1 00:00:03,036 --> 00:00:04,137 It's good to be back with you. 2 00:00:04,137 --> 00:00:08,441 Last week, I had the privilege of speaking at Remedy Chapel, one of our church 3 00:00:08,441 --> 00:00:12,579 plants in Fresno, for beginning their second year in ministry. 4 00:00:12,612 --> 00:00:13,613 It was a great time. 5 00:00:13,613 --> 00:00:19,519 David did a great job here, walking us through the second parable of Matthew 13. 6 00:00:19,586 --> 00:00:23,790 There are seven parables total in that chapter, and so we're going to hit 7 00:00:23,823 --> 00:00:26,826 numbers three and four today. 8 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:29,629 But let me ask you this right off the bat. 9 00:00:29,629 --> 00:00:30,630 And you're not. 10 00:00:30,630 --> 00:00:33,199 You're going to think what in the world just have to do with the Bible. 11 00:00:33,199 --> 00:00:35,335 Here's a serious question. 12 00:00:35,335 --> 00:00:38,338 How many of you have ever seen a Chihuahuan 13 00:00:39,272 --> 00:00:42,042 chinchilla? 14 00:00:42,042 --> 00:00:45,011 What's your size expectation of it? 15 00:00:46,079 --> 00:00:46,880 Yeah. Little. 16 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:50,016 Right. What if you saw a huge one? 17 00:00:52,252 --> 00:00:52,786 It'd be weird. 18 00:00:52,786 --> 00:00:55,789 It wouldn't be at. 19 00:00:57,190 --> 00:01:00,193 And so. 20 00:01:02,028 --> 00:01:05,031 That look like a weird Chihuahuan. 21 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:09,803 Why does that look odd? 22 00:01:12,705 --> 00:01:15,708 Bigger than expected. 23 00:01:15,975 --> 00:01:18,111 Too fat. 24 00:01:18,111 --> 00:01:19,612 Let me tell you why it looks odd. 25 00:01:19,612 --> 00:01:22,916 Because it's DNA doesn't allow it to grow that way. 26 00:01:23,850 --> 00:01:27,821 And so what we're seeing there is something that is contrary to its DNA. 27 00:01:29,589 --> 00:01:31,691 Everything that God makes. 28 00:01:31,691 --> 00:01:34,694 He designs with a DNA, if you will, 29 00:01:36,262 --> 00:01:38,698 that determines everything about it, 30 00:01:38,698 --> 00:01:41,701 especially at size. 31 00:01:43,136 --> 00:01:44,737 For some reason, in America, 32 00:01:44,737 --> 00:01:47,740 we are enamored with large. 33 00:01:48,675 --> 00:01:51,678 And we assume that big is better. 34 00:01:52,879 --> 00:01:55,381 It's not necessarily the case 35 00:01:55,381 --> 00:01:57,617 because the issue is not size. 36 00:01:57,617 --> 00:02:00,620 The issue is health. 37 00:02:00,954 --> 00:02:04,057 If I like Chihuahuan, let me start there. 38 00:02:04,757 --> 00:02:07,260 I would rather have a small 39 00:02:07,260 --> 00:02:10,263 normal size, healthy Chihuahuan 40 00:02:10,463 --> 00:02:14,033 than a big Great Dane size ill Chihuahuan. 41 00:02:14,834 --> 00:02:15,902 Does that make sense? 42 00:02:19,639 --> 00:02:21,941 Regarding church. 43 00:02:21,941 --> 00:02:24,944 Drawing a crowd is easy, but purity is hard. 44 00:02:26,813 --> 00:02:29,816 A healthy was better than a big Chihuahuan. 45 00:02:30,717 --> 00:02:32,652 And so enter 46 00:02:32,652 --> 00:02:37,824 the parables of Matthew 13, verses 31 through 33. 47 00:02:38,424 --> 00:02:41,427 Two parables. Let me read them for you. 48 00:02:41,461 --> 00:02:42,629 You follow along. 49 00:02:42,629 --> 00:02:48,134 He put together Jesus, put together, put another parable before them, saying, 50 00:02:48,201 --> 00:02:51,671 the kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took 51 00:02:51,704 --> 00:02:53,473 and sowed in his field. 52 00:02:53,473 --> 00:02:57,043 It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown, 53 00:02:57,043 --> 00:03:01,948 it is larger than all the garden plants, and becomes a tree, 54 00:03:02,081 --> 00:03:06,719 so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches. 55 00:03:07,620 --> 00:03:09,422 He told them another parable. 56 00:03:09,422 --> 00:03:12,425 The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took 57 00:03:12,458 --> 00:03:16,596 and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leaven. 58 00:03:17,997 --> 00:03:21,000 These two parables present a 59 00:03:21,467 --> 00:03:25,104 issue for us, because the first two parables, and David 60 00:03:25,104 --> 00:03:29,776 did a great job last week in explaining what that parable was about. 61 00:03:29,776 --> 00:03:32,912 And the reason we can explain with the first two parables are about 62 00:03:32,912 --> 00:03:37,083 because Jesus tells us, he gives us the interpretation of them. 63 00:03:37,150 --> 00:03:38,918 And so it's easy to read the parable. 64 00:03:38,918 --> 00:03:41,588 And then a little bit later, Jesus says, let me tell you what I'm talking about. 65 00:03:41,588 --> 00:03:43,223 These are the first two that Jesus. 66 00:03:43,223 --> 00:03:46,226 Jesus tells the parable and doesn't give any explanation whatsoever. 67 00:03:46,359 --> 00:03:51,197 He expects his hearers to understand what it is he's saying. 68 00:03:51,898 --> 00:03:54,901 And so let me walk you through the different 69 00:03:55,034 --> 00:04:00,039 two different opinions of these parables, especially of the mustard seed 70 00:04:00,039 --> 00:04:03,743 in the first three centuries, the first church 71 00:04:04,143 --> 00:04:07,146 for three centuries long understood 72 00:04:07,146 --> 00:04:10,783 that these parables were a warning against evil 73 00:04:10,783 --> 00:04:14,187 that would be mixed into the expanding kingdom of God. 74 00:04:15,255 --> 00:04:18,258 It wasn't until the fourth and fifth centuries, 75 00:04:18,558 --> 00:04:24,130 with theologians named John Chrysostom and Saint Augustine, that they changed 76 00:04:24,130 --> 00:04:27,100 that interpretation to the interpretation. 77 00:04:27,100 --> 00:04:30,436 This is really about the incredible kingdom expansion of God 78 00:04:30,436 --> 00:04:31,904 through the world. 79 00:04:31,904 --> 00:04:35,742 And then later in the 16th century, in the with the reformers, 80 00:04:35,742 --> 00:04:40,413 Martin Luther and John Calvin morphed it even more so 81 00:04:41,414 --> 00:04:44,517 to be about the pervasive influence and the growth of the kingdom, 82 00:04:44,517 --> 00:04:47,754 and something that starts small and takes over the whole world. 