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From the Pulpit is a weekly rebroadcasting of Dr. Mike Barnett's most recent sermon at First Baptist Church in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Dr. Mike has been expositing the Word of God, verse by verse, for over 30 years. He has pastored churches in Texas, Louisiana, and has faithfully served FBCOS since January of 2001.
00:00:03 Michael Barnett
I invite you to open your Bibles to the thirteenth chapter of Matthew once again. Matthew chapter thirteen, as we continue our journey through the Gospel of Matthew, and we are preaching on the parables of the mystery of the kingdom. A mystery, in biblical terms, is a truth that cannot be understood unless God explains it to me or divinely reveals it to me. He is revealing the mysteries of the kingdom to us in Matthew 13 in seven parables, and today we cover a very unique part of those seven parables.
00:01:00 Michael Barnett
Next week, the Lord willing, we'll be looking at the bread, the parable of the leaven and the bread. Let me say that throughout our worship time next week, we'll be taking the Lord's supper. You might want to prepare your hearts. It's going to be a little bit different approach to the Lord's supper. The Bible says that often as you do it, it doesn't necessarily tell us how to do it. But it will be throughout the worship time next week. So come prepared, and prepared in heart for the taking of the Lord's supper. Before I read the text, I want to remind you that Jesus had some multitudes around him when he begins to give these seven parables.
00:01:55 Michael Barnett
And then, when he is alone by himself, he explains the parables to his disciples, but never does he explain them to the multitudes. And that is because within the multitudes there is a, and this is not the best way to say it, but I am going to go ahead and say it. There is a them and us mentality. First of all, there is the disciples. And perhaps a few of those who are in the multitude who hear what Jesus has to say, and they follow through. They want to learn more. They have an ear to hear, and they say, "We recognize this teacher. We've seen his mighty miracles. We believe he is something special." They may not have known everything they need to know about Jesus, but they're on their way.
00:02:54 Michael Barnett
And they have an ear to hear, and God lets them hear. They continue to learn more. But then there is the vast majority in this multitude. The teachings of Jesus just go in one ear and out the other. They're kind of like the dogs that were described in Matthew seven. Here you have the holy word of God, and they can't make a distinction between anything about it. It's just nothing special to them. Jesus also talked about throwing your pearls before swine. They're like hogs who have pearls, but when they just trample them underfoot, it doesn't mean anything to them. Nothing special for them. They don't have ears to hear, and so God says, "I'm not going to give them any. I'm not going to let them hear. I'm not going to let them have understanding. They don't want to hear it. They don't need to hear it." And God is not a heavenly father who says, "You're going to do this with you."
00:03:54 Michael Barnett
And so we have that to hear, to understand in the text. A key to understanding scripture is taught to us in this chapter, with that old phrase in verse nine: 'Who have ears to hear, let him hear.' It's found throughout the chapter, throughout the word of God, in Revelation. The key, the first key to understanding the word of God, is to have an ear to hear.
00:04:24 Michael Barnett
To desire to understand it, even when you don't, to want to pursue it, to want to sit under it and listen and read it and study it, and God says if you have that kind of ear to hear, I will let you hear it. I will open up my truth to you because it is spiritually discerned. And so He gives Matthew thirteen, and He gives these seven parables. Remember what these parables are.
00:04:54 Michael Barnett
They are also prophecies, and Jesus is explaining to us and to his disciples and to that multitude who will not hear it the fact that this is what life is going to be like between my first coming and my second coming. This is what life is going to be like in the kingdom, because the kingdom has come; it's here. John the Baptist said the kingdom's here. Jesus said the kingdom is at hand. You say, well, it sure doesn't look like the kingdom's here. Let me tell you what a kingdom is. A kingdom is a king who's ruling. It is not dependent upon the subjects. A king is a king, and a kingdom is a kingdom, regardless of whether subjects subject themselves to him or not. So the world's in rebellion, absolutely, but he's still king.
00:05:53 Michael Barnett
And he still has a kingdom. And Jesus says, 'This is what the kingdom is going to be like from my first coming until I come and firmly establish the kingdom in the future day, in the literal event when I return to planet Earth and establish my throne in Jerusalem.' So the king has come. Although he's rejected, he's still the king. Don't think for one minute, now, folks. If you all decide one day I don't want Barnett to be pastor here anymore, I won't be pastor here. But you can decide all day long I don't want Jesus to be king. That's not going to change. He's king. Amen. He's got a lot more persuasive ability than I do, and so he's king. And he's given us seven expectations, seven things to expect in this dispensation.
