Well, that is our prayer, that when Jesus comes back and He sits on His judgment throne, I hope it’s your prayer that you would be found hidden in Christ, and that’s Jesus is going to teach us about this morning.
So turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew 13. We’ll be reading together from verses 24 through 30 and verses 36 to 43. Matthew 13, verses 24 through 30 and 36 to 43 as we continue to think about the parables of the kingdom. So we’ve been in this series for a couple of weeks and we’ll continue on through the summer, at least into mid to late August, as Jesus is unveiling for us what His kingdom is like, teaching us about what to expect regarding His kingdom.
So let’s again read from Matthew 13. Let’s begin at verse 24. Hear God’s Word.
“He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but 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 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?’ And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants 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 wheat 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.”’”
Then we go down to verse 36.
“Then He left the crowds and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” And He answered, “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 law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.”
Let’s pray to God for just that.
We do pray, God, that You will open our ears to hear Your Word. Not just to hear the words but to hear with our heart, to hear the message. We pray, Jesus, that You would meet us here this morning and help us, Lord, to think about our own life, our own hearts, our own faith, to ask are we really trusting in Christ or not. And our prayer is that when the end of the age comes, and Jesus, You sit on Your judgment throne, that all of us here, whether in this building or listening at home or some other place, will be hidden in Christ. And if we’re not, prompt us to trust and believe in Him, even today. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Well, dear people of God, every day Sheri and I are settling in to our own home, our new home, and many of you have been asking us how that’s been going. We appreciate you asking and your interest in that. And of course that’s a lot that still has to be settled and one of those things is my yard. So this is a new yard to me. I mean, we, we had our own home in Michigan, we had our own yard, but this is a new yard to me because I have never tried to grow Bermuda grass before. And so when we moved in I started thinking I wonder how this goes, is there anything special about Bermuda grass, and so I started talking to my neighbor, kind of admiring his yard, how green it is, how plush it is.
