PT-1 "The Purpose: To Reveal and to Conceal" (Matt. 13:10-17)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/21/2022 9:49 AM

 

My Worship Time                                    Focus:  PT-1 “The Purpose: To Reveal and to Conceal”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                              Reference:  Matthew 13:10-17

 

            Message of the verses:  “10 And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?" 11 And He answered and said to them, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. 12 “For whoever has, to him shall more be given, and he shall have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. 13 “Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 “And in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘You will keep on hearing, but will not understand; and you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive; 15 for the heart of this people has become dull, and with their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes unless they \should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and return, and I should heal them.’ 16 “But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. 17 "For truly 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.”

 

            Now as I look at what the disciples asked Jesus it strikes me that they knew what a parable was, as we have mentioned that the Greek word for parable is used some 45 times in the Septuagint, the Old Testament written in the Greek language.  They wondered why it was that Jesus was not giving the meaning of this parable and so Jesus explains why.  It is as if they were saying to Jesus “Why do you bother saying anything to them at all, if they can’t understand it?” I suppose that this was a good question, and like the disciples we will soon find out the answer.

 

            So it was at this point that Jesus gives the twofold reason or in our case answer, for why He was speaking in parables.  First to reveal meaning to those who receive Him and second, to conceal meaning from those who do not, and I suppose that this is still true today for people who do not belong to Christ when they try to understand the Bible.  Jesus answered and said to them, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.”  Now the words “to you” speak of those who believe in Jesus.  We have to put this into prospective as we have spent almost three months looking at Matthew chapter 12 and we found out that the Pharisees and I suppose the scribes too, had just committed the unpardonable sin which meant they could never be saved, and so why give out the truth anymore when it would do them no good. 

 

            John MacArthur writes “Mysteries does not refer to stories such as those found in modern mystery novels, whose complex plot and unexpected situations pique [grab] the curiosity of the reader. In an ancient world a mystery was a sacred secret known only to initiates and sometimes only to upper level religionists.  They system of mystery religions began in ancient Babylon and spread in various forms to every part of the civilized world.  An influential Greek philosophical system of New Testament times was called Gnosticism, a name derived from gnosis, which means knowledge.  Gnostics considered themselves the ones ‘in the know’ as far as philosophical matters were concerned.”  I suppose today one could think of the Masons is a similar vein as Gnosticism, as one moves up levels in that system they receive more information.

 

            I want to show you a verse from Paul’s writing in 1^st Corinthians which will show us what the word mystery means in Scriptures.  1Co 15:51 “Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed.” 

 

From a derivative of muo (to shut the mouth);

1) hidden thing, secret, mystery

1a) generally mysteries, religious secrets, confided only to the initiated and not to ordinary mortals

1b) a hidden or secret thing, not obvious to the understanding

1c) a hidden purpose or counsel

1c1) secret will

1c1a) of men

1c1b) of God: the secret counsels which govern God in dealing with the righteous, which are hidden from ungodly and wicked men but plain to the godly

2) in rabbinic writings, it denotes the mystic or hidden sense

2a) of an OT saying

2b) of an image or form seen in a vision

2c) of a dream

 

            The mystery that Paul was talking about in 1 Corinthians is what is called the rapture of the church.  I have mentioned that the church is not mentioned in the Old Testament and also once the Jews committed the unpardonable sin in Matthew 12 that in effect, temporarily Jesus was done with Israel as they were actually put aside, something that Paul writes about in Romans 9-11.  We have mentioned that Jesus is speaking about the church in these parables that He is speaking of in Matthew 13 and so in that sense the church is a mystery.  I have heard from I think it was Hal Lindsey many years ago when he gave the definition of the word mystery as far as in the Word of God.  “Something that was not revealed in the Old Testament but is not revealed in the New Testament.”  I think when one thinks about the church, and then one thinks about how the church age will end, (the rapture), that the biblical meaning for mystery can be seen.

 

            Lord willing I will quote from John MacArthur who writes more about this word mystery as we begin our next SD.