00:06:46 Michael Barnett
And this time period, right now, it's the church age when we live right now. What to expect? So far from these parables, we see first of all from the parable of the sower that not everybody who hears the gospel is going to be saved. It's the seed of the gospel that will fall on ground that will not take the seed in and produce fruit. And he described that first in the parable of the sower. The second lesson we learn, or the second thing we can expect, is that there's always going to be false believers out there who look real nice. They really do look like wheat, but all they are is weeds. And there's a heartless thing coming. We learned that last week. Now today we're going to see in this parable.
00:07:40 Michael Barnett
That there will always be in this day and age false doctrine, false truth, false religion, false prophets, cults or night cults. They are false and contrary to the true gospel. They're always going to be flying around and landing where they ought not land. We are going to deal with false religions today. So read with me, Matthew 13 and verse 31, and we'll see what Jesus has to say. Another parable, but he poured unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds.
00:08:40 Michael Barnett
But when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches. There's always gonna be some birds wanting to land in the church. There's always gonna be some birds.
00:09:11 Michael Barnett
Now it is interesting to note that Jesus explains two of these parables to the disciples because they received the word of God. They heard it. They had ears to hear. He said, 'I'm going to let you hear it.' And they asked him about the parable of the sower, and he explains it. Then they asked him about the parable of the wheat and tares, and he explained it because they were seeking truth. They had an idea that they needed God's help to understand truth, so they went to Jesus, and Jesus would explain it. But there's no explanation in the text for these other parables. When he comes to understanding the birds and the mustard seed and the mustard tree and all of that, we're on our own. So what we're going to do is we're just going to make something of them. Get it right.
00:10:08 Michael Barnett
Is that a good way to approach the scripture? I don't understand it, so I'll just make some up, and hopefully we'll get it right, and nobody will know the difference, and we'll all be fine. I do know most of you enough that that's not what you.
00:10:36 Michael Barnett
And to explain what I'm talking about, go down to verse 52 real quick. Let me just show you this. Verse 51. After he finishes giving the parables, he asks his disciples, 'Do you understand these things?' And they said, 'Yes.' I wonder how bold a yes that was. We'll talk about that later on. But then he said to them, 'Therefore, every scribe which is instructed into the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder which brings forth out of his treasure things new and old.' And what Jesus is saying there is, when you want to understand the word of God, you want to understand a parable. You have to be like a scribe, a teacher, a copier of the word of God. Somebody who copies down the scriptures, learns the scriptures so they can teach it.
00:11:34 Michael Barnett
And that scribe would take out some new things and take out some old things, and he's saying you got to have a balance of the whole word of God. In other words, to understand this parable about the mustard tree and the birds and the seed and all that, we're gonna have to go look at some things that are old. We're gonna have to let the Bible interpret the Bible. By the way, the first key I've given you for understanding the scriptures is have a heartful and be prayerful and have a humble heart about understanding the Word of God. Have that spiritual ear, and He will let you hear. You'll get it. You have that. You'll get it one day. But the second key to understanding the scriptures given to us in verse fifty-two, you've got to let the Bible interpret the Bible. Too many times, what we do is we don't understand the verse. We go to Doctor Google.
00:12:33 Michael Barnett
And then we have another doctor named AI, and you're going to read a thousand things. You might read a thousand different things. You're back to where you were. I'll just say something. Hopefully, it's right. The best commentary on the scripture is the scripture. The best way to understand the Bible is to learn more Bible. Go to the Word of God, and that's what we're going to have to do a little bit today. So keep your Bibles open. We're going to be going through some text of scripture, or at least have your pen or pencil out and write down these scripture references that we're going to talk about today in the parable of the mustard seed. Let's take a look. Verse thirty-one: Jesus tells us about the sower. He's already told us that the sower is the Son of Man, or indicating that anybody who represents.
