Sermon
The Doctrine of the Kingdom of God - Part 11
Kingdom Lessons From the Parables
May 2, 2004
Pastor Donald Sheley

I'm going to ask you to take from your bulletin your lesson notes. For you that join with us the very first time today, for years we have prepared the sermon notes or the lesson notes because we don't normally get to cover all the material but it gives you something to study throughout the week, and I do trust that you find them helpful.

For a number of months, in fact we started last September, talking about the great doctrines of our Christian faith. A doctrine is just simply a systematic study of great subjects of the Bibles such as the doctrine of God, or the doctrine of the cross, or the doctrine of Christ.

When we arrived at Christmastime I thought I would shift back into our series in the gospel with John, and I realized that there was one doctrine that I had not addressed; and most likely because it's such a massive doctrine. Massive in the sense that it's the whole theme of the Bible. In fact when we get into the gospels we've learned that there are over 130 references alone to the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven. So we have spent the last three months learning as much as we can about the Kingdom of Heaven. Today, we're going to explore one of the great parables that Jesus gave as it relates to the Kingdom; and very, very interesting when you go through the parables a large percentage of them begin with this phrase: the Kingdom of God is like unto, the Kingdom of God is like unto, the Kingdom of God is like unto. So it's obvious if we study the parables we're going to have an enhanced knowledge of the Kingdom of God, and I want to do that today.

In your bulletin there in the notes you'll notice we begin our lesson with Matthew chapter 13 verses 34 and 35. "All these things spake Jesus in parables, and without parables spake He not unto them; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world."

Dropping down to the lesson notes, I begin our lesson by suggesting that in our series of studies on the Doctrine of the Kingdom of God or Heaven, we now turn to the parables of Jesus. He had so much to say about the Kingdom in the parables and our understanding of the Kingdom will be greatly enhanced by considering some of the parabolic instruction.

It was during the time when Jesus was making His second circuit of Galilee that He began to make use of the parables as a method of instruction. The great interest of chapter 13 of Matthew is to observe Jesus beginning to use to the full His characteristic method of teaching...teaching by parables. Even before this, He had used a way of teaching which had the germ of the parable in it. Such as the simile of the salt and the light, the picture of the birds and the lilies, the story of the wise and the foolish builder, the picture of the children playing in the market place...are all embryo parables. They are truth in pictures; but it is in this chapter, chapter 13 of Matthew, that we find Jesus' way of using parables fully developed and at its most vivid.

As someone has said, "whatever else is true of Jesus, it is certainly true that He was one of the world's supreme masters of the short story." The parable always makes truth concrete. There are very few people who can grasp and understand abstract ideas for most of us think in pictures. That's why when we went to the philosophy class in university or college, if we didn't have that ability to grasp concepts, abstract concepts, it became a very boring class. And the reason for that is because we've learned to think, we naturally think in pictures -- and so I go on with our notes.

In order to be understood, every great word must become flesh. That is, every great idea must take form and shape in a person or illustration, and the first great quality of a parable is that it makes truth into a picture which all men can see and understand. A parable is intended to illustrate and to describe a particular truth. It is used by Jesus to illustrate and clarify heavenly realities, particular truths concerning the Kingdom of Heaven.

These illustrations are taken from this earthly creation, from the world of our experience, from history and events, from facts and truths in the world around us, and by means of these earthly illustrations the things of the Kingdom of Heaven are made clear. So thus, in general, the purpose of parables is revelation. They are intended to reveal the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven. Repeatedly Jesus tells us that it is the Kingdom of Heaven which is like all of these things taking place around us.

Now pages 2, 3, and 4 I ask you to read during your lunch hour today, and I want to turn to 5, page 5, because I want to get to that very first parable that Jesus spoke in Matthew chapter 13. It's an interesting parable. Down in the middle of the page it says, "On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea. And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: "Behold, a sower went out to sow."" Let's stop there.

