Title: Kingdom Bound: Kingdom Secrets (Parables) Matthew 13:1-17 Aim: The purpose for parables & the need for a receptive heart.

Transcription

1 Title: Kingdom Bound: Kingdom Secrets (Parables) Matthew 13:1-17 Aim: The purpose for parables & the need for a receptive heart. Intro: When I planted flowers in flower boxes I wanted to make sure it was good soil & there were no weeds or rocks, so I used a Miracle Grow potting soil mix that was full of nutrients, & for good measure threw in some bagged top soil. I don t exactly have a green thumb & therefore don t have any guarantee that the flowers will last, but at least they have a good start & a fighting chance. After several years of putting Miracle Grow on my tomato plants, I noticed this year that the soil seemed particularly rich. Last year was the first that I had much success, so hopefully this year will be even better. Good soil is vital to a good crop farmers & gardeners know that. Likewise, for the fruitfulness of the gospel & fruitfulness in the Christian life, the good soil of a receptive heart is vital. Theme: Kingdom Bound bound for the kingdom of God by the gracious provision of God our Father thru faith in Jesus Christ our Savior/Lord. We have a future & a hope. But also bound by the kingdom of God in that the reign of God is to mark our lives here/now. I would submit to you for our consideration today that the secrets of the kingdom are revealed to those who have receptive hearts, & the question is, what is the condition of your heart, especially in regard to the gospel & the Word of God? Matthew 13:1-7 [READ]. It had become a common occurrence that wherever Jesus went, crowds of people gathered around Him, & He taught them. If they were by water, Jesus often sat in a boat just offshore & taught. The water was a natural amplifier, which you ve probably experienced if you ve talked w/someone from/on a lake/pond. And, following Jewish custom Jesus sat while He taught. C.H. Spurgeon wrote: The teacher sat & the people stood: we should have less sleeping in congregations if this arrangement still prevailed. Matthew records that Jesus taught them many things in parables A parable is a story told to illustrate a truth. According to Strong s, it is a placing of one thing by the side of another; juxtaposition; a comparing of one thing w/another; an example by which a doctrine or precept is illustrated; a narrative, fictitious but agreeable to the laws & usages of human life, by which either the duties of men or the things of God, particularly the nature & history of God s 1

2 kingdom are figuratively portrayed; an earthly story w/a heavenly meaning. It is agreed that generally speaking a parable in Scripture has but one main point. Barclay pointed out that parables are not allegories, in which every possible detail has an inner meaning. In Mt13 Matthew records 7 parables, all relating to the kingdom of heaven (God). In all but the parable of the sower (today) Jesus prefaced the parable by saying, The kingdom of heaven is like But we know that the parable of the sower also has to do with the kingdom of God because Jesus speaks of the secrets of the kingdom right after, in answering the disciples question about why He spoke in parables. This familiar parable of the sower, which some call the parable of the soils, goes like this: A sower went out to sow. It was common practice, as David Gudzik pointed out, that in those days seed was scattered 1 st & then it was plowed into the ground. So the sower scattered seed everywhere on his land. Some of it fell on the very pathway he walked, & perhaps others used the pathway as well. The point is, the soil was packed down by the feet of those who walked on the path, so the seed did not penetrate the soil. Most likely the sower did not intend to plow that soil, & it would be hard to plow. So the seed lay out in the open, visible to birds, which would take the opportunity to eat the seed. So much for grain from those seeds. Other seeds, Jesus said, fell on rocky soil, or perhaps a rocky shelf, perhaps a seam of rock just beneath the topsoil. Could rake the seed into the ground, but there would be little room for root. The crop might spring up because of the warmth of the soil, but would soon be scorched by the sun & wither because of shallow roots which cannot feed or get water. Other seed fell among thorns, possibly not visible when the seed was sown, but these thorns would grow w/the grain & soon choke out the growth, robbing all the nutrients in the soil & drinking up the water, so the grain would die. But fortunately for the sower, in the midst of the field there was good soil as well. We might imagine that the bulk of the field was good soil, or why plant there? In the good soil, the seed could not only germinate, but grow well & produce good fruit, which I m hopeful my tomato plants will do. At the end of this parable, Jesus said, He who has ears, let him hear. That was His way of asking, Do you understand? Get it? Do you 2

3 have a receptive heart? Then Jesus disciples asked Him, Why do you speak to them in parables? What s the purpose of the parables? Vs11-13 The wd secrets is actually the wd mysterion, from which we get the wd mystery. It means hidden things, not obvious to the understanding (Strong s). David Brown wrote, The word "mysteries" in Scripture is not used in its classical sense--of religious secrets, nor yet of things incomprehensible, or in their own nature difficult to be understood--but in the sense of things of purely divine revelation. Paul wrote often about the mystery of the gospel, the divine truth revealed in the person & work of Christ. Jesus is saying, The mysteries of the kingdom have been revealed to you, but to some they have not been revealed. Brown went on to write, Parables serve the double purpose of revealing and concealing; presenting the mysteries of the kingdom to those who know and relish them in a new and attractive light; but to those who are insensible to spiritual things yielding only, as so many tales, some temporary entertainment. Barclay wrote, The parable conceals truth from those who are either too lazy to think or too blinded by prejudice to see. It puts the responsibility fairly & squarely on the individual. It reveals truth to him who desires truth; it conceals truth from him who does not wish to see the truth. Interestingly enough, the disciples needed to have the meaning of this parable explained to them, but that didn t mean they didn t have receptive hearts. Unreceptive hearts would & did walk away wondering but not really caring what the meaning of the parable was. Jesus spoke in parables to hide the truth from those who would not hear/ listen to the Holy Spirit & reveal truth to those who would. It was a matter of the heart. Jesus was saying, If you really want the truth, you will hear it, more & more. To the one who has (a receptive heart, understanding the truth) more will be given. There was much more that Jesus would reveal to His disciples/us, thru the ministry of the Holy Spirit. If we have receptive hearts, we will see/hear. But the one who doesn t have (receptive heart, understanding the truths revealed), not only will more not be given, but the understanding he has will fade, die on vine, so to speak. The Jewish religious leaders & others had an understanding of God & a relationship w/god under the law; the light of 3

