WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.259 passage this evening. Luke chapter 13 and especially the verses from verse 10 00:00:06.259 --> 00:00:08.179 on to where we finished reading. 00:00:14.800 --> 00:00:16.059 Oh man! 00:00:16.500 --> 00:00:21.780 He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath and there was a woman who had a disabling 00:00:21.780 --> 00:00:29.080 spirit for 18 years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. When Jesus saw her 00:00:29.079 --> 00:00:34.479 he called her over and said to her, woman, you are freed from your disability. 00:00:35.979 --> 00:00:41.579 That was true of the Bible as a whole. It's certainly true of all these passages that we read in the 00:00:41.579 --> 00:00:48.259 Bible. They're not a loose collection or strands of truth just brought together in any old way. 00:00:48.879 --> 00:00:54.039 There's always some connecting points that you can trace through especially when you look at it 00:00:54.039 --> 00:01:00.359 in within the confines of one book of the Bible such as Luke. And it's true also in this particular 00:01:00.359 --> 00:01:09.459 passage here as well because if you look at verse 18 there he said therefore. Why is that therefore 00:01:09.459 --> 00:01:15.460 there? It's a connecting word but what does it connect with? Well it connects with what has just 00:01:15.460 --> 00:01:22.159 been said before. In other words Luke is saying there's a connection here between what the Lord 00:01:22.159 --> 00:01:29.879 did to this woman and did for this woman and what's before that but also what comes after in the two 00:01:29.879 --> 00:01:36.899 parables where Jesus compares certain things to the kingdom of God or compares the kingdom of God 00:01:36.899 --> 00:01:43.259 first of all to the grain of mustard seed and then to this measure of leaven that a woman took and 00:01:43.259 --> 00:01:49.859 worked into the dough that she was preparing. So there are these connections here and the Lord is really 00:01:49.859 --> 00:01:56.159 connecting them if you like by Luke rather is connecting by the Lord's teaching that takes us to the whole 00:01:56.159 --> 00:02:03.579 theme of the kingdom of God because we'll see that the kingdom of God was such a prominent feature 00:02:03.579 --> 00:02:11.219 in Christ's teaching. Sometimes it's explicit. Sometimes it's implicit. It's not as obvious but nevertheless 00:02:11.219 --> 00:02:19.579 Jesus speaks of things that belong to the kingdom of God. God's kingdom where God reigns and of course God reigns 00:02:19.580 --> 00:02:26.180 everywhere but in his kingdom where his citizens if you like are made willing subjects of his kingdom 00:02:26.180 --> 00:02:33.220 where willingly we receive the kingship of God over our lives and acknowledge his kingship. Well in that 00:02:33.220 --> 00:02:39.300 sense of God reigning over us we've come into the possession of membership of the kingdom. 00:02:40.360 --> 00:02:45.740 And in this passage there are people who would have said of themselves almost as a matter of right 00:02:45.740 --> 00:02:52.600 we already belong to the kingdom of God such as the ruler of the synagogue but then so did Nicodemus. 00:02:53.200 --> 00:02:58.879 In John chapter 3 we have that window into the kingdom of God that Jesus provides for us as he 00:02:58.879 --> 00:03:06.320 interviewed Nicodemus a ruler of the Jews just like this man a ruler of the synagogue one of the Sanhedrin 00:03:06.320 --> 00:03:13.200 one of the top religious leaders of the time. And here he was somewhat fascinated by Jesus. 00:03:13.199 --> 00:03:19.459 He came to him by night Nicodemus did and of course in John's gospel that itself is significant 00:03:19.459 --> 00:03:27.119 and symbolic. It wasn't just the darkness of the night literally that John was taken up with 00:03:27.119 --> 00:03:33.239 but the fact that Nicodemus took an interest in Jesus when he himself was in spiritual darkness. 