The Parables of the Kingdom

Well, let's open our Bibles to Matthew 13. Matthew 13. Tonight we are at a very critical juncture of our Lord's ministry as we study the life of Christ. We are at a point where Jesus really faces a turning point in His ministry. We looked at chapter 12 pretty extensively where we saw that Jesus was accused of doing His miracles in the power of Satan and that constituted an official rejection on the part of the leadership, the spiritual leadership of the nation of Israel. The leaders spoke on behalf of their people and immediately following that Jesus begins to talk about judgment on this generation of Israelites and that judgment would would actually come true within the next generation of 70 AD when the Romans destroyed the city of Jerusalem and scattered the Jews across the world. Following that very critical rejection of Jesus by the national leadership, Jesus begins to change his teaching form. We saw that there are a number of changes in his ministry at this time. One of them is he begins to focus on the 12. Another is that the miracles now lose their sign purpose. He says, I will not give you any more signs except the sign of the resurrection. Miracles will now take a different purpose, a different nature. They will be works of mercy and compassion as they've always been but they will basically be instruments to teach and train the 12. And also his teaching takes a different turn. He begins to do more with parables. There are 30 parables in our Lord's ministry. Most of them after this time period. Now we looked last week at the parables of our Lord and we talked about the definition of a parable. Come from the Greek word parable, which means to cast or throw down beside. So Jesus is going to present a truth and he throws down beside it a story. A story that helps to illustrate that truth. So it really is, okay, here's a truth, but we're going to throw down cast down right beside it to parallel that truth. A story, an illustration that will help you understand the spiritual principle. That's really what a parable is. Jesus use of parables. We talked about a little bit last time. One reason is to illustrate and clarify truth. And then we stopped at this point last week and we'll pick up here. The second reason and really the major reason for parables. Not just to clarify and illustrate, but to distinguish between believers and unbelievers. And particularly unbelievers that have hardened their hearts and made this official rejection of Christ. Jesus is now going to use stories that will accomplish these two purposes. And we find this clearly laid out in Matthew chapter 13. Now once again, remember the context. Remember that this teaching of seven parables in chapter 13, he just won right after another seven parables to illustrate the kingdom and a different turn it will take. We'll talk about that in a moment. But also he describes in these verses why he's using parables because his disciples ask him, what are you doing? What are you using parables now? And he describes to them why he's doing that. Remember the context then it's right after the official rejection of the religious leaders that Jesus begins to use parables. So there's a connection there and that connection has to do with the official rejection of the spiritual leaders. With that said, look down at verse 10 in chapter 13, the disciples came to him and asked, why do you speak to the people in parables? He replied, the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you but not to them. See the distinction there? You them. I'm giving the secrets of the kingdom. We'll talk about that concept in just a moment. Secrets of the kingdom to you, not to them. There's a distinction between you and them. There's a distinction between the disciples, those who are really interested in the truth, accepted the kingdom and them. Who's the them? That's the generation that has now rejected him. The nation as a whole, particularly the spiritual leadership. Now notice again, he draws this out the two different groups. Verse 12, whoever has will be given more and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables, those seeing they do not see, though hearing they do not hear or understand. So there are two groups of people here, those who by faith understand and are willing to receive truth will be given more truth through the parables. And basically what happens is because of the interest they already have in spiritual truth, they will ask questions. It is exactly what happens. I mean the disciples have already asked him, why are you speaking in parables? And then Jesus will explain to them a little bit later what some of the parables mean. Then in verse 36, when he leaves the crowd goes back into the house of the disciples, come to him and say, explain to us the parable, the weeds in the field. So on the one hand you've got this group that is already interested, they've already shown spiritual interest and Jesus is going to open up further truth to them through the use of parables. On the other side, you've got a group of people who have already turned their back on the Messiah. They've already rejected the King and the Kingdom. They've rejected truth. They are going to be further blinded. They will be mystified by the parables and because of their lack of interest in spiritual things, because of their voluntary rejection and hardening of their hearts, this is a form of judgment on them from God. God will judge