Good evening, everybody. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for those who came out this evening to receive the precious word of God. Father, may the word go forth with power. with apoditis, a demonstration of the Spirit's power, and impress our souls. May we receive it spiritually from the Holy Spirit, not as the words of men, but as it is in truth the Word of God. Father, may we understand the Kingdom of God in terms of not plucking up the tares, but letting them grow up together, that you might separate in the end. Very important concept. Father, bless the Word of God as it goes forth, in the precious name of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, we pray, Amen. I've entitled the message this evening, from Matthew 13, 28, Lake Bloomers, Tuesday, June 13th, is that correct? All right, for once, I said, I gave a wrong date on Sunday. 2017, so excuse me. Matthew 13, 28, he said to them, an enemy has done this. Done what? Planted tares amidst the wheat. So his slaves said to him, do you want us then to go and gather them up? We'll go to the original here, just for a little more clarity. He said to them, a man, an enemy. That's what it says. Enemy is an adjective. Man is the noun. In other words, human agents of the enemy. Jesus said, you're either for me or opposed to me, for me or against me. You either gather together with me or scatter abroad. In Galatians 2.4, the Apostle Paul says, it was because of the false brethren, false brethren, who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us into bondage. So there you have the planting of the false among the true. So he says, this has, let's see, let me go back. He says, and he said to them, a man, an enemy, has done this. But his slaves said to him, do you want fellow, which means to wish or to want, then, un, us to go, that we should gather, subjunctive, them, what's them, the tares. Since it's apparent which plants are genuine, and which of them is counterfeit, they're asking, do you wish or will that we go forth and gather them up in order to burn them? Because that's what they do with the tares, with the darnel, the false wheat, the bastard wheat it's called. It doesn't produce grain. It's just a weed. The answer is a resounding no. So why should we not do so? That is, pull up the weeds. Matthew 13, 29, he said, no! For while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot some wheat with them. In the original it says, but he said, No, lest at some time, or lest while, gathering the tares, you might, eccrito, uproot. You might uproot, subjunctive, might uproot at the same time. That's ama, is at the same time preposition. Them, that is the wheat. At no time, are we allowed or sanctioned to do so? Lest we pull up some who will be at some future time true wheat. I call them the late bloomers. The late bloomers, those who come in late, those who are searching, who will eventually come around to see and acknowledge the true gospel. A perfect example of this is the Worldwide Church of God, started by Herbert W. Armstrong. You ever hear of it? Plain Truth magazine? Who were designated a cult due to the fact that they did not believe in the Trinity and also the deity of primary role. They believed in the deity of Christ, but the primary role of Jesus Christ as God and Savior. They always leaned toward God the Father. And it became known as Armstrongism, named after a man, which is appropriate. The Worldwide Church of God was considered a cult. Armstrongism refers to the teachings of Herbert W. Armstrong, which became the teaching of the Worldwide Church of God. These teachings were often at odds with the historic Christian faith, traditional Christian beliefs, that at times were explicitly in contradiction to the Bible. The most well-known of Armstrong's teachings is that of Anglo-Israelism. You say, well, you teach that, too, not like he did. This is the belief that modern-day Jews are not the true physical descendants of Israel. Armstrong believed lost tribes of Israel had migrated to Western Europe, which I can prove from the scriptures, and that the present-day British and Americans were actually the heirs to God's covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Armstrong believed that this knowledge was the key factor in understanding the prophetic passages of Scripture, and that it was his mission to proclaim this message in preparation for the end times. These beliefs of the Worldwide Church of God were not new, and were rooted in an anti-Semitic misinterpretation of Scripture. The Bible is clear that God has not replaced Israel with any other nation. I've never said that's true. I said it doesn't matter what you are. It only matters that God made a promise to Abraham to have descendants as plentiful as the sand of the sea and the stars of the heaven. And so, so many people descended from Israel and don't even know it. And it doesn't matter on the human side. It only matters on the divine side, God's faithfulness to keep His promise to Abraham. Bible's clue that God has not replaced Israel with any other nation and that His plans for Israel are right on schedule. and will come to pass after the fullness of the Gentiles have come into the cave, Romans 11, 25. We can be sure that all God has said is true and will take place because of His character, which is flawless and consistent. Romans 3, 3 and 4, let God be true and every man a liar. To attempt to revise God's plans for both Israel and the church is to call into question his nature, his sovereignty, his omniscience, his faithfulness, and his purpose and plan for mankind. In addition, Armstrong taught that at death, one is in a sleep-like state until Jesus returns to Earth. There would then be three resurrections, he taught. The first would be of the faithful Christians. Second would be the bulk of the population who would have a second chance. to accept the gospel and be saved, despite the clear teaching of scripture, that there is no second chance