September 16
72 Steps from Glory to Glory
Step 28: From Nain to the Second Galilean Preaching Tour Part 2
Step 28 begins His second preaching tour. This will be a time of some controversy. The sermons will be parable-based and what I call nuts-and-bolts preaching. By that, I mean Jesus will teach you step by step how to please Him with your life. The parables will confuse some. But for those willing to hear from Jesus, He will make the teaching plain. Parables are earthly stories with heavenly meanings.
- Matt.13:24-30,36-40 The Parable of the Wheat and Tares
Tares = darnel, a weed that is indistinguishable from wheat until harvest time
- The man sowing seeds represents Jesus
- The enemy is Satan; the tares are unbelievers.
- The plan is to leave the tares until harvest and then separate them. The furnace represents Hell; the barn represents Heaven.
- Not all who profess to be Christians are saved. While we can’t tell the difference, Jesus can, and He will not be fooled. “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” Matthew 7:23 NKJV
- Mark 4:26-29 The Parable of the Growing Seed
- The Mystery of the Seed. When a farmer plants a seed in the earth, it is out of his control. It either grows or it doesn’t. It is the same with the Gospel. When we share the Gospel, it is up to God to make it produce. “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.”
I Corinthians 3:6-7 NKJV
- Matt.13:31-32, Mark 4:30-32, Luke 13:18-19 The Parable of Mustard Seed
- With Jesus and His little group of followers, the Kingdom looked small and insignificant. But He changed eternity. God uses the smallest things to accomplish His purpose. “And with many other words he testified, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.” Acts 2:40-41 NKJV
- After three years, Jesus’ ministry left about a hundred people hiding in the upper room. With the coming of the Holy Spirit, this tiny ministry grew to three thousand on the first day and then exploded into all the world.
- Matt.13:33, Luke 13:20-21: The Parable of Leaven
- In most places in the Bible, leaven represents a type of evil. But here I think Jesus simply wants us to see that, like leaven transforms a loaf of bread, the Kingdom of God is going to transform the world.
“So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:11 NKJV
- Applying this to our lives. What impact can we have on the world if we rightly represent the Kingdom of God?
- Matt.13:44 The Parable of the Hidden Treasure
- Here, a man sacrifices everything he has to buy a field with a hidden treasure.
- The Kingdom of Heaven is more valuable than anything on earth. What are we willing to sacrifice for the Kingdom of Heaven?
- Matt.13:45-46 The Parable of the Pearl of Great Price
- Again, a man sacrifices everything for a valuable pearl.
- Again, it is the Kingdom of Heaven. What are you willing to sacrifice for the Kingdom of Heaven?
- This must have been an important point to Jesus for Him to repeat it.
“Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ”. Philippians 3:8 NKJV
- Matt.13:47-50 The Parable of the Dragnet
- Like the parable of the Tares and Wheat, Jesus is emphasizing that at the final judgment the wicked will be cast into Hell and the Just will be gathered into Heaven.
- Hell will be a place of wailing and gnashing of teeth.
“Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.”
II Corinthians 13:5 NKJV
- Matt. 13:51-52 The Parable of the Wise Householder
- In a house, some things that are old are very valuable. But not everything old has value. Some new things are very valuable. But not everything new has value.
- Jesus was teaching concerning the Law and old ways. Some things had great value, but some things did not.
- Concerning new teachings, some are valuable; others are not.
- Concerning the modern church. Some old things have great value; other old things are useless. Some new things have great value; other new things are useless.
- Key to remember: Let us allow the Holy Spirit to guide us into discerning the valuable from the useless. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God .” Romans 12:1-2 NKJV
Conclusion
Matt.13:10-15
When Jesus used parables as a teaching method, he was fulfilling Old Testament prophecy.
“And He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ “Make the heart of this people dull, And their ears heavy, And shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And return and be healed.””
Isaiah 6:9-10 NKJV
From The Bible
“And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.
For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.
And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive; For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.’
But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”
Matthew 13:10-17 NKJV
https://bible.com/bible/114/mat.13.10-17.NKJV
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