them and further harden their hearts. And so in verses 14 and 15, Jesus quotes the prophecy of Isaiah 6. After Isaiah had seen the Lord on his throne, high and lifted up and the Lord had said, who will go for us? Isaiah said, here's me, hear my, hear my, I said me and the Lord said, okay, this is what kind of ministry you're going to have Isaiah. And he quotes Isaiah 6 verses 9 and 10, Jesus does. This is why I speak to them parables. Look at verse 14 and then this will fill the prophecy of Isaiah. You will be ever hearing but never understanding. You will be ever seeing but never perceiving. People's heart has become calloused. They hardly hear with their ears. They have closed their eyes. Otherwise, they might see with their eyes here with their ears and understand with their hearts and turn and I would heal them. So on the one hand, the parables open up new truths and new avenues and new understanding of truth to those who are receptive to those who have hardened their hearts, they form a kind of judgment. They serve as a form of God's judgment to further harden their hearts and to blind them. Okay, so that's the twofold purpose of the parables. Further truth for those who are receptive, the hardening of hearts and blindness to those who've already rejected. That's why Jesus says he uses parables, uses these stories. Okay, what questions? Does that arouse in your heart, mind? Certainly, there's a question somewhere. Okay, well understanding then the purpose of the parables, then let's talk about how do you interpret parables. This is really the beginning of the use of parables and so we're kind of stepping back from the actual text and seeing exactly what parables are all about and how they're used in the life and ministry of Jesus. How do you interpret parables? How do you look at parables? How do you understand them? Well, just a few clues and keys to interpreting parables. Remember when we went through the doctrine of the Bible, we spent some time on interpretation. Remember when we talked about you interpret different kinds of literature in the Bible differently? And so you interpret poetry in a different way than you do history or didactic material, teaching material like in the epistles. You interpret that differently, you interpret figures of speech very differently than you would clear exhortations that are teaching type materials and parables are different as well. So here are some keys to interpreting parables. First of all interpret in the light of the context. Always look for why Jesus told the parable and to whom he told it. Look at the context. The setting in which Jesus gives a parable and the people to whom he spoke will often give you the key meaning of the parable. I'm going to give you three examples of that. They're all found in Luke's Gospel and we'll put the main verses on the screen for you. Luke chapter 12, verse 13, someone in the crowd came to him, teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. Okay, now get the picture here. Someone is upset because a brother seems to be getting all the inheritance or maybe more of the inheritance than he is. And so you can see there's some greed here. You can see there's some interest in getting my part of the money or my part of the inheritance. And right after this, Jesus, if you were to read on, Jesus tells a story, a parable. It's the parable of what's called the rich fool. The man who said, wow, look at all my crops. I have nowhere to put all my crops. So I'm going to tear down my barns and build bigger barns so that I can store all my crops. And then I'll say to my soul, soul, take your easy, drink and be merry. And God said to him that night, what? Now fool, you fool, what? This night your soul will be acquired of you. Then whose show those things be that you've provided? And Jesus' point in that parable is to answer this guy who asked him the question, make my brother give me my proper share of the inheritance. And Jesus is basically saying, you get all the inheritance you want, pile it all up, build bigger barns to take care of it. If you don't take care of your soul, you're just going to leave it all behind. You see, that's the point of the parable. To show the emphasis on material things is misplaced. Okay? So when you see where the parable comes in, it helps to understand what the meaning of the parable is. Second example is Luke 15. Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around here Jesus. But the Pharisees and teachers of the law muttered, this man welcomes sinners and eats with them. Now that context Jesus in answering the Pharisees who were critical of him for gathering sinners around him and associating with sinners, Jesus spins off three straight stories to them. Do you remember what they are in Luke 15? Yes, prodigal son, that's right. Proudigal son is the third of the three. So you got the lost son. There are two other lost things Jesus talks about. Lost coin, lost sheep, lost sheep, lost coin, lost son. And that's really one parable, one story in three chapters. And they all have a purpose. They have a purpose to show that God loves lost people. And so one sheep may wonder away from the fold. If there's 99 in the fold, the shepherd's going to go after the one. That's who he's going to associate with. Okay? You got 10 coins. Nine of them are saved. One of them's rolled under a bed somewhere and the woman's scour in the house looking for it. Why? Because it's the one that's lost. That is