The Responsibility of the Kingdom
Matthew 13:47-52
October 23, 2011
As you know we are working through Matthew’s gospel,
And central on Matthew’s mind at this point is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Matthew was fascinated with the kingdom of heaven,
So much so that he devoted an entire chapter of his gospel
To Jesus’ teaching about it.
And so here in Matthew 13
We have Jesus revealing to us the mysteries of the kingdom.
As has been said often, these mysteries were not given to the lost,
But only to those who had entered the kingdom.
So we are extremely grateful that our Lord
Has chosen to reveal these things to us.
Matthew 11:25-27 “At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. “Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”
We are in fact blessed.
And as such, we are now learning the mysteries of the kingdom.
WHY DOESN’T EVERYONE ENTER THE KINGDOM?
The Parable of the Sower: They have bad hearts
WHY DO THE UNRIGHTEOUS EXIST, AND WHY DO THEY REMAIN?
The Parable of the Tares: An enemy planted them, God is protecting the wheat
WHY IS THE KINGDOM SO SMALL?
The Parable of the Mustard Seed: It starts small, but ends big
The Parable of Leaven: It spreads by influence
WHAT WILL BECOME OF THE UNBELIEVERS?
The Parable of the Tares Explained: They will be removed
IS THE KINGDOM WORTH IT’S COST?
The Parable of the Treasure in the Field
The Parable of the Pearl of great value – those who know are glad to pay it.
Well, this morning let’s learn one more thing about the kingdom.
(We are actually going to study two parables, each with different meanings,
But in a unique way, they seem to teach us the same thing)
This morning we learn about the Responsibility of the Kingdom.
And certainly this should be hard to grasp.
The lost are responsible to enter the kingdom.
The redeemed are responsible to spread it.
And the two parables we are looking at this morning
Clearly illustrate exactly that.
#1 THE GREAT SEPARATION
Matthew 13:47-50
You will notice that this parable, begins with the word “Again”
That indicates to us that this parable
Is explaining a reality already explained to us.
This parable reiterates that of the parable of the tares of the field.
Matthew 13:24-30 “Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. “But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. “But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. “The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ “And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ “But he said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. ‘Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.”‘”
This is the same point.
• Once there was a field, here there is the sea
• Once there was a crop, here there are fish
• Once there were reapers, here there are fishermen
• Once there was a barn, here there are containers
But the parables are obviously the same.
What is also obvious is that Jesus duplicates the parable on purpose.
No doubt it was important to Christ that we understand this parable.
The fact that He repeats this truth
Is an indicator to us to pay special attention.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind;”
I’m sure many of His followers would have understood.
James and John, Peter, and Andrew were all fishing, when He called them.
They fished with different techniques in Bible times.
One of the ways they used to fish was just with a line and hook,
much like people fish today.
This was the type of fishing Peter did when Jesus told him to catch the fish,
that would have the shekel so they could pay the two drachma tax.
Matthew 17:27 “However, so that we do not offend them, go to the sea and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for you and Me.”
Another type of fishing was a one man net.
This is also what we saw Peter doing on the shore when Jesus called him.
Matthew 4:18 “Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.”
The third type of fishing was the one Jesus referred to here.
A group of men would take a very large net, as big as half a square mile,
They would weight the bottom and float the top.
They would make a large circle in the water. (two boats, or just one)
And obviously with such a tactic, they would gather “fish of every kind”
(among other things I’m sure)
(48) “and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away.”
With such a large net, you caught a lot of fish,
And you caught a lot of junk, so it was necessary to sort what you caught.
And so that is what the fishermen did.
They sorted out the fish they wanted and threw away the fish they didn’t.
It was a simple illustration.
And yet it mirrors the work of the great judgment.
(49-50) “So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
And from that we learn some very important facts.
1) THE END IS COMING
Jesus speaks very clearly about “the end of the age”
This world is on a clock, it is counting down.
God is not just waiting until He feels like ending everything,
There is a day on His calendar.
Consider this phrase in the book of the Revelation.
At one point God will set loose four evil angels to terrorize the earth.
But notice what John says about them.
Revelation 9:15 “And the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released, so that they would kill a third of mankind.”
God already has the hour picked, and the earth is screaming towards it.
“the end of the age” is coming.
2 Peter 3:10 “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.”
It is quite humorous to me today how worked up people get
About the environment today.