Many commentators suggest that as Jesus is talking to the crowd that day, it's there on the countryside by the sea, probably in a nearby field was one of these sowers sowing his harvest, sowing his seed. He would have a pouch normally around his waist and in that pouch were the seeds. And he'd simply put his hand into that pouch and throw the seed, and that's the way the planting of the harvest was done. So he'd walk up and down the rows casting the seed; he's the sower. And probably Jesus may even have pointed to him and says the sower went forth to sow, and as he sowed some seed fell by the wayside. Stop.

What's the wayside? Well, in those days they didn't have roads so if you wanted to go from this point to that, the shortest way was through somebody's field and you made your pathway. And oft times that would be repeated by many, and over a period of time that pathway became used by all who went that direction. And so the ground beneath on the pathway became very solid much like the asphalt that's out here in the parking lot. So it says that some of the seed fell on that hardened ground that made up the pathway -- the wayside.

"...and the birds came and devoured them. 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 root they withered away. And some fell among the thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop; some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

But Jesus doesn't leave us to figure out what He's talking about. He's going to tell us exactly what the story meant. He says, "Therefore hear the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces; some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."

Now I drop in a word of caution. We must be careful not to read too much into parables, forcing them to say what they do not mean. All parables have one meaning unless otherwise specified by Jesus. Now in this parable, the farmer represents Jesus, the soil represents the heart, the seed presents the proclamation of the message of the Kingdom. And the parable shows the contrast between the results of acceptance and rejection of the gospel message.

Now Jesus spoke to the crowds about the Kingdom, explaining through this parable that while their religious leaders might reject the Messiah that did not change the truth, for Jesus Himself and the gospel were truth; there was no problem with them as there was no problem with the farmer and his seed. The only variable was the heart on which the seed fell. Now I've marked mine "That's the heart of what I want to say". So set aside your notes and let me talk to you just for a few moments.

We got the picture. Jesus was saying that human hearts vary in their reception of spiritual truths. That there are some people when they hear anything that has to do about God, about Christ, they've got their hearts closed; they're solid, they're as hard as the rock, as hard as the ground of which the first seed was planted. Jesus is saying there are just some people who will not listen to what God has to say, some people who absolutely have turned their hearts totally against God and anything that's spiritual. That's a fact.

He also went on to say there are other people who when they hear the good news that God loves them and has sent His Son Jesus to die for them, a number of people will jump on the bandwagon and they'll want to be Christians. They won't count the cost, they won't think it through, but it's exciting to get started at least. And then when things get rough and their Christianity starts costing them something, they bail out. That's seed planted on shallow soil. It seems at a time, for a time, there might be something genuine about the experience, but time proves that it was only an emotional response.

Then Jesus went on to say there are people whose hearts are so wrapped up in the things of time and have been so fascinated by riches they become deceived, and in their struggle to work out the things of time they forget eternity. And thus, He describes a heart so wrapped up in this life that it strangles any spiritual life that may take that person to heaven.

Then He says there are some people whose heart is wide open and when they hear that Christ loves them, that He died on the cross to save them, that He wants to be their Savior, He wants to bring peace and joy into their hearts and lives, they're ready to the listen and ready to respond.

Now we understand those pictures, but let me take you little deeper into the parable. I think it has much more to say. You see, when you analyze that it was after He had made His preaching circuit up around Galilee and back to Judea, His disciples had been along with Him and they had observed that in that preaching tour their master not only had been rejected, mocked and walked out on. And I think that what happened was when Jesus wrote this parable He realized that the disciples were becoming discouraged and disappointed because they saw the failure of the preacher. And they were looking at the response of the crowd and maybe when they got back to this point where Jesus is telling this parable He tells them this story to encourage them. Because what He is saying, Disciples, even though we're spreading the greatest news in the world we're dealing with human hearts who are going to react differently, and some of them may not respond at all.

Now they're getting the point because I'm sure their imagination is saying, that's right, when we were up in Nazareth we went into the synagogue with Jesus and they handed Him the scroll and He read from Isaiah chapter 61, The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel. And every ear is open because this itinerant carpenter from Nazareth is reading the great prophecies of Isaiah. And after He had finished that portion, verses 1 through 3 of Isaiah 61, then He adds a sentence that's really got them. This day, He says, these scriptures are being fulfilled in your very ears.

