LutheranLectionary.org

Series B – Third Sunday of Pentecost – Sunday, June 13, 2021 | Pr. Chris Rosebrough

Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Kongsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of Northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone, and now, here’s a message from Pastor Chris Rosebrough:

Time Stamp	Transcript
0:23	The holy gospel according to saint mark
0:30	the 4th chapter [Music]
0:39	Jesus said the kingdom of god is is as if a man should scatter seed on the
0:44	ground he sleeps he rises night and day and the seed sprouts and grows
0:50	he knows not how the earth produces by itself first the blade then the ear then the full grain in the air
0:56	but when the grain is ripe at once he puts in the sickle because the harvest has come and he said with what can we compare the
1:02	kingdom of god or what parable shall we use for it it is like a grain of mustard seed which
1:07	when sown on the ground is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth yet when it is sown it grows up and
1:13	becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches so that the birds of the air can make nests in its
1:19	shade with many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it
1:24	he did not speak to them without a parable but privately to his own disciples he explained
1:29	everything this is the gospel of the lord in the name of Jesus all right i love
1:36	these pentecost texts because they give me the opportunity to kind of weave in some themes from other passages well since
1:43	we’re it’s the summer time and today we’re not having communion we’ll do a little bit of bible study right
1:48	so i mean when you look at our old testament text this is kind of weird what do we make of
1:54	this a sprig taken from the top of a cedar tree and then finding one little portion of it
2:00	and planting it on a mountain and it filling the earth what’s that all about and then you have these parables Jesus talks about seeds
2:07	and the farmers plant the seeds they don’t have any idea how it works they just plop them in the ground water
2:13	come from the rain comes and next thing you know things are growing right they have no idea how this all works well what is that referring to and then
2:19	you have Jesus talking about this mustard seed thing right a mustard seed tiny little thing
2:25	planted in the ground it grows up and then next thing you know you have a large mustard plant
2:30	i haven’t seen a mustard plant now that i think about it but apparently it’s large enough the birds can rest in its shade and make nests and
2:36	things like that what’s that all about well if you’re saying well it has
2:41	something to do with Jesus well then i think that maybe just maybe i’ve catechized you well because always the
2:47	answer is Jesus but i thought it’d be kind of fun because the themes in these texts our old testament text and our gospel
2:54	text are the exact same themes that we see in the book of daniel chapter 2.
2:59	now we’re all familiar with daniel chapter 3 the story of shadrach meshach and abednego but in chapter 2
3:06	we learn if you want to turn in your bible and follow along in daniel chapter 2 well we learn what is happening to daniel and
3:13	his three friends who have all been renamed according to babylonian words babylonian concepts
3:20	according to the false deities of babylon but they’re all working for the king even though they are in exile
3:26	they’ve been taken out of judah and brought to babylon and we learn and i’ll kind of put this
3:32	bluntly uh nebuchadnezzar nobody can accuse him of being reasonable
3:37	all right this is one fellow that you would be slandering him if you say that he behaves in a way that’s sane and
3:43	logical and even tempered according to wisdom and things like this far from it nebuchadnezzar is one of
3:50	these fellows who is very tyrannical but at the same time he has been given a very important job we learn from god
3:58	himself so in this text we’ll we’ll read through here we’ll note that this dream that nebuchadnezzar
4:05	has gives us some keys to unlocking what’s going on in ezekiel as well as in Jesus’s
4:12	text that we read in mark chapter four so it says this in daniel chapter two in the second year of the
4:17	reign of nebuchadnezzar nebuchadnezzar had dreams his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him and then the king commanded
4:24	that the magicians the enchanters the sorcerers and the chaldeans and boy with the list
4:29	like that i want to add and and the false prophets from bethel and reading and things like that but they’re not
4:34	really listed in here that’s a different story so the chaldeans that they’d be summoned to tell the king his dreams
4:41	note that their task is to tell nebuchadnezzar what he dreamt
4:47	i i can’t read minds can you read minds i can’t read minds no so the king said to them i had a dream
4:54	it’s kind of fascinating that uh long before martin luther king jr said i have a dream
4:59	nebuchadnezzar said i had a dream so you know it’s kind of fascinating we have to attribute this way of
5:05	thinking to him i guess so king said i had a dream my spirit is troubled to know the dream
5:10	so the chaldeans said to the king in aramaic o king may you live forever tell your servants the dream we’ll show
