Series A – Eighth Sunday After Pentecost – Sunday, July 23, 2023 | 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 |
| 0:22 | The holy Gospel |
| 0:29 | According to Saint Matthew the 13th chapter foreign |
| 0:37 | [Music] Jesus put another Parable before them saying the Kingdom of Heaven may be |
| 0:43 | compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field but while his men were sleeping his enemy came and sowed weeds |
| 0:49 | among the weed and went away so when the plants came up and bore grain then the |
| 0:55 | weeds appeared also and the Servants of the Master of the House came and said to him Master did you not sow good seed in |
| 1:02 | your field how then does it have weeds and he said to them an enemy has done this so the servant said to him then do |
| 1:09 | you want us to go and gather them but he said no lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them let |
| 1:16 | both grow together until the Harvest and at the Harvest time I will tell the Reapers gather the weeds first and bind |
| 1:23 | them in bundles to be burned gather the weed into my barn and then he left the |
| 1:28 | crowds and went into the house and his disciples came to him saying explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field |
| 1:35 | he answered the one who sows The Good Seed is the son of man the field is the the world The Good Seed is the children |
| 1:41 | of the Kingdom the weeds are the sons of the evil one and the enemy who sowed them as the devil the Harvest is the |
| 1:47 | clothes of the age and the reapers are angels just as the weeds are gathered |
| 1:53 | and burned with fire so will it be at the close of the age the son of man will |
| 1:58 | send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all |
| 2:04 | law Breakers and throw them into the fiery furnace in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth then |
| 2:11 | all the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their father he who has ears let him hear this is the |
| 2:18 | gospel of the Lord in the name of Jesus all right Jesus has put another Parable |
| 2:24 | before us and this one takes a little bit of work to think it through you’ll note that when asked about what this |
| 2:30 | Parable meant Jesus pretty much kind of just defined all of the different symbols and what they were pointing to |
| 2:36 | and then gave a very quick broad brush stroke regarding the day of judgment and |
| 2:42 | the final fate of humanity I think some of the better drama if you would is actually in the parable itself rather |
| 2:49 | than in its Indica in its decoding here here’s how the parable goes the kingdom |
| 2:54 | of heaven maybe compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field ah this hearkens back |
| 3:01 | to the Book of Genesis remember when God created all the things in the Book of Genesis right he said let there be light |
| 3:08 | and there was light and then he created everything he created the Sun the moon the stars he created human beings and |
| 3:15 | beasts and creepy Critters I don’t think God created spiders I think that was Satan but that that’s a different thing |
| 3:21 | altogether my theology may be wonky there but whatever spiders were before the fall they were not what they are now |
| 3:28 | that I know right this is this is most certainly true but you’ll note that when God created everything it says when God |
| 3:36 | saw that it was Tove it was good and then at the very end he said he declares |
| 3:41 | everything to be Tov mode right and what does Satan do Satan comes into the |
| 3:47 | Garden of Eden and he says these faithful words in the form of a question |
| 3:52 | did God really say |
| 3:58 | oh and what We’re Off to the Races with that question right because what’s at |
| 4:03 | stake what’s being questioned what’s being challenged the veracity of God’s words God’s character himself does God |
| 4:10 | tell us the truth or not according to Satan and the way the question was way |
| 4:16 | loaded a god well his words can’t really be trusted did he really say that is |
| 4:22 | that what he really meant and of course our first parents went for it and that’s where the sowing takes place and you’ll |
| 4:29 | note Humanity then from that point on is decisively contrasted in in a binary set |
