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Walking on Water Have you ever felt like you've been rowing against the wind for far too long? In Episode 159 of 2 Minute Disciple, we meditate on Mark 6:45–52, where the disciples find themselves battling strong winds in the middle of the night while Jesus watches from a distant hillside. What makes this story so comforting is that Jesus sees them long before He reaches them. While the disciples strain at the oars, exhausted and afraid, Jesus is fully aware of their struggle. He knows where they are. He knows what they are facing. And at just the right moment, He comes to them. Walking on the water, Jesus reveals far more than His power over nature. He reveals His identity. When He says, “It is I. Don't be afraid,” the original language echoes the divine name revealed to Moses: “I AM.” This is not merely Jesus identifying Himself. It is Jesus revealing Himself as the God who sees, who comes near, and who is present in the storm. Mark adds another surprising detail. The disciples are amazed because they still had not fully understood the miracle of the loaves. Despite witnessing God's provision, they struggled to trust Him in the next challenge. How often do we do the same? This passage invites us to remember God's faithfulness in the past so that we can trust Him more fully in the present. In this episode, you'll discover: • Why Jesus' awareness of the disciples' struggle matters for us today • The deeper meaning behind Jesus walking on water • What Christ reveals about Himself through the words “I AM” • How spiritual memory strengthens faith during difficult seasons • A practical habit for remembering God's provision and presence Scripture

