All right, all right, let's look in the Word where we're up to. We're reading Matthew's gospel. We're in the gospel of Matthew. We took a peek in that idea this morning, Brother Shannon brought up about teaching as the traditions of men, and that was based on a conversation that we see with these Pharisees and scribes who asked Jesus a question in particular about his disciples, which was really directed toward him, being he was their teacher and he was their master. And he draws from the Older Testament book of Isaiah, when he says, this is in Matthew 15 in verse seven, when he referred to them as being hypocrites. Remember that offended them according to his disciples when they told Jesus about this. But he says, hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophetically speak about you saying, these people draw near to me with their mouths, and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. And in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrine the commandments of men." Teaching as doctrine, teaching as truth. That's what doctrine is. Doctrine is a means of teaching. their doctrine, which was the traditions of men, though they lay claim as if it was the doctrine of God. It was the teachings of God. And let's go look at Isaiah, where he drew this from, Isaiah 29, and let's see how the Older Testament refers to this. And I think we'll get a glimpse of how Jesus interpreted and taught the passage in light of how Isaiah prophesied it. Isaiah 29, looking about verse number 13. Isaiah 29 in verse number 13. Therefore the Lord said, inasmuch as these people, remember this is prophetic, speaking of a day coming. which applied in the sense that the same things that already began and they had been going on for a long time. And as much as these people draw near to me with their mouths and honor me with their lips, they give me lip service. but have removed their hearts far from me and their, notice how Isaiah uses this idea where Jesus interpreted it as worship. Isaiah says what? And their fear giving place, priority toward me is taught by what? The precepts are the commandments of men. That takes us from the idea of, if y'all remember what was happening. Isaiah, this prophet, had been prophesying of what was coming for the nation, the northern 10 tribes of Israel, as well as the southern tribes of Judah. What was coming for the northern 10 tribes of Israel? The Assyrian judgment. God was gonna disperse his people. Now, the bigger picture of all this, you can mark down beside that, is found in 2 Kings, 2 Kings chapter 17. 2 Kings chapter 17. What happened? What happened was, is just where we come out of our reading in Samuel. Remember we read in the Samuel, what, last month, we wrapped up with, was it last month? The months just keep coming up on top of me, but time just keeps slipping right on by. But when we closed out with King David, remember David's son, Absalom rebelled against him. David fled, retreat is not always defeat. He comes back to the city. Takes David a while to recover his leadership. The men of the nation that had gone with Absalom, he had to win them over again. And that took a little bit of time. Well, all that played out. David gets to the end of his life and David has his son whom he turns the kingdom over to. And what was that son's name? Solomon. He gives Solomon some instruction. Solomon leads and Solomon leads well. We find all these characteristics of his father David being manifested, things that David taught him, things that David shared with him. Remember Solomon wrote the bulk of what we know of as the book of Proverbs and he refers to in Proverbs often how His father told him and taught him these things. And then we see God tells Solomon, He warns him. He said, Solomon, if you take foreign wives to be your wives, God said He was going to do what to the kingdom of God? He would strip it. He would divide it. And at Solomon's death, we see the division of the nation of Israel. They split up. You had a northern 10 tribes and you had a southern two tribes. You had David's son who was over the southern two and the king that reigned, which was one of David's servants, reigned over the northern 10 tribes. And his name was, y'all remember that name? It gets brought up all the way through Kings. What's his name? Jeroboam, does that sound familiar to you, Jeroboam? And the Bible tells us that all these kings of the northern 10 tribes for whom Isaiah's prophesying what was coming, he says that all that time of the northern 10 tribes, they went in the ways or the sins of Jeroboam. What did Jeroboam do? Jeroboam set up a system of teaching and worship that modeled what God had given to the southern two tribes, but it was based on the commandments and the traditions of men. He had no authority to do that. He had no authority to teach it. He had no authority to set it up, but he did. And so for the next couple hundred years, They operated in a false system of worship. They drew near to God with their lips and their mouths, but they feared God and they were afraid of God. if you wanna say that, or worship God according to the teachings of man and not the truth of the word of God. As a result, in 2 Kings chapter 17, you see the culmination of this, how it is