Parabolic Preaching Part 3

Introduction

Today, we will be finishing up our study of Matthew Chapter 13 with part 3 of our series Parabolic Preaching.

So far in our series, we’ve seen the sowing of the word and the soil which is best suited to receive it and then last week, we looked at how once those seed have been sown, the devil will come and sow tares among the wheat but not to fret because on that great and final judgment day, there will be a separating by the Word.

Today, we’re going to finish this series up by looking firstly at the splendor of the word and it’s affect on people and ultimately the world!

Then, we’ll close out the message by looking at the shunning of the word and talk for just a moment about how the evidence of shunning the word is all around us today.

With no further ado, if you have your Bibles turned to Matthew 13:31 would you say, Amen.

Begin by setting the scene.

The Parable of the Mustard Seed — (Vs. 31-32)

During this time, the mustard seed was often used as a symbol of something extremely small.

If you’ve ever seen a mustard seed, you know just how small they really are but believe it or not, one article I read stated that these little seeds, under the right conditions and when left alone, can reach a max height of around 20 ft with the most exceptional plants reaching upwards of 30 ft! Normally though, they average between 6-20 ft from what I’ve studied.

I actually have a picture of it here for you and supposedly this picture was taken on the eastern shore of the sea of Galilee in an area called Golan Heights which could very well have been a sight that Jesus might have used while giving this illustration.

Now, some very interesting facts I found while researching the mustard plant.

It’s seeds are very potent and have been used for thousands of years for anything from medicinal purposes to flavoring.

It may very well be one of the healthiest plants out there! One article I was reading said that mustard greens had been used in a study and showed signs of slowing or preventing cognitive impairment by as much as 50%!

You can eat the seeds, the blooms, the leaves and the plant itself, if tilled back into the ground is an excellent source of nitrogen so it’s also a great fertilizer!

Another interesting fact is how quickly the mustard seed takes root and grows! One place I read said it could go from seed to harvest in as quickly as 60 days I think it was!

And lastly, one place I read spoke of how contagious these little seeds were. They said if you didn’t harvest the seeds when ripe, they would eventually be blown away by the wind and before you know it, there would be mustard plants all throughout your garden!

Very interesting and mighty little seeds to say the least. And Jesus uses these seeds as an illustration for the Kingdom of Heaven.

Now, there are so many different views on this and the next parable that it’s really easy to get confused if you try to take in every one so I’m going to give you my view on it.

I think Jesus uses this parable to teach a few different lessons.

First off, I think He gave the illustration to show how although the Kingdom of Heaven might have started as a small idea, it would grow leaps and bounds and travel to the far ends of the earth!

One man, John the Baptist, began warning people that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand and then, a personal representative from the Kingdom of Heaven itself, the Lord Jesus Christ, showed up and continued preaching about the Kingdom of Heaven; He passed on that flame to twelve men who continued carrying that same message all over and eventually, down throughout the ages, the word of God has been taken to the farthest reaches of the world!

Something, that started so small but has become so mighty!

I told our Wednesday night crowd I finally got the deal I was looking for on getting my XM radio service turned back on this week…explain…and I heard on the Billy Graham channel that one time He held a crusade in South Korea.

It was the biggest crusade they had ever held and one day, in one turnout they had the largest crowd to attend that they’d ever had! Over 1 Million people came to hear God’s man proclaim God’s Word at one time!

Can you imagine that! ! million people gathered together for Church!

Talk about a worship service! The fellow who was part of the staff that was telling the story said it was one of the most amazing experiences he’d ever been a part of!

But dear friend that’s the power of the Word of God and I think that’s one point that Jesus was trying get across with His use of the mustard seed parable.

Jesus says in Verse 32 here...

Matthew 13:32 KJV 1900

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

Listen friend, the Bible says in...

Hebrews 4:12 KJV 1900

12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

When the word of God is planted, when the Kingdom of God is shared, though it be but just a seed, it can blossom into great and mighty things!

The key though and the second point I want to make here before moving on is something that is said in Verse 31.

Matthew 13:31 KJV 1900

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

Notice a man took it and did what with it?

He sowed it in his field!

Now, what would have happened if that man had taken that mustard seed home and placed it in a glass jar?

