All right, well, good evening, everyone. Good to see everybody here. Let's go ahead and get started with the word of prayer as we begin. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day. We thank you for this opportunity, again, to continue this study and to gather together as your people. We ask that you would bless us this evening, that your spirit would be here with us, giving us wisdom and understanding that we might grow in our understanding of your word and that you would grow us as Christians. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. So this evening, up to this point, we've been working through various parts of the Old Testament, looking at various passages that contribute to our understanding of eschatology in different ways. Tonight, we're going to be focusing on the theme of the Kingdom of God. So we're transitioning over to the New Testament. We'll be referencing a bunch of different passages, but probably one passage that we'll spend a little bit more time on than others is Matthew 13. The reason for that is that's the collection of some of the kingdom parables, where Jesus is saying, the kingdom of God is like this, or like that, and so on and so forth. So, part of the reason to focus on this concept, of course, part of the reason we know it's The New Testament talked about this a lot, the Gospels in particular, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and especially Jesus is referencing the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven lots and lots of times. But this raises the question, of course, of what exactly is he talking about? How does this relate to the prophecies of the Old Testament? How does this relate to our understanding of eschatology? And especially because different Christians have had different ideas. And so dispensationalists, in particular, as they talk about the kingdom of God, and especially as they interpret a lot of the Old Testament passages that we've looked at already, they tend to think of the kingdom of God as being about, well, in their mindset, not the second coming, but the millennium, a literal thousand-year reign on earth of Christ before the final judgment and all of that. They say, well, that's the actual kingdom of God, because it's literally the kingdom of God on earth reigning with the Jews. So a lot of the Old Testament passages we've looked at in previous weeks, they interpret as all looking forward to that event. But as we've worked through the Old Testament, part of the things that I've been trying to help us to see is that the Old Testament is looking to the coming of Christ, not just the final age, but really this whole period here. is what the Old Testament has been looking forward to, and a big emphasis is on the first time. And when we look through the New Testament, and especially in the Gospels, as Jesus talks about the kingdom, he isn't talking about the kingdom as a faraway future event. The kingdom is described as something present, something near, something that is among the people even. And so this is one of the unique emphases in Reformed theology in terms of how we think about eschatology and how we think about the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is something that's already been inaugurated. It is something that is present here, that we are participants in. And this is what the prophecies of the Old Testament were looking forward to, that David's son to reign on his throne forever and ever is referring to the coming of Christ, who is now sitting on the throne, and is sitting on the throne until he consummates all things. That's another thing to recognize as well, the kingdom kind of includes this whole period of time. It has begun. It is here present, but it's not consummated yet. There's still a future that we're looking forward to. So one of the ideas I want to start off kind of explaining a little bit is this phrase, the already and the not yet. How many here have heard of the already and not yet? Say again? The now, not yet? Yes. Now, not yet. Already, not yet. Okay, so some of you have heard of it, some of you have not. What this idea is getting at is that as we are living in the last age, and again, the reason I put this particular timeline up here, we had this a number of weeks ago, you kind of have like three ages of history. The first one is the creation up to the flood. The flood ended that first age and dramatically changed the whole world. And then the second age is from the flood to the first coming of Christ. And then with the first coming of Christ, he inaugurates the last days. And this is the last age until everything ends and we go to the age of the new heavens and the new earth. And so as we are living in this last age presently, There are eschatological realities that are here, now, today. When I say eschatological realities, what I'm talking about, eschatology is the last thing, right? And what we have going on is back in creation, God had a plan for the world. He created the world. He created us to have relationship with God. He placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. I mean, you can see very early on that there's this idea of God's relationship to the world. He's actually, he's already set up kind of a place for humanity to dwell and to rule as his regents on earth, his governors on earth. And so there's this plan of how things are supposed to go, of course, then you have sin, and everything that comes after the fall is the process of restoring what was lost, which finally