Matthew 13:18-52 - Skip Heitzig

[Music] welcome to expound our weekly worship and verse by verse study of the Bible our goal is to expand your knowledge of the truth of God by explaining the Word of God in a way that is interactive enjoyable and congregational we call this a textual community let's rejoice and learn God's Word in an interactive and enjoyable new way and would you turn in your Bibles to the Gospel of Matthew chapter 13 and let's pray father we're confident that as we hold a Bible in our hands that we're dealing with we're considering and were applying the Word of God and in particular the very words of God made flesh Jesus Christ deity in a human form God the Son the King of Kings speaking of things regarding his kingdom and the subjects of his kingdom we've considered last week and so tonight father these wonderful stories the parables of Jesus help us to think clearly and to see what we might learn from this deepen and further our understanding that we might not only here but after tonight tell others give us Lord that sense of boldness as we approach this wonderful time of the year to tell people who don't know you about you and what you can do for them in Jesus name Amen a picture's worth a thousand words as the saying goes from what we can determine that little statement became popularized in the 1920s by an American advertising firm it was probably said by others before that period but a picture is worth a thousand words we know that to be true that's why we have cameras that's why there are cameras on mobile devices so that you can capture the moment because what up what a picture can do saves a lot of explaining with words but back in the days of Jesus where there were no cameras they used word pictures stories and storytelling was huge and rabbis often to teach their disciples deeper spiritual truths often used analogous terms parabolic stories Jesus in Chapter seven gives us seven parables of the kingdom he talks about the beginning of the kingdom the expansion of the kingdom the opposition to the kingdom the subjects of the kingdom and the culmination of the kingdom all in a single chapter we estimate by putting all of the red letters side by side in Matthew Mark Luke and John that a full one-third of Jesus teaching was using this popular rabbinical method of storytelling parables as we mentioned last time the word parable parabola in Greek means to cast a long side so that if you take a difficult truth or if you take an abstract truth a spiritual truth and you want to make it understandable you place alongside that spiritual abstract truth something common something that is easily understood a human analogy something from the natural world and as people understand the thing from the natural world it will deepen their understanding of what's next to it from the spiritual world so the kingdom parables and we went through the first parable the parable of the sower and we we covered but not really explained we went all the way down to about verse 24 but I'm gonna take you back to verse 18 just to fill in therefore here the parable of the sower when anyone hears the word of the king and does not understand it then the wicked one comes and snatches away what is sown in his heart this is he who received the seed by the way side or the seed that fell on the pathway that's the hard soil and because it's the footpath the seed can't penetrate can't become moisturize can't be tilled and so it just lays on the surface and it's vulnerable and because we mentioned last time that birds would follow the one who's sowing the seed would follow them around he would pick up the seed that fell on the ground that's the person who as soon as they hear anything remotely about absolute truth about God or specifically about Jesus Christ you know the kind you know the type they automatically turn off don't want to hear it don't wanna hear don't tell me the enemy has come and snatched it away they have the hard heart but he who received the seed on stony places this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy yet Jesus explains he has no root in himself but in doors only for a while for when tribulation and persecution arises because of the word immediately he stumbles this is the shallow hearted person they get all excited they receive it with joy they go yes to it automatically immediately that's a good sign but for there to be any growth at all you need a root system you have to go deep if all of your Christian growth is top growth and not under the soil you won't be able to stand the heat of the summer so to speak the persecution the tribulation so we know that sunshine is good for plants but the heat on a summer day could also kill a plant it could take its toll on that tender young shoot unless the roots go down and there's something substantial a root system that's connected to a water source so this is speaking of the person whose emotional but they just can't stand the heat man heat being ridicule persecution tribulation because you're a believer you didn't expect to get hassled like this you didn't expect the repercussions or in Sunday's terminology the scars that would come because of it and you don't last you need a better root system so they endure only for a while when tribulation and persecution arises because of the word immediately he stumbles if you have been a Christian for any length of time you know two truths number one it's the most awesome experience possible there's a peace of mind a peace of heart that you experience you have the hope of heaven but at the same time and here's the dichotomy it's the most wonderful experience but the Christian life is not easy it's