Matthew 13 here tonight, Matthew 13, Lord willing, we'll finish up these eight parables related to the kingdom of heaven. Matthew chapter 13, we'll look at the last four here tonight. Remind you, just a quick review as you're turning there, as we've already looked at four of the parables. Again, I want to emphasize that the phrase that's repeated is the kingdom of heaven is like. All right, so when you think about that, that's your key to understanding, that's your key to interpreting the passage. I've kind of read various commentators and stuff, old and I never really have dealt with any new ones, but it's just interesting reading all the different ideas of what some of these things mean. Well, Jesus himself said, remember, that the first parable was the key to understanding the rest of them. So we have to keep that in mind as we look at these. Of course, the parable of the sower is the first one, the parable of the tares of the field. Also we saw on the Lord's day, the grain of mustard seed and leaven of the woman. And again, this idea, leaven supposedly is the kingdom of heaven spreading and permeating society. No, no, that's wrong. consistent interpretation of Scripture, 11 is always a negative thing, it's false doctrine or sin or something like that. Now as we come to number 5, notice verse 44, Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a 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. So again, we have to remember what we've already seen in the other parables. As far as this context here, notice we have a treasure that is hid in a field. And I remind you that verse 38 says the field is the world. So the parable of the tares tells us what the field is and so now to change the field to something different we have an inconsistent interpretation then. Now there's various ideas as far as what this treasure that is hid in a field. So we're talking about a treasure that's hid in this world. First of all the idea is presented as far as God's people. Just an example of this as far as this treasure verse I mentioned here recently Exodus 19 verse 5 Now, therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people, for all the earth is mine." So then you even have the emphasis in all the nations of the world. then there is this peculiar treasure as far as God's people and of course that is related to Israel. But I want you to consider also though that in keeping with the parables that are being presented here I believe the treasure probably relates to the Kingdom of Heaven and not necessarily the people of Israel or God's elect. And want you to consider what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. So, when we have the Kingdom of Heaven we are talking about something related to the Kingdom of Heaven. And so, as we think about the reality of this it is probably referring to the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven. In fact, notice with me 2 Corinthians chapter 4, this was an interesting passage that came to my mind as I was reading related to this. 2 Corinthians chapter 4, even as we think about the world and the Gospel. 2 Corinthians 4, verses 3 and 4 says, but if our gospel be, notice, hid, or hidden, notice, it is hid to them that are lost. So again, you think about this treasure that is hid in a field, a treasure that's hid in this world, in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. Now, pay attention to that statement, glorious gospel of Christ. We'll come back to that again in a moment here. But again you notice this statement in verse 3, if our gospel be hid, again or hidden, it is hid to them that are lost. And then we have the reference to the God of this world that's blinding people so they cannot see it. So as we go back to Matthew 13 notice there again he says, the kingdom of heaven is like So this is a comparison type of thing. It's likened to a treasure that is hid in a field. Notice the witch when a man hath found, and again, to be consistent, I believe this man is referring to Jesus Christ. Notice when he hath found this, notice he hideth. So he's hiding what he finds. And for joy thereof goeth and selleth. all that he hath, and buyeth that field." Now, notice here, he does not just buy the treasure, but he buys the field, which is a representation of the world. So, literally, he bought the world, he bought the field. I want you to notice a couple things here, as far as selling all that he hath. Notice 2 Corinthians 8. We have the example here of the Macedonian believers, but we also have the example of Jesus Christ in this passage. That's what I want to draw your attention to. But I want to see the context here because of the sacrifice that these Macedonian believers were going to in order to minister to the needy saints. 2 Corinthians 8, verse 1, "'Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit, we want you to know of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia. how that in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality." Notice, they're very generous, even though they're struggling financially themselves. For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power, they were willing of themselves, they gave willingly, praying us with much entreaty that we would receive the gift and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord and unto us by the will of God, insomuch that we desired Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also finish in you the same grace. By the way, this is not faith promise giving, this is grace giving. There's something totally different. They're giving of what they have, even though it wasn't very much. Therefore, as