 example. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 395 00:22:58,190 --> 00:23:03,390 gentleness, self control. So when I don't want to ask you to define 396 00:23:03,390 --> 00:23:05,390 yourself, it would be better for you to ask the people around 397 00:23:05,390 --> 00:23:10,230 you, what do they see? Do they see you being unbelievably loving 398 00:23:10,630 --> 00:23:14,920 and forgiving and gracious? Do they see you filled with joy? Like 399 00:23:14,920 --> 00:23:18,600 just breathing life into everybody? Are you patient? Are you 400 00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:23,160 filled with peace? Or is there anxiety everywhere? Do you show gentleness? 401 00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:25,800 Are you self controlled in how you love? And do you have the fruit 402 00:23:25,800 --> 00:23:28,320 of the Spirit? Where people around you go, man, that person just 403 00:23:28,320 --> 00:23:32,240 breathes life into everybody. They're just so life giving. Is that 404 00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:41,770 what they say about you? Or do they say, dude's mean, that girl's 405 00:23:41,770 --> 00:23:45,770 just bitter. Every time I'm around, she's talking bad about somebody 406 00:23:45,770 --> 00:23:48,570 else. Every time I'm around, he's screaming at his kids. Every 407 00:23:48,570 --> 00:23:52,850 time he's just like. He just tears people down behind their back. 408 00:23:52,850 --> 00:23:56,009 Gossips everywhere. Golly, man. Every time I'm around him, I 409 00:23:56,009 --> 00:24:03,370 feel worse when I leave life or poison. What do people say about 410 00:24:03,370 --> 00:24:07,980 us when they spend time with us that will tell us who we really 411 00:24:07,980 --> 00:24:12,340 are? So some of you right now are going, okay, I genuinely believe 412 00:24:12,340 --> 00:24:17,940 and feel like God has allowed me to produce life to bless others. 413 00:24:17,940 --> 00:24:20,820 I have joy, I have patience. These things come from the Spirit 414 00:24:20,820 --> 00:24:23,900 of God and I see them in my life in ever increasing measure. 415 00:24:23,900 --> 00:24:27,540 If that's you, here's how you respond. You praise God louder than 416 00:24:27,540 --> 00:24:30,180 you have ever praised him, because only the spirit of God could 417 00:24:30,180 --> 00:24:33,030 produce that in you. When we get to the end and we sing our song, 418 00:24:33,030 --> 00:24:37,270 you should be the loudest one singing because you know your end 419 00:24:37,270 --> 00:24:40,630 is to be gathered into God's beautiful barn to enjoy eternal life 420 00:24:40,630 --> 00:24:45,630 forevermore by his grace. But if you're hearing me right now and 421 00:24:45,630 --> 00:24:48,030 the Spirit is bringing conviction, you're going, I don't 422 00:24:48,030 --> 00:24:50,750 like what I think about. When I think about what people would say 423 00:24:50,750 --> 00:24:56,030 about me, they see brokenness and bitterness and anger and short 424 00:24:56,030 --> 00:25:00,060 tempered and, and cruelty. And I'm not life giving to the people 425 00:25:00,060 --> 00:25:05,020 around me. What do I do? Well, that's a scary place and a beautiful 426 00:25:05,020 --> 00:25:07,660 place to be because it allows you to make the most important decision 427 00:25:07,660 --> 00:25:13,820 of your life. It allows you to say, confess. I'm broken. I'm the 428 00:25:13,820 --> 00:25:17,300 weeds in this story. And when you come to that place of humility, 429 00:25:17,780 --> 00:25:21,820 Jesus says, that's perfect. Let me kill that weed and let me 430 00:25:21,820 --> 00:25:26,410 raise up a wheat in its place. Because I can transform you. I can 431 00:25:26,410 --> 00:25:29,370 make you something new. I can make you what