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  MATTHEW 12-13
  by Chuck Smith
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Summary: Jesus teaches about the importance of doing the will of the
Father and the dangers of rejecting the Holy Spirit's conviction.

Duration: 54:30 Topics: "Kingdom Of Heaven", "Sabbath Observance"
Scripture References: Matthew 12 - 13

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DESCRIPTION
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This sermon delves into Matthew chapter 12, exploring Jesus'
interactions with the Pharisees regarding Sabbath observance, healing on
the Sabbath, and the concept of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. It
also covers the parables of the sower, the wheat and tares, the mustard
seed, the leaven, the hidden treasure, the pearl of great price, and the
net cast into the sea. Jesus' teachings on the kingdom of heaven and the
importance of bearing fruit for the Lord are highlighted, along with the
significance of being His treasured possession.

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CONTENT
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Matthew chapter 12 as we continue our journey through the Bible, now in
the New Testament, and into the twelfth chapter of the book of Matthew.
And at that time Jesus went on the Sabbath day through the corn and his
disciples were hungry and they began to pluck the ears of corn and to
eat. This was probably not corn like we think of it here in California,
but probably the wheat and they call the little grain of the top of the
wheat, they call that also corn.

And what they do is, as it is drying around June and all getting ready
for harvest, they take and they put it in their hands and they rub it to
knock the hulls off of the kernel and then they eat the kernels. And
with the Jews they constituted, the Bible said, you know, you're not to
do any labor on the Sabbath day and they said well, you know, rubbing it
in your hands is labor and thus you shouldn't be doing that. So the
Pharisees and all are really watching Jesus very carefully.

They're really wanting to create accusations against him. They want
excuses for not believing in him and so it is, this is beginning
actually the really controversies with the Pharisees here in chapter 12
and it really gets to be rather heated here in the 12th chapter. So as
they were going through and they were plucking these ears of corn and
eating them, the Pharisees saw it and they said to him, behold your
disciples they're doing that which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath
day.

Who said it wasn't lawful? It was one of the rules that they had made
up. It surely wasn't in the scriptures. But he said unto them, have you
not read what David did when he was hungry and those that were with him?
How they entered into the house of God and they did eat the bread which
was not lawful for him to eat and neither for them which were with him
but only for the priest.

Or have you not read in the law how that on the Sabbath days the priests
in the temple profane the Sabbath and are blameless. In other words, the
priests do labor on the Sabbath day. That is one of the big days as far
as they're offering sacrifices and so forth and all of the labor that
went in offering sacrifices.

And so Jesus is showing that the priests were violating the strict kind
of interpretation of the Sabbath. And so he said, I say unto you that in
this place is one greater than the temple. But if you had known what
this means, that I will have mercy and not sacrifice, you would not have
condemned the guiltless.

For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath day. And so when he was
departed from there, he went into the synagogue and behold there was a
man which had a hand that was withered. And they asked him saying, is it
lawful to heal on the Sabbath days that they might accuse him? Now it is
still the same Sabbath day and Jesus has gone into the synagogue and
here is a man with a withered hand.

It's interesting to me that they knew the heart of Jesus. They knew that
he could not really face a human blight without wanting to repair it. He
came to actually fix the things that were wrong in this world.

And so they knew his character of wanting to help those that are in
need. And here it is on the Sabbath day. And so they're really trying to
accuse him and saying, you know, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath
day? Now according to their traditions, it was not lawful to apply
anything that would heal.

In other words, if you came across someone and they were hurting bad,
maybe they'd been in an accident and they were bleeding profusely, you
could not, you could apply a tourniquet, you could stop the bleeding,
but you could do nothing toward healing until the Sabbath day was over.
And thus you couldn't really bandage it up or whatever, just make sure
that you stop the bleeding with a tourniquet and that's all that you
were allowed to do. So it is interesting that their interpretation of
the law was you weren't to really do anything that would be tending
towards the healing of a person on the Sabbath day.

And so he said unto them, what man shall there be among you that if he
has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath day, will he not lay
hold on it and lift it out? How much better then is this man than a
sheep? And wherefore is it lawful to do well on the Sabbath days? Then
he said to the man, stretch forth your hand. And he stretched it forth
and it was restored whole like the other. Then the Pharisees, this was
the straw that sort of broke the camel's back, they went out and held a
council against him, how that they might destroy him.