Now He's really got their attention, and He begins to explain what He's talking about, and the more He explains it the angrier they get. And the result is they take Him and drive Him out of the synagogue, and take Him out to the brow of the hill and they're ready to push Him over. Now that takes a hard heart. They remembered the hard hearts that had so closed their hearts; they're ready to kill Jesus.

He went to the synagogue again in Capernaum. In John chapter 6 He's preaching that great sermon...I am the read of life. He that's going to be a part of Me must eat of Me and drink from Me. One of the greatest messages in the gospel of John. What did they do? Those hard hearts got up and walked out of church, and the only people that remained were His disciples. And He turns to His dwindled crowd and says, would you like to go away too? You see, they had experienced the rejection. They were a part of that scene when they watched their master; as far as they were concerned, fail.

They remember those crowds that followed Jesus and they got real excited when He was turning bread and multiplying it and feeding them and they could go home with their lunch pails full. They liked that. But when Jesus refused to give them another meal, they hurried off someplace else. So they could think, He's talking about shallow ground, people who for a moment get on the bandwagon and then bail out.

And most likely they listened to that conversation when the young man, the rich young man, walks up to Jesus and says, Jesus, what do I have to do to have eternal life? Jesus says go sell everything you've got, give it to the poor, and come follow Me and you'll have life. And they watched him walk away. The deceitfulness of riches had choked any possibility of spiritual fruitfulness. And they remembered when they had gone away into Sychar to pick up some food for lunch and Jesus met this little lady at the well, the woman of Samaria. She listens. He said if you only knew the water that I have to give to you. She wanted that; she listened, the soil was ripe. She listened and she hurried back to her village, she gets the crowd to come, and they invite Him back to town and Jesus has a citywide crusade. Hungry open hearts -- good soil.

But Jesus recognized the harvest most likely wasn't what they had anticipated and they were discouraged, and what He's trying to say in this parable; listen, you keep sowing, the harvest is up to God. Paul said in another place, I plant, Apollos waters; but it's God who gives the increase. So what He is saying to these disciples -- get your eyes off the harvest because if you're just watching for results, results will disappoint you. You keep to the task of sowing, and leave the harvest to God.

Now ladies and gentlemen, I wish that I had learned this lesson because my first 20 years in the ministry I was miserable. You say, why Pastor? Because I calculated the harvest and many, many a time I'd leave on Sunday night after the service go home to my office, and spend all night beating myself up. I guess it wasn't a good sermon; I guess the seed wasn't well prepared...I could find a thousand reasons why I wasn't successful that day, and every Monday morning I was ready to quit. Because if you calculate spiritual matters with physical evidence, oft times you never can determine what's going on in a human heart because the harvest is up to God, and it's just our responsibility to sow.

Now many, many years ago -- this was before I learned the lesson -- we had a little church that seated 150 people and I invited in a guest preacher. And the place was full and he preached a wonderful sermon. I thought it so good I'd have him come back that night. So he returned that night and only three people showed up for church. I'm embarrassed, I'm ashamed, and I wish that night would have never happened; and least that's the way I felt then. But he was much wiser than I. He stood up and he preached as if there were 3000 people present, and I mean he spread seed everywhere. That was the greatest sermon I've ever heard. He preached his heart out, said the benediction, and said Pastor let's go for a cup of coffee. That's before there was Starbucks.

While we're getting in the car and driving along, I'm giving all kinds of excuses...you know Pastor, I'm ashamed...whining and complaining about the harvest. And he looked at me that he said, Sheley, Shut Up! Now only friends can say that to me. He turned to me very sincerely and said, look at Don, we were in church, we turned on the lights, we preached the gospel, the seed was scattered, we've done our part, now the harvest belongs to God. Now if you'll shut up we can enjoy this cup of coffee. Do you see the point?

