If you have your Bibles, I would ask that you
open to Matthew 13. Normally I would read the
text first, but I'm not going to do that today.
It will be embedded within the text. But before
we would ever begin to preach, we ought to ask
the Lord's blessing and help. It is his word.
So would you go to the Lord with me in asking
him to show us Christ this morning? Father, Lord,
we thank you for your word. We thank you for
this time to worship, to hear from heaven. Lord,
I realize that everything will fall on deaf ears
unless the Spirit of God is pleased to use the
preaching of your word to effect change in our
lives. Lord, open our eyes, open our ears, and
open our hearts to the truth. Father, would you
please show us your son, the one in whom you're
well pleased, and we will thank you for this
in Jesus' name. Amen. I remember when Sandy and
I were first married. One day I saw her out watering
weeds in our flower beds, and I was kind of surprised.
I was expecting her to pull them up, and instead
she was tenderly caring for them. Now keep in
mind, Sandy comes from a desert where nothing
green ever grows. So I was looking at her and
I saw her taking care of the weeds and I asked
her what she was doing. And she told me, well,
they're green. She said, I just assumed they
were plants or flowers that you had planted there
on purpose. See, at the very beginning, she was
unable to distinguish weeds from flowers. She
has since grown from that time. Now today in
our text, Jesus tells a parable about that very
issue. An inability to distinguish weeds. From
wheat. Now let's think about the context. Before
Jesus and John the Baptist came on the scene,
there were 400 what's known as silent years.
400 years where there's no new word from the
Lord. No prophet like Amos or Isaiah or Jeremiah
had arisen. And then after four centuries, you
have two men. You have John the Baptist and the
Lord Jesus Christ. Both of them burst on the
scene and they're preaching the same message.
People needed to repent because the kingdom of
God was at hand. They were preaching that that
long -awaited heavenly kingdom was now breaking
through into the earth. Those are strong claims.
Was there any proof to back that up? Yes. Then
we see Jesus' miracles. All his miracles were...
proof of the revealing of the inbreaking of the
kingdom of heaven into the world. Now what do
I mean by that? When heaven, there's no sickness.
So think about Jesus. In heaven, there's no leprosy.
Think about what he done. There's no defect at
all. So Jesus' miracles were a restoration of
what was broken. He was restoring back to pristine
use what had been broken. Giving us a preview
of life and the fullness of the kingdom when
none of those things will be there. No blindness,
no deafness, no one missing a limb or lame or
unable to walk. But that was very unsettling
and confusing to the Jewish mind because they
had always been taught that when the kingdom
of God came, God would then eliminate all evil.
So they expected the fullness of the kingdom
immediately. They thought when Messiah comes,
He's going to rid the world of idolaters and
pagans, i .e. Gentiles. And he's going to exalt
Israel in righteousness. So if what John and
Jesus were preaching were true, why was Rome
still occupying the land of Israel? Why were
God's people, the Jews, still paying a forced
tax to a pagan empire? Moreover... Why was there
still evil and suffering in the world? Those
are very good questions. If the kingdom of God
arrived with the arrival of Jesus, why doesn't
God fix the world now? And people are still asking
that same question. It's a question that often
is posed like this. If your God's in control,
why do we see so much suffering? Why so much
evil in the world? Well, Jesus answered those
questions, but he did so with a parable. It's
a parable about a man who sowed good seed in
his field, wheat. He also had an enemy who sowed
bad seed, weeds, into that same field. Now, by
the way, this was a real problem in first century
Israel. Jesus isn't just making this up. You
would often have competing farmers, and you might
have a vengeful farmer, and he would secretly
sow bad seed or even salt the field of his enemy
in order to try to ruin the crops. So now in
this parable, Jesus teaches something very, very
clearly. Evil, evil men, evil women, the problem
of evil, will not be fully eradicated right now.
It will be present with us until the end of this
age. So there's going to be evil. We would expect
that. But we are not to despair because everything,
including evil, is still under God's control.
It's all part of his plan. As I looked at this,
there's three truths. These are easy truths,
easy takeaways. First of all, this present age
will always have a mixture of good and evil.
That's going to happen. Secondly, God is patient.
And thirdly, a day of final judgment is coming.
Now, if we're going to understand this parable,
we need to understand something about the kingdom
of God coming in two phases. Two advents, just
like the coming of Christ did. They're very similar.
