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00:00:01 [Applause] [Music] today's future reading is taken from the book of matthews chapter 13 verses 24 to 43. jesus told them another parable the kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field but while everyone was sleeping his enemy came and sewed weeds among the wheat and went away when the wheaties sprouted and found heads then the beets also appeared the only servants came to him and said sir didn't you sew a good seat in your field where then did the weeds come from an enemy did this he replied
00:00:45 the sellers asked him do you want us to go and pull them up no he answered because while you are pulling the weeds you may operate the wheat with them that both grow together until the harvest at that time i would tell the harvesters first collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn he told them another parable the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and planted in his field though it is the smallest of all seeds yet when it grows it is the largest of
00:01:19 garden plants and becomes the truth so that the birds come and perch in its branches he told them still another parable the kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about 60 pounds of flour until it worked all through the door jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables he did not say anything to them without using a parable so was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet i will open my mouth in parables i will attest things hidden since the creation of the world
00:01:54 then he left the crown and went into the house his disciples came to him and said explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field he answered the one who sowed the good seed is the son of amen the field is the world and the good seed stands for people of the kingdom the weeds are the people of the evil one and the enemy who sold them is the devil the harvest is the end of the age and the harvesters are angels as the wheat are pulled up and burned in fire so it will be at the end of age the son of man will send out his angels
00:02:32 and there will be doubt of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil they will throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father whoever has ears let that near this is the word of god are you ready good morning fbc and greetings in the name of our lord jesus this is the second week since we are returning to uh live streaming following elder arnold's great sermon last week
00:03:15 um just to test the live streaming can i have a show of hands those who can hear me there you are slight delay it's good good test so but it's good that you can hear me so we're continuing the series of eight parables of well seven some say depending how you categorize them eight or seven parables of jesus in matthew chapter 13. it's all about the kingdom of heaven elder ulam kicked off with the parable of the store two weeks ago it's about the importance of allowing god's word to fall on fertile hearts and
00:03:51 evidencing it through the bearing of the fruit of the spirit now the earliest mention of the phrase kingdom of heaven recorded in the book of matthew was matthew chapter 3 verse 2 where john the baptist see remember preached repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near and the exact same motto was repeated by jesus as well in matthew chapter 4 verse 17 when he started preaching the kingdom of heaven which is synonymous to the kingdom of god is the invisible kingdom in which christ rule and reign as king
00:04:26 the kingdom has come but will only be consummated when christ comes again jesus has inaugurated his kingdom and will continue to establish his kingdom as he changes the hearts of men we call this the already and not yet kingdom that we're all familiar with and because the jews were expecting a different messiah or a king naturally this led to a different even wrong expectations of the kingdom furthermore jesus says in john chapter 18 verse 36 my kingdom is not of this world if it were my servants would fight to
00:05:01 prevent my arrest by the jewish leaders but now my kingdom is from another place fast forward more than a millennium from jesus time the church still didn't get it we remember the crusades of the holy land or they call it the holy wars and even the spanish inquisition the famous movie kingdom of heaven sensationalizes the crusades that is why jesus had to use parables and allegories to explain its truth it was a huge paradigm shift for both jews and gentiles at jesus time the new bible dictionary defines the
00:05:37 function of parables as to to jot them the listeners to seeing things in a new way their means of enlightenment and persuasion it is intended to bring the heroes to the point of decision it's not just hearing stories right but really driving to a decision jesus uses familiar imageries you know to bring new and unfamiliar insights to them further it says to fail to understand him jesus is to fail to understand the parables so today we will learn three additional parables that teaches us what the
