Power Up Kingdom Living Series

Power Up Kingdom Living  

Matthew 13:31-51

Introduction

Power Up - it’s what we need to do when our spiritual batteries get low. We need to connect to the power source, overcome temptation, use the power of influence, exercise the spiritual disciplines, and escape judgmentalism in our relationships. (See previous messages here at Sermon Central or on our YouTube Channel, link below). All are important, Jesus taught about all of them in his ministry. In Matthew Jesus frames up the Jesus Life by speaking about the Kingdom of God. Not a physical kingdom with walls, a castle, and a throne. It is a spiritual Kingdom. Jesus is our King. Those of us who have committed our life to him are living the life prescribed by our King! It’s a different life than the world around us lives - so it’s challenging and it’s a call to discipleship to follow. We are going to look at short stories in Matthew 13 that Jesus told to teach us how to to live life in the Kingdom. 

Jesus taught in Parables. In the Gospels we have Jesus telling at least 53 parables, eight of them found in our chapter for today. (Woodroof). Parable means something thrown alongside something else. “An earthly story with a heavenly meaning.” In these, stories Jesus wants us to hear how we can live the Kingdom Life.

When you think about your life in the Kingdom of God, don’t be overwhelmed … remember that we all start small and grow as we go. 

1. Your Life Grows into Purpose (Matthew 13:31-32)

Matthew 13:31-32 …“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; 32 and this is the smallest of all seeds, but when it is fully grown, it is the largest of the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”

The mustard seed is small, but the end of the story is different. It’s important to remember that our faith grows over time when we listen to Jesus in our lives. Don’t get discouraged if you feel like your faith is small.  Especially if you are just beginning your new walk. Even if it’s been a while since you felt like you were growing, keep pursuing the Kingdom life and the promise is that small faith can become more than expected!

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

Jesus’ own life started out small. Born of humble parents in an impoverished setting in a backwater town. Only had a handful of followers / Ignored by rulers. After Pentecost thousands of followers and now millions!

H. G. Wells, even though an atheist, wrote that Jesus is “easily the dominant figure in history … A historian without any theological bias whatever should find that he cannot portray the progress of humanity honestly without giving a foremost place to a penniless teacher from Nazareth.”

We not only grow, we grow toward purpose. The birds of the air feel safe enough to nest in them. As we grow in Christ we fulfill purposes we did not expect.

As you grow, the Kingdom Life influences you within, but also it influences those around you. 

2. The Kingdom Life Influences (Matthew 13:33)

Matthew 13:33 ESV “…The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”

Three measures of flour is a surprising amount: a huge batch of dough made from about 50 pounds of flour. Hare: “It has been estimated that bread sufficient for over one hundred people would come from her oven….the quantity suggests a festive occasion.”

That new person we have become in the Kingdom has a contagious characteristic. Leaven works its way through the dough that is around it. 

“The early church multiplied by leaps and bounds because ‘each one won one’.”- Lightfoot

Jesus is telling us that the Kingdom life changes who we are inside, and then it begins to change the lives of the people around us.

3. The Kingdom Life is Highly Valued (Matthew 13:44)

Matthew 13:44 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

This is not an unlikely story in New Testament times. Lightfoot says, “Back then there were few places of safety where money could be deposited, so often the best place to hide treasured possessions was in the ground…. In the parable at hand a man had buried his treasure for safety’s sake, but for some reason he was never able to return and recover what belonged to him.”

The kingdom of heaven is a treasure - the most wonderful of all treasures.  Do we really value the kingdom of God? How much does it mean to us? How can we know if we regard the kingdom as valuable? The man in the parable made a great Sacrifice - he sold all he had and bought the field. The joy. He doesn’t regret selling his possessions, he doesn’t complain about it. Lightfoot: “A man who is genuinely converted does not grudgingly give up the past. He gives up his past life for something far better.”