["Pomp and Circumstance"]
All right, good evening, everyone.
Welcome to First Works Baptist Church.
Let's all find our seats.
As you find your seat, go ahead and grab a hymnal.
Turn to song number 433.
Song number 433, Away in a Manger.
Let's all stand together for this first song, if you're able.
Song number 433.
There we go.
All together on that first verse.
Away in a manger
No crib for a bed
The little Lord Jesus
Lay down his sweet head
The stars in the sky
Look down where we lay
The little Lord Jesus
Asleep on the hay
The cattle are lowing
The baby awakes
The little Lord Jesus
No crying he makes
I lovely Lord Jesus
Look down from the sky
And stay by my cradle
Till morning is nigh
Be near me, Lord Jesus
I ask thee to stay
Close by me forever
And love me, I pray
Bless all the dear children
In thy tender care
And take us to heaven
To live with thee there
Amen. Wonderful scene. Let's start off our service with a word of prayer.
Dear Lord God, Heavenly Father, I thank you for giving us this day.
I thank you for allowing us to come to your house
and to hear the preaching of your word and to fellowship with like-minded brethren
and to sing these hymns unto you, Lord.
And I ask that you please now just bless the service, Lord, bless the singing
and most of all, bless the preaching of your word.
In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Amen.
Amen. Turn to song number 431, just a page over.
Silent Night.
Song number 431, Silent Night.
Song number 431.
All together nice and strong on that first verse.
Silent night,
Holy night,
All is calm,
All is bright,
Round yon virgin,
Mother and Child,
Holy night,
Holy infant,
So tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.
Silent night,
Holy night,
Shepherds play,
At the sight,
Glories stream from heaven afar,
Heav'nly hosts sing Alleluia,
Wise the Saviour is born,
Rise the Saviour is born.
Strike and fly,
Holy night,
Son of God,
Love's pure light,
Way and peace from life we face,
With a dawning evening grace,
Jesus, Lord, and thy birth,
Jesus, Lord, and thy birth.
Strike and fly,
Holy night,
One great star,
And thy light,
With the angels let us sing,
Alleluia to our King,
Wise the Saviour is born,
Rise the Saviour is born.
All right, great singing.
Thanks for being here this evening.
Just a few announcements
before we sing our next song,
which will be 423,
Joy to the World,
if you want to get that ready
in your songbook, so 423.
Our services are as follows.
Sunday morning is at 10,
30 Sunday evening is at 5 p.m.,
and then we have our Thursday night
Bible study at 7 o'clock,
and we will be in 2 Thessalonians 1
this coming Thursday,
so just keep that in mind.
You see there's so many times
and teams,
the list of expecting mothers,
if you can continue to pray for them,
especially Miss Lorena,
and then the important reminders there.
Some of the upcoming church events,
of course, we have the December
birthday breakfast this morning,
the birthday breakfast for all those
who have their birthday in December,
and so happy birthday to you all.
Saturday, December 11th,
is the Christmas caroling,
which is this Saturday.
We'll meet here at the building at 6 30.
We'll have some refreshments,
so-called, okay,
but we're gonna have a great time,
and so that'll be at 6 30,
and then we'll head out
to go do some Christmas caroling
at 7 o'clock.
It'll be around the neighborhood.
We'll sing about five songs per house
or three songs per house around there,
so you're welcome to come,
bring your kids.
We're gonna have a great time,
and then on Saturday, December 18th,
is the First Works Christmas program,
and the orchestra will be playing
on that evening,
along with the children singing,
and they're gonna be acting out
the Christmas story,
and then at the end,
I'll be giving a gospel presentation,
and so if you have any questions about that,
you can see Brother Maury.
Friday, December 24th,
is the Christmas Eve Fellowship
with a pastor,
along with the ugly Christmas sweaters.
We'll have a contest for that,
and so looking forward to seeing you all there,
and then we conclude the year
on Friday, December 31st,
with the New Year's Eve Service and Vision Night.
We'll have fun that night.
We're gonna have a Jenga Tournament
dessert fellowship,
and we're gonna be here till midnight,
and so you don't have to stay till midnight,
but you're welcome to stay till midnight.
We're gonna have a bunch of stuff
we're gonna be doing throughout that evening,
and so hope to see you there,
and that's pretty much it.
Make sure you silence your phones
during the preaching
so as to not be a distraction
during the service,
and that is it for our announcements.
Let's go ahead and take some soloing numbers
from this past week.
Let's get some salvations
from Monday to Thursday.
Any salvations from Monday to Thursday?
We have one right over here.
Anybody else?
One?
No?
Okay, so just one right here.
Anybody for Friday and Saturday?
Friday and Saturday?
Brother Glenn's team?
Two?
Brother Cody?
Two for Riverside?
Anybody else?
All right, how about this afternoon?
Salvations for this afternoon?
One for brother Ulysse's team?
Three for brother Morrie's team?
One for brother...
Is that Hikes' team?
Okay, brother Marcos?
Five for brother Marcos' team?
Anybody else?
Going once, twice, thrice?
Okay, keep up the great work on soloing.
Let's sing our next song,
423, Joy to the World,
song number 423.
Song number 423, Joy to the World.
All together on that first verse.
Joy to the world,
the Lord is come.
Let earth receive her King.
Let every heart prepare Him room,
and heaven and nature sing,
and heaven and nature sing.
Joy to the world,
the Lord is come.
Let earth receive her King.
Let every heart prepare Him room,
and heaven and nature sing,
and heaven and heaven and nature sing.
Joy to the world,
the Savior reigns.
Let then their songs implode,
while fields and floods,
rocks, fields and plains,
repeat the sounding joy,
no more let sins and sorrows grow,
nor thorns infest the ground.
He comes to make His blessings flow,
far as the curse is found,
far as, far as the curse is found.
He rules the world with truth and grace,
and makes the nations prove,
the glories of His righteousness,
and wonders of His love,
and wonders, wonders of His love.
Amen. Wonderful singing.
At this time, the ushers will come forth
to collect the offering,
and you can turn in your Bibles
to Matthew chapter number 13.
acoustic guitar plays softly
Good evening.
Tonight we're in Matthew chapter 13,
and the Bible reads,
Same day when Jesus out of the house
sat by the seaside,
great multitudes were gathered together unto Him,
so that He went into a ship and sat,
and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
He spake many things unto them
in parables, saying,
Behold, a sower went forth to sow,
and when he sowed,
some seeds fell by the wayside.
The fowls came and devoured them up,
some fell upon stony places,
where they had not much earth,
and forthwith they sprung up,
because they had no deepness of earth.
And when the sun was up,
they were scorched,
and because they had no root,
they withered away.
And some fell among thorns,
and the thorns sprung up and choked them,
but other fell into good ground
and brought forth fruit,
some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold,
some thirtyfold.
Who hath ears to hear, let them hear.
And the disciples came and said unto Him,
Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
He answered and said unto them,
Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries
of the kingdom of heaven,
but to them it is not given.
For whosoever hath, to him shall be given,
and he shall have more abundance,
but whosoever hath not,
from him shall be taken away,
even that he hath.
Therefore speak I to them in parables,
because they seeing see not,
and hearing they hear not,
neither do they understand.
And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias,
which saith, By hearing ye shall hear,
and shall not understand,
and seeing ye shall see,
and shall not perceive.
For this people's heart is waxed gross,
and their ears are dull of hearing,
and their eyes they have closed,
lest at any time they should see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and should understand with their heart,
and should be converted,
and I should heal them.