00:03:33.659 --> 00:03:41.139 He was a ruler of the synagogue. He was a ruler there in the ruling party the ruling the ruling group 00:03:41.139 --> 00:03:49.799 of leaders of Israel and your member Jesus said to him except a man be born again he cannot see the 00:03:49.799 --> 00:03:57.819 kingdom of God. Except a man be born of water and of the spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 00:03:58.219 --> 00:04:03.560 He's effectively saying to Nicodemus you think you're actually already in the kingdom actually 00:04:03.560 --> 00:04:10.039 you're outside and you can't get in. There is no way in except through rebirth. Except through a radical 00:04:10.039 --> 00:04:17.000 change in your whole disposition including how you see me. And of course that follows through 00:04:17.000 --> 00:04:24.560 into every single one of us who have come to put our trust in Jesus through being born again by the 00:04:24.560 --> 00:04:34.060 power of God's spirit brought enter entering into his kingdom. So there's the the entrance to that's 00:04:34.060 --> 00:04:39.019 important in the teaching of Jesus and you'll find features of that in this passage as well. Here is 00:04:39.019 --> 00:04:45.939 the ruler of the synagogue who actually comes to complain about what Jesus has done yet he himself 00:04:45.939 --> 00:04:51.360 would have said that he would already be in the kingdom of God. Of course he would. And then Jesus 00:04:51.360 --> 00:04:56.699 told the parable of the barren fig tree and what does that remind you of? Well it reminds you as you go 00:04:56.699 --> 00:05:03.899 back into the Old Testament that very often Israel the covenant people of God were represented by a tree 00:05:04.060 --> 00:05:10.860 of various kinds or a fruit tree and a fig tree such as you find here in this particular passage or vine 00:05:10.860 --> 00:05:17.740 tree. He had a fig tree planted in his vineyard. He came looking for fruit on it and he found none. 00:05:17.740 --> 00:05:28.139 And so the vine dresser said look for three years I've come seeking fruit on this tree cut it down. 00:05:28.540 --> 00:05:40.220 It's useless. There's no point to it. But he said he said the vine dresser said let it alone this year until 00:05:40.220 --> 00:05:46.960 I have done some more work. I dig round it and put on manure then if it should bear fruit next year well and 00:05:46.960 --> 00:05:52.380 good but if not you can cut it down. In other words there is Jesus and he has come seeking fruit on the 00:05:52.380 --> 00:05:58.440 people of Israel just as God did down through the years of the Old Testament and finding all too little 00:05:58.439 --> 00:06:05.000 and sometimes none. Here is Jesus saying effectively by this parable I'm giving you some more time. 00:06:05.959 --> 00:06:13.079 And it's the wonderful patience of God, the long suffering of God, the fact that God doesn't rush 00:06:13.079 --> 00:06:23.319 into a judgment to destroy them. All of that is built into the passage and then follows the passage. 00:06:23.319 --> 00:06:28.439 We're going to look at the part we're going to look at tonight from verse 10. And there are two things 00:06:28.439 --> 00:06:35.240 here that you find really about the kingdom of God. First of all the kingdom of God and its advance 00:06:35.240 --> 00:06:42.680 you might say that the kingdom of God advances by setting people free. That of course brings us to 00:06:42.680 --> 00:06:49.800 freedom from sin and freedom from the guilt of sin very often symbolized by some physical ailment or 00:06:49.800 --> 00:06:56.680 other. But we mustn't say that people who are suffering a physical ailment are doing so because 00:06:56.680 --> 00:07:03.720 God has something against them. But in this instance in the days of Jesus he makes it clear when that was 00:07:03.720 --> 00:07:13.100 in fact the case. That this woman represented a need that belonged to all the people in a spiritual sense 00:07:13.100 --> 00:07:19.340 from which they needed to be set free. And the kingdom of God advances by setting people free. 00:07:20.460 --> 00:07:28.700 Secondly, the kingdom of God advances despite first appearances. And that takes us to the two parables 00:07:28.700 --> 00:07:36.780 from verse 18 through to verse 21, the parable of seed, mustard seed and the leaven. Let's just look at these 00:07:36.780 --> 00:07:42.939 two points briefly. The kingdom of God advances by setting people free. Now look at this woman and how she was 00:07:42.939 --> 00:07:50.300 described because it became a controversial healing. He did it because the Lord did it on the Sabbath. 