the focus of our interest. And you got one son that stays home. In fact, he thinks he's really good for staying home and he's done so well to do everything. His father every told him to do. But there's one son that's wondered away. And in fact, left of his own volition and wasted his father's living. And it's that son that the father welcomes home and has a banquet for when he comes home. And all of that is to illustrate God loves lost people. It's those people he came to save. And so yes, that's who Jesus is going to associate with. If you see the context, Jesus makes it very clear why he tells that parable. And then there's one other example that will give, which is pretty obvious. Luke 181, Jesus told us disciples are parable. And this one even indicates to us what the purpose is to show them that they should always pray and not give up. And the parable he tells them is the story of the unjust judge who would not give the widow her due. And she kept pestering him. You know, she'd follow him to work every morning and sit out on the front step of his law office and his courtroom. And then when he come out, she'd be there and she'd follow him home. And she's always telling him, give me my justice. And he won't do it. And finally, he says, because you've bothered me so much, I'm going to give you what you're requesting. And the story is to show not that God needs to be pushed or bothered. The story is one of a contrast. God is not an unjust judge. He loves his people. And how much more will he give to those who love him? So Jesus used stories to illustrate truth, but also to open up truth and to believers and hide it from hardened, nonbelievers. But the context really tells us what the emphasis of the truth is. So in interpreting the light of the context, secondly, find the central truth set forth in the parable. There may be other truths illustrated in a parable incidentally, but there's always one major point of a parable. Again, an illustration, it's much like an illustration we would use today. An illustration is not the whole point. I mean, that's not like you, a whole message is an illustration. And you've got five or six points you're trying to make through the illustration. The illustration is to reinforce one point basically. And a story basically is to illustrate one truth. So find out the central truth. And then along with that number three, interpret the details in light of the main purpose. There will be details in every story, be sensible in how you look at all the details. And you know, if you've heard much preaching over the years, you've probably heard and probably heard some from me of misuse of some of the details of parables. The the some people just love getting into all the details of a story and making it stand on all four legs. And it's not what it was designed to do. It was designed to reinforce one truth. And so be careful. You don't have to find a symbolic hidden meaning for every little detail in the parable. For instance, let me give you an example. The parable, the good Samaritan. Parable, the good Samaritan was to answer a question of a lawyer. Who's my neighbor? Who's my neighbor? So Jesus says, okay, I tell you a story to help you understand who your neighbor is. Remember the story of the man that's robbed on the way between Jerusalem Jericho, two religious leaders passing by Samaritan, takes pity on him, puts him on his horse, takes him to the inn, takes care of him, pays for everything. That's the one who was a neighbor, the one who showed mercy on him, the one who reached out to helping. Now that's the point of the parable. But you know, all of us have probably heard things like that preach before where the the inn becomes the church. You know, the inn is a place of healing. So the inn is the church. The inn stands for the church where people are taken to be healed from their their problems. Well, that was not Jesus' point at all. You don't you don't take every little point of the parable and you know, the donkey or the horse is the bus. You know, it's a supportive bus ministry. You had to get into the church. And you know, I mean, you've heard all kinds of crazy things with parables and that's not the point. So be careful in trying to read a lot of stuff into the details of a parable. Now sometimes Jesus and the parables in Matthew 13, he will make several applications from some of the details. And he'll explain some of those to us. But remember that a story of parable is basically the illustrated truth. And it's not not to try to find every little hidden meaning in every detail of a parable. Going along with that number four, don't make a parable the primary or only source of doctrine. Again, a parable is not intended to teach as a primary source. Doctrines intended to illustrate a spiritual truth. And so just be careful about that. I'll give you an illustration. Matthew 25, the parable of 10 virgins, five foolish, five wise. Jesus is basically making the point there of readiness for his coming. But there's a verse in that and again, when people try to press all the details and make everything a doctrine. There's a verse in there that says that someone cried out at midnight. The bridegroom comes and the five that weren't ready were caught off guard. And there have been those who have said, we know that Jesus is going to return at midnight. Well, that's not the point of the parable. It's just a part of the story. It's not the point to make a doctrine out of that