Blessed are your eyes, for they see,
and your ears, for they hear.
For verily I say unto you,
that many prophets and righteous men
have desired to see those things which ye see,
and have not seen them,
and to hear those things which ye hear,
and have not heard them.
Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower,
when anyone heareth the word of the kingdom,
and understandeth it not,
then cometh the wicked one,
and catcheth the way that which was sown in his heart.
This is he which received seed by the wayside,
but he that receive seed into stony places,
the same is he that heareth the word,
and anon with joy receiveth it.
Yet he hath not root in himself,
but deareth for a while.
For when tribulation or persecution
ariseth because of the word,
by and by he is offended.
He also that receiveth seed among the thorns
is he that heareth the word,
and the care of this world,
and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word,
and he becometh unfruitful.
But he that receiveth seed into the good ground
is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it,
which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth,
some on hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
Another parable put he forth into them,
saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened
unto a man which sowed good seed in his field.
But while men slept, his enemy came
and sowed tares among the wheat,
and went his way.
But when the blade was sprung up,
and brought forth fruit,
then appeared the tares also.
So the servants of the householder came,
and said unto him, Sir, didst thou sow good seed in thy field?
From whence then hath it tares?
He said unto them, An enemy hath done this.
The servants said unto him,
Wilt thou then that we should go and gather them up?
But he said, Nay, lest while ye gather the tares
ye root up also the wheat with them.
Let both grow together until the harvest,
and in the time of harvest will I say to the reapers,
Gather ye together first the tares,
and bind them in bundles to burn them.
But gather the wheat into my barn.
Another parable put he forth unto them,
saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed,
which a man took and sowed in his field,
which indeed is the least of all seeds.
But when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs,
and becometh the tree, so that the birds of the air come,
and lodge in the branches thereof.
Another parable spake he unto them,
The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven,
which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal,
till the whole was leavened.
All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables,
and without a parable spake he not unto them.
That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet,
saying, I will open my mouth in parables,
I will utter things which have been kept secret
from the foundation of the world.
Then Jesus sent the multitude away,
and went into the house.
And his disciples came unto him, saying,
Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.
He answered and said unto them,
He that soweth the good seed is the son of man.
The field is the world,
the good seed are the children of the kingdom,
but the tares are the children of the wicked one.
The enemy that sowed them is the devil.
The harvest is the end of the world,
the reapers are the angels.
As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire,
so shall it be in the end of this world.
The son of man shall send forth his angels,
and they shall gather out of his kingdom
all things that offend, and them which do iniquity,
and shall cast them into a furnace of fire,
there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Then shall the righteous shine forth as the son
in the kingdom of their father,
who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Again the kingdom of heaven is likened
to treasure hid in a field,
which when a man hath found,
he hideth, and for joy thereof,
goeth and selleth all that he hath,
and buyeth that field.
Again the kingdom of heaven is likened
to a merchant man seeking goodly pearls,
who when he had found one pearl
of great price, went and sold all that he had,
and bought it.
Again the kingdom of heaven is likened to a net,
and was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind,
which when it was full, they drew the shore,
and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels,
but cast the bad away.
So shall it be at the end of the world.
The angels shall come forth,
and sever the wicked from among the just,
and shall cast them into the furnace of fire,
there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Jesus saith unto them,
Have ye understood all these things?
And they say unto him, Yea, Lord.
Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe,
which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven,
is likened to a man that is an householder,
which bringeth forth out of his treasure
things new and old.
And it came to pass,
that when Jesus had finished these parables,
he departed thence.
And when he was come into his own country,
he taught them in the synagogue,
insomuch that they were astonished,
and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom?
and these mighty works?
Is it not this carpenter's son?
Is it not his mother, called Mary,
and his brethren James, and Joses,
and Simon, and Judas, and his sisters?
Are they not all with us?
Whence then hath this man all these things?
But they were offended in him.
But Jesus said unto them,
A prophet is not without honor,
save in his own country, and in his own house.
And he did not many mighty works there,
because of their unbelief.
Let's pray.
Dear Lord God, Heavenly Father,
we thank you for this church you've given us, Lord,
and for pastor, and I just pray that you fill him
with your spirit, Lord.
Bless him as he preaches your word, Lord,
and pray that we're edified by the preaching.
We pray this all in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Okay, we're in Matthew chapter 13 this evening,
and I'm gonna preach on the subject of parables
in the book of Matthew,
explaining these difficult parables
in the book of Matthew.
Obviously, there's many parables throughout the gospels.
There's approximately about 39 parables total,
and some are easy to be understood.
When you look at it,
you see the context of it.
You can clearly understand what Jesus Christ
is talking about,
but there are other parables
that are a lot more difficult to discern,
a lot more difficult to understand,
and they are put forth in such a way
that it's meant to leave a person
who's listening to it in some sort of obscurity,
and I'm gonna explain why in just a bit.
Now, what is a parable, first and foremost?
Well, a parable is simply a story
that Jesus Christ put forth
that basically illustrates a doctrine, okay?
And often in the gospels,
Jesus Christ would put forth a story,
but it's kind of dark,
and what I mean by dark is,
just as the book of Proverbs puts it,
it's a dark saying.
It leaves you in obscurity,
kind of leaves you kind of wondering,
what is this really talking about?
How much of it should I take literally?
How much of it, you know,
do I not take as literal?
It kind of can leave people in confusion at times,
and one thing you have to understand is that
when a parable is put forth in the gospels,
it's directed, first and foremost,
obviously it's directed at God's people,
and God's people can often have
minimal understanding of what the parable means,
and the reason for this is because
they have to know the actual doctrine first,
you understand?
But it's also put forth in the gospels
in order to confuse the Jews, okay?
And I'm gonna explain why in just a bit.
Now, let me give you some introductory statements
regarding parables
before we get into the actual parables themselves.
First and foremost, let me just say this,
is that you should never use a parable
as a baseline for doctrine, okay?
Never use a parable as a baseline for doctrine.
What do I mean by that?
You know, if there's a doctrine on salvation,
doctrine on the Trinity,
doctrine on soul winning,
you should never go to the parable
as your proof text to prove that specific doctrine, okay?
It should never be used as a baseline for doctrine
because of the fact that parables,
by their very nature, are obscure, okay?
We need the clear teachings of scripture
in order to know what the Bible says
regarding a specific topic, subject, doctrine,
and then these parables are basically used
to kind of open the understanding
of that particular doctrine.
And the reason I say this is because
a lot of false prophets will use parables
as a baseline for doctrine
because they want to confuse people.
They want to confuse them,
they're trying to deceive them,
and so they'll use some of the most obscure parables
in the Bible to kind of twist things
and pervert things
because they kind of basically can impose
their own definition upon that parable
and say, well, it's talking about salvation.
It's talking about you have to work your way to salvation,
work your way to heaven, you know,
and so they'll use these obscure teachings
in order to teach that.
This is why we should never use it
to teach a doctrine, necessarily,
as its proof text, okay?
Not only that, but parables enrich
already established doctrines.
So we look at a clear teaching in the Bible,
something that the Bible clearly teaches
about salvation, about Jesus Christ,
about ministry, whatever it may be.
We look at these parables that Jesus Christ put forth,
and, excuse me, we look at these teachings
that Jesus Christ put forth,
and we can reference parables
in order to enrich the teaching
that Jesus Christ clearly taught, you understand?
So you think about salvation, the Bible says,
for by grace are you saved through faith,
and that not of yourselves that is the gift of God,
not of works that any man should boast.