They were determined that, you know, he was just a persona non grata as
far as they were concerned because he was upsetting their whole
spiritual routine. But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from
there and great multitudes followed him and he healed them all. And he
charged them that they should not make him known, that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet saying, behold my
servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased,
I will put my spirit upon him and he shall show judgment to the
Gentiles.

And he shall not strive nor cry, neither shall any man hear his voice in
the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, a smoking flax shall he
not quench, till he sends forth judgment unto victory. And in his name
shall the Gentiles trust.

So they're beginning to understand that the Jews themselves, he was to
present himself to them as their Messiah and it was when they rejected
him and crucified him that then the door was open to the Gentiles to
receive the glorious grace of God and salvation through Jesus Christ. So
his name shall the Gentiles trust. Then was brought unto him one that
was possessed with the devil.

He was blind and he was a mute and he healed him insomuch that the blind
and the mute both spake and saw. And the people were amazed and they
said, is not this the son of David? In other words, is this a Messiah?
And when the Pharisees heard it, they said, this fellow does not cast
out devils but by Baal's above the prince of devils. And Jesus knew
their thoughts and he said, every kingdom that is divided against itself
is brought into desolation.

Every city or house that is divided against itself shall not stand. And
if Satan is casting out Satan, he is divided against himself and how
shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Baal's above cast out the
devils, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they shall be
your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the
kingdom of God is come unto you.

Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house and spoil his goods
unless he first of all binds the strong man and then he will spoil his
house? He that is not with me is against me. And he that doesn't gather
scatters abroad. Wherefore I say unto you, all manner of sin and
blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men.

But the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven unto
men. And whosoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be
forgiven. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be
forgiven, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.

So the warning that Jesus gives now concerning the blasphemy of the Holy
Spirit and how that this is a sin that is unpardonable. Just what is the
sin of the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit? Well you say, well it looks
like it was attributing the works of the Holy Spirit to Satan and that
because that's what prompted Jesus to give this warning about
blaspheming the Holy Spirit. I don't think that a person can blaspheme
the Holy Spirit and just in a moment's time.

I don't think it's a single kind of an action on a person's part. I
think that the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is the continual rejection
of the Holy Spirit speaking to your heart and showing to you that Jesus
Christ is God's provision for your sin and urging you to come to Jesus
Christ. Jesus, the Bible tells us that no man can come to Jesus except
the Spirit draw him and so I believe that the blasphemy of the Holy
Spirit is rejecting over and over and over again when the Holy Spirit is
pointing out to you that Jesus Christ is God's provision for your sin
and inviting you to receive him into your life and to accept him as your
Savior.

And if you reject Jesus as your Savior and continue to reject him as
your Savior, I do believe that God has made no other provision for your
sin and thus there's no forgiveness neither in this world nor the world
to come. And I do believe that when they are saying concerning Jesus
that he is casting out devils by the devil himself, by Beelzebub, that
that is really showing that they are getting very close to that place of
rejecting Jesus once too often and where they will no longer even have
any conscience towards sin that they will have grieved the Holy Spirit
of God and he is no longer even convicting them of their sin. I think
that it shows that they are getting close to that place when they are
attributing.

You see here's this fellow, he can't see, he can't speak and Jesus heals
him. What can you say? Here is the proof that he has the power of God
working through him. Here is the proof, the really final proof that he
is the Messiah.

And you know this was the prophecies concerning the Messiah when he
would come, the healing ministry of Jesus. And now they see it evidenced
before them and they have been saying no he's not the Messiah over and
over again until now they're faced with this kind of proof that he is
but they have said no to his being the Messiah so long that they could
not change and thus the warning of Jesus you know you're getting close
because you're attributing now these miracles to Satan and it means that
you're getting really close to that line that once you cross it there's
no hope for your salvation. So Jesus is warning them then concerning the
unpardonable sin, the continual rejection of him.

So he said either make the tree good and his fruit good or else make the
tree corrupt and his fruit corrupt for the tree is known by his fruit.
Oh generation of vipers how can you be evil how can you being evil speak
good things for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. So
it's interesting you don't have to be around a person very long before
their true nature is revealed listening to their conversation listening
to their words out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good
things. An evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.
But I say unto you that every idle word that man shall speak they shall
give an account thereof in the day of judgment.