So think about the Lord Jesus Christ. In his
first advent, he came as the suffering lamb,
the lamb of God, who offered himself as a sacrifice
to take away the sin of the world. He came and
he was despised. He was rejected. But at his
second advent, when he returns in glory, he doesn't
return as a lamb. He returns as the lion. triumphing
over his enemies and eradicating all evil. At
his second coming, everyone who opposed him will
then be judged. Now that's why many Jews stumbled
over Jesus. Because they expected the lion, they
never expected the lamb. They could understand
conquering, but they failed to understand suffering.
And it's the same way, this is how they misunderstood
the kingdom of God. They failed to understand
that the kingdom of God first comes in inauguration.
That's at the beginning. We might say it comes
in seed form. Then when Jesus returns, the kingdom
of God arrives in its full consummated form.
It's completed. It's mature, if you will. Now
the kingdom of God began, it broke into history,
and overcame the power of darkness through the
death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
So what that has implications for us today. So
we're living in the kingdom, which means we are
already, those who are in Christ, we are already
forgiven of sin, and we already possess eternal
life, but evil is still present. The wicked still
prosper even in this age. But when Christ returns,
as the kingdom arrives in its full consummated
form, then evil will be judged and eradicated,
and there will be a new heavens and a new earth
that are established. Now in Matthew 13, there
are seven parables in that one chapter, and every
single one of them has to do with the kingdom
of God. So if it's so important, and it is, Let's
define what do we mean when we talk about the
kingdom of God. Now Matthew will use, as a Jew
writing to Jew, he will use the phrase kingdom
of heaven so as not to take the word in its name
callously. It's the same thing. The kingdom of
God in its simplest, most basic form simply means
God's reign. It's God's sovereign rule. So that
means, now stay with me for just a moment. Stay
with me until the end, but really in just a moment
here. The kingdom of God is not primarily a realm,
a place. And it's not primarily a people. But
the kingdom of God produces both a realm and
a people. The church. But it's not limited to
that, and I hope to show you that this morning.
I love how John Piper, he said this well. He
said, Jesus sits, that's current, as king on
his throne of the universe and his kingly rule.
His kingdom and his reign govern all things.
The basic meaning of the word kingdom in the
Bible is God's kingly rule. His reign, his action,
his lordship, his sovereign governance. And we
look at Psalm 103. How do we get this? Psalm
103, the psalmist writes, The Lord, Yahweh, has
established his throne in the heavens and his
kingdom. Now notice this next phrase, rules over
all. Not just the church, although that is true.
His kingdom rules over all. That means right
now Jesus, seated as the king of the universe,
he's ruling over all people in all places, particularly
and especially over his church. He governs us
by word and sacrament. But he is still sovereign
over unbelievers. There's nothing outside of
his control. Now with that working definition
in mind, let's look about this parable of the
kingdom known as the parable of the wheat and
the tares. Beginning in verse 24. Another parable
he, that is Jesus, put forth to them saying,
now this is to the crowds. He's talking to everyone
here. The kingdom of heaven is like a man who
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 grain had sprouted
and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.
So the servants of the owner came and said to
him, Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field?
Didn't you buy the good stuff? How then does
it have tares? And he said to them, An enemy
has done this. The servants said to him, Well,
do you want us to go then and gather them up,
the weeds? But he said, No, lest while you gather
up the tares, you also uproot the wheat with
them. Let both grow together until the harvest.
And at the time of harvest, I will say to the
reapers, first gather together the tares, bind
them in bundles to burn them. And then gather
the wheat into my barn. Now this illustration
would have made absolute sense to everyone in
the audience that day. But many of us, now some
of you are, but many of us are not from an agrarian
background. So we need a little bit of explanation
here. Everywhere I read, they are most likely
darnel seeds. Darnel seeds, it's a weed that
looks like a wheat early on. So at the beginning,
you have weed and wheats. They're almost indistinguishable
at the very beginning. But if you let them go
once they're fully grown, well, the difference
becomes obvious. As they grow and they reach
maturity, the tares will remain upright. and
the wheat will start to bend over because it's
heavily loaded down with grain. So wheat provides
nourishment. The tares, these darnel seeds, actually
are poisonous weed, and they can actually choke
out the wheat. So this is really important that
we understand that. So in this parable, we got
a man. He sowed good seed, wheat, in the field.
He had an enemy who sowed bad seed, darnel seeds
or weeds, in that same field. At harvest, there's
going to be a great separation. The tares, the
weeds will be gathered and be burned in fire.