 

3/21/2022 10:35 AM

 

PT-2 "The Parable: The Sower" (Matt. 13:3b-9)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/20/2022 8:16 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                            Focus:  PT-2 “The Parable:  The Sower”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                      Reference:  Matt. 12:3b-9

 

            Message of the verses:  “saying, "Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4 and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 “And others fell upon the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. 6 “But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7 “And others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. 8 "And others fell on the good soil, and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. 9 “He who has ears, let him hear.’”

 

            We want to finish looking at the seeds that fell on the rocky soil as we begin this SD.  It is true that for a brief period of time that these seeds look healthier and hardier than those in the good soil, and that is because more of them showed above ground and they grew much faster.  Jesus then points out “But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.”  It was the lack of roots that was what prevented the plants from reaching and absorbing moisture or nourishment that is essential for proper growth.  It was after the sun rose in the morning that the plants that looked so promising were scorched and then they quickly withered away.

 

            Now we want to move onto the third type of ground on which the seeds fell and that was infested with thorns.  It happened after the ground was cultivated, that it looked perfectly good, however when the grain began to sprout, so did the thorns.  The tough, thistle-bearing weeds came up and chocked…out the good plants by taking most of the space, moisture, and also the nourishment, along with the sunlight for themselves. 

 

            Next the fourth type of ground on which the seeds fell was the good soil.  This soil was away from the path and was loose and soft.  It had sufficient depth to support the good plants and it was free of weeds.  Now it was because of those favorable conditions, it yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.

 

            John MacArthur writes “In Palestine during New Testament times the average ratio of harvest grain seeds to those that were planted is said to have been less than eight to one.  Even tenfold crop would have been well above average; and the yields of which Jesus speaks were truly phenomenal.

            “At the end of this unexplained parable, Jesus said He who has ears, let him hear.  That is so to say, ‘If you can understand it, then understand it.’  Jesus was not mocking His hearers but was rather pointing out to them that they would need more than their own human understanding to interpret the meaning.  He may have been giving an invitation to those in the multitudes  who were serious about following Him to come to Him and ask for an explanation, as the disciples were about to do.  Otherwise, they would not have ears to hear what He was really saying.

            “Only those who accept the King can understand the King and profit from His teaching and lordship.  To all others His teaching is meaningless riddles.”

 

3/20/2022 8:38 AM

PT-1 "The Parable: The Sower" (Matt. 13:3b-9)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/19/2022 9:22 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                             Focus:  PT-1 “The Parable: The Sower”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Matthew 13:3b-9

 

            Message of the verses:  “saying, "Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4 and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 “And others fell upon the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. 6 “But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7 “And others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. 8 “And others fell on the good soil, and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. 9 “He who has ears, let him hear.’”

 

            It is entirely possible that as Jesus was telling this parable that the people could look around and see this very thing happening, seeing a man sowing seed.  If they did not see this they certainly knew that just what the Lord was talking about, as this would have been very familiar to them.  A man would have his seed bag slung over his shoulder as he went out to sow was a common and vivid image.  The man would walk up and down the furrows of his field as he sowed seed while walking.  He would repeatedly reach into his seed bag for a handful of seed to cast on either side as he walked.

 

            Jesus speaks of various kinds of ground that the seed would fall on and this was familiar to those listening to Him.  Things were much different than they are today as machines that tractors pull plant seeds, however when this happened in our Lord’s day while on earth it was done as we have talked about and so the seed would fall on different places as some would fall on the road, some fall beside the road as this kind of broadcasting of the seeds was certainly not as precise as it is today.  John MacArthur writes “Galilee region, was crisscrossed with fields, and read here refers primarily to the narrow paths that separated one field from another.  Farmers used the paths to walk between the fields, and travelers walked on them as they went from one part of the country to another.  It was along such a road through a grain field that Jesus and His disciples were traveling one Sabbath as they picked grain to eat (Matt. 12:1).”

 

            As we think about this description we can imagine that the soil that was on and beside the road would not have been tilled, but would have been packed down hard by the walking, and this prevented any seeds that happened to fall on it from penetrating and taking root.  Not it was because those seeds were exposed and easily accessible that the birds came and ate them up as soon as the farmer got a ways away from them.  The seed that was not eaten by the birds would have been walked on or “trampled under foot” as Luke explains in Luke 8:5.  We can imagine that the birds would have been following the farmers as they were broadcasting their seeds.

