The Kingdom of God (2)
The Kingdom Of God • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Good morning my friends! If you are able, would you stand for the reading of God’s word. As we continue our sermon series on The Kingdom of God, we have a longer passage today, as Jesus starts his parable ministry and tells us how to understand them. I say that to warn you, that it is a longer section - so don’t feel bad if you need to be seated! No shame, just invitation to revere God and his word.
So, Today we read from Matthew 13:3-23
Then he told them many things in parables, saying, “Consider the sower who went out to sow. As he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seed fell on rocky ground where it didn’t have much soil, and it grew up quickly since the soil wasn’t deep. But when the sun came up, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it. Still other seed fell on good ground and produced fruit: some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times what was sown. Let anyone who has ears listen.”
Then the disciples came up and asked him, “Why are you speaking to them in parables?”
He answered, “Because the secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been given for you to know, but it has not been given to them. For whoever has, more will be given to him, and he will have more than enough; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. That is why I speak to them in parables, because looking they do not see, and hearing they do not listen or understand. Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says:
You will listen and listen, but never understand; you will look and look, but never perceive. For this people’s heart has grown callous; their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn back— and I would heal them.
“Blessed are your eyes because they do see, and your ears because they do hear. For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see the things you see but didn’t see them, to hear the things you hear but didn’t hear them.
“So listen to the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word about the kingdom and doesn’t understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the one sown along the path. And the one sown on rocky ground—this is one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. But he has no root and is short-lived. When distress or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he falls away. Now the one sown among the thorns—this is one who hears the word, but the worries of this age and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. But the one sown on the good ground—this is one who hears and understands the word, who does produce fruit and yields: some a hundred, some sixty, some thirty times what was sown.”
Pray with me. Go ahead and have a seat.
You know whats hard - multitasking. I like to pretend I’m good at multi-tasking. I like to pretend a lot of things. But I like to pretend to be competent, and that means juggling many things at one time. But multi-tasking, true multi-tasking has been found to be all but impossible.
I was watching a documentary on so called “Super humans” one time, where they were finding people who claimed to have super-human abilities and they were putting them to the test. And one man claimed to have super human multi tasking ability. Bold choice of a super power - I mean if I had to choose my power, that wouldn’t be one.
Any way, he claimed that he was well above the average on handling 2 or three different tasks well, like writing something at work, while having a completely different conversation on the phone. So to test it, they were going to have him drive a care through a fairly simple obstacle course, like a few cones to navigate, park and back up, etc. All while being on the phone and answering math questions.
How do you think it went?
Even for this “super-human” multi-tasker, he failed. Pretty spectacularly. Ran over cones, ummed and ahhed on the phone, I mean couldn’t do it. Not well anyway. And he was super human at it!
But for us “normies” it’s even harder! But we like to think we are different. Have you ever tried to have a conversation with your spouse or a good friend while your cellphone is out? Probably not a deep conversation. Relationship takes undivided attention, deep relationship anyway.
Now think of our Christian walk. Think about how God speaks. According to Elijah’s story in Kings, God came in a still quiet voice. Jesus, literal God-in-Flesh, didn’t show up with all the heavenly host visible with great procession for his incarnation - but in some backwater town in a stable. And the reality is most of the time people missed what God was up to. And we often still miss what God is up to.
So we can go about life thinking that Jesus isn’t king, isn’t doing things, isn’t moving his kingdom forward.
Here’s what I think - Christ did indeed initiate his Kingdom during his incarnation. He did defeat sin. He did give death an end date. He did fill his Church with his holy spirit.
But we are often to busy to discern the the kingdom of God in our lives. We don’t know how to do it. We don’t know what to look for.
And being good Christians, there are times where we read Scripture, and we are so desperate to be like JEsus, that we then just strive and strive and strive. We want to be holy, we want to do the miracles. We want a new heart - and therefore we can get exhausted, and cynical, or we end up failing, then going back to the couch, putting on a show, and giving up.
Make no mistake - Christ’s kingdom is here - but it isn’t like the kingdoms of the world. It’s different. It’s humble. And if we aren’t careful - we can miss it.
