Rick and Donna Parables part 7

The speaker begins with a prayer, expressing gratitude for God's guidance in the world and thanking Him for allowing them to witness His work. They then discuss the order of the Gospels, specifically the order of the parables of Jesus. They explain that Matthew uses the term "kingdom of heaven" while other gospel writers use "kingdom of God." They suggest that Matthew used "kingdom of heaven" out of consideration for his Jewish audience, who avoided using the sacred name of God. The speaker then introduces the parable of the wheat and the tares, explaining that it is a story placed alongside a principle to illustrate it. They read the parable and discuss its meaning, emphasizing that both good and evil will coexist in the world until the end times. Father in heaven, we are so thankful for the fact that we can, as we watch the things that are transpiring and going on in the world, we know, Lord, that you are orchestrating this whole thing. Lord, we know that nothing escapes your all-seeing eye. We know that your hand is the one that is guiding and directing all the things and events that are going on around us. And Lord, we are just so thankful that you have allowed us the privilege of being able to live at this time, to see your hand working, but most of all, Lord, we are so thankful that you have called us unto yourself and that we have the blessing of being called your children. So, Lord, until you come for us, we pray that we would be found faithful in the things that we do. We ask, Lord, that you would guide us in our study tonight, may your Holy Spirit teach us and encourage us, strengthen us, and Lord, transform us in our hearts and in our minds. And we pray this all for your glory, in Jesus' name, amen. Okay, so here's what we've been over the last couple of weeks, just to keep things in order the best that we can. You know, the Gospels are not all in the same order, and so it can be difficult at best. So that's why I kind of got a little bit mixed up, a little bit ahead of myself, but we'll see how things play out here. So what we've looked at so far in the last few weeks is that we've looked at the parable of the soils in Luke chapter 8, verses 5 through 15. And then we looked at the parable of the lamp on the stand last week in Luke 8, 16 through 18. And then we hit on the account of Jesus telling who his mother and brothers really are in Luke chapter 8, verses 19 through 21. And here's where I messed up on the jump. So if we jump back to Matthew, in Matthew chapter 12, we find that account of when Jesus is talking about his mother and brothers. It's found in Matthew 12, verses 46 through 50. But that is followed by the parable of the soils. So we did the parable of the soils first, and then we did what we did last week. Matthew has it the other way around. So we had to go to Luke, and then now we're coming back to Matthew. So the parable of the soils followed that account of Jesus talking about who his mother and brothers are. So now, when we go back here to Matthew chapter 13, we're going to pick it up there, and we're going to begin tonight in Matthew chapter 13, verse 24, which follows the parable of the soils. And we're going to be looking at, we're going to start looking at what is called the parables of the kingdom. So as I say that, I think probably the question pops into all of our minds. So just what is it meant by the kingdom? And that's what Jesus is going to explain and define for us in these parables that we'll be looking at over the next few weeks. So we see the term kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God used by Jesus. And some people want to say that they mean two different things. Well, let me just point out that Matthew is the only gospel that uses the term kingdom of heaven. And he uses that term 32 times. And there's probably a very good reason why he did. Now the other gospel writers will use the term the kingdom of God in identical occurrences. And just to make sure you understand and can see that what I'm talking about here, we're going to point out just a couple of them. The first one is the parable of the mustard seed that we see in Matthew, here in Matthew 13 and in verse 31. We read Matthew 13, 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. I'm using this for illustration just to kind of emphasize this kingdom of heaven and kingdom of God thing. So Matthew uses the term kingdom of heaven here in verse 31. And if we turn to Mark chapter 4, Mark chapter 4, verse 30, Jesus is talking about the same account here. And he said, to what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? It is like a mustard seed, which when it is sown on the ground is smaller than all the seeds on the earth. And then he goes on and gives the description there. And then also in Luke's gospel, in Luke chapter 13, Luke is referring to the same parable about the mustard seed. Luke chapter 13 and verse 18 he says, and he said, then he said, what is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and put in his garden, and it grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches. So you can see in those three accounts, in Matthew he is using the words the kingdom of heaven, and in Mark and in Luke he is using the words the kingdom of God. So that is our first illustration or example. The second example is found in Matthew chapter 19. Matthew chapter 19, this is the account where the children