and and fill in the details of the second coming. It's just a part of the story that was told. And so you have to be real careful with parables not to try to teach a lot of details about doctrine from them. Yes. Yes, there is although Jesus does interpret that parable. That's one of the ones we're going to look at in just a moment. So we'll get there. Jesus does interpret that one. So we we can say with a little more confidence what that one is because he interprets it for us. Some of them where there's no interpretation, you just have to say, okay, now what was the context? Who was the spoken to? What was the incident that brought it up? And that must be the purpose. Just kind of to figure that out. Okay, any other questions about parables in general before we look at the seven in Matthew 13. All right, let's look at the ones in Matthew 13. The parables of the kingdom they're often called and Jesus does refer to the kingdom a lot here. Notice in verse one that same day. That's an important note. The same day. What day? The day that Jesus has been rejected by the religious leadership of Israel. And so he's warned about this generation, this wicked and adulterous generation that's looking for a sign and his mother and brothers have come to try to take him away because they think he's mad. And on that same day, that same day, Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat, sat in it while all the people stood on the shore. Then he told them many things in parables. Now, just want to summarize these parables. Some of you may recall several years ago, I did a I think a seven or eight part series on this chapter. And we look at each of the parables in quite some detail. But I just want to kind of summarize them tonight. We're just moving through the life of Christ. Let me say that what Jesus is dealing with here in the big picture is a mystery form of the kingdom, a mystery form of the kingdom. If you look down at verse 11, the disciples of Asthm in verse 10, why do you speak to the people in parables? Verse 11, the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them secrets in the NIV. Some other translations have the word mysteries. Again, in the New Testament, a mystery is something that was not revealed in the Old Testament, but is now revealed. It was not known in the Old Testament, but it is now revealed. In fact, Paul quite clearly identifies that in Ephesians chapter three. He defines that term mystery. And there are several times where it's used in the New Testament of truth about this age that we're living in now. Now what Jesus is saying then is I'm going to tell you now about a form of the kingdom that was not known in the Old Testament. This is something new. This was not discussed by the prophets. This is a form of the kingdom that is new for now. This is new truth. This is new revelation. It's a form of the kingdom. The way the kingdom will look between the rejection of Christ and his second coming when he does come back to set up the earthly kingdom that has Israel again at its center. See, he's just been rejected. And so the kingdom has been rejected. So what becomes of the kingdom now? Jesus says okay, the kingdom is going to take a different form. And so I'm going to give you a mystery. I'm going to give you the secrets of the kingdom. I'm going to tell you about the form the kingdom will take. Now that it's been rejected by Israel officially, chapter 12, I'm going to tell you the form that it will take until I come back to actually set up the literal earthly kingdom. You see, there is a form of the kingdom actually taking place right now. In this age, it we're living in. And that's what Jesus is going to describe in these verses. Remember the context again, the king has been rejected officially by the religious leadership. The kingdom has been rejected. And so Jesus is going to move on and he's going to describe a new form of the kingdom now that will take place before he comes back at his second coming to set up the earthly kingdom that he was offering to Israel up to this point. Now I want to say very clearly this mystery form of the kingdom does not take the place of the literal earthly kingdom. It's just a different form of the kingdom for now. There is still a literal earthly kingdom. That's what was talked about in the Old Testament. That's what the prophets did talk about. And those prophecies have not all been fulfilled yet. And so they will be fulfilled in the future when Jesus comes at his second coming and sets up the literal millennium or earthly kingdom, thousand year rule of Christ on the earth, spoken of in Revelation 20, and then he delivers up that kingdom to the Father and it exists throughout eternity. Because the Messiah was prophesied to rule forever on David's throne. Okay, so you understand what this is about? Any questions about what we're talking about here? Mystery form of the kingdom. Alright, so what he's going to talk about then is what this age is like? What the church age is like? The age we're living in now. What's it going to be like? What's the kingdom going to look like? These next six statements summarize the seven parables that he gives. First of all, number two in your notes, this form of the kingdom will be a time of seed sowing versus three through nine versus 18 through 23 versus three through nine is when he gives the parable versus 18 to 23. He interprets it for us. And again, I just want to give you the highlights. The sower