 Today, we'll be looking at verses 10 through 17 first. So let's begin reading together here in Luke chapter 13 at verse 10. I'll read to verse 17, and we'll get into our study. Luke writes, Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity 18 years and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. But when Jesus saw her, he called her to him and said to her, Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity. And he laid his hands on her and immediately she was made straight and glorified God. But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. And he said to the crowd, There are six days on which men ought to work. Therefore come and be healed on them, not on the Sabbath day. And the Lord then answered him and said, Hippocrite, Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it away to water it? So ought not this woman being a daughter of Abraham whom Satan is bound. Think of it, for 18 years be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath. And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame. And all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him. Now, as we begin our study here, we note that Jesus is busy teaching and he's teaching concerning the things of the kingdom of God. Obviously this is his habit from the beginning of his ministry because as we've been going through Luke, we've seen that the Lord Jesus Christ had a habit of teaching in synagogues. For example, in chapter 4 verses 14 through 16, Luke writes Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee and news of him went out all through the surrounding region and he taught in their synagogues being glorified by all. So he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up and as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read. So we see that Jesus had a habit from the very beginning of entering into synagogues and teaching. I'm fighting a cough. You guys are going to see this the whole night and I'm losing. Here we go. This is hard. How many of you have coughs right now? Oh, I sympathize with you. I really do. Now sympathize with me and listen. But anyway, this is tough. It really is because your mind is on don't cough, don't cough, and it makes it difficult to teach. But anyway, I'm going to try. I'll try. Let's keep going here. We'll edit all of that out of this tape, don't you worry. Jesus came with a reason of teaching. That's why he came. Matthew chapter 4 verse 23 tells us that. Jesus went all about Galilee teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. That's why he came and that's what he's doing now. He's teaching in a synagogue on the Sabbath. Now in the gospel of Luke, this is the last time we see Jesus teaching in a synagogue. And Luke is drawing our attention to something here as he does so. Notice verse 11. And see how he says this. He says, Behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity 18 years and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. So when he says, Behold, that's something that intends for us to have our attention drawn. He's describing the fact that Jesus is teaching and as he is teaching, a woman enters into the synagogue. And so he's pointing this out for us when he uses the word, Behold. Now this is a woman who has bent over and in no way can she raise herself up. She has a spirit of infirmity, but what has happened is her spinal column is basically fused. And so she's unable to stand and straighten herself up. And so for 18 years, this woman has basically been walking in a stooped-over position for 18 solid years. And so as she's entered into the synagogue, it would seem that she is more than likely a regular attendee of the synagogue because there's no notice of her outside of Jesus. And so when she comes walking in, notice verse 12, how it simply says, but when Jesus saw her, he called her to him and said to her, Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity. And he laid his hands on her and immediately she was made straight and glorified God. So she walks in, Jesus is teaching. As she's entering in, he stops his teaching. As he stops his teaching, his eyes are now fastened on this woman with a tremendous need. And he calls to her. And as he calls to her, he basically is saying for her to come up to the front of the synagogue. Now she's been finding a place to be seated in the back of the synagogue. But Jesus is now drawing the attention of all the people to this woman by calling her forward in order that he might minister to her. Now as he's about to do this, notice with me that Scripture speaks and says that she has a spirit of infirmity for 18 years. And so this is a spiritually inspired or instigated injury. Jesus makes reference to that in verse 16 when he speaks of her as being a daughter of Abraham whom Satan has bound. And so what she has is an illness that is attributed to a demon. Now in Scripture, demons on occasion are basically revealed as being behind some illnesses. For example in Matthew chapter 9 verses 32 and 33, it says as they went out, behold they brought to him a man, mute and demon possessed. And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke and the multitudes marveled saying it was never seen like this in Israel. Or in Matthew chapter 12 verse 22, one was brought to him who was demon possessed, blind and mute. Or Mark 9.25, when Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit saying to it, deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more. So sometimes illnesses are attributed to demons and in this particular case, the demon is the one who has been holding her in bondage. But the Bible tells us in verses 12 and 13 that Jesus called her to him and said to her, woman you are loosed. And so as he does so, as he does this, what is happening is he's about to exercise the authority that he has over the evil and over illness. Now it's very possible that this woman knew that Jesus was there in the synagogue and came