If you find a parable that illustrates
that manner of salvation,
it only enriches that doctrine, you understand?
It's like the cherry on top.
It's helping you to expand your understanding
of the scriptures.
For example, you know, you have the teaching
of sowing, that we have to open our mouths
boldly to make known the mysteries of the gospel.
We're out there sowing seeds
of salvation to people.
This parable that we see in Matthew 13
of the sower and the seed
expands the understanding of sowing
because it tells you what type of ground
that seed could potentially fall upon,
you understand?
So it's not meant to be used to teach sowing,
it's meant to enrich the teaching
of sowing, okay?
And so, parables should never be used
as a baseline for doctrine.
Parables enrich already established doctrines.
They should never be used
to explain clear teachings.
Excuse me, they should never be used
as a means to explain clear doctrines.
You use the clear doctrines
to basically teach people, and you use
parables to back that up, okay?
Number three, parables
often have layered applications, okay?
And this is where a lot of people
get confused because you often run into parables
where Jesus Christ is talking about
two types of servants.
And when we think of a servant of God,
we think of someone who's already saved, right?
But what people fail to understand is that
a lot of these parables have layers and layers
of applications,
and when it talks about two servants,
it's not necessarily talking about two believers.
It's referring to one believer and one who's not,
because the parable is of a master with two servants,
and basically, you could
apply to that as referring to a saved and an
unsafe person, okay?
So they have layered applications.
And here's the last thing that you need to know about parables
specifically in the book of Matthew,
is that many of the parables in the Gospels,
specifically in the book of Matthew,
are aimed against the Jews,
okay?
In order for you to have a good understanding of these parables,
you have to understand they're actually being directed
towards the Jews. In fact, many of the parables
at the latter end of the book of Matthew
are against Israel. They're against the Jews.
And if you could understand that
specific principle, a lot of
these parables are going to make sense, okay?
So you have these parables,
for example, let me give you some examples.
The parable of the old wine and the
new wine, okay? Or new
wine and old bottles.
This is referring to the two covenants, okay?
Referring to the old covenant
and the new covenant. And he specifically
puts forth that parable to
explain that the Jews, who
already are adhering to Judaism,
they're going to reject the new wine,
which is the new covenant, because they say the old
is better, you understand? So that parable
is being put forth not to show you how to drink
juice or something like that, not to
give you an understanding of where to put
juice into what bottle or whatever it may be.
It's not to help you to live a practical life
in juice consumption.
It's putting it forth to help you to understand
why is it that these Jews are rejecting
Jesus Christ? Why is it that
when he comes to his own, his own received him not?
I'll tell you why, because they say the old is better.
They're saying the old covenant is better, okay?
So that parable is being put forth
against the Jews.
You have the workers
in the vineyard, right?
Those who come at a latter time, it's referring
to the Gentiles, those who came first,
referring to the Jews, and the fact that
those who came at the end of the day
still received the same amount of wages
as those who came earlier in the day.
And that is also a picture of
Jews and Gentiles because of the fact that
you know, Gentiles, we received the gospel
later on, yet we still
received the same rewards,
we still received the same
inheritance as Jews who got saved in the
Old Testament, you understand?
So that works against the Jews as well.
You have the parable of the prodigal
son, for example, which is also a picture
of the Jew being the
eldest son who didn't leave, and then
the prodigal son who really pictures
the Gentiles, okay?
You have the parable of the husband-men
who killed the heir.
That's a parable against the Jews
as well, because of the fact that the Jews
killed Jesus, okay?
So a lot of these parables are put forth
and although they have a specific teaching
that he wants to get across,
many of them have a later
application that works against the Jews,
alright? So let's go through some of these parables.
First off, we're going to start in Matthew 13
and we're going to hop into Matthew 25
and explain some of these.
The first parable that we see here is the parable
of the sower and the seed.
And obviously, as I mentioned,
the reason he speaks forth in parables,
we can see that in verse 13, he says,
Therefore speak I to them in parables, because they
seeing see not, and hearing they hear not,
neither do they understand.
And he's referring to Jews there.
Now, let me make this disclaimer here
is that we as pastors should never speak in
parables, okay? Our job
is actually to make clear
the scriptures, you understand? We want to
put the cookie on the bottom shelf.
We're to speak plainly. We're to give understanding
of the scriptures. Jesus Christ specifically
did this for the Jews, okay?
He spoke in parables in order to confuse
them, in order to harden their
hearts even more, to have them
reject the truth as they already
did, okay? So the first one is pretty
simple. It's the sower and the seed. Verse 3
says, And he spake many things unto them in parables,
saying, Behold, the sower went forth to sow,
and he sowed some seeds, fell by the
wayside. The fowls came
and devoured them up. Some fell upon
stony places, where they had not much earth,
and forthwith they sprung up, because they
had no deepness of earth. And when the sun was up,
they were scorched, and because they had no root,
they withered away. And some fell
among thorns, and the thorns sprung up and
choked them, but others fell on good ground,
and brought forth fruit, some a hundredfold,
some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.
So this is a pretty basic teaching on
preaching the gospel, getting the word of God
out there, and he's basically
saying that when we preach God's word,
that seed is going to fall on
three, or excuse me, four different categories.
And this is a good parable
to help us to understand that
our labor is not in vain.
Because sometimes you can go out there sowing and you don't get
anybody saved, right? Haven't you had a time
when you go out there, you just have a dry spill,
people are kind of rejecting you, or
they're just not getting saved, they're not as receptive.
Well don't worry, that's why this parable exists
to teach us that when a seed goes
forth, sometimes it's going to fall on stony places,
on thorny places,
but sometimes you're going to get good ground.
You're going to reach someone who is actually
ready to receive the gospel, they're ready to
hear it, and they end up getting
saved. That one's pretty self-explanatory.
Look at verse 24. He says
another parable put he forth unto them,
saying, the kingdom of heaven is
likened unto a man which sowed good seeds
in a field, but while
men slept, his enemy
came and sowed tares among the
wheat, and went his way.
But when the blade was sprung up,
and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
So the servant of the householder came
and said unto him, Sir, didst not
thou sow good seed in thy field?
For whence then hath the tares?
He said unto them, An enemy hath
done this. The servant said unto them,
Wilt thou then that we go and gather
them up? But he said, Nay, lest
while ye gather up the tares,
ye root up also the wheat with
them. Let both grow together
until the harvest,
and in the time of harvest I will say unto the
reapers, Gather ye together first
the tares, bind them in
bundles to burn them, but gather
the wheat into my barn. Now,
at first glance you say
well that's a pretty self-explanatory parable.
But when you look at that you kind of think to
yourself, well when does this take place?
Because we see here that the bundles
are being gathered first to be burned.
Right? And then
the wheat is being gathered into the barn.
Well, if you look at
it just like that you think to yourself, well how does
that even fit? Because the harvest
when we look at the harvest
referring to the rapture
and when you look at Daniel
70th week that takes place
prior to Revelation
chapter 20 where people are gathered into
bundles and being cast into the lake of fire.
So it's just like, is this a contradiction
in the Bible? Oh man this parable is so
troubling. How can this
work? Well, first of all, chill out.
Right? Second
of all, this is very easily
explained and let me explain to you
what the timeline is of what's
taking place here. First and foremost
obviously we understand that the main harvest
is the rapture. Okay?
It's when, you know,
the dead in Christ shall rise first and we which are alive
and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds.
But hold on a second, even after
the rapture takes place there's people getting saved
during the wrath of God.