is Christ himself or anyone who gives out the word. The seed is the word of God. So anyone who gives out the word is sowing the seed. But the key to understanding this parable is that the seed will fall on different kinds of soils. And there are four kinds in the parable. Remember, there's a hard trampled down soil and that represents those who are indifferent, who do not respond, who just don't care. And before it can even begin to take root, the birds of the air snatch it away. So they're indifferent. The second kind of soil is shallow soil that has a lot of rock underneath it. And so that represents superficial hearers of the word. It springs up quickly, but there's no root. And so when the sun comes out, hardships come, Jesus says they would rip and die. There's no real root. There's no real life there. Superficial hearers. And then the thorny soil represents preoccupied hearers. So it does take root, but then quickly the cares of this life, Jesus says the worries and cares of this life, you know, take away the seed. It does not bear fruit. And then the fourth kind of soil is good soil. And that's where the seed really takes root and springs up and bears fruit. And the fruit is evidence that there is genuine life. And I think what Jesus is saying is there will be many different responses to the sowing of the seed. Some of them may look good, but they're not genuine. Only those that produce fruit in the life are genuine. Now that's what it's going to be like in this age. We are to sow the seed of God's word. By the way, this parable has so much encouragement for those who do teach and preach the word. It's not our responsibility to bring the response. That's dependent on the soil that's been prepared by the Holy Spirit. The good soil, the soil that's been tilled and watered and readied by the Holy Spirit to receive the word. And that's his job. It's not my job to do that. It's my job to be a faithful sower of the seed, recognizing some of it's going to fall on hard ground. And some of it's going to fall on very shallow soil. Some of it's going to fall on superficial hearers that the cares of this life drown it out. The voice of the Holy Spirit. But some of it's going to find good soil. And thank God for that. That it will bear fruit. So it's time of seed sowing. Any questions about that? I know there's a lot more there, but any questions before we move on to the second one. Secondly, it is a time of counter sowing. I'm not talking about sowing countertops or sowing, you know what I'm talking? Counter sowing, counterfeit sowing versus 24 to 30. Jesus also interprets this one in 36 to 43. Satan sows tears among the wheat. During this age, there will be counterfeits. There will be imitators. There will be people who are religious, who are moral, but who are hypocrites, who are not genuine. And Christ will separate the wheat from the tears at the end of the age, he says. He will come to judge. But the point is, Satan is a great imitator. And he will plant among the genuine wheat, those who are on good soil. He'll plant a lot of tears. He'll plant people who are religious and moral, but don't really have new life. Don't really know Christ. So that's what's going to happen during this age. A time of seed sowing, but also a time of counter sowing on the part of the devil to mess things up. Any questions about that one? Yes, John? For the people that are knowingly receiving the audience, the gravity of the preacher who is not preaching the word of the seeding, what will happen to the people that he has taught for decades? False thoughts? That's a great question. What will happen to the people that have sat under false teaching and false doctrine for years? Well, they're not innocent. You're right. That's not really the right way to look at it. They're not innocent because they have a Bible and they can understand the Bible for themselves and the Holy Spirit can open their hearts to the Word of God on themselves. The greater responsibility in that case falls upon the false teacher. And the Bible consistently points out that a person like that has a tremendous amount to answer for. A tremendous amount to answer for. Read Second Peter chapter 2 sometime about Peter's view of false teachers. And what he says about them, I mean, it's amazing. Some of the terms that he uses for them, Jesus in Matthew 23 will do the same thing with the religious leaders of Israel that have led the people astray. And now that the nation has rejected, he lays the responsibility for that at the feet of the Pharisees. And in chapter 23, he has seven woes of judgment on the Pharisees. And he calls them hypocrites, vipers, blind leaders of the blind, you know, men who look good on the outside and full of dead men's bones on the inside. They're like graves. I mean, he doesn't hold back. They are responsible and they will be judged harshly. And that's really the danger of false teaching. People are deceived. And if they're not saved, they will have to answer for that. But the one who's misled them has much more to answer for. Very, very dangerous. And that's why the Bible consistently, especially in the epistles, tells those who are going to handle the word, you make sure you get it right. You know, Paul told Timothy, study to show yourself approved unto God a workman that doesn't need to be ashamed, rightly dividing. The Greek is literally cutting it straight. You make sure you cut it straight. Don't you fudge any on what the truth