For by thy words thou shalt be justified and by thy words thou shalt be
condemned. So be careful how you speak. Then certain of the scribes and
the Pharisees answered saying master we would see a sign from you.

Now this seems to me rather odd they've just seen this man who was blind
and who was a mute and they they saw him he's now speaking he can now
see and they say you know he did it by the power of the devil and now
they're saying well show us a sign well what did you just see you know
you ignorant guys you know what's going on here I mean I think it's a
rather strange place for them to say master we would see a sign from
you. But he answered and said unto them an evil and an adulterous
generation seeks after a sign and there shall no sign be given to it but
the sign of the Prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three
nights in the whales belly so shall the Son of Man be three days and
three nights in the heart of the earth.

And the men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation and
they'll condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah but a
greater than Jonah is here. So Jesus said you know you're looking after
a sign that's evil that's wicked you're not going to see any sign except
one. And what was the sign going to be? His death in the grave for three
days and then his resurrection.

That's going to be the sign that they will see and so they saw it many
did believe because of it but there were many who did not even though
they saw the evidence of the resurrection. The Queen of the South shall
rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it for she came
from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and
behold a greater than Solomon is here. Now Jesus is speaking of a future
resurrection and in that future resurrection actually the men of Nineveh
will rise in that resurrection and they will condemn this generation
that saw the miracles of Jesus because they repented at the preaching of
Jonah but Jesus said a greater than Jonah is here.

You know they're repenting at the preaching of Jonah is sort of a
miracle in itself. The message that Jonah had was not at all a message
of promise or a message of hope. It was a message of condemnation and it
wasn't from a minister who had a real heart and a love for them but one
who actually wanted to see them perish.

Nineveh was an enemy of Israel and they were a threat to Israel and you
remember Jonah when he was called of God to go to Nineveh headed the
other direction and of course was intercepted by that whale or huge fish
and brought back and deposited on the beach but when he then went to
Nineveh he was angry and he hated the Ninevites and it was almost with a
you've got it coming but his message was just monotonous and it was just
in condemnation where he said thirty days and you're going to be
destroyed. Yet thirty days and comes destruction and that was his
message and it was actually in bitterness it was in anger and yet they
repented at the preaching of Jonah and here Jesus comes with the message
of God's love, God's grace, God's forgiveness and they are rejecting the
message of Jesus and and so he's well might the men of Nineveh in the
day of the resurrection condemn this generation who will be also rising
in that one day when they will all be rising to stand before God. So
also the Queen of the South, the Queen of Sheba who came to hear the
wisdom of Solomon, she will rise in the resurrection and she will
condemn this generation because she came to hear the wisdom and went
home just convinced of the wisdom of Solomon greater than Solomon is
here.

So Jesus then said when an unclean spirit is gone out of a man he walks
through dry places seeking rest and finding none he saith I will return
into my house from whence I came and when he has come he finds the house
empty swept and garnished and so he goes and he takes with him seven
other spirits more wicked than himself and they enter into and dwell
there and the last state of that man is worse than the first even so it
shall be also unto this wicked generation. You know we don't really see
much or experience much of what is called demon possession here in
America. It is something that is quite common in pagan nations where
people are many of them worshipping Satan and worshipping the evil
spirits and they become possessed by these evil spirits and you don't
see it much here.

I have seen a few cases but not many people that I really felt were
demon possessed and it's an interesting thing. I have often been called
to exorcisms where they wanted us to pray that God would free a person
from this possession by an evil spirit but I hesitate to do it unless
the person really wants to accept Jesus Christ. I think that you can do
them a great disservice by just commanding the evil spirit to leave and
that if it isn't replaced that vacuum in their life is not replaced by
Jesus then it's an invitation really for the evil spirit who has been
cast out to come back, finds a place all empty, swept, garnished and he
goes out and gets seven others even worse than him so that the last
state of that person is worse than it was before he ever had an exorcism
practiced on him so it is one of those things that you just don't do you
know just because someone wants it done you want to make sure that the
person who is possessed is wanting to receive Jesus and you know the
beautiful thing is when Jesus comes in Satan goes out so while he yet
talked to the people behold his mother that would be Mary and his
brothers stood without desiring to speak with him.

Now I know that the Catholic Church talks about the perpetual virginity
of Mary that she remained a virgin the rest of her life but that isn't
biblically correct. From the Bible we read that Mary had other children
and here is Mary coming and she wanted to speak with Jesus and the
brothers were with her. Now from Mark's Gospel chapter 3 it does
indicate that they were worried about him.

