Strong Words of Jesus Christ

After the Day of Pentecost, Peter was at Solomon's porch, and he gave a talk, and he quoted Moses mentioning that everyone that would not listen to Christ's teaching would be utterly destroyed. Brethren, Christ's teachings are essential for salvation. Think about it. They are the trunk of the tree. Some people get carried away with a lot of twigs that are very technical, but Christ's basic teachings and principles are critical for our salvation. And because of that, I've been doing a series of sermons related to Christ's teachings and using the Gospel according to Matthew as a basis for them. And we have reached up to Matthew 13, lost time. And so I want to go on and talk about these parables in Matthew 13 today. A little bit of a revision about the first parable, and then covering the other six parables. So, a total of seven parables are in this chapter. And we want to learn from the strong, very powerful words of Jesus, of Jesus Christ, about the Kingdom of God in these seven parables. You could group them in different ways. One way of grouping them is in three pairs. The first two are being a pair, involving obstacles towards the Kingdom of God. The second two are about the growth of the Kingdom of God. And the third pair, the next two, are about the priceless riches of the Kingdom of God. And then a concluding parable, the seventh, about the judgment to enter the Kingdom of God. So, it's an interesting way of looking at it, maybe that way. And in the previous sermon we did go through the first parable. So today I am going to review it. In chapter 13, verse 1, it says that Yah was a Sabbath, that Sabbath that started being described on chapter 12, where they plucked the years of grain. And then, as you can see in verse 3, that He spoke to these multitudes, as you can see, great multitudes in verse 2. And He spoke to the multitudes by speaking in parables. And a parable, Yah is like a paradox, because a parable is a way of teaching. Think about it. It's a way of teaching, or comparing one thing to another, and therefore teach. And so it's a way of revealing. But Yah is a paradox, is that at the same time, He's a way of hiding.

You know, it reminds me of problems. Sometimes you get to answer a fool, according to what... And then He says, don't answer a fool. So people say, well, the Bible is still redeeming itself. Well, no. There is wisdom in this. There is a time when one is appropriate. And so a parable is a simple story, in other words, to teach a lesson, but can also be used to conceal.

And so let's go on and read the first parable Yah, which is in chapter 13, verse 3, the latter part of verse 3, Be old, a sower went out to sow, and as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside, and the birds came and devoured them. By the way, the word seed is an italic, so it doesn't use the word seed in this section. Some fell on... Obviously it's a sower, so the 10 opposite days, there is a seed if you sow, but the word seed is not in there. Now, some fell on stony places where they did not have much earth, and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth.

But when the sun was up, they were scorched, and because they had no roots, they wither away. And then some fell upon thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. And others fell on good ground and yielded a crop, some 100-fold, some 60, some 30, and he who has years to year, did in year. Thank you very much. Let's go on. So, yeah, it's a nice little story. There is a lesson in it, but it's hidden, the lesson in it, in a way. So there is... But he who has a year to year it, year it.

So we have here a parable that's talking about... Put it another way. Obstacles. Obstacles in the soil that we have towards the Kingdom of God. In other words, challenges that are in the soil. And the first one, yeah, is the one that fell on the wayside. And the second one is that fell on stunning places. The third one amongst thorns. And the fourth example is fell on good ground.

And, you know, think about it, it's like we are gathered together, yeah, and then somebody's talking. And then some people, you know, there is a break, and then some people come privately and ask a question, then you continue talking, you know. So it appears that the cycles then, when there was maybe a break, like a coffee break or something like that, you know. They came to him and said, why are you speaking to them in parables? Why? Because he says, he who has to year, he who has years to year, let him year.

Now, some people think that this has got to do with predestination. Some people have years to years, so they're predestined to have years, and the others do not. But it's got nothing to do with that. It really is. Now, those that are ready to get the good of it, at that time, get it. And that's how Christ explains it here in verse 11, because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, of the kingdom of God.

So it's actually about the kingdom of God. So these are parables about the kingdom of God. But to them, it's not given. Why? Why is it not given? Why is it not given? Well, the other big lesson is, if people in the world knew some of the things, and they did not practice them, that would be against them.

But if they don't know, they're actually doing it in ignorance. And then for one day later, when they have a support system in the world tomorrow or beyond to help them, and then they see and they get it, and they've got a support system to help them, God can exercise mercy on them, because they didn't know. Because they didn't understand it. And herein we see God's mercy on those people. Which means that for some reason or other, and God knows, He's decided that we should understand these.

