The Stories of Jesus 04/28/24 Mark 4:21-25

L [Music] for [Music] h [Music] in [Music] h [Music] than need [Music] h for [Music] h [Music] I [Music] love hearing Miss Judy play that was U that song As the deer is the song that we sing to our youngest son David every night so that is if he's not screaming and crying and just getting bed hey it's good seeing each of you here at First Baptist Church my name is Cody I'm the pastor here and I'm I'm just glad that you're here if you've got any kind of prayer requests or you want to connect with us there are connection cards that are in the chairs in front of you can just fill those out you can either scan the QR code and it will upload onto Google or you can just fill it out drop it in the offering plate as it goes by that'd be huge in us being able to minister to you couple of things today after service we got potluck and business meeting we do have the budget that we've been working very hard on making some reductions in and prayerful strategic all that kind of stuff and so please be praying about that and yeah so we're going to be discussing that also yesterday we had a really great Outreach at Dogwood Festival it was we gave out how many burritos did we make Katherine where are you at 700 and we gave them

All away I thought it was 500 awesome so praise the Lord woohoo and so we gave those out along with bags that had Gospel tracks information about our church and different things like that and so we exist one of the reasons why we exist is to love our community so Katherine thank you so much for your leadership in that be sure to check out the bulletin and it's got tons of information upcoming there's women on Mission banquet that's coming up and we want to just encourage you to sign up that we got order food that we got to order and food that we got to get all squared away and so that's $5 and that's going to be down in the gymnasium on May 6 that's just a little over a week away and they've got a special speaker that's going to be coming in and goingon to be honoring the gas and their accomplishments over the years so really great time so I'd encourage you that if you want to come it's going to be a fantastic time also in just a few more weeks we got our annual Church picnic after service we won't be doing any kind of potl that month or anything like that we're just going to be out at the post office Pavilion out at hahhaa and just enjoying the beautiful day we're praying for a beautiful day at least and we're going to have some yard games we're going to have some great food so bring some okay because I've committed you now and we're going to be enjoying that so hope that you guys are ready to Worship the Lord I don't know about you but I'm ready are you yeah hey before we get to that though why don't you just find a neighbor look him in the eye say welcome to First Baptist Church morning all well good morning First Baptist Church it's good to see you all here

This morning what a better place to be on such a d weary and tired day than in community with our brothers and sisters amen before we get started they reminded me that over here we have our VBS prayer reminders the big sign that says pray and so you're encouraged to take one of those seashells and that as a reminder for you to be praying for VBS which is coming up much sooner than it looks like on the calendar so be sure before you leave to take one of those prayer reminders and now is the time where we like to just take a moment to ask the Lord to prepare our hearts and our minds for worship so I invite you to Bow your heads and close your eyes and just ask the Lord to prepare you Lord you created us to worship you to glorify your great and Holy Name Lord I pray that you would help us to do that this morning I pray that you'd help us to put aside all the distractions all the worries Lord help us to repent from whatever sins we might be struggling with help us to reconcile with whatever brothers or sisters we are having Strife with and Lord help us this morning to worship you because you're worthy it's in Jesus name we pray Amen in Psalm 119 verses 171 through 172 we read my lips will pour forth praise for you teach me your statutes my tongue will sing of your word for all your Commandments are right so I invite you to stand now and join us as we sing Oh for a thousand tongues to [Music] sing oh for thousand T to sing my great Redeemer PR the glories of my God and King the triumphs of his gra my gracious master and my God assist me to Proclaim to spread through all the Earth abro the honors of thy name