83 00:04:48,021 --> 00:04:53,293 And certainly it started small, started with Jesus, and it went to 12. 84 00:04:53,793 --> 00:04:57,797 And then biblically, you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, 85 00:04:57,830 --> 00:04:58,398 the ends of the earth. 86 00:04:58,398 --> 00:05:00,033 So it certainly has spread. 87 00:05:00,033 --> 00:05:04,304 But but that idea has become the predominant understanding 88 00:05:04,304 --> 00:05:06,105 of these parables. 89 00:05:06,105 --> 00:05:08,841 But originally it was never understood that way. 90 00:05:11,477 --> 00:05:13,613 And so we have to balance. 91 00:05:13,613 --> 00:05:15,381 What, because Jesus didn't say this. 92 00:05:15,381 --> 00:05:18,518 What I'm talking about, we have to balance both of those 93 00:05:18,551 --> 00:05:20,653 because there's some truth in both of those ideas. 94 00:05:20,653 --> 00:05:24,457 Certainly the kingdom start a small and spread 95 00:05:24,457 --> 00:05:28,194 slowly, gradually, and then is exploded throughout the world. 96 00:05:28,194 --> 00:05:31,197 Certainly. 97 00:05:31,731 --> 00:05:33,299 But the second option is 98 00:05:33,299 --> 00:05:36,302 what seems to fit the flow of the parables. 99 00:05:37,904 --> 00:05:39,305 To watch for corruption 100 00:05:39,305 --> 00:05:42,308 in the midst of the expanding kingdom. 101 00:05:42,575 --> 00:05:45,111 And as the kingdom grows in my life, 102 00:05:45,111 --> 00:05:48,114 be careful of corruption. 103 00:05:49,415 --> 00:05:50,750 That second option 104 00:05:50,750 --> 00:05:53,953 is where I land in the understanding of these two parables. 105 00:05:54,153 --> 00:05:56,656 It's the historic option. 106 00:05:56,656 --> 00:05:59,992 It's what the First Church understood about these two parables. 107 00:06:00,893 --> 00:06:03,429 And the old saying goes, if it's new, it's not true. 108 00:06:03,429 --> 00:06:04,797 And if it's true, it's not new. 109 00:06:06,065 --> 00:06:08,101 And so we're going to go back to the original 110 00:06:08,101 --> 00:06:11,637 understanding of the church and what these parables meant. 111 00:06:12,171 --> 00:06:15,108 And so what we find in verses 31 112 00:06:15,108 --> 00:06:18,111 through 33 is really Jesus's 113 00:06:18,111 --> 00:06:21,114 diagnostic warning. 114 00:06:21,914 --> 00:06:24,717 Churches are to produce disciples, 115 00:06:24,717 --> 00:06:27,954 not just fans of a Sunday experience. 116 00:06:30,623 --> 00:06:33,626 And so the first parable, 117 00:06:34,427 --> 00:06:38,131 he put another parable for them, saying, the kingdom of heaven is like a grain of 118 00:06:38,131 --> 00:06:41,934 mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. 119 00:06:42,335 --> 00:06:45,772 It's the smallest of all seeds, but when it is grown, 120 00:06:45,772 --> 00:06:47,740 it's larger than all the garden plants. 121 00:06:47,740 --> 00:06:50,810 It becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air 122 00:06:50,877 --> 00:06:54,180 come and make nests in its branches. 123 00:06:55,815 --> 00:06:58,818 Here's the big idea for this parable. 124 00:06:59,652 --> 00:07:02,155 Just because it grows doesn't mean it's healthy. 125 00:07:04,157 --> 00:07:04,857 Just because 126 00:07:04,857 --> 00:07:07,860 it's big doesn't mean it's healthy. 127 00:07:07,994 --> 00:07:10,997 That. 128 00:07:12,331 --> 00:07:13,533 When Jesus says 129 00:07:13,533 --> 00:07:18,070 a man took a mustard seed and soda in his field, 130 00:07:19,138 --> 00:07:22,775 again, we go back to this idea of exegetical constancy. 131 00:07:23,109 --> 00:07:24,811 I talked about that a couple of weeks ago. Remember that? 132 00:07:24,811 --> 00:07:26,112 And you remember that. 133 00:07:26,112 --> 00:07:29,115 Stay with me. Exegetical. 134 00:07:29,515 --> 00:07:30,516 Okay. I'm going to give you a warning. 135 00:07:30,516 --> 00:07:32,385 I'm asking you to say something out loud with your mouth open. 136 00:07:32,385 --> 00:07:33,453 You ready? 137 00:07:33,453 --> 00:07:35,755 Exegetical 138 00:07:35,755 --> 00:07:37,890 constancy. 139 00:07:37,890 --> 00:07:38,291 What? 140 00:07:38,291 --> 00:07:44,730 That means a biblical interpretation kind of rule is that when something means 141 00:07:44,730 --> 00:07:48,634 the first time and the second time around, it continues to mean that throughout. 142 00:07:48,668 --> 00:07:50,336 Generally speaking. 143 00:07:50,336 --> 00:07:53,372 So a farmer took a scene in planet in a field. 144 00:07:53,573 --> 00:07:56,576 The field always means the world, 145 00:07:56,742 --> 00:07:59,212 and especially in Jesus parables. 146 00:07:59,212 --> 00:08:02,081 And he took the seed, planted it in the world. 147 00:08:02,081 --> 00:08:06,752 And he says, this mustard seed was the smallest of all seeds. 148 00:08:06,786 --> 00:08:08,354 It's tiny. 149 00:08:08,354 --> 00:08:10,122 Now, let me just make a note here. 150 00:08:10,122 --> 00:08:14,160 Some of you scientifically minded people say, well, it's not really 151 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:15,061 the smallest of all seeds. 152 00:08:15,061 --> 00:08:18,064 There's a lot of seeds smaller. Well, duh. 153 00:08:18,064 --> 00:08:21,300 Jesus is talking to farmers in that day in the herb 154 00:08:21,300 --> 00:08:23,603 garden and of the seeds that they would plant. 155 00:08:23,603 --> 00:08:26,472 It was the smallest of those that they would plant. 156 00:08:26,472 --> 00:08:27,340 Do you see what I'm saying? 157 00:08:27,340 --> 00:08:30,343 Like the Bible is designed to be a scientific book. 158 00:08:30,543 --> 00:08:33,145 And so for his hearers, it was 159 00:08:33,145 --> 00:08:36,315 the smallest seed that they would purposefully plant. 160 00:08:36,315 --> 00:08:38,150 And he plants it. 161 00:08:39,118 --> 00:08:42,221 Now a mustard seed produces. 