00:13:29 Michael Barnett
Presents the Son of Man sowing the seed of the Gospel of Christ, sowing the Word of God, so men can be saved. And he promised this in chapter and Psalm one twenty six. He that goeth forth bearing precious seed, throwing out that seed, weeping with a broken heart for the lost to be saved, shall doubtless come again, bringing their sheaves with him. The sower is sowing the seed, the Gospel. So this mustard seed is seen now in a little bit more of a descriptive way. The gospel of Christ being sown. Jesus came sowing the word of God. Did you know Jesus said to us, He said, "Peace be unto you, as my Father has sent me, so send I you." We're to be sharing the gospel and sowing the gospel out there, not dependent upon where it lands on the type of people that hear. Just sowing the gospel broad.
00:14:28 Michael Barnett
Let me give you a testimony of our church's ministry. We have a group of men. I know Stephen Brown and Larry Garman go out, and others of you who go to the Home of Grace on a monthly basis, and they take turns tag team preaching the gospel. If you're involved in that, if you've ever been involved in that ministry, won't you stand up? Won't you stand up? There you go. There you stand up, Stephen.
00:14:57 Michael Barnett
Don't be involved in that ministry. Preacher, I can preach. Just go. Let me tell you the best way to learn to preach: watch and listen to preachers. You don't even go to seminary for that. Just watch and listen to preachers and do what they do. But these guys go out. Larry did preach last Monday, and you know what happened? He sowed the seed of the gospel, and ten men came forward and came to Christ.
00:15:27 Michael Barnett
Sowing the gospel. They did that up in Van Fleet. Amen. We do it here in Ocean Springs. We'll be doing it coming up with cruising the coast and Peter Anderson looking for those opportunities to go out to sea. Amen. I said, "Well, preacher, I'm not so sure about that. Are you sure you got singing in you?" Amen. The only way you can sing is if you got it. And so Jesus teaches us about soul, but then He teaches us about the seed. Verse thirty-one: the seed is the word of God, the gospel in particular. It impacts people. It produces wheat. In verse thirty-eight, as we learned, it produces wheat alongside tears in this world. Absolutely, but it does produce wheat. Here Jesus says it's going to produce.
00:16:26 Michael Barnett
Mustard. The gospel is going to produce mustard, and this is a great and marvelous illustration of the gospel. He says some things about the mustard seed, picturing for us the gospel. First of all, like a mustard seed, and by the way, it's just like a little tiny speck of pepper. You ever seen a mustard seed? When we were over there in Israel, I bought a little thing of mustard seed.
00:16:56 Michael Barnett
And I said, 'Man, they're not too small. But then you crack one open, and it's got dozens, if not hundreds, of the little specks. That's the mustard seed. It's like the gospel. It's very small. It's the least of the seed. A mustard seed is no bigger than a speck of black pepper. There's not much to it. Did you know that there's nothing really big about the gospel?'
00:17:26 Michael Barnett
Do you know that the gospel of Christ is simply this: Jesus died for our sins. He was buried, and on the third day rose again. That is the gospel. That's the short gospel. That's the long gospel. That's the complicated gospel? That's the simple gospel. That's the gospel. That's the only gospel there is. By the way, that's the Baptist gospel, and that's the Presbyterian gospel, and that's the Methodist gospel, and that's the Church, a congregational church gospel. That's the gospel. There's no other gospel. It's very simple. We just tend to make it complicated. It's not so big that people can't reach it.
00:18:18 Michael Barnett
It's so simple and small that people think they're too big to come down to it. And it's simple. Let's not get it muddled up. For by grace you are saved through faith. That's it. All you have to do is receive the gospel of Christ. That's all I have to do, and my sin will be eradicated from my judgment. It will be said and done. The gospel. That's the gospel. You believe the gospel? Yes. You have any doubts about whether or not you're saved? Let me ask you something. Do you believe with conviction that changes your life that Jesus died, was buried, and rose again for you? That's the gospel. And if you believe that, repent from your sin, turn from your sin, turn to Him, and you can be saved from your sin and have a home in heaven. That's the gospel.
00:19:16 Michael Barnett
I'm so glad there's nothing else. Why do we have such a problem with the simplicity of God? Wait a minute, preacher. When some of you say they got to come down the aisle, they got to fill out that card. Can I tell you something? We got a problem. We got a bad problem. About 15 years ago, we changed the card. And so, those of you who were saved before we changed the card, I'll see you at the altar. You got to come back out and redo. Amen. Believing the gospel, and if you believe it, you still stand in it. That's what Paul said in First Corinthians fifteen. The gospel is.