The question we are getting after today is how do we receive the Kingdom? How do we partner with Christ? What’s our job and what’s his job?
Today we are in the parable of the sower - which in the Gospel of Matthew seems to start Jesus parable teachings on the Kingdom. He uses such simple imagery that offer profound insights that have given us thousands of years of contemplation.
Why did he teach in parables? Well Jesus tells the disciples in Matthew 13:10-13
Then the disciples came up and asked him, “Why are you speaking to them in parables?” He answered, “Because the secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been given for you to know, but it has not been given to them. For whoever has, more will be given to him, and he will have more than enough; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. That is why I speak to them in parables, because looking they do not see, and hearing they do not listen or understand.
He then goes on to quote the prophet Isaiah - which talks about the people’s hearts growing callous. Meaning - they listen with their ears but not their hearts. You ever have that moment? I have. There are times where my parents told me to do something - and I heard them without listening to them.
To put it simply, he had two purposes in his parables - to reveal truths about the kingdom to his followers - and at the same time - to conceal truth from those outside. In the gospel of Matthew - many of the teachers and the leaders around him had already decided to reject Crhist - revealing their hard hearts. So they would hear the parables - and being blind - they wouldn’t hear the meaning.
However for the followers - the WOULD understand.
“Blessed are your eyes because they do see, and your ears because they do hear. For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see the things you see but didn’t see them, to hear the things you hear but didn’t hear them.
To really be clear - he talked in parables to talk about the kingdom for people who Desired Christ and his kingdom.
And this parable is pretty blatantly talking about whether the word of God will take root. Or whether we are too busy with other stuff.
Because here’s an uncomfortable truth - sometimes the Word of God, and the proclamation of the Gospel (and I mean this in a kingdom mindset), sometimes that proclamation that King Jesus is on the Throne and is offering mercy, that truth can harden people’s hearts rather than set them free.
And this is for all sorts of reasons - and Jesus talks about some of them in this parable - but one of the main ones in OUR current climate is we want to be our own king. Or we see how Jesus’ kingdom works and we find it unfair. So our hearts become hardened, as our expectations of what we think God should be like, fail to capture what he’s actually like.
Dallas Willard says that a key part of this parable is that hearing and understanding involves the mind and the will.
He writes this, quote:
“When the Word of God comes into our minds, we decide how important it is to hold on to it. That is why the first important question is, ‘What am I choosing to do with this Word that has come into my mind?’ If your will is set against the Word of God, you will get nowhere in understanding it. This parable is about how the will responds to God. - Dallas Willard, “The Scandal of the Kingdom”
This is a great quote. But as we mature, we learn to realize just how weak our wills are. Like your willpower is a muscle, and some temptations are strong. For me, one of my great temptations is ice cream. My will power is only so strong - so I know that I can’t even have it in the house. If it’s there, I WILL eat it. Even if I don’t want it… my body does, right? And my cravings for mint chocolate chip have repeatedly proven to be stronger than my will power.
Our wills are designed by God to have us rely on God. To trust him. But because of sin and the fall - our flesh is determined towards other little g gods. like comfort, money, lies, image, power. Our minds get overrun by things that are false and misleading. This makes it so difficult to hear, and receive the word of God.
In the parable of the sower, Jesus talks about four different soils. And remember - this is an agrarian society, he’s talking to the people in terms that they could relate to.
The first soil, is the seed that fell along the path. Matthew 13:4 which jesus explains in Matthew 13:19 .
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As he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them.
When anyone hears the word about the kingdom and doesn’t understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the one sown along the path.
So as the sower goes out - in context proclaiming the good news of the kingdom - some of the seeds fall along the side - and the birds, whom Jesus says is the enemy, who in one way or another is always watching, comes and snatches the Word out of the heart that received it.
Hey I don’t know if you know this - but Satan and his demons do not want you to dwell on the Word and to live in the Kingdom of God! So he’s going to constantly try to get the words of God off your heart and onto ANYTHING else. Generally he does this by telling you there is something more important to do. Or by distracting you.
