Welcome to Word and Truth, the media ministry of Central Bible Church. We are so glad you've joined us today and pray that today's message will encourage you in your Christian walk. Let's turn our attention now to the preaching of God's Word and open our hearts to the truth as it changes our lives. I'd like for you all to turn with me to Matthew's Gospel, to chapter 13 of Matthew's Gospel. Matthew chapter 13. So Christ came to this earth, was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, and as He began His public ministry, He began with jumping off the heels of the ministry of John the Baptist as John went into prison. repeating the same message that John was preaching, that is, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And Matthew records for us how Jesus is the King of the Jews. He is the Messianic Davidic King. but that He came to His own and His own did not accept Him, that He came offering this kingdom, He came to present the option of having the kingdom begin there in His life, in His ministry, but that the people rejected Christ. that underneath the leadership of what was left of their political reign, the religious side of that reign, the Pharisees and Scribes and Sadducees, the religious leaders, they rejected Christ as being king. And in turn, Jesus speaks of the condemnation of the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the elite in the religious community there. And he says, because of their rejection that this entire generation will be passed. They're all going to be rejected. And we see that transition in Matthew 12 that we finished last week, where it even goes to the closest of relationships between Jesus and the earthly people who were His own, that is, of His mother and brothers. And the people said that, your mother and brothers are standing outside the door and they want to have a word with you. And Jesus said, who is my mother and brothers? Not this earthly connection. but only those who do the will of my Father. They are my true mothers and brothers." And he completely has changed from his direction of ministry, from focusing on the Jews and focusing on offering them this Davidic messianic Jewish kingdom, this fulfillment of 2 Samuel 7, the Davidic covenant, to now pausing on that, postponing it, and starting this new work of ministry with this that he will call the church. This mystery. This was not revealed in the Old Testament. This is something brand new God is doing where those who do the will of my Father, they are my mothers and brothers. This church thing where we won't see that term used until Jesus says, upon this rock I will build my church future. The church was something new that was beginning. And we see this turn in chapter 12 leading into 13, but you have to ask yourself, what happens now? That the kingdom is postponed, and in Matthew 25, verse 31, it still speaks, Jesus speaks of His coming again to take His glorious throne. The kingdom will happen, yet future. What happens here? What happens between the postponement and the fulfillment? And that's what Matthew 13 is written to teach us. We'll call these the kingdom parables. Matthew chapter 13 contains these kingdom parables that teach of the ways of God in this dispensation, the ways of God in this economy, the ways of God in this era of God's redemptive plan. And this morning we will be looking at verses 1 through 23, at least part of that anyway, at the parable called the sower and the soils. Or you might have heard it, the sower and the seed, or the seed and the soils. We want the name to reflect that which is of most importance, so we have to have soils in there somewhere. So I'm going to call it the sower and the soils. And we see this new era, this new ministry, this new dispensation, this new outworking of God where Jesus is now going from a public ministry where he speaks plainly about the kingdom to now he speaks in nothing but parables. And he speaks so to hide the truth about God's redemptive plans. And he won't speak to the crowd any longer without speaking to them in parables because he doesn't want them to know these mysteries. And in verses 3-9 we have the parable given. In verses 24, excuse me, we have the parable given. Then in verse 10-17, Jesus will explain to the disciples why it is He is not explaining Himself to the crowds. He speaks the parable. The disciples come to him and say, what does this mean? And he explains to them, here's why I'm not telling the crowd what it means. And then in verses 18 through 23, he explains only to a small company, his disciples, what the meaning of the parable is. This is the first of eight parables given to us in chapter 13. The first one, verses 3 through 9, the sower and the soils. Verse 24 through 30, give us the second parable, the parable of the wheat and the tares. If you look at verse 31, it starts the third. It's the parable of the mustard seed and the bird's nest. Then in verse 33, a fourth parable on leaven and flour. Those four parables, the opening four, were given publicly to a crowd, a large crowd. Then we read in verse 36, Then he left the crowds and went into the house, and his disciples came to him and said, Explain to us the parable of the tares in the field. Then there's four more parables. Verse 44, The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. Verse 45 and 46, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant who finds a fine pearl. It's the parable of the pricey