ye abound in everything, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, notice, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also. So basically what he's doing here is he's giving the example of the Macedonian believers to be a challenge to the Corinthian believers. I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love. Now notice verse nine, this is what I wanna emphasize as far as selling all that he hath. For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. I think of the hymn, out of the ivory palaces into a world of woe. You think about what Jesus Christ left in the splendors of heaven. He left all of that to come to this wicked old world and have no home, I mean, literally, he had nothing of this world's goods and possessions. He literally didn't even have a place to lay his head in many cases, that's what he said. So as you think about this, he selleth all that he hath for this one treasure that's hidden in this field. So Jesus became poor for our sakes. And again, as I emphasized, he bought the field, not just the treasure. Notice 1 John 2. 1 John 2. This passage came to my mind as far as Christ's shed blood being satisfaction for the sins of all the world, not just a small chosen elect. It says here, 1 John 2, verses one and two, my little children, these things write I unto you that ye sin not. And if any man sin, notice we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous, and he is the propitiation for our sins. And notice this last statement in verse two, not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. So again, there is no such thing as limited atonement according to Calvinism. So, as we think about what Jesus is saying here in this parable, literally, He gave all. He sacrificed everything, gave up all. Notice, He sold all they had in order to buy that field. I also want you to notice one more thing here as far as what we're talking about here as relation to this treasure. Notice John chapter 8 in the state, I'm sorry, John chapter 18. John chapter 18. I have the other passage on truth in my mind. John chapter 18. Remind you what Jesus says here to Pilate as he's on trial here, John 18, verse 36, Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. So remember, we're talking about the kingdom of heaven. So my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, it's not a worldly kingdom, even though the kingdom of heaven is in this world. So, then read, my servants fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews, but now, now is my kingdom not from hence. It's a spiritual kingdom. So notice what Pilate says here, Pilate therefore said, art thou a king then? Jesus answered, thou sayest that I am a king. Notice, to this end was I born, and for this cause came I into this world. Again, the world is the field, back in Matthew 13. Notice why he comes into the world. Notice that he should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice. And of course, then Pilate asks, what is truth? So when we think about this treasure that's hidden in a field, we're not talking about the people of God necessarily, but those who have responded to the gospel of the kingdom, as it's often referred to in the gospel accounts. So we're talking about this treasure. Jesus Christ literally left heaven to come and present the truth as we see in the other parables in the context. Now I want you to also notice then number 6, the 6th parable in verses 45 and 46. So again He's flowing from one parable to another as He closes out these thoughts here in relation to the parables of the Kingdom of Heaven. Verse 45, Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a merchant man seeking goodly pearls. Again, to be consistent, I believe this is referring to Jesus Christ, who when He had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that He had and bought it. I want you to think about this in relation to this searching for pearls. Notice it's plural there. So, this merchant man is seeking goodly pearls, plural. Now, when Jesus Christ came to this earth, of course, he came seeking, you know, he came to seek the loss. I might just re-blank how the wording goes in Luke 19.10, but seeking to save that which is lost. There we go. But notice as he's seeking, notice goodly pearls, notice he found one pearl price, and he went and sold all that he had and bought it. Again, you notice here this idea of Jesus Christ giving up all. Now, as far as this one pearl of great price, remember I asked you to look at that, or remember that phrase, the glorious gospel. 1 Timothy 1.11 speaks of the glorious gospel of the blessed God. Now, I want you to think about as far as the gospel itself. So, we have the first parable talking about the seed, of course the seed is the Word of God. We have in the parable of the tares, the man sowed good seed in his field. So we have good seed as far as the gospel, the word of God. And so I believe to be consistent, we're talking about the word of God and the effect that it has upon those who hear it. Notice he bought this one pearl of great price. And I think there's a cult group, I forgot to look it up. or as a reminder, but I think there's a cult group that has a book entitled Pearl of Great Price. I think that's the Seventh-day Adventist, if I remember right, but I just can't remember. But notice he sells all that he had and buys this one pearl of great price. I'm just gonna mention this as an interesting comparison here as far as those who have responded to the truth of the gospel. Acts 20, verse 28, speaking to the elders that were from Ephesus, Paul, I should say, said to them, the church of God which He hath purchased with His own blood." Notice we have 1 Corinthians 6. 