5:16	you the interpretation so the king answered and said to the chaldeans the word for me is firm
5:23	if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation you shall be torn
5:30	limb from limb and your houses shall be laid in ruins
5:35	say what now come again excuse me um we have to tell you the dream or you’re
5:40	going to kill us and kill us in a horrible way torn limb from lin this doesn’t sound like a good
5:46	way to perish it sounds rather painful and awful right so
5:52	they said if you if you show the dream and its interpretation but he goes on he says if you show me
5:58	the dream in its interpretation you will receive gifts and rewards and great honor therefore show me the dream and its
6:04	interpretation well most people who are sane would basically say listen you can offer us
6:09	all the gold in the world that doesn’t make it possible for us to understand what’s going on inside of your head or the dream that you had last night so
6:16	they answered a second time well let the king tell his servants the dream
6:22	and we’ll show you its interpretation so the king answered says i know with
6:27	certainty that you are trying to gain time because you see that the word for me is firm if you do not make the dream known to me
6:33	there is but one sentence for you you have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me
6:39	till the time changes therefore tell me the dream and i shall know that you can show me
6:44	its interpretation apparently nebuchadnezzar doesn’t trust anybody so the chaldeans answered the
6:49	king and said there’s not a man on earth who can meet the king’s demand for no great and powerful king has
6:56	asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or chaldean the thing that the king asks is
7:02	difficult and no one can show it to the king except for the gods whose dwelling is not with flesh now
7:09	funny enough they’re kind of right if the issue is is that they use the word plural you know
7:14	gods there are there are not gods plural there’s only one god singular
7:20	and what they’ve said then is true that only god can reveal to nebuchadnezzar what his dream was and
7:27	its interpretation well the thing is is that these magicians these enchanters these sorcerers and
7:34	chaldeans don’t worship the one true god they they’re they’re idolaters they’re
7:40	in the dark they’re under the dominion of darkness so nebuchadnezzar who cannot be accused
7:45	of being reasonable because of this the king was angry he was furious and he commanded that all the wise men
7:53	of babylon be destroyed well that’s one way to get rid of the bureaucrats just wipe them all out
7:58	[Laughter] and everybody said amen right
8:04	but this would leave a political vacuum and there would still need to be work done this is not exactly what we call a wise decision
8:11	this is quite rash on his part but again nebuchadnezzar can’t be accused of being
8:17	well anything close to being reasonable and so his decision was made in rage so the decree
8:22	went out the wise men were all about to be killed and they sought daniel and his
8:28	companions they happened to be part of that bigger group and of course they’ve done nothing wrong and they were sent to kill them as
8:35	well so daniel replied with prudence and with discretion to aryak the captain of the king’s guard
8:41	who had gone out to kill the wise men of babylon and he declared to aryak the king’s captain
8:46	why is the decree of the king so urgent then ariak made the matter known to
8:52	daniel and daniel went in and he requested of the king to appoint him a time
8:58	that he might show the interpretation of the king and you can see him going and talking to nebuchadnezzar who’s still in
9:05	a rage and saying give us just a little bit of time i think we can sort this out but no sooner does daniel leave the
9:11	king’s presence you can just see him hoofing it back to his house and rounding up his friends who have
9:16	been renamed shadrach meshach and abednego but their jewish names are hananiah mishael
9:22	and you can see him just going we are in deep trouble guys pray and that’s what he does so daniel
9:29	went to his house and he made the matter known to hananiah mishael and azariah and he told them seek mercy
9:37	from the god of heaven seek mercy we’re going to die tomorrow if we don’t if god doesn’t answer our prayers so
9:44	seek his mercy oh these are good words for us by the way we need to also seek the mercy of
9:49	god because the ruler of this age the devil he’s a terrible tyrant nobody can accuse
9:56	him of being reasonable and we were born under his dominion we were born doing his deeds and believing his lies
10:04	so we need to seek mercy from the god of heaven as well but daniel said seek mercy from the god
10:09	of heaven concerning this mystery so that daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the
10:14	wise men of babylon so then the mystery was revealed to daniel in a vision of the night
10:21	and then daniel blessed the god of heaven and daniel answered and said and you’re going to know this is a good thing
10:26	when god answers your prayers and he does and don’t ever think that you are not in
10:32	dire need from god because you are we pray daily give us this day our daily bread