| 4:37 | if you would those who believe and those who do not believe and believe |
| 4:43 | me when I tell you this you are either a Believer or you are an unbeliever it’s the same as being pregnant for a woman |
| 4:49 | you are either pregnant or you are not pregnant there is no in between pregnancy bit okay that you are one or |
| 4:55 | the other at one point and that’s period how this works same thing but that being |
| 5:00 | the case we human beings well kind of like the |
| 5:05 | angels in the parable have got a little bit of a problem and it has to do with |
| 5:12 | identifying who’s who because oftentimes we look at the wrong things so as the |
| 5:19 | parable then continues um it’s so he says go so good seed in |
| 5:24 | this field but while his men were sleeping his enemy his enemy came sowed weeds among the wheat went away so when |
| 5:30 | the plants came up and bore grain then the weeds appeared also here’s the issue the weeds that this this enemy sowed |
| 5:38 | they look these these weeds look just like wheat |
| 5:44 | you cannot distinguish them until the Harvest there’s no way to do it do the weeds |
| 5:51 | look like the weed or do the wheat look like the weeds it’s all really confusing if you think about it and so the Angels |
| 5:58 | here Christ says that these are angels they’re offering to come and solve the problem but the thing is is that they |
| 6:04 | don’t have the ability at that time to identify who’s who and what’s what so Master did you not sow good seed in |
| 6:12 | your field how then does it have weeds so he said to them an enemy has done this so his servant said to him do you |
| 6:18 | want us to go and gather them he said no no no no lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them let |
| 6:24 | both grow together until the Harvest and at Harvest time I will tell the Reapers |
| 6:31 | gather the weeds first bind them in bundles to be burned but gather the wheat into my barn you see up until the |
| 6:38 | day of judgment it’s a little bit difficult challenging to identify who’s |
| 6:44 | who and what’s what and here’s the reason why because we human beings are always looking at the wrong things |
| 6:51 | we have this uncanny ability to identify things incorrectly all right I should |
| 6:58 | know I you know I have a YouTube channel and many times people come on there and leave comments to the effect that I am |
| 7:04 | Satan and I need to be rebuked okay now I assure you I do not use a pitchfork |
| 7:09 | and I do not have horns or a tail or anything like that but the point is is that they don’t properly understand and |
| 7:15 | they don’t identify things and you’ll note that we human beings really have that problem I can’t even find things in |
| 7:21 | my wife’s kitchen all right if I’m looking for something and I ask her honey I’m looking for such and such a |
| 7:27 | thing she’ll say it’s over in that cabinet over there I kid you not I can open up that cabinet scan it for minutes |
| 7:34 | and not be able to identify and find and locate the thing that she says is right |
| 7:41 | there in front of me so I will go back to her and I will say honey I can’t find |
| 7:46 | that thing where you said it would be and I kid you not every time it happens it’s really embarrassing she walks over |
| 7:52 | to the cabinet opens it up and goes Boop and just grabs it right there okay |
| 7:58 | if men can’t find things in the kitchen do you think that we are properly at |
| 8:05 | every time going to be able to identify who’s who when it comes to the kingdom of God |
| 8:12 | and you’ll know the reason why we struggle is because again we look at the wrong thing |
| 8:17 | you sit there and you go just look at that person you know I know they come to church you know they come to church but |
| 8:24 | man their life is a complete and utter mess right they would get better results |
| 8:29 | in their life if they would just really believe in Jesus but do they not believe in Jesus |
| 8:37 | well if their life wouldn’t be such a mess if they did really |
| 8:42 | right okay that’s kind of the problem and if you don’t believe me on this consider |
| 8:48 | consider what the Old Testament does for us in the Old Testament we get the story |
| 8:54 | of Jacob and Esau in the Old Testament we also get the story of Jacob and his wives |
