Podcasts about Herod

In this sermon by Chris Romig, the focus is on Revelation chapter 11, where John is told to measure the temple, the altar, and the worshipers. Chris explains that this act of measuring represents both evaluation and the delineation of God's people. Drawing from Old Testament prophecies, he highlights the Jewish context in which these visions take place and traces the history of the temple in Jerusalem—from Solomon's and Zerubbabel's temples to Herod's expansion and their destruction. The central question addressed is what temple John is referring to, since no temple stood in Jerusalem at the time Revelation was written. Chris discusses prophetic passages that point to a future Third Temple, which he connects to events preceding Christ's return, including the rise of the Antichrist and the tribulation period. He closes by emphasizing God's enduring covenant with Israel, warning against antisemitism, and urging believers to remain biblically grounded and prayerful. Ultimately, the message is a call to trust in God's promises, to pray for peace, and to remain faithful as history unfolds in line with Scripture.

They were the evidence given when John the Baptizer doubted. They forced the Pharisees to accept or reject his claims. So, how would his "home crowd" respond? How will Herod, who has only heard of him, respond?

This episode of Red in 30 marks the beginning of Red State Of Mind—a deep dive into how the red words of Jesus illuminate the inner world of thought, perspective, and identity. The reflection opens with a bold concept: what if the places in scripture—Jerusalem, Galilee, Israel—were parallels for the mind, and the people within those stories represented thoughts? With that lens, the reading through Matthew 1–3 becomes not just historical but deeply personal. Every genealogy, every name, every event becomes a mirror for the mentalities that live within us.The conversation reframes the genealogy of Jesus as a picture of generational thought patterns. Abraham's faith and fear, Solomon's excess, and others from that lineage represent inherited mentalities that can still try to define us today. But the birth of Christ—conceived not by man but by the Holy Ghost—signals a divine interruption. Identity, the episode explains, isn't meant to be handed down through human lineage but conceived by God's Spirit. To be “with child of the Holy Ghost” is to let divine thought conceive something new in the mind—a Christ-consciousness that saves every other thought from misalignment.As the conversation moves through the story of Herod and the wise men, ego and inner resistance take center stage. Herod represents the part of the self that refuses to relinquish control—the thought that kills anything that threatens its throne. The birth of the Christ nature exposes how ego-driven thoughts fight to survive, even at the cost of peace. Yet, like the wise men, certain thoughts are meant to recognize and bow to the true King within. The baptism of Jesus then becomes a symbol of alignment—each experience, each past season paving the way for the full expression of the mind of Christ inside us.The episode closes with an invitation to treat scripture as a mirror rather than a manual. The 30-day Red Reading Cycle isn't just study—it's spiritual pregnancy. It's the process of conceiving, carrying, and birthing the mind of Christ in private and personal ways. When read this way, the Bible stops being distant history and becomes a living journey of inner renewal. The Christ thought doesn't just visit the mind—it transforms it from the inside out. Get full access to REDIN30 at redin30.substack.com/subscribe

Acts 11 commences with Peter being caused to justify why he baptised Gentiles. We next have a description of the progress of the truth in Antioch in the province of Syria, where believers were first derisively called 'Christians'. One of these faithful believers is a prophet named Agabus. He prophesies of a great famine that would affect the entire Roman world. The disciples of Antioch start a fund to help Judean believers, who were greatly affected and in dire need. In Acts 12 Herod Antipas kills the Apostle James - the year was AD 44. Seeing how much this delighted the Jews Herod has Peter arrested for execution after Passover. Despite being securely chained between guards the angel of the Lord causes a deep sleep to overcome the guards and releases Peter. Peter proceeds to the house where the ecclesia is gathered to pray for his deliverance. A maid named Rhoda answers the door and runs to tell the disciples that Peter was outside. Rhoda is told that she must be mistaken. The disciples say that it must be Peter's "messenger" (Greek angelos- angel). Peter is admitted to the house and he recounts how he had been delivered. James, the half-brother of Jesus. was informed and told Peter to secretly depart to a different location where he cannot be found. Herod kills the guards (verses 20-23). The chapter concludes with an account of Herod's narcissistic claims and his being smitten with dysentery by the angel of God and Herod dying verses 20-23. Nonetheless the Word of God exceedingly prevails.Thanks for joining us - we pray you found these comments helpful in your appreciation of God's words, join again tomorrow

The priests are organised by Hezekiah in 2 Chronicles 31 for the tithes from the offerings of the people. And a census of the priests from 3 years old is made. From the tithes the distribution is apportioned by numbers and by needs. Read verses 20-21 aloud - pause and ponder - "with all his heart". Alexander the Great (Goat) was the great Grecian king that did according to his will. Alexander dies in a drunken stupor in Babylon in BC321. Leaving no heir Alexander leaves his four generals to divide his Empire between them. Two dominant contestants emerged among them - Ptolemy, whose territory was south of the Holy Land; and Seleucis, whose territory was northeast of Israel (called Coel Syria). Chapter 11 focusses on the wars and intrigues between ‘the King of the North' and 'the King of the South'. These two powers contest the ownership of the Holy Land, which soon became part of the territory of the Seleucid Empire. In 171 BC Antiochus Epiphanes comes to power in the north and desecrates the Temple in Jerusalem by offering a pig on the altar. In BC 168 the family of the high priest Matthias Maccabeus revolt and expel the Grecians. The exploits of this heroic and faithful family are described in Daniel 11 (and the non-inspired apocryphal books of 1 and 2 Maccabees - also recommended reading for those who want to learn more of this era is "My Glorious Brothers" by Howard Fast. This author won a Nobel Prize for literature for this book. Also thoroughly recommended reading for Daniel 11 is the book "Exposition of Daniel" by John Thomas). Verses 31-35 of Daniel 11 describe the love for their God of the Maccabean family and the help God gives them in casting out of Israel the profaners of the Almighty's holy Land. For almost 100 years the Maccabean dynasty rule Israel. Firstly, under Judas Maccabeus (until he was betrayed by the Jews for money) and then by his brother Simon, and Simon's successors. The time of the end is developed in verses 40-45 when the northern confederacy, headed by Russia will occupy Constantinople - modern day Istanbul - and will attack the glorious land (Israel) and these enemies will perish at the hand of Yahweh Tzvaoth. Acts 11 commences with Peter being caused to justify why he baptised Gentiles. We next have a description of the progress of the truth in Antioch in the province of Syria, where believers were first derisively called 'Christians'. One of these faithful believers is a prophet named Agabus. He prophesies of a great famine that would affect the entire Roman world. The disciples of Antioch start a fund to help Judean believers, who were greatly affected and in dire need. In Acts 12 Herod Antipas kills the Apostle James - the year was AD 44. Seeing how much this delighted the Jews Herod has Peter arrested for execution after Passover. Despite being securely chained between guards the angel of the Lord causes a deep sleep to overcome the guards and releases Peter. Peter proceeds to the house where the ecclesia is gathered to pray for his deliverance. A maid named Rhoda answers the door and runs to tell the disciples that Peter was outside. Rhoda is told that she must be mistaken. The disciples say that it must be Peter's "messenger" (Greek angelos- angel). Peter is admitted to the house and he recounts how he had been delivered. James, the half-brother of Jesus. was informed and told Peter to secretly depart to a different location where he cannot be found. Herod kills the guards (verses 20-23). The chapter concludes with an account of Herod's narcissistic claims and his being smitten with dysentery by the angel of God and Herod dying verses 20-23. Nonetheless the Word of God exceedingly prevails. Thanks for joining us - we pray you found these comments helpful in your appreciation of God's words, join again tomorrow 

This episode is part 33 in a study of the gospel of Luke. Jesus is threatened by Herod. Jesus attends a party given by a Pharisee and has some advise for the crowd at the party about humility. https://thebiblestudypodcast.com/luke-13-14-party-healing-and-advice/ Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Today's Topics: 1) Gospel - Luke 13:31-35 - Some Pharisees came to Jesus and said, "Go away, leave this area because Herod wants to kill You." He replied, "Go and tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and I perform healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I accomplish My purpose. Yet I must continue on My way today, tomorrow, and the following day, for it is impossible that a prophet should die outside of Jerusalem.' "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how many times I yearned to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were unwilling! Behold, your house will be abandoned. But I tell you, you will not see Me until the time comes when you say, Blessed is He Who comes in the Name of the Lord." Bishop Sheen quote of the day 2, 3, 4) Terry discusses what must be done to foster vocations to the Priesthood, and the influences of the Saints and others

Gospel Luke 13:31-35 Some Pharisees came to Jesus and said, "Go away, leave this area because Herod wants to kill you." He replied, "Go and tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and I perform healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I accomplish my purpose. Yet I must continue on my way today, tomorrow, and the following day, for it is impossible that a prophet should die outside of Jerusalem.' "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how many times I yearned to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were unwilling! Behold, your house will be abandoned. But I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” Reflection The most likely reason that Jesus says he must be killed in Jerusalem is the fact that Jerusalem was the place of most of the resistance to any of the messages of the prophets. So it was there between the temple and a prophetic voice, that this story unfolds in a very unfortunate way. They continue to resist the truth. And what is so touching about this passage is the way in which the truth is that God, through Jesus, has always longed to gather the children of Israel into a family, into a place of intimacy with him. And they've always refused. And today they still refuse. Closing Prayer Father, you ask us through the Holy Spirit's power to face so many things within us that we really don't want to look at. We don't want to face. Bless us with openness to your prophetic word, to your truth, so that we can feel the fruits of what it means to be cared for by you, loved by you, forgiven by you. And we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some Pharisees came to Jesus and said,"Go away, leave this area because Herod wants to kill you."He replied, "Go and tell that fox,'Behold, I cast out demons and I perform healings today and tomorrow,and on the third day I accomplish my purpose.Yet I must continue on my way today, tomorrow, and the following day,for it is impossible that a prophet should dieoutside of Jerusalem.'"Jerusalem, Jerusalem,you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you,how many times I yearned to gather your children togetheras a hen gathers her brood under her wings,but you were unwilling!Behold, your house will be abandoned.But I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say,Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord."

+ Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke 13: 31 – 35 Some Pharisees came to Jesus and said, “Go away, leave this area because Herod wants to kill you.”He replied, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and I perform healings today and tomorrow,and on the third day I accomplish my purpose. Yet I must continue on my way today, tomorrow, and the following day, for it is impossible that a prophet should die outside of Jerusalem.'“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how many times I yearned to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were unwilling! Behold, your house will be abandoned. But I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”The Gospel of the Lord

When Melissa wrote to The Patrick Madrid Show, her email was simple and direct: she’d been a bridesmaid in two weddings years ago, both involving Catholics who married outside the Church without dispensation. Now that she understands her faith better, she wonders if she sinned by participating. Patrick begins with calm reassurance. “If you didn’t know the Church’s teaching at the time, then no – you didn’t sin,” he says. “You can’t be guilty of what you didn’t know.” Ignorance doesn’t excuse every act, but it removes moral culpability when the person truly doesn’t understand what they’re doing. Still, he added, “If your conscience bothers you, bring it to confession. Just mention it briefly and leave it at the foot of the Cross.” Patrick then turns to the practical question: should Catholics attend such weddings? To explain his answer, he points to the example of St. John the Baptist. Herod’s marriage to his brother’s wife wasn’t valid, and John spoke out against it. That’s what led to his imprisonment and death. Patrick imagines Herod visiting John in prison: “Can you picture Herod saying, ‘John, I know you disagree with my marriage but just come to the reception. Keep the peace. Have a good meal.’ Do you think John would have said yes?” Patrick pauses. “If St. John the Baptist wouldn’t go along to get along, why should we?” For him, the choice is about integrity. A Catholic can love family without surrendering faith. In moments of tension, fidelity to Christ matters more than social comfort.

Read Online“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how many times I yearned to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were unwilling!” Luke 13:34It's helpful to ponder the Sacred Heart of Jesus. His heart is one that is strong and gentle, compassionate and just, merciful and truthful. In this Gospel passage, we are given a glimpse of Jesus' love for the people of Jerusalem. He was not expressing His love for the city, but for the people in the city. It is clear that His deepest desire, His strong yearning, was that they allow Him to draw them close to Him so that He can protect them from all evil.Jesus begins by speaking the word “Jerusalem” twice. This expresses deep compassion for the people of that city. It also expresses a lament that they have not turned to Him, remaining unwilling to change. Their refusal began long before Jesus walked the earth when their forefathers rejected the call of the prophets to repent and turn back to God. The stubbornness of their fathers continued with the people of Jesus' day, and He experienced their rejection. This rejection did not lead Jesus to anger or condemnation as much as it led Him to holy sorrow.The image of a hen gathering her brood under her wings is a lovely image to meditate upon. A mother hen protects her chicks with great courage and without concern for her own safety. When danger approaches, she extends her wings and covers the vulnerable chicks to protect them. Jesus uses this motherly image to express His desire to protect not only the people of Jerusalem, but all of us.If Jesus yearned to gather the people together under his “wings” to protect them, then we should know, with certainty, that we need our Lord's protection. He would not desire something that was unnecessary. He is not an overly protective God Who irrationally worries about His children. His concern is real and necessary, and we must know that we need His protection.As you go about your daily life, do you feel as though you can handle life on your own? Do you act as an independent child who wants to separate yourself from the safety of your parents? Though we must all work to become responsible in life, we will never arrive at a point where we no longer need the protection of our loving God. The world in which we live is filled with dangers from which only God can protect us.At the beginning of today's Gospel, Jesus referred to Herod as a “fox.” That image must be seen in the context of Jesus desiring to act as a mother hen, protecting her brood. Jesus was told that Herod was trying to kill Him, but He clearly was not afraid of Herod. Of Herod's desire to kill Jesus, Jesus said, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and I perform healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I accomplish my purpose.'” As a protector, Jesus took authority over demons, performed healings and opened the gates of Heaven by rising from the dead on the third day. As we go through life, there will be many demons who seek to attack us. We will need many forms of healing, and without the gift of Jesus' triumph over death itself, we will not be led to the glories of Heaven. Demons are real. Wounds are real. And the need for a Savior is real. Reflect, today, upon the image of Jesus acting as a mother hen, extending His wings over you to protect you from the many temptations and diabolical attacks you will encounter in this world. Ponder the fact that you need His daily protection. The demons will never stop their attacks. Mental, emotional and spiritual wounds need His healing. Jesus is the only one Who can protect you and heal you so that He can then pour forth the gift of eternal life. Remain under His protective care, and allow Him to fulfill the yearnings of His Sacred Heart. My compassionate Lord, You yearn to protect me from the many evils in this world. You yearn to heal me of the wounds my sins have caused. And You yearn to bestow upon me the gift of eternal life. I accept Your protection, dear Lord, and pray for the healing I need. Please cover me always and bestow upon me the gift of eternal life. Jesus, I trust in You.  Images via Adobe Stock: Main; FeaturedSource of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2025 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.

Mark 8:14-21 (ESV)Andrew and Edwin discuss the apostles' misunderstanding of Jesus's leaven parable and what the leaven of the Pharisees and Herodians is.Read the written devo that goes along with this episode by clicking here.    Let us know what you are learning or any questions you have. Email us at TextTalk@ChristiansMeetHere.org.    Join the Facebook community and join the conversation by clicking here. We'd love to meet you. Be a guest among the Christians who meet on Livingston Avenue. Click here to find out more. Michael Eldridge sang all four parts of our theme song. Find more from him by clicking here.   Thanks for talking about the text with us today.________________________________________________If the hyperlinks do not work, copy the following addresses and paste them into the URL bar of your web browser: Daily Written Devo: https://readthebiblemakedisciples.wordpress.com/?p=23246The Christians Who Meet on Livingston Avenue: http://www.christiansmeethere.org/Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/TalkAboutTheTextFacebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/texttalkMichael Eldridge: https://acapeldridge.com/ 

Lk 13:31-35Some Pharisees came to Jesus and said,"Go away, leave this area because Herod wants to kill you."He replied, "Go and tell that fox,'Behold, I cast out demons and I perform healings today and tomorrow,and on the third day I accomplish my purpose.Yet I must continue on my way today, tomorrow, and the following day,for it is impossible that a prophet should dieoutside of Jerusalem.'"Jerusalem, Jerusalem,you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you,how many times I yearned to gather your children togetheras a hen gathers her brood under her wings,but you were unwilling!Behold, your house will be abandoned.But I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say,Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord."