Okay? And there's people out there that don't believe
that. They're like, oh no one's going to get saved. It's the
wrath of God. He's hard in people's hearts.
Well then why are the 144,000 there
preaching the gospel? I mean I thought
the gospel is the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believe it. So
somehow the gospel loses its power
during the wrath of God.
I don't think so. Okay?
People are getting saved and in fact
there are testimonies,
if I'm not mistaken
in Revelation chapter 14
where the saved
remnant are glorifying God
during the wrath of God.
These are people who have gotten saved. Okay?
So even though there's a
harvest in Revelation chapter
7 where John sees
the great multitude which no man can number
folks there's going to be a harvest
also at the end of the wrath
of God going into the millennial
reign. You understand?
Because what about those saved people? You know it's like
oh not you guys. No there's a harvesting
of that as well. Okay?
I mean think about this.
And I've given this example before
that in the Old Testament
what they would do to
those who were poor, those who didn't have jobs
they would tell them to go glean
the corners of the field after
the main harvest had already taken place.
So you have the main harvest
that would harvest all the fruits and everything
but then God
instructed the owner and said
do not reap the corners of the field
because then the poor are going to come and harvest
those corners. Okay?
And I believe that's like a picture of what we're
going to see later on
you know after the wrath of God
or excuse me during the wrath of God, it's like the poor
going into the four corners of the earth.
The 144,000 are like the poor that are
gathering the remainder of the
harvest during the wrath of God.
Okay?
So then you have that taking place
and what do you have in Revelation chapter 20?
You have the great white throne judgment.
And let me say this, there's also a resurrection
of the just during that time as well.
Okay? Because people are dying during the wrath of God.
Not only that, but during the millennial reign
there's people who are dying.
Who are saved.
Okay? Because it's not just saved people
in the millennial reign, or excuse me
there's not just glorified people in the
millennial reign, there's people in the millennial reign
that are getting saved. Okay?
Because the gospel is being preached, people are getting
saved, but they're dying.
So the people who have died
during the millennial reign who are saved
will be resurrected
before the new heaven and the new earth.
The difference is this, is that Revelation
20 places a heavier emphasis
on the great white throne judgment,
the resurrection of the unjust.
You say, well it doesn't say though
the resurrection of the just. Yeah, but we can
conjecture that there is a resurrection of the just
as well because where are they?
You understand?
And so that fits perfectly
with this parable because it says in verse 30
let both grow together into the harvest
and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers
gather ye together first the tares
and bind them in bundles
to burn them, but gather
the wheat into my barn. Go to verse
40.
He says in verse 40
explaining this parable, as therefore
the tares are gathered and burned in the fire
so shall it be in the
end of the world.
Now let me explain something when the Bible
talks about the end of the world.
Okay? The end of the world, first of all
let me just say this is that we're in the end of the world.
According to the Bible. Because when you read the book
of Hebrews, it often talks
about the end of the world even though he wrote
it 2,000 years ago. You understand?
So that can be described as the end of the world.
But also
the rapture can be considered the
end of the world as well. Because that's when really
the world begins to end. But wouldn't we say also that
after the millennial reign is basically the
end of the world?
So there's all types of definitions you can add to
the end of the world in context
of end times Bible prophecy.
And we can really say that the
Great White Throne judgment is the end of the world
because that's the end of the line for people.
Right? That's when they're
cast into the lake of fire. And he says
and shall cast them into the furnace of fire
there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth
then shall the righteous shine forth
as the sun into the kingdom of their father
who hath ears to hear, let him
hear. So the way we can reconcile
this parable is by understanding
that there is going to be more
than one resurrection but the main resurrection
that's emphasized in the Bible is the rapture.
You understand?
But there has to be another resurrection because people
are dying during the millennial reign and they have to
resurrect sometime. You understand?
But the emphasis
is placed on the rapture's
resurrection which is the most important one
and it's the one that the most believers
are going to resurrect in because it's all believers
from the beginning of time up until
the rapture taking place.
You understand? And so that's how we
can explain the parable of the wheat
and the tares and this
also shows us
that, you know, we can put this in the context
of a church. Sometimes tares
are sown among the wheats
in a church.
Obviously this is talking about the world
but we know for a fact that it's
also referring to churches
because sometimes Satan will sow tares
among the wheat and mark it down.
Use this clip
ten years from now.
I guarantee you there's going to be a Judas
Iscariot that comes to our church.
There will be a wolf in sheep's
clothing and
we're not going to know, we're going to be totally
ignorant of it. It doesn't matter
how great your spidey senses
are or whatever.
Because I know there's people out there
they know every false prophet
every reprobate that exists. Folks
if the disciples who are the
apostles didn't know
neither do you.
There's a reason why it's called
wolves in sheep's clothing.
It's because they're deceiving
the congregation and so
I guarantee you there's going to be a Judas Iscariot
somewhere in our church one day in the future.
I mean there might be one here, I don't know.
I don't know.
But it's the natural
byproduct of this world of having a
church is that tares shall
be sown among the wheat.
So should we just go ahead and police
the entire church and just question everybody?
No, let them both grow up together the Bible says.
And eventually they'll expose themselves
because their folly shall be made manifest
according to 2 Timothy chapter 3.
And so
there's that one. Look at verse 31.
He says another parable put
he forth unto them saying the kingdom of heaven
is like to a grain of
mustard seed which a man
took and sowed in his field
which indeed is the least of all seeds
but when it is grown
it is the greatest among herbs
and becomet the tree so that the
birds of the air come and lodge
and the branches thereof.
So here we see the parable of the mustard
seed and the leaven. And you kind of wonder
what is this referring to?
How is it that the kingdom of heaven
liken unto a grain of mustard seed
and then it grows and becomes a tree?
What is this talking about? Well I estimate to you
that this is actually just referring to the resurrection.
Go to 1 Corinthians chapter
15 if you would.
1 Corinthians chapter 15.
Because he talks about
that mustard seed and
obviously we understand that you know often
Jesus Christ would use the example of a mustard
seed to compare it to faith but he's
saying that the kingdom of heaven is liken to a mustard seed
because you sow it into the ground
and when it comes out it comes out completely
different than when it came in.
You know when you sow a mustard
seed you're not going to get a giant mustard seed
coming out of the ground or something right?
Something completely different
comes out of the ground.
Now look what the Bible says in verse 35
of 1 Corinthians 15
it says, but some man will say
how are the dead raised up
and with what body do they come?
This sounds like an atheist right?
Where they try to reason away the scriptures.
Oh you guys believe in the resurrection and glorification?
Like how's it going to look then you know?
How does that happen if all kinds
of Christians are burned at the stake?
How is God going to gather all the ashes
and stuff? Because he's God.
You think it's impossible?
The Bible says in Revelation 20
that the sea gives up their dead.
So every
wicked person who died in the ocean
or they were cremated
in their ashes you know Tupac
spread his ashes over the ocean
or whatever. God's going to gather
all the ashes together
and the sea's going to give up their dead.
You know
burning someone or cremating
someone by the way I don't believe it's biblical
for Christians to do. It doesn't affect your salvation
at all. But burning someone
will not keep you from
the resurrection of the dead if you're unsaved.
God will put you together
and judge you
in like manner.
You say why should not we cremate? Isn't it cheaper?
Well I'll tell you why you shouldn't
cremate is because of the fact of what it pictures.
There's a reason why you should bury
a believer and there's a reason
why the heathen would burn their
dead. Because burning
signifies going to hell.
Burying signifies
that you are burying a seed
like a mustard seed
and it's going to come out again
one day. Look what it goes on to say.