I learned that sometimes when we look at the harvest we're filled with discouragement and it affects the joy in sowing. Now I wrestle with this as a pastor, but I'm sure that in your life it's very similar, because some of you have sown the seeds of kindness and prayer and love and concern for those closest to you within your family and you've wanted with all of your heart to have them enjoy Jesus like you enjoy Jesus. Yet month after month, and year after year you keep sowing and nothing happens. Sometimes because there seems to be no harvest we become discouraged and stop sowing.

So the practical aspect of this parable is: human hearts I can do nothing about -- if I could I would save everybody. I can't save a soul. Only the Holy Spirit can move into a heart and begin that eternal work that brings that person to a new relationship with God. I can't do that. All I can do is plant seed, and plant I will. So I've learned don't let the harvest discouraged you, and you learn that too. In your home be just as gracious as you were the day you were saved, and just as full of joy in the experience of sowing, because there's a part about this parable I like -- there is always a harvest.

Now the harvest will be determined by the sovereignty of Almighty God, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold, but there will be a harvest. That's the promise of the parable. And the day will come...weeping is for a nighttime, but joy comes in the morning. You know there are times when I still get discouraged, and I don't have any hobbies to vent my whatever it is on. I don't care for golf. Who cares about hitting a ball and going chasing it? I can think of 1000 different things that give me more excitement than that, but God bless you golfers. But what I do, I love just to get in my car and go for a ride. I've got great music. I can pray and don't have to listen to any phone calls. God and I just have a wonderful time. Sometimes I just keep driving.

Some time ago I got in my car and I start driving up Highway 5, and as I'm going through these various cities I'm thinking of people who were saved in this church. Go through Fairfield and a number of our families have moved, and I'm thinking of all the blessings that these people must be bringing to other churches, and I arrive in Redding. When I get to Redding I realize that there in Redding Pastor Peter's son is pastoring a great church and God's blessing him. So I cut across 299 and end up in Eureka, and there some years ago I had a burden for that city and so I'd leave here as soon as I finished this service, drive to Eureka every Sunday and 7 o'clock at night preach a sermon, started church, and after a year left a church with nearly 1000 people in a beautiful building. So I circled in and thanked God for that beautiful building and headed south.

I drive through Ukiah. There brother Ralph, who was saved in our church and served us for so many years, is having a ministry and Ukiah. I get down to Santa Rosa and there in Santa Rosa a man who walked into this church about 20 years ago, an auto mechanic and a body shop man, and I led him to Christ. He fell in love with Jesus and now he pastors a great church in Santa Rosa.

Across the hill over in Calistoga one of our Sunday School teachers got so excited about the story of Jesus we took them up there and they started a church and have a beautiful church and a beautiful school. And now I'm getting close to home and near the Golden Gate Bridge and I'm crying because God was talking to me -- the harvest is at the end. And sometimes because we don't see the immediate results we get discouraged in our journey. Let's not do that.

In this parable Jesus was saying: your only responsibility is to sow, I'll take care of the harvest. And when you can come to that place in your spiritual life where you present whoever it is or whoever they are that you're praying for just to God's care. Some of you have got children -- I had a mother come up to me after one of the services just weeping. She said, Pastor, I've got a 26-year-old daughter and she's breaking my heart. I took her hand and we prayed: Jesus, now we're putting this daughter in Your hands. We're just going to keep on showing love, showing kindness. We're going to leave the harvest to You.

The parable says there is a harvest. That's a promise. All we've got to do is keep sowing. So I'm going to keep sowing till I can't fling the seeds anymore, and that will be the end of the journey -- but oh the harvest. Amen? Let's pray.

Father, we do have a tendency to get ourselves focused on areas of life we don't have any control over. We can't control how other people react. We can't control the condition of their heart. But we can keep on sowing Your love, Your grace, and Your kindness. So help us to be at peace with ourselves and at peace with You, knowing that You are the Lord of the harvest. We're just the farmers sowing the seed, and what wonderful seed it is. Thank you for the privilege of being a sower, and everybody said, amen. God bless you. God bless you.