comes about in the second coming. That's why you have a tree of life in the Garden of Eden, and that's why you have a tree of life in Revelation 21 and 22, because history is moving towards the fixing and making better of everything that was broken. But the key point for all of that was Jesus Christ. That's the key. There's no salvation of sins without Jesus. That's why this coming down of Christ in His first coming is so important, and that's why all the Old Testament prophecies are looking forward to this, because this is that rock that strikes the statue in Daniel 2, and shatters the kingdoms, and remakes everything, and the rock rose to fulfill the whole earth. And so that's accomplishing here in time and space what's going to be fully realized in the future. We're not going to be completely free of sin until the New Heavens and New Earth, right? But we are now forgiven because of the work of Christ. The payment has been made. And so there's a sense that eschatological, things that will fully happen at the end, are already present now because of the coming of Christ. These are the things that already are. That's why we say, already. There are things that are already here and now. Ephesians 1 talks about all the blessings that we have as Christians in Christ, in the heavenly places. Well, guess what? We're not in heaven yet. We're still here on earth, but there are heavenly truths that belong to us here and now. Our salvation, predestination, justification, adoption, all those things are realities for Christians now, which we will experience the fullness of at the consummation in the future. But the fact that things are present here is that already. Now there are also things, as we've been saying, that are still to come. That's the consummation. That's the full accomplishing of everything. The final removal of sin. There'll be no more tears. The former things will have passed away. Revelation 21. But those things are not yet here. So that's why we say, already, not yet. There are things that are already here, but there are still aspects of them that are not yet here that we're looking forward to in the future. This is related again to the language that we use sometimes of inaugurated eschatology. Inauguration, that's when something begins, the official starting point, when the president, his term begins when he is inaugurated into his office. So inaugurated eschatology is saying that the last days have begun. They have begun with the coming of Christ. They're not going to be completed until at the very end. They're still not yet. But there's an aspect that is here, that has already begun, that is here with us today. And so I want to kind of explore a little bit of that from the Scriptures. Let me just pause for a moment and just ask, are there any questions about that? I know especially some of you may or may not be as familiar with it. Do you have any questions? Does at the very least that make sense, what I've been saying so far? Yes, Trevor? When Jesus was here, he gave us a glimpse of future reality. No death. No sickness. Well, perhaps one of the best examples is his resurrection. Well, yeah, the resurrection of Lazarus, but also 1 Corinthians 15 speaks of Christ's resurrection as the first fruits. Actually, that's a great way to think about it. Think of a harvest. The harvest doesn't happen in just one moment. You've got a huge field. It takes time. Especially in the old days, you've got to take your sickle and go through and cut down all the grain, and then you've got to gather it together and bundle it up. And sometimes not everything's ripe right away. But the first fruits are the very beginning of the harvest. Christ's resurrection is the very beginning of the heavenly realities of glory entering into the earth. I mean, he resurrected with a glorified body. For us, that happens over here. But he experienced it over here. That's the first crucifixion. And that's a guarantee for us that it will happen for us one day as well. So that's part of this idea of what we're talking about. There are realities that are here now that we're experiencing. When we come and worship on Sunday, we get a taste of that. It's not a perfect taste of heaven, but it is, you know, those scenes in Revelation of the singing that happens in heaven, the glorying of Christ, and all those things, you know, we're just a small little glimpse of that here on earth, of what's happening in heaven, and will happen for all eternity. Yeah. Would it be right to say that we also worship with the heavenly saints? Yep. We worship. Yep. I mean, Sorry, that just connected with 1 Corinthians 11 with the head coverings. When Paul talks, because of the angels, you know, I don't want to open that can of worms, but at the very least, he's saying there's a connection between what's happening on earth when we worship and what's happening in heaven at the same time. Don't trust me too much on what that means, but he says there's a connection. So yes, you're right there. Yeah, 1 Corinthians 11, that's a different study. I shouldn't have even brought that up. You can ask me afterwards if you've got questions. Alright, well let's start to look at some verses that talk about the Kingdom as already. And this is, especially looking at Matthew, but some other places as well, I want us to recognize that the way the Scriptures speak is that the Kingdom of God is not just this long-off future reality, but it's something that's already here. We see this just in the very beginning in Matthew 3-2 and Matthew 4-17, both important verses. Matthew 3-2 is the ministry of John the Baptist. What was the job of John the Baptist? Why was he sent? The forerunner. He used to prepare the way for Christ. And what is the message that John preaches? Kingdom of heaven is at hand. Yes. Matthew 3, 2. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Is that talking about a far-off, something way down the road? It's talking about something here. His job is to prepare the way for this. I mean, how in the world does John the Baptist prepare the way for something if it doesn't occur for another 2,000 years? Matthew 4, 17. Matthew 4, 17 is important because that's Jesus preaching. And Matthew 4, 17 summarizes Jesus' preaching as this. From that time, Jesus began to preach, saying, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Jesus, at the very beginning of His ministry, is preaching the same message of John the Baptist. The kingdom of heaven is near, and so you have this responsibility to respond, to repent, and to prepare for it. Matthew 4.23 talks about He goes throughout all Galilee teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom. Matthew 9.35 uses the same phrase. Notice that language, the gospel of the kingdom. That's important because when we think of the kingdom of God, we need to associate it with the gospel of Jesus Christ. They're the same message in reality. When you think about it this way, how does one enter the kingdom of heaven? How does one enter the kingdom of heaven? By faith, by the narrow gate. You have to be born again. In fact, the New Testament talks a lot about those who will not inherit, and who are those who will not inherit? The sinners, and they list all the different kinds of sins. The murderers, the thieves, the liars, the adulterers, all those will not inherit the kingdom of God. So the kingdom of God is not about, it's not an ethnic thing, it's a spiritual thing. It's about the new birth, the changed heart, believing and trusting on Jesus Christ, such that it's called the Gospel of the Kingdom. Another interesting verse is Matthew 12, 28, which reads, so this is when there's conflict with Jesus about His ministry. They're accusing Him of casting out demons by the power of demons, and Jesus is challenging them on that. And one of the things he says is this, verse 28, chapter 12, Matthew. If it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. It has come upon you. That's even closer language. It's not something that's just here. It is here. If He is casting out Satan, demons, by the power of the Spirit, then the kingdom of God has appeared among the people. And so there's a lot of other passages that we can look at in the Gospels, but just from those, we see the kingdom of God is something that's presented as near to them, because it is being inaugurated through the work of Christ. Other places in the New Testament speak of it as a present reality. So Colossians 1 verse 13 says this, He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son. Notice that language. We have been transferred from the domain of darkness. Of course, domain is kingdom language, you know, the power of darkness, the rule of darkness, that idea. And we have been transferred into another kingdom, a present reality, the kingdom of his beloved son. So every Christian is not under the kingdom of darkness, but is presently part of the kingdom of the Beloved Son. And who is the Beloved Son? Jesus Christ. And so the New Testament views the kingdom as a present reality here and now. Revelation 1, the last part of verse 5 into verse 6 says, To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priest who is God and father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. That language of he's made us a kingdom, priest who is God, back in Exodus, there's this promise of I'm going to make you a kingdom of priests. 1 Peter uses this language and says, this is what the Church is. We are a kingdom of priests. Revelation says the same thing. He has made us a kingdom as priests to his God and Father. And so the kingdom is an already reality. And especially when we then think about Matthew 28 and the ascension of Christ, what does Jesus say? All authority has been given to me." All authority has been given to Christ. When He ascends to the Father, where does He ascend? He ascends to the right hand and is sitting on a throne. He is king and ruling now, and He is reigning over His kingdom. He is reigning over His kingdom now. So this is an already reality. Let me just pause there. Any questions on that? Does that make sense, what I'm trying to say there? Yeah, Trevor. It seems like the kingdom is a belief system. Belief in things not visible, but belief in the record for us in this age to record and work some of Jesus' miracles. When he raised the dead, he healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, Those are miracles because they don't naturally occur at first. But it's a preview of the heavenly existence. They're testimonies, yes. He gave us a glimpse into that reality. And in fact, so we're almost there in our series to the Gospel of John, but chapter 18, verse 36, this is Jesus before Pilate. I was questioning Jesus about, you know, are you the king of the Jews? You know, what does that mean? And that's where Jesus says, my kingdom is not of this world. Because if it was, my disciples would be fighting for me right now. You know, I'd be their earthly political leader. They wouldn't stand to have me arrested like this