00:07:50.300 --> 00:07:57.180 This woman had been disabled for 18 years. She was bent over and couldn't straighten herself up. 00:07:57.180 --> 00:08:07.339 And of course that would inevitably mean she was not able to do certain things that other able-bodied 00:08:07.339 --> 00:08:17.099 people could. But in Jesus' answer to the ruler of the synagogue, he speaks about the woman as a daughter of 00:08:17.099 --> 00:08:23.579 Abraham, reminding the ruler of the synagogue that she is one of the covenant people just as he is. 00:08:24.620 --> 00:08:28.620 And that he shouldn't actually look at this woman at its disparaging way. 00:08:28.620 --> 00:08:38.379 And that he is. But, you know, he also, when Jesus dealt with, in answering these, 00:08:38.379 --> 00:08:44.779 should she not, whom this daughter of Abraham, whom Satan bound for 18 years. 00:08:45.659 --> 00:08:53.899 One of the features of the advancing of God's kingdom is that the king himself conquers the enemy, 00:08:53.899 --> 00:09:00.860 the great enemy, the spiritual enemy, Satan himself. All the way through the gospels, you find in the 00:09:00.860 --> 00:09:08.459 record of the gospels that the casting out of demons by Jesus was itself an indication that the kingdom of 00:09:08.459 --> 00:09:14.139 God was advancing. That the kingdom or the ruling of darkness was being diminished and overcome. 00:09:15.019 --> 00:09:22.779 And Jesus casting out demons was one of the most obvious evidences of that. You'll see that in all the 00:09:22.779 --> 00:09:30.059 different passages in which you find casting out of demons mentioned as Jesus performed that miracle. 00:09:30.860 --> 00:09:38.220 Well, this was done, as he says here, on the Sabbath day. And the minute rules of the Pharisees, 00:09:39.500 --> 00:09:47.419 such as this ruler of the synagogue, we're not told that he was in fact a Pharisee, just called a ruler of 00:09:47.419 --> 00:09:54.860 the synagogue. But many of them were. The minute rules, I mentioned this last Lord's Day when I looked 00:09:54.860 --> 00:10:02.379 at Sabbath day or the Lord's Day, the minute rules that they had invented and added on to the law of God 00:10:02.379 --> 00:10:09.819 was so burdensome to people and kept them so burdened, even represented by the stooping woman. 00:10:09.819 --> 00:10:15.419 These people were burdened under the Pharisees restrictions and the Pharisees requirements. 00:10:15.419 --> 00:10:21.339 They couldn't live their lives the way they ought to. They needed to be set free from the enmeshment 00:10:21.339 --> 00:10:25.419 of all of these minute rules that were really human inventions. 00:10:27.979 --> 00:10:32.379 And the ruler ignored the synagogue. The ruler of the synagogue ignored the miracle. 00:10:33.019 --> 00:10:37.500 He just didn't really, it's not that he ignored it fully, but he didn't take it up at all. All he was 00:10:37.500 --> 00:10:45.339 concerned was that Jesus had done this on the Sabbath day and he was indignant. He was absolutely 00:10:46.139 --> 00:10:54.460 as annoyed over this as you could be. And that reminds us of something too, that he was ignoring 00:10:54.460 --> 00:11:01.019 the miracle because this was not in accordance with his rules, with how he saw things. 00:11:02.139 --> 00:11:11.420 And he could not see the compassion that Jesus had shown to this woman, because his own mind was so fixed 00:11:11.419 --> 00:11:17.899 on his own rules and on his own way of looking at things. The likes of compassion on the part of Jesus 00:11:17.899 --> 00:11:24.219 just passed him by. He just didn't notice it. He didn't think about it. It didn't enter his mind for a 00:11:24.220 --> 00:11:30.460 moment. That this was really tremendous compassion and love on the part of Christ. 00:11:30.460 --> 00:11:31.660 Christ. 