4 OT Scripture shone on them. But by their rejection of Christ that revelation would fade, & they would lose the understanding they had or thought they had, because their eyes were blind, their ears deaf, & their hearts hardened. Isaiah prophesied that this would be so, & Jesus quoted Isaiah 6:9-10 (vs14-15). At least in part the blindness & deafness & hard-heartedness of the Jews as a whole is according to the Sovereign plan of God, so that we Gentiles might have the light of the gospel shone upon us & we might be grafted into the vine of God. And Scripture tells us (Rom.11) that the Jews as a whole will be grafted back in, coming to faith in Christ. Exactly how that will happen I m not sure, tho there is a surge of awakening among the Jews, even now. We ll trust God w/the details. Jesus then said to His disciples (& us who believe) vs Certainly the disciples were blessed to walk/talk w/jesus while He was on this earth. Oh the things they saw/heard! But we too are able to look back upon the cross & the empty tomb & see the mystery of life in Christ revealed. We are able, thru NT Scripture & the revelation of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, to look into/see things into which the angels long to look (I Pet.1:12). We see/understand God s saving grace thru faith. It s a matter of the heart being receptive to God. Next, Jesus explained the parable of the sower to His disciples (18-23). By a logical assumption, the sower is whoever will proclaim the truth of the Word of God, most particularly the gospel of the kingdom. From both Mark & Luke s gospels we understand that the seed sown is the Word of God, the gospel. I think it s clear that it s not the responsibility of the sower/ proclaimer to make sure the soil/heart is fertile/receptive, tho like a farmer who prepares the soil w/fertilizers & other nutrients, we can & should pray for the hearts of hearers, & by developing relationships otherwise prepare the soil of others hearts. But it s not our responsibility as to how the word is received or whether or not it bears fruit. That s 1 st & foremost up to God & dependent on the condition of the heart of those to whom we reach out. The soil in this parable represents the heart(s) of the hearer(s). The soil along the path represents a hard heart vs19. Satan is the evil one who snatches away the seed. The heart is not moved toward God at all. The soil that was rocky ground represents the hearts of those who seem to gladly receive 4

5 the word, but fail to count the cost of following Christ (vs20-21). When the going gets tough, as will happen in life, when opposition comes, the one whose faith is shallow & has no depth, withers & is burned up by the pressure/struggle. Seed sown among thorns represents the one who loves too many other things (vs22). This person claims to love Christ, but loves too many other things as well like ease in life so that when life happens (cares of this world) or success happens ( got it made don t need God) the truth is choked out, faith doesn t stand. Good soil represents those who receive truth of gospel, bank life on it, believing Christ as Savior/Lord. Such a one will be fruitful, bearing Christ s likeness/character & impacting other lives for Christ knowing Him & making Him known! Of course, that s the heart you/i should have receptive, fertile & fruitful. That brings us back to the question: what kind of soil is your heart/mine? How receptive/fertile/fruitful are you? Probably there is a sense when our hearts contain elements of all 4 soils in this parable. As David Gudzik wrote, There are bits of ourselves in all 4 soils. [As w/the wayside] sometimes we allow the Word of God no room in our lives. [Like the stony ground], sometimes we may have flashes of enthusiasm that [all too] quickly burn out. [Regarding thorns], the cares of the world & deceitfulness of riches are constantly threatening to choke out the word & our fruitfulness. [Thankfully], sometimes the word bears fruit in our lives. But, can we cultivate the kind of hearts that are like good soil, fertile & fruitful? If so, how? Again, in one sense the answer is no, we can t cultivate good soil hearts. Only God can give us new hearts & make our hearts receptive/fruitful. But in another sense, there are actions we can take in cooperation w/god. We are told in Philippians 2:12-13 to work out your own salvation w/fear & trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will & to work for His good pleasure. While only God can open our hearts to the gospel, yet we can in cooperation w/him seek to know the truth. We can/must seek to know Him. We can/should gaze upon Christ & His work. We can marvel at the love of God which sent Jesus to the cross & the power of God which raised Him from the grave. We can humbly worship God the Father who sits on the throne & Jesus Christ the Son, the lamb who was slain. I think worship must be like fertilizer 5

6 to our hearts, cultivating fertile soil, receptive hearts. And I think we can pray to know God more if we would cultivate good, fertile soil in our hearts. We can ask God to break up the hardened ground of our hearts & likewise break it up as we fall upon Him & gaze upon Him & submit to Him. Those who seek Him w/all their heart will find Him to be more than they can imagine. Regarding the hearts of others, again, only God can make a receptive heart, but working together w/him, we can be faithful to pray for the lost, by name, day by day those in family, neighborhood, at work/school, or across the world. Do you pray every day for those who need Christ? Too often we get lazy, complacent, but we must pray! And, we can love. The love of God shown thru you/me, can melt the hardest of hearts if it s meant to be melted. Intentional prayer, intentional love, intentional acts of kindness, will plow the ground as we intentionally sow the seed of the gospel in intentional witness. Bro/sis, we are kingdom bound! Let us be kingdom minded, King Jesus focused & Holy Spirit filled, that we might be about the King s business! 6