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Words of Jesus Part 10
- Matthew 13:3 And he spake many
things unto them in parables, saying,
Behold, a sower went forth to sow;
- 4
And when he sowed, some seeds fell by
the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:
This to me means being a half-hearted
hearer who doesn't really grasp what is heard. We may hear a good
message but get distracted going about our business forgetting what
we heard.
- Matthew 13:5
Some fell upon stony places, where
they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because
they had no deepness of earth:
This were those that heard the word but
did not build on it. They didn't become rooted and grounded in that
word so that fruit would come from it.
- Matthew 13:6
And 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 sprung up, and choked them:
These are they who loved the word at
first but had too many other interests and cares. The worldly
interests came first in their hearts and minds until the word was
choked. What they heard was then forgotten.
- Matthew 13:8
But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some
an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.
These are they which love the word,
continue in the word and it causes others to hear also. These are
they that can say at the end of their lives, "I've fought a good
fight, I've kept the faith" and they are ready to meet the Lord.
- Matthew 13:9
Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
God pleads with us to hear and
understand. It is not His will that any of us should perish.
- Matthew 13:10 And the disciples
came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in
parables?
- 11 He answered and said
unto them, Because it is given
unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to
them it is not given.
- 12
For whosoever hath, to him shall be
given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not,
from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
- 13
Therefore speak I to them in
parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear
not, neither do they understand.
- 14 And
in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By
hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye
shall see, and shall not perceive:
- 15
For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull
of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time
they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and
should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and
I should heal them.
They could have heard but they refused.
The more we continue to resist the truth, the more our hearts will
deceive us and we will not hear. The more we open up to the truth,
the more truth we will have. Every time one resists the Spirit of
God's wooing them to salvation the heart becomes harder and harder.
At the first coming of Jesus the Jewish
people were at a point that they were not ready to receive the
Messiah. Instead they were looking for one to give them political
and military power to escape the rule of the Romans. That is why
they rejected the message of repentance from sin and faith in Jesus
Christ. They were the chosen of God in their minds, they had the law
given through Moses and assumed they had no sin so they didn't need
at least in their own thinking, a savior from sin. That is one
reason, adulterers and harlots were able to see a need for a savior
from sin better than those that just lived good lives and didn't sin
at least openly. In their hearts were much sin or they wouldn't have
crucified the savior and Son of the living God.
- Matthew 13:16
But blessed are your eyes, for they
see: and your ears, for they hear.
- 17
For verily I say unto you, That many
prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things
which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things
which ye hear, and have not heard them.
Those that understand these things are
blessed and will inherit eternal life. Those that received are the
ones that desired to hear anything that was from God. The more we
seek, the more we find.
- Matthew 13:18
Hear ye therefore the parable of the
sower.
- 19
When any one heareth the word of the
kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one,
and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he
which received seed by the way side.
- 20
But he that received the seed into
stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon
with joy receiveth it;
- 21
Yet hath he not root in himself, but
dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth
because of the word, by and by he is offended.
- 22
He also that received seed among the
thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world,
and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh
unfruitful.
- 23
But he that received seed into the
good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it;
which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an
hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
We see this in today's world. We see
those who have hardened hearts and do not receive the word at all. We
also see those that hear but do not pay attention which keeps them
from being rooted and grounded in the word. Then we have those that are so
busy in the things of this life that they do not have time to grow
spiritually. We also see a narrow few who bring forth fruit unto
righteousness. Hearing the word should bring us to repentance and
then joy when we find forgiveness. We shall have this joy when we
finally begin to realize just how great God's gift of salvation
really is. The joy of the Lord comes when we accept His grace and
are really thankful to have heard and receive Jesus into our lives.
- Matthew 13:24 Another parable put
he forth unto them, saying,
The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good
seed in his field:
- 25
But while men slept, his enemy came
and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
- 26
But when the blade was sprung up, and
brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
- 27
So the servants of the householder
came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy
field? from whence then hath it tares?
- 28
He said unto them, An enemy hath done
this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and
gather them up?
