Matthew Ch13v1-23 - Kingdom Secret

I'm going to read God's Word. We're going to start in verse 1 and go all the way through to verse 23.

If you need a Bible, there's one on the stand there. Please help yourself to them.

Matthew 13, verses 1 to 23.

Matthew 13:1–23

Let's hear God's Word to us today.

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake.

Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore.

Then he told them many things in parables, saying,

A farmer went out to sow his seed.

As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path and the birds came and ate it up.

Some fell on rocky places where it did not have much soil.

It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow.

But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched and they withered because they had no root.

Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.

Still other seeds fell on a good soil, where it produced a crop a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.

Whoever has ears, let them hear.

The disciples came to Jesus and asked,

Why do you speak to the people in parables?

Jesus replied,

Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.

Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance.

Whoever does not have, even what they have, will be taken from them.

This is why I speak to them in parables.

Though seeing, they do not see.

Though hearing, they do not hear or understand.

In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah.

You will be ever hearing, but never understanding.

You will be ever seeing, but never perceiving.

For this people's heart has become callous.

They hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes.

Otherwise, they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.

But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear.

For truly, I tell you, many prophets and righteous people long to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.

Listen then to what the parable of the sower means.

When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart.

This is the seed sown along the path.

The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.

But since they have no root, they last only a short time.

When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.

The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word.

But the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, choke the word, making it unfruitful.

But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it.

This is the one who produces a crop yielding a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown.

Well, please keep your Bibles open, and let's pray.

Father, our prayer is simple.

Open our ears that we would hear your truth.

Open our eyes that we might see you in your word.

Open our hearts and give us understanding so that we might have life.

And that we might live in a way that brings a fruitful crop, an abundance, a hundred, sixty, or thirty times more than what was sown in our life.

Be generous to us today.

Hear us.

Amen.

Well, I have a puzzling question.

And I wonder if you can help.

Matthew has been introducing us to the person of Jesus.

Jesus, we've learnt, is God's chosen king with absolute power and supreme authority.

He's come to establish his eternal kingdom.

A kingdom where the effects of sin, suffering, and Satan have been confronted and defeated.

And as people hear what Jesus says, and as they see what Jesus does,

there are some people who get up and follow Jesus,

while there are others who turn away from Jesus.

And the question is, why?

Why is that?

It's the same with this gathering here.

Some of you will hear the message from the text,

and your hearts are going to be absolutely captivated,

not because the skills of the preacher are just brilliant,

but simply because of what you hear.

You're going to leave the building thinking about the word of God deeply.

And as you reflect on it,

you will see your life being changed.

Others, perhaps, will hear the same message,

but will walk out that door without any impact whatsoever.

Not because of the boring tones of the preacher,

but because you simply cannot see.

Your life will go on exactly the same way as before,

as if you never heard anything different.

Why is that?

Why is that?

Well, I think Matthew chapter 13 gives us the answer.

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

And more than that, it will show us why we follow,

or why we don't.

So, three things that we're going to look at together.

Here's the first one.

A word to all.

Look at verse 1.

That same day,

so Jesus had just been visiting his own family,

he had been in their house.

That same day, Jesus went out of the house,

and he sat down by the lake.

Large crowds gathered round him,

that he got into a boat,

and sat on it,

while all the people stood on the shore.

Then he told them many things.

Now, picture the scene here.

Crowds and crowds of people have come.

That Jesus has to get into with a boat,

push off a little bit offshore.

No discrimination.

Everybody is welcomed.

Nobody is excluded.

All the crowd who are there,

they can all now see Jesus out on the boat,

and they can all hear what Jesus is teaching.

It's an audience of equals.

No one has an advantage or a disadvantage.

They're all seeing,

and they're all hearing,

the same things.

But as our text made clear,

as we read,

people don't all hear and see in the same way.

Look at verse 3.

Jesus told them many things in parables,

saying,

a farmer went out to sow his seed.

And he tells this short little story

about a farmer scattering his seed,

and what happens to the seed.

It's straightforward enough.

But what's not straightforward

is what it means.

What does this story mean?

Look at verse 10.

The disciples came to him and asked,

why do you speak to the people in parables?

You see, the parable, or a parable,

is a certain kind of teaching.

It's a practical story

which highlights a spiritual reality.

A practical story

which highlights a spiritual reality.

In other words,

it's a story

with a deeper meaning.

And we know what that meaning is

because, well,

it's been revealed to us.

It's been told to us

as we read in verse 18 following.

But we need to place ourselves

in the shoes of the disciples

because they don't know what it means.

So naturally,

the disciples are a bit confused.

Jesus,

why don't you just speak normally?

Why don't you just say what you mean?

Why not just get straight to the point

and stop playing games with our heads?

Why are you teaching in parables?

I mean, look at all the crowds that are here.

All these people you have before you.

