The Kingdom – Mysteries of the Kingdom

[00:00:00] We apologize to the listener of this tape. There is a in the background, this is on the master recording. Well, we're not strangers to this, I think in this auditorium we've had one of these big blackouts. And if I remember rightly on that occasion, not only did it first knock out all the power lights, but then all these went as well. If you remember, I've been in three floods when one time we had a river go right through the meeting hall, not here, but in another place. [00:00:34] I've been in an earthquake, two earthquakes meeting. [00:00:40] So this is really nothing. [00:00:43] Now my real problem is to be able just the message is in my heart, but it's to be able to turn to the Scriptures and see them. So I want to read to you from Matthew and chapter 13. I'm not going to read all of it, I'm just going to read part of it from verse ten of Matthew, chapter 13. And the disciples came and said unto him, why speakest thou unto them in parables? And he answered and said unto them unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath to him shall be given, and he shall have abundance. But whosoever hath not from him shall be taken away even that which he hath. [00:01:49] Now if you will turn in the same chapter at verse 24 another parable set he before them, saying the kingdom of Heaven is likened unto a man that sowed good seed in his field. But while men slept, his enemy came, and sowed tears also among the wheat and went away. But when the blade sprang up, brought forth fruit, then appeared the tears also, and the servants of the householder came and said unto him sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? Whence then hath it tears? And he said unto them an enemy hath done this. And the servants say unto him, wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he saith, nay this happily. While ye gather up the tears, ye root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. And in the time of the harvest I will say to the weepers gather up first the tears and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn. Another parable set he before them saying the Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is less than all the seeds. But when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs and becometh a tree so that the birds of the heaven come and lodge in the branches thereof. [00:03:26] Another parable spake he unto them the kingdom of Heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leaven all these things spake Jesus in parables unto the multitudes. And now if we could turn again to Matthew, chapter 20, chapter 13, and I will read from verse 34 all these things spake Jesus in parables unto the multitudes and without a parable spake he nothing unto them that it might be fulfilled which was spoken to the prophets, saying, I will open my mouth in parables. I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world. [00:04:25] Then he left the multitudes and went into the house. And his disciples came unto him, saying explain unto us the parable of the tears of the field. And he answered and said he that soweth a good seed is the Son of man, and the field is the world and the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom, and the tears are the sons of the evil one. And the enemy that sowed them is the devil and the harvest is the end of the world and the reapers are angels. [00:05:06] As therefore the tears are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be in the end of the world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that cause stumbling. And them that do iniquity and shall cast them into the furnace of fire. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. [00:05:30] Then shall the righteous shine forth as the Son in the kingdom of the Father. He that hath ears, let him hear. [00:05:40] The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hidden in the field which a man found and hid. And in his joy he goeth and selleth all that he hath and buyeth that field again. The kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is, a merchant seeking goodly pearls. And having found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had and bought it again. The kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the sea and gathered of every kind which when it was filled, they drew up on the beach. And they sat down and gathered the good into vessels. But the bad they cast away. So shall it be in the end of the world. The angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the righteous and shall cast them into the furnace of fire. There shall be weeping and the gnashing of teeth. Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, yea. And he said unto them therefore every scribe who hath been made a disciple to the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is, a householder who bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old. [00:06:59] Shall we just have a further word of prayer? [00:07:03] Dear Lord, we want to thank you that you have given us back the light and power and made things that much easier for us. And we thank you for that. Lord. And as we come to Your Word this evening, we want to tell you, dear Lord, that once again we are relying upon you entirely for that grace and power which you have provided for us both, for my speaking and our hearing. Dear Lord, will you take the little that I have of Yourself and will you bless it and break it and multiply it so that all of us receive something tonight? Dear Lord, we commit ourselves to you as we come to this chapter once again with thanksgiving in the name of our Lord Jesus, amen. [00:07:57] Now, I don't think anybody here is unaware that the theme of this week is the King is coming and my responsibility have been the parables of Matthew 13. [00:08:15] I had some intimation that there might be some problem this evening. [00:08:20] In my own spirit, I wondered because I think that tonight when I want to talk about the mysteries of the kingdom, I am so conscious of the greatness of the subject and the littleness that I have to communicate. [00:08:41] I really do honestly wish that Brother Stephen had taken these parables. [00:08:47] However, he has his own problems with Matthew 24 and 25. [00:08:54] Every man has to bear his own burden, and I've got mine. [00:08:59] And so you're lumped with me on the flesh level. [00:09:04] The Lord is, however, greater than me and I believe that he can take my little five loaves and two fish and can bless it to every one of us. [00:09:15] These parables are divided the seven parables that we have here into an introductory and foundational parable. And then two trios and the trios are once again split up. [00:09:32] One trio is one parable plus two. [00:09:37] And the first is interpreted at the end of the three as if it could be the key to the three. And then the second trio is two plus one. And the last one is interpreted as if it might well be the key to the last trio. [00:10:00] Yesterday I spoke on the Word of the kingdom and I will not say any more about that other than to turn you to one scripture that I think perhaps puts better than anything. I could say the whole of that subject into one sentence. It is in Psalm 138, and it is the last part of verse two. For thou hast magnified thy Word above all thy name. I think that is a most remarkable statement. How the Lord could ever say that he has magnified His Word above all his name, I don't know. But surely it means simply this if we did not have the defined Word of God, we would be left to any kind of emotional experience, some of which could be false, some of which could be counterfeit and some of which could be genuine. But because we have the Word of God, every experience we have we can check with the Word of God and we can come back to the Word. So the Lord says he magnifies his word above even