are coming to Jesus. And in verse 14 it says, but Jesus said, let the little children come to me, and do not forbid them, for such is the kingdom of heaven. So that is Matthew 19, 13. And then if we go to Mark chapter 10, we will see the same account there, where the children are coming to Jesus. Mark chapter 10, verse 14, it says, but when Jesus saw it, he was greatly displeased, and said, let the little children come to me, and do not forbid them, for of such is the kingdom of God. So there is the same account, Matthew says kingdom of heaven, Mark says kingdom of God. And then in Luke chapter 18, we see the same account that Luke gives us. Luke 18, verse 16, it says, but Jesus called to him and said, let the little children come to me, and do not forbid them, for such is the kingdom of God. Okay, so here we have got two great examples. Matthew using the words kingdom of heaven, and the other two Gospels using the same account, but using the words the kingdom of God. So we can see here that what we have got here is we have got the identical things, and they mean the same thing. And just a side note, the Gospel of John only uses the term kingdom of God, never uses the term kingdom of heaven. He uses the term kingdom of God, he only uses it twice, and it is found in John chapter 3, when he is having this conversation with Nicodemus, that basically says you have to be born again in order to see the kingdom of God. So the question is, why did Matthew record heaven instead of God for those 32 times that he uses that phrase? Well, I think we all know that each Gospel is directed to a certain group of people. And remember now who the Gospel of Matthew was written to. It was written to the Jews. And by using the word heaven instead of God, what he was actually doing was he was being considerate to his audience by avoiding the sacred name of God when possible. The Jews never wanted to say the word, the name of God. So Matthew is just being sensitive here to his audience and realizing that, you know what, I am going to adjust what I am saying here, and I am going to use the kingdom of heaven because it meant the same thing. So I think that is the most consistent and logical answer for why Matthew is using that term. It is not talking about a different kingdom. So we know that we are all looking forward to the coming of the kingdom of God. So Jesus is still in the Galilee area, here in Matthew chapter 13 now. He is still in the Galilee area. The crowds are growing, they are getting bigger and bigger and bigger. I mean we are talking thousands and ultimately tens of thousands of people are following him. And the false teachers, the crowds are growing and the false teachers, i.e. the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the other leaders of the Jews, they are all getting more agitated. So as we have learned in our past studies that Jesus then communicates, he starts communicating to them using parables because for those that are going to hear, they are going to be listening and they are going to be pursuing more about what Jesus is saying. And for those who are not listening or not hearing, they are not going to hear anyhow. So the parables are just a way, as we pointed out, it is really God's judgment, as Isaiah talked about, on the people for not hearing what the Lord was trying to say to them. So Jesus uses parables. And parables are like an anecdote, a short story, a short simple story. Jesus uses parables. And the word parable comes from the word parabole. And the second part of that word, bole, comes from the word valo, which means to place alongside. So the word para means alongside. So we have got valo means to place and then para means alongside. So the word parabole means to place alongside. And that is what a parable is. It is a story or a short, simple antidote that is placed alongside a principle to illustrate the principle. And just as a side note, we have been into this study now for seven weeks. And I just want to ask you all, what principles have you been learning each week? Maybe we should keep a list of the principles that we are learning so that we have got them to be able to refer to as we go along in this study. We can see what the Lord is trying to teach us. So we can consider that and think about that. So let's see what Jesus wants us to learn about the kingdom in this parable here, the parable of the wheat and the tares. So if you have your Bibles with you there, turn to Matthew chapter 13, and we are going to start reading in verse 24. And we read, 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 tares? He said to them, an enemy has done this. The servants 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 the 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. Okay, so that's the parable. Now, when we lived up in Illinois, we had a garden. And I don't know about you, but this story is kind of a strange thing because it's not what a normal person would do with their garden or their field. I mean, when we went out to check our garden every other day or whenever it was, we would pull the weeds out. That was just a natural thing because we knew that if you let the weeds grow up, it would ultimately end up causing problems for your crop. But that's not what this parable is explaining. So it's a little bit different. Obviously, Jesus has a reason for telling this, and we're going to see that here in the explanation here in just a minute. So