In this profound exploration of Matthew 22:1-14, we examine Jesus's parable of the wedding feast—one of the most theologically dense teachings in Scripture. This parable reveals the magnificent scope of God's gospel invitation extended to all humanity, the tragic reality of human rejection, and the sovereign grace that ensures God's purposes will not be thwarted. Through the imagery of a royal wedding banquet, Jesus addresses the religious leaders who challenged His authority while simultaneously unveiling timeless truths about salvation, election, and the nature of the Church. This episode unpacks the parable's layers of meaning, from the universal call of the gospel to the particular grace of election, equipping believers to understand both the urgency and the sovereignty of God's redemptive work. Key Takeaways The Universal Gospel Call Is Genuine and Urgent: God's invitation to salvation goes out indiscriminately to all people, regardless of ethnicity, social status, or moral condition. This external call is sincere, well-meant, and accompanied by genuine offers of grace. Human Rejection Is Willful and Culpable: The parable demonstrates that humanity's refusal of God's invitation is not due to insufficient information but to volitional rebellion. This rejection often progresses from indifference to active hostility against God and His messengers. God's Sovereign Purposes Cannot Be Frustrated: Despite widespread rejection, the wedding hall will be filled. God's redemptive plan includes the expansion of His covenant community beyond ethnic Israel to include Gentiles from every nation. The Wedding Garment Represents Imputed Righteousness: The garment required for the feast symbolizes the righteousness of Christ, received by faith alone, not earned through human effort. This illustrates the doctrine of justification by grace through faith. The Visible Church Contains Both Genuine and False Believers: The parable warns that not all who hear the gospel and enter the visible church possess true saving faith, distinguishing between the external call and the internal, effectual work of the Spirit. Eternal Punishment Is Real and Conscious: The parable's conclusion soberly affirms the doctrine of eternal, conscious punishment for those who reject Christ, depicted as "outer darkness" with "weeping and gnashing of teeth." "Many Are Called, But Few Are Chosen": This foundational statement maintains the biblical tension between the universal external call of the gospel and the particular, effectual call of God that sovereignly draws the elect to salvation. Key Concepts The Nature of the Gospel Call: External and Effectual Reformed theology has carefully distinguished between two aspects of God's call. The external or general call is the sincere proclamation of the gospel to all without distinction, inviting everyone to faith and repentance. This call is genuine on God's part—He truly offers salvation to all who hear. However, due to total depravity, the natural person will not respond to this call on their own. The internal or effectual call is the sovereign, irresistible work of the Holy Spirit by which the elect are regenerated, have their wills renewed, and are infallibly brought to saving faith. This distinction preserves both human responsibility (we are culpable for rejecting a genuine offer) and divine sovereignty (God alone saves by His grace). The parable beautifully illustrates both realities: servants genuinely invite all they find on the highways, yet the King ultimately determines who is properly clothed for the feast. The Wedding Garment and Justification by Faith Alone The wedding garment represents one of the parable's most critical theological elements. In ancient Near Eastern culture, hosts often provided garments for wedding guests, making the lack of proper attire inexcusable. Theologically, this garment symbolizes the righteousness of Christ imputed to believers—a righteousness not produced by human effort but received through faith alone. This directly confronts any notion of works-righteousness or the idea that we can stand before God based on our own moral achievements, religious observances, or church membership. The man without the garment represents those who presume to approach God on the basis of their own righteousness rather than Christ's alien righteousness. His speechlessness before judgment illustrates that on the last day, no one will successfully argue their case on grounds of personal merit. This underscores the Reformation principle of sola gratia and sola fide—salvation is by grace alone through faith alone, clothing us in a righteousness that is entirely Christ's. The Tension Between Universal Call and Particular Election The parable's conclusion—"many are called, but few are chosen"—encapsulates one of theology's profound mysteries. This statement places two realities side by side without resolving the tension philosophically. The invitation truly goes to all (universal call), yet only some respond savingly (particular election). Reformed theology maintains this biblical tension rather than collapsing it in either direction. We don't limit the external call only to the elect (hyper-Calvinism), nor do we make the internal call dependent solely on human decision (Arminianism). Instead, we affirm that the gospel invitation is genuinely universal while the effectual drawing is sovereignly particular. This means Christians can proclaim unreservedly, "Christ has died for you" to any person, knowing the offer is sincere, while simultaneously trusting that God will infallibly save all His elect through that proclamation. Memorable Quotes "The most scandalous and tragic thing that could happen at a wedding or a wedding banquet is that nobody shows up. The guests don't come. Or in fact, not only do they not come, they don't want to come—they burn the invitations." "You don't bring anything to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary." "Many a man in this world will silence his own conscience with many a fair excuse. But in that day, there will be no excuse, no plea, no delay." - William Perkins Full Episode Transcript [00:00:58] Jesse Schwamb: Welcome to episode 493 of The Reformed Brotherhood. I'm Jesse, and this is the podcast where we will talk about every single parable. Hey, brothers and sisters. So when was the last time that you were at a wedding? I think weddings are one of the most glorious of all kinds of human events and celebrations, and I think the solemness of the vows and the promises that are exchanged between a man and a woman in marriage in that ceremony, or maybe only equaled by the joy of those same vows and promises. And of course, the whole point of coming together to celebrate a, a wedding. Is to make that joy consummate and complete by having others participate in it. The seeing the union of a man and a woman become one, the excitement of that love expressed in promise and commitment. It's an incredible thing. And I was thinking about this recently because our wedding invitation is actually framed in, in our living room because one of the guests that we invited gave that to us as a really thoughtful gift. And so our wedding ceremony and the party that followed, and it was a. Amazing and awesome party, especially thanks to my in-laws and my parents who generously made sure that that was possible was an exceptional event that we still talk about all the time. Actually, you know, in my wedding when we had this grand kind of wedding banquet afterwards, we had a friend of ours who actually performed the song that we danced to on grand piano and sang for us, which is amazing. We had a DJ in one room and we had a live jazz band in another, and I specifically recall. That when we left late in the evening, my new wife and I, that there were still people on the dance floor having a good time. And I thought, this is the way it's supposed to be. I mean, this is a wedding. This is a wedding banquet. [00:02:58] Why No One Comes [00:02:58] Jesse Schwamb: And so it also made me think recently, especially as we find ourselves in Matthew chapter 22, continuing to look at all these incredible parables that Jesus gives to us, that perhaps the most scandalous and tragic thing that could happen at a wedding or a wedding banquet is that nobody shows up. The guests don't come. Or in fact, like not only do they not come, they don't want to come, they burn the invitations. They wanna have nothing to do with the celebration or the ceremony itself. And so Jesus has been doing all of this teaching that we've been tracking, and he's been responding to these leaders in the Jewish community, the people we call the Pharisees and the scribes who have challenged his authority. And he's been progressing in the way that he's almost ratcheting up the language that he's using, the indictments that he's bringing to them. And now he's about to bring in weddings and specifically the wedding banquet. And that is where we're gonna find ourselves in a Matthew Chapter 22. Now, by the way, I should also mention that because my wife is super popular lady and super lovable. We had a pretty large wedding. I think we had over 200 guests, and so. Because my father-in-law is retired military, we were actually able to have our whole wedding banquet, our whole celebration and party on a local army base. But because of that, it meant that before you could actually get onto the base, all of our guests. Had to be searched. So it's nothing like, you know, basically just shaken down your wedding guests before they show up. So that also was super fun.  [00:04:32] Reading Matthew 22 [00:04:32] Jesse Schwamb: But let's go to the scriptures, everybody. So here's Matthew chapter 22. Uh, listen to this as we take a look at what Jesus has to say and why he brings in weddings. Actually, it might be helpful to say or to give you something, rather to listen to or listen for before you even hear me read the scriptures because. This parable of this wedding banquet, it is definitely one of the most theologically dense parables in the entire synaptic tradition. It is set like we've been saying within the final week of Jesus' ministry in Jerusalem, and it's embedded in the sequence of confrontational exchanges that he's having with the Jewish leadership because they have challenged his authority. And so as you listen to this being read, I want you to clue in, key in as they say to a couple of things. See if you can find the, like the Christological proclamation in this. There's a, a covenantal poll. I think there's some sociological instruction and there's an eschatological warning. All of this happens as is Jesus's jam in the short span of several verses where he illuminates all of these principles of the sovereign grace of God and the summons of the gospel. Total depravity and culpability of this, these rebellious people who refuse the call, the historical judgment of God upon the covenant breaking Israel. And then of course, the subsequent expansion of that covenant into the community include to include the Gentiles. All of this is happening. In this parable, and so I want you just to listen for that as we together read. Or in my case, I guess I just read, especially if you're driving, do not read the parable that begins in the first part of Matthew chapter 22. Here's the word of God. And Jesus answered and spoke to them again in parables saying The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, and he sent out his slaves to call those who had been called to the wedding feast and they were unwilling to come again. He sent out other slaves saying, tell those who have been called. Behold. I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fon livestock are all butchered and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast. But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his farm, another to his business, and the rest seized the slaves and mistreated them and killed them. But the king was enraged and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire. Then he said to his slaves, the wedding is ready, but those who were called were not worthy. Go, therefore, to the main highways and as many as you find there, call to the wedding feast. And those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found both evil and good, and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests. But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who is not dressed in wedding clothes, and he said to him, friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes? And the man was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, bind him hand and foot and throw him into the outer darkness. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth for many are called, but few are chosen.  [00:07:50] Parable Context [00:07:50] Jesse Schwamb: Wow. So what an incredible. Story, what an incredible foundation or rubric or context in which so many rich theological concepts and pastoral concepts, doctrinal concepts are given to us from Jesus. And you'll notice that of course, chronologically here, this parable is following the parable of the two sons and the parable of the wicked tenants. Those are the vine growers that we were talking about over the last several episodes. And this one rounds everything out. It forms like a triptych of rejection parables directed against these chief priests and the Pharisees who keep coming after Jesus and his authority. And Matthew signals this kind of escalating tension. The Jewish leaders are now explicitly seeking to arrest Jesus. And Jesus responds not by treating their, not by retreating, of course, but by intensifying his indictment in this parabolic form. And here's where we arrive in Matthew 22. It's interesting to me, of course, that this is the approach that Jesus takes. He has already conveyed these two great stories, and at the end of the last one, Tony and I spoke about how this was where at least Matthew explains to us very directly that the, the Pharisees and the scribes, they understood, they discerned that Jesus was speaking about them, and yet Jesus says, I'm not done yet. I've got one more. And this is the culmination of all the things that he's been saying. And it starts again in verse one with Jesus saying, and again, he spoke to them in a parable. You know, it signals that the parable itself is still a reply. Not to a verbal question at this immediate moment, but to this ongoing posture of rejection exhibited by the religious leaders. You notice that what Matthew says here is very, I think, theologically significant in light of where Jesus explains that the parables both reveal and they conceal their instruments of divine judgment upon heart and hearts, even as they illuminate those with ears to hear. This is why I think it's just so important that as Christians. Even as we study God's word, as we participate in it, so to speak, as we let it read us, that we come with this posture of prayer, that we desperately need God's Holy, holy, holy Spirit to illuminate for us what the scriptures say, to lead us into the paths of righteousness and judgment, which are present in the scriptures, so that we may understand them with these spirit-filled eyes, with a spirit enabled brain with ears that have been unstopped by the spirit. So these parables are the mode by which Christ simultaneously honors and judges his audience. He shows indirectly what it would've been of no use to state plainly. And so the parable form itself is really part of the message here. I think that's something hopefully you picked up as we've been processing them all together, that Jesus opponents cannot arrest what they cannot fully comprehend, yet their incomprehension is itself their condemnation, right? This is, this is the mystery. Of the gospel of what God does, where there is this outward and full unbiased external call, and yet there is something that is efficacious by the power of the Holy Spirit for those whom God has chosen and called to himself so reformed to eus. Are attentive to the authorial intent in historical situatedness of each thing that Jesus says. That's one of the things I think is great about the way in which we kind of have organized our theological perspective and these parables function as a prophetic oracle of judgment. And certainly that's like in an Old Testament accent. I mean, that's the Old Testament jam. It's an Old Testament lawsuit kind of John. It's like law and order. If law and order were Moses, were doing it right. So notice that again, as Tony and I've said so many times before, what I kind of always find so phenomenal about these parables is that often we think of parables as having the main object of being a noun of some kind. It's a person, it's a place. It's a thing that is sometimes the case, but more often than not, it's one of those nouns associated with a verb.  [00:11:59] Kingdom And The King [00:11:59] Jesse Schwamb: And so we get that in verse two. The kingdom of heaven may be compared to what? To a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. And so it implies that the kingdom is being revealed and likened in a definitive act. We got verbs, loved ones. This is the classic. The ultimate, God does all the verbs because you're gonna hear her over and over again. God is going out. God is giving. God is seeking. God is going after, and these verbs are really the center of the parable itself. It's not just that it's the wedding banquet as maybe the title in your scripture gives you, but it's more about this giving of this event and it's preparing of this grand feast. And so the recurrence of this allegory seemed, I think, pretty straightforward to us. The the king is God, the Father, the Son is Christ, and the wedding banquet, which by the way in the Greek here is plural, is really emphasizing that it's a totality of an occasion. This is the Messianic feast. This is the eschatological consummation of the Covenant of Grace. And that image imagery draws like so deep from this Old Testament well and background of God as the husband and the bridegroom of Israel. Again, how lovely and amazing for Jesus and his thorough knowledge of the scriptures to draw in something that the audience would've been like, yes, I know what you're talking about. I'm totally down with that. And so the son's wedding is therefore not some kind of like incidental entertainment. It is the central event of all history, the installation of the Messianic king and the gathering of his bride. And of course, the people hearing this would've immediately gravitated toward that. I think they would've leaned in maybe even like smiled or smirked at one another, knowing that this was now all that veiled. What Christ was drawing on here was the classic presentation. Of the family of God represented in the children of Israel itself, being drawn back into consummate harmony with God the Father, where there was peace and unitedness, and a celebration of this fact that all things were now made and brought together, that God was restoring and bringing all those back to himself in his true and true kingdom that could not be thwarted. So the fact that the king gives the banquet, prepares it, sends servants, selects the guests, underscores this incredible modernistic character of salvation. I think it's impossible to miss here that God is literally doing all the verbs. The initiative at every point is divine. There's no hint here of synergism. The guests do not arrange their own invitations, literally. And so that's why in verse three, we see God, he sending out his servants. And of course that's a familiar theme. It should be to us. If you've been tracking with us the last several parables we've been speaking of because the servants represent the prophets of the Old Testament and subsequently the apostles and the ministers of the word. The invitation had already gone out to quote those who were invited. So it's this perfect passive parable in the Greek, it's, it's indicating a prior and standing invitation. This is the external or general call of the gospel going out through the preaching of the word. And notice that there is always a response. Even here, Jesus moves directly and quickly to here's what the response was. In other words, as the scripture has told us that God's word never goes out in returns void, there's always, as it were, a response here, that's illustrated for us very directly because the response is not so good.  [00:15:32] Invitation Refused [00:15:32] Jesse Schwamb: I mean, this is what would, this is horrible like wedding etiquette. They were not willing to come. And this verb I think is critical because it's volitional refusal. It's not mere ignorance. And reformed theology is insistent here against any kind of constellation that makes man's rejection of the gospel. A matter of insufficient information or circumstances we know better, right? We as people should know that we as Christians who have been changed, know that the natural man here is not natural, merely because he lacks the certain kind of information as if he could be restored or regenerated or reformed if we just knew more things. The will is in bondage to sin. And so as the Westminster Confession, faith says, man, by his fall into a state of sin, hath wholly lost all ability of will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation. This is classic Jonathan Edwards, like, you don't bring anything to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary. For some reason in my head, I said that with kind of a, a weird, almost like southern attitude, which I did not mean to convey. But the point is that this refusal is total, it's willing, it's culpable, it's damnable, it's precisely that, which makes it all the more grievous. The invitation is genuine, the refusal is genuine, and the guilt here is entirely real. So the invited in verse three, represent all of Israel. I, I would say like particularly the leaders here, Tony and I have been talking about the responsibility of these, these leaders in particular to, of course, lead Shepherd, grow these people in faith and a love toward God in a way that is toward freedom and now toward more conviction around extraneous rules or heavy burdens that they set up for them that they cannot perform. And so we have these leaders who had received the covenantal promises and the prophetic witness. I mean, that's like classic Romans nine. The rejection of the servants echoes the pattern of prophetic persecution throughout all of Israel's history. So this is sad stuff. It's a sad beginning to have this grand wedding feast prepared by this king for his son set in motion with the invitations already gone out. And essentially all of those who have been invited have Ally refused.  [00:17:49] Feast Is Ready [00:17:49] Jesse Schwamb: But what's so incredible about God and his loving kindness is still represented here in verse four. The king does not relent after the first refusal, which is remarkable. I mean, this is, again, going back to our proper understanding that we love because God first loved us. That love always leads to giving. And so therefore, God so loved the world that he gave his only son. And when did he give his son? At the fullness of time when we were still at enmity, when we were enemies with him still, he sent his son for us and he sends, therefore a second embassy with an even more urgent and elaborate message that he gives them. He puts into their mouth. And the feast, again, is not merely planned. It's prepared. It's ready. The oxen and fat and calves are images of this lavish like sacrificial celebration. Everything's all slaughtered. Everything is ready to go. Now, I don't know the last time you've been to like an epic feast. I do mean like epic over the top feast. I want you to look up something for me. When you have a chance, look up, just go to your browser of choice and type in shady maples smorgasbord. Now, I don't know if you know what a smorgasbord is, but it's like a, I guess it's like a buffet, but like if you took a buffet and multiply it by a million and then only serve like rich, decadent food and more food than you could possibly really imagine and close to where I live, there's a very famous Amish style. Buffet called Shady Maple Smoker Sport. Just go look it up. 'cause it's gonna be possible for you to describe, but all I can say to you is this isn't just like your standard buffet, it's not just like a potluck where it's like, Hey, we got ham. And, um, we've got some salads and, uh, we've got that, uh, what's that? That weird stuff. You can I, the ambrosia, like we, we've got your hydrox cookies for dessert. This is the last time I was there and uh, actually I was there with my parents and my wife and they treated us. And because this was at a part of my life where my gallbladder was trying to attack me and kill me, I remember just being so ill while I was there feeling so ill, and yet just being so disappointed and bummed out that I couldn't eat all this glorious food because there was filet mignon and lobsters. And shrimp and fish and ham like glazed ham and like carving stations. And then for desserts there was like custards and pies and ice cream and cookies and whoopee pies. And it was this over the top celebration of food. And you couldn't help but just feel like, wow, this thing that we're doing right now is like incredible. I've also, I don't think ever seen my father sample so many different desserts because it was special. This was a, a lavish and incredible celebration for us, and it was prepared, it was ready to go. And we find the same thing here. And so the second sending corresponds to this ministry of the Apostles and the early churches proclamation to Israel. The urgency of the messages come now. It reflects this eschatological pressure of the gospel. A good kind of pressure as if like there's a tea kettle on the stove and it's heating up, and now it's starting to whistle and then to boil over. The kingdom has arrived. Loved ones, the feast is set, delay is inexcusable, and, and so the language of readiness, I think is this glorious language of the gospel. The atonement has accomplished. Christ has been crucified, risen, and exalted, and the feast of salvation is prepared. And what I love is that the reformed tradition consistently insists on the sufficiency of Christ's work for all and the genuine freeness of that gospel offer. I like this is what I usually go back to, is that the cannons of dort affirm this in this way. This is the quote. The promise of the gospel is that whosoever believes in Christ, crucified shall not perish, but of everlasting life. This promise together with the command to repent and believe, ought to be declared and proclaimed to all the nations. The invitation is genuine and urgent. The feast is truly ready. [00:22:01] Mission To All [00:22:01] Jesse Schwamb: The church that I attend is part of the Christian Missionary Alliance denomination, and one of the many things I love about my church is that outward and continual focus on this very thing. That the invitation is genuine. It is urgent, and the feast is truly ready, and it is for all peoples. This freeness to, as we talked about before, scatter the seed of the gospel message unreservedly and without bias to all, all in your sphere of influence. All nations, all people, all tongues, all tribe. And my church is very serious about this. In fact, one of the things our pastor loves to do is oftentimes when he's giving it this kind of proclamation, in fact, just this Lord's day, he was speaking from Matthew 28 and about the Great Commission and the essential nature of that great commission is every Christian's promise to participate in that. It is something you and I are commissioned for and we ought to regularly evaluate our, what our prayers look like. What our finances look like and what our time looks like with respect to whether we are taking seriously that commission, which God has given to us. And so in reminding us of that very fact, one of the things he'll often say from the pulpit is he'll ask out to the congregation, he'll say, what is our middle name? And everybody will respond, missionary. And, and while it's a little bit trite, it reminds us that as part of like the essential ethos in DNA of who we are as Christians, and in fact in this particular year. One of the themes that the whole Christian Missionary Alliance nomination has been focusing on is all of Jesus for All the World takes all of us. I love that all of Jesus for all the world takes all of us. And so we have embedded in this parable here, so much of this intentionality of the gospel, of going out for all people, making this, this message and this mission available. Going out and speaking and preaching and witnessing and testifying of how great God is and what he has done in setting and preparing this gospel message for all people. But in verse five, we find out that even still with all of this, they paid no attention. They went off one to his farm and another to his business. In other words, the word here suggests this kind of contemptuous indifference rather than this active hatred that that actually comes a little bit later. But worldly affairs, a farm, some converse. All this displaces the invitation. And these are not wicked activities, of course, in themselves. Their wickedness consists in their displacement of what is the ultimate. And that I think is actually like very penetrating diagnosis of the human condition. The great enemy of the gospel, at least it seems to me, is not always, as you talk to people, like some kind of dramatic philosophical rejection, some well articulated hatred toward God. It's instead like a quiet absorption in the ordinary pursuits of life. It's like what I think Augustine called being curved inward upon oneself. The world is a great enchant. It be witches our souls, it distracts us. There are so many things that can pull us away from not only meditating on this gospel message, but coming alongside and appreciating. In participating in that great commission. There's so many things to distract us. It's, it's not as if we need a list. I think if I asked each one of you or you asked me, what are some things that you find distracting that pull you away from time and prayer time, studying God's word, time spent with my wife, time spent serving in my local church. I'm not gonna be hard pressed to find those things to say to you. So this idea that we have, whether it's the farm or this business pursuit here, I suppose it could be representative to at least great earthly loves. You have the land, kind of a agrarian rooted life, and then there's trade mercantile and acquisitive life. I mean, maybe these just suggests that the rejection spans all of our social and economic classes, both within Israel at the time and for us today. And so we move both from like this kind of cold indifference, this we'll have other things to do. I'm, I'm just too busy. And, uh, how many times do we really convince ourselves that we can justify our busyness when we feel the pull of the spirit that there is a need? We feel the pull of the gospel message because there's the gospel pressure to ensure that we are speaking truth and love to those around us. That we ourselves are responding to this invitation with our wholeheartedness, our mind, soul, and spirit, everything that we are, and we convince ourselves. Well, I just, you know, I have a lot going on right now. God, there's just so much that I need to do.  [00:26:34] Indifference Turns Violent [00:26:34] Jesse Schwamb: Now we get to verse six and things shift a little bit. Verse six reads, while the rest sees the servants and treated them shamefully and killed them. Now, what's interesting to me is the indifference, kinda just that cold lackadaisical ness of verse five escalates somehow into violence. In verse six, some of them invited not only ignore the servants, but actively persecute them. And so here we have them, basically are being told they treated them outrageously, shamelessly, they killed them, and, and that's really the language of the entire prophetic tradition, the killing of the prophets. In fact, this Greek word here is ris. It's a word for arrogance. Honor, violating, assault, a sin against the honor of both the messenger and the one who sent him both. Like the one who is the emissary and the one who grants power or vouch saves authority to that emissary. And so to assault the king's servant is of course, to come against the king, and this is an act of high treason. It's against the sovereign God of the entire universe. I, I like here something that Calvin notes about this kind of inexcusable aggregation of aggravation of Israel's sin. He writes, they not only rejected the grace, which was offered to them, but added cruelty to their contempt. That's incredible. Right? That's exactly what we do. We reject God. It's, it's of course like not only just taking all the gifts he gives us and pretending as if they're under our own authority or. Have been the result of our own talents or abilities. But instead, when we do this, we add cruelty to all of our contempt. And the reformed doctrine, of course, of total depravity is not merely the claim that humans are bad. It's the claim that following humanity left to itself moves progressively from the indifference. That we saw in the previous verse, verse five, two, hostility toward the living God in his gospel messengers, which we see in verse six. In other words, unless God constrain us, loved ones, that is the natural end of man to move from this place where I do not care about God till I hate him, and then I hate all those who represent him, all those who speak on his behalf. [00:28:46] Judgment On The City [00:28:46] Jesse Schwamb: And so the king's response here, as you might imagine, is one of anger. He's angry. He sends his troops and he destroys the scriptures, say those are murderers, and he burns their city. I mean, the verse is almost certainly this kind of pro prophecy filled in its intent and its content. It's I think, probably a transparent reference to the destruction of Jerusalem by Roman armies in 80, 70. And Matthew, even if we say he's writing after that event, or in like a conservative dating with prophetic anticipation, presents Christ as foreseeing and pronouncing the divine judgment upon the city. And this King's anger, of course, is not just, it's not anger that's looking for reciprocity. It's not just anger that's saying, this has made me upset and I'm responding viscerally and emotionally. It's not petulant rage. It is holy and righteous wrath of the sovereign whose grace has been despised and whose servants have been murdered. The destruction is complete. The murderers are destroyed, the city is burned to the ground, and there are foreign tradition kind of following. A covenantal hermeneutic, I think reads 80, 70 as this terminus of the old Covenant administration in many ways, and the judgment upon Nashville Israel for his rejection, for her rejection, rather of the Messiah, you know? While all of that is true, I think what this presents for us is a reminder of how serious our God's Holiness is. And that again, every time we sin, every time that we come against God and someone would challenge his authority as it were, either directly or indirectly, we put ourselves in the place of those who reject the gospel message. And in so doing, we ought to fall on our knees and ask for the kind of repentance that is necessary because we ourselves are putting our place, we're extending among. The murderers, and in this case, the, the message that Jesus has for those is only anger and again, is a righteous kind of anger. So one might imagine as we read in like the previous parables, that Jesus could have just entirely ended there. It almost sounds like we've drawn to a close.  [00:31:04] Invitation Rejected [00:31:04] Jesse Schwamb: Listen, there's a king. He has a wedding banquet for his son. He sent out last invitations. Nobody came. He goes to confronts the guests and not only do they say we're not interested, some of them are like, yeah, we burned all the invitations. And then the people that you sent to remind us, we killed those people. And it'll be right for the king to say. That's it. Everybody's done here. I'm shutting the whole thing down. And honestly, that could have happened in the garden. That could happen at the cross. Instead, we find something totally different. The parable goes on.  [00:31:33] Feast Still Happens [00:31:33] Jesse Schwamb: In fact, verse eight reads, then he said to his servants, the wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Notice loved ones that the feast does not get canceled. I mean, Christmas doesn't get canceled. It's just redirected. The king's purposes will not, cannot be frustrated, and this is a critical sociological and eschatological claim to me, at least. What we're seeing here is the refusal of the invited guests does not leave the wedding hall empty. Praise the Lord. It occasions the wider extension of the invitation.  [00:32:07] Gospel Offer Explained [00:32:07] Jesse Schwamb: And this idea of not worthy does not introduce a prior standard of merit by which the guests were found deficient. But instead, as you know, their unworthiness consists in their refusal To refuse the gospel is to demonstrate one's unworthiness of it. And so worthiness in this context is not some kinda like moral achievement, but it's a covenantal responsiveness. It's the openness of the creature to receive what the king graciously provides. It's why when we stand before God in the kind of judgment that we rightfully deserve, and he says something to the extent of, why should I let you into my heaven? Why should I let you enjoy eternal life with me? We should rightly say, because you promised. And because by the power of your Holy Spirit, through the faith you have given and instilled in me by this imputed righteousness, I can trust you at your promise. And so I think this verse is like so critical for understanding the well meant offer of the gospel. Again, we should together affirm that the gospel is offered to all without distinction, and that those who do not come are inexcusable. God does not will. The damnation of those who reject the gospel as a bare first intention, their damnation follows from their own culpable refusal.  [00:33:31] Mission To All Roads [00:33:31] Jesse Schwamb: And so the king says, listen guys, go out everywhere. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding piece. As many as you find. I don't know how you're envisioning. If you were listening to this story and you were like setting the actual scene, but I don't know, to me, I just find them, the, the servants or the slaves that they look at it one another and they're just like s go time and they just turn around and start going everywhere to all the places, uh, to anyone who will listen to all the like, stops that there were on the byways. All the highways, all the roads. They're just going through all the places. Wherever the road takes 'em, that's where they're going. And all along the way they're spreading this mission, this invitation, and the mission now. Is universal in scope. The main roads, literally the, the exits, the outlets of all these places. The thoroughfares, where the roads branch out of the city and the highways diverge in the countryside. This is representing, of course, like the ends of the earth, the places where any and all may be found. And the command here to as many as you find to go to those is of course, like a command of universal scope. It's for you and me, loved ones there. There's no prior qualification, rich or poor, Jewish, gentile, moral or immoral. This is the missio day, breaking through all ethnic and social boundaries, and in this loving way, in this pastoral way, it underpins the free and indiscriminate offer of the gospel. Again, like going back to the Westminster Confession and the shorter catechism, affirming this covenant of grace that is administered by the preaching of the word. And no matter where you work, like reform theology from like William Cur, David Bernard, like to the modern missionary movement, we're drawing from this mandate of precisely this kind of universal commission. You know, it's like Spurgeon, I think once said something effect of like, Christ has done more than give a general invitation. He has given an urgent, pressing, commanding invitation to all something like that. And I always remember that because when I think about what it means to step into this role of fulfilling the great commission of understanding what Jesus is saying here, it's not just as if we're saying, listen, the world is in a dire place. This is an emergency situation. And so for all of us in our sphere of influence. To bring forward this message of the indiscriminate offer of the gospel is to take God at his word and then to deliver that word to all of those, all the highways, all the byways, all the outplace, every tribe, Tong, nation. What a glorious thing that our God has given us and put us on mission in this way so that no matter who we meet, we know we might say Jesus loves you, that Jesus has died for you. This is, I think, one of the things that those who maybe are new to the reformed tradition and the theological perspective. Find a little bit interesting to parse out, or maybe sometimes if you've had conversations like I have people think that we're parsing the words too much, but there's something to be said for the death of Jesus being sufficient for all and efficacious for the elect, that we're not simply splitting words. There we're describing very discreetly, very cogently, very crisply. This indiscriminate gospel message while at the same time recognizing that it's God's sovereign choice and will to draw those whom he will to himself. And so in verse 10.  [00:36:54] Good And Bad Gathered [00:36:54] Jesse Schwamb: These servants go out to the roads and they gather all whom they found both good and bad. And so the wedding hall, guess what was filled with guests, because this is God's sovereign prerogative because he can do all these things because even those who have denied him does not remove him from power. That he does all the verbs and so the servants obey and the results are comprehensive. They gather in all of these, and Matthew's quick to say both the good and the bad, and I think like the good and the bad pairing is significant. I don't think this is necessarily meaning that there's the morally virtuous and the morally depraved, though that probably is included somewhere. But I think this, this more, this reflection that, once again, it's all kinds of people. For God's to love the world that whomsoever, all of those who believe in him should not perish, but have eternal life. The wedding hall is filled, it was filled, and it's filled by God's sovereign action through human instrumentality.  [00:37:53] Visible And Invisible Church [00:37:53] Jesse Schwamb: And there is, like I'd say, if you're tracking with this, you should notice that there is a, a kinda a tension here. It sits between verses 10 and 11, and it's going to resolve the banquet hall is full. But you'll notice that it's not all within, well, not everybody who's within it are truly saved. And we'll get to why that isn't just a second. But the filling of the hall through the universal gospel summons does produce a mixed company. We've already talked about the parable of the terrors in the wheat before, so this, this should be news if you've been listening to us for a little while, but it's precisely the condition of the visible church in this age. Again, I just think it's fantastic that when we go to the scriptures, one of the reasons we know it's true is because God tells us the truth about the way things are. And we know that this is the way that the church is today. We would call this the visible versus the invisible church. And of course there's a distinguishing between the visible church, which consists of all those throughout the world that profess the true religion from the invisible church, which is the totality of the elect, those who God has actually called to himself. So the hole is full. But not all in the hall are clothed. And this is fascinating how Jesus brings in this idea of dressing of not, I mean, not what you put on your salad, a smorgasbord, but like what you're actually wearing.  [00:39:07] Wedding Garment Meaning [00:39:07] Jesse Schwamb: So in verse 11, but the king came in to look at the guests and he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. So notice that the parable scene here kind of shifts dramatically all of a sudden because the king arrives suddenly. He's present. He was speaking, he was giving instructions, he was preparing, he was a character, kind of chilling in the background. But now there's this eschatological moment the king's coming to inspect. The guests corresponds to this final judgment, and what he finds is there's a man without a wedding garment. He's at the center, I think of this parables, theological climax. So what, what is this wedding garment? I would put it to you like, as you're thinking through this and maybe interpreting listening for yourself, what do you think the wedding garment is? And I would say like what most reformed interpreters have been unified on is that this really represents that imputed righteousness, the the righteousness of Christ that's credited to the believer and received by faith alone. And so by a wedding garment, I would understand this to mean the purity and the holiness of that transforms and regenerated life, which is required of all those who are brought inside the true and invisible church. And though he immediately qualifies this as like righteousness, that is inseparable from justification. It is not earned, but it is received. In fact, I think, uh, I have my Logos Bible software up as I'm talking to you, and I see that Matthew Henry comments on this by saying, the righteousness of Christ is the robe of righteousness, the garment of salvation in which true believers are closed. I mean. That's a great turn of phrase, brothers and sisters. I love this idea of what the scriptures tell us elsewhere of putting on these garments of praise or worship, the garments of Christ, of being exchanged out as it were, for what is dirty and unsuitable for something that suits the occasion that is given to you to wear by faith alone. And of course, this wedding garment is not a work that the guest has produced, but it's a garment provided, uh, presumably like the king's servants actually supplied it. Uh, I, I think that's like a detail implied by the ancient custom and the severity of the guest condemnation for lacking it. It's almost as if the king is saying. Uh, like you were, should have been provided. Why did you not put this on? Why did by faith you not accept this? And this underscores the so gratia and so fide. The righteousness by which we stand before God on the last day is not our own, but Christ, it's received through faith. And the man without the garment represents those who presume to stand before God on the basis of their own righteousness. Whether that's religious profession. Moral achievement, charitable giving, mere church membership rather. And instead of. That alien and beautiful righteousness of Christ. So the fact that this man is inside the hall, you know, he's come in through the general call confirms that the parable addresses not only those outside the church, but those within it who lack genuine saving faith. It's almost, to me, kind of like an intra ecclesial warning. It's, it's not merely a missional observation. I think that is for all of us. It's why Paul elsewhere says. Check test, confirm to see whether you yourselves are in this faith because it is by faith that we put on these wedding garments which are appropriate and suitable for this great eschatological Messianic wedding feast with the lamb. [00:42:48] Speechless Before Judgment [00:42:48] Jesse Schwamb: So in verse 12, the king says to him, friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment? And notice the man's response. I, I almost find this kind of funny because he just says, and he was speechless. Like there was, there was nothing for him, uh, to, to say it all. And of course, like this question that's posed here, this, how did you get in here without the winning government? It's not a real question, right? It's not a question of genuine puzzlement. It's the same way in which when we find God walking in the cool of the day, in the garden after the sin of Adam and E, where he says, Adam, where are you? It's not a genuine question of a quizzical nature. It's instead, this rhetorical structure is God questions through judgments. And when he says to Cain, where is Abel your brother, where is Abel, your brother? He's exposing and he's condemning. He's not merely inquiring. And so this man in response, sensing this condemnation, discerning this condemnation, this judgment that's been brought against him, I think this is why the Greek says he was muzzled. He was silenced, his mouth was shut up. He had no answer. Uh, it's not because the question was unfair. But because there was just no legitimate words that he could bring there, there was no argumentation. In other words, there's no poll mic. There was no great debate that he could have. In this moment. Every mouth will be stopped before God. I mean, that's like Romans three. The silence of the ungodly before the Divine Tribunal is a consistent biblical theme, and we find it here. Again, this is the eschatological end to those who are condemned. No one loved ones is gonna stand before God on the last day and successfully argue their case on the ground of personal merit. I love William Perkins on this topic. He was apparently really moved. I learned by this verse and by what he saw in the silence as a profound warning against false assurance. So he actually wrote many a man in this world. Silence is his own conscience. With many fair excuse. Do you hear that? I, I love that turn of phrase. So we're talking about silence. It's about being silence, but I love how he says it's very easy to, to silence, not yourself, not like somebody coming against you with debate, but your own conscience. So he writes, again, many a man in this world will silence his own conscience with many a fair excuse. But in that day, there will be no excuse, no plea, no delay. So that time of plea is now, it's in this life. It's by faith and repentance, which is why there's an urgency to this gospel message. And so the king.  [00:45:17] Outer Darkness Warning [00:45:17] Jesse Schwamb: In hearing this and knowing that this man has no excuse for his outer attire, he says to him, listen to the servants. Bind him hand and foot, cast him into outer darkness. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The sentence is severe. It's total. Of the command is given to the servants and attendance maybe in this parable and parabolic form, likely the angelic executors of divine judgment and it is binding. It renders the condemned utterly helpless. It's a picture of total divine control over the destiny of the ate. He has cast into this outer darkness, outside the light and warmth of the banquet hall entirely. And I think it's incumbent upon us to take a second and to grieve the repercussions of what is being said here. That the death and destruction of the ATE should make us grieve. It should compel us to go out into the highways, the byways, and to share this message. Unreservedly. One of the ways we know really the full anguish of what this entails is this phrase, weeping and gnashing of teeth, actually occurs seven times in Matthew, and it functions as this refrain, this chorus, this common language of this eschatological condemnation, it combines interestingly in this wordplay here, both the anguish of grief with the rage of frustrated pride. It's a portrait, not of this just like regret, but continuing imp penitent, hostility against God and eternal punishment. And I think if Tony were here, he would agree with me that we have consistently affirmed the doctrine of eternal conscience punishment. You know, the Westminster Confession says, the wicked who know not God and obey not the gospel of Jesus Christ shall be cast into eternal torments. In other words, this outer darkness is not annihilation. The weeping and the gnashing continues. It implies an ongoing conscious existence. It's the image of a binding stands against the notion of this kind of postmortem repentance or universalism. The severity of that verse, I think, really must be allowed to stand in its canonical context without mitigation. The, the severity of this judgment ought to fill us with fear, not theological domestication. We, we shouldn't set this aside and be saying, well, this implies that there is nothing after that time. No, there continues to be only time with God in his presence, in eternal, consummate joy and harmony and peacefulness and celebration. Or there is literally. A weeping and a gnashing of teeth, an unresolved rage and anger where that is punished by God because he's absent where there's unmitigated pain and suffering because it is absent the presence and the mediation of God himself, who even now in this world, holds us back so that while we are sinful and we are not as bad as we could or ought to be because of his great kindness, all of us, even those. Who are not believers.  [00:48:37] Called Yet Chosen [00:48:37] Jesse Schwamb: And so because of that, it ends with these very famous in stock words in in verse 14, for many are called, but few are chosen. And that concluding aphorism is, I think, the theological linchpin of this entire thing. The contrast between this idea of called and chosen, you know, this is the vocabulary that is deliberately covenantal and elective, and we shouldn't shy away from that. Of course, it's referring to this external call, the universal proclamation of the gospel to all the hearers. The call is genuine, it's earnest, it's gentile, it's sufficient as an offer. It is the call that goes to all the highways, all who hear the gospel are truly called to repentance and faith. And for me, in my own journey of understanding what this means as God has allowed me to, that has been critical. This idea that this universal call means that it is sufficient as a call to repentance and faith for all those who hear it. And then it does become the responsibility of all those who hear it to respond to it. And so this idea then of this pairing then with the chosen and the elect is referring of course to those whom God has chosen from before the foundation of the world. The elect are those who not only receive the external call, but are effectually drawn by the eternal efficacious call of the Holy Spirit. We can look to Romans eight 30, those whom he predestined, he also called, and those whom he called, he also justified. And I say, because this is a Reformed Theological podcast, and this is what you came here for, I presume, brothers and sisters. Then it behooves us to at least mention again that the reformed tradition has classically distinguished between that external or general call, the sincere well meant proclamation of the gospel to all without distinction, inviting everybody to faith and repentance. That call is genuine on God's part and God's doing the verbs in that as well. And then again, we, we set that over in next two, the internal, what we call like effectual efficacious call. It's sovereign. It's irresistible work of the Holy Spirit by which the elect regenerated, have their will renewed and are infallibly brought to saving faith. All those whom God has predestined unto life and those only he's pleased in his appointed and accepted time to affectionately call by His word and his spirit out of the state of sin and death to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ. I was thinking recently of this idea of the narrow path and somewhere between like the scriptures there and pilgrim's progress, and paths and journeys. I had this image in my mind of the road on which we walk. And in this life, the natural man on that road encounters all these like intractable boulders, these things that cannot be traversed. These just great mountainous pieces of rock, which block the path. And so prevent us from at least accomplishing the thing that we would like. Like to live forever, to have peace with God, to be at peace with ourselves, to love our brothers and our sisters as much as we love ourselves to honor something that is greater than us. And those boulders are things like sin, death in the devil, which constantly invade us, which constantly thwart us, which constantly block us. And in Christ, what he has accomplished in salvation is not just, I think to remove those boulders, though that would've been good enough of course to just get them outta the way. Instead, it's as if he's taken them and he's crushed them, and now to the softest sand between our toes and we walk over them in victory by the power of his name through the Holy Spirit into eternal life. Into that grand wedding feast spoil, which we have been invited because he has done this because he loves us. And so verse 14 places these two realities side by side without resolving the tension. Philosophically, this is one of the great mysteries of theology. Uh, reformed theology does not collapse the distinction by limiting the external call to the elect alone as like maybe kind of a hyper Calvinist model, but it doesn't make the internal call dependent on a human decision. As like Armenian theology would instead, you know, the tension is, is biblical. This is here for us. It's here for us, because I believe that God wishes for us to submit our knowledge and our reasoning to him knowing that he is far and above us. And because this tension is biblical, it has to be maintained. The invitation is genuinely universal. The effectual drawing is sovereignly particular. How great is our God loved ones? There is no one like him. And so there's so much in this that I think we could spend all of the rest of our life thinking about, and that would be a noble, I was just thinking today that, um, you know, unless the Lord Terrys like, maybe this will be the last series me and Tony ever do, because there's so much that's rich and deep in these parables and there's so many of them, and the teaching of Christ is, is so complete of course, for us because it gives us everything that we need for life and salvation and godliness that. We find that the more that we look into them, the more that we ask the Holy Spirit to bathe us in a realization that comes from the spirit of God, the more that we will find. They challenge us. They encourage us. They equip us. So I'm thinking and praying for you all as I hope that you are for Tony and I as we continue to wrestle with these things as we continue to talk them out, because I'm asking God that he would equip us as we look at the teaching of his son in these parables with a firm understanding of the truth and equip us with his promises and with his encouragement so that. As he grows us in our faith, our faith for us would be like a thousand eyes and a thousand wings that we would find ourselves moving from glory to glory. Because we see in these parables the great work of God for us. What he has accomplished through his son and how he continues to be for us and the son who is given for us is with us. That we have his Holy Spirit within us and who discerns the mind of God, accept the spirits of God. So love us. Let's continue to get after what's being said in these parables here because there's so much for us here.  [00:55:14] Living The Commission [00:55:14] Jesse Schwamb: And might I add, just to tack onto the end, there's also so much for the world. I know that we're quick to say, or like colloquially Christians have said in the past like, Jesus is the answer, but you I think cannot necessarily fault the world for sometimes asking, well, what is the question? And unless we go forward with this proper understanding that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. That all are in need of this savior and that this gospel message is for, in fact, for all people without reservation. Full stop. I guess I ask for you and I and Tony who's editing this episode, are we going out into the highways and byways? What is the proof of the pudding in the eating look like when we examine our lives, but with specifically our finances and our time and our prayer closet and our service? Aren't we in fact concerned with the great commission that is reflected here? Are we concerned with the emergence and urgent need of this gospel message, which is for all people because God so loved the world that he gave his only forgotten son. That whosoever shall believe in him will not per but have everlasting life.  [00:56:27] Community And Support [00:56:27] Jesse Schwamb: So come hang out with us. Come talk about this parable. You know where to go. But I'm gonna tell you anyway because that's what we do. If you go to your browser, type in T Me Back slash Reform Brotherhood, t Me Back slash Reform Brotherhood, that link will take you to an app called Telegram. Telegram is just a messaging app. It's like, I dunno, iMessages for Apple or whatever you Android people are using these days. And there's just a little community that we've sectioned off there. And it's a community of listeners to the Reform Brotherhood who are talking about all kinds of things. You, you wanna be in that group? It is. It is a great group. Don't, don't reject the invitation. Don't reject it. Just, just come. I know you're thinking, listen, I got land. I got commerce I gotta deal with. That's fine. Come, come and join us. So go to t.me/reform brotherhood. One last thing. I would be remiss if I didn't thank all of those who make sure that this podcast still goes out to all the highways and the byways of the internet. That there is no Jericho paywall around it because it does cost money to put out there all the subscriptions, all the distribution. It's surprising, but there are. Intense fees with a lot of that stuff, and so I wanna say thank you, thank you, thank you to those who have listened and said, you know what? I would like to make sure. That this continues to go on. I've been blessed just by the conversation. God has done something here because again, he does all the verbs. Tony and I do zero verbs, and so because of that, they've gone to patreon.com Reform Brotherhood, and they've just decided to give a little bit of the kindness of their heart and generosity to the Lord. So if you're thinking, you know what? I've been listening for a while, and I do appreciate that this just magically, as it were, pops up in my feed and I continue to listen to it. Would you please consider helping us? Uh, Tony and I and so many other listeners who give a little bit just to make sure that together we can keep this thing going strong. And again, you can just go to patreon.com/reform brotherhood. There's also a website, uh, reform brother.com and all kinds of other fun stuff. But I will leave that to you. I, I didn't even bring it up. See, I'm just so glad that you mentioned it yourself 'cause it would've been awkward otherwise.  [00:58:31] Final Blessing [00:58:31] Jesse Schwamb: So loved ones. There are still so many more parables to go. They're all so good. So I hope that you all come back and join us next time as we continue to move through these parables. But until then, there's something that you should definitely do honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. 