hard there's some difficult hot spots that occur in every believers life and to stand the heat you need a root system to paint the picture that the Christian life is all aout smile joy uplifting - uplifting thought every day is silly it's stupid your body couldn't handle that kind of experience you know that's not true now I know it's popular to say that and the most popular theologies unfortunately will tout that a national best-selling book is called your best life now saying you should be living this is your life and this should the you should have your best life now prosperity success even wealth is your best life now well if you're not a Christian your best life is now and I would suggest that you get all that you can out of this life now because this is as good as it will get after this will be eternal torment in eternal dying so to speak so if you're an unbeliever this is your best life now if you're a believer this isn't even close in fact the Bible says eye has not seen ear has not heard it hasn't even entered into the heart of men the things that God has prepared for those that love him what you're going to experience in the future is unimaginable we only get tastes of it so the book really should be your best life then not now Paul even said I suppose that the sufferings we experience now the sufferings we experience now aren't worthy to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed so it's not easy it's a wonderful life it's the best possible life but it's not easy and your forefathers and your brothers and sisters around the world in persecuted countries are experiencing very difficult times because they're believers to walk into a prison where somebody has been arrested because they're a pastor they've lost their family and to say hey you ought to read this book your best life now would be ludicrous it's not even on his radar screen he's he's willfully giving up the present comforts for the future glory so Jesus is talking about a person who receives but doesn't really get that and during times of tribulation and persecution they will fall away the guy I didn't sign up for this I'm out of here immediately he stumbles now he sieved the seed verse 22 among the thorns is he who hears the word and the cares of this world the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and he becomes unfruitful oh I thought I had a water but he who receives the seed verse 23 on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it who indeed bears fruit and produces some a hundredfold some sixty and some thirty now in verse 22 it's speaking about somebody who was once fruitful listen once fruitful but their life got busy busy now there's a word we all get we all understand yeah that's me I'm busy good it's better to be busy than to have nothing to do but it's also good to keep your priorities because if you're too busy for God you're too busy if you're too busy for spiritual things if you're too busy for spiritual nourishment god bless you summer give it up for summer [Applause] then you're just too busy notice what he says the cares of this world I don't know your personal situation but all of you all of us we have cares we have worries we have things that can strangle us emotionally and they're all particular to our individual lives they can choke the seed a day of worrying is more exhausting than a week of work amen nothing zaps you of energy and motivation like the cares the worries the conundrums the problems the issues of this life and just when you deal with one another comes so in many ways this is a good case to live simply to keep priorities and to live simply and to stay on target he also mentions in verse 22 the deceitfulness of riches interesting phrase why are riches deceitful because they make promises that they can't keep they deceive you the commercial says if you buy this you'll be satisfied you know how it is with technology we love technology until the new iPad comes up Oh has that many megapixels in the camp oh it's that fast yeah cause this thing's so slow I have to wait like a millisecond I just can't believe it so built into our worldly system built into the world of things and gadgets and even advertisement is this whole idea of making you dissatisfied with the previous product so you'll get the new one and you get the new one and you are totally satisfied man you're stoked that day that week temporarily but not for long now there's nothing wrong with having gadgets there's nothing wrong with having wealth there's nothing wrong with being a rich person being successful nothing wrong with it however that comes with a warning the most complicated lives I have ever known are people who have lots and lots of things or material goods or money they tend to crowd the altar of one's heart and it's not just those who have the Bible says those who would be rich they fall into error that are striving hard to get it they can choke up the seed and it becomes unfruitful then he you received the seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it who indeed bears fruit and produces some a hundredfold some sixty and some thirty so Jesus has explained in that parable the course of the kingdom the kingdom will expand and the expansion will come by the sowing of the seed of the word of God the truth and people will hear it not everyone will get into it some people will immediately reject it or marginalize that some people get emotional but they won't last some people will be very shallow in their commitment but there will be some and it's always just some just a remnant true believers the twenty five percent of those who are bearing forth fruit at different levels some a