The Fabian Society/ New World Order /Rush "smoking gun".

Duh!

"Closer To The Heart"

RUSH LYRICS (A Farewell to Kings- 1977)

And the men who hold high places
Must be the ones who start
To mold a new reality
Closer to the heart
Closer to the heart
The blacksmith and the artist
Reflect it in their art
They forge their creativity
Closer to the heart
Closer to the heart

Philosophers and ploughmen
Each must know his part
To sow a new mentality
Closer to the heart
Closer to the heart
You can be the captain
I will draw the chart
Sailing into destiny
Closer to the heart

The Weapon - Rush Song Lyrics

Freewill - Rush Song Lyrics

New World Man - Rush Song Lyrics

Red Barchetta - Rush Song Lyrics(excerpted)

My uncle has a country place
That no one knows about
He says it used to be a farm
Before the Motor Law
And on Sundays I elude the eyes
And hop the Turbine Freight
To far outside the Wire
Where my white-haired uncle waits

Jump to the ground
As the Turbo slows to cross the borderline
Run like the wind
As excitement shivers up and down my spine
Down in his barn
My uncle preserved for me an old machine
For fifty odd years
To keep it as new has been his dearest dream

I strip away the old debris
That hides a shining car
A brilliant red Barchetta
From a better vanished time

Red Sector A - Rush Song Lyrics

All that we can do is just survive
All that we can do to help ourselves is stay alive

Ragged lines of ragged grey
Skeletons, they shuffle away
Shouting guards and smoking guns
Will cut down the unlucky ones

I clutch the wire fence until my fingers bleed
A wound that will not heal
A heart that cannot feel
Hoping that the horror will recede
Hoping that tomorrow we'll all be freed

Sickness to insanity
Prayer to profanity
Days and weeks and months go by
Don't feel the hunger
Too weak to cry

I hear the sound of gunfire at the prison gate
Are the liberators here?
Do I hope or do I fear?
For my father and my brother, it's too late
But I must help my mother stand up straight

Are we the last ones left alive?
Are we the only human beings to survive?

Tom Sawyer - Rush Song Lyrics (excerpted)

Exit the warrior
Today's Tom Sawyer
He gets high on you
And the energy you trade
He gets right on to the friction of the day

..."and the energy you trade"? What an odd turn of phrase in a song from 1981.

... and the Word that proceeds from the mouth of God is a weapon to be used to hunt them...

Genesis 49

⁵Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations.
⁶O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall.

⁷Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.

Genesis 34

¹And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.
²And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her.
³And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel.
⁴And Shechem spake unto his father Hamor, saying, Get me this damsel to wife.
⁵And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter: now his sons were with his cattle in the field: and Jacob held his peace until they were come.
⁶And Hamor the father of Shechem went out unto Jacob to commune with him.
⁷And the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it: and the men were grieved, and they were very wroth, because he had wrought folly in Israel in lying with Jacob's daughter: which thing ought not to be done.
⁸And Hamor communed with them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter: I pray you give her him to wife.
⁹And make ye marriages with us, and give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you.
¹⁰And ye shall dwell with us: and the land shall be before you; dwell and trade ye therein, and get you possessions therein.
¹¹And Shechem said unto her father and unto her brethren, Let me find grace in your eyes, and what ye shall say unto me I will give.
¹²Ask me never so much dowry and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say unto me: but give me the damsel to wife.
¹³And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and said, because he had defiled Dinah their sister:
¹⁴And they said unto them, We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised; for that were a reproach unto us:
¹⁵But in this will we consent unto you: If ye will be as we be, that every male of you be circumcised;
¹⁶Then will we give our daughters unto you, and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people.
¹⁷But if ye will not hearken unto us, to be circumcised; then will we take our daughter, and we will be gone.
¹⁸And their words pleased Hamor, and Shechem Hamor's son.
¹⁹And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob's daughter: and he was more honourable than all the house of his father.
²⁰And Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city, saying,
²¹These men are peaceable with us; therefore let them dwell in the land, and trade therein; for the land, behold, it is large enough for them; let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters.
²²Only herein will the men consent unto us for to dwell with us, to be one people, if every male among us be circumcised, as they are circumcised.
²³Shall not their cattle and their substance and every beast of their's be our's? only let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with us.
²⁴And unto Hamor and unto Shechem his son hearkened all that went out of the gate of his city; and every male was circumcised, all that went out of the gate of his city.
²⁵And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males.
²⁶And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went out.
²⁷The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and spoiled the city, because they had defiled their sister.
²⁸They took their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and that which was in the city, and that which was in the field,
²⁹And all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and spoiled even all that was in the house.
³⁰And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.
³¹And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?
...hmmmh... up until you committed genocide and took the spoil, Dinah was the wife of a circumcised prince. After that she became just an extremely high-priced harlot. And a widow. Nice work. Anti-defamation begins at home.

