How Are You Responding To Jesus?
Last week, we heard the Sermon On The Mount – Matthew, chapters 5 – 7 (and some of Luke 6 & 11). Jesus’ message was all about seeking The Kingdom of Heaven. This week, we will continue in the Gospels after Jesus has finished His sermon and take a look at how different people respond to His message. We’ll also take a look ahead to next week at Jesus’ parables, where He will give us some clues about what might be causing certain responses to His message.
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Sermon Transcript
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good morning welcome if you are new here Among Us my name is Gene I serve here at c3e church as your pastor and I wonder if there's anyone else here who has ever gotten their head stuck in something now before your imaginations go wild let me give you the context so for me it didn't happen recently maybe it did for you and that would be sad because all the kids are in the kids area right now because that's what happened so we had a railing I guess he used to call it a banister or something like that and had the spindles and of course you know I just wanted to stick my head through it I I guess this is something that kids maybe just me are curious about so I stuck my head through the railing and then here's what happened ears so ears are like butterfly bolts right so if you know what that is if you get easy going in this way but then not so easy coming out or so you go through the stages of panic right you try try you go this way Chin Chin Chin no that doesn't work right so your points start to panic and then you call for help right so it's always Mom first because she's going to give you the lesser of the two punishment so we got the head out my ears aren't really very big and then I just I don't think I ever did it again I learned from that you did so yeah good for you right yeah so it made me think of a story another kind of classic example of a boy who got his hands stuck in a vase now this is a classic kind of movie thing but it's a thing it happens because you can get your it's like an hour last kind of thing and you can get your hand in there but then it's kind of different to recreate that shape also you start to panic and then your hands start swelling up all the Blood starts getting and you start pulling out you can't get out so this is what happened to the boy he's not supposed to those expensive vases on the mantle so he gets the chair you know he's not supposed to do that he gets up there why because he wants to see what's inside maybe an Easter egg from last year old jelly beans yum so he goes up there sticks his hand in the face can't get it out goes through the stages of panic right and finally mom go to Mom why lesser or two punishments goes to Mom and Mom's like oh the scolding all the other stuff then okay fine let's get your hand out of this vase here so she tries everything the soapy water the Vaseline the whole nine yards can't get the hand out of the vase we got to get Dad no no no no no no no no don't get that just let's try again so she's nice she goes to the whole thing tries again hand's not coming out okay we're gonna get Dad so they get Dad and of course you know what's right the whole thing right and then here's what dad comes up with because he was at C3 Church last week here's what he comes up with we're just gonna have to cut the hand off like Jesus said right because if your hand causes you to sin cut it off right so it's better for you to have like one last hand than for your whole body to be thrown into hell with that vase he's preaching now right so the kid's like no no you're not serious dad decides dramatic effect he's going to teach him a lesson he goes to the garage gets a saw comes out with the saw yeah put them we're gonna cut the hand off now the kid's freaking out now all of a sudden he's a theologian but Pastor Jean said it was hyperbole you know right big word for a kid but it's amazing what they can do when they're threatened with assault so don't try that at home anyway I have to say that for the disclaimer but anyway kids freaking out no no wait in the dad's dramatic oh we're going to cut it off right all of a sudden the hand comes right out of the base now the mom is astonished because she's been working on this project for a while like she has time invested here he's like how did that just and the dad in the saw and the Holy Spirit I guess so she's jealous so she's amazed like what happened the dad's not there's a reason he went through the routine he takes the vase turns it over and dumps out oh about a fist full of money that the boy was holding on to preventing his hand from getting out of the vase sometimes that which we are holding on to is that which is holding us back right okay there we go I I put you got it all right so recap Sermon on the Mount that's what was going on last week we went through the Sermon on the Mount and we saw even and just telling you I just I don't it's not even how some people here reacted to it so you just start repeating what Jesus said people just like leave you know so anyway it happened to Jesus too so that's what happens what is the response to Jesus's message what happens when Jesus starts talking and we're going to look at that today the whole thing was about seeking the kingdom of heaven that's it it's about Kingdom of Heaven things So today we're going to look at some things that might be holding some people back from it now I made a chart and not the drawing but the chart itself now we talked about larger sections of Texas this seems like wow this is going to be a lot today so here here's just one thing it's not second thing is we were looking for themes the other thing is it's not in chronological order right so when you put it in chronological order it seems to make sense because that's the way Jesus actually went about