Or if he’d of carried it around in his pocket every day?

The answer: nothing!

It would have still been but a seed!

The seed longs to be planted in order that it might accomplish what it was created to do!

And we, those of us who have been born again through the gospel seed of God’s word, are the ones enlisted with the duty of sowing!

We have the seed, we have our field, we have everything we need to accomplish the task at hand....God just needs us to sow!!

This is what Jesus meant when He said in...

Matthew 9:37–38 NLT

37 He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. 38 So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”

Listen, all God needs you and I to do is to sow! That’s it!

Paul said in...

1 Corinthians 3:6 KJV 1900

6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.

Listen friend, you and I cannot save a man but guess what, that’s not what God’s called us to do!

He’s simply called us to plant and to water and He said He’d do the saving, Amen!

“You plant, you water, and I’ll do the saving!”

All He asks us to do is continue the work His dear Son started some 2000 years ago. That’s it! Just go a sowing!

Then, Jesus moves on to another parable which can be equally as obscure but also equally as powerful once understood!

The Parable of the Leaven — (Vs. 33-35)

Now, I doubt we’re all bakers here so for those who may not know what leaven is I’ll give a very simple explanation.

Leaven is a fermented substance that causes dough to rise and in ancient Palestine they would keep back a piece of the leavened dough each time to use for the next time and they would either dissolve it in water before adding to the flour or they would knead it in with the dough as they made it.

Now, most of the time, when Jesus referred to leaven it was in a bad sense but this time was different and the key to understanding this parable’s meaning is in light of the previous parable.

We just talked about how mighty the Kingdom of God can be when being planted right?

So Jesus, in the parable of the mustard seed, gives us an illustration of the Wonder of the Word and here in the parable of the leaven, He gives us the an illustration of the Working of the Word.

You see, once mixed with the dough, leaven—the substance itself, is unseen. The only thing you can see is the effects of the leaven right?

When the leaven is introduced to the dough, it transforms the dough in a magnificent way!

Without the leaven you get a piece of bread that is sort of tasteless and formless. It’s just flat and really and truly it’s bland and undesirable.

But oh dear friend, when you add that leaven in, the dough begins to rise and take form and shape and in a matter of hours it literally transforms into something totally different!

That’s what I believe Jesus is speaking of when He likens the Kingdom of Heaven to the leaven.

You take a man who is a drug addict or a drunkard and you introduce him to Jesus and he accepts Christ as His Lord, the Kingdom of Heaven takes root and that man who was drowning in sin and shame, looking for something to fill that void, now becomes a transformed human being!

The old man is cast off behold all things are made new! His desires are new, his walk is new, his talk is new, his nature is new, his actions are new!

He can’t be the same person anymore if he tried because something has changed within him!

You can’t see it on the inside…you take an MRI and everything looks the same…but you can know that there has been something happen for he’s not the same man on the outside!

The woman took some leaven and she hid it in three measures of meal…now there’s some debate on exactly how much this was but one article I read said this could have been upwards of 50 lbs of bread!

The Bible says, “a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump!”

Now, that specific phrase is speaking negatively of leaven but the principle is the same.

All it takes is one gospel seed planted to start a revival that spreads the world over!

The gospel seed was implanted into 12 disciples and they turned the world upside down!

The gospel seed was implanted into a man name Saul of Tarsus and he wrote 14 Books in the New Testament, set up churches, preached to dignitaries and kings, and lead countless numbers to Christ!

The gospel seed was implanted into a man by the name of Martin Luther who rejected the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church and sparked the Protestant Reformation.

The gospel seed was implanted into John & Charles Wesley & George Whitfield who started the Methodist movement in the 1700’s.

George Whitfield preached to thousands of people in open air while they said that John Wesley traveled over 250,000 miles on horseback sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ and his brother Charles wrote over 6,500 hymns some of which we still sing to this day!

The gospel seed was implanted into Charles Spurgeon and D. L. Moody in the 1800’s who preached to millions of people throughout their ministries and led countless numbers to Christ!

Both men left behind legacies and ministries for Christ that last to this day!

And then in the 1900’s there were many in whom the gospel seed was planted but Billy Graham stands above the rest with his evangelistic crusades for Christ across the globe!

