Matthew 13

Now I hope you've all come prepared to work. We're going to put you to work this morning. We're not up here to swan around and we want to read from the Gospel of Matthew please, chapter 13.

Matthew chapter 13. Matthew 13, we'll just read in at verse number one. I want to go through the the chapter, obviously I'll not read it all, I'll have to call upon your memory for the content of some of these parables, but what I want to do is to set out the the chapter as I believe it is appearing on the page of our Bible.

That's an interesting exercise, isn't it? So let's come to verse one and we'll start there. The same day went Jesus out of the house and sat by the seaside and great multitudes were gathered together unto him so that he went into his ship and sat and the whole multitude stood on the shore and he spake many things unto them and parables saying number one behold a sower went forth to sow and you remember that there follows the parable of the wayside hearer then the stony ground hearer then the thorns and then the good ground some 100 some 60 fold and some 30 now come down verse 24 here's number two notice it starts with the word another now that's an interesting word it's another it's the alas word for those students it's another of the same kind so here's the same kind of parable that's been spoken another parable put he forth unto them saying notice another expression the kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field and then the enemy comes and sows tares and both grow together until the time of harvest verse 31 another same word another of the same kind another parable put he forth unto them saying notice the expression the kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field small seed large result verse 33 another same word another parable speaking unto them notice the kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened now you'll notice verse 36 then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house and his disciples came on to him saying declare unto us so now he has left the public sphere and now he's in the private sphere we have read of four parables already let's keep going verse 44 again notice the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field which when a man has found he hideth and for joy thereof goeth and sell all that he hath and buyeth that field again the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man seeking goodly pearls who when he had found one pearl of great price went and sold all that he had and bought it now pause let's go back to those two verses and we'll read it this time and notice what is not there again the kingdom of heaven is not like unto Israel hid in a field you see that now it's not Israel even that's like onto this treasure hidden the field notice verse 45 again he doesn't say the church is like unto a pearl of great price you see that it's in your Bible right there what does it say says the kingdom of heaven same subject same subject is like on to a merchant man seeking goodly pearls and so on now verse 47 again the kingdom of heaven same subject is like onto a net that's cast into the sea and then they gather in the good and the bad and they sort out the good and the bad fish now we're not done down to verse 52 then said he unto them therefore every scribe is instructed on to notice the kingdom of heaven is like onto a man that is an householder which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old and notice this if it's not underlined in your Bible and you're given to underline here's something to underline and it came to pass that when Jesus had finished these parables all right so all of the above including verse 52 is described as a parable now we'll close the reading there we trust with the Lord's blessing upon his word when we come to our Bible the question of the ages is this who will have dominion who that question well the Old Testament anticipated that the Son of Man would be given a kingdom by the Ancient of Days remember Daniel 7 so the Old Testament anticipated a kingdom and identified the Son of Man as the one we come to the end of our Bible we find Revelation chapter 11 verse 15 when the seventh trumpet was sound had sounded right we're at the end of tribulation now there's great voices in heaven and they are crying listen the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdom of the Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever so the answer is given in our Bibles who shall have dominion the Lord and his Christ shall have dominion there's two kingdoms in view there in that verse from Revelation chapter 11 there's the kingdoms of this world and you'll notice as well there is the coming kingdom of the Lord and of his Christ now you and I are living in the first one the kingdoms of this world you and I as believers ought to be living for the second one the kingdom the coming kingdom of the Lord and of his Christ now the question then arises very practically in our souls this morning it's a question of our affections for which of these two kingdoms are we investing our time are we investing our treasure are we investing our talents is it all for the kingdoms of this world or is it all for the kingdom of the Lord and of his Christ now we have a heavenly calling brethren and sisters and you and I are called to allow the prospect of that coming kingdom to affect how you and I live right here and now and from here on out that's our calling now Matthew chapter 13 where we've read brings that perspective I believe before us I want to take up the chapter in a