And I believe it's because He believes we can make it. He believes you and I can make it. And therefore, He's giving us a bit more. It's not that we are better than others. He believes that we have enough stamina that we can make it. And the others, He will teach them at a later time. And therefore, it is an encouragement to us. Now, as you go a little bit ahead, because He explains this about the parables, then on verse 18, He explains this parable. He explains the parable. Two is the cycle. And so He says in verse 18, when anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, then the weaker one who comes and smashes away what was sown in his heart, this is he who received the seed by the west side.

Now He starts explaining it. And He says, He who hears the word. So when you think about that He was sowing seed, and the seed is the word. Now this goes hand in hand with a parallel description of this parable in Luke 8, verse 11, which says, The seed is the word of God.

So verse 8, yeah, in this parable is the word of God. Now it's interesting because in Luke 8, verse 11, it does use the word seed in English, but in Greek, it uses the word, the Greek word is 4703, which means sporos. It's like a spore, which is a unicell type of spore.

And in their analogy, it's comparing it to the word of God. To the word of God. And in this analogy, that's what it's comparing it to. And it says, it's in His stony places, and they don't get it. And then it says, and yet, verse 21, He has no root in Himself.

I beg your pardon, I'm jumping out, verse 19, I was reading that. And the weaker one comes and smashes away what is selling his heart, and this is received the seed by the wayside. In other words, that seed doesn't even germinate. The word of God doesn't even start bearing fruit in that person. It smashes it. The soil is too hard, and it never germinated. And then on the verse 20, He talks about the one that falls on stony places. And it says, it receives it with joy, with great happiness. Now, how many people have you seen coming to the church extremely happy? Oh, this great thing! And you don't see them again. Or they're there for a while, and then they don't come back again. And this great initial joy indicates a degree of shallowness. And the problem is they don't understand that there is a cost in making this commitment. And yet, it looks good and they're happy, but once they realize the cost, they're not prepared to make that investment. They haven't counted the cost. So let's continue in verse 21. Yet, He has no root Himself. You know, it's shallow, it's not deep. But in Jew is only for a while. For when, whatever difficulties or trials or pressures they lose, because they didn't count the cost, they didn't get enough root to say, I've got to get through this.

When this comes, because of the word. Well, because I've got to keep the Sabbath, and now, oh, you're going to have troubles with your job, or this. You don't hold on and you let it go. And so, immediately stumbles. So that's verse 21. It doesn't really bear much fruit at all. It doesn't bear fruit there. Then we get the next one, which is in verse 22. Now, He will receive the seed amongst thorns. So He receives God's word amongst thorns. And in other words, He is absorbed by the cares of this world. There's nothing wrong for us to have a job, to be busy with our job, to enjoy the job. But when that takes priority, you know, it really gets down to a balance. When all these other things around us take priority, maybe having a big savings account, maybe even could be savings for retirement. If that takes a priority above the kingdom of God, seek your first kingdom and all these other things to be added, then all these things are becoming thorns. Because they are becoming a wrong priority in your life. You know, it was the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches chokes the word. You see, the word, the seed is the word, the word. And it becomes unfruitful. So, Yahweh have a situation that He did. He did germinate. He did germinate. And maybe it took a few years. But then, the priorities were not quite right. And there he is a problem. And there we get the last example, that He will receive the seed in good ground. He's here, He errs the word. So, Yahweh, we have the ground, Yahweh's the soil. And Yah, they are difficult. It doesn't say they are difficult. They are still precious. And He hears it. And He understands it. And He overcomes. And He keeps overcoming. And He bears fruit. He bears fruit. Now, it may bear more fruit than others. Some may bear more, some may bear less. You see, some bear 100-fold, some 60, some 30. Again, it depends, you know, on how much effort you put into it, etc. But there is fruit. And so, the person is changing, his understanding is being committed. And the fruit will vary depending on, even on good ground, depending on how committed we are to it. So, the lesson behind this parable is that many will hear. Yah, many will hear because some is on the wayside, some is on stony places, some of them are stony places. Many will hear, but will not bear fruit. And those who will bear fruit will bear it at different quantities, depending on their commitment. And indeed, you will know them by their fruits. So, that is important. Alright, so there he moves on to the next parable, which now we got on to verse 24. Another parable he put forth to them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like... Now, interesting, the kingdom of heaven is like... This phrase, the kingdom of heaven is like, is used in this parable and all the others in this chapter. It was not used on the first one, but it's used in this one and all the others. And it says, therefore, it's like... A man who sold good seed in his field.

