One group of parables is called Kingdom parables. When you read them over, you see three basic themes dominate them. We can learn much, and they have to do with how to get to heaven—so let’s study on.
Theme #1: God’s Kingdom Would Start Out Tiny, then Grow in Number Around the World as the number of saved souls increased.
Demonstrated In: Mustard Seed, Matthew 13:31-32
Leaven, Matthew 13:33
Example: Matthew 13:31-32: Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, 32 which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”
A mustard seed is really tiny. Yet it becomes a tree. God's church, His Kingdom, will start out tiny, but grow huge. This parable is also a prophecy when He delivers it, and that prophecy has come to glorious truth. There are believers all over the globe (as I have found from my readers!).
A possible argument that our opposition could make about this parable: How do you reconcile the huge number of believers this is speaking of, with Jesus’ comments in Matthew 7:13:
“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
So, the argument goes--how large in number are the Kingdom residents? A huge number, as I just suggested, or "few" that are in His church (as 7:14 suggests)? Well, it could be both. It has been agreed upon by several scientists who should know, that 100 billion people have ever lived. As my earlier blog (Most Americans Are Not Saved) points out, “few” might be 6-7%. But 7% of 100 billion is 7 billion. Seven billion in heaven! That’s “few” of everybody—but a lot of people, too.
Theme #2: Many Who Start Out As Believers Get Rejected in Final Judgment
Since Jesus has no less than 8 parables on this subject, it is obviously important. I believe, in fact, that most people are deceived on this subject. They believe that once they are saved, they don't have to worry about it. But in the parables listed below, Jesus makes it crystal clear why many “believers” get rejected. They were NOT rejected because “they were not saved to begin with,” or “they trusted in their own righteousness instead of God’s imputed righteousness.” Since it's possible that we have been deceived without realizing it, and even where we spend our eternity is at stake, heaven or hell, let’s keep our minds open, and seek the real reason why they were rejected, so we can avoid such tragedy.
Demonstrated in: Parable of the Vine, John 15:1-10
Sower, Matthew 13:3-8, 18-23
Wedding feast, Matthew 22:1-14
Five foolish and five wise virgins, Matthew 25:1-13
The faithful and wise servant, Matthew 24:45-51
Talents, Matthew 25:14-28
Separating the Sheep and the Goats, Matthew 25:31-46
Houses built on the Rock and Sand, Matthew 7:21-27
I picked three of the above:
Example #1, the Vine: John 15:1-10: “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. 9 “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
These are some of the best Words from Jesus in the New Testament, aside from the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is the Vine; some of us become His branches (when we were saved). We derive (eternal) life by staying attached to Him, and getting our nourishment from Him. True, these verses don’t say how to get on the Vine in the first place, the initial salvation (it takes repentance and faith, explained elsewhere in Scripture). But these parables, from the lips of Truth, Jesus Christ, do a wonderful job of explaining the second part--how do I live the rest of my life? That part, and I cannot stress this strongly enough, determines whether you end with salvation. (You realize I'm saying you can lose your salvation). You need both (initial and final) salvation to get to heaven--sticking to to Jesus brings that about. As these verses clearly show, to finally get to heaven, and not be tossed out as withered and dead, we must abide in Christ--and bear fruit. Bearing fruit is crucial, since the verses above says we must bear fruit for final salvation. If we don’t abide in Christ, we are “cast out,” we are “withered,” we are thrown into the fire, and we burn. An obvious reference to hell. The word “abide,” in the Greek, is defined as “continue, remain, tarry.” It suggests a relationship of bonding which we seek with our Savior. We pursue with intentionality to get to really know Him. Since by His death in our place, He gave us heaven instead of hell for eternity, we see the love He had for humanity, and we owe all of our lives to Him. He also gave us ways to keep from sinning in the present life, which few people pay enough attention to. If we want to stay in an abiding relationship, we build, by voluntary acts, a great desire to find out and obey His commandments, His commandments, though the world calls "restrictive," are the best path for our life. We get help from the Holy Spirit to obey Him, and abide in Him. Beside the requirement to obey His commandments, we must produce fruit. The word “fruit” might be best explained by Galatians 5:22-24:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