Millions upon millions of people came to hear this man preach throughout his 60+ years of ministry and there’s no telling how many people came to know the Lord because of his faithfulness to God!

When the gospel seed goes to work, you don’t have to see it to know that it’s there. You can tell by the transformational results it leaves behind!

That’s the power of the Kingdom of Heaven when the gospel seed is planted!

What I want you to know this morning more than anything, is that we need more now than ever to share, share, share the Kingdom of Heaven with as many people as we can!

Poll after poll, we hear of how there’s a great falling away from the Church happening and if we’re being honest it’s evident in our society!

Our world is ripe for another great revival and we’re the ones God chose to put right here, right now, in this specific time in eternity for just that very thing!

Let it start in us, let it start with us and may we, NHMBC, be the spark that starts a flame that travels the world over!

Sow the gospel seed wherever you go and ask God to give the increase!

Oh dear God, could you imagine if every born again Christian would set themselves aside for just a few moments in time to share Jesus with a lost person!

We’d see a revival like never before! That’s the working of the Word that I think Jesus was trying to illustrate here.

The Wonder of the Word and the Working of the Word!

Then, we jump on down to the third and fourth parables which deal with the wealth of the word.

The Parable of the Treasure & the Pearl — (Vs. 44-46)

Now, Jesus transitions from teaching the multitudes to only teaching those of His inner circle.

The scene moves from the boat on the water, to a house, whom most believe to probably be Peters.

Here, He begins with the explanation of the parable of the wheat and the tares and then we come to two parables back to back here in Verses 44-46.

The first is the Parable of the Hidden Treasure and the second is the Parable of the Pearl of Great Price.

They both ultimately have the same meaning but there is a hidden message in the first parable I want to make sure we don’t miss.

Jesus begins in Verse 44 by likening the Kingdom of Heaven to a treasure hidden in a field.

And then He tells us that a man finds the treasure and instead of taking it, he re-hides it and because he was so overjoyed with his find he goes and sells all that he has and buys the field!

As I read through this parable I couldn’t help but to think about Psalm 119 which talks a lot about the Word of God.

Listen to just a few of the things the Psalmist said about the Word of God.

Psalm 119:11 KJV 1900

11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, That I might not sin against thee.

Psalm 119:15–16 KJV 1900

15 I will meditate in thy precepts, And have respect unto thy ways. 16 I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.

Psalm 119:97 KJV 1900

97 MEM. O how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.

Psalm 119:104–105 KJV 1900

104 Through thy precepts I get understanding: Therefore I hate every false way. 105 NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, And a light unto my path.

Psalm 119:111–113 KJV 1900

111 Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: For they are the rejoicing of my heart. 112 I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes Alway, even unto the end. 113 SAMECH. I hate vain thoughts: But thy law do I love.

Psalm 119:127 KJV 1900

127 Therefore I love thy commandments Above gold; yea, above fine gold.

The Psalmist had found the very treasure the man in this parable had found!

It was greater than gold, he loved it, rejoiced in it, and hid in his heart!

And the lesson behind the parable that Jesus is trying to teach here is that the Kingdom of Heaven, salvation, eternal life, is a prize so great that when you experience it you can help but to give everything else up to obtain it!

Paul said in...

Philippians 3:7–8 KJV 1900

7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. 8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,

Listen friend, the greatest treasure you can ever find on this side of eternity is a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ!

Everything else this world has to offer pales in comparison to it!

The man in the parable was so excited about his find that he went and sold everything he had to buy the field that held his newfound treasure!

Now, let me shine a little light on the hidden message within this parable.

Someone else owned the field, right?

I mean this man bought the field from someone, correct?

This is an illustration of Jews!

Jesus came for the Jews. He came for His own people. They had the Word, they heard the Word, they had the greatest treasure this world had ever received right in front of them and they didn’t even know it!

Not only did they not recognize it but it meant nothing to them! They rejected it! So much so that they took the greatest treasure this world has ever experienced and hung Him on a cross!

They denied it and tossed it aside as if it were nothing!

This is the hidden message behind this parable. The man who owned the field didn’t even know that there was a treasure hidden therein!

Why? Because he never went looking for it!

The man who found it was looking, Amen!