the Bible calls a brand 432 00:25:29,370 --> 00:25:34,170 new creation in Christ Jesus. There's hope for you because Jesus 433 00:25:34,170 --> 00:25:37,610 is in this world. This is exactly what Jesus was telling him 434 00:25:37,610 --> 00:25:40,370 in verses 31 and 35. I just skipped over it. You didn't see it, 435 00:25:40,370 --> 00:25:45,170 but he's about to show you and me how God can take our broken self 436 00:25:45,330 --> 00:25:49,670 and transform it through his incredibly expanding kingdom. Go 437 00:25:49,670 --> 00:25:52,270 Back to verse 31, read verses 31 and 35 and see what he has to 438 00:25:52,270 --> 00:25:57,670 say here. Verse 31, he says he put another parable before them, 439 00:25:57,670 --> 00:26:01,070 saying, the kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that 440 00:26:01,070 --> 00:26:04,670 a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all 441 00:26:04,670 --> 00:26:07,990 seeds, but when it is grown, it is larger than all the garden 442 00:26:07,990 --> 00:26:10,950 plants and becomes a tree so that the birds of the air come and 443 00:26:10,950 --> 00:26:14,670 make nests in its branches. He told them another parable. The kingdom 444 00:26:14,670 --> 00:26:18,070 of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures 445 00:26:18,070 --> 00:26:21,380 of flour and till it was all leavened. All these things Jesus 446 00:26:21,380 --> 00:26:23,780 said to the crowds in parables. Indeed he said nothing 447 00:26:23,780 --> 00:26:26,700 to them without a parable. This was to fulfill what was spoken 448 00:26:26,700 --> 00:26:29,780 by the prophet. I will open my mouth in parables. I will utter what 449 00:26:29,780 --> 00:26:32,820 has been hidden since the foundation of the world. So Jesus 450 00:26:32,820 --> 00:26:35,420 is saying, I want to make known to you what's been hidden, 451 00:26:35,420 --> 00:26:38,380 how this whole kingdom works. And I'm doing it through parables. 452 00:26:38,380 --> 00:26:41,060 And he gives us two parables that actually have the same meaning, 453 00:26:41,060 --> 00:26:45,030 about an external and internal expansion of the kingdom. So the 454 00:26:45,030 --> 00:26:49,190 first thing he starts with is mustard seed. And so I believe we're 455 00:26:49,190 --> 00:26:51,230 gonna have some help over here. There's a cameraman who's gonna 456 00:26:51,230 --> 00:26:54,030 be coming. My brother Scott over here is gonna help out. But 457 00:26:54,030 --> 00:26:58,150 I have right here mustard seed. And you really can't see it 458 00:26:58,150 --> 00:27:01,270 all that well. So I had to bring this camera over here. Yeah, 459 00:27:01,270 --> 00:27:03,190 come on down in there. Do I need to turn it for you? There you 460 00:27:03,190 --> 00:27:06,430 go. That's what mustard seed looks like. There's like thousands 461 00:27:06,430 --> 00:27:11,050 and thousands in there. Now I'm gonna try to get one right there. 462 00:27:11,850 --> 00:27:16,450 That's one mustard seed. Itty bitty thing. I can throw it at Susan 463 00:27:16,450 --> 00:27:21,210 down there and she can't even see it. Cause it's just so small. 464 00:27:22,490 --> 00:27:25,890 This right here is the smallest seed that they would have 465 00:27:25,890 --> 00:27:28,970 seen in all the land of Palestine back then in Jesus time. 466 00:27:29,610 --> 00:27:31,730 But I want you to know. Okay, thanks, brother. I appreciate that. 467 00:27:31,730 --> 00:27:35,210 I want you to know what this seed, I still have one in my finger. 