| 9:02 | plural wives plural and the whole thing is a |
| 9:09 | sordid immoral mess right what we know about Jacob’s birth |
| 9:15 | he’s a twin with his twin Esau and he was born second which means he doesn’t |
| 9:20 | get all the honorifics of being the firstborn he he’s the the second place |
| 9:25 | guy which basically means he practically gets nothing but he was grabbing the heel of his brother when he was born and |
| 9:34 | as a result of it he gets the Hebrew name yahu the heel Grabber and it has kind of this idea behind it that he’s a |
| 9:40 | deceiver right and as the boys when they grow up all right Jacob’s a mama’s boy |
| 9:47 | he likes hanging out in the tents and kind of cooking and stuff like this his brother Esau he’s a man’s man he likes |
| 9:52 | to hunt and fish and do all this kind of stuff dad loves Esau mommy loves Jacob |
| 9:58 | right the whole family is utterly dysfunctional sounds like mine |
| 10:04 | to be honest it sounds like yours too I’ve pastored you guys long enough to know right right and here’s the thing |
| 10:10 | what happens Esau goes hunting he comes back and of course he is starving and so |
| 10:17 | what does Jacob think all right my brother’s down I’ll take advantage of him fine I’ll give you a bowl of soup if |
| 10:24 | you sell me your Birthright well it’s a Birthright to me if I’m dead |
| 10:29 | because I’m starving to death so what does he do he sells his Birthright for a bowl of |
| 10:34 | soup okay no soup’s worth that I don’t really like soup that much I can’t imagine selling anything for soup right but this |
| 10:41 | guy sells his Birthright for it but at the on the other end of it who’s the one who took advantage of his brother when |
| 10:47 | he was in dire need Jacob and you’re going to note something here |
| 10:53 | is Jacob in the scripture held up as a guy that we should basically say stay |
| 10:58 | away from being anything like him he’s a terrible awful no-good person burning in |
| 11:03 | hell right now no and you sit there and go how can that be |
| 11:10 | because you’re looking at the wrong thing is the story progresses as the |
| 11:15 | story progresses his father who can’t see anymore decides that he’s going to give the the big blessing to his oldest |
| 11:24 | son Esau sends him off on a on a journey to go hunting and bring him back food that he likes and what happens is is |
| 11:32 | that Mommy and Jacob decide that they’re going to deceive Daddy and in the first case of recorded identity theft in all |
| 11:39 | of human history think about it okay here if Jacob did |
| 11:46 | what he did back then today he’d be in prison |
| 11:51 | right identity thieves when they’re caught they’re criminals this is a felony |
| 11:57 | he impersonates his brother his dad Falls for it gives him the |
| 12:03 | blessing and then Esau decides After he finds out what had happened is this guy |
| 12:09 | not properly named Jacob of course he is what a deceiver he is he’s come up with a solution he’s going to murder his |
| 12:16 | brother isn’t that what happened to the first two brothers right |
| 12:22 | what a completely messed up screwed up family and what a completely immoral |
| 12:27 | jerk Jacob is so what does he do mommy lets him know oh your brother’s gonna |
| 12:33 | kill you go to my brother Laban right so what does he do he is on the Run he |
| 12:40 | leaves in order to save his own skin God shows up to him it shows up and |
| 12:46 | prophesies blessing over him at Bethel and then when he arrives in haran listen |
| 12:53 | to how this story goes and I’m going to ask you the question who are the Saints here |
| 13:00 | right who are the people burning in hell in this story just kind of see if you can sort this out and based on what |
| 13:06 | says when Jacob went on his journey he came to the land of the people of the East and he looked and he saw a well in |
| 13:13 | the field and behold three flocks of sheep lying beside it this is Genesis 29 for out of that well the flocks were |
| 13:21 | watered the stone on the Well’s mouth was large and when all the flocks were |
| 13:26 | gathered there the Shepherds would roll the Stone from the mouth of the well over the to water the sheep and put the |
| 13:32 | stone back in its place over the mouth of the well Jacob said to them my brothers where do you come from they |