very simple way as we move through quickly first of all there's the setting of the chapter chapter 13 there's 12 chapters before in the early book and well in the early part of Matthew we're presented in chapter 1 with the genealogy of the Lord Jesus in a legal setting it's actually Joseph his genealogy all the way down from from David all the way down through but that genealogy is his legal genealogy as the genealogy of Joseph who was the husband of Mary right Luke gives you his actual bloodline through Mary but Matthew it's the legal presentation of the genealogy of the King chapters 5 through 7 you remember that the Lord Jesus as he begins his public ministry he sets out clearly the principles and the characteristics of those who are subjects in his kingdom the characteristics the principles that will govern his kingdom and the characteristics of those who are subjects of that kingdom now by the time you come to the end of chapter 12 the Lord Jesus has already been rejected by the people by the nation's the leaders they're going about to kill him and there's the breaking off of natural relationships there at the end of chapter 12 and he leaves he leaves the house very significantly and he goes to the seaside and he sits out there on a boat and he's teaching the people on the shore so we get the picture the setting when you come to the subject of the chapter the Lord Jesus is focusing in on things that have not been revealed in the Old Testament the fact there's a coming kingdom was but here's something that was missing that there will be an intervening period of time until the kingdom comes let both grow together until the time of harvest for example and so what these parables are presenting the subject is this the conditions and the processes that will pertain until the kingdom comes now let's get that firmly fixed in our mind right up front the conditions and processes until the kingdom comes the scope of the chapter the scope will take us all the way through from Gentile Dominion to the Dominion of the Son of Man I sure made an announcement about putting your phones on silent we were talking about at the breakfast table okay moving right along so we have from Gentile Dominion all the way through to the Dominion of the Son of Man the coming Millennial Kingdom is in prospect now that coming kingdom let's think about that for a moment that coming kingdom particularly the younger believers notice this it is comprised of two spheres if you will it will be number one a physical kingdom that will literally dominate and control and rule over earth and on the other hand it is a spiritual kingdom only those who are born again will enter into it initially right and those who are born naturally during the Millennium they'll have to be born again right and the people who populate earth during that Millennial Kingdom they're they're like us born again they'll have a fall in nature just like we do okay so that's how they that's how that so the question then comes up oftentimes in a Bible reading and so on well are we in that kingdom that's a good question and the answer trying to be as accurate as possible the answer would go something like this not entirely not entirely as being born again we are spiritually being prepared for that coming kingdom we're not there physically and the kingdom hasn't come in that physical way so we are spiritually a people being prepared on an ongoing basis for that coming kingdom but the kingdom hasn't come physically and we are not in it physically so not entirely are we in it let me come to the stories that are found in the chapter there's eight parables and full disclosure I believe there are eight parables some have said seven but I tried to point out in the reading that the eighth one is included in the description of parables and it has those same words the kingdom of heaven is like you get that formula there too so I'm simple enough to take it as eight you says isn't it's important I believe it is as you follow closely in what I'm about to say eight parables there'll be stories here about sowing and reaping there'll be stories about growth and expansion of searching and finding there's stories of buying and selling there's the gathering and the sorting and there's even teaching and learning so these are all activities that you would normally find in any kingdom that's functioning you see and the Lord takes up these these very normal kind of things and he is teaching truth through them so the processes then that will exist during the time of the King's rejection and leading up until his future manifestation and the coming of that kingdom that's what's in view in these eight parables how is it going to come about I want you to notice as we continue on with these stories I want you to notice the structure that's found here now again we noted something of this in the in the reading there are four that are public where the multitude is before him the first four and he speaks to the public and then he goes into the house and he's speaking to the disciples you might say privately so four are public and four are private interestingly too we noted that word another of the same kind and it occurred three times so you get the parable of the sower first and then you get another of the same kind another of the same kind another of the same kind one two three four the first four sit together as being of the same kind and then there are four then that follow and they're in the private setting let's just review very quickly the the stories as they occur in the chapter there's the sower that goes