162 00:08:42,221 --> 00:08:45,224 What? 163 00:08:47,193 --> 00:08:49,595 It doesn't produce mustard, that's the result of it. 164 00:08:49,595 --> 00:08:52,598 But the mustard seed produces what? 165 00:08:53,132 --> 00:08:55,801 It does not produce a mustard tree. 166 00:08:55,801 --> 00:08:56,435 It doesn't. 167 00:08:56,435 --> 00:08:59,272 It produces a mustard bush. 168 00:08:59,272 --> 00:09:02,275 There are no mustard trees. 169 00:09:02,608 --> 00:09:04,043 See, see, that's what I'm saying. 170 00:09:04,043 --> 00:09:07,013 Like his people understood that we don't. 171 00:09:07,146 --> 00:09:11,384 The DNA of a mustard seed produces a mustard bush. 172 00:09:11,951 --> 00:09:15,454 A healthy mustard bush is about three feet tall. 173 00:09:16,989 --> 00:09:20,092 But this doesn't become a bush. 174 00:09:20,359 --> 00:09:22,895 It becomes what, 175 00:09:22,895 --> 00:09:25,865 a tree? 176 00:09:25,865 --> 00:09:28,000 It's not natural 177 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:30,970 to giant Chihuahuan. 178 00:09:31,504 --> 00:09:35,741 And we think because it's big, it's better. 179 00:09:36,943 --> 00:09:38,911 It's not that trees are evil, it's 180 00:09:38,911 --> 00:09:41,914 just that this tree is unnatural 181 00:09:42,114 --> 00:09:46,018 and it's so unnatural that what lives in it. 182 00:09:47,153 --> 00:09:49,121 Birds make their nest. 183 00:09:49,121 --> 00:09:51,891 They're at home in it. They're comfortable. 184 00:09:51,891 --> 00:09:54,894 Again, exegetical constancy. 185 00:09:55,294 --> 00:09:56,095 Birds. 186 00:09:56,095 --> 00:09:57,663 Jesus first talked about birds. 187 00:09:57,663 --> 00:10:02,335 And all through scripture, the vast majority of references to just birds 188 00:10:02,468 --> 00:10:04,103 is evil. 189 00:10:04,103 --> 00:10:07,540 Go back to verse four of this same chapter. 190 00:10:07,773 --> 00:10:10,676 Jesus tells the parable of the farmer who scatters seed, 191 00:10:10,676 --> 00:10:14,513 and what is it that comes and still seed before it can take root? 192 00:10:14,513 --> 00:10:16,582 What is it? Birds. 193 00:10:17,950 --> 00:10:19,719 They're evil. 194 00:10:19,719 --> 00:10:22,822 And Jesus is saying what was planted 195 00:10:23,623 --> 00:10:26,826 becomes something that maybe never was intended to be. 196 00:10:26,826 --> 00:10:31,330 So much so that evil and deceit and corruption 197 00:10:31,931 --> 00:10:34,934 are at home in it, oftentimes. 198 00:10:37,870 --> 00:10:40,873 Do you follow? 199 00:10:40,873 --> 00:10:43,576 Yes. So what is the saying 200 00:10:43,576 --> 00:10:46,579 this kingdom of heaven is going to spread? 201 00:10:47,213 --> 00:10:50,282 But be careful that you don't assume 202 00:10:50,750 --> 00:10:55,054 in the context of the kingdom of God's expression in the world, i.e. 203 00:10:55,054 --> 00:10:58,991 the church, that you don't assume that bigger is better. 204 00:11:01,060 --> 00:11:04,063 Health is better than size. 205 00:11:04,697 --> 00:11:07,867 I firmly believe that every church has a DNA 206 00:11:08,934 --> 00:11:11,170 designed by God. 207 00:11:11,170 --> 00:11:14,173 Every church is not supposed to be the same size. 208 00:11:14,473 --> 00:11:16,842 Bigger churches aren't better than smaller churches, and smaller 209 00:11:16,842 --> 00:11:19,812 churches aren't better than bigger churches. 210 00:11:20,179 --> 00:11:22,114 What matters is, is their healthy. 211 00:11:23,683 --> 00:11:24,216 And the way 212 00:11:24,216 --> 00:11:27,987 a church is healthy is that the people are healthy. Why? 213 00:11:28,020 --> 00:11:30,356 Because the people are the church. 214 00:11:30,356 --> 00:11:35,094 Please never make the mistake to say that you go to flip side church 215 00:11:35,628 --> 00:11:38,831 because if you're part of this body, you are flip side church, 216 00:11:39,799 --> 00:11:40,633 flip side church. 217 00:11:40,633 --> 00:11:43,536 This happens to meet at the Maywood Center. 218 00:11:43,536 --> 00:11:46,138 Do you follow? 219 00:11:46,138 --> 00:11:48,841 So the way the church is healthy is if you are healthy, 220 00:11:48,841 --> 00:11:51,811 if I am healthy. 221 00:11:55,114 --> 00:11:57,750 If the church ever has to feel like 222 00:11:57,750 --> 00:12:01,987 it has to change or neglect the hard teaching of Scripture 223 00:12:01,987 --> 00:12:06,092 because the old interpretation, the original interpretation, 224 00:12:06,158 --> 00:12:10,429 doesn't fit our culture and it's too difficult for our society. 225 00:12:10,429 --> 00:12:13,432 It's inviting corruption 226 00:12:13,866 --> 00:12:15,935 and birds will be very comfortable 227 00:12:15,935 --> 00:12:18,938 in its branches. 228 00:12:19,705 --> 00:12:22,308 The plain Bible is enough. 229 00:12:22,308 --> 00:12:25,511 In my coaching of of pastors and teachers. 230 00:12:25,711 --> 00:12:27,947 I often tell people, listen, 231 00:12:29,014 --> 00:12:32,518 don't be so concerned about your creativity and your soundbites, 232 00:12:32,518 --> 00:12:35,521 because sometimes your creativity can be the poison of the pulpit. 233 00:12:36,622 --> 00:12:40,693 When you try to make it so relatable and so comfortable 234 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:43,629 because at its core, it's offensive and you don't want to send people. 235 00:12:43,629 --> 00:12:47,266 So you try to be creative with it and and produce these soundbites. 236 00:12:47,266 --> 00:12:48,300 For social media. 237 00:12:48,300 --> 00:12:52,438 It's the poison of the pulpit because the Bible plainly is enough. 238 00:12:56,976 --> 00:12:58,077 We must be careful 239 00:12:58,077 --> 00:13:01,514 that our success doesn't outpace our sanctification. 240 00:13:02,481 --> 00:13:05,451 Sanctification means being holy. 241 00:13:06,318 --> 00:13:09,321 What holy is as healthy? 242 00:13:09,555 --> 00:13:11,457 I've talked about this many times before. 243 00:13:11,457 --> 00:13:12,858 Some of you might remember. 244 00:13:12,858 --> 00:13:15,861 You know the difference between a mule and a donkey. 245 00:13:17,363 --> 00:13:19,799 Do you know the difference was the difference between a meal and a donkey? 246 00:13:22,001 --> 00:13:23,602 The difference between a mule and donkey 247 00:13:23,602 --> 00:13:26,572 is this a mule cannot reproduce. 