 

            Now we want to look at the second type of ground on which some of the seed would have fallen, and Jesus refers to it as rocky places, where they did not have much soul.  Rocky does not actually refer to loose rocks, because the farmer would always remove all rocks, sticks, and other such objects from his field before he began to plant the seeds.  This rather refers to underlying beds of soil rock deeper than the plow reached, and they were mostly limestone, which did not have much soil that was covering the rocks.  The seeds that would fall on this type of ground would immediately…spring up, because they had no depth of soil.  Now when seeds begin to germinate, its roots could not penetrate the rock that was just below the surface of the soil and so the little plant would instead start to spring up above the ground much faster than they normally would as they would first of all go deeper into the soil so that they would have a good foundation so when winds blew that they would have a good root system in order to not fall down like those that fell in the rocky soil. 

 

            Lord willing we will talk more about this type of soil as we begin our next SD.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Now as I compare this type of soil to me and to what I learn from the Word of God I realize that my knowledge of God’s word, the deeper I know about it will take me through troubled times when they come.

 

My Steps of Faith For Today:  I trust that the Lord will continue to teach me as I study His Word each and every day.

 

3/19/2022 9:53 AM

The Plan: To Speak in Parables" (Matt. 13:3a)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/18/2022 10:26 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                         Focus:  “The Plan:  To Speak in Parables”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 13:3a

 

            Message of the verse:  “And He spoke many things to them in parables,”

 

            It was on this occasion and on most future occasions that Jesus spoke many things to the, that is the multitudes, v-2, in parables, and only in parables as seen in verse 34 “All these things Jesus spoke to the multitudes in parables, and He did not speak to them without a parable.”  Jesus did not explain their meaning to the multitudes but He only explained it to the disciples as we will see when we get to verses 10-11, 18, 36; and also it can be seen in Mark 4:34 “and He did not speak to them without a parable; but He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples.”

 

            John MacArthur writes “Parabole (parable) is a compound word made up of a form of the verb ballo (to throw; lay or place) and the prefix para (meaning alongside of).  The idea is that of placing, or laying, something alongside of something else for the purpose of comparison.  A spiritual or moral truth would often be expressed by laying it alongside, so to speak, a physical example that could be more easily understood.  A common, observable object or practice was used to illustrate a subjective truth or principle.  That which was well known was laid alongside that which was not known or understood in order to explain it.  The known elucidated unknown.  The parable was a common form of Jewish teaching, and the term is found some forty-five times in the Septuagint, the Greek Old Testament.”

 

            In our Lord’s earlier teaching, He used many graphic analogies to illustrate divine truth.  He had spoken of believers as being salt and light in the world as seen in Matt. 5:13-16, and of their following the example of the birds and lilies in not being anxious about the necessities of life as seen in 6:26-30, and then of building their lives on the solid rock of God’s Word rather than the insecure sand of what was man’s philosophy as seen in Matthew 7:24-27.  We could say that these were what we could call embryonic parables, but their meaning was clear in the context of Jesus teaching which is unlike the parables we will see in this 13^th chapter of Matthew. 

 

            MacArthur writes “Teaching through parables and other figurative means is effective because it helps make abstract truth more concrete, more interesting, easier to remember, and easier to apply to life.  When a truth is externalized in the figures of a parable, the internalizing of moral and spiritual meaning is much easier.”

 

            Here is what we will be looking at as we look at a series of parables in chapter 13, and that is that Jesus uses such familiar figures as soil, seed, birds, thorns, rocks, sun, wheat, tares, mustard seed, leaven, hidden treasure, and even a pearl to bring about spiritual truth once they are explained to His disciples so that they and also us can understand them.  However in these particular parables the truth is not made clear because the basic story tells nothing but the literal account, without presenting moral or spiritual truth as MacArthur writes.  “It was only to His disciples that Jesus explained what the soil, the seed, the thorns, and other figures represent.  And an unexplained parable was nothing but an impossible riddle, whose meaning could only be guessed at.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am looking forward to better understand these parables which are actually prophetic stories about the church age, which is also called the mysterious age.  In the Bible the word mystery means something that has not been known but now is explained, which is what the church age is, despite what some detonations believe.  There is nothing spoken of about the church age in the Old Testament as far as prophesying that it would happen.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I trust that the Lord will be with my wife and I in a special way as it is her birthday today.

