The Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25:31-46)

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The Sheep and the Goats

Chet Phillips

Transcript

SYSTEMukan Well, good morning. My name is Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. I think one of the mistakes we often make in reading the Bible is that we read it as if it is about us. And so you'll see that people read the scriptures and they're just looking for where do I show up in here? How is this about me?

How ought I to respond that it's somehow just a book of morals? And the reality is that the Bible is primarily not about you, but it's about Christ. It's about what God has done in the world on your behalf. And that is extremely good news. That having been said, today we're going to read a Bible story that has you in it. That you're in here.

And what we're going to look at is Jesus prophesies in his last kind of major discourse in the Gospel of Matthew. As he's going to tell us about the end and we're there. And this prophecy will either be a joyous, glorious occasion for you or it will be terrible. And Jesus in his last major teaching in the Gospel of Matthew really goes hard after trying to declare to his disciples that you ought to be ready when he returns. And that you ought to live in such a way that you know that the end will come. That Christ will judge and inaugurate his reign and that we ought to be prepared for that day.

So let's pray together as we then turn to Matthew chapter 25 to study the word together. God, I pray that you would in this moment this morning that you would help us to see ourselves clearly. Lord, I pray that you would help us to see you even more clearly. That we might fix our eyes on you. That we might see what you have done and what you will do and that we might respond accordingly. So we ask for your grace.

We ask for the powerful work of your spirit. We pray that you'd bless this time we have together this morning. In Jesus' name. Amen. So we're in Matthew chapter 25.

Matthew has 28 chapters. So we're coming on the tail end of this. And it's taken us almost no time at all. We've breezed right through this. Matthew chapter 25. We're going to pick up in verse 31.

So in this section, Jesus is answering a question that his disciples had asked him. They said, he had prophesied the destruction of the temple. And they said, when will this be? When will these things be? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? And so Jesus is answering that question.

And this is the last part of that answer. And he says, when the son of man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations. And he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. Jesus refers to himself as the son of man. This whole time he's been referring to the coming of the son of man.

So they ask, when is your coming? And he refers to it as the coming of the son of man. And so he's clearly saying that when I return, when I, Jesus return, I will sit in glory, all my angels with me. So he's very definitively declaring himself to be king and judge of the whole world. I think it's silly sometimes when you hear people say, well, you know, Jesus was a good teacher, but he never really claimed to be God. Oh, yeah, he did.

Just read it. He aggressively claims that he's going to return with all of his angels, that he's going to sit on a throne, that he's going to judge the world. He says he will sit on a glorious throne and before him will be gathered all the nations. That's you. You're there. The word nations there means it's not our word nation like nation states.

It's not USA and Canada. We're not going to be sitting there chanting USA. It's not that's not going to happen. Or Ozzy, Ozzy, Ozzy, whatever you might chant. It's not that it means all people groups, all tribes, all tongues, all languages. Everyone is there.

And then he says he he makes a distinction one from another. Meaning that this is a personal distinction. You will be there as an individual and you as an individual will go one direction or another. He will separate us one from another. And it says as a shepherd might separate sheep and goats. I am not a shepherd.

I don't think you are either. But we can tell the difference between sheep and goats. The distinction on that day for Christ will be very clear. He will be able to see clearly which is which. And so he separates as he Judges all peoples. Verse 33.

And he will place the sheep on his right but the goats on the left. And we'll find out later that you want to be on the right. You want to be among the sheep. And that's a metaphor that Jesus uses on a regular basis. Is that those who belong to him are sheep. That he is the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep.

That his sheep know him. They know his voice and they follow him. That he has a pasture. He has a fold that belong to him. And so his sheep are his church. Those who belong to Christ.

Those for whom he has died. And he separates them. And he puts the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. And again that's just a picture. These are people. Verse 34.

Then the king will say to those on his right. Come you who are blessed by my father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you. From the foundation of the world. Oh what a beautiful day to be on the right hand of Christ. That he will come with all of his angels.

In all of his glory. That he will seat himself on a throne. As king and eternal ruler. That he will have all peoples gathered in front of him. Who have ever lived. We're all going to be there.

And then through his power. Or through the work of his angels or something. He's going to begin to separate us. And there's no at that point being like. I think I'm on the wrong side. I want to be.

Like you do what you're told. And we're going to be separated. And we're going to be before this glorious throne. And then he's going to turn and look. To those on his right. And he's going to say.

Come. You blessed by my father. Inherit the kingdom. Prepared for you. From the foundation of the world. What a beautiful day.

Can you see that? Can you feel what that would be like. For just a moment. To be in front of King Jesus. In all of his glory. And him to welcome you.

And to call you blessed. And to say that there's a kingdom. That's been prepared for you. Since the foundation of the world. That's what Ephesians tells us. That he chose us in him.

Before the foundation of the world. That he's preparing this place for us. That his original design. Was that we would live with him in Eden. That we would belong to him. That we would be his people.

And that got broken. And that got lost. Through sin. But that Christ has come to redeem a people. That might belong to him again. That might get to live in his kingdom.

That he's been preparing. His ultimate desire this entire time. That awaits those who know him. And love him. And have been redeemed by him. Verse 35.

He says. For I was hungry. And you gave me food. I was thirsty. And you gave me drink. I was a stranger.

And you welcomed me. I was naked. And you clothed me. I was sick. And you visited me. I was in prison.

And you came to me. Then the righteous. This is the first time we're told this. But those on his right. Are righteous. They are holy.

They are good. Then the righteous will answer him. Saying. Lord. When did we see you hungry. And feed you.

Or thirsty. And give you drink. And when did we see you a stranger. And welcome you. Or naked. And clothe you.

And when do we see you sick. Or in prison. And visit you. Now Jesus is prophesying. I don't know. It seems really bold.

To say that. Like if I'm on his right. In that day. And he says. You're blessed. You've done all these things.

I'm not going to go. I don't think I did. I don't want to call you out. But I should be on the other side. Just be blessed guys. Like just.

But there. There's this response. That they have. It's like. I don't know. When did.

When did this happen? When did we see you. And respond. This way. And the king. Will answer them.

Truly I say to you. As you did it. To one of the least of these. My brothers. You did it. To me.

Now that phrase. My brothers. Is. Very important. To understanding this passage. This is often taught.

That the least of these. Just means. Everybody who is. Hungry or hurting. Or. Poor or destitute.

But. That phrase. My brothers. And some translations. Will say. That you did.

To my brothers. Or sisters. Even the least of them. Even the smallest of them. You did to me. That phrase.

My brothers. That's only used. In the gospel of Matthew. For two types. Of brothers and sisters. Physical bloodline.

Brothers and sisters. Or. Disciples. Those who belong. To Christ. So.

There's even a place. Matthew 12. It says. That they. Come to him. And they say.

Your mother. And brothers. And sisters. Are here. And he says. Who is my brother.

My mother. And who are my brothers. And stretching out his hands. Toward his disciples. He said. Here.

Are my mother. And my brothers. For whoever does the will. Of my father in heaven. Is my brother. And sister.

And mother. In Matthew 28. After his resurrection. He says. Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers.

To go to Galilee. And they will see me. This picture of the church. Being brothers and sisters. Being a family in Christ. Is the predominant picture.

Given to us. In the New Testament. And it seems as if. Jesus is. Clarifying. That this was done.

Not specifically to. Not in general. To anyone who was destitute. But specifically to those. Who belong to him. And he's reiterating an idea.

That we see in Matthew 10. Where Jesus is sending out his disciples. And he says. Whoever receives you. Receives me. And whoever receives me.

Receives him who sent me. So he's telling his disciples. If they will receive you. If they'll accept you. They receive me. And as he keeps going.

In verse 42. He says. And whoever gives one of these little ones. Even a cup of cold water. Because he is a disciple. Truly I say to you.

He will by no means. Lose his reward. So it seems as if. Jesus is pulling that same idea. To here. And saying.

That these are the people. Who loved and received. Those who belong to Christ. That they loved and received. The church. That this is not.

Just being nice to everyone. In general. There's a couple of things. To say about that. One. You are supposed to be nice.

To everyone in general. Jesus tells us. Specifically. Pointedly. There are three groups of people. We're supposed to love.

We're supposed to love. The brothers. We're supposed to love. Those who belong to Christ. And specifically. To do things for them.