00:06:19 kingdom of heaven is like the parable of the weeds or tares which is the main parable that we'll be focusing on and two shorter parables the parable of the mustard seed and the parable of the yeast or variable 11. two agricultural in nature and one domestic culinary none of which i'm particularly good at for i have neither green fingers nor baking hands god has his sense of humor sometimes so please be gracious i've entitled the sermon today wheat or wheat the challenge to today's church it is a challenge to decisively live out
00:06:59 true christianity even amidst evil and suffering it is a challenge to thrive and grow despite humble beginnings and it's a challenge to allow our lives to be transformed and as we transform the life of others from the inside out but before we start let us go to god in prayer and let us pray heavenly father thank you for your word that is a lamp for our feet and the light on our path we ask that as we learn from it it may like the parable of the sower fall onto good soil illumine our receptive hearts
00:07:38 so that in understanding and applying it into our lives in our times we may bear much fruit of righteousness for your praise and glory may the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in your sight o lord our rock and redeemer amen so we start with the first parable the parable of the weed which is a challenge to live through an authentic christianity amidst evil and suffering um some scholars pair this parable with the the parable of the sower while the previous parable focuses on how good
00:08:13 seeds fall on good soil and how it will produce bountiful crop here in the next parable of the weeds jesus introduced the enemy seed the wheat and how we should respond thought it's a good way to just summarize the uh the parable in the pictorial form here we've got the field right and the owner of the field sells good seeds while everyone was sleeping the enemy sows the wheat seeds the good seeds naturally grow up to be wheat and this is the crop the wheat seeds grow up to be weeds and they intermingle
00:08:56 and so the owner of the of the field has servants and the servants ask him why why don't we just get rid of the weeds easy peasy when the owner says nope leave it alone let them grow together wait for the harvest where the harvesters is will eventually separate the wheats tie them up and burn them while the wheat the crop will be gathered into the barn and then at the um at the end of the year of of this section almost like an end credit jesus gives who um you know like an end credit in the movie jesus reveals the characters
00:09:40 of the parable in verse 36 to 43 and he explained the meaning of the parable the field is the world the cosmos the sower is the son of man jesus himself the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom the enemy of course is the devil who sows the sons of the evil one the harvest is the end of age the harvesters are angels and the angels will when when when it's harvest time take the weeds out and finally when judgment day comes sin and evil will be completely eliminated while the righteous ones will as the
00:10:21 bible says shine like the sun it's amazing how this one parable almost summarizes the entire redemptive plan of god from creation to the end of the age so this parable is both a challenge as well as a hope to mankind it is both a warning but also a hope to mankind let's dig deeper into the context of the parable here especially in the middle portion the already in a not yet state where wheat and wheat coexist what are weights weeds in biblical times are bearded dunnos the scientific name is lolium tamalentum sometimes known as
00:11:06 poison darnold because the grains are poisonous in the early stages wheat resembles wheat even the english pronunciation sounds almost identical wheat and weed and they are when during the early stages of growing wheat it's almost indistinguishable from weed and that's why they're often referred to as false wheat okay let's all do a little bit of a of a wheat versus wheat test okay if all of you can can see this can all of you see this let's do some wheat versus wheat test which is weird the bad guy
00:11:46 who says is the left the left side of the picture to my right show offense well i can't see everyone on tv right who says it's the right side hands up who says [Music] some of you some of you maybe there you are maybe 50 50. i can't see everyone in the tv screen answer wheat is on the left and read is on the right um so then you say uh like just like you i don't have green fingers cannot tell between plants so let's do a what i call a lego test okay i buy a lot of lego for my sons as they and they
00:12:40 love it nowadays china can produce almost exactly the same as the original lego they are all lego compatible you used to be able to tell quite easily because the thick ones are the ones that doesn't have the word lego on the studs or on the on the knobs right but now let me tell you they can do that already you know illegally right so which is the real lego the red ones or the one in the shades of grey in the middle the white silver or gray and black who says is the red one who is the real lego okay some say
00:13:22 who says is the the shades of grey the white gray and black ones oh no okay answer four some of you got it right you know the red ones the real ones and uh the one in the middle are the fake ones you can't tell right i mean okay like maybe some of you say too far cannot see okay ladies louis vuitton back louis vuitton back huh which is the real louis vuitton back the left hands up the real one the right one ends up some of you are not sure it's not better not say you know answer okay left is the fake one and the right is