Hebrews 4

⁹There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
¹⁰For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
¹¹Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
¹²For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
¹³Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
¹⁴Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
¹⁵For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
¹⁶Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Classics: Streams in the Desert

	"I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction" (Isa. 48:10). Does not the Word come like a soft shower, assuaging the fury of the flame? Yes, is it not an asbestos armor, against which the heat has no power? Let the affliction come--God has chosen me. Poverty, thou mayest stride in at my door; but God is in the house already, and He has chosen me. Sickness, thou mayest intrude; but I have a balsam ready--God has chosen me. Whatever befall me in this vale of tears, I know that He has chosen me. Fear not, Christian; Jesus is with thee. In all thy fiery trials, His presence is both thy comfort and safety. He will never leave one whom He has chosen for His own. "Fear not, for I am with thee," is His sure word of promise to His chosen ones in "the furnace of affliction." --C. H. Spurgeon Pain's furnace heat within me quivers, God's breath upon the flame doth blow; And all my heart in anguish shivers And trembles at the fiery glow; And yet I whisper, "As God will!" And in the hottest fire hold still. He comes and lays my heart, all heated, On the hard anvil, minded so Into His own fair shape to beat it With His great hammer, blow on blow; And yet I whisper, "As God will!" And at His heaviest blows hold still. He takes my softened heart and beats it; The sparks fly off at every blow; He turns it o'er and o'er and heats it, And lets it cool, and makes it glow; And yet I whisper, "As God will!" And in His mighty hand hold still. Why should I murmur? for the sorrow Thus only longer-lived would be; The end may come, and will tomorrow, When God has done His work in me; So I say trusting, "As God will!" And, trusting to the end, hold still.--Julius Sturm The burden of suffering seems a tombstone hung about our necks, while in reality it is only the weight which is necessary to keep down the diver while he is hunting for pearls. --Richter

Jeff Spicoli gets it.

Sean Penn is bogus.

Tell me about courage.

Haw? Haw? Haw?

The embedded videos that appeared below have been deleted from YouTube because the producers of  "God's Cartoonist: The Comic Crusade of Jack Chick" - 64films- complained of copyright infringement. While their claims have merit on technical grounds, they reflect an inherent hypocrisy when it comes to free expression that legitimately undermines their contempt for the views of Chick Publications. Thank you for helping me to make my point, 64films.

1.0 out of 5 stars 64films' idea of free expression is a one-way street., February 11, 2012 By  dripmeister - See all my reviews This review is from: God's Cartoonist: The Comic Crusade of Jack Chick (Amazon Instant Video) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001ZGNZKU/ref=cm_cr_rev_prod_title "God's Cartoonist: The Comic Crusade of Jack Chick" mocks the views expressed in Jack Chick's Gospel tracts. I created a montage of material from the "documentary" (I coined the term "propagendary" to describe such anti-Christian humanistically/socialistically/materialistically/amorally biased mind-bindery)overlaid with tracks and graphic art from Led Zeppelin to mockument their mocking of Chick Publications'material regarding Satanic influences and themes in popular, especially "classic rock" music. I uploaded the content thus produced to YouTube mainly for linkage to my blog as reference material. 64films filed a copyright complaint and YouTube pulled the first segment (of three)of the video. I have since deleted the other two myself. I hereby refer 64films to Christ's teachings regarding hypocrites and formally apologize for infringing on their rights. Enjoy it while it lasts.