manifested. The Bible says that when the Assyrians overthrew Samaria, which was their capital of the northern 10 tribes, they begin to have some trouble with some beasts, some lions begin to overthrow and kill the people. So they brought back in some of their teachers, some of their priests and said, help us with this. So the Bible says that they taught them how to worship God, fear God, and serve their idols at the same time. And you see, that's the idea that we see here, is that they teach the fear of God, they teach the worship of God, the service of God, they teach giving place to God, not according to the truth, but according to whatever man fastened in his own mind. And as a result, this is what you get. And this is where the Pharisees and the scribes and all the religious leaders of that day, they were in that same way of thinking and living. And when Jesus then threw it and applied it upon them, boy, that offended, that cut them to the heart because they thought they were spot on. Nobody could be any better or any smarter or any more religious or any more holier than they. And Jesus just told them that you have fulfilled exactly what Isaiah the prophet prophesied when he said that These people will speak of me, lay claim of belonging to me, will honor me with their mouths and with their lips, but their hearts are far from me because they teach a lifestyle that is according to the teachings of a man, of men, of traditions, but not based on the authority and the message or the revelation, the light that God has given man. And boy, that offended them deeply. So those are some historical settings. Now all this plays out exactly the way God had already said it would. Isaiah had been prophesying about all this, how the people were gonna treat Jesus, how the people would respond to him when he came. And if you go over and look in John chapter 12, look in John chapter 12. Anybody have any questions on that? So what we find is these men in that day, the society in that day, the religious people in that day would fight for a traditional word passed down to them over submitting themselves to the revelation of God's truth. They'd fight to the death for it. Matter of fact, they killed Jesus as a result of it. This was all part of God's Wisdom that sometimes is a very difficult thing for us to process and how all this plays out But I want to tell you God has not failed at all God cannot fail and he will not fail and God was already forewarning what was to come Matthew's already talked about it in the parables and Remember how Matthew says they see but they can't see, they hear but they can't hear, they can't understand. There's a reason for that. John gives us probably one of the greatest definitions of it or explanations of it in John 12, and he draws this out and tells us exactly the root behind it. Look in John 12, and let me start in verse number 37. And here's just some key phrases that we wanna look for. Remember the word that, what is the word that? It's a purpose word, it's a purpose statement. If you don't understand the purpose of a thing, it's inevitable, it's gonna be misused in one way or another over time. And what we find is, is not only a purpose statement, but we also see this word because, that is a root. There's some becauses in here and some that's that we wanna pick up on. And what we're gonna find is they would not, they could not, and therefore they should not. And this is all within the beautiful counsel of God. Notice what verse number 37 says. But although he had done so many signs before them, which is implying something should have happened because of the signs that they've seen, they did not believe in him. What was verse, what's verse 38 say? That, there's this, why did they not believe? Even though we've done all these signs, it was undeniable, they've seen it, but they would not put faith in, they wouldn't believe Him. that the word of the prophet might be fulfilled which he spoke. So we see something that God prophetically said something was gonna happen and as a result, now you see it manifesting. Before, what did the prophet say? Lord, who has believed our report and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? Verse 39, therefore they what? Based on that revelation, carry. They could not. They would not because they could not. They would not because they could not. The word that Isaiah prophesied of what would happen in the future day when the Messiah would come and they would not believe him, even though they watched him heal lepers, even though they watched him open the eyes of the blind, even though they watched him take and heal a mangled up limb, or raise the dead that had died, even though they've seen it, they've heard it, they would not believe him because they could not because of what God had already said was gonna take place. Matthew's talked about it already. Remember, they see, but they don't see. They hear, but they don't hear. They understand, but they don't understand. They perceive, but they don't really perceive. Remember when Jesus talked about the parables? I speak to them in what? Parables so that they cannot understand what I'm saying. So they would not because they, what does it say? That's a challenge for us. We admit in our flesh, Natural