And you're just confusing them with your stories.

Why are you making things difficult?

Verse 11.

Jesus replied,

because the knowledge of the secrets

of the kingdom of heaven

has been given to you,

but not to them.

You see, in these stories,

in these parables that I tell you,

there's truth to be known.

There is a message.

But not everyone hears it

or sees it.

Some will understand,

but some won't understand.

Verse 13.

This is why I speak to them in parables.

Though seeing,

they do not see.

Though hearing,

they do not hear

or understand.

Now, Jesus isn't a bad teacher.

It's not that Jesus is struggling

with his communication.

Jesus is deliberately

and intentionally

being secret

in what he says.

Contrary to what we may think,

the parables are not exposing

a flaw in Jesus' teaching.

The parables expose

the reality of our hearts.

are we those who desire

to see and hear?

Are we those who don't want to see

and don't want to hear?

You see,

as Jesus teaches,

he's drawing out from the crowd

those who will follow him

and those who will ultimately

ignore him.

So the question is,

do I really want to see?

Do I truly want to hear

what Jesus is saying?

So, his word

comes to all.

But secondly,

his word

brings division.

Because as Jesus teaches,

his words have

a double impact.

His word will either

reveal the kingdom

to you

or his word

will conceal the kingdom

from you.

First,

revealing the kingdom of Jesus.

Let's read verse 10.

The disciples came to him.

Why do you speak in parables?

Jesus replied,

because the knowledge

of the secrets

of the kingdom of heaven

has been given to you

but not to them.

Now, when Jesus talks about

the secrets of the kingdom,

he's talking about

something that's hidden

but is revealed.

Something hidden

but revealed.

Look back with me

just a page

perhaps to chapter 11

and verse 25.

Here Jesus has been

talking about who he is

and he's been

demonstrating who he is

by his miracles.

He's declaring

that I'm God's

promised king,

the long-for Messiah.

Let's pick it up

in verse 25.

At that time,

Jesus said,

I praise you,

Father,

Lord of heaven and earth,

because you have

hidden these things,

the things about Jesus

and his kingdom,

from the wise

and the learned

and revealed them

to little children.

Yes, Father,

for this is what

you are pleased to do.

Jesus came

proclaiming the good news

and healing the sick.

people could hear his words,

see his miracles,

but his kingdom remained hidden

until it was revealed.

That's why,

back in chapter 13,

verse 11,

Jesus said,

the secrets of the kingdom

have been given to you.

In other words,

I have revealed

the kingdom of heaven

to you.

Your spiritual ears

have been opened

so that you can hear me.

Your spiritual eyes

have been opened

so that you can see

who I truly am.

The disciples

only understand

who Jesus is

and his kingdom

because God

has given them

understanding.

Now, how does

this understanding come?

Well,

it all comes

by God's grace.

Look closely

at chapter 13,

verse 11.

He says,

it has been

given

to you.

In other words,

we can't make ourselves

understand or believe.

God must

open up

our spiritual

eyes and ears

if we are to know

and to follow him.

That's why Jesus

will say

in verse 16,

blessed are your eyes

because they see,

your ears

because they hear.

Let's think about

this for ourselves.

If you've heard

the good news

of the kingdom,

if you are here today

and you have repented

and you can say,

yes,

I follow Jesus,

the only reason

why you do

is because God

has revealed

it to you.

It's not because

you were especially

good

and God thought,

I really like them,

I'm going to reveal

the kingdom to them.

It's not because

you worked it out

and you studied

your Bible really well

and it was just like,

now I've got it.

Something from within

that made you understand.

And it's not because

you woke up one morning

and decided,

you know what,

I've decided

to follow Jesus.

No,

none of those things.

You believe,

you follow,

because God revealed

to you

that Jesus is King,

that you need

to repent

and you need

to follow him.

In fact,

if you have received

God's grace

in this way,

even more

is going to be

given to you.

Look at verse 12.

Whoever has

will be given

more

and they will have

an abundance.

As you understand

the kingdom,

so you will be given

greater understanding.

It's a little bit

like the dimmer switch

that you might have

in your house.

the more you turn

the switch,

the more light

you have.

And so as God

gives your heart

light,

so the dimmer switch,

so the trigger switch

in our heart

is turned up

even more.

And more light

is received.

And we begin

to see Jesus

and his kingdom

and our love

for Jesus

and his kingdom

increases and grows.

And your life

as a Christian

will blossom

and develop

and flourish

in ways

that you never

thought possible.

All by God's

grace.

More

will be given

to you.

So the word

of Jesus

reveals

the kingdom

of Jesus

to you.

but there's

also a second

side to it,

isn't there?

Concealing

Jesus

and his

kingdom.

For some

the word

will lead

to belief

and for others

as they hear

the word

it will lead

to rejection.

Again,

look at verse

11.