They were worried that he was probably too involved in the ministry that
he was fulfilling and that he was just almost beside himself or almost
insane and so they were going to try to rescue him from himself and so
they came to the house where he was ministering and sent the message in
your mother and your brothers are out here they want to see you and so
he answered and said unto him that told him who is my mother and who are
my brethren and he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples and he
said behold my mother and my brothers for whosoever shall do the will of
my father which is in heaven the same is my brother and my sister and my
mother.

Now you know the Catholics do practice praying to Mary and you know holy
Mary mother of God have mercy on us in this our hour of death and so
forth amen.

You know it's an interesting thing they say well if you want the favor
of someone or you want something done if you can convince their mother
that it should be done and let her go and intercede for you surely he
won't reject his mother's intercession and so Mary is looked upon as an
intercessor but you know I really wouldn't want her to intercede for me
because he might be saying you know who is my mother and so you know
here's I think that this should really put to rest the idea that Mary is
a mediatrix between us and Jesus right here who is my mother and who are
my brothers and so then saying concerning the disciples and all that
were following him my mother my brother and whosoever does the will of
the father which is in heaven the same is my brother my sister and
mother so the same

day Jesus went out of the house and he sat by the seaside and great
multitudes were gathered together under him so that he went into a ship
and he sat and the whole multitude stood on the shore and he spoke many
things unto them in parables saying behold a sower went forth to sow and
when he sowed some seeds some fell by the wayside and the fowls came and
devoured them up some fell on stony places and they had not much earth
and immediately they sprung up but since they had no depth of earth when
the Sun was up they were scorched and they became and they withered
because they had no root and some fell among thorns and the thorns
sprung up and choked them but other fell into good ground and brought
forth fruit some a hundredfold some sixtyfold and some thirtyfold who
has ears to hear let

him hear and when the disciples came they said unto him why are you
speaking to them in parables and he answered and said unto them because
it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven but
to them it is not given for whosoever hath to him shall be given and he
shall have more abundance but whosoever hath not from him will be taken
away even that which he has therefore I speak to them in parables
because they seeing see not and hearing they hear not and neither do
they understand and in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which
said by hearing you shall hear and shall not understand seeing you shall
see and not perceive for this people's heart is wax gross and their ears
are dull of hearing and their eyes they have closed less than any time
they should see with

their eyes hear with their ears and should understand with their heart
and should be converted and I should heal them but blessed are your eyes
for they see your ears for they hear for verily I say unto you that many
prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which you
see and have not seen them and to hear those things which you hear and
have not heard them hear ye therefore the parable of the sower now he's
going to explain to them the parable of the sower when anyone hears the
word of the kingdom and understands it not then comes the wicked one and
catches away that which was sown in his heart and that which is received
this he is the one that received the seed by the wayside but he that
received the seed into the stony ground at the same as he that hears the
word and

anon he receives it with joy and yet he has not root in himself but
endures for a while for when the tribulation or persecution arises
because of the word and by he is offended and he also that received the
seed among the thorns is he that hears the word and the cares of the
world the deceitfulness of riches and other things choke out the word
and he becomes unfruitful but he that receives the seed into the good
ground is he that hears the word and he understands it and which also
shall bear his fruit and bring forth fruit some a hundredfold some sixty
some thirty the message of God goes out and the word of God going out is
like seed that is being sown and in sowing the seed of course he's
talking and the ideas is that of the wheat and so forth and planting the
seed and you broadcast the

seed and as you're broadcasting the seed you know the wind will carry
some of it over into the the hard ground and it might sprout up for a
moment but no depth of earth and it soon dies away the various types of
soil in the hearts of people when the word of God is planted in their
hearts some are like stony ground it seems to come up real fast seems to
begin to flourish but it doesn't have any depth the stones are there and
and it soon when persecution or whatever arises it dies and it just
doesn't carry on then they're among the thorns this is the one that
concerns me because I believe that so much seed falls among the thorns
and and the thorns that it grows up but it grows up with the thorns and
because the thorns are growing up with it the thorns ultimately sort of
choke out the seed

