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.”
This reminds us of Apostle Paul. Philippians 3:7-8 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 More than that, I count all things to be loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ”
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, it is of great value … and it is something we should seek.
4. The Kindom Life is Sought After (Matthew 13:45-46)
Matthew 13:45-46 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.”
Pearls in ancient times had a great value and pearl merchants looked far and wide for new pearls. Lightfoot: “The pearl that he bought was the object of his life. His years of searching would have been in vain if he had not bought it. What did it matter if he had to sacrifice everything for it! When we come to Christ, we give Him everything. He is the Pearl of Great Value. And things of great value are only obtained at great cost.”
He knows what he wants in his life - and so should we. The kingdom life points us to Jesus and learning from him, living for him.
Matthew 6:33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
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, it is of great value … and it is something we should seek. All of this is with an eye to the future.
5. The Kingdom Life is Future Oriented (Matthew 13:47-50)
Matthew 13:47-50 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind; 48 and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away. 49 So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, 50 and will throw them into the fiery furnace; in that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
This is one of two parables about judgment in this chapter. The other is the parable of the Wheat and the Tares. The large dragnet drew in fish of all kinds and the fishermen sat down on the shore to sort their catch. This is a picture of what happens when the day of judgment arrives.
Platt: “Jesus is driving home the point that coming judgment is inevitable.”
Hebrews 9:27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.
This ending provokes a response!
-Comforting - those who belong to God are kept
-Warning - don’t neglect being a part of God’s kingdom
-Relief - Justice is coming, God will prevail against evil
Make sure you are ready for that great day of the Lord. We do this by placing our faith in Jesus Christ to save us. We demonstrate that faith by turning away from sin and being baptized to identify with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.
“If you have not chosen the Kingdom of God first, it will in the end make no difference what you have chosen instead.” - William Law
Conclusion: Pursue the Kingdom Life!
It changes who we are inside
It changes the lives of the people around us
It is of ultimate value and something we should seek.
It prepare us for the future judgment.
All of this is with an eye to the future.
Matthew 13:16 “… blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.”
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Extra: From Neil Lightfoot's book on the parables
The Kingdom by Neil Lightfoot
Different terms are used in the Four Gospels to portray the kingdom. Most often it is called “the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:24; Mark 9:1; Luke 17:21; John 3:3). Sometimes it is the kingdom of “the Son of Man” or the kingdom that belongs to Christ (Matthew 16;28; John 18:36). Sometimes it is the kingdom of the father (Matthew 13:43). Often it is simply the “kingdom” (Matthew 4:23).
Matthew’s favorite descriptive term for the kingdom, and he is the only writer to use it, is “the kingdom of heaven.” This does not mean “the kingdom in heaven.” … It may mean simply “a kingdom from heaven.”
The word “kingdom” literally means “reign” or “rule,” but it is used in different senses in the New Testament. It is used in a present sense and as such equals the church, the body of Christ. The Apostle Paul speaks of being transferred out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God’s Son (Colossians 1:13). In Hebrews 12:28 we read of “receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken.” It is not possible to be transferred into Christ’s kingdom or to receive a kingdom that is not a present reality.
The word “kingdom” is also used with a future reference. In Matthew 25:31 Jesus says that when the Son of Man comes in His glory, “then he will sit on his glorious throne.” In one sense the kingdom is yet future, for the Son of Man has not yet come in His glory. There awaits at the end a rich entrance into “the eternal kingdom our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:11). Thus when the kingdom is mentioned in future sense, it refers to heaven itself.
The kingdom is not something that sprang up in a moment. It was planned, prepared for, and brought into being in the past and even now awaits its final consummation.
Neil Lightfoot
Lessons From The Parables
Baker Book House, 1965