| 13:39 | said well we are from haran he said to them do you know Laban the son of nehor and they said well we know him he said |
| 13:45 | to them it is well with him is it well with him they said it is well and see Rachel his daughter is coming with the |
| 13:51 | Sheep now a little bit of a note here Jacob is really old by today’s standards at this point in the story he’s not a |
| 13:58 | young man 40s maybe 50s and Rachel probably a 15 or 16 year old girl okay |
| 14:06 | you kind of have to kind of put this into the mix here because we Americans |
| 14:11 | in the 21st century were not keen on these large gap relationships right in |
| 14:16 | the ancient world that’s was no big deal because it was an older man who was established who was then had the ability |
| 14:22 | to have a wife right but back then you know this wasn’t a problem for this to us today we sit there and go what is |
| 14:28 | going on here he’s some kind of a perv right and so he sees Rachel |
| 14:34 | he sees Rachel and he says uh behold it is still high day and it’s not time for |
| 14:39 | the livestock to be gathered together water the sheep and go pasture them but they said we cannot until all the flocks |
| 14:44 | are gathered together and the stone is rolled from the mouth of the well then we will water the Sheep so while he was |
| 14:50 | still speaking with him Rachel came with her father’s sheep for she was a shepherdist and as soon as Jacob saw |
| 14:56 | Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother and the Sheep of Laban his mother’s brother Jacob came near |
| 15:01 | rolled the Stone from the Well’s mouth watered the flock of Laban and his mother’s brother then Jacob kissed |
| 15:08 | Rachel and wept aloud and Jacob told Rachel all that was her father’s that that he was her father’s Kinsmen and |
| 15:14 | that he was Rebecca’s son and so she ran and told her father kind of a creepy start to this particular relationship |
| 15:21 | okay yeah the practically strangers and he’s kissing her and weeping on her and this is a little odd right as soon as |
| 15:28 | Laban heard the news about Jacob his sister’s son he ran to meet him embraced |
| 15:34 | him kissed him and brought him to his house Jacob told Laban all these things and Laban said to him surely you are |
| 15:40 | bone of My Flesh and he stayed with him for a month then Laban said Jacob well because you |
| 15:47 | are my Kinsmen should you therefore serve me for nothing tell me what shall your wages be now Laban had two |
| 15:53 | daughters the name of the older was Leia the name of the younger was Rachel Leia’s eyes were weak but Rachel was |
| 16:00 | beautiful in form in appearance let me help you out here to say that |
| 16:06 | Leah’s eyes were weak was a kind way of saying she was hard to look at |
| 16:12 | right sounds this is like a soap opera right |
| 16:18 | Days of Our Lives has nothing on this story so Jacob loved Rachel of course |
| 16:26 | she was beautiful she was beautiful to look at in form and appearance and he |
| 16:31 | said Suleiman I’ll serve you for seven years for your younger daughter Rachel Laban said it’s better that I give her |
| 16:36 | to you than I should give her to any other man so stay with me so Jacob served seven years for Rachel |
| 16:43 | and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love that he had for her |
| 16:48 | so then Jacob said the Laban give me my wife that I may go into her that’s a little odd thing to say to your future |
| 16:55 | father-in-law yeah um I’d like you to give me my wife so that I can have sex with her you know I’ve waited for seven |
| 17:01 | years again where are your priorities dude okay I got it got it so Laban |
| 17:07 | gathered together all the people of the place made a feast but in the evening he |
| 17:13 | took his daughter Leia and brought her to Jacob |
| 17:19 | and Jacob went into her now there’s a lot going on here but I |
| 17:24 | want you to kind of think this out okay brides wear veils even back then they wore veils so Leah knows exactly what is |
| 17:34 | going on Rachel knows what’s going on because |
| 17:40 | this is Rachel’s wedding day have you all ever dealt with a bride |
| 17:46 | okay have you ever had any time with a bride I’ve done I’ve done a few weddings okay brides are a little bit uptight |