little some a lot some in between so the kingdom is expanded now we get into the opposition of the kingdom what Jesus does here is he he changes his analogy from the seed that is sown into what the seed produces in terms of a person I'll speak of the wheat as a person and the weeds as being a person so I'm just prepping you for the next one the next parable the weeds and the wheat or the wheat and the tares the wheat are genuine believers is you will see the weeds are false believers another parable he put forth to them saying now would you just allow me to do something before I am we get into this in the in the first parable and we covered the explanation just now in that first parable Jesus gives his disciples and us insight into what it's like to invest spiritually in the life of somebody else if you were to look at every person or if you were to look at your workplace or where you go to school or your neighborhood or your family as a field and the potential if you were to sow truth into those people's hearts what might grow as a result of that now I was reminded of that truth of that first parable in this letter I just picked it up off my desk before I came out it's a letter from a gal I won't read it all because it's several pages and includes another letter from somebody else but I want you to get this she says I listen to your clear concise teachings of God's Word on 90.1 out of Binghamton Windsor New York and on Saturday night I attend Calvary of Albuquerque via your live webcasting to put it simply thank you so she tells that she was listening and they have a pastor of the Month program and this one pastor in the New York area was gonna send a resource to one of the callers whoever would call in to the radio station she called in she won the resource the pastor sent her a package of some of his resources along she said along with a big set of mp3 stacks of mp3 called 7:29 now 7:29 is our series from Genesis to Revelation and so she said he sent your teachings Genesis revelation and he said perhaps I would learn and enjoy the teaching of God's Word as much as he did so he was passing the resource alone the letter goes on to say she took a trip to Peru she met a young man named Eric who was her translator this young man said he wanted to study the Word of God and become a pastor one day she went back home and she thought of Eric what what could this young man use in terms of his pastoral ministry so she thought I'll get him a good Study Bible get him a couple commentaries and I'm gonna give him a 7 to 9 Genesis to Revelation Skip's teaching she sent that to him didn't hear anything back didn't hear anything back didn't hear anything back finally she gets a letter like a couple years later the letter had been sent forwarded by a friend he forgot about it kept it in his book oh yeah let me give you this letter from from Eric and the letter basically says you know thank you for all the stuff keeps pastoring a small church now in Peru and she said that he said and thank you for the Bible study the mp3 CD from from Pastor skip hi it's spelled a little bit differently than I spell it he says it has changed my thoughts about how to teach the Bible before I would preach on Sunday I was thinking what portion of the Bible can I preach from now but after listening to the CDs I started to preach the Word of God book by book chapter by chapter every Sunday now I'm preaching the book of Joshua and I'm in chapter 9 so I believe that God led you to send the CDs to me and to teach God's Word this way so that I would do it for the rest of my life my goal is to preach all the books and chapters of the 66 books of the Bible for the rest of my life now here's what got my attention she connected these dots your mp3 729 Genesis to Revelation Albuquerque New Mexico to this pastor up in Poughkeepsie New York to the bridge Christian radio old bridge New Jersey to me and Halstead Pennsylvania and then her mission trip to AMG mission team from Chattanooga Tennessee to Pastor Eric in this church in Peru isn't our God amazing and so you think of the spiritual replication and reproduction so I just want to share that letter because you just never know you might be planting a seed that could germinate that person might move away might tell somebody else that net person may be the next Billy Graham so look at the potential that God has placed before you and just go rub your hands go Lord this is awesome what might grow because of this well here's something else that might grow now verse 24 another parable he put forth to them saying the kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field but while men slept his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way but when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop then the tares also appeared so the servants of the owner came and said to him sir did you not sow good seed in your field how then does it have tears he said to them an enemy has done this the servant said to him do you want us then to go and gather them up but he said no lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them let both grow together until the harvest and at the time of harvest I will say to the Reapers first gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them but gather the wheat into my barn the word for tears I called it weeds is the Greek word suzani on and it's believed that it refers to the bearded darnel the bearded darnel looks identical to wheat when it first begins to grow you cannot tell the difference servants would go out and check the fields regularly and they would see what's growing monitor it and see if if anybody had sabotage their fields now get