10:37	and you know what god answers that prayer and so we thank god when we gather around our dinner tables we thank
10:43	god for the meal that we are about to receive and we have to recommend we have to
10:48	always recognize that there isn’t a single day in your life when you are not in need from god
10:56	you and i we are dependent beings it just so happens that the dependence that daniel and hananiah
11:04	and mishael and azariah felt that day was well a pressing dire need because
11:09	they were about to perish if god didn’t answer their prayers and god did and so what does daniel do he thanks god
11:16	and this is what we read next so blessed be the name of god forever and ever to whom belong wisdom and might he
11:23	changes times and he changes seasons he removes kings and sets up kings he gives wisdom
11:28	to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding he reveals deep and hidden things he
11:33	knows what is in the darkness and the light dwells with him to you o god of my fathers i give you
11:41	thanks and praise for you have given me wisdom and might you have made known to me what we asked
11:46	of you for you have made known to us the king’s matter therefore daniel went to ariak whom the
11:54	king had appointed to destroy the wise men of babylon he went and he said thus to him do not
12:00	destroy the wise men of babylon bring me in before the king and i will show the king the interpretation
12:06	so then ariak brought in daniel before the king in haste and said thus to him i have
12:12	found among the exiles from judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation
12:17	so the king declared to daniel whose name was belchesar that’s a name given to him by nebuchadnezzar
12:23	and the king declared to daniel are you able to make known to me the dream that i have seen
12:29	and its interpretation pay attention to his answer pay attention because daniel is a man
12:35	who is humble and we all have something to learn from a man like daniel daniel answered the king and said no
12:41	wise men enchanters magician or astrologers can show the king the mystery that the king has asked
12:47	but there is a god in heaven who reveals mysteries and he has made known to king
12:52	nebuchadnezzar what will be in the light in the later days your dream and the visions of your head
12:58	as you lay in your bed are these to you o king as you lay in bed came
13:03	thoughts of what will be after this and he who reveals mysteries made known to you
13:08	what is to be as for me this mystery has been revealed to me not because of any wisdom that i have
13:15	more than all the living but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king
13:21	and that you may know the thoughts of your mind so daniel humbly basically says nope
13:26	i don’t know the answer but god is the one who has revealed this mystery to you and god wills for you to know what this
13:32	mystery is all about so that you may know the thoughts of your very mind so he continues
13:38	you saw o king and behold a great image this image mighty
13:45	and of exceeding brightness stood before you and its appearance was frightening
13:52	and so now we get the details and we’re going to learn that he saw an image that was made of multiple types of
13:58	metals and then also a little bit of clay and iron the top part of it gold the chest silver then
14:05	bronze and iron and then the last bit mixed with iron and clay all of this a picture of a highlight
14:13	reel if you would of the empires of the world starting with the babylonian empire
14:19	coming down to the persian empire then to alexander the great’s greek empire and then the iron the roman
14:26	empire and then the last of days the final empire of the earth
14:32	comprised of multiple kings and it’s described in this way and so you’ll note that the words used
14:39	regarding this image were its appearance was frightening
14:45	have you ever stopped to think that you know there’s something just off in the world i mean covid and the pandemic and the
14:52	way the governments of the world have handled themselves or mishandled themselves has alerted us to the fact that
14:57	oftentimes we human beings are not being paranoid when we have a little bit of fear and trepidation when
15:03	it comes to our governments because we ourselves know our own sinfulness
15:09	and our own proclivity to oppress to harm to hurt and rather than engage
15:15	in justice but to engage in injustice and we ourselves know from human history
15:20	that despite the fact that god has established earthly kingdoms for the purpose of punishing the evildoers
15:26	that’s their function that’s their mission that many times well kingdoms and empires go
15:33	rogue and rather than punish the evil doers they punish those who are doing good those who believe the
15:40	truth those who trust in Christ you know i always again point out
15:45	the the martyrs the soviet union of china today those under the
15:51	oppression of islam then we consider even in our own day Christians are being persecuted
15:57	subtly at the moment within our own culture but things are ramping up and so we’ll
16:04	note that frightening are the is this image is a good way to describe it
16:10	but Jesus Christ is not somebody whom we need to be afraid of he’s not an oppressor he’s a true