pearl. Verse 47 through 50 is the parable of the good fish and bad fish. Not red fish, blue fish. I know where you're going. Verse 52, the final of the eight parables, the four public, the four private. Verse 52, the parable of the treasures new and old. Only two parables in this entire chapter are explained. The first, the sower and the soils, starting in verse 18. The second is the parable of the wheat and the tares, starting in verse 37. Those are explained, but they are explained only to a select group. It is closed communication, where He explains those parables only to the disciples. The remaining six have absolutely zero explanation. And no explanation of any of the parables is given to the masses, to the crowds. Only explanation is given twice and only to His disciples so that they would understand truth while the crowds did not. This morning, we are looking at three movements in our text. The first, the parable revealed. If you're taking notes in your outlines, you'll see The parable revealed in verses 1-9. Then the parable concealed in verses 10-17. And then finally, and we'll probably leave this till next week, the parable unveiled in verses 18-23. It starts off with the parable revealed. The parable revealed. And this section begins in verse 1, but verses 1 and 2 give just the opening setting. It introduces the context in which Jesus speaks this parable. Read with me, verse 1 of chapter 13. That day, Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea. And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd was standing on the beach. See, Jesus still had a large crowd who followed Him. The Pharisees had rejected Christ, and Christ in turn has rejected Him and the nation. But people were still interested in this man. Who taught like no one has ever taught. He speaks with authority we've never seen. Who is able to perform all these signs and wonders. Who's healing lepers and raising the dead and casting out demons. And they are interested in what He has to say and they're interested in being entertained. And so a large crowd follows Him out of the door. He goes and sits by the sea. The sea is nothing more than the Sea of Galilee. And in spite of this rejection of the Israelites, He still is willing to meet with them and speak to them. This is a group of people who don't trust Him, who aren't saved, but they are interested in what He has to say. Remember, this is the same group of people who will say, Hosanna in the highest, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. And mere hours later says, crucify Him. They're fickle. But he takes this opportunity and he sits in a boat, it says in verse 2. And he sat down in this boat and pushed off a little way from the seashore, making a natural amphitheater as the people stood on the beach. And he sat in the seat in the boat. Now, not only does it make a natural amphitheater, but he sat probably for stability, but it also reflects tradition. It was tradition for the seat to be taken by the teacher in a synagogue. He sits and they stand. Charles Spurgeon said if that was the posture we use in churches today, we'd have a lot less napping. He sits, he pushes off the shore, the crowd standing on the beach, and he begins to teach them. He begins to teach them and he says this in verse three, and he spoke many things in parables. Now, this is the first time in Matthew's Gospel we've seen the word parable, so a little explanation is needed. From two Greek words, para, balo. Para, alongside of balo, to cast or throw. And it's literally to cast or throw an image to the people that would stand alongside a reality. So that as I look at this picture, I see spiritual truths. Now, a parable generally has one truth being taught, sometimes more than one, but generally speaking, just one truth, a single truth is being taught. John Chrysostom, who we call John Goldentongue for his ability to preach the Word, said, once you find the one meaning in a parable, you go ahead and quit. One truth is being cast out a spiritual reality, being thrown out alongside a picture, and then from the comparison between the picture given, something the crowd would have been familiar with and understood, and then said, and that is just like this spiritual reality, you can be able to make a comparison and say, oh, I get what you are teaching me, teacher. I understand what you're trying to tell me from this image. Now, a parable given without the corresponding explanation or a parable given without the corresponding reality or category leaves you with a mystery. Consider the chair. The end. What about the chair? Well, consider it. It's a picture given and you have to say, it's like you're dealing with the chair that's a picture of faith. You trust it. You sit in it. corresponding reality. Without the category, without the referent, without the corresponding spiritual truth, you're left in an unsolvable riddle, an impossible picture that you're not going to get anything from it. And I want you to keep this in mind because that's exactly what Jesus is doing here. And He does so openly with this verse 3 through 9, this parable of the sower and the soils. And it's a very important parable for us because it reveals very much about the Savior's ministry that He is from this point forward going to speak in parables. He is, from this point forward, also it's important in these pictures here because this is a lengthy, the amount of time given, and it also shows the beginnings of what this kingdom of heaven is that he'll speak of, which we'll define in just a moment. It's the first of these eight, and it's a familiar image. Verse 3, Behold, the sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell upon the road, and the birds came and ate them up. Others fell on the rocky places where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up because they have no depth of soil. But when the sun had risen, they were scorched, and because they had no root, they withered away. Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. and others fell on the good soil, and yielded a crop some of a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear." He casts out this image. We have an agrarian society here. One who knows very well how you would sow seeds on soils. strap on a bag of seeds and broadcast it. Not with our modern rows of gardens, but just broadcast the wheat seeds or whatever it was you're growing everywhere. Just cast it out. And you cast it on every inch of the field because even though you know there's a road on the edge and you know that this place over here has some weeds and this part over here is very rocky, you cast it everywhere because you never know where there's going to be good enough soil to spring forth fruit. And perhaps they weren't just familiar with it. Perhaps he points to the side and says, look at the sower on one of these terraces on the hillside. Look at him sling those seeds. Watch him as he casts them out to every corner. Some of them are hitting the road, and the birds are going to snatch them up. You know that's going to happen. Some of them are falling amongst the rocky places, the untilled soil that have no ability to get roots, and the sun's going to scorch them and kill them, but he's still casting there. Look at this other place over here that has all these weeds, and he's throwing it right into the thorn bushes, and the thorn bushes are going to choke him out, and they're going to die. But look at him. Just cast him out wherever he goes, because he's covering every inch of the soil so that he might hit good soil. And this good soil is going to spring forth and give fruit a hundred, sixty, and thirtyfold. Watch them. They know it's a parable. They know He's giving them the image and the metaphor. But He's given it to them in a masked truth. We're used to this, aren't we? We're used to this parable. We know this. We're familiar with it, most of us, aren't we? We've heard preachers, this is probably the one sermon I remember from my childhood, is sower soils, casting out different things, different places where they fell. But I want you to notice this, that starting in verse 10 through verse 17 is an explanation to the disciples of why He's not going to give them the corresponding reality. And then verse 18 through 23 that we're so familiar with where he explains the parable, that is not given to the crowds. That's given to his select few. His chosen disciples. So he throws out this image. Consider the sower sowing seeds on these four different types of soils. If you have ears, hear it. If you can understand this, understand it. And there's an uncomfortable silence. And maybe they're starting to murmur in the crowds. Hey, I thought this guy was supposed to be a good teacher. Did I miss something? I'm sorry, what did he say? Then you have that philosophically minded guy in the back that always wants to impress the ladies. What, you didn't get it? I got it. He didn't get it either. And the silence is deafening and the murmuring grows. And eventually, the disciples can't take it anymore. Consider the sower, sowing seeds on the soils. Some fall on the roadside, the birds eat them up. Some find home in the rocky places and they spring forth, but they have no roots, so the sun scorches them and they die. Some are cast among the thorns and the thorns choke them out, but some fall on good soil and they spring forth fruit. If you can understand it, understand it. And the disciples say, teacher, Not only do they not understand it, we don't understand it. What are you saying? Look at Roman numeral number 2, the parable concealed, starting in verse 10. And the disciples came and said to him, why do you speak to them in parables? You know what they said? The disciples came to him and said, Teacher, why say anything at all? You're giving an impossible riddle. Behold the chair. So what? Look at the sower, okay? I've looked at him. Now what? Why are you saying anything if you're not going to explain to them what you're saying? Why are you speaking in riddles? Why in parables? And he tells them, Jesus answered them, verse 11, to you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. The kingdom of heaven. Another key term. It's found seven other times in Matthew chapter 13. If you want to mark them, verse 24, Jesus presented another parable to them saying, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed with his field. It goes on and talks about the sowing of tares by the enemy. Verse 31, He presented another parable to them saying, the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. Verse 33, He spoke another parable to them, the kingdom of heaven is like leaven. Verse 44, the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure. Verse 45, again the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls. Verse 47, again the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet. And 52, therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household. Mark and Luke's gospel will parallel the kingdom of heaven with the kingdom of God." They're essentially equal terms, where one emphasizes the Sovereign Himself, the kingdom of God, the other emphasizes His dwelling place, or the seat of His reign, the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 19, if you'll flip the page to Matthew 19, we see in verses 23 and 24 an exact rephrase and parallel between kingdom of heaven and kingdom of God. And Jesus said to His disciples, Truly, I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again, I say to you, let me rephrase this. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Same term, exact same idea. But its meaning is determined within a context. In Matthew 19, it's very clearly salvation. It's harder for a rich man to enter the eye of a needle, literal needle, not talking about some little gate in the wall, which probably some of us have heard, but a literal needle. It's easier for a camel to get through that thing than for a rich man to get to heaven. And the disciples say, then, who can be saved? And he says, impossible with man. But all things are possible for God. There is salvation, but in chapter 13 of Matthew's Gospel, Kingdom of Heaven is not about salvation. Consider the parable of the wheat and the tares, that there are wheat and there are tares in the same field. That's not salvation. You don't have tares in salvation. You don't have unsaved people in the salvation of Christ. So what is it? Well, generally speaking, we take the Kingdom of Heaven to mean that time period between Jesus' death, burial and resurrection and His coming again to establish the Kingdom. The Kingdom of Heaven is Christendom. That perhaps it's everyone who names Christ, even though those, not all who name Christ are actually saved. You have many people who are in churches each and every Sunday who don't actually know salvation, right? Matthew 7, 21, "...not all who say to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. Depart from Me, I never knew you." Perhaps it's that within the church, or perhaps it's simply the world as it stands now and what God is doing with the redemptive plan in that there are some people who will receive the gospel and will receive salvation, and there are some people who won't, and it will either be snatched away or burned off or be choked out, but they won't be saved, and there are some who will receive this truth and some who will not receive this truth, and it is Christ who is presenting them with this truth in the form of a mystery. It's for you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, and not for them. Verse 11. The mysteries, hidden wisdom, granted to the disciples. Ephesians chapter 3 verse 5, Paul defines a mystery clearly. He tells us in verse 5, a mystery is that which is in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit. Jesus is doing nothing more than fulfilling His own maxim in chapter 7, Matthew 7, verse 6, where He said, Do not give what is holy to dogs. Do not throw your pearls before swine or they will trample them under feet and turn and tear you to pieces. At some point in your presenting of truth, when it's constantly being rejected, mocked and blasphemed, at some point you have to make a decision. I will not throw my pearls before swine. I will not give what is holy to the dogs. So Jesus presents this parable, this impossible riddle, and tells His disciples, this is for you to know the mysteries of the kingdom, but it's not for them to know. There is a divine separation taking place here. We see it again in verse 12 of Matthew 13. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have an abundance. but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him." If you have understanding, more understanding is given to you. If you don't have understanding, I'm going to present truth in such a way that you are even more lost than you were to begin with. And Christ is saying, I am going to reveal this truth to you, disciples, but I am not going to reveal this truth to the masses. They don't get to know the mysteries of the ways of God. You might say to me then, that doesn't sound right, that God would purposefully hide truth from people. I would remind you of Matthew chapter 11. We need all to see this. Matthew 11 verse 25. Matthew 11. Verse 25, in the midst of denouncing these cities for rejecting Him, and the people of Israel for not believing and repenting, verse 25, at that time Jesus said, I praise you, Father, the Lord of heaven and earth. Why is He praising him? That you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent. and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in your sight. I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for hiding truth And that was well-pleasing for you to do." It goes on, verse 27, "...all things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." This is playing out in this parable. Here's this parable. The masses don't understand it. I'm going to teach it to you, disciples. I'll reveal the Father to you. because I choose to reveal it to you, but I'm not going to reveal it to the masses. The parables have been revealed, but the parable is concealed here. Maybe an illustration will help. You know, if we are not saved, we are considered by Scripture children of darkness. We are in the kingdom of darkness and night. Well, if you are saved, you are considered a child of day, a child of light. 