| 17:53 | okay they’re they’re focused on making sure that everything is here’s the word |
| 17:59 | perfect right where’s Rachel |
| 18:05 | she’s nowhere to be seen where’s Leia she’s covered up |
| 18:12 | and she’s engaging in the second recorded instance of identity theft in |
| 18:17 | Scripture right whose identity has she assumed her younger sisters |
| 18:24 | right and so the wine is flowing the music is playing loud |
| 18:30 | the lights in the tent have been dimmed he didn’t even notice when he gave her |
| 18:37 | his their first kiss during the wedding ceremony that who he was kissing |
| 18:43 | they go into the bridal chamber they consummate the marriage and he still |
| 18:48 | doesn’t know one has to wonder did he cry out Rachel |
| 18:53 | Rachel while they were together and did she say oh yes my love it is me Rachel |
| 18:58 | she was going along with it the whole time |
| 19:07 | does this sound like Christian Behavior to you no |
| 19:13 | right these are the Patriarchs these are the Patriarchs so the text |
| 19:19 | goes on to say in the morning so the sun comes up the rooster’s |
| 19:25 | crowing and there’s there’s Jacob in marital bliss |
| 19:31 | thinking oh it’s just it was a wonderful night I finally finally have Rachel he |
| 19:38 | looks over and right |
| 19:44 | the blood curdling screamed from hell |
| 19:49 | the text just simply says behold It was Leah |
| 19:57 | right behold It was Leah so you can see Jacob still in his |
| 20:02 | bathrobe storms in to talk to Laban what is this that you have done to me |
| 20:08 | did I not serve with you for Rachel why then have you deceived me |
| 20:15 | the deceiver now is deceived |
| 20:20 | this is a great story what a mess you’ll note that Jacob is not held up as |
| 20:28 | a Pious man who prays Lord thus thouest thus this kind of stuff right no this |
| 20:34 | guy is a deceiver who’s been deceived all right and this whole thing is going to get worse |
| 20:41 | he says well it’s not done so in our country to give the younger before the first one so complete the week of this |
| 20:47 | one you’re married to her you know you did the deed so we’ll give we’ll give you the other also in return for serving |
| 20:54 | me for another seven years wow |
| 21:00 | wow wow is this screwed up so Jacob did so and completed her week |
| 21:05 | then Laban gave her gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife and again |
| 21:11 | Rachel had to be in on what was going on how do you keep a bride away from her |
| 21:16 | own wedding right Laban gave also his female servant bilha to his daughter |
| 21:22 | Rachel to be her servant so Jacob went into Rachel also and he loved Rachel more than Leia and served Laban for |
| 21:29 | another seven years but listen to what this text says when Yahweh saw that Leah |
| 21:34 | was hated they didn’t even have marriage counseling right they didn’t have |
| 21:41 | marriage counseling at all what how is this marriage supposed to succeed right and let’s think of the complete |
| 21:48 | Injustice of this whole situation who’s to blame for all of this I think there’s |
| 21:53 | enough blame to go around for everybody Leah is to blame labans to blame Rachel’s to blame Jacob’s to blame |
| 21:59 | there’s nothing but blame blame blame blame blame blame blame did oh |
| 22:05 | and so what ends up happening is that Leah herself is hated and I want you to kind of think about this |
| 22:11 | in our own marriages and those of you Desiring to get married sometime in the |
| 22:17 | future pay attention here for a second um every single marriage is still under |
| 22:23 | the curse of Genesis 3. and I’m not saying that in order to down |
| 22:29 | talk marriage marriage is an important thing marriage is very important but if you |
| 22:34 | think that that Hollow bit in your heart is going to be filled by your spouse you |
| 22:41 | are way deceived okay what God has done to marriage is |
| 22:48 | he’s broken it and then taken two Sinners and put them in close proximity to each other right under the same roof |
| 22:56 | you are co-sinners together and when it talks about how we suffer in this life |
| 23:02 | those of you who are married you know what I’m telling you is true here this is not for a punch line this is not a |
