Latest / Journey Elgin / Sunday Message May 31, 2026- What is the Kingdom of God? Part 2

Transcript

Sunday Message May 31, 2026- What is the Kingdom of God? Part 2 · Journey Elgin

• Phillip Thomas: All right, we are going to continue ⁓ looking in ⁓ Matthew 13. ⁓ didn't realize how long of a chapter Matthew 13 is. It's very long. we're we're going to to to go go through ⁓ quite ⁓ quite a bit of it and hit the rest of the parables. Last week ⁓ we talked about the parable of the sower. ⁓ it it's it's instrumental in in this passage. All the others flow from that. And so the parable of the sower is remember is kind of laying out this kingdom of God that we are that we are part of. It's a it's a it's not not fully here, ⁓ but but it has now started, right? Whenever ⁓ Jesus cu comes, he he he comes saying the kingdom of God is at hand or the kingdom of heaven is at hand. ⁓ that is that is connecting with the old testament the all of the the prophecies they were whenever they talked about the Son of Man ⁓ talked about the messiah that he would bring with him the kingdom of God. Right? That is why they it it didn't have to be this way, but humans are humans. And so the religious leaders of the day, that's why they thought that the kingdom of God was going to be this political kingdom. And so they were looking for a messiah, the Son of Man, who was going to bring in the political kingdom And ⁓ and that that essentially Israel would rule the world, right? From a political standpoint. ⁓ and and of course the religious leaders, they were like, We're in really good position for this, right? Because we're the important ones now, so we'll have a good spot ⁓ whenever we get to that place. Little did they know, God was working in a totally different way. So he took the lowest of the low, the the least equipped people, and ⁓ and he chose twelve of them. And he said, Y'all are going to be the ones that get this thing started. Right. And and so it was very hard for them to understand. They didn't understand this idea of the kingdom of God. ⁓ but Jesus is is teaching it. And then and it's important for us to understand as well. ⁓ because I think I think sometimes we we we don't we don't have a full understanding ⁓ of what the kingdom of God is, and because I think sometimes it's not taught well. Because frankly, a lot of times ⁓ we like to teach things that make us feel good, right? We like to teach things that ⁓ that you know, we try to boil it down, try to make things really simple to understand, right? You you need to be able to put it on a bumper sticker, ⁓ you know, all of those those types of things. Well, it's it's actually more complicated than that. ⁓ and and there's some uncomfortable thing truths about the kingdom of God. And Jesus is going to get into those here. Right. So he's he uses this example of the parable of the sower. ⁓ and and you you think of that, that the kingdom of God is now here. The message is being sown. The sow the seed is the message that is being now spread. in the parable of the sower, we are kind of like our hearts are kind of like the different paths, right? The the the rocky path. ⁓ the path that gets choked out with weeds or the good soil. So as we're now in this kingdom of God, the he has sowed the seeds and they're being sown. Right? And and our first responsibility is opening up our heart so that we make sure we we are good soil. We we want to open our heart to that seed so that those roots keep growing and so that we are ⁓ able to to do and and be the people that God is called us to be, right? And and everybody is part of this kingdom now, right? And they're all being peppered with seed. It's just a matter of where their heart is, right? And ⁓ and so the our first step is we think of the kingdom of God is that that Christ is the one who is ⁓ has started it through his death and resurrection. It is fully here, but it's not complete yet. And by not complete yet, well there's still weeds. There's still problems, right? Because there's still a lot of people whose hearts are like that hard pac path, or they're like the rocky soil, or the the soil that is filled with weeds, right? But this the seed is still being sown. So our first responsibility make sure we're the good soil. Then we actually kind of it's our job to keep sowing the seeds, right? And ⁓ and and then we need to understand fully. What the kingdom of God really looks like and is about. So Jesus goes on to quite a few other parables now to give an idea of what the kingdom of God is all about. So Matthew 13, starting in verse 24. He put another parable before them saying, The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, Master, did you not sow a seed in your fi good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds? He said to them, An enemy has done this. So the servant said to him, Then you do then do you want us to go and gather them? But he said, No, lest the gathering the weeds ⁓ and root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the harvest time I will tell the reapers, gather the weeds first, bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn. He put another parable before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it is grown, it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree. So that the birds of the air come and make nest in its branches. He told them another parable, the kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and and and hid in three measures of flour till it was all leaven. All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables. Indeed, he said he said nothing to them without a parable. This was to fill what was spoken by the prophets. I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world. Then he left the crowds, went to his house, and his disciples came to him, saying, Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field. He answered, The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of the kingdom all causes of sin