00:14:11 the real one it is only upon scrutiny you know you look at the stitching the zip i'm not a bad expert lava i just read this all right the zips and the buttons you check for proper identification stems you know like this zero one i mean they mean something right or authenticity card you know but be careful some some bags apparently like louis vuitton and hermes don't come with authenticity cards so if you look for it you're looking in the wrong places even even all that can be counterfeited so you need to keep
00:14:44 abreast with the latest coding and check for inconsistencies so it is with wheat versus weed you almost can't tell during the early stages of growth only when they produce heads or grains do they become more apparent the wheat the wheat seeds turn white or gold and the hate becomes full becomes fruitful it's so fruitful that it bows interesting symbolism there the wheat or the darnold stays green and upright and the seeds turn black by then it would be too late to eradicate the weed without damaging the
00:15:25 weed with which its roots are intertwined this is a a beautiful picture of of humility the wheat versus someone who is really arrogant and stuck up the weed who are the weeds and fall sweet these are the counterfeits uh and they are and they are living amongst us and as the parable teaches us hard to distinguish if we are not careful paul wants us in 2nd corinthians chapter 11 says such people are false apostles deceitful workers masquerading as apostles of christ the word masquerade is used three times
00:16:04 satan masquerades as the angel of light his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness matthew 7 um which i preached on someone on the mount um talks about false prophets the wolves in sheep's clothing jesus doesn't means his words in verse 21 he's not everyone who says to me lord lord will enter the kingdom of heaven but only the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven let's see other examples of what i call wheat theology the infamous seven mountains mandate or just 7m this is the term coined by one
00:16:43 of the pioneers dr lance well now under the new apostolic reformation celtic movement it means quotes a lot of a lot of passages and verses and one of one of the verses that they that they misquote is isaiah 2 2 he says in the last days the mountain of the lord's temple will be established as the highest of the mountains there's you know hence hence the word seven mountains right it will be exalted above the hills and all nations will stream to it this has penetrated many charismatic and pentecostal
00:17:13 churches in america so the seven m theology teaches that the church of the 21st century will be ruled by apostles and prophets choosing to believe that christians must set the stage for jesus second coming by achieving dominion over the world system so they broadly categorized into seven pillars that they must conquer arts entertainment business finance church into church religion media education family including health government including military one of this according to the seven em theology jesus
00:17:52 will only return to a world that mirrors the kingdom of god nowhere in the bible is restored one of the biggest proponent of of this 7m is paula white some of you remember he's donald trump's spiritual advisor right at the end of the day it is a political conquest of power sticking claims and taking controls modern apostles so they call want to reshape america ahead of the end times closer to us is some of you may have heard this the south korean xinjiang ji which translated as the new heaven and
00:18:31 the new earth it's a cult responsible for the country's largest covet outbreak last year in korea machine changing teaches that the 144 000 mentioned in revelations chapter 4 chapter 7 verse 4 are members of the 12 tribes of xinjiang ji the group denies the trinity he claims all angels are humans and li manhi the founder alone has the ability to correctly interpret the word of god and he claims to be the second coming of christ some of you might think it's very far from us you know that's in korea right
00:19:08 but i think some of you may have also received this right it's a circular issued by malaysian baptist convention xinjiang ji is nearer than we think it has infiltrated malaysia in the form of salt and light fellowship it is a bible study fellowship it's targeting students and young people we have a member in our life group who have been contacted by them to join their bible study and i'm sure some of you may also have been contacted so be careful the late bens hefner and american baptist preacher writer quotes
00:19:41 the devil is not fighting religion he's too smart for that he is producing a counterfeit christianity so much like the real one that good christians are afraid to speak out against it so dear brothers and sisters guard yourselves against false teachings equip and ground yourself with god's word that's what first john 4 1 says do not believe every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they are from god because many false prophets has gone into the world now at the other end of the spectrum are