00:11:31.660 --> 00:11:39.180 Christ. And that's how it is still today, of course, because in so many cases, 00:11:39.180 --> 00:11:45.900 it's people's prejudice that blinds them to the reality of Christ's love. 00:11:45.899 --> 00:11:52.779 Prejudice will always blind you to something and very often something important. And we all have 00:11:52.779 --> 00:11:59.579 our prejudices. We all have things that come from our own thinking until God straightens that out and 00:11:59.579 --> 00:12:05.259 corrects it. And every time we have whatever prejudice it is, and especially if it's to do with the workings 00:12:05.259 --> 00:12:10.539 of God or the workings of the Holy Spirit, then that prevents us from seeing the miraculous, 00:12:10.539 --> 00:12:17.179 from seeing the compassionate Christ at work as this ruler of the synagogue himself was. 00:12:17.179 --> 00:12:23.339 And of course, he would have felt his own position threatened. And very often, that's what you come 00:12:23.339 --> 00:12:28.459 across when you're dealing with people and setting out the gospel for them, talking to them about the 00:12:28.459 --> 00:12:35.099 claims of Christ. You inevitably go and come across as it was for ourselves, for most of us at least. 00:12:35.100 --> 00:12:41.659 Our position, our standing, our own thoughts, what we have made of ourselves is really seriously under 00:12:41.659 --> 00:12:47.259 threat because here's somebody who wants to take over your life. Here's somebody who wants to change 00:12:47.259 --> 00:12:55.180 your thinking. Somebody who wants to really turn things completely on the head so as to be born again. 00:12:55.179 --> 00:13:03.579 And you enter the kingdom of God. And this man feels that his own position is really under serious threat 00:13:04.539 --> 00:13:10.539 because Jesus is doing what he's doing and showing his power and showing his authority. 00:13:11.579 --> 00:13:15.739 And he's dealing with these things in such a way that the people here rejoiced 00:13:15.740 --> 00:13:24.220 Christ had all the glorious things that were done by him. And so that's so applicable to our own age as well. 00:13:24.220 --> 00:13:31.419 Whatever way we try and present the gospel by our evangelism, whatever it is, whatever type of 00:13:31.419 --> 00:13:36.779 outreach it might be, whatever type of personal evangelism you're involved with, this is often what 00:13:36.779 --> 00:13:41.659 you come across almost inevitably. You'll find people threatened. We have to take account of that. 00:13:41.659 --> 00:13:47.419 You have to try and understand where they're coming from. And you have to try and remember this is where 00:13:47.419 --> 00:13:54.779 we were ourselves, where we felt threatened by the gospel coming to present the claims of Christ to us. 00:13:56.699 --> 00:14:02.459 And where even the most tactful presentation can sometimes and often meet with that reaction on the 00:14:02.459 --> 00:14:08.299 part of those who are called by the truth of God to repent and to give up their lives to Jesus. 00:14:08.299 --> 00:14:14.699 And then there's this condemning reply on the part of Jesus for the man. This was a really controversial 00:14:14.699 --> 00:14:20.620 healing because it was done on the Sabbath. It was against his way of looking at things. And you notice how 00:14:20.620 --> 00:14:30.699 Jesus replied. First thing he said was, you hypocrites. I see this man had spoken not to Jesus himself in his 00:14:30.700 --> 00:14:36.940 his objection to what Jesus had done. You see that he spoke to the people. 00:14:38.700 --> 00:14:43.980 That's what the ruler of the synagogue indignant because Jesus said to the people. He didn't turn 00:14:43.980 --> 00:14:50.060 down to Jesus and said, why are you doing this? Maybe he thought that he just couldn't argue with 00:14:50.060 --> 00:14:54.780 Jesus successfully anyway. I don't know. But he spoke to the people. That's what Luke noticed. 00:14:54.779 --> 00:15:01.500 And he said to the people, there are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be 00:15:01.500 --> 00:15:08.379 healed and not on the Sabbath day. But Jesus, of course, knowing what was in his heart and knowing 00:15:08.379 --> 00:15:16.299 the need of the people said, you hypocrites. And he illustrated that by how they themselves were 00:15:16.299 --> 00:15:22.699 compassionate even to their animals. So that they would lead an animal out on the Sabbath, 00:15:23.419 --> 00:15:31.659 his docks or his donkey, from the manger and lead it away to water it. And really, Jesus is saying 00:15:31.659 --> 00:15:37.339 effectively and powerfully, you're actually treating your animals on the Sabbath better