16:17	liberator and you can see the difference when we just do the contrasting work
16:22	so it says then the head of the image was a fine gold its chest and arms of
16:28	silver its middle and thighs were made of bronze its legs of iron its feet partly of clay
16:34	and as you looked a stone was cut out by no human hand and it struck the image on
16:40	its feet of iron and clay and it’s this weird thing out of nowhere comes the stone
16:45	not cut by human hands and it strikes this image on its feet of iron and clay
16:52	broke them in pieces the iron and the clay and the bronze and the silver and the gold all together were broken in pieces and
17:00	became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors and the wind carried them away
17:05	so that not a trace of them could be found but the stone that struck the image became a great mountain
17:12	and filled the whole earth what’s this stone let me ask the
17:19	question again who’s the stone right that’s the right question who’s the stone and you can see
17:24	here there’s a connection thematically in the scriptures here of Christ
17:29	so here’s the interpretation this was the dream now we will tell the king its interpretation daniel says you o king
17:36	the king of kings to whom god the god of heaven has given the kingdom the power and the might and the
17:42	glory note it is god who establishes earthly kingdoms both in the old and the new testament
17:48	he’s the one who’s given you this glorious kingdom and into whose hand he has given
17:53	wherever they dwell the children of man the beasts of the field the birds of the heavens making you rule over them you are the
18:00	head of gold another kingdom though inferior to you shall arise after you
18:05	and yet a third kingdom of bronze so the inferior kingdom of silver is the persian empire the bronze is that
18:12	of alexander the great and it shall rule over the earth and there shall be a fourth kingdom
18:17	strong as iron because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things like iron
18:22	that crushes it shall break and crush all of these this is referring to the roman empire and as you saw the feet and the toes
18:30	partly of potter’s clay partly of iron it shall be a divided kingdom but some of the firmness of the
18:36	iron shall be in it just as you saw iron mixed with that of soft clay and this is talking about well the
18:42	kingdoms of the earth in the latter days note that it’s mixed with iron have you
18:47	ever stopped to think that the republic we live in here in the united states just do your history
18:53	oh our founding fathers were big fans of the roman empire in fact classical architecture all of
19:00	that was intentional because it was an homage to well the old roman empire here in our
19:06	republic we have pieces bits and pieces of roman jurisprudence woven into our constitution and basic concepts
19:13	that were a part of the roman empire interwoven into well this soft clay kind of thingy
19:20	so you’ll note that uh yeah you smell that yeah we have the whiff of iron here in the united states
19:26	and also of clay but this is a phenomenon that is spreading around the world so he’s describing the earthly
19:33	kingdoms in the last days that have just that width of iron of the old roman empire
19:39	and there shall be a fourth kingdom strong iron because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things we read that part and so the and as you
19:46	saw the feet and the toes partly a potter’s clay partly of iron it shall be a divided kingdom
19:52	some of the firmness of iron shall be in it just as you saw iron mixed with soft clay and as the toes of the feet were partly
19:59	iron and partly clay so the kingdom shall be partly strong partly brittle and as you saw the iron mixed with soft
20:05	place so they will mix with one another in marriage but they will not hold together just as iron does not mix with
20:10	clay and in those days in the days of those kings plural the god of heaven
20:18	will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed nor shall the kingdom be left to another
20:24	people it shall break in pieces all of these kingdoms and bring them to an end
20:31	and it shall stand forever ah we’re talking about the kingdom of
20:37	god now presently the kingdom of god where can you point to it where is it here on planet earth i
20:43	look high and low i’ve searched around the world for it every time i’ve flown over other countries i’ve looked out the
20:49	window to see if i could see the kingdom of god alas there’s not a single nation on
20:55	earth that we can call the kingdom of god is there and every earthly kingdom has been
21:00	delusional enough to think that it’s that it is the kingdom of god has engaged in all kinds of horrible atrocities uh the kingdom of
21:07	god is among us now so he goes on just as you saw the stone
21:13	that was cut from the mountain by no human hand it broke in pieces the iron the bronze the clay the silver
21:18	a great god has made known to the king what shall be after this the dream is certain interpretation is
21:25	sure then king nebuchadnezzar he fell on his face and he paid homage to daniel
21:30	and commanded that an offering and incense be offered up to him