this in ancient times it was a common practice if you hated somebody - so bearded darnel in their wheat field because its gonna crowd out the wheat you're not gonna get as big of a harvest that's why the Roman Empire had laws against sowing weeds and fields like this there were actually laws against it so at first you can't tell the difference you can't tell them apart they're indistinguishable but once the plant begins to form its head it's unmistakable so that's a weed that is not that's false that's true so that's the point of the parable now he'll explain the parable in just a minute in verse 29 he said no lest while you gather up the tares you will uproot the wheat with them the servants would see the the weeds growing up and say well let us just take them out but because they're so close and especially in their tender nests you can't always tell them apart no just wait til the very end of the season then it'll be unmistakable and you can pull out the ones that are the wrong ones and keep the ones that are the right one let them alone he says throughout history unfortunately there have been Christian movements that have tried to forcibly evict tears from the wheat field or forcibly change people into believing the way we believe and that's a mistake Constantin who became what is called the first Christian Emperor because history says he saw a sign at the Battle of the Milvian bridge and the sign was a sign of a cross and the sign said in this or the the word said in this sign going conquer that after the battle after he won he attributed to the Cross attributed to Christ proclaimed himself a Christian issued the Edict of Milan basically the Christians who've been persecuted that edict went away so that the new edict was Christians aren't going to be persecuted we treat them with love and respect but later on people who did not believe what he thought was the Orthodox way he was going after them and punishing them and even killing some then there's the horrible history of the Crusaders who thought let's expunge the Holy Land of infidels infidels according to the Christian tradition they said Muslims and Jews butchering them pregnant women killing them with one swipe of the sword and soldiers rejoicing that by the grace of God I'd killed two with one blow in the name of Christ or the Spanish Inquisition inquiring to find out who's a believer or not and then the laws that were passed against them that is a mistake Jesus says no lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them let both grow together until the harvest now hold that thought because there'll be an explanation of this in a few verses and at the time of the harvest I will say to the Reapers first gather together the tares bind them in bundles and burn them gather the wheat into my barn okay hold that thought because the disciples are at this point going I don't totally get it so he's going to explain it but verse 31 another parable he put forth to them okay we have a text let's put this up a question that comes up and it says there are many commentators and many interpretations of these parables how do we know who is right well first of all we have to assume not assume we have to say we know that Jesus knew what he was talking about when he gave the parable we know that the disciples totally didn't understand it all because they asked Jesus the question the first parable he explained himself the second one they go oh we don't get that whole wheat and wheat thing could you explain that so he'll tell them and that in the explanations comes some keys to helping us understand the rest of the parables now if you recall we said that the first parable is the key to understanding all the parable Jesus if you don't understand this parable how then will you not understand all the how will you understand the other parables so he gives us certain keys so if they if certain things mean one thing in one parable you can be pretty rest assured that they're gonna hold that similar value in the other parables where a lot of the commentators have gone wrong and I'm not saying that I'm smarter than all the other commentators I am saying that where they have gone wrong is a failure to look at the balance of the scripture and find the key terms as explained by Christ or the scripture in other places and I'll show you that as we go through some of these parables let's continue and you'll see it here's the third parable another parable he put forth to them saying the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field which is indeed the least of all the seeds now before any of you asked the question what do you mean it's the least of all the seeds or smaller seeds in the world and the mustard seed he's not talking about every seed on earth he's speaking about the typical seeds of a Middle Eastern garden an herb garden they would understand this yeah that's right in my herb garden that's the smallest seed it's the least which is the least of all the seeds but when it has grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches the mustard seed doesn't grow into a tree typically goes into a bush but there is a variety called the car dal mustard in the Middle East that grows into a bushy tree about 12 to 15 feet high and the branches can be substantive enough in certain cases to hold the weight of a bird it's not typical but they can grow abnormally large and this is what most believe Jesus was referring to first of all what is the interpretation here's the typical most popular interpretation is that the gospel started small like a seed 120 in an upper room first of all 12 first of all Jesus than the 12 then 120 in the upper room and that seed