 

3/18/2022 10:54 AM

 

The Place: The Seashore

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/17/2022 8:56 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                    Focus:  “The Place:  The Seashore”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 13:1-2

 

            Message of the verse:  “1 On that day Jesus went out of the house, and was sitting by the sea. 2  And great multitudes gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole multitude was standing on the beach.”

 

            I have to say that as I was listening to John MacArthur’s sermon, the second one on the introduction to Matthew chapter thirteen that I really liked how he brought things out of this verse that I don’t think that I would have ever thought of, but then that is why I listen to his sermons and read his commentaries.

 

            Now the first thing that we want to talk about is that day.  This refers to the day on which Jesus’ mother and brothers came looking for him as seen in Matthew 12:46-47.  We remember that we thought that the probably came to persuade Him to stop the preaching and teaching they knew could cost Him His life, which if finally did, and at that time His family would have realized that was why He came.  Now it was on this day that Jesus had healed many people of various unnamed diseases, which explained the true character of the promised Messiah, as He healed and cleansed the blind and dumb demoniac, with which Jesus would tell them after they had accused Him of doing it with the power of Satan that they had just gone to far and thus had committed the unpardonable sin.  It was also at this time the Jesus warned them against the deceptive danger of moral reform without having a spiritual rebirth.  We spent a lot of time looking at chapter twelve and this was just a few things that we learned from that long and very important chapter as it marked the turn in the ministry of our Lord as He would pretty much give up on Israel and as we have talked about He would then speak to them in parables and only explain these parables to the ones who belonged to Him.

 

            Now as we think about Jesus ministry in those early years of it we can remember that He spent much time inside, in places like houses and in synagogues.  Then as His ministry progressed, however, and we see that His ministry was being more and more rejected by the Jews, that He began to spend more and more time ministering outdoors, places like the seashore and mountainside and in the country side, highways, and streets.

 

            Even though the religious leaders had rejected Jesus, He remained immensely popular with the common people, and great multitudes still gathered to Him in fascination to hear Him speak and to see Him heal, and some of those in the crowd who had been following Him were also healed by Him.

 

            John MacArthur writes “Perhaps pushed by the crowd to the water’s edge and seeking to put some distance between the people and Himself in order to address the crowd better, Jesus got into a boat and sat down, and the whole multitude was standing on the beach.  The fact that He sat down in typical rabbinic fashion was necessary because of the moving of the boat in the water; and because the beach sloped sharply upward from the water, the people were enabled to see and hear Him best while He was seated in the boat.” 

 

            The following is a quotation from MacArthur’s first introductory sermon on Matthew chapter thirteen that I found very interesting as He talks about verses one and two and why he found them interesting.  We will kind of pick up in the middle of what he was saying:  “Well, I think its important if for no other reason than just as an interesting way to remember the transition here.  If we can extend ourselves a little bit and use this as an illustration or a symbol…though that is not its purpose or intention…it can serve as an illustration for us.  We could liken the house to what group of people?  Israel. 

            “And throughout Scripture the sea is likened to what group of people?  Gentiles.  And we can remember the chapter’s transitional nature by remembering that as Jesus went out of the house and to the sea, at this point He turns from Israel to the Gentiles.  Something new is happening.  He’s left the house.  This serves as an illustration, a symbol of a sort.

            “And it’s also interesting, I think, to note that at the beginning of His ministry He seemed to be in houses quite a lot, whereas, as you begin to see His ministry from here on, toward the end of His ministry He seems to be outdoors a lot.  And you see Him teaching by the seaside, you see Him teaching on the highways and the byways, in the village streets.  You see Him on the hillsides.  You see Him in the countryside.  It’s almost as if there’s some sort of a subtle statement being made, isn’t it?  This is a new dimension.  The kingdom is preached to the nations.”

            I hope you see the point between preaching to Jewish people and then moving on to the sea which has represented Gentiles in the Scripture, and this was the transition as Jesus begins to speak in parables that will actually prophesy what will happen during the church age.