248 00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:29,708 A donkey can reproduce. Why? 249 00:13:29,708 --> 00:13:32,778 Because a meal is a cross between a horse and a donkey. 250 00:13:33,012 --> 00:13:35,414 And it's. Man. Put those two together. 251 00:13:35,414 --> 00:13:39,552 It's a creation of man, and it lacks the ability to reproduce. 252 00:13:39,585 --> 00:13:45,357 Did you know that a donkey is a creation of God and it can reproduce? 253 00:13:45,691 --> 00:13:46,258 Okay. 254 00:13:46,258 --> 00:13:49,261 So listen. 255 00:13:49,361 --> 00:13:53,032 A mule is bigger, it looks more impressive. 256 00:13:53,065 --> 00:13:55,501 It gets a lot more work done. 257 00:13:55,501 --> 00:13:58,537 If anybody had to choose between a meal and a donkey. 258 00:13:58,838 --> 00:14:02,107 Man, I want the big one. Give me the mule. 259 00:14:02,141 --> 00:14:03,309 What's the problem? 260 00:14:03,309 --> 00:14:06,712 The problem is it's a man made creation and will never reproduce. 261 00:14:06,745 --> 00:14:10,149 There are some churches out there that are mules. 262 00:14:10,482 --> 00:14:11,550 They're big. 263 00:14:11,550 --> 00:14:12,751 They're impressive. 264 00:14:12,751 --> 00:14:15,321 They carry a big load. Get a lot done. 265 00:14:15,321 --> 00:14:18,157 But if they're not reproducing themselves, it's a man made creation. 266 00:14:18,157 --> 00:14:22,962 Because everything that God makes originally with DNA is created to reproduce. 267 00:14:24,463 --> 00:14:25,898 It's about health, not size. 268 00:14:25,898 --> 00:14:28,901 Do you follow? 269 00:14:30,836 --> 00:14:33,439 And so one of the things that I learned from 270 00:14:33,439 --> 00:14:37,509 this is I must watch that we don't outgrow our obedience. 271 00:14:39,378 --> 00:14:42,381 Some of us. 272 00:14:42,748 --> 00:14:45,751 Have been around this a long time 273 00:14:45,851 --> 00:14:48,821 and in this environment a long time. 274 00:14:48,821 --> 00:14:53,192 And we're getting bigger and fatter and bigger and fatter 275 00:14:53,192 --> 00:14:57,463 and bigger and fatter with our knowledge and understanding. 276 00:14:57,830 --> 00:15:00,833 But we're outgrowing our obedience 277 00:15:01,867 --> 00:15:04,536 because we're getting fatter and smarter, 278 00:15:04,536 --> 00:15:07,640 and we're learning more, but we're not obeying more. 279 00:15:08,374 --> 00:15:12,878 And some of us have been around this for so long, we know plenty, 280 00:15:12,878 --> 00:15:15,881 but we're not obeying plenty. 281 00:15:20,019 --> 00:15:22,221 We must be careful 282 00:15:22,221 --> 00:15:24,957 that our success in knowledge doesn't out 283 00:15:24,957 --> 00:15:27,960 pass our sanctification. 284 00:15:28,227 --> 00:15:31,230 They don't grow our obedience. 285 00:15:37,269 --> 00:15:39,672 You follow 286 00:15:39,672 --> 00:15:41,273 parable number two. 287 00:15:42,641 --> 00:15:44,076 He told them another parable. 288 00:15:44,076 --> 00:15:48,180 The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took 289 00:15:48,180 --> 00:15:51,183 and hid in three measures of flour till 290 00:15:51,183 --> 00:15:54,186 it was all leavened. 291 00:15:54,753 --> 00:15:57,990 Here's here's the big idea for this parable. 292 00:15:59,291 --> 00:16:03,262 What remains will eventually rule, and what's allowed 293 00:16:03,295 --> 00:16:06,265 eventually defines 294 00:16:06,265 --> 00:16:09,435 what remains in me, eventually rules me, 295 00:16:09,935 --> 00:16:15,474 and what I allow in me will define me like leaven does. 296 00:16:15,474 --> 00:16:17,376 Dough, 297 00:16:17,376 --> 00:16:21,747 leaven, or yeast consistently through Scripture is a symbol 298 00:16:21,747 --> 00:16:25,851 and another reference to evil, corruption and sin. 299 00:16:27,252 --> 00:16:31,256 And so you have this woman with dough that is unleavened. 300 00:16:32,057 --> 00:16:35,094 You, Bible students, what is unleavened 301 00:16:35,160 --> 00:16:38,130 dough represent in Scripture? 302 00:16:39,865 --> 00:16:41,200 What's that? David? 303 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:42,434 The body of Christ. 304 00:16:42,434 --> 00:16:45,871 That's why in the Passover meal, the thing that we celebrate in communion, 305 00:16:45,871 --> 00:16:50,242 that's why that little wafer is just a flat, little wafer. 306 00:16:50,242 --> 00:16:51,744 Because it's designed to be 307 00:16:51,744 --> 00:16:56,081 without leaven, because leaven is a symbol of sin and corruption and evil. 308 00:16:56,081 --> 00:17:00,552 And so the body of Christ, unleavened dough, the Passover bread, 309 00:17:00,586 --> 00:17:05,391 unstained by sin, untainted by evil, not corrupted. 310 00:17:05,557 --> 00:17:08,394 And so this dough starts pure 311 00:17:08,394 --> 00:17:13,532 and unadulterated, sinless, uncorrupted. 312 00:17:13,532 --> 00:17:15,934 And a woman does what to it 313 00:17:17,036 --> 00:17:19,071 hides leaven in it. 314 00:17:19,071 --> 00:17:22,074 That's not a positive thing. 315 00:17:28,547 --> 00:17:31,350 The Bible doesn't say, sorry about that. 316 00:17:31,350 --> 00:17:33,619 The Bible doesn't say that she put leaven in it. 317 00:17:33,619 --> 00:17:34,386 The Bible says she. 318 00:17:34,386 --> 00:17:35,954 What? Hit it? 319 00:17:35,954 --> 00:17:38,223 Why does she hide it? 320 00:17:38,223 --> 00:17:39,958 Because she doesn't want it to be discovered. 321 00:17:39,958 --> 00:17:42,094 Because the moment she said, hey, guess what? 322 00:17:42,094 --> 00:17:44,463 I'm going to put some leaven on this. No, you take that out. 323 00:17:44,463 --> 00:17:45,831 Don't allow that to be in there. 324 00:17:45,831 --> 00:17:47,900 Don't let it to live there. 325 00:17:47,900 --> 00:17:49,334 It's going to corrupt everything. 326 00:17:49,334 --> 00:17:51,003 You let it live there. 327 00:17:51,003 --> 00:17:52,504 So she hides it. 328 00:17:52,504 --> 00:17:55,507 It's hidden. 329 00:17:56,875 --> 00:17:57,276 Hidden. 