00:20:10 Michael Barnett
The second thing about the gospel is that it's strong. If you go to the grocery store and purchase just plain yellow mustard, it's not that strong. It's been diluted. But unadulterated ground mustard is very pungent. In fact, it will clear your sinuses. How do you know that, Steve? Must use the best kind. I didn't use a word of Google for that. It's very strong and very pungent. It has a kick to it. The gospel is.
00:21:08 Michael Barnett
Strong. We preach. We proclaim. When you share the gospel, it is a powerful message. We do not preach a powerless gospel. The gospel, when it is proclaimed, whether it's me standing here or the home of grace at the home of grace like last Monday night, or you sitting down with your lost loved one, the power of the gospel is not determined by the effect on the hearer. The power of the gospel is the gospel itself. And I want to tell you one thing: it'll do you. It'll make hell hotter and heaven sweeter. It'll make men more accountable or will save one or the other. The gospel of Christ. We don't preach a powerless gospel. The power of the gospel does not change. The gospel does not change a man. It's too powerful just to change. The gospel makes him a new man.
00:22:08 Michael Barnett
Gives him a new life, regenerates him. That's the gospel, the power of the gospel. I have all confidence in the gospel. Every now and then, some of you so kind and gracious, and I appreciate it. You come up and preach, you preach, and nobody came forward. Let me tell you this: you're more concerned about that than I am. I have confidence in the gospel. I'm not worried about men's responses. I'm preaching the gospel. I'm preaching the word of God. I'm not concerned about anything else. I have all confidence. None in me. None in you. None in this podium. None in your platform. I have all confidence in this word right here, and that's why I get excited when I preach. That's the gospel. That's the power of the gospel. Third thing is mustard seed. It's surprising. You put this little.
00:23:08 Michael Barnett
Spect in the ground, and then you get this bush that starts producing must a shrub. That shrub can grow up to be anywhere from three to twelve feet tall, and it produces a herb.
00:23:36 Michael Barnett
It breeds out in mass. It really reproduces itself. The gospel is life-giving. It has gone all over the world, been planted in the lives of people all over this planet, and has given them new life. And they share and spread the gospel. It's life-giving and life producing, and life reproducing. You will always be surprised by what sowing the gospel will do. When we get to heaven, if you've ever shared the gospel, and you consistently share the gospel, you're going to get to heaven one day, and you're going to see the final fruit of the gospel.
00:24:36 Michael Barnett
It doesn't happen at the altar. We don't see the final fruit at the altar or on planet Earth. Sometimes God gives us glimpses of that future glory and the results of the gospel. I can tell you story after story of sharing the gospel, preaching the gospel, and thinking, well, I must have hit on some bad soil because nobody moved. And then later on, I see the fruit. I told you something before. Let me assure a couple of you. Years ago, I'm talking about a long time ago, before some of you were born. Larry was born. Before some of you.
00:25:33 Michael Barnett
I was preaching in two churches on a Sunday morning, and I had to travel. I preached in an early church, early service. Once I was in college, before I was married, and I was preaching in one church at about seven o'clock, and then I was preaching in my church where I pastored. And so I'm leaving from that one church to another, and I have a flat tire. I've got on a coat and tie, and it's hot. And so I get out, I take off my coat, and two men come out of the woods with shotguns. They come out of the woods; they have shotguns, and they're in their squirrel hunt. And they say, 'Man, we heard the car roll around and had a flat. We just walked the edge of the woods, and there you are.' He said, 'Man, look, you're dressed up for church. Won't you just let us change your tie?' I said, 'Thank you.'
00:26:30 Michael Barnett
Go for it. So they started changing my topic, and I said, "If you died today, are you 100 percent certain you'd go to heaven?" And I commenced to answering the question for sharing the gospel. This was in college. This was in the nineteen, late nineteen eighty s, and the stronger I preached, and the harder I preached, they looked like a pit crew. They were getting at it. And I pulled out my wallet. I was in college. I was a college preacher. My salary was fifty dollars a week from a church, but I wanted to pay them something. I was so happy when they said, "No, man, three days." Went off. I moved here in two.
00:27:29 Michael Barnett
2001. This was in had to be after 1984, maybe 85. I moved here in 2001. After I've been here a couple years, I was asked to go preach revival in the dangerous Texas, not far from that place. And I get up on Sunday morning, I preach on. I preach on Sunday morning, and two big old boys come up to me, not with shotgun, but with a Bible in their hand, and they said, "Do you remember us?" And I said, "No, sir, I don't remember you." He said, "We were two squirrel hunters that changed your flag on the side of the highway out there, 167th. Lord, changed your flag and you preached to us and you left and we walked into the woods and I looked at my buddy here and said? He was right. We need to be right with the Lord. We need to get in church. And he said, we both teach the youth and Sunday school with our wives and we serve the Lord every step. You perform publicly and you spread the gospel."