these things and then you pick up these themes so what we're going to see is different responses is going to come off of this sermon and then interacting with people I want to see how they respond to him so and the thing here is and I just want to you know it it sounds kind of strange but just because everybody else is doing it doesn't make it right right so just because it's popular the popular way to do things it doesn't mean it's the right way to do things so just another kind of example of this I've given this illustration so I'll keep it extremely short the gospels were meant to be read or heard in one sitting not all of them but like the gospel of Matthew for example or Luke you would sit down and hear this you know a teacher would just read it to the church Hebrews probably a sermon 13 chapters did you read that that was that was a sermon probably someone just recording it that was it all right so it's really weird we're in this weird verse by verse culture of Christianity it doesn't work though right because it doesn't give you the context you have absolutely no idea what's going on right so I talk about movies you take one line out you know randomly you're not going to get it you're not going to understand it at all right and that's what happens here it's meant to be read in larger chunks and then you do the verse by verse with people who know the context they know the story they're like oh yeah that's the verse from this and then what do they say and that is what was happening so they know the context of what's going on very very important so we get this through larger sections and just something that should be convicting to a lot of Christians today like so think about that really in the church they just read like Mark like we're going to do Mark today it's going to read it to you it takes about two hours Christians today would be like uh I'm gonna take a phone call right now and pretend I have an emergency right that's how one person got out last week so anyway you know you lose your minds you'll be like what but wait wait first of all I don't care what people say I care what that says and you see that a lot right so Ezra right there he reads the law for three hours wasn't a problem all right so it happens all the time in the Bible where they hear the word of the Lord for hours okay two hours sound like a lot what do you do at a sports game how long is that I don't watch a lot of sports I actually don't know it might have been a terrible example but what about a movie yeah you go to a movie for two hours if it's a Marvel movie it's like three and a half so you know only like Tony Am I Wrong was it anyway so it's a long time because he's just convicted so you can sit at the movies for hours and you watch these things which are sometimes I mean recently pretty uninteresting if I'm being honest so we do that but then you ask a Christian to listen to the word of God for two hours and they lose their mind okay don't get worried there's going to be not two hours all right so it's not where I'm going but if you panicked Holy Spirit you know he's talking to you right now there's nothing more important than this there's nothing better than this there's no story nothing I can say there's no you know even Tony Stark is not better than this right this is better than Iron Man than someone in the kids ministry he's like oh you know really but we're gonna find another church so people do that so this this is nothing you should be listening to besides this if that's all you listen to that's great you're set all right so I want to try to develop that culture and so that's my rant anyway why we're doing larger sections wrap your mind around that so these are the responses we get to Jesus so we're going to hop right in and again I'm going to put these sections together for you you'd have to go well it's in the app the charts in the app you can go there and you can look at it figure out like how I'm hopping around um so we've heard The Sermon on the Mount they have two and then if you go to Luke he'll make note it's interesting after saying these things then we get the interaction but we're going to go to Matthew first because they seem different but I'll explain it to you Matthew 8 5 when Jesus returned to Capernaum a Roman officer or Centurion came and pleaded with him Lord my young servant lies in bed paralyzed and in terrible pain Jesus said I will come and heal him now it seems a little different in Luke so we'll hop over there I'll explain it to you Luke 7 3 when the officer heard about Jesus he sent some respected Jewish Elders to ask him to come and heal his slave so they earnestly begged Jesus to help the man if anyone deserves your help he does they said for he loves the Jewish people and even built a synagogue for us so Jesus went with them but just before they arrived at the house the officer sent some friends to say Lord don't trouble yourself by coming to my home for I am not worthy of such an honor I'm not even worthy to come and meet you just say the word from where you are and my servant will be healed I know this because I'm under the authority of my Superior officers and I have authority over my soldiers I only need to say go and they go or come and they come and if I say to my slaves do this they do it when Jesus heard this he was amazed turning to the crowd those following him he said I tell you I haven't seen Faith like this in all Israel and when the officer's friends returned to his house they found the slave completely healed so two things one I'll tell you what happened two don't get stuck on it you gotta look for the themes there's going to be a couple of points here where people want to stop and maybe you've done it in Christianity and that's all you talk about and you're going to argue and debate about this one little Point forever and ever and ever and what happens when you do that you missed the