Loosed from Satan's Bonds

[0:00] Mmm, want some more of that. We're working today. I mean, sound-wise, we had a mic issue a couple weeks ago.

[0:14] Okay. Take out your Bibles with me, please, and turn to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 13. We continue to follow Jesus through His walk to the cross from, in Luke's Gospel, from chapter, the end of chapter 9 till 19 is the journey of Jesus to Jerusalem.

[0:38] And on that journey to the cross, His demeanor has changed to one of much more intensity and seriousness.

[0:49] Because He sees the day coming. He is under distress already, seeing the day coming. He talks about, I have a baptism to be baptized with, and I am under distress until it is fulfilled.

[1:02] He talks about, I came to cast fire on the earth, right? And how I wish it was already done. So there's an intensity to Him.

[1:15] Yet, I think we get a little break in this passage, and I'm excited about it. It is a hopeful passage. It is an encouraging passage.

[1:30] So let us embrace it. I'm going to read from Luke, chapter 13, verses 10 through 21. If you're able, please stand as I read from the Word of God.

[1:41] Luke 13, verse 10. Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.

[1:53] And behold, look, look, look. There was a woman who had a disabling spirit for 18 years.

[2:04] She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said to her, Woman, you are freed from your disability.

[2:23] And He laid hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God. But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, There are six days in which to work, which work ought to be done.

[2:51] Come on those days and be healed, not on the Sabbath day. Then the Lord answered him, You hypocrites, Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it?

[3:15] And ought not this woman A daughter of Abraham, Whom Satan has bound, Behold, for 18 years, Ought she not be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?

[3:41] And as he said these things, All his adversaries were put to shame. And all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.

[3:58] He said, Therefore, what is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, And it grew and became a tree, And the birds of the air made nests in its branches.

[4:25] And again he said, To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour until it was all leaven.

[4:41] So reads the word of God. Let us pray. Father, we pray what we sung. Come thou incarnate word.

[4:53] Gird on thy mighty sword. Our prayer attend. Come and thy people bless. And give thy word success. Spirit of holiness.

[5:04] On us descend. Amen. Please be seated. So I came across Some English contradictions.

[5:23] Have you noticed that in English we have contradictions and phrases that we say? Here's some. Found missing. An open secret.

[5:40] That's a small crowd. Small crowd. Clearly misunderstood. Fully empty.

[5:54] Pretty ugly. I got some original copies for you. Original copies. The contractor gave me an exact estimate.

[6:13] That there is what you call liquid gas. We're going to have a working holiday. Silly. I got another one.

[6:25] I was thinking about this passage. How about this contradiction? Sabbath slavery. An enslaved rest.

[6:41] You see that's what this Seminary. Seminary leader. Maybe. Synagogue leader. Called the Sabbath.

[6:53] He says you got six days to do work and do healing. Don't come on the Sabbath for healing. Don't come on the Sabbath for recovery. No. The Sabbath's not about freedom. Sabbath's about slavery.

[7:06] And what Jesus has to say is. No. That's exactly what the Sabbath is for. Freedom. Freedom. Setting free. So it's been a while in Luke since we've had a Sabbath controversy.

[7:24] At the beginning of his gospel. Way back in chapter six. When Jesus was beginning his ministry. Luke recorded for us two Sabbath controversies. Right off the bat. Jesus and his disciples are walking through the grain fields.

[7:38] Right. And the disciples are picking grain on the Sabbath day. They're picking grain. Crushing it in their hands. And they're eating it. Because they were hungry. So the rulers of the day saw that they were doing that.

[7:49] And said why are you doing what's not lawful on the Sabbath. And Jesus said did you not read. Haven't you read the book. What David did.

[8:02] When he was hungry. He actually went into the holy of holies. Well the holy place. And took the bread of the presence. And ate that.

[8:15] That wasn't okay. But David did it. And besides Jesus said. The son of man is lord of the Sabbath.

[8:28] The son of man says what the Sabbath is about. Immediately after that in Luke 6. Jesus went in the synagogue was teaching. And there was there a man who had a withered hand.