for that particular reason. Jesus's reputation for doing the miraculous is now widespread. Many people know that Jesus Christ is the capacity, the ability and the willingness to touch people's lives. And it would seem obvious that this woman came to the synagogue as she's aware that Jesus is going to be there with the hope that God would do something on her behalf. And it would seem that that's indeed what is taking place here, that the Lord Jesus Christ in seeing her and in that condition decides to minister to her. Now as she's there and has found a place to be seated, he sees her, his heart is moved by the situation, he calls her to come to him, and in a moment she's released from her infirmity and the grip of Satan. So as this takes place, you would think that the synagogue or if we were to use Christian terms, you would think that the church would rejoice, you would think that the people there who saw this take place would be so absolutely awestruck and so pleased and blessed that this woman had been set free 18 years. And some of us in this room would understand that 18 years is an awful long time to be in bondage to an illness. 18 long years where you've walked and never been able to raise yourself up and look somebody in the eye for 18 years. The only thing that you had a close gander at is the dust in your feet. You haven't had an opportunity to speak to somebody face to face, and any time you do speak to somebody, you have to tilt your head up and look up at them for 18 solid years. You would think the people in that synagogue would be absolutely amazed and blessed at what God had just done. You would think that the leader of that synagogue, a man who's supposed to be a religious individual, a man who was highly respected within his community, you would think that that man would rejoice to see that God had moved in such a spectacular way in church. But notice what he does. Notice verse 14, the ruler of this synagogue answered with indignation because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath and he said to the crowd, there are six days in which men ought to work, therefore come and be healed on them and not on the Sabbath day. Unbelievable. This man instead of rejoicing would just as soon get to church. This man instead of rejoicing at what God had done and rejoicing at the reality that God had done something right in the midst of all these people right in front of him, you would think that this person would be so unbelievably blessed but instead of that, he's upset, he's indignant. It may be that he was one of these petty kinds of guys who gets upset because his authority has been bypassed. Jesus didn't ask permission of me to do something but it may be that he had that pettiness about him. That it was a petty individual but it also is quite obvious that he had a misunderstanding of the law of Moses, especially as it pertains to the Sabbath because he makes it very clear that it's something that was done on the Sabbath and he's upset about that. That's when he said in verse 14, there are six days in which men ought to work, therefore come and be healed on them and not on the Sabbath that is the big issue that you're going to see as it develops in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ is that Jesus Christ actually did things that the religious leaders of his day had great problems with especially the fact that he would perform miracles on the day of rest, on the Sabbath. That is what ultimately got Jesus Christ crucified. Working on the Sabbath is a very serious offense. In the Old Testament there are laws relating to that. Let me give you a couple of them. In the book of Leviticus in chapter 23 verse 3 God's word in the Old Testament says, six days shall work be done but the seventh day is a Sabbath and solemn rest a holy convocation you shall do no work on it it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings. God in the Old Testament law says there is no work to be done on the Sabbath day and it was very serious it's one of the offenses in Israel that is called a capital offense you can be put to death for violating it Exodus 31 14 says you shall keep the Sabbath therefore for it's holy to you everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death for whoever does any work on it that person shall be cut off by people and so the Sabbath was set aside to honor God and that's what you're supposed to do on the Sabbath day as you rest it's a day dedicated to the worship of God and so in the Old Testament you have the law that states you are not to physically work on the Sabbath now as I mentioned a moment ago ultimately it's the catalyst for Jesus' enemies because according to John chapter 5 Jesus was in Jerusalem at a pool called Bethesda there was an individual who was paralyzed who had been so for 38 years and while Jesus was there he healed this paralytic individual but that was the catalyst for him being ultimately tried and put to death because according to John 5 verse 16 the Jews persecuted Jesus and killed him because he had done these things on the Sabbath so the Sabbath is a very important day in the nation of Israel it's a day when people are to rest no work is to be done on it this particular synagogue official gets upset because Jesus Christ has done a healing on the Sabbath now notice with me he doesn't address Jesus personally he's not speaking personally to Jesus he actually begins to chastise the congregation he actually begins to speak to the people there and tell them off that's what he's doing when he says there are six days on which men ought to work therefore come and be healed on them and not on the Sabbath day he didn't even speak to Jesus about it he didn't have the strength to do so what he does is he addresses the people there and he tells them now when he says and I had to point one more thing out before we move into verse 15 when he says when you come and be healed on them one has to ask