Delivered by Ariel from the Parish of Saint Albert the Great in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Romans 8: 31b-39; Rs psalm 109: 21-22.26-27.30-31; Luke 13: 31-35.NO FEAR IN THE LORD Our meditation today isentitled: No Fear in the Lord. A young man told his friends during a session offaith formation in the church, how he maintains his faith in the place where heworks. He is a devout and truly believer, but his friends who are not of thesame faith with him, do not show themselves as believers. Many like toblaspheme God. They do sinful acts such as spreading slander, acting rudely inwords and actions, cheating and unfairness to neighbours. This young man holdsthe principle that the God he believes in and who accompanies him at all times,gives him a sense of security, strength, and confidence. He has no fearwhatsoever, even though his surroundings are in favor of a lifestyle that iscontrary to God. For him, there is no fear of living and being with God. Fellowemployees in the office who are abusive, tell lies, spread gossip or insults,and cheat, are the friends he meets every day. He does not feel strange eventhreatened by them. He deals with every one in fairness and friendship. But there's not anyslightest chance for him to be influenced by them. He uses the power of God, sohe is able to maintain his faith and be able to also relate them in a balancedand normal way. This kind of experience is experienced also by many of us.These are all experiences in the real world. In the unreal world, such ascircumstances and reality beyond the reach of the human senses, often become adistraction. Ghost and other supernatural entities are believed to exist inevery culture. Many of us who relyon the power and the holy name of God that accompanying us, not at all afraidof demons, ghosts and supernatural forces. We truly believe that God isstronger than all those powers. Only in the name of the Most Holy God, we areprotected, strengthened and saved. In addition, there are also deadly threats,such as physical violence, war, disease, famine and natural disasters. Forthose who give priority to the power of God in the guidance of their entirelives, they are not at all afraid or shaken in their lives. God determines thefate of their lives. So the good news forus today is the one proclaimed by the two readings today. Saint Paul in hisletter to the Romans emphasizes that only the love of the Lord Jesus Christstrengthens, protects and saves us. There is no other power besides God thatcan separate and stop us. The same is true of the Gospel passage, which revealshow Jesus journeyed confidently into Jerusalem, where He was intended by God.The threat from Herod never scared him a single point or took a step back. Let's pray. In the name of the Father... O Lord, teach us to become people who are not afraid of anyone and anythingbut You. Hail Mary, full of grace ... In the name of the Father ...

Send us a textA murderer walks free while the innocent King is nailed to a cross. That jarring contrast between Barabbas and Jesus is more than a moment in history—it's a lens on how power, religion, and politics still trade truth for convenience. We follow the pressure campaign that wore down Pilate, the uneasy alliance with Herod, and the chilling chorus that shouted for crucifixion, then ask what it means to “prevail” with God rather than with empire.We unpack the scapegoat motif, the legal theater that declared Jesus blameless yet condemned him anyway, and the deeper reason Calvary stands apart. The brutality of crucifixion was common; the worth of the One crucified was not. Only the sinless Son of God could bear the weight of our guilt. That's why the cross reveals the darkest verdict on human pride and the brightest proof of divine love. From there we turn to today, where pulpits and podiums increasingly share a stage, and where believers face a subtle test: will we let partisan zeal outrank kingdom allegiance, or will we render to God what is God's and let the gospel lead our public witness?Along the way, we name the tensions many feel during election seasons, call out the temptation to outsource conscience to worldly power, and offer a path forward rooted in prayer, humility, and fruit that lasts. The scars of Christ will mark eternity, not to shame us, but to steady our gratitude and courage. If you've felt squeezed between cultural noise and spiritual conviction, this conversation invites you to recover a clearer center: Christ first, always.If this resonated, share it with a friend, subscribe for more thoughtful, scripture-rich episodes, and leave a review to help others find the show. What part challenged you most today?Support the showBE PROVOKED AND BE PERSUADED!

Send us a textPower can know the truth and still pass the buck. We follow the path from Pilate's political sidestep to Herod's hunger for spectacle and watch how Jesus meets curiosity and malice with a charged, unsettling silence. Along the way, religious leaders amplify accusations, a crowd gathers momentum, and two rivals become friends over a shared mockery of the innocent.We dig into why Herod wanted a sign and why so many of us still chase wonders as if the gospel needed fireworks to be trusted. Drawing on the New Testament's witness, we unpack how signs validated messengers but were never meant to replace repentance or produce faith on demand. The resurrection already stands as the defining sign; making miracles the main event only hollows our devotion and turns Christ into an entertainer. That contrast comes into full view when the crowd chooses Barabbas—an insurrectionist and murderer—over the one both Pilate and Herod declare faultless.From there, we bring it home. What does it mean to stop seeking signs and become one? We talk about the ordinary miracles of transformed character, quiet obedience, and disciplined love: serving the poor, visiting the sick and imprisoned, sharing the gospel with clarity, honoring gathered worship. In a culture that may harden toward Scripture and label biblical conviction as hate, embodied holiness becomes a living testimony no algorithm can suppress. If you've ever felt tugged toward spiritual spectacle, this conversation invites you back to the steady fire of faithfulness—less sizzle, more weight.If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend who's wrestling with doubt or distraction, and leave a review to help others find the conversation.Support the showBE PROVOKED AND BE PERSUADED!

A stark contrast is drawn between two kings. Herod, a slave to his lust and fear, murders John the Baptist. The true King, Jesus, reveals His divine compassion and power. He provides for the lost sheep of Israel and the crowds that followed him in the feeding of the five thousand, a foretaste of the Heavenly Banquet to come. Jesus then demonstrates His absolute authority over creation by walking on the sea and rescuing Peter from his doubt. Jesus not only commands us to “fear not,” but provides us every reason to obey through his love and compassion.  The Rev. Derek Waffel, pastor of Ascension Lutheran Church in Huntsville, AL, joins the Rev. Dr. Phil Booe to study Matthew 14:1-36.  To learn more about Ascension Lutheran, visit ascensionhsv.org The Gospel of Matthew bridges Old and New Testaments, presenting Jesus as the promised Messiah who fulfills the Law we could never keep and establishes His kingdom of grace for all nations. Written by a tax collector transformed by pure grace, Matthew reveals Christ as the true Son of David and Emmanuel (God with us) who challenges us with the crushing demands of the Law in His Sermon on the Mount to the sweet comfort of the Gospel in His death and resurrection. From royal genealogy to glorious resurrection, this verse-by-verse study proclaims the One who conquered sin, death, and the devil for us, now delivering forgiveness, life, and salvation through Word and Sacrament as He remains with His church always, even to the end of the age.  Thy Strong Word, hosted by Rev. Dr. Phil Booe, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church of Luverne, MN, reveals the light of our salvation in Christ through study of God's Word, breaking our darkness with His redeeming light. Each weekday, two pastors fix our eyes on Jesus by considering Holy Scripture, verse by verse, in order to be strengthened in the Word and be equipped to faithfully serve in our daily vocations. Submit comments or questions to: thystrongword@kfuo.org.

In this compelling sermon, Pastor Karl dives into Matthew Chapter 2, exploring the journey of the wise men and the early life of Jesus. He unpacks the historical and political context of Herod's tyrannical rule and the profound obedience of Mary, Joseph, and the magi in the face of uncertainty. Pastor Karl emphasizes that faith grows not in comfort but through obedience, even when it feels like exile or leads to unexpected places like Nazareth. Highlighting the transformative power of worship and sacrifice, he challenges listeners to prioritize Jesus' story over their own, trust God's providence in difficult seasons, and remain faithful wherever God places them. Join us for an inspiring message that encourages steadfast faith and submission to God's plan. Watch all our sermons on our youtube channel "Flipside Christian Church"Join us in person 9:00am & 10:30am every Sunday morning.37193 Ave 12 #3h, Madera, CA 93636For more visit us at flipside.churchFor more podcasts visit flipsidepodcasts.transistor.fm

Episode Description:What happened between the Old and New Testaments? Discover the dramatic 400-year period that transformed the biblical world from Persian rule to Roman occupation, from a modest temple to Herod's architectural wonder, and from religious unity to competing Jewish sects.Join Professor Rachel Chen and Harvard-trained church historian Bishop Andy Lewter as they trace the epic story from Alexander the Great's Hellenistic revolution through the Maccabean Revolt, the rise and corruption of the Hasmonean Dynasty, and Herod the Great's ruthless climb to power. Learn how Antiochus IV's persecution sparked a guerrilla war led by the priest Mattathias and his sons, establishing Jewish independence celebrated today as Hanukkah.Explore why synagogues, rabbis, the Sanhedrin, and major Jewish sects like the Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and Zealots—all absent from the Old Testament—dominate the New Testament landscape. Understand how Roman roads, Greek language, and diaspora communities became divine instruments for spreading the gospel.This episode reveals why those "silent" centuries weren't silent at all, but rather God's orchestration of world history to prepare for the perfect moment when "the fullness of time had come."Perfect for: Bible students, history enthusiasts, church leaders, seminary students, and anyone seeking deeper understanding of the New Testament's historical context.Key Topics: Inter-Testamental Period, Alexander the Great, Hellenism, Maccabean Revolt, Hanukkah, Hasmonean Dynasty, Herod the Great, Jewish sects, Roman occupation

A conversation with the bestselling author, classicist and the military and naval historian Barry Strauss about his latest book Jews vs. Rome: Two Centuries of Rebellion Against the World's Mightiest Empire.We explore:Why Julius Caesar became a key patron of the Jews and how his support shaped Jewish life in the Roman EmpireThe pivotal moment when Antipater (Herod's father) saved Caesar in Egypt, and how it changed Jewish-Roman relationsCaesar's assassination: the personal ambitions and fears that drove the conspirators beyond Republican ideologyHerod the Great's extraordinary political survival skills: switching allegiances from Antony to Octavian and always landing on his feetThe ruthless pragmatism of Herod's reign, including the execution of his own talented sonsThe historical plausibility of the "slaughter of the innocents" story and what it reveals about Herod's characterFor Barry's previous appearance, check out episode 81.Subscribe to the Cost of Glory newsletter for detailed maps, images, and analysis of this pivotal moment in ancient history: https://costofglory.substack.com/Get in touch at:Website: https://costofglory.comX: https://x.com/costofglory

[Matthew 22:15-22] Then the Pharisees met together to plot how to trap Jesus into saying something for which he could be arrested. [16] They sent some of their disciples, along with the supporters of Herod, to meet with him. “Teacher,” they said, “we know how honest you are. You teach the way of God truthfully. You are impartial and don't play favorites. [17] Now tell us what you think about this: Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” [18] But Jesus knew their evil motives. “You hypocrites!” he said. “Why are you trying to trap me? [19] Here, show me the coin used for the tax.” When they handed him a Roman coin, [20] he asked, “Whose picture and title are stamped on it?” [21] “Caesar's,” they replied. “Well, then,” he said, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.” [22] His reply amazed them, and they went away. Be careful not to let your _________________ own you. [Luke 12:33-34] “Sell your possessions and give to those in need. This will store up treasure for you in heaven! And the purses of heaven never get old or develop holes. Your treasure will be safe; no thief can steal it and no moth can destroy it. [34] Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. God wants you to ________________ in the Kingdom of Heaven. [Malachi 3:10] Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven's Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test! God wants to _________________ you, and he wants to bless _________________ through you. Generosity _________________ God's blessings. [Luke 11:42] “What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things. Jesus has called us to a life of _________________. [2 Corinthians 9:7-8] You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” [8] And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. You will have _______________ when you live a life of generosity. [Luke 6:38] Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.” Don't stop the _________________! God wants his blessings to flow ________ you and _________________ you.

Welcome to the Christmas series! Herod, boiling in a jealous rage, commits the same act as Pharaoh did long ago. In a chaotic and fiery frenzy, children are taken from their homes and killed, all because of the pride of one man. Sign up for special devotionals at StoriesoftheMessiah.com. As we dive deeply into iconic Bible heroes' enthralling narratives, we find more than just stories of faith and miracles. We discover a recurrent theme, a spiritual undertone that connects each tale to the grandeur of the Gospel. They're not just standalone legends; they're threads in a divine tapestry, weaving a story that foreshadows Jesus Christ, the ultimate hero, the promised Messiah who brings light to the darkest corners of history. For more Bible stories download the Pray.com app.  To learn more about Rabbi Schneider visit https://discoveringthejewishjesus.com/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

(14) Matthew 2:19-21 - The Death of Herod

In this Bible Story, Jesus is taken before Pilate and brutally beaten. The crowd demands Jesus be crucified. Pilate, who knew Jesus was innocent, washes his hands clean and releases Jesus to be crucified. This story is inspired by Matthew 27:12-26; Mark 15:2-5; Luke 23:2-25 & John 18:28-32; 19:12-15. Go to BibleinaYear.com and learn the Bible in a Year.Today's Bible verse is Luke 23:23 from the King James Version.Episode 211: The crowds drag Jesus to Pilate demanding his approval of the death sentence. Pilate, however, takes Jesus aside to learn more about who He is. After taking Him aside, Pilate brought Jesus back out to the crowd to dismiss Him since he had found no wrong in Him. But the crowd would not have it! So Pilate sent Jesus to Herod, but neither did he find Jesus doing anything worthy of death. Finally, Pilate gave the crowd a choice, set Jesus free or set Barabbas - a murderer and insurrectionist - free. But the hate was too strong in the hearts of the crowd and they pushed for Jesus to be crucified.Hear the Bible come to life as Pastor Jack Graham leads you through the official BibleinaYear.com podcast. This Biblical Audio Experience will help you master wisdom from the world's greatest book. In each episode, you will learn to apply Biblical principles to everyday life. Now understanding the Bible is easier than ever before; enjoy a cinematic audio experience full of inspirational storytelling, orchestral music, and profound commentary from world-renowned Pastor Jack Graham.Also, you can download the Pray.com app for more Christian content, including, Daily Prayers, Inspirational Testimonies, and Bedtime Bible Stories.Visit JackGraham.org for more resources on how to tap into God's power for successful Christian living.Pray.com is the digital destination of faith. With over 5,000 daily prayers, meditations, bedtime stories, and cinematic stories inspired by the Bible, the Pray.com app has everything you need to keep your focus on the Lord. Make Prayer a priority and download the #1 App for Prayer and Sleep today in the Apple app store or Google Play store.Executive Producers: Steve Gatena & Max BardProducer: Ben GammonHosted by: Pastor Jack GrahamMusic by: Andrew Morgan SmithBible Story narration by: Todd HaberkornSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to the Christmas series! The magi arrive at the palace of King Herod, looking for the King of the Jews. Herod welcomes them with false-humility, smiling through his gritted teeth. Something isn't right. Sign up for special devotionals at StoriesoftheMessiah.com. As we dive deeply into iconic Bible heroes' enthralling narratives, we find more than just stories of faith and miracles. We discover a recurrent theme, a spiritual undertone that connects each tale to the grandeur of the Gospel. They're not just standalone legends; they're threads in a divine tapestry, weaving a story that foreshadows Jesus Christ, the ultimate hero, the promised Messiah who brings light to the darkest corners of history. For more Bible stories download the Pray.com app.  To learn more about Rabbi Schneider visit https://discoveringthejewishjesus.com/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We are excited to welcome Glenn Butner, who is an Associate Professor of Theology at the Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts. He is also the author of “Jesus the Refugee: Ancient Injustice and Modern Solidarity.” He speaks at length about his book, which is a fascinating thought experiment about whether the Holy Family would be considered refugees under modern constructs, and whether a country would grant protection to them in their flight from Herod. Glenn also shares a moving story of encounter in Costa Rica with Nicaraguan migrants when he struggled to figure out how to help.Brian and Joe share stories from their ministry. Brian tells the story of Nikolai and Elena, two Russian asylum seekers who fled the country in fear of being drafted for the war in Ukraine. They participate in the Mass despite the language differences, and reveal the face of Jesus in their bear hugs and Uno gameplay. Joe shares the story of a recent day at Casa del Migrante when he challenged himself to introduce everyone in the shelter by their name and country of origin. Turns out, he might not have known as many of them as he thought! Hilarity ensued.