for salvation after death. Hebrews 9, 27. It's pointed out that man wants to dine after this, the judgment. Third would be those who had acted in such a way as to be ineligible for the second chance. They, along with the group from the second resurrection that rejected the gospel, would then be punished. The worldwide church of God did not believe in eternal punishment in hell, but rather a complete destruction through fire called annihilationism. The Bible, however, is clear that there are two resurrections. One to eternal life in heaven for believers, and one to eternal damnation for unbelievers. Revelation 20, 4-14, Daniel 12, 25. Here again, The theories of Armstrongism and the worldwide Church of God directly contradicted the Word of God. Armstrong also taught that followers of Christ should remain true to all of the teachings of the Old Testament. Thus he held the Sabbath, the sixth day, Saturday, to be holy. And in Jewish tradition, the Sabbath was observed from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. He further believed the Old Testament festivals, such as Passover, Feast of Tabernacles, must be celebrated. There are days of holy obligation. The Worldwide Church of God taught that moderate Christians should follow the dietary laws and tithe up to 30% of their income. That's how they got the moolah. They were very wealthy, as a matter of fact. Armstrongism was only one of many salvation-by-works philosophies that looked at the keeping of the Old Testament laws as a means of salvation. But the Bible is clear that the opposite is true. Salvation is by faith alone, in Christ alone, because the law saves no one. There is no salvation in the law. A man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we too have put our faith in Jesus Christ that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified. Galatians 2.16. Clearly the philosophies of Armstrongism and the worldwide church of God were just that, worldly philosophies seek to deny the only means of salvation, the exchange that occurred at the cross of our sins for the righteousness of Christ, 2 Corinthians 5.17, and replaced the Old Testament which Jesus came to fulfill. Why? Because we couldn't. Man could not do it. No one can keep the law. Jesus fulfilled the law. And it's the end of the law for righteous and everyone who believes. 10-4. Romans 10-4. After the death of Herbert W. Armstrong, the Worldwide Church of God began to embrace a more orthodox understanding of the Christian faith. Armstrong's successors, Joseph Tkach, Sr. and Joseph Tkach, Jr., have led the worldwide Church of God in a more orthodox direction, rejecting British Israelism, accepting the Trinity, etc. The organization denomination now refers to itself as Grace Communion International. A brief history of the transition from Armstrongism to Grace Communion International can be found at www.gci.org slash about us slash history. Although Grace Communion has come a long way toward biblical doctrine, there's still some serious errors in their theology, such as teaching that everyone has been reconciled to God and forgiven of sin, that everyone prior to repentance possesses the Holy Spirit and is a child of God." That's called Unitarianism. Solomon said, under inspiration, there's nothing new under the sun. So these things aren't new. Ecclesiastes 1.9, that which has been is that which will be. And that which has been done is that which will be done. So there's nothing new under the sun. There were many that attempted to pluck these up and others as tears, but what ensued demonstrates clearly why we're not to do so. God is at work in the hearts of men, and some must go through transitions in order to arrive at the truth. Face it, nobody is fully right. with regard to biblical teaching. Nobody is perfect at it. Man is limited both spiritually and intellectually. And his motivation, which he doesn't even fathom himself, is rarely perfect or pure. Even in the first century under the perfect teaching of the Apostle Paul and with regard to his selection of the many men that served with him, Only one was well commanded or recommended by Paul. 1 Corinthians 16.10. That's Timothy. You hear that, Tim? Now, if Timothy comes, he's in the other room. See that he is with you without cause to be afraid. for he is doing the Lord's work, as I also am." Philippians 2.19. But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition. For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus. But you know of his proven worth, that he served with me in the furtherance of the gospel like a child serving his father. Therefore, I hope to send him immediately, as soon as I see how things go with me. Therefore, if something does not sit well with you, check it out with the Scriptures before God. One thing good about the Internet is that almost every question and controversy is addressed. In most instances, there are ample scriptural references that you might come to the right conclusion when you inquire of the Lord humbly And with all due respect, you go there with a humble attitude and ask the Lord to show you. And you can look at certain things, look at certain passages, and you have to see the big picture, the overwhelming testimony of Scripture. Not just one or two verses, but all the verses on a particular subject. And you can do that by word searches, through the concordance, and plenty of concordances on the internet that you can use. to study the Word of God and other study tools. You have to learn about them, get in there and dig in, concentrate a little bit and find out what's useful and what isn't, and take advantage of the tools that God's provided for all of us as believers to learn the Word of God, to understand it, to study it out. By now you should be teachers. And yet some need to be taught all over again, the rudiments, rudimentary principles of Christ. 