the question do you think that this man was ever used by the Lord to perform any healings on anybody at any given time in his entire life I absolutely doubt that and so what you have here is somebody who's making a theory who has a theory about what things should be done but doesn't have any power to do anything himself and I'm certain that people didn't come to him and have him pray for them because he didn't have a heart of compassion or concern for them whatsoever and that's why Jesus Christ because they knew not only does he have compassion he also has the ability to do something and so that's why Jesus Christ would minister and that's how he did minister with compassion and so notice verse 15 the Lord then answered him and said hypocrite does not each one of you on the Sabbath lose his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it away to water it so ought not this woman being a daughter of Abraham whom Satan has bound think of it for 18 years be loose from this bond you're too faced you have no compassion for the hurting you have no love for people and you misuse the word of God you show more compassion for your animals than you do for human beings you don't care about human beings you care more about animals and because of that you can't even see that this woman who's a righteous woman she's a daughter of Abraham which speaks about her having a relationship with God this is a woman who's a daughter of Abraham somebody who loves the Lord you have to be set free because my goodness for 18 years she's been bound by Satan but instead of you caring about that at all you are nitpicking and so upset over the things that I just did and that makes you a hypocrite it's unbelievable that you feel that way and as Jesus speaks to him and upraids him for those things the people are there listening verse 17 when he said these things all his adversaries were put to shame and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him finally standing up to the religious authorities and telling them the truth all this time these people have been controlling people through their religious dogma and their lack of love and compassion and mercy Jesus has already spoken to them with strong terms before he continues to do so now because of all things this individual should have rejoiced to see God move in the life of a woman to set her free from the bondage that this woman has been enduring for 18 years and as he speaks to him and he says you are a hypocrite listen, if you have an animal that's thirsty and it's the Sabbath don't you walk up to that animal untie it and walk it to a place where it can drink water you care more for animals than you do for people you take care of an ox and you take care of a donkey but you won't take care of a human being unbelievable you have no concern whatsoever well Jesus is saying but I do and so this synagogue official is shamed the woman is now delivered and the people rejoice Exodus chapter 15 verse 11 says something that I think relates to this in terms of their attitude in Exodus 15 11 it says who is like you oh Lord among the gods who is like you glorious in holiness fearful in praises doing wonders who is like you that's why they are marveling we have a God who cares for us we have a God who intervenes on our behalf we have a God who sees us and a God who actually will interrupt our life if you will in order to make it better and that's what Jesus did here this woman came to church she came to hear a message she wanted to hear what Jesus Christ had to say perhaps within the depth of her heart she was hoping in that she knew that Jesus Christ had been doing works throughout Israel and the testimony of his marvelous miracles has undoubtedly come to her ears there's no doubt in my mind that she would go to synagogue with a hope that perhaps God might intervene in her condition 18 years of being held in bondage demonic spirit that somehow it inflicted her to the point where she had her spine fused a massive bone incapable of straightening up for 18 solid years and now in a heartbeat now in a second now in a moment in front of everybody Jesus Christ lays hands on her and can you imagine what that would have been like to see her as she's there looking up at him as he's speaking down to her and he says woman you are loose from your infirmity and he touches her this woman who's looking up at him begins to raise up immediately and she just turns and she's looking straight into his eye can you imagine what it would be like at that moment can you imagine what it would be like to be the congregation when you were there seated and you're in the front row watching this take place as Jesus Christ says woman you are loose and she is set free he is still in the business of loosing people he is still in the business of setting people free he is in the business still of straightening people's lives up so that we can walk in a proper fashion he still does that to this day he still does those works and those miracles and as this is taking place the congregation there, the people there are absolutely just rejoicing it they're marveling they're marveling at the work that he did and they're also saying that's right Jesus tell them when he calls them hypocrite you guys are hypocrites you don't care about human beings you don't care about the little things that you think are more important than human beings while God cares about human beings because the Sabbath was not made for man man was not made for the Sabbath but the Sabbath for man man has been set free to serve and worship God and the Sabbath and Jesus Christ wants to reach down and touch you and straighten you up he can do it any day he wants and that's the point that he's making now as he continues verse 18 it says he said to what shall I compare it it is like a mustard seed which a man took and put in his garden and it grew and became a large tree and the birds of the air nested in its branches and again he