I can’t read scripture in the morning because I was up late and need to sleep in. I can’t take five minutes to pray because someone desperately needs me. Waking up in a dizzy, being busy all day so you can stop and breath. Or as simple as little body aches.
I think of CS Lewis The Screwtape letters, there is a scene early in the book where a man who is working is thinking and perhaps about to conclude that God is real, but then he remembers that it is almost lunchtime and he’s hungry, so he stopped his train of thought.
Jesus is saying that the enemy is involved in the hearing that happens when the word is proclaimed. Satan doesn’t want you to hear the truth of the message of the Gospel.
And perhaps one of the ways he does this is by feeding us FALSE gospels. False sayings that are rampant in our culture: “If it feels Good, it is good!” “You do you!” “Love is Love!” these competing gospels which drown out and snatch the word.
The enemy distorts the word of God too. I think of the Prosperity Gospel, which proclaims that part of the atonement was that God want’s you to be healthy and wealthy. People can receive this word without any repentance really or humility, and therefore when hardship comes, they just give up because it wasn’t what they were sold!
Satan wants us over worked, isolated, and upset with each other. He wants us so up in our feelings, that we let them guide our lives rather than true north. Satan snatches the messages of love, grace, reconciliation, sacrifice, glorification, forgiveness and acceptance.
The second soil Jesus talks about is sown on rocky ground, Matthew 13:5-6 and Matthew 13:20-21.
Other seed fell on rocky ground where it didn’t have much soil, and it grew up quickly since the soil wasn’t deep. But when the sun came up, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away.
And the one sown on rocky ground—this is one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. But he has no root and is short-lived. When distress or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he falls away.
The soil on rocky ground doesn’t have the depth to receive the word and let it root down into the heart. So it may spring up quickly, but it doesn’t last. There is no change in the heart of hearts. Its a superficial faith.
Willard writes in one of his books that it’s a lot like the stereotypical person who may win the lottery. Immediately they are flush with cash, and over joyed. However the fast majority of lottery winners end up as bad if not worse after winning. It’s as if money they won only fueled their vices rather than transform them. The character was perhaps not ready to receive it.
That’s like this second soil. The emotional response to the kingdom of God is initially great joy, but there seems to be no true repentance, no new heart, no deep transformation - likely because they have other stuff going on that is taking up real-estate in their lives.
The Third soil Jesus talks about is sown in thorny ground, Matthew 13:7 and Matthew 13:22. Luke, in his gospel records it with some more context too.
JIMMY MAKE A SLIDE WHERE BOTH OF THESE ARE ON THE SAME SLIDE
Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it.
Now the one sown among the thorns—this is one who hears the word, but the worries of this age and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
As for the seed that fell among thorns, these are the ones who, when they have heard, go on their way and are choked with worries, riches, and pleasures of life, and produce no mature fruit.
Jesus is saying that there are thorns - worries of the world, deceitfulness of wealth, pleasures of this life, that keep us way to preoccupied. So that when the gospel is proclaimed to us, when the word falls on us - we are too worried to slow down and let it take root. All the other concerns choke out our capacity to attend to God. And it’s not that they don’t produce any fruit - but no mature fruit. It becomes unfruitful. Fascinating to me that there may be an appearance of fruitfulness before it is choked out.
Notice - it’s not wealth in and of it self - it’s the deceitfulness of wealth. the Idol that if I just had money I would be okay, happy, satisfied. And underlying that for a lot of people is if I had enough money I would be able to make myself secure.
I think the thorny soil really is represented by the word in Luke 8:14 of worries. We think that if we just worry about something enough that it will be solved. I mean hear what Matthew 6:27 what Jesus says about that.
Can any of you add one moment to his life span by worrying?
Oh but we worry. And the worries of this life, the false gods, the concerns keep us from bearing the fruit of the kingdom.
The final soil is the good ground. Matthew 13:8 and Matthew 13:23. I think it’s helpful to look at Luke’s version of this too.
JIMMY MAKE A SLIDE WHERE BOTH OF THESE ARE ON THE SAME SLIDE
Still other seed fell on good ground and produced fruit: some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times what was sown.