But some man will say how are the dead raised up
and with what body do they come thou fool?
Thou which thou sowest
is not quick and excepted die.
And thou which thou sowest
thou sowest not that body that shall be
but bare grain.
It may chance of wheat or of some
other grain. But God
giveth it a body as it hath pleased
him and to every seed his
own body. All flesh is not the same
flesh. But there is one kind of flesh
of men, another flesh of beast,
another of fishes, another of birds.
There are also celestial bodies
and bodies terrestrial.
This isn't talking about aliens okay.
Talking about earthly bodies.
But the glory of the celestial
is one and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
What is he saying? When you get sown into the
ground you can't say
oh man so when I resurrect am I going to have a six pack?
Am I going to have
long luxurious hair?
Am I going to have that body I've always wanted?
Well no you're just going to
come out completely different.
Different like how though? I don't know.
It's the body that pleases him.
All we know is that the resurrected
body is completely different than the body
that went in. You understand?
It's like the mustard seed that is sown and
then a tree comes out where birds
are able to lodge in the branches
of the tree. Something completely different comes out.
And in fact it's so different from what
you have right now it's able to stand
before God.
Because the main element of the
resurrected body is that it's
perfect. Sinless.
Without defect.
Okay.
And so this is what the
parable of the mustard seed
is talking about. Go back to Matthew chapter 13.
This is why I encourage people you know.
I mean I don't encourage you like hey
bury your dead. But I'm saying like
when they ask I tell them
that's why we're supposed to bury our dead.
And I wouldn't
worry about the cost.
If I have family members
that die I will go into debt
if I have to to bury them
especially if they're saved.
Because it carries a special significance
to it. You understand?
And the significance is that I'm gonna
see them again. You know
when you burn a body
what happens is
you're never gonna see that person ever again.
It's like the thought that not even
the body will be there. That's the
idea there. Well that's the same thing when you
go to hell. People who go to hell
they're never coming back.
So what it is, again
let me make this disclaimer cause surely
someone will say
Oh are you saying that if I cremate I'm gonna
go to hell? No that's not what I'm saying because
I'm sure there's a bunch of people who are saved
who got cremated. I mean there's a bunch of
Christians who were burned at the stake.
Not because of their own choice right?
If you have a choice though you should
be buried because it signifies that
you will be resurrected one day.
And so
that is the parable. Actually go to
let me see here
go to Matthew 25 if you will. Matthew chapter 25.
Look at Matthew chapter
25 verse number 1.
This is the parable of the ten virgins.
And this is a parable
that a lot of people struggle with cause they're
kinda like man what is this really talking about?
There's so many elements found in this parable
that are kinda
confusing. What is this talking about?
Look at verse number 1. It says then shall the
kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins
which took their lamps and went
forth to meet the bridegroom.
And five of them were wise and five were
foolish. They that were foolish
took their lamps and took no oil
with them. But the wise took
oil in their vessels with their lamps
while the bridegroom tarried
they all slumbered and slept.
And at midnight there was a cry made behold
the bridegroom cometh go you out to
meet him. Then all those virgins
arose and trimmed their lamps.
Verse 8 and the foolish said unto the wise
give us of your oil for our lamps
are gone out. But the wise answered
saying not so lest
there be not enough for us and you
but go ye rather to them that
sell and buy for yourselves. And while
they went to buy the bridegroom came and
they that were ready went in with him
to the marriage and the door was shut.
Afterward came also the other virgins
saying Lord Lord open to us
but he answered and said verily verily I say unto you
I know you not. Watch
therefore for you know neither
the day nor the hour when the son of man
cometh for the kingdom of heaven is
as a man. We'll get into that parable later.
So what is this parable talking about regarding
the ten virgins? Well let me
explain a couple things here. As I mentioned before
a lot of these parables are against the Jews
and this is particularly one of them right here.
So what do we have here? Well let's look at the elements.
You have ten virgins
and he breaks them into two categories
five and five. Now why are they virgins?
Well virgins
obviously in the Bible is symbolic
it represents purity. It represents
being separated.
And what we're looking at here is
five virgins
and what this signifies are the Jews
and Gentiles who are saved.
How is that? Well
in the Old Testament the nation
of Israel was
considered a peculiar people. They were a
chosen people. They were a separated
people from the world unto their
God. You understand?
And in fact numerous times
God describes himself as to be a
husband-man or a
husband to the nation of Israel.
Okay? Well in the New Testament
it's the same thing with believers.
You understand? You know Paul
tells the church at Corinth that he has
espoused them unto one groom
referring to Jesus Christ. Okay?
So we have ten virgins
five are referring to Jews, five are
referring to believing Gentiles.
Look what it says. Which took their
lamps. Now let me ask you a question
Bible trivia. What is a lamp
referring to in the Bible?
What do we got?
What?
What is a lamp symbolic of in the Bible?
No.
What?
No.
Thy
word is a lamp unto my feet
and a light unto my path.
Right?
Well unto them are committed to the
oracles of God the Bible says.
So what do we see here? We see two groups
of people that are God's
people. They were God's people at one time.
They both have lamps. Why? Because
the Jews unto them are committed to the
oracles of God. They have the Old Testament
and we as New Testament Christians have the Bible.
So we both have lamps.
We're both separated unto the Lord.
We both have these things. He says
which took their lamps
and went forth to meet the bridegroom
and five of them are wise
and five were foolish.
They that were foolish took their
lamps, but look what it says, and took
no what? Oil
with them.
Now what is the main
determining difference between these two groups?
Well they're both virgins.
They both got lamps, but here's the difference.
One has oil, the other doesn't.
Now what does the oil symbolize?
Holy Spirit.
Or Christ being the anointed one.
Right? What does that mean?
They're saved.
So you have five who have the oil
meaning that they're saved
and five who do not have the oil
meaning that they are not saved or unregenerated
referring to the Jews.
Because they have the word of God.
Unto them were committed to the oracles of God.
Salvation comes from Israel
but yet what happens? He came into his own
and his own received him not. He's referring to
unsafe people.
He says but the wise took
oil in their vessels with their lamps
while the bridegroom tarried. They all
slumbered and slept. And at
midnight there was a cry made. Behold the bridegroom
cometh. Go ye out to meet him.
Then all those virgins rose trimming
their lamps and the foolish said unto the wise
give us of your oil for our lamps
are gone out. And that's exactly what
has happened to the Jews my friend.
Their lamp has been put out.
Why? Because they rejected
Jesus Christ.
And this is what the Bible or this is what
we would refer to as replacement
theology.
Some people call it covenant theology. I think
replacement theology sounds cooler.
It's referring to the fact that
believing people
people who are believers in Christ
have replaced the nation of Israel
as being God's chosen people.
The kingdom of God was taken from them and given
to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
You understand? And what is the determining
factor? Well the Gentiles believed
on Christ. That's it.
We're not better than them. We're just better
off. Why? Because we're saved.
We have Jesus Christ as our Savior.
Well they believe in the same God as we
do. No they don't. Not according
to the Bible. Because if they don't have
the Son they don't have the Father according to the Bible.
So they don't have this
free ticket where it's like well they
can reject Jesus Christ but they can believe in
Yahweh or something.
First of all we don't call God Yahweh.
He's known as
God. And if we really
want to get specific he is
Jesus Christ.
You see folks it doesn't matter if people say
well I believe in God I just
don't believe in Jesus Christ. Well then
you reject God.
No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. That's what Jesus said.
How is that?