said to what shall I liken the kingdom of God it is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened Jesus now gives two parables the parable of the mustard seed parable of leaven now as we look at this I'm going to give you some detail and develop this for a little while and then give you some thoughts related to this but as you look at this something that the parable of the mustard seed is a parable that speaks of the growth of the church over history what Jesus does when he gives parables the word parable literally means to take something and place it side by side and it's intended to be something that is used for comparison what is the kingdom of heaven like while he gives an earthly illustration so that you can know something of heaven he gives you an earthly illustration and so he uses an agricultural illustration here he speaks concerning a mustard seed we know that mustard seeds were the smallest seed in Israel and so when people look at this particular parable there are various ways that they look at it I'll give you two basic ones some people think that this parable speaks of the growth of the church over history they would say that this small seed's incredible growth is viewed as the spread of Christianity over time now what's interesting notice in verse 19 how it says the birds of the air nest in its branches so they would say the birds nesting in the branches would be viewed as people finding a home in the church and the commentator said great results develop from small beginnings and so the point they're making those who would believe that the point they're making is that the Christianity spread and it eventually spreads throughout the world and becomes a place where people of all nations and tongues and all will find a home in the church now to a degree we know that Christianity is a very clear witness of history Jesus began his work in Israel with 12 apostles so compared to the entire Roman population of his day or those living in Israel or even the multitudes that were listening to him for selfish reasons Jesus's genuine followers were really small in number Jesus even made it very clear that the disciples were numerically few because in Luke 12 32 he said do not fear little flock for it is the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom and so from this perspective the growth of the church of the centuries would be phenomenal the Christian gospel has gone out through the face of the earth and has reached multitudes and Jesus had imparted his vision to his men and gave to them the vision of reaching the world in John chapter 4 in verse 35 he says do you not say lift up your eyes and look at the fields for they are already white for harvest so when Jesus was speaking to his men he said listen you need to understand that the task that I'm giving to you is much greater than you might assume at this moment because I'm not sending you just to this small group of people I'm sending you out to a place where there are multitudes in need in Mark 16 verse 15 Jesus said go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature and so by the power of the Holy Spirit courageous preachers from the beginning have combed the earth to make disciples the book of Acts is a remarkable book as it relates to the fact that the gospel spread from Jerusalem throughout the world in Acts chapter 1 in verse 8 Jesus said you shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth and so when the day of Pentecost was fully arrived and the Apostle Peter is there preaching the message of Pentecost he opens the door of the kingdom of God through preaching the message and we know that there were some sixteen nations that are represented who are hearing that message at the same time many of whom went home and took that message with them so from the very beginning the gospel has had incredible effect and by the power of the Spirit courageous preachers combed the world to make disciples ultimately Acts chapter 9 records that a man by the name of Saul who ultimately is called Paul was saved immediately this man begins to preach the message that he at one time had sought to destroy and his life's message and mission is the gospel of Jesus Christ and preaching it and he traveled throughout the world to do so and Romans chapter 15 verses 20 and 21 he said I have 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 he said I have made it my chief aim in life to make sure that I go where the name of Christ has not been preached that was his heart and that's what he did by the year 53 AD according to Acts chapter 17 verse 6 the Bible had turned the world upside down and so the gospel spread from Jerusalem to Europe touching multitudes and over the years entire nations have been touched by the gospel throughout the world we are evidence of that because the gospel started to spread 2000 years ago in a small place called Israel and it reached the country that we live in and we've heard that message and preach it ourselves so entire nations have been touched by the gospel throughout the world and people who identify themselves as Christian make up the largest religious group in the world and great numbers of people ultimately do come to faith in Christ through the preaching of the gospel we see that in Revelation chapter 7 verses 9 and 10 it says after these things I look behold a great multitude which no one could 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 and crying out with loud voice saying salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the lamb so the kingdom of God has spread throughout the world and continues doing so there are those therefore who believe that the parable found here in Luke 13 verses 18 and 19 the parable of the mustard seed would be speaking of the rapid and continuing and enduring preaching of the gospel for the church to be spread throughout the world and that's how they look at it I'll read it to you again when he says in verse 19 