man, that's a challenge for us to, okay, well, this is a God thing here. They could not because it was a God thing. But we have to take the full counsel. We gotta look at the whole picture to get a good grip of this. Now watch how this unfolds. John 12. He says, verse 39, therefore they could not believe because, this is the root of why they couldn't believe, Isaiah prophetically spoke, God has what? Binded their eyes, God has hardened their hearts for fear, least they should see with their eyes, least they should understand with their hearts, and turn so that I would heal them. So there we see it. They would not, because they could not, that they should not. They should not turn. They should not trust. They should not believe. Verse 40, he's what, blinded, hardened, that they wouldn't turn and heal as a whole. All that Jesus did and all that he did, the whole nation should have turned to him in belief and faith. Had we been there and been able to see all that he'd done, the natural response would be we should believe that man. It should be undeniable that there's something about him. There's something. You couldn't, there was not one thing. I mean, think about it. I mean, there was no mischievousness, there was no sin, there was no iniquity, there was nothing defiled, nothing reproachable about Jesus whatsoever. He is the perfect man with the perfect message, doing the perfect work, of freeing people from oppression, infirmities, bondage, death, the grave. I mean, he's totally overcoming anything opposed to this natural world. He's overthrowing it with no wickedness behind it whatsoever. From that perspective, Everybody should have just placed their confidence and followed him. But they couldn't. That they shouldn't. Now, why? Why is that? Because God had a plan. What was God's plan? Romans tells us that in the wisdom of God, God put this blindness upon that group of people that they would not, could not, and should not, that we would, that we could, and that we should. He turned to the Gentiles and opened up his light to people who were far off, like you and me. That's why they wouldn't, that's why they couldn't, and that's why they shouldn't. Because in the wisdom of God, He blinded them and hardened them, and they couldn't, they wouldn't, and they shouldn't. So that God would then offer to us and command every man everywhere to repent and put their faith in his son, amen? Matter of fact, go to Acts 13. Watch how this unfolds, Acts 13. Now this temporary blindness upon a nation of Israel of why they wouldn't, couldn't and shouldn't was a temporary thing. And when I say temporary, it's still going on. even though it's 2,000 years later. But there's coming a point where all Israel will see Jesus, the one whom they pierced, and they will believe him. And it's gonna be where they could or would, could, and should. It's gonna happen. Where'd I say go, ask what? Acts 13, look if you would, watch how this comes together. I'll give you a few other passages of Scripture to jot down that you can piece this together. Let's just start reading in about verse number, Let's just read about our friend David. Looking about verse number 33. I keep going up, Brother Shannon. The more I go up, the more I want to read. Are you with me? Let's just start in verse number 30. Verse number 30 says, but God raised him from the dead. And all God's people said, aren't you glad? You know what that resurrection was, that was proof positive. That's our justification, our validation that Jesus is everything that Jesus said he would be. That's the resurrection. Our justification for salvation comes through his life and his death, his shed blood. in what he gave for us. But what the resurrection does justifies everything that he said and everything that he did. It's validation that Jesus was without sin. And God even testifies to that throughout the scriptures and in the book of Acts chapter 17. I think we read a couple of weeks ago when God says that there's coming a day that God will God will judge every man according to the standard of Jesus and He has validated that or proven that by His resurrection. That Jesus is His solution for man. God raised Him from the dead. Verse 31, He was seen for many days by those who came with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem who are His witnesses to the people. And we declared to you, glad tidings, that promise which was made to their who? Their fathers, whose fathers? The Jewish people's fathers, right? That's who we're talking about here. Verse 33, God has fulfilled this for us, their children, in that he raised up Jesus. And it is also written in the second Psalm, what is written in Psalm two, you are my son, today I have begotten you, in verse 34. and that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption he has spoken thus, I will give you the sure mercies of David. Verse 35, therefore he also says in another psalm, you will not allow your holy one to seek corruption. We know this is all prophetic toward Jesus. Verse 36, for David, after he served his own generation by the will of God, David fell asleep. He died and was buried with his fathers and saw corruption. What does that mean? He saw corruption. His body, his body turned to dust. His body decayed. Now