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!

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.

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".

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!

Tonight… we continue our steady with the tribe of Zebulun. We take a look at who they were… what they were supposed to do… and how they failed.

Today we are going to begin looking… at the strange mystery of the mustard seed… and the Devil's dirty birds. And we're gonna learn…why there are false cults in the world. You see…not only do you have those who reject the Gospel…not only do you have those who imitate the gospel… but you also have those who actually pervert the gospel. And we're gonna see that in the Parable…of the Mustard Seed!

Tonight, we're going to take a look at another tribe of Israel. We're going to take a look at a tribe that Most of you probably don't know a lot about. We're going to take a look at the tribe of Asher. And we're going to find out that Asher, well, that was the tribe that compromised the coast. And long before they compromised the coast, before there was a tribe named Asher, there was a man. named Asher.