468 00:27:35,210 --> 00:27:38,330 You can't see it, but you saw me put it in there, what this seed 469 00:27:38,650 --> 00:27:41,610 could produce. Now, if you've ever planted a real mustard seed 470 00:27:41,610 --> 00:27:45,210 in the US our climate, it'll only grow about 2 or 3ft. It's a 471 00:27:45,210 --> 00:27:49,250 little bush. But in the land of Israel, that arid climate over 472 00:27:49,250 --> 00:27:52,010 there, it gets so much bigger. In fact, we have a picture of one. 473 00:27:53,770 --> 00:27:57,810 This is basically life size. I want you to see this. Like, there's 474 00:27:57,810 --> 00:28:06,480 a dude over here. Check this out. So this right here, this little 475 00:28:06,480 --> 00:28:10,200 seed that you can't see in my hand makes one literally that's about 476 00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:14,640 12 and a half feet. They get as tall as 15ft and they spread out 477 00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:17,320 that way in the land of Israel. So Jesus is talking to his 478 00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:20,400 audience and he's saying that little bitty seed that you could 479 00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:25,640 barely see with your eye can produce a plant so big that it can 480 00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:28,640 take over the whole garden. Now, here's what's interesting about 481 00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:32,850 that. They're actually, they found fragments of notes written 482 00:28:32,850 --> 00:28:35,610 to gardeners of people who had, you know, they were cultivating 483 00:28:35,610 --> 00:28:39,650 land and they would say, do not plant mustard seeds in your garden 484 00:28:39,650 --> 00:28:43,370 or it will take over the entire garden. This was known back 485 00:28:43,370 --> 00:28:47,370 then, little bitty mustard seed. Now, what was Jesus point? 486 00:28:48,090 --> 00:28:50,850 Now, remember, he's trying to convince people who are struggling 487 00:28:50,850 --> 00:28:53,810 with the environment going, God, why are you allowing all this 488 00:28:53,810 --> 00:28:57,670 evil? And here comes the Messiah on the scene, and he looks 489 00:28:57,670 --> 00:29:01,510 about as big as this little grain of mustard seed, like from 490 00:29:01,510 --> 00:29:06,150 Galilee, Are you kidding me? And you pick 12 people to ride beside 491 00:29:06,150 --> 00:29:09,670 you, and you pick these guys, these little backwoods people who 492 00:29:09,670 --> 00:29:14,390 don't have education and like, this is your plan. It's so small. 493 00:29:15,590 --> 00:29:17,950 How is this gonna overtake the world? And they're looking out all 494 00:29:17,950 --> 00:29:21,630 over the Greco Roman world with all these big temples to Artemis 495 00:29:21,630 --> 00:29:25,180 and Athens and these massive buildings and all this wealth. And 496 00:29:25,180 --> 00:29:29,540 they're going, there's no way. And Jesus says, trust the owner. 497 00:29:30,020 --> 00:29:32,340 That little seed is gonna produce something so big it's gonna 498 00:29:32,340 --> 00:29:35,620 take over the whole garden. And you wanna know what happens? 499 00:29:36,820 --> 00:29:40,980 Exactly what Jesus said comes true. I've had the privilege of traveling 500 00:29:40,980 --> 00:29:42,580 over to the other side of the world. And there was a number of 501 00:29:42,580 --> 00:29:45,340 you who were with us when we went to Ephesus. And we got to be 502 00:29:45,340 --> 00:29:48,820 right there where this massive temple of Artemis, one of the great 503 00:29:48,820 --> 00:29:52,450 wonders of the world was. And all that's left is a couple of fragments 504 00:29:52,450 --> 00:29:55,450 of pillars about this tall off the ground. Every once in a while 505 00:29:55,850 --> 00:29:59,370 you can go to Athens and you can see remnants of what was once 506 00:29:59,370 --> 00:30:02,530 a mighty empire. But you look over and all we do is we read about 507 00:30:02,530 --> 00:30:06,690 fables of these Greco Roman gods