You think the Jews are the exception to that rule?
No they're not.
You know if they want to
partake of the oil
they want to have oil in their
lamps. They want to
come over to this side of the ten virgins
well they have to trust Christ as their Savior.
And then the veil
shall be taken away from their hearts. They'll be able to
understand and know they will not be
messianic Jews either.
There's no such thing as a messianic Jew in the Bible.
In fact you know when
people get saved even if they're Jews there's
neither Jew nor Gentile they're just Christians.
And if you really want to get specific
they're actually real Jews. Did you know
you guys are actually
real Jews in comparison to the
Jews so called that are right now in Israel?
The Bible says for he is not
a Jew which is one outwardly neither is that
circumcision outward in the flesh but he is a
Jew which is one inwardly
and circumcision is that of the heart and of the Spirit
whose praise is not of man but of God.
So according to the Bible
we're actually real Jews.
That's what the Bible says. Why? Because we are
actually the people of God. And in fact
Galatians chapter 6 says that we are the Israel
of God.
And it's all based
upon the fact that we have believed
on Christ.
The Jews they dropped the ball
they chose not
first of all aside from the fact that they chose not
to preach the gospel not to be a light
in a dark world they decided
to reject
the King of Kings.
And not just reject them what did they do? They killed
them.
They killed them. And this is a
hard pill for a lot of Christians to swallow.
It's a hard pill to
swallow. It's one of those
large vitamin pills that are just
really thick and disgusting to taste.
That's how they view this teaching
but folks it's all over the Bible.
You can read it in Matthew
you can read it in Galatians chapter
3, Galatians chapter 4. You can
read it in Ephesians chapter 2. I mean
read Revelation 2 and 3.
You can read it in John chapter 8
verse 44. It's all over the
New Testament. The teaching
of replacement theology is not a parable.
This is a
parable. But this is the cherry on
top to the teaching that's already clear
in scripture. This is not
my interpretation.
No prophecy of the scripture is given of any private
interpretation. This is
something that is clearly shown. Now I will
say this is that there was a time that I didn't
believe this doctrine even though I read the Bible
many times. But
what causes someone not
to understand doctrines even though
they read the Bible many times? Preconceived ideas?
Preconceived ideas.
You read the Bible and you're just like you just kind
of breeze over it.
But you run into these Zionist Christians
and they're just like oh but hold on a second
I get what you're saying
but Romans 11
all Israel shall
be saved.
It's like well how does that make them God's chosen
people first and foremost?
How does that help anybody
how does that change the price in tea
in China? How does that
change Galatians 3 and 4?
How does that change John 8
44? So we just
take Romans 11 26
and just completely
ignore John 8 44 where
Jesus said ye are of your father the devil
and the lust of your father will
you do? He was a murderer from the beginning
and abode not of the truth for the truth is not in him
when he speaketh of the lie he speaketh of his own for he is
a liar and the father of it and he's speaking to
Jews. Let's just completely take that out
of the Bible. Should we do that? No. We have to reconcile
them folks.
The Bible doesn't contradict. We're not dispensationalists here.
You know what dispensationalists
do? They make the Bible contradict.
They will
literally say that Paul's Gospel is different from
Jesus' Gospel. Complete
contradiction. No folks we
take the Bible and reconcile it. That's what we
do. And there is reconciliation
in fact let me just say this
Romans 11 is a
terrible chapter for you to use to try to prove
Zionism. Romans 11
destroys Zionism.
Go to Romans 11.
It's always good to just brush
up on Romans 11 every once in a while.
Amen?
Because look folks you know I remember I was in Bible
college
and this pastor came in
to teach an intensive
and he was going to debunk the post trip
pre-Rapture and prove
that the Jews are God's chosen people and
you know he's
kowtowing to the Jews and all these things
and
he avoided
ever
all these passages of Scripture.
It's like what about Ephesians 2
what about Galatians 3 and 6
or Galatians 3, Galatians 3 and 4
what about Romans 2
Romans 10, Romans 9
what about all these others
what about what Jesus said? What about
Revelations 2 that they are the synagogue of Satan?
They would say they are Jews
and they are not but they are the synagogue of Satan.
And he's like just would not answer them.
What we like to do
is give us the Scriptures that you think
prove what your doctrine is and I'll explain to you
what that chapter is. I'm not going to avoid it.
I'm not going to be like this false prophet who
literally wanted to
disprove the post trip pre-Rapture
first Thessalonians chapter 4
and then skip chapter 5.
That's what he did.
He's like huh
preach the Bible? No way.
He literally just skipped chapter 5
because it demolishes
the pre-Trib Rapture.
Who would go through Romans 11?
No problem with that.
Look at what it says in verse 1
I say then
had God cast away his people
God forbid. That's it.
Dang they got us good.
It's kind of like
you guys ever seen that meme where people are like
the way people read the Bible in Matthew 7
Judge not that you be not judged
and then everything else is like scribbled out.
Judge not
that you be not judged
that you be not judged. Actually they'll say
Judge not lest you be judged.
And then just completely
forget the rest of the chapter.
Folks I mean there's a lot more
to it than that. The verse is not even done.
Had God cast away his people
God forbid for I
also am an Israelite of the seed of
Abraham of the tribe of Benjamin
God hath not cast away his people which he
foreknew. What you know what the scripture
sayeth of Elias how maketh
how he maketh intercessions to God against
Israel saying and we'll go on
in just a bit. But I want you to notice this.
He says had God cast away his people
no because I'm not cast away.
Well Paul is a
saved person.
And in fact look down at your
Bibles at verse number
15. Let's start in
14. If by any
means I may provoke to emulation them which are my
flesh and might save some of them. Look what it says in verse
15. For if the casting away
of them. Wait hold on a second
I thought they weren't cast away. Oh no
no the saved ones are not cast away.
But verse 15 says
for if the casting away of them
be the reconciling of the world.
Now let me ask you has the gospel gone on
to all the world? We can say
that the gospel much of the world has been
reconciled to God. Well in order for that to
happen according to this verse
the Jews have to be cast away.
Checkmate.
Let's keep
reading verse 2. God had not
cast away his people which he foreknew. By the way
in order for him to know you
you have to be saved. According to
Romans chapter 8.
What ye now with the scripture saith
of Elias referring to Elijah
how he maketh
intercessions to God against who?
Israel. Now hold on
a second isn't Elijah an Israelite?
But yet he's praying
against Israel.
Saying Lord they have
killed thy prophets and
dig down thine altars and I am left alone and
they seek my life. But
what saith the answer of God unto him? I
have reserved to myself seven thousand men who have
not bowed the knee to the image of Baal
even so then at this present time also
there is a remnant according to
the election of grace. So what he's saying is this
yeah of course God's not going to cast away the Jews
who are saved.
Peter's not cast away
Paul's not cast away
John is not cast away because they
are elect according to the election
of grace.
He says
in verse number six
and if by grace there is no more works otherwise
grace is no more grace but if it be of
works then there is no more grace otherwise
work is no more work. What then
look what it says here. Israel
hath not obtained that which he seeketh for
but the election hath
obtained it. Now folks
they say that the Jews are
the elect.
Is Paul like
someone needs to correct Paul here like
hey man you're kind of confusing here don't you know that the Jews
are God's elect. Why are you saying
that the election hath not that the election hath
obtained it but Israel is not. I'll tell you why because there are two
separate groups. Because Israel
is not the elect of God.
Because it says here that Israel has
not obtained that which he seeketh for
but hold on a second the election hath
obtained it proving the fact that the election
is a complete different group than Israel
according to the flesh.
