"The Kingdom Parables" 

This is a crucial chapter in the Bible, one that every believer should understand. The rebellion against Christ has reached its peak, and He has turned FROM the nation to ALL who will come to Him (Matt. 11:28-30). The big question now is, "What about the kingdom, now that the King has been refused?" The answer to this question, I believe is found in Matthew 13. Here Christ outlines the "mysteries of the kingdom" and explains what the "kingdom of heaven" is like during this age.


THE SETTING OF THE PARABLES:


1. "out of the house" -- "The house" here refers to the literal house in which Jesus had been teaching; but it also symbolizes he house of Israel (10:6). By leaving the house, Jesus was saying (symbolically) that He had left the nation and would now turn to the Gentiles.
2. "By the wayside" -- The sea in Scripture stands for the Gentile nations of the world (Rev. 17:15, and Isa. 60:5). Christ now goes to the Gentiles and begins a new phase of His ministry. (Matt. 10:5-6, Matt. 12:17-21, and Matt. 12:39-42).


THE REASON FOR PARABLES:


1. The human reason. 13:10-17 -- The condition of people's hearts made it necessary for Christ to use parables. (A parable, you recall, is an "earthly saying with a heavenly meaning"). Christ quotes Isa. 6:9-10 to explain why He was using parables: the hearts, ears, and eyes of the people had become dull and hard and blind. By using parables, He was exciting the curiosity of the concerned, those who really wanted to know the truth. But He was also hiding the truth from the rebellious; He would not cast these pearls of truth before swine (see 7:6). The parable did not keep people from learning the truth; rather, they excited their interest and encouraged them to learn. This is a fulfillment of 11:25 -- the proud will not see, but the babes will learn the truth and be saved.


2. The divine reason: 13: 34-35 -- Christ fulfilled the prophecy in Psalm 78:2. Notice that the truths given in Matthew 13 had been kept secret from the foundation of the world; they were a "mystery" hidden from men, but now revealed. For this reason, do not look for these truths in the OT. A "mystery" in the Bible is a truth hidden in ages past, but now revealed by God through His servants. It is not to be found in OT Scriptures, except in type of symbol.


THE MYSTERY OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.


1. The term - Keep in mind that the "kingdom of heaven" in Matthew 13 is in "mystery" form. It does not refer to the earthly kingdom of the Messiah but rather to the kingdom here on earth during the King's absence. The kingdom of heaven" is a mixture of good and evil, true and false. The "kingdom of heaven" is made up of all who PROFESS allegiance to the King.


2. The time - You will note that it begins with the sowing of the Word in Christ's day and continues to the end of this age. These parables outline God's program and Satan's opposition during this age.


Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 PARABLE OF THE TARES.


This parable illustrates what Jesus means by "the kingdom of heaven."


SYMBOLS USED:


(A) The man is Christ -- 37.
(B) The seed He plants are believers, children of the kingdom--38.
(C) The field is the world -- 38.
(D) The enemy is Satan -- 39.
(E) The tares are the children of the devil -- 38.
(F) The reapers are angels -- 39.
(G) The harvest is the end of the age -- 39.


Do not confuse these symbols with those used in the parable of the sower. In the parable of the sower, the seed represents the Word of God, and the soil represents different kinds of hearts.


The main lesson is simply that whenever Christ "plants" true believers to bear fruit for His glory, Satan plants false Christians who oppose the work and hinder the growth of the true seed. every Christian is a seed, and he is to reproduce himself by winning others. "The kingdom of heaven" is a mixture of the true seed (Christians) and the counterfeit believers (children of the devil).


THE TWO "SEEDS" IN THE BIBLE.


1. Genesis 3:15 -- This is the first mention of the two seeds in the Bible. God says that the woman will have a seed (Christ, Gal. 4:4 and Gal 3:16), and the serpent (Satan) would have a seed. It also states that there would be constant enmity between the serpent's seed and the woman's seed.
2. CAIN AND ABLE -- WHEN CAIN MURDERED ABLE. (Gen. 4:1-15) he started this enmity between the two seeds. 1 John 3:12 states that Cain was "of that wicked one" -- a child of the devil ! This conflict continues throughout the entire OT.
3. THE PHARISEES AND JESUS -- Satan's seed (children of the devil) oppose Christ (Matt. 12:34 and 23:33, John 8: 44 and finally crucified Him. It was at the cross that Satan bruised Christ's heel, but Christ bruised Satan's head and defeated him forever.
4. THE APOSTLE PAUL -- Satan's seed opposed Paul when he first started his missionary work (Acts 13:10), and all through his life. Satan opposed Paul (as he opposed us today) with a false Gospel (Gal. 1:6-9)
false ministers (2 Cor. 11:13-26), a false righteousness (Rom. 10:3), 
false brethren (2 Cor. 11:26), and even false miracles (Acts 19:11-16).
5. THE FINAL RESULT -- This enmity between the two seeds will finally culminate in a false Christ (2 Thess. 2:1-12) -- "son of perdition"
vs "Son of God," "mystery of iniquity" vs "mystery of godliness); a harlot church (Rev. 17, as opposed to the Bride, the true Church); and a false trinity (Satan, the Beast, and the False Prophet, (Rev. 19:20 and Rev. 20:1-3). In the end, Christ will defeat all Satanic forces and the enmity will cease.


THE LESSON THAT WE SHOULD LEARN:


Satan opposes the work of God in several ways:


1. He snatches the Word from hearts, smothers it with worldliness, or scorches it with persecution.
2. If he cannot overcome the Word, he plants false Christians to oppose the work of God. Multitudes are going to hell, not because they are gamblers or drunkards, but because they have a "religious righteousness" apart from the faith in Jesus Christ.
3. He sits in the branches of the organizations in "Christendom" and supervises what goes on.
4. He plants false doctrine that deceives people.


Satan's chief method of opposing God is through imitation. He preaches an imitation Gospel, establishes imitation churches, plants imitation Christians. The true and false will grow together until the end, and God will separate them. Our job is not to try to "clean up" the world. Our job is to plant the Word in hearts and "plant" ourselves in places where we can "reproduce" and win others.


The "tares" will be bound together at the end of the age. Have you ever seen so much "uniting" as there is in this day? We have world church organizations, world banks, world labor movements, world trade organizations. In the religious world, denominations are getting together, organizations are merging for mutual protection. The tares are being bundled for the burning.


While we sleep, Satan works. A sleeping church is an opportunity for Satan to plant his false Christians. (Prov. 24:30-34). It is important that we stay awake. (Rom. 13: 11-14). 

Have you heard of " THE FOUR CHILDREN IN THE BIBLE?


We often hear it said, " If you are not a child of God, then you are a child of the devil." This is not true. We are born children of WRATH by nature (Eph. 2:3), because we inherit a sinful nature from Adam. When we get old enough to know what sin is and we reject Christ, we become CHILDREN OF DISOBEDIENCE (EPH. 2:2). People do not go to hell because they have a sinful nature; they go to hell because they reject Christ. But, if a person refuses Christ, crucifies Him (Heb. 6: 4-8) after knowing the truth and feeling the conviction of the Spirit, and adopts a "self-righteousness" of works, that person becomes a CHILD OF THE DEVIL, a counterfeit Christian. The Pharisees were religious people, but they would not accept Christ. Cain was a religious man, but he would not believe in the blood of the sacrifice. If a person receives Christ into his heart, he becomes a CHILD OF GOD. (John 1:10-13).