1 Thessalonians 5, 1-9, showing who the tribulation will come upon, separates it very clearly. This tribulation comes upon those who are in the night, who are in darkness. And it describes them as being lost people. And it says, but you, brothers, are not children of night nor of darkness. You are children of day and of light. So, in essence, the lost person is nocturnal. Yeah? Follow me? And the saved people are diurnal. Yes, it's a true word. I looked it up. Google. What is the opposite of nocturnal? Diurnal. We're diurnal. Not used often, but it's true. Now, if we have nocturnal and diurnal animals, and I take out a flashlight towards a nocturnal animal, what does he do? runs. He seeks darkness. Now, we're diurnal. Let's say that it's nighttime and we have our lights going and the power goes out. What do we do? Seek a flashlight, a candle, a lantern, backup generators, you name it. We're doing anything we can to get to more light, aren't we? Jesus is taking a little lamp, this little light of mine, And he's bringing in the midst of darkness where there is two groups of people, the nocturnal and the diurnal. And believers, the day seekers, search out the light. They get more brightness illumined in their minds and hearts. And what do the nocturnal animals do? They're separated from it. They run from it. There's a divine separation taking place. I'm revealing just enough truth to keep them interested, to make them ponder, but to make them more and more lost and rejecting of truth, whereas I'm revealing these mysteries to you so that you will follow and seek it harder more and more every day. A divine separation is taking place, and that divine separation is nothing more than an eternal, or a divine, I should say, a prophetic judgment. If you'll read with me verses 13 through 16, it says, it says, Therefore I speak to them in parables, because while seeing they don't see, and while hearing they don't hear, nor do they understand. In their case, the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, you'll keep on hearing, but will not understand. You'll keep on seeing, but will not perceive. For the heart of this people has become dull. With their ears they have scarcely hear. and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise, they would see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and return, and I would heal them." This isn't a pleading or a begging on God's part. This is an explanation of what's going on with them, that He has made them dull of hearing, and blind, and not understanding. Because if they did understand, and could see, and could hear, they would repent and turn. And He would have to heal them, because that's the ways of God. But they're under judgment and condemnation, and so He is hardening them to the truth. It's a quote from Isaiah chapter 6. If you would turn with me to Isaiah chapter 6, right after Proverbs. If you could find Proverbs, you'll find right after Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon, and then Isaiah. And it's a familiar passage, one we all probably know and love. Verse 1, and as you read there, I'll give you verse numbers on the way so you can catch up. It says, In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on his throne. lofty and exalted, with the train of his robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above him, each having six wings, and with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. Verse 3, And the one called out to another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. The foundations of the threshold trembled at the voice of him who called out while the temple was filling with smoke. Verse 5, then I said, Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips. I have lived among a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Verse 6, when the seraphim flew to me with the burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs, and he touched my mouth with it, And He said, Behold, this has touched your lips, and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin is forgiven. Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Who shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said, Here I am, send me. And what a terrible message to be sent to bring. He said, Go and tell this people, keep on listening, don't proceed. Judgment. Keep on looking, do not understand. Keep on listening, but do not perceive. Keep on looking, but do not understand. Render the hearts of this people insensitive, their ears dull and their eyes dim. Go and speak this anti-blessing, this curse upon them. Render them senseless. By your saying this, make them so they don't understand the words that are coming out of my mouth. render them dull of hearing, their eyes dim, otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and return and be healed." I don't want that to happen, so speak the curse upon them. And Isaiah, he thought he was going on a mission from God and said, how long is this going to take place? How long, O Lord? And he answered, Until the cities are devastated and without inhabitants, houses are without people, and the land is utterly desolate. The Lord has removed men far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. Yet there will be a tithe, a nasser, an offering, a tribute, a small portion in it. And it will again be subject to burning like a terebinth or an oak whose stump remains when it is felled. The