and in describing the thorns he said the cares of this life the
deceitfulness of riches and the desire for other things choke out the
Word of God that it doesn't bring forth fruit so what is the Lord
interested in in your life he's interested in the fruit that comes forth
from your life and that should be a major question in each of our hearts
and lives tonight is my life bringing forth fruit for the Lord that
which fell on the good soil brought forth fruit some hundred some sixty
some thirty fold but it was bringing forth fruit which is God's desire I
think that it should be of great concern to each of us to examine
ourselves and to ask is my life really bringing forth fruit for the Lord
and what kind of fruit is coming forth from my life is the Lord pleased
with my life and the fruit

that my life is bringing forth and so it's I think it's of course the
first of the parables but I think it's a very important parable and one
that can have application to us tonight because I'm sure that within
this audience tonight there are different types of soil upon which the
seed has fallen and you might read this over again and just ask yourself
what kind of soil is in my heart you know what kind of soil has the seed
fallen on is it fallen on the stony ground is it followed fallen by the
wayside where it just doesn't really do anything dies almost immediately
or is it fallen on good ground and bringing forth fruit and that should
be the main concern and surely is of my life that I want my life to
bring forth fruit for the Lord for his kingdom another parable he put
forth unto them

saying the kingdom of heaven is likened to a man who sowed good seed in
his field but while men slept the enemy came and sowed tares among the
wheat and went his way but when the blade was sprung up and it brought
forth fruit then appeared the tares also so the servant of the
householder came and said to him sir did you not sow good seed in your
field where did these tares come from and he said unto them an enemy has
done this and the servant said will you that I should go and gather them
up but he said no less when you gather up the tares you root up also
some of the wheat with them let them both grow together till the harvest
and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers gather ye together
first the tares bind them in bundles to burn them but gather the wheat
into my barn so

again the the tares growing with the wheat I've heard people say well
we're looking for the perfect church well don't look here and I don't
want to discourage you but you'll never find the perfect church I don't
care how good it is the enemy always seems to sow tares among the wheat
and so you might look at your own self and say am I you know true wheat
or am I a tare you know they're growing up together and the Lord said
don't don't try to separate them now wait until the harvest and that's
sort of a scary thing because the Lord's allowing them to grow among the
wheat and it isn't until the final harvest that the distinguishing will
take place and the tares will be gathered bound and thrown into the fire
where the wheat will be gathered and put into the barn but again waiting
until the

harvest time before it is really revealed is to me sort of a scary thing
another parable he put forth unto them saying the kingdom of heaven is
like a grain of mustard seed which if a man took and he sowed it in the
field which indeed is the least of all seeds but when it is grown it is
the greatest among the herbs and it becomes a tree so that the birds of
the air come and they lodge in the branches thereof now this morning we
talked about as expositional constancy that when something is used in a
parable and it has a certain meaning or a you know it is used for
something sort of as an analogy that there is that expositional
constancy if it is evil in one portion of the parable then in all the
parables where it is used it is evil now birds in parables are evil and
so in expositional

constancy if there are birds you know that it is evil and so the birds
lodging in it mean an evil is lodging within the mustard seed that is
grown into a tree first of all mustard seeds don't grow into trees if it
would grow into a tree it would be abnormal growth and so you know there
are some churches that have tremendous growth programs and they become
huge great trees but and the birds are lodging in them and but yet it's
an abnormal growth and it is not good so this parable that is speaking
here is is not really something that you should want to emulate or hope
that you would be a part of this because it is the mustard seed growing
into a tree would be abnormal growth and not healthy and the fact that
the birds are lodging in it again would be a bad thing.

Another parable he spake unto them the kingdom of heaven is like unto
leaven which if a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till the
whole was leavened and these things he spake Jesus to the multitude in
parables and without a parable he did not speak unto them. Leaven again
in the scripture is something that is evil it is Jesus said beware of
the leaven of the Pharisees and thus in expositional constancy here
leaven is used of Jesus and the woman actually taking and putting the
leaven in her dough that she is making and you put in a little leaven
and it leavens the whole lump of dough and and so it speaks of sin you
know just allowing a little bit how that it will just spread and how
does it spread by rotting. The leaven as it rots the air bubbles develop
and of course it causes the bread to rise then with the leaven that is
in it but yet it is used in an evil sense in that there is a rottenness
that it spreads you get puffed up I guess but not good.