point you totally missed the point you can become argumentative and the Bible tells you not to be like that so anyway totally don't miss it so I'm going to go over it quick but we're not going to stay there most probably when you look at Matthew you'll notice it depends on the version it'll say the guy came and pleaded him or approached him his friends right could approach Jesus on his behalf and this is probably the best explanation Matthew's just making it short Matthew has a different point than Luke does so that's probably what's going on here but don't miss this point so here's the point if we go back to Matthew I'm not going to don't click is not there if we go went back to Matthew the point is the Centurion responds in faith Jesus says something crazy to the Jewish people I haven't seen basically Faith among the Jewish people like this the guy's a gentile they don't like Gentiles so this is a big deal right he's this is remarkable this guy heard about me and look at the response I know the boy you didn't even need to be here Jesus he's got you're going to heal huh and so he's kind of putting down the Jewish people that might be there for the wrong reasons not listening whatever it is and we'll get there and Matthew what he notes is that the Gentiles will enter the kingdom of heaven and so if you're a Jew you're like really he notes that and then whereas he'll contrast it many to whom it was prepared basically won't so he goes right back to the kingdom of heaven and makes that note next Luke 7 11 soon afterward Jesus went with his disciples to the Village of name and a large crowd followed him a funeral procession was coming out as he approached the Village Gate the young man who had died was a Widow's only son and a large crowd from the village was with her when the Lord saw her his heart overflowed with compassion don't cry he said then he walked up to the coffin and touched it and the Bears stopped young man he said I tell you get up then the dead boy sat up and began to talk and Jesus gave him back to his mother great fear swept the crowd and they praised God saying a mighty Prophet is risen Among Us and God has visited his people today and the news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding Countryside so here we see that even the completely unresponsive response to Jesus he raises this man from the dead and then their response good fear fear of the Lord comes upon all of them this is a response to his miracles we're going to see as we continue how people continue to respond and some of it will surprise you if you're paying attention through this series Luke 7 18 the Disciples of John the Baptist told John about everything Jesus was doing so John called for two of his disciples and he sent them to the Lord to ask him are you the Messiah we've been expecting or should we keep looking for someone else so this does sound kind of strange coming from the messiah's herald right but you know he's human we all mess up we have our moments so Jesus says look go back to John tell them what you heard and seen the blind sea lame walk those with Leprosy are cured the deaf here and the dead are raised to life the good news is being preached to the poor yes God blesses all those who don't fall away because of me hold on to that now as John's disciples are leaving Jesus decides to again qualify John nice guy so what did you go out what kind of man did you go out in the wilderness to see oh we read swayed by every breath of the wind no did you go to see a man dressed in expensive clothes no people looking expensive clothes live in palaces did you go to see a prophet yes I tell you basically he's the one that scriptures talked about and if you're willing to believe it he's Elijah the scriptures say of look I'm sending my messengers ahead of you right to prepare a way for you we saw that in Malachi 3 1 Isaiah 43 it's kind of a mashup of those two prophecies so John's still cool but here's the thing I tell you the truth out of anyone who ever lived no one's greater than John the Baptist yet even the least person in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he is so remember that flip that Jesus does so he's carrying this right over from The Sermon on the Mount this is what we should be seeking again if you're willing to accept it he's Elijah the one the prophets said would come if anyone has ears to hear they say listen and understand now if you go back to Matthew we get a couple of details that I want to point out to you Matthew 11 6 what can I compare this generation it is like children playing a game in the Public Square they complain to their friends we played wedding songs and you didn't dance so we played funeral songs and he didn't mourn for John didn't spend his time eating and drinking and you say he's possessed by a demon the son of man on the other hand feasts and drinks and you say he's a glutton and a drunkard or a friend of tax collectors and other Sinners but wisdom is shown to be right by its results or known by her children so what's going on here okay I'll explain this to you so it's like Simon says that's what he's saying they're unresponsive again here we have this theme of how are you responding so this is what Jesus is challenging how are you responding to me this unresponsive generation you people right you're good so these Jewish people at this time you're like you know hey they're supposed to this game where we play the flute now you're supposed to do a dance right or I play something sad you're supposed to pretend to mourn so it's like an ancient game of Simon says I told you touch your nose and that's you you're not responding right so that's what the generation is like so that's the interpretation of this now here's where people get stuck instead of understanding that they're like did Jesus drink that's your takeaway like that's what you're gonna debate about you know oh my