1 Corinthians 6. Again, I don't believe it's an emphasis as far as the people, the elect of God in particular, but I want you to consider those who have responded to this Gospel message, the Gospel of the Kingdom. Remember the glorious Gospel of the Kingdom. As you think about a pearl, it's all polished and everything. They're beautiful. So it's kind of one of those things, which would women rather have, pearls or a diamond ring? I don't know, maybe both. So you think about this. You think of the beauty of a string of pearls or whatever. Well, it says he bought one pearl of great price. Notice verses 19 and 20 of 1 Corinthians 6. We're familiar with this passage, but I want you to notice the statement here. What know ye not that your body, plural, again, talking about the church, not individuals, but individuals within the church, know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God and ye are not your own? Notice, for ye are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. Now, as far as the word of God related to this, notice 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1. 1, I want you to notice again the worth of the gospel of the kingdom. Again, I'm using that phrase on purpose because of dealing with Matthew 13. says here in 1 Peter 1, verse 18, For as much as ye know, ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers. But notice, With the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, who verily was ordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you. Again, He came from heaven It was manifest in these last days as the Son of God. Now, drop down to verse 23 for what we're emphasizing here. Being born again not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. So we're not talking about some corrupt teaching or whatever. We're talking about the precious Word of God. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away. but the word of the Lord endures forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you." One other passage in relation to this point, notice Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5. So again, what I'm emphasizing is the effect of the gospel to the kingdom, kingdom of heaven, in the people of God, those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ. Notice it says here in Ephesians 5, verses 25 through 27. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. Notice again the emphasis on the word of God there. that he might present it, the church, to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish." What I want you to consider is the effect of God's Word upon us as we stand before Jesus Christ someday. You think about this pearl of great price, the truth of the Word of God. I really believe that too many people have cheapened the Gospel of the Kingdom. In fact, there are some who even say that Matthew is not even for New Testament saints. Help us, help us, help us. This pearl of great price, notice He went and sold all that He had and brought. You think about the price that Jesus Christ paid, His sacrifice that He went through to come and to seek and to save that which was lost, but to present the truth of the Word of God, the Gospel of this Kingdom as He came. Notice then verse 47, We have the dragnet. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like. All right, so we have another comparison here for us to think about. The kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the sea and gathered of every kind. As you think about this dragnet, basically, as I was reading this, I've never seen one. used in particular as far as this, I've seen photos, but basically somebody would be on shore and somebody would take the other end of this drag net out into the lake and basically they would bring the net up to the shore so you have a stationary on one part of the shore and then the boat is dragging it up to the shore. And so when you're dragging it, you're going to get all kinds of stuff in there, probably weeds and all kinds of stuff that you don't really want in the net. So that's the picture that he's presenting here. And of course, he has fishermen that have used these nets. The fishermen that are in his disciples, they're not fishing with a pole, doing a fish one at a time. They're literally using nets. What is it, 153 we find in John 21 that they had in the net? That's quite a catch of fish. Notice it was cast into the sea and gathered of every kind. So as we think about the every kind here, so literally as we think about who ends up in the kingdom of heaven, who ends up in churches, You have every kind, right? So I'm going to broaden this out to what they commonly refer to as Christendom, you know, Christianity, you know, true Christians and otherwise. So as we think about the sea there, I believe we're talking about the sea of humanity because Revelation 17, 15 says, the waters which thou sawest where the whore sitteth are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues or languages. And of course, Revelation 13, 1 talks about the beast from the sea And Daniel 7.2, Daniel says that he saw in his vision by night and behold the four winds of heaven strove upon the great sea. There are some who suggest that that's the Mediterranean Sea. I believe it's the same idea as far as Revelation 17, as we're talking about the sea of humanity. So again, out of the sea of humanity, this dragnet comes in and gathers every kind. Notice all kinds of things, whether you wanted the good and the bad. But notice it says in verse 48, when it was full. Now, we're gonna look at this idea on the