The wheat will be gathered together and put into
a barn. Now the crowd, everyone heard the parable
and that's it. The crowds were not given any
explanation. That was reserved only for the disciples
of Jesus. Now they're not given the meaning.
So they hear the parable, but if you don't get
the meaning, the parable remains obscure. Or
even worse, you can make it fit and mean whatever
you want it to fit and mean. But thanks be to
God, you and I are not left in the dark this
morning. We are blessed and given the meaning
behind it. Let's look down at verse 36. Then
Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the
house, and his disciples came to him. Just his
disciples saying, explain to us the parables
of the tares of the field. Okay. He answered
and said to them, he who sows the good seed is
the son of man. The field is the world, the good
seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares
are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who
sowed them, well, that's the devil. The harvest
is the end of the age, and the reapers are the
angels. Therefore, as the tares are gathered
and burned in the fire, so it will be at the
end of this age. The Son of Man will send out
his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom.
What's his kingdom here? The world, it clearly
tells you that. The field's the world. They're
going to gather out of the world all that offend
and all those who practice lawlessness and will
cast them into the furnace of fire. That's hell.
And there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
But then the righteous will shine forth as the
sun in the kingdom of their father. And as Jesus
ends these parables, he does this familiar phrase.
He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Listen
up is what he's saying. Now, the one who sowed
the good seed, we don't have to guess. It's a
son of man, so we're Jesus. The good seed, well,
that's the sons of the kingdom, the sons of the
righteous. The field, that's going to be the
key, and I'll talk about that in a moment. It's
the whole world. The enemy, the devil. The tares,
they're the sons of the wicked one. Harvest,
end of the age. Reapers are the angels that...
Jesus will send. The burning of the tares, well,
that symbolizes the judgment of the wicked. And
the ingathering of the wheat into the barn is
the righteous entering the kingdom of God. Now,
I will tell you, I've read many, read a lot here,
many see this parable only in terms of the church.
But the field, it says, is the whole world. So
it has a broader application. At the end of this
age, God will remove evil not just from his church,
but he's going to remove evil from the entire
planet, from the whole world. So I think there's
a broader application referring to the world
and a narrower application referring to the church.
My goal when I was putting this together was
to talk about both of them. I went to Sandy early
on in the week. I said, I've got about, I always
do my sermons about 3 ,500 to 4 ,000 words. And
I was at 2 ,500 words and hadn't started the
second one. And I'm like, okay. So next week,
Lord willing, I want to look at the application
to the church. Today, the application we want
to look to is the world at large. How does this
parable apply to the world? I'm glad you asked,
because here's what we're going to do. First
of all, we cannot deny that there is objective
evil in the world. And that's a manifest reality.
Look around you. But as Christians, we also affirm
that Jesus Christ, is king who reigns over all.
How do you reconcile those two truths? I mean,
both are true. Evil exists and Jesus reigns.
So how do you reconcile them? The first and obvious
implication is the presence of evil in this world
is not a failure of God's plan. God has chosen
not to immediately rid the world of wickedness.
Which means there is a purpose behind it. The
scriptures clearly teach that God temporarily
allows evil for his own purposes. Now I say it's
only temporary because as the parable teaches,
at the end of this age, God will forever judge
and remove evil. When I say evil, I'm talking
about evil and evil men and women. But because
God is sovereign, and rules over all things,
he is able even to use evil men with evil intentions
to accomplish his good end. And that's a hard
statement. God, being sovereign, rules over evil
men in such a way that he uses their evil intentions
to accomplish his good end. And we see that clearly
in the life of Joseph. Joseph's brothers sold
him into slavery. And just so you know, that's
an evil thing. They were going to kill him. And
one said, hey, let's make some money off of him.
Let's not kill him. So they sold him into slavery.
That's evil, what they did. But God had a good
purpose in allowing it. And Joseph knew that.
In Genesis 50, he wrote this, or he said this.
But as for you, he's talking to his brothers.
Joseph's talking to his brothers. As for you,
you meant evil against me. That's what your intention
was. It was evil. But God. meant it for good
in order to bring it about as at this day to
save many people's lives. Yeah, you would be
judged. What you did was terrible. But God over,
he trumped your terrible motive to accomplish
good. Now just because you and I often fail to
discern God's good purpose in allowing evil does
not mean that there isn't a good purpose that
God is using behind it. Nothing is simply purposeless.