holy seed is its stump. I want you to pronounce this judgment upon the people of Israel. Know that I will always keep a remnant. But for the masses, make it so they hear the curse and receive the curse of God so they can't understand truth. I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for hiding these things. It's revealed to the Son and to whom the Son reveals it. Now, this is the outworking of Isaiah's prophecy in Matthew 13, that these people have become senseless and they are cursed to not understand truth. But there's always this remnant, isn't there? There's always this small portion of people, this aser, this tithe, this tribute that God will always keep. Romans 11. Paul says, God has not forsaken His people to whom the covenants were given. Has He? Absolutely not. Consider me, Paul. I'm a Jew. Consider the apostles. They were Jewish. Consider the early church. They were primarily Jewish. Consider today the Messianic Jews. They're Jewish men who have come to know Christ. God is always carrying a remnant. There's always the stump. But on the whole for the nation of Israel, there's a curse upon them. So they are receiving truth, not clearly, but in parables. Verse 16, it turns though and it says that there's judgment for the masses, but there's blessings for the few, but blessed are your eyes because they see and your ears because they hear. It's a blessing of the Lord that we can understand these things. Verse 16 and 17 then moves to telling us it's an ancient desire. For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but they did not hear it. People have longed to understand the words of truth and have not been able to get it. But blessed are you because you hear and you see and you understand and I'm revealing the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven to you, Christians, disciples. This is Reformation Sunday. The Gutenberg printing press was a blessing and a curse. It was invented 67 years before Martin Luther nailed 95 theses on the castle door in Wittenberg, Germany. And one of Luther's students, unbeknownst to Luther, ripped it off the door and brought it to his nearest Gutenberg printing press. And he made copy and copy and copy and copy, and he sent it all over Germany. And what were meant to be points of discussion to have an open debate on this bulletin board, the castle door, became a catalyst for people waking up. And the people began to question the Roman church and the abuses. From there, after the trial, which we'll see tonight, Luther goes into captivity and hiding and he writes, he writes the Bible. He translates from Greek and Hebrew and I guess some Latin because he has some manuscript holes. He translates from Greek and Hebrew and maybe a little Latin into the German language and the people of Germany are about to read the Word of God for the first time in their own language ever. Ever! Some men tried to put it in the language of the common man beforehand and they died for doing it. Rome killed them. Because they said the Bible is not for Christians. If you come tonight, you'll hear a scene in this movie where one of the monks asked Luther's head priest guy, why are you sending Luther to go and get a doctorate in Wittenberg? There are men who are more worthy. And the priest says, Luther has two theology degrees. He has an aptitude for learning more. Why not Luther? That in itself is okay. The scene before it, he says, Luther, have you ever read the New Testament? No, Father. That's okay if you have. The Roman church at that time had men with two degrees, Luther included, and was going to get his doctorate, who's never read the Word of God, ever. Never read the New Testament. Because it doesn't matter what the Bible says, it matters what the church says the Bible says. And so Luther translates the scriptures into German language to put the Word of God in the hands of the common man, this task which men previously died to do. Luther is able to do in captivity and hiding, and through the Gutenberg printing press, that Bible gets to be translated and copied over and over and over again, so that people are getting their hands on copies of God's Word. And it is the most precious treasure in their entire estate. And they consume it. If they can touch it, they memorize it. Because for over a thousand years, no one's seen the Word of God written in that language. They couldn't imagine it. Most churches didn't own a copy of the Latin Bible, much less one in the language of the people. People were dying to get their hands on it in their language. The Gutenberg printing press was a blessing and a curse because as of today, five to six billion copies of the Word of God have been printed. 