gosh you know and they'll just hang there maybe you did I just you got to cut it back a little that's what you got to do but you know oh you know his point is responsiveness responsiveness to the message you want the answer don't you yes he did he's saying that he drinks but he's not a drunkard the accusation is that he's a drunker he is not right so the wine the Bible has wine alcohol for merriment and Medicine but don't get drunk that's bad all right so Matthew gives us some interesting uh additions these are consequences we're going to look a little bit more about this at this next week so I'm going to do this very quickly actually it's just just the Judgment over the unbelievers it's where he goes in Matthew basically you know what sorrow awaits you corazon and stata right so it'll be worse for you on Judgment Day than all these different places that are judged like Tire inside the prophets they're a judge and Capernaum right so even Sodom remember Sodom and get more fire and brimstone right it'll be better off for them than for you so it's really bad and we'll get back to that in a bit and Jesus gives a funny prayer which I want to point out it's not actually funny but and Matthew 11 25 at that time Jesus prayed this prayer oh Father Lord of Heaven and ours thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever and revealing them to the childlike yes Father it pleases you to do it this way I'll talk a little bit more about ears to hear or here's the can't hear eyes that don't see right so they don't understand why bad response they're not responding anyway fine thank you for hiding it from them these smart people to arrogant so but to the humble and responsive now this makes sense he continues Matthew 11 27 my father's entrusted everything to me no one truly knows the son except the father and no one truly knows the father except the son and those to whom the son chooses to reveal him then Jesus said come to me all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens and I'll give you rest take my yoke upon you let me teach you because I'm humble and gentle at heart and you will find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy to bear and the burden I give you is light okay let's be honest some of you here thought Jesus was talking about an egg at one point in your Christianity it's okay all right so you didn't grow up on a farm you're just not supposed to know what a yolk is right so it's like picture two animals right you want to get them to do the same thing maybe plowfield or something like that going the same direction and control them that's what it is and so Jewish teachers at that time would say you know my student is yoked to me or I'm yoked to my teacher meaning you are right you're doing what he does you're going the same way you're following him that's all it means but the Pharisees the religious teacher of those days had heavy Yokes because they would add to what was already difficult in the law of Moses it says already really hard to do now they make it worse right so Jesus will cut you'll hear this you'll constantly criticize them for making things a burden they couldn't even bear Peter says in acts 15. so that's what he's talking about like so the burden it's not going to be like that and here's what's interesting in the chronology you hop over to exactly the situation Luke 7 36 one of the Jesus says this then one of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him so Jesus went to his home sat down to eat when a certain immoral woman from that City heard he was eating there she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume then she knelt down behind him at his feet weeping her tears fell on his feet and she wiped them off with her hair then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them when the Pharisee when invited him he saw this he said to himself if this man were a prophet he would know what kind of woman he's touching she's a sinner okay that is worship that is worship that's an appropriate response to Jesus period because there's none of us better than that immoral woman that's the first point so Jesus is going to pull like a Nathanael if you remember this year the the series back there so Simon he knows his thoughts right so he reads his mind Simon and then Simon's funny because he's like go ahead teacher like Jesus needed permission like Jesus is going to stop talking right Simon's like stop no it's not going to work right so he gives kind of like a parable I said it's like two people borrowed money from somebody one 500 silver coins are Daenerys right so a year and a half's worth of wages the other one a month and a half worth of waiting the guy is nice he decides to forgive all the debt who do you suppose loved him more after that well The Logical answer is the one that was for again Simon says the one whoo so the one that was forgiven the most debt you're right and Jesus said look this woman kneeling here when I entered your home you didn't do what she did you didn't offer me water you didn't anoint my head you didn't do any of that stuff yet she's been here crying at my feet Simon interesting I tell you her sins and they are many have been forgiven she has shown me much love but a person who has forgiven little only shows a little love then Jesus said to the woman your sins are forgiven the men sitting at the table of course who is this guy that goes around forgiving sins right they've said this about him before and then Jesus said to the woman your faith has saved you go in peace interesting to know you got to turn the page in our Bibles there's a chapter right chapter eight chapters were not numbers were not in the Bible for the first 1200 years of Christianity so what would happen here is like instead of closing it and we'll do this at the next Bible study you just keep reading this was a part of the story pay attention woman immoral