Herod the Mad Man - Matthew 2:16-18

Part 5 Sermon Series by Pastor Farayi Bayayi

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and while we wish this wasn't something we needed to talk about, it's a heartbreaking reality—even among those who profess faith in Christ. In this powerful and eye-opening episode, Leslie speaks directly to women who are suffering in silence, helping them understand the truth about domestic abuse through a biblical lens. If you've ever been told to pray harder, submit more, or suffer silently for the sake of your marriage, this episode is a must-listen. With over 45 years of counseling experience, Leslie shares how abuse shows up in both obvious and subtle ways and offers practical, faith-based guidance for identifying abuse, responding wisely, and reclaiming your safety, dignity, and voice. Key Takeaways Domestic Abuse is Always Sin Domestic violence isn't just about physical harm—it's any pattern of dishonoring behavior, including emotional, verbal, spiritual, financial, and sexual abuse. Abuse is never justified, never excusable, and always sinful. God's Word calls us to honor one another as His image-bearers, and repeated harm without repentance is not just sinful—it's destructive. You Are Not to Blame Abuse is not a response to being provoked. Everyone gets frustrated, but each of us is responsible for our own actions and words. Ephesians reminds us: “In your anger, do not sin.” An abuser's choice to harm is not your fault. You are not to carry the blame for someone else's sin. Biblical Headship is Not About Control True biblical headship is never about domination or coercion. Biblical submission must be freely chosen—not forced. When power is used to silence, manipulate, or intimidate, it is no longer leadership; it is oppression. God's heart is always for the oppressed, not the oppressor. God Cares About Your Safety The Bible does not ask you to stay in harm's way. Proverbs 27:12 says, “The prudent see danger and take refuge.” God values your safety and sanity more than keeping up appearances. From Rahab to baby Jesus fleeing Herod, Scripture supports wise action to protect life and wellbeing. Speak the Truth and Allow Consequences Ephesians 5:11 tells us to expose the unfruitful deeds of darkness. Enabling sin through silence is not biblical. Loving your enemy doesn't mean tolerating abuse or reconciling without repentance. True change involves confession, visible repentance, and bearing the weight of consequences. Even David, though forgiven, faced the loss of his child as a result of sin. Healing Starts With Truth and Safety Are you feeling overwhelmed or unsure about what to do next? Start by taking one brave step toward truth and safety. Begin building a safety plan, speak up to someone you trust, and don't be afraid to set boundaries. Romans 12:21 reminds us, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” You are not powerless. Choosing what is good might mean leaving, telling the truth, or finally saying "no more." If this episode spoke to your heart, and you realize you need help navigating a destructive marriage, please know you're not alone. We offer faith-based support and resources to help you move forward with courage and clarity. Visit https://leslievernick.com/guide to get your Quick Start Guide now. Dear friend, God does not call you to suffer in silence. You are His beloved daughter, worthy of safety, love, and respect. Abuse breaks the covenant—not you seeking safety. Take heart. You are not alone, and with God's help, healing and freedom are possible. May you find the strength to speak truth, seek safety, and walk forward in faith, one brave step at a time.  

We love stories that tie up neatly — the music swells, the hero wins, the credits roll. But life doesn't always play out like that. Sometimes things break, people disappoint, and endings don't come with closure.In this message, Pastor Fredo Ramos explores one of the most unsettling stories in history — a story full of regret, compromise, and pain. Through the lives of Herod, John the Baptist, and those left grieving, we discover uncomfortable but hopeful truths about our choices, our conscience, and what to do when the story doesn't resolve the way we hoped.--Support content like this and the vision of Sandals Church at http://sandalschurch.com/support/Join our email list for content updates: http://sandalschurch.com/subscribeDownload the Sandals Church App: http://sandalschurch.com/app/If you have questions, need prayer or want to get connected, please email us anytime at online@sandalschurch.com!

Title: The King in Humble GlorySpeaker: Nate HoldridgeOverview: In this week's teaching from Calvary Monterey, Pastor Nate Holdridge examines Matthew 2:13-23, a passage filled with divine guidance, dangerous threats, and deep sorrow. Follow the young Messiah's family as they flee to Egypt, witness the fulfillment of prophecy in the midst of Herod's horrific cruelty, and discover the significance of their return to the obscure town of Nazareth. This sermon illustrates how Jesus is our true exodus from sin, our real return from spiritual exile, and the ultimate embodiment of a humble, servant King.Link to Discussion QuestionsLink to Sermon Notes

In this sermon, Pastor Clint walks us through Luke 9:1–9. Jesus commissions the twelve with his own authority to heal and cast out demons, showing that their ministry flows from his power, not their own. He instructs them to travel light and depend entirely on God's provision, teaching them trust and humility in service. As they go proclaiming his name and kingdom, even rulers like Herod take notice—reminding us that Christ's mission advances through ordinary people empowered and sustained by him.

In this powerful sermon, Pastor Derek Holmes walks us through the shocking miscarriage of justice surrounding the trial and condemnation of Jesus Christ. From the moment of His arrest to the final verdict, Jesus faced an onslaught of unfair opposition, false accusations, and officials—from the religious leaders to Pilate and Herod—who utterly failed to uphold the law. It was a day when justice truly died. But it was this very miscarriage of justice that was necessary for the entire Gospel plan to be carried out! Pastor Holmes reveals how this series of unlawful events became the pivotal moment that secured salvation for all who would believe. Jesus, the only perfectly innocent person to ever walk the earth, willingly took the punishment for every unjust person (that's all of us!). This sermon is a profound look at the darkest day in history that became the brightest hope for humanity. Key Takeaways: The phases of Jesus' trial and the specific ways justice was subverted. How the betrayal of justice was essential to God's plan. The magnificent exchange: The innocent took the punishment for the guilty. Don't forget to Like, Share, and Subscribe for more messages that explore the depths of the Gospel!

| Sermon by Dan Herod | Check Out Our Website https://htcfamily.org/ Building Lives For Life Change. "I came so that they could have REAL and eternal life." John 10:10

Herod & PilateScripture Ref: Luke 23:1-12 & John 18:28 - 19:16Speaker: William Newell

We ask today the question that echoes through all of history: Who is this man? The same question Herod once asked, the same question that still defines every heart that seeks truth. He is not just a prophet, not merely a moral teacher, not a good man with good words. He is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The one who calms the storm with a word, who heals the broken, who forgives sins, who conquers death itself. Every baptism, every Lord's Supper, every act of faith points back to this truth. To know who Jesus is changes everything, for if He truly is God, then He deserves not just our admiration but our full surrender.Herod sought to see Him out of curiosity, but we are called to see Him in faith. The world still wonders and debates, yet the answer remains unchanged. He is the Christ of God. He came not to overthrow empires but to set captives free. He died on the cross and rose again, that sin and death might lose their hold forever. Who is this man? He is the risen Lord, the Savior of the world, and the King before whom every knee will bow and every tongue confess—Jesus Christ, our God and Redeemer.

Have you ever known someone who was in trouble? How could you help them? Peter's friends prayed and prayed and prayed for him, and something amazing happened. “The church kept on praying to God for him.” ACTS 12:5, ICB. In God's family we pray for one ano

Have you ever known someone who was in trouble? How could you help them? Peter's friends prayed and prayed and prayed for him, and something amazing happened. “The church kept on praying to God for him.” ACTS 12:5, ICB. In God's family we pray for

