Obtaining Treasure

Matthew 13: 44-52

Let’s turn to our passage in Matthew 13:44-52. To put these passages in context we have to back up to verse 36:

Then He left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”

He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.

“As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear."  --Matthew 13:36-43

Here Jesus jumps from the harvest to the Kingdom.

Godly Growing

Mark 4:26-32, Matthew 13:33-35

Welcome! Today we look at several parables of Jesus that relate to growing. The first parable comes from Mark chapter 4.

He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.” – Mark 4:26-29

Last summer we planted several tomato plants. There was one variety we planted last year but did not plant again this year. However, at the location where we grew this variety last year, a tomato plant is growing again. What happened? Well, we had at least one tomato that was touching the ground as it grew, and bugs got in it. What we think happened is that seeds from that one fruit found their way to the ground and this year began to grow. We did even less than what the man did in this parable, and the man didn’t do much, did he? 

Unfaithfulness

Luke 12:42-48, 13:6-9

Welcome! Today we continue our series on the parables. Our passages today are both from Luke, chapter 12 verses 42 to 48 and chapter 13 verses 6 to 9. But I want to start one verse earlier, Luke 12:41. This verse occurs right after Jesus teaches another parable, one that we looked at last week about being dressed ready for service and keeping your lamps burning like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet. It concludes with a statement that you must also be ready because the Son of Man will come at a time when you do not expect Him. Anyway, here is the next verse, Luke 12:41:

Peter asked, “Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?” – Luke 12:41

I think this is a great question, not just with regards to this particular parable, but for every parable. And to be even more specific, I think the question we really want to ask is “Lord, is this parable for me? Do I need to worry about this? Or is this for other people, maybe unbelievers, or maybe leaders, or someone else?”

Readiness

Luke 12:15-21, Luke 12:35-40

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XlCcQMRM9E (4:00-7:30)

Aside from the fact that the video is cool, why did I decide to start the message with it?  Well, on Friday, I happened to read this verse (Psalm 10:6):

“… the words of the LORD are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace of clay, purified seven times.”

I underlined it in my Bible because it just brought home to me again how precious the words of Jesus are.  God tells us that we will give an account for every idle word we’ve spoken (Matthew 12:36).  Now, if we are going to give account for our words and Jesus is our perfect example, it is reasonable to conclude that His words are perfect, none of them are spoken idly.

Here we are studying through the parables of Jesus.  Reflect for a moment that each word of Jesus and each word of His parables is flawless.  It is like silver refined in a furnace.

In the video, you saw silver refined once.  The words of the Lord are flawless like silver refined seven times.  We recognize that the number seven in the Bible represents completeness.  Silver refined seven times would then be completely pure.