00:20:17 those who being confident that they belong to the wheat category have and have identified who the wheats are it's really any time to pull the to pull the plug as it were to put weeds this is exactly what jesus is also prohibiting here in this parable now the pulling of the which is not to be confused with the ex-communication of the church because the feel here refers to as we as we saw earlier cosmos the world as opposed to the church so some are too quickly to interpret this to be yeah let's excommunicate
00:20:54 these reads from the church there are other passages dealing with excommunication such as first corinthians 5 and pastor massimo gay preached on this a couple of months ago anyway rather what is being forbidden by jesus here is taking the law into our own hands and thereby executing judgment before the appointed time hebrews 10 30 reminds us for we know him who said it is mine to avenge it is god to avenge i will repay and again the lord will judge his people we see this throughout history don't we
00:21:30 all in the name of religion take for example the crusades to the holy land the holy wars we mentioned i mentioned about the kingdom of heaven earlier in the movie it's all about this it was during the medieval period how ruthless and widespread the massacre of muslims of jews and other non-christians were and resulted in bitter resentment that persisted for many years even up to today in pulling the weeds we uproot many innocent weed itself a quotation from the gospel coalition block about the crusade is very apt here
00:22:08 gospel coalition says we are in a battle and the master has called us to fight not with weapons of the world but with the word of god and prayer not against our neighbors but against the world the flesh and the devil some things are worth fighting for some things are worth dying for our land perhaps our lord always so let's let our struggle be valiant our suffering be purposeful and our strategy be christ who triumph over the enemy not by taking life but by giving his own it is ironic that the word crusade
00:22:46 uh which comes from the latin crusade means those signed by the cross and looks like they misunderstood the meaning of the cross a similar example is the spanish inquisition which lasted for almost four centuries from 1478 to 1834. britannica summarizes its ostensible purpose was to combat heresy in spain but in practice it resulted in consolidating power in the monarchy of the newly unified spanish kingdom its brutal methods led to widespread death and suffering in pulling of the weed weeds the wheat
00:23:25 gets uprooted as well but then the frequently asked question is this why sorry and we continue to to see many acts of religious terrorism in the name of religion the pulling of weeds that instead of eliminating evil proliferates it and uproots the wheat along with them but still we have this frequently asked question why do evil or wicked man seems to thrive isn't it we always have this question right why why do some people and i think you have some people in mind right some politicians maybe right
00:24:08 but but you're not the only one let's look back at the psalms the samis have many to teach us here right so look at psalm 73 for example let me read this to us psalm 17 of asap right who is complaining to god surely god is good to israel to those who are pure in heart but as for me my feet had almost slipped i had nearly lost my foothold for i envied the arrogant when i when i saw the prosperity of the wicked they have no struggles their bodies are healthy and strong they are free from common human burdens
00:24:43 they are not plagued by human ills therefore pride is their necklace they clothe themselves with violence from their careless hearts comes iniquity their evil imaginations have no limits they scoff they speak with melees with arrogance they threaten oppression their mouths lay claim to heaven and their tongues take possession of the earth therefore their people turn to them and drink up waters in abundance they say how would god know does the most high know anything this is what the wicked are like
00:25:15 they are free of care and they go on a messing wealth surely in vain i've kept my heart pure asap is almost giving up here and have washed my hands in innocence all day long i have been afflicted and every morning brings new punishments if i had spoken out like that i would have betrayed your children when i tried to understand all this it troubled me deeply don't we don't we sometimes feel exactly that sometimes yeah i'm sure you're thinking of some people in mind like i said some politicians you're always here
00:25:47 in the news or even people that you know or close to you colleagues neighbors even friends and family and haven't been asked the question of why god doesn't pull the plug as it were is god not capable of eliminating the weeds yes and we see that throughout the old testament of how god has judged the um the um unrepentant cities yes but not yet yes but not yet why why does god allow evil and suffering to coexist even increase as we see in second timothy 3 verse 13 evil doers and imposters will grow from bad to worse
00:26:26 deceiving and being deceived now this is not going to be a thesis on the problem of evil and suffering of course but one way of looking at it is from romans this was covered by dr peter's gama class you see in romans 2 uh romans 2 4 when you a mere human being pass judgment on them and yet you do the same things do you think you will escape god's judgment or do you show content for the richest of his kindness forbearance and patience not realizing that god's kindness is intended to lead you to repentance
