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Jesus Wants to Help Us Understand the Kingdom of Heaven - Part 2
The Gospel of Matthew
Matthew 13:31-46
Sermon by Rick Crandall
(Prepared May 19, 2022)
BACKGROUND:
*Please open your Bibles to Matthew 13.
Here Jesus told a series of 8 parables to help us understand the Kingdom of Heaven.
The Lord told these simple stories to reveal spiritual truth to His followers.
But Jesus also spoke in parables to conceal these truths from hate-filled people like the scribes and Pharisees who were plotting to kill Him.
*The Lord had already worked countless miracles and fulfilled many prophecies about the coming Messiah.
Why did the Jewish elites so strongly reject Him?
One reason why was because Jesus rejected the ridiculous traditions the Pharisees had added to God's Law.
*For example, in Matthew 12:9-14 Jesus was in a synagogue with a man who had a withered hand.
The Pharisees there were trying to find a way to accuse the Lord of breaking God's Law, so they asked Jesus, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?''
And Jesus wisely replied, "What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out?
Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep?
Therefore, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.''
*"Then He said to the man, 'Stretch out your hand.'
And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other.
Then the Pharisees went out and took counsel against Him, how they might destroy Him." Luke 6:11 tells us that the Pharisees were filled with rage to the point of madness that day.
And Mark 3:6 says they "went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him."
*There were only a few thousand Pharisees in those days, but they held religious, social, and political power far greater than their numbers.
For over a hundred years they had basically been in charge of telling all the other Jews what was right and wrong.
Then this random, unschooled carpenter from Nazareth showed up and rejected their precious traditions.
They couldn't stand it!
(1)
*But there was a bigger reason why the elite Jews hated Jesus, and it's because He rightly claimed to be God.
We can find the Lord's claim many times in the New Testament.
For example, Mark 2:1-12 tells the story of Jesus healing a paralyzed man who was lowered into a crowded room by 4 friends who took him to see Jesus.
There God's Word says:
1.
And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house.
2. Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door.
And He preached the word to them.
3. Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men.
4.
And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was.
And when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.
5.
When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven you.''
6.
But some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts,
7. "Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? WHO CAN FORGIVE SINS BUT GOD ALONE?''
8.
And immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, "Why do you reason about these things in your hearts?
9. Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise, take up your bed and walk'?
10.
But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins'' He said to the paralytic,
11. "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go your way to your house.''
12.
And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything like this!''
*Who can forgive sins?
Jesus Christ can because He is God! Jesus is the eternal Son of God, who took on mortality so that He could die on the cross for our sins.
Jesus is God.
That's why our risen Savior can forgive sins.
And Colossians 2:9 confirms that "in Him (that is, in Jesus Christ) dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily."
But most of the Pharisees rejected this vital truth.
And this was the main reason for their unquenchable hatred.
*In today's Scripture, Jesus the King of Kings tells us 4 more parables about His everlasting Kingdom.
Please listen to the Lord in Matthew 13:31-46.
MESSAGE:
*I've got to tell you that I am glad the United States is not a kingdom.
Our first President, George Washington, probably could have been crowned as king of our country.
But Washington's great character kept him from making that terrible mistake.
*The problem with earthly kingdoms is the king.
So often throughout history they have been wicked and brutal tyrants.
Thank God there is a good King, a perfect King who will reign forever!
His name is Jesus Christ, and He wants to teach us about His Kingdom.
That great because the Kingdom of heaven is the only place where we can live forever.
1. AND IN TODAY'S SCRIPTURE, JESUS WANTS TO TEACH US ABOUT THE GROWTH OF HIS KINGDOM.
*We can see this growth in vs. 31-32, where Jesus told the parable of the mustard seed:
31.
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.''
*There are some very different interpretations of this parable.
But the simplest explanation is that Jesus was explaining how His Kingdom would surely grow on earth.
For 2,000 years now, this growth has been through the Lord's Church.
And the Church is a crucial part of God's Kingdom, because the Church is the Bride of Christ.
The Bible makes this truth very clear in Ephesians 5:22-33.
*But God's Church started out on earth as a tiny thing: Twelve Apostles, and about 120 men and women in total who followed King Jesus.
The Church started small, but it has grown into millions and millions of people around the world who follow the King.
And God's Kingdom on earth is still growing through His Church! (2)
*Some of the most encouraging Kingdom growth this century has happened in Communist China.
In 2014, Tom Phillips reported the good news in an article in the "UK Telegraph."
And although China is officially an atheistic country, Christianity has been rapidly growing there.
*Many in China are seeking the meaning and spiritual comfort they could not find in Communism or in business.
Purdue professor, Fenggang Yang is a leading expert on religion in China.
And he said, "By my calculations China is destined to become the largest Christian country in the world very soon.
It is going to be less than a generation.
Not many people are prepared for this dramatic change."
*In 1949, China's Protestant churches had just one million members, but in 2010, there were more than 58 million Protestant Christians in China.
Professor Yang believed that the number of Christians will grow to 160 million by 2025.
*And the professor said, "Mao thought he could eliminate religion.
He thought he had accomplished this.
It's ironic.
They didn't.
They actually failed completely."
(3)
*Since that time, the Communists have started widespread persecution against Christians in China.
And we need to pray for them.
But on a long flight last fall, I sat next to a Catholic official from Arkansas.
He was a very friendly and humble man.
We didn't debate theology.
He told me about his ministry, and I told him about mine.
Then we talked about the world situation, and he told me that in spite of the persecution in China, there is a great revival going on in both the Catholic and Protestant Churches.
That blessed my heart.
It was the most encouraging news I had heard in a long time, and that man was in a position to know.
*God's Kingdom is going to grow!
And He wants us to be a part of that growth.
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