21:36	nebuchadnezzar has failed his first lesson in catechism class okay first commandment is you’ll have no
21:42	other gods before me and you do not worship or make sacrifices to human beings
21:47	he’s got a long way to go but he’s well on his way god is instructing him and bringing him to repentance and if
21:53	you read a head in the book of daniel you’ll find the nebuchadnezzar has written a letter to you into i
21:59	proclaiming that yahweh is the only god so he’ll eventually pass his catechism
22:05	class but right now he’s a newbie there’s some things that he’s got to learn
22:11	but the king answered and said to daniel truly your god is god of gods lord of kings and a revealer of
22:18	mysteries doesn’t quite have the right cadence to it but he’s getting in the ballpark
22:23	for you have been able to reveal this mystery then the king gave daniel high honors many great gifts made him ruler over the
22:29	whole province of babylon chief prefect over the wise men of babylon daniel made a request of the
22:35	king and he appointed shadrach meshach and abednego over the affairs of the province of babylon
22:40	but daniel remained at the king’s court so we started off with a sprig from a
22:47	cedar talked about seeds that grow all by themselves talked about a mustard seed and now we’ve got a
22:53	stone that comes and smashes an image and grows into a mighty mountain what is this all about you’ll note that
22:59	god often times talks in symbols like this Christ is speaking in parables and his
23:04	will is for you to unpack these things and to understand how they connect to him
23:10	so if we look at our old testament text we read thus says yahweh elohim i myself will
23:17	take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and i will set it out i will break off from the top most of it it’s young
23:23	twigs a tender twig and i myself will plant it on a high
23:28	and lofty mountain what are we going to make of that how do we unpack this twig that came
23:35	from this sprig well i would note that the interpretive key is found in these words at the
23:40	bottom of verse 24 the dry tree will flourish
23:48	what is this twig that god’s gonna plant in a high mountain well i would like to postulate could it not be
23:55	the cross didn’t god plant the cross at the top of mount moriah in zion
24:03	indeed he did and so you’ll note that here’s a prophecy regarding an important feature that the
24:10	dry tree that god will cause to flourish is none other than the dry wood of the cross itself and
24:17	that god himself planted it on mount moriah and from that tree that tree that sprig that
24:23	despised ugly dry thing god is creating and pulling together a kingdom
24:32	a kingdom that will fill the earth so that it says this
24:38	on the mountain height of israel i will plant it that it may bear branches produce fruit
24:44	and become a noble cedar under it will dwell every kind of bird in the shade of its branches
24:50	birds of every sort there will nest and all the trees of the field shall know that i am yahweh i bring low the high tree make
24:57	high the low tree dry up the green tree but i make the dry tree flourish i am yahweh i have spoken
25:03	it and here we can see that imagery of little birds have you ever noticed that birds are not exactly keen to come and
25:10	chat with you and sit on your finger and talk to you about how what they’re up to you know the only way we can generally
25:16	talk to the birds is if they’re stupid enough to fly into our windows and they’re stunned and then we can pick them up and
25:21	pray that they don’t perish because of the because of the wounds right but otherwise you walk outside
25:26	and you know just as you’re opening the door you can hear all the birds squawking and as soon as you walk outside it goes
25:31	down like this and you can see the birds just flying off there’s this cardinal this female
25:36	cardinal that lives in our yard and every time i see her i say hello there and she goes
25:44	right but she’s cute one of these days i’ll
25:50	get a photo of her hopefully but the point is this that
25:56	birds resting in the shade of the branches and the tree they only do this in places that where
26:01	there is no fear that they’re not afraid that they actually feel some safety and security
26:08	and so here we have a picture of the kingdom of god and who are these little birds it’s you it’s me we’re these little
26:15	birds and in the kingdom of Christ we have nothing to fear like we have to fear from the
26:20	empires of men we have nothing to fear in Christ because we are invited to rest in the shade of his
26:27	kingdom and all of that being said i would note this then that Christ is currently building a
26:33	kingdom and he’s bringing citizens into this kingdom that he is creating
26:38	and the funny thing about this kingdom is that every single citizen of this kingdom in the
26:45	first generation after the return of Christ and the establishing of this kingdom every single one of them are forgiven
26:53	apostate rebels you think back to the american civil war
26:58	right and always the question is how do you take the south and
27:03	bring them back into the union because they they were rebels and
27:09	shouldn’t they all be hung from a tree well that’s technically what they all deserved for their
