"The Kingdom of Heaven"_Matthew 13b_Dec 12 2021

Intro

Welcome to Redemption Church

It means a lot to me that you’re with us

Your likes, and your comments, and your prayers mean so much

I’m humbled

I want to get right into this…(pray…)

If you remember

Matthew is known as the Gospel of the Messiah

Out the four gospels, it is the most structured

When you look at its structure, there are five books

We are currently in Book Three

Book One: Discipleship

Book Two: Apostleship

Book Three: The Hiding of the Revelation (11-13)

Book Four: Church Administration

Book Five: Judgement

Each book ends with a long discourse by Jesus - there are five major discourses by Jesus

We are in the midst of the third discourse - the parables of Jesus

Last week: The Parable of the Sower

Jesus gave us that parable - then he explained why he taught in parables - then he explained the parable to us

Today: The Parable of the Weeds, and several other very short parables - and then Jesus explains the Parable of the Weeds

Jesus used the parables to teach - and his parables reveal the secrets of the kingdom

But he qualified his teaching by saying that only God has given understanding to the secrets of his kingdom to those he chooses

In other words - a true understanding of the teaching of Jesus means to respond in faith - and not an academic understanding

And the very faith in God that we have comes from God - if you have faith in God, Jesus says you are blessed (v. 16)

We need to be cautious in our interpretation of these parables (or any other passage in the Bible)

First: as Jesus taught these parables, we need to be aware of the audience he was speaking to

Several times, the Bible refers to the fact that Jesus was speaking to his disciples, and to “the crowds”

Reminder: When Jesus walked the Earth, the OT Mosaic law was still very much in place

Even though the gospels are in the NT

For example, Jesus would heal people and then send them to show themselves before the priest

We now live in under the New Covenant of Grace - we now live in the age of the church, which reaches the Gentiles and the entire world

We speak in terms of discipleship, and in terms of acting as a healthy church

So it’s okay for us to take these teachings of Jesus and apply them to what our response should be today

We just need to be careful when doing so - and be careful to remember under what conditions his teachings came about

We also need to be careful in assigning everything in parables to some grandiose theological allegory

An example of this: St. Augustine…his summary of the Parable of the Good Samaritan

The man who was beaten = Adam

The robbers = the devil & his demons

The priest = the OT Levitical priesthood

The good Samaritan = Christ

The animal that carried the man = incarnation of Christ

The inn = the church

The innkeeper = the Apostle Paul!

It’s perfectly okay to come away with an application to any given passage in the Bible - as long as we don’t miss the true meaning of the text:

Who wrote the passage and who is doing the speaking?

Who was the original audience - Matthew: Jewish audience

What is the literary form? (Specifically, a parable within one of the gospels)

Jesus taught in parables to the crowds - but to the disciples, he explained what they meant

He explained the meaning of the Parable of the Sower - and today: The Parable of the Weeds

Jesus did this all under the Mosaic Law - but his life and his death and resurrection fulfilled the Law and led to the Dispensation of Grace we now enjoy

Further - his disciples were the ones who helped start The Church Age at Pentecost - and we are still part of that Church which has been handed down through the ages

It’s not a stretch for us to take away meaningful applications from these parables - and apply them to our lives today

If there’s no application, then we’re just marveling at interesting stories

Here’s the Parable of the Weeds - we’re in Matthew 13 read with me, starting in verse 24

Matthew 13:24–30 ESV

He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 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?’ 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?’ But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 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.” ’ ”

Recap:

So in this parable, a man sows good seed in his field

But the enemy comes while the servants are sleeping and plants weeds among the wheat - and then the enemy takes off

So then the wheat grows up and produces grain - but there’s also weeds among the wheat!

So the servants go their master and say, “I thought you planted wheat!! What’s up with these weeds”

And the master replies, “Oh yeah, that looks like the work of the enemy”

And the servants are like, “So do you want us to go out and gather the weeds to get rid of them”

And the master says, “You better not do that now - you might accidentally gather up some wheat - just let everything mature until the harvest - then I’ll have the reapers gather the weeds first and burn it. Then they’ll gather the wheat and put it in my barn.”

And just like in the Parable of the Sower, Jesus explains to his disciples what is the meaning of this parable:

He says that in this parable, the sower is the Son of Man (himself)

The field represents the world - and the good seed represents the sons of the kingdom

The weeds are the sons of the evil one

The enemy is the devil

Clear enough so far?

This parable related to the people back then, but it also relates to us

We are the sons of the kingdom - who were planted by Jesus, by his grace

We now live in this world - but we also live among non-believers who are under the authority of the devil

This is our current status

But then Jesus includes future prophecy, which we have yet to see

Look with me, beginning at verse 39:

English Standard Version Chapter 13

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.

Last week, we discovered the sower was us - as we sow the gospel into others

This parable is different - the sower is Christ! Notice the seed is “good seed” and that seed is us!