[Music] Jesus the name that charmes our fear thats our sorrow music in the SS his life and andace he breaks the power of canel sin he sets the pr free what can make thean his for [Music] me him he ising up your Lo behold your Savior come and L for Joy glory to God and praise and love be never ever again by Saints below and Saints above the [Music] church let's sing that last verse together again glory to God glory to God and praise and love be ever again by Saints below and Saints above the church in Earth let's continue to sing the Praises of our Lord and Savior this [Music] morning have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power are youed in the blood of the Lamb are you fully trusting in his grace are youed in the blood of the [Music] Lamb of the are your gar spotless are they asnow are youing the blood of the [Music] L are you walking daily by the Savior are you wased in the blood of the Lamb do you rest in the cruci are youed in the blood of the Lamb you in the blood in the cing blood of the L are your SP are they as are youed in the blood of the Lamb when the bright come are your robes be white are you washed in the blood of the L will your soul be ready for the manions the blood of [Applause] [Music] the theing blood of

Your are they wide as snow are youing the BL of the Lamb [Music] aside the that are sted with s and Beed in the blood of the Lamb [Music] the blood of the Lamb [Music] you in theing Blood of the Lamb are your garments spotless are they white as snow are you washed in the one of the [Applause] [Music] [Applause] L let's pray dear Lord thank you for today and we thank you for this rain filling up our water table filling up the farm ponds and the and the streams we need this thank you Lord you provide everything for us now let's give back to you in Jesus name amen for those that don't know me I'm Janet bis better known as Steven's wife I've been asked to give a testimony about my test or a testimony tithing I was raised can you guys hear me okay I was raised in a Christian home my parents tithed and they were generous with anybody that needed help I was taught from a young age Malachi 3:10 which bring the whole tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house test me in this says the Lord Almighty and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out such a blessing that you will not have room to store it when I got my first job at Bob's IG I started tithing a tithe is 10% of your income the Israelites were told to bring their tithe to the temple Storehouse it wasn't just a regular Storehouse this one was for the temple and this was so the Levites who were the priests and the people who took care of the temple and

Did all of God's work there so they would be they would be able to eat because they were not allowed to own their own land so they could concentrate on God's work so this is the way God took care of the Levites when Stephen and I married we agreed that we would tithe 5 years later our daughter was born Elaine and I could not go to work and send her to someone else to be taken care of all day I just couldn't do it so I decided to stay home so that left three people living on a teacher's salary and teachers have come a long way with their salary they still don't get enough but 30 years ago it was a lot worse so money was very tight we did not buy anything that we didn't need when I went to the grocery store I would keep a running total in my brain so I would know that I would have enough money when I got up to the register because I didn't want to be embarrassed any if we got to the end of the month and if there was you know $25 left or whatever we would put it into the savings for emergencies that were going to come up common sense and basic math would tell you this is not going to work and we had a temptation to stop tithing but we didn't give into that and we just kept tithing tithing God blessed us through this time we never went into debt for anything other than our home during those years and things just always worked out for some reason once some examples that we had and there were a lot I would I could keep you all day giving you examples we had a hospital bill and I didn't want to pay this hospital bill I was mad anyway because I had the hospital hospital bill in the first place so I was in my car and I was complaining and whining to God which is where I do my best complaining and whining to God because I'm all by myself no one can hear me

And I pulled up to the mailbox and there was a letter from the IRS and I thought oh and great now we're going to be audited but I opened it up and what it was there was a tax credit that I didn't know about and someone at the IRS had refigured our taxes and sent me a check that was enough to cover the hospital bill plus 10% so I could tie that back one year one horrible year we had the year of the appliance that year our washer our dryer our stove our dishwasher and our water softener all needed to be replaced within one year and our Furnace needed an $800 repair extra money came in and we whenever we got extra money we would always tithe off of that too we didn't you know oh Christmas no we tied off that too so either the extra money came in or we found deals where where we could actually afford what we needed over the years we had hundreds of little little blessings I remember once we were on a trip we were eating lunch at a picnic table in a park CU we weren't going to go out and eat and that cost too much and I commented to Stephen that we needed ice for the cooler because it was all melting and we continued talking and then I looked over there was a huge bile of ice on the ground it looked like someone had just dumped out their cooler now the weird thing is that Stephen and I both walked right by that pile of ice and did not see it so I don't know if you don't tithe now I challenge you to start tithing you might you know be struggling with a low income like we were and think that you can't or maybe God has blessed you and you're wealthy or comfortable and you're thinking that's a lot of money I don't think I want to give that up but remember this is the only area in the Bible where God ask us to test him trust