and goddesses that are just 508 00:30:06,690 --> 00:30:10,090 fancy stories to tell for entertainment. They're all gone. 509 00:30:10,730 --> 00:30:14,050 But you know what's not gone? The message of Jesus Christ, which 510 00:30:14,050 --> 00:30:17,730 has gone all over this world. That right now, in every single place 511 00:30:17,730 --> 00:30:20,490 around this world, every continent, except I don't think the 512 00:30:20,490 --> 00:30:22,490 penguins are over there in Antarctica, but all the other continents, 513 00:30:22,810 --> 00:30:26,330 you got Jesus spreading and he's entering into new tribes, into 514 00:30:26,330 --> 00:30:29,330 new cultures and the new languages, and it's spreading and 515 00:30:29,330 --> 00:30:31,770 spreading and will not stop until it takes over this whole world. 516 00:30:32,410 --> 00:30:36,650 Here was his point. Trust the owner. He knows what he's doing. 517 00:30:37,530 --> 00:30:41,810 Nothing can stop the expansion of his kingdom in this world. But 518 00:30:41,810 --> 00:30:44,970 the second illustration was to say, but nothing can stop the expansion 519 00:30:44,970 --> 00:30:48,390 of his kingdom. And in your heart either. That's what the leaven 520 00:30:48,390 --> 00:30:51,150 was about. I don't know if you noticed the leaven, but the leaven 521 00:30:51,150 --> 00:30:54,590 part was you take a little lump of it and you put it into three 522 00:30:54,590 --> 00:30:58,110 measures of flour until all of the leaven has spread. I don't know 523 00:30:58,110 --> 00:31:00,670 if you know how much three measures of flour is that it talks 524 00:31:00,670 --> 00:31:05,710 about. That's about 50 pounds of flour that could feed about 100 525 00:31:05,710 --> 00:31:10,430 to 150 people. A whole village by a little. Little lump, a little 526 00:31:10,430 --> 00:31:13,630 clump of leaven. I was talking to somebody else. A friend of mine 527 00:31:13,630 --> 00:31:16,310 was explaining how, like, sourdough starters work. I don't 528 00:31:16,310 --> 00:31:18,590 know if any of you have ever done that before, but, like, if you 529 00:31:18,590 --> 00:31:22,070 have a sourdough starter, you put that into a lump and it spreads 530 00:31:22,070 --> 00:31:24,070 all over it. And then you could pinch some of that and you 531 00:31:24,070 --> 00:31:26,630 can hand it out to your friends. And as long as you keep 532 00:31:26,630 --> 00:31:29,990 feeding it, like, it can last for decades, just going, you got 533 00:31:29,990 --> 00:31:31,710 to keep putting more and more flour, more ingredients, and then 534 00:31:31,710 --> 00:31:34,830 just keep spreading and spreading and spreading. Well, that's 535 00:31:34,830 --> 00:31:37,800 exactly what Jesus is talking about right here. He's saying, the 536 00:31:37,800 --> 00:31:40,600 advancement of the kingdom of God inside your heart is not about 537 00:31:40,600 --> 00:31:43,600 how good you are. It's about how strong my kingdom is. And once 538 00:31:43,600 --> 00:31:47,440 my kingdom gets inside of you, nothing's gonna stop it. There have 539 00:31:47,440 --> 00:31:49,640 been so many of you who've been baptized over the last few years. 540 00:31:49,640 --> 00:31:51,640 I want you to know that's really good news for you. Especially 541 00:31:51,640 --> 00:31:53,600 when you look in the mirror and going, what am I gonna change? 542 00:31:54,240 --> 00:31:57,640 Well, what's happening behind the scenes is that the spirit is 543 00:31:57,640 --> 00:32:00,000 conquering more and more ground inside your heart. You can't 544 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:02,960 even see it happening. Here's how it works. It starts off small. 