and, you know, they'd be trying to fight and rescue him, deliver Jesus. But Jesus' kingdom is not of this world in that way. Not that it doesn't have effects in this world. Of course it does. But his kingdom is a spiritual kingdom, not a physical kingdom. And I think that's something that some people get tripped up on. They think the kingdom has to be a physical thing. And that's not how Jesus describes it. That's not how the New Testament uses it. Maybe it's not a physical thing yet. Correct. Yes, it will be in the new heavens and new earth, because that's what we inherit. We do inherit the new earth, yes. And it will be physical, because we will have bodies. We'll be glorified bodies. What exactly does that mean and look like? I don't know, but it will be a lot better than what it is now. Nice. Exactly. No doubt. All fit. Say again? All of us are going to be fit. All fit, yes. Exactly. Yeah, Lila. what's the father's role then? Because I know it's not strictly passive, you know, since. Yes. So let's, yeah, let's talk a little bit about the kingdom as not yet, because there's a passage I want to look at, and that answers your question. Or at least will hopefully help answer the question. You can follow up again if it doesn't. But 1 Corinthians 15, verses 23 through 25. I think this is a helpful verse because it speaks both to what's happening presently, but then also to the future, that there are still things to happen. So 1 Corinthians 15 verses 23 through 25, this is talking about the resurrection, talking about each in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, then his coming, those who belong to Christ. So there you have this idea, the resurrection of Christ back here, that's the firstfruits, then his coming, Of course, Paul's readiness, you know, I don't know exactly when, 50s or 60s AD, and so that's after the first resurrection. He's talking about this over here. He's talking about at his final coming, all those who belong to Christ will be resurrected. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power, for he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. So, also connecting this with Philippians, because of the work of Christ, with his death and resurrection, the Father has exalted Christ, given him the name above every name, has given him all authority, so that Christ is currently ruling and reigning now. That's verse 25. He must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. That's speaking of the reign of Christ as a present reality. He is reigning now and must reign until he defeats all his enemies. And so what Christ is doing is Christ is building His kingdom. He's been inaugurated as the King. He's been ascended, given all authority. He is seated at the right hand of the Father. Revelation describes Him as a warrior conquering the nations. We've talked about some of the prophecies of the Old Testament of Christ a God, or Christ plundering the nations, bringing in all the Gentiles into the people of God. This language all goes together to present this picture of Christ is now building His kingdom. The rock has come, it has smashed the statue, and it is growing. And He is doing that, and once He finishes it, He presents the kingdom to the Father for that final consummation. Is that in the White Throne of Judgment? That would be part of this, yeah. So we need a yeah, it's an important point that all of All the works of the Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, they are all unified in their doing. So this is an important thing. They have one will. It's not that the Father has one will, and the Son has a different will, and the Spirit has a different will. They all have one will together. Now, in the historical outworking of salvation, You know the Sun is the one who comes and dies the spirit is the one that is sent but there's still this unity because they're one God and so It's all there. Yeah, they're one will together as they're doing This is kind of crossing that bridge into the mystery of well How do you have one God and three persons at the same time? Yep, yep Yep, I've referenced that on Sunday when talking about God is one, but you also have the three persons. Those are all true statements of Scripture, which is why we have the doctrine of betrayal. All right, so one of the important things here from that 1 Corinthians 15 passage is you have that aspect that Christ is reigning now, but you also have this future part. There's gonna be a consummation where this presence work is finished and the kingdom is ready to be delivered to the father and that's what ushers in that final, technically I guess there should be one final stage, New Heaven and New Earth after that. We'll just say an H and an E. There we go, New Heavens and New Earth. Is the marriage supper of the Lamb free or post the Great White Sermon of Judgment? I've not technically thought about that question, but I would assume it would have to be after, because there's not going to be any goats there, and so the judgment will have had to occur, and so it will only be the saints who participate in the marriage supper of the Lamb. What was the question? Which happens first, the marriage supper of the Lamb or the judgment? So the judgment would have to happen first. Okay. Oh, there's one other. So under this idea of the kingdom as not yet. Ephesians 1.14 is another helpful verse. Let me just read that real quick. So in Ephesians 1.14, this verse is about the Holy Spirit. Actually, let me back up and read verse 13. Verse 13, In