Kingdom of God as eternal investment and call to repentance and faith - Ricky

Intro

We are going to start a series on the Gospel of Matthew. A while back Kingsley threw out this idea, and I started skimming through the book. Unfortunately this passage in the middle of the book really convicted me regarding how to live in a manner that is glorifying to God in every aspect of life. So I apologize that we are starting off in the middle of nowhere. But here’s the context of what’s happening so far: Jesus have started his ministry of healing and preaching God’s word, and after causing much controversy regarding healing on the Sabbath in a synagog, Jesus retreated with a great multitude(a HUGE mob of people) following him. He starts teaching them the things of the Kingdom of God(heaven in the book of matthew) using parables. Here he explains the parable of the wheat and tare and uses several other parables to describe the Kingdom of God. Here’s what the scripture says:

³⁶ Then He left the crowds and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” ³⁷ And He said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, ³⁸ and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; ³⁹ and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels. ⁴⁰ So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. ⁴¹ The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, ⁴² and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³ Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

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.

⁴⁵ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, ⁴⁶ and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

⁴⁷ “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 furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

⁵¹ “Have you understood all these things?” They said to Him, “Yes.” ⁵² And Jesus said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”

Points

Here are the main points I would like us to look at from this passage.

· What is the gospel about? How does the Kingdom of God fit in with the cross?

· Who shall inherit the Kingdom?

· Kingdom of God as an eternal investment

· Coming of the Kingdom of God as a wake up call to repentance and faith unto Christ

· Applications

The Gospel

First off, it is of the utmost importance for Christians to understand and know what the gospel is. Paul writes it is the power of God unto salvation for those who believe. We do not just come to God through the Gospel, but we live life and are transformed by the Gospel.

There are currently many different teachings regarding what the gospel actually is. Some say it is something that brings you prosperity and makes you rich, some say it is something that will heal your illness, some say it is Christ crucified. But what does the Bible as the ultimate authority of Gods word say?

According to scripture, there are 2 main components to the gospel. One is explicitly stated in Matthew 4:23 saying Jesus preached the Gospel of the kingdom. The other is stated by Paul in 1 corinthians 15:1-5 as being of first importance, which is the message of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. These are not two different messages, but comes together to show the world the beautiful picture of God’s salvation and the hope that is to come. Indeed even Paul himself taught both as seen in acts 28:30-31. Now let’s take a look at what is the gospel of the kingdom.

Who shall inherit the Kingdom?

In verses 36 to 43 Jesus explains the parable he used to describe how God brings about his kingdom on earth. There are three main points in the parable.

· There are people in this lifetime who receive the gospel

· There are people who receive instead the teachings of the devil

· There will be final judgement separating these two types of people. One into damnation, the other into everlasting glory to inherit God’s kingdom.

Jesus makes a contrast in verse 42 and 43 between the two types of people. Those who are like the tares to be burned are practicing lawlessness in this lifetime, those who will inherit the kingdom are righteous in this lifetime.

Now this is huge for us. I don’t want Christians to think that this life doesn’t matter. Don’t fall into the trap of using God’s grace as a means to do whatever you want! If you continue to live in sin and disobedience in this life you will not make it in the end!

As Paul puts it in Romans 3 this righteousness is one that is apart from the law given to us through faith in Christ! Now how does this faith make us righteous? Faith is our substance of things hoped for and the evidence for things unseen. Before when we doubted Christ’s death and resurrection and God’s word, always demanding evidence for everything, even using God’s word as a means to satisfy our ego and craving for knowledge. In this manner we regarded Christ according to the flesh. But now no more! Now we should read the bible, even the law and the prophets as the word of God which guides us to a life of holiness and righteousness pleasing to God! As a preacher once said, the word of God is the chariot on which the Holy Spirit rides into our heart. We must love and read God’s word to allow God to change our minds and hearts, so we don’t go into the world being tossed about by all kinds of different opinions and teachings.

Kingdom of God as eternal investment

Jesus continues in verses 44 and 45, comparing the kingdom to treasures that people are willing to sell everything for. Notice how the man and the merchant did not give up all they had for nothing? But they gain treasures that are worth more than everything they had. Their motivation for giving up something was so they can gain something more precious. The same thing applies to us. The gospel demands that we give up everything to follow Christ, this is not just our money we tithe on Sundays, or the time we spend serving on a worship team, but every aspect of our lives from having fun with friends to doing homework. Nothing is done for the sake of doing it, but everything becomes spiritual, and our mentality should be changed from hording and getting more and more stuff for our selves from thinking of giving away, being a blessing to the people and community around us. Not that we are such good people that we can give away everything, but because of the belief in a perfect world that is to come, and eternal treasures that will be given to us which do not fade away.

Repent and believe

Jesus ends things off with a fishing parable and a commandment. Verses 47-50 really packs a punch. The Kingdom is compared to a fishing net. All kinds of fish are caught up in the net. Just like all kinds of people are part of a church community. But in the end when the judgment comes, the wicked will be separated from the righteous. This is a very sobering fact! And is an implicit call to self examination, repentance and believe towards Christ. Those of us who call ourselves Christians, do we have the desire to live more and more righteously before God? Or do we not care? Don’t be deceived. As st Augustine puts it: the righteous uses the world that they may enjoy God, the wicked uses God so they may enjoy the world. Brothers and sisters, examine yourselves, where is your heart? Can you truly say that God would be pleased with the way you are living? If not, please don’t harden your hearts! Repent and believe so that you can be with God in eternal bliss.

Great commission

Jesus ends things off with in a weird way. It seemed out of place to me at first. So I read some commentaries and the explanation of the parable is that we are to use our knowledge of the kingdom of God, which is compared to the treasure, for the sake of telling others about this good news, so they may also be invited into this kingdom. Now next week we will be doing some evangelism. It is not a time to feed one’s ego and for arguments, but let’s spread the truth of a king who came save us and told the world about His kingdom, was rejected and hated, betrayed by those who he came to save, and died for our sake, so we can become righteous heirs of his kingdom.