For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:3-4) *1/ What Christ is to a believer now - our life. 2/ When he shall appear 3/ The prospect - we shall appear with him in glory.* ~~~~~~~ This sermon was preached from the UK into the Churches in Australia ~~~~~~~ **Sermon summary:** The sermon centres on the profound truth that believers are spiritually dead to sin and alive in Christ, whose life is now their own, secured by grace and maintained through faith. Drawing from Romans 8 and Colossians 3, it emphasizes that the Christian life is not a struggle to earn favour, but a response to a finished work in Christ, where mortification of sin is rooted in the reality of being united with Him. The preacher underscores that believers are hidden with Christ in God, their true life secure in Him, and look forward to the future hope of appearing with Christ in glory when He returns. This hope, grounded in divine sovereignty and the promise of resurrection, sustains the believer through present trials, fosters holy living, and assures eternal fellowship with God, where the conflict between flesh and spirit will be eternally resolved.

Friday, 10 April 2026   Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. Matthew 18:27   “And having gut-wrenched, the lord of that servant, he dismissed him, and the debt, he forgave him.” (CG)   In the previous verse, the servant prostrated himself before his master, promising to repay the entire debt. With his having done this, it next says, “And having gut-wrenched, the lord of that servant.”   The paraphrased words “moved with compassion” are correct. The word signifies that the inner guts of a person churn from the situation, moving him to act in a particular way. In this case, it is in the direction of compassion. His sentence was stern and strict. After seeing the misery of the man, he relents from what he had pronounced. As it says, “he dismissed him.”   The words mean that he was released from custody. The same word is used elsewhere in this manner, such as when people are released from prison in Acts. As such, the sentence was already being carried out at the order of the king. However, he petitioned for release, and it was granted. And more, it says, “and the debt, he forgave him.”   A new word, daneion, debt, is seen here. It is from the same as the verb danizó, to loan on interest, as a business transaction. This is the only time it is seen in the New Testament. Based on what happens later in this same parable, a problem arises.   Because of circumstances, the master will deliver this servant to the torturers until he pays all that was due to him. How does that square with the forgiveness of this debt? Because this debt is forgiven, it means that more than just this particular debt is owed.   Life application: Although the debt here is pardoned, it is not an infinite amount. The previous life applications have referred to man's sin debt as an infinite amount. Therefore, though this man owed a great deal with this debt, what he owed here cannot be equated to an individual's sin.   Care has to be taken when parables are considered. We are being instructed on what is on God's mind concerning particular issues. How could God forgive an infinite sin debt and then say the debt, which was infinite and forgiven, and thus meaning infinitely forgiven, then re-impute that sin? That would be a logical (and biblical) contradiction.   As such, this forgiven debt is not referring to forgiveness in Christ. What Christ forgives is, as it says in the psalms, as far as the east is from the west. Unlike the fixed north and south, there actually is no fixed east or west from a biblical perspective. As such, it is a term considered infinite in distance.   Understanding that the debt in this verse, which is forgiven by the master, is not what is owed in verse 34, the parable will be more readily understood.   Lord God, help us to always consider Your word carefully. Keep us from running ahead and, thus, running into error. Instead, may we keep things in their proper context so that our thoughts will be rightly aligned with Yours. Help us in this, O God. Amen.  

Podcast Instagram: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/enduretotheendpod/⁠⁠Zunex Pest Control: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/zunexpestco/In this episode of Endure to the End, Josh and Caitlin talk about the things we treasure in life and what those priorities reveal about our hearts.They reflect on how the values we grow up with such as faith, family, perseverance, service, and gratitude can shape who we become as adults. The conversation explores the difference between what the world often celebrates (status, money, popularity, and image) and what Christ taught truly matters.The episode ultimately invites listeners to pause and ask themselves an important question:What do I truly treasure, and where is it leading me?00:00 – Introduction00:25 – What we treasure reveals who we become01:50 – Scripture: Alma 34 and preparing to meet God03:30 – Values learned from our parents growing up07:40 – Faith, family, and gratitude as core values10:00 – What Christ teaches us to treasure14:40 – The world's treasures vs eternal treasures21:50 – Popular culture, status, and influence32:40 – Scripture about laying up treasures in heaven41:45 – How small daily choices shape our character46:05 – Final thoughts and invitation to reflect

Click here for the DRB Daily Sign Up form! TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: Deuteronomy 16-18, Psalm 38, Galatians 2 Click HERE to give! One Year Bible Podcast: Join Hunter and Heather Barnes on the Daily Radio Bible, a daily Bible‑in‑a‑year podcast with 20‑minute Scripture readings, Christ‑centered devotion, and guided prayer.This daily Bible reading and devotional invites you to live as a citizen of Jesus' kingdom, reconciled, renewed, and deeply loved. TODAY'S EPISODE: Welcome to the March 11th, 2025 episode of the Daily Radio Bible! Today, Hunter, your faithful Bible reading coach, invites you to journey through the pages of scripture, exploring Deuteronomy chapters 16 to 18, Psalm 38, and Galatians 2. We'll reflect on the ancient festivals and laws given to God's people, David's heartfelt prayer of repentance, and Paul's passionate reminder that we are made right with God by faith—not by the law. Hunter guides listeners through these passages, delving into the message of God's grace, the danger of fear-based religion, and the radical love that Christ has for us all. The episode also includes a time of prayer, words of encouragement, and a gentle reminder: you are deeply loved by God. So settle in, open your heart, and join your brother Hunter for another soul-nourishing time in the Daily Radio Bible. TODAY'S DEVOTION: The law can't save us, but the law will humble us. The law instructs us. It teaches us our need for God's grace. That is its purpose. It was never meant to save us. Peter would lose sight of this. He was swayed by James' friends. They were people who trafficked in fear and legalism, control. Peter was generous-hearted toward these new Gentile believers in Antioch. He was eating with them. Sharing his life with them until this group shows up. They tapped into the fear-based brain that tries to pacify God with piety and performance by pretending. They conjured up a storm of fear that grabbed a hold of Peter's heart and spread out into Barnabas's heart. Thankfully, Paul is relentless with the gospel, and he verbally slapped some grace into Peter. Even though this was no doubt an embarrassing rebuke for Peter, I'm sure in the end he was glad for it. Living in fear is no way to live. Fear is infectious. It's like a virus. It spreads. And in this case, it spread even to Barnabas, who is known as the son of encouragement. But God's grace is infectious too, and this is an infection we don't want to cure. We need to recognize our need to be renewed in the message of the gospel all the time. If Peter and Barnabas needed to be renewed in the message of God's grace, how much more do you and I need to be renewed in it? That old religion of fear shows up all the time in our lives, so we need to be ready with the gospel, ready to remind ourselves that the gospel is not about fear, condemnation, performance. It's not about any of that. Galatians 2:20 tells us what the gospel is: My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. See, there's grace, and there is the gospel. The Son of God loves us and gives himself for us, and not just us, but for the whole world. Christ undid what Adam had done. He assumed humanity on his shoulders on the cross, and there we find ourselves in him. Because of the vicarious life of Christ, Paul says we are in him on the cross. He says it plainly here: I have been crucified with Christ. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive. Paul holds to this gospel truth. In Christ, Paul sees the completed work of God on behalf of all. And that, my friend, is such good news. It is the antidote to fear-based religion. It is the pathway to freedom, generosity, and love. So let's live in that truth today. What Christ has done for you, what he's done for Gentiles and Jews, what he's done for the world. That's the prayer that I have for my own soul today, that I will see the immense magnitude of the love of God for all, that I'll rest in that, and that I will know its joy. That's a prayer that I have for my family, for my wife and my daughters and my son, and that's the prayer that I have for you. May it be so. TODAY'S PRAYERS: Lord God Almighty and everlasting father you have brought us in safety to this new day preserve us with your Mighty power that we might not fall into sin or be overcome by adversity. And in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose  through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen.   Oh God you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth and sent your blessed son to preach peace to those who are far and those who are near. Grant that people everywhere may seek after you, and find you. Bring the nations into your fold, pour out your Spirit on all flesh, and hasten the coming of your kingdom through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.   And now Lord,  make me an instrument of your peace.  Where there is hatred let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon.  Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope.  Where there is darkness, light.  And where there is sadness,  Joy.  Oh Lord grant that I might not seek to be consoled as to console. To be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love.  For it is in the giving that we receive, in the pardoning that we are pardoned, it is in the dying that we are born unto eternal life.  Amen And now as our Lord has taught us we are bold to pray... Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our tresspasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not unto temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Loving God, we give you thanks for restoring us in your image. And nourishing us with spiritual food, now send us forth as forgiven people, healed and renewed, that we may proclaim your love to the world, and continue in the risen life of Christ.  Amen.  OUR WEBSITE: www.dailyradiobible.com We are reading through the New Living Translation.   Leave us a voicemail HERE: https://www.speakpipe.com/dailyradiobible Subscribe to us at YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dailyradiobible/featured OTHER PODCASTS: Listen with Apple Podcast DAILY BIBLE FOR KIDS DAILY PSALMS DAILY PROVERBS DAILY LECTIONARY DAILY CHRONOLOGICAL  

What Christ does for us and in us.