Nothing. I've had people ask, but what do you
mean? What about the sex trafficker or the pornographer?
Listen, they're evil. And trust me, one day God
will bring terrible judgment upon them. But just
because I, in my limited understanding, cannot
discern the purpose of God behind it, doesn't
mean there isn't one. The failure never lies
with God. The failure is in my limited understanding.
For as the heavens are as high as above the earth,
so are his thoughts above my thoughts, and his
ways are above my ways. Listen, he sees the beginning
from the end. Don't you stand in judgment of
God just because you failed to understand it.
Now, one reason we know for sure that God's delay
is there, his patience is giving wicked men time
to repent. In Acts 17, verse 30, truly these
times of ignorance God overlooked. But now he
doesn't ask, he doesn't invite, he commands all
men everywhere to repent. Because he has appointed
a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness
by the man whom he has ordained. Listen, the
day of judgment is coming, you better repent
is what they're saying here. And he has given
assurance of this judgment to all men by raising
him, that is Jesus, from the dead. Oh, God's
being gracious and merciful and patient. So currently,
right now, you and I live in this age, what is
known as an age of grace. God is long -suffering
with evil men and evil women. And his long -suffering
is meant to lead them to repentance. Romans 2
.4. Paul writing, Do you despise the riches of
his goodness? His forbearance, his long -suffering.
That's patience. Not knowing. That the goodness
of God leads you to repentance. Do you fail to
understand what God is doing by not immediately
judging you for what you've done wrong? He's
being long -suffering, makrothumia in Greek.
He's suffering a long time with you so that you
might come to his feet and repent. So the delay
of God's judgment is not weakness, it is divine
patience. 2 Peter 3. Peter writes, and that was
Paul in Romans. But do not overlook this one
fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is
as a thousand years and a thousand years as one
day. Time does not exist in the transcendent
God. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise,
as some men count slow as. He's not delaying,
but he's patient toward you, not wishing that
any should perish, but that all should reach
repentance. Do you see what he's saying? God's
delay is mercy. But don't use his patience to
lure you into thinking that the day of judgment
never will come. Because that's what they're
saying here. Oh, we've been here not forever.
Since our father fell asleep. I've heard that
all these years. Yes, Jesus is returning. Yes,
God's going to judge. And Peter says, mark it
down at will. A thousand years is like a day
to the Lord. Don't judge him on your time. Verse
10. But the day of the Lord, judgment, will come
like a thief. And then the heavens will pass
away with a roar. And the heavenly bodies will
be burned up and dissolved. And the earth and
the works that are done on it will be exposed.
It's terrifying. Therefore, because of that,
we skip down to verse 14. Beloved, looking forward
to these things, be diligent to be found by him
in peace, without spot and blameless. Now notice
this last phrase. This is what I want to focus
on. And consider that the long suffering of our
Lord is salvation. God in his mercy is giving
wicked men and wicked women an opportunity to
repent. Which means, friends, this is good news,
because those who currently oppose God are not
beyond hope. I love what John Piper, he said,
we're not God. We can't see the root. What looks
like a weed today may by God's grace become wheat.
Amen. That's what we were. We were tares. We
were the weeds that God brought in. God's lay
of judgment shows his mercy toward the wicked.
But that, now listen, so since he's allowing
wicked and wicked men to prosper, that means
it's not going to go easy or smooth sailing for
the righteous. Because Satan, the enemy, has
sown bad seed, which is wicked men and women,
into the world. Satan hates God, he hates his
people, and he opposes them at every turn. This
means, now friends, what does this mean for us
as the church, the believers? We ought to expect
opposition. Jesus said, in the world you will
have tribulation. Be of good cheer, I've overcome
the world. The apostles preaching in 2 Timothy,
Paul talking in Timothy, he said all those that
desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer
persecution. Will suffer, not might. As you see
and read through the book of Acts, you notice
the church is just growing by leaps and bounds.
Remarkable growth. God is blessing the church.
And what's Satan doing? Attacking it. Let me
give you a cursory preview. Chapter 4, verse
1. Peter and John were arrested. What were they
doing? Preaching about Jesus. Chapter 5, the
religious leaders put the apostles in prison.
Why? Preaching about Jesus. Later on, that same
chapter, and now I'll start to give you the verses.