When I consider the devil, I'm humorously reminded of Capt. Jack Sparrow in "The Curse of the Black Pearl" when, during his swordfight with the blacksmith's apprentice, his opponent protests, "You cheated!" and he points to himself with the only descriptive term necessary: "Pirate!" (Duhhh!!!) Many will protest in the day of judgment, pointing at the devil, "He lied to me and deceived me!" To which I hear the sardonic and self-descriptive reply, "The Devil!" (Duhhh!!!)

Revelation 20

¹And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

²And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

³And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

⁴And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

⁵But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

⁶Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

⁷And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,

⁸And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

⁹And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

¹⁰And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

¹¹And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

¹²And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

¹³And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

¹⁴And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

¹⁵And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

"Sardonic" is not to be confused with "sardonyx".

Revelation 21

10And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

11Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;

12And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:

13On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.

14And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

15And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.

16And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.

17And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

18And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.

19And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;

20The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.

I’ll Take Him

March 24, 2012 — by David H. Roper

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Our Daily Bread Radio is hosted by Les Lamborn

Read: Psalm 27:1-10

When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me. —Psalm 27:10

Bible in a Year:
2 Samuel 5-8

Years ago, when I was a student at the University of California at Berkeley, I developed a friendship with a fellow student who had suffered a terrible loss. His child had died and his wife had left him because she couldn’t deal with the pain.

One day, as my friend and I were walking down the street, we found ourselves behind a disheveled mother with a grubby little boy in hand. She was angry at the child and was walking much too fast, towing him at a pace his little legs couldn’t maintain.

We reached a busy intersection where the child abruptly stopped and his hand slipped out of his mother’s grasp. She turned around, spat out a curse, and trudged on. The little boy sat down on the curb and burst into tears. Without a moment’s hesitation, my friend sat down next to him and gathered the little guy in his arms.

The woman turned and, looking at the child, began to curse again. My friend sighed and looked up. “Lady,” he said softly, “If you don’t want him, I’ll take him.”

So it is with our Father in heaven. He too has known great loss and loves us just as tenderly. Even if our friends and family forsake us, our God never will (Ps. 27:10). We are ever in His care.

I love to dwell upon the thought
That Jesus cares for me,
It matters not what life may bring—
He loves me tenderly. —Adams

If God cares for sparrows, He surely cares for us.

Spurgeon's Evening by Evening

September 13

Click Here to Read the Morning Devotional

"This man receiveth sinners." --Luke 15:2

Observe the condescension of this fact. This Man, who towers above all other men, holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners--thisMan receiveth sinners. This Man, who is no other than the eternal God, before whom angels veil their faces--this Man receiveth sinners. It needs an angel's tongue to describe such a mighty stoop of love. That any of us should be willing to seek after the lost is nothing wonderful-- they are of our own race; but that He, the offended God, against whom the transgression has been committed, should take upon Himself the form of a servant, and bear the sin of many, and should then be willing to receive the vilest of the vile, this is marvellous.

"This Man receiveth sinners"; not, however, that they may remain sinners, but He receives them that He may pardon their sins, justify their persons, cleanse their hearts by His purifying word, preserve their souls by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, and enable them to serve Him, to show forth His praise, and to have communion with Him. Into His heart's love He receives sinners, takes them from the dunghill, and wears them as jewels in His crown; plucks them as brands from the burning, and preserves them as costly monuments of His mercy. None are so precious in Jesus' sight as the sinners for whom He died. When Jesus receives sinners, He has not some out-of-doors reception place, no casual ward where He charitably entertains them as men do passing beggars, but He opens the golden gates of His royal heart, and receives the sinner right into Himself--yea, He admits the humble penitent into personal union and makes Him a member of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. There was never such a reception as this! This fact is still most sure this evening, He is still receiving sinners: would to God sinners would receive Him.