his name. [00:11:20] Because on the practical side of things, the Word of God is absolutely foundational, it is absolutely essential. [00:11:32] We speak of the authority of the Word of God, of the inspiration of the Word of God, of the accuracy of the Word of God and the relevance of the Word of God. [00:11:46] God's word is absolutely authoritative. We are not meant to manipulate it, control it, push it into our own system of interpretation. Somehow, as so many do, try to make it say what we think it ought to say. That is not the word of God. The Word of God, the authority of the Word of God is that I come to it as someone who wants to learn, someone who wants to come under its power, somebody who wants to experience its power, somebody who wants his whole life and behavior to be molded by the Word of God. The inspiration of the Word of God, in my estimation, begins in Genesis and ends with revelation. And every single part of it is inspired. Even the dark parts, even some of the long genealogies and pedigrees, they're all inspired. I don't have any problem myself with this matter. I know many do, but I don't. I believe the Word of God is inspired. It's not left to us to decide what is inspired and what is not inspired. The Holy Spirit has defined very clearly for us what we call the canon of Scripture. And in these 66 books we have that which the Holy Spirit inspired and gave to us. And that leads to the third matter. And it is simply this the Word of God is an accurate I cannot believe that the New Testament is more accurate than the Old Testament. Some people tell me the New Testament is more accurate than the Old Testament. And I always say to people this obviously means that God got more accurate as he got older, which of course is nonsense. [00:13:45] As if somehow other God got to know human beings and then found out how cunning and difficult they were and decided he had to be more accurate. So when he came to the New Testament, he was absolutely accurate. But the Old Testament is something which you cannot really say is accurate. I cannot accept that. If God spoke 4000 years ago, if God spoke 6000 years ago, if God spoke 2000 years ago, it has to be. If it is God who's speaking, it has to be accurate. I have no problem about it. [00:14:19] And I don't see why it should be imagined that some Jewish scribes were more dozy and stupid than Christian scribes under the New Covenant. I mean, it seems so silly to me. If they're real believers and walking with the Lord, then obviously the Holy Spirit would have been watching over them as they transmitted the Word of God into written form. But I mustn't spend too much time on this, I want to get on with the other. And I say one last thing the Word of God is relevant. I know that some of you wonder how in the world those long, drawn out pedigrees and genealogies could be relevant to you. But my dear friends, they are relevant. Maybe you don't understand it. Maybe you won't even understand it till you're finally sitting in the presence of the Lord and he explains it to you. But you will understand that every part of it is relevant because the Word of God is a whole. [00:15:17] And because it is an interlocked whole, then every part of it in the end, is necessary to the whole. [00:15:30] And there's no part of it that I can say is irrelevant. Now that to me, is the Word of the kingdom. Now I want this evening to talk about the mysteries of the kingdom. [00:15:47] In Matthew chapter 13 and in verse eleven, jesus answered and said unto them unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. There are a number of mysteries that we have in the Word of God, just, for example, a few of them. There is the mystery of the Gospel. [00:16:26] Until God opens your eyes and my eyes, the Gospel is so much nonsense, it is folly, it is foolishness. How in the world can anyone's life be changed by the preaching of this Gospel? But once your eyes have been touched, the eyes of your heart have been touched to behold the Lamb of God. The Gospel becomes the wisdom of God and the power of God in Christ. [00:16:58] It is the good news concerning God's Son. [00:17:02] It is called the mystery of the Gospel. And then there is the mystery of Christ, the mystery of God made flesh. [00:17:16] This is called a mystery. And I don't care how many Christian theologians put their heads together and try to verbalize the mystery of the incarnation, it remains a secret. That is to those to whom it is not revealed. It is utter nonsense. [00:17:37] But when your eyes have been opened, it becomes that which you glory in, that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, glorious of the only begotten of the Father. [00:17:58] It is a mystery until God reveals it to us. And then there is the mystery of the Church. Oh, what a mess we've made of the Church simply because we've never understood the mystery. But the mystery of the body of Christ, the mystery of being members of Christ, members of Christ and members one of another. We've institutionalized this whole thing, brought it down to a human organization, made it a worldly club with all the normal rules of a worldly association. And yet this church that is revealed in the New Testament is called the mystery of Christ. It is belonging to him. Being one with him. He in us and we in him. It is a mystery until God reveals it to us. [00:18:51] There is the mystery of Israel. [00:18:57] There are Christians who for the life of them, cannot understand that God has any future purpose for the Jewish people. And yet, in Romans, chapter eleven, the apostle Paul speaks about I would not, brethren, have you ignorant of this mystery, lest you be wise in your own conceits that are hardening in part of the fallen Israel until the full number of the Gentiles become in, and so all Israel shall be saved. It is a mystery until God reveals it. And when God reveals it, then it makes sense. It becomes something so amazing, so marvelous. [00:19:40] These are some of the mysteries. There are others. There's the mystery of that we call mystery Babylon. There's the mystery of evil. There are all kinds of things that are called mysteries. Now, that leads me immediately to ask what is a mystery? [00:19:58] What is a mystery? [00:20:00] The word mystery in the New Testament is not used in today's popular sense. If I say something as a mystery, I mean, it is complex, difficult, mystical, mysterious, impossible really, for me to grasp it's a mystery. [00:20:26] And this is the popular way we use the word mystery to death. But in the New Testament, this word was used in a very special way. It was not used of something that was complex, fathomless, impossible to understand, but it was used of a secret which God deliberately withheld from those he chose not to reveal it to. [00:21:01] In other words, to let me put it another way. If it doesn't befuddle you, it is a secret revealed to the initiated. [00:21:16] If you are an initiate, if you are someone introduced within a certain circle, within a certain company, this secret is revealed to you. It's yours. It's your birthright. It is yours to understand and to understand in its completeness. But if you are not within that circle, if you do not belong to that company, then it remains a secret. It remains something closed. Now, this is the way that the New Testament uses this word mystery. In other words, Jesus put it very simply listen again unto you, unto you, he said to those disciples, unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom. [00:22:19] Now, that leads me to underline something else. [00:22:25] If you're still with me and not weary after this rather strange beginning, who is the initiate? [00:22:36] Who is the initiate? [00:22:40] Who is the candidate for such knowledge of these mysteries of the kingdom? [00:22:50] Now, here we make a marvelous discovery. [00:22:55] Listen very