When they had called for the apostles and beaten
them, they command they should not speak in the
name of Jesus. Chapter 7, Stephen was stoned
to death for why? Preaching about Jesus, first
Christian martyr. Chapter 8, at that time, a
great persecution arose against the church, which
was at Jerusalem. And they, the disciples, were
all scattered throughout the regions of Judea
and Samaria. Chapter 9, then Saul, still breathing
threats and murder against the disciples of the
Lord. Chapter 12, now about that time, Herod
the king stretched out his hand to harass some
from the church. Then he killed James, the brother
of John, with the sword. Chapter 14, they stoned
Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing
him to be dead. And the last one I could have
gone on. Then the multitudes rose up together
against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates tore
off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten
with rods. What are they doing? Serving the Lord.
As the church preaches the gospel and the kingdom
of God expands, Satan violently opposes the work.
And we see this in the book of Revelation, chapter
12. In this chapter, there is a great cosmic
battle between Christ and Satan. Now, let's get
something clear. Let's get our bearings about
this. Satan was decisively defeated at the cross.
Hebrews 2 .14. Inasmuch as the children, you
and I, have partaken of flesh and blood, he,
that is Jesus, likewise shared in the same, that
through death, that's the cross, he might destroy
him who had the power of death, that is the devil.
Satan's destroyed, rendered powerless at the
cross. Destroyed doesn't mean he's eradicated
yet. But his power's been taken away. He's been
defeated at the cross. So in the death, and resurrection
of Christ, Satan was dealt that death blow, defanged.
Christ disarmed him, and I love this, he humiliated
him. Colossians 2 .15, having disarmed principalities
and powers, he made a public spectacle of them,
triumphing over them in it. He didn't just defeat
him, he disgraced him, humiliated, embarrassed.
I love that. So, now, because of Christ's victory,
this is where we're in Revelation chapter 12,
Satan is cast out of heaven. Look at verses 9
and 10. So the great dragon was cast out, that
serpent of old called the devil and Satan, who
deceives the whole world. He was cast to the
earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now
salvation and strength and the kingdom of our
God and the power of his Christ have come for
the accuser of our brethren who accused them
before our God day and night has been cast down.
What is John, who wrote this letter, saying?
Satan can no longer accuse God's people because
we are justified. We are clothed in the righteous
garments of Christ. In Romans 8. Who shall bring
a charge against God's elect? What's it say?
It is God who justifies. What are you going to
say to God? He's already justified. Are you going
to bring a charge? It's not going to stick. The
Westminster Shorter Catechism says justification
is an act of God's free grace wherein he pardons,
he forgives all our sins, he accepts us as righteous
in the sight. only for the righteousness of Christ
imputed that is credited to us and received by
faith alone. Now, you and I, being imputed with
the righteousness of Christ, that is why no accusation
can ever stick that is hurled against us. Because
God's justified us. We have the righteousness,
the perfect righteousness of Christ given to
us, so whatever accusation can't stick because
no accusation sticks against Christ. Now you
say, well, okay, that's Revelation 12. How do
you know that casting out of Satan is talking
about the cross and not to a future event? It's
a great question. And Jesus answered that in
my mind in John 12 very clearly. Jesus, this
is Palm Sunday, John 12. Jesus said, the hour
has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.
The hour in John, that's the hour of the cross.
Now is the judgment of this world. When is now?
At the cross. Now the ruler of this world, that
is Satan, the devil, will be what? Cast out.
John 12 speaks of Christ's death at the cross.
And he says that's the time when Satan will be
cast out. Now go back and read Revelation 12,
9 once more. The great dragon was cast out. That
serpent of old called the devil and Satan. He
deceives the whole world. He was cast to the
earth and his angels were cast out with him.
Alright. Because of Christ's cross, Satan has
lost his ability to accuse God's people in heaven.
But the final defeat has not yet come. He's not
in the lake of fire right now. Where was he cast
out to? To the earth. Look at verse 12. Therefore
rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them.
Listen, that's great. Listen, heaven's having
a party. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth
and the sea. Here. For the devil has come down
to you having... great wrath because he knows
that it's a short time. He looked at the cross
and was like, I thought I had him. I killed him.
And Christ rose again. He knew he was defeated.
Heaven rejoices because Christ is conquered.
The earth has woe because what? The battle continues
here as Satan attacks the people of God. Is he
cast out of heaven? Yes. No accusation. What's
he going to do there? Nothing sticks against
the people. But he's still walking the earth.
