 So with that said, we're going to be looking today at the parable of the mustard seed. And that particular parable is found here in Mark chapter 4. It's also mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew in chapter 13, but we're looking at it here in Mark chapter 4. We'll look at verses 30 through 34. And as the way I normally teach, I'm going to give to you a reminder for those of you who are new to us, perhaps weren't with us last week, for those viewers who are watching and haven't been with us through our study. I'll give you a reminder of some of the things that are taking place. And then we'll move into this particular parable. Again, the parable of the mustard seed found in Mark chapter 4 verses 30 through 34. So let's begin reading here in Mark 4 at verse 30. I'll read to verse 34 and we'll get into our study. Mark chapter 4 verse 30. And he said, to what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth. But when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs and shoots out large branches so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade. And with many such parables, he spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. But without a parable, he did not speak to them. And when they were alone, he explained all things to his disciples. And so as mentioned, I'll give you a little bit of a background so we can have a context in which we can view this particular parable. We know that Jesus has given a series of parables that relate to the purpose as well as the growth of the church. The first parable that we looked at is the parable of the soils, and it revealed that there are reasons that people reject the gospel. Even when they see remarkable changes in those they know, those who have encountered Christ and have come to faith in Him, even when they see remarkable changes, they still refuse to believe in Christ. They may say various things. They may say, well, I don't believe in God, or I'm not convinced that there is a God. Well, it's common today for people to think that all religions lead to the same end. For some, there is no reason to believe that there's only one faith that is true. It's common to hear it said that all religions reveal at least one aspect of what God is like, and they confidently will say, not a single religion can explain or reveal all there is about Him. That particular thought was captured in a poem by an American poet by the name of John Godfrey Saxe. Perhaps you may have had to study him in literature if you've gone to college and all of that. John Godfrey Saxe. In 1872, he wrote the poem, The Blind Men and the Elephant. In the poem, he wrote of six blind men who encountered an elephant and tried to describe it. One blind man ran into its side and thought it was like a wall. A second blind man felt the tusk and thought it was like a spear. Another grabbed the trunk, thought it was like a snake. The fifth blind man touched the ear, said it was like a fan. And finally, the sixth seized the tail and thought it was very much like a rope. And so the poem ends in this way. And so these men of Indus Dan disputed loud and long, each in his own opinion exceeding stiff and strong, though each was partly in the right and all were in the wrong. So often in theological wars, the disputants, I think, tread on in utter ignorance of what each other mean and talk at length about the elephant not one of them has seen. And so that was a poem from an agnostic and that's how many self-professing agnostics speak. Why make a big deal about something you can't really know for sure? This is where Christians disagree because God has revealed himself to us in Jesus Christ and Jesus is the one who revealed to us his father. In John 1.18, John writes, No one has ever seen God but the one and only Son who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the father has made him known. You see, because people reject the gospel, Jesus gave his men insight into why this happens. It happens because the soil of a person's heart is not always receptive to the word of God. So we went on to say that some would receive the word, even though others had rejected it, some would receive the word and that it would bear fruit in their lives. These are those who would be saved and each would produce according to his own faith as well as capacity. So part of the fruit of their salvation is that they're going to become witnesses and that again was illustrated by the parable of the lamp that was placed on a lamp stand. In that parable, he made it clear that they were to bring light to those who were in darkness and their purpose was to bring light, the light of the gospel to a sin-darkened world. So the parable of the lamp stand revealed man's responsibility of giving the gospel out. The message would be a light shining into men's darkness and it would result in salvation to those who received it. You see, that's what the knowledge of God is intended to do, to give you light. In Psalm 1828 it says, You will light my lamp, the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness. So as lamp stands were to shine forth the light of the gospel of Christ and that's done when we let our light shine before men. In Romans 10, 13 through 15, Paul said, Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Well, how then will they call on him in whom they haven't believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news. And so we shine a light by proclaiming the message of Jesus Christ who is God in the flesh. We don't put that message under a basket, we let it shine. It's like that whole song that we used to sing, This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine. So those who believe the message will be blessed, but those who refuse will be judged. That's why we are careful with what we hear Mark 424 and how we hear Luke 8 verse 18. We're to carefully hear the word of truth and we're to mix that word that we receive with faith. James 1 21 says, Therefore putting away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness, receive with humility the implanted word which is able to save your souls. So we've seen that the purpose of the church is to scatter God's seed by sharing the gospel. And in the end our part is to faithfully sow the seed. But it's the Lord who is going to save the one who receives it. Verse 28 told us that the earth yields crops by itself. It's the farmer's responsibility to sow the seed that is God who produces the increase. The sower doesn't take the credit for conversions because it's God who saves. 