carefully. [00:22:57] First, anyone, however stupid, and there are plenty of us, however stupid, however dumb, however unsophisticated, however uneducated, who has been born of the Spirit of God? [00:23:15] If you, by the grace of God, have been born again, if you've been born of the Spirit of God, then you are an initiate. Then you are a candidate for knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom. You are within the circle, you are introduced into the company. You are within the family of God. You are within the covenant circle of God, and he means you to understand the mysteries. These mysteries of the kingdom are your birthright. These mysteries of the kingdom belong to you. They're yours to understand in their entirety. You don't have to have degrees after your name, and God forbid, even theological degrees after your name to understand these mysteries. The strange thing is, many theologians don't understand these mysteries. And simple people who have been born of the Spirit of God have understood something of these mysteries of the kingdom that have changed the whole course of their life. [00:24:23] Now, it is not only that you must be born again, there are two more characteristics of those who are initiates or candidates for such knowledge. The second is this you must be a disciple. [00:24:45] That explains why so many Christians don't understand the mysteries of the king. [00:24:50] We are born of God, but not disciples. We are born of God, but we're not under discipline. We're born of God, but we're not prepared to pay the price. We're born of God, but we're not prepared to follow the Lord the whole way. But if you and I want to be a candidate to understand and know the mysteries of the kingdom, we must not only be born of God, we must be disciples. That is, we are under the discipline of the Holy Spirit. We're under the training of the Holy Spirit. We are being educated by the Holy Spirit, we are being discipled by the Lord Jesus. That's the second thing. And here is the third thing, and it comes out of this, but I add it as a third for clarity. [00:25:45] The third characteristic is you must be teachable. [00:25:51] As Brother Annie said the other day, blessed are the meek, blessed are the teachable. I was so glad and so thrilled to hear that, because this idea, especially in a kind of macho society, is that meekness is weakness. Who wants to be meek? [00:26:10] Oh, dear spinelessness, wishy washiness, watered downness pallidness, everything that's anemic we consider that's meek. A person has to be almost bloodless to be meek. A person has to be virtually shadowless to be meek. A person has to be a kind of worm to be meek. [00:26:36] But my dear friends, Moses was called the meekest man in all the earth. And we understand from our sources, not within the Bible, although it's inferred and implied within the word of God, but from our sources, we understand that Moses was the great hero of the Libyan campaign and the great hero of the Ethiopian campaign, decorated a thousand times by Pharaoh. And when he saw that man fighting with a Hebrew, he slew him such meekness. Here was a man that was meek. I know a little bit about shepherds. They're all around me. And I'd noticed one thing about shepherds of goats and sheep. They are not weak men. [00:27:15] They live out in the open. They may be sinewy. I mean, you know, they're not like Mr. Universe to look at, but they are strong, as strong than me. [00:27:28] And Moses was 40 years a shepherd in the desert, and yet God said he was the meekest man on the face of the earth. What did he mean? He meant this he was teachable. [00:27:46] No man is ever given to understand the mysteries of God. Who's not teachable. If you and I are not ready to be taught by the Lord, if we're not prepared to inquire of the Lord, if we're not prepared to seek the Lord, we shall never have an understanding of these mysteries. Look, for instance, at Isaiah in chapter 66. You know, I'm sure this word in Isaiah, chapter 66 and verse two. For all these things hath my handmaid. And so all these things came to be Seth, the Lord. But to this man will I look even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit and that trembleth, trembleth at My word. [00:28:47] Look at verse five. Hear ye the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at his word. [00:28:57] Now come back to the parable of the sower. [00:29:02] When the seed fell on good soil, what did Jesus say? He said, this is he that heareth the word and understandeth it's. The very same thing. [00:29:18] You only really hear the Lord when you had that spirit of that contrite spirit, that broken spirit, an arrogant spirit, a proud spirit, a haughty spirit, a masterful spirit, a spirit that says, I'm going to understand this. I'm going to get hold of it and I'm going to analyze it and I'm going to tear it apart and I'm going to put it together again. This kind of person is left with systems of biblical doctrine and interpretation. But he never understands the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. [00:29:59] Because God always takes the one who has a teachable spirit, a meek spirit like Moses who fell on his face before the Lord again and again and again, in spite of all that the Lord had shown him, in spite of all the law that God had given to him. Yet whenever a problem came up, he fell on his face before the Lord, as if to say, I don't know how to apply it, Lord. I know it all. You used me to write it, but I don't understand how to apply it. Help me to apply it, o Lord. [00:30:33] I think in the New Testament of the Gospel of John and chapter seven the Gospel of John and chapter seven and verse 17 oh, what this meant to me. You remember I mentioned that Swedishant the other yesterday. [00:30:53] This is a verse she gave to me right at the beginning when I was first saved and it burnt its way into my heart. Listen to this. If any man willeth to do the will of God, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God. [00:31:16] I don't know whether that means anything to you, but when I was only twelve years of age, that word burnt its way into my heart. I understood that if God is going to reveal anything to you, you have to be willing to do his will, whatever the cost of the revelation he gives you, whatever the cost of the light he entrusts you with. If you are not willing to do the will of God, you will never know whether God is really saying something. [00:31:49] But once you are ready to do the will of God, then the mysteries of the kingdom are given to you. Then the mystery of the Church is revealed to you. Then the mystery of Israel is revealed to you. Then the mystery of the Gospel is revealed to you. Then there can be a whole succession in your education by the Spirit of God when you maintain this willingness to do the will of God. Let me add yet another scripture, if this is meaning anything to you. In James, the letter of James, ender chapter one. [00:32:30] James, chapter one and verse five. Now this is the other scripture this dear Swedish aunt gave to me. Here is the isn't it interesting? I don't know why she's having her day. Now, I bet the Lord will tell her that we're talking about her down here, but I mean, it seems that she's having her day. Listen, this is another one she gave to me. But if any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not and it shall be given him if he ask in faith, nothing wavering. [00:33:08] She apparently thought I was stupid, and I actually was ready to accept that I was because I had never read the Bible when I was twelve years of age. So I didn't have any of that kind of well, I know it all. [00:33:26] I've gone through Sunday school. [00:33:31] I've had it pounded into me from the very first day I was born. I know it. I never had any of that. So when she inferred that I might be unwise when it came to these things, I understood her. [00:33:46] And