Latest / Bible in a Year with Jack Graham / Stories of the Kingdom - The Gospels

Transcript

Stories of the Kingdom - The Gospels · Bible in a Year with Jack Graham

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Let us pray. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: unto treasure hidden in a field, the which when a
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: man hath found, he hideth, and for joy therefore goeth
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Matthew 13, 44 Dear God, help me to realize that
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: I have an enemy, Satan. Help me to realize and
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: recognize that when he is planting seeds of dissension, division,
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: and chaos in the fields of purpose in my life.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: As I acknowledge this truth, I confess that I need
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: your word to help illuminate and decipher the weeds that
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: Satan has planted and the seeds that you've called me
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: to deposit into the soil of my future. Like precious treasure,
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: your word will I keep hidden in my heart. because
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: it is through these truths that the key to eternal
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: life and abundant life here on earth is realized. I
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: am committed to protecting your kingdom, and nothing on this
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: earth will make me compromise my character to give up
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: the treasure I found in you, Jesus. In Jesus' name, amen.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: Thanks for making prayer a priority in your life. To
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: hear the Bible come to life, stay tuned for the
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: Bible in a Year. Brought to you by BibleInAYear.com.
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: Stories of the Kingdom In our last story, Jesus spoke
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: about the four soils. He spoke of what happens to
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: many different hearts when they come in contact with the
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: Word of God. Now we learn more from Jesus as
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: he proclaims truths about the greatness of God's kingdom, inspired
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: by the Gospels.
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: Hello, I'm Pastor Jack Graham with today's episode of the
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: Bible in a Year podcast. In our last episode, we
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: heard the parable of the sower, an illustration of how
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: different hearts receive and respond to the Word of God.
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: Jesus described four types of soil, from the hard, unreceptive
• 2:27
  Speaker 3: ground to the good, healthy soil that produces an abundant crop. Today,
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: we'll hear more about the kingdom of God as Jesus
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: continues to teach in parables to show His followers the
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: glories of His eternal kingdom. So, let's listen now to
• 2:43
  Speaker 3: God's Word.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: Jesus was walking along the shores of the sea with
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: His disciples. A large crowd trailed behind Him, waiting for
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: something miraculous to happen. Jesus and the twelve spoke of
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: the kingdom of heaven. Ever since the parable of the
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: four soils, the disciples were curious for more examples on
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: the will and desires of God. So Jesus told more
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: stories filled with deep meaning. Jesus walked and spoke to
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: the people. At the corner of his eye, he could
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: see the Pharisees trailing next to the crowd. They whispered
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: amongst themselves and to the people. Jesus looked back to
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: them and then turned to his disciples and spoke. I
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: have told you that the kingdom of heaven is like
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: a farmer sowing good seeds in his fields. Here is
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: another story of a farmer. A farmer goes into the
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: field with his men to sow seeds. They toil and
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: work all day, planting seeds in good, fertile soil. After
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: a good day's work, the farmer and his men return
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: home to their beds. However, when the men were sleeping,
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: a neighboring farmer snuck in through the cover of night.
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: Under the black cold evening, the competing farmer planted weeds
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: among the wheat seeds. Weeks later, the grain sprouted forth
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: tall and mighty, yet the weeds circled them. The farmer
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: and his men looked upon their field. It was filled
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: with beautiful grain and blighted weeds. Both existed with one another.
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: He clenched his teeth and said, This is the work
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: of my enemy. His workers turned to him and said, Master,
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: do you want us to uproot the weeds? No, the
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: farmer said. If you uproot the weeds, you risk uprooting
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: the wheat as well. Let both of them grow together. Then,
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: when we harvest, we can separate the weeds from the grain. Afterwards,
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: we can burn the weeds. What does the story mean?
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: the disciples asked Jesus. They were craving more wisdom. It
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: satisfied their souls. Jesus and his disciples kept walking, and
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: he explained to them its meaning, saying, The farmer is
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: the son of man. The field is the world he
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: loves and pours into. The good seed are the children
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: of God and the goodness of the kingdom. The one
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: who sowed the weeds is the devil, and his weeds
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: are those that would seek to choke out the goodness
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: of the kingdom of God. The disciples grew worried as
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: they heard Jesus speak. They had not considered that there
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: was an enemy seeking to choke out the good work
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: of God. Jesus sensed their worry and said, The weeds
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: and the grain were allowed to grow side by side.
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: This is the mercy of God. However, at the end
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: of the age, the weeds will be burned. The disciples
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: considered the cost of a cause that had an enemy.
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: It worried them. Was it worth the battle to follow Jesus,
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: they thought. Jesus nodded to himself. He wanted to remind
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: everyone to count the cost of following him. Most people
