Kingdom Parables About Believers
This is a continuation of a series on the Kingdom Parables. They concern the "mystery" of the Church and the Tribulation Saints (both Gentile and Jewish), beginning with the preaching of John the Baptist, and coming to fruition with Jesus' completed work of redemption on the cross. The Kingdom of Heaven will never end, but currently is here in the form of the invisible church and is replacing the kingdom of the world with the spread of the gospel.
The Kingdom of Heaven will become fully visible in the future -- eventually dominating the kingdom of the world -- casting out of Satan with the "shaking of the celestial powers" (Matthew 24:29) preceding the second coming of Jesus Christ.
This parable describes the present condition of the world and the church.
Matthew 13:24-30 He presented another parable to them: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while people were sleeping, his enemy came, sowed weeds among the wheat, and left. When the plants sprouted and produced grain, then the weeds also appeared. The landowner’s slaves came to him and said, ‘Master, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Then where did the weeds come from?’
“‘An enemy did this!’ he told them.
“‘So, do you want us to go and gather them up?’ the slaves asked him.
“‘No,’ he said. ‘When you gather up the weeds, you might also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At harvest time I’ll tell the reapers: Gather the weeds first and tie them in bundles to burn them but store the wheat in my barn.’” HCSBThere are both true believers and counterfeits in the church or who claim to be believers. Counterfeit believers include those trapped in cults or in denominations that do not adhere to sound doctrine. Sadly, there are also counterfeit believers working within sound churches to undermine the work and tarnish the reputations of the leadership of those congregations to stir up dissension and division.
These counterfeit believers and their false doctrines are symbolized by tares. Tares are a plant called “Zizania”, that looks like wheat while it is green, then turns black when it is mature (showing its “true” colors). If Zizania is mixed in with good flour it can be poisonous! This shows that the world is the field, and that while "men slept", meaning the leadership of the church, evil came in and mixed with the church.
Counterfeit Christians are difficult to spot and won't revealed until the time of harvest. Paul warned the Ephesians this would happen.
Acts 20:28-30 Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. NKJVWhy would it displace believers to have false believers removed from the church? There are several possible reasons. Those who are falsely converted now may yet repent and be saved before the end of their lives. And if God judged those false believers a thousand years ago and closed the Church Age, none of us alive today would have been saved. It is also likely God allows the counterfeit truth to grow in our midst to separate true believers from false believers by having a real test of doctrine. The testimony of the truth opposed by false doctrine, persecution, and trials yields mature believers tested in their faith.
The insight is that we as members of the church cannot identify who are believers and who are not; and we have not been assigned to judge who is saved or lost, only to judge the fruit that is produced. We are not to pull up the tares, that is the sovereign role of God to righteously judge -- and those who have attempted to undermine the Church and slander His bride will be dealt with at the end of the age:
Matthew 25:31-34, 41 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world...Then He will also say to those on the left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels! HCSB
TL;DR - Don't be a goat...
Parable of the Hidden Treasure
Matthew 13:44 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” HCSB
There are several interpretations of this parable similar to this one:
In a peasant community the best safe was often the earth. The man in the parable "went in his joy" to sell everything. Why? Because he found a treasure worth possessing above all else he had. He did not, however, have enough to buy the treasure. Fortunately, he only needed enough to buy the field. In a similar fashion, God offers his kingdom as incomparable treasure at a price we can afford! We can't pay the full price for the life which God gives us; but when we exchange our life for the life which God offers, we receive a treasure beyond compare. www.dailyscripture.net Copyright © 2014 Don Schwager
In this interpretation, the man is the believer, and the treasure worth everything is the salvation offered by God, which we exchange for all our possessions. Thus, salvation is equated with the treasure that was hid in the world and found by the man and purchased with the field.
But if the meanings of the symbols are applied from previous parables, (and we apply the concept of "expositional constancy") a different lesson emerges. Recall the field is the world; it receives the seed from the Sower. What would be in the world that is a Treasure worth everything that man owns? We know from Old Testament texts that Israel is viewed by God as a special treasure:
Exodus 19:5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. NKJV
Deuteronomy 14:2 For you are a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth NKJV
Psalm 135:4 For the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself, Israel for His special treasure NKJV
Treasure is consistently a symbol for Israel, especially in the context of the field, which is representative of the world. So, Israel is God's treasure that is "hidden" in the world during the church age. While most of Israel will reject the Messiah, God will rescue a remnant for Himself.