So, now we have a situation of a man, a field, and seed. And so we have a situation of, in this case, it's obstacles towards the kingdom of God, like the first example was. The first parable was obstacles towards the kingdom of God.

But in this one, it's being besides the soil, there is an enemy. And, and, it highlights the difficulty, if not the impossibility, to get rid of those that come under the influence of the enemy. It highlights the impossibility of getting rid of those that come under the influence of the enemy. So, let's go on to reading a little bit more about this parable. The mania is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ that came to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God.

So, Christ is the one that, and we'll see that in a moment, as well. And he's sowing good seed in his field. So, now look at it. The seed and the field belongs to God. Both the seed and the field. Now, let's go on reading verse 25. We'll look at some of these points a little bit further when we look at the explanation. Verse 25. But wild men slept. Now, this is not necessarily a point against that people fell asleep. Because we all have to sleep. You know, we all need whatever number of hours every day to sleep. Some people need a bit more, some people need less. So, while they're sleeping. So, it's not that they are necessarily careless, but could be that they are careless. Because if you are, for instance, allowing things into your mind that you shouldn't allow, you're not being really awake. And so, there is therefore a duality, as well. But wild men slept, you know, they went really paying attention because either they were sleeping or something was happening around them and they allowed us to affect them. The enemy came and sowed tears among the wheat and went his way.

So, he allowed, if you were sleeping, all right, the things happened because there's people around that got influenced or whatever. Or, he allowed certain things to come into his mind that he shouldn't have allowed. And there's these weeds that are being planted amongst us. So, therefore, we've got to be careful what we allow in our minds. Verse 26, but when the grain has sprouted and produced the crop.

Now, here's an interesting point. Tears are only recognized once the grain bears fruit.

Before that, they all look good. All these people look such good Christians. But you've got to wait for the fruit, the fruit of God's Holy Spirit, which has got nine characteristics, not just one or two of them. It's got to have all those nine characteristics. Galatians 5, you read, there's nine characteristics there. So, it's got to have, that's the fruit, singular fruit. It's got nine characteristics in the fruit. So, it's got to have all those fruits. Well, they might not be ripe, but it's got to have all those characteristics. So, until it's sprouted, you could not distinguish one from the other.

And we continue now in verse 27. So, the servants of the own academy in St. Louis, sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tears? And he said to them, an enemy has done this. The servants of St. Louis, don't you want us to go and gather them up? It's interesting, a little bit of research, these tears, apparently the root system gets around the root system of the wheat. And so, if you pull out the tears, you pull out the wheat as well. And the Irene is the point about the impossibility of getting rid of those that come under the influence of the enemy. Because if you do that, you're going to affect the good as well. So, it says you've got to wait until the time of reading.

So, this is kind of a tough lesson to people going through some serious trials. Because it says, maybe, that trial that maybe you have of somebody, maybe you're going to have to go with it until the end. Because I'm not going to remove it. Because the tear, if you pull the tear now, the tear out will affect the good wheat. It's a very painful statement, a very difficult statement.

But it's said, what's really not known, this while you gather after tears, you also uproot the wheat with them.

So, let both grow together until the harvest. Until the time of Christ coming, until the end. And at the time of the harvest, I will say to the reapers, first gather together the tears and bind them in bundles to burn them. So, bind them for burning. It doesn't say burn them straight away. So, Yah is appointing a sequence. They're not burnt straight away. They're just bound to burn. But gather the wheat into my barn.

And then it goes on to another parable.

And there's two parables that go, so I'm going to skip those two parables for the time being. Because as we come to verse 34, as we come to verse 34, he says, all these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables and explains the parables. And then verse 36 says, then Jesus sent the multitude away. God's gone.

And then he went into the house. Now he's in a private environment.

And his disciples came to him, asking, He sent the multitude to us the parable of the tears of the field, which is the one I just finished reading. Now Christ gives them an explanation to this parable.

