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2-26-2024--O Come to the Alter-Performed by Aaron at God A Minute?
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2-26-2024--O Come to the Alter-Performed by Aaron at God A Minute?
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This transcription is a prayer followed by a story and a discussion about parables. The speaker starts by praying and thanking the Lord for the opportunity to gather and study His word. Then, the speaker tells a story about a man who passes up on a great deal for a suitcase and later realizes he missed out on a valuable prize. The speaker then relates this story to the concept of repentance and the kingdom of God. They explain that Jesus turned John the Baptist's message around and emphasized that the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. The speaker suggests that Jesus wanted people to know more about what was coming and used parables to explain it. They discuss the setting of Galilee and how Jesus used parables to relate to the farmers and fishermen in that area. They mention the parables of the sower and the soils, the weeds among the good plants, and the lampstand. The speaker explains that the parables are part of a series known as the kingdom parables Okay, well, let's see what the Lord has in store tonight. Let's start with a prayer. Gracious Heavenly Father, we come before you thanking you, Lord, for our evening. We thank you, Lord, for helping us through one more week. It's hard to believe that a week goes by and we're back here again, but Lord, what a blessing it is to be able to gather together, to have this fellowship, and to be able to study your word together. We pray, Lord, that your spirit would lead and direct everything that transpires tonight. We pray that you'd be glorified in all things. We pray that you would grant us wisdom and discernment, and Lord, that your word would transform us and to make us into the new creations that you want us to be, Lord. We just are so thankful that that process is ongoing. Lord, we want to contribute to that in whatever way that we can, but we know, Lord, it's you that is doing the work, and we just praise you and thank you for it all. So we ask your blessing upon our evening together. I thank you for my brothers and sisters being here tonight. We pray you bless them as we study, and we give you the glory in Jesus' name. Amen. All right. So have you ever not bought something because you thought the deal was too good to be true, and then only to find out later that, oh, gosh, I should have bought that? Well, there's this guy that goes to – he's planning his vacation. He knows he's going to be going on vacation, but he needs to get a suitcase. So he's checking online, and he finds this place, and it's actually a place in his town. So he goes to the suitcase store, and he pulls up, and just as he's about to go in there, there's a guy that's selling suitcases outside of the store, kind of trying to stop customers from getting in there, and he's got these suitcases at this really fantastic price. And he's saying, this is the best suitcase you could ever want to buy. He's really hyping it up. And it's only $25. The ones in there are going to be twice as much. And so the guy decides, no, yeah, like Carol just said, it's usually a scam. Yeah. So this guy says, no, you know, I'm not going to take that kind of a chance. And so he goes in, and he finds the suitcase that he'd kind of been looking for, and he plops down his money, and he takes off and waves to the guy that's out there selling suitcases. He gets home, and he's all excited about, you know, getting ready for his trip and everything else. And a couple hours later, his neighbor comes over, knocks on the door, and lo and behold, he comes walking in, and he's got a suitcase. And he says, you can't believe it. He says, I just bought this suitcase down at the suitcase store, but there's this guy that was out front, and I got this really cool deal. And he says, wait till you see what's on the inside. And so he opens it up, and inside is this envelope. And on the outside of the envelope, it says, congratulations, you are a winner of this special prize. And he opens it up, and here is a string of gold coins that were inside the suitcase. And the guy goes, you've got to be kidding me. And so he thinks, well, I'm going to hurry back down there and get myself one of them suitcases. And his friend says, I got the last one. So that's the story. You know what? Sometimes we just don't get the deals that we thought we would get. We're not really paying attention. And the guy's probably thinking, you know what, if only I had some more information, if that guy would have said, hey, take a look what's inside the suitcase, of course, you know, then the surprise would have been over. But he didn't listen to what the guy was saying, that it was the best deal that he could possibly get. He decided to go his own route, and he ended up losing out as a result of that. Well, you know, back in the old days, there were people that used to walk around with these placards, and across on these placards are signs that they carried, kind of hung over them, would say, repent, for the end is near, or repent, the kingdom is near, or something like that. And you know, we see that in our studies here, and if we turn to Mark chapter 1, John the Baptist came on the scene, and he was actually doing that same thing. And actually, in Matthew chapter 3, John the Baptist comes on the scene, and he says that you need to repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. But if we go to the book of Mark, and we find out that, remember, we've been talking about Jesus going into Galilee area, and that was where he was beginning his ministry. In Mark chapter 1, in verse 14, it says, Now after John was put into prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, now listen to this, the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Then he says, repent, and believe the gospel. Okay, so what do we have here? Jesus actually is turning John the Baptist's message around. Now, I don't know if he did it intentionally, or if it's just the way that it happened to play out in this particular instance, but I think that Jesus may actually be wanting people to know more about what was being offered to them. And so he says, the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand. So it's kind of like, I'm not getting you with the hook of repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand, I'm getting you with the hook of the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand. So I know it may seem like an incidental thing, but I think that when we go through our studies here tonight, maybe we can realize that Jesus really wanted us to know more about what was actually coming, than to just go, okay, I'm repenting, but what am I repenting for? What is it that's actually coming? I think Jesus really wanted his audience to know what was coming, and that's why he used parables to help explain it. So just a quick recap here. We've been talking about Jesus in the Galilee area during the first part of his ministry. And of course he had been baptized by John the Baptist, went into the wilderness, and he came out and ended up going back up into the area that he grew up in and where he lived. So in that area of Galilee, farming and fishing were a big part of everyday life. And the people in the area of Galilee, they understood that. That was what they saw each and every day. And so in contrast to that, the people in the region of Judea, which is where Jerusalem was, those people relied on the production of valuable trade goods, such as metals that were worked into jewelry, or weapons, or ceramics, or that kind of thing. It was more of an industrial kind of area. But also a major source of livelihood in Jerusalem, like in many cities today, was the government and public service employment. You know, we see Matthew was a tax collector. He kind of got into a government job, and even though he was where he was, that was a common practice, you know, especially in the cities. But Jesus was in Galilee, and he was reaching out to the people and the way of life that he grew up around. So just kind of give us a setting there. So over the last few weeks, in connection with the fact that Jesus was there in Galilee, and there were farmers and fishermen and people that were in that type of work, we've seen over the last few weeks how Jesus used parables to kind of relate to those people by sharing the parable of the sower and the soils. And also last week we saw the parable of the weeds among the good plants, and in between was the parable on the lampstand. So tonight's study, we're going to look at three short passages and three parables. So we learned last week that the parables of the wheat and the tares was the first in a series of what is known as the kingdom parables. And I think there's eight or maybe nine of them, but they're all kind of collected together here in this part of Jesus's ministry. And it was only in this parable of the wheat and the tares, or the wheat and the weeds, that Jesus explained what it meant. And after this, he kind of expected for his audience to get the connection to what he was saying. So the wheat and the tares parable, it was not like a key to a map, a map key, you know, where they have all the different symbols, and every time you see a map that these symbols mean the same thing. Well, that really wasn't true of the parables, because the parable of the wheat and the tares was really just a pattern that he was going to follow, utilizing familiar things to create a familiar picture to his audience where he was at. So he was very wise in what he was doing there. So each one of the parables would be a familiar picture that he would use to communicate a unique aspect of the kingdom for people to see. And that's why they're known as the kingdom parables. So there may be things that we can use from one to another, but there wasn't like any one thing that was a constant throughout them. But we do know one thing. Jesus was trying to give more information to his hearers as to what the kingdom of God was. And, you know, one thing that I've often said and I think has really been a benefit in helping people to be encouraged in their walk with the Lord, we don't really hear too much about what the kingdom of heaven is really going to be like. But if you really do a study in the kingdom, if you really do a study into what the millennial kingdom is about and what the eternal kingdom is going to be like, there's a lot of information throughout scripture that we can pull together to see many characteristics that make up the kingdom that we're all looking forward to. I know that we've touched on that briefly in the past, but it's really important that we have that understanding because it really is an encouragement to us. It's actually what we're looking forward to. I know that we're all looking for the Lord to come and to take us out of here. But, you know, we may be seeing the ship