Him you will have a closer walk with [Applause] him join with me in reading 2 Corinthians 2:14-15 but thanks be to God who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession and through US spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere for we are the aroma of Christ to God Among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing I invite you again to stand and join we sing Man of Sorrows what a name for the son of God [Music] of Sorrows what a name for the Son of God who came ruin siners toclaim Hallelujah [Music] for [Music] theing shame anding root in my place condem he stood seal my with his BL Hallelujah saor head of Sorrow Son of God Pur freom by his man who takes the blame for sin hallelu What A Savior [Music] guilty vient heless spotless Lamb of God was full atonement [Music] be hallelujah what a of Sorrows Son of God purchas Freedom by his

Blood and who takes the way for sin hallelujah what a [Music] saor lifted up was he to die it is finished was is cry now in heav [Music] exalted hallelujah what [Music] aor US Son of God goodest freom by his blood man who takes the for S hallelujah what [Music] aor he's coming again when he comes our glorious King all his Ransom home to bring then I new this song will [Music] sing Hallelujah what a saor of Sorrow Son of God Freedom by his blood man who takes the blame for S hallelujah what aor hallelujah what a saor [Music] What A Savior we serve who has taken us out of our sin so that we might walk in his glorious light now and forever more and all for the sake of his glory [Music] come th of Every Blessing tune my heart to sing thy Grace streams of Mercy never ceasing call for songs about his praise teach me some on

Fling T above PR the mountain f it Mount of th redeeming [Music] love here I raise my heaver by thy help my God and I hope by thy good pleasure safely to arri at home Jesus s me when a stranger wondering from the fold of God to resue from danger inter his precious [Music] to Grace how great daily constrained to be let thy Grace Lord like a my wondering heart to the to Wonder Lord I feel it to leave the God I Love My Heart Lord take and seal it seal it for [Music] th PR to wonder Lord I feel it to leave the God I Love My Heart Lord take and seal it seal for let's pray and so Lord that's what we ask this morning we ask that you would reach down into where we are and draw us unto yourself that you would take our hearts and seal them seal them with the work of the cross the sign of the Seal of the resurrection and Lord with our knowledge that you are coming again for us and Lord as we pray that we know that it's done the work is finished and we rejoice in that it's in Jesus name we pray amen well if you have your Bible and I hope that you do please turn with me to the Book of Mark chapter 4 Mark chapter 4 we're in this series on The Parables of Christ which we are

Calling the stories of Jesus now I love a clean home anybody else really like a clean home I love a clean home with five kids though that's a distant dream for us and we've given up on that for the time being one day one day we will have it SP and span and then we'll be sad because there won't be all those little feet running around but I actually I enjoy using Clorox wipes okay I do like when I'm wiping down disinfecting and stuff like that the reason why is because it makes me feel good knowing that all those bugs are getting killed especially as like you know influenza is going through the home or something like that right but did you know that Clorox wipes actually don't do a good job of cleaning like I don't know if you know this but it takes three minutes for these Clorox wipes all right your counters being wet for at least three minutes before it's actually disinfected so if you just go over it and wipe it down real quick it's actually not doing anything okay or Saran Wrap okay Saran Wrap anyone hate using this stuff sometimes like you get the cheap brand and it's not sticking to anything except yourself but you know one of the habits that I used to have is you know pulling out the Saran Wrap and out comes the roll right and on the ends of these you can actually push in the tabs which helps keep the San roll in there so if you're kind of struggling like myself the reason why I'm telling you these stories is because Jesus is going to tell us a parable about something not being used properly right and we are going to learn about the kingdom of God we're going to learn about honesty and he's going to be continuing on this principle that he's been communicating over the previous chapters on judgment okay and he's going to explain it for us and so if you would stand with me in honor of God's word as