If you want to be saved this morning dear friend the Bible says in Jeremiah 29:13...

Jeremiah 29:13 KJV 1900

13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

Chuck Swindoll said — During Jesus’ life and ministry, many people sought out His help—His healing touch or His transformative teaching—like the merchant seeking an exquisite pearl.

They had been on the lookout for the coming Messiah, and Jesus’ presence satisfied their longing in an immeasurable way.

Philip is a good example of this kind of person, as shown in what he said to his first convert, Nathanael: “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (John 1:45).

Such people passionately embraced the gospel and were willing to go all in for the kingdom of heaven. Others, however, like the man finding the treasure in a neglected field, “happened upon” Jesus.

Nathanael fit this bill: When Philip told him about Jesus, his response was cold—“Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46). But quickly he recognized the priceless treasure that was before him (John 1:49).

John 1:49 KJV 1900

49 Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.

Listen this morning Church, the Kingdom of Heaven should be the treasure we search for, the prize we long for, the desire of our heart and when it is so, the things of this world will begin to fade into the far recesses of our minds as our thoughts become more and more focused on the world to come!

Hebrews 11:24–26 KJV 1900

24 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; 25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; 26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.

Moses understood this world had nothing for him but the world to come had everything!

This is the same principle we also see in the parable that follows.

The man searched and searched and when he found “one” pearl of great price he went and sold all he had and bought the pearl!

What’s the moral here?

I think the key to understanding this parable is the word one!

Notice it says he was searching for goodly pearls…plural.

But when he found “one” of great price he went and sold all he had, he gave it all up for that one pearl!

Listen to me friend, there are many, many different religions in this world but there is only one that leads to the Kingdom of Heaven.

And that’s the religion of Christianity!

The Kingdom of Heaven is the Pearl of great price but the only way to get there is through the one who paid the ultimate price...the one and only Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ!

In order to get to Heaven this morning friend, you need Jesus.

This was the message Jesus wanted His disciples to understand…the importance of what was taking place right before their very eyes. The importance of focusing on the what lie ahead and not the world that was before them. The importance of eternity vs. the present.

And this is the message we must keep at the forefront of our minds today as well.

Remember the joy of your salvation. Bask in it. Rest in it. Long for what it represents. And don’t get so caught up in the things of this world that you forget the importance of it!

If you have been born again, never forget that you have accepted the greatest gift ever given to mankind and that because of your acceptance of that gift, you have a treasure waiting on you greater than anything this world can ever afford!

We have the parable of the mustard seed, the parable of the leaven, the parables of the treasure and the pearl of great price.

Next, we have the Parable of the Dragnet which is pretty self explanatory and goes along with the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares so we won’t spend much time on it.

The Parable of the Dragnet — (Vs. 47-51)

Good — Greek word “kalos” and the literal meaning is beautiful but is also used to mean valuable, virtuous, pleasing or acceptable.

When I read the definition to this word I couldn’t help but to think of verse we looked at last week…verse 43…which says...

Matthew 13:43 KJV 1900

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

Conversely to the word good is the word bad.

Bad — Greek word “sapros” and it’s only used 10 times in all of the New Testament. Out of those 10, 9 were in the parables and were used to refer to the natural world.

Trees, fruit, and sea creatures that are unfit for human use are considered sapros, meaning bad, corrupted, or rotten.

Just as men toss out inedible fish, so the wicked will be cast out at the end of the age.

Listen friend, there’s coming a day when there’s going to be a great separation and I can assure you that you’d much rather be found “kalos” instead of “sapros.”

The good shall shine forth as the noon day but the bad shall be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Then, just to verify everyone was on the same page He asks the disciples there in Verse 51…do you understand all these things?

The Parable of the Scribe — (Vs. 52)

This to me speaks of the inexhaustibility of the Word of God and the treasures that are found within it’s pages.

That’s the beauty of the Word of God!

No matter how many times you read it through, if you’re searching, your sure to find all sorts of untold treasures!

We’ve seen The Wonder of the Word, The Working of the Word and The Wealth of the Word.

Now, let’s finish it out by really quickly by looking at The Weakening of the Working of the Word.

The Weakening of the Working of the Word — (Vs. 53-58)