Matthew 13, Matthew 13. We're in parables of Jesus.
I was only going to do 1, but we're going to do all of chapter
13 tonight. So several parables, A parable.
What is a parable and why did Jesus speak in parables?
Bit of a recap. Parable is just an ordinary
story, an earthly story, but with a heavily meaning.
Jesus is trying to teach us something important and there
came a time in Jesus ministry and we're in that Matthew 13
where Jesus from now on, when he spoke to the people, when he
preached, he didn't speak in parables at every time that he
opened his mouth, but when he proclaimed to the public the
word of God, he spoke in parables.
The reason being the religious leaders have persecuted him, his
disciples, They weren't listening.
They'd seen the miracles. They said, oh, you're doing this
on the Sabbath day. You're working and now you're
healing on the Sabbath day. And, and also we see that you're
healing on the Sabbath day, but also the way that you're healing
you, you're doing it by demonic means, by the power of Beatles
above. And from that moment on, Jesus
said, OK, from now on, I'll teach in parables.
And the reason was that those who had hearts for God, those
who wanted to know about Christ, those who are thirsty for the
things of God would inquire, I want to know, what does that
story mean? What are you?
What are you saying here? But the religious leaders and
those who had hard hearts and we're against Christ, we go, I
can't understand what he's talking about.
I have no idea what he's talking about.
It's a hard saying. Who knows what he's talking
about? And there was this great divide.
So we pick it up in Matthew 13, we looked at the parable of the
sower of the seed. And in verse 24, Now tonight
we'll see in that chapter we'll see false Christians spoken of
in a parable, false growth of the church spoken of in a
parable, and then we'll see false teaching spoken of in a
parable. We know that Satan is the great
imitator and Jesus is going to show us much of this tonight in
these parables. So verse 24, another parable he
put forth to them saying the Kingdom of heaven is like, so
he's using a story to explain the Kingdom of heaven.
It's like a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while men
slept, his enemy came and sowed tears.
Now tears in the Greek here are the Darnell seed, Darnell and
the Darnell plant. I remember the Latin, but I'm
not going to try and pronounce it.
It's poisonous. But as it grows, if you get
wheat and a Darnell plant growing, you cannot tell the
difference as they grow until the wheat bears fruit and the
Darnell plant does not. So they as they're growing,
there's no way of knowing all that's the Darnell, that's
wheat. You can't, you can't tell.
And so when the grain had sprouted, produced the crop,
then the tears also appeared. So the servants of the owner
came and said to him, Sir, did you not sow good seed in your
field? Question.
How then does it have tears, those without fruit?
And he said to them, he repeats, An enemy has done this.
The servants then said to him, Do you want us to go out and
gather up all the down owls, all the tears?
But he said to them, no, lest while you gather up the tears,
you'll also uproot the wheat with them.
You'll get them mixed up and you'll pull out a good plant.
Let both grow together until the harvest and at the time of the
harvest harvest they'll be sorted.
I will say to the reapers first gather the tears, bind them up
in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.
So let's drop down to verse 37 or verse 36 and we'll go back
because we have Jesus explaining.
Then Jesus sent the multitude away, went into the house and
his disciples came to him saying, Hey, tell us, what do
you mean? Here's So here's the reason
those who want to know the things of God inquire in, lean
in, explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.
Other people went, I don't know what he's talking about.
It just went on. So there's the there's the
reason why Jesus began to speak in parables.
He answered and said to them, Now he explains it.
He who sows the good seed is the son of man.
The field is the world, the good seeds of the sons of the
Kingdom, those who received Christ as their Lord and Saviour
believers. But the tares are the sons of
the wicked one, children of the devil, the enemy who sowed them.
The enemy is the devil. The harvest is at the end of the
age, the end of the age. We talked about that when we
went through Revelation, didn't we?
The Millennium, Great white throne, judgement, sheep and
goats, judgement, separation. Therefore, as the tares are
gathered and burned in the fire, what's going to happen to every
unbeliever cast into the Lake of fire?
So it will be at the end of this age.
It's the Greek aeon. The Son of Man will send out his
angels and they will gather out of his Kingdom all things that
offend those who practise lawlessness.