3/17/2022 9:31 AM

           

 

PT-2 "Intro to Matt. 13:1-17)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/16/2022 10:03 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus: PT-2 “Intro to Matt. 13:1-17”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference: Matthew 13:1-17

 

            Message of the verses:  I mentioned in our last SD that I would not quote these verses from Matthew chapter 13:1-17, but you can look at them in yesterday’s SD.

 

            I have mentioned that chapter 13 is a dramatic change in the ministry of our Lord.  The people that Jesus was ministering to while on earth, that is the Jewish people have seen enough of our Lord’s miracles, along with His preaching to show them that He was their long awaited Messiah, but as mentioned once they attributed His miracles to Satan it was then time to change the way that He ministered and so that is why He began to speak in parables, only explain them to His disciples.

 

            Now because the Jews had rejected Him as their Messiah, their King, He would not establish the earthly kingdom.  The Jewish people had waited for centuries for their Messiah, and yet when He came they did not want Him to rule over them.  They were not looking for a Messiah who would pay for their sins, but one who would get them out of the bonds of the Roman Empire, something that He will do when He returns the second time. 

 

            John MacArthur writes:  “In his commentary on Matthew, Stanley Toussaint says, ‘Not seeing the Messiahship of Jesus in His words and works, they separated the fruit from the tree.’  None of the people denied Jesus’ miracles, and most of the recognized that He performed them by God power.  While acknowledging the divine source of Jesus’ miracles, they refused to recognize that He was Himself that divine Source.  The scribes and Pharisees who charged Jesus with casting out demons by Satan’s power (12:24) did not represent the majority of the common people.  But even those who admired Jesus and were awed by His power would not connect the evidence with what it clearly was—proof of His divinity and messiahship.”

 

            Now there were at that time what we could call thoughtful people who knew that He was the Messiah, and knew that by now that the nation of Israel had turned Him down would begin to wonder “If Jesus came to offer the kingdom to Israel and to establish and rule it as prophesied in Scripture, and it was rejected, was God’s plan totally frustrated?  Did His own predictions fail to come true? What, the, is to be the character of the present time?  What is to be the nature of the message and mission of the disciples and of all believers?  And throughout this time, what response is to be expected from people” (quoted from MacArthur’s commentary).  The questions that we just looked at are the questions that Jesus will address in chapter thirteen, and He will do it with a series of eight parables.  So what was going to happen to the promised kingdom at this time?  The answer is that it will be postponed until the time that Israel would believe in and receive he King.  When would that time come?  It is my belief that it will come during what we call “The Great Tribulation.”  The Tribulation period that is prophesized in different parts of the Word of God is a period of seven years.  The “Great Tribulation” is the last three and a half years which I believe begins when the coming Antichrist will commit what Daniel calls “the abomination of desolation” which Daniel speaks of.  This could be something like offering a pig on the Jewish altar like the forerunner of the Antichrist did when Israel was controlled by the Greeks.  At any rate it will be during the last half of the tribulation period that the Jewish will turn to and recognize their Messiah, Jesus Christ. 

 

            Shortly after they recognize their Messiah He will return to set up the 1000 year reign of the promised Kingdom of God as Jesus will rule from David’s throne in Jerusalem.  Zechariah talks about when Israel will recognize their Messiah.  We will look at several verses from Zechariah at this time.  “"I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn (12:10).”  “8 And in that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter. 9  And the LORD will be king over all the earth; in that day the LORD will be the only one, and His name the only one (14:8-9).”

 

            Now as we look at these verses from Zechariah we find that he tells us nothing of what would happen between Israel’s piercing of the Messiah and her subsequent mourning over Him.  Zechariah does not even hint that such an intermediate period would even occur, even those this period has lasted for close to two thousand years.  This is all a mystery until our Lord reveals here and then more fully in the New Testament.

 

            Paul writes what will happen in the end in Romans 11:26-27 “and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, "THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.’ "THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.’”  The issue is that the day of that fulfilled kingdom had to be postponed, because when the King first “came to His own,…those who were His own did not receive Him” (John 1:11).