than you're 00:15:37.339 --> 00:15:43.339 treating your fellow human beings, your fellow covenant members such as this woman. You have more 00:15:43.340 --> 00:15:50.060 compassion for your animals than you have for her. That's a really condemning statement on the part 00:15:50.060 --> 00:15:58.379 of the Lord. And it shows, of course, Christ's own insight and his compassion towards sinners, 00:15:58.379 --> 00:16:04.860 what he calls this woman, a daughter of Abraham. Not this woman, a daughter of Abraham. That's also 00:16:04.860 --> 00:16:11.900 getting to the rule of the synagogue because he had missed out completely the fact that this woman 00:16:11.899 --> 00:16:16.860 was a covenant member of Israel. She belonged to the covenant people of Israel and therefore 00:16:17.500 --> 00:16:23.100 she ought to have been dealt with compassionately, just like the compassionate God they believed in. 00:16:25.500 --> 00:16:33.340 And the kingdom of God then advances by this woman being set free, just as it does for you and 00:16:33.340 --> 00:16:39.259 for me. When we're set free from our sin, from the guilt of our sin, from God's condemnation. 00:16:40.700 --> 00:16:46.940 By coming to Christ, there's an advance in the kingdom of God. The kingdom moves a little forward 00:16:46.940 --> 00:16:52.460 from every sinner that's converted. That's a further step forward for the kingdom of God. 00:16:52.460 --> 00:17:00.860 God. And of course, it shows too that the meaning of the Sabbath itself, or the Lord's day as we now 00:17:00.860 --> 00:17:09.100 call it, doesn't actually exclude the doing of good works on the Sabbath. That's another time that Jesus 00:17:09.100 --> 00:17:16.059 met with those who objected to his working on the Sabbath. It is, he said, lawful to do good on the 00:17:16.059 --> 00:17:24.779 Sabbath. Lawful to actually be involved in acts of mercy, acts of kindness, especially acts that relieve 00:17:24.779 --> 00:17:30.859 human beings of a desperate need, or even a less desperate need if it's a real need that they cannot 00:17:30.859 --> 00:17:41.339 meet. And so here's Jesus saying, this is in reply to the objection. As he said these things, verse 17, 00:17:41.339 --> 00:17:50.500 all his adversaries were put to shame. Now that's interesting too. There's a penetration there 00:17:50.500 --> 00:17:57.500 of the hearts of these people who saw this and who now listen to Jesus. And that gives us tremendous, 00:17:57.980 --> 00:18:03.819 tremendous encouragement, doesn't it? Sometimes you come across situations where you say, 00:18:03.939 --> 00:18:10.299 well, I can't see them ever becoming converted. I can't see them actually ever coming to accept Christ. 00:18:10.299 --> 00:18:15.339 I can't ever see, even though we know in our heart of hearts that everything's possible with God, 00:18:15.720 --> 00:18:23.259 still we sometimes have that reaction over certain situations or people where our instant reaction 00:18:23.259 --> 00:18:29.039 is or thought is, I don't think they'll ever come to the Lord. I don't think that'll ever happen. 00:18:30.879 --> 00:18:37.279 But here are his adversaries. And he's made an opening, at least in their minds and thoughts, 00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:44.139 because they were put to shame. They thought about themselves in the light of what Jesus had done 00:18:44.139 --> 00:18:49.379 and what Jesus had now said to the ruler of the synagogue, and he felt full of shame. 00:18:50.579 --> 00:18:55.259 It came back on themselves so that they really had a bad conscience about things. 00:18:55.259 --> 00:19:01.879 And for many of them, that may have been the very start of their life being changed 00:19:01.879 --> 00:19:10.920 and to become followers of Christ. But the people rejoiced. The people who weren't his adversaries, 00:19:11.200 --> 00:19:16.019 they all rejoiced at the glorious things that were done by him. 00:19:17.000 --> 00:19:20.740 There you see the contrast. The ruler of the synagogue is indignant. 