coming to the port to pick us up. But once we're on board, we're actually going somewhere. And once we get there, it's going to be a huge blessing to us. And, you know, I've often said that if heaven had a travel brochure, I think people would be interested in reading it. Well, God has actually given us that in his word. He's given us a lot of things in his word that describe where it is we're going and what we're going to be doing when we get there. So if you have your Bibles, turn to Mark chapter 4, and we're going to look at the first one of our three parables here tonight. And it is the parable of the growing seed. And this parable is only found in Mark's gospel. So it's found in Mark chapter 4, and it's only like four verses. So we're going to pick it up in verse 26, and we'll see what Jesus has in store for us here. And we read, All right, that's the end of the first parable. So what we have here, it's pretty simple and straightforward. We have a man who scatters seed, and then he basically goes about his daily routine. He sleeps by night and he rises by day. And in the meantime, the seed sprouts and grows and yields a crop all by itself. Then when the grain is ripe or finished growing, the time comes for the harvest. So what do we have here? Well, I think Jesus is saying here that the kingdom of God is coming about due to the power that God is working in it. Yes, the Lord wants all of us to partake in sowing the seed and watering it and fertilizing it if it needs it. But that's because he wants to bless us with the rewards of actually getting out in the field and working with him. If we turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 3, the Apostle Paul kind of elaborates on this a little bit. 1 Corinthians chapter 3, starting in verse 6, Paul says, I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now, he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. So there's a process that God wants us to be involved in. The Apostle Paul backs that up. Him and Apollos were involved in working in the field for God, and it was the process of some were planting, and some were harvesting, and some were watering, and it's just all part of working with God, and the Lord has a blessing in store there. So, the Lord wants us to be involved in the work of God, and the Lord wants us to be involved in the work of God. So, Peter also kind of touches on this a little bit in 1 Peter chapter 1. He writes, starting in verse 22, about the Word of God, who in the previous parable we did see is the seed, and in all likelihood, we can relate that to this is what ends up growing in the kingdom. It's the Word of God growing and becoming what God wants it to be in everybody's life. Peter says in 1 Peter 1.22, he says, since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the spirit and sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible through the Word of God, which lives and abides forever. So, Peter backs up the fact that the Word of God is doing a work in people's lives. Then, James also makes mention of the importance of God's Word in our lives. In James 1 verse 21, he says, in his admonition to the believers, he says, therefore, lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted Word, which is able to save your souls. So, the Word of God and the work of God really do go together. And so, what we see here is that we see a process that's happening of seed being planted, that God is causing it to do what he intends for it to do, and ultimately, there's going to be a harvest that's going to come in the end, and there's going to be a reward that goes along with it. All right, so, the next parable is the parable of the mustard seed. And this parable is found in Mark and in Matthew. So, what we'll do is we'll turn to Matthew chapter 13, because that's what we'll be continuing after this one. Matthew chapter 13, and starting in verse 31. In another parable, he put forth to them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all seeds, but when it is grown, it becomes greater than the herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches. Okay, so, again, these are just short little stories, and it's like, okay, so, can we really figure out what, you know, what is all in there? So, what do we have with this one? Okay, so, we have a man who is planting a single seed, and as it grows, it becomes a home for the birds. So, an interesting note on mustard seeds here is that mustard seeds come in pods, obviously, on the mustard plant, and these plants can get quite large, 10 to 15 feet tall. And one plant, one plant with all of its pods can actually yield hundreds of more plants, maybe even thousands of plants, because there's so many seeds in those pods, and the seeds are so small, and not only that, but the mustard plant is very, it's a very hardy plant, and it's very It's a very hardy plant, and it's very strong against external forces. Now, think about this, okay? We're relating this to the kingdom of God. Hardy, strong against external forces, and not easily, the plant is not easily killed, even, even by fire. So, it'll even survive fires. So, it really is an interesting analogy that Jesus is using here, with the kingdom being like this mustard seed, and this plant that grows and becomes so big that the birds of the air can have a home. But, again, the main, the main point in this parable is that this tiny seed, this tiny little seed can grow into something that is very big, and it can be helpful to others. Others would be the represent, being represented by the