January 21, 2017
I don’t know what you believe about heaven and hell, but Jesus taught that they were real places of eternal existence. In this parable of Jesus, He compared the kingdom of heaven to a fishing net that caught both good and bad fish. The good fish represented those who truly believed in Christ as Lord. And the bad represented those who were hypocrites.
The kingdom of heaven is to be populated by those who have made Christ king. However, there are those who pay lip service to Jesus outwardly, yet inwardly their hearts remain unchanged. They still have “self” on the throne. They have not made Christ the Lord of their lives. They are hypocrites. As the gospel “dragnet” gathers people into the church, both the saved and the hypocrite are present. Yet, at the “end of the age” (Matt.13:49), they will be separated. The “just” to everlasting life and the “wicked” to a place of everlasting torment called Hell.
This is why we must continually preach the gospel to the church. For we do not know who there is among us that has yet to truly confess Christ as King. And this is why each of us must examine our own hearts to be sure that we have truly submitted our lives to Jesus. Have you confessed Jesus as Lord and believed that God raised Him from the dead? Are you truly among the redeemed? The end of the age is coming. Are you ready?
January 21, 2015
The people of Nazareth were offended at the authority of Jesus’ teachings because of their familiarity with him. They knew his family. They had seen him grow up. “Who does he think he is coming back home preaching to us?” They thought.
Two ways we might relate to this passage:
One, we might relate to the Nazarenes. We sometimes respond without respect to Christ because of familiarity. We’ve been believers for a long time, so we feel we’ve heard it all before. We’ve sung all the songs. Listened to all the sermons. Attended all the holiday events. We lose sight of our “first love.” We become like the people of Nazareth. And we do not see Jesus do mighty works in our lives because of our unbelief.
Two, we might relate to Jesus. We sometimes experience rejection from our family and friends when we bring Jesus home with us. We are able to share our testimony of faith with strangers and see them accept Christ, but our own family members act offended when we offer the same to them. Like Jesus, we have no honor in our own house.
How do you relate to this passage?
January 19, 2015
Ever since God told Adam and Eve about the Seed that would crush the serpent’s head, believers had looked for the Messiah. Generation after generation, the Word of the Lord came to prophets enlarging their understanding and anticipation of His coming. But their lives passed without hearing or seeing the Desire of all nations. Yet, when the Christ did come to God’s chosen people, the ones He had prepared throughout the centuries to receive Him, they received Him not. Only a remnant had eyes to perceive and ears to understand that the Messiah had come. Today, it is the same. Only a few perceive and understand the gospel and receive Jesus as Lord. Only a remnant look for and anticipate His return. What grace that God would open our blind eyes and deaf ears, so that we might know the Son! What a blessing to be a member of the remnant that He calls to be His own!
January 20, 2014
What is this Kingdom that Jesus preached? It is like a treasure hidden. Yet, some find it. A treasure so valuable as to be worth selling everything you own. Yet, the one owning the land is apparently unaware of its presence and is willing to sell it, like Esau selling his birthright. It takes spiritual eyes to see this treasure’s worth. Only a few find it.
January 19, 2014
When Jesus was asked why He taught in parables, he answered with this quotation from Isaiah about the “hardened” hearts of the people. Jesus was aware of their unreceptive hearts, yet still poured out His. The Lord and His gospel still have that affect on people’s hearts. It either penetrates, making the heart new and receptive or it hardens it even more. When it is made new, it responds in sympathetic resonance to the sound of God’s heart. But when it is hard, sin dampens its heart strings, so that it is deaf to God’s love.
July 28, 2013
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Matthew 13:44-46
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discipleship
Pastor Jonathan continued our Parables sermon series by looking at the Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Merchant in Matthew 13:44-46. Do you ever feel like God is hidden from you? Or in the busyness of life, are the things of God the first things to get pushed off your list? These little parables from Jesus have great meaning for us as citizens of the Kingdom of God.
January 20, 2013
One of Christ’s many kingdom parables, this one emphasizes the willingness of one to give up everything in this world in order to have it. The value of the kingdom is “hidden” to most, yet revealed to those who discover its treasure. Others probably thought the man foolish for giving all that he had, but he treasured the kingdom of heaven over the world’s kingdom. There are still those today to whom the treasure is hidden. And strangely, there are those not mentioned in the parable, to whom it is revealed, yet they continue to haggle over its price. Are you willing to give all or are you holding back?
January 21, 2012
Jesus directs this to His disciples who are able to understand His parables. There is an encouragement here for the preacher to set a table from the storehouse of both Old and New Testaments.
January 19, 2012
Jesus compares God’s Word to a seed and the human heart to soil. He names types of soil that illustrate four heart conditions- hardened path, rocky, weedy, and good. Which is yours?
January 20, 2011
There is a weed that looks similar to wheat until maturity when it bears no fruit. Some will question whether the seed was good. Others will want to pull up the weeds. But the purity of the church is the Lord’s job. Ours is to grow and bear fruit.