Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour. But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient; but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words; for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes darkness but now are ye light in the Lord; walk as children of light.
Ephesians 5:11-14
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And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light; for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest and arise from the dead and Christ shall give thee light.
For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory; and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.
Isaiah 62:11-12
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Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, say ye to the Daughter of Zion, behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, His reward is with Him and His work before Him. And they shall call them, the Holy People, the Redeemed of the LORD; and thou shalt be called, Sought Out, a city not forsaken.
Isaiah 51:7-8
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Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; Fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings. For the moth shall eat them up like a garment and the worm shall eat them like wool; but my righteousness shall be forever and my Salvation from generation to generation.
We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed and therefore have I spoken; we also believe and therefore speak. Knowing that He which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus and shall present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.
For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
One of the most beloved artist is Norman Rockwell. Many like his artwork and many don’t like his artwork. Once when he was asked about this, he said the difference in the people is that the modern artists only painted for their own satisfaction and don’t care if others understood what they had painted.
In our text today, the seed was sown everywhere so that the people would hear the Word and understand. Jesus wanted everyone to understand and for us to not have the attitude of not caring that other people didn’t understand. Jesus said to go and make disciples of the nations and teach them to understand the gospel. Jesus said He taught the people in parables because they would hear but not want to understand. When Jesus explained the parables to the disciples, He was telling of the different kinds of hearts the people would have that the Word, the seed, was spread on.
Jesus said that the disciples are the light that is to shine light into the world. He said that spreading the gospel, the seed, is spreading the Word of God. Jesus said we must spread the Word of God to all people so they will hear of Jesus and accept the good news of Eternal Life. It is up to us to spread the seed of the gospel so all will hear. If we don’t spread the Word then people will not hear and choose to be saved and get Eternal Life. We must tell others of what Jesus had done in our life. The strongest testimony is to tell how Jesus had changed our lives for the better. We must let them know the Gift of God that is in Jesus Christ.
Eternal Life is the Gift that God has given to us. We must spread the Word and be casting the seed of the Kingdom. The seed is the Word of God and there is Power in the Word of God. In Jesus’s parable, the farmer cast his seed all over the place, trusting in the power of the seed to make things grow. The Word of God has power to change lives. The Lord has invited us to help spread the seed, the Word of God, to all people. Jesus calls us to be stewards of the seed and to be His partners in the building of God’s Kingdom. We are involved in the construction of the greatest Kingdom ever known. We must cast the seed of God’s Word everywhere we go. We have decided to become followers of Jesus Christ and will help spread the seed of the Word of God.
Now we beseech you brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto him; That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
II Thessalonians 2:8-13
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And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming. Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders; And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, because they received not the love of the Truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie. That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the Truth.
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. Little children, it is the last time; and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
I John 2:22-25
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Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father; but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that He hath promised us, even Eternal Life.
The question of who is your neighbor was a hot topic in Jesus’ time. The Jews typically interpreted neighbor as another Jew like themselves. The man who asked Jesus the question, wanted Jesus to explain who was in or out of the circle of neighbors.
In a modern time event, a man in Oakhill, FL went to vacation in Miami, FL. He went to see the sights in Miami. One night he went out and got robbed and beat up by a gang. He was laying on the sidewalk bloody and a Seventh Day Baptist preacher walked by him. Then a Sabbath school teacher walks by him also in fear that the gang might get him too. Then a stranger, a bar owner with a Biden T-shirt on walked by him and stopped to help him. He didn’t care if he got the man’s blood on his clothes but put him in his car and drove him to the ER at the hospital. This stranger ended up paying the man’s ER hospital bill and also gave the ER his cell phone number to contact him if more money was needed. Your neighbor is ANYONE in need.
Most people think that the majority of people won’t just walk by but this happened in New York City. A lady was beaten for 90 minutes and her 30 neighbors didn’t help her even though they heard her screams. People think that the people we don’t know are our not our neighbors so we don’t have to help them. We must help everybody no matter who they are. It helps if we define our neighbors as someone we know and also as a stranger we don’t know.
**People Don’t Help Because:
1) People don’t help others as a neighbor because they don’t know them.
2) People think they will be used by the person and don’t believe the help they give them will be used wisely.
Many churches give food, groceries and clothes to help people but do not give them money. They don’t give them money so they will not be taken advantage of. One time a man was at my house asking for money to fill his gas tank because he said he was out of gas. I go outside and see his car is running so I didn’t give him any money. Notice the Samaritan didn’t give the money to the man he helped but gave it to the innkeeper. The Bible says to love your neighbor as yourself and he that gives to the poor, the Lord will pay him back. Don’t hide yourself from the poor.
3) People don’t help others as their neighbors because they are selfish:
You need to love your neighbor as yourself. Love them as you love your own body. Love yourself and lover others also. Help your neighbor and don’t be focused on yourself. Loving your neighbor will help you learn to better love yourself. So if you have a bad concept of yourself and are depressed, then love others, help others and it will lift you up. It will give you a sense of self-worth. When you behave like you love someone, you will eventually love them. Love your neighbor as yourself and don’t pass by them on the other side of the road. Three or four days later after Jesus taught this, He suffers and dies on the Cross for our sins. Jesus refused to let us die by the side of the road in our sins.
We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed and therefore have I spoken; we also believe and therefore speak. Knowing that He which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus and shall present us with you.