I used to ask the Lord every day when I was a kid, from twelve till I was 15, every single morning I quoted this scripture standing on it. Lord, I don't have any wisdom. Would you please give me this wisdom that you say you will give in James one and verse five? Now isn't that right? Isn't that marvelous? Listen to the word again. Let me say it again. If any man lack wisdom do you lack wisdom? [00:34:16] You might have been to theological seminary, but you might lack wisdom. [00:34:20] You might have been right to a whole Bible school, but you might lack wisdom. You might be a church member for many, many years, but you might lack wisdom. If any man lack wisdom, wisdom from above. [00:34:34] If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not, and he shall be given him. If ye ask in faith, nothing wavering. [00:34:54] A teachable spirit. [00:34:57] A teachable spirit. When Solomon said to the Lord when the Lord said what do you want, Solomon? He knew all the problems Solomon was facing. He had interfamily, rivalry, all kinds of ambitious brothers and sisters, all of whom had a finger in the pie, all kinds of problems in the kingdom. His father had gone and God came to him and said now in the night he came to him and appeared to him and said solomon, what do you need ask me. Solomon could have said Lord, I need power, power and authority so I can put down every rebellion. He could have said Lord, I need riches to impress these people so that they can see my pump and my wealth. He could have said Lord, I want you to uphold my status so that they all see I'm your anointed servant, I'm your anointed king, I need this for your service, Lord. He could have said a 1001 things, but he said Lord, I want wisdom. And God, may I put it irreverently, fell over himself. He said Solomon, because you've asked for wisdom, I will not only give you wisdom, but I will give you authority. And I will give you power, and I will give you riches, and I will give you status, I will give you peace, I will give you everything, because you asked for wisdom. [00:36:27] A teachable spirit to those who are born of God, who are disciples, however weak and failing, and who have a teachable spirit, to these are given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of hell. [00:36:56] Now, may I take this matter one step further if you're still with me, I want to underline the necessity of revelation. [00:37:07] Now I said yesterday about studying the Bible, reading the Bible, getting to know your Bible and all that is absolutely important. [00:37:22] But now I want to add something more. [00:37:25] Today I want to say you need illumination, you need revelation. [00:37:35] You need to put it in another word that we often use in our circles vision. Now, I don't mean visions, I have nothing against visions, but I'm talking about understanding. Eyes of the heart are opened to behold the Lord, to understand the Lord eyes of the heart that really are clear. There's a singleness of vision there's, not double vision, singleness of vision. [00:38:08] Isn't it interesting? In Ephesian letter, in those well known words in chapter one, in verse 17 and 18, the apostle Paul is dictating this letter. And most Bible commentators say that Ephesians is the high water mark, the high tide mark of revelation in the New Testament. Not everyone would agree, but most commentators say that. Within this one letter is compressed the whole revelation of God's eternal purpose from eternity to eternity. And here is the apostle. He has a chain. He's imprisoned him under house arrest, if you like, and he's dictating to a faithful secretary. And then all of a sudden he says, I think we should have a word of prayer. [00:39:14] Or whether he'd prayed before, I don't know. But he stops and says, do you think we should pray for these folks? [00:39:24] And maybe the secretary I've got a very fertile imagination maybe his secretary, that dear brother or whoever it was, said, Pray for what? [00:39:37] And then the apostle would say, look here. I'm so afraid this is going to just be sermon material. [00:39:47] I'm so afraid this is just going to remain in the area of doctrine of teaching. Let's pray that a spirit of wisdom and revelation may be given to them, the eyes of their hearts being enlightened, that they may know what is the hope of their calling. [00:40:09] Not that they may know about it, but they may know it directly. From this word it leaps, as it were, into them. It brings divine light to them. In his light they will see light, as the psalmist says, and so he prayed. [00:40:41] What a difference it makes. When the spirit of wisdom of revelation is given to us, we can know something all our lives. [00:40:52] And then when the Lord reveals it to us, it becomes ours. [00:41:03] Perhaps it's something to do with the work and person of the Holy Spirit. We've sung about the Holy Spirit, we've read about the Holy Spirit, we've studied about the Holy Spirit, we've heard messages on the Holy Spirit, but never anything happens to us until the day that we see that when Jesus ascended, he took the promise of the Father and poured him forth. And in the moment we see it with the eyes of our heart, we step into what is ours. [00:41:27] And the most glorious experience of the Spirit becomes ours. [00:41:36] Take the question of the cross. [00:41:40] We can know that Paul said, I have been crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. [00:41:55] We can know it. We can know that he says our old man was crucified with Christ, that the body of sin might be done away, that so we might walk, he says, in newness of life. We can know it all, but all when that spirit of wisdom and revelation is given to us. And in that day we suddenly see that when Jesus died, I died. That in him on the cross I died. And when he was buried, I was buried. And when he was raised, I was raised to walk in newness of life. It becomes my own experience. For the first time, I can reckon myself dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ. [00:42:41] Until then it's made believe. [00:42:45] Oh, I remember when I was younger in the Lord and I had such a problem with myself and I didn't know how to come through. And I went to a brother and he said, Pinch yourself. [00:43:04] I was 15 years of age. I thought he was crazy. He said, Go on, pinch yourself. Pinched myself? Do you feel something? Yes. Now, he said, Pretend you're dead. [00:43:20] I looked at him. He said, you must reckon yourself dead. Pinch yourself every time. Say every time you finish, no, I'm dead. [00:43:29] But it didn't work, my dear friends, it didn't work. [00:43:32] I've always told you about Bob mumford who said he had an experience of the Holy Spirit and thought he'd died with Christ until he discovered he'd only fainted. [00:43:46] My dear friend, it doesn't work. It's make believe. It's pretending, trying to kid yourself that you're dead. And some people understand. Reckoning yourselves dead, as in you must sort of in a Christian Science way, mind over matter, pulverize yourself down until in the end you deadened yourself. [00:44:08] But, my dear friend, it doesn't work. I tell you from my own experience. But in the day that the Lord revealed to me on my knees in another situation altogether and he showed me, he said to me when my son was crucified, you were crucified with him. It went into my heart. I'd never heard such a thing. I knew I'd read it, but I never knew such a thing. I got up on my knees for the first time, I could reckon on it. I knew that. Had Jesus died? Yes, jesus had died. When did he die? 2000 years ago. So I died with him 2000 years ago in the sight of God. And I could reckon on it. It came to me as a revelation. Then it became mine. [00:44:54] Do you understand what I'm trying to say? [00:44:58] I'm just trying to say that you can like a good Buddhist, you can learn the scripture. And