forth to sow seed that's the primary parable and what the Lord Jesus there is indicating is this that the main process that is going to be at work during the King's absence is the sowing of seed and the Word of God is identified as the seed that will be sown so during the church age well even as the Lord was here on earth he was sowing seed wasn't he he was given teaching then there was the cross and there's Pentecost then the church is formed and those apostles go out and they're sowing seed and throughout the church age this very day we're sowing seed and into the into the tribulation period there'll be the everlasting gospel proclaimed there'll be a hundred and forty four thousand sealed in their foreheads witnesses and I take it from Revelation 14 they also will be preaching and so there will be the sowing of seed all up until the point when the Lord comes out from heaven upon the white horse and he establishes his kingdom so the sowing of seed is the main process all the way through but then there's something else that will go alongside of that not only will good seed be sown and there will be a harvest from that but the enemy will be at work too and the enemy comes and he sows tears among the wheat now when you come to this that second parable you'll notice that the the wheat are the children of the kingdom they're the genuine believers so in this fear of religious profession the Lord is teaching that all the way through to his manifestation in glory there will be also that which is false in religious profession the tears all right and that will continue after the rapture of the church on into the tribulation period there will be those that are mere professors all right now we come to the third one that's the mustard seed and the point here is with the mustard seed there's growth that is visible something that starts off very very small very small and yet it grows large it grows large the mustard seed and the birds of the year lodge in its branches some have taken this to be just a neutral type of teaching that well there will be expansion as the gospel goes out and so on that's fair enough but I'd rather thought that this is this is encompassing that full-time period right up until the Lord comes in glory and so you have something that is includes what is genuine and there would be growth in religious profession but ultimately the birds of the air lodge in the branches of it and when you think of the birds of the air again into revelation the birds of the air are linked with Babylon and I take it it's negative I'm just leaving it out there for the scholars to take a look at that but coming to the next one that's the leaven in the meal and again I take it this is this is negative in that the Lord Jesus in his teaching talked about the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees doctrinal error he talked about the leaven of Herod that is political power and we have as well the thought of leaven of malice and wickedness in 1st Corinthians chapter 5 so what what we have is the thought of corruption with leaven corruption permeating religious profession all the way through until the whole is leavened now you follow that through into the book of Revelation the kingdom of the beast it will be marked by doctrinal error and corruption it will be marked by political power corrupt political power a malice and wickedness absolutely you see so that is that is again I take it encompassing the whole time period right through to the global worship of the Beast of the Antichrist now then we come to the disciples privately I'm going to tie this together in just a moment verse 36 sends the multitude away goes into the house the disciples come tells them about the treasure hidden in a field now brethren our Bible tells us that the kingdom of heaven is as hidden treasure don't wiggle under it don't insert something that's not there it's the kingdom of heaven the same subject it's that coming kingdom and prospect and presently it is hidden in the field it's not physically evident right but the point of it is this though it's not physically evident it is hidden in the field of the world in that sense yet it is of such worth that this man goes and he pays any price all that he has in order to secure it you see the prime example is the Lord Jesus hold that thought let's come to the pearl again the church is not mentioned it won't be mentioned until chapter 16 what is mentioned is the kingdom of heaven same subject what we're looking at that kingdom and prospect and he says it's like onto a pearl of great price and so the kingdom of heaven in the interim period in reality just like a pearl is small insignificant in the eyes of the world but do you see the value and the worth of it it's of great price so that he will sell all that he has to get it the Lord Jesus is the prime example moving on quickly to the dry net that's the gospel cast out into the sea retrieving being retrieved and there's fish in the net but they have to be sorted out there's the good and there is the bad that casting out of the net I take it in the church period has begun on the day of Pentecost and it continues to this day and there are those that are genuine and there are those who are but professors it will continue right through the tribulation period after the rapture of the church and then there will be the sorting out at the time of the end then eighthly we have the householder and the householder is this scribe instructed in the kingdom of heaven and he's bringing out from his treasure things both old and new the Old Testament was