SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/8/2022 8:59 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Short intro
to “The Kingdom and the World”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
13:24-43
Message of the verses: “24 He presented another parable to
them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who
sowed good seed in his field. 25
"But while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed
tares also among the wheat, and went away. 26 “But when the wheat sprang up and
bore grain, then the tares became evident also. 27 “And the slaves of the
landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field?
How then does it have tares?’ 28 “And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’
And the slaves *said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ 29
“But he said, ‘No; lest while you are gathering up the tares, you may root up
the wheat with them. 30 ‘Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in
the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather up the
tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my
barn."’" 31 He
presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven
is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; 32 and this is
smaller than all other seeds; but when it is full grown, it is larger than
the garden plants, and becomes a tree, so that THE BIRDS OF THE AIR come and
NEST IN ITS BRANCHES." 33 He spoke another parable to them, "The
kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three pecks of
meal, until it was all leavened." 34 All these things Jesus spoke to the
multitudes in parables, and He
did not speak to them without a parable, 35 so that what was spoken
through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, "I WILL OPEN MY MOUTH IN
PARABLES; I WILL UTTER THINGS HIDDEN SINCE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD." 36
Then He left the multitudes, and went into the house. And His disciples came to
Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field." 37
And He answered and said, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of
Man, 38 and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are
the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; 39 and
the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age;
and the reapers are angels. 40 “Therefore just as the tares are gathered up and
burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. 41 "The Son of Man
will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling
blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, 42 and will cast them into the
furnace of fire; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43
“Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father.
He who has ears, let him hear.”
I can’t remember looking at so many verses that were
talked about in a single chapter of MacArthur’s commentaries. Some things we need to remember here, and the
first is that the gospel of Matthew was written to Jews, it is about the
kingdom of God and the King, the Lord Jesus Christ. The thirteenth chapter of Matthew is a major
turning point in the book as our Lord was accused in chapter twelve of doing
miracles in the power of the devil and so Jesus pretty much gave up on the
nation of Israel at that point which is why He began to speak in parables to
His audience but explaining many to His followers.
I
will now quote from John MacArthur’s commentary as he gives a short
introduction for these verses. “In the
first of the eight parables in Matthew 13, Jesus explained the four kinds of responses—three
negative and one positive—that people would make to the gospel during the
mystery form of the kingdom of heaven that is the church age, the period
between His first and second comings (vv. 3-8, 18-23), as well as through the
millennium. In the second parable the
Lord explains what happens to unbelievers during these periods of the kingdom.”
Lord
willing in our SD for tomorrow we will look at the parable of the wheat and the
tares. Please take the time to read over
the verses from this SD and also think about them as to what our Lord is
talking about.
4/8/2022 9:16 AM
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