and all lawbreakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. He who has ears let him hear. The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered and and covered up. Then in his joy he goes out he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who on finding one pearl of great value went and sold all he had and bought it. Again the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea, gathered fish of every kind. When it was full men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers, but threw away the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Have you understood all these things? They said to him, Yes, and he said to them, Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old. All right, that's a lot, right? But I don't think I think it's more beneficial to recognize these are all connected. They all go together. ⁓ you You can make some mistakes if you just take w each one individually and apply try to apply too much to it or make it say more than it actually is saying. Right? All of this is just talking about the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God. ⁓ and it's it's interesting because it starts off, right, in the he the the parable of the weeds. So you have a very simple example here. You know, you're throwing out the the wheat. And then someone comes in and adds the weed seeds, right? I've never had a problem having to add weed seeds to anything. They're just there, right? Like but but I I love this example because if you've ever you know, not that I've ever harvested wheat, especially by hand, but or in any way, shape, or form, I've never done that. But when wheat comes up, Right. It it kind of sticks together, right? It's it's you know, the the seeds are, you know, and and it it does clump and you pull all that stuff out. And you can see how trying to get the weeds out, you are going to pull up some good wheat. And so what does the master say? He says, Well, just let it grow up together. We'll deal with it at the end. Right? Okay, that's extremely important because most people, and especially then. When you hear the kingdom of God is at hand, you're like, great, it's everything's going to be good now. The master has come. And so now all the garbage that we have to deal with, he's taking it all out. He's getting rid of all of the injustice. He's, you know, all the things that we're ⁓ impacted by, the sinfulness, our own sinfulness, the sinfulness of others. All of that is being taken care of because the kingdom of God is here. Right? Now, is there truth of that? Yes. When the kingdom of God is fully fulfilled, right? It's here now, but it's not fully fulfilled yet. And too often when we we we look at, ⁓ the kingdom of God is here. Everything's going to be great. Isn't it interesting? The first, you know, so Jesus uses this. Big parable of the sower, the very next, ⁓ the first parable after that to really delve into understanding the kingdom of God is that, yeah, the weeds are among all of the good stuff. And you know what? You're not going to be able to remove them. No amount of glycophate, no amount of Roundup, which is glycipate, no amount of all of that stuff. I've I've I have no idea what glycophate is, but apparently it's been killing us for all time since we're gonna grow three eyes. Now depending on where the eye is, it could be beneficial, right? Like if it grows kind of farther over here, you know, but they I'd have to stop wearing hats. All right. So you move moving moving on, right? No amount of that is gonna be able to get rid of the weeds. The weeds are part of the kingdom of God. It's like Wait, in our minds, and especially in their minds, that wouldn't have made sense. Wait, why just get rid of the weeds? Well, you know what? God is God and we are not. And so he's going to get rid of the weeds. He makes that very clear. Right? But it is in his timing. It's at the completion of his kingdom, not at the beginning. That's very important for us to understand. That whenever you enter into a relationship and you allow the soil of your heart to be receptive to the seeds, guess what? Your life isn't magically going to get better. There's still going to be the weeds all around you. Some of them are weeds that you've planted and you still have to deal with. Some of them are just that's life. Life is not fair. Life is full of injustice, right? There's sinfulness all around and it impacts us. It doesn't mean the kingdom of God is not real, is not powerful, and is that God is not moving. It's very important for us to understand that. And I I do think this has been a mistake that the church in general has made in kind of the attractional model. Hey, we want people to know that God loves them, you know, and all of that. Very important. God does love you. But God's not going to guarantee that you're going to have a weed free life. In fact, He tells you that you're not. And I I love how, you know, people that are skeptical and atheist and things like that, they'll throw out things like, Well, how could a good God, if you say that there's a God that is good and that loves you, how could he allow bad things to happen? You know, and I've had people ask that question or, you know, watched ⁓ you know, people ⁓ do that online, and it's like Do you not think that at some point over the last 2,000 years, Christians who believe in God have not wrestled with that question? Of course we thought about that question, right? And here's the deal you may not like the answer, but the reality is God tells us that, yeah, there's still going to be evil in the world. There's still going to be bad in the world. And that's the way it is. And you may not like it, but you're not God. And here's how you fix that problem, right? Because you know, atheists in their smug ways will say, you know, we could figure out how to fix it, right? And sometimes they try and millions of people die. But but the the reality is that God is being gracious by not getting rid