In episode 465 of The Reformed Brotherhood, hosts Tony Arsenal and Jesse Schwamb explore Jesus's parable of the wheat and tares (weeds) from Matthew 13. This thought-provoking discussion examines Christ's startling teaching that good and evil will always coexist within the visible church until the end of time. The brothers carefully unpack the theological implications of Jesus's command not to separate wheat from weeds prematurely, challenging our natural tendency to judge others while offering wisdom about God's sovereign plan for final judgment. This episode wrestles with difficult questions about church purity, assurance of salvation, and how believers should approach the reality of false professors within Christ's church—providing biblical guidance for faithfully enduring in a mixed communion. Key Takeaways The Coexistence of True and False Believers: Jesus teaches that the visible church will always contain a mixture of genuine believers and false professors until the final judgment. The Danger of Premature Judgment: Christ explicitly warns against attempting to completely purify the church before the harvest (end of age) because doing so would damage the wheat (true believers). Proper Biblical Interpretation: Unlike some parables, Jesus provides a detailed allegorical explanation of this parable—the sower is Christ, the field is the world, the good seed represents believers, and the weeds are the sons of the evil one. The Challenge of Discernment: One of the most difficult theological pills to swallow is that it's often impossible to perfectly distinguish between true and false believers. Final Judgment as God's Prerogative: The separation of wheat from weeds is reserved for the angels at the end of the age, not for current church leaders or members. The Reality of False Assurance: Some professing Christians may have false assurance of salvation while genuinely believing they are saved. The Importance of Theological Integrity: Public theologians and pastors have a moral responsibility to be transparent about their theological convictions and changes in their beliefs. Deeper Explanations The Difficult Reality of a Mixed Church Jesus's teaching in the parable of the wheat and weeds directly challenges our natural desire for a perfectly pure church. By instructing the servants not to pull up the weeds lest they damage the wheat, Christ is establishing an important ecclesiological principle that will hold true until His return. This means that no matter how rigorously we apply church discipline or how carefully we examine profession of faith, we will never achieve a perfectly pure communion this side of eternity. The visible church—which can be understood as those who profess faith and are baptized—will always include both true and false believers. This reality should cultivate humility in how we approach church membership and discipline. Jesus isn't suggesting that all attempts at church purity are wrong (as other Scripture passages clearly call for church discipline), but rather that perfect purification is impossible and attempts at achieving it will inevitably damage true believers. This teaching directly refutes movements throughout church history (like Donatism) that have sought absolute purity in the visible church. The Problem of Discernment and Assurance One of the most challenging aspects of this parable is Christ's implicit teaching that true and false professors can appear nearly identical, especially in their early development. Like tares growing alongside wheat, false believers can profess orthodox doctrine, participate in church life, and exhibit what appears to be spiritual fruit. This creates profound implications for how we understand assurance of salvation. As Tony notes, while "assurance is the proper and rightful possession and inheritance of every Christian," there's also the sobering reality of false assurance. Some may sincerely believe they are saved when they are not, raising difficult questions about self-examination and spiritual discernment. This doesn't mean believers should live in perpetual doubt, but rather that we should approach assurance with both confidence in God's promises and healthy self-examination. True assurance must be grounded in the finished work of Christ rather than merely in our experiences or behaviors, while false assurance often lacks this proper foundation. The brothers wisely note that final judgment belongs to God alone, who perfectly knows who belongs to Him. Memorable Quotes "The visible church is set before us as a mixed body. Maybe everybody else's churches, but certainly not my church, like the one that I actually go to on the Lord's day. So it seems like there might be this shocking statement possibly that he has for us, whether you're Episcopalian or Presbyterian or independent or Baptist or Christian life assembly, whatever it is, that no matter what we do to purify the church, our churches, we're never gonna succeed in obtaining a perfectly pure communion." - Jesse Schwamb "I think that's what I find shocking. It is like a massive statement of reality that is at equal points totally sensible. And other times we would think, 'well, surely not in the church Lord, like of all the places, like aren't we talking about a kind of purity of your people?' ...and what I think he's striking at, which I do find a little bit wild, is that Jesus is essentially saying, at least to my ear, anything we try to do, even the purest preaching of the gospel, is not gonna prevent this in every age of the church." - Jesse Schwamb "I'm affirming that assurance is the proper and rightful possession and inheritance of every Christian." - Tony Arsenal Full Transcript Jesse Schwamb: Welcome to episode 465 of The Reformed Brotherhood. I am Jesse. Tony Arsenal: And I'm Tony. And this is the podcast with ears to hear. Hey brother. Jesse Schwamb: Hey brother. Guess what? It looks like you and I are taking another trip back to the farm on this episode. Tony Arsenal: Yes. For a couple episodes. Jesse Schwamb: For a couple episodes. Yeah. [00:01:01] Exploring Jesus' Parables in Matthew 13 Jesse Schwamb: Because what, Jesus will not stop leading us there. We're looking at his teachings, specifically the parables, and we're gonna be looking in Matthew chapter 13, where it seems like, is it possible that Jesus, once again has something very shocking for us to hear? That is for all the ages. 'cause it seems like he might actually be saying, Tony, that good and evil will always be found together in the professing church until the end of the world. Like in other words, that the visible church is set before a mixed body. I mean. Maybe everybody else chose churches, but certainly not my church, like the one that I actually go to on the Lord's day. So it seems like there might be this shocking statement possibly that he has for us, whether you're Episcopalian or Presbyterian or independent or Baptist or Christian life assembly, whatever it is, that no matter what we do to purify the church, our churches, we're never gonna succeed in obtaining a perfectly pure communion. Could that possibly be what Jesus is saying to us? I don't know what we're gonna find out. Tony Arsenal: We are. We are gonna find out. Jesse Schwamb: It's gonna be definitive. And if now that makes sense. If you don't even know why we're looking at Jesus' teachings, you could do us a favor even before you go any further. And that is just head on over in your favor, interwebs browser to or reform brotherhood.com, and you can find out all of the other episodes, all 464 that are living out there. There's all kinds of good stuff, at least we think so, or at least entertaining stuff for you to listen to. And when you're done with all of that in a year or two, then we'll pick it up right back here where we're about to go with some affirmations or some denials. [00:02:39] Affirmations and Denials Jesse Schwamb: So Tony, before we figure out what Jesus has for us in Matthew 13, in the parable of the weeds, or the tears, or the tears in the weed, what gets all of that? Are you affirming with, are you denying against, Tony Arsenal: I am denying. First of all, I'm denying whatever this thing is that's going on with my throat. Sorry for the rest of the episode, everyone. Um, I'm denying something that I, I think it is. How do I want to phrase this? Um, maybe I'll call it theological integrity, and maybe that's too strong of a word, but maybe not. So the listener who's been with us for a little while will remember that a while back. Um, you know, we've, we've talked about Matthew Barrett and he was a Baptist, uh, who's heavily involved in sort of the theology, proper controversies. He wrote Simply Trinity, which is just a fantastic book. He was a teacher or a professor at Midwestern, um, Baptist Theological Seminary. And he recently, um, uh, converted is not the right word. I hate calling it a conversion when you go from one faithful Bible tradition to another. But he recently, um, changed his perspective and joined the Anglican Church. And at the time I kind of, you know, I kind of talked about it as like, it's a little bit disappointing, like the reasons he cited. [00:03:57] Theological Integrity and Public Disclosure Tony Arsenal: Where I'm bringing this into a matter of sort of theological integrity. And it's not, it's not just Matthew Barrett. Um, there's other elements of things going on that I'll, I'll point to too is it's often the case when someone who is in some form of professional theological work or professional vocational ministry, that as they start to change perspectives, um, there comes to be like an inflection point where they should notify whoever it is that they are accountable to in that job or vocation, uh, uh, and then do the right thing and step down. Right? And so with Matthew Barrett, um. He continued to teach systematic theology at a Baptist Theological Seminary, which has a faith statement which he was obligated to affirm and hold in good faith. He continued to teach there for quite some time, if, you know, when he, when he published the timeline and he's the one that put all the timelines out there. So it's not like people had to go digging for this. Um, he continued to teach under contract and under that, that faith statement, um, for quite some time after his positions changed. I remember in college, um, sim very similar situation, one of my professors, um, and I went to a Baptist college. It was a General Baptist college. Um, one of my professors became Roman Catholic and for quite some time he continued to teach without telling anyone that he had converted to Roman Catholicism. Um. And I think that there's a, there's a, a level of integrity that public theologians need to have. Um, and it, it really makes it difficult when something like this happens to be able to say that this is not a moral failing or some sort of failure. Um, you know, James White has jumped on the bandwagon very quickly to say, of course we told you that this was the way it was gonna lead. That if you affirm the great tradition, you know, he was very quick to say like, this is the road to Rome. And I think in his mind, um, Canterbury is just sort of one, one stop on that trip. Um, it becomes very hard after the fact to not have this color and tarnish all of your work before. 'cause it starts to be questions like, well, when, when did you start to hold these views? Were you writing, were you, were you publicizing Baptist theology when you no longer believed it to be the truth? Were you teaching theology students that this is what the Bible teaches when you no longer thought that to be true? Um. Were you secretly attending Anglican services and even teaching and, and helping deliver the service when you were, you know, still outwardly affirming a Baptist faith statement. And the reason I, I'll point out one other thing, 'cause I don't want this to be entirely about Matthew Barrett, but there's a big, uh, hub glue going on in the PCA right now. Um, a guy named Michael Foster, who some of our audience will probably be familiar with, um, he and I have had our desktops in the past, but I think he and I have come to a little bit of a, of a uneasy truce on certain things. He, uh, went to work compiling a, a list and there's some problems with the data, like it's, it's not clean data, so take it for what it's worth. But he compiled a list of. Every publicly available church website in the PCA. So something like 1800 websites or something like that. Huge numbers. And he went and looked at all of the staff and leadership directories, and he cataloged all the churches that had some sort of office or some sort of position that appeared to have a, a woman leading in a way that the Bible restricts. And that more importantly, and starting to say it this way, but more importantly, that the PCA itself restricts. So we're not talking about him going to random church websites and making assessments of their polity. We're talking about a, a denomination that has stated standards for who can bear office and it's not women. Um. So he compiled this and people in the PCA are coming out of the woodwork to basically defend the practice of having shepherdess and deacons. There was one that he cataloged where, um, the website actually said, uh, that was the pastor's wife and the title was Pastor of Women. Um, and then as soon as it became public that this was the case, they very quickly went in and changed the title to Shepherd of Women or Shepherdess of Women or something like that. So it's, it's really the same phenomena, not commenting, you know, I think we've been clear where we stand on the ordination of female officers and things like that, but not that all that withstanding, um, when you are going to be a part of a body that has a stated perspective on something and then just decide not to follow it, the right thing to do the, the upstanding morally. Uh, in full of integrity move would be to simply go to another denomination where your views align more closely. PCA churches, it's not super easy, but it's not impossible to leave the PCA as an entire congregation and then go somewhere like the EPC, which is the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, which still on the spectrum of things is still relatively conservative, but is in general is in favor of, uh, female officers, elders, and diegans. So I, I think, you know, and you see this with podcasters, there was the big, there was a big fu and Les became a Presbyterian, and then when Tanner became a Presbyterian on the pub, I think it is, um, incumbent on people who do any form of public theology and that that would include me and Jesse when our views change. There comes a point where we need to disclose that, be honest about it, um, and not try to pretend that we continue to hold a view that we don't be just because it's convenient or because it might be super inconvenient to make a change. I don't even want to pretend to imagine the pressures, uh, that someone like Matthew Barrett would face. I mean, you're talking about losing your entire livelihood. I, I understand that from an intellectual perspective, how difficult that must be, but in some ways, like that kind of comes with the territory. Same thing with a pastor. You have a Baptist pastor or a Presbyterian pastor. It can go both ways, I think. I'm more familiar with Baptist becoming Presbyterians. I don't, I don't see as many going the other direction. But you have a, a Baptist pastor who comes to pay to Baptist convictions and then continues to minister in their church for, I've, I've seen cases where they continue to minister for years, um, because they don't, they don't have the ability to now just go get a job in a Presbyterian context because there's all sorts of, um, training and certification and ordination process that needs to happen. Um, so they just continue ministering where they are, even though they no longer believe the church's state of, you know, state of faith statement. So that's a lot to say. Like, let your yes be yes and your no be no, and when we really all boil it down. So I think that's enough of that. It, it just sort of got in my craw this week and I couldn't really stop thinking about it. 'cause it's been very frustrating. And now there are stories coming out of. Doctoral students that, um, that Barrett was teaching who have now also become Anglican. Um, so, you know, there starts to be questions of like, was he actively pros? I mean, this is like Jacob Arminius did this stuff and, and like the reform tradition would look down on it, where he was in secret in like sort of small group private settings. He was teaching convictions very different than the uni. I'm talking about Arminius now. Not necessarily Barrett. He was teaching convictions very different than the, the stated theology of the university he taught for, and then in public he was sort of towing the line. You have to ask the question and it is just a question. There's been no confirmation that I'm aware of, but you have to ask the question if that was what was going on with Barrett, was he teaching Baptist theology publicly and then meeting with, with PhD students privately and, and sort of convincing them of Anglican theology. I don't know. I'm not speculating on that, but I think it, the situation definitely right, brings that question to mind. It forces us to ask it. Um, and had he. Been transparent about his theological shifts sooner than that may not be a, a question we have to ask. Um, the situation may not be all that different, but we wouldn't have to ask the question. Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, that's totally fair. I mean, disclosure is important in lots of places in life and we shouldn't think that theological dis disclosure, especially like you're saying among our teachers, among our pastors, it is a critical thing. It's helpful for people to know when perspectives have changed, especially when they're looking to their leaders who are exhibiting trust and care over their discipleship or their education to express that difference. If there's been a mark, change it. It's worth it. Disclose, I'm guessing you don't have to over disclose, but that we're talking about a critical, we're talking about like subversive anglicanism, allegedly. Yeah. Then. It would be more than helpful to know that that is now shaping not just perspective, but of course like major doctrine, major understanding. Yeah. And then of course by necessary conviction and extension, everything that's being promulgated or proclamation in the public sphere from that person is likely now been permeated by that. And we'd expect so. Right. If convictions change, and especially like you're talking about, we're just talking about moving from, especially among like Bible believing traditions, just raise the hand and say loved ones, uh, this is my firm conviction now. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. I think if someone walks up to you and says, do you think that we should baptize babies? And you're like, yeah, I think so. Then you probably shouldn't be teaching at a Baptist seminary anymore. Like, seems like a reasonable standard. And that seems to be what happened, at least for some period of time. Um, you know, and, and it, that's not to say like, I think, I think there are instances where the church, a given church or um, or a university or seminary or, or whatever the situation might be, can be gracious and recognize like, yeah, people's perspectives change and maybe we can find a way for you to continue to finish out the semester or, you know, we can bridge you for a little while until you can find a new, a new job. Um, you know, we'll, we'll only have you teach certain courses or we'll have a guest lecturer come in when you have to cover this subject that is at variance and like, we'll make sure we're all clear about it, but it doesn't seem like any of that happened. And that's, um, that's no bueno. So anyway, Jesse. What are you affirming and or denying Tonight? [00:13:43] Music Recommendations Jesse Schwamb: I'm just gonna go with something brief. I suppose this is an affirmation of me. I'm saying that like somewhat tongue in cheek, but maybe it's, wait, I'll rephrase. It's because this will be more humble. I'm affirming getting it right, even more than I thought. So I'm just gonna come back to the well and dip it into something that I mentioned on the last episode. So the keen listener, the up-to-date listener might remember. And if you're not up to date, uh, just let this be fresh for you. It'll, and I, it's gonna be correct because now I have posts, you know, I'm on the other side of it. I've clear hindsight. I am affirming with the album Keep It Quiet by Gray Haven, which I affirmed last week, but it came out on the same day that the episode released. And since you and I don't really like record in real time and release it like exactly as it's happening, I only did that with some, a little bit of reservation because I only heard they only released three songs in the album. And I thought I was overwhelmed that they were, they were so good that I was ready to jump in and loved ones. Oh, it, it turns out. I was so correct and it was, it's even better than I thought. So go check it out. It's Grey, GRE, YH, and they are, this is the warning, just because I have to give it out there and then I'll balance it with something else for something for everybody here today. So, gr Haven is music that's post hardcore and metal core. You're getting two cores for the price of one, if that is your jam. It has strong maleic sensibilities. It's very emotional, it's very experimental. But this new album, which is called, um, again, keep It Quiet, is like just a work of arts. It real like the guitar work is intricate haunting, lovely, and it's bold, like very intentional in its structure and very el loose in its construction. It's got hook driven melodies and it's got both heart and soft. It really is truly a work of art. So if you're trying to, to put it in your minds, like what other bands are like this? I would compare them to bands like, every Time I Die, Norma Jean, let Live Hail the Sun. If you just heard those as combinations of words that don't mean anything to you, that's also okay. No worries. But if you're looking for something different, if you're looking for something that's maybe gonna challenge your ear a little bit, but is like orchestral and has all of these metal core post hardcore, melodic, textured movements, there's no wasted notes in this album. It's really tremendous. If that's not your thing. I get, that's not everybody's thing. Here's something else I think would be equally challenging to the ear in a different way. And that is, I'm going back to one other album to balance things out here, and that's an album that was released in 2019 by Mark Barlow, who I think is like just. So underrated. For some reason, like people have slept on Mike Barlow. I have no idea why he put together an album with Isla Vista Worship called Soul Hymns, and it's like a distinct soul and r and b album of praise with like these really lovely like falsetto, harmonies. It's got these minimalistic instrumentation, warm keys, groove oriented percussion, like again, like these false soul driven melodies. It's contemplative. It's got a groove to it. This is also equally a beautiful album for a totally different reason. So I think I've given two very book-ended, very different affirmations, but I think there's something for everybody. So my challenge to your loved ones is you gotta pick one or the other. Actually, you could do both, but either go to Gray Havens, keep it quiet, or go to Mike Bellow's Soul hymns. I do not think you will be disappointed. There's something for everybody on this one. Tony Arsenal: Yeah, I, it was funny because as you were saying the names of those bands, I literally was thinking like Jesse could be speaking Swahili and I wouldn't know the difference. And then you, you, you know me well, yeah. Uh, I haven't listened to Gray Haven. Uh, I probably will give it a couple minutes 'cause that's how it usually goes with songs that meet that description. Uh, I can always tell that the music that Jesse recommends is good from a technical perspective, but I never really, I never really vibe with it. So that's okay. But I mean, lots of people who listen to our show do so check that out. If, if you ever. Want a good recommendation for music. Jesse is the pers so much so that he can recommend amazing music before it's even available and be a hundred percent correct, apparently. That's right. So Jesse Schwamb: affirm with me everybody, because turns out I was right. Uh, it was easy to be correct when of course I had all of that fair sightedness by being able to listen to those. Yeah, those couple of songs, it, this is a kind of album. Both of these, both of these albums. When I heard them, I reacted audibly out loud. There are parts of both of 'em where I actually said, oh wow. Or yeah, like there's just good stuff in there. And the older you get, if you're a music fan, even if you're not, if you don't listen to a lot of music, you know when that hook gets you. You know when that turn of melody or phrase really like hits you just, right. Everybody has that. Where the beat drops in a way. You're just like, yes, gimme, you make a face like you get into it. I definitely had that experience with both of these albums and because. I've listened to a lot of music because I love listening to music. It's increasingly rare where I get surprised where, you know, like sometimes stuff is just like popular music is popular for a reason and it's good because it's popular and it follows generally some kind of like well established roots. But with these albums, it's always so nice when somebody does something that is totally unexpected. And in these, I heard things that I did not expect at all. And it's so good to be surprised in a way that's like, why have I never heard that before? That is amazing. And both of these bands did it for me, so I know I'm like really hyping them up, but they're worth it. They're, they're totally worth it. Good music is always worth it. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. I, uh, I think that is a good recommendation. I will check those out because, you know, you're a good brother. I usually do, and I trust your judgment even though it, you'll like the second one. Yes. Hopefully. Yeah. Yeah. Jesse Schwamb: You'll like the second one. Second one is like, just filled with praise and worship. And like, if, if you're trying to think, like say, here's how I'd couch the proper atmosphere for Mark Barlow's soul hymns you're having, you know, it's, it's a cold and chilly. A tal evening, the wind is blowing outside. You can hear the crisp leaves moving around on the pavement and the sun has gone down. The kids are in bed, the dinner dishes are piled up in the sink. But you think to yourselves, not tonight. I don't think so, and you just want that toneage to put on. You want that music as you dim the lights and you sit there to just hang out with each other and take a breath. You don't just want some kind of nice r and b moving music. You don't want just relaxing vibes. You want worshipful spirit filled vibes that propel your conversation and your intimacy, not just into the marital realm, but into worship and harmony with the triune God. If you're looking for that album, because that situation is before you, then sol hymns is the music you're looking for. Tony Arsenal: See, I'm gonna get the, I'm gonna get the recommendations backwards and I'm gonna sit down with my wife with a nice like evening cup of decaf tea and I'm gonna turn the music on. Yes, it's gonna be like, yes. That was me screaming into the microphone. That was not good for my voice. Well, the good news is it's gonna, it's gonna wake the kids up. That's, I'm gonna sleep on the couch. That's, it's gonna be bad. That's, Jesse Schwamb: honestly, that's also a good evening. It's just a different kind of evening. It's true. So it's just keep it separated again, uh, by way of your denial slash affirmation. Tony disclosure, I'm just giving you proper disclosure. Everybody know your music KYM, so that way when you have the setting that you want, you can match it with the music that you need. So it's true. Speaking of things that are always worth it. [00:21:30] Parable of the Weeds Jesse Schwamb: I think the Bible's gotta be one of those things. Tony Arsenal: It's true. Jesse Schwamb: And this is like the loosest of all segues because it's like the Sunday school segue into any topic that involves the scriptures. We're gonna be in Matthew 13, and how about we do this? So this is one of these parables and in my lovely ESV translation of the scriptures, the, we're just gonna go with the heading, which says the parable of the weeds. You may have something different and I wanna speak to that just briefly, but how do we do this, Tony? I'll hit us up with the parable and then it just so happens that this is one of the parables in the scripture that comes with an interpretation from our savior. It's true. How about you hit us up with the interpretation, which is in the same chapter if you're tracking with us, it's just a couple verses way. Does that sound good? Tony Arsenal: Let's do it. Jesse Schwamb: Okay. Here is the parable of the weeds. Jesus puts another parable before them saying The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sewed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sewed weeds among the weeds and went away. So when the plants came up and bork rain, then the weeds also appeared, and the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds? He said to them, an enemy has done this. So the servant said to him, then, do you want us to go and gather them? Then he said, no. Lest in gathering the weeds, you root up the wheat along with them, but let them grow together until the harvest and at harvest time, I will tell the reapers, gather the weeds first, and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn. Tony Arsenal: Alright, so then jumping down. To verse 36. We're still in Matthew 13, he says, then he left the crowds and went into the house and his disciples came to him saying, explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field. He answered, the one who sows the good seed is the son of man. The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angel. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age, the son of man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom, all that, all causes of sin in all lawbreakers and throw them into the fiery furnace. It is that in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. He who has ears let him hear. Jesse Schwamb: So let me start with just like a little bit of language here, which I've always loved in this passage because where else in like the contemporary context, do you get the word tear? Yeah. Aside if you're like using a scale, and that's a totally different definition. I like this. I like the word tear. It force, it forces to understand that what's common to our ear, why that's being used, it often is translated weed. Here's just like my, my little like linguistic addition to the front end of our discussion and is the reason I like it is because here does have a specific definition. If like you were to look this up in almost any dictionary, what you're gonna find is it's like a particular type of weed. It's actually like an injurious weed that is indistinguishable in its infant form from the outgrowing of green. So I like that because of course that is exactly why. Then there's all this explanation of why then to not touch anything in the beginning because one, it causes damage to it looks like everybody else. I just thought I'd put that out there as we begin our discussion. Tony Arsenal: Yeah, yeah. You know, I, um, I am a homeowner and I don't own the land that I'm on, but I'm responsible for the land that I'm on. And we have this really gnarly weed problem. There's this, uh, sort of floor growing, uh, carpeting weed called, uh, I think it's called like a carpeting knob, head weed or something like that. Some really descriptive thing. And I went out there the other day and there's really nothing you can do about this other than to rip it up. But I went out there the other day to start to pull some of it up and it totally wrecks the yard. Like it totally pulls up the grass, it destroys the sod. And when you're done, this is why it's kind of nice that I don't have, I'm not responsible for the land as I'm not gonna have to pay to resod the land. But when you're done pulling up this weed, you have to resod the whole place. You have to regrow all the grass because it, first, it takes over for the grass, and then when you rip it up, it rips the roots of the grass up as well. And so this parable, um, on one level is immediately obvious, like what the problem is, right? The situation is such. That the good, uh, the good sower, right? He's a good sower. He knows what he's doing. He understands that simply ripping up the weeds. Even if you could distinguish them right, there's this element that like at an early stage, they would be very difficult, if not impossible to distinguish from, uh, from wheat. Even if you could distinguish them, you still wouldn't be able to pull up the weeds and not do damage to the grain. And so we, we have this sort of like, um, conflict if you wanna follow like literary standards, right? We have this conflict and as we come to sort of the climax of this, of this plot is when all of a sudden we see that, that the problem needs a resolution and there is a resolution, but it's not necessarily what we would think it would be. Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, I think that's what I find shocking. It is like a massive statement of reality that is that like equal points or equal times totally sensible. And other times we would think, well why surely not in the church Lord, like of all the places, like aren't we talking about a kind of purity of your people, the very people that you're assembling together, the chief of which is Christ and the apostles being the building stones and Christ of course being the cornerstone. And I, I think that's what I find and I wonder the people hearing this, if they thought like, well, surely Lord, that not be the case like you are bringing in and ushering in this new kingdom. Isn't this new kingdom gonna be one of absolute purity? And, and what I think he's striking at, which I do find a little bit wild, is that Jesus essentially saying, at least to my ear, anything we try to do, even like the purest preaching of the gospel, is not gonna prevent this in every age of the church. The same state of the things that's existed in that is in the time of the early fathers. In the first century, and the church as it stands right now in the land and the time of the reformers, and of course with the best ministers at this hour right now and on your next Lord's day, and everyone after that, there is always and ever will be a visible church or a religious assembly in which the members are not all wheat. Yeah. And then I like what you're saying. It's this idea that. There's a great harm that's gonna come about if you try to lift them up because you cannot tell. So, and this is what's hard, I think this does influence like how we interact with people online. Certainly how we interact with people in our own congregations, but we are going to have no clear convicted proofs. We might only have like probable symptoms if we're really trying to judge and weigh out to discern the weeds from the weeds, which at most can only give us some kind of conjectural knowledge of another state. And that is gonna sometimes preemptively judge cause us to judge others in a way that basically there's a warning against here. It, it's, it's not the right time. And ba I think mainly from the outside where I find like this parable coming together, if there's like maybe a weird Venn diagram of the way Christians read this and the way unbelievers hear this, the overlap between them is for me, often this idea of like hypocrisy and you know. When people tell me that the church is full of hypocrites, either like Christian or non-Christian, but typically that's a, a, you know, statement that comes from the non-Christian tongue. When people say that the church is full of hypocrites, I do with a little bit of snark, say it's definitely not full of hypocrites. There are always room for more in the church and, and there's like a distinction of course between the fact that there is hypocrisy in the Christian or whether the Christian is in fact or that person is a hypocrite. So like when I look through the scriptures, we see like Pharaoh confessing, we see Herod practicing, we see Judas preaching Christ Alexander venturing his life for Paul. Yeah, we see David condemning in another, what he himself practiced and like hezeki glorifying and riches Peter. Doing all kinds of peter stuff that he does, and even all the disciples forsaken Christ, an hour of trouble and danger. So all that to say, it goes back to this like lack of clear, convicted proofs that I think Jesus is bringing forward here, but only probable symptoms. And I'm still processing, of course, like the practicality of what you're saying, Tony, that in some ways it seems like abundantly clear and sensible that you should, you're, you're gonna have a problem distinguishing. But our human nature wants to go toward distinguishing and then toward uprooting sometimes. And the warning here is do not uproot at the improper time. And in fact, it's not even yours to uproot because God will send in the laborers to do that at the time of, of harvest. And so there will be weeds found among the wheat. It's just like full stop statement. And at the same time it's warning, do not go after them now. Tony Arsenal: Yeah, I, I'm sure this, um, I, I'm sure this will spill over into a second conversation, but we, I think we have to talk a little bit about the interpretation here before we, before we even like talk more about the parable itself, because if you're not careful, um, and, and. I need to do a little bit more study on this, but it, it's interesting because Matthew almost seems to want you to sort of blend these parables together a little bit. Jesse Schwamb: Yes. Tony Arsenal: Right. These, these, there's three, um, there's three, maybe four if you count the parable of the treasure in the field. But there's three agricultural parables that have to do with sowing seed of one, of, one way or another. And in each one the seed is something different. And I, it almost seems to me. And then on top of that, the parables are like interwoven within each other. So like right smack in the middle of this, we have the parable. Uh, is given. Then the next parable of the mustard seed, which we're gonna talk about in a future episode, is given, and then the explanation of this parable of the tears is given. Um, and so we have to talk a little bit about it and sort of establish what the seed is, because we just spent three weeks talking about the seed in the par of the sower. Um, or the parable of the, of the soils. And in that parable, the seed was the word of God in this parable. And this is where I think sometimes, um, and again, this is like the doctrine of election in parable form, right? Yes. I think sometimes we read this and we, we misstep because the seed is not, uh, is not the word of God in this. The seed is the believers. Jesse Schwamb: Yes. Tony Arsenal: Right. So the good seed is sewn into, uh, into the field, which, you know, I think maybe there'll be some, we, we can save this for, for next week. But a little sneak peek is, it's not always clear exactly what the field is. Right. And I think we often, we often talk about the field as though it's the church that doesn't necessarily align a hundred percent with how Christ explains the parable. So we'll have to, we'll have to talk through that a little bit. I affirm that it is the church in, in a, a broad sense. Um, but, but the, the way that Christ explains it slightly different, but the, the seed is sewn into the world. The sons of the kingdom of heaven are sowed into the, into the world. And then the seed of the enemy, the bad seed, is the sons of the devil that's also sewn into the world. And so these two seeds grow up next to each other. If we think about the seed here as though it's the word of God, rather than the, the actual believers and unbelievers that elect in the ate, we're gonna make some missteps on how we understand this because we're not talking about, um, the, the seed being, you know, doctrine being sewn into the world. And some of it grows up good and some of it grows up bad or good doctrine and bad doctrine. We're talking about the believers themselves. Sorry, Jesse is mocking my rapid attempt to mute before I cough, which I, I did. That was pretty good. Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, that was, that was pretty good. Listen, this is real. Podcasting is how it goes. Yeah, I'm with you. Thank you for pulling out that distinction. 'cause it is critical. We, we have some overlap of course, with Jesus being really ascribed as the farmer, the son of man, right. He's sowing this good seed, but not the word. It's believers or the sons of the kingdom. And it is into his field, which is the world. Part of that world of course, is necessarily the church, right? But while everybody's sleeping, this enemy, the devil, he comes, he sows weeds or unbelievers, the sons of the evil one among this weed, they grow, go up together. And of course, like if I were servants in this household, I'd ask the same thing, which was like, should we get the gloves out? Yeah. Just pull those bad boys out. Like and, and so again, that's why I find it very so somewhat shocking that. It's not just, you could see like Jesus saying something like, don't worry about it now because listen, at the end of all time when the harvest comes, uh, I'm gonna take care of it. Like it's just not worth it to go out now. Right. That's not entirely The reason he gives, the reason is lest they uproot the wheat by mistake. So this is showing that the servants who are coming before Jesus in the parable, in this teaching here to really volitionally and with great fidelity and good obedience to him to want to please him to do his will. He there, he's basically saying, you are not qualified to undertake this kind of horticulture because you're just not either skilled enough or discerning enough to be able to do it right. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. And you know, I think, um. Maybe just a word of meth methodology too. Um, this parable also flies in the face of all of the, like, parables are not allegories, kind of kind of people. Um, and this is, we talked about this in our introductory episode. You have to take each parable for what it's worth, this parable very much is explained like a traditional allegory, right? Right. [00:35:39] Understanding the Parable's Symbols Tony Arsenal: It's got, it's got several different elements and Christ goes through and the first thing he does is tell you what each element represents, right? The sower is the son of man, the field is the word. The good seed is the sons of the kingdom of the weed. It's like, he's like clicking down all of the symbols and then he explains how all of it works together and like a good, all like a good allegory. Once you understand what each element and each symbol is, the rest of it actually is very self-explanatory, right? When you understand who's what in the parable. The outcome and the sort of the punchline writes itself as it were. And I think this is one of those parables that we would do. [00:36:18] Challenging Our Sensibilities Tony Arsenal: I think we would do well to sort of let marinate a little bit because it does challenge a lot of our sensibilities of what, um, what is real in the world, what is real in terms of our interaction with the world, right? What's real in terms of the role of unbelievers in the life of a Christian, um, whether we can identify who is or isn't an unbeliever. Um, I think we, you know, I, I'm not one of those people that's like, we should assume everyone's a Christian. And I'm certainly not one of those people who's like, we should assume nobody is a Christian. But I think there are a lot of times where we have figures either in public or people in our lives. Like personal acquaintances that have some sort of outward appearance. And, and that's like the key here that that distinction between weeds is a, is not a great translation as you said. Right. Because right. That distinction between wheat and weeds, to go to my analogy, like it's very clear what is grass and what is this like carpeting, knob weed. Like there's no, there's no doubt in my mind, which is the weed and which is the grass. Um, that's not what we're talking about here. And so it does, it does say here, I mean, it implies here that it's not going to be easy to distinguish the difference between exactly. The, a son of the kingdom and a son of the evil one. And I think that's a, that's a. A theological pill that is very difficult to swallow. Yes. [00:37:43] Personal Reflections on Identifying Christians Tony Arsenal: Because a lot of us, um, and this goes back to like what I, what we were saying in the last, the last parable, A lot of us were reared in our Christian faith on sort of this idea that like, you can check your fruit or you can check other people's fruits and you can determine, you can easily identify who's a Christian and who's not. I remember when I was in high school, you know, I got, I was converted when, when I was 15 and, um, I got to high school and it felt very easy to me to be able to identify the people who were play acting Christianity and the people who were real Christians. That felt like the most natural thing in the world to me. Um, it, it's an interesting story, but one of the people that I was absolutely sure was not a Christian. That he was just doing kinda civic Christianity. He was in confirmation 'cause his parents wanted him to. Um, and I had good reason to believe that at the time he was very worldly. He, he, um, did not seem to be serious about his faith at all. There was good reason to make the assessment that I did. And then I ran into him on Facebook like 15 years later and he's a pastor at the Lutheran Church and he's, you know, he loves the Lord Jesus Christ. And he would not explain it as though he had a later conversion story. It's not as though he would say like, well yeah, in high school I pretended to be a Christian. And then, you know, I got through college and uh, I really became like I got converted. He would, would grow this, or he would explain this as slow, steady growth from an immature state that knew the facts of the gospel and in a certain sense trusted that Jesus was his savior and didn't fully understand the ramifications of that. I mean, who did at 15 years old? Mm-hmm. Um. And, and that it was a slow, steady growth to the place that he's in now. [00:39:21] The Difficulty of Distinguishing Believers Tony Arsenal: So I, I think we should take seriously, and maybe this is the takeaway for this week at least, and we can, we can talk about it more, is we should take seriously the fact that the Sons of the Kingdom and the Sons of the evil one in this parable are not only inseparable without doing damage, but in many ways they are not easily distinguishable. Jesse Schwamb: Right. On. Tony Arsenal: Um, and that, that's a baked into the parable. And I think we do spend a fair amount of time and I, I'll. I'll throw myself on on this. You know, this, we, I'm not just saying we, um, we as a genuine statement, like I have participated in this. I'm sure that I still do participate in this sometimes intentionally. Other times, uh, subconsciously we spend a fair amount of time probably in our Christian lives trying to figure out who is a Christian who's not. And it's not as though that is entirely illegitimate, right? The, the, as much as we kind of poke at the, the, um, workers in this who sort of are kind of chumps, right? They're sort of like the idiots in this. They, they don't seem to know how this happened. They propose a course of action that then the master's like, no, no, that's not, that's not gonna work. They can tell the difference, right? They can see that some are weeds and some are are weeds, and they're asking, well, what do we do about it? But at the same time he is saying like, you're not really competent to tell the difference, Jesse Schwamb: right? On Tony Arsenal: a good, uh, a good. Competent farmer could probably go out and take all the weeds out. Just like a really good, I dunno, landscape technician, I'm not sure what you would call it. I'm sure someone could come into my yard and if I paid them enough money they could probably fix this knobby grass, weed, whatever it is. Um, infestation. They could probably fix it without damaging the lawn. Like there are probably people that could do it. I am not that competent person and the workers in this are not that competent person. And I would say by and large in our Christian life, we are not that competent person to be able to identify who is and who isn't, um, a Christian who is or isn't a son of the kingdom versus a son of the devil. Jesse Schwamb: And there's sometimes like we just get history reprised, or it's like, again, the same thing microwaved over and served to you three or four times as leftovers. So it's also gonna remember like any as extension that like any attempt to like purify the church perfectly, and this has happened like donatism in the fourth century I think, or even like now, certain sectarian movements are completely misguided. Yeah. And Jesus already puts that out ahead of us here. It's almost like, do not worry what God is doing because God again is, is doing all the verbs. So here's a question I think we should discuss as we, we move toward like the top of the hour. And I think this is interesting. I don't know if you'll think it's interesting. I, I kind of have an answer, but I, I'll post it here first. [00:42:01] Visible vs. Invisible Church Jesse Schwamb: So the setup like you've just given us is two things. One, we got the visible church, we talk about the visible church. I think a lot across our conversations. Yeah. And we might summarize it, saying it's like the community of all who profess faith, maybe even the community of all who are baptized. Right. Possibly. Yeah. And it's going to include then necessarily as Jesus describes it here, true and false believers. So that's one group. Then we've got this invisible church, which as you said is the elect. Those who are known perfectly to God. So the good seed is those elect true believers. The weeds, then the weeds to me, or the tears, even better, they sound a lot like that. Second and third soils that we talked about previously to some, to some degree. I'm not, I'm not gonna lump them all in because we talked about receiving the word and it taking root, all that stuff, but to some degree, and also probably like a soil one. But here's, here's the way I would define them up and against or in contradistinction to the elector believers. They're the reprobate. They're false professors or they're children of the evil one. Now here's the question, Doni, Alex, I, I think this is very interesting. I'm trying to build this up for like more dramatic effect. 'cause now I'm worried it's not that good. The question is, I'm going to presume that this good seed, the elect, true to believers, the confidence of perseverance of the saints, the justification in sanctification of God's children is in fact though we at some points have our own doubts, it is made fully aware and known to the good seed. That is, we should have, as you and I have talked about before, the confidence that God has in fact saved his elect. So the question that on the other side is for the ta, do the tears always know that they are the tears? Tony Arsenal: Yeah, I mean, you know, I think, um, I've said this before and I, I mean it, and I think it takes probably more. More discussion than we have time for tonight. And and that's fine because we can do as many episodes on this as we want to. 'cause this is our show and you can't stop us actually. Jesse Schwamb: Correct. [00:43:56] Assurance of Faith and False Assurance Tony Arsenal: Um, I've said before that assurance is the proper and rightful possession and inheritance of every Christian. Jesse Schwamb: Amen. Tony Arsenal: Right. So I, I am not one to say that the technical terminology is that assurance is not of the essence of faith. Um, I think we have to be really careful when we say that it's not, but we have to be equally careful when we say that it is. Because if we say that assurance is of the essence of faith, then what that means is someone who doesn't have assurance, doesn't have faith. Um, the reason I say that we can say that is because there's a sense that that's true, right? If you don't believe you're saved, then you don't believe you're saved and you don't trust that you're saved. But that doesn't mean that you always have full awareness of that confidence. And, you know, I think, um, I think. I think you're, you're right that, um, it may not always be, let me put it this way. I, I think that we have to consider the entire life of a Christian when we're, when we're making that analysis. And in a certain sense, like, I'm not even sure we should be making that analysis. That's kind of the point of the, the, um, the parable here, or at least one of the points. But, um, when that analysis is made, we'll, we'll channel a little bit of RC sprawl. It's not as funny when he's actually, uh, gone. I don't really mean channel RC sprawl. We will, uh, speak in the tradition of RC sprawl, um, in the final analysis, whatever that means. Whenever that is. You have to consider the whole life of a Christian, the whole life of a believer. And so there may be times in the life of a believer where they don't possess that full assurance of faith or that that full assurance is weak or that it seems to be absent. But when we look at the entire life of a believer, um, is it a life that overall is marked by a confident trust, that they are in fact children of God? Um, that a confident, uh, a confident embracing of what the spirit testifies to their spirit, to, to borrow language from Romans, I think in, in the life of a true elect Christian, um, that with the perseverance of the saints, uh, with the persistence of the saints and the preservation of the saints, um, I think that yes, those who are finally saved, those who are saved unto salvation, if you wanna phrase it that way. They finish the race, they claim the prize. Um, that assurance will be their possession in their life as a Christian. Jesse Schwamb: Right on. Tony Arsenal: All of that to say, I think there are, are, there's a good case to be made for the fact that there is also people who have false assurance, right? And this is where it takes a lot more, you know, finagling and jockeying and theological explanation of how can we know we have true assurance versus false assurance. You know, it's kinda like that question, like, does an insane person know they're insane? Well, does a false, does someone with false assurance know that their assurance is false? I don't think, I don't think so. Otherwise, it wouldn't be false assurance. Um, if they knew it wasn't real assurance, then they wouldn't have any kind of assurance. So I, I think I agree with you at least where, where I think you're going is that we do have to, we do have to make some judgements. We have to look at our own life, right? Um, there is an element of fruitfulness in this parable, right? We'll talk about that. I, I think we'll get into that next week. But it's not as though this is entirely disconnected from the parable of the soils. Both of them have a very similar kind of. End point. [00:47:20] Final Judgment and Eschatology Tony Arsenal: At the end of all things, at the end of the harvest, when the end of the age comes, and the reapers, the angels are sent, what they're gathering up are fruitful Christians, right in the parable, he sends out the, it's funny be, I love my dispensational brothers and sisters, but in this parable, like the rapture is the rapture of the unbelievers, right? The angels go out and reap the unbelievers first. The, the weeds are bundled up and thrown into the fire, and then the, the fruitful wheat is gathered into the barns. Um, there is this delineation between the fruitless weeds and the fruitful wheat or the, the grain that has borne, you know, borne fruit. That is part of what the, the outward. Elements of this parable are, so we should talk about that more, of what is this trying to get at in terms of not just the difference between weeds and wheat and how that maps up to those who are in Christ versus those who are not in Christ, but also like what is this telling us about the, the end of the age eschatology. All of that's baked in here and we haven't even scratched the surface of that Jesse Schwamb: yet. Yeah, we, we, I, and we just can't, even on this episode, probably, you're right, we're gonna have to go to two so that, I guess it's like a teaser for the next one. I'm told they're with you. It's interesting. I've been thinking about that, that question a lot. And I do like what you're saying. You know, at the end here, it's almost as if Christ is saying at the time of harvest, things become more plain, more evident In the beginning. The chutes are gonna look really, really similar, and you're gonna go in and you're gonna think you're guessing properly or using your best judgment, and you're gonna get it wrong in the end when he sends out those who are harvesting. I liken this passage here in the explanation as you read to us starting in verse 36, how there's this comparison of heat and light. And so there is the heat and light of the fiery furnace into which, as you said, all of those who are the children of the enemy will be gathered up and burned. And then there's that contrast with in verse 43, then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. So there is like a reward that comes from the bearing of the fruit and that made evidence by a different type of heat and light. So I do struggle with this question because. It's easy to answer in some ways if we're defining the weeds in pirate or the tears in pirates as false professors typically. Let's say false professors of a nefarious kind, then it seems pretty plain that somebody, right, that the enemy has implanted certain people to stir up trouble with the intention to stir up trouble that is in fact their jam. Or they know that even if they're putting on heirs, that they're in fact play acting that the hypocrisy is purposeful and that it is part of like the missional efforts that they're doing to disrupt what God is doing in the world. So I might think of somebody like when we go, when we're looking in, um, Exodus, and we find that at least to some degree, all of Pharaoh's magicians can replicate everything that Moses is doing. Moses doing that by the power of God. But the magicians are so good and whatever means they're using, but they know, I presume they know they're not, they're not using Yahweh, they're not drawing their power or their influence from Yahweh. Tony Arsenal: Right? Jesse Schwamb: But it's so convincing to the people that Pharaoh is like, eh. Obviously I've seen that before because we just, we just did that here. Come back with your next trick until God flexes his mighty muscles in a really profound way, which cannot be replicated. And at some point there's a harvest that happens there. There's a separation between the two, those who are truly professing, the power that comes from God, the one true God, and those that are just replicating the cheap copy, the one that's just pure trickery and smoke and mirrors. So. That's an easy category. I'm with you. And I'm not saying that this is an invitation to bring the kind of judgment here that we've just spoken against. I'm not condoning this. What I do find interesting though is if the enemy is crafty, is it possible that they're always going to be forms of terror in the world that do feel that they have very strong conviction and belief about biblical things? Maybe there's, there's strong hobby horses or there are misguided directions here that pull us apart, that become distractions. Or maybe it's just even attitudes, uh, things that can be divisive, disruptive, derogatory that again, pull us away. For making the plain things, the main things and the main things, the plain things, which in some ways draws us back to like the whole purpose of you and I talking every week, which is we wanna get back to what the scripture teaches. We wanna follow the our Lord Jesus Christ very, very closely. I'm gonna clinging to the hymn of his rob as we walk through life so that we do not fall to those kind of false convictions. So I'm not, please hear me, loved ones. I'm not trying to call into question your faith as Tony just said. I am saying that there, this is kind of scary, just like we talked about. There are elements of the parables of the, of the soil that were equally scary. And so it's just in some ways to say, we gotta keep our heads not theological, swivel. We, we gotta be about the Lord's business, and we gotta be about understanding through prayer and study and communion with him, what it is that he wants to teach us in the purest way, knowing that the church itself and the world, of course, is never going to be entirely pure. At the same time, it is our responsibility to, as you already said, test for ourselves to understand what is that true gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because some tears are going to be maybe easy to identify and with without, you know, throwing too much shade or. I was gonna say spilling the TI don't think that works here, but I'm not young anymore, so I'm trying to use or or put on blast. Yeah. I'm looking at you Mormons or Jehovah's witnesses. Like it's, it's easier there to be like, yeah, right, this is wrong. It is a false profession, but we've just gotta be careful even in our own hobby, horses not deviates into ground. I think that doesn't preclude us from being children of the light and children of the kingdom, but can still be disruptive or uh, you know, just distracting. But either way, yeah. I think what's scary to me about this is exactly what you said, Tony, is, is could it be that there are people that are very sincere about the Christian faith, but are sincerely wrong? Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Jesse Schwamb: And what does that mean for God's elected purpose? What does that mean for our understanding of how to interact in our churches in the world? Does that make sense? Tony Arsenal: It does. And I'm not sure whether you were trying to set up the, what might be the first genuine reformed brotherhood cliffhanger, but you did. Because we're on minute 54 of a 60 minute podcast, and, uh, there's no way we're gonna get into that and not go for another 60 minutes. So, Jesse, I, I'm, I'm glad that we are taking our time. Um, I know that sometimes it's easy when you put out a schedule or you put out a sort of projected content calendar to feel like you have to stick to it. But I wanna give these parables, the time they deserve and the effort and the, uh, the, uh, study and the discussion that they deserve. And I think the questions you're posing here at the end of this episode are really, really important. And they are questions that this parable forces us to ask. Right, right. It's not as though we're just using this as a launching pad. Um. If the workers can't tell the difference between the, the seed and the, or the, the weeds and the weeds, it's reasonable to think that the weeds themselves may not be able to tell the difference. Right? The sons of the evil one, um, are probably not in this parable, are probably not the people like in the back, like doing fake devil horns, right? And like, you know, like there's, there's probably more going on that we need to unpack and, and we'll do that next week. Jesse Schwamb: I love it. So we've got some good stuff coming then, because we've gotta, this is like, do you ever remember when you were in, uh, you know, doing your undergraduate postgraduate work, you'd get like a topic or an assignment or a paper and you'd be super stoked about it and you start reaching it, be like, okay, researching it. And you'd be like, all right, I've got some good topics here. And then you get into it, you're like, oh, but I'm gonna have to talk about this. And Oh, like before I could talk, I'm gonna have to explain this. Sometimes when we get into these, as you and I have been talking, that's what it feels li