1 Corinthians 3 7, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything but only God who makes things grow. I think today sometimes we need to remember that simple truth because sometimes we have people hitting us up for finances and all to continue to support what they do. And in fact, their sores of the seed, God is the one who produces the growth. We ought to be investing more in prayer for their ministry. And if we feel that it's part of what we should support, we should. But I as a pastor should never be asking people to support the things that God has placed on my heart. That is something that you guys ought to be responding to saying, I see the same thing. We need to support this because God's in the middle of it. So as we look at the parable, the parable of the seed growing in secret, that emphasized God producing salvation. So this next and last parable in the Gospel of Mark gives us insight into the growth of the church over time. So verse 30 says, to what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Now it must have been difficult for the disciples to grasp what Jesus was saying to them. On one hand, they're able to track with him concerning some of the basic things. They most likely understood him when he spoke of people's responses to the message. They'd already seen some respond with antagonism, others superficially. They also saw how some would come around for a while and kind of fade away, just disappear. That happens even to this day. There are people who hear the word and they're antagonistic. There are others who might respond kind of quickly, superficially. There are others who come around, hang around, even sometimes serve in the church they attend. And then one day you notice that they're gone and people begin to say, where'd they go? That happens to this day. When Jesus spoke of being a light, that was also something they could understand because in the Old Testament book of Isaiah chapter 42 verse 6, it reads, I am the Lord. I've called you in righteousness. I will take you by the hand and keep you. I will give you as a covenant for the people a light for the nations. So they'd heard that term before that Israel was to be a light to the nations. Isaiah 49 verse 6, the second portion of that verse, I will make you as a light for the nations that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. They've heard these things before and so when Jesus is speaking concerning to be a lamp on a lamp stand, they understand the concept. When he said, be careful what you hear, they would understand what that meant. This was a call for them to be spiritually discerning. In Jeremiah, the prophet, it says in Jeremiah 23.16, this is what the Lord Almighty says, do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you. They fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. So they'd been warned by their prophets to be careful what they're hearing, not to just take it all in. Spurgeon once said discernment is not a matter of simply telling the difference between right and wrong. Rather, it is telling the difference between right and almost right. That's discernment. When he spoke of the work of God and salvation, they would have understood. Isaiah 12 verse 2, behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid, for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation. So they understood much of what he was saying. But in spite of that, this way of life and ministry was pretty much new to them. The thought of a group of people following Christ that extended to the future is new. They would learn that God's plan of salvation was going to extend not just to the people of Israel, but it was going to actually reach out to the gentiles, those whom Paul refers to and says they know not God. And they came to understand that, and they're going to over time. And so Jesus is beginning to share this with them, because at that time, the idea of including the Gentiles into the promises of God was very much a mystery to them. Paul would later in the book of Ephesians make it clear when he said in chapter 3, verses 1 through 6, how the mystery had now been revealed that Gentiles would be partakers of his promise in Christ through the gospel. The Jews did not know that. The Jews were separate people. The Gentiles were those without God. And the idea of including Gentiles into the promises of God in the Old Testament was concealed. It was a mystery in the New Testament. Jesus was saying that this is something that's going to affect the entire world. So what is going to be the product of all our efforts? What is going to happen? Well what's going to happen is we're going to have insight into the future of the church on earth. Now some people believe that this parable speaks of the amazing growth of the church over history. The small seed's incredible growth is viewed as the spread of Christianity over time. The birds nesting under and in the branches are seen as people at home in the church. One commentator said, great results develop from small beginnings. Well the amazing growth of the church over time is the witness of history. The fact is Jesus began his work with a small number of followers. Think of that. I mean when you read in Luke chapter 10, Luke chapter 10 verse 1 tells us that he had 70 disciples that he sent out to do some work on his behalf. Mark 3, 14 tells us that he had appointed 12 apostles. Now these are very few in the midst of such a great number. But these very few people were intended to take this message into the future and compared to the population of the entire Roman Empire or to those living in Israel at that time. Even to the multitudes listening to him for selfish reasons, Jesus's genuine followers were very small in number. Remember 11 of his 12 men came from the north. One came from a place called Karyot, Judas Iscariot. A lot of times we think Judas, the first name is Karyot, the last name, no it's Judas Iscariot. Judas the man of Karyot. Karyot was a city just 30 miles south of the city of Jerusalem. Judas the man from the town of Karyot. So 11 were from the Galilee, but one was from the south. 