Because they belong to Christ. We're supposed to love. Our neighbors. And his story. The good Samaritan says. Everyone's your neighbor.

And we're supposed to love. Our enemies. Those who belong to Jesus. Those who you come in contact with. Those who are your enemies. That's who we're called to love.

You don't know anyone. Who's not in one of those categories. So this. Highlighting. And specifying. That he is talking to those.

About those who belong to Christ. Is not. To say. That we don't have to. Oh good. We don't have to help other people.

But it is to help us understand. What he's saying. In this. Passage. That's what he says. In John 13 34.

He says. A new commandment. I give to you. That you love. One another. Just as I have loved you.

You are also to love. One another. By this. This love for one another. All people will know. That you are my disciples.

If you have love. For one. Another. That there is a distinct. And special. Love.

In the church. For those who belong to Christ. I was a. When I was in college. I was an intern. At a church.

In Lawrence. South Carolina. The pastor was. Out one Sunday. There was a guest. Pastor coming to preach.

And I was his handler. I was to show up early. And help him get his microphone. And show him where things were. Be his friend. So I did that.

He was an older gentleman. Big old guy. Real country. And after everything got started. And you know. I just went and sat down.

I was in the front. First or second row. Sitting next to my wife. And she takes notes. She has real pretty handwriting. And she.

When someone is preaching. She will write down the date. She will write down who it is. If she knows her name. She will put. If they have a sermon title.

She will put that in quotations. At the top. Or she will start writing. Real kind of pretty writing. The kind of the passage. That they are coming from that day.

And that morning. He. He was going to preach from this. John 13 34. And he says. He says.

Now God. Says. That we are supposed to love. One another. And we are supposed to love our enemies. And we are supposed to love our neighbors.

But I am here today. To tell you. Who we supposed. To love. Special. I was paying attention.

And then I glanced over at her notes. And she had written in parenthesis. Who we supposed to love special. Y'all. I lost it. I'm on the second row.

It's just. I was like. That's an excellent title for a sermon. Who we supposed to love special. And I'm going. It's bad.

You can't let me and my wife hang out with each other. We cause trouble. But. It wasn't a good look. It's not my best day. But I did sit and laugh.

For a full like seven minutes. Because I couldn't get it together. If I could have just laughed a little bit out loud. It would have been fine. But I had to.

But Jesus here. I think is saying the same thing. That there is a. Who we supposed to love special. That we are supposed to have a specific. Reception.

And love. And grace. Towards those who belong to Christ. And there is something in that idea. Of who those who receive you. Receive me.

And those who receive me. Receive him who sent me. That same idea. That if we. Love and receive the church. And those who will love.

And receive those who belong to Christ. Will ultimately love and receive Christ. And will ultimately get the father. That's why he. We want to be good missionaries. And that's why we talk about.

We've been sent out as the church. Because if people will receive us. They'll eventually receive Christ. And if they'll get Christ. They get the father. So he says.

That to those. On his right. Verse 41. Then he will say. To those on his left. Depart from me.

You cursed. Into the eternal fire. Prepared for the devil. And his angels. Depart. From me.

You cursed. Into the eternal fire. Prepared for the devil. And his angels. The kingdom. You will be here.

On that day. We will be in front of a glorious. And fearful king. And he will look at some. And say. Welcome.

You blessed. Come inherit the kingdom. And he will look at others. And say. Depart from me. You cursed.

Into the eternal fire. You are. Prepared for the devil. And his angels. The kingdom. Is prepared for those.

Who will receive it. Those who end up. In hell. Have joined. The enemy. Hell was not prepared.

For you. Hell was prepared. For the devil. And his angels. And it is a place. Of eternal punishment.

For him. I don't know. What you have seen. On cartoons. Or TV shows. Or movies.

Satan does not hang out. In hell. And he does not enjoy it. When he eventually goes there. He is not the ruler. Of hell.

Christ. Is the ruler of hell. And he has prepared it. For the devil. And his angels. But those who do not.

Submit to Christ. Do not love Christ. Do not follow Christ. Have not been redeemed. By Christ. Will join.

The enemy. In his punishment. And it is a place. Of eternal fire. There is a glorious kingdom. Prepared.

From the beginning. Of the world. And there is a place. Of eternal punishment. And everyone. On that day.

Will be sent. One way or the other. And if you. Have not considered this. I plead with you. To consider this.

If you have not. Wrapped your mind around. There will be a day. When you see. Jesus. And that will be.

A beautiful. Glorious day. Or that will be. A terrible. Frightening. Awful day.

I ask you to see this. And he'll say. For I was hungry. And you gave me no food. I was thirsty. And you gave me no drink.

I was a stranger. And you did not. Welcome me. Naked. And you did not clothe me. Sick.

And in prison. And you did not visit me. Then they also. Will answer. Saying. Lord.

When did we see you hungry. Or thirsty. Or a stranger. Or naked. Or sick. Or in prison.

And did not. Minister to you. Then he will answer them. Saying. Truly. I say to you.

As you did. Not do it. To one of the least of these. You did not. Do it. To me.

And these will go away. Into eternal punishment. But the righteous. Into eternal life. Your soul. Was meant.

To live for eternity. And your soul. Will. Live. Beyond your body. All of our bodies.

Are failing. All of them. And they fail more. And more. Over time. And the older you get.

The more you have discussions. With people your age. About how your body. Is failing you. It's just how it is. Little kids.

Heal up. Like magic. Overnight. They heal right up. High school. You heal up pretty quick.

College. You heal up pretty quick. Then you start getting injuries. And you're like. I rolled my ankle. Fifteen years ago.

And it is somehow. Still rolled. It has not unrolled itself. And the older you get. The more you will sit around. And discuss with people.

All the things that are wrong with you. Your body is failing you. This is God's grace. A simple. A simple. A simple.

Gracious reminder. That you will one day meet him. That your body will not last forever. But your soul will. And I want you to see. That these two locations are eternal.

Eternal punishment. Or eternal life. That you will be sent. Somewhere that is. Terrible. Or somewhere that is.

Glorious. And I think it's. A very valid question. For us to try to understand. What is this passage saying. And how might I end up.

On the right. Oh. If this is true. I want to be among the sheep. First thing I want us to see. We ought to take away from this passage.

Is that Jesus will return. To judge the world. There is a day. When everything will be called to account. When you will stand before him. Final judgment will be passed.

And it will be done. Based off of. King Jesus's desires. Not ours. Not our method for fairness. Not what we think ought to happen.

There will be no. Appeal court. I know we're Americans. And we don't like. Monarchies. But Jesus is a king.

And there is no overruling him. He will return. To judge the world. And you need to see that clearly. Secondly. The thing we have to understand.

From this passage. Because this passage. Taken on its own. Removed from it. The context of the rest. Of scripture.

Can lead us. In an odd direction. So the second thing. We're going to spend our time on. This morning. Is that we do not earn.

Righteousness. But we do display it. If you are in Christ. We do not earn righteousness. But we do display it.

The righteous. Will dwell. With Christ. For eternity. So another way of saying that.

Is we do not earn. Our salvation. But we do. Display it. If you took. Just this passage.

On its own. You better run outside. And feed some hungry people. Because all he's going to do. Is keep up with. Whether or not you've done that.

But that would be. To negate the rest of scripture. That says that you do not. Earn salvation. I want to show my work. Romans.

Chapter 3. Paul says. What then? Are we Jews. Any better off? No.

Not at all. He's reading. He's talking about Jews. They've been given the law. They've been told. How they ought to act.

But he says. For we have already charged. That all. Both Jews and Greeks. Are under sin. As it is written.

None is righteous. Okay. So now we have a contradiction. Because he says. You righteous. Welcome to the kingdom.

But the scriptures also say. None is righteous. So it's as if. Jesus is saying. On that day. I will separate the sheep.

From the goats. Oh. No sheep. It says. None is righteous. No.

Not one. No one understands. No one seeks for God. All have turned aside. Together they have become worthless. No one does good.

Not even one. Sound like you and your family? Sounds like mine. For by works of the law. No human being will be justified. That means made right.

In his sight. So those who are justified. Are righteous. But he says. No one will be. Not by works of the law.

Since through the law. Comes knowledge of sin. So that if you learn all the rules. All it does. Is show you your wickedness. But then Jesus says.

In the very next sentence. The very next thing. That he comes out of his mouth. In chapter 26. If we look at that in Matthew. It says.