“But who may abide the day of his coming?” — Malachi 3:2 His first coming was without external pomp or show of power, and yet in truth there were few who could abide its testing might. Herod and all Jerusalem with him were stirred at the news of the wondrous birth. Those who supposed themselves […]

Mark 6:14-29 (ESV)Andrew, Isack, and Edwin discuss the execution of John the Baptist.Read the written devo that goes along with this episode by clicking here.    Let us know what you are learning or any questions you have. Email us at TextTalk@ChristiansMeetHere.org.    Join the Facebook community and join the conversation by clicking here. We'd love to meet you. Be a guest among the Christians who meet on Livingston Avenue. Click here to find out more. Michael Eldridge sang all four parts of our theme song. Find more from him by clicking here.   Thanks for talking about the text with us today.________________________________________________If the hyperlinks do not work, copy the following addresses and paste them into the URL bar of your web browser: Daily Written Devo: https://readthebiblemakedisciples.wordpress.com/?p=23108The Christians Who Meet on Livingston Avenue: http://www.christiansmeethere.org/Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/TalkAboutTheTextFacebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/texttalkMichael Eldridge: https://acapeldridge.com/ 

What if the most dangerous thing about a nation isn't its armies, but its envy? In Ezekiel chapter 35, the spotlight falls on Edom—Mount Seir—and a hard truth emerges: God confronts “everlasting enmity,” the kind of hatred that celebrates another people's pain and seizes land under the cover of their loss. We walk through the text line by line and place it in the larger arc of Ezekiel—early judgment on Judah, mid‑book oracles to the nations, and a turn toward restoration—showing how Edom becomes a cautionary tale for every era.We trace Edom's story from Esau and Idumea into the first century with Herod to show that old rivalries have long tails. Then we grapple with God's charges: love of bloodshed, arrogant words against Him, and a bold claim on land He calls His own. It's not a blanket defense of Israel's behavior—Ezekiel spends chapters condemning Israel's sin—but it is a clear boundary against identity‑driven hatred and opportunism. If repentance spared Nineveh, Ezekiel suggests that contempt and violence summon justice. And when nations mock Israel's ruin, they risk mocking Israel's God, who says, “I have heard it.”This conversation leans into the nuance our moment needs. We separate principled critique from corrosive prejudice, ask why the land matters in Scripture, and consider how God's governance of history weighs motives as well as actions. The takeaway is both sobering and hopeful: God judges envy and bloodshed, guards His name and His promises, and prepares a path toward restoration in Ezekiel chapter 36 of — His “I will,” not Israel's merit.If this episode challenged your assumptions or clarified your thinking, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a rating or review so more listeners can join the conversation. What question do you want us to tackle next?Support the showThank you for listening!! Please give us a five-star rating to help your podcast provider's algorithm spread RTTB among their listeners. You can find free study and leader resources at the following link - Resource Page - Reasoning Through the Bible Please prayerfully consider supporting RTTB to help us to continue providing content and free resources. You can do that at this link - Support RTTB - Reasoning Through the Bible May God Bless you!! - Glenn and Steve

Herod offers to give Salome anything she could possibly desire. In the end, all their choices lead to defilement and death. Our text in this study is: Mark 6:14-29 Series: Who Do You Say That He Is? Gene Pensiero Jr Find the rest of the series at https://calvaryhanford.com/whodoyousay Subscribe on YouTube at: https://youtube.com/calvaryhanford Read the […]

141En aquel tiempo, oyó el tetrarca Herodes lo que se contaba de Jesús 2y dijo a sus cortesanos: «Ese es Juan el Bautista, que ha resucitado de entre los muertos, y por eso las fuerzas milagrosas actúan en él». 3Es que Herodes había mandado prender a Juan y lo había metido en la cárcel encadenado, por motivo de Herodías, mujer de su hermano Filipo; 4porque Juan le decía que no le era lícito vivir con ella. 5Quería mandarlo matar, pero tuvo miedo de la gente, que lo tenía por profeta. 6El día del cumpleaños de Herodes, la hija de Herodías danzó delante de todos y le gustó tanto a Herodes, 7que juró darle lo que pidiera. 8Ella, instigada por su madre, le dijo: «Dame ahora mismo en una bandeja la cabeza de Juan el Bautista». 9El rey lo sintió, pero, por el juramento y los invitados, ordenó que se la dieran, 10y mandó decapitar a Juan en la cárcel. 11Trajeron la cabeza en una bandeja, se la entregaron a la joven y ella se la llevó a su madre. 