330 00:17:57,276 --> 00:18:01,380 Leaven spreads and it slowly takes over. 331 00:18:03,982 --> 00:18:07,386 This is one reason why we I. 332 00:18:10,055 --> 00:18:10,656 Must. 333 00:18:10,656 --> 00:18:14,093 And I will guard who teaches and who leads 334 00:18:14,093 --> 00:18:17,096 and who influences. 335 00:18:17,096 --> 00:18:21,733 Because not everyone who can grow a crowd should shape a church. 336 00:18:24,603 --> 00:18:27,573 Stand. 337 00:18:29,675 --> 00:18:32,678 And so this 11. 338 00:18:32,778 --> 00:18:33,679 This is interesting. 339 00:18:33,679 --> 00:18:35,547 Think about this leaven and a dough. 340 00:18:35,547 --> 00:18:37,516 That which is hidden eventually spreads. 341 00:18:37,516 --> 00:18:40,519 And whatever spreads shapes. 342 00:18:42,321 --> 00:18:44,223 This hidden little, little, 343 00:18:44,223 --> 00:18:47,226 little batch 11 hidden 344 00:18:47,392 --> 00:18:50,696 spreads and shapes 345 00:18:51,430 --> 00:18:54,433 the dough. 346 00:18:54,633 --> 00:18:57,236 She hides it. 347 00:18:57,236 --> 00:18:59,037 Bible says in Psalm 111, 348 00:18:59,037 --> 00:19:02,374 I have hidden your word on my heart that I might not sin against you. 349 00:19:02,674 --> 00:19:03,909 It doesn't mean I'm hiding. 350 00:19:03,909 --> 00:19:06,378 I don't want anybody know I'm reading the Bible. 351 00:19:06,378 --> 00:19:09,381 That that we're hidden means I've put it in my heart. 352 00:19:10,716 --> 00:19:13,986 We have one of two options in our heart leaven or the word of God. 353 00:19:15,354 --> 00:19:18,757 And the only thing that destroys and and 354 00:19:18,824 --> 00:19:23,362 and kills and extracts leaven from my heart is the word of God. 355 00:19:23,362 --> 00:19:28,467 The Bible says that the rule of the Holy Spirit is to sanctify us by the word. 356 00:19:28,500 --> 00:19:30,502 To sanctify means to make holy. 357 00:19:30,502 --> 00:19:31,770 It means to make healthy. 358 00:19:31,770 --> 00:19:35,574 The only way I made healthy inside is by putting God's 359 00:19:35,574 --> 00:19:38,577 Word inside that the Holy Spirit uses to sanctify me. 360 00:19:38,577 --> 00:19:43,482 I cannot be healthy, righteous, and holy without the Word of God 361 00:19:43,482 --> 00:19:44,583 infiltrating my heart. 362 00:19:44,583 --> 00:19:47,586 Because if I don't do that, what is left in my heart? 363 00:19:49,021 --> 00:19:51,990 Leaven. 364 00:19:51,990 --> 00:19:54,993 And a little bit hidden will spread. 365 00:19:57,896 --> 00:20:00,899 And what spreads will shape. 366 00:20:00,999 --> 00:20:05,037 We talk a lot about these journals, and every once 367 00:20:05,037 --> 00:20:08,173 in a while we make another little push because people forget. 368 00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:11,310 Get lazy these journals all the time. 369 00:20:11,343 --> 00:20:12,077 These journals. 370 00:20:12,077 --> 00:20:14,513 This is what we use to help us take the Word of God 371 00:20:14,513 --> 00:20:18,183 and put it in our heart, and we run it through these journals. 372 00:20:18,183 --> 00:20:19,985 This is what it's called a flip journal. 373 00:20:19,985 --> 00:20:24,523 Flip and I put together an infographic that Miranda designed 374 00:20:24,523 --> 00:20:27,492 for us to help you understand how to do this. 375 00:20:28,360 --> 00:20:31,630 So you read the Bible, some sticks you write down in your journal. 376 00:20:31,663 --> 00:20:34,032 F this is what this is the verse that got me. 377 00:20:34,032 --> 00:20:36,235 This is what I'm focusing on. Then you're right L. 378 00:20:36,235 --> 00:20:39,037 This is why I learned about God. This is what I learned about me. 379 00:20:39,037 --> 00:20:42,507 Then you write down, I internalize this is how it applies to me. 380 00:20:42,541 --> 00:20:43,442 Then you write P. 381 00:20:43,442 --> 00:20:46,378 This is my prayer based on what God showed me. 382 00:20:46,378 --> 00:20:49,281 Flip. Flip. Focus on. Internalize. Pray. 383 00:20:49,281 --> 00:20:50,148 You understand. 384 00:20:51,950 --> 00:20:54,052 I got all kinds of these in my office that all filled up. 385 00:20:54,052 --> 00:20:55,621 This is where I am currently in this one. 386 00:20:55,621 --> 00:20:58,223 I just started a new one and all this. 387 00:20:58,223 --> 00:21:00,392 And so this is the way I take God's word. 388 00:21:00,392 --> 00:21:01,226 Run it through here. 389 00:21:01,226 --> 00:21:02,094 Put up my heart. Why? 390 00:21:02,094 --> 00:21:04,863 Because I don't want to sin 391 00:21:04,863 --> 00:21:06,632 without this. 392 00:21:06,632 --> 00:21:09,635 I'm a great sinner. 393 00:21:10,202 --> 00:21:13,171 I've been practicing that a long time. 394 00:21:13,839 --> 00:21:17,976 But God, I want him to sanctify me and get the 11 out of me. 395 00:21:18,477 --> 00:21:21,179 And so please pick, pick up. 396 00:21:21,179 --> 00:21:22,881 We got a bunch of these in the welcome Center for. 397 00:21:22,881 --> 00:21:23,915 We got these infographics. 398 00:21:23,915 --> 00:21:26,652 They're got the infographics in the in the journal. 399 00:21:26,652 --> 00:21:29,855 If you just want the the form of the infographic, pick it up. 400 00:21:30,589 --> 00:21:35,961 But unless you do this, this is the way Scripture is the way that the Holy Spirit 401 00:21:35,961 --> 00:21:40,499 uses Scripture to sanctify us and make us holy and make us healthy. 402 00:21:45,704 --> 00:21:48,540 Here's what I know. 403 00:21:48,540 --> 00:21:50,475 Compromise never announces itself. 404 00:21:50,475 --> 00:21:53,478 It just blends in. 405 00:21:54,212 --> 00:21:56,682 That's why the woman had to hide it. 406 00:21:56,682 --> 00:21:59,651 Because it wasn't announced. 407 00:22:00,619 --> 00:22:04,523 And I will endeavor with every breath of my being to 408 00:22:04,556 --> 00:22:08,360 never make the Bible more palatable, or 409 00:22:08,660 --> 00:22:11,563 bend it to fit with the cultural drift. 410 00:22:11,563 --> 00:22:14,533 Ever. 411 00:22:17,069 --> 00:22:17,869 That flip side, 412 00:22:17,869 --> 00:22:20,872 we value the infallible scriptures, 413 00:22:21,340 --> 00:22:24,543 and we will never drift doctrinally. 