27:14	treasonous actions against the united states but i think abraham lincoln was pretty wise he wanted a very simple way for
27:22	them to be reconciled and brought back in and seen as brothers
27:27	but even greater than that we have participated in the rebellion of the devil himself we have sinned grievously
27:33	against god we have exalted ourselves above god and made ourselves into our own deities
27:40	we have worshipped those things that are false and we have deserved the same punishment as the
27:46	devil himself but Christ has seen fit in his great love and mercy to pardon us because he went to the
27:54	cross he bled and died for our sins he died on the tree that was dry
27:59	and dead and he’s taken his cross and he has made it into a glorious
28:05	flourishing tree one of the branches of that tree extends all the way out here to kung’s finger
28:12	and we are all resting in the shade of that tree in the shade of Christ
28:19	and it’s with this we consider the words of our lord from our gospel text the kingdom of god is if a man should
28:25	scatter seed on the ground he sleeps he rises night and day the seed sprouts and grows and he knows
28:31	not how it kind of ignorance is bliss i mean i have no idea how seeds work
28:36	i have no idea how that works how does the seed know that it’s been planted in the ground and why does it start growing when when you
28:42	do plant it in the ground i don’t know i can’t even explain how my diesel truck works okay i really don’t understand the
28:48	finer points of how a combustion engine works and i don’t need to know i’m just glad it works and
28:54	that kingdom of god is a lot like that if you’ve ever heard somebody say i’ve got the secret formula the
29:00	franchise turnkey methodology on how to cause the church to grow
29:06	i don’t believe that person all right i don’t know how the kingdom of god grows in fact one of the things i’ve
29:12	noticed over the years here at kungsfinger is that it’s always intrigued me who
29:18	the gospel attracts to come here to be fed the word of god
29:23	there’s a lot of new faces here how did this church grow i don’t know because i’ll tell you i
29:28	just do the same thing every single week i preach the word and every other week
29:34	we administer the sacraments we pray we have our fellowship time together
29:39	i mean it all seems kind of humble and ordinary if you think about it and yet the
29:45	kingdom of god is growing so what do i what am i going to do next week well the same thing i’m doing this week
29:51	you know we’ll sing some hymns we’ll hear the word of Christ law and gospel sin and grace we’ll hear
29:58	that our sins are forgiven we’ll pray we’ll have the lord’s supper
30:03	we’ll have some fellowship time and then do it again doesn’t make any sense i
30:08	don’t know how it gross and if the church shrinks who cares that’s Christ that’s his business not mine right what am i supposed to do if the
30:14	church is shrinking same thing same thing nothing changes it’s all up to him it’s not my
30:20	it’s not my purview to pay attention to those details so the earth produces by itself first
30:25	the blade then the ear then the full grain in the air when the grain is ripe he puts in the sickle because the harvest has come
30:31	and the harvest will eventually come and then the next parable what shall we compare the kingdom of god or
30:36	what shall we use for it it’s like a grain of mustard which when sown on the ground is the smallest of
30:42	all the seeds on the earth yet when it’s sewn on the ground it comes up larger than all the garden plants put out large puts out large branches so
30:49	the birds of the air can make nests in its shade who is this mustard seed it’s Christ
30:55	i mean did we not put him in the ground when we buried him in the tomb did he not rise from the dead three days
31:03	later indeed he did and so Christ is this mustard seed he’s this mustard plant
31:08	this tiny little despised thing and not a lot of people were really keen on his
31:14	ministry when he was put to death and yet this despised Jesus after his resurrection
31:19	his kingdom has grown and grown and grown larger than other plants and he
31:24	continues to put out branches like i’ve said and so we can see then what this is all about
31:30	you cannot unpack these symbols the symbol of the sprig the symbol of
31:35	the seeds the symbol of the mustard seed the symbol of the branches and the birds unless you recognize that Christ
31:43	is the one to whom they all point to and I would note this then all of that being said consider his
31:49	mercy and his grace consider his forgiveness for you and consider all the ways in which we need
31:56	to repent because we think we know better than Jesus how his own kingdom operates we just don’t and so
32:02	recognizing that his kingdom will eventually fill the earth when the harvest comes let us take rest
32:10	in the shade of the gospel the good news that Christ has bled and died for our sins
32:15	even rebel sinners like us will enjoy the full benefits of the freedom and the rest that comes
32:22	when he returns in glory to judge the living and the dead in a world without end Jesus is not our oppressor
32:30	he is our liberator and so we pray come lord Jesus in the name of Jesus amen

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