Interesting lawlessness. Where do we, where do we see
that lawlessness? Matthew 7 It says when Jesus
returns, there's going to be people pretend believers who
say, Oh Lord, Lord, we've done this in your name and that in
your name cast their demons and we well, we did all this and
Jesus says depart from me, you workers of iniquity,
lawlessness, for I never knew you.
So there's this separation of the tares from the wheat and
they will gather out of his Kingdom all things that offend
those who practise that means they that their lifestyle.
Paul said in the last days is going to be believers or people
calling themselves believes churchgoers who are forever
learning, never coming to the knowledge of they have the the
the chameleon look of being a believer.
You might even carry a Bible. You might go to every church
service. You might even teach a Sunday
school, might be an usher of servant, but have you given your
life to Jesus Christ? The Son of Man will send out his
angels, he'll gather out of his Kingdom all that offend those
who practise lawlessness. Practise means that your
lifestyle, you do it every day. And we'll cast them into the
furnace of fire we call like fire, where there will be
wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine
forth as the Son in the Kingdom of their father.
Then he says he who has ears to hear, let him hear.
In other words, listen to what I'm saying.
Understand, Understand there is a fake and a real.
You know, people often think that the church is perfect.
Well, the moment you walk into the door, it's no longer
perfect. The moment I enter the church,
it's no longer perfect. And there are pulpits today.
People dress in certain garbs and robes and so forth who don't
believe that Genesis is the word of God.
They don't believe in the Book of Revelation.
They don't believe that Jesus is coming back again.
Actually, they don't believe that the Bible is the word of
God. They just think it's a bit of an
allegory. It's sort of something we can
adapt and change. It's something nice for us to
learn. And it's interesting that I find
particularly around great events like Easter comes, Christmas
comes and there's, there's they're always, you know, you
see them in the paper that the experts tell us, tell me what
the religious experts tell me what Eastern Christmas means.
And we got people get on there and they're dressed in their
garb. And every occasionally I'll have
one or two good people who speak about Christ.
And I'm thinking, well, it's about the problems that we're
having in Gaza. We need peace.
It's about used to be about land rights.
Oh, we're persecuting our world, you know, climate change.
And we need to be people who are looking after our planet and
you're going, where did you come from?
Because you're not teaching the word of God.
And so the enemy is Satan and the harvest at the end will be a
separation. So we're not, we're not God's
police going out. You Christian, you Christian, I
don't know about you, a real believer.
What Bible do you use? You know, how do you, how do you
baptise you? You go 4 or half or three chord.
Do you do a 4 1/2 with a Pike? You go on the river, you go on
the sea or what do you do? There's always people around who
are trying to come up with the rules and regulations, and
churches try to come up with rules and regulations to try and
make the church perfect. It's not going to happen because
every church, every fellowship is going to have wheat and tears
growing up, and only the Lord will know.
Only the Lord will know. The harvest will separate.
But Satan is always the great imitator.
So the field is the world and the seed, the good seed, the
sons of the Kingdom, people who come to Christ.
Jesus comes and came to this world to rescue us.
And as you and I grow, we often see people come and go.
How are they walking with God? You know, they're here and
there. They're not there.
John tells us there will be. People will look.
Paul had Demas Demas who has forsaken me.
He's gone back to the things of the world.
Now he's more interested in making a making a, a living out
of the world. He's he's forsaken being a
partner of Paul, being along with Paul.
And also we see that in John, when John, John says there were
people who leave, come and go, and he says they were never part
of us. They were never part of the
church to start with. And we kind of go and people
often say, do you have a follow up programme?
And I, I love what Chuck Smith talks about in, in his follow up
programme. He said, yeah, we do.
We do have a follow up programme.
Calgary Chapel. It's called the Holy Spirit
because if you are a follower of Christ, you will turn back to
Christ. You can back sleep, but there's
something between you. It's like the prodigal.
Imagine sometimes if someone had interfered with the product.
Oh, yeah. You shouldn't be living in the
pigs. Now.
Come on, stay at my place. Well, would he have come to his
senses? Would he have come to the place
where he's gone home and say, Dad, you know what?
I've been an idiot. I've been a fool.
I've blown everything. I was unkind to you,
disrespectful. I don't deserve to be your son.