Sunday morning service preaching from the pulpit of Woodland Baptist Church – Winston Salem, NC * Please feel free to visit our website at woodlandbaptistnow.com

1 Chronicles 29 outlines the extensive offerings for the temple, that David in gratefulness to God had prepared. And like the Tabernacle those offerings had had come from willing hearts - verse 9 compare Exodus 25:2. David then prays for the Assembly and asks that whatever those assembled had done would be acceptable to the Almighty. Note the similarity between David's prayer and the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6. Also take notice of the deep spirit of humility in which it was offered. Solomon was anointedking for the second time and we need to consider the import of verse 23 "He sat as king upon the throne of Yahweh over Israel". Thus began the kingdom of God on earth in its first constitution. David dies and is buried and let us consider the Apostle Paul's comments on David's faithful service in Acts 13 verses 36-37. Ezekiel 38 speaks of an invasion of the recently regathered and reconstituted nation of Israel (verses 7-8). The chapter speaks of a northern confederacy headed by one termed Gogue - meaning 'roof', or 'one at the top'. Looking at a map of Eurasia we need no imagination to be able to see the nation being spoken about. The leader of this nation is called in the Hebrew tongue prince of Ros, Meshech and Tubal - the ancient names for Russia, Moscow and Tobolski as many lexicographers tell us. In a book by a notable Russian historian (George Vernadsky - he says Ezekiel 38 is the first historical reference to Russia. Note the alliances mentioned and much of this has already transpired. This Eurasian confederacy is opposed by Israel and Arabian countries (verse 13). The principal aggressor comes from the "uttermost parts of the north" (verse 16 RSV). Moscow is directly north of Jerusalem. Verses 17-23 indicate that the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY will come to the aid of His beleaguered people and there will be a great earthquake (see Zechariah 14 and Joel 3 verses 16-21). It will be occasioned by the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ standing on the Mount of Olives. This was promised by the two angels at Jesus' ascension to heaven: Acts 1:1-11 compare with Luke's other record in Luke 24 verses 50-52. John 4 deals with the incident between Jesus and the woman of Samaria in which he offers her "living water". There follows a discussion between Jesus and the woman about the site of acceptable worship - Jerusalem, or Gerazim. Jesus firstly tells her that salvation is from the Jews. Acceptance by God is dependent on two factors sincerity and truth - these have always been the focus at Shechem, and with Joseph and his brothers in Egypt (Joshua 14 verses 14-15; Judges 9 verses 14-15). The woman accepts Jesus as the Christ (Messiah) and she then has an incredible impact on helping the Samaritans to receive Jesus also. Philip would about 7 years later reap the gathering harvest now being sown. That harvest is spoken about in Acts 8. From verse 46 to the end of John chapter 4 our Lord Jesus heals the son of an official from Capernaum - this being the second of the signs recorded by John and resulting in the official and his household believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. That Nobleman is thought by some to be Herod's keeper of the larder ChuzaThanks for joining us - we pray you found these comments helpful in your appreciation of God's words, join again tomorrow

Earlier in Matthew we learned that John the Baptist had been imprisoned, and in today's episode we learn the specifics surrounding that event. Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great, reigns as tetrarch over Galilee, which in short, is similar to a duke in medieval times. Sadly, John's imprisonment ends in execution, an unjust end that foreshadows the even more audacious crucifixion of Christ. We'll also hear Matthew's account of Jesus feeding the 5,000, the account of Christ walking on water far from shore on the Sea of Galilee, and more accounts of Jesus healing the sick, even those who merely touch the end of his robe. :::Christian Standard Bible translation.All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.Co-produced by the Christian Standard Biblefacebook.com/commuterbibleinstagram.com/commuter_bibletwitter.com/CommuterPodpatreon.com/commuterbibleadmin@commuterbible.org

In 1947, with the dissolution of the British Indian Empire, more than 15 million people migrated for religious reasons. The upheaval was worsened by monsoon flooding and the spread of disease. More than a million refugees died. Throughout history, people have migrated—seeking freedom, safety, or a better life. The urge to move is ingrained in the human experience. The most famous example in Scripture is the exodus story of the Jews to the promised land. This experience wasn’t foreign to Jesus either. As a young baby, His parents fled to Egypt to protect His life from the murderous Herod. It’s ironic that as the Israelites fled to the promised land (Exodus 3:17) to get away from a king who killed young boys (Exodus 1:16), Joseph is told to take Jesus “and his mother and escape to Egypt” to flee a tyrant who did the same (Matthew 2:13, 17). Matthew tells us this journey was to fulfill the prophecy in Hosea 11:1 that “out of Egypt I called my son” (Matthew 2:15). But it’s also a reminder that Christ understands the human experience (Hebrews 4:15). We have a Savior who knows us and has experienced the same trials and tribulations we have. We can seek Him in our difficult moments. He listens and intercedes on our behalf (Hebrews 4:14-16).

