Knowing The Way Of The Kingdom

Children’s Bible: Page 1041

Introduction: Difference between expectation and reality

As I was preparing for the sermon this week, I was thinking back on a very awkward time in my life when I was in 8th grade.

Being in middle school is a pretty weird time for some people. It certainly was for me.

And it was in 8th grade that I was invited to a friend’s birthday party.

And this friend was one of those super confident people who thought he was awesome.

And he was talking up this party like it was going to be the greatest party since the celebrity parties after the Oscars or something.

It was going to be in his backyard, there was going to be music, food, boys and girls, which was a huge deal to an 8th grader.

So, let’s just say, the party was not awesome.

It was super awkward. But talking to this guy, you would have thought it was the party of the century.

And I tell that story because a lot of times our expectations and our reality don’t line up, and I don’t mean the reality is always bad, just a lot of times different than expected.

Going into marriage, you thought it was going to be one way, but you’ve been surprised by some of the realities along the way.

You thought your career was going to look a certain way, or you thought you knew what having kids was going to be like, but it’s different than expected.

Maybe you thought you knew what being a part of church would be like, and the reality is different.

I am willing to bet that many of you who have followed Jesus are like me, and knowing, loving, and following Jesus has not been at all like what you expected it to be.

And I want to say that it’s okay if you feel that way.

Not only is it okay, but in many ways it is unavoidable and even necessary.

As we dive back into Matthew 13, Jesus was teaching these parables of the kingdom to his disciples who were experiencing some things in following Jesus that they did not expect.

Remember, a few weeks ago, when I preached on the parable of the sower, I told you that Jesus told this parable in response to the surprising amount of opposition and unbelief that Jesus and the disciples had experienced from others in chapters 11 and 12.

And that kind of opposition and unbelief had to be a surprise to the disciples who were following Jesus because they believed Jesus message to repent because the kingdom of Heaven is at hand.

If the ministry of Jesus is about Him bringing the kingdom of Heaven down to earth, why is there so much opposition and unbelief.

That’s unexpected.

So, the parable of the sower helped His disciples and us today understand that the message of the kingdom of God is received in different ways by different hearers.

Some hear and immediately reject.

Some hear and respond well, but the moment things get hard, they prove to not be true believers and leave.

Some hear and respond well, but prove to not be true believers when the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches leads them astray.

Yet, others hear, respond well, and prove to be genuine believers as they bear the fruit of godliness.

John’s sermon last week helped us understand why these parables of Jesus helped clarify things for those who were genuinely following Jesus, and they made things even more murky for those who worshipped other things.

So, while the parable of the sower helps us understand that different people will respond differently to the message of the kingdom, that leads us to another surprising question:

How in the world can Jesus say that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand when there are going to remain a lot of people in the world who do not submit to King Jesus?

How can we say that Jesus is ruling and reigning at the right hand of the Father at this present moment, when so many around us deny that reality?

We are going to look at two parables today in Matthew 13 that seek to answer that question.

Matthew 13:24–30 (ESV)

24 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25 but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 27 And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”

Matthew 13:36–43 (ESV)

36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” 37 He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, 42 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

Matthew 13:47–50 (ESV)

47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. 48 When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

1. Do Not Be Surprised By The Growing Of Two Opposing Kingdoms Now

It may seem painfully obvious to us today that while God’s kingdom is real and advancing, the kingdom of the evil one is doing so as well.

But, for the first disciples following Jesus, they thought Jesus bringing the kingdom of God to earth meant eradicating the kingdom of the evil one right then and there.

No wonder it was surprising to witness so much opposition and unbelief!

So, Jesus tells this parable to clarify to them that for an age, both kingdoms will grow together.

This is yet another rare parable where Jesus offers the disciples an explanation of his parable.

So, let’s flesh out the parable with its explanation.

Jesus says the the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.

The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.

The field is the world, and the good seed is the son of the kingdom.

In the book of Matthew, Jesus most often refers to himself as the Son of Man, which isn’t surprising when you understand that Matthew’s gospel is concerned with identifying Jesus as the king who brings God’s kingdom,

And the Old Testament book of Daniel, which is the Old Testament book that focuses most on the coming kingdom of God, prophecies that

Daniel 7:13–14 (ESV)

13 “I saw in the night visions,

and behold, with the clouds of heaven

there came one like a son of man,

and he came to the Ancient of Days

and was presented before him.

14 And to him was given dominion

and glory and a kingdom,

that all peoples, nations, and languages

should serve him;

his dominion is an everlasting dominion,

which shall not pass away,

and his kingdom one

that shall not be destroyed.

So, Jesus is identifying himself as the Son of Man who will be the king of the eternal kingdom.

So, the son of man sows the good seed into the field, and the field is the world.

And the good seed that Jesus sowed into the world is the sons of the kingdom.

So far, so good for the disciples.

Jesus is the king who has come to bring the kingdom of Heaven to earth.

Jesus spreads the sons of the kingdom, who are those who submit to the reign and rule of Jesus in the world.

So far, the disciples are tracking along, but what of all the opposition and rejection of Jesus?