But the one sown on the good ground—this is one who hears and understands the word, who does produce fruit and yields: some a hundred, some sixty, some thirty times what was sown.”
But the seed in the good ground—these are the ones who, having heard the word with an honest and good heart, hold on to it and by enduring, produce fruit.
This is the ground that ends up producing and incredible amount of fruit - a supernatural amount of fruit. It’s the one who hears and understands the word. It’s the one who hears the word with an honest and good heart.
they hold on it to it. enduring. this is where we hear the word, respond to it, and act to keep in connection with it.
So this parable is saying that the word of God of the kingdom goes forth - and not just once, but ongoing as God is continuing to seek and save the lost, and to speak to us. But a huge portion of people pay no mind, or are distracted. and so the fruit of the kingdom is un able to abound.
And what is the fruit of the kingdom of God? Well think about all the stuff that is associated with life with God. the fruit of the spirit, the workings of the spirit. justice. Love. compassion. joy. forgiveness. miracles. all of that. That is the fruit of the kingdom in the lives of the good soil.
So we have to ask the question of are we seeing the fruit in our lives? As we talk about the kingdom of God, we first need to figure out how do we even receive the word of the kingdom. It’s interesting that Christ makes this his first parable on the kingdom in matthew. And it should probe us to ask ourselves what kind of soil is my heart? How am I living my life? am I ready to receive and hold on to the word with an honest and good heart.
Okay - we’ve looked at the parable in full, now we ask our question:
So What?
So What?
Last week we talked about the kingdom of God being proclaimed as the Gospel by Jesus - the Divine order of God over all things. That the church is the custodian of the kingdom. And That the kingdom brings not just salvation from hell - but new life. But how do we get it? How do we bear that fruit?
Because a lot of believers - not all - but a lot are hungry for deeper relationship with Christ, and to see his kingdom come here on earth as it is in heaven. But how?
It seems in this parable that Christ is saying that we are to have an honest and good heart. woah. Now that’s a tall order. Most of us know deep down that we are not doing all that great - though if you ask us most of the time we will say we are doing fine. But in sin, our hearts are not okay. Contrary to what disney will tell you, Scripture says in Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable—who can understand it?
So that means it’s not possible, right? We can’t cure the soil of our own heart - so does that mean it is kind of fatalistic? If our soil is hard, are we just stuck in a fruitless existence?
Notice however - that Jesus never says that hearts don’t change. Though to attempt to heal your own heart is impossible. But God is in the heart changing business.
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
We can have all the hope in the world for ourselves and others that our hearts may be made good ground. Because God is in the giving new life business!
Which is good news!
Friend - in Jesus Christ, through his life death and resurrection - you can enter into this new life - and be given a new heart. We do this by confessing proclaiming that JEsus is Lord - and believing that Christ was indeed raised up from the dead. You can, right now in faith, call on Christ to save you! And that is the entrance into the kingdom. And in the kingdom there is freedom and life.
But I can’t help but think of Galatians 5:1
For freedom, Christ set us free. Stand firm, then, and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery.
Man I love that first part. IT is for FREEDOM that Christ set us free. Amen.
But that still leaves us with this: hey keep up the work of freedom. Don’t submit to slavery again. In other words - freedom, life in the kingdom, is an ongoing battle.
You could say it this way - the power of Sin and death and satan has been broke - and yet we are still in a battle for freedom.
Christ is victorious - but there are still some birds that would love to snatch away the word of the kingdom in my life.
Christ is risen - but like i still have to pay my bills, and I’m really worried,
Christ is king - but life is really hard, and he doesn’t always seem to come through, so I still nurse this small sinful habit or addiction to feel good.
I agree with Dallas Willard in that “as disciples we need to understand that the parable of the sower applies to each of us all the time.”
It’s clear that JEsus is the sower. and through the Scriptures, and his people, and his Spirit, he’s still speaking the word of the kingdom. And what has been sown in us will produce more and more abundance as we pursue life with God in his kingdom. However, if we get caught up in the ways of the world, and we don’t attend to God’s presence - we may lose what we have heard.