Jesus is didn't. Amen. Verse 37, but he whom God raised up saw no corruption, therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this man. through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins. And the resurrection validates he has the authority to forgive. It's in his life, it's his blood. Verse 39, and by him, everyone who believes is justified from all things. And all God's people say it? Oh, glory. Don't y'all like that word, all things? He who believes is justified from all things, from which he could not be justified by the law. Beware, therefore, for fear what has been spoken, and the prophets will come upon you. Behold, you despisers marvel and perish, for I will work a work in your days, and work which you by no means believe, though one were to declare it to you. They wouldn't believe it. Verse 42, so when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles did what? What did the Gentiles do? They begged. They begged that these words, what they just heard, might be preached to them the next Sabbath. They wanted to hear it again. They wanted to hear it more in detail. Now who was at work in this? God was at work in this. No man comes to Jesus unless that man is what? Drawn. God was at work here. This is the work of God. Remember, the Jews could not, would not, and should not. They would not, could not, and should not. But these Gentiles are now begging God, begging God's men to tell them the story again. They want to hear it again. Watch how this happens now. Verse 43, now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. And on the next Sabbath, almost the entire city, the whole city came together to hear the word of God. But when the Jews saw the multitude, they were filled with what? They didn't gather for the word, Karen. They were what? They were upset over the fact that they were gathering to get onto the Word. To hear what these men were proclaiming. It says they were filled with envy and contradicting and blasphemy, and they opposed the things spoken by Paul. Paul speaking the living oracles of God, and they want no fighting. Why? They would not believe. Why would they not believe? Because they could not believe, and why could they not believe that they should not believe? For what purpose? It's all coming together now. Verse 46, then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, number one, it was a necessity. It was a priority. It was a necessity that the word of God should be spoken to you Jews, what? First. But since you would not, could not, and should not, what did you do, Keith? You what? You rejected it. You rejected this word. and judged yourselves unworthy of everlasting life. Behold, what do we do now? We turn to the Gentiles. And you know what? So that the Gentiles would, could, and should believe. Watch how this happens, verse 47. For so the Lord has commanded us, I have set you as a light to the Gentiles that you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth. Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord and as many as had been ordained or appointed to eternal life did what? they believed. You're going from would not, could not, should not to those that could, those that would, and those that should because of a divine shift that just took place that God turned from going first to the Gentile, I mean to the Jews who would reject him because they would not believe, they could not believe, nor they should not believe because in God's divine wisdom, what was he doing? He was turning this. In their rejection, God turned to the Gentiles to bring his gospel to them. And thank God for it, amen? Thank God. Isn't that just a beautiful picture? Let me give you a couple passages to write down that you can look at this, because this is what we're dealing with in the Gospel of Matthew. This is where we are in the Gospel. Of course, we got John 12, 37 through 41. That's where we see that laid out better than any other passage. It lays it out specifically for us, even explains it, even gives us that outline. They wouldn't because they couldn't, Therefore they shouldn't. Isaiah 6, Isaiah 6, 9 and 10. Yeah, 9 and 10, Isaiah 6, 9 and 10. Matthew 14, that was in Matthew 13, is where those seven parables are taught, dealing with the sower and the seed and why he spoke in parables, Matthew 13, 14. That's also found in Mark 4 in verse 12. Those parables are also mentioned in Luke 8 in verse number 10. And also, in the book of Acts chapter 28, 26 through 28. While you're in Acts, go to 26, I mean chapter 28, the last chapter, Acts chapter 28. This is when Paul was sharing with these group of Jews there in Rome. Everywhere he went, everywhere Paul went, the first people he went to, the first people he spoke to, he always started out with the Jew first. That's the way it got. Because remember, this message is what progressively working its way across the world. And they would start with the Jew and the Jews would what? Push it away. They would reject it, brother Shannon, because they gravitated to the traditions of men and wanted nothing to do with the truth. They rejected it. But this was all part of God's wisdom. Verse number 23. So when they had pointed him a day, that would be Paul, many came to him at his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both