Matthew 13:1-9… On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea. ² And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

³ Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. ⁵ Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. ⁶ But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. ⁷ And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. ⁸ But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.⁹ He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

¹⁰ And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” ¹¹ 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.

God has, in His ultimate wisdom, revealed His Divine Mysteries to those who have forsaken all to follow Him

¹²For 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. ¹³ Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

God’s wisdom declares a paradox…

He who understands will be given more understanding

He who dos not understand will become even lees understanding

¹⁴And 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; ¹⁵ 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.’

Understanding Christ & His message is not a matter of the brain- but of the heart

When one does not understand or want to understand- it is because of the choices they have made

Men must not turn to Christ with a human motive—

God wants to heal not repair

God wants to rebirth not remodel

God wants a new creature not a better old creature

¹⁶But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; ¹⁷ 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.

We are blessed when we see & understand

We are experiencing something previous generations could only dream of seeing

Not every contemporary believer really sees or understands

Matthew 13:18-23… ¹⁸ “Therefore hear the parable of the sower:

Jesus is about to take the disciples to another level of fellowship

“Therefore”—separates the disciple from the believer

Hearing from Jesus defines the Christian Worker from the spectator

¹⁹ When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside.

Roadside Hearers

These are drive-by hearers

These hear in one ear- out the other

These hear but the Devil steals their comprehension

²⁰ But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; ²¹ yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.

These hear and get excited- for a moment or two

These are perceived as doing great- but have no root

Jesus is great while the party is going; but …

²² Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.

These hear and continue with the Christian crowd- but the world is so influential in their live that they bear little or no fruit

Half of these experience Grief, sadness, despair or depression that dominates their life and they are just too sour to influence others for Christ

The other half are so caught up in the making of a good life that they are too busy building wealth to influence other for Christ

Jude 1:12… These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; ¹³raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

Now Jude is very harsh- but remember; he is seeing in practice what Jesus was warning the disciples would inevitably become a part of the churches life

²³ But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

These deserve the bulk of our attention

Good ground hearers are prepared to hear

All ground has to be plowed, fitted, weeded & the stones removed

These not only comprehend the concepts of Christ, they commit them to practice & bear fruit-

Galatians 5:22-25… But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. ²⁴ And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Hebrews 13:14… let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.

Hebrews 12:10… Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Finally… Not every hearer will bear the same harvest of fruit

30-60-100

The Parable of the Wheat & Tares

Matthew 13:24-30… Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; ²⁵ but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.

Don’t think for a minute that you don’t have an active adversary!

When you want to do good- evil will be there to hinder

²⁶ But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.

Eventually evil will be revealed- it can’t hide forever

²⁷So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’

It is very common for the good man to come under investigation when his good seed is polluted by weeds

²⁸He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’

Men often think they have answers to questions they didn’t know needed to be asked

²⁹But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. ³⁰ Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”

Eager beavers often do more damage than good when seeking to protect the harvest

Good and evil will grow side by side until the end of the age

Jesus will give an overview of the parable is verses 36-43

Matthew 13:31-32… 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, ³²which 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.”

The Kingdom may start out small but it will grow into an impressive shelter above all herbs

The Kingdom is likened unto an Herb which serves to flavor not dominate the meal- It is the spice that makes it Italian or Mexican or Oriental… etc

The Parable of the Levin

Matthew 13:33…Another parable He spoke to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.”

The Kingdom has to come to power from the inside out

Jesus Sends The People Away

Matthew 13:34-36… All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them, ³⁵ that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: “I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world.” ³⁶Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house.

In order to reveal additional truth to His disciples He had to create a more intimate setting

Matthew 13:36-43… And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” ³⁷He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. ³⁸The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. ³⁹ The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. ⁴⁰Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. ⁴¹ The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, ⁴² and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³ Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

Jesus is the Sower

The field is the whole earth- “behold the fields are ripe”

In this case the seed is not the Word but Christians who are the product of the Gospel Message

The Tares are sons of the Lawless One- “born in sin”

The enemy is the Devil- not unsaved people

The harvest represents the end of the church age

Tares are to be gathered unto destruction

Wheat will be gathered unto eternal light & kingdom life

Parables of the Hidden Treasure & the Pearl of Great Price

Matthew 13:44…“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Matthew 13:45-46… “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, ⁴⁶ who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

The Kingdom is reserved for those that are sold out

Parable of the Dragnet

Matthew 13:47-50… “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, ⁴⁸which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. ⁴⁹ So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, ⁵⁰ and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”-

Without doubt, life is a gathering time the end will be time for sorting

Parable of the Householder

Matthew 13:51-52… Jesus said to them, “Have you understood all these things?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” ⁵² Then He said to them, “Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”

Jesus Moves On… a symbol of man’s need

Matthew 13:53… Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, that He departed from there.

Jesus won’t camp on one issue very long

He never became a specialist- He knew the world needs the full council of God to be victorious

Acts 20:26-28… Paul captured this thought completely… “Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. ²⁷ For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. ²⁸ Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood”

People Must Choose To Win Or Loose

⁵⁴ When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? ⁵⁵ Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? ⁵⁶ And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?” ⁵⁷ So they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.”⁵⁸ Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

Jesus taught at home as faithfully as He did abroad

The people however could not see beyond their familiarity with Him

The result is that not many mighty deeds were done at home!!!!