When Jesus had finished. When Jesus had finished. All these sayings. He said to his disciples. You know that after two days. The Passover is coming.

And the son of man. Will be delivered up. To be crucified. So Jesus says. In Matthew chapter 25. Something that seems as if.

He's declaring to us. That we ought to go out. And earn our salvation. And then the next words. Out of his mouth. Are I'm going to the cross.

And then. As we see this carried out. Into the rest of the New Testament. We begin to understand. What's going on. Galatians 2 21.

Also Paul. He says. I do not nullify. The grace of God. Meaning unearned favor. That's what grace is.

For if righteousness. Were through the law. It's good behavior. Good actions. Then Christ died.

For no purpose. So whatever. Anybody says. What God wants from us. Is to be a good person. That's what Jesus came.

To teach us how to be moral. The question I always ask them. Is then why did he die? What is the purpose of the cross? Because if he just wants. You to be a good person.

And that's all it takes. What was the purpose of the cross? Paul says. No purpose at all. If the point is for you. To be moral.

We would nullify grace. And Christ would die. For no purpose. Titus 3 5. He saved us. Not because of works.

Done by us. In righteousness. But according to his own mercy. By the washing of regeneration. And the renewal of the Holy Spirit. Or Philippians 3.

I have suffered the loss of all things. And count them as rubbish. In order that I may gain Christ. And be found in him. Not having a righteousness of my own. That comes from the law.

But that which comes through faith in Christ. The righteousness of God. That depends on faith. So if we're to read this. With the rest of the New Testament in mind. We would look and say.

Those who are on his right. Those who are his sheep. Are those who have the righteousness of Christ. Applied to their account. Through faith. By grace.

Through the work of Jesus. But they have not earned this on their own. But Jesus says. He'll look at them and say. Welcome. You've done good things.

You see. Jesus in this passage. These things are not in contradiction with one another. Jesus in this passage. If you understand the rest of the New Testament. Is talking about the fruit of salvation.

Not the root of salvation. He's talking about what the root of salvation. Eventually leads to. Which is fruit. That those who have been made righteous by Christ. Display righteousness.

So we do not earn our righteousness. But we do display it. This is what he says in Matthew 7. Beware of false prophets. Who come to you in sheep's clothing. But inwardly are ravenous wolves.

You will recognize them. By their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes. Or figs from thistles. So every healthy tree bears good fruit.

But the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit. Nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit. Is cut down. And thrown into the fire.

Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. So Jesus can look at those on his right. Call them righteous. And declare. And refer to their good works. Because they are the outworking.

Of his righteous work in them. 1 John 3.10 By this it is evident. Who are the children of God. Okay. So there is evidence.

Someone says I belong to Jesus. There ought to be evidence. You ought to be able to watch their life. And go yeah. Seems like it. This is one of the reasons.

Why we do membership through community groups. Some of the reasons we do membership through community groups. Is that we want to care for you. And if you are not in a group. We don't really have a way to do that. But some of the reasons we do membership through community groups.

When we do membership class. We just tell you things. And then we send you off to your group. And your group has to co-sign whether or not you are a member. Because in membership class. In our membership commitment.

You are saying I believe these things. And if you go back to your group. And say I want to be a member. And your group can go. You don't believe those things. We love you.

No. We want you to believe those things. But we know you well enough to know. That this isn't showing up in your life. We want to walk this out with you. We want to help hold you to this.

It says by this it is evident. Who are the children of God. And who are the children of the devil. Okay. So those who belong to Christ.

And those who belong to the enemy. Whoever does not practice righteousness. Is not of God. Nor is the one who does not love his brother. If it doesn't show up. You don't belong to him.

Verse 14. As he continues. He says we know that we have passed out of death. Into life. Because we love the brothers. Do you love the church?

He says we know that we belong to Jesus. Because we love the brothers. Do you? Whoever does not love. Abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother.

Is a murderer. And you know that no murderer. Has eternal life abiding in him. Meaning that if you do not care. For the church. You do not love those who belong to Jesus.

That you hate them. They bother you. They frustrate you. And you don't overcome that with forgiveness and grace. But you just turn from them.

He says that you've got death abiding in you. By this we know love. That he laid down his life for us. Oh he gives us a picture of love. Full sacrifice. That he laid down his life for us.

Some of you say I would love the church. But it's really hard. And they're very aggravating. Yes. It's going to feel a lot like dying. To love the church.

That's how we know love. That he laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods. And sees his brother in need. Yet closes his heart against him.

How does God's love abide in him? Well that's a sentence. Just pulled directly from what Jesus just said. That he's going to look at. Those who belong to him and say. I know you belong to me.

Because of look at what you did. Look at how you responded to those in need. And that's why. John can say. If you have the world's goods. And you see a brother in need.

And you don't respond. How do you have love in you? If you can see them. And just turn. And don't care. How do you have love in you?

How is it there? If you don't care. And those who abide in Christ. Abide in love. So James 2.

What good is it my brothers. If someone says he has faith. But does not have works. Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed. And lacking in daily food.

And one of you says to them. Go in peace. Be warmed and filled. Without giving them the things needed for the body. What good is that? So also.

Faith by itself. If it does not have works. Is dead. One of the things we talk about in this church. Is that we want to be gospel centered. We want to be gospel fluent.

We want to know how the gospel applies to life. And we want to point each other back to Christ. In all things. And I think there's a danger for us sometimes. To someone struggling in our group. Someone's in need in our group.

And we just encourage them. Just know that the Lord cares for you. He loves you. He'll provide for you. We know that. Because Jesus came.

And he died. And he provided everything for us. And you leave. And you're like. I blessed them. Because I gave them the gospel.

And James says. Yeah. Did you help him pay the bill? Did you help him pay the bill? Or did you just tell him Jesus was good? Because if he's not good in you.

To help you be the church. So they might receive you. So they might receive him. So they might know the father. If he's not in you. What faith is that?

Oh it's dead. Oh it's dead. And so if you are saying. I belong to Christ. I've been made righteous by Christ. My tree is renewed.

I have the root of salvation. Then Christ can look at you and say. Yes. Show me the fruit of salvation. Do you love? Do you care?

Do you sacrifice? Do you welcome? Do you welcome? Do you pay attention? Do you listen? Do you pray?

Do you give? Has the root of salvation. If you're saying it's the root. It means it's the absolute core of you. And if it's the absolute core of you. If he's gone to work on the inside of you.

To make you righteous. Now it'll be a mess sometimes. And there are seasons. That's why I love that it's fruit. There are seasons where it takes a while. There are seasons where it doesn't show up.

The way you want it to. But long enough. It's going to show up. And so if you say. This is the core of me. That I belong to Jesus.

One of the questions is. Okay. Is that reflected in the outer part of you? Is it reflected in your wallet? Is it reflected in your time? Is it reflected in how you love and care for the church?

Do you have time for those who are in need? Do you? Do you? Do you? Do you? Do you?

Do you? Do you? If not. John says. The love of God does not abide in you. James says.

Your faith is dead. And Christ says. Depart from me you cursed. I think too often. We have pitched Christianity. We have understood Christianity.

We have understood being a Christian. And being a faithful Christian. As all the things we do not do. Depending on your age group. What church you grew up in. Christians don't dance.

They don't watch movies. Christians don't dress a certain way. Christians don't talk a certain way. The joke I always had growing up. Was they don't drink smoke or chew. Or date girls that do.

Christians don't sleep around. Well. Okay. I have heard a pastor say. That he. Had a friend.

Who had a dog. That was. 15 years old. And that dog. Laid on the floor. In his friend's house.

And he said. Often it seemed like. The way we describe Christianity. My friend's dog. Was a. A beautiful.

Wonderful picture. Of a good Christian. Because he didn't do. Do anything. And if all Christians. Are.

People who don't do things. Then that dog. Was excellent. But Christ says. He's going to look at the church. And say.

You did. Do. Things. I think. Too often. We've thought of Christianity.

As not only the things. That I don't do. But a bunch of little. Personal activities. That we do. Read my Bible.

I pray. Those are excellent. They're good. The reason you need to read your Bible. Is so you'll read stuff like this. And if you just read it.

And go. Hmm. Good point. Thanks Jesus. And close your Bible. Or turn your little phone app off.