it's like a mustard seed which a man took, put in his garden it grew and became a large tree and the birds of the air nested in its branches there are some very fine theologians who believe that that speaks about the consistent and continuous growth of the church as it spreads throughout the world but the question remains is that the only way to see this parable and is that what Jesus is talking about is Jesus saying that the church will outgrow its insignificant beginnings and become massive is the church destined to surpass in glory and size man's entire kingdoms on earth well that brings us to the second interpretation of the parable it's the interpretation that I basically own that I think is the correct one I gave you one because it has merit let me give you the one that I believe is absolutely true you can believe the first one if you'd like there's nothing wrong with that there's nothing wrong with being wrong but let me share with you what I think the parable actually is saying it could speak of the church on earth drawing numerically large but filled with unbelievers numerically large but unholy numerically large but impure numerically large but filled with people who don't follow Jesus Christ now when you look at verse 19 notice that Jesus speaks of the seed becoming a tree with large branches and birds nesting in it now when Jesus speaks of birds nesting in it's place of comfort and shelter that could speak of the church as over time becoming infected with evil why would that be well when you consider for a moment that this particular parable here that we find in Luke 13 is also recorded in Matthew chapter 13 that gives us some insight because in Matthew chapter 13 there are actually a series of several parables this parable as well as the parable that is being included in Matthew 13 when you look at something that is called parabolic constancy it's a way of interpreting parables what you discover as certain images are used in a certain way and remain constant through the rest of that chapter in terms of it's meaning so when Jesus first speaks of birds of the air in Matthew 13 he speaks of the birds of the air prior to this particular parable and how that a man is a sower who goes out to sow some seed and as he sows the seed some fell on the wayside and he said and the birds of the air come and and eat it and later on he speaks concerning what those birds represent and those birds represent the evil one Satan who comes and takes the word of God from a person's heart before he has the ability for it to actually germinate the fruit so when Jesus first uses the image of a bird it's not in a good way it's in an evil way and so what we have in this particular parable is that those birds nesting in this inordinately large plant because the mustard seed does not produce a tree it produces a large shrub and though you can have some very tall mustard plants they are not trees they are not branches they are not large enough for a lot of birds to come and settle in so it gives to us the image of something that's unnatural in its growth and it's a shelter for that which is actually in opposition to the gospel and not in favor of it and so the question is how does this take place how does the church lose its purity and the church over time did and does lose its purity when evil is allowed to remain unchallenged when churches are pastored by individuals and led by people who do not have an interest in the things of the Lord and in purity in holiness and the things that are actually glorifying to God you can have that and we do have that even in our time because we need to understand that sometimes we think that when a church is large that must automatically mean that it's a healthy church and all growth is not healthy growth keep that in mind always all growth is not healthy growth just because you may have thousands of people showing up calling themselves Christians doesn't mean that the gospel is being preached all growth is not healthy growth I know of an individual who decided to begin working out and they actually like to do the bench press that was something they enjoyed doing so this guy liked to work the bench because it built up his chest and he started hitting the weights and as he was hitting the weights he started to bulk up and as he was bulking up he started to really show and his muscles began to swell and he was well built and got to the point where he wanted to show off he was bulking up the guy has got a huge chest and continues to grow and grow because he's doing his bench press but he's not feeling well so he goes to the doctor he has some x-rays and his chest is filled with tumors his chest was filled with cancerous tumors all growth is not good growth just because it swells sometimes it may look healthy it may even look strong but the reality is is not all growth is good growth and just because a church may be filled with people to the brim where people actually have to sit in overflows and have to get their early depart does not necessarily mean that something healthy is taking place there keep that in mind because people have a tendency of thinking it must be a good church there are so many people showing up well that's not necessarily true it may be an unhealthy place to go into capacity and beyond that how is that happening how is it possible for the church to actually grow but be an unholy place there are various things that I think about one as I believe that churches can grow in that way because sometimes the people who are attending the church are simply self-centered and they're getting things that they want to hear and even in the church their interest ultimately will replace the idea and practice of self-sacrifice the Bible makes it clear in the last days that that's going to be true in 2 Timothy chapter 3 Paul said mark this there will be terrible times in the last days people will be lovers of themselves and churches can easily be filled