I'm all for you. Memorizing the scripture and learning scripture. That's what I talked about yesterday. But now I want to say that that scripture will never become flesh and blood in you until the spirit of wisdom and revelation is granted to you. And in that moment when that spirit of wisdom and revelation is granted to you then you will know not about something, but you will know it. [00:45:35] You will know the mystery of the kingdom. You will know the mystery being crucified with Christ. You will know the power and the person of the Holy Spirit, the mystery of his work. These things will be yours. No one can ever take them away. They're yours forever. [00:45:59] So you begin to understand the vital importance in the light of the King's coming to have such vision, to have such understanding, to have such revelation. If I understand the prophetic word at all, I understand that these last days into which we're entering are going to be filled with multitudinous Christian voices telling us one thing and another thing, fixing dates, telling us this is going to happen on this day and that's going to happen on that date and this and that and the other. Some tell us we're going to have great affluence and prosperity. Others tell us we're going to have much war and trouble and impoverishment. Some tell us this, some tell us that. Some tell us the Lord's not coming back for another thousand years, that the church has got to Christianize the whole world before the King comes. And so it goes on. This voice, that voice, this voice, that voice. Thousands of voices all saying he's here, he's there, he's over there, he's here. And in the end, everyone will be so confused. No wonder we turn away from prophecy. No wonder we say, let's leave the whole thing. It's a mess. [00:47:17] My dear friends, we need revelation. We need understanding. [00:47:23] We shall not be dogmatic in our interpretation of prophetic events except those upon which we can be truly dogmatic. [00:47:36] But we will be prepared because revelation always brings us to preparation. [00:47:46] Every time I see the Lord, I know there are areas in my life that need to be corrected, areas in my life that need to be dealt with. Areas in which I need to be strengthened. Areas in which I need new faith to possess. [00:48:06] Isn't it, Sarah? [00:48:12] Now that's all this marvelous word. [00:48:22] And before I just talk about these parables, one further thing. [00:48:32] Our Lord said something which has upset some Christians so much. [00:48:37] He said, for whosoever hath to him shall be given and he shall have an abundance and whosoever hath not even what he hath shall be taken away. [00:48:54] Oh dear. [00:48:56] Some people get so upset with this. They feel it's capitalism, you know. Well, what in the world is this? Someone who has gets more and those who haven't got it's going to be taken away. Even what they've got. What did he mean? He meant this if you're born of God, you have a right to understand the mysteries of the kingdom. And when that revelation is given to you, you will have more and more and more and more. You will enter into the land, as it were, and possess it more and more and more. And the more you have, the more you will take. And the more you take, even the more that you will be given to you. [00:49:52] So, dear for child of God, this is important, this matter. [00:50:00] Now, let's look at these mysteries of the kingdom. [00:50:05] First of all, I don't think we have all the mysteries of the kingdom here. That's my view. That may be my own personal view. I think there are many more. But our Lord gave us certain foundational, fundamental understandings in these seven parables. [00:50:23] The first I understand is in the parable of the sower. [00:50:28] And this is what I call the mystery of the Word of God. [00:50:37] The mystery of the word of God. I want to put it this way. [00:50:41] Everything begins with God's word and ends with God's word. [00:50:50] Everything, your salvation began with the Word of God. [00:51:02] Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ. [00:51:13] And then the apostle says about those who go forth to preach, that good news. [00:51:21] So that's how it began. [00:51:25] Even if we never knew the Bible, even if we'd never read the Bible, even if we've never heard much, nevertheless it began with the Word of God. [00:51:37] And everything in your life continues with the Word of God, isn't it? So take the whole area of sanctification. I can only touch on these things, you understand? But take the whole matter of sanctification. Doesn't it? Isn't it all to do with the Word of God? Surely it has to be when somehow something in the Word of God is revealed to us. And then we enter in, and in that moment we experience what we have read, the Word of God. [00:52:20] Actually, if you take it on the bigger scale, everything else on the universal scale begins and ends with the Word of God. For instance, this universe came through the Word of God. We read about it again and again. God said and it was it was the Word of God. [00:52:44] Peter says in his letter that this whole world that we have came into being through the Word of God. [00:52:54] And then he speaks of the flood by the Word of God. And then he says, there's coming a fire that's going to burn everything up. And it is reserved by the Word of God. [00:53:07] So it's a great comfort to me to know that everything in history is related to the Word of God. [00:53:14] It begins with the word of God. It progresses with the Word of God, and it's going to end with the Word of God. A new heaven and a new earth wherein dwells righteousness by the Word of God. [00:53:32] Satan in the end is going to be shriveled up by the Word of God. It says it in thessalonians he shall slay him with the breath of his mouth. One word Martin Luther said will fell him. [00:53:54] Oh, my dear friends, I find this very exciting, this whole thing. It begins with the word of God. It ends with the word of God. Think about just wait. Think about God's work of recovery. Think about God's word of recovery. Doesn't that begin with the Word of God? [00:54:14] Think of the Lord Jesus. Do you remember when the angel of the Lord appeared to Mary what he said to her? He said, the spirit of the Lord. And then he said, for no word of God is void of power. [00:54:36] I think of the work of our redemption on the cross. [00:54:40] Jesus spoke seven words from the cross. But there is one word that to me, and only one word in both Hebrew and in Greek, that Jesus uttered at the end of his travel on the cross at the end of the 3 hours of forsakenness and darkness. When the Lamb of God became the uplifted serpent, when that serpent and its poison entered into the purity of the Lamb of God and God smote him then out of his tortured, agonized heart came was torn the words my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? [00:55:31] And the whole Earth became dark. [00:55:35] And people who don't understand these things tell us it was an eclipse, because they always have to have some scientific explanation of these things. I don't know what's wrong with them, but they always have to find something that is explicable in terms of our present understanding of science. [00:55:57] But no eclipse could last 3 hours. [00:56:01] It is impossible. [00:56:05] Something happened in that moment when Jesus became sin that drove a heart through the one in whom all things hold together. And in that moment, it was as if the very light in the universe faltered, as if God himself shuddered. [00:56:25] We shall never understand it except that in that moment, jesus won for us an eternal salvation. [00:56:36] We'll never understand it. I don't care how long we live all through eternity. We'll never fully understand it because we're finite creatures. We'll never be infinite. [00:56:51] But then Jesus cried one