Right?
What then Israel
hath not obtained that which he seeketh for but the election
hath obtained it and the rest were blinded
according as it is written God hath
given them who
Israel
the spirit of slumber eyes that they
should not see ears that they should not hear
unto this day. Now this next
verse is very
anti-Semitic.
And let me just say this people think they claim
we're anti-Semitic. Folks
there's no one more anti-Semitic according
to their definition than Jesus Christ
David
and the Apostle Paul.
Verse 9 says
and David
saith let their table
be made a snare.
Man.
A trap and a stumbling block
and a recompense unto them. Let their
eyes be darkened that they may not see
and bow down their back all way.
That's pretty rough.
And by the way go reference that where he
says that in the book of Psalms.
He says a lot more.
He says let them not be
written with the righteous.
Blot them out of the book of life
he says.
I haven't said that.
I
mean I agree with it because
it's in the Bible. David
said that.
Hold on a second isn't David part of Israel?
Yes he's an Israelite.
So who's he talking about?
Unsaved Israelites.
I say then verse 11 have they stumbled that
they should fall God forbid
but rather through their fall
salvation is coming to the Gentiles for provoke
them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them
be the riches of the world and the diminishing of them
the riches of the Gentiles
how much more their fullness. For I speak
to you Gentiles in as much as I am the apostle of the
Gentiles I magnify mine office
if by any means I may provoke to emulation
them which are my flesh it might save some of them.
So he has a heart for the Jews. He doesn't
want them to just all go
to hell because even
he says in chapter 9 chapter 10 that he wants them
to be saved. But folks we
can't force anybody to get saved.
For example we want our families to be
saved but if our families become God haters
we side with God.
Right?
He says in verse 15
for if the casting away of them be the reconciling
of the world what shall the receiving
of them be but life from
the dead. Now
people try to use this and say well see God's
going to receive them one day.
God's going to protect them. He's going to receive them.
Well it says life from the dead.
So that means they're dead.
So who is he talking about?
Dead Jews who are already saved.
Referring to the resurrection.
He says in verse
16 or let's get
down to the verse that they use here.
Where are we at here?
Go down to
verse 25 for I would not brethren that you
should be ignorant of this mystery lest you
should be wise in your own conceits that blindness
in part is happening to Israel until
the fullness of the Gentiles be come in
and so all Israel shall be saved
as it is written
there shall come at Zion the Deliverer and shall
turn away ungodliness from Jacob.
So they like using Romans 11
the first part of Romans 11 verse 1
and then Romans
11 26.
And that's it. That's their proof.
But hold on a second. It says all Israel shall be saved
when? When the fullness of the Gentiles be come
in. And when you study
what the fullness of the Gentiles is referring to
it's referring to the three and a half
years the second half
of Daniel's 70th week when the
Gentiles trod Jerusalem
underfoot for forty and two months.
And when the fullness of the
Gentiles be come in in other words once that
period is over the three and a half years
then they shall be received from the dead.
That's when they will inherit
the millennial reign.
All Israel shall be saved because Jesus Christ shall
descend with his armies
he will establish his millennial reign
and what? Then it's only
saved Israelites that will be in the millennial reign.
So don't hate
Jews.
Because there's some Jews out there that are saved.
There's Jews in heaven that are saved.
Right?
I mean we love saved Jews
because of the fact that they write some of the most
savage passages in the Bible.
You think you're savage.
You don't
can't compare
to some of this stuff that David wrote.
To what Paul wrote and these guys are
Jews.
You understand what I'm saying?
I mean folks I want to rub shoulders with David
when I get to the millennial reign.
All Israel shall be saved means
only saved Israelites will be
in the millennial reign.
Why? It says in verse 25
26 excuse me.
There shall come out of Zion the deliverer and shall
turn away ungodliness from
Jacob. What does that mean?
When the millennial reign, prior to the establishment
of the millennial reign you have the Battle of
Armageddon.
And God's going to remove unsaved Israelites
from Israel.
He's going to remove ungodliness from Jacob.
Jacob's referring to Israel.
He's going to remove all the unsaved
haters of God, Jews that are out there in Tel Aviv.
And only saved Jews
will remain.
And so
no this doesn't mean that
Jesus Christ is going to come in Revelation 19
and all these jerry-curled
Jews
sideburned jerry-curled Jews
are going to be
gesticulating and just say oy vey
and just believe
just because they see him.
That's a figment of your imagination.
That's not how anybody gets
saved. Oh I believe when they
see him. They didn't believe when he
first came. What do you mean?
He was here for three and a half
years and they rejected him
and in fact they wanted
to crucify him and you know what
the third time he comes
to set up his millennial reign
they're not going to try to crucify him. They're going to
go to war with him.
Think about that. We're talking about the Battle
of Armageddon. You think the Jews are going to be on the right
side?
Think again.
By the way a synonym
for saved is reserved.
Let me save you a seat.
It's referring to let me reserve a seat
for you. So when Elijah
said or God told Elijah
I've reserved unto myself seven
thousand prophets who have not bowed the need to bail.
He said I've saved seven thousand who have not
gotten into idolatry. These are
righteous people. Well in like manner
he says there's an election according
to the election of grace. There's a remnant
according to the election of grace now and there'll be
a remnant according to the election of grace
in the end times as well.
So this doesn't mean
that they're all going to get saved once they see
Jesus Christ. No they're going to
ask the rocks to fall on them.
They're going to ask the mountains
to fall upon them according to Revelation chapter 6.
And if they make it that far
to the very end of Daniel 70th week
they're going to go to war with him.
Because there'll be a strong delusion in sin thinking that they can win.
Go back to Matthew 25
if you would.
Just a little refresher on Romans 11.
Okay.
And
you know I get a little upset about it
because of the fact that I've heard so much stupid teaching
you know with these
pre-tribbers and dipsticks that
want to pervert Romans 11
into saying that that's the proof
text. And I'm telling you I talked to this one guy
and he
said
in fact he was actually the one who told
me that they were replaced.
But then he started like backtracking after a while
because you know in independent fundamental Baptist churches
once you start speaking against the Jews
it's like oh dude you're done.
You're ostracized.
They're the apple
of his eye!
This is what I say, the rotten apple
of his eye.
You know.
But I was telling this guy and I said
look this is what the Bible says
you told me this first and I
studied out more. Let me show you the
scriptures. This is what Jesus said.
And he's like, but brother
all those words should I be saved.
I'm like, et tu Brute?
You too?
Not you too!
Alright.
So that's the parable of the ten virgins.
Let's go look at one more parable.
Look at verse 31.
The separation of the sheep and goats.
It says when the son of man shall come
in his glory and all the holy
angels with him then shall
he sit upon the throne of his glory and before
him shall be gathered all nations
and he shall separate them
one from another as the shepherd
divided the sheep from the goats.
And he
shall set the sheep on his right hand
but the goats on the left.
Then shall the king say unto them on
his right hand come ye blessed
of my father inherit the
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world for I was an hungered
and he gave me meat
I was thirsty and he gave
me drink.