Well, Jesus goes on,

while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.

The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil.

So, when the plants grew up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also.

Notice, that the sons of the kingdom are surprised to see the weeds growing too.

It wasn’t expected.

They thought the kingdom of Heaven coming would mean no more sons of the evil one.

And because they didn’t understand this, they thought, well, maybe we believers in Jesus will be the ones to go out and bring the sons of the evil to judgment.

That’s why in the parable they ask, “then do you want us to go and gather them?”

Yet, Jesus answers, “No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them.

Let both grow together until the harvest.”

Now, some throughout church history have interpreted this passage as speaking into the church,

Saying that there will be both genuine believers and deceived unbelievers in the church and we should allow them to grow together and Jesus will sort them out in the end.

And while it is true that some in the church will finally be found to be unbelievers,

There are at least two strong reasons to believe that is not what Jesus is saying here.

One is that Jesus said clearly in verse 38 that the field is the world.

It is not the church, it is the world.

And nowhere in the Scripture is the church referred to as the world.

Secondly, if Jesus was referring to the church in this parable, the apostle Paul would then be directly contradicting Jesus’ teaching in

1 Corinthians 5:9–13 (ESV)

9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. 12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? 13 God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”

Here, Paul is clear that we believers will freely associate and have relationships with unbelievers in the world who are marked by sin and idolatry.

He says we would have to go out of the world in order to not associate with them.

He then goes on to say that if there is a member of God’s church who bears the name of brother Christian,

Then you are to judge their sin rightly, and disassociate yourself from them by purging them from the church.

Other passages make clear that members of the church do this only after making every attempt to call them to repentance.

But, if Jesus is teaching in the context of the church in his parable here, He would be telling us to just let genuine believers and unrepentant unbelievers who call themselves Christian just stay in the church together with no action needed until Jesus returns,

Which would be a clear contradiction to Paul’s instructions to disassociate from them.

But, if Jesus is teaching about the reality of the people of God growing in the same world that the kingdom of the devil is growing, that is exactly the reality we experience every day.

And what Jesus and Paul are teaching line up perfectly,

It is not our job in this present age to judge and punish unbelievers ourselves, but we all live on this planet together until Christ returns.

The disciples’ expectation was that Jesus would right then and there usher in the culmination of the Kingdom of God on earth by judging and punishing all who rejected and opposed Christ.

But the reality is, there would be an age where both kingdoms exist and grow together.

I believe the truth of this passage is calling us to beware of the spiritual roller coaster that can so oftentimes characterize Christianity.

What I mean is, if you were a Christian living under Roman and Jewish persecution, you would have been tempted to think that the kingdom of the evil one is winning.

If you experienced, Christendom under Constantine, you felt the kingdom of God was winning.

You lived through the American great awakenings, the kingdom of God is winning.

You live in postmodern progressive secular society today, the kingdom of the evil one is winning.

And we are always tempted to believe that the current moment is the most important moment for the kingdom of God or the kingdom of the evil one and it all hinges on what happens right now, who gets elected right now, what the church does or fails to do right now.

Yet, Jesus gives a much more confident, peace and joy filled approach to living in this age in this world, be ready, for the end could come at anytime.

Do not be surprised by the evil, rejection, and opposition to God and His Christ.

Believe that no matter what, God wins.

Be faithful to follow Jesus today.

Humbly and joyfully receive the message of the kingdom knowing it’s culmination is coming and is guaranteed.

Do not see yourself as the world’s judge and executioner.

See yourself as an ambassador of King Jesus and His kingdom and share the message of repentance and belief in the gospel for salvation.

Do not be surprised by the growing of two opposing kingdoms now.

2. Set Your Hope On Jesus Bringing God’s Kingdom In Full In The End

While in this present age, the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the evil one are both growing and advancing in the earth,

Jesus tells his disciples to let them both grow until the harvest, and the harvest is the end of the age.

See, we find ourselves in the age between Jesus’ first and second comings.

And Jesus is telling us that this age, the way we are experiencing it today, has an expiration date.

Things are not going to go on like this forever.

At the time of God’s choosing, this age will come to an end, and Jesus will send his reapers to separate out the harvest.

Jesus says His reapers are angels.

And just as harvesters go out to the field at harvest time and separate the good portions from the chaff that is thrown away and burned,

God’s angels at the end of the age will separate out the sons of the evil one first to be burned with fire.

And they will also gather up the wheat into God’s barn, meaning they will gather up the sons and daughters of God’s kingdom, and they will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom.

In our society today, we are bombarded with all these differing categories for our identities that are seeking to shape the way we think about ourselves and others.

I am a white, conservative Christian male in my upper 30s, cisgendered, he/him, middle class, American, clergy, and the list goes on and on,

And my stereotypes, expectations, and even my character and morals are expected to be understood based on all these categorizations.

Yet, the truth is, when you and I die or Jesus returns, whichever happens first, every single soul that is and ever has been will be found in one of two categories: either righteous child of the Kingdom of their Father God, or sinning and law-breaking child of the evil one.

I’m not saying that your gender, your ethnicity, your stage of life, your socio economic status have no meaning or role to play.