1 Corinthians 8, 1. Now concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, makes you arrogant, but love builds up, edifies. If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he is not yet known as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, He is known by Him. Beyond knowing the truth is knowing the One who is true. 1 John 5, 20. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding in order that we might know Him who is true. And we are in Him who is true, in His Son. Jesus Christ, this is the true God and eternal life. So there's orthodoxy, knowing Christ, knowing the person of Christ. It's not about knowing something, it's about knowing someone. And if you go for knowing the someone, you won't go wrong on a something, ever. You'll be right on the beaten path. And you'll come up to like precious faith with Peter and equal insight with Paul. If you read and re-read the Scriptures, that's what he said, you'll have my insight into the mystery of Christ. You'll come up to his level of insight into the mystery of Christ. Have we arrived there yet or attained to that? I doubt it. But we're getting there. We just keep plugging. That's all we do. The rest of our lives we just keep plugging, plugging along. God loves the plugger. You're not allowed to quit or take a vacation from the word of God. You get it every day. It's your daily bread. You don't miss too many meals, do you? I know I don't miss any. I can prove it by my weight. But that's our mandate. That's the one thing that's necessary. And if you do the one thing well, and are faithful in the one thing and a few things would be made the ruler over many, many, many things. The Ephesians, the Ephesian church at the end of the first century, plunged themselves into a state of elitist arrogance, separated themselves from the rest, so proud of what they knew as the The treatise on the mystery was addressed to them. It was insignificant, but it was addressed to them. They took claim to it. So proud of their sophisticated knowledge of the word of God, and hated the false doctrines of some groups, and were ready to pluck them up. But you can't pluck them up, because some are like bloomers. You have to let God do the plucking at the end. So at the end of the first century, they became elitist arrogance. They came into a state of elitist arrogance. And as a result, were about to lose their lamp stand as their testimony of the mystery so carefully taught, laid before them, by the greatest of the apostles. One had the greatest revelation. It all worked harder than all the rest of them put together, by the grace of God. Revelation 2.1, turn there. Always helps to look at these things again. I know you know them, but look at it again. I can't find anything new to teach in the Bible, so I teach the old things over and explain them a little better. It's not about new, controversial, or elite. Nothing's elite. It belongs, all things belong to us. The Word of God, the Apostles, Christ. We belong to one another. We're all in Christ. Revelation 2-1, to the angelos, messenger of the church in Ephesus write, the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand. Seven communicators of light, that's what stars are. The one who walks among the seven golden lampstands, that's the testimonies of the church, and walks in the aisles of each church, evaluating the hearts, the attitudes, and the deeds of his people. The only one that's qualified to do so. who has eyes like a lamp, a burning lamp of fire, feet look like burnished bronze. He stood in the fires of judgment, has the right to evaluate his people, to bless them and to discipline them, to bring them along for the honor and glory of his name and the name of his Father, our God and Father, Jesus, our God and Father, God the Father, and Jesus Christ, our Lord. The one who walks among the seven golden lampstands says this, I know your deeds, and your labor, and perseverance, and that you cannot endure evil men. And you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they're not. And you found them to be false. and you have perseverance and have endured for my name's sake and have not grown weary. But I have this against you. You've left your first love. That is getting to know the One. To know Him is to love Him. Jesus Christ. They love being right, but they didn't love the One who is the Righteous One, Jesus Christ. They left love behind. Love for Christ behind as their motivation. You know, if you offer your body to be burned and you do it apart from love, you waste a perfectly good body. Because it doesn't count. The only things that count are the things of faith that work through love. And the objective of all biblical instruction is love from a pure heart. Unhypocritical faith in a clear, clean conscience. 1 Timothy 1.5. You've left your first love. Remember! Recall, therefore, the heights from which you have fallen. They haven't gained new heights. They've fallen from the heights of a simple love relationship with Jesus Christ. And now they're more interested in being right and pointing out the errors in others' theology, plucking up cares along with the wheat, which contains late bloomers, and you can't do it until the end. You're forbidden to do so. He says, remember the height from which you fall and repent. Change your mind. Change your attitude. change the course that you're on, the course of your life, and what you're pursuing, and do the deeds you did at first, like studying the scriptures, like making sure you have quality time each day to take in the Lord, to meditate upon it, to consider Christ, to think about Him, As you would with anyone that you truly love, you think about them. I didn't forget to get milk today. I haven't gotten it yet, but I'll get it. That's a private joke. You say, it must be, because it certainly isn't funny to me. Right. It wasn't meant to be funny to you. You think about these things all the time, see? Things you've got to do for people and that you love, you know. You think about Him. If you love Him, you think about Him. So you have to think about Christ. Think about