And move on. Without. Doing the things. James says. It's like someone who looks in a mirror. Sees that their hair is messed up.

Sees they have mustard on their face. And then walks away. And doesn't do anything. With what they saw. The reason we pray. The reason we read the Bible.

Is so that we might be the people. That have been sent out in the world. To display Christ. To have righteousness. Dwell in us. And exude from us.

And all the things that Christ lists us here. Are relational. Do you love? Do you care? Oh. Do you care?

Oh. And it's a beautiful picture. He says. I was hungry. And you gave me food. I was thirsty.

And you gave me drink. Christians provide physical needs. Pay for groceries. Buy meals. And when we do that. We're displaying the gospel at work.

In our heart. Because Jesus says. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. That he'll satisfy. And so that we know. We've been satisfied.

Of our deepest longest. Deepest longing of our hearts. Our hunger and our thirst. To be made right. And so therefore. We respond.

In caring for others. Physical short term needs. He says. I was a stranger. And you welcomed me. That we're supposed to be hospitable.

That we're supposed to open our houses. For people to stay with us. And to eat with us. I was thinking yesterday. I know sometimes people are like. Yeah but what if.

Like what if I pick up a hitchhiker. Or what if I have someone to come in the house. And they hurt me. This is much easier for me to think through. Personally. Than for my family.

So I'm just going to think through it personally. But I was thinking. If I was by myself. And I picked up a hitchhiker. And he killed me. That's kind of a good way to meet the Lord y'all.

That's what I thought yesterday. There's a real good chance. I'm going to be doing something stupid. When I die. This one felt pretty good. Be like.

Yeah Lord. I was just doing that hospitality stuff. You talked about. But that we would. Welcome people. This is.

People who come down. And do summer internships with us. This is missionaries. This is refugees. This is orphans. That we would have strangers.

Who belong to Jesus. And we would welcome them. Just because they belong to Jesus. And we'd say. Hey. We're all going to share a big table.

In eternity. Come share my table with me right now. He says. I was naked. And you clothed me. They were exposed.

They lacked. Everything. Everything. That they needed. He said. You clothed me.

Do we care when we hear about. Tragedies in other countries. Do we care when we hear about it in other states. Do we care that there are people in our city. Who are wearing the same thing over and over again. That we.

That they need. Clothing. We were exposed. We were naked. We were uncovered in our shame. And Christ came.

And he was stripped naked. And exposed. So that he might take our shame. So that we might be clothed in his righteousness. You absolutely better believe that Christ. That Christians respond.

To soul level clothing. By simple. Earthly. Caring about the needs of others. There's a beautiful picture of the gospel. It says.

I was sick. And you visited me. I've been so blessed in this church. When I've seen some of our older members. There's two ladies in our church. Who at different times.

Would gather up gift bags. And gift baskets. And they would go travel around. And they would visit every single person. That's homebound or shut in. Just to care for them.

I mean there have been days. Where I heard that story. And I went and just sat in my office. And I thanked Jesus. That he was good. That he works in people.

That their hearts so love him. That they so love each other. There have been pictures of people. Who have been hurt. And gotten to go live. With another church family member.

There have been pictures of people. Who have run out of money. And church families come together. To pay for hospital bills. Medical bills. Buy vehicles.

And it's this beautiful picture. Of these people actually believe. They actually belong to Christ. That's why he says. The world will know. That you're my disciples.

By the way you love. One another. He says. I was in prison. And you came to me. There are a lot of inmates.

Who have placed their faith in Christ. This is also. It's weird. I don't really want people in my house. Yeah. But we had Christ go to a cross for us.

He died so that we might be redeemed. So that we might live out a picture of that. So yeah. Christians do a bunch of stuff they don't want to do. And yes. There's also a bunch of stuff we'd like to do.

That we don't do. But that's not our primary marker. They were meant to be people who love. And who so. Are so in love with Christ. And so see what he's done for us.

That we respond. You see. We do not earn our righteousness. But we do display it. And that means there's a very important distinction here. As you consider this.

And I would call on you to consider this. I'm calling you to consider this today. I'm calling you to consider it this week. I'm calling you to read this passage. And look over it. Because the reality is.

You want to be among the sheep. But if you look at your life. If you look in the mirror. And you see that there is no fruit of righteousness. The response is not. I better do better.

Oh I better start serving. I better get it together. If there is no fruit of righteousness. Then your faith is dead. There is no love in your heart. And you need Christ.

And you need his righteousness. To go to work on the root. So that then the fruit might be displayed. Now some of you are going. I see where the Lord is at work here. And I see where the Lord is at work here.

And I really do grow in hospitality. I really do need to add some of this to my life. And I need to be repentant. And asking the Lord to help me see this. But if you're looking at this.

And you walk out of here. And your only response is. I'm going to do better. I'm going to try harder. And then I will earn my salvation. And my righteousness.

That is not how it works. You are a sinner. In need of a savior. Who redeems you. And then righteousness. Blooms out.

Like fruit. Fruit. But if you have a tree. That doesn't grow fruit. You don't go to the spots. Where fruit should be.

And try to fix it there. The root's got to be okay. It's got to have water. It's got to have all these. Actual nutrients. Before it can.

Grow up and do what it's supposed to. The band is going to come back up. My hope is that we would hear well. The words of Christ. In his last major teaching. That you would know that a judgment is coming.

That an eternity is coming. That it is real. That it is coming for all of us. Sooner than we think. That's one of the primary things. That he goes after in this.

When will it come? Sooner than you think. And oh may we respond. In repentance. Receiving the grace that is offered. And then by Christ's righteousness.

A work in us. May we look like these people. And grow in our love for each other. And for our neighbors. And for our enemies. But I pray the Lord would help us.

To love each other special. Let's pray. God we thank you for your grace. Lord we will all see you on that day. And we eagerly await. For you to arrive as our glorious king.

But Lord may we be ready. For those here this morning. That have no love. Who would say they have faith. But by their life it is displayed as dead.

We pray that they would come to you. To be made new. That they would plead with you. To redeem them. To be righteous. In their place.

That you would forgive them of their sins. And make them whole. We pray that we would all grow. In displaying the fruit of righteousness. Which is a genuine love. For those around us.

May we see you. And your love. And may it empower us. To sacrifice. To give. To care.

To be put out. For the sake of others. As you were put out. Cast out. And destroyed. For our sake.

In Jesus name. Amen.

Multiply or Bust

Multiply or Bust

Chet Phillips

Transcript

Good morning. My name's Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. Grab your Bibles. Go to Mark chapter 4. We're in the fifth and final week of our Multiply series.

We'll be picking back up with Genesis next week. Genesis is a very long book, so we spent a good bit of time in it in the fall. We're going to spend a good bit of time in it in the spring, just studying through, going through that narrative and trying to learn what we can about God and how it displays to us Christ through what he did with creation and the patriarchs as he built the nation of Israel. But we, as we started this year, started off in a series called Multiply, where we were looking at the Great Commission and kind of understanding what we ought to be doing and how we ought to be spending our time.

And in some ways, as we began it, we said it's kind of like some New Year's resolutions for our church family, for us to kind of focus in on what matters most and say, here's what we want to be doing, here's how we ought to be spending our time. And so the first week we talked about the Great Commission, and that's kind of been the basis for this whole thing, that Jesus takes his disciples, and he, after his death and burial and resurrection, says, Go, make disciples. Go do with others what I've been doing with you. Proclaim to them the gospel that they might believe, and then baptize them. As they repented and had faith, baptize them.

And then he says, And teach them to obey everything I've commanded you. You should walk with them and train them and equip them. And as you're going to make disciples, the people that become disciples continue to help make disciples. And you guys, I hate to spoil the ending for you. They did that, and it made it all the way to us. That this train of discipleship, this equipping people and sharing the gospel and seeing people baptized is all the way to here, and we are to continue that.

And so, at first week, Spencer talked about what. Then we talked about why. Why would we do this? That people would actually believe that there is real hope in Christ, that there is a real eternity, there is a real weight to whether or not we believe, and that people will actually believe if we'll go, if we'll share. And so then we talked about how we can do that, and we said that we can share an invitation, that we can share our story, that we can share the gospel, just in a moment just tell somebody the basics of the story. And we said ultimately we'd share our lives with people and hope and pray and plead with them that they might know Christ and follow him.