Spurgeon's Evening by Evening
February 26

Click Here to Read the Morning Devotional


"Behold, if the leprosy have covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce him clean that hath the plague." --Leviticus 13:13

Strange enough this regulation appears, yet there was wisdom in it, for the throwing out of the disease proved that the constitution was sound. This evening it may be well for us to see the typical teaching of so singular a rule. We, too, are lepers, and may read the law of the leper as applicable to ourselves. When a man sees himself to be altogether lost and ruined, covered all over with the defilement of sin, and in no part free from pollution; when he disclaims all righteousness of his own, and pleads guilty before the Lord, then he is clean through the blood of Jesus, and the grace of God. Hidden, unfelt, unconfessed iniquity is the true leprosy; but when sin is seen and felt, it has received its deathblow, and the Lord looks with eyes of mercy upon the soul afflicted with it. Nothing is more deadly than self-righteousness, or more hopeful than contrition. We must confess that we are "nothing else but sin," for no confession short of this will be the whole truth; and if the Holy Spirit be at work with us, convincing us of sin, there will be no difficulty about making such an acknowledgment --it will spring spontaneously from our lips. What comfort does the text afford to truly awakened sinners: the very circumstance which so grievously discouraged them is here turned into a sign and symptom of a hopeful state! Stripping comes before clothing; digging out the foundation is the first thing in building--and a thorough sense of sin is one of the earliest works of grace in the heart. O thou poor leprous sinner, utterly destitute of a sound spot, take heart from the text, and come as thou art to Jesus--

"For let our debts be what they may, however great or small, As soon as we have nought to pay, our Lord forgives us all. 'Tis perfect poverty alone that sets the soul at large: While we can call one mite our own, we have no full discharge."


Spurgeon's Evening by Evening
September 25

Click Here to Read the Morning Devotional


"Who of God is made unto us wisdom." --1 Corinthians 1:30

Man's intellect seeks after rest, and by nature seeks it apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. Men of education are apt, even when converted, to look upon the simplicities of the cross of Christ with an eye too little reverent and loving. They are snared in the old net in which the Grecians were taken, and have a hankering to mix philosophy with revelation. The temptation with a man of refined thought and high education is to depart from the simple truth of Christ crucified, and to invent, as the term is, a more intellectual doctrine. This led the early Christian churches into Gnosticism, and bewitched them with all sorts of heresies. This is the root of Neology, and the other fine things which in days gone by were so fashionable in Germany, and are now so ensnaring to certain classes of divines. Whoever you are, good reader, and whatever your education may be, if you be the Lord's, be assured you will find no rest in philosophizing divinity. You may receive this dogma of one great thinker, or that dream of another profound reasoner, but what the chaff is to the wheat, that will these be to the pure word of God. All that reason, when best guided, can find out is but the A B C of truth, and even that lacks certainty, while in Christ Jesus there is treasured up all the fulness of wisdom and knowledge. All attempts on the part of Christians to be content with systems such as Unitarian and Broad-church thinkers would approve of, must fail; true heirs of heaven must come back to the grandly simple reality which makes the ploughboy's eye flash with joy, and glads the pious pauper's heart--"Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners." Jesus satisfies the most elevated intellect when He is believingly received, but apart from Him the mind of the regenerate discovers no rest. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge." "A good understanding have all they that do His commandments."

Genesis 29:11 (King James Version)

¹¹And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept.

Exodus 29:11 (King James Version)

¹¹And thou shalt kill the bullock before the LORD, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

Numbers 29:11 (King James Version)

¹¹One kid of the goats for a sin offering; beside the sin offering of atonement, and the continual burnt offering, and the meat offering of it, and their drink offerings.

Deuteronomy 29:11 (King James Version)

¹¹Your little ones, your wives, and thy stranger that is in thy camp, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water:

1 Samuel 29:11 (King James Version)

¹¹So David and his men rose up early to depart in the morning, to return into the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

1 Chronicles 29:11 (King James Version)

¹¹Thine, O LORD is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.