great cry. [00:56:58] It wasn't a tortured cry. It wasn't an agonized cry. And it wasn't, as some people think he said, unfinished. [00:57:09] It was a voice of triumph, finished. [00:57:15] And in that very moment, the veil of the temple was torn into from top to bottom. Now, we are told in the Talmud that the veil of the temple was seven hands thick. [00:57:31] Can you imagine the priests and levites on duty that day? [00:57:37] No wonder a great company of priests and levites believed. It says in the Book of Acts. I expect it all began with those on duty that day in their courses, busying themselves with polishing the bath and all the rest in the sanctuary. And suddenly and they looked up. Oh, blasphemy. Blasphemy. For any Jew to see the veil of the temple torn not from the bottom to the top, but from the top to the bottom, the way into the presence of God was open for sinful man through the finished work of the Lord Jesus. My dear friends, one word. [00:58:30] One word uttered by the Lord Jesus, the word of God in his mouth. And he went through the whole universe like a trumpet call, like a clarion call. Eternal salvation for all who will put their trust in God through him. [00:58:59] So I could go on and on. [00:59:02] I could talk about the redemption of our body. [00:59:06] That's going to be by the word of God, isn't it? [00:59:12] When the Lord will descend with a shout. Oh, I'd love to know what's he going to shout. [00:59:20] What is the word that will be in his mouth when the dead in Christ shall rise first. And then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up to be with them, to be forever with the Lord. When in the twinkling of an eye think of that. Have you ever seen an eye twinkle in the twinkling of an eye? [00:59:39] Our bodies shall be changed, and the corruptible will put on incorruption and immortal immortality. [00:59:52] A shout from the risen Messiah, from the glorified King, from the coming King. A shout. One word, and our bodies changed in an instant. And the dead, whose bodies have gone to dust moulded for thousands of years, in an instant, raised incorruptible. [01:00:21] Now, some people say, well, I don't believe this object too much. [01:00:25] There must be a scientific explanation for it. I mean, Lord can't just bring bodies together like that. My dear friends, according to my gospel, God spoke and this whole universe came into being. [01:00:38] And if God spoke and there was light and God spoke and there was water and there was a firmament between the clouds above and the water underneath and if God spoke again and the sun and the moon came into being. And God spoke again and vegetation came on the earth and God spoke again. And things began to fly in the heavens and the things began to swim in the sea. And God spoke again and created Adam and Eve. You and me, as human beings. If he could do all this through His Word, can he not with one single word redeem our body? Of course, it's small thigh. [01:01:26] He's done all the rest. With one word, a shout, he shall descend from heaven with a shout under trump of God, and the dead in Christ will rise. Well, I must watch it. [01:01:45] I don't mean if the Lord shouted now. [01:01:50] Well, then there won't be any more need for me to explain to you the mistress of the parable. [01:02:01] I want to tell you that this whole matter of the Church, its recovery, even if in a small remnant in the last days, is to do with the Word of God. Every single great movement of the Spirit in the history of the church has begun with a rediscovery of the Word of God, of the authority of the Word of God, the accuracy of the Word of God, the relevance of the Word of God in every one of these great movements of the Spirit. It has been the measure in which the Word of God has been given its place that has dictated how long that move of the Spirit continues in power and purity. And as soon as the Word of God becomes, as it were, familiarized, it becomes sacred scripture, it becomes liturgy, that move of the Spirit is finished. [01:02:58] My dear friends, it seems to me quite clear that this mystery of the Word of God has a message for us in the last day, when there's going to be so much apostasy. [01:03:16] We need to understand the word of God, to be witnesses for the word of God, as well as hold the testimony of Jesus. And my dear friends, if I may add just something, and then I go on to these outer parables. [01:03:41] I believe too, with Israel it's the same because God spoke a word concerning my people and blinded them. [01:03:51] And he has done a very good job all down to the years, except for just a few here and a few there. [01:04:01] Our folks have read the Scriptures, studied the Scriptures, studied Isaiah 53, studied Psalm 22, studied Zechariah Twelve, and never seen the Messiah. [01:04:14] Sometimes they've described the Messiah in such terms that you think it's Jesus, and yet they never saw him. [01:04:24] It was a word. [01:04:29] It was a word from the throne. [01:04:32] God blinded them. [01:04:36] Paul wrestles with this whole great problem. He says, did they stumble that they might fall? God forbid. [01:04:44] Yet by their fall, salvation has come to the Gentiles. Now, I'm not going to spend any time on this except to say this there will come a day when the word of God will come back to that people in power and in life. And then the hardening in part which has befallen them will be melted. And the veil on the mind will be torn away. [01:05:11] And the blindness that has come to their eyes will be turned into radiant vision. [01:05:20] To me, it is like I always think of it, that our greater than Joseph, he was sold into slavery by his own brethren, rejected by them, and went into Egypt and went down into the dungeon and went down as far as he could. And then God raised him up and made him savior of the Egyptians so that he became the one through whom all the Gentiles were saved. But his own people, they knew him not. [01:05:55] And when they came to him in the impressed by circumstances of hunger and famine, he hid his identity from them. They stood in front of him and he was an Egyptian. He was dressed like an Egyptian. He spoke like an Egyptian. Culturally, he was an Egyptian. His wife was an Egyptian, he had an Egyptian palace. [01:06:18] They never saw their brother. [01:06:21] Not in their wildest moments did they ever for one single moment think that it was their brother Joseph. [01:06:31] And then he trapped them. [01:06:34] That's too long a story. But he trapped them bit by bit, cornered them. That's what he's doing today. [01:06:42] That's why we're in such trouble. [01:06:45] He's cornering us. He's put the money in the sack and made us all afraid. He's put the silver cup in the sack. He's got his Benjamin as hostage. Those of us who are Jewish who found the Lord are his Benjamin hell hostage till the rest come. [01:07:09] And there'll come a day when he will say to them, put all the Egyptians out of the house and will say to them, in Hebrew I am Joseph, whom you sold into slavery. [01:07:25] I don't know when that day will be, but it'll be by the word of God. That's all I know. And when that day comes, if the casting away of them was the reconciling of the world, what will the receiving of them be but life from the dead? [01:07:39] But I must move on. [01:07:41] There are two more tweets. Let us very swiftly just look at them. [01:07:46] Here is one trio. The first trio you have one, the Tears and the Wheat. Then it is followed by the mustard seed that grew into a tree and then it is followed by a woman putting leaven into three measures of meal. [01:08:05] Now, it is interesting that our Lord interprets that the parable of the tears as if this is the key to the other two parables as well. [01:08:20] Now, these tears are what we call bearded darnell. [01:08:29] And bearded darnell is exactly like