And so then we talked last week about discipleship specifically, that we would commit to discipleship. And so we said that discipleship is a life of learning, that it's life on life, it's life in community, and it's life on mission. And now we're kind of finishing up the series today, and we're actually going to, as we end today, we're going to walk through this text, then we'll sing a few songs, and then I'll come back up and we'll talk about a few kind of prayers for the year for us. And that's how we'll finish our time this morning, is kind of talking through some of that. And so what would normally be our just, hey, we've got two or three announcements, is actually going to be short, short sermon number two.

It won't be that long, but it will be longer than announcements, because we're trying to end on here's where we're going, here's where we're headed. And so pick up in Mark 4, I'm going to pray, and we're going to start reading this text together. God, we pray that you would bless our time this morning, that it would be fruitful, that your word would make it to good soil. In Jesus' name, amen. So Mark 4, Jesus, we're going to look at the parable of the sower today, and so we're going to just pick up Mark 4, verse 1.

It says, again, he began to teach. So Jesus did this often, and he is the he there. He began to teach beside the sea, and a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. So they start getting so gathered around him that he climbs into a boat and uses that as a stage, and then he's yelling to all these people who have gathered around the edge of the sea, and he's sitting in a boat. And it says he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them, parables are stories, they're word pictures, they're metaphors, they're analogies, but they're not explained fully.

So they're just kind of, here's what it's like, and he tells the story, and then where a lot of hours would have, and the moral is, a parable just goes, here's the story. Mic drop, walk away. Like you don't necessarily know, you have to kind of figure out, okay, what does that mean, how does that work? And so that's what he'd been doing. He said, listen, behold, a sower went out to sow. Which if you're a sower, that's a good thing to do.

So a sower went out to sow, and as he sowed, some seed fell along the path. Okay, so this isn't needle and thread sowing, this is casting seed sowing. So this guy's got a bag, he's got some seed, and he's casting seed, and we're going to hear what happens. As he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched.

And since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing, yielding 30-fold, 60-fold, and 100-fold. And he said, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. So this is the story that he tells, and you can pull the picture up, but they would have been able to picture this pretty well.

And the idea that he's saying that he's spreading grain means that grain is a cereal crop. You actually eat what you plant. So you either, when it grows up, you either eat or you replant. It's not like an apple tree where you get to eat the apple and plant the seed. This is, you're choosing. I'm going to eat this, I'm going to replant it.

So you usually would hold back some to eat, and you would store some to replant the next year. So he's casting this out. So every little seed can then grow up and become more seed. That's how it works. So that's the story he tells.

So he said, a guy goes out, he's sowing. Some of it falls on a path. It's real hard ground. People use that to walk. It just sits there. Birds see it, come eat it.

Some falls on rocky ground, and it starts to grow down, but realizes it can't go much further. So it starts to grow up. And immediately, that's the stuff you see first. It looks pretty. You're like, hey, it's growing. Then the sun pops up, it's like peekaboo, and kills it.

Because it has no way to get any kind of nutrients. It's not deep. Then some of it went among thorns, and the thorns just choke it out. So it begins to grow, but the thorns grow better, steal from it, choke it, kill it. Some lands on good soil, and it grows. And it bears fruit.

And it multiplies. Some 30-fold, some 60-fold, some 100-fold. And then he ends by saying, and if you understand that, understand that. So he's saying, who has ears to hear, let him hear. And then he's done. And his disciples, it says, verse 10, And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables.

So he ends with, if you understand that, understand that. And then his disciples get back with him. And he's like, man, I don't know what he's doing. He's like, whew, good teaching. And they're like, hey, Peter had a question. And Peter's like, yeah, we didn't understand that.

And so he, they just kind of asked him, what was that about? Why are you teaching in parables? What were you talking about? And he said to them, to you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God. But for those outside, everything is in parables.

So that they may indeed see, but not perceive. And may indeed hear, but not understand. Lest they should turn and be forgiven. And he said to them, do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? And then he tells them, he says, the sower sows the word.

So he begins to explain the parable to him. So he looks at his disciples. He's gathered the crowd and he's taught in a parable and just says, if you can understand that, you understand it. And then he leaves. And his disciples said, we don't understand that. And he says, y'all get the secret.

You're going to get to know things that nobody else does. To you has been given the secret of the kingdom. And he explains it to him. He doesn't just say, well, you're out. Sorry. He says, no, no, y'all get to be in.

And he explains it. And this is what he says. He says, the sower sows the word. Okay. So the seed that's being cast out kind of aggressively, like, you know, you think you'd plant it or whatever.

This guy's just like slinging it. It's hitting rocks and paths and thorns. And he's just like, it's going to grow somewhere. It's going to be awesome. So he says, the sower sows the word.

And the word is the gospel, this good news of the kingdom. Mark's already used that. He said that Jesus, people gathered around his house and he preached the word. This idea that he's telling you what is good and true and important in life. And ultimately, we know that the word is the gospel, is the truth of who Jesus is and what he's done and the right way to understand scripture. So he says, the word is taught and these are the ones along the path where the word is sown.

Okay. So the word's taught and people respond. And so what we're looking at is four heart level responses to the gospel for heart level responses to the proclamation of the word. And when Jesus teaches this, I want you to see this. It is factual and final. These are four heart level responses to the gospel and everybody responds one of these four ways.

That's how Jesus teaches it. That as the word is sown, this is how people respond. And the reason I say it's factual and final is that from Jesus's eternal perspective, that's how it looks. From our perspective, it doesn't look factual and final. Because at times it seems like somebody would be in one category and then later there's a twist ending and they're in another category. And hopefully it's a good twist ending.

It's like, oh, wow, like it turns out it was nice. Not like an evil twist ending where everything falls apart at the end. You're like, this is terrible. But they do go both ways and we can't see exactly where we are in the story. Don't even know personally where we are in the story at times. We're supposed to walk out our salvation and fear and trembling and to continue to walk towards the Lord in life.

So as we talk through this today, we will talk through it as both. We'll talk through it as the way Jesus sees it and how these people end up. And then we'll talk through it as how we get to walk with people when it seems like they're in these zones. Does that make sense? Because there may be somebody who seems this way and then later is something else. But we can only go with what we can see.

All right. So he begins to explain. He says, these are the ones along the path where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. So Satan is the bird that swoops in, snatches the seed.

Matthew, he says, when they hear the gospel and don't understand it, the enemy comes or the devil comes. And so what we've got to see there is that there are some people who it just doesn't, it just bounces off of them. They don't understand it. It doesn't connect. It doesn't have any amount of growth whatsoever. And that we have a real enemy who does not want people to believe the gospel.

That Satan actively works to snatch away the good proclamation of the gospel. This was actually second Corinthians four, four says it this way. It says, in their case, the God of this world, that's, that's Satan. That's the devil. God's enemy has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. That the enemy, the enemy opposes the proclamation of the gospel.

And there are those who just simply won't believe. I, when I was working at Sears in Lynchburg, I was going, I would go to my coworkers and I would say, Hey, you know, I'm in seminary and I feel called to start a church. Um, I didn't just start there. They knew that. So it made a little more sense.

And then I would say, so I, at some point I want to tell you about Jesus. When can we do that? Um, and with most of my coworkers, first of all, this catches people off guard, but with most of my coworkers, they just went, um, I, I guess now because it was like a break time. I picked it up opportunity time. They weren't like talking to a customer and I wasn't like standing behind him. Like I waited till there was like a good moment and they would say that.

And then I would share the gospel with them, um, as best I could. In the moment, some of my coworkers were like, uh, lunch break. Like they would give you a time or they would say maybe later. And I would say, when later? And like, I had one coworker that I came to him and I said, Hey, you know, I'm, uh, in seminary. I'd love to tell you about Jesus at some point.

When can we do that? And he went, um, turn to look at me. He's doing training on a computer. That's what this was. Y'all can't see that, but he wasn't left-handed. It was this hand.

He looked at me and said, how about never? Yeah, let's do that. Never. And then he just turned back to his computer work. And that was when I shared the gospel with him was never. I was ended up how it, how it worked.

I didn't have another time that it worked out. He didn't want to hear it. There are some people that you have the chance to share the gospel with them and they just reject it or they don't want to hear it. And here's the thing. There are some people in this category. You're going to share it with them and it's just, it isn't going to sink in.