birds, who may nest under its shade. And the point is that God wants us to grow, or to grow us into a kingdom that is greater greater than all the other kingdoms, so that we can be a blessing to many others. Now, if you remember, and if you want to turn there, we did a study in the book of Daniel. And in Daniel chapter 2, we've talked about this quite often, Daniel chapter Oh, let's see here. Actually, it is Daniel chapter 7. Daniel chapter 7, and verse 27, Daniel talks about the kingdom of God that was coming. He says, in Daniel 7, 27 says, then the kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole of heaven shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. So here we've got, this is an Old Testament picture of what Jesus is actually talking about here in this parable of the mustard seed. So I thought that that was kind of an interesting parallel, an interesting comparison there, as we see that ultimately Daniel's talking about the fact that the kingdom of God will become this immense kingdom that will be a blessing to everybody in all of the world. So that's the parable of the mustard seed. And then the parable that follows up on the heels of that one is the parable of the leaven, or the parable of the yeast. And that follows right along here in Matthew chapter 13, and it starts in verse 33. And it's just one verse. Jesus says, and another parable, he spoke to them, the kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until it was all leavened. Okay, so what do we have in this parable? Well, we have a woman. First two parables, there were men. We have a woman that mixes yeast or leaven, which is, leaven is an ingredient, I believe it's an enzyme, that influences the flour, it says here the meal, but the flour. And when it's mixed in there, it causes the flour to expand. So she's mixing this yeast throughout all of the flour. And it's a large amount. It's like a half a bushel. She's making a big amount of, maybe she's making a lot of loaves of bread here, right? It doesn't tell us. That would be my guess. I remember my grandmother used to make bread, and she was like making bread almost all day. And she would have loaves of bread all over the kitchen table. My grandfather had a little grocery store, and they would sell some of that bread in the store. But we were the benefactors of being able to have some of that fresh homemade bread. I'll never forget it. But for those of you that have had homemade bread, you know what I'm talking about. But the yeast is mixed in so that the bread will rise and the dough will become larger. And once the yeast is mixed in, you can't take it out. And nor would God want to take the yeast out, because he wants his kingdom to expand. And his kingdom is going to expand. That's his plan. That's why what we read there in Daniel is so significant. Now, all three of these parables, we get to the crux of our study here tonight. All three of these parables have basically the same theme. And that theme is growth or expansion. And this is God's pattern. And nothing is going to stop or prevent it from coming. Because Jesus already said that it's here. He said in Luke 17, 21, that the kingdom of God is in your midst. Now let's go back to Daniel chapter 2, where I was almost going the first time. Daniel chapter 2. This is a familiar passage that we've studied in the past. And it starts in verse Daniel 2, 34. And we read, you watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay and broke them into pieces. Then the iron and the clay and the bronze and the silver and the gold were crushed together and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors. The wind carried them away so that there was no trace of them to be found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain, and listen to this, and filled the whole earth. Here we see an Old Testament example of this expansion and this growth that Jesus is talking about here in these three parables. So, you know, God is in the business of accomplishing what he has said in his word. And all we have to do to confirm what I just said is just go to the book of Acts. We've been studying the book of Acts on our Sunday night Bible study and fellowship that we have here at our house. But we've also, Donna and I have been in our daily reading, we're in the book of Acts. But here's just some examples in the book of Acts about how the kingdom of God expanded or grew. In Acts chapter 2 verse 41, we see that there were 3,000 people that were saved on the day of Pentecost. And then in Acts 4.4, we see that over 2,000 more people were added to the church. And then in Acts 5.14, we read that more and more were added who believed. And then in Acts 8.12, we see that the people in Samaria came to faith in Christ. And then we hear of in Acts 8, the familiar story of the Ethiopian eunuch who was saved when Philip went down and shared the Lord with him. And then in Acts chapter 9, we see that the people of Elida and Sharon came to the Lord. And the people in Joppa. And then in Acts chapter 10, we see Cornelius and his family coming to the Lord. And then in Acts chapter 11 verse 31, we see that the people in Antioch came to the Lord. And that's not even half of the book. And that story goes on and on and on and on. And I've often said this. The reason why the book of Acts kind of just ends and leaves you hanging is because that book is not done yet. And the Holy Spirit continues to work in our world and continues to bring people into the kingdom. And the kingdom is getting bigger and bigger and bigger even