We read Mark 4: 21 through 25 God's word it says this and he said to them is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed and not on stand for nothing is hidden except to be made manifest nor is anything secret except to come to light if anyone has ears to hear Let Them hear and he said to them pay attention to what you hear with the measure you use it will be measured to you and still more will be added to you for to the one who has more will be given from the one who has not even what he has will be taken away let's pray and so Lord we just pray that today that you would grant us understanding on your word I pray that you would just help us God to have attentive ears and that we would apply this passage to our Liv lives and to really gain a full and complete understanding Lord as best as our brains can comprehend Lord just we pray that your Holy Spirit would move in our hearts and convict us God right now I do want to lift up to you some of the people that we know and that we love Lord we pray for the wima family we pray for Kathy and her back surgery we pray for all of these different things that we know about and that we care about Lord we just lift up to you the many hurts in our church family the different health issues that are going on Lord we just intercede for them we just ask that your grace would be on us help us Lord to set aside those things so that we might rightly divide the word of Truth here we give them over to you in Jesus name amen well the reason why Christ taught in Parables was in order for us to learn spiritual truth in a hidden way that's his whole purpose and it serves as a blessing for those who listen attentively who listen prayerfully who

Listen carefully but it also functions as a way to condemn those who reject Jesus Christ as Messiah last week we learned about the parable of the sewer in that Parable you had people that just outright rejected the Gospel message they just had a hard heart they couldn't receive it they just rejected it but the parable continued on that they there were some that received the Gospel but it withered away because of hard times and persecution and then there were some who received the Gospel but then it got choked out by the desires of This World by the cares that we carry by the different deceptions that are in the world and then there were those who received the Gospel and bore fruit in the Kingdom some 30 60 100 fold and they bore fruit for the kingdom of God and Jesus is continuing this theme of teaching about the kingdom of God because that's the whole purpose of Christ's coming to this Earth was to preach repentance for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand and to make full atonement for sinners like myself and for you that anyone that would call upon the name of the Lord would be saved and in this Parable today he uses this object this object is of course the lamp Okay now I didn't say a lamp I said the lamp now everyone's translation in here how many of your translations says is a lamp brought in raise your hand for me how many of your translations say that is a lamp now what's interesting there in the Greek there is a definite article right before that word lamp Okay it's h right it's it's there it's the lamp interesting and we get it wrong in the English even the SB says a lamp the problem is like I said there is a definite article meaning that Christ is talking about something specific is the lamp not just any old lamp a lamp in the ancient world is one of these oil lamps

If you're having trouble kind of thinking of what a lamp is it would be filled right here in that Basin with olive oil right and they would put a re down here or maybe a piece of cloth or flax or something like that they would light it on fire and the that lamp would would give off light for you know two four maybe 6 hours if you took really good care of it but the ancient world was very dark before modern electricity so these would be featured in every home they were very common torches would be mounted outside of homes for people to see in the streets this is why Christ in his teaching in other places is in Matthew 5 he said you are the light of the world a city set on a hill cannot be hidden nor do people light a lamp and put it under basket but on a stand and there it's it's not a definite article okay but on a stand and it gives light to all in the house and in the same way let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your father who is in heaven those lamps those lights are not intended to be hidden but are intended to be displayed for the glory of God that was the whole purpose of lighting the lamp now last night Amber I should have followed up and kind of gotten the whole backstory before I tell you this but she somehow heard was it on Facebook or did you get a text message from Amy I went over to help her son yeah it was a text okay all right I didn't know how he heard about this anywayss we got a got a text from a neighbor her son he's he's about to get ready to go to prom right and he didn't know how to tie a tie no one knew how to tie a tie so it's like well I know how to tie a tie so I ran over there but the situation was much worse okay guy didn't try on this rented shirt before he before he put it before he was getting ready for prom his date's there she's she's