00:19:20.740 --> 00:19:27.980 This is a terrible thing that's happened. This man has to be called to account for this, 00:19:28.259 --> 00:19:33.000 this ruler is saying about Jesus. And yet the people, the ordinary people, 00:19:33.339 --> 00:19:38.279 they rejoiced at the glorious things done by him. You see, that's why, as we said earlier, 00:19:38.380 --> 00:19:42.720 they were burdened under the minute laws of the Pharisees, 00:19:43.539 --> 00:19:47.759 burdened under these all due the course of their lives. 00:19:47.759 --> 00:19:54.579 And, you know, that's also very much part of what Jesus said in that famous statement in Matthew 11. 00:19:54.759 --> 00:20:02.220 Come unto me, who? All you who are burdened and heavy laden. 00:20:02.900 --> 00:20:09.059 All you people burdened and heavy laden from human rules and human commandments. 00:20:10.119 --> 00:20:13.099 Come to me and I will give you rest. 00:20:13.099 --> 00:20:19.399 I'll take that yoke off you if you take my yoke and wear it instead. 00:20:20.279 --> 00:20:22.359 That's still essence of the gospel. 00:20:23.240 --> 00:20:27.500 That's still the essence of what we keep in mind as we reach out with the gospel. 00:20:27.639 --> 00:20:31.159 So the kingdom advances by setting people free. 00:20:31.279 --> 00:20:34.779 You know, we heard tonight in prayer very rightly and very readily, 00:20:34.779 --> 00:20:44.319 the state of our nation, the state of our society, the state of our governments as well, by and large. 00:20:46.480 --> 00:20:52.960 And how no human wisdom on earth will ever get us through out of a dilemma, any dilemma, 00:20:53.059 --> 00:20:56.099 let alone the ones we're facing in our present age. 00:20:56.879 --> 00:20:57.980 But this will. 00:20:57.980 --> 00:21:03.259 And let's pray that God will come as was prayed for this evening. 00:21:03.880 --> 00:21:09.900 And open hearts and minds and set people free from human logic and human wisdom. 00:21:10.599 --> 00:21:17.940 And bring them into the logic and the teaching and the freedom of the Holy Spirit. 00:21:18.940 --> 00:21:22.779 By the blessing of God's word and the witness of his people. 00:21:22.779 --> 00:21:27.399 The kingdom advances by setting people free. 00:21:28.639 --> 00:21:32.220 The kingdom advances despite first appearances. 00:21:32.680 --> 00:21:35.819 First of all, it grows from small beginnings. 00:21:36.759 --> 00:21:40.639 And secondly, it grows into a transforming power. 00:21:41.599 --> 00:21:48.500 It grows from very small beginnings because in verse 18, he compares it to a grain of mustard seed. 00:21:48.859 --> 00:21:50.559 You've probably got mustard seeds. 00:21:50.559 --> 00:21:55.619 All those of you who are doing any cooking, you might have mustard seeds in your cupboards. 00:21:55.960 --> 00:21:58.559 Tiny little mustard seeds, so small. 00:21:59.279 --> 00:22:02.839 And yet if you plant that seed and it grows, it grows into a great tree. 00:22:02.960 --> 00:22:06.759 As Jesus says here, it grew and became a tree. 00:22:06.899 --> 00:22:09.359 And the birds of the air made nests in its branches. 00:22:11.159 --> 00:22:12.319 Who is this woman? 00:22:12.539 --> 00:22:16.659 What's one woman in terms of advancing the kingdom of God? 00:22:16.660 --> 00:22:21.420 Well, you might have said in the days of the apostles, just before the day of Pentecost. 00:22:21.860 --> 00:22:31.279 Who is this small group of people sheltering in a room for fear of those who are outside, wanting to do them harm or put them into prison? 00:22:31.960 --> 00:22:32.580 Who is that? 00:22:32.779 --> 00:22:39.019 How is that small group going to be in any way effective to change the direction of the whole people? 00:22:39.019 --> 00:22:43.220 Act chapter 2. 00:22:44.500 --> 00:22:47.579 The Holy Spirit breathed out by God. 00:22:48.859 --> 00:22:51.660 3,000 conversions in one day. 00:22:51.660 --> 00:22:58.240 The kingdom of God sometimes advances slowly from small beginnings. 00:22:58.500 --> 00:23:03.640 But even from small beginnings, sometimes come giant leaps. 00:23:04.080 --> 00:23:06.060 As God blesses his word. 00:23:06.960 --> 00:23:15.920 Who are we tonight to think that we can be means of changing the thinking of our society or the thinking of our own community even? 00:23:15.920 --> 00:23:24.100 Well, we're not any worse off, are we, than this woman, than this small church in the days of the apostles? 00:23:25.160 --> 00:23:27.000 Has the Holy Spirit changed? 