was sown on Pentecost and it has grown it permeated the Roman Empire it has gone throughout the world and the world is able to lodge in its branches humanity is able to take refuge underneath that marvelous bushy tree called the church that's the typical interpretation here's the problem and it answers the question on the text Jesus doesn't offer an explanation of that parable so we're left with interpreting this way we have to find things that Jesus has already interpreted so we can make this interpretation since there's no explanations let's find out what Jesus has already explained and apply that to this parable okay so first of all we have birds before a person says oh yeah bird that's that's the world that's that's the the world taking shelter underneath the wings of the church people coming to be saved those are those are Christians well in the parable of the sower the birds came down and stole the seed Jesus says that was the wicked one right so in the parables the birds were wicked they weren't good they were bad and there's enough of that symbolism throughout the scripture all the way to the book of Revelation chapter 18 Mystery Babylon is fallen is fallen heaven rejoices it has become the habitation the cage of every unclean bird because bird was seen as a symbol of evil and listen I've been around I've told you my spigen stories you don't have to convince me I think it's a very apt symbol in many cases so in the parables and in other scriptures birds aren't necessarily good things but can typify evil then you have the tree itself in a few passages in the Old Testament the Jewish listener would understand this Daniel chapter 4 Ezekiel and others trees symbolize world power so yes Jesus is saying the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed it is going to grow but all that lodges within its branches aren't necessarily good things there's gonna be a lot of evil that goes on in the name of my kingdom there's gonna be wonderful things that happen but in the name of the king there will also be horrible things that happen that's how I see the interpretation of this parable based upon some of those key elements it will be large enough to possess lots of people and lots of belief systems and even false teachers and again you'll get another explanation in the next parable another parable he spoke to them the kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until it was all eleven now with the first parable the mustard seed speaks of outward growth it speaks of something inward because it's hidden inside something in every kitchen every Jewish kitchen the women would keep well this is when they when they would make their bread their leavened bread there be the bread with yeast they would take from the dough once it Rises before it's put in the oven a little piece of the leavened or fermented dough and they would they would place it aside and keep it in their kitchens so that next time they would make dough they would then hide that little piece of fermented dough in the middle of the new batch of dough and that yeast would eventually permeate through the whole thing and then they would take a little bit more dough put it aside and that cycle would continue that's leaven something is going to permeate and go through the whole thing that's speaking of growth the typical explanation of this parable the popular explanation of this parable is that that's the church start small grow through the world and eventually it's the conquering power of the gospel this is an especially popular interpretation by Dominion theologians if you're familiar with that branch of theology we're gonna take over the world for the sake we're gonna bring the kingdom of God in now we have to vote in Christian politicians and we'll make Christian institutions it will Christianize the world Kingdom theology granted the church started small Jesus was born in the backwaters of the Roman Empire and a little nothing town called Bethlehem but it happened to be the City of David fulfilling Scripture he took around him twelve men that he called apostles and he sent them out and there were other disciples as well a hundred and twenty only in that Upper Room on Pentecost three thousand souls came to know Christ later on another five thousand his believed that the early church after the first several months had upwards of twenty thousand people it permeated the Roman Empire it traveled the world and one day in the Millennium Jesus Christ will rule and reign over all the earth so there is truth in that but just as birds meant something evil understand that the term leaven doesn't sound good to Jewish people it's a symbol of evil first of all at Passover all leaven was purged from the homes all the sacrifices of the Jews had to be offered without leaven because of the symbolism of its permeation it's it's um it's fermenting it's breaking down its putrifying so it's a symbol of evil listen to this jesus said to his disciples beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and again beware of the leaven of the Sadducees now at first they go is he talking about does he want some bread and the author goes on to describe he wasn't talking about the leaven of bread he was saying the leaven of the Pharisees which is hypocrisy so leaven meant hypocrisy the leaven of the Sadducees meant their false doctrines Jesus spoke of the leaven of Herod twice in the New Testament epistles Paul said a little leaven leavens the whole lump now the first time he mentions that is first Corinthians and he's speaking about immorality in the church if you allow immorality and immoral people to go unchecked that is going to spread like leaven