Him, Christ, you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance, until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of His glory. So notice, there's something that's happened. We've received the Holy Spirit as a guarantee. The fact that we have the Holy Spirit is already a benefit of the work of Christ that we have now, that's unique for us now. But it's a guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it. So we have been promised, let me put it this way, we have been promised all of this. The Holy Spirit has been given to guarantee to us, to assure us, this is coming. We don't have possession of it yet, because we're not here yet. We're somewhere over here. We don't know exactly where we are over here, but we're somewhere over here. And so the Spirit guarantees to us and seals to us the promise of the future reality still to come, the not-yet part of our eschatology, until that time when we actually acquire possession of it and experience the fullness of the benefits of our salvation and being with Christ forever. Does that make sense? What's going on there? So you have this already, the benefits we have now, the not-yet, the things that we're still looking forward to, which are just the consummation, the fullness It's kind of like when you have a kid and you're on your way to the ice cream, or you're going to go out for ice cream or something, and they really want ice cream, and maybe you give them a little taste at home to tie them over until you actually get to the ice cream store when they get the full thing. Maybe it's not a helpful analogy. We don't have kids yet. But it probably actually would make it worse. You just want more of it, right? But the thing is, God wants us to want more of it. So, God's not annoyed by us when we want more of Him. Perhaps we'd be annoyed at our kids when they want more ice cream. But anyway, that was just off the cuff. That's a whole great talk this morning. Yeah, Trevor. The Holy Spirit is a down payment. It's a guarantor, yes. It's what encourages us in our faith. It is what encourages us in this world to keep going. Yes. You know, not to give up, to stand firm, and to give a testimony. Like you said, when you were working on the car wash, they noticed you never cursed. Was it your father, they would pay if you would curse them? Yes, they tried to pay me to curse. You have received a down payment. Right. Some people may not even know why they're just following parental guidance. Right. Yup. Yup. But it's also, it's a fine line. It's not what we do that guarantees it. Right. Yes. Yup. And I mean, that's... The Holy Spirit seals the promise of God to us. And so, there is a sense that, you know, I want to be careful how to say this. The path that we walk towards the consummation is the Christian walk. You know, the good works that were prepared beforehand for us, that we might walk in them, which is Ephesians 2.10 I believe. But of course, the verses right before that are, we are saved by grace through faith. It is a gift that is not of ourselves, lest anyone should boast. So we're saved by grace through faith, prepared then to walk in the good works that God has given us, but he is the one that finishes that good work, that brings us to completion and brings us to the final day. It's the golden chain. There's a sequence of life, a sequence to your ultimate sanctification, starting with God's foreknowledge, his choosing. Right, Romans 8. All right, any other questions before I want to spend some time looking at some of the kingdom parables of Matthew 13. Any questions before we do that? All right, let's look at Matthew 13. I want to begin at verse 24. So we'll look at the parable of the weeds. the mustard seed in 11, we'll look at the explanation of the parable of the weeds, and then we'll look at the parable of the hidden treasure, the parable of great value, and the parable of the net. All right, so starting in verse 24, he put another parable before them, saying, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weird 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 your field? How then does it have weeds? He said to them, An enemy has done this. So the servant said to him, Then do you want us to go and gather them? But he said, No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the weeds along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first, and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn." Let me just pause there. Let's drop down to verse 36, because this is the explanation of this parable, and then we'll talk about it. So verse 36, Then he left the crowds, and went into the house. And the disciples came to him, saying, Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field. The answer, the one who sows the good seed is the son of man. The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The son of man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all lawbreakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, and the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. He who has ears, let him hear." Alright, so what is this parable teaching us about the nature of the kingdom of heaven? He says the kingdom of heaven is compared to this. So it's not exactly the same. This is a parable. It's meant to teach spiritual lessons. We've got to be careful about stringing out all the details. But what do you see is going on here in this parable? There's a not yet aspect to it absolutely There is a future coming at the end of the of the