545 00:32:03,590 --> 00:32:05,910 The way you used to think is beginning to change just a little 546 00:32:05,910 --> 00:32:08,070 bit. You're having new thoughts that are coming from the 547 00:32:08,070 --> 00:32:10,990 spirit and not from you. And those new thoughts begin to start 548 00:32:10,990 --> 00:32:14,950 to change. Now your belief system, you believe differently about 549 00:32:14,950 --> 00:32:18,390 yourself, about God, about the people around you. Well, that begins 550 00:32:18,390 --> 00:32:21,670 to change your affections. Now you long for things that you didn't 551 00:32:21,670 --> 00:32:24,510 used to long for. And the things you used to long for now begin 552 00:32:24,510 --> 00:32:28,670 to go away. And that begins to change your attitude toward what 553 00:32:28,670 --> 00:32:31,950 brings joy and what matters in life, which begins to change now. 554 00:32:31,950 --> 00:32:34,510 Your motivation for everything you do, which changes your actions. 555 00:32:34,510 --> 00:32:38,050 And now your approach, brand new person and God has conquered 556 00:32:38,050 --> 00:32:42,850 your body, soul, mind and strength. How slowly spreading inside 557 00:32:42,850 --> 00:32:47,330 you until that leaven goes to the very end. That's the power of 558 00:32:47,330 --> 00:32:50,090 the seed of the gospel, when somebody brings it into themselves, 559 00:32:50,090 --> 00:32:53,850 that itty bitty seed that's planted inside and spreads and spreads 560 00:32:53,850 --> 00:32:58,490 and spreads and no one can stop it. So the question that you 561 00:32:58,490 --> 00:33:00,930 have to ask yourself, if you're looking right now at yourself 562 00:33:00,930 --> 00:33:02,970 going, I don't like what I see. I see too much poison, I see 563 00:33:02,970 --> 00:33:06,250 too much bad. I, I don't see a redeemed heart, is have you let the 564 00:33:06,250 --> 00:33:11,130 seed of the gospel take root? Have you opened yourself to it? And 565 00:33:11,130 --> 00:33:14,490 I'm just, I'm afraid I'm come back to what I said before. I'm afraid 566 00:33:14,490 --> 00:33:18,010 there are some of you who have hardened your heart toward God because 567 00:33:18,010 --> 00:33:22,050 of what you've been enduring. And you have not let the seed penetrate 568 00:33:22,850 --> 00:33:25,290 because you just can't get over the fact that you go, why would 569 00:33:25,290 --> 00:33:29,010 a good God let me suffer? Why would a good God let that happen 570 00:33:29,010 --> 00:33:31,370 to my family member? Why would a good God let that happen to those 571 00:33:31,370 --> 00:33:35,630 people on the other side of the world? Why? Why? Why? And Jesus 572 00:33:35,630 --> 00:33:40,350 is trying to tell us right now, trust the owner. He knows what 573 00:33:40,350 --> 00:33:43,910 he's doing in your life. And if anything needed to give you trust 574 00:33:43,910 --> 00:33:46,950 in the owner, let me tell you what it is. It's the Gospel of Jesus 575 00:33:46,950 --> 00:33:50,670 Christ. We have this issue. Why would a good God let there be 576 00:33:50,670 --> 00:33:53,790 suffering and evil in the world? And I want to remind you what 577 00:33:53,790 --> 00:33:55,830 I've been saying all along. The reason you feel that way is because 578 00:33:55,830 --> 00:33:58,430 you don't have his thoughts. You don't understand his ways. And 579 00:33:58,430 --> 00:34:01,830 I can prove it. None of you would have chosen what the Father 580 00:34:01,830 --> 00:34:06,950 did to his Son. Why does God let evil exist in the world? Well, 581 00:34:06,950 --> 00:34:10,030 why would God let the worst evil of all happen to his own Son? 582 00:34:10,670 --> 00:34:14,550 Here he is, almighty God, pure in flesh, coming to save his own 583 00:34:14,550 --> 00:34:19,710 people. And they crucify him. They torture him, they reject him, 584 00:34:19,870 --> 00:34:23,870 they spit in his face. There is no greater evil than to treat 