[8:43] I think that's what it was. I think it was a withered hand. And the leaders there of the synagogue were watching. To see whether he would heal on the Sabbath. So that they might accuse him.

[8:55] And Jesus knew this of course. And he called the man up front. While he's teaching. Kind of like this one. And he asked them in the synagogue. Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath.

[9:10] Or to do harm. Is it lawful to save a life or lose a life. Well they wouldn't answer him. So he healed the man.

[9:23] Which incited intense anger. From the synagogues. How dare he. Break their law.

[9:36] So now we come to a third one. And I want you to notice the context. In which Luke presents this. Because right before this. Encounter in the synagogue.

[9:46] Look back a few verses. In chapter 13 of Luke. To verse 6. Where Jesus had told another parable. He told the parable. A man had a fig tree.

[9:57] Planted in his vineyard. And he came seeking fruit on it. And found none. He said to the vine dresser. Look for three years now. I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree. And I find none.

[10:08] Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground? And the vine dresser answered him. Sir. Let it alone this year also.

[10:19] Until I dig around it. And put on manure. Make it more fruitful. Then if it should bear fruit next year. Well and good. But if not.

[10:30] You can cut it down. So it's a parable of the fig tree. That's not bearing fruit. And the owner of the fig tree. Comes to look at the fig tree. To see if it's got fruit. Here comes Jesus to the synagogue.

[10:41] The Lord. The Lord. Coming to his people. To see. If they indeed. Are bearing fruit. Or whether he will cut them down.

[10:52] Remember he has come. To cast fire. On the earth. That's not his. Intention. It's the result of what he does. Remember. He came to save.

[11:05] But those who do not believe in him. Will experience. Fire. So. Let's look at this healing story. It's a healing story.

[11:17] That shows. That pictures. Remember. We looked. A number of weeks ago. What did Jesus' healings mean? When he cast out demons. What does it mean?

[11:27] And Jesus said. It means the kingdom has come. It means the kingdom has come. And every time Jesus heals. It's a picture of the greatest healing. It's a picture of the blind seeing.

[11:40] And the deaf hearing. And the mute speaking. And the lame walking. And the dead rising. It's a picture of salvation. And so this picture of this woman.

[11:51] This healing of the woman. Is a picture of salvation. From Satan's bonds. Which is exactly what Jesus says this is.

[12:01] Now not every physical healing that Jesus does. Has a connection to Satan. But this one does. Okay. Sometimes he heals people of disability.

[12:14] They just have physical disabilities. But sometimes it's connected to demonic activity. And the scriptures let us know when that's so. Luke refers to it in verse 11.

[12:26] As simply a disabling spirit. Or literally a spirit of weakness. Or a spirit of infirmity. Jesus in verse 16 says. It's Satan. Who has bound her for 18 years.

[12:42] Okay. So that's the picture. So I want to take this in two parts. Because also notice verse 18. Connects that previous Sabbath healing. To the pair.

[12:52] To the two pictures he's going to say. About the kingdom of God. Why do I say that? Because in verse 18. What's the third word? He said what? Therefore.

[13:04] Therefore. Therefore. English. That's an important word. In the Bible. It's an important word. Because therefore. You have to ask the question. What is it? Therefore. Right?

[13:16] It is a connecting word. It is a word that says. What has happened previously. Has a connection to what happens next. So Jesus said. Therefore. What's the kingdom like?

[13:27] In other words. What he just did on the Sabbath. Healing. Is connected to what he wants to show us. About the kingdom. Okay. Are you with me? Now what that exactly means. We got to put our thinking caps on today.

[13:39] This one's a little bit of a. Huh? Okay. But I got all the answers. Don't worry. I'll tell you what it means. I'll give you my idea. All right.

[13:51] So it comes in. Two parts here. We're going to look at the healing. It's the Sabbath healing. Verses 10 to 17. And then. We'll look at the implications of that. For the kingdom. In verses 18 to 21.

[14:03] As he gives us pictures. Okay. So. Sabbath healing. Here's a summary. Verses 10 to 17. The Sabbath healing reveals.

[14:17] That the Sabbath. Signifies. The loosing of Satan's bonds. By Christ. That's what Jesus. I'm going to give it to you.