00:23:28.279 --> 00:23:31.600 Has he disappeared from the working of the kingdom? 00:23:34.700 --> 00:23:35.800 Of course not. 00:23:35.799 --> 00:23:59.299 We're thankful even for those. 00:23:59.299 --> 00:24:05.119 But then who knows when the next step is going to take place? 00:24:06.240 --> 00:24:14.000 And the small steps become a great advance and a great leap forward for the kingdom. 00:24:14.639 --> 00:24:16.119 So don't ever lose hope. 00:24:16.919 --> 00:24:20.559 Don't ever think that it's not worth praying for conversions anymore. 00:24:20.779 --> 00:24:26.839 Don't ever think that such and such a person or such and such a people are never really going to embrace the gospel. 00:24:26.839 --> 00:24:30.339 They're just too keyed into their own prejudices. 00:24:30.699 --> 00:24:36.480 That's why we pray for those who are leading movements against the gospel. 00:24:37.240 --> 00:24:38.559 And pray for their conversion. 00:24:39.720 --> 00:24:47.799 Because as far as we can see, they have qualities that would serve the kingdom of God so well. 00:24:48.459 --> 00:24:50.419 A sense of real commitment. 00:24:51.019 --> 00:24:52.279 An intellectual ability. 00:24:52.919 --> 00:24:54.319 A great interest in people. 00:24:54.319 --> 00:24:58.439 A desire that people will actually have the best things. 00:24:58.639 --> 00:25:01.159 Even if they're not looked for in the right areas. 00:25:01.619 --> 00:25:08.700 Still that person or these people can serve the kingdom of God with the God-giving, even natural qualities they have. 00:25:09.059 --> 00:25:12.099 Especially when they're changed and transformed by the Holy Spirit. 00:25:12.859 --> 00:25:13.859 Pray for those. 00:25:15.899 --> 00:25:17.259 Make it your business. 00:25:17.259 --> 00:25:23.539 To find out who are the leaders of the local anti-gospel movements. 00:25:24.420 --> 00:25:28.960 And if you never speak to them or never have the opportunity to present Christ to them. 00:25:29.460 --> 00:25:31.700 Go into your closet and pray for them. 00:25:31.779 --> 00:25:33.799 And pray for God to change their lives. 00:25:34.900 --> 00:25:37.700 And pray for God to do what he did for Saul of Tarsus. 00:25:37.700 --> 00:25:43.660 And meet them on the way of their opposition to Christ. 00:25:45.019 --> 00:25:51.360 So that they will come to face this Jesus and have their lives changed. 00:25:52.240 --> 00:25:53.740 And just imagine the impact. 00:25:55.080 --> 00:26:00.180 Just as it says here, all his adversaries were put to shame. 00:26:00.180 --> 00:26:06.980 When leaders of anti-gospel movements are themselves converted. 00:26:07.680 --> 00:26:11.660 Well, that causes massive tremors through the kingdom of Satan. 00:26:13.420 --> 00:26:17.140 And it causes people to think, what is going on? 00:26:17.960 --> 00:26:22.000 What is there to this Christian thing that I didn't really think of before? 00:26:22.840 --> 00:26:24.340 That's what we pray for. 00:26:24.920 --> 00:26:26.680 That's what we hope to see happening. 00:26:26.680 --> 00:26:33.960 The kingdom advancing despite first appearances that may not seem really very encouraging. 00:26:35.400 --> 00:26:38.960 And then it grows too by a transforming power. 00:26:39.400 --> 00:26:43.240 Because he goes on to speak about this woman that took a measure. 00:26:43.799 --> 00:26:52.180 Or a leaven that woman took and hid in three measures of flour until it was all leavened. 00:26:52.860 --> 00:26:54.840 Well, we know what leaven is. 00:26:54.840 --> 00:26:55.580 It's yeast. 00:26:56.680 --> 00:26:59.000 And yeast has its own properties. 00:26:59.460 --> 00:27:05.940 When you apply it to a batch of dough, the properties of the yeast take over that batch of dough. 00:27:06.519 --> 00:27:14.080 And if it's left long enough and in the right conditions, the yeast doesn't just cause the dough to swell and to rise as it does that. 00:27:14.600 --> 00:27:18.940 But it actually permeates all parts of that batch of dough. 00:27:19.460 --> 00:27:21.900 Doesn't leave any part of it unaffected. 00:27:22.620 --> 00:27:24.860 That's what he's saying about the kingdom of God. 00:27:24.859 --> 00:27:27.799 What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? 00:27:28.479 --> 00:27:35.619 It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour until it was all leavened. 