00:28:27 Michael Barnett
Let me tell you another story. Remember when Halloween was downtown and we'd have all the schools and colleges and we would do an evangelistic outreach and give out tracts and share the gospel? That was a long time ago. They've been doing that a long time ago. So when the ice cream new ice cream shop opened up on Washington, Miss Tracy kept begging to come to the church. I said, "No, ma'am." Full of hot toast, corn chips, good party. Why don't we go to Harps' fried chicken instead? But she convinced me to go to Kiplins, and it's a long line out there. Long line. We finally get in the door, and the lady behind the counter is checking people out, passing through. Finally, we got our order, got our ice cream. We walked up to the counter.
00:29:22 Michael Barnett
And I pulled out of my pocket an invite card to our church, which you want to be doing every day, giving out those invite cards. We got them in bags, giving out the invite card, inviting the church. She looked at that and saw the picture of the church on the front cover. She said, 'Now I know who you are.' And I said, 'Well, who am I?' She said, 'Years ago, I was down here on Halloween with my kids.' And she said, 'You came up to me. You had a bright yellow T-shirt on. How do you remember a bright yellow T-shirt? And you came down Washington, and you had a couple of hot dogs and a gospel track. And you said, 'I'd like to give you a hot dog and a gospel track.' And I looked at you and said, 'I don't want that.' And you said, 'More of a reason for me to give it to you.' I said, 'I really said that.' She said, 'You sure did.'
00:30:16 Michael Barnett
She said, "I went home. I ate the hot dog. I lived. She says, I lived north of Bangley. I went home. I ate the hot dog. Put the track down on the table. Two days later, after putting the kids to bed, I sat down, picked up that gospel track, read it, and I got saved and went to a church near me the next Sunday. Was baptized. I've been in church ever since. And you had a major part of it. You never know. You never know what a simple sharing of the gospel will do. A gospel track, a word for Christ. I hope you're happy. But a word for Christ, you're never gonna want to lose. Somebody wise said this: You can count the seeds in an apple, but you can't count the apple in the seed. The gospel will surprise you. It'll be amazing. You remember Dallas Pope? Dallas Pope was a young man in my last church."
00:31:14 Michael Barnett
He comes down one Sunday morning, walks the aisle, and I says, "Well, sir, you come to be saved?" He said, "Nope, I've already been saved." He said, "I just need to be baptized." I said, "Well, tell me when you were saved." He said, "Five years ago, I came to a funeral here. You preached the funeral, and you told us that we were going to be just like the guy in the casket one day, except we're going to be in hell if we don't know Jesus." Can you imagine preaching that? I did. I had a lot more bullets back then than I do now, and he said, "Man, I sat there in that pew, and that got all over me. I started sweating, and I went home. And after thinking about it, I got saved. I just figured it's time to get back into getting into church and follow the Lord." And he was a faithful member when I left. You can't count the apples of the seed. The gospel is the prize. But not only does Jesus tell us.
00:32:12 Michael Barnett
About these things, the gospel. But he teaches us something strange, and I've got to move on to talk to you about this. Remember, Jesus is teaching in parables to reveal truth and to conceal truth to those who won't hear it, but to reveal truth to those who are pouring truth. They need the word of God, and they conceal it. He's concealing it from the self-righteous. And then he says that even that bunch. If you read verse thirty-two, just imagine you are sitting there. You know all about mustard seeds. You live there. You know all about men sowing seed, and he says, which indeed is the least of all seeds.
00:33:10 Michael Barnett
But when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becomes a tree. And the birds of the air come lodge in branches. You just lean over to your friend and you say, 'He doesn't know what's going there. He doesn't know what's going there.' Well, that just shows us right there that he doesn't know what he's talking about. Mustard does not become a tree. Mustard is an herb. Herbs grow in shrubs. A shrub has a pliable stem to it. It's pulpy, but a tree is wood. And you don't have mustard trees. You have mustard bushes and mustard shrubs. But here Jesus is saying this.