00:27:04 and i think ii peter chapter 3 verse 15 summarizes it really well bear in mind that our lord's patience means salvation so what was jesus response in this parable he says in verse 30 let both grow together until harvest let both grow together until harvest harvest is a common metaphor for finer judgment when the wheat the sons of the kingdom will be vindicated and the wheat the sons of the evil one will face eternal separation in the lick of fire revelation 14 for example pictured jesus with a crown of gold on his head and a
00:27:46 sharp sickle in his hand jesus and his angels would take the sharp sickle and gather the grapes that are ripe in this case the weeds and at the end of the chapter of chapter 14 in verse 20 the judgment is described as the gruesome imagery of grapes being trampled in the wine press outside the city and blood flowing out of the press rising as high as the horse's bridle for a distance of a thousand six hundred stadia the judgment of god is not to be trivialized the theme of a final judgment between
00:28:22 good and evil is found in similar passages such as the one that we have read earlier matthew 3 matthew 3 verse 12 the winnering fork that gathers the wheat leaving the shaft being burned with unquenchable fire or the parable of the net in the later part of this chapter the separation of good and bad fish or the famous parable of the sheep and goats in matthew 25 we will certainly delve into these parables later the judgment will certainly come at the day of perusia the second coming of christ the bible is clear that the day
00:28:57 of the lord will come like a thief in the night first thessalonians 5 2 the day of the hour no one will know not even the angels but only god our father and that's why in matthew 24 42 it says therefore keep watch because you do not know on what day your lord will come psalm 73 which we just read earlier about how unfair it seems that evil people are thriving the turning point of this psalm was after complaining for 16 verses the psalmist that's the turning point that he says till i entered the sanctuary of god and then i
00:29:34 understood their final destiny those whom he complained to be evil those and at the end of the psalm he declares those who are far from you will perish you destroy all one faithful to you but as for me it is good to be near god it is good to be near god i have made the sovereign lord my refuge i would tell of all your deeds this follows through from last week's sermon by arnold about the church within the veil having access to god and being in his presence seeking his face so what can we learn from the parable of the weeds about how
00:30:12 we should then live in the already and not yet kingdom of heaven number one the world we live in is a war zone it's gonna be messy out there in the field ephesians 6 12 reminds us our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers against the authorities against the powers of this dark world against the spiritual forces of the of evil in the heavenly realms we have to accept the fact that an enemy is out there to harm us the enemy likes to spoil the crop making it harder for wheat to grow
00:30:44 furthermore the enemy disguises as true believers but underneath that facade are wolves in sheep clothing the challenge is to be on our guard to clothe ourselves with the armor of god secondly christ is our righteous judge christ is our righteous judge we are not to judge who is wheat or weed or spend all our time condemning or witch hunting the weeds you know because we can't judge who is wheat or weed we don't take the law into our own hands it is god who avenges as we learn in his righteousness he will vindicate the
00:31:22 righteous and punish the wicked instead be be patient and persevere romans 5 reminds us that we also glory in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance perseverance character and character hope matthew 24 reminds us that the one who stands firm to the end will be saved so be patient and persevere thirdly christ has overcome the world christ has overcome the world john 16 says in this world you will have trouble but take heart i have overcome the world when he died and rose again
00:32:01 romans uh revelation 11 15 pains the picture of the future of the final kingdom he says the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our lord and of his messiah so evil has been overcome sin will eventually be eradicated do not overcome do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good lastly are you a wheat or a weed stay true to your calling we are called to be wheat the sons of the kingdom so evaluate yourselves make every effort to ensure you belong in christ's kingdom to enter through the narrow gate
00:32:48 essentially the parable of the weeds poses the challenge of true and authentic christianity even amidst evil and suffering as we patiently await his ultimate triumph at the end of the age we move on to the second parable jesus then continues with another agricultural parable the third of what like what i call matthew's seed trilogy you know it started with parable of the sower uh which the ulam preached and then the parable of the weeds we just looked at and now the parable of the mustard seed but is