11 came from the north, one from the south. They were ordinary fishermen, small business owners, including a tax collector. None were famous in Israel and outside of their village were relatively unknown. None were recognized as theologians. None were famous for their preaching skills. And when Jesus called them, none of them had traveled very far outside of Israel. As a matter of fact, the furthest would be southern Lebanon because in chapter 7 they go to Tyre and Sidon. For them, the thought that Jesus's mission would become worldwide, that would have been unheard of. To prepare them for the future, he begins to impart vision to them. He says to them in Matthew 9, 37 and 38, he says, the harvest is plentiful. The workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest. In John 4, verse 35, do you not say there are still four months and then comes the harvest? Behold, I say, to you lift up your eyes, look at the fields. They're already white for harvest. So Jesus was giving to them vision for the future. That's what He does. There have been times when I have, on many occasions, sat down with a particular group of my men and I'll share these kinds of things. You need to look to the fields they are white for harvest. Don't get caught up thinking that all that's here is all there is. There's so much out there that we need to do. There are so many things that God has called us to do on His behalf. You have to see that the fields are white for harvest. And Jesus did that. Then when the Lord God was speaking to Abram and told him that He was going to be the father of many nations and all of that, and He was sharing concerning what He planned to do with this one man and his wife, Sarah, in the future, it was beyond Him. So He says, if you can count the grains of sand or you can count the stars, so shall be your descendants. He was giving to them a visual so that they would understand. He would understand that God's work is bigger than His imagination. What He intends to do is greater than He can even ask or think. And so that's what Christ is doing, right? He's speaking to a group of men and you think about it. They were not eloquent preachers. They were not world travelers. They were not deep theologians. They were businessmen, fishermen, tax collectors. That's what they were. And yet they're going to take this message to the world. Well, after His death and resurrection, Jesus prepared them for worldwide ministry. In Mark 16, verse 15, we'll see that in about two years we'll be there. In Mark 16, 15, it says, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, into all the world. Not just from the south to the north or the east to the west, but the whole world. Go into the world, preach the gospel to everyone. In Acts 1, verse 8, you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. Now notice in Acts chapter 1, verse 8, you shall be witnesses to Me. That's a very important point I didn't touch on for service. I'll say it quickly second. He didn't say you're going to go out and do witnessing. He said you're going to be witnesses because your witness begins with the transformation of your life. When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will be transformed. You will be empowered. There are quite a number of people, we'll see this in a moment, who profess themselves to be Christians who haven't got the Holy Spirit within them. They're not born again. They haven't received the power from on high, the Holy Spirit, which gives answer to part of the reason why life for them can be so difficult. They're constantly doing one thing after another, seeking for something that they profess or already have. When you have Christ, you've got everything you need, and when the Holy Spirit is working in your life, He leads you in a new direction and He empowers you as He gives you perception of what He has for you. So it's not that you're going to be doing witnessing. Yes, you are. You're going to do the work of evangelists. Yes, you're going to share, but you're going to be witnesses, which means in your neighborhood, which means in your family, which means when you're on the job side or in the school, you're going to be my witness there. You're going to be the salt that is no longer in the salt shaker, but you're going to be spread out and you're going to be doing this ministry for me. And so it's worldwide. He said, you're going to be going to the ends of the whole earth. And so for many, this would explain the parable of the mustard seed. They believe that it speaks concerning the growth of the church worldwide. Now notice, I'm going to touch on something before I develop this a little further. Notice verse 31, when he says again, it is like a mustard seed, which when it is sewn on the ground is smaller than all the seeds on earth. Okay, I want you to see that because I want to point something out. You see, some say that the mustard seed is not the smallest of all seeds on earth. They will say the wild orchid seed is much smaller than a mustard seed. Therefore, Jesus was wrong. And the Bible is in error. You may have heard that before. If you go to a college, you may hear it. If you're in the Bible is literature or class like that. I've taken classes like that and they want to point out the errors. Well, see, Jesus said that the mustard seed is the