CHRISTMAS EVE NEW YEARS EVE

Hello Richard I have passed on the details for Calvary Westminster, and I will certainly give your Love to Alwyn after Sunday service, God has greatly used you and Metroto save souls ﾊ .Even translated from Hebrew or Greek into English and then transmitted over the internet ﾊ the power to save is not lost. My testimony is faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. We have never met yet your ministry at Metro has led me and Sarah to the Lord, we will be praying for your ministry that many more will get to hear the word in these last days.

Matthew 13:24-43 The Kingdom of Heaven is Like….

In this chapter we find Jesus teaching His disciples about what His Kingdom is like…. He does this by way of a series of PARABLES.

REMEMBER - A Parable has been described as an Earthly Story with a Heavenly meaning.

Jesus took EVERY DAY things - things that people could easily relate to - and used them to help His listeners understand heavenly things.

The chapter began with the Parable of the Sower and the Soils in which Jesus

USED 3 common earthly things

THE SEED….. THE SOWER….. THE SOIL

To Explain the realities of proclaiming and the Word…. What is happening as you Share God's Word with others.

To Explain the power/effectiveness of God's Word.

To Explain that the outward RESPONSES to the Word were related to the CONDITION of the heart.

We closed our study of that parable by saying that when Satan fails in his attempt to thwart the work of the Word of God, he has other ways of attacking God’s work and God’s Word.

In the next three parables Jesus will

1.) Reveal the other wiles and devices of Satan

2Cor. 2.11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

2.) Show us that Satan is primarily an imitator:

> He plants false Christians

> He encourages a false growth

> He introduces false doctrine.

(Mat 13:24-43 NKJV) Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; {25} "but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. {26} "But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. {27} "So the servants of the owner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?' {28} "He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, 'Do you want us then to go and gather them up?' {29} "But he said, 'No,

lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. {30} 'Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn."' "(Mat 13:36-43 NKJV) Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field." {37} He answered and said to them: "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. {38} "The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom,

but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. {39} "The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. {40} "Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. {41} "The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, {42} "and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. {43} "Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

THE PARABLE TEACHES that we must beware of Satan’s counterfeits.

2 Cor. 11:26 He has counterfeit Christians

Gal. 1:6-9 They believe a counterfeit Gospel

Rom. 10:1-3 He encourages a counterfeit righteousness

Rev. 2:9 He has a counterfeit church

2 Thes. 2:1-12 At the end of the age, he will produce a counterfeit Christ

KEY OBSERVATION #1 - It is when God’s people go to sleep that Satan works.

In order to OPPOSE and EXPOSE Satan and his lies we can NOT afford to fall asleep at the wheel.

Rom. 13.11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.

1Pet. 4.7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.

1Pet. 5.8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

KEY OBSERVATION #2 - Among God's people, there may be some who are not genuine Christians…. And they are SOWN there as a means of corrupting the GOOD FRUIT of the GOOD SEED.

Our task is not to pull up the false, but to plant the true.

We must sow the Word of God and bear fruit in the place where He has planted us.

KEY OBSERVATION #3 - God deals with the tares.

NOTE WELL: It is God's job to separate the TARES from the WHEAT on the day of Judgment…. God will gather them together and burn them.

(Mat 13:31-32 NKJV) Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, {32} "which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches."

INSIGHT: In the Middle East, the mustard seed symbolizes something small and insignificant.

It produces a large plant, but not a “tree” in the strictest sense.

However, the plant is large enough for birds to sit in the branches.

Since Jesus did not explain this parable, we must use what He did explain in the other parables to find its meaning.

The birds in the Parable of the Sower represented Satan (Matt. 13:19).

Passages like Daniel 4:12 and Ezekiel 17:23 indicate that a tree is a symbol of a world power.

KEY INSIGHT: This parable is all about an abnormal growth… one that makes it possible for Satan to work in it.

Man-made growth may look like kingdom success, but in reality it becomes the nesting place for the work of the devil.

(Mat 13:33 NKJV) Another parable He spoke to them: "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened."

Some have regarded this parable as picture of the kingdom of God working its way through the whole world.

REMEMBER - Jesus was using EATHLY THINGS… things FAMILIAR to them to teach HEAVENLY TRUTH.

KEY INSIGHT: three measures of meal was a very familiar thing to the Jews!

three measures of meal was the exact amount customarily used in a grain offering to God

leaven had absolutely no place in a grain offering to the Lord

Throughout the Bible, leaven is a symbol of evil.

It had to be removed from the Jewish homes during Passover (Ex. 12:15-19; 13:7).

EXAMPLE: When we were in Israel at Passover we always looked for Non-Kosher Restaurants just to get unleavened bread…. Some of our favorite eating places were closed because the Food vendors HAD TO CLEANSE their premises from any leaven.

The idea of hiding leaven in three measures of meal would have offended any observant Jew.

THUS - making the growth of the leaven a picture of the spread of the Gospel throughout the world would violate the meaning of this important symbol of leaven.

This certainly isn't a picture of the church gradually influencing the whole world for good.

Jesus used leaven to picture

hypocrisy (Luke 12:1)

false teaching (Matt. 16:6-12)

worldly compromise (Matt. 22:16-21).

Paul used leaven to picture

carnality in the church (1 Cor. 5:6-8)

false doctrine (Gal. 5:9).

Sin is like leaven (yeast) - It quietly grows, and corrupts by way of ROTTING… and it “puffs up” (1 Cor. 4:18-19; 5:2; 8:1).