585 00:34:23,870 --> 00:34:27,210 an innocent person that way. And the Father let it happen to his 586 00:34:27,210 --> 00:34:31,130 own son. You want to talk about suffering? If any of you have 587 00:34:31,130 --> 00:34:32,970 ever watched the Passion of the Christ, I've seen it one time. 588 00:34:32,970 --> 00:34:36,290 I can't watch it again because it's so gruesome to think about the 589 00:34:36,450 --> 00:34:41,050 crucifixion, that way of death for his own son. And that wasn't 590 00:34:41,050 --> 00:34:43,850 even the worst part. The worst part was that he had been with the 591 00:34:43,850 --> 00:34:48,130 Father before all eternity. And now he's separated by the way 592 00:34:48,290 --> 00:34:52,480 hell means to be separate from. He's enduring hell not because 593 00:34:52,480 --> 00:34:56,120 he deserved it. Because you and I deserved it. Suffering more 594 00:34:56,120 --> 00:34:59,040 immensely than anybody ever could have suffered. And the Father 595 00:34:59,040 --> 00:35:02,640 let him. I guarantee you, none of us would have picked that way 596 00:35:02,640 --> 00:35:06,320 for any of our children. You look at God going, why would he do 597 00:35:06,320 --> 00:35:10,280 that? Because God knew something that you and I don't know. 598 00:35:10,920 --> 00:35:14,200 He knew that when his son carried that evil, it would destroy 599 00:35:14,200 --> 00:35:18,720 evil in you and in me. You got Satan laughing his little face off 600 00:35:18,720 --> 00:35:22,250 going, I beat him. And three days later he goes, holy moly. He 601 00:35:22,250 --> 00:35:27,090 beat me. Put evil on his shoulders and he's crucified and 602 00:35:27,090 --> 00:35:30,250 he raises up from the dead. And now evil is eradicated from all. 603 00:35:30,250 --> 00:35:33,730 Who would believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ? The Father 604 00:35:33,810 --> 00:35:39,490 knows what he's doing. Trust the owner. He's not making mistakes. 605 00:35:39,890 --> 00:35:44,010 And he's not making mistakes in your life right now either. God 606 00:35:44,010 --> 00:35:47,220 causes all of it to work together for good. Maybe he's been 607 00:35:47,220 --> 00:35:49,260 trying to break you down, to release you from whatever you've 608 00:35:49,260 --> 00:35:52,820 been holding on to so you could cling on to Him. Stop hoping 609 00:35:52,820 --> 00:35:55,220 in these things that can't satisfy, so you'll put your hope 610 00:35:55,220 --> 00:35:59,060 in Him. Stop resisting because you think you can handle it. And 611 00:35:59,060 --> 00:36:01,300 pulling yourself up by the bootstraps and raising your flag 612 00:36:01,300 --> 00:36:05,620 going, I can't. White flag is up. Jesus save me. He knows what 613 00:36:05,620 --> 00:36:11,870 he's doing. Trust him. Well, how do I trust him? You let him put 614 00:36:11,870 --> 00:36:15,350 his seed inside you, the Gospel inside you, and take over. 615 00:36:15,990 --> 00:36:20,150 That's what the Baptistery is all about. The Baptistery is a symbol. 616 00:36:20,630 --> 00:36:25,270 It is a picture of poisonous wheat going down and being buried 617 00:36:26,070 --> 00:36:30,750 in a brand new creation coming up, the weed that produces the wheat, 618 00:36:30,750 --> 00:36:33,270 poisonous weeds going down, wheat that comes out that gives life 619 00:36:33,270 --> 00:36:37,510 to the world. Baptism is an act by which you get to picture the 620 00:36:37,510 --> 00:36:41,770 transformation that's really going on. You could have come here 621 00:36:41,770 --> 00:36:46,250 today as one person and leave here a completely different person. 622 00:36:46,970 --> 00:36:50,090 Not by your own doing, but by faith. What Christ can do in you 623 00:36:50,090 --> 00:36:53,770 if you trust Him. The Baptistery is a symbol of trust. 