00:27:35.619 --> 00:27:40.539 The emphasis is not on it being very small. 00:27:40.539 --> 00:27:49.399 Even very small compared to the whole batch of dough into which it was worked. 00:27:49.400 --> 00:28:02.580 And the emphasis is on this small measure of yeast becoming so large that it actually affected all parts of the dough and made it change. 00:28:02.720 --> 00:28:05.340 It works from inside, you see. 00:28:05.339 --> 00:28:17.240 It works from inside and then the effect of it is seen gradually outwardly moving out as the dough actually expands with the power of the yeast inside it. 00:28:17.279 --> 00:28:19.159 Well, that's the kingdom of God. 00:28:19.619 --> 00:28:23.359 That's an element or an image of the kingdom of God. 00:28:23.359 --> 00:28:30.339 When God gets into a person, it doesn't just affect a small part of your being. 00:28:31.899 --> 00:28:34.719 It affects every single aspect of your being. 00:28:35.659 --> 00:28:40.279 When your soul is occupied by the Holy Spirit, it affects how you think. 00:28:40.779 --> 00:28:42.240 It affects how you see people. 00:28:42.899 --> 00:28:44.439 It affects how you look forward. 00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:47.539 How you project into the future as far as you can. 00:28:48.000 --> 00:28:50.079 It affects how you think of your past. 00:28:50.079 --> 00:28:52.419 It affects how you think of your neighbors. 00:28:53.519 --> 00:28:56.000 It affects every aspect of your being. 00:28:56.939 --> 00:29:09.019 And that's why it's such an incredibly relevant image of the kingdom and the way the kingdom advances and the way things in a person change from the inside out. 00:29:10.079 --> 00:29:12.079 Except a man be born again. 00:29:13.079 --> 00:29:14.679 He cannot see the kingdom of God. 00:29:14.679 --> 00:29:19.079 Well, the rebirth does not take place out there and then enter into him. 00:29:20.079 --> 00:29:24.019 Rebirth takes place inside the depth of our soul. 00:29:24.139 --> 00:29:28.960 And then it affects the whole person outwardly from that. 00:29:30.059 --> 00:29:32.220 And that's what our people need. 00:29:32.339 --> 00:29:34.039 That's what our society needs. 00:29:35.139 --> 00:29:36.819 That's what our community needs. 00:29:37.839 --> 00:29:40.079 God to get into their lives. 00:29:41.220 --> 00:29:42.960 God to get into their hearts. 00:29:42.960 --> 00:29:46.240 God to change them from within. 00:29:49.019 --> 00:29:51.460 So that their whole being is taken over. 00:29:52.740 --> 00:29:55.279 In love and in obedience to God. 00:29:56.579 --> 00:29:58.980 That's what will transform our society. 00:29:58.980 --> 00:30:08.980 And that's so far superior to human wisdom and to human logic and to human methods and to political measures and to economic measures. 00:30:09.299 --> 00:30:11.000 All the things that were mentioned in prayer. 00:30:11.240 --> 00:30:12.180 They're important. 00:30:12.660 --> 00:30:14.759 We're not saying people shouldn't be thinking about that. 00:30:14.960 --> 00:30:17.599 We're not saying our leaders shouldn't have their minds set on that. 00:30:17.819 --> 00:30:20.980 They're all hugely important things that affect our lives from day to day. 00:30:20.980 --> 00:30:27.279 But what a difference it would make as we heard for our leaders to say, look, this is really so huge. 00:30:27.360 --> 00:30:28.880 It's beyond our capacity. 00:30:29.440 --> 00:30:31.140 Pray to God for it. 00:30:31.140 --> 00:30:34.960 That's really what we need to hear. 00:30:35.040 --> 00:30:35.780 And that's what we pray. 00:30:36.280 --> 00:30:42.020 Our leaders will come to actually say from their own experience of Christ. 00:30:42.940 --> 00:30:49.540 So like the woman, so also the seed and also the measure of leaven. 00:30:50.580 --> 00:30:53.840 The initiative is with God himself. 00:30:55.020 --> 00:31:00.480 He is the one who begins the work, who brings it on, who advances it. 00:31:01.140 --> 00:31:02.960 Who blesses to that end. 00:31:04.500 --> 00:31:09.840 Therefore, the kingdom of God is like. 00:31:10.960 --> 00:31:13.259 May the Lord bless these thoughts on his word to us. 00:31:13.880 --> 00:31:14.600 Let's pray. 00:31:16.780 --> 00:31:19.740 Lord, our God, we do.