This morning we come to the next parable. And with this parable… Jesus wraps it all together… and helps us to understand … what you and I are supposed to be doing as Christians… in this day and age. It's… the parable of the dragnet. It's… the parable of men fishing in the sea. Now I think when Jesus told this parable… the disciples probably began to nod their head with approval and understanding. Why? Because this was very familiar to the disciples. They understood the task of fishing … and they understood it pretty well! Many of the disciples of Jesus were fishermen.

Good morning! And even more importantly! Happy Easter! This morning...if you have God's Word...please be finding Isaiah 53. And as you turn...let me begin… by saying this: Jesus has given so much for us... yet... the world refuses to see what has been given. There's a refusal to see... all that was done… so that we may live eternally. But Isaiah was shown the cost that would be paid... and the reason why...many years before it even happened.

As we come together this Easter morning as God's people… we take time to remember all that our Lord… Savior and King Jesus Christ did… to save us of our sins… and all that He did… to make a way for us to come home to the Father. This morning… we're gonna remember the events of Good Friday. And we're gonna celebrate the greatest happening in all of human history. We're gonna celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus!

Now last week… we spent a considerable amount of time… talking about this parable. And if you will remember…last week we placed our focus… on the "Bread that was baked." And we began talking about… what that bread represents. Do ya'll remember that?! We said that this blessed bread…was supposed to be something made to satisfy the heart…the mind of God! And when Jesus is talking to these Jews about "three measures of flour"…immediately…they would go to Abraham… when he entertained guests from heaven! They would go back to the grain offering… in the Old Testament… and they would've understood what the bread represented! And what did we say it represented? We said… "the bread"… represents the church! It represents fellowship with God! It represents… communion with God! Now…this morning…we're gonna move our focus a little bit. There is "the bread that's baked" But there's also… "the leaven that's latent". There's leaven… hidden in the bread! How did it get there? Well…this sneaky housewife comes into the kitchen… and the bible says… that she hides leaven in the three measures of meal!

Over the course of the past several weeks… we have been in Matthew 13 studying the parables of Jesus Christ. And this morning… we're gonna continue that study. So… if you have God's Word… turn with me to Matthew 13:33… and we will begin reading "The Parable Of The Leaven".

Well tonight… we pick back up where we left off. And we begin taking a look at another tribe. Tonight… we look at the tribe of Naphtali.

Tonight… we'll finish up Judges 1. And we will turn out attention to the final tribe mentioned in Judges 1. Tonight…we turn to Dan—a tribe that didn't merely compromise… but instead… we see a tribe who saw defeat! They were a tribe that was pushed back from their inheritance.

In the ancient world… pearls were incredibly valuable. In fact… pearls were often considered more precious than gold. Kings and queens desired them. And many people throughout the world… sought after them… because they were symbols of wealth… and beauty. And merchants… dealing in pearls… would travel far and wide…across seas… and deserts… looking for the finest pearls… the world had to offer! Now what we have here…is a story of a priceless pearl. A merchant man…who loves pearls…travels the world around…and then he finds that One…Great…Priceless…Precious …Pearl. And this man sells everything He HAS…in order to buy that One…Great…Priceless…Precious… Pearl! And Jesus said, "This is a parable…of the Kingdom…of Heaven!"

Now this morning…I want us to move on… and tighten the focus a little bit. The last time we spoke… we saw the Sacred Sower…that's Jesus. We saw the small seed…that's the pungent Gospel that we preach. We saw the significant shrub that comes up. That is what the Gospel is supposed "to do". But now watch…watch. The fourth thing we see… is a strange shade tree.

There are those… who are being led astray… day in and day out! And the reason they are being led astray…the reason…they are growing up as weeds and not wheat… is because we…have not …been… awake! We… have not… stood… for what's right! We …as Christians…have been too interested in compromise. We as Christians… have been too interested in tolerance! In order to ensure that we don't offend anybody with our beliefs…we have simply closed our eyes and went to sleep! There have been way too many "feel good" sermons given! And they're like a lullaby… given to put people to sleep! Folks…we need an alarm clock to wake us up! We have got to realize that some of our loved ones… are going to be the Devil's weeds… because of our dullness and our drowsiness! Folks…we need to sound an alarm!