Christ. Don't think about the doctrines. Think about Christ, who is the Word of God. He's the Word. It's all about Him, not about you, not about what you do. It's about what He did. what He finished on your behalf, what He's given to you, what He didn't give you, what He did for you, He gave it to you. That's what really matters. Think about that. Consider that. Looking away from all others. Don't look at people. Take your focus off people and place your focus completely upon Christ. Consider Him. Who suffered Tremendous persecution under the sinners that pursued him from the human side, the human conspiracy to have him put to death. And is now set on high, the glorious throne of heaven, the throne of the universe, administrating the universe, Jesus Christ. who for the joy set before him endured the cross, thinking little of the shame, and is now set down at the right hand of the majesty on high. That's him. That's what we do. We set our minds on things above, not on things of the earth, not on people and how they do things and what they do or what they teach. Things above, not on things of the earth, for we die. And our life is hid with Christ in God, Colossians 3, 1-3. And what Christ who is our life shall appear, will appear with Him in glory. And that glory begins with an evaluation to see whether your primary interest and function was to know him, that I may know him. That's your reason to be here, that you might know him. I hope you have it on your refrigerator. I asked you to put it on there. I'm coming to your house and check and see if it's on your refrigerator. I'll do no such thing. But it should be there. It's on the refrigerator of my soul. You can say that. That's a good one. Not on my refrigerator, but on the refrigerator of Well, why do you call it that? Because it's a cold place, my soul. It's overheated up a little bit. So back to our passage. It says, remember therefore the heights from which you've fallen. Repent and do the deeds you did at first, or else I'm coming to you, and I'll remove your lampstand. You're not going to have any impact, no testimony. out of its place unless you change your mind. Unless you repent. For the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Same thing. Yet this you do have. You hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans. They're called the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the church. Good advice, huh? He who has an ear, Let him hear what the Spirit says. He speaks between the lines, under the surface, inaudibly, Spirit to Spirit he teaches us. That's why you let the Word of God and the preaching of the Word of God in the local assembly flow over you like the waves of the ocean so that you can, so that the whole message might dawn. You might dawn the doctrines of God. come to know Jesus Christ better than you've ever known him before. That's the whole idea. Not something, but someone. I must say it again. I've said it hundreds of times, and I hope everybody gets it, because your doctrinal studies and the pride you take in learning and knowing must give way to a personal love relationship with Jesus Christ. That's what it's all about, nothing more. You say, well, how can you know Him and love Him? You believe in Him, and you love Him, though you've never seen Him, though you do not see Him now. And rejoice with joy and express full and full with glory, 1 Peter 1. He is the object of faith, hope, and love. Occupation with the person of Christ is the ultimate objective of your spiritual life. I said, occupation with the person of Christ is the ultimate object of your spiritual life in time. thinking about Jesus. You say, well, there's only so many things you can think about Him. No, there isn't. He's an infinite person. And there's many things that the Holy Spirit wants to give you and show you and teach you so that you might be more fully occupied with Christ than ever before. And when you do become occupied with Him, the things of earth go strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. So you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, and that's fine. But you're arrogant, and you left love for me behind, and you're so proud of what you know. And if any man thinks he knows anything, let him be careful, because he knows nothing as he ought to. If any man thinks he stands, let him take heed, lest he fall. Knowledge only puffs you up. That's all it does. But love for Christ builds you up. It builds up the body of Christ. Your love for Christ is so important in the body of Christ. Your personal love and occupation with Christ is so important in the body of Christ, encouraging other believers. Because if you're occupied with Christ, who are you gonna talk about? The one you think about is the one you'll talk about, right? Let that rapport flow like a river. Out from your innermost being, like rivers of living water. So this is a simple message. I didn't finish this. Let's go back and finish it. I've got to show you the reward. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes this trend, which is prevalent throughout all of church history, pockets here and there, like it was in the first era of church history, the first century of the church, I will grant to eat of the tree of life. which is in the paradise of God. Correlate that with Revelation 22. About those who won't be allowed through the main gate or eat from the tree of life, but that are in the kingdom, under kingdom rule, but certainly not owners of the kingdom and administrators of the kingdom, which are for those who are faithful unto death and get a crown of life. Like those who resist temptation. that when they've been successful in doing so, they get the crown of life. They can reign in life, reign in the millennium, and reign for the eternal stay with Christ forever and ever. So, it's a simple message that I have for you this evening and a short one from the word of the Lord for the sake of the kingdom, for the building up of the body