[14:28] Nice and slow. Because it's a mouthful. But I think it's. This is what Jesus is saying. He is saying that the Sabbath. Is the appropriate time. For this to happen. Okay. So in other words.

[14:39] So the Sabbath. Signifies. The Sabbath is a sign. It's a picture. Of the future. The Sabbath. Signifies. The loosing. The loosing.

[14:50] Of Satan's bonds. By Christ. Himself. He is saying. That's what the purpose. Of the Sabbath. Was.

[15:01] One of its ultimate purposes. It had other purposes. Rest. Etc. But he said. It had a future. Picture. It had a.

[15:12] It was signifying. Something in the future. That's what he says. By what he does. In verse 16. Okay. So let's walk through. So.

[15:24] We're told in verse 12. Jesus saw her. Right. Verse 10. Tells us. He's teaching. In one of the synagogues. On the Sabbath day. So this is a Sabbath issue. He's teaching.

[15:34] In the middle of his teaching. He sees this woman. Okay. So he's going to interrupt his teaching. And what does he see? I think the first thing you want to notice is his compassion. He sees this woman.

[15:45] Well what about this woman? Verse 11. Luke tells us. And he uses a word. The word behold. I hope it's in your text. Because I used to have the New American Standard.

[15:56] And when I got the new update of the New American Standard. They took it out. And I was so mad. Because it's a word that says you have to pay attention to this. Behold means it's significant.

[16:09] He's saying look at this. Take a close look at this woman. And then he describes her. Okay. Look a woman. Who had a spirit of disablement.

[16:21] Or a spirit of weakness. For 18 years. And then he describes the condition.

[16:31] She's bent over. And she was not able to fully straighten her out. She was. Perhaps it could be translated. She was doubled over. I mean that's humbling. And.

[16:44] Some of the scholars say. That it was probably a medical condition. That involved a lot of pain. Okay. We don't know. But what we do know. We know some things about it.

[16:56] We know first of all. There was a spiritual cause to it. She had a spirit of infirmity. Which Jesus later says. Was Satan binding her. Okay.

[17:06] It was a satanic cause. Secondly. We see that there was a prolonged suffering. 18 years.

[17:18] 18 years. And by the way. In verse 16. When Jesus says. She's a daughter of Abraham. Whom Satan bound for 18 years. Our text doesn't have the word behold there.

[17:31] They took it out. Jesus actually included the word behold. He said. She's the daughter of Abraham. Whom Satan bound. Behold. For 18 years.

[17:41] He wanted them to hear that. 18 years. You untie your ox. Every day. Including the Sabbath. She's bound for 18 years.

[17:53] Can you have compassion for that? Right. So he's full of that compassion. And then. Notice the severity. She's doubled over.

[18:05] She's not able to straighten up. She can't straighten up. So Jesus notices this. Verse 18. Watch what he does. He does a number of things. First of all. He sees her. And the word saw.

[18:17] There means to see. With the whole implications. Of everything it was. Not just observed her. But he saw her. Okay. And then. He stops his teaching.

[18:27] Because he's teaching. He stops his teaching. When he sees her. And then what does he do? Oh great. He calls her forward. Remember. Jesus does this.

[18:40] He calls people. For he draws attention. To what he's going to do. He did that with the man. In Luke 6. With the hand. He did that. Remember with the lady.

[18:50] The woman. That had the flow of blood. Remember. She just wanted to touch his. You know. And get away. And he called her forward. Bless her heart. The last thing.

[19:00] So I'm sure this woman. Didn't appreciate. Coming up in front. Of all of the synagogue. But she does. He calls her over. Draws attention.

[19:11] And he declares. He does not speak. To the spirit. He does not speak. To Satan. He speaks. To her. He says. Literally.

[19:22] He said. You. Have. Been. Set. Free. From. Your. Illness.

[19:35] Our text reads. You are. Set. Free. Or you are. Loosed. Loosed. Jesus. Put it in the perfect. Passive. Which means. It's already been done. You have been.

[19:48] You already have been. Loosed. You've already been set free. You just don't know it yet. It doesn't take. Effect. Until he touches her.