up with people who are lovers of themselves and not lovers of God another thing that will contribute to that in the last days is that the Bible will cease being looked at as being the true revelation of the mind of God to man and people will not necessarily want to have a Bible study a lot of people will go to church if they have things that they want things that are enjoyable for them I was talking to one of the guys and I was mentioning in a church that I went to there was a meeting there in a church I'll leave unnamed but as I was walking from the parking lot you have a long walk until you get to the church auditorium and they actually have these little gazebos or stands they have stands where you can buy hot dogs on the way up to church and they have all these little stands all over the place so as you're going up there they have places it's just an amazingly interesting thing I went to just to see it when I was out of state they have food courts and I thought I was like at one of the malls they have actual food courts where they have McDonald's they had Taco Bell and they have two or three other food absolutely unbelievable because that's where the people will come in and they cater to people's desires to the degree to a large degree to actually draw people in and their whole desire is not necessarily on Sundays to preach the Gospel but to just attract people to their church and what happens is when you stop teaching the Bible and you stop going through it and stop cross-referencing and asking what does this mean and how does it apply you end up with a bunch of people who don't know anything about the Lord the Bible because people don't believe in it and so he teaches his own books on a Sunday morning in the book of Amos in Amos chapter 8 verses 11 and 12 we read to seek the Word of the Lord and shall not find it and I think that we have a day like that right now when there's a famine for the Word of God third because there's no genuine Bible teaching truth is no longer tolerated Bible studies become boring because people are more thirsty for entertainment or feeling good it reminds me of Isaiah 39 and 10 where God says 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 right things speak to us smooth things prophesy to see because of this false teachers begin to infiltrate the church and they begin to introduce error under the cloak of truth that happens all the time guys as a minister of the gospel as somebody who's been teaching for a while now I've seen that quite often I was watching a certain well known teacher who was being interviewed on on a cable show and the question was asked of him related to Mormonism whether Mormonism is a Christian faith and this fellow happens to pass to the largest church in the United States and he said in reference to a Mormon individual while he claims that Jesus is his personal Lord and Savior and Jesus is my personal Lord and Savior so I would say that indeed he is a Christian and as I'm listening to him I'm thinking how sad this man who passed as the largest church doesn't know the difference between Mormon theology and Orthodox beliefs he doesn't know the difference he doesn't know that Mormons teach that Jesus is the spirit brother of Lucifer or that they were souls in heaven waiting to inhabit bodies and he said to me was still is still practiced because they believe that there are souls waiting in order that they might be exalted beyond where they're at to Godhood to have their own plans he doesn't know any of these things and yet that's the tenet of Mormonism that's what Mormons believe and that's what they teach and yet he's saying Mormons are Christians and unfortunately not in judgment to the people who practice that but the theology is not Christian when I say things like that like I am right now and what happens is false teachers infiltrate the church they introduce error under the cloak of truth and they're tolerated in 2 Peter chapter 2 verses 1 and 2 the apostles said 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 blasphemed and with this all taking place with the spiritual purity being compromised and with the Bible no longer being respected as a true revelation of God and with no true Bible teaching in many quarters and false teachers infiltrating the result is apostasy the church may be full but it's not converted again in 1st Timothy in chapter 4 verse 1 and 2 Paul said 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 so the church will appear large it'll be unholy, it'll be filled with disobedience, it'll be filled with unbelief we can't always judge by appearances we can't always know if the person next to us is a true believer because some weed is slow maturing but what we do is we just practice what the Lord has in his word for us and pray that every person within the confines of this group here at least as a knowledge of Jesus and loves him because I believe what he's speaking about here is an inordinate and unnatural growth where evil finds a home to rest and then finally in verses 20 and 21 he says to what shall I like in the kingdom of God it's like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened and so again this would be a church filled with evil notice how he says this woman took and she hid this leaven in the church when she says hid it means to penetrate deeply now there are those who would say that that speaks of the church growing and being filled with good things problem is is leaven in Scripture very often is a type of sin in Luke chapter 12 we saw this at verse 1 Jesus said beware of the leaven of the Pharisees which is hypocrisy Paul in first Corinthians chapter 5 verse 8 says let us keep the feast not with old leaven of malice but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth leaven in Scripture very often is a picture of sin and so again this would be a picture of the church permeated with hypocrisy with bad doctrine with a lack of love numerically it's large