Sermon Tone Analysis

Jesus Wants to Help Us Understand the Kingdom of Heaven - Part 3

The Gospel of Matthew

Matthew 13:47-58

Sermon by Rick Crandall

(Prepared May 26, 2022)

BACKGROUND:

*Please open your Bibles to Matthew 13:47.

In this chapter Jesus told a series of 8 parables to help us understand the Kingdom of Heaven.

The Lord told these simple stories to reveal spiritual truth to His followers.

But Jesus also spoke in a way to conceal these truths from the scribes and Pharisees.

The Lord did this because by this second year of ministry, most of those religious rulers had rejected Jesus with bitter hatred.

*They hated Jesus so much that they were plotting to kill Him.

One reason why was because Jesus rejected the thousands of petty rules and regulations the scribes and Pharisees had added to God's Law.

For over a hundred years these men had basically been in charge of telling all the other Jews what was right and wrong.

*William Barclay gave this example: In Jeremiah 17:21, "Thus says the Lord: 'Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day.'"

But a "burden" had to be defined, so the scribes and Pharisees defined it as "food equal in weight to a dried fig, enough wine for mixing in a goblet, milk enough for one swallow, honey enough to put upon a wound, water enough to moisten an eye-salve," and so on.

*Then they had to settle questions like this: Could a woman wear a brooch on the Sabbath?

Could a man wear a wooden leg or dentures?

-- Or would it be carrying a burden to do so?

Could a chair or even a child be lifted on the Sabbath Day?" On and on the regulations went.

Then this random, unschooled carpenter from Nazareth showed up and rejected all of their ridiculous rules.

Jesus also publicly criticized them for laying heavy legal burdens on God's people.

(1)

*But there was a bigger reason why the scribes and Pharisees hated Jesus, and that is because He rightly claimed to be God.

We can see the Lord's claim many times in the New Testament.

*Last week we looked at Mark 2:1-12, but another great example is in John 5. It's the story of a man who had not been able to walk for 38 years.

Jesus instantly healed that man on the Sabbath Day.

And how did the Lord do it?

In John 5:8 Jesus simply told him to "Rise, take up your bed and walk.''

*Soon after that miracle, John 5:15-18 says:

15.

The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.

16.

And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the Sabbath day.

17.

But Jesus answered them, My Father has been working until now, and I work.

18. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the Sabbath, BUT SAID ALSO THAT GOD WAS HIS FATHER, MAKING HIMSELF EQUAL WITH GOD.

*Jesus begin to answer the Jewish rulers in John 5:19-23:

19.

Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.

20.

For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.

21.

For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.

22.

For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son,

23. that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father.

He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

*Jesus rightfully claimed to be God, because our crucified and risen Savior IS the eternal Son of God, the King of all Kings, and our only hope of salvation!

But instead of responding with humble faith and love, the Pharisees responded with arrogant self-righteousness and murderous hatred.

This is why the Lord began to speak to them in Kingdom parables they could not understand.

*Today's Scripture includes the last two parables in this chapter.

These were given to the Lords' disciples along with more vital information about the King of Kings.

Please listen to God's Word as we read Matthew 13:47-58.

MESSAGE:

*From a human point of view, about the closest I’ve ever gotten to royalty is Burger King.

But by God's grace, all Christians can say, "We really do know a king!

In fact, we know Jesus Christ, the King of all kings!

And today's Scripture shows us some of the Lord's greatest desires for our lives.

1. FIRST: JESUS WANTS US TO GET READY FOR GOD'S JUDGMENT.

*Judgment Day is surely coming for all people.

Jesus made this truth clear with the parable He told in vs. 47-50:

47. "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind,

48.

which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away.

49.

So it will be at the end of the age.

The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just,

50.

and cast them into the furnace of fire.

There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth."

*Everybody needs to get ready for the King's Judgment Day.

It will make an everlasting difference for the wicked and for the just.

But who are "the just?"

*Years ago, "U. S. News and World Report" polled a thousand people to ask this question: "Who do you think is ‘very likely' or ‘somewhat likely' to go to heaven?"

They asked them to rate 13 famous people, and of all of the celebrities, the biggest vote-getter was Mother Teresa at 79%.

*At the bottom of the barrel was O. J. Simpson who got only 19% of the vote.

But the highest vote-getters of all weren't any of the celebrities.

The most votes went to the people who got surveyed.

Over 87% of them believed they were most likely to go to heaven.

(2)

*Well, they may have thought they were ready.

But none of those people was truly ready unless they knew the King of Kings in a personal way.

The only way to get ready for the judgment is to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

*No matter how good we think we are, we are not good enough to deserve a place in Heaven.

Of course, some people are a whole lot better than others, and a lot of people think they are better than others.

But even if I was the best person in the whole world, that still wouldn't make me good enough to go to Heaven.

*That's because God's standard for getting into Heaven by good works is total perfection 24 hours a day for my whole life!

And nobody has ever lived up to that standard except Jesus Christ.

*For all the rest of us, Isaiah 64:6 says, "All our righteous deeds are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away."

Romans 3:10 tells us that "there is none righteous, no, not one."

And Romans 3:23 adds that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

*When we hear this verse, we usually focus on the fact that all of us have sinned, and we surely have.

But how far do we fall short?

We "fall short OF THE GLORY OF GOD."

How far is that?

-- Infinitely far! God's glory is so brilliant and pure that it would kill us to see it in our mortal bodies.

*In Exodus 33, Moses asked to see the glory of the Lord.

19.

Then (God) said, "I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you.

I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.''

20.

But He said, "You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.''

21.

And the LORD said, "Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock.

22.

So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by.

23.

Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.''

*If God didn't shield us from His glory, we would melt like snowflakes in the hot desert!

So, for us to measure up to the glory of God would be like a flea climbing Mt.

Everest, or a mosquito learning how to fly a jet plane, or a germ graduating from LSU with a 4.0.

*It's never going to happen.

It never could happen.

And without God's grace and mercy, we would all surely be condemned forever to hell.

*God's standard for going to Heaven is His perfect righteousness.

How are we going to get it?