IntroductionMost things that bring us comfort are only appropriate in proper situations. For instance, a warm blanket, a favorite flannel shirt, a pair of pajamas. Each has its place. You do not wear a blanket or pajamas in public settings. You do not wear an old comfy flannel shirt to a wedding. But the Heidelberg Catechism opens with a striking claim: that there is a single comfort appropriate in every circumstance. In fact, this is a single comfort in life and in death. This raises an honest question: can any comfort truly be that universal? So we look at the claim of Heidelberg Catechism Question and Answer 1. What is our ONLY comfort in life and in death? "I Give Them..”At first glance, Christ's claim to give eternal life sounds more like an imposition than a comfort. If it's not something we opt into, is it really a gift? To answer this, the catechism points us to a hard truth: we are not neutral recipients. Like those enslaved by debt or victims of war, we are slaves. We are either slaves of sin or slaves of righteousness. We are slaves. (Romans 6:18) The catechism reminds us that Christ is a faithful savior and not a tyrannical master. It's the portrait of a redeemer who pays the debt we couldn't pay and frees us from a master, the tyranny of the devil, who sought to destroy us. We learn that the Devil's marketing pitch for Adam and Eve did not end well. It turns out that it is a good thing that Christ is overbearing, that he overwhelms us with His grace, as He gives us eternal life. This is the gift that we do not naturally want, but the gift that we need to live life to the fullest in this age. Truly, living life for Christ is the highest and greatest thing we can do rather than pursuing our own independence. "They Will Never Perish" This promise seems false. We go to Christian funerals, which means that Christians do die. Is Christ overpromising and underdelivering? When we look deeper into Scripture, we see that "perish" implies something deeper than a mere physical death. In Mark 1:24, Christ encounters demons. They cry out, inquiring if Christ is going to destroy them/perish them. To perish is to be undone, destroyed, stripped of your identity and purpose. It is much more than death. What Christ promises is that the forces that assemble against his people will not succeed. We think of our sin or the sins that tempt us outside of us. We think of Satan and his satanic army. We think of any influence that pulls us from Christ. The assurance is that we will not be undone or overcome. We will never perish."No One Can Snatch Them”We hear the promise that he knows all the numbers of the hair on our heads. This might sound creepy or overbearing. But when we read this statement in light of Christ as faithful Shepherd, it becomes something else entirely: an assurance that nothing in our lives escapes his notice or his care. He is not the hired hand who flees when the wolf appears. He is the Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. The high priestly prayer in John 17 reminds us that he intercedes on behalf of his people. The fourth servant song promises that: “yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.” So when Christ promises that no one will snatch them out of the Father's hand, he is assuring us no one will seize us from our shepherd. The "snatching" language describes a forcible seizure against one's will. Christ's answer is that even this cannot prevail. The same one who prayed for his disciples on the eve of the cross still intercedes for those who believe through their word, two thousand years later.We cannot see Christ as a creepy stalker. Rather, we need to see him as the empowering savior who protects his people. He does not empower us to live for ourselves, but to live for him. It is only as we live in communion with our Savior that we truly have life. ConclusionSo, can there be only one comfort that is appropriate in every situation, season, and circumstance? Yes! The catechism's opening answer assures us of our value. Our value doesn't rest in our accomplishments, our reputation, or our self-determination. It rests on the fact that we bear the image of God. Our value rests in the fact that Christ has redeemed us. Our joy is living as slaves of righteousness as we walk in the Holy Spirit. We have been redeemed by Christ. The communion we once pushed away has been restored because the Good Shepherd sought us. He shepherds us through this life, through death itself, and into the age to come. The comfort of belonging to Christ isn't a soft sentiment for easy days. It is the one comfort sturdy enough for every circumstance because his sheep will not be undone. His sheep will never perish. His sheep will never be snatched. Let us proceed in the confidence that our Lord is our definitive redeemer.

What the bible is all about; Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil vs Tree of Life; Walls of misunderstanding; Pharisees and Sadducees; The serpent in the garden; Whole truth?; Why Leviticus was written; Pontius Pilate's position; Monetary system in Judea; Decline of Roman republic; Duty to fellowman; Evidence of salvation; Knowing the WHOLE Jesus; Devil believes in Jesus; Have you repented?; Things God hates; Nicolaitans and Baalam; Charity; Levites; Atonement; What we thought we knew that just ain't so; Lev 5:1 Awkward translation; Jewish Christmas lights story; Hating; The "world" God loves; All MIGHT be saved; Bearing witness to iniquity; Carcase?; Unclean things?; Sacrifice?; nun-biet-lamad-hey; Julius Caesar and the Gauls; Unclean bread provided by Rome; Foolish things; Golden calf; Reserve fund?; Oaths; Bound to unknown crimes; Guilt; Confession - to whom?; Making recompense; How to have a healthy community; Unintended consequences; Trespass offerings; Stones of the Levite altars; Touching unclean things; Offering covering the trespass; Taking care of the needy; Social welfare via the altars; Turtledove?; Cheating; Sprinkling blood?; Christ forbade us…; Atonement for sin?; Ransom, price of life, sacrifice; Things of value; The principle: you caused damage; Owning up; Responsibility; Spirit of a free society; v12 - bringing to priest; "fire"; Why the old men wept; Forgiveness; Paying it forward; Reparations?; Freewill offerings; What Christ was doing; Making amends; Forgiven by whom?; Prodigal son example; Whose house do you live in?; Getting back to your father's house; Repent and seek His kingdom and righteousness; Why a priest?; Wise, efficient giving; "Kingdom"; Determining what you owe in recompense; Things forgotten; Injuring someone is a trespass against the LORD; Human resources; Caiaphas and Jesus; Pay it forward.

The gifts of the wise men were just the first payment – tribute to a king who could not repay them back in gold or silver. But he pays with his own precious blood. He purchases and redeems us for His kingdom, and people from all over the world, in a way we never could.The Lord's kingdom shall expand through the church and the preaching of the gospel to be the greatest in the world. Not in worldly riches, but wealth in souls and in good deeds. What Christ can accomplish as king is beyond any king in the world in extent or endurance. Store up treasures in heaven for this kingdom.

Scripture: Philippians 2:3-11  Who, for us and for our salvation came down from heaven,  and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; he suffered and was buried;  and the third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father…  John 17:5  John 17:24  "...the supreme mystery with which the gospel confronts us...lies not in the Good Friday message of atonement, nor in the Easter Sunday message of resurrection, but in the Christmas message of Incarnation. The really staggering Christian claim is that Jesus of Nazareth was God made man - that the second person of the Godhead...took humanity without loss of deity, so that Jesus of Nazareth was as truly and fully divine as he was human. Here are two mysteries for the price of one - the plurality of persons within the unity of God, and the union of Godhead and manhood in the person of Jesus." – JI Packer, Knowing God.   + The Triumph of the Son's Obedience Luke 2:51  "What Christ saw in Gethsemane was God with the sword raised. The sight was unbearable. In a few short hours, he would stand before that God answering for the sin of the world: indeed, identified with the sin of the world... Consequently, to quote Luther again, 'No one ever feared death so much as this man.' He feared it because for him it was no sleep, but the wages of sin: death with the sting; death unmodified and unmitigated; death as involving all that sin deserved. He, alone, would face it without a 'covering', providing by his very dying the only covering for the world, but doing so as a holocaust, totally exposed to God's abhorrence of sin. And he would face death without God, deprived of the one solace and the one resource which had always been there. The wonder of the love of Christ for his people is not that for their sake he faced death without fear, but that for their sake he faced it, terrified. Terrified by what he knew, and terrified by what he did not know, he took damnation lovingly." – Donald Macleod, The Person of Christ.  + The Triumph of the Son's Cross Colossians 2:13–15 Hebrews 2:14–15 "When Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews, was nailed to the cross, Satan thought that he had won the day. The old serpent had stung him to death, vainly imagining that all was over with him. I think I see the arch-fiend gloating over the awful agonies of the dying Savior, and maliciously taunting him as he hung there apparently forsaken by God and man. "Ah!" says he, "Seed of the woman, I have indeed bruised thy heel. I have made men reject thee and put thee to death; I have vexed and tormented thee, I have scorned and scouted thee, and thou hast not a word to say for thyself, and now thy soul must soon depart out of thy body." Yet as the devil was still pouring out his vainglorious boasts and taunts, with a mighty voice the expiring Savior cried, "It is finished;" and in that moment his soul sprang upon the enemy and utterly routed him forever." – Charles Spurgeon, Christ Triumphant.   + The Triumph of the Son's Exaltation Ephesians 1:20–23 Isaiah 45:22–25 + You must decide about Jesus; You cannot be neutral about him + You must imitate Jesus. You cannot confess him but refuse to conform to him 2 Corinthians 8:9

Grace doesn't promise an easier road, but it does guarantee peace on it. What Christ secured for you can't be touched by circumstances, failure, or time - your spirit is sealed, your standing is sure, and your future is settled. So stand bold, stop running, and live from what's already been finished.

In this episode, Fr. Anthony reflects on Christ's call of St. Matthew as a revelation of the Lord's pastoral wisdom, patience, and mercy. Drawing on St. John Chrysostom, he shows how Christ approaches each person at the moment they are most able to receive Him, gently leading sinners to repentance while shielding the weak from the self-righteous. The homily invites us to imitate this divine pedagogy—offering mercy before rebuke, healing before judgment, and a way of life that draws others to the knowledge of God. +++ Mercy, Not Sacrifice: Christ's Pastoral Method in the Calling of Matthew St. Matthew 9:9-13 At that time, as Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office; and He said to him, "Follow Me." And he rose and followed Him. And as He sat at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" But when Jesus heard it, He said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."  When looking at this encounter, it is important to know the context.  Jesus had been at this for a while.  He had already called at least four of the twelve; Andrew, Peter, James and John, to be his disciples.  Moreover, in addition to them, many others were following him.  He had already been baptized, been tempted, given the Sermon on the Mount and performed several public miracles. Knowing this allows us to better appreciate Christ, how He operates, and therefore how we might better imitate Him as we claim to operate in + His name. Example One: Calling the disciples Let's go back to His calling the disciples.  Why didn't He call Matthew at the same time He called Andrew, Peter, James, and John?  St. John Chrysostom indicates that it was Christ's pastoral heart that determined when we called each of His disciples.  Remember, as the Logos, He shares the Father's will that "all be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:4).  This means that He addressed people in the time and manner they were most likely to hear.  St. John Chrysostom points out that Matthew's heart was not open to Christ's call at the same time as Andrew, Peter, James, and John.  It took miracles and profound teaching to soften His heart for the encounter.  And He didn't just do this for Matthew, look how long it took for the Apostle Paul!  And perhaps, we can look at long he waited for us! We should learn from this lesson from Christ's earthly ministry and imitate Him.  We may need to live among some people for a while, showing the miracle of God's love working in and through us in the way we act and the things we say, before they are ready to accept an invitation to join us in The Way that heals and perfects.  Many of us jump the gun; skipping the vital step of living a public life of miraculous love – and then are surprised when the call to "follow Christ" goes unheeded.  Yes, there are times when the modern equivalents of scribes and pharisees need to be confronted, but once again, let's imitate Christ and let them out themselves when they question our motives and sanity for performing acts of sacrificial compassion.  If we skip the step of imitating Christ in His love for mankind, not only won't we win converts, we may also be indicating that we aren't really working in His Name at all.   Example Two: Leaving, not owning the opposition Speaking of which, Christ also demonstrates his pastoral care at the very beginning of today's lesson.  You may remember that today's lesson begins with something that seems to be a throwaway line; a transitional clause that lets the reader know that the narrative is moving on to another scene.  St. Matthew writes; "At that time, as Jesus passed on from there,…" and then segues into this lesson about how Christ called him, the author, to be His disciple.  But what did He leave and why?  What did He "pass on" from in the previous scene? Let me share that with you; just prior to this, Jesus had publicly corrected some scribes - leaders in the Jewish community - by healing a man of his paralysis after they doubted His ability to forgive sins.  Do you see how they out themselves as fools?  But Christ doesn't want them to remain in ignorance.  He desires that they, too, be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth …  but He also knew that they were not ready to accept the truth, so He left before they could double down on their sin and thus become even less likely to change their way of thinking and eventually answer His call to discipleship. As St. John Christostom puts it; For when He had performed the miracle, He did not remain, lest, being in sight, He should kindle their jealousy the more; but He indulges them by retiring, and soothing their passion. This then let us also do, not encountering them that are plotting against us; let us rather soothe their wound, giving way and relaxing their vehemence. Jesus could have owned those scribes!   This is what our polarized and self-indulgent culture seems to require of us: to immediately jump on any perceived weakness to show the superiority of our way.  We even manufacture offenses so that we have an opportunity to score points and play to the crowd.  But that's not what Jesus did; there was a real offense and a real weakness – but He didn't want or need to impress anyone.  Again, his desire is that of His Father; that all be saved and come to a knowledge of the Truth.  And so He forbeared and gave them an opportunity to cool off and repent while He moved off to spend time with someone who was ready to hear Him. These are the kinds of lessons that are obvious to those who have "eyes to see and ears to hear," but for the rest of us, it takes time.  As we have discussed previously, we still see the Gospel "through a glass darkly" and only see reality as "trees walking."  But we want to learn, and so we ask those who have made this journey successfully before us, men like the Holy Apostle and Evanglist Matthew, whose memory we celebrate today and St. John Chrysostom who shares the deeper Truths that St. Matthew shared – we ask them to guide and pray for us as go deeper into The Way. Let's see what more we can learn about Christ's approach to evangelism and pastoral care in today's lesson.  It is worth remembering that Matthew was a tax collector.  When Jesus gave him the invitation to "follow me", he responded with hospitality.  He opened his house to the Lord, his disciples, fellow tax collectors, and unspecified sinners.  Just to make sure everyone had a good time, this was all done within view of some local Pharisees.  The Pharisees spent their whole lives dedicated to righteousness (as should all of us).  I am perfectly willing to believe that they were sincere in their devotion to the Law.  In fact, it was probably their devotion to the Law that led to their revulsion at seeing an alleged rabbi (Jesus) eating with sinners.  They shared their righteous indignation with the Lord's disciples and He overheard them.  We can learn a lot about how to pastoral ministry by looking at Christ's response. First, He said (e.g. St. Mark 2:17); Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick do. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.  This is the most obvious point: God was explaining what His mission to these sinners (and the world) was:  He had come to bring them to repentance.  This would hardly satisfy any ultra-Orthodox takfirists – they always want their pound of flesh!  After all, they say, repentance requires tears, and the best way to bring someone to tears is not to eat with them and provide them a living example of the better way; no, surely it is more effective to beat them over the head with the Sin-Stick, right?!  Evidently not, at least according to the all-knowing and all-loving God-man Jesus Christ. After acknowledging the sinfulness of His dinner companions and their need for repentance, He corrected the Pharisees' dubious pedagogical and evangelical instincts with this (e.g. St. Matthew himself in 9:13); Go and learn what it means, 'I will have mercy, and not sacrifice': for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Christ is quoting Hosea when He says; "I will have mercy, and not sacrifice".  The full passage (which was implied) continues with (Hosea 6:6); "… and [I desire] the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings."  This is huge.  The Pharisees knew the full quote and its context; they would have seen that Christ was telling them that they were guilty of the very same sorts of things that went against God throughout the Old Testament.  He was telling them that they were more concerned with fulfilling the letter of the law (i.e. doing the "burnt offerings" well) than they were with knowing God or bringing others to Him.  At that meal, He was doing something that they should have been doing themselves. How Christ Discipled His Sinners cum Apostles More importantly, along with His entire response, Christ used this quote to describe His method for bringing the "knowledge of God" to sinners; He would use mercy to lead them to repentance, which would in turn allow them to grow in the knowledge of God.   St. John Chrysostom brings this point out at the end of his homily on this passage; What Christ is saying through his words and deads is this, "The disciples have not yet become strong; they still need a lot of condescension. They have not been renewed by the Spirit yet.  You really shouldn't put a lot of injunctions on people who are still weak."  And He said all these things in order to set laws and rules for His own disciples, so that when it was their turn to train disciples, they would deal with them very gently.  To reiterate St. John Chrysostom's point, God is showing His disciples how the Gospel is to be taught: gently and with mercy … while protecting the weak from the attacks of the self-righteous.  This is important for us as Christian leaders: we are called to follow Christ!  We are called to take His Gospel to sinners so that they might repent,  come to the knowledge of God, and be saved.  Keep the Sin-Stick ready, but use it the way Christ Himself did; to defend the weak from the attacks of the self-righteous. There is a temptation to bring sinners to a full awareness of their sin in order to drive them towards repentance, but be careful with this.   Psalm 129: 3-4 (which we often repeat as a prokimen so that we will master it – or rather so that it might master us);  If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee. And later in that same Psalm, we learn from the Psalmist, in the Spirt, what the purpose of this merciful forgivness is; so that He might bring salvation to Israel (129:8). Repentance, kenosis, and discernment are fostered over time.  It is an iterated and communal process.  The wounds this world inflicts on God's children are serious and it takes time for Him to heal them.  This means that you may not be able to see the process through to its conclusion, but it is okay to simply begin the treatment; the Church has trained other physicians that can continue the process, just as you will be called to continue the work others have begun.  As Christ said "One soweth, and another reapeth." (St. John 4:37:4) Conclusion Saint Matthew's life is a testimony to the efficacy of this gentle discipleship process.  He was a sinner.  The Lord protected Him and showed Him mercy.  Over time, through His example, His holiness, and His teachings, He brought Matthew through repentance to the true knowledge of God.  As a recipient of this grace, St. Matthew could do nothing else but offer it to others.   It is true that the Church is a hospital, and that Christ is the Great Physician; and it is also true that St. Matthew found healing in the Church under the Doctor's care.  But it is also true that He did not stay in the hospital bed. After a lifetime spent spreading the Gospel, this "good and faithful servant" earned the martyr's crown in Ethiopia. May the Lord transform us into the kind of patient, merciful, and holy pastors who can do the same.