414 00:22:25,510 --> 00:22:28,714 We believe in what the Scripture says in second Timothy 316, 415 00:22:28,747 --> 00:22:30,682 All Scripture is breathed out by God. 416 00:22:30,682 --> 00:22:33,785 It is the breath of God and is profitable for teaching, 417 00:22:33,785 --> 00:22:36,788 reproof, correction, and training for righteousness. 418 00:22:37,789 --> 00:22:40,392 As we teach this 419 00:22:40,392 --> 00:22:41,893 reproof, it means rebuke. 420 00:22:41,893 --> 00:22:44,896 It's going to rebuke our error 421 00:22:45,230 --> 00:22:48,633 so it can correct our life. 422 00:22:50,068 --> 00:22:53,071 So that will be trained for righteousness. 423 00:22:53,372 --> 00:22:56,742 The Spirit of God through the Word of God sanctifies us. 424 00:22:56,742 --> 00:22:59,311 And that doesn't happen apart from His Word. 425 00:23:02,347 --> 00:23:03,148 Here's what I know. 426 00:23:03,148 --> 00:23:05,584 Most churches and most Christians. 427 00:23:05,584 --> 00:23:08,587 We don't reject truth loudly. 428 00:23:09,187 --> 00:23:12,190 We just dilute it slowly. 429 00:23:12,424 --> 00:23:13,458 They'll compromise here. 430 00:23:13,458 --> 00:23:16,294 A little compromise there. 431 00:23:16,294 --> 00:23:18,697 Here's my reality. 432 00:23:18,697 --> 00:23:22,067 Just peel back the curtain of my life a little bit for you. 433 00:23:22,100 --> 00:23:24,936 Here's my reality sin. 434 00:23:24,936 --> 00:23:27,939 Rarely in my life ever started big. 435 00:23:28,874 --> 00:23:31,877 It started buried. 436 00:23:32,978 --> 00:23:34,112 Buried in my heart. 437 00:23:34,112 --> 00:23:38,283 And that's why Jesus says he begins his whole sermon in Matthew five. 438 00:23:38,316 --> 00:23:41,386 You've heard it said, But I'm telling you, it starts 439 00:23:41,386 --> 00:23:44,389 in your heart, Carl. 440 00:23:45,957 --> 00:23:48,193 For me, the truth of my life 441 00:23:48,193 --> 00:23:52,264 and the sin that I've struggled with in my life, it my sin. 442 00:23:52,264 --> 00:23:54,065 It never needed permission. 443 00:23:54,065 --> 00:23:57,068 It just needed access. 444 00:23:59,671 --> 00:24:02,674 I think the same is true for you. 445 00:24:04,576 --> 00:24:06,945 And so if you're like me, 446 00:24:06,945 --> 00:24:09,681 repent early and often 447 00:24:10,782 --> 00:24:14,553 and pray that the Holy Spirit gives you the desire 448 00:24:14,553 --> 00:24:18,623 to live a holy life and be grateful 449 00:24:18,657 --> 00:24:21,660 for God's mercy and grace. 450 00:24:22,027 --> 00:24:26,264 Do you know why I and collaris tattooed on my arm? 451 00:24:27,098 --> 00:24:31,102 It's the Greek word for mercy and grace tattooed into my skin. 452 00:24:31,336 --> 00:24:35,507 Because I know without that, all I'm left with 453 00:24:36,675 --> 00:24:39,678 is damnation because of my leavened. 454 00:24:39,744 --> 00:24:43,348 And I am so grateful that God's mercy and grace 455 00:24:43,381 --> 00:24:46,384 has not destroyed me 456 00:24:46,418 --> 00:24:50,188 and has given me another chance to repent. 457 00:24:52,390 --> 00:24:55,393 Understand? 458 00:24:58,063 --> 00:25:00,799 What I know for me is what I hope you realize. 459 00:25:00,799 --> 00:25:05,170 For you, what I tolerate internally will eventually define me externally. 460 00:25:05,170 --> 00:25:08,173 If I don't repent and renounce it immediately, 461 00:25:09,107 --> 00:25:12,110 that's leaven. 462 00:25:12,944 --> 00:25:15,947 And so let me just ask you a few questions. 463 00:25:18,350 --> 00:25:20,585 What kind of influence are you tolerating? 464 00:25:26,558 --> 00:25:27,559 What's that little thing? 465 00:25:27,559 --> 00:25:30,762 Those little things that you know, it's not part of God's kingdom, 466 00:25:32,464 --> 00:25:35,467 but you tolerate it in your life. 467 00:25:36,101 --> 00:25:38,904 You're very thankful for God's mercy and grace, which it should be, but 468 00:25:38,904 --> 00:25:42,140 we use that as a license to tolerate stuff that should not be 469 00:25:42,140 --> 00:25:45,143 a part of who we are. 470 00:25:49,948 --> 00:25:51,182 What have I allowed in 471 00:25:51,182 --> 00:25:54,185 that God never intended to be in? 472 00:25:57,355 --> 00:26:01,359 Sin? Like leaven doesn't explode. 473 00:26:01,359 --> 00:26:04,362 It seeps. 474 00:26:04,462 --> 00:26:05,497 Until it takes over. 475 00:26:05,497 --> 00:26:08,500 Hidden sin is never harmless. 476 00:26:10,669 --> 00:26:13,905 And so, my dear friends, I. 477 00:26:15,540 --> 00:26:18,543 What you're tolerating privately. 478 00:26:20,178 --> 00:26:23,181 Bitterness. 479 00:26:24,015 --> 00:26:27,018 Lust. 480 00:26:27,552 --> 00:26:30,322 Pride, 481 00:26:30,322 --> 00:26:33,291 compromise. 482 00:26:33,692 --> 00:26:36,695 Lethargy. 483 00:26:36,895 --> 00:26:39,898 Apathy about God and His kingdom. 484 00:26:40,131 --> 00:26:41,232 You said your magic prayer. 485 00:26:41,232 --> 00:26:43,635 You think you're good for heaven and you don't have to do anything about it 486 00:26:43,635 --> 00:26:49,474 now. See, sin doesn't need momentum. 487 00:26:49,474 --> 00:26:50,775 It just needs permission. 488 00:26:55,347 --> 00:26:58,350 You and I don't need more. 489 00:26:59,150 --> 00:27:01,786 We we don't need. 490 00:27:01,786 --> 00:27:03,855 We don't need more of this. 491 00:27:03,855 --> 00:27:06,858 We need more obedience. 492 00:27:08,560 --> 00:27:09,394 See, because growth 493 00:27:09,394 --> 00:27:12,397 without obedience is dangerous. 494 00:27:13,264 --> 00:27:16,267 Do you understand? 495 00:27:17,035 --> 00:27:17,602 That person? 496 00:27:17,602 --> 00:27:20,071 You've not forgiven 497 00:27:20,071 --> 00:27:20,972 their relationship. 498 00:27:20,972 --> 00:27:23,975 You've not. 499 00:27:24,109 --> 00:27:24,843 The commitment. 500 00:27:24,843 --> 00:27:27,812 You've not fulfilled. 501 00:27:30,882 --> 00:27:32,584 The sin that's become comfortable. 502 00:27:32,584 --> 00:27:33,985 It's more of a pet than a problem. 503 00:27:33,985 --> 00:27:36,988 You think? 504 00:27:39,057 --> 00:27:41,893 I think what I'm saying, here's the negative thing of what I'm saying. 505 00:27:41,893 --> 00:27:44,796 Don't outgrow your obedience. 