Jesus says,

the knowledge

of the secrets

of the kingdom

of heaven

has been given

to you

but not

to them.

Not

everyone

will be given

understanding.

Verse 12.

Look at the end

of verse 12.

Because whoever

does not have

even what

they have

will be taken

from them.

It's like

instead of the

dimmer switch

being turned

up,

it's being

turned down.

Instead of

getting lighter

and brighter,

it slowly

becomes

darker

so that

you are

no longer

able to

see

anything.

Jesus

and his

kingdom

become

concealed

to you.

Now,

I don't know

about you

but I read

that and

I was

thinking about

this.

I said,

this is

really

unfair.

For some

it's been

revealed

but to

others

it's

concealed.

That's

unfair.

Why

does God

do that?

Well,

Jesus

explains

verse 13.

This is

why I

speak to

them in

parables.

Those

seeing,

they do

not see.

Though

hearing,

they do

not hear

or understand.

It's

not that

the crowds

didn't

have

opportunity.

The crowds

had seen

Jesus'

miracles,

the healing

of the

sick,

the casting

out of

demons,

the raising

of the

dead.

The crowds

had heard

Jesus'

teaching,

repent for

the kingdom

of heaven

has come

near.

They have

seen,

but they

don't

see.

They've

heard,

but they

don't

hear.

Or more

accurately,

they don't

want to

see and

they don't

want to

hear.

Jesus gives

an example

for us,

doesn't he,

in verse

14 and

15.

Verse

14,

in them

is fulfilled

the prophecy

of Isaiah.

Matthew

quotes here,

and this

quote is

from Isaiah

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6.

And obviously

before we get

to chapter 6,

there's five

chapters.

And you

read through

those five

chapters and

you will see

how Israel

persisted in

their rebellion

against God.

Warning

after warning

over hundreds

of years

and they

refused to

humble themselves

and repent.

So God's

judgment was

going to fall

and there

would be a

concealing,

a hardening

of their

hearts.

And so we

read verse

14,

you will be

ever hearing

but never

understanding.

You will be

ever seeing

but never

perceiving.

For this

people's heart

has become

calloused.

They hardly

hear with

their ears

and they

have closed

their eyes.

Otherwise

they might

see with

their eyes,

hear with

their ears,

understand with

their hearts

and turn

and I

would heal

them.

You see

God has

been

incredibly

fair.

Incredibly

fair.

God has

been gracious

towards Israel.

He had

rescued them

from slavery.

He had

brought them

into the

promised land.

He had

provided them

with judges

and kings.

He had

spoken to

them

through the

prophets.

And God

had sent

him his

ultimate

prophet.

Look down

at verse

17.

For truly

I tell you

many prophets

and righteous

people longed

to see what

you see but

didn't see it

and to hear

what you hear

but didn't

hear it.

They had

been given

every opportunity

but they

didn't believe.

God had

been gracious

to the

crowds.

God's

king had

been set

before them

in person.

They had

seen the

miracles,

heard the

words,

given every

opportunity

but like

Israel of

old,

verse 15,

the people's

hearts had

become

calloused.

They hardly

hear with

their ears

and they

have closed

their eyes.

hearts.

You see

as Jesus

taught,

he spoke

in parables

and the

truth

was concealed.

The

concealing

was God's

judgment.

It was

confirming

their very

own

rejection.

But it's

not just

Israel and

it's not

just the

crowds.

You and

I here

are very

privileged

people.

God has

been gracious

to us.

Every

week we

hear about

Jesus.

But be

warned.

Refusal

to accept

his word,

refusal to

learn from

him and

seek

sight and

hearing

will lead

to a

concealing

of Jesus.

It'll be

like that

dimmer

switch.

We won't

even notice.

But slowly

over time

the dimmer

switch will

go down

and down

and down.

We won't

even notice

the darkness

coming around

us.

And it

will become

so dark

we will

not be able

to see.

Be warned.

Be careful.

Be careful.

a word

to all.

A word

that divides

and a

word for

us.

You see

the parable

here

actually

exposes

the reality

of our

own hearts

this morning.

And the

question we

need to

deal with

is this.

How am I

responding to

the word

when I hear

it?

Every time

I hear

the word

how do

I respond

to it?

How do

I think

about it?

And to

help us

answer this

question

Jesus now

explains the

parable to

us.

He reveals

in words.

Verse 18

Listen then

to what the

parable of

the sower

means.

So the

farmer who

sows the

seed

is Jesus

who sows

his

word.

And the

different

soils

the

hard

path

the

rocky

ground

the

thorns

and

thistles

the

good

soil

all

reflect

the

condition

of

people's

hearts.

Now as we've

read it you may

think there are

four responses

but in fact there are

actually only two.

The first three

all reflect those

who have their

ears and eyes

closed.

it's only the

final one that

reflects the

person who truly

sees and hears

and understands.