So we're going to read this. So we'll come to the other two parables on verses 31 to 33 after we do the explanation. So we're jumping a little bit on the sequence, because we just finished reading the parable of the tears. So we're going to cover now the explanation of that. And so he answered his step to them in verse 37.

He who stows the good seed is the Son of Man. So this man that is stowing the good seed is Jesus Christ. That's very clear. And obviously he's preaching the Gospel, and he does it through people, and through his servants, and through his work, he does it. He's in charge. He's in charge of the most important project that the Father gave to him.

And what is it? To create sons and daughters of God in a family of God. That's the project. And he's done, he's given this mission, and he's doing it from A to Z. He's the Alpha and Omega. So he created the physical world, he's worked with Israel, and he's the one that is being delegated to do under the authority of the Father. And he's the one that came and died for us, and he's the one that is giving us these instructions. That's why it says, we've got to listen to him, otherwise we'll be utterly destroyed.

So he who stows the good seed is the Son of Man. Now what is the good seed?

Now, interesting, the good seed, the word Cedia, is Sperma, Greek 4-6-9-8, not Sporos. And that's a multicellular. It's like an ole fuel and an embryo and a seed, therefore, in this case, and explains.

He says, verse 38, he says, the field is the world, and the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom. So now the seed in verse parable are you and I?

Are you and I? Obviously true. The word that he's done, but now it's the seed that he's putting into the world. And you and I are putting into the world. And what is the world? He says in verse 38, the field is the world. He's putting the seed in the field, I beg your pardon, and the field is the world. It's not the church.

So he puts you and I in the world. You remember, Christ said, I'm not taking them out of the world. I'm putting in the world, but you don't be infected or affected by the world. You are in the world, but not of the world. You see, so the field is the world. It's the society. It's the cosmos where you and I are in this world, in this society.

And Yahreh is the lesson, because the seed, which is us, and you know the story about a seed, you're going to the ground, it's going to die, to grow. There is symbolic of baptism and coming out of the water.

He's the one that puts that seed, you and I, and symbolic, obviously, of the death and resurrection, but obviously of baptism and receiving God's Holy Spirit and a whole protest day. You can see how deep these parables are. But the tears, which are again people, but are the stuns of the weaker one, are the ones that have been influenced by Satan and by this society. And so what we have, we have Christians in the world with friends, family, whatever it may be, which are being influenced by Satan, putting you and I as Christians under enormous stressful suggestions. And sometimes we pray, God, relieve the situation and you may.

But at the times, you may say, no, leave the tears with the wheat till the harvest.

So, continuing in verse 39, the enemy who sold them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age. You know, it was when Christ comes. And the reapers are the angels. The reapers are the angels who are going to come. And it says in Revelation 11, I think run about 16 or 18 or so, it says it's a time of the judgment of the dead. Because it's basically, the reapers, it does have been decided to be in the kingdom, in the barn, and others will be decided at that very moment that they're going to need to be burned. Not yet, because it says there that bundles to burn them later. It doesn't say to burn them straight away, but it just shows there. It's an interesting point. Therefore, the tears are gathered and burned in the fire. It will be gathered and burned. So, it will be at the end of the age. Correct. Verse 41, the Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that are fanned, and those who practice lawlessness.

That separation will come under the Day of Judgment. And all things that are fanned, all things that create stumbling blocks, all things that create hurt, will be taken out.

Look at Matthew 18, verse 6 through 8. Matthew 18, verse 6 through 8. And it was to the Greek word is candeliza, which is, in some places, translated sometimes as offended, to be offended. It will be better for him, for most of them will hang around his neck, and he will drown in the depth of the sea. Woe to the wall because of offenses, candeliza. The guy in the same word, scandalizes. For offenses, scandaliza must come, for a wall to that man by whom the offenses, scandaliza, comes. If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, to scandaliza, to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life, lame and maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet or be cast into the lost in fire. So, here is the example. We really got to be careful. Anything that offends is going to be removed. And we got to work, we got to remove those stumbling blocks. Look at Romans chapter 14. Romans chapter 14. Romans chapter 14. Romans chapter 14. Verse 10 through 13. Romans 14, 10 through 13. But why do you judge your brother? And why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For he is written, As I live, says the Lord, every meal bowed to me. It is interesting, it is the Lord. All meal bowed to me. And it is clearly explaining that it is Christ, the judgment seat of Christ. And every tongue shall confess to God. So then, each of us shall give account of himself to God. Therefore, let us not judge one another, anymore. But rather, resolve this, not to put a stumbling block, or a cause to fall in your brother's way. It was an offense, a scandalous or stumbling block. Do not put a stumbling block. Do not put anything that has caused trouble for our people. Look at 1 Corinthians 10. 1 Corinthians 10, verse 31 and 32. 1 Corinthians 10, 31 and 32.

Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. As we heard in the sermon, we ought to have a good reputation. We ought to be a light to the glory of God.

Verse 32, give no offense, either to Jews or to the Greeks, or to the church of God.

And we've got to be careful. Yeah, it's easy to say, oh well, I'm not offending the people in the world. But are we offending the people in the church? By some of the things we do, we've got to be careful with that. We've got to look at that. Let's continue back to Matthew chapter 13. We were reading verse 41, where it says, And you'll gather out of this kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness. And will cost, verse 42, will cost them into the furnace of fire.

They will be wailing and mashing of tea.

So there will be an ultimate sorting out. There will be an ultimate sorting out. Do you know what this means? That not everyone will be forgiven.

There will be some people that will not be forgiven. I'm glad it's not me doing the judgment. I don't want to do it, because my heart is too soft. But it's... God will be judged. We all will sit before the Judgment Seat of Christ, and He is very merciful, very kind, but He's also just.

You know, the weightier matters of the law is justness, mercy, and faith. I've been thinking about this quite a bit. Some versions put it, judgment, mercy, and faith. Other versions put it, justness, mercy, and faith.

Justness to me is doing what's right. The weightier matters of the law is doing what's right, right? Judgment to me is more of a critical approach.

So I'm inclined to favor the translation that says, some battles have justice than battles are judging. I'm inclined to favor, I've got to do the weightier matters of the law is I've got to do what is right. In other words, I've got to have justice, and mercy, and walking faith. I prefer that version. I might be wrong. But anyway, that's how I see it at the moment. I've been meditating a lot about it, so that's why I know. We all have to be very careful that we have just sized justice.

That we do what's right, because it's so easy to be judgmental and critical. But to do what is right and to exercise mercy at the same time, and then walking faith, after we've done that, that is deep. That is very deep. So, let's go on here. But it says we'll be weeping, nailing, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth. In other words, it will be great sorrow. Wailing is great sorrow.

But gnashing of teeth far often are related to more like great anger. So, it's possible that some people will be very thorough, sorry, that they just must abode. Other people will be very angry against God for their judgment. And you probably can see both types of people wailing and gnashing of teeth. Going on to verse 43, then the righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father. You know, it was the kingdom of God.

The righteous will shine forth as the sun.

That is the glory that we will have.

There will be glory upon us that we cannot understand.

And therefore, it explains the very next parable in verse 45, which is not the one we're going to cover next. We're going to cover first the massive seed and leaven, because we didn't cover those two. But it explains, yeah, why it leads on to the next one, because if there's a glory out there, there is a pearl of great prize.

It ties into the next one. It's such a thing that we just cannot even begin to comprehend.

But talking about the righteous will shine forth as the sun, let's look at Daniel 12, verse 3. Daniel 12, verse 3. Daniel is age old. Daniel 12, verse 3. Right at the end of Daniel.

It's talking about right at the time of the end.

And those that sleep will not awake, some to the last in life, at the end of verse 2. Daniel 12, and some to shine whenever lost in content. And it says, those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament.

And those who turn many to righteousness, by obviously doing God's work and helping other people to repent, and being a light, and being an example, they will be like the stars forever and ever.

And that, it's basically saying, arise, shine, there is glory be upon you. That's what it is. And look at 2 Corinthians chapter 3. 2 Corinthians chapter 3. Verse 17 and 18. 2 Corinthians chapter 3.

Verse 17 and 18. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unviled face, be holding us in a mirror. In other words, we are reflecting, as a mirror, reflecting the glory of the Lord.

In other words, you and I, by being an example and being where we are, we should be reflecting God's glory in our life, in our Beasur. And we are being transformed through the sanctification process of the Spirit of the life after we've been baptized and been sanctified. We are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory.