2 Chronicles 29:11 (King James Version)

¹¹My sons, be not now negligent: for the LORD hath chosen you to stand before him, to serve him, and that ye should minister unto him, and burn incense.

Job 29:11 (King James Version)

¹¹When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me:

Psalm 29:11 (King James Version)

¹¹The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.

Proverbs 29:11 (King James Version)

¹¹A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards.

Isaiah 29:11 (King James Version)

¹¹And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:

Jeremiah 29:11 (King James Version)

¹¹For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

Ezekiel 29:11 (King James Version)

¹¹No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years.

I noticed that 29:11 signified some key verses in the Old Testament, so I applied some "equidistant sequencing" to the New Testament, as there are no books containing 29 chapters:

Mark 1:11 (King James Version)

¹¹And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Luke 14:11 (King James Version)

¹¹For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

John 19:11 (King James Version)

¹¹Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.

Acts 27:11 (King James Version)

¹¹Nevertheless the centurion believed the master and the owner of the ship, more than those things which were spoken by Paul.

1 Corinthians 12:11 (King James Version)

¹¹But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

Ephesians 6:11 (King James Version)

¹¹Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Titus 3:11 (King James Version)

¹¹Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.

1 John 2:11 (King James Version)

¹¹But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.

The last chapter of the King James Version of the Bible is the 28th chapter after 1 John 2.

Genesis 1:11 (King James Version)

¹¹And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

Matthew 13

¹The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.

²And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

³And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

⁴And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

⁵Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:

⁶And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

⁷And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

⁸But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

⁹Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

¹⁰And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?

¹¹He 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.

¹²For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

¹³Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

¹⁴And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

¹⁵For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

¹⁶But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

¹⁷For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

¹⁸Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.

¹⁹When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

²⁰But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;

²¹Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

²²He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

²³But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

²⁴Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:

²⁵But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.

²⁶But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.

²⁷So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?

²⁸He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?

²⁹But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.

³⁰Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

³¹Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:

³²Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.

³³Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

³⁴All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them:

³⁵That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.

Fearful Tears

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March 5, 2011 — by Dave Branon

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Our Daily Bread Radio is hosted by Les Lamborn

Read: Revelation 5:1-12

So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll. —Revelation 5:4

Bible in a year:
Numbers 34-36; Mark 9:30-50

John, the great apostle and the one Jesus loved, was reduced to tears.

In a vision he received while imprisoned (Rev. 5:1-12) he found himself in God’s throne room as future events unfolded. In heaven, John saw God hold up a sealed scroll. He wept because as he observed the glories of God’s presence, he saw no one who could open the scroll—no one with the power to reveal God’s final revelation and to complete the concluding chapter of history’s drama.

As an apostle, John had observed the power of sin in the world. He had witnessed Jesus’ life and death on earth to conquer sin. He had seen Him ascend into heaven. But now he was fearful when he saw that no one was worthy to open the scroll and vanquish sin forever (v.4).

Imagine the drama of what happened next. An elder approached John and said, “Do not weep,” and pointed him toward Someone he knew: “Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah” (v.5). John looked, and he saw Jesus—the only One with the power to take the scroll, open the seals, and complete the story. Soon John’s tears were dry, and millions of angels were proclaiming, “Worthy is the Lamb!” (v.12).

Are you crying? Behold, John’s friend—Jesus. He is worthy. Turn things over to Him.

Our Lord is worthy all our days
Of all our love and highest praise;
He died to take our sin and shame—
Oh, bless the Savior’s holy name! —Egner

The Lamb who died to save us
is the Shepherd who lives to lead us.

³⁶Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.

³⁷He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;

³⁸The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;

³⁹The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.

⁴⁰As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.

⁴¹The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;

⁴²And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

⁴³Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

⁴⁴Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

⁴⁵Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:

⁴⁶Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

⁴⁷Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:

⁴⁸Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.

⁴⁹So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,

⁵⁰And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

⁵¹Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord.

⁵²Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.

⁵³And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence.

⁵⁴And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?

⁵⁵Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?

⁵⁶And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?

⁵⁷And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.

⁵⁸And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.