wheat. [01:08:34] When it grows, it looks like wheat until it gets to this height. It's only in the very last stages that it's clear that it's tear. [01:08:45] Now, here is another problem. [01:08:48] The bearded darnell has a very strong root system and the wheat doesn't have such a big wheat root system. So the darnell goes into the roots and also and that's why you can't pull up the tears. If you do, you pull up the wheat with it. [01:09:09] Now, if you understand a little bit about that parable then you'll begin to understand the Lord's interpretation. The sower is the Son of man, the seed of the good, seed of the sons of the kingdom, the bad seed of the sons of the evil one. [01:09:27] Now, what is it that the Lord is saying here? He is dealing with a problem that every child of God has wrestled with particularly those who've been involved in suffering. [01:09:45] Why doesn't God tear up the tears? [01:09:53] Why does he leave evil people in position? [01:09:58] Why does he allow darkness and evil ideology, people personalities to go? Now, my dear friend, this isn't the church. You do understand this, don't you? I've heard so many interpreted. This is the Church, you see? And the Lord's saying now let the unsaved and the saved in the church grow together. The Lord Jesus said the field is the world, not the church. He is dealing with the whole problem of good and evil interacting counteracting. Do you understand what I'm trying to say? [01:10:39] I can only imagine that our brothers and sisters who've suffered in Russia, in Eastern Europe, who've suffered in Afghanistan, who've suffered in mainland China, I can only imagine. They must have many a time thought why doesn't God deal with them? [01:10:58] When you hear of people buried alive I know a one person who was crucified, spent three days dying. [01:11:06] You wonder why? Why doesn't God strike such people dead? Especially when you find out that those people who do it die peaceably in their beds years later you wonder, what is the justice in this whole thing? Why doesn't God? [01:11:23] But we have to remember Romans 828 all things work together for good to them that love God who are called according to the purpose of God. So, my dear child of God, I believe we're dealing with something we don't fully understand. Why does God allow a starling? Why does he allow a Hitler? Why does he allow a mouth of dong? Why does he allow these evil people? Why does he allow them to grow like great trees? Why does he allow them to do so much evil? Why do they almost stamp out the work of God? In some amazing way, God is using the evil to perfect the good. [01:12:09] We shall never understand it, but at the end, the whole thing will be sorted out. [01:12:19] And when the harvest comes, those who are born of God and who have walked with God will shine like the sun in the kingdom. [01:12:31] And those who've been the tears will be gathered into bundles and burnt in everlasting fire. [01:12:42] Now, I don't know whether that means anything to you. Of course, in America you don't have quite the same problem. [01:12:49] Maybe it will come. [01:12:55] This parable of the tears means nothing to people who live in an ordered society where they really have very little. There are evil people around, and they wonder why they prosper. But they're not persecuted. People don't lose their lives because of them, generally speaking. But when you're face to face with this kind of evil and it seems to be triumphant and universal and all powerful and somehow or others, all hell is let loose. It is an hour of evil that comes upon even the children of God. Then you can be filled with a million questions. [01:13:35] But God is interested in a harvest, and he will not pull up the tears. [01:13:43] And injure the wheat, he is preparing people for eternal service. [01:13:58] Now, there are two other parables here. There's the mustard seed and there's the leaven. Now, I have to tell you straight away, I have great problem with the mustard seed, and I do hope I shall be asked back to speak. [01:14:13] And I have enormous problem with the mustard seed because living in Israel, we have a seed that is the smallest of all seeds. [01:14:23] It is so small that when you have it in your hand and I would have anything up to a hundred of them there in my hand. Ernie here in the front would hardly be able to see them. [01:14:36] This little seed grows into a tree. I've got them all growing all around where I live. It's called the mustard tree. It grows to 14ft, normally 10ft, but it grows. Now? What did Jesus mean? Now, you see, one interpretation of this is this you are all in the west acquainted with the mustard that only grows to that height. Do you understand? So how does a mustard seed grow? Into a tree or a bush, you say, well, it has to be abnormal. [01:15:07] And that is absolutely right. The interpretation something has happened very much to the church. The institutional church is not what God planted. Something's gone horribly wrong. And then we're told all the birds of the air, which are always a symbol of the powers of darkness in the Bible, they come to lodge in the Bonges. [01:15:27] Now, I have a problem. [01:15:29] People who believe in this interpretation tell us. They say this mustard seed was not here in the land in the time of Jesus. It comes from Madagascar, they say they said the same thing about the apple tree. Now, we found pips near Engedi in an old cave from the time of Bacoffa. So we now know there were apple trees in the time of Jesus. According to the Song of Solomon, you remember, they all said it was an apricot. Couldn't be an apple tree. No such thing. No such thing as apple trees. [01:16:03] Now, I want to explain something. [01:16:06] When Jesus gave the interpretation of the tears, it's obvious that that to me is the key to this trio. [01:16:16] Now, I want to tell you what is abnormal. [01:16:20] You don't have to accept what I say, because there's plenty of others who give another interpretation. But the abnormal thing about the mustard tree is the birds lodging in its branches. [01:16:35] I have never seen a nest in a mustard tree and I have never, ever seen birds, even roosting, in the mustard tree. [01:16:50] Now, you all know I'm very interested in birds. I have two cockatoos, two parrots, we keep some birds outside the window and a thousand of other things. So I'm always interested in birds. I have never seen birds in a mustard tweet. Now, this is how I understand it. What God is speaking about is something that's grown, and into that have come the powers, the powers of the prince of the heir, the powers of darkness, and they have lodged in that thing. They should not be there. They don't belong there. They have nothing to do with it, but they're there. [01:17:33] If you read in Ephesians, chapter two and verse two, we read, wherein ye once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the powers of the heir, of the spirit that now worketh in the sons of Disobedience. [01:17:52] Don't we have to say when we look at church history that we see this again and again and again, the spirit that works in the sons of Disobedience coming to lodge amongst the sons of light, something horribly wrong. [01:18:13] Now, when we come to the parable of the leaven, there we are clear, because everywhere you look in the New Testament and the Old Testament, leaven is a symbol of evil, it is a symbol of sin. If you take your scriptures very briefly, just a few scriptures, you look at Matthew and chapter 16 and verse six, jesus. Said unto them take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Now, the Pharisees and the Sadducees are very interesting. [01:18:56] Very rarely are these groups understood in Christian circles. Pharisees always looked upon as hypocrites. [01:19:04] And yet the Pharisees were puritans. [01:19:07] Actually, the very word in Hebrew means puritan. And