CRUCIAL POINT: While the mustard seed illustrates the false outward expansion of the kingdom, the leaven illustrates the inward DECAY of the Church by way of false doctrine and false living.

Satan has worked hard to introduce false doctrine and false living into the ministry of the Word of God.

From the very early days of the church, true believers have battled false doctrine and hypocrisy.

TRAGICALLY - some churches and schools that were once true to the Word have turned from the truth to fables…. In order generate false growth or accommodate wrong living

1 Thes. 5:21 “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good”

Phil. 1.10 That ye may approve things that are excellent;

CRUCIAL OBSERVATION: The kingdom of heaven began with the sowing of the Word of God in the hearts of men.

Much of the seed did not bear fruit; only some was fruitful.

Satan has opposed the work of God by sowing counterfeit Christians, by encouraging a false growth, and by introducing false doctrine.

It would seem that Satan is winning! But the test is at the end of the age, not during the age.

(Mat 13:44-46 NKJV) "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Ever find a treasure… in an old attic….at a garage sale… pants pocket?

Treasures are still found:

A Shepherd Boy throwing rocks into a cave in search of one of his sheep discovered the “Dead Sea Scrolls!! (2000 yr. old scrolls)

A Diver off the Florida coast located a sunken 17th century Spanish vessel filled w/Silver & Gold!

A Farmer plowing his field in Suffolk, England struck a container which held Silver dishes dating from Roman times

INSIGHT: The common interpretation of this parable is that the sinner finds Christ and gives up all that he possesses to gain Him and be saved.

But this interpretation has several problems.

1.) Jesus Christ is not a hidden treasure.

He is perhaps the best-known Person of history.

2.) In the second place, the sinner cannot “find Christ” for he is blind.

He is LOST and needs to be FOUND (Luke 19:10).

3.) And no sinner could ever purchase salvation!

KEY OBSERVATION: Please note that the man in the parable did not purchase the treasure; he purchased the whole field.

KEY QUESTION: WHO is it that parted with all that He had in order to purchase this field… the world

WE MUST ALWAYS interpret Scripture WITH Scripture.

Phil.2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

made himself of no reputation = Emptied Himself

Divested Himself, not of His divinity, but of the expression of His Divine Glory

John 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

2Cor. 8.9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be

rich.

KEY QUESTION: What does the field represent?

WE KNOW THAT “The field is the world” (Matt. 13:38).

KEY QUESTION: WHY would Jesus want to purchase the World?

If He wanted another planet He could have CREATED one from nothing… just as He did in the beginning

NO - He wanted to purchase planet earth for the treasure that is in it!

KEY QUESTION: WHAT is the treasure?

YOU AND ME!

Rev. 5:1-14 And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. (Title Deed to the Earth) 2 Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?” 3 And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it. 4 So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it. 5 But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold,

the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.” 6 And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain…... 7 Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. 8 Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, 10 And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.” 11

11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!”

{45} "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, {46} "who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

INSIGHT: Many interpret this pearl to be Jesus Christ and His salvation.

But the same objections apply to this interpretation as applied to the previous parable.

The sinner does not find Christ

Christ finds the sinner

No sinner is able to pay for salvation, even though he sells all that he has.

I see the Pearl as the Church and the Merchant as the Lord!

KEY INSIGHT: The Pearl is not found mentioned in the O.T.

BUT - in the first century the pearl had become a status symbol of wealthy people!

A Merchant - was a superior person who knew the value of Jewels….. Who sought them as the business of His life!

Thoughtful….. Earnest…. Anxious to get the best pearls!

CRUCIAL APPLICATION: This pearl was not found by accident

It was the result of an intelligent and diligent search!

To find them was the object of His labors:

A Pearl - a great picture of the Believer (individually) and Church (corporately)

It begins as nothing more than an irritating grain of sand stuck in the shell of an Oyster.

In and of itself…. Alone…. the grain of Sand is

Useless…. Worthless…. An Irritant

A PERFECT picture of YOU and ME outside of Christ!

The Oyster continually surrounds that grain of sand with a crystalline substance called Nacre which hardens over the years.

So too - the BLOOD OF JESUS continually covers us

He is continuously secreting His Love over you/me individually…. His Church corporately!

It is the power of His cleansing blood that causes the us…. His Church to be transformed

Giving us a Beautiful White Luster until the Dirty Grain is no longer recognizable!

JESUS - The Merchant

Found you/me!

Gave His All for you/me!

Bought you/me w/ an incredible price!

Acts 20.28 Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.1Pet. 1.18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,

KEY INSIGHT: The pearl represents the church.

Unlike most other gems, the pearl is a unity—it cannot be carved like a diamond or emerald.

The church is a unity (Eph 4:4 NKJV) There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling;

Like a pearl, the church is the product of suffering.

Christ died for the church (Eph. 5:25) and His suffering on the cross made possible her birth.

A pearl grows gradually

The church grows gradually as the Spirit convicts and converts sinners.

No one can see the making of the pearl, for it is hidden in the shell of the oyster under the waters.

No one can see the growth of His church in the world.

The church is among the nations today (waters in the Bible represent nations, Dan. 7:1-3; Rev. 13:1; 17:15) and one day will be revealed in its beauty.

KEY POINT: In spite of Satan’s subtle working in this world, Christ is forming His church.

He sold all that He had to purchase His church, and nothing Satan can do will cause Him to fail.

Though there are many local churches

There is but one Church

A pearl of great price