100 million copies of God's word is sold every year. 20 million of that is sold here in the United States. And I wonder how many of them have ever been read or studied, memorized, meditated upon. When they were precious and few, Christians consumed them, devoured them. We were called the people of the book. in those early years of the Protestant Reformation. Today, they're a coffee table warmer. How many of your Bibles were read this week? God has given you a blessing, a gift, if you are a Christian, to understand His Word. 1 Corinthians 2 says that the unspiritual man understands nothing, but the spiritual man appraises all things. He who has been given the Holy Spirit, the same person, can understand all things. Romans chapter 8 says there is the difference between those with the mind of the flesh and those with the mind of the Spirit. And those with the mind of the flesh can understand the things of the Spirit of God, but those who have the mind of the Spirit are able to please God and understand the things of the Spirit of God and are able to think on spiritual things. There's a gap there. Isaiah 44 says, God has smeared over the eyes of the unbeliever so that they cannot see the truth. But in 2 Corinthians 3, it says that in Christ that veil has been lifted. We've been given a gift, haven't we? That very same gift that many prophets and righteous men desired to see. But that the world is judged for not seeing and judged with an inability to see it clearly. Why is it that we're more interested in reading Pinterest than the Gospels? Why is it that I'm more interested in the mystery of who committed this crime on elementary last night than I am the mysteries of God? Why am I more interested in the battle on the football field than the battle between the enemies of God and Christ in Revelation? Why is it that I'm very interested in reading books about the Bible, but very uninterested in reading the Bible? Howard Hendricks passed away just a few months ago. He used to say, men, read your Bibles. They'll shed marvelous light on those commentaries. I had an opportunity this week, unlooked for, unwanted, one of you put my name on their list, of two teenage elders of the Church of the Latter-day Saints, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, two Mormons came to my door. They knew my address, they knew my name. And I said, how do you know my name? They said, well, you called and asked for a drop by. No, I didn't. In fact, I don't even enjoy these. I don't like that confrontation. I'm a very non-confrontational person whenever I'm not in here. The visit had to be short because they were parking in my neighbor's yard and their tire was actually on my neighbor's grass and he was not happy about that because the yards in my neighborhood are real soft and, you know, he basically had made a rut in that guy's yard from now on. So I started walking with them to their vehicle, their big white van, and I said, but before you go, we got to talk. Now, normally I would have shooed them out the door and say, have a nice day, and I don't even want to discuss this with you later. But it's as if God said, you're not evangelizing enough. Here's two of the most deceived persons that will ever step foot on your porch, right here, right now. And it just so happened that through the Lord's providence, I read a transcript of a commencement's address for BYU, Brigham Young University, Mormon University, you know what I'm talking about? given by Dr. Albert Moeller, Jr. of Southern Baptist Seminary, president of the SBC Seminary. And the transcript began and ended in this way. He repeated himself. He said, you know who I am and I know who you are. And you know that I'm Southern Baptist and you know that you are Latter-day Saints. You know that I am a Christian who ascribes to the eternal creeds of the faith, not the eternal creeds, excuse me, the historic creeds of the faith, that I believe that God is Trinity, Father, Son, Spirit, one God, three persons. Whereas you believe your theology where everyone is a God and becomes a God. I believe that he said, he said, I am here to address you as a friend who loves you and who has very close friends on your staff. This is all paraphrased, by the way. He said, because I love you, I am going to say this. I do not believe that we will be in heaven together one day, but we might be in jail together. He said, because you stand for morals that I stand for, and they are becoming very unpopular. And he ended his address the same way. We are not going to heaven together. We might go to jail together. I'm a Christian, you're not. And so I began to talk with, I said, do you know who Al Mohler is? No. He said, he's the president of Southern Baptist Seminary, and he addressed BYU, and I just read his transcripts, and that's how he began. Friends, I told him, I'm a Christian. I hold to the historic creeds of the faith. I believe God is Trinity, Father, Son, Spirit, yet one God. Echad, plurality and oneness in the Old Testament, not Yahid, a single guy on an island. I don't believe that we all are potentially gods of our own planets. I know you have value for your family because you are starting your own spiritual babies to populate your own planet one day. I respect your values of marriage and on child rearing and on the family, but I do not hold to the same end thereof. I believe salvation is revealed to us in the Word of God alone. Sola Scriptura. Not the Book of Mormon, not the Pearl of Great Price, which are filled with historical and scientific fallacies and errors. There's no evidence of an African elephant bringing a golden tablet from Brazil to Michigan. There's no scientific proof that the Native Americans were one day, one day, formerly Jews, who were the other family of Jews who traveled all through those oceans and found themselves in the Americas. There's absolutely no scientific evidence for any of that, nor is there historic proof for anything that those two books teach you. The only thing that you hold in your hand that I would ascribe to is called the Holy Bible, and even you would say that that is the primary book. Now, here's the thing. That book is my authority alone, and it tells me