woman no numbers but you can click soon afterwards Jesus began a tour of the nearby towns and Villages preaching and announcing the good news about the kingdom of God he took his 12 disciples with him along with some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases along with them were Mary Magdalene from whom he cast out seven demons a little Point here and didn't have to do it again by the way Joanna wife of chusa herod's business manager Susanna and many others who were contributing from their own resources to support Jesus and his disciples woman you are forgiven what's the response very interesting that women are some of the people supporting Jesus's Ministry huh that's interesting so Luke talks a lot about women involved in this which would have been remarkable at that time so uh you know Matthew remember the four immoral women and women in the genealogy so you'll see a lot of women involved and isn't this interesting that this is a part of not apart from the story about the immoral woman who was forgiven we'll go to mark one time Jesus entered a house and the crowds began to gather again soon he and his disciples couldn't even have to they didn't have time to eat when his family heard what was happening they tried to take him away he's out of his mind they said then a demon-possessed man who was blind and couldn't speak was brought to Jesus he healed the man that so that he could both speak and see the crowd was amazed and asked could it be that Jesus is the son of David Messiah but the teachers of religious law would arrive from Jerusalem said he's possessed by Satan the prince of demons and that's where he gets the power to cast out demons Jesus called them over and responded with an illustration how can Satan cast out Satan he asked the kingdom divided by civil war will collapse similarly a family splintered by feuding will fall apart and if Satan is divided and fights against himself how can he stand he would never survive let me illustrate this further who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man and plunder his Goods only someone even stronger someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house I tell you the truth all sin and blasphemy can be forgiven but anyone who blasphemes the holy spirit will never be forgiven this is a sin with eternal consequences Marquette he told them this because they were saying he's possessed by an evil spirit so it gives the explanation you may have heard this so someone probably plucked this verse out and overstudied without the context now why is Jesus saying it it's the response to he's possessed by a demon no I am not and this is how important the holy spirit is there's a few blaspheme him if you reject him you can't be saved and this is true right you're baptized in what water in the holy spirit so if you don't have the Holy Spirit in you you're not saved so it's a valid point that's how this works right but it's not about just saying like you've said a bad word about the Holy Spirit or something it has context it's much more serious and Jesus is saying it not that it's not true but in a very hyperbolic way to disprove the claim against him that he's possessed by a demon that's his point there's a point in that Matthew 12 38 one day some teachers of religious law and Pharisees came to Jesus and said teacher we want you to show us a miraculous sign to prove your Authority but Jesus replied only in evil adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah for as Jonah was in the belly of a great fish for three days and three nights so will the son of man be in the heart of the Earth for three days and three nights most of us know what he's talking about right his death and Resurrection so again he goes back to the pronouncements of judgment right so basically Nineveh will stand up against this generation and judgment condemned him why they repented they responded appropriately to Jonah's message that's what he's using Jonah in there all right and then he goes back to Solomon the Queen of Sheba will stand up in judgment against this generation all right Solomon she went to seek the wisdom of Solomon remember Solomon from the sermon of the mount on the mount same type of thing but now someone greater than Solomon is here so this generation will be judged worse for their no response Matthew 12 46 as Jesus was speaking to the crowd his mother and brother stood outside asking to speak to him someone told Jesus your mother and your brothers are standing outside they want to speak to you Jesus asked who is my mother who are my brothers and he pointed to his disciples and said look these are my mother and brothers anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven they're my brother my sister and my mother the appropriate response the people who respond appropriately are Jesus's family you know if you're tracking along I I'll talk about the seven spirits at Bible study I want to kind of move into the application you'll remind me of that so we'll go over that later it's get a little complicated we're gonna take up a lot of time although it could take two hours don't worry I'm not going to do that to you today we get there in like increments so just do like five minutes at a time that's what's going on here right so like the the frog in the water all right okay so you might not notice so last week The Sermon on the Mount Jesus's message was all about seeking the kingdom of heaven and we see here how different people respond to his message we see this theme so I'm good some bad some unresponsive the Centurion that's a good response only say the word and you'll be healed you no you don't need to show up you're his authority is so great that's it I have people under me they do whatever I say right amazing perfect response but from a gentile at the time Jesus is preaching and interacting with mostly all Jewish people incredible the right