 

            What happened was that an internal kingdom was established, because “as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12).  MacArthur writes “Christ’s external, visible kingdom was postponed, but the internal, spiritual kingdom of His saints was established, and in their hearts the Lord reigns, and through their lives and testimony, He no expresses His will on earth.

            The period between Christ’s first and second comings has been called the parenthesis, the interim, the interregnum, and many other such terms.  It is a period that was not revealed in the Old Testament, a period to which Jesus refers as ‘the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven’ (13:11).  Those mysteries will be discussed below as that verse is expounded.  In the eight parables of chapter 13 and in His explanations of them, Jesus describes the interim period, the period that began with His rejection and crucifixion and that has continued until the present time.  An understanding of this period was essential for the disciples as they set out to evangelize.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am thankful to the Lord that things have been added to my understanding of this 13^th chapter of Matthew, as an understanding of these parables is essential to understanding the church age which is what I live in now.

My Steps of Faith For Today:  Trust the Lord that just as the church began it will soon come to an end when Christ will return at the rapture to take His bride home to heaven to be with Him forever.

 

3/16/2022 10:49 AM

PT-1 "Intro to Matt. 13:1-17)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/15/2022 8:57 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                 Focus:  PT-1 “Intro to Matt. 13:1-17”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Matthew 13:1-17

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 On that day Jesus went out of the house, and was sitting by the sea. 2 And great multitudes gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole multitude was standing on the beach. 3 And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, "Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4 and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 “And others fell upon the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. 6 “But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7 “And others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. 8 “And others fell on the good soil, and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. 9 “He who has ears, let him hear." 10 And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?" 11 And He answered and said to them, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. 12 “For whoever has, to him shall more be given, and he shall have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. 13 “Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 “And in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; AND YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE; 15  FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, AND WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES LEST THEY SHOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, AND HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I SHOULD HEAL THEM.’ 16 “But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. 17 "For truly 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.”

 

            I really don’t know where to start with this introduction as there are many things on my mind because I listened to two sermons from John MacArthur that were actually just the introduction to chapter thirteen, and I have to say that I learned a lot of new things from those sermons that I did not know before.  I knew that chapter thirteen was a great turning point in Matthew’s gospel, as I have heard or read things about it that showed me this was a turning point.  The reason that I thought it was, was because of what the scribes and Pharisees had accused Jesus of doing miracles by the power of Satan, and then we find in chapter thirteen that Jesus begins to speak in parables because He had given up on the people because of being accused of doing miracles in the power of Satan. 

 

            I have checked and found out that the commentary from MacArthur’s book on Matthew chapter thirteen is over 70 pages in length so all I can say is buckle your seat belt as we will be here for a considerable length of time.

            I listened to the two introductory sermons while doing my walk yesterday and one of the things that I learned was that in this chapter these different parables speak of the church age, which is a part of the mysterious kingdom age.  It is mysterious because the church had not been prophesied in the Old Testament, but as mentioned it is a part of the kingdom which we will have many things to say about as we work our way through this chapter.

 

            I have to say that I have had the good pleasure of attending two great churches since the Lord save me.  The first one for 32 years which I attended had two wonderful pastors, and then after the next pastor came I had to get out of there, and finally he got out of there.  However after leaving to find our next church we had a great pastor there for almost ten years, but he left to go to be the President of Baptist Mid Missions, a very wonderful missionary group.  We got a new Pastor and let me just say that I am getting use to him, but also to say that he does a very fine job in teaching the Bible, something that I so much enjoy.  However this is not the usual for the history of the church as there has been many things taught about what the function of the church really is all about, and what the church should accomplish.  As mentioned Jesus is giving these parables in the 13^th chapter of Matthew to help us understand what the church is about and even what will happen to the church in its long history.  John MacArthur writes “Some foundational truths for understanding the mission of the church are found in the thirteenth chapter of Matthew’s gospel.  The Lord of the church reveals the nature of the church and the spiritual characteristics of the period of time often referred to as the church age.  In this marvelously prophetic chapter, Jesus describes the character of the era between His firs and second comings.”

 

            Lord willing we will continue to look at this introduction in our next SD, but I will probably not quote all 17 verses tomorrow.

 

3/15/2022 9:44 AM