Looking fantastic and he's got this short this these sleeves that are way too short I mean they're they're up here and the shoulders are way too tight and just really across the middle I mean you know he worked out so I was like man that's that's a tight shirt so I had to go home got him a white shirt and I'm fixing up his tie making it look nice teaching him how to do that telling him explaining to him you know the need for men to know how to tie ties and not only that but I got an opportunity to bring Christ into the equation how just tying a tie provided an opportunity for me to minister to a neighbor and I wonder how many times do we just Overlook Shining Light because we're too busy you know we just we just move right past it right past the situation we got blinders on and so we don't see the need of something so practical like tying a tie or maybe a neighbor is just is sick and you take them a meal or go for a visit or something like that how many times do we not bear the Light of Christ to our neighbors that so desperately need to hear it I mean the biggest way that a Christian can be light to the world is simply by being available by simply saying yeah I'll do it yeah I'll jump in it doesn't take lots of money but it does take time and let me encourage you with this okay if you're pressed for time and you're like I ain't got no time listen eternity you got all the time that you need right eventually you're going to die okay and you're going to be forgotten it's the Lord's Day celebrate right you're going to die you're going to be forgotten but you know what lives on in eternity is the fruit that you bear for the kingdom of God so take the time take the time just to just to love a neighbor and to take that opportunity to share Christ when that opportunity presents itself because

As we live for the glory of God let's take those opportunities when they beare themselves but is Christ talking about us as the lamp no the truth is that he's talking about something way more specific okay in Scripture we see in the Old Testament Christ that God and His law his word is described as a light and as a lamp most famously in Psalm 109 ver 105 your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path they have little songs that go along with that right but even more less famously I should say David after he was delivered and he is giving thanks to God he says this in 2 Samuel 22:29 for you are my lamp O Lord and my God lightens my darkness and so with this definite article in Mark chap 4 I believe that Christ he is talking about himself I think that he is talking about the fact that he is God that he is the Fulfillment of the law that he is the word made flesh and simultaneously giving himself the title of the light of world he is the God the only God who has come into the world and the world did not receive him according to John chapter 1 and he seems to be saying here that his glory is not going to be concealed forever and so Jesus he asked this rhetorical question is a lamp brought now that's another bad translation there that word brought is of course past tense but it's also active tense in the Greek did you know that it's an active tense which actually translates as arrives in Scripture and a lamp doesn't arrive anywhere it's not like it gets legs and it just walks where it wants to go that'd be really weird but it doesn't self-determine anything not a lamp but this lamp does just as the light of the world arrived in a Manger Christ tells us that the light has arrived but when a lamp is

Lit would someone in the ancient world put a basket over it Heavens no oil was extremely valuable in the ancient world it was a huge waste in a culture that was filled with either feasting or famine with extreme poverty so they wouldn't put it under a bed but they would put it on the a lampstand a special stand just like this that would be that would be given the most prominent spot so that way it would give light in the room why be Luke answers this in Luke 8:16 so that those who enter may see the light the lamp isn't to hide under a basket or put under a bed right that's ludicrous it's there to reveal what was in the dark Amber and I we used to volunteer at this thing at Liberty University it was called Scaremare okay it was a Christian haunted house it's what it was and so you would walk through scenes of death and morbid stuff and all that kind of stuff and eventually they would arrive at the crucifixion scene right and you know then there would be a Gospel presentation and it was it was really great Outreach there would be 5,000 people every night that would go through it was great but there was a room in there that was completely dark and as you walk through all you could feel were kind of guard rails around you but it was completely dark and you could hear something around you could hear almost Whispers or maybe like shuffling of clothes or something like that and all of a sudden the lights would just come on and you're surrounded by caskets and people in the caskets looking like corpses reaching for you all going boo right and I they called it the boo room and if someone soiled themselves then we all got free pizza so the darkness it's what revealed what was actually going on