On one hand you have those who are constantly screaming
Out of fear that we might destroy it.
Friends, Christ is the sustainer of this world.
Colossians 1:16-17 “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”
You can’t bring an end to this world before He is ready.
(Now certainly we can make it less pleasurable to live in,
But even then our worst enemy is CO2, it is sin.)
A true environmentalist would be on a war against sin, not smoke.
Others want to protect this world, because they are under the delusion that it will last forever. (We’ll leave it to our children, etc.)
It will not, God did not intend for it to.
1 John 2:17 “The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.”
The end is coming.
Not by man’s doing, but by God’s doing.
The end is coming.
2) ANGELS ARE COMING
Another misconception about this world is the role of angels.
People today talk of angels
As these sweet, friendly, guardian type creatures.
(Right up there with unicorns and pixy fairies)
Let me give you a less than pleasant view of them.
“the angels will come forth and take the wicked from among the righteous and will throw them into the furnace of fire”
Listen, the lost world has this fantasy about angels,
Trust me, they won’t rejoice when they meet one.
Matthew 13:41 “The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness,”
Matthew 24:31 “”And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.”
2 Thessalonians 1:7-8 “…the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.”
Revelation 14:14-20 “Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was one like a son of man, having a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand. And another angel came out of the temple, crying out with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, ” Put in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe.” Then He who sat on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped. And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. Then another angel, the one who has power over fire, came out from the altar; and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, “Put in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe.” So the angel swung his sickle to the earth and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God. And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses’ bridles, for a distance of two hundred miles.”
And rest assured, angels are coming.
They are enraged about what has occurred on this earth.
They are angered at the spread of sin.
They, above all else, want to see Christ glorified.
• Who announced His birth?
• Who ministered to Him during His temptation?
• Who ministered to Him in the garden?
• Who was waiting on edge just for Him to give a nod from the cross?
• Who sat celebrating the empty tomb?
They are in love with Jesus.
And you had better know they can’t wait
To come and clean up His kingdom!
They hate what this world has done to Jesus.
And they will come with holy fury
As the ultimate agents of divine judgment.
The End is Coming The Angels are Coming
3) WEEPING IS COMING
Jesus said that the angels will take the wicked and “will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Can I just remind you of an elementary truth?
HELL IS REAL
It is not a mythical place…
Jesus spoke of it often. (More than any other preacher)
Matthew 10:28 “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Mark 9:43 “If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire,”
Matthew 22:13 “Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Matthew 25:30 “Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Hell is real.
• The outer darkness
• The lake of fire
• The place of torment
• The place prepared for the devil and his angels
It is a real place.
Revelation 20:14-15 “Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
I mean you really have to be selective in your Bible reading
To ignore the doctrine of a eternal punishment.
God created it, and people are going there.
In fact Scripture says “Many” are going there.
Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
The wicked may mock and scorn and laugh now, but some day they will only weep and gnaw their tongues because of the pain.
And Jesus reiterates this again with this parable of the dragnet.
Now certainly the point of this mystery is to explain what the outcome will be for all those who are not part of the kingdom.
For everyone in the world, who is not a part of the kingdom of heaven,
There place will be in the outer darkness.
For all the tares…
For all the bad fish…
Their inheritance is eternal torment.
This parable explains the mystery of what happens to the bad fish.
And this is not a new revelation.
Scripture is very forthright about this information.
Every fish ought to do everything it can to not be a bad fish.
YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT YOU KNOW
And this is what I mean by “The Responsibility of the Kingdom”
They are responsible to enter it.
You know I have a strong belief in the sovereignty of God,
And of things like election and predestination.
But listen, that does not change that Scripture also clearly teaches
That the sinner is responsible to turn from sin and confess Christ.
Romans 1:18-23 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.”
God has certainly given revelation.
Creation Conscience
His Word His Son
His Church as salt and light
But man has not responded and they stand forever condemned.
Today, sinners suppose they are getting off scot free,
But they don’t even realize their lives are headed for the day of judgment
In which their deeds will be called to account.