[20:00] Because look at verse 13. He. So he declares that. And then he touches her. Verse 13. He laid his hand on her. And then. Immediately. She was made straight. It's just interesting.

[20:13] I find. The words he uses. You have been set free. You have been loosed. You've been bound for 18 years. You've been loosed. You've already been loosed. But now.

[20:25] You don't know it. Or you don't believe that. Or you. Loosed. Is it the same as. How our salvation happens.

[20:41] God from eternity past. Has already. Elected us. Chosen us. Etc. Right. However you want to look at that. That's what the Bible says. From eternity.

[20:52] Before the foundation of the world. Okay. I don't get that. That's God's business. But he's already done that. That. And it just takes effect.

[21:03] When the Holy Spirit comes upon us. Right. We're dead. And we're alive. But we'd already been written. In the book of life. According to Revelation. From the foundation of the world.

[21:15] Don't mess with me. That election stuff. I'm just. It's Bible stuff. Not election stuff. That. And I like to say. That's God's business. Our business is the walking. And the following. We may not understand.

[21:27] But. But I. But it made me wonder. You know. You already have been. Saved. You just have to be touched. By the Holy Spirit. You just have to hear. The words from Jesus.

[21:39] That says. You. Have. Been. Set. Free. You. Have. Been. Set. Free. I love that.

[21:50] And of course. She glorifies God. She glorifies God. Imagine. 18 years. All of a sudden. Well. That's a new view. In the world. Right. From here to. I can't imagine.

[22:05] Immediately. You. Look. You. So then. Then we see. We're going to observe Jesus authority. Because. Now. The other guys are going to act up. Because the synagogue ruler. Now. It's his responsibility.

[22:15] Make sure everything goes well. In the synagogue. He's. Most likely. He's the one that sets the order of the day. He picks out the passages. Right. He picks out everything.

[22:26] He invites the guest speaker. Which happens to be Jesus this time. So Jesus is a traveling rabbi. And he's invited. He speaks. He also has to decide.

[22:37] What's appropriate to go on in the synagogue. So he speaks up. And notice in verse 14. He. Well. First of all. He's indignant. He's annoyed.

[22:48] Because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. But notice he doesn't speak to Jesus. He speaks to the people. It's kind of an aside. You know.

[23:00] There's six days in which to work. In which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed. And not on the Sabbath. Day. So he. He raises his objection.

[23:11] He talks about what ought to be done. And what ought not to be done. Well. Jesus. Verse 15. Turns right around. And calls out his hypocrisy. Right. You hypocrites. Verse 15.

[23:22] Does not each of you. On the Sabbath. Untie his ox or donkey. From the manger. And lead him to water. Do you not. Each of you. He says. Each of you.

[23:32] So this is common practice. Because our animals need water. And if they're tied up. They need to be loosed. So they can go and get water.

[23:44] And you'll take care of your animals. On the Sabbath day. In fact. You've put that in your mission. Rabbinic writings. That that's okay. On the Sabbath.

[23:55] But healing's not. Unless it's a life or death. Circumstance. So you know. She's been.

[24:05] This has been 18 years. So it's not life or death. What's another day? But Jesus's point is. You'll take better care of animals. Than you will of people. You care more about your animals.

[24:18] Than you do about this woman. Wow. Ouch. What hypocrisy. You put it in your writings.

[24:30] That that's okay. Animals are okay. People know. No. No. No. No. No. Not on the Sabbath. Because the Sabbath.

[24:41] Is about slavery. Thou shalt not. Thou shalt not. Thou shalt not. Well. Yeah. That's part of the command.

[24:53] But it wasn't the purpose of the command. It's a break. From work. It's freedom. From work. So he turns the word around. In verse 16.

[25:04] He turns more words around. On this. Leader. Who said. What ought to be done. On the Sabbath. Verse 14. You ought to. Do the work. In six days.

[25:15] So Jesus uses the same word. Verse 16. Ought not this woman. Well. Let's talk about. What ought to be done. And what not. Ought to be done. This word ought.

[25:27] Meaning. Must. Happen. What's necessary. To happen. What ought to happen. What ought to really happen. On the Sabbath day. Is the setting free. Of this woman.