Around you and you see the glory of Christ Works in that way as he shines his light on us while we were corpses on that road to hell he breathes that life-giving Spirit into our hearts he gives us a new heart a new identity a new purpose and we see the love of Christ and we see his authority and we can't help but cry out my Lord and my God why would he save a wretched sinner like me I deserved hell I was on that road to destruction I clearly see it I clearly see the Judgment that was reserved for me that Christ took on my behalf thank the Lord I don't have to go through that thank the Lord that my eternity is secure and that is the glory of Christ and it brings us light and understanding that's why the light is displayed in its Glory it's almost like Jesus is saying I did not come here to be concealed forever I came here as a lamp to be set on a lampstand so that the Light May burst forth and manifest itself clearly to all who dwell in darkness I did not come to be covered with a basket or hidden under a bed I came to shine forth and verse 22 really is the key to this entire Parable listen it says for nothing is hidden except to be made manifest nor is anything secret except to come to light you know hidden things are meant to be revealed they're meant to be discovered when you're our kids they received a little people Nativity right it's a little play set and it's got you know three wise men and you know donkey and Mary and Joseph and you know we keep baby Jesus kind of you know hide him throughout the year right you know keep him keep him safe and then Christmas morning we will take baby Jesus and we will hide him somewhere in our home and the person that finds baby Jesus okay gets to open the first gift under the tree that's what we do seeking Christ right and we do that and we put them in not like ridiculously difficult

Places but we do that because we want them to find it Christ he doesn't hide his glory he manifests it especially when Christians live missionally around the world when we live with purpose in our homes and that gives us great application here because everything is eventually found out about our lives either for God's glory or in judgment for the Christian it's not like you know like God has taken that sin he has paid for it and you know it's not like a condemnation judgment or anything like that just want to clarify that but Christ he uses the same phrase in verse 22 in other places in Scripture look at this in Matthew chapter 10: 26 so have no fear of them for nothing is covered that will not be revealed or hidden that will not be known he uses this same phrase in Luke 12 nothing is covered up that would not be revealed or hidden that will not be known he uses that the first one in regards to judgment and then the second instance there in Luke in regards to the hypocrisy of the Pharisees so what does Christ mean here in this Parable well it goes back to what Christ has been saying and doing over the last several weeks that we've been looking at what will you do with Jesus will you receive him as Lord or do you just believe that he's a good teacher do you believe that he was a liar or that he was crazy what do you believe about Jesus Christ he is God Almighty in verse 22 there's this word that appears twice we translate it as accept but that word is Ena and it means in order that means that there's a purpose behind the hiddenness in order that and it changes our understanding there and the goal is to find out what the light reveals at Valentine's day I did a scavenger hunt for Amber right and took my time and we planned it out I had

All the little clues that all rhymed together and you know went and talked to the different shopkeepers and different friends houses would you be willing to do this yes but I could have made like the clues ridiculously hard right I mean I could have put in GPS coordinates that actually had like a mathematical formula I could have just made it obnoxiously difficult for her right God doesn't do that God does not make it ridiculously difficult for man to have fellowship with him he has he has gone to the very cross to make full atonement so that way we would have free entrance into his glory he doesn't make it difficult he's made it for a purpose for us to know the father but you know what one of the ways that Christians have applied this passage is even personally you know that Christians are filled with the Light of Christ bearing witness to the lost world and so they you know those those negative works are kind of the basket that hides it and that's not a misapplication by any means actually I think that's a really good way for us to maybe examine ourselves to see if maybe there are ways that we're hiding the Light of Christ you know for example I was I was sitting down and I was thinking what are some ways that Christians cover the Light of Christ in their life and one of the ways is by not speaking out by just being silent when they have opportunities you know the high priest Eli his sons were in outright Rebellion they were priests as well but they were taking the absolute best of the best cuts of meat that they possibly could they were seducing the women in the temple they were doing just awful terrible things and God judged hoffy and Phineas the sons of Eli and actually destroyed them and killed Eli as well and that left Samuel the as the high