Simon the just who founded them was one of the godliest men in the 400 years of silence that we speak of between Malachi and Matthew. [01:19:25] And if it hadn't been for the Pharisees, the whole work of God amongst his people would have been assimilated into hellenism. [01:19:36] They were wonderful people, godly people. [01:19:40] They went back to the heart of matter. [01:19:43] They were fundamentalists. [01:19:45] They believed in the authority of God's word. They believed in a kingdom that was to come. They believed in a messiah. Quite different to the sadducees. The Sadducees were academics, upper class. [01:20:01] They were liberal theologians. They didn't believe in life after death. They didn't believe in the inspiration of the prophets. [01:20:10] They had questions about the word of God that said, you see here you have eleven what is the leaven of the Pharisees legalism? [01:20:22] My word, that says something for church history, doesn't it? Every single move of the Holy Spirit has ended in legalism, hasn't it? [01:20:32] Doesn't matter where you turn. In the whole history of the church, every move of the Spirit after so many generations has become an outward show, a system and liberal theology. My word, that's eleven what that has done within the kingdom of God and to the kingdom of God. I could give you many more scriptures in this manner. I think of the words of the Apostle Paul by inspiration of the Spirit, a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump purge out there for the old leaven that ye may be unleavened for Christ our Passover has sacrificed for us. [01:21:17] Isn't that interesting? [01:21:20] There's a very interesting little vision in Zechariah of a lady who hides leaven in an IFA. And an IFA was the meal offering and you were never allowed to put leaven in it interestingly. The last picture we have of this woman. She becomes two and she flies away with the wings of a stalk to Babylon. I find that very interesting. [01:21:48] Martin Luther talked about the Babylonian captivity of the church and I wonder whether here in this little parable we have something. Right at the beginning something was hidden in. Do you know that in every single movement of the Spirit of God in church history, almost at its inception an enemy has inserted leaven and the leaven has worked and worked and worked and worked until it takes over the whole. [01:22:25] I always say the job of shepherds is to see that no leaven gets into a work of God. For once it's in, it's very hard to get it out. [01:22:38] Well, I leave these three parables. I feel they're only my five loaves and two fish. [01:22:44] Just a little for you. And here are the last trio. The last trio. Jesus spoke privately, and I think that's interesting one is of a man. He says, the man found a treasure. This is a very interesting little story. He just told the story. Man found a treasure and he hid it. Then he went off and bought the field. Well, we know something about that. [01:23:11] He was clever. He found a very valuable treasure and he hid it and then went off and purchased the whole field so that he could get the treasure. [01:23:22] And another man was a man who sought he was a merchant in pearl. And he found one pearl of unbelievable excellence and the price was enormous. [01:23:39] He must have wrestled with it for some time. And finally he sold everything he had to buy that one pearl. [01:23:50] Now, Jesus doesn't interpret either of these but then he tells us a quite different story. He says, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragneck that was put into the sea and all kinds of things got caught in it. Fish and shellfish and bottles and all kinds of weird things. They pulled the whole lot in good fish, bad fish and rubbish sat down and began to sort it all out. And the good fish they put in barrels and the bad fish they threw away, normally used for fertilizer. [01:24:32] Then he interprets the last one. [01:24:36] Now, if you can bear with me for one moment and I'll be finished. [01:24:43] There's an enormous difference between fish, even good fish, and treasure and pearl. Don't you think? [01:24:56] Isn't it a strange association to bring together treasure and pearl and good fish? [01:25:05] I understand that this is the mystery of God's persevering love and grace. [01:25:18] He is seeking to fish in the hole with a wider sweep as possible so he can get the good fish. But, my dear friends, that's not the end of the story. [01:25:35] What he's really after is treasure. [01:25:41] He's after pearl. [01:25:44] Now, is it fanciful of me to point out to you that the city of God, the bride, the wife of the lamb is made out of treasure and pearl? [01:26:00] Gold, precious stone and pearl? [01:26:10] Does that mean that the Lord Jesus laid down his life for all that he might obtain? The bride, he bought the whole field in order just to get those who would go the whole way with him and become the treasure. [01:26:31] This treasure, you know, is not automatic. [01:26:36] I think you know that. [01:26:39] Jesus said to the church at Laodicea I counsel thee to buy of me gold refined in the fire that thou mayest become rich. What did he mean, this gold of his nature? This gold of his life was given by his grace to us as a free gift. So why does he say, I counsel thee to buy? The price is experience, costly experience. [01:27:04] That gold of the life of Christ never becomes ours until we experience deep things. [01:27:13] Sometimes it costs us everything. Oh, dear child of God, think of this for a moment. Here you have the persevering, love and grace of the Lord Jesus. He is this merchant man seeking that pearl. And he finds this pearl of extraordinary excellence. [01:27:36] It cost him everything to get that pearl. [01:27:41] Here is the Lord Jesus and he finds this treasure that he's been seeking for all, as it were, through his life and he hides it and buys the whole field that he might get that treasure. [01:28:00] It cost the Lord Jesus everything. [01:28:06] Everything. [01:28:10] Now, is it wrong of me to suggest to you that if you are going to become that treasure out of which he will build the city out of which he will form the bride if you are going to become that pearl out of which those gates of that city are going to be formed, it will cost you everything. [01:28:42] Here is the mystery of the Kingdom of Heaven. [01:28:50] I remember an old hymn from my early days as a believer and it had one little line that has always stayed with me those that trust Him holy, find Him holy. Truth. [01:29:20] I don't know how much treasure there is in you, how much pearl there is. I only know this precious stone is formed in the darkest places of the earth by enormous fire and heat and pressure. [01:29:43] I only know this that pearl is formed by a bit of worthless grit that falls into the softest part of the clam and the whole life of the clam is mobilized to eject it. [01:30:01] And each time a coat goes round the grit one coat and another coat and another coat until there is a pearl. [01:30:17] Dear child of God to get this precious stone, this gold, this treasure and this pearl, god sometimes uses tears. [01:30:35] Sometimes he uses evil to drive us to an understanding of the worthlessness of our lives apart from Him the brevity of our lives to an understanding of that word. What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? [01:31:05] Here, then, are the mistress of the Kingdom of heaven. I wish that you had had someone else who could have interpreted these parables more fully and more powerfully than I. I can only give you the little I have got from the law on these. These that I call my five Lobes and my two Fish. [01:31:35] I know that the Lord can bless these five lobes and two fish and break them and multiply them and do something in all our lives that will be holy to his glory. Shall we pray?