smallest on earth and yet the orchid seed is smaller. Therefore, Jesus, and I heard it say, Jesus was, you know, he's kind of limited to his environment. He was from Israel and in Israel, that was the smallest seed like Jesus was ignorant. And they'll say it like that. But let me point something out. Jesus was speaking to a group of people who were familiar with mustard seeds. Why would he say orchid seeds? But that's something that they would have been able to understand quickly. He's speaking of mustard seeds. But seeds on the earth, and he says it here again, look at verse 31, the last portion, smaller than all the seeds on the earth. Seeds on the earth can be translated, seeds that are on the ground, seeds that are on the soil. He would have been using, again, the illustration because it's something that they could understand. Now the use of the mustard seed was common in Israel to refer to something that small. In Matthew 17, verse 20, Jesus spoke of having faith as a mustard seed to illustrate genuine faith. A small seed can produce wonderful results. Well in this parable, Jesus says that this small seed grows, according to Matthew 13, 32, into a tree. Now in Mark chapter 4, verse 32, it says that it shoots out large branches with birds nesting under it. Notice that. But in Matthew 12, 32, the same parable, it says that the birds nest in it. So what you have is birds nesting under it and birds nesting in it. So when you consider this, the growth of the church of the centuries has been amazing. The Christian gospel has gone out over the face of the earth. It's reached multitudes. By the power of the Spirit, courageous preachers comb the world to make disciples. The Book of Acts records a remarkable spread of the gospel from Jerusalem. And ultimately Paul heard the gospel was saved and immediately began preaching. Acts 9, verse 20 says immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues that he's the Son of God. Paul's life mission was to share the gospel with all who would hear. He began traveling throughout the world. He began preaching the gospel everywhere he went. Romans 15, verses 20 and 21, he said, I've made it my aim to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build on another man's foundation. But as it is written to whom he was not announced, they shall see. And those who have not heard shall understand. By the year 53 AD the gospel had been preached in various places. Acts chapter 17, verse 6 says, these who have turned the world upside down have come here too. So the gospel was going out and spreading like wildfire. It spread from Jerusalem and went into Europe, eventually touching multitudes. And over the years entire nations were touched by the gospel. And even today at this moment we're reaching a number of nations online. We have 30 plus countries right now watching us as I'm sharing this with you. The gospel goes forth. There's no doubt about it. There are people who are watching online and continues going forth. Many continue to find faith in Jesus Christ. And so some will say this parable speaks of something with small beginnings ending up in reaching multitudes. Revelation 7, 9 and 10 says, after these things I look, behold, a great multitude which no one can number of all nations, tribes, peoples and tongues standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes with palm branches in their hands, crying out with a loud voice saying, salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb, multitudes from every nation tongues confessing Jesus Christ. And so they say this particular parable will speak of the amazing growth of the church from something small to something large, the kingdom of God spreading throughout the world and it continues doing so. Again they think of this as being the spread of the gospel. But the question remains, is this what Jesus is talking about? Is he saying that the church will outgrow its insignificant beginnings and become massive? Is the church destined to surpass in glory and size man's kingdoms on earth? Which brings us to the second interpretation of the parable. It could be speaking of the church growing numerically large but filled with unbelievers. Now how can we arrive at that interpretation? Notice verse 32, Jesus said, the mustard plant shoots out large branches, birds nest under it. Again Matthew 1332, when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches. So when Jesus speaks of birds nesting under its shade, it refers to it as a place of comfort. In Matthew when he said they nest in its branches, it speaks of making a home. So this could speak of the church over time becoming infected with evil, why? Because in the parable of the soils, birds represented Satan. Look at verse 4 here in chapter 4, how it says, it happened as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside and the birds of the air came and devoured it. Again notice verse 15 in the same chapter. These are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. The birds represent Satan. Numerically the group of those professing to be Christian can be large but spiritually it has lost its purity because it's infiltrated with evil. Now this is where Christians can become confused. They think that numeric growth means that God is moving which isn't necessarily true. Here's something for you to remember, not all growth is good growth. Not all growth is good growth. I can't tell you over the years how people say, well that's a booming church, there's so many people there, something good must be happening there. Well I hope so, of course I hope so. Yes, may the gospel be going out producing people who love and follow Jesus, of course that's our desire, but that's not always true. I remember hearing a story of somebody, a true story of somebody who decided, a guy who decided to work out and as he was working out he started to do a lot of bench pressing and as he was doing his bench pressing his chest began to expand, he started to build up his upper body, doing