Lord's Day, Lord willing, as we talk about the fullness of the Gentiles. You think about this, the fullness of the Gentiles has not yet come in. Gentiles are still getting saved. Gentiles are still becoming parts of independent Baptist churches and so on. So the fullness of the Gentiles has not come in yet. So that's important to keep that in mind as we look at Romans 11, but notice when it was full, notice they drew to the shore and sat down. Notice their work is, as far as toiling, pulling, can you imagine how heavy that net would be? Trying to haul that in. So notice they're sitting down to go through the sorting process here. Notice they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but they cast the bad away. This is very similar to Matthew 25 and the sheep and goat judgment. Notice the good and the bad. Notice what Jesus says here, so shall it be at the end of the world. the angel shall come forth and sever." All right, so this is the same terminology that Jesus used in the parable of the tares. Verse 30, both grow together until the harvest, and in the time of harvest, I will say to the reapers, gather ye together first the tares, sever out the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn. So again, in this parable, we see the understanding comes from the previous parable there, Parable of the Tares. Notice the angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just. What I thought was interesting as I was reading through this, again, first the Tares, now he says we're severing the wicked from among the just. It doesn't say the just from among the wicked. There's no pre-trib rapture there. grabbed my attention as I was studying through this word by word here. Notice, "...sever the wicked from among the just." He doesn't reverse that. If there was a pre-trib rapture the just are going to be severed from the wicked first. I thought it was very interesting as you study out the exact wording of this. And notice the end result of this, verse 50, "...and shall cast them into the furnace of fire." This was already mentioned in verse 42. Notice they'll be cast into the furnace of fire, whatever is bad, not worth keeping. And there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. I believe that's very clearly a statement about hell. You think about the lake of fire that was created for the devil and his angels. So as we see here, again, this dragging of this net, you have good and bad, and it's going to be sorted out just like in the kingdom and so on after the coming of the Lord in Matthew chapter 25. Now, notice here it says in verse 51, he asks a question, and it's a question I want for us to consider here tonight as well. Jesus saith unto them, have ye understood all these things? Do you comprehend? Now, I've seen various definitions of understanding. Basically, understanding is laying it to heart. All right, so we hear the words, and we're bringing it to our hearts, our minds, and we're wanting to comprehend what is being said. Notice their answer, yea, Lord. So what about us? Do we understand? I've heard some far out interpretations of Matthew 13. Again, this is why I've emphasized over and over again, we need to make sure we are interpreting it based on what Jesus said in the passage, as far as the key of the first parable. Now, notice the last one then, as he brings an application to his disciples and also to us. Then said he unto them, therefore, every scribe, notice he's now broadening it out. First of all, Jesus Christ came, of course, he's the living word of God that gave us the written word of God. But I want you to notice he's now broadening it out to all of them, not just himself. then said he unto them, therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like." So now he's talking about the scribe that is instructed. I think of Ezra here, who was a ready scribe. It says, he prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord and to do it and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments. Unless somebody is ready to do something about the word of God, they're not ready to teach. Oh, I can't wait to be able to teach, you know, Teach and preach, you know, why don't you do something about it right now instead of just waiting for that opportunity. But again, Ezra was preparing, and I think it's very interesting, the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 4 wanted Timothy to bring the books, but especially the parchments. So as you think about the scribe as one who's copying and teaching scripture, so in Matthew 23 we have reference to the prophets, the wise men, and the scribes. In particular, I think it's very interesting, the scribes would copy out the scriptures, the New Testament scriptures. So what they did in the Old Testament, they also did in the New Testament. Otherwise, we would not have what we're studying here tonight. Those things had to be written out under inspiration, but they also had to be copied out. And I believe that the inspiration of the scriptures continues into those copies. But once again, a scribe which is instructed into the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder. which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old." I've seen various things what that refers to. I believe, personally, new and old, Old Testament, New Testament. How many times we've seen in the book of Romans and Hebrews, those are the two books that we've most recently studied as far as the New Testament epistles. How many times, how many references Paul has in those books towards the Old Testament scriptures. So you have the Old Testament is fulfilled in the New Testament. But