And he comes home. You see, sometimes people
interfere with the work that God is doing in changing us and
making us and transforming us into His image.
Let's look at the next parable, verse 31, 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 indeed is the
least of all the seeds. In other words, it's the
tiniest, one of the tiniest. But when this is grown, it's
greater than the herbs and becomes a tree.
Now not many herbs grow into a trees, do they?
And now notice so that the birds of the air come and nest in
their branches, in its branches. Now there are Bible commentators
who say, well, this is the church.
You know, the church is just going to grow into this awesome
thing, you know, and, and, and, and we're just going to be
welcoming to everybody and everyone's going to be able to
come and we're just going to grow.
And, and that's, you know, many, many people believe that, but I
believe in the context here. But that's not what this is
saying that this, as I see this, I see in the context here that
this is abnormal growth. This is false growth.
It's like the time that Constantine thought he had a
vision. The vision of the cross is the
ruler of what's modern day Turkey.
Now. Istanbul used to be
Constantinople and he sees this and he has this great victory in
battle. And so he is OK.
Christianity now is the religion.
He got his whole army, all his army, all the soldiers marched
into the ocean, You're baptised, March them back out again.
He said. Now instead of worshipping
Saturnalia, we'll call that Christmas.
Instead of worshipping, worshipping Astarte, we'll call
it Easter and we'll make it the time of the resurrection of
Christ. And so there's this, this, this
whole thing, and a lot of Babylonian rules and rituals
were brought into the church and it had this, this abnormal
growth. And it's like that today where
it doesn't matter what you believe, you know, we welcome
all, you know, it doesn't matter.
Just come, come, take a seat. That's not the Church of Jesus
Christ because the Church of Jesus Christ Jesus says to
become part of it. First of all, you got to be born
again. That means you've got to confess
your sins and ask God to come into your life.
Secondly, you've got to deny yourself, take up a cross and
follow him. And so there's not too many
people in the world. Go, oh, OK, forget all about
myself, forget about all my plans and passions.
Put all them aside and I'll follow you and do exactly
everything you want to say. That's not the church I'm into,
but I can go to a church where everyone is accepted and
anything is accepted. So it's abnormal growth.
Well, what about the birds, Keith?
Are the birds here, you know, aren't they nesting?
They find a place of safety and safekeeping.
The problem with the birds here, and I see them if you go back to
the sower of the seed, remember the birds that came down and
picked up the seed, thou emissaries from Satan.
And I believe in what's called expositional constancy.
In other words, if it means this here, it means it there and all
the way through. So every bird can lodge in this
false growing church in its branches.
You can find shelter, you can be in same sex relationships, you
can be sleeping together, you can be just going about your own
business. Al Capone used to go to church
every Sunday. He was the largest tither in his
church. Al Capone was welcome.
He took communion every Sunday he came to church.
Look at the the Nazi party during the time of World War 2.
They all went to church. They sang Silent Night when
Christmas came around. Meanwhile, the Jewish stores and
that we're getting a smash to smithereens and the Jews being
tracked off and here we are singing, you know, Christmas
carols. How can that happen?
Abnormal growth, birds nesting in this church that welcomes
everything in. And so another thing here we
also see in the book of Daniel, we will get to it later on when
Nebuchadnezzar has this big time in his life where he, he turns
into an animal basically for a period of time, seasons and,
and, and there's a tree mentioned and a Daniel is
involved in it and a tree in them in the, in the language
there is that it's a world power.
It's an empire as Babylon was. You see, the church isn't a
world power in the sense of a worldly power because we're not
of this world never get past the job.
Miller used to hang out with this guy and they used to go hit
in the, in the when the 70s or the, when the Jesus movement
started, Christians would hitchhike.
So they'd get picked up and they'd say, Hey, you going?
Where you going? Oh, well, I'm going to see the
king. And they would just witness.
They'd just hitchhike, not going in.
They'd just drive around, jump at people's cars and witness.
And then John said, I had one, one friend who as we hopped in
the car, as the fella said, Hey, where are you from?
He says, I'm not of this world. It's like freaky, you know, it's
like so abnormal because there's judgement coming.