but spiritually it is lacking and sin permeates Scripture is found in Ezekiel 33 verses 30 through 32 and in that passage the Lord God speaking to Ezekiel says this he says as for you son of man your countrymen are talking together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses saying to each other come in here the message that has come from the Lord my people come to you they usually do and sit before you to listen to your words but they do not put them into practice with their mouths they express devotion but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain indeed to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice plays an instrument well for they hear your words but do not put them into practice they like you Ezekiel they talk about you they say wonderful things about you they say that you're talented and beautiful you're like an entertainer to them though you sing well you play well they enjoy the things that you're saying they enjoy the way that you say those things but the problem is as though they are mentally agreeing with you they're not practicing the things that you're saying that's true they come they sit before you as if you're my people they're my people they listen to you as if you're a prophet from me but they hear and they do not do I wonder how many messages I heard as a person sitting in the pews how many messages over the years I heard and never acted on never acted on probably quite a number probably quite a number hearing things that spoke to my heart convicted me then I would walk out and I'd promptly forget what I had just heard it wasn't until I made a decision that I was going to try and do what I was learning that my life actually started changing and one of the things that the Lord did in my life was he gave me opportunity to try and learn the word and teach it to other people there's nothing like studying the Bible looking for insights and then saying God I don't want to be a hypocrite help me to live what I'm sharing with other people there's just nothing like that that causes you to look at your own heart and your own life it's my hope and my prayer that this fellowship will be a group of people who actually take the word of God seriously who actually say I realize that every single thing that was said today I won't remember but the things that you spoke to my heart today Lord help me to put those things into practice today and help me to practice those things tomorrow and as I read your word in the morning as I pray and seek you throughout the day I want my life to be changed as I go about my daily discipline of serving you and loving you and help me to be an example of a believer so that when people hear what I have to say and see the way that I live I can be glory to you and besides that I want to be blessed by you to be blessed by you I need to obey you I want to know you to know you again because you said you would manifest yourself to me if I obeyed your command and so Lord all I'm asking is you help me to be better today at loving you than I was yesterday help me just today to make a determination to follow you with all of my heart and then I'll make the same determination tomorrow you know every day when I wake up in one way or another when I wake up and have done this for many years now I will say something to the Lord like this Lord help me to know you better today help me to serve you better today Lord fill me with your spirit today I need you today I do that every morning help me today Lord help me today yesterday is dead and gone today is the day that I have to live and so today Lord help me to live for you help me to know you I remain faithful to you help me to avoid the temptations and snares that will tear my life up Lord in Jesus' name be with me today I don't want to be like this picture here of the last day's church with large numbers of people who are simply sitting there acting like they love the Lord when in reality they don't it's kind of like that show that just came out I don't know what it's called they hook you up to a lie detector and then ask you very personal questions I haven't seen it yet but I thought it's your mother fat I mean they ask you some mean things imagine that are you going to remain married to your husband five years from now would you give your kidney to your dad if he needs it those are pretty personal questions don't you think I take those things and I say what if I were hooked up to a lie detector and somebody started asking me personal questions about my love for Jesus Christ do you really intend to or do you ever can you imagine how embarrassing that would be well I've been asking the Lord that I might begin to live more like I am hooked up to one of those machines and if he asks me a question I want to be honest with him and say Lord I do want to serve you I want to be an honest person I want to have a pure heart I will do those things I've made up my mind that that's what I'm going to do because I figure that if I do that today then I'll be better today than I was yesterday and if I do that tomorrow I'll be better tomorrow than I was today I'm going to increase in godliness over time because I'm pursuing the Lord with discipline I don't want to be part of the picture of a large group of people seated in a church who really don't love Jesus Christ I want to be one of the people in that church that actually do that actually love him not just as the pastor of this church but as a member of this church that's what I wanted my life and so Jesus speaks about mustard seed he speaks about leaven he says there's inordinate growth and there's a penetration but the problem is that it isn't healthy because in the last days I believe strongly infiltration does take place and many people are taken aside walking away from the things of the Lord as they're deceived by those who come in and infiltrate God help us to love the word and love the Lord enough to remain faithful to him