all of this benching and everything, his legs still looked real skinny but the top was huge. But anyway, he was so built and wanted to show off his chest and all that he began to wear these wife beaders, what do you call those, those little t-shirts, what do you call them wife beaders, but anyway that's not nice, I know it's not, but that's what we used to call them, what do you call them, I don't know, tank tops, should have said tank tops, we'll let it wife beater, tank tops, shouldn't have said that, but whatever. But he would, he was wearing the tank tops, showing off, oh here's the thing, he didn't know it, because his chest was so swollen he didn't know it, he had developed tumors in his chest, it was cancerous and all this what he thought was muscle was actually swollen with infection and his whole chest was covered with cancer, not all growth is good growth and sometimes we think that because oh there's so many showing up at this place or that or so many whatever that it's good, not necessarily, not necessarily, it depends on what is being presented there is the truth of the gospel being presented are people being equipped for works of service are they sharing their faith with other people these things all matter and so not all growth is good growth the real question here and I want to I want to spend some time looking at this with you is how could people who aren't Christian ever become comfortable in a church service how could that happen now it isn't that non-christians are not welcome to attend a church service of course they are in first Corinthians 14 23 Paul speaks of unbelievers coming into a church service and he went on to say in chapter 14 verse 24 first Corinthians he said if all prophesy and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in he's convinced by all he is convicted by all so when he says if I'll prophesy the word prophesy can mean revealing the mind of God that's what prophecy or prophesying is it's revealing the mind of God so when God's mind is revealed through the clear exposition of Scripture or the clear presentation of his word ministered by the people the conviction of the Holy Spirit causes unbelievers to be converted as the Spirit convicts them you see one of the purposes of church gatherings is for the equipment of the saints and as the church is taught it is to go forth and share with others so when an unbeliever is in church service it would be normal for them to become uncomfortable sometimes in this fellowship actually sometimes quite often there are those who have never really confessed their sins to the Lord they've never come to a faith in Christ and and they hear things that are being said and and they can become uncomfortable with that and get upset and believe that they're being pointed out and and all of that it's because they're convicted there's a difference between condemnation where that person walks out saying they hate me there that's not a loving church they've condemned me no condemnation comes from yourself and it comes from Satan that's how condemnation comes conviction comes to the Holy Spirit when the Holy Spirit convicts a person of sin righteousness and judgment that's because God intends to awaken us to who we are without him that we can come to faith in him and be forgiven of our sins condemnation is different than conviction and so those who don't know the Lord are more than welcome to be amongst the church but somebody may look and say oh the church is filled with people yes but the church building is filled with people but not every person in that building is a Christian there are those that Paul would refer to and say they're not believers they're just amongst you now when an unbeliever is in service the normal thing is to become uncomfortable but in 1st Corinthians 1425 Paul said the desired result would be that they would fall down on their face worship God and report that God is truly among you so it's not the purpose of the church to attempt to look and sound like the world it's our purpose to by the way we are it's our purpose to reveal God to those who don't know him now Jesus gave another parable that will help us to see this it was the parable of the wheat and tears it's found in Matthew I'll read it to you in Matthew 13 24 and 25 Matthew said another parable he put forth to them saying the kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field but while men slept his enemy came and sowed tears among the wheat and went his way wheat and tears tears is also called Darnell they look the same until they're fully mature they look the same and so they were wheat and tears and as they were growing they look the same but when they came to full maturity it was obvious that they were they were Darnell they were they were tears and so as Jesus was speaking he gave an interpretation in verse 36 through 39 of Matthew 13 and Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house and his disciples call came to him saying explain to us the parable of the tears of the field so we answered and said to them he who sows the good seed is the son of man the field is the world the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom but the tears are the sons of the wicked one the enemy who sowed them is the devil and so there are tears amongst the wheat now how could unbelievers ever infiltrate the church becoming comfortable when I was in the military we had to pull something called guard duty there are military vets listening here right now and online you remember guard we had to pull guard you had to stay awake and you had to guard the perimeter that's what you did if somebody was to approach you were to call out and ask him who goes there and all of that there were protocols certain things and I remember a friend of mine sharing with me how in Vietnam that one of the guys on guard duty fell asleep and when he fell asleep the enemy infiltrated came in and left him alive and killed all of his friends left the guard on alive and killed all of his