The Gardener And The Crops

“The Gardner & The crops”

By

District Elder M.L. Maughmer, Jr.

Matthew 13:1-3, 9-11, 24-28 “The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side. And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. And he spake many things unto them in parables, Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up”.

Opening:- We find here in our text first of all a word that I want to enlighten some on. That word is “Parable”. The dictionary says a parable is a story that illustrates a moral or religious lesson.

In other words a parable is a natural story with spiritual implications. Remember That. God often used natural stories and situations in order to bring to light the spiritual meaning He was trying to convey to the people.

We find in our text that Jesus was talking to or teaching the multitudes that followed Him, imparting to them some very profound spiritual revelations. However, He is presenting it to them in a natural and simplistic manner and he was doing that for a couple of reasons.

1. Isaiah 55:8-9 says “For my thought are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts”.

2. He told the disciples after they asked why speakest thou unto them in parables vs #10, He said “Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given”

1st Corinthians 2:14 says “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”.

See in order to understand the things of God you must be spiritual. Understand spiritual doesn’t mean shouting and speaking in tongues, but to be transformed in the renewing of your mind, literally having the mind of Christ in you.

The Bible says in Philippians 2:5 “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus”.

Sadly somanytimes people get emotional and spiritual mixed up. Understand you can be emotional and not be spiritual, but when you are spiritual that will produce and emotional response.

So we see that Jesus taught in parables and that a parable is a natural story that has spiritual implications, but you must be spiritual to understand it. In its simplest form being spiritual is based upon and predicated upon your relationship with God. You can’t read it in a book or watch it on television and think that you will learn how to be spiritual you have to have a personal experience/relationship with God yourself. I can’t read in a book or see on television how to love my wife, I have to have a relationship with her and build that relationship based upon the personal experiences we have.

WHY:- because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven and not unto them, those that don’t have a relationship with God.

This message that God has given me today is in the form of a parable but the implications are spiritual and the results can either give you eternal life or cause you to spend eternity in hell.

TODAY:- I want to talk to you about the Gardner and the crops.

TEXT:- The was a rich and powerful man that had purchased a beautiful garden. This garden was unlike anything ever seen before. It was full of different types of fruits and vegetables that were full of nutrients and essentials beneficial for a healthy life.

There were in the garden sweet potatoes, carrots, spinach, turnip greens, red peppers, and Chinese cabbage, these were all full of vitamin A which keep the eyes and skin healthy and helps protect against infections.