00:33:26 closer to the garden it's the parable that challenges us to grow and thrive despite small or humble beginnings so jesus told another parable the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and planted in his field though it is the smallest of all seeds yet when it grows it is the largest of all garden plants and becomes a tree so that the birds come and perch in its branches again i said i don't have green fingers i'm not a botanist but it doesn't take an expert to know that the mustard seed is
00:34:04 not the smallest of all known plant seed it is it is a giant a behemoth compared to say an orchid seed that is smaller than a grain of salt similarly the mustard plant or bush or tree there's a reason why jesus used the mustard example you know it is sometimes known as a plant in some in in some countries it's a bush and and some seeds can grow into a tree it is certainly not the largest plant or tree although some of the species can grow up to 20 feet tall what is what is implied here is firstly
00:34:41 contrast the mustard seed in jewish tradition is proverbial for smallness insignificance to the point of being invisible so take for example um in in matthew chapter 17 verse 20 when jesus talks about faith as small as a mustard seed is able to move mountains the contrast the theme runs through the entire matthew chapter 13 the yeast and 11 which we'll look at later the invisible treasure the one precious pearl the transparent net things that seem small inconspicuous hardly worth observation turn out to be
00:35:20 by far the greatest importance and significance hence the saying good things come in small packages isn't it furthermore it is about growth the mustard seed is known for rapid germination and growth now some earlier scholarship interprets this parable negatively right so they say that the growth is unnatural it's abnormal and the birds lodging on the tree being a defilement by evil and they quote revelations 18 verse 2 where the fall of babe babylon the great is a haunt for every unclean bird or
00:35:55 they allude to the parable of the sower where the birds the evil ones snatches away the seeds that fell along the path and therefore the parable they say represents the secularization of the church so they say but i think that is unlikely to be correct because jesus is referring to the master seed that grows into a mighty tree as the kingdom of heaven so growth must be implied here and the birds indicative of nations including the gentiles this alludes to old testament passages that picture a great kingdom as a large
00:36:29 tree with birds flocking to his branches take for example daniel chapter four talks about that prophesies about the tree that grew large and strong with his top touching the sky and was visible to the ends of the earth his leaves were beautiful his fruit abundant and on it was food for all under it were wild animals found the wild animal found shelter and the birds lived in its branches from it every creature was fed and thus looking forward to a kingdom that will attract many beneficiaries the growth of the kingdom of god's
00:37:04 kingdom will be extensive progressive and unstoppable the main thrust to the main trust of the parable is is as how theologian niels dahl summarizes succinctly in his book jesus in memory he says now the parable is like uh it is is the organic unity of a small beginning and a mature end the organic unity of a small beginning and a mature end as opposed to a fleshy ostentatious spectacular start with a diminishing end and we see this theme throughout the bible in the lives of ordinary man called by god abraham
00:37:49 called to start afresh i was given the big promise to be the father of a great nation from whom all blessings will flow till thousands of years later jesus the messiah were to be born moses if you remember was almost chickening out when called to bring the israelites out of egypt he thought of himself as so small but parted the red sea and led the israelites to the promised land david the shepherd boy who defeated goliath and who would later become the anointed king of israel foreshadowing jesus as the messiah and
00:38:26 eternal king so were the 12 disciples of jesus mostly fishermen even a tax collector called to take up the cross and follow christ and to fulfill the great commission to go and make disciples of all nations and teaching them to obey what christ had commanded today christianity continues to spread and grow throughout the globe especially in the past two centuries the graph i'm showing here is published by the economist about china about the growth of protestants in china china had over just over a million
00:39:05 protestants in 1949 when the communists took over today researchers think there are over 60 million up to up to 60 million right more or more than right a recent article from a from a swedish christian magazine translated light in the east this was founded by ulam's live group talks about how new laws and restrictions and even persecution of christians in china had only filled the growth of underground churches the kovit 19 pandemic this report says has paradoxically meant more freedom for christians