I was a stranger and he took me in
naked and he clothed me I was sick and he
visited me I was in prison and he came unto me
then shall the righteous answer him
saying Lord when saw we thee
and hungered and fed thee or thirsty
and gave thee drink when saw
we thee a stranger and took thee in or
naked and clothed thee and when saw we
thee sick or in prison and
came to thee and the king shall answer and say unto them
verily I say unto you in as much as ye have done
it unto one of the least of these my brethren
ye have done it unto me. Now this is a
pretty obscure parable here okay
and it can get a little confusing
because of the fact that he says
to them because they've done
these things they shall inherit
the kingdom of heaven okay
kingdom of God. And
you can see how false prophets would try to use this to
say well that's why you got to go feed the poor
got to feed the poor you got to
like do good works because this is how you
inherit the kingdom of God right
and you know
you say why does it have to be worded that way
though well I'll tell you why you know
God gives these false prophets enough rope to hang
themselves with
okay because wicked people who want
to pervert the Bible
they're going to pervert it no matter what
so he just gives them a little slack to do so
righteous people
even if they don't understand it they're not going to say oh yeah
salvation is by works you understand
and let me just give you a word of advice
when you're reading the Bible and you come across
something you don't understand just believe it obviously
and say you know I'll come back to it later
you guys remember the SAT scores
or the SAT exams
I remember they used to say if you come across
something that you don't know just skip it for now
and come back to it later just
just move on well that's kind of how you're supposed to read the Bible
when you read the word of God don't get stuck
on one thing and say man I can't understand this
I'm not going to keep reading until I understand
this passage of scripture no just skip it
move on and you'll understand it later
okay so what is this
what is this talking about
well it's not saying that you
have to feed the poor clothe the naked
in order to inherit the kingdom
of God and
how do we know that well this is how we know
because of the fact that what group is he talking
to the sheep
so the question is
do I have to do these works
in order to inherit the kingdom of God
the question is how do I become a sheep
because he's addressing
the sheep
he's saying to the righteous
which are the sheep of God
this is you get this
you're going to inherit the kingdom of God because you've done these things
but you've got to understand that he's talking to
sheep and sheep in the Bible
are synonymous with God's people
okay you say well
you know that's a stretch well think about this
in Revelation chapter 2
at the latter end of Revelation chapter 2
Jesus Christ
when he's addressing the seven churches which are in Asia
he says this
to him that overcometh and keepeth
my works until the end
the same will I give power unto the nations
and he shall rule them with the rod of iron
now let me ask you a question
do you have to keep the works until the end to be saved
no
what is that scripture talking about
it's saying the group who are overcomers
referring to saved people
if they keep the works until the end
they shall rule the nations with the rod of iron
so let me ask you this
what do you have to do to rule with the rod of iron
well you have to keep the works until the end
okay
and what do you have to do to do works
that will be worthy of that
well you have to be an overcomer
and what does it mean to overcome
well it means to believe on Jesus Christ
it's like this when the Bible says he that believeth and is what
baptized shall be saved
and he that believeth not shall be damned
so it's not saying you have to be baptized in order to be saved
it's just saying those who are baptized
and yeah even if they're
those who are saved and yeah if they get baptized
they're going to have eternal life
but obviously if they choose not to believe
they're going to go to hell
so what this passage of scripture is telling us
it's not telling us that you have to do these works
in order to inherit heaven
it's saying that this particular group
referring to saved people known as sheep
if they do these works
they will inherit the kingdom of God
now let me say this
when the Bible talks about inheriting the kingdom of God
it can be talking about literally eternal life
or it can also just be talking about
inheriting the things in the kingdom of God
okay
and let me prove that to you
in Romans chapter 8 it says that we are heirs of God
and joint heirs with Christ
if so be that we suffer with him
so in order to be heirs of God
we have to be joint heirs of Jesus Christ
but in order to be joint heirs with Jesus Christ
we have to do some works
we have to suffer with him
we have to win people to Christ
there's something else that we have to do
so the group that is being spoken of
in Matthew chapter 25
the sheep are not just saved people
they're saved people who did some works
you understand
I mean look folks when you talk about rewards and everything
you know you're going to talk about
he's going to highlight the people who are actually doing great works
a lot of the Bible
is just highlighting people who actually did great exploits for the Lord
you understand
and so he's not saying
in this parable you have to feed the poor
and clothe the naked
and visit those who are in prison
in order to have eternal life
that's false
because it doesn't match up with the rest of scripture
that would be contradictory to the rest of scripture
what this is saying is that the sheep
who have already believed on Jesus Christ
when they do these things shall inherit
the things in the kingdom of God
that's what that's talking about there
and likewise he says
in verse number
41
then shall he say also unto them on the left
depart from me
cursed into everlasting fire
prepared for the devil
and his angels
and of course he goes through that same discourse right there
that he said to those who were actually saved
and he's basically telling look he's not saying
you're going to hell because you didn't do these things
because they're goats
they're not going to hell because they didn't feed the poor
they're going to hell because they're goats
you got to look at the group
that he's speaking to
you understand
and so why are these parables
written in such a way that they're so obscure
well for one
again like I mentioned it gives more slack
to the false prophets to hang themselves with
but also too it helps us to study
and look folks you know
when you come across a passage of scripture
that's a little difficult to understand
skip it but you should study it
we should never have this attitude of
well I'm just stupid I just don't know anything
I'm just going to stick to like the basic stuff
no dig deep
hey pray
meditate upon the word of God
ask God for understanding and you'd be surprised
if you just ask the Lord Lord please give me
understanding of what this means
open down mine eyes that I may
behold wondrous things out of thy law
God will give you the understanding of God's word
it's not something he's trying to hide from us
it's something he wants to reveal to us
but he wants us to ask him
for that understanding the spirit of understanding
to enlighten us to understand the word of God
let's not be an ignorant people
let's not be afraid of certain passages
of the bible
I love using the bible
any part of the bible why not
you know you put me
you pin me against a dispensationalist
you know and they're just like well let's just
stick to the new testament the epistles of Paul
okay I'll destroy you with the epistles of Paul
I'm all for every part of the bible
cause all the bible all scripture is given by
inspiration of God
it's profitable for doctrine for proof of correction
instruction and righteousness I'm for all the word of God
there's not a passage in the bible that we should
avoid
that's what I'm saying
cause the word of the Lord is pure and so
you know these parables are a little difficult to understand
but just know this is that we should
not
base our doctrine off of these parables
these parables should be used to enrich
doctrines that are already established
Amen? Let's pray. Father we thank you so much
for your word thank you for the parables Lord
that are supplements to
already established doctrines I pray that you'd
help us and give us understanding of them
and increase our faith as we study
the word of God in Jesus name we pray Amen
Song number 429
Hark the Herald Angels Sing
Song number 429
All the other on that first verse
Hark the Herald Angels Sing
Glory to the newborn king
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and seers reconciled
Joyful all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With angelic hopes proclaimed
Christ is born in Bethlehem
Hark the Herald Angels Sing
Glory to the newborn king
Christ by highest heaven adored
Christ the everlasting Lord
Late in time behold Him come
Offspring of a virgin's womb
Veiled in flesh the God has seen
Hail incarnate deity
Pleasance met with men to dwell
Jesus our Emmanuel
Hark the Herald Angels Sing
Glory to the newborn king
Hail the God of hosts
Hark the Herald Angels Sing
Glory to the newborn king
Hail the heaven born prince of peace
Hail the son of righteousness
Light and life to all he brings
Risen with healing in his wings
While he lays his glory high
Praise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark the Herald Angels Sing
Glory to the newborn king
Come desire of patience come
It's in us thy humble home
Rise now home its conquering sea
Bruise in us the serpent's head
Adam's likeness now we face
Stamp thine image in its place
Send Adam from above
Reinstate us in thy love
Hark the Herald Angels Sing
Glory to the newborn king
Amen. Wonderful singing. You are dismissed.