Priest the judge and the prophet of the Lord but when Christians when we remain silent on sin issues when we don't speak to share the Gospel or when we do things like that we wind up covering the Light of Christ in our lives and even when we do speak up there are right ways to do it and there's wrong ways to do it amen even God sent Christ at the right time and so there's a right time to share the truth and there's a right way to do it with love and grace and prayerful prayerfulness also there's this temptation to fit in to conform you know you listen to what everyone else listens to you watch what everyone else watches you wear what the opposite sex thinks is attractive and you know it makes you popular with man but it puts you at OD it puts you at odds with the father and so it takes away any opportunity to share Christ with others because there's no difference in your life there's some people they just want to do things their way and that's just called Pride you know they refuse to Humble themselves before the Lord they say this is this is God's way do it and they say no I don't want to do it that way I can do it this way because I'm an American and they and they wind up taking and choosing their their Earthly rights over their Heavenly rights if we want our light to shine then our attitude ought to be like that of John the Baptist which says that he must increase and I must decrease or also we could say unforgiveness unforgiveness and resentment when we let past hurts just paint everything about a person or a situation then we stifle the work of God in our lives go back to what hurts whether it's perceived or real and we either blame God or we blame others instead of either

Learning or forgiving with authenticity a final way and these you could you could go through like and make a list of like 50 of these these are just some that I wrote down but disunity we've been talking about that right the very nature of God is his Oneness and when Believers in a local body demonstrate disunity through contentiousness and anger and backbiting and gossiping then that just proves to the world that there is no love among brothers you know it minimizes the glory of God and all of those things are ultimately what they sin each and every single one of them that's ultimately what we use to cover up the glory of God in our own lives and that process of sanctification is often times the removal of these things isn't it I know God's been working on some of those things even in my own heart because guess what I haven't arrived I don't think I don't think you have either but I believe that it is the duty of every generation and every believer in that generation to hold up Christ as infinitely worthy of all of our honor all of our praise and all of our Glory because the Son of God must be lifted up high in the homes at people's jobs and folks personal lives in such a way that people are attracted to the fragrance of Christ and the glory of God and when we get that opportunity to share the Gospel we take it we take that chance and it is the duty of every Christian to do it in verse 24 Christ he continues with that pay attention to what you hear in other words listen closely think deeply about what Jesus Christ is saying the NIV it translates this is consider carefully What You Hear The New American Standard says take care of what you listen to Because with the measure that you use it will be measured to you and still more

Will be added to you this is a repeated principle that Christ says throughout the Gospels in Matthew 13:12 for to the one who has more will be given and he will have an abundance but from the one who has not even what he has will be taken away and this is what we would call if you're taking notes the measure okay you got the lamp you got the measure what does Christ mean by this measure well it's that word matrao it's where we get our word meter from okay and so you might think of maybe a water meter or even the metric system right a ceneter a millimeter a meter okay but more than that in the Greek it means to measure out honestly or generously once again Christ is using these same phrases in terms of judgment in Matthew chapter 7: 1 and 2 judge not that you be not judged for with the Judgment you pronounce you will be judged okay and with the measure you use it will be measured to you in Luke Chapter 6: 37-38 judge not and you will not be judged condemn not and you will not be condemned forgive and you will be forgiven give and it will be given to you good measure press down and Shake together running over will be put into your lap for with the measure you use it will be measured back to you that kind of reminds me of Five Guys Burgers and Fries anybody ever gone there before I mean if you get a small fry like your whole family's fed because what they do is they put like the actual small fry in there like overflowing and then they take two giant Scoops and they put them in the bag as well so you wind up getting like an extra large fry a and sorry I'm getting hungry but in fact that's that's where we where we come up with the phrase you know if we do something for good measure it means that we're we're going over and above okay you're you're you're taking

