The Purpose And Meaning Of Parables Series

Suppose I could offer you the secret of obtaining millions of dollars. How excited would you be? How would it change your life?

Every day we find somebody offering some secret to some kind of riches. The sad thing is, there are enough gullible people in our world to keep these scams going on and on forever. Just flash a dollar bill in front of somebody, and you have his or her attention.

On the other hand, what if you had at your disposal $1 million that needed to be spent each day or you would lose it? Every day you had $1 million that had to be spent that day, how would it change your life?

Wouldn’t it be silly to live on $1.99 each day?

That sounds ridiculous and it would be hard to find somebody who would live that way. Yet, Christians do it all the time. They have at their disposal untold wealth and yet they live like paupers.

I am not necessarily speaking of money, because too often money is more of a curse than anything else. But there is wealth at our disposal that we have yet to discover.

When we come to the parables of Jesus in the gospel of Luke, we will discover the kind of life Jesus put at our disposal as believers. Every parable reveals some aspect of kingdom living.

A parable contains a truth concealed that only the Holy Spirit can reveal. The key to every parable is the illumination of the Holy Spirit in a receptive heart.

Jesus, speaking of John the Baptist as being Elijah said, “He that has ears to hear, let him hear” (Matthew 11:15).

Then in the book of Revelation Jesus said to each of the churches, “He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches…”

This hearing is a spiritual perception. Only those who have been born again with the Holy Spirit residing in them have the capacity to hear with understanding.

Spiritual truth is not accessible to the natural mind.

The apostle Paul explains this in 1 Corinthians 2:14-16.

“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.”

When we look at these parables, we will be noting several layers. The outer layer, the shell, is a simple story that anybody can understand. It may even have moral implications. But there are other layers that can only be penetrated by the work of the Holy Spirit within us.

The best preparation for studying the parables of Jesus is to be born again. If we are not born again Christians, we will never penetrate the purpose of any of these parables.

The main thing we want to emphasize during this series has to do with Dynamic Living under Kingdom Authority. This is the over arching theme of all of the parables. In these parables, we will discover the principles of kingdom living which will enable us to live the kind of life Jesus intended us to live.

Let me explain the phrase “Kingdom Authority.”

In chapter 11:1-4 we have what we call The Lord’s Prayer (page 50). Jesus says in this prayer, “Your kingdom come.”

The essence of this prayer is for God’s kingdom to come to earth. The receptacle of that kingdom at this point is the Christian. God’s kingdom is within us motivating us to live lives that honor God.

Romans 12:1-2 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

And, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

Other Scriptures could be brought to bear upon the subject. The essence of the truth is that as Christians, we now are living under Kingdom Authority. If we do not know what that authority is, our lives are not going to be in harmony with God’s purpose for us. Perhaps this explains many Christians living defeated lives of discouragement and despair.

As I understand the principles of kingdom living I begin to realize the power available to me to live a life pleasing onto the Lord.