again, I don't know if you've all had any experience with gardening or anything like that, but this is kind of an interesting twist on the whole gardening aspect of things. So the explanation comes in Matthew 13, starting in verse 36. We've got this parable of the mustard seed that we'll get back to and the parable of 11, but we want to jump to find out what the explanation of this parable is. So in verse 36, we see the explanation, and again, note here that the disciples come to him and they ask him something. So here we go. Verse 36, Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house, and his disciples came to him, saying, Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field. You see, we talked about this before. The disciples came to him and they said, You know what? We heard what you were saying, but it wasn't just in one ear and out the other. Or we weren't hard of hearing, like the ones that Jesus warned about. They basically came and said, We want you to explain to us the parable of the tares of the field because we want to know more. We're listening. We understand the importance of what you're saying to us. Please, please, Lord, help us to understand. And so verse 37, it says, So he answered and said to them, He who sows the good seed is the son of man. The field is the world. The good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. 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 this 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 Jesus gives them the answer. And I think it's very clear what his explanation is for what this parable is all about. So the first thing he points out is that the sower is Jesus, the son of man. He is the sower. And the good seed, it says, are the sons of the kingdom. In other words, they are born again believers, sons of the kingdom. And the field, he says, is the world. Now, many churches, many times people will do a study on this, and they will want to try to make this mean that it's the church, that the field is the church. And you've got the tares, the wheat and the tares that are growing in the church together. You know, you've got the unbelievers and the believers together in the church, and it's causing problems. And God will sort that all out in the end. But he's very clear here as to what he's talking about. The field is the world. He's not talking about the church here. So, you know, don't misrepresent what the Lord is trying to say here. And then he says that the tares are the sons of the devil. They are unbelievers. They are false grain. And I think someone might have been down on that, pointed out that when the wheat and the tares are coming up, they look identical. It isn't until they come, as was pointed out here in verse 26, that when it came time for the crops to be harvested, that's when the difference was noted. And that's what happens with this type of tare. I think they're called darnels or something like that. They look like wheat right up until the time of the harvest. And then it's like, well, what are we going to do with this? Well, Jesus tells us what to do. So, we have this scenario happening. Verse 39 says that the enemy who sowed these tares, these weeds, these darnels, the enemy is the devil. And what it's pointing out also is that he is hard at work in the field, and the field is the world. And we know that that's true. We know that for all the work that we do, we know that the devil is out there trying to do whatever he can to stop us from doing the work or trip us up as we're doing the work, or try to use false teachers to try and confuse people as far as the work that we're doing. So, the devil is hard at work in the world trying to make sure that nobody is going to come to the saving knowledge of the truth. I think it's interesting that this parable comes on the heels here in Matthew of the parable of the soils, which talks about some of the seeds being choked out and how we need to be aware of the fact that those things can happen. So, then Jesus comes here to the grand finale here in verse 40. But just a little note here. What Jesus is really kind of making sure that he's pointing out here also is that he wants his disciples to understand that the kingdom is not just some concept of a future thing to come. Jesus taught all throughout his ministry that the kingdom was here and now. At the very start of his ministry in Matthew 4, 17, and in Mark 1, 15, he says that the kingdom of God is at hand. And I think it's in Luke where he says the kingdom of God is within you or among you. And ultimately, although the kingdom is something that is absolutely in operation right now, we know that it will be manifest in a future fulfillment that will ultimately continue on forever. And that's what we're all waiting for. So, the harvest that he's talking about is the end of this age. And everybody that's here tonight, hopefully we all know what he's talking about. That's why we're here tonight. We are all watching for the Lord to come and ultimately usher in the final seven years, the time of Jacob's trouble and the ultimate arrival of his kingdom. But we're watching for that, and yet we're watching for something that this parable does not point out. And that is the mystery that Paul tells us about in 1 Corinthians 15, 51, where he says, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. And then in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, 15, where it says, for the Lord