| 23:08 | joke it is in our marriages that we suffer the most |
| 23:14 | and how many of us have cried out to God oh it’s Leah |
| 23:19 | regarding our own spouse what have you done to me God |
| 23:25 | he was supposed to bring me happiness and joy instead he passes gas all the |
| 23:31 | time and sits in the tell on the sofa and controls the remote control and never lets me pick a show |
| 23:37 | right and he scratches himself right God what is it that you’ve done to |
| 23:45 | me she was supposed to bring me happiness and joy and every time I turn around she’s disrespecting me and telling me |
| 23:52 | I’m an idiot because I can’t find anything in the kitchen |
| 23:58 | right and so you’re gonna know then that it’s easy for us and all of this is |
| 24:06 | kind of in the context where’s the Christian bits in all of this because you know what God’s holy law stands over |
| 24:12 | all of it and says sinner sinner sinner sinner sinner no no you’re a sinner too |
| 24:18 | you sit there go oh it’s not that bad for me you are out of your mind sinner |
| 24:24 | right and where’s the part where the law sits there and goes oh there there there’s |
| 24:30 | the one the precious one who’s finally got their act together who’s doing it right they’re behaving like a Christian |
| 24:36 | should by obeying my law |
| 24:41 | none of us not a single one of us |
| 24:46 | because here’s the thing before the Harvest the wheat looks a lot like the weeds and the weeds look a lot |
| 24:53 | like the wheat especially if you’re just looking on the outward appearance of it all |
| 24:58 | but it says in Scripture that is with the heart One Believes God looks on the heart now for the |
| 25:06 | sinner this is not a good thing because without faith it is impossible to please God and not difficult |
| 25:11 | impossible you can’t do it without faith it’s impossible to please God |
| 25:17 | so it’s with the heart One Believes it is with the heart one trusts and it’s |
| 25:23 | with a mouth one confesses but as we learn just a couple of weeks ago the |
| 25:28 | Apostle Paul laments his own life and says the things I don’t want to do I do |
| 25:34 | the things I want to do I don’t do them |
| 25:40 | that’s you that’s me that’s in every relationship possible things are a |
| 25:46 | complete mess but I want you to think about this for a second God saw that |
| 25:52 | Leah was hated in her own marriage |
| 25:57 | she wasn’t tolerated she was hated she was despised |
| 26:03 | in her own marriage but what did God do he opened her womb |
| 26:12 | and Rachel was barren Leah conceived and bore a son |
| 26:18 | and she called his name Reuben first she said because the Lord has looked upon my affliction |
| 26:24 | for now my husband will love me Reuben means see a son |
| 26:33 | his name is a plea to God |
| 26:38 | and even to her own husband please love me |
| 26:43 | right she conceived again |
| 26:49 | and she bore a son and said because the Lord has |
| 26:56 | heard that I am hated he has given me this son also so she named him Simeon |
| 27:02 | Simeon is the Hebrew word for heard God has heard he’s given me a son because he’s |
| 27:08 | seen that I am hated and again she conceived and bore a son and said now this time my husband will be attached to |
| 27:15 | me because I have borne him three sons therefore she named him Levi |
| 27:21 | Levi is the Hebrew word that means attached and then she conceived again and bore a |
| 27:27 | son and this time she said this time I will praise Yahweh therefore she called his name Judah and then she ceased |
| 27:34 | bearing you think you got it all figured out |
| 27:40 | Leah participating in this deception what should she have gotten from God should have basically said you got what |
| 27:46 | you deserved you participated in complete deception you shouldn’t even be married to Jacob |
| 27:51 | instead God honors her marriage looks upon her Affliction and her suffering and the fact that her own husband hates |
| 27:57 | her but he’s still faithful enough to sleep with her and which of the two wives is the one |
| 28:05 | who Bears Judah it’s Leah |
| 28:12 | not Rachel if Jacob had not been married to Leah |
| 28:20 | we wouldn’t have Christ |
| 28:25 | you think you got it figured out now |
| 28:30 | and you’ll note in the book of Ruth best chick flick ever right Book of Ruth |