like fermented dough through the whole up a little leaven leavens a whole lot so he's telling the church take care of that situation Corinth when he wrote the second time to Galatia he said the same thing a little leaven leavens a whole up this time he was speaking of legalism legalistic pursuits within the church that were also destroying the integrity of their belief system so it's not a good thing when he says it's like leaven that a woman hides in a measure of meal until all of it was leavened so yes the church is going to spread like we mentioned it's going to go throughout the whole world but that growth is not going to be necessarily good growth within the branches will be evil birds false teachers false doctrine and it's going to permeate you and I know the difference between Christianity real Christianity and the larger umbrella let's call it christened um under that umbrella of Christendom are a lot of different belief systems many of them are opposed to the Christ that we believe in they're opposed to the teachings of Christ they call themselves Christians and they're in the branches they're in the dough they're under the umbrella of Christendom and you and I would say well that's not a real believer but the world doesn't know any different to them a born-again Christian a Mormon a Jehovah Witness a Unitarian are all the same unification Church sun-young MU Christian there's a lot of birds fowls that have lodged within the branches that are under the umbrella of Christendom that is not true you know that's bad somes got to be done oh it will it will there's a judgment coming until then we have to preach the truth we have to be patient with people we have to be patient with people it's a tender line all these things Jesus spoke to the multitudes in parables well I better speed up and without a parable he did not speak to them that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Prophet saying I will open my mouth in parables I will let her things kept secret from the foundation of the world and then Jesus sent out the multitude away and went into the house and his disciples came to him saying so now they're alone they're not embarrassed to ask this question Jesus is inside they don't want to act dumb outside with everybody listening so his disciples came to him saying boom explain to us the parable of the tares in the field he answered and he said to them he didn't go he just answered them I like that and he said to them he who sews the good seed is the son of man that's Jesus Christ he's the initial sower of truth he's the one who initiates the kingdom he's the king he you sews the good seed is the son of man the field is the world now many interpretations that was one of the questions we had many interpretations have gone wrong because they have failed to consider that Jesus said the field is the world so in other parables they make the field this and they make to feel the church and they make to feel that the field is the world the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom but the tares are the sons of the wicked one so Jesus says these are people were talking about the enemy who sowed them is the devil the harvest is the end of the age and the Reapers are the Angels therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire so it will be at the end of the age the Son of Man will send out his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that offend and those who practice lawlessness and will cast them into the furnace of fire there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth then the righteous will shine forth as the Sun in the kingdom of their father he who has ears to hear let him hear so the kingdom was started it was inaugurated it began with Jesus Christ he sowed into the disciples they became apostles they sowed into the lives of other people that got passed down the truth was sown into our hearts as well but Satan comes along and he opposes the work of Christ by planting his emissaries in different places borrowing certain truths that sounds oh so Christian to the uninitiated and planting them in congregations or starting whole new works and false doctrine and so there's the expansion of the kingdom there's the opposition of the kingdom a lot of growth a lot of good growth but with that growth was also false growth and false doctrine that's now in the end it will all be sorted out what does that mean to us it's simple this isn't the day of judgment this is the day of evangelism and don't worry about the judgment worry about the evangelism just sowed the seed I walked into a bookstore one time in Southern California years ago I didn't know a lot of the doctrines that I came to learn but I walked into a bookstore and there was somebody who was waiting on me and there was somebody else who came inside and was just asking a few questions asked me a few questions and I could tell this person wasn't a believer and was sincerely asking questions about truth and I began witnessing to him and the person behind the register was listening was listening and getting very nervous which I felt odd in a Christian bookstore and finally that guy was talking to left and he came up to me that teller behind that the counter he said dumb he shook his head he goes that wasn't wise what you were doing I said pardon me I heard the whole conversation he said how do you know he said that that person was chosen by God if that wasn't one of God's chosen you shouldn't be witnessing to him and I said well God didn't tell me who he is chosen who he's not let me ask you a question how do you know he's not chosen well he's not a believer I said yet don't forget to add that