age, and there's a judgment. That's going on Yeah What else does it tell you fulfillment is at the end. Yep, yep. There's going to be that, you know, the grain is going to be gathered into the barn, which kind of corresponds with his explanation at the end that the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. And so the kingdom is a present reality now. We are in that kingdom. We are ruled by Christ. But we're still waiting to be gathered into the barn. We're still waiting to shine like the sun in that full consummated kingdom. And the fact that it's a mustard seed, that indicates to me a lot of perseverance because that's the smallest of seeds. Yes, it grows. to something akin to a tree, but initially, you know, it's like long-suffering to some fruition. Yeah. Yeah. What is this? Oh, sorry. I'm just going to say it says that Jesus sows the seed. Could that be compared to election? Yeah. Sorry, I'm actually that made me think of other pair of other this isn't the only seed parable and so we're parable in fact There's one at the beginning of the chapter that when he sows the seed and some of it grows up on this good All that I guess I guess what I was thinking there is it sounds like you know Jesus Putting the good seed into the earth, which is yes, which is us. Yes, so it sounds like it's Predestination Yes, you have that aspect of God has his children he's sown, and the devil has his children he's sown. Not to give the devil the sovereignty of he's determined who the wicked are, but it's kind of that idea of who's your father, you're either a child of God or you're a child of Satan type idea. Well, I think it also kind of, I can't remember because I have a head fog, but the verse we just read about the dominion of darkness, yes I think that's a very important point in terms of you know there's an already aspects in this and one of the characteristics of the already is there's the side-by-sideness You know we can it's a it's one of those questions we can have sometimes of like why do we have all the wicked here? Why doesn't God just like take care of them? but the way the kingdom is at this point in time is that the two are growing up together and There's a sense that we want to be able to differentiate them. That's why you know we have churches That's why we have church discipline and things like that but there's still that reality that sometimes you're going to have the weeds among the wheat. And that's just the present reality of this whole time period. So this parable is describing the already aspect and the not yet. It's now describing why is it that you have all these tariffs? Well, because that's the way the kingdom is at this time, because God has his people, Satan has his people, and they're not going to be fully sorted out until the very end. When everything is reaped and harvested, that's when they get differentiated at the end. Does that make sense? Go ahead. It reminds me of when they brought Jesus to the temple. When Recimion said that he will be destined for the call of many, that their hearts will be revealed. Right, yes. Now, since then, Because you can't identify by your natural eyes who are for the kingdom, who's in the kingdom and who is not. Because you can't see the belief system in another person. But the Lord can. And He knows. He foreknew everyone before, but everyone gets an opportunity. everyone gets an opportunity to come to God well part of that there too is it's it's the idea of Jesus is the one that that's the that's the dividing line you're at the for Jesus or against Jesus and like he's the one that just that proposition alone divides everybody There's a lot of people that like a version of Jesus, but once they're confronted with the real Jesus, you're either for him or against him. And that really is the divide, everything, that's the point that divides your lives. All right, let's... There's one question I have for you. Remember, I don't remember, we spoke in the New Testament. It will come when a certain number has been reached. So Revelation talks about 144,000. I don't think... Well, that's a very symbolic, extremely symbolic number there. Yeah, the great multitude that no one can number. Yeah, I know what you're talking about. I can't remember exactly where that where that passage is but Yeah, but um, but part of the point of that of course is you know, God has his own and Christ is building his kingdom, and this period doesn't come until the kingdom is fully built. Until it's ready. Until it's ready to be presented. With the full number of the elect brought in, Jesus loses none of his own. That's the total number of the elect haven't been reached yet. Correct, yep. And we have no idea what that looks like. So, because, I mean, hey, there might be people not born yet that are elect that need to be, you know, be born and converted. Some of them don't even know they're elected. Exactly, there's still people being converted right now. So, since the devil doesn't have foreknowledge, with the wheat and the terrors, weeds, so the devil just kind of scattered, it's kind of scatter shot, you know, How does he identify us as his enemy? I mean, the Holy Spirit resident in us, I'm just wondering, you know, how that appears to him. It's like a gloaming or, you know, like, what is it that is remarkable in the spiritual? So we're not told specifically what that looks like, but there definitely is a differentiation of us to others. It's similar to how, I would argue it's probably similar to how Paul talks about we