Another parable he spoke to them, the Kingdom of heaven is
like 11 yeast which a woman took and hid in three measures.
They are three measures. Is an abnormal amount of meal
for this to be made till it was all leavened.
Some people say, well, the church, we're, we're the leaven
where we're going out into the world while infiltrating, We're
getting into politics, we're getting into schools and we're,
you know, we're, we're just just slowly infiltrating and helping
people come to Christ because Jesus says beware of the leaven
of the Pharisees. And he spoke of leaven.
And leaven is always like in Passover.
It's always symbolic of what sin.
So leaven is sin. And what does leaven do?
It works without you seeing it. We have a bread maker at home,
electric one. And I've got to get the yeast
right. Either I put too, not enough in,
or I put, I put too much in. It blows the top up.
And I got this like big mushroom thing coming out.
What does leaven do? Leaven puffs up churches full of
themselves come to our church and I always listen to people
when they invite other people to come to their church and and how
they put they put the spiel. Our church.
We have the best worship, we've got the best pastor, we have the
best Sunday school, we've got the best programmes and I go
great. I'd like to hear about Jesus
Christ. I'd be I'd like to see that as
the invitation because you know, people always say So what church
do you and do you well, our church, we have this, you know,
and so 11 puffs up and I and I see that that when Jesus speaks
in the in in Matthew's Gospel back a chapter or two, Jesus
says come to me, all ye who labour and heavy laden.
I I will give you rest, take my yoke upon you and learn from me
for what I am gentle and what lowly in heart.
There's there's too much, you know, and there was a there was
a some of you may remember, if you've been believers that long,
that while back when there was a thing called the King's kids,
we're King's kids and everyone was demanding from God.
You know, when you pray, you demand God, God, I want you.
No, you don't do that to the almighty God.
And if you're a King's kid like that, you're you're a sport 1.
You need to just good smack. So 11 and that's what's going to
happen. There's going to be 11 and it's
going to creep into churches. It's just one out, you know.
Well, I know you guys believe in this, but you know, I don't
really believe in creation. I'm a creation evolutionist.
I mean, I think that God started it, but then we have evolution
kicked on. So we, we add this and mash it
together. So we get this, this, this,
these, these doctrines coming in that I'll never forget.
We're witnessing in Perth and the streets of Perth.
We used to do it on a Friday and a Saturday evening and, and
there's all the crazy people walking around Perth on a
Friday, Saturday evening. There's one group who came up to
us and said, hey, what church are you from?
We said, oh, we're church just Jesus.
You know, we're just Christians because we went into the label
thing. Do you believe it?
Do you speak in tongues? I said, well, I believe it's in
the Bible and I believe, you know, the Bible talks about it
that clearly that Christians can.
You know, I believe in the gifts.
Chapter 12 talks about it. Chapter 13 talks about how love
and chapter 14 tells it how it should operate and so forth and
so on because, you know, you can't be saved.
You don't speak in tongues. And I went, oh, is that right?
I said, so the thief on the cross, I'm speaking in tongues
as Jesus said to him, today you'll be with me in paradise
and been baptised either. I just got no chance, said Jesus
said today you'll be with me in paradise, Lord, Lord, Remember
Me. And then I said also, so if I
happen to be of the unfortunate condition where I'm born and I
cannot speak my tongue is a foam I'm a goner.
You see how foolish you can bring you know, you can just
make and they're they're big on Mark 16 and and and you know,
taking up poisons and all that you you where you major on the
minor you become dangerous. We need the full counsel of God.
All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables and
without a parable. He did not speak to them.
Why that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet
saying I will open my mouth in parables.
Other things kept secret from the foundation of the world down
to verse 44 because we've done the other verses again.
The Kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which
a man found and he hid, and for joy over it he goes and sells
all that he has and buys the field.
And so there are those who say, well, this is what this is, is
this is how believers, you come and find Christ and you go, this
is the greatest thing ever. And you, you sell everything and
you become a Christian. That's not what it says.
Jesus is the man, the world, the field is the world.
There's 2 two things I want to pop in here because many people
believe chapter verse 44 is related to Israel, that they are
God's treasure. And I, I will go along with
that. But I also believe it's also
because of why we can get to the next parable.