known then he brings that out of his treasure and also there will be new revelation the Lord Jesus has even given new revelation right here in this chapter he'll bring that out of his treasure too there's the presenting of the old and the new and so we continue even to this day to to proclaim that he is coming and it's our desire that his kingdom comes now I took a little time but let me just bring that together now these four and these four now notice carefully let's start off with the sower of the seed we noted the Word of God let's come to number eight that the scribe instructed in the kingdom he's bringing out of his treasure what what was that the Old and the New Testament to feed the household you see the link it's the Word of God in both cases come to the second one now there's the wheat and the tares let both grow together until the time of harvest there be the good and the bad let's go to number seven you're ahead of me the good and the bad fish so those two line up number two and number seven line up let's come then to number three and we'll go to number six number three was the mustard seed that little small thing that grows so big right grew so large and we come to number six was the pearl which we noted was very small but of large value so there's a there's a parallel and then we come to the two remaining right in the middle you have number four and number five number four is the leaven that is hidden in the meal till the whole was leavened number five is the treasure that was hidden in the field you've got something hidden in both cases and processes that are going on in both cases largely hidden from view so what you have there is something of a chiasm where the first equates with the last and so on all the way down through to the middle and what you have coming out of that is a very solemn teaching I'm going to come to that in a moment it's it's just this the the point of a chat chiasm that's what I've just described the four matching up with the four okay the point of that is this the emphasis falls in the middle in your Bible and the lesson in the treasure is that though the coming kingdom is presently hidden from the global political landscape it is of such value dear believer that it is worth you spending all that you have to get it so this is what the kingdom is what God is giving a son the Lord Jesus paid all that he had to get it when he gave his life you and I are destined to be a part of it but our place in that coming kingdom is determined by how we perform now it is earned by faithfulness so the kingdom isn't just some theological thing out there that we don't really think too much about it is something that is permanent and eternal and our destiny and we are living now in view of it that's the point the blood of Christ we might say has bought us and brought us into a scholarship where we are training now for reigning then how much do we value it is it worth giving our all all that I am all that I have to secure such treasure when you think of the pearls something of such worth I believe that's what the Lord is teaching his disciples in the context you and I need to take that home to our heart so the question of the ages is who will have dominion the times of the Gentiles began with Nebuchadnezzar runs right through until that stone cut out without hand smashes the image in the feet of him and Daniel too and that whole colossal thing of Gentile world mismanagement comes crashing down suddenly by the manifestation of the Lord Jesus in his glory then shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed and it shall stand forever when the u.s. of a is no longer heard of it shall stand forever this world brethren and sisters is like a sinking ship and it's about as water tight as the Titanic that's it I was thinking this morning you know when you and I are fooling around here in this world occupied and distracted by it but like you and I were standing on the on the deck of the Titanic the nose the bow of the ships already underwater and your man is me the owner he comes to you and say look look I got a bargain for you you can have this whole you can have this whole ship for a dollar or you can free of charge get into this lifeboat there's a bargain what are we going to do what are we going to do the parallel are we going to fool around in this world that's a sinking ship or are we going to get into the lifeboat of God's salvation and enjoy that to the fool all the way home to glory it's a sinking ship so the question of our affections then in which of these two are we going to invest our time and which of these two are we going to invest our treasure and in which of these two are we going to invest our talents I take it that's the meaning of the Christian life that you and I might be counted worthy of the kingdom of God second Thessalonians chapter 1 Paul indeed prayed for the Thessalonians to this end wherefore also we pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling and fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness and the work of faith with his power that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ might be glorified in you and ye in him according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ God has saved us for glory you and I are earning by faithfulness now the degree of that glory that's going to be seen when we appear with him in glory is that worth living for it's worth selling all that we have so that we might secure that now that's the point I take it of Matthew chapter 13 and I trust the Lord will bless that same word to our hearts