from the law of Moses and the prophet, and he did this from morning to evening. They'd come to him. Verse 24, and some were persuaded by the things which were spoken and some, what? Didn't, they were unbelief, didn't believe. So when they did not agree among themselves, they departed after Paul had said this one word. The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers when he said, go to this people and say, hearing you or what? hear and shall not understand. We keep seeing this again and again through the gospels in the acts of the Holy Spirit through the apostles and seeing you will see and not perceive for the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing and their eyes they have closed least they should see with their I mean, see with their eyes and hear with their ears for fear they should understand with their hearts and turn so that I should heal them. Therefore, verse 28, therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to who? Man. And you know what? They gonna what? They're gonna hear it. And when they hear it, you know what they're gonna do? They're gonna believe it. of people that were not near to him, of people that did not seek him, of people that had no mercy, they're gonna hear this message. Remember, this is a supernatural work. You can't hear the gospel without God at work, amen. So this is God at work in verse 29, and when he had said these words, what did the Jews, both those that were being persuaded in what he said and those that were not persuaded in what he said, when he said these things, it cut them to the quick. It got them both. It says, and the Jews departed and had a great dispute among themselves. Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and he received all who came to him. And what did he do the whole time? Verse 31, he preached the kingdom of God, teaching the things which concerned the Lord Jesus Christ, and with all confidence, no one forbidded him. Praise God, amen. Now, another passage. Romans chapter number nine. Romans chapter number nine through 11. If you go there, just go to Romans nine. That's where we talk about, Romans talks about the vessels of mercy and the vessels of wrath. You get into chapter number 11, look if you would. In chapter 11, looking about verse number seven, what then? Israel has not come upon or obtained what it seeks, but the elect have obtained it and the rest were blinded. Just as it is written, God has given them a spirit of what? Slumber, some translation used the word what? Stupor, a numbness, a deadness to it. eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear to this very day. So the elect for whom God foreknew received it, like Paul and Barnabas and Silas and these different ones of John and James, they all saw, they were all drawn, they belonged to the Lord, they seen it, but the nation as a whole didn't see it. Verse nine, and David says, let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a recompense to them. Let their eyes be darkened so that they do not see and bow down their back always. Verse 11, I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not, but through their fall to provoke them to what? Jealousy, salvation has come to who? the Gentiles. Now, if their faith is the fall for the, is the riches for the world and their failure, riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness. And that's where you keep on reading. It just tells us that, look, this is all the manifold wisdom of God. God, God and his wisdom was behind all this, that their rejection was our riches. Their unbelief was our reward that God turned to people like you and me and offered this word to us that we would hear, believe and respond in faith to the glory of God, amen. So when we read in the gospels of this rejection of Jesus and why they did what they did to him and crucified him was all part of the perfect redeeming work of God so that this salvation not only could be for us but also be accessible and available to all humanity, all mankind because of their rejection, because they despised Him, because they persecuted Him, because they crucified Him. The scripture says also in the book of Acts that was all predetermined by God. God determined that. And that blood was shed so that we could be forgiven of sin. And he came out of that grave to say, hey, take him at his word. Everything he said is true. Amen. And you can trust him with it and walk with it. So this clinging to the traditions and these blind eyes and deaf ears and fat hearts was all part of what we see God unfolding so that Brother Shannon and Miss Pat and Brittany and Keith and Karen and Pam and Greg and Janet Miss Catherine, Miss Barbara, Mr. Billy, and Stephanie, and Carolyn, and Palmer Lee, and Hadley Jane, that your preacher could trust Jesus, amen, and be rescued through his precious blood, his precious blood, and then provoke his people to jealousy. to get a hold of what He came to offer the rest of the world in salvation. Hey, you can't argue with the wisdom of God, can you? We may not be able to fully explain it and get our mind wrapped around it, but I want to tell you this, God knows what He's doing. and we can trust him, and thank him that he's unveiled what he's unveiled to us, because