as we speak. In fact, I think a better title for Acts, they call it the Acts of the Apostles. I think a better title would be the Acts of the Holy Spirit, because it's the Holy Spirit that is doing the work there. And there wasn't a single solitary person who took credit for any of that that was happening in the book of Acts. It was all done by God through the Holy Spirit. And all of this comes as a result of God working. And the end results, as we've seen in all three of these parables, the end results are in God's hands. We see all of this different, we've got men and women, we've got seed and we've got yeast and we've got, you know, all these things that it's all happening because God is the one that is orchestrating all of it. So, to close, we have to ask ourselves, so what is our part? Well, we are the men and the women that God uses to initiate this whole process of growth in the kingdom. We are the instrument that God is using to begin his work and to continue it begin his work and to continue it in the world. Paul wrote, this is back in that passage in 1 Corinthians chapter 3, Paul writes there in 1 Corinthians 3.9, he says, for we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field. He's referring to the Corinthians. You are God's building. You see, God wants all of us to be working in the field for him. There's a guy that we watch, his YouTube channel is Jay Cumms. I don't know if any of you know me. He's from South, he lives in South Africa. But he's got these short little blurbs that he puts out. They're kind of, you know, keeping us in touch with what's going on in our world. But he often says that, you know, we're to be about God's business working in his field. And one day he's going to come, as we're working in the field together, he's going to, the father's going to send the Lord to come and get us to bring us home. Because God wants all of us to be working in the field for him. We can all do something, working through his power to help his kingdom grow. One last verse here is in Mark chapter 16, in verse 20. This is right at the end of Mark's gospel. It says, And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. You see, that's how God is doing this. We know from all the parables that we've studied so far, God is using his word to plant in the lives of people so that his kingdom can expand, his kingdom can grow. And ultimately, it's going to be as Daniel talks about, it's going to be the kingdom that consumes and takes over the whole earth. And what a glorious day that's going to be. We just need to remain connected to the one who is God. To the one who is doing the work. And if we do, he will give us blessings beyond what we can ever begin to imagine. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you and we praise you, Lord, for these encouraging words that you've given us. We thank you, Lord, for the fact that you want to use us in this process of furthering your kingdom and building your kingdom. And Lord, I pray that you would encourage all of my brothers and sisters here, and whoever gets to hear this message, Lord, that they would realize that we're not just here counting the days and the hours and waiting for your coming. You've got something for us to do in seeing the kingdom furthered and advancing. And Lord, we just praise you and thank you that you give us that opportunity each and every day. So we ask, Lord, that you would grant us wisdom in abundant measure, so that as we go out into our world, that we will see things the way that you see them. That we will hear the things that you want us to hear. And Lord, that you would give us hearts of compassion and a desire, Lord, to want to share the good news with those so that they can change their minds and repent and come to the saving knowledge of your son. We thank you so much for the fact that you've made that abundantly clear to us. And Lord, I pray that we would be found faithful in communicating that to anyone that we come into contact with, that you open the door for us to be able to share that with them. So Lord, we thank you and we praise you again for this evening that we have together, for these times that we can share in your word. And again, I thank you for my brothers and sisters spending the time here tonight. I ask you to bless them abundantly. And Lord, we just thank you and praise you for all that you've done for us. And we rejoice in the name of our Savior. And we praise you and thank you for him. In Jesus name. Amen. Are you hurting and broken within? Overwhelmed by the weight of your sin? Jesus is calling. Have you come to the end of yourself? Do you thirst for a drink from the well? Jesus is calling. Oh, come to the altar. The Father's arms are open wide. Forgiveness was bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Leave behind your regrets and mistakes. Come today. There's no reason to wait. Jesus is calling. Bring your sorrows and trade them for joy. From the ashes a new life is born. Jesus is calling. Oh, come to the altar. The Father's arms are open wide. Forgiveness was bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Oh, what a Savior. Oh, isn't he wonderful? Sing hallelujah. Christ is risen. Bow down before him. For he is Lord of all. Sing hallelujah. Christ is risen. Oh, come to the altar. The Father's arms are open wide. Forgiveness was bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Bear your cross as you wait for the crown. Tell the world of the treasure you found. Forgiveness was bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