[25:37] That's what ought to be done. She ought to be loosed. From Satan's bond. On the Sabbath. Why? On the Sabbath.

[25:51] I mean. This is the opposite. Of what the ruler. Of the synagogue said. It ought not to happen. On the Sabbath. And Jesus says. No. Absolutely. Ought to happen. On the Sabbath.

[26:01] Because that's what it's about. How can he say that? How can he say that? How could they miss it? If it's so clear?

[26:12] Well. Let's go back and look. Let's go back and look. Deuteronomy 5. Now. Now. This command. The Sabbath command. Which one is it?

[26:23] Of the ten commandments. You know. Anybody get. Good. Good. Oh gosh. I know. It's in there. Okay. Let's see. There's a. There's some ones about God and his name. And. There's three.

[26:34] I think it's the fourth one. Right? I think it's the fourth one. Keep the Sabbath holy. You will find it in Exodus 20. The original giving of the law at Mount Sinai.

[26:45] You will find it again repeated in Deuteronomy 9. 40 years later before they went into the wilderness. Right? And they're going to go into the. I mean.

[26:55] Excuse me. They're done with the wilderness. Now they're going into the promised land. So they're reminded of the law. But I want you to know. That this once given all for.

[27:08] Never changing law. Of God. The ten commandments. Actually. The Sabbath one was changed. It's not an unchanging law.

[27:21] The Sabbath was changed. Not the essence of what is done. But the reason for which it is done. In Exodus 20. You shall keep the Sabbath. You shall rest. And all your animals.

[27:32] And all your people. And your servants shall rest. Everybody shall rest. On that day. Nobody shall work. On that day. Why? Because in six days. The Lord created the heaven and the earth.

[27:44] And on the seventh day. He. Rested. Therefore you shall rest. On the seventh day. Okay. That's the. That's the original reason. How does it read in Deuteronomy 5.

[27:54] 40 years later. Well let's look. Observe the Sabbath day. To keep it holy. As the Lord your God. Commanded you. Way back in Exodus 20. Six days you shall labor.

[28:05] And do all your work. But on the seventh. But the seventh day. Is a Sabbath. A rest. A stopping day. To the Lord your God. On it. You shall not do any work.

[28:17] You or your son. Or your daughter. Or your male servant. Or your female servant. Or your. Oh. Interesting. Your ox or your donkey. Oh. Your ox. Jesus talked about how they did that.

[28:27] With their ox and their donkey. Anyway. Your ox or your donkey. Any of your livestock. Or the sojourner who is within your gates. Why? This is added.

[28:38] This is different than Exodus 20. So that your male servant. And your female servant. May rest. As well. As you. Why?

[28:50] Keep going. You shall remember. That you were. A slave. In the land of Egypt. And the Lord your God. Brought you out from there.

[29:00] With a mighty hand. And an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God. Command you to keep the Sabbath day. Different reason. Original command.

[29:12] Because God did it. Follow God's creation work. After Egypt. We got a whole new reason. We got a whole new reason.

[29:24] To keep the Sabbath day. Why? Because we used to be slaves. And God set us free. And now on the Sabbath day. That's what we remember. That we're set free.

[29:37] And here is this. Synagogue leader. Saying. The Sabbath. Is not about. Setting someone free. Oh dear man.

[29:51] Read your scripture. Jesus is not making this up. Jesus is saying. Exactly what was said. In the Torah. That's why.

[30:05] They were put. To shame. That's why they're put to shame. Not only because Jesus. Called them hypocrites. And pointed out their hypocrisy.

[30:15] That's shameful enough. But that they. Had misread. The scriptures. Their. Wow. Their.

[30:28] Very own. Cherished. Torah. So Sabbath. Is not just. About rest. From work. Sabbath.

[30:40] Is to remember. That God. Has set them free. From bondage. And to set them free. From suffering. Therefore. Jesus said. There's no more. Appropriate day. For this woman.

[30:50] Who's been bound. By Satan. For 18 years. To be. Set. Free. Just like. The. You were set free. From Egypt. You celebrate that.

[31:04] Every year guys. And gals. Synagogue folks. We celebrate it. Every communion. Oh.