Todayin Ephesians 3, we're talking about the mystery of the church. The word mysteryis used at least six times in the New Testament to refer to the church that wasborn on the day of Pentecost. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit would comeupon people and anoint them to do special deeds, great works such as Samsondid. But in the New Testament, something new takes place. Something that washidden in the Old Testament. The Holy Spirit would not only come down upon thepeople and upon the church (Acts 2:1-4), but He would enter the hearts of thebelievers and dwell there and never leave.  TheHoly Spirit might be grieved (Ephesians 4:30), and He might be quenched (1Thessalonians 5:19), but the Holy Spirit will still be there. Our body is thetemple of the Holy Spirit, the temple of God. 1 Corinthians 6:19:20. My friend,we need to believe and understand this truth, this truth of the mystery of thechurch, being born on the day of Pentecost, is now God's agency, God'sinstitution that He is using to spread the Good News, the Gospel to let theworld know that by faith you can have a relationship with God through JesusChrist. The church is “according to theeternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord”.  Thisgreat mystery and truth was important to Paul (vv. 1-5). It was important tothe Gentiles that now they could be one with the Jews and be one in Christtogether (vv. 6-8). It was important to the angels (vv. 9-10).  And as we've been seeing through this chapter,it is also very important to the believers that today we should understand thisgreat truth. When God saved Paul, He deposited with him the precious treasuresof the Gospel truth (1 Timothy 1:11). Paul in turn committed these truths to othersand exhorted them to commit the truths to faithful men who would guard and sharethem (2 Timothy 2:2).  And in those apostolicdays, the truth of the church was being made manifest in such a way thateverywhere everyone went and they knew as they became a part of that local bodyof believers, the body of Christ, that they were a part of something specialand they had a plan and program. They had a mission to be on with God, and theyturned the world upside down for Jesus Christ (Acts 17:6). And in a very wicked,evil, cruel world, things changed because of the church.  Today,I believe that the same thing is happening again. I really believe in theselast days before Jesus Christ comes again. This great truth, the mystery of thechurch should be important to us today as we study through the Scriptures. Weknow that this “mystery” is the key to what God promised in the Old Testament.What Christ did in the gospels, what the early church did in the book of Acts, whatPaul and the other writers teach in the epistles, and what God will do asrecorded in the book of Revelation. God's program today is not the headship ofIsrael, Deuteronomy 28:1-13, but the headship of Christ over the church. Wetoday are under a different leadership, dispensation, if you want to call itthat, from that of Moses and the prophets. We must be careful not to confusewhat God has clarified.  Thereason so many churches are weak and ineffective because they do not understandwhat we have and what they have in Jesus Christ. This great truth concerning the church is not a divine afterthought. Itis part of God's eternal purpose in Christ (Ephesians 3:11). When we know this truth, we will have boldness and access with great confidenceinto the Holy of Holies, into the presence of God, and to go forward againstthe gates of hell with the message of Jesus Christ.  Oh,my friend, today, like Paul, we ask that you don't lose heart over what ourspiritual leaders and the people of God might suffer on behalf of sharing thisgood news with the others in the world. This passage of scripture shouldencourage us today to give our all to Christ, live for Him, and let His Gospelbe known to the world around us.

News thriving on drama; Problems when not doing what Christ said; What was Abraham doing?; Understanding the bible text; Eating meat with blood in it; What Christ commanded; "Liturgy"; Solution to world's problems; "Israel"; Generations of Esau = Edom; "Corban"; Sacrifice; Cursing your children with debt; Recognizing righteousness; Gen 37:1 Jacob in Canaan; "Strangers"?; Idolatry = covetousness; Jacob's ladder; Rights; Joseph tattling on brothers; "Flocks"?; Joseph's dream; Dominion over people; Tav+Mem-shin-lamad+biet+nun+vav (dominion); Lot?; Abimelech; Forcing offerings/sacrifice; Membership in social safety nets; Tents for cattle?; Jealousy of brothers; Sachem (consent); Returning every man to family and possessions; Kings? (rulers); Perfect law of liberty; Knowing Holy Spirit; "Dothen"?; Plotting to slay Joseph; Evil beast?; Socialists; Sequence of Hebrew text; Ruben's advice (plan); The pit you're in; Selling Joseph to Ishmaelites; Willingness to sell neighbor into bondage; One purse; 1 Sam 8; Hearing your brother; Faking Joseph's death; Types of kings; Forewarning of famine; Wrath of God; Loving the light; Claiming to know Moses; How to be a free people; Leavened bread; Corruption; Strong delusion; Idols?; The ways of Jacob; Gen 33:17; Setting your brother free; Choosing the direction of your life; Learning to be Israel; Coat of many colors?; Imaginary freedom; Abraham's dream - burning lamp; Organizing in Tens; Tithing vs taxes; Identifying the "evil report"; Deut 12:23; meat with blood in it; Biting one another; Error of Balaam and deeds of the Nicolaitans; Appetite for benefits; Need for repentance; Feeding the sheep; resh-ayin-hey; Truth - Be ready to repent.

Ephesians 2:11-22 Rejected (vv. 11-12)A.HaplessB.HelplessC.Hopeless Reconciled (vv. 13-18)A.What Christ did 1.Brought us near 2.Broken down the barrier 3.Bound us together What is the result? 1.Reconciliation with God 2.Peace through God 3.Accessibility to God III.Rebuilt (vv. 19-22)A.A new identityB.A new foundationC.A new temple More to ConsiderWhen Christ died on the cross, He broke down every barrier that stood between Jews and Gentiles. In the Jewish temple, there was a wall that separated the Court of the Gentiles from the rest of the structure; and on this wall was a sign giving warning that any Gentile who passed beyond it would be killed. Jesus Christ tore down that wall! He tore down the physical wall, for in Christ all are made one (v. 15, and see Gal. 3:2829). He tore down the spiritual wall and brought the far off Gentiles near (v. 13). He tore down the legal wall, for He fulfilled the Law in Himself and ended the reign of the Mosaic law that separated Jews and Gentiles (vv. 1415). Christ not only made peace between sinners and God (Rom. 5:1), but He also made peace between Jews and Gentiles. He took sinful Jews and sinful Gentiles and through His cross made a new manthe church. Wiersbe, W. W. (1992). Wiersbes expository outlines on the New Testament (p. 543). Victor Books. In securing peace through His death, Christ demolished all racial and ethnic barriers in the church. The church should be the worlds most racially integrated community. Cabal, T., Brand, C. O., Clendenen, E. R., Copan, P., Moreland, J. P., Powell, D. (2007). The Apologetics Study Bible: Real Questions, Straight Answers, Stronger Faith (p. 1765). Holman Bible Publishers. For the sake of each of us he laid down his life--worth no less than the universe. He demands of us in return our lives for the sake of each other. St. Clement of Alexandria.

Hey friends, it's Amy—and today's episode is straight-up fire for your soul and strategy for your day-to-day. If you've ever walked into a situation feeling unsure, anxious, or just plain exhausted, this episode is your reminder: you are not alone. You come equipped—with Christ in you, the hope of glory, and a built-in benefit package designed for every area of your life.We're diving into three power-packed, practical ways to access God's supernatural wisdom, peace, and strength—on demand, in real-time. I share stories from the dentist chair (yep, you heard that right) and coaching sessions where I didn't know what to say—until I tapped into the Holy Spirit's divine partnership. The benefits of God are voice-activated, and today I show you how to activate them with your words, your faith, and your awareness.In a world full of hopelessness, your daily decision to release God into your moments—small or big—can radically shift your life. From conflict resolution to business decisions to strengthening your faith walk, this is your reminder that God's supernatural enablement is not just available… it's waiting to be accessed.You'll Learn:Why “Christ in me” isn't just theology—it's your daily strategyHow to release peace, wisdom, and grace in tense or confusing momentsWhat it means to take God into the dentist chair, the lunchroom, or a business dealThe truth about faith as a force that activates changeHow to overcome offense and weariness by releasing divine strengthYou were created for more. And the more is already within you—waiting to be released. So speak it, walk it, and activate it. Let Him be your wisdom, your peace, and your strength. You've got this… and I'm cheering you on every step of the way.Connect With Us:Website: https://www.youaremore.comFree Download: 5 Steps to Win Through AdversitySocial Media: Follow us on Facebook and InstagramEmail: amy@amywienands.comEpisode Minute By Minute:00:00 – Feeling overwhelmed? You're not alone—but you're equipped02:00 – What “Christ in me, the hope of glory” really means04:00 – A deep-cleaning at the dentist becomes a lesson in supernatural peace06:00 – Voice-activating God's wisdom in hard conversations08:00 – Why you need to invite God into your daily life, not just the big stuff11:00 – Grace in conflict, wisdom in phone calls, strength in fatigue13:00 – Co-laboring with God through adversity15:00 – Releasing offense, pain, and letting God fill you17:00 – The power of faith to change your situation18:30 – Walking on top of the problem: leaping like deer on high places19:00 – Final encouragement to release God as your senior partnerBe intentional, stay focused, and remember you are more!

The great mystery was hidden throughout the ages until revealed to the Apostle Paul. If it was known, the evil rulers would not have crucified Jesus, and God's plan for humanity's redemption would have been thwarted. The inclusion of the Gentiles and the full significance of what Christ accomplished on the cross are part of the mystery that is now revealed in the Ephesians Epistle. Ephesians 3:1-9. What Christ accomplished for humanity was kept secret until Paul received it by revelation. Luke 9:44-45. God wanted the information concealed. Luke 18:31-34. Many things are written in the OT foretelling what Jesus would do and accomplish; however, much of it was hidden until Paul. Mark 8:31-33. Not only did Peter not understand what Jesus said, he also thought he was wrong. 1 Corinthians 2: 6-8. Had they understood, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. Ephesians 3:2. The word “stewardship” and “administration” in verse 9 are the same Greek word oikonomia. 3:4-5. Before, no one understood; now, we can understand. 1 Corinthians 2:6-16. Ephesians 3:6. Gentiles were now fellow heirs, members, partakers of the promise. Ephesians 2:12-22. 3:8. The riches are so deep, vast, and profound they can never be fully discovered until Christ returns. They are infinitely rich and abundant. Colossians 1:27. Christ in you Ephesians 3:10. Rulers and the authorities – 1:19-21; 6:12 3:11. The mystery explains God's purpose of the ages. 3:12. Only the high priest once a year had access to God. Now every disciple has direct, bold, and confident access to God. 3:13. Do not be discouraged I am in prison; rather, accept it is actually a glorious thingThe post Ephesians Part 5: The Mystery of Christ first appeared on Living Hope.

Vicar Caleb Strutz preaches on Acts 1:1-11 with the theme What Christ's Ascension Means.

What Do Chickens Have to Do with God's Plan?

Sermon by Michael Bailey on March 23, 2025.Key scripture: Galatians 3:13-14It has been said that atonement is like a multi-faceted diamond. What Christ accomplished on the cross is massive, and its window into the heart of God is grand. In this series, we study the many things Jesus' death and resurrection achieved as we prepare our hearts and minds for Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday.

Sermon by Ant Frederick on March 23, 2025.Key scripture: Galatians 3:13-14It has been said that atonement is like a multi-faceted diamond. What Christ accomplished on the cross is massive, and its window into the heart of God is grand. In this series, we study the many things Jesus' death and resurrection achieved as we prepare our hearts and minds for Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday.