And he's enraged. Christ has humiliated him and
triumphed over him at the cross. He's been barred
from heaven. So he turns his attention to those
living on the earth, God's people right now,
and he desires to attack the church, persecute
the church, deceive the church, do whatever he
can. And as this day goes on, this age, his days
become fewer. So his wrath becomes greater. Notice
the text. Having great wrath. He's in waged,
right? Why? He knows it is a short time. He knows
it's a short time. The idea there, he knows that
his time is limited. He also knows that his ultimate
defeat is inevitable. There's not a thing in
this world Satan can do to stop the final judgment
that's coming his way. And he knows it. But he's
an enraged lunatic who seeks to do as much damage
to God's kingdom as possible while he can. Go
back to the parable. But take heart, because
a day is coming when God will bring judgment.
Satan and all those aligned with him, all those
who work iniquity, all those who practice soullessness,
will be burned in the lake of fire. Not my words.
So that means you and I as the people, we may
suffer now, but you're going to reign later.
R -E -I -G -N. In this age, God has given his
people a cross to bear, right? Take up your cross,
Jesus said. You've got a cross to wear, but in
the age to come, what does God give his people?
A crown to wear. Right now we bear crosses. What
does that mean? opposition, suffering, difficulty.
We tried to sing this song several years ago
in church, and it was a nightmare. It's one of
my favorite songs, but we just don't know it.
It's A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. Just by the
way of our hands, how many know this, A Mighty
Fortress Is Our God? And that's why we don't
sing it. It's written by Martin Luther. It was
written in the 1500s. I love it. I'm going to
read you the first stanza and the third stanza.
Now, Martin Luther is a theologian. Listen to
the theology in it because he sums it up well.
I want to sing it, but trust me, you don't want
me to. I want to. It's so good. A mighty fortress
is our God, a bulwark never failing. Our helper,
he amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing.
For still our ancient foe does seek to work us
woe. His craft and power are great and armed
with cruel hate. On earth is not his equal. Look
at third stanza. And though this world with devils
filled should threaten to undo us, we will not
fear for God has willed his truth to triumph
through us. The prince of darkness, grim, we
tremble not for him. His rage we can endure,
for lo, his doom is sure. And the next phrase
is my favorite. One little word shall fail him.
It's not a battle, friends. Christ, he's done.
That's it. So the outcome is never in doubt.
Christ has already won. What's your job? Trust
him. So what does all this mean for us as we
close? Because of the finished work of Christ.
Satan has lost his ability to accuse you before
God. You're like, Pastor, I know my past. I know
these sins and they're real. They've been washed
away in the blood of Christ. And you've been
given his gift of righteousness. They don't stick,
friends. Christ has borne them. The cross of
Christ has removed all condemnation from us,
which means we're now justified before God. And
Paul said nothing can separate us from his love.
But know this, even though we are justified,
even though we are sons and daughters of God,
on earth this conflict continues. Don't be surprised
by it. In Acts 14 .22, the apostles told the
churches, we must through many tribulations enter
the kingdom of God. Why are we surprised by it?
I mean, it's all over the New Testament. So you're
saying, but then, okay, I get it. What are we
to do? I go back to Revelation 12, verse 11.
And they overcame Satan, the enraged lunatic
who's trying to kill him. They overcame him by
the blood of the Lamb, by the word of their testimony,
and they didn't love their lives unto death.
How do we overcome? We overcome by not in our
own strength, but through Christ's finished work,
the blood of the Lamb. That's what we're going
to celebrate in just a minute. Our faith... is
expressed, it's given visible testimony in our
words, in our testimony, right? And it's proved
in our perseverance, even unto death. They may
kill us, but they can't separate us from God.
And if you're here today and you're apart from
Christ, let me just say this as I close. The
door of grace is wide open. Wide open. You are
called upon, you are commanded, actually, to
repent of your sin, to bow your knee before Jesus,
confess him as Lord, and follow him. But I would
give you one word of caution that our Lord gave
us. Do not presume upon the grace of God and
think that judgment will never come because he
has promised and assured us by raising Jesus
from the dead that a day of future judgment will
come. Today. If you hear his voice, call upon
him and be saved. Friends, if you're a Christian
and you're here and you're in Christ, what a
blessed person. What an agent of grace. What
grace God has given to you. We're coming to the
table. Thank God for what he's done for you and
his son. Thank God for opening your eyes and
your heart to receive the gospel of his son.
For lo, the kingdom of God belongs to you. Let's
pray.