506 00:27:44,796 --> 00:27:47,799 Don't outgrow your obedience. 507 00:27:48,600 --> 00:27:51,002 Most people know more than we obey. 508 00:27:51,002 --> 00:27:53,972 Yeah. 509 00:27:55,840 --> 00:27:58,476 That's a dangerous place to be. 510 00:27:58,476 --> 00:28:01,479 So freaking dangerous. 511 00:28:03,682 --> 00:28:04,749 Don't outgrow your obedience. 512 00:28:04,749 --> 00:28:07,752 You end up looking like that big fat. 513 00:28:09,821 --> 00:28:12,824 That's a dangerous, unhealthy place to be. 514 00:28:15,226 --> 00:28:18,229 Holy living matters. 515 00:28:18,229 --> 00:28:21,232 Whatever we feed on will fill us. 516 00:28:21,866 --> 00:28:23,101 It'll permeate everything. 517 00:28:23,101 --> 00:28:26,271 And so positively said. I say it like this. 518 00:28:26,304 --> 00:28:27,639 Audit your inputs. 519 00:28:28,673 --> 00:28:31,443 We become what we continually consume. 520 00:28:31,443 --> 00:28:33,878 Audit your inputs. 521 00:28:33,878 --> 00:28:36,915 Think of all the things we let in our before our eyes and our minds 522 00:28:36,915 --> 00:28:38,416 and our hearts. 523 00:28:38,416 --> 00:28:41,419 Audit your inputs, 524 00:28:46,091 --> 00:28:47,258 The music on our radios. 525 00:28:47,258 --> 00:28:49,794 Get in the car off some turns. You know this playlist. 526 00:28:49,794 --> 00:28:52,697 Whatever your inputs, 527 00:28:52,697 --> 00:28:55,700 what we're watching on our screens. 528 00:28:56,901 --> 00:28:58,470 All that social media stuff. 529 00:28:58,470 --> 00:29:01,473 Audit your inputs. 530 00:29:02,707 --> 00:29:05,710 Your gravitation to porn, audit your inputs, 531 00:29:06,945 --> 00:29:09,714 your greed, 532 00:29:09,714 --> 00:29:12,183 your anger, 533 00:29:12,183 --> 00:29:15,120 your unforgiveness. 534 00:29:15,120 --> 00:29:18,123 Worry. 535 00:29:21,793 --> 00:29:23,628 Should we become what we continually consume? 536 00:29:23,628 --> 00:29:24,229 We gotta be. 537 00:29:24,229 --> 00:29:28,299 We gotta understand that what's important for Flipside 538 00:29:29,834 --> 00:29:32,370 Doctrine is protected. 539 00:29:32,370 --> 00:29:34,739 Repentance is expected 540 00:29:34,739 --> 00:29:37,742 and holiness is celebrated. 541 00:29:39,477 --> 00:29:41,980 Ask yourself this question what have I allowed in 542 00:29:41,980 --> 00:29:44,983 that I pretend isn't a problem? 543 00:29:50,789 --> 00:29:52,824 What have I allowed in that I've just kind of said, well, 544 00:29:52,824 --> 00:29:54,692 you know, I'm going to heaven when I die anyway. 545 00:29:54,692 --> 00:29:58,062 You know, Jesus is my savior, but, you know, this little thing still exists. 546 00:29:58,496 --> 00:29:59,197 That's. 547 00:30:05,537 --> 00:30:06,838 Here's the danger of living. 548 00:30:06,838 --> 00:30:08,540 You don't feel it happen. It doesn't shout. 549 00:30:08,540 --> 00:30:11,543 It just seeps. 550 00:30:13,077 --> 00:30:14,279 And you and I both know 551 00:30:14,279 --> 00:30:17,282 that it seeps continually. 552 00:30:19,851 --> 00:30:22,587 And all of a sudden we realize 553 00:30:22,587 --> 00:30:26,257 that somehow our convictions are weaker, 554 00:30:27,492 --> 00:30:29,894 our hunger for God is lower, 555 00:30:29,894 --> 00:30:32,897 and our obedience is slower. 556 00:30:34,532 --> 00:30:37,535 It's not because there's something wrong with God's Word. 557 00:30:37,936 --> 00:30:40,939 It's not something that there's something wrong with God. 558 00:30:42,874 --> 00:30:45,877 Is that I've let Levan live. 559 00:30:49,714 --> 00:30:50,415 So finally, 560 00:30:50,415 --> 00:30:53,418 what am I tolerating that Jesus is calling me to remove? 561 00:30:55,353 --> 00:30:58,356 Quit playing with it. 562 00:30:58,957 --> 00:31:01,960 Quit dating it, 563 00:31:01,993 --> 00:31:04,996 quit flirting with sin and leaven. 564 00:31:05,864 --> 00:31:08,199 No excuses. 565 00:31:08,199 --> 00:31:10,602 Don't be soft. 566 00:31:10,602 --> 00:31:13,238 Name it 567 00:31:13,238 --> 00:31:16,241 and do what most won't 568 00:31:16,441 --> 00:31:19,410 repent. 569 00:31:21,746 --> 00:31:24,749 Our prayer has got to be 570 00:31:24,749 --> 00:31:25,283 father. 571 00:31:25,283 --> 00:31:27,986 That that is not who I am anymore. 572 00:31:29,254 --> 00:31:32,023 I've let it stay in far too long. 573 00:31:32,023 --> 00:31:35,026 No more. 574 00:31:35,460 --> 00:31:38,463 And so I'm throwing it out of my life. 575 00:31:39,898 --> 00:31:42,066 God, you have to change my heart. 576 00:31:42,066 --> 00:31:45,069 Because left to myself, I will not change my heart. 577 00:31:46,571 --> 00:31:48,673 So give me the power of your spirit to live without. 578 00:31:48,673 --> 00:31:51,676 I'm done with it. 579 00:31:51,776 --> 00:31:54,779 It's gotta be our prayer. 580 00:31:56,214 --> 00:31:59,217 When we start understanding these parables. 581 00:32:02,053 --> 00:32:03,855 We have the opportunity to move 582 00:32:03,855 --> 00:32:06,858 from hearing about truth to being transformed by it, 583 00:32:07,825 --> 00:32:11,229 and they start to develop discernment in us 584 00:32:11,562 --> 00:32:14,532 regarding what's real and what's healthy. 585 00:32:16,901 --> 00:32:18,536 So that our life begins 586 00:32:18,536 --> 00:32:21,539 to be aligned with our faith. 587 00:32:22,273 --> 00:32:25,276 Our heart gets right, our eyes get clear, 588 00:32:25,910 --> 00:32:28,746 our priorities are aligned, 589 00:32:28,746 --> 00:32:33,551 and our life starts to produce something of lasting value for the Kingdom of God. 590 00:32:38,022 --> 00:32:38,389 But if 591 00:32:38,389 --> 00:32:41,392 we're going to call ourselves disciples of Jesus, 592 00:32:41,459 --> 00:32:45,596 we've got to do serious business with 11 that we have allowed me. 593 00:32:45,596 --> 00:32:48,599 All of us have allowed to live in our hearts 594 00:32:49,534 --> 00:32:52,537 without a radical. 595 00:32:54,339 --> 00:32:56,374 Without a radical removal 596 00:32:56,374 --> 00:33:00,578 by the Spirit of God, the scalpel of His word and repentance. 597 00:33:00,578 --> 00:33:03,581 Do you understand? 598 00:33:03,581 --> 00:33:04,949 These parables? Jesus? 