are, we're the aroma of life to those who believe and we're the aroma of death to those who do not believe. But that doesn't mean that when you walk into the grocery store, if the cashier's a Christian, they smell life coming off you, and if they're not a Christian, they smell death coming off you. It's not literal in that sense. But if you've ever had that experience of bumping into another Christian, you're like, I kind of wondered if you were a Christian, just from the way they acted and the way they carried themselves and talked. There's a real difference between us. And so whatever, I don't know what that looks like spiritually, but, and again, Satan doesn't know who the elect are, but there are, you know, God does protect his own. Through Tape Letters has some very helpful scenes where he describes that terrible moment when the person he's trying to, you know, Damn to hell It's having a moment of close communion with God and he talks about like he was Surrounded by this cloud essentially that he could not penetrate and was kept at a distance and how much how frustrated he was when the enemy you know God does that and protects his own like that where I can't get to him and And so there is a protection there It is really humorous Lot of good humor, but it's pretty insightful lessons. So yeah We should be encouraged like if you feel like you're being tempted by the devil always remember He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. Yep. So the Spirit of God will give you Remembrance Secondly We are Encouraged to know if we are saved right second Peter to Verse 10 As you Well, one and two is addressing those, the elect. So keep that in mind when you're reading. Yep. Yep. Thank you. We're supposed to know. I think the BAP encourages us to know whether we are elect. Yes. We're called to make our calling and election sure. It testifies with our spirits that we're children of God. Absolutely. All right, let's look at a couple more parables I want to hit real quickly. Next is the muster seed in 11. This is verses 31 through 33. He put another parable before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it is grown, it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches. He told them another parable. The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour till it was all leaven. What do you see going on here? What are these parables teaching us about the kingdom of heaven? What does Jesus mean by this? I think if you look in, you know, with the mustard seed and the lemon, I mean, we just finished, you know, Acts and Sunday School. So you have this little group of people here, and then you testify all in the Gospels, you know, and suddenly in Acts, it kind of explodes. Yes. So it's just showing that what started out as, you know, Jesus and the Twelve, has now created the earth. Yep, that's exactly right. So mustard seed, tiny, tiny little seed. You know, the Gospel, I mean, You had 12 disciples, but even one of them was a traitor. So you've got Jesus and 11 disciples, and through that, God brings about His kingdom. You start off with the smallest of things. You start off with a little yeast. I don't know if you... My mom used to make bread going on. You use just a little bit of yeast, put it in this big lump of dough, and it works its way through everything. And that's what forms the bread in the end. Can I ask a question real quick? Not to get you off track, but on my... Um, why did God bother casting lots for Matthias after Judas? I mean, what was the point of that when there wasn't much time left? Um, so... Yeah, that's a little bit more of a complicated question. It has to do with seeking to fulfill the prophecies of the Psalms, or let another take his place. And they have certain criteria for like who even qualifies to to come alongside us in this work So that's kind of what's going on there with with Mathias But I think we talked about that when we all the way back when we were in Acts 1 when we started the Sunday School series 28 weeks ago I think we talked about that then so I'm assuming that that recordings on sermon audio, right? Should be to be uploaded. That all sounds real good. I Yeah, it should be on, it should be on seminary. The disciples just did it on their own. Yeah, the disciples did it. There's not a word from the Lord saying to do this. Yeah. Some people think they probably shouldn't have done it, just let Paul do the 12th. Casting lots was done in the Old Testament. Casting lots was done in the Old Testament, and it's, there's debate whether they should have or should not have done it. Part of the argument for why they did it is because they reference, you know, prophecies from the Old Testament about let another take his place, and so Whether they were right or not, that's what they were basing it on. But the fact that you don't hear anything really about Matthias anymore after that, and the fact that that pole then becomes an apostle, makes some wonder that they were a little quick to fill the spot instead of waiting. But back to the mustard seed. Another important thing to note here is the size of the tree such that the birds of the air come and makes its nests in its branches. It's this idea, again, This is similar to Old Testament language about the nations coming and finding refuge in the kingdom of God that's being built. And so that's part of this idea that you have here as well. It permeates everything. And again, I love the imagery from Daniel 2. You hear me mention it all the time. The