he didn't have to, but he did. Now he wants to use us to go share those, plant those seeds, amen. Remember, we're sowing seed, Jesus is in us sowing seed, and that seed is what? The word of God, and that seed's gonna fall in by the wayside at times when we broadcast it. The devil's gonna come along, the birds are there, and they're gonna snatch it up. Some of that seed's gonna fall on stony ground, and some of that seed's gonna fall on shallow ground, but some of that seed, is gonna fall into those hearts like Paul talked about in Acts 13, that they said, we wanna hear the word of God again. And they were glad when the word of God was preached. And that gospel found a noble heart that God had been at work in preparing them for that seed of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we go forth and share that. What was one of them other parables, we mentioned it this morning, that there are two types of people in the world. Those that the Father planted, and those that the enemy has planted. Those that the enemy has planted is called tares. Those that the Father has planted is referred to as wheat. And they're gonna grow up in this old world side by side. And they're gonna look very similar at times, but we won't see the harvest of that vintage until the end. to the end when the angels come and bring, tear up the wheat, excuse me, the tares and put that in the furnace and then bring in the sheaves, the harvest unto the glory of God. That's out of future day. Same way about that drag net that we talked about. Remember we cast the net And in the net, there's gonna be all sorts of fish. The bad fish, you throw back. The good fish, you what? Keep. Well, God says the angels are gonna do that. The bad, they're gonna throw into the fire, but the good are gonna be to the praise and glory of God. So they didn't understand a lot of these things. We don't understand a lot of it, but we understand who does. And we know who knows what he's doing, amen? And we can keep trusting him and keep walking with him and keep praising him unto his glory. So when we read these things and their rejection of him, all we can do is just praise God. Just praise, thank God that God was working out His plan and His wisdom. Thank Him that they crucified Him and put Him to death and that He shed His blood because if it wasn't for that, you and I would have no hope today. Would have no hope today. We would have no answer for our sins. We would have no solutions for life. We would have no hope for eternity apart from their rejection of our King, Master and Lord. Amen? Amen. So we can't help but praise him and thank him. Take what he teaches and run with it. Anybody have anything you want to share before we go today? We will, we will. Miss Pat. One of the first things I noticed this morning when we were reading Matthew 15, 12. Then came his disciples and said unto him, knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended after they heard this saying? And you made the statement this morning that Jesus never apologized for offending them with the truth. And I was just thinking, seeing that there's so many things now that people are offended. It won't be, it can't be, it's not gonna be. And right, and we never see Jesus. I mean, there's quite a bit. I just narrated down these three things. We don't see Jesus apologizing for the truth that he shared, the people that he loved, and the sheep that he led. We don't see him apologizing. He told them, don't worry about them. They're blind leaders, what? Leading the blind. If the blind lead the blind, they're both gonna fall in a? Ditch. You let them fall in the ditch. You keep proclaiming my truth. You stay on assignment. You keep proclaiming my truth. You keep loving people. But that doesn't mean you compromise the truth to love people. Matter of fact, to love people, you gotta stand on the truth, amen? And number three, you keep seeking out the lost sheep. You keep seeking to serve the sheep. Remember Jesus said, I send you to the lost sheep of Israel. Now, the idea is, is that God has sheep. There's sheep out there, they don't know they're sheep. We don't know they're sheep. That's what Romans just said. The elect heard it, right? That was the lost sheep. They were lost. They were still sheep. They didn't know that they were in that position until the good news came to them and they heard what their shepherd had done for them. And God gave them a hearing ear to respond. That's what we do. We go. We don't know who they are out there, but we go and proclaim and we let God be God. We let God save and let him redeem. And we plead for men to repent. to trust and to turn from as they turn to him. Amen? And that's where we live. So yes, he doesn't apologize for that. He knew that they were offended. Everybody knew that they were offended. But it didn't, he said, look, they are not the planning of my father. They're gonna fall in the ditch, and they're gonna be uprooted. That which my father plants will continue and remain eternally. Amen? They were that seed that were planted. And not only that, we carry seed. I gave you those seeds this morning. If you didn't get any, I'm gonna give you some, Miss Catherine. It's just a reminder. Everything, we're constantly around seed, but