friends so when he awakened because he fell asleep on guard duty everybody was dead except for him and he carries that in his heart to this day because he had fallen asleep on guard you never fall asleep on guard duty you're not protecting just yourself you're protecting others you're appointed to do that you're appointed to keep watch beyond the alert to be aware of the enemy and call the warning that's what you're there to do and I might I might sound dramatic when I say this but it's true and if it means you give up your life for the others you do that that's what you're trained to do that's what soldiers do you lay your life down for your friends right well in the church guess what some people fell asleep the guards God had placed over the church in many places are asleep even right now how can the enemy enter in the guards fall asleep God has appointed pastors in a way to be the one who calls out the warning we are to equip saints with the word of God to develop discernment within them how can unbelievers infiltrate the guards go to sleep you see the Bible is no longer respected as the true revelation of God there was a time in our history and not that long ago when you could speak even to an unbeliever someone who doesn't have a faith in Christ but if you said to them do you believe the Bible is God's word they would have said yeah I mean why do you think they would use the Bible I do solemnly swear to tell truth the whole truth and nothing of the truth what so help me God why did they use a Bible because a Bible was an evidence that there is a truth so you tell the truth now listen to this you tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth why did they use those three phrases the truth the whole truth nothing but the truth because you can shade the truth you can hide the truth or give a portion of the truth no you tell the truth the whole truth and you don't add to it nothing but the truth and so when you would put your hand on a Bible as a witness and you would say I do solemnly swear to do this the Bible was the evidence that there is a truth but not today not today the Bible today is regarded as just a book a book amongst other books it doesn't have any more validity or authority to any other book and that's how people have been fighting speaking in that way for so long but historically the church regarded God's word for what it is the truth in 1st Thessalonians 2 13 Paul said it like this for this reason we also thank God without ceasing because when you receive the word of God which you heard from us you welcomed it not as a word of men but as it is in truth the word of God which also effectively works in you who believe you see many pastors and teachers have stopped teaching the full counsel of God I remember one TV preacher in particular who said I don't teach the Bible because people don't believe it so he would teach his own books in the book of Amos in chapter 8 verses 11 and 12 in the Old Testament behold the days come says the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water but of hearing the words of the Lord and they shall wander from sea to sea from north even to the east they shall run to to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it well because there's no genuine Bible teaching in many places truth will no longer be tolerated by those who are part of the study Bible studies therefore become boring because people are thirsting for entertainment they want to feel good about themselves when they walk out in a lot of churches if you don't say what they want to hear they don't come back the next week I'll find a place that tells me how good I really am well in Isaiah 30 verses 9 and 10 this is a rebellious people lying children children who will not hear the law of the Lord who say to the seers do not see to the prophets do not prophesy to us write things speak to us smooth things prophesy deceits tell us what we want to hear what our ears are itching to hear and so how does this happen how can the church be filled with unbelievers who are actually comfortable there while the false teachers infiltrate they introduce error under the cloak of truth this has been going on since the early days of the church in 2nd Peter 2 verses 1 and 2 there were also false prophets among the people even as there will be false teachers among you who will secretly bring in destructive heresies even denying the Lord who bought them and bring on themselves swift destruction many will follow their destructive ways because of whom the way of truth will be bad last thing how do you think the antichrist is going to be received through deception the church has a large field to it but in fact not every person saved so the church is well attended but it's not truly converted in 1st Timothy 4 1 and 2 the spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons such teachings come through hypocritical liars whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron whose consciences are seared when it speaks of consciences being seared as with a hot iron during that day slaves would be branded you would have a brand and that marked you and he's saying their consciences are branded as slaves to sin because they don't want to know the truth that sets them free so the church may appear large but it is unholy and filled with disobedience and unbelief now I probably should say this I said it in the first service I'll say it again here when I first got saved and I had my ups and downs and I finally got solid and I said no I'm gonna I'm gonna be solid with the Lord I'm gonna follow Christ with all of my heart to the best my ability and after that I still had failures I confess but I just had this this intensity and so I was in in school and it's a non-Christian college and and there was a young woman who was next to me this is before I had met and married Marie and she wasn't anybody I was interested in in any way but she told me in class that she was a Christian and and but she would say things or do things