So Jesus sent the multitude away and he went into a house and the
disciples came to him and said Lord declare to us the parable of the
tares and the field and he answered and said unto him unto them he that
soweth the good seed is the son of man the field is the world
expositional constancy wherever you find the field it's a reference then
to the world. The good seed are the children of the kingdom but the
tares are the children of the wicked one the enemy that sowed them is
the devil and the harvest is the end of the world and the reapers are
the angels and therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire
and it shall be at the end of this world and the son of man shall send
forth his angels and they shall gather out of his kingdom all of the
things that offend and then which do iniquity and shall cast them into
the furnace of fire and there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth and
then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their
father who hath ears to hear let him hear. So then going on the kingdom
of heaven is likened to a treasure hid in a field the which when a man
hath found he hideth and for joy thereof goes and sells all that he has
and buys that field.

So the kingdom of heaven likened to a treasure hid in a field again
expositional constancy the field is the world and then who is the one
who gave everything to redeem or to purchase the world and that would be
Jesus and what is the treasure and this is the mystery you are the
treasure that he purchased the world in order to take you out of it that
just touches my heart tremendously to realize that he loved me so much
and he values me so highly he considers me his treasure and he purchased
the world so that he could take me out of it and that he might take you
out of it his special treasure and so go home tonight just saying I'm a
special treasure you know the Lord treasured me so much he came to this
world he died on the cross to redeem the world from Satan's power that
he might possess

the treasure that was in the world you taking you out of it so the
kingdom of heaven is likened to a merchant man seeking goodly pearls who
when he has found one pearl of great price when he sold all that he had
and he bought it again the kingdom of heaven is likened to a net that
was cast into the sea and gathered of every kind which when it was full
they drew it to shore and sat down and gathered the good into vessels
but cast the bad away and so shall it be at the end of the world the
angels will come forth and sever the wicked from among the just and
shall cast them into the furnace of fire and there shall be wailing and
gnashing of teeth Jesus said unto them do you understand these things
and they said unto him yes Lord I wonder if they really did I don't
understand him I did pass

over that one of pearl of great price because I don't know that I really
have the right interpretation on that one and so it's one of those
scriptures that I have that in my mind I'm waiting for further
information further enlightenment and there are a lot of scriptures like
that that I have that I'm just waiting to get further enlightenment on
them I don't really profess to fully understand and and that is why I
didn't try to expound to you what the pearl of great price was and and
how it was that you know sold everything to have that pearl of great
price what was it I don't know it came to pass that when Jesus had
finished these parables he departed from there and when he was come into
his own country he taught them in their synagogue in as much as they
were astonished and they said

whence has this man this wisdom and these mighty works is not this the
carpenter's son is not his mother called Mary and his brothers are James
and Joseph and Simon and Judas and his sisters are they not all with us
whence then hath this man all these things and they were offended in him
and Jesus said unto them a prophet is not without honor except in his
own country and in his own house and he did not many mighty works there
because of their unbelief and this is he returned to Nazareth and the
people because they knew him that he'd grown up there in Nazareth they
knew Mary they knew his brothers and they even named his brothers and
his they mentioned his sisters and so again as we earlier pointed out
Mary and some of his brothers had come down to rescue Jesus and he said
who is my

mother who are my brothers and so forth now it is interesting it would
seem that the brothers of Jesus really didn't believe that he was the
Son of God and it is interesting that it wasn't until after his
resurrection from the dead that they did some of them at least become
believers and so in the New Testament you have the book of James and the
book of James is you notice that here they are talking about are not his
brothers with us James and Joseph and Simon and Judas now James the
disciple of Jesus not the brother of John but there after the he was the
first martyr of the church and it was actually he was martyred very
early in church history and so that the James that you read about in the
book of Acts and in the epistle of James is James and there are many who
believe that this was

the brother of Jesus and the book of Jude that he was another one of the
brothers of Jesus James and Jude brothers of Jesus well we didn't get as
far as I was hoping to get tonight but yet we'll just pick it up in
chapter 14 next week father we thank you for again your word what a
blessing it is Lord to just read through to study and now Lord we pray
that you'll just really lock these things in our hearts and Lord bring
to our remembrance the things that we have studied and help us Lord that
we might just continue a growth in our relationship with you and in our
own walk Lord draw us close in Jesus name we pray amen

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Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/rcXKYvlWB8M.mp4
Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/chuck-smith/matthew-12-13/
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