It's not going to make any sense. It's not going to click. There's some people who aren't going to let you or don't want to. Now, Jesus tells his disciples that you can shake the dust out of your clothes. You can shake the dust off your shoes. You can go to another town.

So there is room for us to say, I'm not going to continue to try to share the gospel with someone who doesn't want to hear it, who's against it. But there's also, we don't know. Paul would have been a terrible person to share the gospel with until Jesus knocked him off his horse and made him blind. And then he went around sharing the gospel with everybody. So we don't know exactly where they are.

So if it's your cousin or your neighbor, keep the relationship, be gracious to him. But maybe they're not ready. But also realize that you can't sit and make somebody be good soil if they're not and feel the freedom to say, I shared, I tried, I'm moving on to somebody who wants to hear. So those are the, those along the path, rocky ground. It says, and these are the ones sown on rocky ground. That's verse 16.

The ones who, when they hear the word immediately receive it with joy and they have no root in themselves, but endure for a little while. Then when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. So there's a group of people who will immediately receive it with joy, which is how you want people to receive the gospel is this is the best news ever. Thank you. I'd love to follow Jesus now. And I know if you share the gospel enough and someone does this, it's at times can be surprising.

You're like, you're, you're all nervous. And you're like, I'm gonna tell you about Jesus. And they're like, yes, that sounds amazing. I want to follow Jesus. And you're like, okay, well, you don't have to be mad. Wait, what?

Yeah, that would be great. You should do that. Like you're almost caught off guard sometimes, but you're like, yes, let's do that. And so they immediately begin to follow Jesus. But as soon as some difficulty arises, some persecution, they're out.

Now, in other countries, this looks different than here. There are other nations where your spouse leaves you, your family disowns you, you're physically attacked. Yeah, you're no longer allowed to work. That doesn't happen here. Like you didn't go to work and say, hey, I'm following Jesus now. And they were like, leave Walmart and never come back.

They don't, they don't do that. You still get to be a greeter there. Like they don't, there's no persecution on that level. But there are times where somebody may be, maybe this is somebody you share the gospel with while you're at school and they go home for the summer and they come back and they're like, no, no, no, no, I'm not doing that anymore. Because they got around their friends and their friends made fun of them or said, really? Are you serious?

And it was the first bit of difficulty and the first bit of persecution and the first bit of somebody who wasn't, they weren't just hanging out with your group and being excited and they're just, I'm done. And this is maybe opposite. Somebody goes off to school and the first professor that says, this is stupid. They just quit. This is somebody who the first little bit of life change that has to come. They just, they call it.

And so they're excited. This is hurtful. This is sad, but they're excited. They're going to follow Jesus. And then you talk to them and they're like, yeah, I think I'm done with that. And you're like, really?

You're going to give Jesus up for this? But that's what happens. And in those moments we can correct and we can try to point them towards what's true, but we cannot love Jesus for them and you cannot make rocky ground to be good soil through any of your own effort. That's not how it works. As Jesus tells it, it's factual and it's finalized so that if someone's in that zone, they will not change. Now we don't always know who's in that zone, but we do have the freedom to say, Lord, I've tried and I'm going to spend my time with somebody who wants to hear the gospel and wants to grow.

Third, third zone, third type of soil. And the others are the ones sown among thorns. So the gospel goes among thorns and it says, these are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word and it proves unfruitful. I think the majority of the church, those who would walk with the church are in these last two zones, in these last two bits of soil, that there are those who would walk with the church for a while. See, the other ones immediately fall away. These are slowly choked.

So they would say, I'm a believer. They would begin to walk. But over time, they'd prove, prove means over time, that eventually they'd prove unfruitful. It says that the desires of the world, that the cares of the world, the desires for other things and deceitfulness of riches. I want to talk briefly through those. The cares of the world, I think probably the best way to describe that, at least in our context, would just be busyness.

Oh man, I'd love to. Just got so much going on. I just, I mean, with, with work and the kids and avoiding y'all, like there's just, sorry, that's desire for other things. The cares of the world is this genuine, like, I want this, but I just, I don't have time. This is, I just, I don't know. I just can't kind of make it from here to there.

And, and so there are some people that would hang out with your group and they'll be around some and they'll be there ish. And then they'll be gone for a while. And, and I'm not saying a season. I know that there are seasons where there's sickness or there's seasons where there's Job loss or there's seasons where there's difficulty or there's seasons where you have a child and they're the worst. And then they're beautiful and wonderful, you guys. And we're glad they're in here this morning, but there are seasons, but I'm talking over time.

It proves if you've had a seven year long season of just too busy, that's not how it works. Then he says the deceitfulness of riches. And I love that he says it that way. He doesn't just say riches. He says the deceitfulness of riches. Y'all know riches are a trick.

That they're a trick. One of the things we talk about sometimes is that men are supposed to build and conquer and grow and develop. Not to say women aren't, but men are called to these things. And that one of the problems we have culturally is video games because video games short circuit that. They make you think you're building and developing and growing. I'm the general and I'm over an entire city.

No, you're not. You are in your mom's basement. And you haven't bathed in four days. Like when you level up on a video game, you level down in real life. I don't know how else to, I mean, some amount of riches does that to everybody. It short circuits the promises of God.

It steps in and it's just such a good, tasteful, easy alternative that it lies to us and we believe it. The promises of God that he gives us hope, that he gives us life, that he gives us fullness, that he gives us joy, that there are pleasures at his right hand forevermore, that we have a future. Man, doesn't money just pull all that closer? Smaller. It doesn't last. There's a song I grew up singing in church and it's, uh, because he lives.

And it would say, because he lives, I can face tomorrow. Because he lives, all fear is gone. Because he lives, I know who holds the future and life is worth the living just because he lives. But man, doesn't money just sneak in there and work? Because I'm rich, I can face tomorrow. Come on.

Because I'm rich, all fear is gone. I can commit crimes and won't even have to go to jail. Because I know, I hold the future and life is worth the living just because I'm rich. Money tricks us. It hops in, in place of Jesus so easily and it promises things that it cannot deliver. It's, it's deceitful.

But there's a whole group of people who would say they believe, who would say they've hoped in Jesus and they have been lied to and they are pursuing riches and it's going to choke the fruitfulness of the word. I was watching a movie called Ash Lad in the Hall of the Mountain King on Amazon. It was a free Amazon movie and it, it was made in Norway. And so it was dubbed over in English. It was a children's movie, which aren't great anyway, but to have their mouths not match made it a little bit also hard to watch. But it was doing like Swedish and I'm sorry, it wasn't made in Sweden, it was made in, it was doing, I don't remember where it was made, somewhere over there in the top part of Europe.

I looked it up and now I've forgotten. And it was doing myths that, that matched that area where it was made. And these guys were going through the woods, they're traveling on this, this quest to fight a goblin and they, they're very hungry and they find golden apples in the woods as you, as you do. And, uh, they were like, well, whoever left these golden apples wouldn't mind if we have one because of course not super generous left their golden apples there. So they start eating them.

Turns out they're delicious. Uh, and so they start eating more. And then the third brother, the youngest one just kind of catching up. So he shows up kind of towards the end of this. He tastes one. He, uh, follows them in and then he finds his older brothers and they're laughing hysterically because what's happened is these three ladies come out of the woods as often happens.

And these guys think that they're the most beautiful women they've ever seen. And they kind of drag them along and they take them and they say, we're going to get married. These guys are laughing hysterically and they go around and they're having so much fun and they sit at this feast. And so the youngest brother only had a little bit of an apple. He comes around, he's sitting with him. He's like, this just feels weird.

And then eventually he begins to be able to see clearly. Turns out the golden apples were a trick. And these beautiful young ladies are not beautiful young ladies. They are old, uh, scary witches and the food that they're eating at this feast is cockroaches and bugs and rotten things. And he sees it first and he has to do everything he can to grab his brothers and to escape. And that's what riches is for us.

Seems beautiful now. Tastes good now. Promises things it can never deliver. And at the end of the line, we're just eating cockroaches. It's just falling apart. It wasn't beautiful.

It was a trick. And that's what he says. That there's a whole group of people who we would see as Christians and say, believe, and you would watch them over time. And the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke out the word so that they are unfruitful. He also says the desire for other things. And man, isn't that true?

I'm following Jesus until I can get a boyfriend. And you sit down with them and you say, you're heading in the wrong way. This is not helpful. This is not edifying. This is not life-giving. And they say, I don't know.