- 29
But he said, Nay; lest while ye
gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
- 30
Let both grow together until the
harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers,
Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to
burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
We see this today. The world mixes with
the church. In the church those that believe strongly live side by
side with those
that are lukewarm. We see troublemakers, false teachers and those
after money mixing with those who contend with the faith once
delivered to the saints. There are those that spend a lot of time
looking for those that preach false doctrine. While we do need to be
careful to check all we hear with the written word God provided us
with, we need also to be careful that we do not false accuse the
wrong ones. This happens when we jump to conclusions and make
assumptions based on things we hear, not on things we heard
ourselves. Even videos can be manipulated to cut out words and leave
in words that make one seem to be saying the very opposite was what
they are trying to say. The news media do it all the time to make
someone they oppose politically, to look bad. So that is why I
believe the Lord says to not try to remove the tares ahead of time
or we might pluck up the valuable wheat with them.
- Matthew 13:31 Another parable put
he forth unto them, saying,
The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which
a man took, and sowed in his field:
- 32
Which indeed is the least of all
seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and
becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in
the branches thereof.
- 33
Another parable spake he unto them;
The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took,
and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.
The bigger the church the more likely
that we have many from different backgrounds and many who may not
be serving the Lord in true faithful Christian living.
The true kingdom of heaven is still
growing from a very small beginning with only a few but also lodged
in its branches are those that do not live as they should and bring
harm to the reputation of the church rather than doing it good.
- Matthew 13:33 Another parable
spake he unto them; The
kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and
hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.
This teaches the same thought as the
above. The more a church grows and it should grow but the bad and
the good will be within it.
- Matthew 13:34 All these things
spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a
parable spake he not unto 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 which have been kept
secret from the foundation of the world.
Teaching by parables was foretold in:
Only those sincere who seek the Lord
with all there hearts will understand. The careless, uncaring,
scoffers, and unbelievers will not understand.
- Matthew 13:36 Then Jesus sent the
multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came
unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of
the field.
- 37 He answered and said
unto them, He that soweth the
good seed is the Son of man;
- 38
The field is the world; the good seed
are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children
of the wicked one;
- 39
The enemy that sowed them is the
devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are
the angels.
- 40
As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so
shall it be in the end of this world.
- 41
The Son of man shall send forth his
angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that
offend, and them which do iniquity;
- 42
And shall cast them into a furnace of
fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
- 43
Then shall the righteous shine forth
as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to
hear, let him hear.
Tares and wheat grow together even now.
We must continue faithful in the word and let God be the judge. We
must not attempt to destroy the tares ourselves lest we destroy the
wheat along with it. The faithful will shine forth as the sun.
- Matthew 13:44
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a
field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy
thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that
field.
- 45
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like
unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:
- 46
Who, when he had found one pearl of
great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.
This should be our attitude when we
discover salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Forsake everything
else and give God our all.
- Matthew 13:47
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like
unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every
kind:
- 48
Which, when it was full, they drew to
shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but
cast the bad away.
- 49
So shall it be at the end of the
world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from
among the just,
- 50
And shall cast them into the furnace
of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
We can be part of the righteous. It is
our choice. We can be part of the wicked by refusing to hear and
understand.
- Matthew 13:51 Jesus saith unto
them, Have ye understood all
these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord.
- 52 Then said he unto them,
Therefore every scribe which
is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that
is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure
things new and old.
- 53 And it came to pass,
that when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence.
Listen to these words. There is
treasure in the word of God. In both Old and New Testament there is
deep, wonderful treasure that only those that seek will understand.
If we are ignorant, it is our own fault. In these scriptures lie the
key to life itself.
- Matthew 13:54 And when he was come
into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue,
insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this
man this wisdom, and these mighty works?
- 55 Is not this the
carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his
brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?
- 56 And his sisters, are
they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these
things?
- 57 And they were offended
in him. But Jesus said unto them,
A prophet is not without honour, save
in his own country, and in his own house.
58 And he did not many mighty
works there because of their unbelief.
They could have had all that God offers
yet their unbelief hindered them. It is still the same today.
Unbelief is the greatest hindrance to the deep things of God. We can
understand. Many are seeking God for material things. There are so
many wonderful things that God has for us that is not even worthy to
compare to paltry material things.
Such wisdom and understanding is ours
if we count the word of God as treasure and seek it diligently.
-Dorna
Words of Jesus
Part 11
Words of Jesus
Index
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