From this, reflecting glory, so that when we all be resurrected, we'll have a real glory, just as the Spirit. Just as by the Spirit of the Lord. So let's continue back to Matthew 13. So we will be reading there on verse 43. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father, he who has years to year, let him year. There's a lot here to meditate upon. And today we're going to have an interactive bubble study about meditation. So yeah, yeah, some stuff that we could meditate upon.

So let's go back to the parables. We skipped two. We jumped over two in verse 31 to verse 33. So let's cover those two we skipped because I wanted to cover the explanation of the parable of the tears. So let's look at verses 31 and 32. It shows another parable he puts forth.

And these two are in a pair, as you can see, of the mustard seed and leaven, which reflect the growth of the kingdom. The growth. Because it says the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, which a man took and fell in his field. Which he did is the least of all the seeds. But if it is wrong, it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches. Again we have a man, a seed, and a field. And the ice shows the growth. And an interesting point here is the birds of the air come and nest in its branches. This is a subtle hint that the Gentiles will also be in that tree. For you to give it some thought about that, just write down Ezekiel 17, 23, and 24, where the birds of all sorts will come. And Daniel 4, 12, and Daniel 4, 20 through 22, and you can see it's thinking of the Gentiles. Just subtle hint, but it just shows the Gentiles will come in as well. The birds of the air from all different areas. And then it gives a parable which says the Kingdom of Heaven is like leaven. So again, the Kingdom of Heaven is, or it uses that phraseology, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was leaven. Again, it's leaven, the same concept, then it grows. Then it grows.

And the thing about leaven is it changes the nature, changes the nature of that grape. And so when we got God's Holy Spirit and we grow, our nature changes, our way of being changes. And God starts small. So these two parables give this example of God starting small. Look how all started from Abraham, the father of many nations, as we are in the Semanet. And then there were twelve tribes with Jacob. And then from there it grew into a whole nation that, or nations, that were to be examples so that other nations could come in. But they failed terribly. And then look at the example of Daniel. There's that image. And there's one stone that comes. And that stone hits the feet of the image and then it grows and takes over the whole world. God starts small. Look at an example. Jesus was just one converted man on earth. And then three and a half years later, there were only a hundred twenty disciples. And then there were three thousand and then five thousand. You know, it got started small. But it increases. Zechariah 4 verse 10 says, Do not despise the day of small beginnings. Don't underestimate because something starts small. And you've seen, as an example, many companies started small and became big companies. You know, you start small and you grow. And it will be a wonderful government. It will be a wonderful. Christ started and it says it will be a wonderful government. Look at Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6 and 7. Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6 and 7. Isaiah 9 verse 6 and 7.

For it was a child is born and was a study student and the government will be upon his shoulder. The government, the government of God will be upon this son child that is born to us, which is Jesus Christ. His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father. Maybe a better translation may be the Father of Eternity. For us, yes, he is the one that is leading the way for eternity for us. The Prince of Peace, of the increase of his government. It was the growth of the increase of this government, tying into those parables, two parables.

Of his government at peace, there will be no end. There will be no end.

Upon the throne of the Devil and over his kingdom, to order and establish it with judgment and justice from then on forward, even forever. The zeal of the Eternal of hosts will perform this. That will be a wonderful government. Imagine a government that you're going to look at the leaders of government and say, Hey, you're doing a great job! You don't find much of that in this world today. In no country, in no nation. But it will be a government that will have peace. And there will be no end, and that will just grow. It will be a wonderful government.

And so we'll continue now with Matthew 13.

And we get to the final three parables, which we've covered those other two. The word must exceed and eleven. We've also covered explanation of the parable of the tears. So we're now sitting in verse 44. And it says, Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field.

And here is the word hidden. You know, in parable of leaven, it also said, and the woman took and hid. And now we have the kingdom of heaven, verse 44, is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid. And for the joy over it, he goes and sells all he has and buys that field.

So here we have a man. And then you have the next parable, which is the kingdom of heaven, is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls. And when he found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. So very similar parables. The first one's a man and the second one's a merchant. So the first one is like somebody who is, for instance, poor, and everyone's a merchant and somebody that's wealthier. Maybe one possible example. And he says, he finds, it's hidden in a field, and he hides it. Now, in Old Testament, you read, in Old Testament you read, wisdom. You know, wisdom is the principle thing, right? In the New Testament, you find, seek the kingdom and all these things shall be added to you. Seeking the kingdom of God is a principle thing. So, yes, wisdom is important, but even greater than that, he's seeking the kingdom of God.