I prayed about it. I don't feel bad. We ain't got to pray about it. It's written down. Do you want to read it again? Like all you said was my heart's so far from Jesus.

I so much desire something else that I want it so much more that I don't feel bad. I can't, it can't even get to me at this point because I so desire this and I'm getting it so I feel great. The desires for other things. This is when people say, yeah, I just really have a hard time reading the Bible. Like, okay. But you know the entire recruiting class for your favorite sports team?

You've kept up with every mom blog on this half of the internet? Feels like you know how to read. Feels like you want other stuff. And that's what happens. And as we're walking with people like that, we get to correct them. We get to call them towards joy and hope.

But eventually, you cannot make someone be in good soil. And you have the freedom to say, I think you're wrong and I love you and I hope the Lord changes your heart. But I'm going to build with those who want to build and I'm going to walk with those who want to walk. And our group's going to move on mission with those who want to move on mission. And we can't sit because you're too busy or because you want other things. It's heartbreaking.

And the prayer is that Jesus would change them. But there are people in that category. It proves unfruitful. Verse 20. But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit 30-fold and 60-fold and 100-fold.

He's saying there's a group of people that hear the gospel, that hear the word, and it sinks into their heart and they begin to grow. Now, it doesn't say they immediately receive it with joy. It says they accept it. Okay. I think you're right. Now, they can immediately receive it with joy.

I don't think that would be wrong if they did. But I also think that it doesn't mean they start off like a bottle rocket. They may be like having to wrestle it out and having to walk it out. But eventually, tribulation comes, persecution comes, and they keep going. The cares of the world, the desire for other things come, and they keep going. And this good soil, they grow and they produce more grain.

And grain, if we're going to push the analogy a little bit, like I said, is either eaten or replanted. We've been talking about discipleship. I think that fits well. They're either sharing the gospel or they're helping others grow. That's what happens. That's what he's saying.

It bears fruit. The gospel becomes more seed that goes out for other people or it becomes eaten and people grow and are healthy from it. But there's this idea that people would grow up in the faith and they would be mature and they would help others mature and they would help others meet Jesus. That there's good soil that later will be used again for health and life and joy in the gospel to spread. Some 30-fold, some 60-fold, some 100-fold. Now, when we're walking with people like this, again, we don't always know, but they're going to be around.

They're going to repent when corrected. That's one of the things we talk about all the time is that Christians repent. The reason we correct one another in sin is because Christians repent. And the reason we have to at some point say goodbye to people is because they are not living as Christians because they are refusing to repent. So you'll go to this person, you'll correct them, and they'll say, you're right.

Maybe, maybe they'll say, you're stupid, I hate you. And then they'll call you back the next day and say, no, you're right. The Holy Spirit's at work in me and I can't, I can't keep doing this. Maybe they walk off for a season, but they come back. But eventually there's a group of people that bear fruit.

And you think about the people in your life, if you've been following Jesus for a while, who have shown up at the right time to correct you, who have walked with you for a season to coach you, to teach you how to read the Bible, or who have walked with you and helped you through something, and they're bearing fruit. Some 30-fold, some 60-fold, some 100-fold. There was somebody who grabbed you at some point and told you, you need to believe in Jesus. And they're bearing fruit. And that our prayer is that we would be those people. That if you're looking at this and you're going, okay, I've got to be one of the four.

Just so you know, you're one of the four. And you get to pick. Go with the one that's lit up right now. It's just a suggestion. But if you've got to pick, and you're going to ask the Lord to help do something in you, go with bottom right.

You want to be good soil that you might produce, that you might grow. You pray that, Lord, I want to share the gospel with you and have them believe it. Have them grow. I want to help others walk and grow. I want to help people mature. That that's the hope.

And he says there's a group there. And isn't that beautiful that there is a group there? Jesus, before he told this parable, if you look at the very back end of Matthew 3, Jesus is with his disciples. His parents think he's going crazy, or his mama does. His mama and his brothers and sisters come because they need to talk to him because it's like, you were a carpenter and now you're doing some weird things. Like you recruited some fishermen and now you're just teaching people stuff and we need to talk.

And they say, your mama's here. And Jesus says, who's my mama? They're like, the lady outside that we were just talking about. And he says, those who follow the will of my father, those who do the will of my father are my mother, my sister, and my brother. And there's this idea when he goes into the parable and Mark then takes us into this parable of the soil that what displays a Christian is ultimately fruitfulness. And that if we were to say, no, I'm a Christian.

And we bear no fruit. We do not do the will of the father. We do not share the gospel. We do not disciple others. We we do not. We actually, if you looked at our life, if you looked at our bank account, if you looked at our time, we desire other things or the cares of the world have choked this out.

That we cannot claim Christ. Jesus says, if you love me, you'll obey me. Now, here's the beautiful part of that. He doesn't say, if you obey me, I'll love you. He says, if you love me, you'll obey me. What happens is we can get to the end of this and we can go, OK, OK.

All right. I'm going to do it. I'm going to be the picture in the bottom right. I'm going to get it together. I'm going to quit letting the cares of the world. I'm going to quit letting the desires of other things.

I'm not going to hang out with my friends that tell me I'm stupid. And I'm going to do this. The problem is that's not how it works. And that's not even how Jesus says we ought to respond. All right.

So if you were paying attention at the beginning of this, Jesus said this was a secret. And then one of his disciples snarked and wrote it down and then they printed it and we got to all read it. Now, it would seem as if the person who did that did something Jesus did not want them to do. Jesus said, everybody else gets just to hear the parable. I'm going to tell you the secret. And there was one in the back going, watch this.

Wiki leaks. That may be really politically charged. I don't know enough to know if I just said something that threw everybody off. Spencer will tell me later. He'll be like, bro, I can't say that. But that's what they did.

Somebody wrote it down. But here's the thing. Jesus goes to the cross. And then Paul says, there's a beautiful mystery that just got revealed. And now it's for everybody. That Jesus goes and suffers and dies in our place.

And it is the revealing of God. He is the image of God. And the proclamation of the gospel now goes to everyone. So if you look back at how it began, Jesus says this. And we'll have it on the screen, but it's in your text as well. And he said to them, verse 11, To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but to those outside, everything is in parables.

To us now, because of the gospel, has been given the secret. And Jesus is the secret. He's the mystery revealed. He dies on the cross so that we might have life in him. That's ultimately what happens. And here's what he says.

That they may indeed see, but not perceive. And may indeed hear, but not understand. Lest they should turn and be forgiven. He tells you the point of the parables. And he tells you how to respond to the parables. Turn and be forgiven.

He doesn't say turn and try harder. He doesn't say turn and work it out. He doesn't say turn and finally be good. He says turn and be forgiven. The appropriate and correct response to the gospel proclaimed and to understanding this parable today is to turn and say, Lord, forgive me. Help me.

I can't change my heart, but you can. I can't make myself good soil, but you can. I can't jump from being a path. I can't go from being rocky ground. I can't get rid of these thorns, but you can. And Jesus, I need you to help me.

So the response is not, I am now going to multiply. I'm now going to make disciples. I'm going to make grain. And I'm going to go sit and flex and try. No, the response is to run to Jesus and say, I need you to change my heart so that the desires of the world fade because I see how beautiful and glorious you are. I need to see you on the cross and have you so capture my soul.

And I need you to forgive me because I am so often tempted to believe that something else is more glorious than you. And I need you to work powerfully in me. And then we get to live, as Paul says, where he'll say, by God's grace, I worked harder than any of them. That we get to live out that it's Jesus's grace at work in us, that he works powerfully in us for us to be effective. And that's the hope. So the band's going to come back up.

We're going to sing a song. We're going to sing two songs, both of them dealing with this idea that we would give up everything else to know and love Jesus more. And in doing that, we are turning to him and we're saying, I want you above everything else and I want you to change me and I want you to matter more to me and I want to desire you above everything else so that it makes sense that I would spend my time for this, that I would spend my life for this. That it would be a joy and a delight as you work this out in my heart. And our prayer is that we would turn and ask for forgiveness and that his grace would work powerfully in us that we might bear fruit and multiply.

Let's pray. God, we thank you for your grace. And we know that as you see it, it's finalized and factual, but as we live it out, we're in the moment and we don't know. And God, we pray that we would make it to the end proving fruitful. But God, we can't change our hearts.