and made me question you know not judging her but made me question whether she knew what a Christian actually is and so I didn't realize I was doing this but one day she said to me she said how come you treat me like I'm not a Christian I told you I'm a Christian how come you treat me like I'm not one and I looked at her I didn't realize I was doing that but I thought about it and I thought in my mind because I don't think you are one so what so what it is with me and I might share this with you you may be a first time here here and think man he sure is self-righteous you don't know me that well I'm worse than you think so with that what happened is I thought if you're going to be a believer then live for Jesus I thought if you're going to talk about him then live for him why because the things you say are drowned out by the things you do and even a child is known whether he's good or bad by the way that he lives and so your life is going to show what you really believe and so very early in my life I don't care what you say I do care to a degree of course it helps to explain who you are I also watch the way that you live because if you told me you were a Christian I wasn't expecting you to walk on water I was just expecting you to live as a good person and so if you said something profane to me or said you'd been doing something this weekend that I knew was wrong and you should too after a while I begin to wonder do you really know the Lord how can you make excuses for the behavior because Jesus said were to flee these things and yet you seem to be embracing them and that's how I think and I don't mean that as a judge I'm just trying to collate information so I know how to relate to you that's all well when I'm teaching sometimes you may be sitting there squirming saying this guy is so judgmental there is a difference between condemnation and conviction understand the difference conviction maybe is the Holy Spirit saying to you this is for you this is something to listen now I I've given studies on marriage and family enough times to see the wife hitting the husband when I'm talking to husbands and you'll see him looking in the sky I didn't come for this today you know but I always get back to the women I tell them you know next week we'll talk to you then they don't show up but the thing is and I want to say this briefly but quick in a way that makes them sense to you never feel pleased that I'm condemning you I am not when I'm trying to do is explain what Jesus is speaking about and then filtering it through my own heart that's what I do so it's not a condemnation and yet people can feel that because I really do believe in these last days that people will begin to to turn away from the truth and be turned to fables so in the last days the church may appear large but it's unholy it's filled with disobedience and unbelief here's the thing the temptation to use our own efforts to clean up the church can come upon us so what happens is we establish man-made regulations and intending to force people to be holy but that's really what is called legalism you see you can't always judge someone by appearance because some wheat matures slowly it takes time for it to begin to bud and blossom and a new believer shouldn't be expected to live as an older believer so we give mercy and grace and love to those who are new in the faith we don't get all uptight and mean to them I I had a roommate that I let him to faith in a Bible study and and he was an alcoholic at the age of 23 he was an alcoholic confirmed I mean he would bring cases of beer and drink them within a couple days this guy was an alcoholic at an early age and but he came to a Bible study we're roommates and I let him to faith in Christ and then you know he one day he walks up to me and he said David I have to tell you something I said what he says you know he says I know that you're smelling my breath to see if you can smell the alcohol I said really and and I thought you know he's right he's right I looked at him and said your breath stinks no I said here's a mint no I said I said you're right his name was Steve you're right Steve he said you loved me more before I was a Christian than you loved me now as one I've never forgotten that and I told him Steve I hated you before and I hate you now no I didn't say that I said you are right forgive me I said Steve my problem is is I just want to see you grow and I'm watching you too closely and I'm not giving you grace and for that I'm sorry I'm so sorry so you can do that some wheat grows slower but it grows because it's sweet so we don't go running around judging people you know we're not going to be those people who do that and so you have two interpretations of this one says all the church is going to grow magnificently there are some very well known great teachers who believe that there are others like myself because I take to the second the second interpretation now the church is filled with evil because the word is no longer being taught the conviction of the spirit is not there there are many claiming to be Christian but ultimately they're going to be the ones who say did we not prophesy in your name did we not do many works in your name and Jesus will say I never knew you depart from the workers of iniquity no you only thought you were saved but you never really were that's the greatest deception when you speak of deception what is the greatest self deception when you are convinced you are something that you really aren't that's why the Holy Spirit awakens us to who we really are and then finally with many such parables verse 33 he spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it that a parable he didn't speak to them and when they were alone he explained all things to his disciples so he continued teaching continued giving deeper insights and he continued ministering so that they would have the knowledge of the depths of the things of God and when we read the word of God he continues explaining all things to you.