[31:15] We celebrate it. Every week. Don't we. We sing about it. So the Sabbath. Was not just a day. To remember. What God had done. But it was a day.

[31:26] Jesus says. To look forward now. It's pointing forward. It's about redemption. From slavery. And there's another. Redemption. Coming. That's much bigger.

[31:36] Than anything. Egypt did. That God did. In Egypt. There's another. Redemption. Coming. When he goes. When he goes. To the cross. And he takes.

[31:47] Upon it. All of our sin. And. By that. Sets us. Free. From the bonds. Of sin. From the bonds.

[31:59] Of Satan. How long. Have we been. Bound by Satan. Before you came. To Christ. How long. Were you bound. Now. You didn't know. It was that.

[32:09] You just thought. You know. You thought. I mean. I thought. I believed. I prayed the prayer. And all that. At age four. Or whatever. Whenever my mom. Told me the story. And I said. Yeah. Let's do it.

[32:20] And then I prayed it again. And prayed it again. Walked the aisle. I don't know. How many times I did. Because it didn't take. For me. It just didn't take. And anything.

[32:31] I could do. I could not. Make it happen. Until one day. On a mountain. I think I shared it with you.

[32:45] When I had experienced. The demonic encounter. Scared the living daylights. Out of me. So me and my buddies. Went and prayed. Because we're scared. And something happened.

[32:57] Something happened. Changed me. Set free. Set free. No longer hated God.

[33:09] No longer looked at his rules. And his commands. As an obligation. Or something I had to do. It was. It became something I wanted. To do. God became.

[33:21] A father. So.

[33:33] That Sabbath rest. Points forward to. A redemption. That's in Christ. Where he sets us free. Because of the work. He's done on the cross. Because the Holy Spirit.

[33:43] Who comes. Have you experienced that? Have you been set free? At the cross. He sets us free.

[33:54] From the bounds. Bounds of Satan. To draw in the picture. Of the woman. And he makes the crooked. Straight. The Sabbath is about making the crooked.

[34:05] Straight. The crooked of heart. Right. So the Sabbath signifies. The loosing of Satan's bonds.

[34:15] By Christ. But then there's another point. Jesus is bringing out something else. That's kind of like. Okay. How does this relate? Verse 18. Therefore. Therefore. What's the kingdom? What is the kingdom like?

[34:27] What are the pictures of the kingdom? To what shall he compare the kingdom? Now Jesus tells parables. When he tells parables. He asks these same kind of questions.

[34:40] But the therefore means. There's an implication. From this Sabbath healing. There's an implication of that Sabbath healing. That applies now to the kingdom. Somehow that Sabbath healing.

[34:52] Relates to the kingdom of God. And how it works. And I wish I had a better thinking. Reasoning.

[35:03] Mind. To put it in a more clear way. So this is all I got. Okay. Here's what I would say the implication is. In summary form. The kingdom. Is about power.

[35:17] Just like Jesus is healing. That woman was about power. The kingdom is power. God's reign. Right. Kingdom power transforms. In a gradual and permeating way.

[35:30] So I'm trying to bring in those two parables. The kingdom power transforms in a gradual and permeating way. Gradual. Thinking of the mustard seed to the tree.

[35:42] And then the permeating thinking of the leaven. So these are two pictures of the kingdom. What's the kingdom like? And then how does that relate to that Sabbath healing? Well it's about transforming power.

[35:55] I think. What I see between these two parables. And what Jesus did with the woman. Is a transformation. And a power. Okay.

[36:07] What he does in a moment. With the woman. Then. The kingdom. A little slower. Starts as a little tiny seed. Grows into a tree.

[36:18] Starts as a little bit. In a big bunch of flower. And then eventually. Permeates. Okay. Let's look at these pictures. So first Jesus says. About the kingdom.

[36:29] He's going to talk now. And relate all this to the kingdom of God. What's the kingdom of God like? What's it like? How does it. What can he compare it to? What is. In other words. He's saying what is similar to the kingdom?

[36:40] What. What. What. What. What. What. What. What. What. What. What. What picture can I give you. To tell you what the kingdom is like. What it's similar to. So this is what he does in his parables.