| 28:37 | when Ruth finally marries Boaz there’s a blessing spoken over her |
| 28:43 | may she be like Leah and Rachel |
| 28:49 | built the house of Israel right now look at your own life |
| 28:56 | don’t tell me your life isn’t a mess like this it is so is mine |
| 29:01 | it completely is a mess each and every day we sin greatly and we |
| 29:07 | sin much and we hurt each other deeply |
| 29:16 | if we were to just simply look at outward appearances do you think for a second that the world would basically |
| 29:22 | say those Folks at Kong’s finger and oh man they are legitimately the saintliest |
| 29:29 | people on planet Earth you’re a Motley Crew of Sinners I heard you confess your sin and Emmanuel is |
| 29:35 | here too they’re just as bad as Kong’s finger right |
| 29:41 | that’s the point that Jesus is making here you can’t tell the difference |
| 29:47 | sometimes because we judge by mere appearances and in our epistle text consider what it says I consider that |
| 29:54 | the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us |
| 30:00 | don’t let that sentence just fly right over your head like the swallows in the summertime |
| 30:07 | take it to heart this this this this this life is hard |
| 30:13 | dare I say it sucks can you say that yeah I’ve lived long |
| 30:20 | enough to know that it does I’ve had plenty of fights with my wife with my children with my co-workers with myself |
| 30:26 | with my God it is this whole life is a mess and in case you haven’t figured it out I’ll |
| 30:32 | keep pointing out I’m falling apart I’ve been here for almost 10 years I look a lot worse than I did 10 years ago |
| 30:39 | in in the next 10 years it’s not looking good folks it’s just it’s looking bad right |
| 30:45 | but I don’t consider the sufferings of this present time or worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed for us |
| 30:51 | for the creation itself Waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God |
| 30:57 | and already Jesus is the first fruit of that Jesus is the son of God God of God light |
| 31:04 | of light very God of very God as we confessed in the Nicene Creed earlier but it was |
| 31:09 | for us for our Salvation that he came to Earth |
| 31:15 | and he died in your place and mine he himself grew up in a dysfunctional |
| 31:22 | family like everybody every one of us Jesus’s own brothers and mother didn’t |
| 31:28 | believe he was the Messiah at one point in Jesus’s Ministry they wanted to |
| 31:33 | collect him up and take him to the funny farm because they thought he’d lost his mind |
| 31:39 | right because they were judging not correctly |
| 31:45 | either but when Jesus appears in glory |
| 31:50 | on the Harvest the day of the Harvest of Souls then and only then will the true sons of |
| 31:57 | God be revealed and if you’re looking for them based upon those who are law keeping you’re |
| 32:03 | missing the point it is only those who are forgiven of |
| 32:09 | their sins who cry out to God for mercy who confess that they have inflicted |
| 32:17 | suffering on other people by their sins and have suffered at the hands of other |
| 32:22 | Sinners and recognize that they have participated in the complete mess of a |
| 32:29 | circus show that we’ve created here on planet Earth because of our sin |
| 32:34 | and even the creation itself is looking to God going how much longer are we going to have to |
| 32:40 | put up with these yahoos right the Earth itself knows that what |
| 32:47 | is what has happened to us and what we are doing and so it says because of our |
| 32:53 | sin God has subjected the entire universe to futility |
| 32:59 | but he did so in Hope so that the creation itself will finally be set free from its bondage to Decay |
| 33:06 | and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God true Freedom comes when Christ returns |
| 33:14 | and puts sin out of commission altogether sends Satan into the Lake of |
| 33:19 | Fire and those who persist in sin and unbelief as well |
| 33:24 | but we ourselves Paul writes we who have the first fruits of the spirit |
| 33:31 | the spirit that was given to us by grace through faith all because of God’s great |
| 33:36 | love and mercy for us as a gift we who have first fruits of the spirit we even |