But I believe it's probably broader than that and includes
the church. But I'm I'm pretty happy with it
calling it Israel. But Jesus is the man and he
gives all to buy the field. Remember the story of Ruth and
Boaz. Now Boaz, he, he fancies Ruth.
So to get Ruth to be his bride, what does Boaz do?
He buys the farm and he gets the bride.
That's part of the deal. So there's that, that, that that
picture there to obtain his bride.
But notice which a man found and hid, and hear this, and for joy
over it he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that
field. For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life again.
The Kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful
pearls. Now why they say the first one
is about Israel and this one is about the church is because
pearls to Jews at that time they weren't interested in them,
didn't care for them. You know what?
No, they're not into pearls. In Jesus time, however, a Pearl
was the loveliest of all positions to a Gentile, to the
Gentile, not to the Jews. So again, the Kingdom of heaven
is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, whom when he
had found one Pearl of great price, went and sold all that he
had and bought it. So again, is this someone?
So I found Christ. Oh, it's the greatest thing
ever. No, Jesus is the buyer and you
know who's the Pearl you are you and I are, you know the
interesting thing about pearls, Pearls are formed by irritation.
It seems them to me because then it puts that, that, that, that
layer around it because it irritates and coats and coats
and coats. Seems to me I, I probably
irritate God a fair bit And I, I don't say that irreverently, but
man, I used to say, man, you got to come to heaven because you're
wearing out all my angels. But he's, as I irritate him in
my weaknesses, he's making me more like his son.
Isn't that my amazing? You come to God with nothing.
I come to God with the rags and the bad habits that I had.
And what, what is God making you through this process?
He's making you into a beautiful Pearl.
I think that's glorious. In Ephesians 5, it talks about
us being his bride, the church. And how do we look without
what's a Pearl? How good's a Pearl without a
spot, without a blemish? Magnificent.
So how much does Jesus value you?
He says you're of great price. What was the price?
His Son. You know, grace is free, but it
wasn't cheap. It cost the death of the only
innocent man, Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
And he sold all that he had and he bought it.
What did he do? He owns you, He redeemed you.
He paid the price in full. It is finished.
He said to tell us die paid in full.
You're the treasure, you're the pool.
Whenever the enemy whispers in your ear and says you're no
good, you're useless, you're terrible.
Remember, he's a liar, first of all.
He always swings in some stuff there.
But here's the thing to remember.
The truth is what God says about you.
I like what Paul says. I don't care what people say
about me, but as God is my witness, as God is my witness
again the Kingdom of heaven. Oh, I've got to hurry.
It's like a dragnet which that was cast into the sea and
gathering some of every kind of fish.
Obviously when it was full, they drew to the shore and they sat
down, gathered the good into the vessels.
They threw the bad away. So it will be end at the end of
the age, Aeon, Millennial at the time of the great judgement.
The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from the
just, cast them into the furnace of fire.
They'll be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
He says that again. You know, not too many fish when
you catch them again. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Sorry. I was just getting the point
across because it's not talking about fish.
Jesus said to them, have you understand all these things they
said to him? Yes, Lord.
Yeah, we might be a bit cheeky and go, do you really?
But Jesus doesn't say, no you don't.
He went along with it and he said to them.
Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the
Kingdom of heaven is like a household who brings out his
treasure, things new and old, you know, as you and I read the
Bible and I pray that you are, you know what I find?
I find treasures new and old. I find things that I didn't know
and God reveals to me and go, man, I never knew that past
Israel was just sharing me something about Jesus being on
the cross. How at any moment he could have
just said, you know what? I'm done with this.
At any moment you could have said, stop, I'm not doing this.
But he didn't. And there are there are things
and Peter says that. Peter says, I know I've told you
these things before. I want to bring them to
remembrance. You know what I learned as I
began to read the Bible properly many years ago, Not a bit here,
not a bit there. That's not reading the Bible.
You must read the phone book. That's how much you'll get out
of it. But as I began to read through
the Bible chapter by chapter, verse by verse, and God began to
speak to me, You know what I noticed I that 99% of all that
needs to be done, God does. All I have to do is accept it.
And the other thing is this, that over and over and over and
over God says, I love you. I'll never leave you over and
over and over.