God uses all those things for His glory and purposes, but what I am saying is that their is a primary and ultimate truth category for your soul that goes beyond all other categories.

That’s why Paul can write:

Galatians 3:27–28 (ESV)

27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

It’s not that those other categories don’t matter, but the ultimate category of being a child of God or a child of the evil one gives truth, instruction, meaning, and purpose to all the other categories of life and are subservient to that ultimate identity.

For from this ultimate identity comes ones’ ultimate and final destination.

Consider first the destiny of the children of the evil one.

They will be bound in bundles and burned like chaff the parable says.

Jesus, in his explanation, expounds further that the angels will gather out of the kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace.

In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Jesus speaks to the reality of hell in these verses with the phrase “being thrown in the fiery furnace” and “a place with weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

These phrases convey terrible and intolerable anguish and pain due the children of the evil one.

John Bunyan, the writer of Pilgrim’s Progress, describes hell in this way:

In hell thou shalt have nothing but a company of damned souls with an innumerable company of devils to keep company with thee. While thou art in this world, the very thought of the devil’s appearing to thee makes thy flesh to tremble and thine hair ready to stand upright on thy head. But oh, what wilt thou do when not only the supposition of the devil’s appearing but the real society of all the devils of hell will be with thee - howling, roaring and screeching in such a hideous manner that thou wilt be even at they wit’s end and ready to run stark mad again for anguish and torment. If after ten thousand years, an end should come, there would be comfort. But here is thy misery: here thou must be forever. When thou seest what an innumerable company of howling devils thou art amongst, thou shalt think this again - this is my portion forever. When thou hast been in hell so many thousand years as there are stars in the firmament or drops in the sea or sands on the seashore, yet thou hast to lie there forever. Oh, this one word - ever - how will it torment thy soul.

In contrast, the destiny of the children of God is described as the righteous shining like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.

It depicts the God’s children in the kingdom of God reflecting the radiance of God’s glory under the kind and righteous rule of their Father God.

For we were created to find all of our needs met, our desires satisfied, and our purpose fulfilled as we bask in the glory of our holy righteous Father and reflect His holiness and righteousness back to him as well as toward one another.

Psalm 16:11 ESV

11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

This is the teaching of the parable of the weeds.

Notice with me the similar teaching of the parable of the net in verses 47-50.

Matthew 13:47–50 (ESV)

47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. 48 When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Note the fish of every kind representing all people regardless of ethnicity or background. It depicts all souls.

And no one escapes being sorted into one of two categories: children of God or children of the evil one.

The separation of the evil and the righteous comes at the end of the age.

The language of the fiery furnace and the weeping and gnashing of teeth for the children of the evil one is repeated.

With such a clear distinction being made in these parables, the inescapable question we are left with is: how do you know if you are a child of God and destined for His kingdom or a child of the evil one and destined to an eternal hell?

We already saw in the parable of the sower that it is the ones who hear God’s word and receive it with understanding who bears fruit some one hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty who are the children of God.

And once again in today’s parable, Jesus ends with the words, “He who has ears, let him hear.”

And as we listen with our ears the words of these parables, we hear words and phrases from the Old Testament book of Daniel, the book that prophecies of God’s kingdom coming.

We hear about kingdom, harvest, The Son of Man, and the fiery furnace.

And in the event of the fiery furnace from Daniel, it was those who understood and perceived the truth about God that were condemned by the children of the evil one to be thrown into the fiery furnace.

But when they were thrown in by the sons of the evil one, the sons of the evil one were burned to death, while those who believed the truth about God were saved from the fiery furnace by the presence of God himself in the fire.

And the book of Matthew does not end at chapter 13 with the parables of the kingdom, but it goes on to tell of the Jesus, the Son of Man and rightful king, being crowned by the sons of the evil one with a crown of thorns, and being lifted up for all to see on a gruesome and bloody cross.

And on the cross, Jesus wept and gnashed his teeth as he took upon himself the fiery furnace of God’s wrath on himself, though He had never sinned.

And Jesus died under the weight of the punishment of sin.

And God the Father rose his son from death three days later that He might defeat sin and death and shine like the sun as the King of Kings and Lord or Lords for all eternity.

And all who believe this gospel message of the kingdom and receive King Jesus as their Lord and Savior as saved from the fires of judgment and will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.

Now, let me warn you that if trusting Jesus by receiving the message of the kingdom feels insufficient to you, and you feel you must earn or deserve your salvation in some way,

Just ask yourself, if you had to add your own work or effort to what Christ did at the cross, would that exalt his work of salvation?

No, the greatest way to exalt his work is to believe it, receive it, entrust your life and eternity to it, as He

Colossians 1:13 ESV

13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,

Have you trusted Jesus for your salvation and entrance into His kingdom?

Are you standing firm and steadfast in this age knowing that God’s kingdom will come to its full fruition, or are you constantly frustrated and overwhelmed by the presence of the kingdom of the evil one?

Are you sharing the message of the gospel of the kingdom to others understanding it is their greatest need?

Let’s pray.