| 33:43 | now we groan inwardly as we wait hang on a second here |
| 33:49 | sometimes I get myself worked up is we eagerly await for adoption as sons |
| 33:57 | in the Redemption of our bodies it is this hope in this hope that we are |
| 34:03 | saved but hope that is seen is not hoped for who hopes for what he sees but we if |
| 34:09 | we hope for what we do not see then we wait for with patience and in the meantime as messed up as our |
| 34:17 | lives are as sinful as we still are and as much as we struggle against our own sin the spirit helps us in our weakness |
| 34:24 | for we don’t know what to pray for as we ought but the spirit himself constantly is interceding for us with groanings |
| 34:30 | that are too deep for words and he who searches the hearts knows what is in the mind of the spirit because the spirit intercedes for the |
| 34:37 | Saints according to the will of God so brothers and sisters do not make judgments based on mere |
| 34:44 | appearances and don’t look to the law to try to figure out who’s who |
| 34:50 | the only way you can figure that out is by starting with yourself |
| 34:55 | and asking this simple question do I believe |
| 35:02 | because we are saved by faith do you believe that Christ is bled and |
| 35:08 | died for all of your sins including the sins that you are most embarrassed about that you committed just yesterday or |
| 35:13 | last week do you believe that Christ’s Mercy |
| 35:18 | covers over every argument that you’ve had with your spouse do you believe that Jesus’s Mercy covers |
| 35:25 | over every failure to be a good parent that you did when you were raising your |
| 35:30 | kids do you believe that Christ’s Mercy is sufficient |
| 35:37 | for the relationships that you’ve ruined by your stubborn obstinacy and failure |
| 35:44 | to forgive |
| 35:49 | when you start putting it in terms like that you kind of start to see it |
| 35:54 | we all need a savior and that’s what God has given us in |
| 35:59 | Christ a savior a savior who’s bled and died for all of our trespasses all of |
| 36:05 | our transgressions and he is reconciled us to God through his death on the cross |
| 36:11 | and you’ll note the expectation that has clearly stated in Scripture that because we have been reconciled to God we ought |
| 36:18 | to be reconciled to each other how good are you at that by the way |
| 36:27 | how many friendships relationships even relationships with people here at church |
| 36:32 | or in the community have fallen apart because of your refusal to be reconciled to those who you think |
| 36:38 | have sinned against you maybe you’ve sinned against them |
| 36:46 | when we read the story of Jacob we got people sinning against people all over the place and yet these are the ones held up to us |
| 36:54 | as the Patriarchs of the faith |
| 37:07 | the one who sows The Good Seed is the son of man field is the world the good seed are the |
| 37:14 | children of the Kingdom the weeds of the sons of the evil one the enemy who sowed them as the devil the Harvest is the |
| 37:20 | clothes of the age and the reapers are the Angels and just as the weeds are gathered and |
| 37:26 | burned with fire so will it be at the close of the age the son of man will send his angels they will gather out of |
| 37:31 | his kingdom all causes of sin and all law Breakers that’s that should tell you something here that every single human |
| 37:39 | being is that a sinner and a law breaker whose cause sin who’s created causes of |
| 37:44 | sin whose sinned right how then are we supposed to stand if the angels are |
| 37:50 | going to gather up all the law Breakers it is only because of what Christ has |
| 37:56 | done that any of us have a hope of being saved at all |
| 38:02 | because he has bled and died in our place he became the law breaker that you and I are so that we can be clothed in |
| 38:09 | his righteousness and be seen as the saints that God makes us all as a gift |
| 38:16 | the law Breakers who do not have faith are thrown into the fiery furnace and in that place there will be weeping and |
| 38:21 | gnashing of teeth but then the righteous will finally Shine Like the Sun in the |
| 38:27 | Kingdom of their father he who has ears to hear let him hear in the name of Jesus amen |
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