[36:52] He tells. Luke doesn't give us very many of these. But in Matthew you have all chapter Matthew 13. There's a whole bunch of parables. The kingdom of God's like this. It's like this. It's like this. It's like this.

[37:02] Right. Here he gives us two. and on top of that how does what are the implications of the healing that relate to this it's about god's power so two pictures so the mustard seed what's a mustard seed when i was in israel back in 1995 how old was i then i was just a pup um i bought mustard seeds on the streets of jerusalem in the market i bought as much as i could stuff because i'm like okay give me some of this because i've heard of that i want to give me some of that um so i bought and i had a little jar of it and they're little tiny seeds in this little little tiny jar i told delinda yesterday where's my jar of mustard seed what happened to that because i got my lamp i can find that i can find you know there's different things i got you know i couldn't find it must be planted somewhere it's probably a tree somewhere what's about 100 trees because in that jar was probably about 100 seeds they're tiny little things now they are not technically the tiniest but they're some of the tiniest seeds of garden seeds so it's little so he says there's a couple of pictures in this in this mustard seed illustration one is that it that it transforms right it goes from a little mustard seed to a tree right a man puts it in the garden verse uh 8 19 grain of mustard that a man took and sowed in his garden and it grew and became a tree such a such a big garden now still just a garden tree it's not like a redwood tree or anything but but it was you know it's a garden plant but it got so big you call it a tree but it's really a garden plant but it got big enough and the point is that the birds got in it it was the branch you know most garden plants right the birds aren't gonna unless they're little tiny birds and they just flutter away you know they're not gonna build a nest in there so it got big enough that they they could settle down our translation says my translation says build the nest well that's not what jesus said but he said that they dwelled in it they that the branches that were big enough for them to to settle down in in other words implies they built a nest and had babies and and birds don't like unless they're eagles where they're really high and they put them up you know usually they want to hide their nests right they're in a they're they're hidden in in the shade and they're sheltered that's the picture two pictures from the mustard seed one is about this transformation from little to to large and the other is about the result of this is is that birds could actually shelter here big enough now i i would have liked if jesus used an illustration like a redwood and be like yeah big impressive so it wasn't big impressive it's just a garden plant but the picture is about transformation and about the security that birds could feel to to nest there i don't think he's saying birds because birds mean evil things i think he's just saying the birds of the you know all kinds of birds come and settle in he's just giving a picture and then he talks about 11 so mustard seed is something you you plant it and then it begins to grow you can see it grow you can see it come into a tree so it's visual you can see it right it's an external picture of what the kingdom of god is like 11 on the other hand is a different kind of picture it's internal it's unseen the work that it does is not seen but well you can see the result of it but you don't see the 11 11 permeates but you don't so so the 11 is is hidden in three measures now that's kind of surprising uh three measures uh in hebrew it's three c is anybody know how big that is no part of an ephah or something i'm teasing i'm teasing it's about 50 pounds of flour so ladies or some men here maybe you bake when you bake bread you use 50 pounds of flour you eat about 50 pounds now jesus is referring to something that women would have been doing every single day remember it's daily bread they didn't have anywhere to store the bread they made enough bread for that day and the next day they'd make some more so this is what a woman would have done a woman in the house would have done every day and she and except that passover she would have included leaven leaven was not a bad thing it was a common thing they did every day in the old testament it was only excluded for one reason at passover the week of the feast of unleavened bread it was done why why no yeast or leaven on that day that week what are they remembering they had to run they had to leave they couldn't wait around for this thing to rise so unleavened bread not because there was some kind of symbolic it was simply because they got to get out of town now and even then pharaoh caught up to him right so that's so so leaven in other words i want you to not think of leaven as a bad thing sometimes leaven is is is a bad thing jesus talked about in chapter 12 watch out for the leaven of the pharisees not that the leaven was bad he's talking about the influence of the pharisees their leaven is what he's calling hypocrisy and if you don't watch out for it it will spread it will spread it will permeate it will expand so watch out for it leaven is just a word that means expansion it means permeation you put a little bit in you'll need a little bit even in 50 pounds of flour and now notice what he's the word he uses she she hides it i think that's interesting whereas in the other one in the