00:39:43 because all government efforts will focus on curbing the spread of the pandemic and rather than monitoring the spread of christianity missionaries in china continue to serve faithfully despite the pandemic and the number of evangelists increased from by 30 to 40 percent throughout 2020 and churches continued to flourish significant growth had also been seen in other countries such as cambodia mongolia nepal eastern europe you know ukraine romania and much of the sub-saharan african and indonesia it all
00:40:18 started from a humble beginnings of a handful of believers korea and latin america now sends thousands of missionaries abroad every year the the international bulletin of mission research presents an annual snapshot of global christianity and they they report the trends as ongoing so they so this year they they produce a report um reporting seven trends they're saying right the world is becoming more religious more evangelical and you know the church has become more adventure in charismatic global south is
00:40:57 in the lead african asia cities are growing in the mission field missions are becoming more legit indigenous and fragmented which means more local people are are going to missions christian resources are growing but here the last trend that is also worrying and concerning about integrity as ecclesiastical crime has also has also increased by leaps and bounds 5.22 amounting to about usd 55 billion per year so the wheat while the wheat is growing the weeds are also growing in paris so we're going to be going to
00:41:44 be better stand watch and be on guard so the peril of the mustard seed gives us the assurance and the confidence that the kingdom of heaven will continue to grow and thrive despite growing persecution and evil around us the wheat and the weeds growing side by side the challenge question for you and i is are you and i are we thriving and growing in the right kingdom are we thriving and growing in the right kingdom are we are growing wheat while we are growing weed jesus kingdom of heaven the right kingdom jesus kingdom of
00:42:25 heaven that is eternal not the earthly kingdom of this world that will one day pass away are we bearing more and more of the fruit of the spirit and less and less of the instant gratifications of the flesh are we storing more treasures in heaven when moth and rust do not destroy and thieves do not break in and steal then treasures and pleasures on earth think about that as we move on to the third and final parable for today the parable of the yeast which challenges us to lead transformed lives so that in turn we can lead others
00:43:04 to christ this is quite apt as we will be partaking holy communion later right the story of the bread so he told them another parable the last parable we look at today the kingdom of heaven is like a it's like yeast that a woman took and mixed into 60 pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough earlier scholarship again interpreted which who interpreted the birds in the parable of the master seed as evil also interpreted the yeast or leaven in this parable as sin and evil enemies not it's not surprising because they
00:43:38 allude to for example the yeast of the pharisees and sadducees which is certainly evil right and hence hence they say this represents the influence of evil within the church although yeast is normally associated with evil in the old testament it is not always so leviticus for example talks about bread baked with yeast that are used as offering to god as well again the field here is not the the church but but the world moreover this parable is paired with the parable of the mustard seed and carries
00:44:14 similar meanings of the ultimate effects being contrasted or being even out of proportion to its seemingly insignificant beginnings so but the the difference between the parable of the mustard seed and the parable of the the of the leaven or the yeast is that while the mustard seed suggests extensive growth the yeast suggests intensive transformation yeast as we know doesn't grow like the mustard seed it permeates and its inevitable effect despite small quantity used is similar to the effects of salt per jesus's words in similar
00:44:53 amounts matthew 25 13. now notice something interesting here right uh again i don't i don't bake at home but but 60 pounds of flour is definitely quite excessive for a typical meal isn't it so what does this suggest it suggests the feast it suggests and jesus often spoke of the kingdom as a great banquet that is the kingdom of heaven it's a great banquet and our role is to be like the yeast permeating growing in that in and and being ready for that great banquet what can we glean from the parable
00:45:31 first similar to the parable of the mustard seed the kingdom of god may have small beginnings but given time it will increase it will spread the gospel will make progress secondly the kingdom of god exerts its influence from within not from without yeast makes dough rise from within a chemical reaction a transformation that is invisible called the fermentation process is happening behind the scene scientifically speaking carbon dioxide is released and that's what causes the dough to rise and ethanol
00:46:11 which is which is what we don't want balls off during baking similarly in our christian life transformation happens from within god first changes the heart of a person this internal change and transformation will have external manifestations the gospel influence in the culture works the same way christians within the culture acts as as agents of change slowly but surely transforming that culture from within and finally the effect of the kingdom of god will be pervasive and comprehensive just as yeast works until the dough is