This theological concept of initial and final salvation seems revolutionary, since it's seldom preached on, but it's in Scripture, where it is set forth plainly, and the earliest Christians saw the connection (see my blog, “Initial and Final Salvation”). This is not Catholic, not really Protestant either. Protestant Reformers like Luther didn’t get it; he spent most of his time trying to be the opposite of the Catholics. If they said “works are big,” he had to say “no works, grace.” I don’t deny grace. It is all grace for God to pay any attention to us sinful creatures. Catholics distorted their idea of works (they say a relationship with Christ is not necessary; just say your rosary, attend Mass, Confession, etc). But Protestant Reformers also distorted grace (they say a relationship with Christ is not necessary; just accept Him, and you are saved forever, through His unconditional grace, whether you sin little or a lot). Both these theologies are lies, and put you in danger of hell. The real truth is, a relationship with Christ IS NECESSARY to be saved, as Scripture clearly points out. That required abiding, that relationship will start out weak, of course, but then it bears a little fruit, that gets pruned, so it starts to grow more each year. We gradually learn to obey Him and love the world and its idolatries hardly at all, and Him more.
Example #2,Sheep and Goats: Matthew 25:31-46: “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ 41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink;43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ 44 “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
So the issue for final salvation is not a theologically proper definition of grace, but Jesus is asking, simply, “What did you do with your life? Did you love your fellow man? Did you care for the poor and the sick?” Caring for the poor, and loving, being merciful and forgiving, are commandments and fruits. But these rules for life we break frequently. The most serious commandments are broken by "Christians" without a thought of the danger of doing so. For instance, Scripture speaks clearly that God hates divorce; Scripture shows that it frequently brings on sexual sin, and it hurts the children, (though they deny it). But "Christians" still divorce, or accept it in others, at the same rate as the pagan world. They have nary a thought of their God's offense or anger. I NEED to be happy, they say. But God's commandments are the way to happiness. If we don't trust that, then that shows we do not abide in Him. You may have had a theology that encourages you to feel "secure" after you had your moment with Christ. Since you "accepted Him," Church members don't dwell on penetrating questions about your honest sin; they often merely encourage you to go to church, it's OK to commit a few "bad judgment calls," and so you can assume you're Christian and saved--yet in eternity, many are shocked as Jesus rejects them, and they go to hell. Just like in this parable, designed to show who is saved and who isn't, Jesus will ask: Did you give money to feed the poor, when you had monumental savings and plenty of income? Giving to your church might not satisfy that requirement, because less than 10% of what you give to church goes to poor. You need to give some to organizations outside the church. Such a sin of a refusal to give proportional, would be called a sin of omission (vs. sins of commission such as stealing, murder, etc). Few people even think about sins of omission. Lots of "Christians" might assume poor people are just lazy, and they don't think twice about what Jesus is saying above about the goats. They seldom apply Scripture to themselves. Are they assured of heaven? These verses say no; they're the goats that go to eternal fire.
Example #3, Rock or Sand: Matthew 7:21-27: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
As anyone can read, hearing His commandments and DOING them is building a foundation of rock, and keeps our spiritual house together. But hearing and NOT DOING, no matter how much “service” you do at church, you are headed for spiritual rejection. We must “do the will” of our Father. For instance, we like to have a large savings account, so we can control our lives, not God--and so we can covet material things of the world. Such an immature approach means we have no clue how His Spirit moves us; so when a huge decision is to be made, we go by our feelings, and tell everyone that the Spirit is leading us. It’s the same theme: Having been saved, then consciously doing His commandments gets you on God’s “good side” in judgment. Saying a prayer and accepting Him, no matter how sincere, might get you initial salvation; but follow through is necessary. It will mean nothing if you don’t persevere in a relationship with Him as well. Living your life as you wish and ignoring God’s desire for relationship and His will for you puts you back on the road to hell. Sounds like a "works" salvation, but we believe that the Holy Spirit will give you the grace you need to obey Him. And don't tag something with a name without thinking seriously about what God's Word is saying.
