We're called to preach the Kingdom of Heaven is Near With Authority
Preach means – to proclaim, to announce or to spread the message.
Try and lose the image of a preacher in a church because this isn’t what Jesus is talking about. Here he’s specifically sending his disciples into the Israelite world / marketplace to share the message that the Kingdom of Heaven is near.
Preach with Exousia
Matthew 10:1,7,8
1He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.
7As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ 8Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
What is the Kingdom of Heaven Like?
Matthew 13:31He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field.
Matthew 13:33He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.”
Matthew 13:44”The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
1. A Planted Mustard Seed
Matthew 13:32
32Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches.”
Small Seed
Big Plant
The common mustard of Palestine is the Sinapis nigra.
It’s also true, that the black mustard seed in Israel will typically grow to heights of 3.7 meters, or twelve (12) feet) -- plenty large enough to hold “the birds of the air”.
Jesus is in effect saying, don’t despise small beginnings. The kingdom of heaven is a small beginning, Him, but has had a huge outreach and offers a habitation for all society. There is a place for the believer to function and flow in the kingdom.
Where does the seed exist?
In our hearts
When we first came to Christ we had a seed of the kingdom in our hearts. If we protected, cultivated and nurtured that seed, we would allow that seed to grow and take over a larger part of our thinking, attitude, priorities, lives and time.
The parable of the Sewer
Matthew 13:18-23
4 types of soil or heart conditions to receive the seed of God’s word.
The Path symbolizes people who hear the word of God but don’t understand or comprehend it. V.19
The Rocky Places symbolize people who hear the word of God and receive it immediately with Joy. But because they have no root , when trouble or persecution comes they immediately fall away. V. 20,21
The seed that fell among thorns symbolizes a person who hears the word but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke out the word making it unable to produce fruit. V. 22
The seed that fell on good soil symbolizes a person that understands the word and produces a crop 30, 60 or 100 times what was sown. V. 23
A quick question?
What type of heart do you have?
Are you bearing fruit?
If not, what should you do?
Nurture the seed. Try and understand the Word of God, prepare for difficulty, deal with worry, anxiety, and stress over finances. Study the word, get training in soul winning.
Where does the seed exist?
Outside our hearts
Luke 6:45 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.
This kingdom seed gets spread through our communication.
By our actions
By our attitudes
From our mouth to the hearts of others
2. Yeast worked in
Matthew 13:33
He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.”
Different Illustration similar Meaning
Something small Yeast effecting the whole.
A little bit of yeast when it is worked through the dough effects the entire loaf.
The Yeast represents the kingdom of heaven in the heart or in the world.
The dough represents the individual heart of an individual and/or the entire world.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jwV8OVCKnk&feature=related
Short video of yeast being worked through dough.
Properties of Yeast
Yeast, is used in baking as a leavening agent, where it converts the fermentable sugars present in the dough into carbon dioxide. This causes the dough to expand or rise as the carbon dioxide forms pockets or bubbles. When the dough is baked it “sets” and the pockets remain, giving the baked product a soft and spongy texture. The use of potatoes, water from potato boiling, eggs, or sugar in a bread dough accelerates the growth of yeasts. Salt and fats such as butter slow down yeast growth. Sugar and vinegar are the best conditions for yeast to ferment. In bread making the yeast respires aerobically at first producing carbon dioxide and water. When the oxygen is used up anaerobic respiration is used producing ethanol as a waste product however this is evaporated off during the baking process.
3. Hidden Treasure
Matthew 13:44”The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
Treasure – something of great worth or value.
Hidden – being out of sight or not readily apparent : concealed
Suppose one day your walking around with a metal detector. While scanning for metal in Cushman you find $10,000,000.00 worth in Gold Bullion. Wouldn’t you try and hide the gold and then figure out who owned that land? Then offer them a fair price for the land. If they wouldn’t sell it to you wouldn’t you offer more? Wouldn’t you sell everything you own, if you had to, to acquire that land?
When a man finds this treasure he hides it again.
Why would he hide it again? Because he wants to secure his legal right to the treasure.
He doesn’t want someone else to get it.
In order to do this he has to sell everything he has. In other words he has to seek first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness according to Matthew 6:33.
What does Matthew 6:33 Promise the believer who puts God’s Kingdom first?
To meet the believers needs.
Clothes
Food & Drink
What does Mark 10:28-30 promise the believer who leaves everything to follow Jesus?
29”I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.
What you give up for Jesus he’ll return to you 100 times as much in THIS PRESENT AGE
Homes – Places to live, investment property
Brothers – Spiritual and Natural Relationships
Sisters – Spiritual and Natural Relationships
Mothers – spiritual and Natural Relationships
Children – Spiritual and Natural Relationships
Fields – Businesses
This re-prioritizing of his life is a direct result of his understanding the worth of the treasure or the worth of the Kingdom of Heaven relative to his current worth.
Notice that the man in the parable JOYFULLY sells all that he has in order to buy that field. Why is he joyfully giving up all his worldly possessions?
Because he’s found something that is MORE VALUABLE.
Has the Devil lied to you telling you something of this life is more important than something in the kingdom?
If he can get you to prioritize this life over the age to come he can hinder your 100 fold blessing.
Come to the altar now and let the Lord speak to you about it. Let the Lord deal with your heart.