word yet we may have just sown a seed and that may terminated into something wonderful well you know you and and just the whole getting down the whole Calvinistic been of you don't preach the gospel you know to everybody because there's some who are elect and some were not and that probably guy isn't an elected to belief system at that time but I knew enough to know he was wrong and I read what Charles Spurgeon who I think is a balanced Calvinist he said it would have been nice if the Lord would have just put a yellow stripe down the back of every person he has elected and make it easy for us but he hasn't done that only he can see the stripe we can't he just told us to go into all the world and preach the gospel and I think that's a good balance I do believe in election I don't know who they are and so we're told go for it and God will sort it out now is the time of evangelism verse 44 again the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field which a man found and hid and for the joy of it he goes and sells all that he has and he buys that field again the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls who when he found one pearl of great price went and sold all that he had and he bought it we have two pair of parables as I see it teach the same basic truth or truths truth number one the value of the treasure or the pearl depending on the parable number two the delight of the one who acquires it value and delight so we have two parables that I think teach the same basic things here's a question who's the man who's the merchant what's the treasure what are the pearls here's the popular interpretation ready Jesus Christ is the pearl of great price and the treasure the sinner is the one who seeks and when he finds Jesus Christ and knows that he's the truth it's worth giving up everything that he might acquire salvation really that's what it means now I have a problem with that interpretation first of all because back in verse 38 the field is the world I can't buy that number to the man in that parable is Jesus Christ so again we don't have a we don't have the interpretation given of that I now have to use certain key elements and start making application okay so let's break down that popular interpretation Jesus is the treasure and the sinner is seeking Christ first of all Jesus is not hidden he's probably the best known figure in all of human history based on what I have read in encyclopedia britannica based on hits on the internet probably that name he is the most popular person who ever existed he's not hidden number two the sinner does not seek God I know it might feel that way from a human standpoint but doesn't the Bible say there are none who seek God and there's none who are righteous no not one none who seek after God all we like sheep have gone astray so that doesn't fit number three salvation can't be purchased can it last time I checked which was today salvation is a free gift not of works it's a free gift you believe and he gives it to you you don't earn it number four if we could purchase that what do you have of any worth that you could sell to get him well you know I'm a pretty don't even go there all of our righteousness is as filthy rags now this is a picture of Jesus Christ who came down from heaven and gave everything he sold all so to speak to buy the world to get the treasure and the treasure is you and I it's a picture of the Savior seeking the sinner not the sinner seeking the Savior now that fits it fits along the lines of another parable Jesus spoke about a man who had a hundred sheep and one sheep went astray and he didn't go out forget that cheap I got good ninety-nine here he left the 99 and went seeking the one lost sheep am i right Jesus said that he had come to seek and to save that which was lost now that fits the parable something noteworthy about that second parable of the pearl did you know that pearls were not valuable to Jewish people at that time there's not a mention of a pearl in the entire Old Testament the Jewish people saw pearls sort of like coral from the ocean it's like yeah it's sort of nice but whatever not valuable it was valuable however two Gentiles that should be a little clue for you number two the pearl was the result of an injury it was the result of an organism dealing with an irritation and irritation precious gems usually are mined and cut and polished rubies diamonds sapphires not a pearl what happens is a little piece of dirt works its way into the shell no oyster and irritates it the oyster responds by sending out this produced serum called na cre natter and it covers the little piece of sand with a layer of and then another secretion then another secretion and another secretion until a pearl is formed over a period of time it's the response of the organism to the irritation that got inside of it that's beautiful that's a beautiful picture of Gentiles not you we're not under the original covenant we've been grafted-in we are basically well look at outputted my well I'm a piece of dirt covered in the righteousness of Christ that's the pearl a piece of dirt covered with something beautiful the irritation of sin has been covered by the sinless nests and the perfection of Christ and that is just a beautiful illustration again the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet so those of you who remember that 1960s show do you remember at dragnet okay a lot of people did what did what did a play here okay Joe Friday that's not what he's talking about sorry to even put that in your mind the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea gathered some of every kind which when it was full they drew to the shore