Matthew 13:3-9 (9/4/24)

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Matthew 13:3-9 (9/4/24)

Which Soil Are You?

September 4, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Matthew 13:3–9

* When we read Scripture, there are times we are the sower and times when we are the soil.

* Our job is not to worry about the growth…

* Our job is to receive the seed (like good soil) and scatter the seed (like a good sower).

* To teach this principle, Jesus taught the parable of the sower.

* In the parable, we are the sowers, the seed is the gospel, and the ground is those who hear our message.

* vs 3-9

* Notice the four ground types (people) on which the seed falls.

* 1) Path - these people’s hearts are hard, so no matter what you say, it will not penetrate.

* They have already rejected God, and there’s no coming back.

* 2) Rocky soil - these people hear and receive the word, but when trials and suffering come, they return to their old patterns.

* Strength comes through strain.

* So we should expect it in the Christian life (it’s not just about getting blessed).

* 3) Thorny soil - these people hear and receive the word, but they aren’t disciplined in their daily habits.

* So the cares of the world (their daily needs for food, shelter, clothing, etc) get more of their attention than growing their relationship with God.

* They focus on the temporal, not the eternal.

* 4) Good soil—these folks hear and receive the word, commit to serving Jesus whatever the cost, establish habits to keep them on track, and slowly grow and mature into firm believers.

* The question is, which soil are you?

* The three types of bad soil - what gets in their way:

* SELF.

* STRAIN.

* STUFF.

* But the healthy soil gets the SAVIOR!

Proverbs 31:8 (9/25/24)

September 25, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Proverbs 31:8

- Our job as believers is to mature in our faith - to grow spiritually strong. - Hebrews 5 - A buddy of mine is the CEO of Iron Sharpens Iron men’s ministry. - They teach that a real man is a real man is. - They use Prov 31:8-9 as the foundation. - vs 8-9 - “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” - What makes a R.E.A.L. man: - REJECTS PASSIVITY - he doesn’t sit idly by while bad things happen. - EX: Adam stood by while Eve conversed w/the serpant. - Deitrich Bonhoeffer - “It’s not enough to help hurting people. You have to stop the things that hurt them.” - John Stuart Mill in 1867 - “Let not any one pacify his conscience by the delusion that he can do no harm if he takes no part, and forms no opinion. Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing. He is not a good man who, without a protest, allows wrong to be committed in his name, and with the means which he helps to supply, because he will not trouble himself to use his mind on the subject.” - A real man doesn’t wait for others to do what he knows he should do. - He operates by faith, not fear. - ENGAGES GOD DAILY - he has a vibrant personal relationship with the Lord. - Strength and Pursuit are linked - the more you pursue God the more you have His presence. - And when you have His presence you get His power. - A real man uses discipline to strengthen his relationship to God. - He goes to God before he goes to others. - ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY - Authority and Responsibility are linked. - If you want to keep your authority, stay in the place of your responsibility. - He understands his priorities and assumes ownership of them. - Modern Psychiatry calls a person who cannot take responsibility as someone suffering from a “character disorder.” - LEADS COURAGEOUSLY - he acts like a father. - 1 Corinthians 4:15 - “You have many teachers but few fathers.” - A father is willing to fight the wolves - he doesn’t run from them. - A real man is like David - he saw a giant too big to miss while everyone else saw a giant too big to fight. - A real man has a warrior spirit. - He stands for truth and doesn’t back down.

Mark 1:28 (9/25/24)

September 25, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Mark 1:28

- In today’s influencer culture, people are elevating fame over faithfulness. - People are lusting for fame. - As a result, they elevate likes over lives. - Much of it has been learned from pastors. - When your income, image, and influence are determined by people liking you, you’ll never stand strong. - I heard a speaker say, “With the rise of social media, young people would rather be discovered more than developed.” - Oswald Chambers said, “Focus on depth, and let God handle your breadth.” - Notice how it worked for Jesus. - He was simply faithful to do exactly what God told Him to do. - vs 28 - “And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.” - His fame spread. - The news about who He was and what He was doing spread. - Was that the goal? - No. He didn’t come for fame - He came for faithfulness. - Fame was simply a byproduct of His faithfulness. - If fame were God’s goal for Jesus, He would’ve been born in the 21st century when social media was a thing. - I was in a green room with several famous people and one of them joked that they had never heard of me and David and had to look us up on Google. - Then he laughed. - He meant it light-heartedly, so we all laughed with him. - But the more I thought about it the more I realized that our culture elevates fame over faithfulness all the time. - The reason David and I aren’t fame is because of our faithfulness to stand by God’s truth on marriage and life. - Because of that, we were canceled. - As a result of being canceled, people don’t know who we are. - We’re now “non-famous” Christians, and I feel really good about it. - We don’t need famous Christians. - We need faithful ones. - And if fame comes as a result, as it did for Jesus, so be it - use it to bless those who aren’t famous! - NOTE - if you keep an eternal perspective, God rewards all faithfulness with fame in His kingdom.

Matthew 22:11-14 (9/18/24)

September 18, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Matthew 22:11–14

* If you want to enjoy the party you have to honor the spirit of the party. * If you want to enjoy the kingdom, you have to honor the spirit of the kingdom. * That means you have to honor the king. * How do you honor the king? * Two ways - presence and posture. * Presence = readiness * If he’s throwing a party, you say “yes” then you get ready! * Posture = reverence * When you get to the party, you have to honor His code. * Jesus gave an analogy of a king hosting a wedding banquet to show what access to the kingdom looked like. * vs 1-10 - the first people he invited didn’t come. * This represented the Jews who refused to accept the invitation of the kingdom. * They were not willing to inconvenience themselves to be at the wedding. * This showed the king that he was not very important. * EX: close friends refusing to come to your party. * If you’re ready for God to show up, He will! * Staying ready is looking and listening for God in all things. * vs 11-14 - in vs 10 the call of the master to his banquet appealed to both good and bad people - those with good intentions and those with bad. * This is why there’s a qualifier to the parable in vs 11-14. * Yes, the call will attract people with selfish motives, but there’s a “weening out” that will take place before they’re allowed in. * You can’t just show up and do your thing your way - you have to conduct yourself according to the master’s standards. * The application is clear - God’s offer of eternal life will attract lots of people, but only those who are willing to clothe themselves with righteousness will get in. * If you wear your self-righteousness you will be thrown out. * EX: the rich young ruler - he was attracted but not submitted. * He wasn’t willing to part with his stuff, so he didn’t get the eternal life he sought. * The Passion Version says that the wedding clothes were provided to the invited guests as a part of the tradition of the time. * This would imply the person was not willing to part with his thing for the groom’s thing. * He was more comfortable in his old clothes than his new ones. * If you want to enjoy the kingdom, you have to honor the spirit of the kingdom.