Web Description: The Scriptures warn us that just as we are unaware of a thief at night, we could be unaware of the Lord's appearing. Perhaps the greatest problem we face is not the circumstances in the world but our own unawareness of God. It is imperative that we seek the Lord for a greater awareness and understanding of what He is saying and doing today.   Show Notes: A characteristic of the end-time is the unawareness on people. We see this in the flood of anti-Semitism that is moving through the world today and even sweeping through many churches. What enables the anti-Semitism is a tremendous unawareness of what God has spoken in the Scriptures, which is that He has never abandoned His people Israel, and He will fulfill every Word He has given them. The unawareness of what God is saying is where deceptions take root and where we miss the purposes of God in the earth.   God spoke through Isaiah, “Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it?” We have to be aware of what God is going to do today and not depend on our understanding of what God did in the past. Again we read in Isaiah, “I proclaim to you new things; … before today you have not heard them.” We may be confident that we know what to do today because we have heard what God did yesterday. But what if God proclaims something we have never heard before?   God is speaking today to our generation. But will we hear Him and will we understand what He is saying? Samuel at first did not understand what God was saying to Him. He had to learn the voice of the Lord. Samuel grew and became a prophet who knew and taught what God was speaking to Israel during his time. And Christians today need to seek the Lord until we like Samuel can hear the voice of God, understand what He is saying, and be those to show this generation the new thing God is doing now.   Key Verses:   •       Isaiah 43:18–21. “Behold, I will do something new; … will you not be aware of it?” •       Isaiah 42:8–10. “Now I declare new things; before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.” •       1 Samuel 3:2–11. “Speak, LORD, for Your servant is listening.” •       Isaiah 48:3–9. “I proclaim to you new things from this time.” •       1 Thessalonians 5:1–9. “So then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober.” •       Luke 21:29–36. “Keep on the alert at all times.” •       2 Peter 3:10. “The day of the Lord will come like a thief.” •       Revelation 3:3. “If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief.” •       Mark 13:31–33. “Take heed, keep on the alert.” •       Matthew 24:37–39. “They did not understand until the flood came and took them all away.” •       1 Corinthians 2:1–16. “A natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; … he cannot understand them.”   Quotes:   •       “If we want to be fearful of something, we should be fearful of our unawareness.” •       “What Christ represented in the earth was One who knew the Father, One who heard the voice of the Father, One who saw the Father and had the exact understanding of what God was doing. So He was able to manifest it before people.” •       “Recognize that what seems to be playing itself out in great wisdom and understanding and taking over the earth is actually functioning out of an unawareness and an inability to understand what God is doing.” •       “We're not learning about the things of this world, the things outside. We're learning the things of the Spirit so that we hear the voice of the Spirit; we hear the voice of the Lord.”   Takeaways:   1.    Being fearful and concerned about world events means our focus is wrong. Our focus should be on what God is doing inside of us and not on what is happening outside of us. What matters to God is that we understand the wisdom and mysteries that He is unfolding to enable us to walk through these days. 2.    God is going to do something new. And the concern is that we His people could miss what He is doing because of our unawareness. Within the Church today there must come a greater awareness of what God is speaking. 3.    The challenge is not to become biblical scholars but to hear the voice of the Lord. Not only do we need to hear the voice of the Lord, but we also need to understand what He is saying to us right now. We need to be His prophets through whom He can move in this age.  

There are two miraculous encounters we should expect in every meeting:

What does it mean to be a man in today's society? How can God's vision for men come to fruition?  Life and marriage expert Jerry Jacobs Jr. joins the podcast today to talk about his role in reconnecting men with their God-given mission – and how it helps them protect, defend, and serve their families more effectively… In this episode, we cover: What Christ expects from a man.  Why God's natural order means something.  What the purpose of a man is. Threats that a man must protect his family from.  What the legacy of a man is.  Jerry started Catholic Alpha to serve as a resource for men around the world. Wondering how his work has shaped his audience for the better? Jump in now to find out!  To learn more about Jerry and his work, click here and here now! Boost Your Brainpower with 15% OFF!  Fuel your mind with BrainSupreme Supplements and unlock your full potential. Get 15% OFF your order now using this exclusive link: brainsupreme.co/discount/findinggenius Hurry—your brain deserves the best! Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/30PvU9C

Gary Vaughan | Gratitude for Who Christ Is Spencer Doan | Gratitude for What Christ has Done Jonathan Engle | Gratitude for What Christ Will Do

Tying gospels together; Church network; Congregational free assembly; Ten-family gatherings; Social safety net; Being there for neighbors; Choosing ministers; Organized communities; Christ's commands; "Families"; Why Christ was crucified; Essence of the kingdom; Commandments; Quakers; "Feed my sheep"; What Christ was actually doing; Misconceptions of early Christianity; Elements of the Church; Kingdom government; Caring through charity; Directives of Christ; Mark 16:1; Sitting in darkness; Following the light; Herod's gorgeous robe; Jesus, king of Judea; The young man in the tomb; v8 last verse?; What the kingdom of God looks like; Nature of the network; "Deacon"; Care in reading the bible; Casting out Christians; Rightly dividing the bread; Prophesy; Not believing Jesus; Mt 19:8 hardness of hearts; Mark 3:5; How hard is your heart?; What gospel? What creature?; Micah 5:8; Doctrines of men; Network links of assistance; Saving others; Softening your heart; Baptism; The way of Christ; Signs of believers; Serpent poisons; Repentance; Calendars; New archeology; Discovering your personal connection; Seeking God's system; No shortcut to the kingdom; Changing your heart; Kissing rings; Rituals and ceremonies; "Religion"; Pharisee hypocrites; Transferring the kingdom; Saul's folly; Today's rituals and ceremonies; Mt 20:25; Mk 10:42; "Gentiles"; Seven men; Free bread systems/tables; Lk 22:25; Oppressive taxation; Socialism; Protest? Or repent?; Herod's "leaven"; Daily bread?; Wages/rewards of unrighteousness; "Mammon"; Appetites for benefits; Lk 16:9; Mt 5:19; Covetousness; Welfare snares; $36T debt; Col 3:5 Idolatry; Eph 5:5; Where your benefits come from; Beast?; Foolish virgins; Laying down your life daily; Be not afraid!

Paul sees a need to write to the believers at Colossae about the need for orderly behaviour among members in their relationships with each other and makes a particular point about husbands and wives. First we note that he states, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” [3 v.16].  What Christ taught has to be alive in our minds.  God has controlled events so that these words written so long ago by so many different authors writing under the inspiration of his Spirit have been miraculously preserved and are now available in every language. It is different to any human book, its words must be absorbed into our thinking and as a result “dwell”, that is, ‘live' in our minds and influence the way we speak and act every day.  Paul also wrote, “Let the peace of Christ, rule in your hearts, to which you were called in one body” [v.15] The believers should aim to become “one body” as a result of Christ's words being ‘alive' in their minds so that “whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus …” [v.17] Paul next writes about husbands and wives showing that this indwelling “word” has to be reflected in home life. “Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.” [v.18,19]  This reminds us of his words to the Ephesians on this.  He wrote, “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church … Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her …” [Ch.5 v.22,23,25]  Christ set the example for husbands to follow. Let's remember where we started – that the word has to “dwell in you richly.” It is evident that if this is not happening, the relationship between husband and wife will be far from the ideal and this will affect not only themselves but also the spiritual growth of their children. Indeed, the overall spirit is summed up by Paul when he writes, “Look carefully then how you walk (in Christ), not as unwise but as wise … because the days are evil.” [v.15,16] 

What is in control of your life? Who, or what makes the decisions? What calls the shots? Is it your appetite? Desires? Plans? Hopes? Dreams….or is it Jesus? What Christ desires of us is surrender. That we would relinquish what control we think we have, over to the One who holds all things. But…it's not as easy as it sounds! So many voices vying for our attention, so many things claiming to be true…how does God's man know what to do? Join us for week two of One Changed Man, where we'll unpack the freedom we find when Jesus Christ becomes the King over our entire lives.

Organizing Churches; Alternatives to Rome's benefits; Welfare snares; Unrighteous mammon; Grain shortages; Rife for starvations; Knowing God; Saving yourself?; Laying down YOUR life; False Christs; Doctrines of Christ; Is your church established by Christ?; What Christ was doing; Networking charity; Tithing; The ways of righteousness; Squirrels?; Missing children; National ID; Corruption; Social Security Number; Gold standard?; Becoming collateral; Federal Reserve system; Walking in the spirit; What is truth?; Becoming Doers of the word; Paul's understanding; Making God's word to none effect; Who was Mark?; Nicodemus?; Eating locusts?; Modern church aid; Christ's instructions what NOT to do; Free Church?; Exodus; Freewill offerings; Militia?; Standing armies?; Soccer stories; Weakening welfare; Home schooling?; Forms of godliness; Treating children as less than animals; Legal charity - anti-Christ; Gathering together; Your salvation; Repentance; Christ's trials; Evidence of Christianity; Leaven?; Impossibility?; Excuses for not following Christ; Metaphorical locusts; Stupid laws; Blinder guides; Changing your environment; Or being changed by it; Getting the system out of you; Setting others free; Hearing God in your own heart; Seeking His kingdom and His righteousness; No comfort in foolishness; Fear not!

Ben Nussbaum, VP of Sales at OnCenter and associate director of Faith & Work Chicago, opens up about what it's really like to stay true to your faith in the ups and downs of a sales career. He talks about the struggle of selling products he wasn't fully behind and how he found a way to align his sales approach with his Christian beliefs. Ben also shares how practicing spiritual disciplines like prayer helps him stay grounded in the high-pressure world of meeting a quota and encourages leaders to create workplaces that honor the dignity of every employee. His approach to serving clients with integrity, even when it's tough, is an inspiring model for Christians in any business role. On finding stability: “That is the daily reality they live in. Either the highs are high and I think I'm awesome, or the lows are low and I think I suck. It's very hard to find equilibrium or middle ground as a disciple. And that's acually why I think the gospel is such a balm for the salesperson.” On faith in work: “What Christ has to say to us when he says, 'blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth,' that has to mean something for the way we send emails, the way we do someone's taxes, the way that we defend someone in court, the way that we script a cold call. Whatever it is, right? It's our responsibility. This is what it means to be image bearers to live out that reality or that story." On failure: "You failed. You had a crappy performance review. You didn't hit your Q3 quota, like I don't know what it is. Christ takes the failures and those who have lost much and makes something wonderful out of them. So you know, every time I miss a quota or don't hit a deadline or I didn't measure up in my job, I'm reminded that God chose what is weak to shame the strong. It is the power of God that's made perfect in my weakness. So, be weak. Be comfortable with losing. It might mean that God is ready to use you." Download the episode transcript. Follow Ben Nussbaum on LinkedIn Learn more from Faith & Work Chicago “Be comforted, small one, in your smallness. He lays no merit on you. Receive and be glad.” - CS Lewis, The Space Trilogy A Community of Hope in a World of Rage – Sermon – Ray Ortlund Praxis Labs Redemptive Entrepreneurship Model Do you like The Faith & Work Podcast? See more great resources at Denver Institute for Faith & Work or find us on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn @denverinstitute 

Mark 13 highlights; Christ's return; What Christ was preaching; Moses, Abraham and Melchizedek; Freewill offerings; Conquered people; Was Jesus a socialist?; Jubilee; "Corban"?; Making the word of God to none effect; "Leaven"; Men who exercise authority; How are you taking care of the needy of your society?; Temple built without hands?; Cities of blood; Graven images; Fleshpots; Freedom from things public; Lk 22:29; Lk 12:23, John 10:10; Denying truth; Knowing history; Mark 14:1 Plotting against Jesus; Scribes?; "Religion"; Seared consciences; Where is your faith?; Killing care; Obtaining protection from God; False Christians; Precious oil?; Lk 7:37, John 12:3; "Spikenard"; Simon the leper; Nicodemus; John 19:39; King in Judea; Taking back responsibilities; Power of choice; Walking in spirit; Strengthening the poor; Sodom; Setting others free; Better Nimrods?; Charity; Jesus anointed with oil; Proclaimed king by the people; Baptized by John the Baptist; Are you spiritually following Christ?; 1 John 2:19; Memorials; Government of, for and by the people; Mk 14:10 Judas Iscariot; Helping the poor; Sanhedrin (70); Anointed king, firing moneychangers; Deciding the rightful king of Jerusalem; Giving power to a king; Bondage of Egypt; Rehoboam; Inheriting rights; Repentance; 1 John 2:19; v12 Passover; Men carrying water?; Moving in the spirit; Who to follow?; Who will betray?; Mt 26:25; Body and blood; Eating/drinking in the kingdom?; Lk 22:16; Lk 24:40; John 21:9; How taken from Pharisees?; Peter's offense; Knowing the whole gospel; "Skandalizo"; Welfare snare and trap - distrusting the way of Christ; Legal charity; Denying Christ; v26 Singing?; Strengthening the poor; Capitalism; Associations; Corporations; Song of Moses and of the Lamb; Believing fosters doing; "sore amazed" and "very heavy"; Rich people in the kingdom of God; Salvation?; "watch"; Did Christ need to be baptized?; Comforting gospel?; God's will; Watch and pray; The flesh is weak; Temptation?; Selling brothers into bondage; v46 - taking of Jesus; To be continued...

The decline of the Evangelical pulpit. Guest speaker Don Green from Truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio spoke at Grace Church in Greeley, CO at our Reforming Evangelical conference.  He was asked to speak regarding:  What Christ requires of men who teach from the pulpit.  In this first half of his teaching Don explains the issues the evangelical church and pulpit are… The post Reforming the Evangelical Pulpit, 1 of 2 | Reforming Evangelicalism appeared first on Pillar of Truth Radio.

What Christ meant by I will build my church and how does he do it? Lets find out amen. Support the show

Controversy; Tasting death?; Second coming?; In the clouds?; Pride; Gospel: Seeking His kingdom and His righteousness; Clear instructions; Conforming to Christ; What Christ meant in His instructions; Holy Spirit; What is Babylon?; "City" = anguish?; "Leaven"; Going into bondage; Mark of the Beast; Cursing children with debt; Parens patria; Incorrect quotes; God's "word"; Gen 11; Rev 18; Cities of blood; Fleshpots; Biting one another; Civil law; Taking oaths?; Benefit addition; Caring for parents; Disregarding the law; Chaldean scripture; End times?; Gender confusion; Repeating history; Ger 26:15; Ez 7:23; Ez 24:6; Socialist one-purse systems of legal charity; Degeneration of society; Speaking in tongues; Government of, for and by the people; Terrible cities; Relationship with Christ; Foolish virgins; Workers of iniquity?; Job 31:3; Wickedness and sitting in darkness; Destructive spirits; Ps 5:4; ayin-resh = evil, ayin-yod-resh = city; Hebrew letter meaning; Born again; God allows freedom; Ps 6:8; Oppression of neighbor; Ps 14:2; Fear of losing benefits; Ps 28:3; Mischief; Ps 36:12; Ps 59:2; Amalaks?; Licking blood; Welfare traps; Bringing Holy Spirit into your life; Ps 141:4; Lk 13:25; Seeking His kingdom and righteousness; Mt 7:22; Error of Balaam and Nicolaitans; Jude 1:11; Spotted religion; Rev 2:14; Who's your comforter?; Covetousness is idolatry; Ez 16:49; Ex 17:16; Isa 34:17; Gathering with neighbors; Micah 2:2; Your salvation; Repentance; 2 Peter 2:3; Be willing to see with open eyes.