response widow's son even the unresponsive respond racism from the dead the crowd fear the lord that's the beginning of insight and wisdom good response to the unresponsive generation you're like children who can't even play a game of Simon Says you should listen and respond Simon the Pharisee not responsive doubtful about Jesus the sinful woman just think about that what a response and what an appropriate one unlike these Pharisees who's without sin nobody at least she's aware of hers Simon you didn't do this to me you didn't even do like the normal stuff she's crying at my feet this is the response to my message that's the response you hear the sermon we talked about this you can go back and watch it online if you didn't see it but just read it for yourself Matthew five through seven just read Matthew chapters five and don't stop through seven don't interrupt Jesus don't walk out on a sermon read Matthew five through seven it should take you about 15 minutes if it takes you a half hour do you think Jesus deserves 30 minutes of your time don't say no right what's the response we should all a pastor I should be crying at his feet the hair that's not going to work but I try to break it when it gets serious like that if I break it up for you guys because you're gonna cry so but you should that's the appropriate response I'm a sinner Saved By Faith In You by Grace but I don't deserve it that's the response now being a Pharisee and doing no that's worship you talked about that last somebody agreed with me we talked about that last week right Jesus didn't need the setup Jesus didn't need to worship team to warm up the crowd because it's not worship the Bible says that if your actions are not right who are my mother Brothers those who do the will of my father that's the appropriate so no worship team no setup the word of God was enough repentance and then the worship followed that real worship that's worship amazing but it's just the appropriate response but the unresponsive generation so those set in their ways well there are a lot of Pharisees in the church today she's set in their ways is what I'm going to do this is what I'm going to invest I'm going to go say I'm better than everybody else and there's always someone worse than me okay contrasted an amazing contrast in that scene and then remarkable right that Luke highlights the women that's their response they see all this stuff happening they're like well we're going to follow Jesus and support him financially yes yes how do we respond in worship are we supporting the body of Christ like that something to think about than Jesus he's criticized right how do they respond accusation you're possessed by a demon all responses to him anyone who does the will of my Father in Heaven is my brother and sister and mother so I'm going to share a little something I'm going to give you a little window into next week because it all attaches can you see how these themes all kind of carry very nicely when you do these sections of scripture I didn't think anyone died right you made it through the TV there's food afterwards they'll explain this Tony I'll explain this to you feed you but you see how beneficial maybe I'm hoping there's some people here like oh yeah I heard that verse and now I understand it better I get what's going on I won't use that out of context again right so it's good so I want to show you how the parable of the sower connects directly to this directly to this and it'll right to our next application I'm not going to do the whole thing today um it's basically the initiation of Jesus's parables he teaches in a lot of Parables and it's not like for fun it's a test so it's all about how people excuse me are responding to the word and so this seed is the word so you got it it's difficult I encourage you to do it you can go back to the chart and look you have to look at Mark Matthew Mark and Luke to get all the details I believe only Luke says that the CEO identifies it very clearly the seed is the word and you can miss it and kind of get this wrong so the soil types they're the people they're how people are responding so he just tells it to the people and that's it that's all he does so he I'm paraphrasing right so the farmer scattering seed or the sower goes around throwing the seed scattering the seed and some of it lands on like what we would think of like as a sidewalk or the concrete around the rocks and birds come just pluck it up to see then scatter some unlike Rocky ish soil right so it's a mixture and it doesn't get Roots so it can't grow up so the sun scorches it that's it some lands among what we would call weeds so like Thorn bushes and thistles and because it's kind of stuck in there it can't grow up and produce fruit but some of the seed falls on the fertile soil and it grows up and bears a crop 30 60 100 times as much okay so what's the point and and this is engine we'll get into it tomorrow so I won't go into it too far today that's it he just drops the mic again does that did that in The Sermon on the Mount right so he ends on like crazy things and just that's it so he explains it to the disciples and I'll explain it to you as it applies to our application today it's all about responses to the word how are you responding to the word so it works perfectly as an application into all these stories or about all these stories it speaks right to it that's perfect can the word take root so the Rocks I'll pull it right back to The Sermon on the Mount what was Jesus talking about right he did the disclaimer because he was worried that people might think he was dismissing the law of Moses entirely he came to fulfill it so right so you have Jesus go up the mountain like Moses went up the mountain so you have the Mosaic law but then you have the Messianic law the law of Christ and just in case you think like it's going to be really easy I mean I get the yolk thing but