Something out of good measure or for good measure this is the measuring that's directly tied to our hearing what does the passage say it says pay attention to what you hear with the measure you use it will be measured to you it's tied directly to our hearing we must understand this is active Discerning prayerful listening and if we listen with joy and anticipation with a hopeful expectation to grow in the knowledge of God then even more shall be given the end result will be a Salvation that is much more than what we experience here on Earth but what we learn is that we will receive in ET what we receive in eternity depends on what you have now what I mean by that is that if you just mentally acknowledge like facts about the Bible That's not the same as knowing Christ a life of loving obedience towards the Lord is salvation it's it's faith in what he said and it's a deep heart Embrace of the glory of God and saying God I just I love you and I want you are my God and I will do anything for you pay attention to the words of Christ since to the one who has more will be added and how's that work we should just take salvation as that example for the Christian here on this side of heaven we have received full justification by faith alone and now we're in that process of sanctification where God's removing these sinful things from our lives bit by bit by bit but is that full salvation yet not really because we still have all of eternity and the glory of God where all of our sin nature will be cast aside and so what we what we have now is good but much more will be given to us because of the faith that we have in Jesus Christ but what about for those who do not know

God well even that will be taken away in judgment from the best Sinners to the most vile they will find their Eternal destruction to be the worst experiences the worst possible things imaginable over and over and over again for all of eternity do you believe the word of God the Bible here is clear to the one who has more will be given and from the one who has not even what he has will be taken away so what does that mean for you and I practically well it means that Christ is worth everything means that he's worth putting him on the lampstand of your heart shining forth the glory of God it means that you spend your retirement living for the glory of God it means that you spend your career serving the Lord while you're young and able bod doing Mission work and when you are blessed supporting Mission work it means that as a as a young person you crucify the desires of your heart and you ask the Lord what do you want from me how can I serve you God what can I do for you because I love you might just say you know what just abide in me just abide in my presence what do you have to be fearful of Christian I mean isn't Christ the best doesn't he promise more than this life could ever offer means that as a person with children in the home as an example that we prioritize the Lord in our time in our energies in our finances in how we discipline and how we talk to each other why because we want our children to see the goodness and the worthiness of Christ and it's the same way with Believers in every situation whether you're working in whatever you're doing and those that receive him receive even more and my prayer is that you would pay attention to the word of God and think deeply upon the words of

Christ for the Christian that means life eternal Abundant Life but for those outside even what you have will be taken away headand heart or head heart hand excuse me I want you to know that Jesus Christ is the lamp I want you to know that I want you to believe that he is the light he is full of glory and he reveals himself to all who enter praise the Lord that we don't have to walk in darkness and that we get to just simply shine forth all we have to do is display Christ heart I want you to believe that Christ has placed his light in you to display his love his mercy and excuse me his glory there's a reason for your salvation and it's not because you're so great it's so that you would bear fruit sometimes 30-fold sometimes 60-fold sometimes 100-fold according to the Scriptures but bear fruit in keeping with righteousness and hand I want you to see if there are any ways that maybe you hide the Light of Christ and then I want you to commit to letting Christ shine clearly through your life let's all stand together let's pray then we'll respond in worship so God we do thank you for this day and we ask that you would just have your hand on us give us greater understanding about your word and Lord help us to examine ourselves Lord if there's some ways that maybe we're not we're not living for you or maybe there's ways that we hide our faith whether it's at in our homes or in our jobs or what have you Lord help us to take away those things that you would just shine so clearly through us that we would be ambassadors and lightbearers for your glory God thank you for being that light that shines forth in a dark world and Lord help us to not be so concerned about the darkness but help us to bear forth that light father we love you we thank you for your glory we thank you for this day we just as that as we respond and

Worship that would be pleasing to you in Jesus Jesus name [Music] amen Come Thou of every bless tune my heart to sing thy praise streams of Mercy never ceasing call for songs of loudest praise teach me [Music] some sung by flaming Tong above praise the mount fixed upon it Mount of thy redeeming love here I raise Myer hither by thy help I'm come and I hope by thy good pleasure safely to arrive at home Jesus sought me when a stranger wanding from the fold of God he to Res me from danger interpos his Precious Blood oh to Grace [Music] take and it let's pray together Lord thank you for this day thank you for this opportunity to gather Lord let us never take it for granted help us to Shine the Light of Christ wherever we go it's in Jesus name we pray amen