What Christ did for us could not have been done by any other being in all the universe. Only He is worthy of all our ... continue reading. The post The Lord's Supper – July 7, 2024 first appeared on Christian Assembly Church.

Revealing information modern churches don't; The "Word" of God; "logos" = right reason; Distorting Moses; Straightening out understanding; Bondage of Egypt; Kingdom of God; Melchizedek; "well-regulated"; Self-organization; "Militia"; Slavery; Employment; Mark: first gospel written?; Who was Mark?; Building altars of clay and stone; Republics; Social bonds; Living by faith vs force; Why people are suffering; Mark - shorted gospel - summary; Jesus the philosopher; Ten Commandments; Abundance of life; Aliens?; Uniqueness of Christ; Stories absent from Mark; "Carpenter"?; Socialists not getting the gospel; Sophistry; Sayings of Jesus; Mark 1:1 Title?; Christ the anointed; "patronus"; Son of God?; Pagan temples; Christ's "Way"; Bringing light to darkness; Caesar's welfare; John preparing the Way; Lk 3:3; John 1:23; Getting closer to God; Repentance?; Remission of sins; John's raiment; Magi?; Parthia; Offices of Caesar; Locusts = carob?; Date honey?; Caesar's baptism; "Nazareth"; Baptizing Jesus; Spiritual compelling; What Christ preached; Making Simon and Andrew fishers of men; Prominent families; Hearing the cries of your brother; Covetousness; Setting your neighbor free; Jesus' astonishing doctrines; Christ's "authority" (power of choice, free man); Self-governing; Synagogue; Tens; Teaching authority/liberty; "idiotes"; The Higher Liberty book; Unclean spirits?; "Legion"; "destroy"?; Casting out demons; Fearing the light; "torn" = drive/convulsion; Spirit of destruction; Healing Peter's mother; Possession by devils; Prayer; How did Jesus pray?; Preaching in synagogues; Humbling yourself; Moving with compassion; Vow of the Nazarite; Learning meaning and methods of Jesus Christ; Leprosy; Fear not.

His Righteousness; Media untruths; Accepting corrections; Security in our beliefs; Our loyalty to our knowledge; Why marry?; Free bread?; Biting one another; Waiving your rights; Bondage; "qorban"; Oppression of Pharisees; Finding out what the Gospel is about; Repentance; Tree of knowledge; Forcing neighbors?; Importance of the next generation; Witnessing to the Gospel; John 16:1; Don't be offended; "skandalizo" - impeding your way; Bing put out from Synagogue; Herod's social safety net; Organized charity; "Tens"; Thinking of Christ = Word (logos); Exercising authority; Is Jesus your king?; Sharing beyond synagogue; Kingdom of God; Communism; Agreeing to bite each other?; Going back into bondage; Oppression; Sitting in the seat of Moses; Letting go of old ideas; Giving time for neighbors to accept Christ; City of God?; John 14:25; Holy Spirit teaching; What Christ believed; Welfare snares; Benefit of Christ's leaving; Gathering together; John 16:7 transferring dependence upon Holy Spirit; What makes us good/bad; Spiritual journey; Walking according to Holy Spirit; Rome in Judea; Spirit of control - fast from that; Spiritual protection; Tree of Life requires humility; Judgement by Holy Spirit; Praying for others; Fear = anger; Finding Holy Spirit for yourself; Fearing to reveal truth; "Expedient"; Resurrection and spiritual truth; Changing the course of history; John 16:22; "chara" - joy -> charity; Joy that remains; You can't change others; Ensnaring your own soul; The source of our salvation; Your private image of Jesus; Iniquities; Moses/pharaoh; Setting people free; Free assemblies: Roman Imperial cult; Not to be that way with you; Jesus' "name"; Legal system?; God can set you free!; Helping you look; Bondage of Egypt - key elements; Revelation of the Holy Spirit; Prodigal sons; Believing without signs; Helping with unbelief; "Belief"; Letting people judge you; Studying?; Doing!; Fasting from the world; Wearing your religion; Finding Tree of Life; Serving others; Be a light - not a flamethrower!

Adolph Hitler hoped and prayed that he was this antichrist that the Bible spoke of. Hitler may have been a deranged maniac; he did at least know a thing or two about what the Bible said. And as he went through Europe swallowing up nation after nation, he was convinced more and more that he would be this man.  (it's strange; he wanted to fulfill the scriptures that spoke of the antichrist's power; I wonder how he thought he would then stop the scriptures that spoke of Jesus returning and casting the antichrist into hell. but like I said, Hitler was deranged.)The book Hitler's Cross by Ewrin Lutzer: Hitler offered himself as a messiah with the divine mission to save Germany. On one occasion, he displayed the whip he often carried to demonstrate that “in driving out the Jews I remind myself of Jesus in the temple.” He declared “Just like Christ, I have a duty to my own people.” He even boasted that as Christ's birth had changed the calendar, so his victory over the Jews would be the beginning of a new age. “What Christ began,” he said, “I will complete.”Well, Hitler didn't get his wish. Not that he didn't accomplish a lot of evil. 6 million Jews murdered. 1/3 of all the Jews in the world. I've spoken on this podcast before about why the devil wants all of the Jewish people dead. And the devil is going to keep trying, whether that means working through Hitler or working through the future antichrist. Now, the Antichrist isn't going to win, either. He'll be successful in killing 2/3 of the remaining Jews during the seven-year tribulation. But he won't succeed. As he is conquesting the land of Israel during that time, he will be attacked by another nearby nation. A nation we've been studying quite a bit here lately on the podcast: Egypt. So on today's episode, you'll learn six things about the Antichrist, including hints about his nationality and his love life. You'll also learn about God's plan for Egypt in the end times.There is actually a plan for Egypt during the Great Tribulation. And the plan involves opposing the Antichrist. Have you ever heard about this before? If not, you will today on the Cross References Podcast.The Cross References Podcast with Luke Taylor: Episode 1190:00 - Hitler Wanted to Be the Antichrist2:45 - The Daniel 11 Context5:40 - His Big Mouth8:20 - His Nationality11:00 - His Love Life12:55 - His Religion15:40 - His Enemies27:50 - His Palace31:45 - Closing ThoughtsIf you want to get in touch with me, send an email to crossreferencespodcast@gmail.com

Pastor JD continues a verse-by-verse study through the book of Revelation and focuses in on what the resurrection of Jesus Christ means to us and for us. The post Resurrection Sunday Sermon, What Christ's Resurrection Means To Me, Revelation 1:4-8 – March 31st, 2024 appeared first on Calvary Chapel Kaneohe.

Lee Benson discusses and provides Biblical commentary for the readings for the Fifth Sunday of Lent, 2024. Reading selection for 5th Sunday in Lent: - (First Reading): Jer 31:31-34 - (Pslam): Ps 51:3-4, 12-13, 14-15 - (Second Reading): Heb 5:7-9 - (Gospel): Jn 12:20-33 This episode discusses, explores and examines: - Christ the Logos - The background of Letter to the Hebrews - Christ as both human and divine - The connection of suffering and discipline - What "Christ being made perfect" means -- Submit questions to BasicallyRelatedPodcast@gmail.com, and we'll answer them on the podcast! -- You can find the readings here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031724-YearB.cfm -- Follow Me: https://linktr.ee/basicallyrelated

John 14:1-7Big Idea: The Way is revealed to us as we keep our eyes on Jesus 1. Keeping your eyes on Jesus means curious questioning “The reflective Christian is one who questions what she believes while continuing to believe what she is questioning” - Roger OlsenJames 1:5-6John 15:7 2. Keeping your eyes on Jesus means communicating with your ears open.Romans 10:17Ephesians 5:15-173. Keeping your eyes on Jesus means being involved in communityHebrews 10:24-25"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." - MLK Jr.Response: • Jesus is the Way. • Jesus meets us where we're at.• What Christ has revealed is meant to be reproduced.Keep Your Eyes on Jesus Devotional:Looking for a scripture reading plan for the year, or hoping to add a devotional to your routine? We will be going through the Upside Down Kingdom series as an exploration of our theme for the year! If you'd like to join us, visit evergreenpnw.com/teaching to get started.DISCOVERY BIBLE STUDY► Passages: John 14 1-14; Jeremiah 29:11; Acts 4:12► Connection questions:1. What are you thankful for?2. What is a challenge you are facing?3. How did you do with last week's “I will” statement?► Have at least one member of the group restate the passage in their own words► Individual answers to five questions:1. What stands out to you?2. What does this passage tell us about people?3. What does this passage tell us about God?4. Based on the passage, what is one thing I could do differently starting now and what would happen if I did? (each person commits to their action for one week using an “I will…” statement)5. Who are you going to tell about what you discovered? (each person commits to having that conversation before the next meeting)

John 14:1-7Big Idea: The Way is revealed to us as we keep our eyes on Jesus 1. Keeping your eyes on Jesus means curious questioning “The reflective Christian is one who questions what she believes while continuing to believe what she is questioning” - Roger OlsenJames 1:5-6John 15:7 2. Keeping your eyes on Jesus means communicating with your ears open.Romans 10:17Ephesians 5:15-173. Keeping your eyes on Jesus means being involved in communityHebrews 10:24-25"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." - MLK Jr.Response: • Jesus is the Way. • Jesus meets us where we're at.• What Christ has revealed is meant to be reproduced.Keep Your Eyes on Jesus Devotional:Looking for a scripture reading plan for the year, or hoping to add a devotional to your routine? We will be going through the Upside Down Kingdom series as an exploration of our theme for the year! If you'd like to join us, visit evergreenpnw.com/teaching to get started.DISCOVERY BIBLE STUDY► Passages: John 14 1-14; Jeremiah 29:11; Acts 4:12► Connection questions:1. What are you thankful for?2. What is a challenge you are facing?3. How did you do with last week's “I will” statement?► Have at least one member of the group restate the passage in their own words► Individual answers to five questions:1. What stands out to you?2. What does this passage tell us about people?3. What does this passage tell us about God?4. Based on the passage, what is one thing I could do differently starting now and what would happen if I did? (each person commits to their action for one week using an “I will…” statement)5. Who are you going to tell about what you discovered? (each person commits to having that conversation before the next meeting)

Welcome to Episode 158 of the Being Human Podcast: Blessings for Same-Sex Couples? (An Invitation to go Deeper) So many Catholics have been shocked, surprised, and confused by the recently-released Vatican document in which Pope Francis responds to questions regarding the blessing of couples in “irregular” or same-sex relationships. In this episode, Dr. Greg offers a response to the issue.    Discussed in the episode:  The importance of transcending political commentary and debates and focusing instead on creating a path forward as a Church; What this current confusion can teach us;  Why this issue is actually an opportunity to bring the Church's teaching about God's plan for male and female to the forefront; The importance of deepening our understanding about the truth, beauty, and goodness of 2000 years of Catholic teaching about human sexuality; Why anything outside of God's plan for marriage between a man and a woman is against our humanity; What Christ's example of eating with tax collectors and sinners, meeting the woman at the well, and reaching down to the woman caught in adultery means; Why it's important to have compassion for those struggling with sin, while still being careful not to legitimize the behavior of a sinful relationship; Our role as thoughtful, intelligent, prayerful, and discerning Catholics; Why we need to start with ourselves and our own interior conversion to make the Church better as a whole.   Resources mentioned or relevant:  On the Pastoral Meaning of Blessings Declaration;  One Omission and Three False Dichotomies in the Vatican “Declaration” (blog post by Dr. Greg); Being Human Podcast Episodes:  Our recent Gender Series, beginning with Episode #149: A New Approach to the Gender Crisis; Episode #72: The DSM Disease (Part One of Two);  Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body by Pope John Paul II; ;  Theology of the Body for Beginners by Christopher West;  Need help? Schedule a free consultation call with someone on our team to discuss how we can support you; Learn more about our CPMAP Certification! Sign up for Being Human, our weekly newsletter, for encouragement on your journey of becoming the best human you can be; Visit our website to read the CatholicPsych blog, shop in the CatholicPsych bookshop, or discover other resources we have available;  Download The Integrated App for access to free audio exercises, the Catholic Mindfulness Virtual Retreat, courses, prayer resources, and more;  Become a member of the Integrated Life Community to get access to every course Dr. Greg has created, plus the opportunity to participate in Integrated LIVE's - weekly, Mentor hosted Q&As covering topics like boundaries, communication, trauma, forgiveness, and more! Follow us on Instagram: @catholicpsych.  Contact us! Have a topic or a question you would like Dr. Greg to address on the podcast? Want to give some feedback about this episode? Email us at beinghuman@catholicpsych.com - we would love to hear from you! Rate, review, and subscribe Please help us in our mission to integrate the Faith with Psychology by hitting subscribe and also sharing this podcast with your friends. Please consider rating or leaving a review of our show. It helps us reach other Catholics just like you who want to become more integrated, whole, and happy human beings. For Apple podcasts, click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate 5 stars, and choose “write a review.” Then type your sincere thoughts about the show! If you haven't already, make sure to subscribe so you don't miss out on any episodes. Subscribe to the podcast now!  

Saint Elizabeth wants us to give our heart to Jesus, to enter into a prayer so deep and beautiful, that we hear Him ask for it.   She invites us to hear the Word of the Father speak to our souls the way the Samaritan Woman heard Christ speak to hers.  Our Lord wants adorers “in spirit and truth.” For Saint Elizabeth, Jesus is the great Adorer, and he wants us to become what He is. When we look at how He adored the Father, we see that his prayer was not a good intention or a nice wish, but a lived reality.  What Christ offered to the Father in the silence of prayer, He gave up on the Cross for our sake.  His whole existence became an act of worship and spiritual sacrifice. The post Day 2 – St. Elizabeth of the Trinity Novena – Discerning Hearts Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

What does it mean to be a man in today's society? How can God's vision for men come to fruition?  Life and marriage expert Jerry Jacobs Jr. joins the podcast today to talk about his role in reconnecting men with their God-given mission – and how it helps them protect, defend, and serve their families more effectively… In this episode, we cover: What Christ expects from a man.  Why God's natural order means something.  What the purpose of a man is. Threats that a man must protect his family from.  What the legacy of a man is.  Jerry started Catholic Alpha to serve as a resource for men around the world. Wondering how his work has shaped his audience for the better? Jump in now to find out!  To learn more about Jerry and his work, click here and here now! Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/30PvU9C