00:34:07 Michael Barnett
Becomes a tree, and you might know this. That's abnormal. All of these parables have something abnormal. Remember, this is the day we live in. This is the age in which we live. There's something abnormal. A man sowing and seed falls on bad soil. That's abnormal. You want your seed in good soil. You notice that man looks up one day and there's tares in his wheat field. That's abnormal. Have tears in the wheat field. This is abnormal for a mustard plant to be able to grow into a tree. This is a normal growth pattern. This is abnormal for a mustard seed to grow into a tree. Some people would tell you, "Now, wait a minute. This is a parable about the growth of the kingdom and the spread of the gospel. How's this going to get so massive?" Well, the problem with that is the Bible doesn't teach that. The Bible teaches.
00:35:05 Michael Barnett
And people are going to be mine. Only a few there be that go through the narrative. Preach the gospel, so you see, one-four of them, only one out of four, is good soil, and so you don't have that. That can't be right. Jesus is teaching us what life is like in the kingdom right now. What to expect? Mustard is an herb. Herbs grow in shrubs and bushes. Mustard is in the cabbage family. It is in the kale family. If you like kale, broccoli, turnips. This was something's happening here that is not God's intention. In Genesis one verse eleven, He said, "God said, let the earth bring forth grass and herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind."
00:36:03 Michael Barnett
Seed is in itself upon the earth, and so herbs grow herbs, trees grow trees. This is something very abnormal, and so to understand this, you have to go to the treasury sack and pull out something old, so we can know what this new thing means. You got to let the Bible interpret the Bible. Real quickly, let me tell you that he takes us to the book of Daniel in Daniel chapter four and verse twenty. We see something that he says about trees. Matter of fact, real quickly, he's talking to Belshazzar, the Babylonian king, and he says, Belshazzar, you're like a tree.
00:37:03 Michael Barnett
You're like a tree, chapter four, verse twenty. The tree that you saw, which grew and was strong, whose height reached up unto heaven, and the sight thereof all the earth, whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much and endless, meat for all. The beasts dwelt there. The branches were filled with birds. He said, 'You're like that tree,' and we know that was Babylon. It's like that tree with the birds in it. And Babylon is always seen as false religion, the occultism. What is wrong? What is not true biblical Christianity? What is not true Bible revelation? Babylon. We learn that from Revelation chapter eighteen, verses one through two. And then in Revelation eighteen, verses one through two, this is what God says.
00:37:58 Michael Barnett
And after these things, I saw another angel, and he came down with great power. He cried mightily with a strong voice, 'Babylon, the greatest of all, has fallen, has become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and the cage of every unclean and hateful bird.' Babylon is a picture of false religion, of what is false, what is abnormal in terms. Of the kingdom, it's false. These birds are—I think it was Andrew Rocker who said these are the devil's dirty birds that bring their false doctrine, their false religion, perching upon this tree that they want to say is.
00:38:54 Michael Barnett
Listen. Satan does not lure his false religion; he uses false religion. Jesus is not teaching us that the kingdom is going to grow in mass with a super outreach that grows and grows. Jesus is warning us that there'll always be false cults, there'll always be false teachers, and they will attract many. They will be trees, but they won't be real mustard seed gospel. And they will produce these false doctrines that people will flock to, and people will grasp hold to more so than they ever would Bible truth. We live in a day of a lack of discernment in church, and these birds are landing in the truth. R. G. Lee called this.
00:39:53 Michael Barnett
These are isms that, when Christ returns, will be wuzzles. This is what He's teaching: to expect false doctrine, to expect false calls. Real quickly, I know I preached too long because I got excited about the gospel. But I want to give you this: what we need to do with it. We need to be bird watchers. We need to watch the birds. Watch the birds. So let me give you four tests to know about the birds. Let me give you four tests to know what's really Bible and what's really bird, dirty bird. Number one, you got to apply the Scripture test. The Scripture test.
00:40:53 Michael Barnett
What does the bird do with the word of God? How do they handle the word of God? Revelation twenty two eight says if they add to the word of God, they're a dirty bird. They're a false cult. They're a false religion. They're going to introduce false doctrine. What does the bird do with the word of God? How do they handle the word of God? Do they approach it as the sole revelation? God, inspired by the Holy Spirit, from Genesis to Revelation, nothing else. Be very careful. That's not enough. It's not enough to understand how they approach the Bible, because a lot of them will. They'll have the. They'll say, "Oh, we believe the Bible, but they'll screw this up." In my backyard, I have one of my pastimes is sitting on my back porch watching my bird feeders, and I enjoy that.