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: gathered by the water to follow Jesus. He stopped walking
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: with his disciples and climbed a small hill for the
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: crowd to hear him. The kingdom of heaven is like
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: buried treasure, hidden in a vast and open field, Jesus proclaimed.
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: A man found the treasure, then covered it up. He
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: sold all he had to buy the field so he
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: could have the treasure for himself. It was nothing for
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: him to give up his belongings. since what he gained
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: was far greater than what he lost. The crowd nodded
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: in understanding. Jesus continued, saying, The kingdom of heaven is
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: like a merchant who was searching for fine pearls. When
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: he finally found the perfect pearl, it was nothing for
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: him to sell all he had so he could have
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: the pearl of great price. Jesus looked upon the sea
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: of faces below and smiled. He raised his hand to
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: the boats on the shore and said, The kingdom of
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: heaven is like a net that was thrown into the
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: sea to gather fish. When it was full, men drew
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: it in and counted the fish. Some of the fish
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: were good and others were rotten. So the men preserved
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: the good fish and threw away the rotten ones. So
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: it will be at the end of the age. The
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: righteous will be preserved and the wicked will be thrown
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: away into the fiery furnace.
• 7:07
  Speaker 3: In today's passage... The disciples are listening intently as Jesus
• 7:12
  Speaker 3: continues to teach them the secrets of the kingdom of God.
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: The kingdom of God is the reign and rule of
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: Christ in us. So he speaks in parables so that
• 7:22
  Speaker 3: those who know him can receive this truth and have
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: real understanding. Jesus told stories that his audience could relate
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: to using terms and settings that were very familiar to them.
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: Though Jesus knows the most profound and complex mysteries of
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: the universe, Jesus met them as he meets us, right
• 7:41
  Speaker 3: where we are, speaking to us in words that we
• 7:45
  Speaker 3: can comprehend, often simple but very clear. The next parable
• 7:50
  Speaker 3: he told them was about a farmer who planted seed
• 7:52
  Speaker 3: in good soil. This is the soil that should produce
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: a good crop. But while he wasn't looking, another farmer
• 7:59
  Speaker 3: scattered weeds among the seed in the good soil. And
• 8:02
  Speaker 3: so when the wheat sprang up, it grew among the weeds.
• 8:06
  Speaker 3: The servants asked the farmer if they could pull up
• 8:08
  Speaker 3: the weeds, but the farmer told them to let the
• 8:10
  Speaker 3: good and the bad grow together. At harvest time, the
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: weeds would be gathered up first and burned. Then the
• 8:16
  Speaker 3: good crop, the wheat, would be gathered and brought into
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: the barn. Jesus was telling us that there would be
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: among us agents of the enemy, the devil, that weeds
• 8:26
  Speaker 3: would crop up and choke out the Word of God.
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: It was a warning to all disciples who need to
• 8:31
  Speaker 3: listen as we face opposition and and those who tried
• 8:35
  Speaker 3: to cancel out the message of the gospel. This is
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: all a vision of a future reality, when God's angels
• 8:43
  Speaker 3: would come to tear out the weeds destined for destruction.
• 8:47
  Speaker 3: This was judgment. But in the meantime, there would be
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: struggles for those who accepted the word and sought to
• 8:53
  Speaker 3: produce fruit. Jesus was reminding them that there would be
• 8:58
  Speaker 3: a cost to following him, and that they should count
• 9:01
  Speaker 3: the cost. But then, as if to demonstrate that a
• 9:05
  Speaker 3: proper accounting of the cost would always prove worth the
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: hardship for the sake of God's kingdom, Jesus told two
• 9:12
  Speaker 3: more parables. One about a treasure buried in a field.
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: The man who found the treasure would gladly sell everything
• 9:20
  Speaker 3: that he had to buy the field and claim the treasure.
• 9:23
  Speaker 3: In the same way, he compared the kingdom of God
• 9:26
  Speaker 3: to a pearl of great value. When a man found
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: the pearl, he also gave up everything to get this
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: precious pearl. the lesson was clear. No cost could ever
• 9:37
  Speaker 3: equal the greatness of God's kingdom. Any suffering or hardship
• 9:41
  Speaker 3: pales in comparison to the wonders and the glories of
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: the kingdom of God. Counting the cost isn't a matter
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: of deciding if it's worth it to follow Jesus. It's
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: about realizing that when we have even a basic understanding
• 9:54
  Speaker 3: of the riches of the gospel, we will willingly give
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: up anything and everything to follow Jesus. No reserve, no retreats,
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: no regrets. Finally, Jesus drove home his point by telling
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: a parable about fishermen who pulled in their nets full
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: of fish, some good and some rotten. The good fish
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: were kept while the rotten fish were tossed into a fire.
• 10:18
  Speaker 3: When we think about it and understand the meaning of
• 10:21
  Speaker 3: the words of Jesus, it's clear that the cost of
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: not following him is infinitely greater than any monetary cost
• 10:28
  Speaker 3: of following Jesus. Dear God, we thank you for today's
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: scripture and the stories that Jesus told in order that
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: we might understand who he is and why he came
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: and how we can know him. Thank you for calling
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: us into your kingdom. May you rule and reign in
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: our hearts. May we be willing to pay any price,
• 10:48
  Speaker 3: count every cost that we might follow you, because we
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: know it is worth it. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank
• 10:56
  Speaker 3: you for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast.
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: I'm Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas. You can download the
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: Pray.com app and make prayer a priority in your life,
• 11:06
  Speaker 3: just like over 20 million people have done to this date.
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: If you enjoyed this podcast, share it with someone you
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: know and love. Because by sharing this message of the
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: word of God, you can make an eternal difference in
• 11:20
  Speaker 3: someone's life. And I want to encourage you to go
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: to jackgram.org. That's me at jackgram.org. God bless you. And
• 11:30
  Speaker 3: we look forward to joining you again the next time.