Romans 9:27 Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, the remnant will be saved." NKJV
Romans 11:1, 5 I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew…Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. NKJV
Then we come to the puzzling actions of the man, who, upon finding the treasure, hides it in the field, and then sells all he has to buy the field. If this man represents believers, what is it that he could sell to obtain this treasure interpreted as salvation? As believers, we have nothing of value to sell! Everything has been given to us as a gift of grace.
Ephesians 2:4-6 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us, made us alive with the Messiah even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! Together with Christ Jesus He also raised us up and seated us in the heavens, so that in the coming ages He might display the immeasurable riches of His grace through His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it [salvation] is God’s gift—not from works, so that no one can boast. NKJV
Also note that the man who sells all he possesses then buys the field, not the treasure. It makes more sense to interpret the man who buys the field to be Jesus, the "Son of man" who sold all He had to save the world.
Ephesians 1:7-8 We have redemption in Him through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.... NKJV
Parable of the Pearl of Great Price
A "corollary" parable to the Parable of the Hidden Treasure:
Matthew 13:45-46 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking
beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and
sold all that he had and bought it.” NKJV
This
is a fairly traditional interpretation of the Parable of the Pearl of Great Price:
Why would a merchant sell everything for a peerless pearl? No doubt because he was attracted to what he thought was the greatest treasure he could possess. Discovering God's kingdom is like stumbling across hidden treasure or finding the one pearl of great price. When we discover the kingdom of God we receive the greatest possible treasure -- the Lord himself. Selling all that we have to obtain this incomparable treasure could mean many things -- our friends, job, our "style of life", what we do with our free time... The thing we most set our heart on is our highest treasure. It certainly refers to the kingdom of God in all its aspects. But in a special way, the Lord himself is the treasure we seek for. www.dailyscripture.net Copyright © 2014 Don Schwager
While
this is a beautiful interpretation of the parable, the balance of all scripture
teaches that a believer has nothing to give for their salvation -- we who
are saved do not "buy" salvation, but rather, we are
"bought".
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Don’t you know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body. HCSB
1 Peter 1:18-19 For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from the fathers, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. HCSB
If we
interpret the Pearl as the bride of Christ, then the merchant logically is the
Messiah. From Chuck Missler's book "Learn
the Bible in 24 Hours", he states on page 176:
"Pearl is not kosher because oysters are not kosher. A pearl is the only jewel that is a response to an irritation, grows by accretion, and is removed to become an item of adornment. That is a perfect idiom for the church."
This fits well with the Hidden Treasure parable that represents the remnant of
Israel, along with the pearl, representing the gentile church, together
redeemed out of the world by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The Parable of the Dragnet
Matthew 13:47-50 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a large net thrown into the sea. It collected every kind of fish, 48 and when it was full, they dragged it ashore, sat down, and gathered the good fish into containers, but threw out the worthless ones. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out, separate the evil people from the righteous, 50 and throw them into the blazing furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." HCSB
Here is the traditional interpretation of this parable
Just as a drag-net catches every kind of fish in the sea, so the church acts as God's instrument for gathering in all who will come. Just as the dragnet does not or cannot discriminate, so the church does not discriminate between the good and the bad, the useless and the useful. God's kingdom is open to all who will accept and believe. But there will come a time of separation, at the close of the age, when the angels will send the good and the bad to their respective destinations. www.dailyscripture.net Copyright © 2014 Don Schwager
Knowing
that the true Bride of Christ consists only of the redeemed, it seems that the
"good fish" will swim with the "bad fish" until the end of
the age. This corresponds to the parable
of the Wheat and the Weeds that informs us that the church will not reform the
world, but rather, right up to the end of the age, both saved and unsaved will
swim in the sea together.
We will be tried and tested as we live among the "tares" and contend with the "birds of the air" and swim with the "bad fish" who attempt to corrupt and distort the Word of God. Many believers will fall prey to false doctrines and the distractions and temptations -- snares of the kingdom of the world. But we know we are a treasure in the heart of the Lord; of incomparable value and bought at the expense of the very life of Jesus Christ. Believers will be tested in their faith to be shown that it is real, and as a result, will produce spiritual fruit.
James 1:2-4 Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing. HCSB
But at the end of the age; if we have resisted the urge to conform to this age, we will be separated from the unbelievers and live with the Lord forever without fears or cares of this present age.
Further reading on this subject:
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Scripture citations are from: Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) © 2009 Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville TN or New King James Version®. (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson
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