For a little more proof, I cite John 5:28-29:
28 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice 29 and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.
This is what Jesus preached; since you can lose initial salvation through no fruit, no obedience when the chips are down, final decision is made on faith and follow up, doing His will, versus who has ignored His commandments through commission or omission.
Maybe this idea is different from what you hear at church: But are you willing to ignore this blog, well-proven through Scripture? Are you going to possibly twist the obvious meaning of these parables? Or are you going to say, "It looks too dense for me. Pastor will explain." But pastor won't save you. It looks clear: “Doing good” gets you final salvation: the resurrection of life. (PS: Don’t forget initial salvation—you won’t produce fruit without His Spirit’s guidance; abiding in Him). If this seems to disagree with what Paul seems to say about ignoring the law (especially in Romans and Galatians), you need to keep context in view. The apostles had to deal with Judaizers—new Jewish Christians who wanted us to keep all their man-made laws to be saved. “Let’s get all the male believers circumcised, too,” they said. “They have to follow the law of Moses to be saved.” That’s what Paul couldn’t stomach. He didn’t want us to just follow (Jewish civil or food) laws; he wanted us to have a relationship with Jesus. (I have other blogs on “Paul vs. James” on this subject.
Theme #3: God’s Kingdom People Would Have Non-Believers Among Them; Let God Weed Them Out at Final Judgment
Demonstrated in: Wheat and Weeds (tares), Matthew 13:24-30, 37-43
Dragnet, Matthew 13:47-50
In the interest of space, we only comment on one.
Example: Matthew 13:24-30, 37-43: Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”…(ed, now speaking only to disciples) “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. 39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.40 Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. 41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness,42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
In His kingdom, defined as the real church, they have meetings of worship. But in every one of those meetings, there will be fakers and there will be sincere. That's the way Satan plans; wheat and weeds together--saved and unsaved people. Suppose we take my above words to heart, and we want to find out if Others are doing the kinds of things that show they're saved? Then we want to remove the tares (supposed Christians who show no fruit) from the assembly. But can we tell who is a genuine Christian? Many Scriptures says we can't. Since church is supposed to be for saved people, does that give us the right to watch every move people make, every word they say? Having a "case" against someone, shall we remove anyone that seems to be unsaved? So does church mean casting judgmental eyes about?
Jesus said, in these verses, Don't worry about all that; the angels will pull out “those who practice lawlessness.” Elsewhere He says to focus only on our sins, "pull out the plank" in our eye, vs. focusing on others. Things like the Spanish Inquisitions or the Salem witch trials usually come out of "judging." Thus, it's clear that we are to let everyone attend who wants to attend. Let's let Jesus do the deciding, in the last days. Let’s love the foot-draggers among us and encourage them to do better; and let us build His church missions accordingly. It may go slower, but it’s a good test of love. I’m not saying, forget church discipline. If these people's purposes are stirring up division or they are in active gross sin, we should remove them.
Well, think awhile on these important parables. Don’t twist them to meet your previous theology. Don’t ignore them, thinking them too hard to understand with their couched language. As you can see above, Jesus’ language is really quite clear. We often just don’t like what He’s saying.
Acknowledgement: David Bercot CD, “Kingdom Parables,” Scroll Publishing
Well, think awhile on these important parables. Don’t twist them to meet your previous theology. Don’t ignore them, thinking them too hard to understand with their couched language. As you can see above, Jesus’ language is really quite clear. We often just don’t like what He’s saying.
Acknowledgement: David Bercot CD, “Kingdom Parables,” Scroll Publishing
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