notice he says he's bringing forth out of his treasure things new and old. Again, if that's the case, we're talking about something as far as the Word of God within this kingdom of heaven. But he's like a householder. It's interesting. Galatians 6 talks about the household of faith. This is a household of faith. Ephesians 2 talking about the church and being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. It talks about the household of God. Now I believe the Lord is the householder even as we see His other teaching, but we are under Him and we follow His example, His leadership. Again, bringing forth out of his treasure, treasure, new things and old. So again, as we think about the scribe, how thorough are we in seeking to understand the scriptures? Can I point out here that we don't have to copy the Bible anymore? We have printers, we have copiers, we have all those things. Nothing else, we can also go to our phone, our tablets, go on the computer, you can actually see the Word of God in printed format. So we don't have to go through the work of copying, though sometimes I've wondered if probably it's not a good idea to write down verses of Scripture that you especially want to remember. But here's what I want to emphasize, spending time and carefully looking at what the Bible says. I'm going to say this again. I keep saying it because we have to retrain our thinking. We've bought into this lie, my reading assignment is done for today, I'm on my way to reading through the Bible this year, I've checked off my assignment, I'm done for the day. No, you're supposed to just start with this. Start reading it, you're supposed to be meditating it day and night, day and night. You're constantly thinking about what the word of God says. So as we bring now to this final application, notice in verses 53 through 54, the end of the chapter, notice his response that he gets in Nazareth. So after he teaches all of these parables, notice it says in verse 53, it came to pass that when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence. And when he was coming to his own country, now I have not checked this, but I'm trying to remember if this is the last time he reaches out to Nazareth. It's almost like, all right, you don't want to believe? There's nothing else I can do. When he was come to 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? And we're going to see that they're offended in him, but here's Jesus. He doesn't have rabbinical training. He hasn't gone to college. He doesn't have a doctorate. He doesn't have the qualifications. So how does he have this wisdom and these mighty works? It's very interesting. Is not this the carpenter's son? We know who you are, Jesus. Who are you to tell us all of these things? Is not his mother called Mary and his brethren James? Again, I've taught this before. James became the elder in Jerusalem after Peter ended up leaving because of his persecution. Joses. Simon and Judas. I believe Judas here is the one who wrote the Epistle of Jude under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Now, I want to point out here, the Roman Catholic Church says that Mary had no other children. You do a count here including Jesus, there's at least seven. Because you notice, and his sisters, plural. Sisters means there's at least two. So you notice here, there's at least seven children that Mary had, including Jesus. Are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things? And what I think is interesting, I've even read that some Protestants even teach this as well, that Mary had no other children after Jesus. I don't know how that's possible. Plain sense makes common sense, right? Jesus had some half-brothers and sisters, as we commonly refer to them today. Whence then hath this man all these things? And they, notice, were offended in him. That word offended is very interesting. They were offended in him because of their unbelief. The word literally is what we get the word scandalized from. Because of Jesus preaching the truth, they were scandalized because of their unbelief. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country and in his own house. And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief. I think of the Psalm statement that says, they limited the Holy One. Unbelief will limit what God can do in our lives, in our hearts. I pray that we have understanding. As I've been working through those parables in particular, I've preached to them before, I've read them how many times over the years, but I wanted to make sure I did understand, and I wasn't just taking man's words for, you know, this is what it's supposed to say. I pray your desire is to know and understand the Word of God. Because, can I point out what Jesus said in the earlier parable? Unless you understand the Word of God, It's not just related to salvation, but I want you to consider you won't be as fruitful as well. 100-fold, 60-fold, 30-fold. If we don't understand, I'm not saying every verse we're gonna fully understand. Being baptized for the dead in 1 Corinthians 15, various things. But what I'm pointing out is generally as far as what scripture teaches, do we have a desire to understand? Even the psalmist saying, give me understanding. Lord, I pray that you'd help us. as we consider these parables. Lord, as we've studied this over our three different messages, Lord, eight different parables, very famous, well-known parables. And yet I've read so many different ways that people interpret these things, pulling them out of their context. Lord, I pray that you'd help us to have a desire for understanding of thy word, in Jesus' name, amen.