himself shall descend with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet call of God and the dead in Christ will rise first. And then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air. And so we shall forever be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words. And, you know, I kind of pondered about that. And I thought, so why didn't Jesus make mention of that? Well, you have to remember who he's talking to here. He's talking to the Jewish nation. And God ultimately knew that the only ones that were going to be caught up together would be those that are in Christ. He's trying to get a message across to help the Jews to understand how this kingdom thing was going to ultimately play out as they were going to see it, as they were going to be witnessing it and partaking in it. And that's exactly what's going to happen. So we have this harvest at the end of the age, which the Lord is going to accomplish. And how is he going to accomplish it? He's going to accomplish that by sending out the reapers who he says are the angels. It says in verse 39, that the harvest at the end of the age, the reapers are the angels. And then it says that he's going to send them out and they are going to gather all that are an offense and those who practice lawlessness. I think it's interesting that Jesus uses that phrase when he, if I'm not mistaken, sometimes if I'm not mistaken, somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I think some people came to him and said, Lord, Lord, you know, and Jesus said, why do you call me Lord, Lord and not do what I say? He said, away from me, you who practice lawlessness. So that word lawlessness pops up over and over. In other words, the Lord is saying that the people that are not, not following after him, not pursuing the things of God, those that are just basically going on their own lawless. Oh, well, you know, it's okay for me. You know, I'm not hurting anybody, that kind of thing. The Lord says, no, that's, that's not the way that we're supposed to be. So the Lord is going to send out the angels to gather up all those that are an offense and gather them and cast them into the fire where there will be gnashing and wailing, wailing and gnashing of teeth. But then in verse 43, we have the kingdom actually coming to fruition. And this is just such a wonderful verse where it says, then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father. You know, when, when the kingdom comes into its final fruition, it will be a reality and there will be no weeds among the wheat. And that's when the kingdom will shine like the sun. Father, we give you praise and thanks once again for allowing us this time. We thank you, Lord, for the words of our, of our savior to, to instruct us and help us to get a better understanding of the things of your kingdom. Lord, ultimately we see in this parable that you're going to take care of business when it comes to the time of the end. We know, Lord, that you promised that you will be with us until the end of the age. And, and Lord, we're so thankful for the fact that you've promised that you will come for us. And we thank you, Lord, for the, the promise that we will shine forth as the sun of, as the sun in the, in the kingdom. And we praise you, Lord, for allowing us to be part of that. And I thank you, Lord, for each one of my brothers and sisters that are here tonight. Thank you for the time that they're willing to take to come and join in this way. And I pray, Lord, a blessing upon them. Father, ultimately, we just pray that this study tonight would, would be used by you to transform our, our hearts and our minds. Lord, we want to be like you. We want to have your heart. We want to, we want to have your compassion and your love. And Lord, the only way that we can do that is if we draw closer and closer to you each and every day. So thank you for these times that, that you allow us to do so. So as we continue on in our fellowship, we ask your blessing and we praise you and we thank you for it all in Jesus' precious name. Amen. Come, Jesus, come, the day, be the day. Sometimes I feel like I'm gonna break, but I'm holding on. To a hope that won't fade. Come, Jesus, come, we've been waiting so long. For the day you return to heal every hurt and right every wrong. Oh, we need you right now. Come and turn this around. Deep down I know this world isn't home. Come, Jesus, come. Come, Jesus, come. There'll be no war, there'll be no change. When Jesus comes, let the day be the day. He'll come for the weak and the strong just the same. And all will believe in the power of his name. Come, Jesus, come. We've been waiting so long. For the day you return to heal every hurt and right every wrong. Oh, we need you right now. Come and turn this around. Deep down I know this world isn't home. Come, Jesus, come. Come, Jesus, come. One day he'll come. And we'll stand face to face. Come a little down. As it might be today. Time is right now. There's no need to wait. The path will be won by the rivers of grace. Come, Jesus, come. We've been waiting so long. For the day you return to heal every hurt and right every wrong. Oh, we need you right now. Come and turn this around. Deep down I know this world isn't home. Come, Jesus, come. Come, Jesus, come. Come, Jesus, come. Come, Jesus, come. Come, Jesus, come. Come, Jesus, come. Come, Jesus, come. Come, Jesus, come. Come, Jesus, come. Come, Jesus, come. Come, Jesus, come.