stone that hits is not the biggest stone. I mean, it hits at the base of the statue. It doesn't come from on top and just straight down demolish it. It hits at the base, and this rock then grows as big as a mountain. It's the same kind of idea here as the mustard seed. Small little beginning, but so powerful and changes everything such that people can come and find refuge in it. I'm just going to speed through these last couple of ones quickly for the sake of time. So, the parable of hidden treasure, verse 44, and then the parable of the pearl of great value, 45 and 46. These are the same idea. Here's the idea here. The kingdom of heaven is so valuable, it is worth selling everything you have in order to get it. That's how valuable the kingdom of heaven is. And that just orients us that we should be willing to give up everything we have as long as we get to be part of the kingdom of heaven in the end. Walk away from your own life. Yep, exactly. Yeah, he who does not deny himself is not worthy of me. And then the last one is the parable of the net. The kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. When it was full, men drew ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. So it will be at the end of the age that angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Again, this is similar to the parable of the weeds. You've got this great casting, and you're gonna have good and bad coming in together. And so just as at the reaping of the harvest, you separate the grain from the weeds, so at the last day, you separate the good fish from the bad fish. And I think one of the important points here is that we've been focusing on the kingdom of heaven, but an important thing we need to recognize is both these passages teach not just The good part of the people of God, the elect, who come into the kingdom, but they also teach the negative part. For those who do not believe, there is a coming judgment. They'll be thrown into the fiery furnace, a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. That phrase is repeated in verse 42 and in verse 50. So this is part of what we believe about eschatology. It's not just the new heavens and new earth, but there's also a judgment. The judgment will be real, and there will be real punishment for those who don't believe. We'll spend time later on talking more specifically just about hell and the lake of fire, because there are people that deny this. There are people that, or they affirm it, but there are some who believe in annihilationism, that's not eternal, that it's just temporary. And what happens is, basically, you burn up, and then you're no more afterwards. And that doesn't fit with what the New Testament teaches. Right here, you just have that basic. There's a weeping and gnashing of teeth. They're going to be thrown into the fiery furnace. But this is an important part of what we believe. In contrast to the kingdom of God, which is wonderful and valuable, and you'll want to have it, on the other side, there is judgment coming for those who don't hold. I'm gonna stop there, if there's any other questions, comments, or thoughts on it. Yeah, sure. I think Jesus knows, as high priest, he knows the difficulties we have, because he knows how many people will not choose him, and yet his effect is still has to be here, among them, being influenced by them. And he went through the same thing when he was here. He's a high priest, he knows. You can have compassion on us. Anything else? So next week, my plan is to look at Matthew 24 and 25. Reason for this, so this is the Olivet Discourse, and this is one of the big debated passages, because part of it we definitely know is about the destruction of Jerusalem. The question is, how much of it is about the destruction of Jerusalem, this, and how much of it is talking about this? He's talking about both. At least, I believe he's talking about both. But one of the things you hear people talk about is, you know, people reference, well, there's going to be a great tribulation one day. Jesus promises there's going to be a great tribulation. Well, that phrase comes up in this passage, and there's debate whether the great tribulation he's referring to is talking about this or talking about this. So that's why I want to spend some time talking about this passage to see what does Jesus, what is he actually referring to when he talks about the Great Tribulation and perhaps maybe we've, this idea might be something different than what we traditionally think of. So not saying there's not tribulations, there's tribulations all the way, but is he talking about an event here or an event here? But that's next week. You read ahead of time and come up with all your questions, what in the world is going on here in Matthew 24 and 25, and I will do my best to answer them. Can I slip one more thing in? Sure. You know where it says, the fire's not quenched, which would be Gehenna, the big dump, you know, that was constantly burning. But then, where does the Worm Dive not, how does that play into it? Well, it's communicating that idea of the eternality of the judgment. That's why I don't think annihilationism works. One of the reasons is you've got those passages that speak of this as an unending thing. You know, thirst not quenched, the fire that does not go out, the worm never dies. Yeah, we'll talk about that when we deal with just the topic of judgments and final judgments and what all that looks like, but that all is connected together there. All right. Anything else?