says? And there's consistent warnings about that for those who handle the word. James says in James chapter three, there's a greater judgment for those who teach the word, who use their tongues to teach the word greater judgment. So there's where the real warning is. The time of counter-sowing. Satan is a great imitator. I mean, you know, Paul talked about in 2 Corinthians 12, he even has false apostles. Guys would call themselves apostles. In tribulation, you'll have his own workers who will do miracles. I mean, a lot of imitations around. There are a lot of imitators of the truth. And some of them are really slick and they look really good. This is a time of counter-sowing on the part of Satan sowing tears among the wheat. It's very dangerous. Okay, number four, this is also a time of great outward development. Versus 31 and 32, talking about the mustard seed that grows up to become a large tree or shrub, has branches, and the birds of the air nest in its branches. And there have been a lot of people who have said, well, that's talking about the spread of the gospel and the success of the gospel. That's not consistent with what Jesus is painting about this age. Well, I think what Jesus is saying here is that from a small beginning, there is a great outward development in this age that calls itself followers of Christ, Christianity, Christendom. There's a great, great development that spreads across the world, has complex organization and so forth. The birds probably represent the infiltration of Satan into that great outward development. Not everything in so-called Christianity is good or even genuine. Remember Jesus himself warned in the sermon on the mountain, not everyone that says to me, Lord, Lord. I mean, there'll be a lot of people at the judgment who will say, Lord, Lord, haven't we done miracles? Haven't we done mighty works in your name? And he'll say, I never knew you. There was no personal relationship. So I think that's the message of that particular parable. Time of great outward development, but not everything you see developing outwardly is the real thing. Size, fast growth is not always a sign of God's blessing. I mean, there are cults that are growing rapidly. That's not a sign of God's blessing necessarily. It can't be, sometimes it is, but that's not necessarily a sign of God's blessing. So it's great outward development. Number five, it's a time of inward corruption. The next parable is about 11. And again, there are those who say, well, 11, that's the spread of the gospel, but again, that's not the point that Jesus is making here. The whole point of these parables is that there will be some genuine work, but there will be a lot of counterfeit stuff as well. And 11 consistently in scripture, in fact, every time 11 is used as an illustration in the New Testament, it's an evil connotation. There's something evil about it. It's the spread of false teaching that spreads throughout Christendom. I just read an article just in the last couple of days in USA Today about Rob Bell. I'll go ahead and call his name since the article was not hesitant to use his name. Rob Bell, who's pastor of Marseille Church up in the Grand Rapids area, large, fast growing church, he's part of the emergent church. There are different branches of that, and he's always been kind of considered in the middle somewhat theologically correct, but really pushing the limits. Well, he just came out with a new book called Love Winds, and there was a review of it in USA Today newspaper, and I was appalled, absolutely appalled when I read that. He has definitely crossed the line. Basically, he is teaching through that book that hell is not a real place. There is no eternal judgment. Love winds in the end. Everybody's going to be in God's family in the end. It's universalism, basically. And he said, any church, this was the statement that just shocked me, said any church that does not teach that is, oh, I should have brought the article with me, I'm trying to remember his words, is inconsiderate, here it is, inconsiderate and toxic, he said, toxic. So we're a toxic church. Boy, that is really out there. That is false teaching, my friend. That's false teaching. And he was considered 10 years ago, one of the leading evangelicals and leading pastors in the United States. And where he's headed is beginning to cause me to wonder, is he one of the tares? Is he one of the false prophets? I don't know. But thankfully, at the end of the age, it's God that separates all that out. But that is false teaching coming from someone who claims to be a real follower of Christ. So that's the kind of leaven we're dealing with in this age. Number six, the time of the finding of treasure. There is a treasure hidden in a field and there is a pearl that is hidden of great value. And again, there are those who have said, well, that's salvation. And we find salvation and we sell everything to get it. Well, that goes against everything the Bible teaches about the way of salvation. First of all, we're not seeking. God seeks us, the Bible teaches. And salvation is not hidden. It is available to all. And we do not sell everything to get it. Our time is almost gone. But basically, I believe that the treasure is history. And as you look at at the context again and what all Jesus is talking about, the Israel has been in the field, in the world. And Jesus comes and finds this treasure. But then hides it again and buys the whole field. I think when