mustard seed the man it's a man who sows it right into the ground it becomes a tree here she hides it in 50 pounds of flour until the whole thing is leavened permeated so we just have one picture with this picture of leaven whereas with the mustard seed we have two pictures one of transformation change from little to small and the other of the result that that birds can shelter there this one is just about transformation but it's an internal hidden concealed transformation that's what the kingdom of god is like so what do these two pictures show us well they show us the power of god but in a surprising way okay but the mustard seed it shows us that it starts small insignificant maybe even barely noticeable but once it's put into the ground buried it transforms into a growing plant that eventually becomes a tree not a huge tree but a surprising most mustard plants are not allowed to grow into a tree they harvest them before that most of them are short and in israel they would get up to maybe 10 feet if you just let it grow there are other versions of of mustard seeds i think in south africa and stuff where where they grow 25 feet or something like some ridiculous amount like that you know what what good is it it's not a mustard it's a mustard tree i guess but anyway so so it's but what what does that tell us about the kingdom of god it has a transforming power but not like you expect it's not flashy it's not when jesus comes back and he returns that will be flashy okay everyone's going to see it but the kingdom of god is going to be a gradual growth okay a gradual it will be a transformation from something tiny to something larger not huge but larger like oh wow even birds and that might be referring to the gentiles coming i don't know what the birds mean other than it will provide shelter and then that the leaven is that's the internal well the kingdom of god is not not something out external so much as something internal kingdom of god is something that happens in us right paul says the kingdom of god is not eating and drinking the kingdom of god is the righteousness peace and joy in what in the holy spirit it's a spiritual power and that's why we pray for it to come jesus teaches us every day pray thy kingdom come cause thy kingdom to come cause this little seed at little log church to grow we were a bigger and now we've been we've been pruned haven't we this last year anyone i mean when god takes some of our folks our dear folks who were serving with us learning with us and a lot of them said they learned so much when they were here and and now god's taken them ow and put them in other churches where they can minister and serve that's god's business but we're left here going okay ow remember jesus said what does he say about the vine and the branches right after the fruit after the tree after the yeah has borne fruit what does the father do he prunes it that it might bear more fruit he prunes it we're in a pruning stage i gotta remember that we're in a pruning stage it doesn't look impressive there's some mornings i come in and and about half of you aren't here this is a this is a little feels a little better today but we're missing some folks um it's hard to feel encouraged sometimes but we need to remember that god's kingdom is about how he creates how he acts how he builds how he grows listen to ezekiel we got some more ezekiel coming here just a couple more ezekiel 17 here's that same kind of picture ezekiel 17 22 says thus says the lord god i myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar so now he's going to take a nice big tree he's going to take a little sprig from the top of the cedar and i will set it out i will break off from the top most of its young twigs a tender one and i myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain on the mountain height of israel i will plant it that it may bear branches and produce fruit and become a noble cedar and under it will dwell oh every kind of bird there we go again another picture under it will dwell every kind of bird in the shade of its branches birds of every sort will nest there's that picture of shelter shade but it's but the point is and all the trees of the field shall know that i am the lord i bring low the high tree and i make high the low tree i dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish i am the lord i have spoken and i will do it get it what's it about not about the tree it's about god i will do it i will do it i will make the dry tree flourish are you dry today are you low today he lifts up the lowly he flourishes the dry tree in the desert god's way is different than ours we want effects fast we want them now we want them impressive we want them significant but god's way starts small seemingly insignificant it's gradual it's a gradual and hidden transformation do we trust god's way do we wait on him do we pray and watch for him to act do we trust when he takes some from our church and plants them in other churches do we trust he knows what he's doing and that he will replenish us well i don't know i hope and pray we are praying every sunday we are praying before we meet every sunday lord show us show us open our eyes cause thy kingdom to come cause thy kingdom to come grow it here flourish it here use us god's kingdom power transforms in a gradual yet permeating way have you experienced it and are you praying for it let us close come holy comforter thy sacred witness bear in this glad hour thou who almighty art now now rule in every heart and ne'er from us depart spirit of power amen through