that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone, and that faith was a gift of God alone. Not salvation in works, not faith in works, not grace in works, but God, grace alone, and in that grace He gives me faith, and through my faith alone, and that faith is not on the church, It's not on these other books. It's in Christ Jesus alone, who's not the brother of Satan, and who wasn't my spiritual brother, because we're not eternal spiritual beings up in this heaven and then get sent down. But Father, Son, and Spirit exist alone in heaven and creates. And when I read my Bible and it tells me that there's Trinity, it tells me salvation is by grace through faith in Christ alone, it tells me that all of salvation is for God's glory alone. And it's not this and it's not that. And I went through and I broke down their theology piece by piece by piece. all the essentials of their faith, and showed them how Scripture was not true. I quoted John 1. I quoted 1 Corinthians. I was going from passage to passage to passage, showing them in the Bible what it says. And their response was, well, you obviously know your Bible better than us. But I just know it's true in my heart. I know you have a feeling, you have an experience, you have a burning of the bosom. But I'll tell you, brother, I don't know if it was Satan, God, or the pizza you ate the night before. sola scriptura, sola gratia, sola fide, sola Christus, for God's glory alone. And I told them, this I didn't know. I said, you need to go home and read your Bible every day. Their response was this, it's required, we do. They read this every day, do you? They read it and are so deceived and confused and don't understand a lick of it. But God has given us his spirit to give us, I love the King James. He's given us an unction to know all things. God's spirit lets us know the truth. It is a blessing given to us. It is given to us to be able to confront error. It's given to us so that we can have peace, understanding who God is and how he works. It's given to us so that we can be sanctified. Jesus prayed, Lord, sanctify them with truth. Your word is truth. John 17, verse two. It's given to us so that we can read it and study it and meditate it so that we can be ready in season and out of season to give a defense of our faith. How many of us could have stood on that doorstep with those Mormons and picked apart not only their faith, but showed them ours in contrast? Could you do it? Could you do it with a Jehovah's Witness? Could you do it with a Scientologist? Could you do it with, you name it, a Buddhist, etc.? ? We must recognize this gift that's been given to us and then honor it by searching and reading and thinking and making it a part of our lives. We have to honor those who came before us as we celebrate the Reformation and those who have died to bring us the Word of God. And we have to do it to honor Christ as we think of Him and thank Him for revealing this truth. It's not for them to know, but it's for you to understand the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven. Thank you, Jesus, for opening my heart and mind to know it. Has He opened your hearts and minds to know it? Or does it just seem like another book, something to put on a coffee table? Repent of sin, brothers, sisters. You don't know Christ. God's a holy God and cannot stand in the presence of sin. Turn from it. Trust Jesus. He died on the cross to save you from your sins. If you ask him to save you, he will. Live for him. Let's pray. Father, thank you for truth. Your word is truth. We thank You, Father, that You have opened our hearts and minds to understand the revealed mysteries of it. I pray, Lord, that we will honor Christ by knowing His Word, so that when confronted with error, we can speak truth and love so that when confronted with difficult situations, having been studying Your Word to us, we understand who You are as sovereign God, who will walk us hand in hand through the difficulties and give us peace and rest, knowing that You, Father, are sovereign. We thank You for the salvation revealed to us by the words of Christ. by the Spirits bringing them to mind, and the apostles, that salvation is according to the Word of God alone, by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, for God, your glory alone. We pray that we will do honor to those who have come before us, who died to put this Bible in our hands, in our language, but most importantly, Lord, We pray that as a people we may become men and women who know Your Word, know its truthfulness, and give You honor and glory because of it. We thank You for it being revealed to us. We don't say that pridefully, as if it's something of ourselves that we are capable of understanding, but we say that in humility, knowing that it's a gift. Thank You for making us spiritual ones who appraise all things. Thank You for giving us a mind that is of the Spirit, and for lifting the veil in Christ that blinded us from truth for so many years. Continue this work of transformation in us, we pray, for Christ's glory, by the power of the Spirit. We pray that this message has been an encouragement to you. If you are in the greater Baton Rouge area, we'd love for you to join us at Central Bible Church. Visit us on the web for directions, times, and other information. You can find us at www.central-bible.org. And be sure to join us next week for Word and Truth, where we are centered on the Word, centered on the truth.