So what’s our job and what’s God’s job?
We can’t make our hearts alive - that’s the role of the Spirit in salvation. We can’t make ourselves holy. 1 Corinthians 1:30 declares that it is Christ who is our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
That’s all his job that we plead with him in faith to do. We commit to prayer.
But I would argue we have a role to play in this.
Our role: Recognizing the state of our heart - and offering it to God.
We need to recognize the state of our hearts and our lives - and there is no easy button for this. We need to slow down, and in the fear and presence of God, ask him to reveal the state of our hearts. What idols are plaguing us? What sins are rampant in our lives? What worries do we refuse to submit to the cross?
But we can’t stop with just recognizing the state of our hearts. You can’t personality test your way into the kingdom of God. no. We need to be aware of ourselves, to in the words of Steve Cuss, die to ourselves.
He writes this in a chapter on anxiety, freedom, and how the gospel works:
“So many people are self-aware but still unhealthy. True transformation and therefore deeper experiences of freedom come when we move from self-awareness to dying to self to following Jesus down a path of freedom.” - Steve Cuss; Managing Leadership Anxiety
Dying to self, confession, repentance. All of this is the work we do.
And it’s also worth mentioning that we are generally quite ignorant about the state of our own hearts and minds. It takes us slowing down, but it also takes a loving, honestly, faithful community.
It’s why we say that we are Fully Formed by the Spirit in Community. The spirit does the new life. The community helps us release our idols. And while salvation, the rebirth that’s associated with our justification, our sanctification, or the process in which we are made to look more and more like Jesus is progressive - it can even be quite slow.
And working with The Spirit and with community takes intentionality, quietness, vulnerability, and desire. It takes slowing down. It takes discernment.
Our worship leads to transformation, in the words of Romans 12:1-2
Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
That’s what we are about.
And then seed of the kingdom is sown in our hearts - and fruit is abundant.
Because here is the thing - I don’t think God is stingy with his presence, goodness, and love. I don’t think he’s a stingy God withholding the benefits from us because he’s grumpy with us.
But a lot of us can become like the older brother in the parable of the prodigal son. You know this story - There is a rich father, who has two sons. One son demands his inheritance early then goes off and squanders it, and then repents, coming back to his father’s house - who is just like overjoyed that his son has returned and he throws a party, and gives him gifts.
And this makes the older brother so angry. He felt it was so unfair that his younger brother should reap the benefits of their fathers house, while he wasn’t enjoying them. He says this in Luke 15:28-29
“Then he became angry and didn’t want to go in. So his father came out and pleaded with him. But he replied to his father, ‘Look, I have been slaving many years for you, and I have never disobeyed your orders, yet you never gave me a goat so that I could celebrate with my friends.
This son has a poor view of the father - thinking he’s stingy. But note what the Father says.
“ ‘Son,’ he said to him, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ ”
Everything I have is yours.
You’re already in the house! Everything I have is yours. but most of us don’t believe that. We believe that God is withholding from us. That he isn’t speaking to us.
Friend - in love - that’s just not true. God is alive. he is speaking. he is saving. He is moving. he is working in incredible ways.
Maybe we don’t experience life in the kingdom because we are too busy fretting with the weeds, and stones in our hearts - then we need to confess those and put them to death.
But maybe we aren’t experiencing kingdom life because we don’t believe that the father wants us to. So we never ask.
We need to attune ourselves to hearing God’s word. Some of the basic disciplines are good here - prayer, Scripture, church.
When I find myself worrying and anxsious, or dealing with sin, I’ve learned from Steve Cuss to pray something like:
“Jesus died so I don’t have to ________ anymore.”
That’s a good place to start. And find a group of people to run with you. get a coach.
And let’s ask God to do what only he can do.
God would you work a miracle here. Would your kingdom come in power. Would you free us from sin and lust and pride. Would you break down the walls of bitterness and shame. Would you cast out the demons in our lives. Would you radically bless us beyond what we could ask for or imagine.
And would you make us good ground.
We have another song for us to respond. I invite you to hear the words, and then bring them before God in prayer.