and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels but threw the bad away so it will be at the end of the age the angels will come forth separate the wicked from the just among the just and cast them into the furnace of fire there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth okay the disciples all understood this parable they were fishermen there were three types of fishing on the Sea of Galilee number one the slowest kind was the line and hook that's where you're catching one fish at a time it's the slowest method they didn't do much of that the only time you do that is if you just want a fish to go eat right now but those who worked in the trade used to other types type number two was the individual personal net that is where you take a net that has a cord attached and weights and you fling it out and it makes this large round circle that goes over a portion of water there's weights that go down over a section and fish are caught in that individual net and you pull in the cord and you make a catch the third was the dragnet it took a team you had usually two boats and a net that would hang down in the water weights at the bottom floats on the tops was like a moving wall and the boats would encircle an area and drag it to the shore now that would drag in everything good fish bad fish debris plastic bottles they didn't have those then but they would now if you did it you get everything so then you have to pick and throw the garbage away you have to throw the bad fish away and you keep the good fish put them in baskets take them to market it's a parable of the judgment that is coming and the end of the age verse 50 cast them into the furnace of fire there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth I just want you to notice something as we work our way through the Gospel of Matthew Jesus will speak more of judgment and more of Hell than anyone else in the Bible don't you ever think that hell was invented by some crazed preacher or angry fundamentalist it's a biblical doctrine and what breaks my heart is that every single day a hundred and forty seven thousand people die on earth and will stand before God's judgment and God's dragnet is slowly but steadily moving through every single day of history moving moving toward the shores of judgment and one day God will deal with every single fish so we have an opportunity to tell people the truth we have an opportunity to respond to Christ and Jesus said to them I like this just tickles he said to them have you understood all these things they said to him yes Lord now if I would have been there to go oh really so why did you have to ask him a couple times what did you mean by that have you understood what I said about the kingdom yep you understand how precious people are to me yep you understand that the kingdom of God is gonna grow but there's gonna be a lot of bad stuff that happens associated with oh you're gonna get it all I don't think they did but they said they did so now Jesus sort of turns the responsibility on them he said to them therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out his treasure or out of his treasure things new and old okay you understand these things now you have a responsibility you've just graduated from being a king's kid to a king's scribe you have a responsibility with all the truths that you now know and understand to provide those truths into people's lives now a householder there or the head of a household was responsible to provide for those in the house and he usually had a room or a storehouse where he would keep everything that was needed and distributed as it was required so the truths of the kingdom of God are to be brought out new and old good and bad truth about having truth about hell all of it so the people can get it and understand it and so it is with us once we understand we are responsible you have heard our responsibility in some form or fashion you can shoot off an email you can have a conversation with a friend you can make a phone call you can write a letter if people do that anymore oh yeah they do I just got one and feed into other lives the truths that God has fed into yours actually it's a perfect place for us to quit tonight because verse 53 could even be attached to the next chapter in the way it transitions as Jesus moves from where he is in Capernaum the Sea of Galilee area to Nazareth his hometown so we'll pick it up next time as we get into chapter 14 keep praying for my voice it might sound like a totally different person next week I don't know a tongue let's pray tonight father we want to thank you that you call us to be your kids we are wheat in the field we have grown and we have borne fruit we are thankful Lord that as weak as we are you delight in using the bass the foolish the weak that you might get the glory and the strength might be in the truth more than the truth Bearer I thank you Father sincerely for the level of hunger in the lives of so many who have gathered here tonight those who have gathered at our Santa Fe campus those who have chosen to watch online or listening by radio I pray that your Holy Spirit would do a deep work with these truths and that they would be added to our arsenal so that we might be a blessing to other people that we will never become a terminal of your blessing but a channel of your blessing in Jesus name Amen

Channel: Calvary Church with Skip Heitzig

Views: 6,403

Rating: 4.6210527 out of 5

Keywords: parable, parables, kingdom living, sower, Calvary, Albuquerque, Skip, Heitzig, Sermon, Matthew, Calvary Church

Id: fQHkF4J1wh4

Length: 61min 40sec (3700 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 11 2018