right you have heard that it was written but I say to you so what's going on here at play here is what was the law of Moses written on begin with Stone rocks stone tablets what is Jesus riding along your heart so think about two different teachings I'll put them together they're right in that same flow in that sermon all right yeah It Was Written in that Stone Law of yours that you can divorce a woman but I say to you I'm putting two things together if you even look at a woman with lust because that was the reason you can get a divorce even you look at a woman with lust you've committed adultery where in your heart so put that together with the prophets it becomes beautiful it's amazing think about Ezekiel 36 Jeremiah 31 the author a preacher of Hebrews chapter 8 specifically quotes this long section I'm going to make a new covenant with you right I'm not going to be like the one on the stone tablets it's going to be written in your heart now we're getting the parable of the sower rocks no the word what does it got to do can't get in rocks what's the implication when Jesus said the bird Satan takes it away Satan takes away from him because it can't get any Roots it can't take root no good rocky soil not much better what happens comes up a little bit what and troubles come he says scorched what's the implication there right can't get in Thorn bushes so here we see the dangers he talks about it he says flat out wealth material things and worries about them so both sides of it the good and the bad being too concerned about the wealth complacency I'll take go right back to The Sermon on the Mount what's Jesus's point now this should be really clear right because you're reading larger sections you're thinking about it the sermon on the mounts in mind how did he start in Luke so we put Luke and Matthew together that's the wholesome on the mount what sorrow awaits you who are rich if you have your only happiness now you are fat and prosperous Jesus is not nice an awful time of Hunger awaits you what sorrow it's you laugh now you're laughing will turn into morning and sorrow I'm reading it right from Jesus's word what sorrow awaits you are praised by the crowds for their ancestors are also praised by the false prophets that's why Jesus begins with comforts careful with the comfort it's not always good it can keep you from growing up and producing fruit that's what Jesus says the weeds The Thorn bushes and thistles are just stopping you you're too comfortable down in there so I'm just going to grow up a foot that's it produce no fruit then what does Jesus say God blesses those who are poor in spirit some virgins say poor for what does he say the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs flips it doesn't mourn you'll be comforted later humble inherit the earth hunger and thirst for righteousness you'll be satisfied in the Kingdom merciful you'll be shown Mercy whose hearts are pure they will see God those who work for peace will be called children of God he ends that section God blesses those who are persecuted now I had it now persecuted where now for doing right for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs see how these go together Comfort can cause complacency and it can choke the word is what Jesus says so these worries about life and wealth and concerns can choke the development of the word of God or the word in you Jesus so Jesus also warns about the worries in a sermon the worries about these things if you're always worried and thinking about these things it can choke the word from your life that's what he's saying and so he says don't worry about what these material things don't worry about it God who can see you and knows what you need he'll give it to you what you need right now disclaimer it's okay to have money what were the women doing they had to have money to be supporting Jesus and we'll look later in the series Phoebe Phoebe oh I said Phoebe and Lydia at the same time interesting Phoebe it's not a new name Lydia acts 16. and Phoebe Romans 16. right these women are business women they have money and they're supporting Paul and so it's nothing wrong with having money but what's the thing they're using it to support Kingdom things they're not worrying about it and hoarding it they're using it to build the church in this context this is the body of Christ they're following a physical human Christ deity as well God and man now what does the bible teach us we went into this a couple weeks ago this is the body of Christ and it must be supported simple as that good you have money help help support the body of Christ it's just as simple as that fertile soil the hearts of Flesh and here flesh is a good thing sometimes like Galatians 5 it's a bad thing it's the sin of the flesh but soft Hearts A responsive heart and when you go to Jeremiah he says look I will put my instructions and it says deep within them deep and I will write them on their hearts that's the fertile soil this fertile heart will respond in a repentant way and bear fruit like the immoral woman that's the right response all right Keeps Us grounded pun intended a response to Jesus should be with a heart of humility not Stone the humility will lead to fertility a fertile heart where it can grow things and that fertility leads to fruit the fruit of the Holy Spirit read Galatians chapter 5. so as I close I want to pray from the Psalms won't ask the Lord for that Psalm 51 10. creating me a clean heart oh God renew a loyal Spirit Within Me you're not banish me from your presence and don't take your Holy Spirit from me Lord so I pray that you soften Hearts you get this information to travel that long road from the mind to the heart now that they've heard the word let it penetrate deeply into their hearts so they can produce a fruit 30 60 100 times For Your Glory for the building of your kingdom Lord I ask these things in Jesus name amen