of all the weeds right now. He is giving time for people to come to know him. So he's actually being gracious in delaying. Right. And and it's important for us to understand that, man, there's lots of weeds in the kingdom of God. But he is going to take care of that. Right. Then he continues on. And ⁓ you know, he explains the the parable of the weeds. ⁓ then he ⁓ talks about the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. ⁓ and ⁓ so someone goes and sells all that they have. ⁓ you know, because they know that that treasure's there. So because so they know that the it's gonna be a good investment. Even if I have to sell everything, what I will receive is better. I I I think, and then the the same thing with a with a gr a s a wonderful pearl, that it's worth the cost. ⁓ So Jesus has just said the kingdom is here, but it's going to be very difficult. There's going to be lots of weeds that you still have to deal with. And so if if you're the disciples, you're like, ⁓ man, I thought everything was going to get better. But then Jesus, the next thing he says about the kingdom, but it is worth it. It is worth it to s sell everything, right? And is he saying this literally? No. You don't have to sell everything in order to inherit the kingdom of God, right? Because that would be buying your way in. You can't buy your way into the kingdom. Right? It's only through faith in Jesus Christ. But what he's the the example that he's giving is it's this being part of this kingdom, allowing yourself to be that good soil is worth everything. It's greater than all that you have. And guess what? It's gonna look kind of crazy to people. When you're when you're all in and living in the kingdom of God, people are kinda kinda look at you little kooky. Just like if you told your your your friend, hey, I'm selling everything I have. And the friend would say, Well, why are you doing that? Because what I'm going to get in return is what is way worth it. Well, what are you going to get in return? Well, you can't really see it, right? But it's there. People are going to say, you're crazy. But the kingdom of God is worth it. It is, it is worth more than any earthly treasure. So even though it's going to be hard, it's worth it. So then he goes on and he ⁓ continues. ⁓ he talks about I think I skipped one. ⁓ the mustard seed. I skipped the mustard seed. Man, I can't. I know. How did how did I miss the mustard seed? The mustard seed and lemon. So yes, so the weeds, and then he talks about even though there are going to be these weeds, it doesn't take too many good seeds to actually make a difference. Right? And so he uses the parable of the mustard seed and the parable of the leaven. So I found a quick picture of a mustard seed ⁓ and a ⁓ mustard tree. So this is a mustard seed. If you've ever seen a mustard seed, they are they are tiny. That is a fully mature mustard tree. Right? And ⁓ and those others are are actually mustard trees as well. And so Jesus is using this example and he actually says where the birds can nest in them. They're huge. Right? I have no idea if actual mustard comes from these things. I don't I didn't do any of that research. I I'm sure it does, right? Somehow. But ⁓ but isn't that fascinating? And that's an amazing picture. And so what is Jesus saying? Even though sometimes it's going to seem like there's all these weeds and most of the the ⁓ seeds that are being sown are falling on other ground, right? It doesn't take much, just one seed will yield amazing results. That the kingdom is going to have an amazing impact, even when it doesn't look like it. And that is exactly what happened, right? So you have the disciples and they start this process. And at the beginning, it's very difficult and they're persecuted and it's a big challenge for them. Right? And most of them would have died not really fully seeing what the impact of that resurrection was going to bring. And but within two hundred and fifty years, which is not a long time, right? We're celebrating two hundred and fifty years as a country. Historically, that's just a little blip, right? But within two hundred and fifty years, the most powerful empire in the world, the Roman Empire, would become and would become Christian. In fact, it would be mandated that you needed to be Christian. Not necessarily a good thing, but that's a different story. Right? But it completely changed the world. That mustard seed is the reason that we're celebrating 250 years in our country. Our country would not exist the way that it is without the seed of the gospel message. It just wouldn't. So he's talking about the the kingdom that's full of weeds, ⁓ but yet you know what? Don't Don't focus on the weeds because one single seed can change everything. Then he explains the the parable of the weeds. Then he goes into to how important ⁓ the and how valuable the kingdom of h of God is. ⁓ then he he goes back ⁓ to the the catching of the of the fish, right? And again, it's kind of reiterating, right? The kingdom of God. There's both those who who listen and those who don't. And at the end there's going to be consequences. Right. And I I do want to to emphasize There does you can kind of go down some rabbit holes. There's a lot of people ⁓ within Christian circles who have moved away from the concept of an eternal punishment, of an eternal separation. In fact, you d don't even want to really talk about the idea of hell. Right? ⁓ there are many denominations, many thinkers now. That have moved away from that. That's because the enemy is sowing weeds amidst the truth. Now that's a that's not a pleasant truth. But it it is. And you know, we'll find out one day, but anyone that tries to tell you that scripture, that Jesus doesn't talk about hell, or that Jesus just loves everyone, th they're not reading the same Bible or they are doing talk about mental gymnastics to try to to make this seem like there's not any eternal separation. Right? It it's very difficult. Right. And