In this solo episode of The Reformed Brotherhood, Jesse Schwamb explores the profound depths of Jesus' Parable of the Sower from Matthew 13. While this parable might seem unassuming compared to others, Jesse reveals how it serves as the "granddaddy" of all parables—offering a God's-eye view of salvation through the ordinary imagery of farming. The episode examines why different people respond differently to the same gospel message, and challenges listeners to consider what kind of soil their own hearts represent. Through historical context and theological reflection, Jesse unpacks how this parable prepares believers for the mixed responses they'll encounter when sharing the gospel and reminds us that the efficacy of salvation depends not on the sower's skill, but on God's sovereign work in preparing hearts to receive His Word. Key Takeaways The Parable of the Sower provides a framework for understanding the various responses to the gospel message, serving as preparation for disciples who would face both acceptance and rejection. Jesus' parables, particularly the Sower, demonstrate how God uses ordinary, mundane things to express profound spiritual truths about His kingdom. The efficacy of salvation doesn't depend on the skill of the sower but on God's sovereign work in preparing the soil of human hearts. God's Word never returns void but always comes back "full" of either acceptance or rejection—it accomplishes exactly what God intends. Historical context matters: Jesus' audience had high expectations for a Messiah who would establish an earthly kingdom, but Jesus was revealing a different kind of kingdom. The Parable of the Sower shows that the kingdom of God isn't received equally by all—some receive it with joy while others reject it outright. Having "ears to hear" is a gift from God through the Holy Spirit, not merely intellectual understanding but spiritual receptivity. The Word That Never Returns Void The power of God's Word stands at the center of the Parable of the Sower. Jesse highlights Isaiah 55, where God declares that His word "shall not return empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose." Unlike human words that often fall flat, God's Word always achieves its intended effect. This doesn't mean universal salvation, but rather that God's purposes are never thwarted. When the gospel is proclaimed, it always returns to God "full" of something—either acceptance or rejection. The parable illustrates this reality by showing the various responses to the same seed. This should encourage believers in evangelism: we are simply called to faithfully sow the seed, while God determines the harvest according to His sovereign purposes. Our success is not measured by conversions but by faithfulness in proclamation. Kingdom Expectations vs. Kingdom Reality The historical context of Jesus' ministry reveals a profound disconnect between what people expected from the Messiah and what Jesus actually delivered. Jesse explains how the Jewish people anticipated a conquering king who would overthrow Roman oppression and establish a visible earthly kingdom. Instead, Jesus announced a kingdom that begins in the heart, dividing even families according to their response to Him. The Parable of the Sower anticipates this mixed response, preparing disciples for both acceptance and rejection. This teaches modern believers an important lesson: the gospel will not be universally embraced, even when perfectly presented. Some hearts are like paths, others rocky ground, others thorny soil. Yet we continue sowing because God has appointed some to be good soil—hearts prepared by the Holy Spirit to receive the Word and bear fruit. This reality should both humble us and embolden our witness. Quotes "The power of this message is in the message itself, but the medium by which it is delivered... it does pierce the heart. It does pierce through bone and marrow. It does divide because it always returns full of either acceptance or full of rebellion and denial." - Jesse Schwamb "We find ourselves humbled. We find ourselves rushing in, coming into the kingdom, fighting to come into it because God has impassioned us with that same zeal that has accomplished this very thing. He implants it in our hearts, in our minds, in our guts, so that we would come before him and worship him." - Jesse Schwamb "Consider what it means that this good news... that God's word is his deed. This is why... it's such a blessing to live in this period of time where we have such easy access for most of us to the word of God, and that we ought to be zealous about getting that word out to all people because behind it and within it and around it is the full power of the Holy Spirit." - Jesse Schwamb Full Transcript Welcome to episode 463 of The Reformed Brotherhood. I'm Jesse, and this is the podcast for those with ears to hear. Hey, brothers and sisters, so I am just one half. Of the Reform Brotherhood squad. Tony, of course, wanted to join us on this episode, but it sometimes happens in life. Our schedules were a little bit crazy this week, and God gave us responsibilities that put us in opposite directions for part of the time. And so that means that today on this episode, I thought. You and I, we could just hang out and Tony will be back to join us in the next episode. [00:01:20] Solo Episode and Parable Series Overview But for now, this is one of those solo or formed brotherhood episodes. And if you have been tracking with us, we just started this great and amazing journey on going through all the parables that our Lord and Savior gives to us in teaching us about the kingdom of God and its power. And we just started by talking about the parable of the sower, in fact. In the last episode, we just covered basically the first two soils, the first half of that amazing little story, and I thought it would be really, really great to camp out in that for just a little bit more because even though Tony's not here, the podcast goes on and we, Tony and I never really. Thinking about these things and when we start a series in particular, we always find that we just gotta keep going back on it in our minds ruminating on what we said and what God was teaching us and the conversations like all good conversations that draw your mind back to the things that you talked about, which I should say maybe before I begin in earnest, that is also my denial, which is saying things like, let's camp out in this text now to be. Sure. There's no wrong reason why, or there's no bad reason to say words like that. It's just when I hear myself say them, I think about all the things that Christians say, like saying like, we should camp out in this text, or Let's sit in it for a while. And I think maybe it's because I'm just not into camping or maybe because I think most of the time when you use the phrase like, sit in, it's not. A happy or blessed or joyful thing that you're describing. So I always find that funny, and yet here I am saying it because I just couldn't think of anything better to say except, you know what? We should pause and maybe ruminate a little bit more. On all of this good stuff that's in Matthew chapter 13, where Jesus gives us the parable of the sower, so you can join me in sharing which little Christian phrases maybe you think you hear, we say too much or just become rote or part and parcel what it means to talk. The best way for you to do that is do me a. Go to your favorite internet device and in the browser, type T me slash reform brotherhood, that will just take you that little link to a part of the internet using an app called Telegram where a bunch of brothers and sisters who listen to the podcast are chatting about the podcast, their live sharing prayer requests, and there's even a place for you to share, Hey, what are the things that Christians say that you think. Why do we say that? Why are we always talking about hedges of protection? Why are we always talking about camping out in a text? So that's a place that you can come hang out. So go to t.me/reform brotherhood. [00:03:56] Deep Dive into the Parable of the Sower But enough of that, let's talk a little bit more about this incredible parable that our Lord and Savior gives us in Matthew chapter 13. It's so, so short in fact that I figured. The best parts of any conversation about the Bible is just hearing from God in his word. So let me read just those couple of verses. It's just eight verses beginning in Matthew chapter 13, the parable of the sower. That same day, Jesus went out from the house and sat beside the sea and great crowds gathered about him so that he got into a boat and sat down and the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables saying a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched. And since they had no roots, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seed fell on good soil and produced grain. Some a hundred fold, some 60, some 30. He who has ears let him hear. [00:05:09] Personal Reflections on the Parable I have to say that of all the parables, and we mentioned in the previous episode that this one is kind of the granddaddy of them all. It's a god's eye view on salvation told in this lovely kind of encased way about horticulture and farming and growing plants. But to be totally transparent, I never really got into this parable. It was never really my favorite one. Like of all the things that Jesus says, of all the creative and wonderful terms of phrase, this one for me always just seemed to be lacking That stuff. You know, it doesn't have really strong characters. It's about a sower, seed and soil, and compared to some other things that seems kind of unassuming and. Not very exciting, quite honestly, to me, and it's not as exciting, I think, as stories about, I don't know, losing something of value and then suddenly finding it and rejoicing and having the characters, feeling yourself in those characters as they go about experiencing all the emotions. That Jesus expresses and keyed in these lovely little riddles called parables. And so for this one, it's always been a little bit kind of like a, okay. It's interesting and the point seems fairly straightforward and it just doesn't captivate me as the others. And I've been thinking about about that, how even in this, it just seems like a really normal, mundane, kind of pedestrian expression of a life in that time. And it's all wrapped up in gardening. And throwing seeds into the ground, not even having control of their outcome. And then in this way, though, expressing and explaining this grand narrative and arc of salvation from God's perspective. So it is, again, another lesson in God using ordinary, normal, almost seemingly mundane things to express his power, to express our lack of control and to show so that he does. Did I just say so to, so that he does all things and certainly we get so much of that in this parable, and so it made me think this week after Tony and I talked about it a little bit. Just how it raises a question in this really normative, kind of unassuming, almost boring, if I can say way, this really profound question, which is, will we be this fruitful, fertile soil? Will we be fruitful followers? Of Jesus Christ. And it doesn't just raise this question, I suppose it also gives us some hope, but it also does so with a warning. It is a maybe a little bit of law and gospel even embedded in these simple means of, again, talking about what it means to plant something and to entrust the planting, the acy of the growth there to the soil and the seed, and there's hope. There's warning and there's so much of that that's in this context of the parable, and that's what's led me to wanna talk to you all a little bit about that as we kinda process together more of what this means. [00:08:00] Historical Context and Expectations of the Messiah I was thinking that when Jesus began his ministry, when he's coming forward, he's really announcing the arrival of the kingdom of God. And it's helpful, I think, to meditate as a second on how profound that is, that he comes again, not just as the message, but the messenger and the medium of that message. I was just kinda ruminating on the fact that. Everybody had high expectations. There was no one, I think, with kind of a low opinion of what was about to happen or of what the Messiah was going to bring or what he was going to do. And here you have like explicitly Jesus' hearers, their ancestors would've been taken into exile and captivity because they had broken the covenant with God. And the prophets had made this case for God's punishment because of their idolatry and their injustice. But that message, and you get this especially in in books like Isaiah. Where there's this mixture that's bittersweet. There is not only an exclusive message of woe for the people, but there is at the same time up against sick, almost running parallel. This promise of a day when God, by his own effort in Zeal, would bring about a restoration where he'd set up visibly an earthly reign through his anointed Wanda Messiah. And so I can only imagine if I could. Even partially put myself in the place of these people who are hearing this particular parable, that there is all this sense that we have strayed from God, that we're covenant breakers, but that he has promised to make a way and that his own zeal will very much accomplish this, but it will be visible and earthly, not just spiritual in the sense that we believe these things and we internalize them in the sense for our being, and therefore we speak about them in these kind of grandiose and ephemeral terms. But more than that, that God was going to come and set up an earthly reign, purely manifested in the world in which we live and breathe and have our being. And so two things would happen. Israel's oppressors would be defeated. And God would institute a pure worship and a reestablished pure worship. And so I can't help but think maybe there was some of this expectation. They're, they're seeing this Messiah, this Jesus, the one who speaks with a different kind of authority, come into their midst. And there I think all these things are somewhere in their minds as their processing. Maybe they should be in ours as well. And so there's this portrait that's being painted here of the prophet saying there's gonna be. Restoration and this image of a seed being sown. And then of course you have these metaphors that Jesus is employing in his own time. Very reminiscent of passages like in Isaiah 55, where you find the prophet saying, for as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there, but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater. So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth. It shall not return empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose and I shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. What an amazing, glorious promise of God that there is no suboptimal nature. In his expression of who he is and what he's accomplished, that the very thing that he intends to do, he always does, and this word comes back. I think what really strikes me about this passage in particular is the fact that it does not return to God empty. I mean, think about what that means. It's strange in a way. That. In other words, it's full of something. And here I think it's full of response. It's full of anticipation. It's full of this. Like what? What has gone out is now received by the individual and then returns with either acceptance or denial, very much in the same way that we're about to receive it in this parable before us. And in fact, even our ability to understand the parable. This if you have ears, he has ears. Let him hear that itself is an expression. So in other words. The power of this message is again, in the message itself, but the medium by which it is delivered, it does pierce the heart. It does pierce through bone and marrow. It does divide because it always returns full of either acceptance or full of rebellion and denial. And so when we think about the people of Israel. They exactly in that way. They return from exile under Ezra Nehemiah. But even those returns, even those improvements or some of that remediation seems to me like to come short of expectations. You know, Ezra rebuilt the temple, but it paled in comparison to Solomon's original, in fact. If we go to Ezra chapter three, there's like so much honesty as the people are seeing this rebuilt temple. Their response is, is like tragic in a way. So this is Ezra chapter three, beginning verse 12. But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers houses, old men. Who had seen the first house as the temple of God wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy so that the people cannot distinguish the sound of the joyful from the sound of people's weeping for the people shouted with a great shout and the sound was heard far away, even in just the setting up the foundation, the base layer. There are those saying this is. This is not like it used to be. Even this is just far piles in comparison and falls very far short of the original. And of course you have Nehemiah's rebuilt wall around Jerusalem. Couldn't even ensure the holiness of God's people. And so everything up to that point. All of it was still just a shadow. It was like a big, giant disappointment, a blemish as it were, on God's people. Even as there was an attempt to restore, there was still this longing from the inside to have the real McCoy to everything made right to have the true Messiah come, not the one that was the type. Not the thing that was the shadow, not the the poor replacement or the analog, but the real thing. And so you have in response to this, you know, some of God's people move into the wilderness and pursue holy living. Some accommodated to Roman occupation like the Sadducees, some retreated into kind of individual individualistic piety or rule keeping like the Pharisees. And then there's all kinds of accounts of God's people in rebellion. Like Simon, the Zealots. There were some who even located themselves under the legitimate, yet Roman endorsed leadership of Herod, you know the Herodians. So you have all of these people you can imagine literally in the same audience. Jesus pushes back and he begins to teach them. And he starts by talking about horticulture. He starts by saying, A sower goes out and he throws all this kind of seed. And it's not difficult to imagine that all of the seed, all the soil, everything is represented in what he's saying right there. And then it's not a story as if like, well, you take this away and try to process it in such a way that you might come to terms with it later on. It's happening in the here and now. Even what he's saying. Even the message that he's communicating is being man made manifest right there in their midst, and it's not returning a void to him. The one who wrote it to begin with is the one who's speaking it, and it's having its desired effect, even as we read it now, and it reads us today. [00:15:13] Jesus' Ministry and the Kingdom of God And so it's amazing that it's on this stage that Jesus steps out and he stands, especially in the synagogue when he reads from the Isaiah scroll. And he announces that the true jubilee has now arrived and it's arrived in him. You know, by the way, what's interesting there is we have, we have no real reason to think that Israel ever really practiced Jubilee as it was outlined in the scriptures. So we have this beautiful instruction for a reset, a pure reset, and one that is liberty and freedom in so many ways, but especially demonstrated in this economic reality. And Jesus commences his public ministry proclaiming the good new. News that the kingdom of God has arrived. I feel like we have to go there, right? Because this is just so good. So in MOOC chapter four, Jesus stands up. He asks for the scroll, and this is what he reads. Loved ones. These are fantastic words. I mean, hear them from the mouth of our Savior. Again, Jesus reads this, the spirits of the Lord is upon me. Because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. It's such incredibly strong and powerful news. We're getting this sense that there are those who are poor that need. To hear that something will be different. That they are her, that they're seen that all of the straining in life and all of their labor is not in vain, but here is one who's come to rescue them and that those who have been set in prison, those who are chained and under duress and find themselves locked up. That here he has come to proclaim liberty to the captives, and then for those that cannot see, that have lost their way entirely, that are groping in the dark, here is one that's coming to recover the sight. Hear that word, not to give it brand new, but to restore that which was originally present to begin with. Imagine the horror of having your sights and then having it taken away that. Knowing that there was something there that was beautiful in your midst, something that was precious to you, and now to have that restored, in fact, like Blind by de MEUs the Greek, there is more when God says, or Jesus rather, says, what do you want me to do for you? The Greek is very clear, just says, sight again, sight again. And I think we like our ancestors and Israel here before us. We ought to be always clamoring and crying. Then I tell God like, son of David sight again. Would you help me to see truly not as the world appears to be, but we spiritual eyes, to know the truth, to understand how much you love me, and would you gimme the strength to love you? Me back love you back by way of giving, yes, this sight. And then for all those who are downtrodden. Where, wherever, and whatever that means, physically, emotionally, spiritually, that here's the one who has come to, again, set you at liberty and then to say, do you know what this time is? This is the time of the Lord's favor. Why? Because the son of man is here and where the son of man is. There is freedom and restoration. There is a new king over all things. There's one who super intends over all of the earth. Who has been given control over all things and has come to win literally the day for those who are rebellious before God, for those who have sinned, who are covenant breakers, who are gospel abusers, while we were at yet enmity with God at the right time, Jesus and his son for us. And so we find that it's like the pretext, it's the context for all of this, and especially this parable. And of course, rather than. Everybody listening to what Jesus has to say here and just being one over being filled with some kind of winsome logic of what's being said here, of being thoroughly convinced. We know that of course it's not just a matter of evidence, but unless the Holy Spirit comes the same spirit, which is upon Jesus, the sin of God, to change us, to open our ears, that we do not hear these things, we don't hear them as we ought to. We do not give them heed. We do not internalize them, and we cannot understand them. And so because of that, rather than of course meeting with universal acceptance, Jesus, of course, he encounters a host of reactions. Some opposed him. The crowds sometimes were way more motivated, like people in our day by novelty or curiosity or by presume rewards or blessings. You can imagine this is what makes, of course, something like the Blat and grab, its kind of gospel, the prosperity of some of our modern evangelical expression, so incredibly dangerous. Because of course people will say, well, if I can get that blessing, of course I want Jesus. Or if I'm gonna be made, well, yes, I'll, I'll find, I'll take Jesus. If I'm gonna get wealth and riches and a 401k, that's gonna suit my every need. Well sure I'll take Jesus. And of course, the blessing, the reward of getting Jesus is getting the son of God, getting the one who restores us first and predominantly. With God the father himself, that all of those blessings are already ours in the spiritual realm because of Jesus. In fact, we've, we've already been placed with him in the heavenly realms. That is the reward. And so sometimes the gods were a little bit more motivated by, this guy's given us bread before. Let's see if there's gonna be another buffet, rather than he says We ought to eat and drink his flesh. That in that is eternal life, and so we get distracted. And so sometimes novelty and curiosity just win the day. And then of course, on the other hand. Some of the most unlikely unseemly, most sinful were responding with incredible joy and embracing Jesus and his announcement. Tenaciously like voraciously, the ones who were humble, who knew that they needed a savior, they needed a reconciliation that was alien and outside of themselves. Something powerful that could defeat even the sin that was within them and bring about a pure and unbridled atonement, unreserved in its ability to clean. These were the ones who were saying, come, Lord Jesus, these were the ones crying out, saying, have mercy on me, son of David. And we like them. Ought to follow that example. And so throughout Matthew's Gospel and Luke's gospel. There's a mixed response throughout the entire ministry of Jesus. And again, what's unique about this parable, I think, is that Jesus comes setting the stage for that unique response. All of those different kind of options and how people will perceive him, how they respond to him, what they will say to him. And so whether as you go through the narratives in the gospels, you look to. The Samaritan Leopard or the blind beggar, or the Chief tax Collector, or the impoverished widow, all of these were those who were forcing their way into the kingdom in response during the good news. There's really something I think that's beautiful about that, that God allows for us to force our way as it were. When we are convicted of this kingdom, that he is the kingdom and that he brings it to us. That we come headlong, rushing in, falling over ourselves to get into that kingdom by the power of the Holy Spirit. And that's why I think, why, why Luke writes in chapter 16 of his gospel. The law in the prophets were until John. Since then, the good news of the kingdom of God is preached and everyone forces his way into it. What a amazing and lovely thing that God allows us. Which is the truth, to force our way into that. So these were the ones who proved to be the fertile soil for the word of the kingdom, not the ones who chose the places of honor or the privilege, or we saw Jesus one of many important priorities to be managed. What we have here is the ones who forced their way in. These were the ones who proved to be the fertile soil, and I'm not gonna steal. Any of our thunder, because Tony and I are gonna talk about that in the next episode. But I bring that up merely to say there's so much that's rich here. When we think about are we as Christians fruitful and fertile? In our following, after the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's Matthew's great theme of reversal, like beginning in the birth narratives of Jesus and continuing through the very end of his gospel count. Even like in his final parable, Jesus forced the confrontation with his opponents by declaring that God would give the kingdom to those who had produce a harvest for God in honor. His son. That's the truth. And so he was more than simply this messenger in these cleverly created stories announcing the arrival of God's reign. He was the one who brought the kingdom. And actually, in fact, Jesus embodies the kingdom because he was the king, not only of Israel, but the royal son of God who would rule the nations. And because of that. He did represent a threat to overthrow to some just as much as he was meant as a salvation and a blessing to others. He is divisive. In fact, what's interesting is if you track Jesus standing up in the temple. And he comes forward and reads from Isaiah. It's interesting where he stops reading. This is really before kind of the, all the language about the second coming back, him really coming not to bring just salvation, but to bring retribution, to bring justice and punishment for those who are God's enemies. And so really this first coming. Jesus is all about this. It's it's all about having the message of God go out in that return void. It's returning full of the response of God's people, full of the response of God's enemies and therefore. This parable, an ex explanation to his inner circle would be understood as an accounting for the surprising range of responses. And even more than I think like an ex explanation, like explicitly it would be this kind of preparation. This kind of, again, setting a table or opening up a pathway for this hard road that lay ahead for those who would remain true to Jesus. These would be the ones who would serve the ultimate purpose of God's great act of sowing in his son to produce a great harvest. And of course. That is partly what lies the hope for us. I mean, I think I said last time we spoke about this, what I appreciate about this teaching is not only that it doesn't pull any punches, but it's just so. Real, it's so resonant because Jesus already gives us some of the breadth and scope or the continuum of the responses so that when we go out and we should so unreservedly that that is by proclaiming Jesus as the king who has come as the kingdom already ushered in as here, but not yet. When we do this, we can expect already that there'll be various responses. So one for us, it takes away the surprise. The second is it does prepare us. That these things might in fact happen. And three, it gives us a sense that, again, the efficacy of salvation. And we're getting, by the way, this view of salvation from, from God isn't again dependent on the skillset of the sower. Instead, it is God's prerogative. It's always God's prerogative. And here as loved ones, you've heard me say again, I must invoke the phrase, we have God doing all the verbs, right? He's the one walking in the field. He's the one reaching in into the seed bag, as it were. He's the one casting it liberally across the ground. He's the one making it grow. All of this is what God is doing. The preparation of the soil, the casting of the seed, the being present in. Farmland. All of this is what God is doing now. We emulate that by design. So now the call is to do what Jesus has done here in Mala for us, and that is that we also go out into the world and we proclaim this good news because what is unequivocally true is that the good news of Jesus Christ. Is for all people. Now, this does not mean that all people will accept it. That is abundantly clear in the message that Jesus gives to us. It does not prevent though us or him from casting it out to all people. We see that really, really. Vividly. Some will be given ears to hear. We ought to pray that our neighbors, our children, those in our churches and our communities, our politicians, we ought to be praying that all would be given ears to hear, and the seed of God's word will accomplish exactly what God intends and Jesus' word, a proclamation announcing the good news of the kingdom of God. We see vividly the point that God's word is. Deed that this word that he spoke speaks is his action. It's not simply that God says what he will do, but that his very act of speaking is the means by which he does that very thing. When we hear God speak to us, it is proof that we are alive. Not only do like dead men tell no tales, I think I've just inadvertently like quoted from Disney's. Um. Pirates movie, but they hear no tells as well. You know, you have been born again, not a perishable seed, but of imperishable through the living and abiding word of God. Incredible. Isn't it? Loved ones like it's incredible this story that to me on the beginning seems like so kind of. Boring and not particularly catchy and maybe not as interesting as some of the others contained within. This is literally all the words of life in the seed that we've seen thrown and in. It is like the continuum we find, not that it emulates the Old Testament, or that it somehow compliments New Testament, but within all within this parable is all of the scriptures and all of the full plan of God and all of his great love for us. That again, while we were at his enemies, he came and on this path, as he walks among the field, he casts the seed. To all, and he, by his power, gives to some these ears to hear. We find ourselves humbled. We find ourselves rushing in coming into the kingdom, fighting to come into it because God has impassioned us with that same zeal that has accomplished this very thing. He implants it in our hearts, in our minds, in our guts, so that we would come before him and worship him, fall down and find. The one who is our savior, who ushers in the visible kingdom of God, the one that is not built merely on political theories, on good rules. The kind of gospel that didn't come to make bad people good, but came to make dead people alive again. And I think that that is the absolute. Untouchable, unfathomable, almost completely un understandable, if you will, truth of this particular parable. I think this is why the Westminster confession describes the word of God, and particularly the preaching of the word as a means of grace. The word is powerful in itself by the spirits of God. I had to quote the Westminster, of course, at least in honor of Tony, so. [00:30:02] Call to Action and Final Thoughts That's my little challenge to you on this short little episode. It's just you and me and I'm saying to you loved ones. Consider this parable again. Consider how palpable this parable is. Consider what God has for us in it. Consider this soils. And then think about what it means that this good news, we see this within it, this vivid point again, that God's word is his deed. And so this is why though we do not create any kind of legalistic, conscription, or prescription around something like daily Bible study. Why? It's such a blessing to live in this period of time where we have such easy access for most of us to the word of God, and that we ought to be zealous about getting that word out to all people because, because behind it and within it and around it is the full power of the Holy Spirit that is always going out into the world and returning full with response and that when God. Speaks his word. He's always accomplishing his act in that very deed. And so it should be a blessing. We should be compelled to find ourselves in it as much as often as we can because what we're finding there is the power of God for us, in us speaking, administering to us to produce in us a great harvest. That's the promise it's coming, and we're gonna get there in the next. Episode, but what I'll leave you with is just those first two soils thinking about if you have ears to hear, if you have been made alive together with Christ, then consider that there was a time when you are one of the other soils and God who's being rich in mercy has rescued you. Not because of work done in righteousness, not because you've come forward and. Elevate your place to the, to elevate your state to the place of deserving poor. Not because like you came forward with, with empty hands and somehow convinced God that you are worthy enough, or sorry enough or contrite enough. But because of his great mercy, and it's that mercy, I think that compels us to say things to Jesus like Son of David Sight again. Son of David, have mercy on me, son of David. You are the real arrival of the Kingdom of God and your word bears testimony and your Holy Spirit has in a great work in my life. And to that end, I want to follow you and I want to ensure that this word that you've given to me is given to all people. So there's work to do, loved ones. And there's a lot there to process. I hope that you will take some time. Think about this in your own way, and as you are processing this as God is speaking to you, as you are joining together with loved ones from literally all over the world who are hanging out and listening to Tony and I chat about this stuff, that again, you would share your own voice, the best way to do that. Why do you make me beg you? Come join the Telegram chat. You'll have a great time. It's super fun. T me slash Reform Brotherhood. I would also be remiss if I didn't on behalf of myself and Tony, thank everyone who does hang out there, everyone who sent us the email, everyone who shares prayer requests or has prayed for us, and as well everyone who makes sure that this podcast. Is free of charge. It comes with its own expenses. It's not free to produce. And so we're so thankful that those who've said, listen, I've been blessed by the podcast, or It's just been important or special to me. God has done something in it. Or God has renewed a different kind of desire and passion to talk about the things of God or to encourage me in my life. I'm so happy if other things have happened. By the way, it's not because of Tony or me. It's because God is good to us. I mean, can I get an amen? I see that hand. In the back, God is good to Tony and me and we're just so thankful that we get to do this. And so if you'd like to join in supporting financially. Every little gift helps. You can go to patreon.com/reform brotherhood patreon.com, reform Brotherhood, and there you can find a way to give one time or reoccurring all of those gifts together. Make sure that there's no payrolls on this bad boy that you're not gonna get any super weird ads in the middle of it. You're just gonna get us talking. We want to em, I would say be emblematic of what we've talked about here, which is. Freely we've received freely want to give. And for those who join and say, I wanna make that possible so that no one has to be compelled to pay for this kind of thing, I love that we are here for that every day of the week and twice on the Lord's day. So next episode, Tony and I are gonna continue in this parable. We're probably, you know, gonna get together. We'll set up our tents, we'll just camp out here for a little bit. So until we get the tents out, we get the s'mores. And we start camping. Honor everyone love the brotherhood.