We are the “sons of the kingdom”

Remember that Jesus taught them what his kingdom was like - and what it will be like

The church is part of that kingdom - but it’s more accurate for Jesus to teach on his kingdom and not the “church” for a couple of reasons:

He had yet to establish his church

For Jesus to refer to the “kingdom of heaven” is very on point - it only includes the ones who are faithful and righteous - those who are the sons of the kingdom

And we are only righteous because of our faith in him through grace - it’s all his righteousness he gave us

Only the faithful are part of this kingdom

The church is part of that kingdom - but not everyone who sits in a church pew is part of God’s kingdom

That’s why it’s better for him to teach on the “kingdom of heaven,” rather than say church

Just because you’re a member of a church - doesn’t mean you have faith is Jesus

If you have faith in Jesus you are part of his kingdom and you’ll obey his command to be part of his church

But even his true church has people in it who are not faithful - only God knows

Church doesn’t get you saved - only by having faith in the blood of Jesus saves you

Part of this parable is true right now - part of it has yet to be fulfilled

The non-believers will be thrown into the lake of fire - and the believers in Jesus will rest for all eternity in heaven

So, the picture is of us right now in the world - the righteous, among the weeds

That’s the present picture - we are in the world - we are the sons of the kingdom - we are the righteous

And yet, there are weeds all around us

The question is - what do we do with this parable?

There is no imperative in this teaching - I see nothing in which he’s explicitly instructing us to do something

It merely sets the scene - we are in the world among the “weeds:” - we’re among the non-Christians - those who have not placed their faith in Jesus

BTW, there is nothing derogatory about Jesus calling them “weeds” - after all, this is a parable about a field and a sower who plants things

“Weeds” is a spiritual assessment

So what do we do with this parable?

Here we are - in the world’s field - Jesus planted us here as his “good seed”

And we are among weeds - those who have no faith in Jesus

First - there are two mistakes the church can make from this parable:

1.) We try to live far away from the weed - that we completely separate any association from weeds...

2.) We carelessly live too close to the weeds - in order to please them, we try and look like the weeds...

Think of last week’s parable - the Parable of the Sower

Here’s the quick summary:

We are the sowers - who spread the good news of Jesus

The seeds of the gospel fall on various soils - some are bad soils, but some of the seeds fall on good soil

The seeds on good soil grow up and produce more sowers who, in turn, share the gospel with more people

And so on

Do you suppose that maybe it’s not too much of a stretch to imagine that the “sons of the kingdom” in the world probably need to influence and share their faith with the “sons of the evil one”?

Why else are we in the same field?

Can I suggest that we need to sow seeds of the gospel to the “sons of the evil one”?

And that we need to show some excitement in doing so?

Let me ask - is God’s kingdom something to get excited about?

God’s kingdom is amazing!

Do you believe that?

Look how Jesus described his own kingdom - look at two of the shortest parables in the Bible - verses 44-46

Matthew 13:44–46 ESV

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

Let me ask: Do you believe that?

Do these parables describe you?

When you think of being part of God’s kingdom, does it stir you like this?

Are you like that man who found hidden treasure in the field - and you know it’s so valuable, that you go and give up everything to buy the whole field - because of the value of that treasure??

Are you like that merchant, an expert in trading pearls - and you found a pearl so valuable, you change your whole life for it because of its value?

Do you see God’s kingdom like that treasure, or that pearl?

Did you once, and now it’s like no big deal?

Have you become numb to the true value of God’s kingdom?

You go to church - go through the motions, etc

You get an opportunity to share about God’s kingdom - and you act like you’re selling some old books at a garage sale??

We’ve been saved!!

We’re new creatures in Christ!

The world of weeds should be coming to us because they’re so curious about our excitement

Hebrews 11:8–10 ESV

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

Do you have that kind of faith - do you look forward to that city waiting for us?

Can you feel the excitement in these kingdom parables? It’s like knowing the lottery numbers ahead of time!

There’s no way we can lose!

We have a great gift! We are part of God’s kingdom

That’s why the gospel is so sweet! We get to spend eternity in heaven - and our inheritance is the Lord of the universe!

Get excited!

And yet I hear Christians say:

You wouldn’t want to learn about becoming a Christian, would you?

Put your faith in Jesus so you can be like me

Stop that!

Or worse, their message is:

You’re going to hell because you’re a sinner

How can we not be excited for the Lord when we know where we’re going?

Church, you need to be heaven minded, because we’re all heaven bound

Listen to how Jesus describes it - if you were paying attention

First, he says the angels will gather up all the weeds and throw them into the fiery furnace - and in case you’re tempted to think your eternity will be oblivion - he says:

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

You don’t do that in nothingness

When you die - you’ll either experience heaven or hell

There is no oblivion

But then he says this in verse 43 - look at it with me:

“Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of the Father!”

Isn’t that wonderful? Did you know it says that in the Bible?

It says that nowhere else in the Bible - that we will shine like the sun in the Father’s kingdom

But we need to get excited now!

(Illustration:)

Growing up in SoCal in the 60s and 70s 15 mins from Disneyland

What do you suppose is the greatest ride at Disneyland?

The greatest ride at Disneyland is...the tram ride from the parking lot to the main entrance...

The worst ride is the tram ride at midnight from the exit back to the parking lot...

Talk about seeing the difference in people’s faces!

The first tram ride is full of happiness and expectation

The last tram ride - everyone is exhausted - they’re legs hurt -

Parents have been carrying a sleeping toddler on their shoulder for the past two hours - and they can’t wait to find their car and drive to their hotel, and crash for the night

Right now, we’re on that tram ride - riding towards the front entrance to heaven

The world is watching you on the tram ride

Every now and then, they’ll ask, “Hey, where are you going?”

What are you going to tell them? And…is there excitement on your face?

You’re standing in the field with weeds

They’re going to hell

But you will shine like the sun in the kingdom of the Father

And they have the opportunity to go where you’re going

Are you prepared to plant the seed of the Gospel?

Are you prepared to tell them it is good news - because it’s such good news in your life?

(Pray…)