people try to do it and they can they can sound really flowery, right? Flowery words. And I I think there's actually a scripture about th those who will use flowery words to deceive. Well, they they will do will try to do that. Right here in this main teaching of the kingdom of God, on one, two, I think three separate occasions, Jesus talks about there will be this separation, that it will happen. Right? And don't be ashamed to believe that. Now share it in loving ways, right? But but don't allow our culture that doesn't want to hear those hard truths keep you from from believing what is true. And and Jesus goes into and closes kind of with another parable. ⁓ he's talking to the disciples. He says, Have you understood this? And they say, Yes. And ⁓ he says, Well therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven, so that in that day and age you could be trained to be a scribe or a rabbi, right? I mean, y they would memorize the the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament that we call the Old Testament. I mean, and then they were the ones who were now teaching, right? They they were the the rabbis, they were the people in the position of authority. Jesus is now basically telling the disciples, that's y'all now. Y Y'all have that responsibility. And it it's interesting what he says here. Says, therefore, every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house. Now, just there, what there there have been characters in a lot of G Jesus' parables about the master of the house, right? Now, those are always referring to God or to to Christ Himself. But now we are to take those types of roles, like we are to be the sower now, right? Doesn't mean we're God. But now we have a responsibility to play. We need to be active in the kingdom of God. So he's telling them that's yaw now. And ⁓ and then he says, master of the house who brings out ⁓ of his treasure what is new and what is old. All right. So what is he saying here? Well, if you were to to go on a tour of someone's house, right, and they were they were wealthy, right, and you would go in that the the master of the house, he's going to show you everything. He's going to show you heirlooms. Says d this is this was from my granddad's granddad, right? ⁓ so there's heirlooms. There's pictures of things in the past. There's pictures of things that have happened before you were even born, but they're part of your house. And you bring that out. But then you also bring out the new things, the things that you have done. So you're like, here's the things that my grandparents did. Here's the things my parents did. Now here's the things that I've done. I added on this room. I did this, right? So you're you're showing this full picture of bringing the old in with the new. So what is Jesus saying? He's saying, everything that you've been taught, you're bringing that. You're bringing all of that teaching. You're bringing that with you because that's the foundation of our faith. He is not replacing the Ten Commandments. He's not replacing the law. He's fulfilling the law. He says, so you're bringing that. And you're bringing this new understanding that I am teaching you now that I am the fulfillment of all of this. And so you're to to spread both of those things, both the old and the new. And and that that's an important thing. One thing we're seeing in our our culture today is there are many who are moving away from the old testament that are trying, you know, and this has been going on for a while, but it's it's it's getting very interesting. There's lots of influencers out there, like within the cultural world, that it for whatever reason are, you know, blame a certain ethnicity ⁓ of Jews for for everything. And so it's it's leading to even when they talk about faith, it's like, no, we don't want to listen to what the old testament had to say, right? Because now we're in a new era. Well, that is true. There is new, but that doesn't mean you throw away the old, right? And Jesus is saying that. He's saying it all works together. And and be be careful. There have been heresies. And I'm gonna preach on this one of these days, but there have been heresies called Marcion was one of them. He wanted to this was w way back in four hundreds, five hundreds, some I can't remember exactly when, but he wanted to do away with the old testament. He was like, none of that matters anymore. It's only about Jesus and the the New Testament, right? Well, he was a heretic, right? He may have been burned at the stake. Probably not the best way to handle heretics, but it's effective. and and you but but but the the issues that we're having now when people act like they've come up with a with a a new revelation, right? ⁓ whoa. No, that that's been around for a long time. It was a heresy back then, it's a heresy now. ⁓ Right. And and but but we now have the responsibility of bringing both the old and the new message as we sow the seeds in the kingdom of God. All right. So I encourage you, maybe read through chapter thirteen ⁓ a few times. It gives you a full picture of the kingdom of God. That the kingdom of God is here, but it's not complete. The kingdom of God, there's still a lot of weeds, there's still a lot of difficulty. There's still going to be a lot of hurt in the kingdom of God, but yet it is worth it. It's worth everything you have to invest your life into the kingdom of God. Because at the end there will be a separation and there will be those who be are able to go and experience the fullness of the kingdom, or those who will be left out. And you don't want to be left out. This is a powerful message. Because God is honest with us, He tells us the difficult things so that we can be a message of hope in a difficult world. That is part of the seeds that we sow. Make sure that you're taking care of the soil of your heart so that your roots keep growing, so that you can make a difference in the kingdom of God. Let's go to him in prayer. Yeah.