So what is our goal? Is it to seek the kingdom of God? If it is, and we've found a way, and as the truth, it says, I'm gonna, the joy. So there is an inner joy, but it is solid because you've committed, and you're making an investment to it. You're counting the cost, you're making an investment to it. And he says, you sell all that he has in by that field.

You sell all that you have, and by that field. When we think about the parable of the tears, where there's that tear, wrapping around the root of the wheat, and you can't pull out the tears. And he has one that sells all.

Means, even though you've got these tears around you, that's nothing compared with the joy that is ahead. And so I am prepared to go on with the difficulties and the challenges of my life. Whatever I have, whatever's been given to me, whatever tears I have in my life.

Because the joy of that great pearl of great price, or of that, of that, um, hidden treasure is far greater than the things we're losing in our physical life today.

And that ties in with Luke 14. You know, Luke 14 about counting the cost? You know, you know that section, Luke 14 verse 25 to 31, where it says, counter cost.

And we can often go through that before baptism. It says, counter cost. And you forsake all! Even your life! So, when you tie that in with the tears, that you can't pull them out until the end, or until the harvest. When you tie in with the pearl of great price, or this treasure that is hidden, and you hide it in your heart, and you hold on to it, the world is not interested in it! The world is not interested in it! The world doesn't see it! Well, one day you'll see it when Christ comes and opens it up, but you have to hold on to it! You and I have to hold on to it, regardless of the cost of whatever trials we have that seem insurmountable! That you could have appointed as this. This is too much for me. Why? Why, God, why don't you take it away? But if he took the tears away, maybe I'll be taken away with it.

Because of the joy! Yeah? It may look unfair! It may look unfair! But it's a Pearl of Great Price. And there in the parable of the Pearl of Great Price it says, there's this merchant, and he says he went and stole all that he had and bought the store. So this is far more worse than everything else we have. And you put that in context with Luke 14, and again meditate about it. There's a lot to meditate about it and think about it. And so now we get to the final parable in verse 47. Again, the kingdom of heaven is, that same phraseology, like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind. So that means we get to the point, there's a concluding parable, which is about judgment, and the time to enter the kingdom of God, the time of the harvest. And everything is gathered. There's this net. It gathers everything.

And some will be taken, and some will be thrown away. It says, like a dragnet, it was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which when it was full, they drew to shore, and they sat down and gathered the gold into vessels and threw the bat away. And so it will be at the end of the age, the angels will come forth, separate the wicked from the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire, and they'll be wailing and mashing of teeth. There will be a judgment.

So Jesus said to them, do you get it? Yeah, that's what it says. Have you understood all these things? Do you get it? These are powerful words about the kingdom of God. Powerful words that say, there will be challenges in the soil, with the enemy, there will be growth, yes, but you've got to grow.

But you've got to throw everything else away, because this is a pearl of great price, and you've got to hold on till the end. There will be a judgment.

It's powerful words about the kingdom of God, and they appear to Him, yes, Lord.

I think the question is to us. Do we get it?

What will our reply be? You know, words are cheap. What is the real words that we need? Fruits. Fruits.

Our fruits will show it, if we got it. 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 old and new. We've been instructed about the kingdom of God. And the instruction from Jesus Christ is got a new Old Testament and a New Testament, all but new. And we've got to take all these good things.

And now it came to pass when Jesus had finished His parables, that it departed from there. He left. You know, we have some strong words from Jesus Christ about the seven parables of the kingdom of God. The righteous and the wicked will be growing together in this world.

Sometimes we cannot distinguish the godly from the ungodly by the appearances of the looks or the nice mannerisms that people have.

But body fruits, remember. Body fruits. God knows us. But this is a pearl of great prize. And because of it, because of the joy of it, you exchange everything, your life, everything you want, you're prepared to give it all. Till the end, because it's when the angels will come under the destruction of the Father and Jesus Christ to reap the harvest. At the end of the age, there will be a judgment. God will send His angels to separate them. And there will be either eternal death in the lake of fire or eternal life in the kingdom of God.

God will send His angels to the kingdom of God.