624 00:36:54,730 --> 00:36:58,930 I need you, Jesus. I confess I'm broken. I want to die and be 625 00:36:58,930 --> 00:37:03,970 raised in Christ Jesus. If you're ready to stop letting the 626 00:37:03,970 --> 00:37:07,290 excuses of not trusting God or the pain and suffering in your life 627 00:37:07,290 --> 00:37:09,330 and all that to keep you but to say, okay, God, I'm going to trust 628 00:37:09,330 --> 00:37:12,090 you, then you can come forward in just a moment and let us know 629 00:37:12,410 --> 00:37:14,730 and we'll counsel with you and make sure you're ready. And if you're 630 00:37:14,730 --> 00:37:18,010 ready, today is the day you become a brand new creation in Christ 631 00:37:18,010 --> 00:37:21,690 Jesus. If you're ready for it, I'm going to open it up in just a 632 00:37:21,690 --> 00:37:24,690 moment. One last thing I want to say. I know there are so many 633 00:37:24,690 --> 00:37:27,930 of you here who are Christians, and you're suffering 634 00:37:28,970 --> 00:37:31,170 because we live in a world where there's still evil and suffering 635 00:37:31,170 --> 00:37:34,970 around us. And I want to remind you of this. Every time we 636 00:37:34,970 --> 00:37:38,330 suffer, one of two things is happening in our hearts. We're either 637 00:37:38,330 --> 00:37:42,890 growing hardened toward God or softer toward God. There's no in 638 00:37:42,890 --> 00:37:46,930 between. It's so easy when things go bad to get angry with God, 639 00:37:46,930 --> 00:37:50,610 cross our arms and saying, I don't even know if I can trust you. 640 00:37:51,890 --> 00:37:56,450 Or we could say, God, I don't see your goodness yet, but I believe 641 00:37:56,450 --> 00:37:59,980 you could. And by faith, I'm going to choose to come to you anyway. 642 00:38:00,860 --> 00:38:02,940 I'm going to believe your ways are higher and you've got something 643 00:38:02,940 --> 00:38:05,300 good you're trying to do. So my prayer is to bring it before you 644 00:38:05,300 --> 00:38:09,140 and say, God, do your good work. Every single Sunday, we open 645 00:38:09,140 --> 00:38:11,580 up the front for prayer, and it's a chance for you to exercise 646 00:38:11,580 --> 00:38:15,460 faith. You can sit back during this next song and you can keep your 647 00:38:15,460 --> 00:38:19,980 arms crossed. Just know what you're doing, or you can say, I'm 648 00:38:19,980 --> 00:38:21,980 not going to do that. I'm going to. I'm going to come before 649 00:38:21,980 --> 00:38:23,860 my God. I'm going to bring my knee before I'm going to receive 650 00:38:23,860 --> 00:38:26,810 prayer. I'm going to trust that my God is good. I'm gonna trust 651 00:38:26,810 --> 00:38:29,970 that one day I'm gonna see the good he's doing. So I want to encourage 652 00:38:29,970 --> 00:38:32,170 you to respond in faith. Stand to your feet. If you don't mind, 653 00:38:32,570 --> 00:38:35,210 I want to invite the prayer team to spread around the front. 654 00:38:36,570 --> 00:38:39,490 If today you're saying, I'm a believer, but I'm suffering right 655 00:38:39,490 --> 00:38:42,370 now, and I want to put my hope in a God who's good, then you can 656 00:38:42,370 --> 00:38:44,810 come down front and you can let us know and we'll pray with you. 657 00:38:45,370 --> 00:38:47,650 Or if today you're coming, you're going, I'm ready. I need to 658 00:38:47,650 --> 00:38:50,170 place my faith in Jesus Christ. I need the old me to die. 659 00:38:50,170 --> 00:38:53,270 I need a brand new me to come because God needs to transform me, 660 00:38:53,270 --> 00:38:55,190 then we're ready to meet with you and pray with you. And today 661 00:38:55,190 --> 00:38:57,550 can be the day that you declare your faith in Christ through 662 00:38:57,550 --> 00:39:00,710 baptism. It's time to respond. Let the spirit move you.