Pastor’s Bible Reading Schedule: 2 Kings 10-12; Matthew 13
Devotional Thought:
Last Sunday night, Pastor McLaughlin explained that the mission of the church was not what the church can do for you, and it wasn’t even what you can do for the church. The mission of the church is to function in the reality of what Christ has done for the church. It is Christ who purchased the church with His own blood, we belong to Him, and therefore we should glorify God in our body and in our spirit, which are Gods. (1 Co. 6:20) Some more foundational truths for understanding the mission of the church are found in this thirteenth chapter of Matthew. The Lord of the church reveals the nature of the church and the spiritual characteristics of the period of time often referred to as the church age. In this prophetic chapter Jesus describes the character of the era between His birth and second coming. The people heard what Jesus said, but they did not want to understand; and they kept on seeing Him do miracles, but they did not accept that He was indeed the promised Messiah. The Jews had intentionally closed their eyes and their ears to God and refused to understand with their heart. Because they chose to ignore God and His word, God judicially locked them up in their unbelief so that they would fear His judgment. In the first of the eight parables in Matthew 13, Jesus explained the four kinds of soils that represent different responses to the word of God and specifically the gospel. In the second parable the Lord explains what happens to unbelievers during these periods of the kingdom. Continuing the illustration of the farmer, we find in this parable the farmer planting the seed and it taking good root in good soil and ready to produce good wheat. However, while the farmer sleeps, the enemy comes to the freshly planted field and plants a counterfeit weed, a darnel weed that closely resembles the wheat plant. It is not until several weeks into the growing process that there are distinguishing factors. The plan of God is for the wheat and tares to grow together and be divided at harvest time. To try to separate them before the harvest would risk damaging the good wheat and therefore, the farmer tells his workers to wait until harvest before separating them. The day will come when Jesus will expose the counterfeits of the world. The counterfeits will be cast into the lake of fire. What a challenge for us to be patient as wheat to feed upon the rich nutrition of the word of God and allow our roots to dive deep and become firmly grounded.
Personal Requests:
• Lord, please help me to be sensitive to the leadership of the Holy Spirit as He illuminates my eyes to behold wondrous truths out of the word of God. Please help me to have a heart that is ready to receive the seed of the word of God.
• Lord, thank you for being so gracious to have made the gospel available for me to hear and respond to at the age of eight. Thank you for saving my soul and giving me the privilege to serve you at Faith Baptist Church.
• Lord, help me to never react negatively to the tares of the world and to trust you for the outcome and help me to concentrate on being the most productive wheat I can be.