So let's look at

this parable

and ask

ourselves

how do we

hear

God's word.

First

the hard

heart.

Verse 19

when anyone

hears the

message about

the kingdom

and does

not understand

it

the evil

one comes

and snatches

away what

was sown

in their

heart.

Is that a

picture of you?

You hear

like everybody

else

but it never

actually travels

to your

heart.

as soon

as the

words are

heard

it's

rejected

it goes

not for

me

I don't

really like

it.

Just as

the birds

ate up

the seed

on the

hard

path

so the

devil

comes

and takes

the word

from your

hard

heart.

If you

do not

want the

word in

your life

if you

do not

desire

the word

God

will let

that word

be taken

from you.

A hard

heart.

Then there's

a shallow

heart.

Verse 20

The seed

falling on

rocky ground

refers to

someone who

hears the

word and

at once

receives it

with joy.

And maybe

that's the

picture of

your heart

today.

You think

yes following

Jesus is

great.

that's

what I

want to

do.

But

verse 21

since they

have no

root

they last

only a

short time

when trouble

or persecution

comes because

of the

word

they quickly

fall away.

You see

sooner or

later we

realise that

you know

following

Jesus as

king

is hard.

And as

we follow

him we

realise that

family and

friends push

against us

and it's

not easy

and I'm

not up for

this and

we fall

away.

But why

do they

fall away?

Verse 21

Because it

did not

take root

in your

heart.

Rather than

taking in

the word

you kept

the word

out of your

life and

you ignored

it.

You see

if we

don't

continue to

grow in

the word

if we

don't

nurture

our

hearts

with the

word

if we

don't

water

the

seed

with

the

word

we'll

fall

away.

And then

third there

is the

destructive

heart.

Verse 22

the seed

falling among

the thorns

refers to

someone who

hears the

word but

the worries

of this

life and

the deceitfulness

of wealth

choke the

word making

it unfruitful.

Is that

what describes

your heart?

You've made

a good start

in the

Christian life

you want

to follow

you hear

it

but then

things begin

to distract

you.

You become

anxious and

worried about

your future

and health

becomes more

important and

work becomes

more important

and in a

desperate attempt

to alleviate

all your

concerns

you seek

security in

accumulating

wealth.

As long as

I have

money, as

long as

I have

job security

everything is

going to be

alright.

Instead of

devotion to

God and

his word

we get

distracted

and financial

security slowly

and subtly

takes priority

over the

word.

And instead

of being

fruitful we

become

unfruitful.

Hard

heart,

shallow

heart,

distracted

heart.

Do any

of these

resonate with

you?

all of

them

describe

in one

way or

another

the person

who

ultimately

rejects

God's

word.

Their

hearts have

become

calloused.

They

hardly hear.

They've

closed

their eyes.

But we

have a

humble

heart.

verse 23

The seed

falling on

good soil

refers to

someone who

hears the

word and

understand it.

It's a

beautiful picture

of what

happens when

we come

humbly

before God.

We recognise

that without

God's

intervention we

will never

understand.

Without

his grace

and a

dependence on

his grace

we'll never

see,

we'll never

hear.

But when

we come

in that

humble

dependence

God

softens

our

hard

hearts.

When we

cry out

to him

and see

our need

he opens

our

closed

ears and

he opens

our blind

eyes.

And look

what happens.

Look at the

end of

verse 23.

this is the

one who

produces a

crop

yielding

a hundred

sixty

or thirty

times what

was sown.

The word

that was

sown

expands

and grows

and you

have a

fruitful

life.

The word

takes effect

and we

begin to

seek the

priorities of

the kingdom.

we become

consumed with

proclaiming the

good news of

the kingdom.

We become

more beautiful

people as we

display the

glory of the

kingdom.

The message is

crystal clear

isn't it?

As we hear

the word

we are

either

accepting it

or rejecting

it.

The dimmer

switch is

either going

up and it

becomes brighter

and more

fruitful

or the

dimmer switch

is turning

down and

it's getting

darker and

unfruitful.

How do you,

how do I

hear the

word?

It's a

matter of

life and

death.

Let me

pray for us.

Lord,

soften my

calloused

hard heart

so that I

might love

your word

and accept

your word.

Open up

my blocked

ears that I

might have

understanding.

Open my

closed eyes

so that I

might see you

as I

ought.

Take my

hard,

shallow,

distracted

heart

and give

me a

humble

heart

that I

might live

a fruitful

life

for your

glory.

Pour out

your

grace.

Pour out

your grace

so that

we might

have all

we need

and more

than we

could ever

imagine

for we

need it.

Thank you,

Father,

that you are

generous

and you

are good.

Amen.

So we're

going to

sing

and I

hope this

song can be

sung in a

way that

show you

varii

on

the

scale

and

sure.