you take the context into account and what's happened, it really opens up the parable. Again, remember the context helps you understand the parable. The treasure is Israel. It's been Israel has been throughout the four, five hundred years before the time of Jesus under four in domination under the control of the Gentiles, the field is the world. And so been under the control of the Gentiles, even now they're under control of the Romans, even though they're in their own land. And Jesus comes and finds this treasure, presents the gospel and the kingdom to them. They reject it so it goes back to the field, indicating the dispersion judgment upon Israel. So what does Jesus do? He buys the whole field. And we're also good Israel. He lays down his life now for the world, Jew and Gentile. And in so doing, will redeem Israel in the future. I think that's what the treasure is about. The pearl that is purchased is the pearl, I believe, is referring to the church. Jesus gives him hidden self, gives everything for the pearl, finds the pearl of great price. There's a lot more that could be said about that, but our time is gone. And then one final thing, it's the time that ends in judgment. At the end of the end of the parables, the last one is the net that gathers all kinds of fish. And then they're separated between good fish and bad fish. And Jesus says that will happen at the end of the age. The angels will come in verse 50 and separate the wicked from the righteous, verse 49. And then throw them into the fiery furnace, they'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Obviously that's the final judgment. That's the second coming and the separation of sheep and goats. Jesus will use that parable in Matthew 25. Here it's the good fish and bad fish. There'll be coming of Christ, separation, a gathering of people, separation and judgment at the second coming. So what he's talking about here in these parables is this is a new form of the kingdom. Okay, the literal earthly kingdom for Israel has been rejected by the religious leaders. Now the kingdom is entering a new phase, a new form. And this is what it's going to look like during this age. It's going to be a time of seed sowing, counter-sowing on the part of Satan. Great outward development, but with inward corruption, a lot of leaven and false teaching mixed in with it, Jesus is going to find his pearl, his bride, his church, and purchase it with his blood on the cross. And in so doing is going to give his life for the whole field, which will incorporate Israel, will include Israel later on. And then this time will end in judgment. That's the new form of the kingdom. It describes the age we're living in right now. Okay, so he begins to speak in parables and just fires off seven of them right in a row, seven parables that deal with what the kingdom's going to look like now. Well, you need to one of these parables. I noticed a few introduces that by saying the kingdom of heaven is like, based on that, you have said this mystery being presented to the disciples. Did we say the kingdom of heaven is today in the kingdom of God in the future because the Bible also talks a lot about the end of the God. Jesus is talking about kingdom of heaven. Yeah, that's an interesting question. Since you use the term kingdom of heaven, is that different from the kingdom of God? Kingdom of heaven now, kingdom of God later, there have been some who've made that sharp distinction. And in some cases, it appears to be that way. But if you take all of the gospels into account, you'll find them used interchangeably sometimes. And the kingdom of God does seem to be maybe the greater rule of God over all creation, but it takes different forms. And sometimes it is called the kingdom of heaven. That can refer to the earthly kingdom that will be set up in the millennium and also refer to the form of the kingdom now. So there's some overlap in those terms. You can't make a real hard and fast distinction. Good observation. Okay, any other questions? Yes, Kishti. Is it possible for a false teacher to really be a believer and just have gotten confused and deceived in his own mind and his teaching begins to move in a certain direction, but he still really be a believer. I think that's true. I think it's a puzzle that only God can figure out. You know, there are wolves and sheep's clothing, people that sound good in the beginning and then really show their true nature, whether or not I used the example of Rob Bell, whether or not Rob Bell, who's done some great stuff. I've got some of his messages and have been blessed by them, who's done some really good stuff. Whether or not he's just now showing his true colors, or whether or not he's gotten confused and misled in his own mind, but as a real believer, I don't know. I don't know. I think it's possible for that to happen. Okay. All right, our time is up and we'll let you retreat to the miniature lobby back there. Let's pray. Thank you, Father, for these parables, which really do shed a lot of light on the times in which we live, and we pray that we will be warned and diligently faithful in the understanding of your word so that we may lead your people correctly and that we, all of us who have responsibilities to lead our families and to lead children and others and other ministries, Bible fellowships, will make sure that we're cutting it straight and being faithful to your word in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.