of Christ in the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one hope of our calling, one God and Father of us all, who is in all and upon all. Don't pluck up the tares, because with them there can be some wheat. There are late bloomers, those who are stunted by false doctrine, who eventually come around to understand who Christ is, and what the word of God says, and learn that everything the word of God says, every word of God is pure. Not to select certain passages, or to combine different passages to take the word out of context, for example. and to interpret the word of God through patches, by patchwork. You can't do it. You've got to go by context, pandemics. That's the greater meaning and subject of being addressed than the individual paragraphs and chapters that address certain subjects. Make sure you know who he's talking to and what he's talking about. Not taking scripture out and applying it to something altogether different that it does not apply to or so loosely applies to. that you can't tighten it up. And that's what so many do. Take a little bit here, a little bit there, a little bit here, a little bit there, and combine it, and you can make it say whatever you want it to say. That's called eisegesis, not exegesis, eisegesis. You take it, you can make those Greek words say anything you want. I can tell you this word means this, and you believe me, and you don't know what it means. And I lied to you. That's not what it means. You say, oh, OK. That's why you can't be a bobblehead. When you hear the word of God, you can't go, yes, pastor, you said it, so we believe it. No, don't be a bobble head. Don't be a bubble brain and a bobble head. Rather be a Berean Christian who is enthusiastic for the word of God, but checks everything out. against the scriptures of truth. Don't accept anything because somebody said it. See, that's what the whole world does. They're like ventriloquist dummies. Somebody's pulling their strings and they're agreeing with everything that the news says or everything they see on the internet. They claim that they understand or know things and all they're doing is mimicking what somebody else said on the internet, whether it's true or not. If you go on the internet and you look up some subject, there's such a vast Which one's right? Or maybe they're all right. No, they're not all right. Only one thing is right. There's only one solution that's the best. You have to find it. You have to ferret that out. You have to look at the big body of information and find out what's true and what isn't. Some people will tell you this will cure you. And guess what? It won't. Or that that will cure you. And it won't. or that this is really bad and it will. Imagine that. Something bad will cure you. They say it's so bad. That's so bad. Well, it cures you. God gave that to people so that most people wouldn't see it and understand it like the Word of God only speaking in parables. Because seeing you don't see, hearing you don't hear unless you would see with your eye, hear with your ear, turn and He would heal you. He'd heal you. It's all relevant. Don't pluck anybody up. Don't judge anyone. We're not here to judge anyone. We're here to love one another and to not promote what's different or the differences that we have, but the unity that we have in Christ. Ephesians 4, 1-10 is the unity that we have in Christ Jesus. And that's what we promote. We promote the unity of the body of Christ and the unity of the spirit, and we're bound together in peace, not finding fault, not judging one another, not correcting one another. Oh, you can correct somebody if you have the right spirit, but don't argue with people or debate them. Some people, they have an axe to grind. And they always want to debate certain doctrines. Like repentance. For the kingdom of heaven is at hand. What it means that rich people can't get into heaven. It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than to get into heaven. What does that mean? Just what it says. They depend on their money or rely on their money all their lives. They're going to go through a needle. They're going to go through the eye of a needle. They're going to get skinned way down. They're going to sell all that they have. Because that's what they rely on. They don't rely on God. You say, well, what about us? Give it away. Give it up. You know what? If you lost it, would you be happy still? Would you be content still? If you lost that little nest egg you have? Probably not. I'd be scared. I'd be scared of the future. God can provide for anybody in any way. It's a simple thing for Him. He who spared not His only Son, but gave Him up freely for us all. How much more are we not along with Him to give us all other things besides? He'll do it. He's promised to always provide for you. That's the guarantee of logistical grace. He'll always provide what you need. Food, shelter, clothing, money. Hair, most of it anyway. That's the part you need. Fingernails, skin. Life, semblance of health, unless you oppose him on that and you take really poor care of yourself, as I have done. And yet he's still kept me alive, and I'm relatively well. Got a few problems, a few nagging problems. I have to consult the physicians of the world and have surgical intervention so I can have a youthful appearance in my old age, get my girlish figure back, boyish figure back. I'm just joking with you. That's my stupid sense of humor. I always add the ridiculous after the sublime because some people get too nervous hearing too serious of things, and then you've got to lighten things up a little bit and give them a break. And we're done. How's that? There's your break. Now you can go out and enjoy the heat. Father, thank you for the word of God. If I could have my ushers, please, Father, thank you for the offering and what it provides for us, a means of support, because you've guaranteed our logistics. Thank you for these things. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.