We can't make ourselves different through effort or work. You had to come and die so that we might be changed, so that the secret of you in us might be revealed. And so we ask that you would forgive us, that you would be in us, and that you would work this out powerfully in us for your glory. And that nobody here today would have the enemy snatch the gospel away from them. And nobody here today would face tribulation and run from you. And nobody here today would be tricked and lied to.

And at the end of days, realize they spent their life on something that mattered so little. And we ask that your grace would be prevalent and present, and that your spirit would be at work, that we might be fruitful by the power of your grace, for the glory of your name, and the good of our souls. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. So we believe the stuff we've been saying in this series.

We believe that Jesus sent us, sent his church, and we believe that there are people in our city who do not know Jesus, and will spend an eternity in hell. That we are called to make disciples, and that we ought to, any amount of time and effort and money and energy given to the cause of Christ, and his gospel and his glorious name is worth it. We don't always carry that out. Well, we have seasons where we get confused, and we do things we ought not to do, and that's the beautiful hope. While we gather every week and remind ourselves that Jesus saves sinners, this isn't awesome club. And I'm sorry if you thought that.

Hang out for a week or two. You'll figure it out. Jesus saves sinners, but we do believe that by his grace that he works in us, and that he uses us, and he makes us effective. And so we have a handful of things that we're praying for. We've been talking about them throughout the series, but I wanted to remind us of them. We'll talk about them more throughout the year, but we've got a handful of things that we're praying for, and we're just asking the Lord to accomplish.

That we actually want to do this. We actually want to see this happen. But they're not just goals, because some of us get a goal, and we think, well, all right, if we have to be unhealthy, we're still going to accomplish that goal. And that's not what we're talking about. We're not talking about just making something happen in our own strength. We're asking the Lord to do it in his strength, in his power, and then it gets to last and gets to be beautiful, and it'll be great.

So here's the first one we're praying for. We said this a while back, and we said it a specific way, and we're kind of changing the language so that it makes a little more sense for us. But we said we want to have 100 everyday missionaries this year. Like we're just praying that 100 everyday missionaries. So we said 100 preachers or 100 sharers, but I don't like having to say sharer, and preacher might confuse people.

So this is language we use often, which is that you would be active in sharing your faith. You would be active, that you would look at the world, our world, our city, your neighborhood, your job, the way a missionary would, and you'd say, I'm using this job for the purpose of mission. I'm using this home for the purpose of mission, and I want to see people meet Jesus. And so we're praying that we'd have 100 everyday missionaries. We have 80 adult committed members here. We have about 119 adults hanging out with groups.

So we said, we know some of those people hanging out with groups aren't Christians, but we also, we're just praying this year we'd have people, 100 people that have shared their faith with somebody else that have, and so we're asking the Lord to do that. And so we want you to be praying that. I want you to write that on your prayer list. I want you to talk with your group about it. I want y'all to be praying about it, but we want to have 100 people that are doing this. The second thing we're praying for is that, every group would get around the pool, that every single group this year would get to see someone baptized.

Now, that may not happen. I don't know if y'all just heard the sermon that was just preached, but we can't control the soil. We do get to indiscriminately, psychotically throw, throw seed, but we can't control the soil. And so your group could be actively on mission this entire year and not see anybody meet Jesus. And that's okay. And by God's grace, that happens.

And by God's grace, maybe some people will meet Jesus next year. But this is the thing we're asking him to do. So we're going to ask him that he'd send us to receptive people and that they would believe the gospel and that they would stick. This means we are changing some things about how we do baptism. I mean, we're still going to completely dunk people because we think that's biblical. But what we've done in the past is we've had two kind of big baptism parties a year.

We get a big like portable hot tub thing and we build it right here and we get fried chicken and we have a big celebration. But what's happened is we have said, Hey, we've got baptism coming up and we've kind of even said like, Hey, we've got baptism coming up. So if you've got some people you need to share the gospel with, you should do that. So we are sharing the gospel people for an event. And that's not what it says. We're supposed to share the gospel with people.

They're supposed to believe and be baptized. And so we're going to start baptizing more often because we want to be sharing the gospel constantly. And so when someone believes and you say, Hey, we've got some inner group who's believed in Christ and we want to, to walk with them about what baptism is. We still want to be able to do videos, but we probably won't have as big of parties. We're still going to celebrate because baptism is awesome and we're going to make it a big deal, but we're going to do it more often. So it can't be as big a deal.

And the, the item, the tub can't probably be as big. So I don't know. We just got to get them completely wet. You guys, um, that's really the only goal. I've seen some pictures of missionaries where they got like somebody ducked down in a bucket. So we might get like a 55 gallon drum and just push their head down.

We may get like the first person we baptized was in a horse trough. We may get a horse trough and glue some wheels to that bad boy. I don't know, but we're going to try to celebrate baptism more often as we are effectively, consistently sharing our faith with people. And then when they believe we want to baptize them in response to faith and not have people, uh, consider faith in response to baptism. So our hope, our prayer is that every group this year gets to gather around a pool, gets to see somebody baptized.

It's pool sounds better. Bucket didn't sound as good or 55 gallon drum, but gets to gather around, see them baptized and celebrate together as a group. And we want you to be praying that as well. Uh, the third thing we're praying for is that everyone in groups is 100% committed to discipleship. Now we don't have a way to test this.

Uh, we're working on something where it's like the little diabetes thing where you test for blood or whatever. We're working on something, but we can't do it yet. So, uh, we don't have a way to test this, but we're asking the Lord to do it through his, through his power, through the grace, uh, at work in us and through his Holy spirit. And so our prayer is that by what we mean by that is that you would be devoted to helping the people in your group grow, that you would show up to your group knowing that it is not about you. And in knowing that, that you would grow. You see, we grow as we sacrifice.

We grow as we serve. We grow as we collectively learn. And so our prayer is that we would be devoted to that, that a life of learning, life on life, life in community, life on mission, and that we would grow. What we're praying ultimately with all of these things is that God would let our church be in good soil, that we would grow and prove fruitful. The final one, and this one gets me excited because it means a whole lot of things have to happen, is we're praying that within the next year to 18 months, every single one of our groups multiplies. What that means is we have to be training leaders.

We have to be sharing the gospel. We have to be willing to get uncomfortable and intentionally identify some new mission fields and some new areas that we're going to try to launch groups into. It means that Jesus has to be at work all over the place. And so we think it's a good thing to pray for, to ask him that our groups would be able to multiply, that we'd be able to equip leaders, that we'd be able to send people out to be missionaries in our city. And ultimately, here's one of the things we've found. Our community groups can basically handle being a group and loving and being church family and serving and working together with about the amount of people you can fit in a house around a table and a handful of couches.

It's 15. 15 to 20. After that, you don't realize you're doing this, but you start thinking, I can't invite my friends because this would freak them out. There's too many people here. And so what happens is we actually, one of the ways that we continue to grow is that we multiply and we open up more room for us to invite, for us to share the gospel, for us to see people have what we have. And the beautiful thing is if you've been in groups that have multiplied, right when you went to multiply, you thought, I can never live without these people.

They're the most amazing people ever. And the first week after y'all kind of went to your different areas to be on mission together with a new group of people, it was really sad and awkward. You're like, just the eight of us, this is the worst. And then a year later, you had people in your group that knew Jesus now, that'll spend eternity with him in his kingdom, praising him. And you're like, I can't live without this person. And it gets to happen over and over and over again.

And what Jesus actually says is, unless a grain of wheat dies, it can't reproduce. And so in order for us to see fruit and growth and discipleship and health and people meeting Jesus, we have to die a little bit. And ultimately we get to live. And Jesus empowers that by his grace. And so our prayer is that these would happen. Write them down.

I wouldn't get a tattoo because this is just for like this year we're praying this. But write them down. Let's be praying this together. Let's be asking Jesus to be at work by his grace, his Holy Spirit to empower us that we might prove fruitful. Because we really, really want to see some people know Christ and have their hearts changed with the hope that's in the gospel. And Jesus came and said to them, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. Our prayer is that we might do that. So let's pray for these for a moment and for that, and then we'll be sent out. Yeah. Thank you.

Thank you. Jesus, all authority is yours, and you promise to go with us. By your grace, make us fruitful. Help us make disciples. Amen. Your son.