John MacArthur wrote this:
“Men move about within that net as if they were forever free. It may touch them from time to time, as it were, startling them. But they quickly swim away, thinking they have escaped, not realizing they are completely and inescapably encompassed in God’s sovereign plan. The invisible web of God’s judgment encroaches on every human being just as that of the dragnet encroaches the fish. Most men do not perceive the kingdom, and they do not see God working in the world. They may be briefly moved by the grace of the gospel or frightened by the threat of judgment; but they soon return to their old ways of thinking and living, oblivious to the things of eternity. But when man’s day is over and Christ returns to set up His glorious kingdom, then judgment will come.”
The only hope for those sinners,
Is that they come to their senses and respond to the gospel,
Forsaking their old way of life that Christ might make them new.
That Christ might transform them from bad fish to good fish.
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
And because the truth has gone forth, they are responsible to adhere to it.
Otherwise the weeping is certain.
And so we see there will be a Great Separation.
#2 THE GREAT STEWARDSHIP
Matthew 13:51-52
Some don’t regard this as a parable, but it clearly is, as Jesus makes a comparison here of the disciples to “a head of a household”
“Have you understood all these things?”
Did you get it ALL?
Do you read Me?
“They said to Him, “Yes”
That means that they are now accountable.
“To whom much is given…much is required”
(52) “And Jesus said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”
It was the responsibility of the “head of a household”
To give provisions or rations to the family.
They were the stewards.
And they divvied it out to the family as it was needed.
And Jesus here tells they twelve that they are now those stewards.
And therefore they were responsible to go
And spread this mystery to the rest of the world.
• They knew why people weren’t entering the kingdom.
• They knew why there were tares among the wheat.
• They knew why the kingdom appeared small.
• They knew how the kingdom would grow.
• They knew how valuable the kingdom is.
• They knew what would happen to all those who did not enter it.
And they were now obligated.
Remember what Paul said?
Romans 1:14-15 “I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.”
Ephesians 3:1-3, 8-10 “For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles — if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you; that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief…To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.”
Paul was bound to deliver that which he knew.
And that is precisely what Jesus is saying to the disciples.
And notice EXACTLY what He said.
“every scribe who HAS BECOME a disciple of the kingdom is like a head of household who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”
In other words, one of the distinguishing marks of a true disciple
Of the kingdom is that they share the treasure.
Jesus is saying if you are truly a disciple,
Then you are also a steward.
However, those who pretend to be disciples,
But who are not good stewards are frauds.
Matthew 24:45-51 “Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time? “Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. “Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. “But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time,’ and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Charles Spurgeon said, “Every Christian is either a missionary or an imposter.”
That is exactly what Jesus is saying here.
Every true disciple of the kingdom
Is either a faithful steward or a lying hypocrite.
We are responsible for what we know.
Now some would say, “Absolutely, but I’m gonna be like Jesus and I’m not gonna share it with those to whom it is not granted, just like Jesus didn’t.”
That would be fine and well except you don’t know who that is.
Jesus did, you don’t.
We are called to share it everywhere.
TURN TO: ISAIAH 6
VERSE 8
And obviously his answer should be our answer.
Here is the mission
VERSES 9-10
(Recognize that? It is the verse Jesus quoted earlier in Matthew 13)
Notice Isaiah’s question
VERSES 11-12
So God told him to preach until everyone is destroyed.
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THAT?
VERSE 13
Because there was a remnant that would be saved.
Isaiah didn’t know who they were, and neither do we.
We know that at least 75% won’t accept it because their hearts are bad,
But we don’t know who they are until we share it.
Furthermore we know the kingdom spreads in this manner (like leaven)
And now we find that we are responsible
To share the mystery we have received.
And there you have the truths of the kingdom.
1. People don’t enter because their hearts are bad.
(Don’t get discouraged if you are rejected, it isn’t your fault)
2. The tares are there because an enemy sowed them.
(Don’t try to root them out, the angels will get them eventually)
3. The kingdom appears small, but it will get bigger.
4. It will spread like leaven
(So get to work touching people’s lives)
5. The kingdom is more valuable than any cost you could pay
(So regardless of the cost, you were right to enter, and you are right to tell others to do so too)
6. Some day the kingdom will be purified, so go out and warn sinners and thus fulfill your duty.
THIS IS WHY CHRIST SPOKE ON THE KINGDOM.
IT WAS TO MOTIVATE YOU AND I
TO BE FAITHFUL KINGDOM CITIZENS
WILL YOU BE ONE?
Matthew 13:52 “And Jesus said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”