599 00:33:04,949 --> 00:33:07,952 They're not cute little fuzzy stories. 600 00:33:08,653 --> 00:33:11,656 He's doing serious business with our souls. 601 00:33:13,658 --> 00:33:16,661 And so I want to invite you in this moment 602 00:33:17,762 --> 00:33:20,732 to do business with God. 603 00:33:25,470 --> 00:33:27,438 See, father, I admit I'm a sinner. 604 00:33:27,438 --> 00:33:31,242 I've allowed this thing in my life to be there 605 00:33:31,242 --> 00:33:34,212 too long. 606 00:33:37,148 --> 00:33:38,383 I've allowed this leaven 607 00:33:38,383 --> 00:33:41,386 to start to seep into me and. 608 00:33:43,521 --> 00:33:44,188 And Jesus. 609 00:33:44,188 --> 00:33:46,791 I believe you died so I could be freed from it. 610 00:33:49,627 --> 00:33:50,495 And that you rose 611 00:33:50,495 --> 00:33:54,298 from the grave so I could live a holy, free 612 00:33:54,332 --> 00:33:58,703 life, free from sin and free from the consequences of sin. 613 00:34:01,939 --> 00:34:05,243 And so I commit to turn from my sin. 614 00:34:07,211 --> 00:34:09,981 And I dedicate my life, 615 00:34:09,981 --> 00:34:12,450 and I dedicate my allegiance to you 616 00:34:12,450 --> 00:34:15,453 and you alone. 617 00:34:16,954 --> 00:34:19,657 By your spirit, empower me 618 00:34:19,657 --> 00:34:21,692 to love you with my whole heart 619 00:34:21,692 --> 00:34:25,463 and my whole soul and my whole mind, and all the strength of my 620 00:34:25,496 --> 00:34:28,633 being more than the leaven I've grown 621 00:34:28,633 --> 00:34:31,636 comfortable with. 622 00:34:34,072 --> 00:34:37,375 Give me the power of your spirit to live in obedient life, 623 00:34:37,442 --> 00:34:40,878 a holy life, a righteous life, without delay 624 00:34:40,878 --> 00:34:43,881 and without hesitation. 625 00:34:44,282 --> 00:34:46,851 I am not capable of that on my own. 626 00:34:46,851 --> 00:34:50,822 I need the power of your spirit to enable me to even desire to 627 00:34:50,855 --> 00:34:52,423 want to live a holy life. 628 00:34:54,425 --> 00:34:57,428 So give me your spirit. 629 00:35:00,798 --> 00:35:03,634 Father, I pray over us 630 00:35:03,634 --> 00:35:06,637 that by the power of your spirit. 631 00:35:08,673 --> 00:35:11,676 You will give us the desire, 632 00:35:12,376 --> 00:35:15,379 the growing desire. 633 00:35:16,747 --> 00:35:19,750 To repent. 634 00:35:20,251 --> 00:35:22,120 To live a holy life, a life of righteousness, 635 00:35:22,120 --> 00:35:25,123 a life of obedience, a life of bold witness 636 00:35:26,157 --> 00:35:28,059 that you would give us the growing desire 637 00:35:28,059 --> 00:35:31,062 by the power of your spirit, 638 00:35:31,095 --> 00:35:35,233 to carve out the leaven that still resides, 639 00:35:37,034 --> 00:35:39,137 that we know is contrary to your word. 640 00:35:39,137 --> 00:35:42,140 We know is contrary to the way of Jesus. 641 00:35:43,441 --> 00:35:44,775 By your spirit gives the power 642 00:35:44,775 --> 00:35:47,778 to get rid of that. 643 00:35:48,513 --> 00:35:50,548 To be faithful in in your word. 644 00:35:50,548 --> 00:35:50,948 Not so. 645 00:35:50,948 --> 00:35:52,316 It would be good a little religious people, 646 00:35:52,316 --> 00:35:56,154 but so that you can sanctify us through your word by your spirit. 647 00:35:57,455 --> 00:36:00,591 Father, I pray that you would call us to repentance. 648 00:36:02,593 --> 00:36:05,663 And in repentance give us all that you're graceful. 649 00:36:05,663 --> 00:36:07,131 Allow. 650 00:36:07,131 --> 00:36:08,332 Thank you for your mercy. 651 00:36:08,332 --> 00:36:09,300 That's new every morning. 652 00:36:09,300 --> 00:36:13,070 Thank you for the grace that doesn't destroys in the midst 653 00:36:14,238 --> 00:36:16,073 of our sin, 654 00:36:16,073 --> 00:36:19,076 in the midst of our disobedience. 655 00:36:19,544 --> 00:36:21,946 Thank you for your grace. 656 00:36:21,946 --> 00:36:27,385 Oh, God, would you call us to repentance and then give us all that your grace 657 00:36:27,385 --> 00:36:31,589 would allow your undeserved and unmerited favor and blessing so good God. 658 00:36:34,225 --> 00:36:35,026 In your name and pray. 659 00:36:35,026 --> 00:36:38,029 Amen. 660 00:36:38,396 --> 00:36:41,399 Listen, Matthew 13. 661 00:36:42,466 --> 00:36:43,834 Proud of you. 662 00:36:43,834 --> 00:36:46,837 Those aren't easy parables, 663 00:36:49,874 --> 00:36:53,411 One more week we're going to go through parables five, six, seven next week. 664 00:36:53,544 --> 00:36:57,181 And those parables are all about the treasure that God sees in us 665 00:36:57,181 --> 00:37:00,952 in the field, and what he pays in order to 666 00:37:02,019 --> 00:37:03,988 to get the treasure. 667 00:37:03,988 --> 00:37:06,157 They're beautiful. They're beautiful parables. 668 00:37:06,157 --> 00:37:11,429 And so this week, read all of Matthew 13, the whole thing over and over and over. 669 00:37:11,462 --> 00:37:15,600 And as we've talked about it, let it live up inside of you. 670 00:37:16,734 --> 00:37:20,838 The Spirit of God will use it to sanctify us 671 00:37:21,272 --> 00:37:24,275 as we spend time in His Word. 672 00:37:24,976 --> 00:37:27,478 Listen, some of you have made the prayer 673 00:37:27,478 --> 00:37:30,514 of confession and repentance, and 674 00:37:31,515 --> 00:37:34,352 some of you need prayer. 675 00:37:34,352 --> 00:37:36,320 Either spiritually or physically. 676 00:37:36,320 --> 00:37:39,390 Healing of your soul, healing of your body in some way. 677 00:37:40,091 --> 00:37:42,193 And so some of my friends with little prayer 678 00:37:42,193 --> 00:37:43,361 lands, they're not going to be in the. 679 00:37:43,361 --> 00:37:45,296 So they're going to be right down front here 680 00:37:45,296 --> 00:37:47,999 after they're just going to walk down while we're seeing it after we're done. 681 00:37:47,999 --> 00:37:51,602 And if you just if you want to pray with somebody, just stay where you are 682 00:37:52,303 --> 00:37:53,704 and people clear out, they'll be here. 683 00:37:53,704 --> 00:37:56,707 Just just come forward and pray. 684 00:37:57,708 --> 00:37:59,677 I love you, I'm proud of you. Let's see.