00:46:51 completely risen the ultimate benefit of the kingdom of god will be worldwide although the kingdom of god works invisibly in its in fact in fact it's evident to all yeast does its job slowly secretly silently but no one can deny its effect on bread the same is true of the work of grace in our hearts so the challenge before us brothers and sisters is therefore to allow god to transform us from the inside out into the likeness of christ romans 12 2 reminds us not to conform to the pattern of this world but be
00:47:29 transformed by the renewing of our mind so that we'll be able to test and improve what god's will is his good and pleasing will second corinthians 3 18 all we who with unveiled faces contemplate lord's glory we are being transformed into his image with ever increasing glory which comes from the lord who is the spirit and so cycling back to the first parable of the weeds jesus ends his explanation of the parable beautifully in verse 43 saying um sorry jumped a little bit more more on this more on transformation
00:48:14 our transformed life should reflect christ in every way we are called to be salt and light of the world to be effective witnesses of the gospel to lead others to christ through our good deeds it's always a joy to hear of fbc's social outreach programs we're doing whether it's with soup kitchen the groceries delivery to the burmese families including the adopt the family program so cycling back to the first parable of the weeds jesus ends his explanation of the parable beautifully in verse 43 saying
00:48:52 then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of the father and this is reminiscent of daniel chapter 12 verse 3 who says those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens and those who and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like stars forever and ever so let's summarize we reflected on three parables of jesus illustrating what the already but not yet kingdom of heaven is like it is revolutionary it is counter-culture and concerns ultimately on the redemption and salvation of all
00:49:29 mankind hence the challenge for us is to live in his kingdom but distinct and set apart from the ways of the world knowing that our eternal home is in heaven the parable of the weeds challenges us to live authentic christian lives being on guard against the weeds the counterfeits the evil schemes and deceptions of the devil who is the father of lies the parable of the mustard seed assures us that despite its humble beginnings the kingdom of god will certainly grow to the ends of the earth and challenges
00:50:01 us to focus on the on the bigger picture to grow and not remain stagnant in our faith and finally the parable of the yeast challenges us to continually transform into christ's likeness to be salt and light of the world finally the kingdom of righteousness is inaugurated and ultimately fulfilled and exemplified in christ at the cross we remember his humble birth his humble beginning born in a manger because there was no room for obey his sufferings and ultimately death on the cross and while the world thinks
00:50:41 that that was the end of his reign and the wheats had won he's resurrected and claiming his glorious victory over sin and death that's why jesus said in john chapter 12 12 24 unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies it remains only a single seed speaking about himself but if it dies it produces many seeds and he goes on to say in verse 25 anyone who loves their life will lose it or anyone who hates their lives in this world will keep it for eternal life let us also in union with christ
00:51:19 continue to live as wheat not read denying ourselves picking up the cross and following him let us close in prayer thank you heavenly father for the cross lord for there at the cross is where wrath and mercy meets there at the cross you paid the price for sin and death for our redemption so that by believing in you we may have eternal life help us make conscious decisions daily to live in your kingdom to live authentic and true christian lives one that continues to grow one that continues to bear the fruit of
00:52:01 the spirit even as we are being transformed to be more like christ and as we are surrounded by growing weeds as well help us to put on the full armor of god so that we can take our stand against the devil's scheme and be worthy of the gospel being confident that you who began a good work in us will carry it through to completion unto the day of christ and let us all pray the lord's prayer together our father in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven
00:52:35 give us this day our daily bread forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever and ever amen jesus said the parable to you you're struggling to grow as wheat among weeds and you just need to share and pray with someone privately type pray in the chat as usual there will be elders and leaders waiting to pray with and for you for all other requests if you want to
00:53:14 follow jesus but don't know how you want to attend alpha you want to join a live group or any other prayer request please scan the qr code to respond and we'll be in touch with you let's come to god in response in the song of response