00:41:53 Michael Barnett
And I've got about 30 different species of birds that come out there, and they're fun. But I know he's an old man, but it's okay. But we have one dove that shits in the bird feed. Miss Tracy said that's the meanest dove we've ever seen. What that dove? That's my dove. It is dove. Covered in mosquitoes. But he sits in the tray on that bird feeder, and that dude will throw seed out until he gets to a sunflower seed, and then he'll eat the sunflower seed, and then he'll start throwing stuff out again. So I'm feeding the squirrels because of how loud he does, and he's posting up. That's what a lot of these birds will do. They'll say we believe the Bible, but they pull everything out except for things that ain't inside.
00:42:49 Michael Barnett
And another thing, they'll do—they'll use our vocabulary, but their dictionary is different. Their dictionary is different. So the scripture text. Second of all, the Savior text. What about the Savior text? What do we need to do with that? Who do they say Jesus is? Who is Jesus? Let me give you a lesson from Second John verse one, verse six, chapter one, verse six. And this love that we walk after His commandment. This the commandment that, as we have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it. For many deceivers, dirty birds, are entered into the world who confess not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. This the deceiver and the antichrist. Look to yourselves that you
00:43:42 Michael Barnett
You lose not those things which ye have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. Whosoever transgresses and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He abideth not in the doctrine of Christ. He hath both the Father and the Son. If there come unto you any one who brings not the doctrine of Christ, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed. When they knock on your door, you ask them, "Do you believe that Jesus Christ is co-equal, co-eternal with the Father and the Spirit? They are one God, but a distinct person, but one God, co-equal, the same essence of deity in all three." And if it takes them more than three seconds to say, "Yes, I do," slam that door, please. And if you got a dog, say "sickle."
00:44:43 Michael Barnett
We'll take their literature, so we won't give it anybody else. But I want to tell you, who do they say Jesus is? You need to know who Jesus is. You need to be a student of mine. Second of all, is the subject test. Paul said in Galatians one, "They who preach another gospel, let them be accursed." He said to the Galatians, "Who have bewitched you that you are so soon far removed from the grace of the gospel, from the grace of Christ?" A false cult, a false church, a false religion will say, "Believe these things, do these things," but the true church.
00:45:40 Michael Barnett
The true gospel will say, 'By grace, receive someone. Receive Christ, and convictions will follow.' But the false gospel will say, 'Oh, this it. Hold to these things. Do these things.' But the true church says, 'It's Christ. It's Jesus of the New Testament. That's it. The grace of Christ. You're saved by grace.' And that leads us to the fourth thing, the salvation test. Ephesians two eight nine. For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not of works, as any man should boast. How do they say a man is to be saved and taken to heaven? Is it my works? Is it my deeds? Is it my ritual? Is it my something that they must do, that they must experience, or some kind of?
00:46:35 Michael Barnett
Ritual they go through, or is it by grace they come to Christ? Intersect. That's how you identify a false cult. They'll always get it wrong on the person of Jesus, and they'll always get it wrong on salvation. They always do. That's what they have in common. Whatever Islam it is, that's what they have in common. You're saved by Christ.
00:47:05 Michael Barnett
Christ alone. When Abraham received the ratification, the affirmation of the covenant, the Abrahamic covenant, that his descendants would receive the land. The Bible says that he sacrificed, and the birds started to come to eat the sacrifice.
00:47:35 Michael Barnett
And Abraham chased off the birds. Let me tell you something about these birds. They will always cause confusion. They will stray away from truth. They will do everything they can to woo you away from the purity of the Word of God, and they will rob you of every joy and blessing you have in Jesus. I don't want to run long.
00:48:06 Michael Barnett
I have run through them all. It's not fun, but you got to get in the Word of God. If you are not a member of this church and you are visiting wherever you come from, get into a solid Bible preaching, verse by verse, book by book preaching of God's Word, and learn and grow and be true to the Scriptures of who Jesus is and what it teaches.
00:48:37 Michael Barnett
Amen. And if you're distancing with us and you want one, we is one. I'm not. I preach through books of the Bible. I'm not throwing the seed out to get some of my life. We're going verse by verse. So whatever decision you have to make today, you need to.