you can keep that, put it on your dresser or keep some in your pocket. You can give them away. It's just a reminder, hey, that I'm a sower. I'm a sower, the good shepherd, and he's given me good seed to plant. And that seed will stay a single seed, just like the seed of the gospel will remain as it is unless we sow it. We got to plant it. You got to plant it. Now the type of soil you plant it in, we know the type of soil we want to plant seed in. I can't prepare those people for that, but God can and God does. You know when that sower sowed his seed that day, he knew when he broadcasted that seed, that seed would go by the wayside. He knew that seed would fall among stony ground, that is ground that has a rock bed under it that it can't get a root system in. He knew some was gonna fall in that old crowded ground, that the cares of this life were just gonna crowd it all out, he knew that. But there was ground that he prepared. And it was that ground that he prepared is where that seed was aimed for. Any sower prepares ground to put the seed in. He just knows when he broadcasts it, some seeds gonna fall in other places. That's just a given. Same way with us. But God's gotta prepare the hearts. That's why we pray and ask God to open eyes. Why we pray and ask God to open hearts. Why we pray and ask God so that they could, would, could, and what? Should, amen? Who's gotta do that? God does. And he uses us as light. with that seed, but it's not gonna happen unless we go sow it, unless we go plant it, amen? How can they know unless they, how can they hear unless they have a preacher, and how can a preacher go unless he's been what? Sent, and we have a commission to go, amen? Amen, to him be the glory. Anybody else? Can I be ashamed to witness, but can I be ashamed to praise him? and glorify him for everything that he does. And it breaks my heart that I see times that people just take a shell instead of praising him and giving him the glory for it. And it's like, don't you know what he's done in your life? Don't you know where he came from? Sometimes I don't know how to. It's tough. You can't make somebody see something that they can't see when they're blind, but it's still our responsibility to shed light. We also recognize where he teaches his disciples what? Don't cast your pearls before. or give the holy things to the dogs. Why? Because they cannot appreciate nor value. A swine can't value a pearl and dogs can't value that which is holy. So he's saying there's times when you're dealing with swine and there's times when you're dealing with dogs. There's times you're dealing with goats, and you recognize that, so you, us, and our discernment can recognize. But that doesn't keep us from what? Giving God the praise and the glory. Even for being able to recognize the swine, and the dogs, and the goats, are you with me? Now, we used to be on that side where we pushed back. We pushed back. But God, in his gentleness and his compassion, continued to send a message to us. And in his timing, as Paul would say in Galatians, when it pleased the father to reveal his son in me, reveal his son in me. And then our eyes were open to see, to see what we needed to see. And God's gotta do that. But we're instrument that he uses though. We're that light. So yes, don't be ashamed to praise him and to give him glory, knowing that God's not gonna share his glory with anybody, amen? and we're gonna ascribe him glory. Even when they think you crazy. Even when they think you a fool. Like this woman, this man, don't have a clue. about life, they thinking Jesus did this. Man, this was medicine that did it. This was a doctor that did it. This was this or that or this or that. This was their doings, they pulled that together. Well, we understand it, we see it a little bit different, amen? And that's okay, that's okay. I don't need to be offended by their offense. I'm just gonna continue to tell the truth, continue to love people and continue to go to the sheep, amen? And celebrate with the brother. Father, we thank you tonight. We bless you for this time we've had together. We thank you for the revelation of your truth, for helping us, for speaking into us, for leading us. Lord, we miss the mark, just that word that with you is forgiveness for all things, all things. There's not anything you can't forgive other than unbelief. for blaspheming and rejecting you again and again and again and again. That unpardonable sin that just finds no forgiveness is not trusting and believing and honoring you. But thankful tonight we know that your blood is sufficient to cover. That we can't cover ourselves, but you cover us. And that because of your blood, not only we justified from all things, but you declare us as righteous, not guilty. You see us as you see your son. And what a blessing. And because your people rejected and crucified you, we are here tonight because of your shed blood. I pray that you will compel us by your love that we would go forth and we would go tell the world, tell those on our paths tonight, tomorrow, wherever it may be, that we found the treasure, that we found the pearl of great price, and we've sold it all. giving it up for you. And we thank you and praise you in Jesus name. Amen. Love y'all. Y'all have a good night.