Okay, the title of the lesson
this morning is Why Christ Spoke in Parables. And it begins, let's
read the first three verses of Matthew 13. It says, the same
day when Jesus out of the house, remember he was in a house preaching,
and there were people all in the house and outside the house,
and that's when his mother, Mary, and his half-brothers or step-brothers,
somebody corrected me on that, Robert corrected me on that.
What is it, step-brothers or half-brothers, Robert? Which
one is it? Step-brothers, all right. They were half-brothers. Well,
now you get it right if I'm gonna get it right. I understand. Okay, so they were
his half-brothers because as we said last week, Mary had other
children with Joseph. But now Joseph was not Christ's
actual father. He was his stepfather. He was
born of a miracle. born of the Holy Spirit without
the aid of man. That's why the very first prophecy
of Christ in his person was in Genesis 3.15 as the seed of woman. So he is God-man. Anyway, she
and his step-brothers came and wanted to talk to him, and then
he used that opportunity to make a really valid, important point. And that is that our spiritual
family supersedes and out is much more important than anything
that we can have here on earth. And it's not that our physical
families aren't important, they are important. And you know,
you can go through the scriptures, you know, talking about how the
Lord tells us to honor our mother and our father. Tells us to care
for, husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church. And
wives submit to your husband as unto the Lord. That relationship
that reflects Christ and his church. And then how it tells
us to care for our children and bring them up in the admonition
of the Lord. All of this. how it tells us to take care
of our jobs and things like that, respect our bosses and treat
people right. So those things are important.
They're not unimportant. Anybody who claims to be a believer
and neglects any of those things is living an inconsistent life.
So understand that. But when it comes to eternity,
when it comes to spirituality, our spiritual family is much
more important. because it's gonna last forever.
The things of this earth are gonna fade away, but our relationship
with each other in Christ will last forever, and we need to
realize that. So here he is in this house preaching.
And it says in verse one of chapter 13, the same day went Jesus out
of that house and sat by the seaside on the shore, and great
multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into
a ship and sat, and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
So you can picture this. A great multitude of people on
the seashore, and he had to go into a ship that was moored right
off the shore and preach from there. And it says in verse three,
and he spake many things unto them in parables. This is the
first time that he began to speak in parables. And then he says,
same behold a sower went forth to sow. Now, here in Matthew
13, he's going to begin with what we call the kingdom parables.
And those are parables that are to illustrate and define the
nature of the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, salvation,
and all that it entails. And there's several parables
that are listed here in Matthew 13, but they go on. And he spoke
a lot of parables. There have been books written
about the parables of Jesus. And he spoke them. Up to this
point, he'd spoken plainly and clearly the doctrines of the
gospel, the doctrines of the kingdom of God, simply teaching. You remember, even in the Sermon
on the Mount, it says that people were astonished at his doctrine.
And he'd spoken very plainly in clear doctrinal terms. Truth,
the gospel of God's grace, salvation by God's grace. And now he changes
his method of teaching to the multitudes, and he teaches in
parables. Now, I've got in your lesson
here, parable, the word parable is made up of two Greek words,
and it literally means to place alongside of. So it's a comparative. And what it is, it's a story
using earthly things, earthly elements, to teach spiritual
truths. So it's kind of like laying earthly
things alongside a spiritual truth. And that's why it's called
a parable. So it's a story that teaches
that way, spiritual truth. And when we're looking at parables,
it's very important that we understand some things before we get into
them. And I've got three things listed here in your lesson. Number
one, parables only illustrate doctrine. You do not go to parables
to get your doctrine. The doctrine's already been stated.
The gospel's clear, the gospel's simple. The gospel's plain in
doctrinal terms, truth. But a parable only illustrates
it. So don't go to the parable. Like for example, there's a story
in the book of Luke of a rich man and a man named Lazarus,
the rich man and Lazarus. And some people say, well, that's
a parable. Some people say, well, no, it's
just a historical situation that Christ used to make a point. But whether you call it a parable
or not, for example, don't go to the story of the rich man
and Lazarus to establish the doctrine of hell, okay? That's not what it's for. In
fact, Christ told them the main point of the parable was to show
them that the way of salvation is not, the way of salvation
in the revelation of the truth is not by seeing miracles, even
one raised from the dead, but by reading and studying and hearing
the revealed word of God. And you remember he told them,
he said, though one be raised from the dead, they will not
believe. They have Moses and the prophets. They've got the
word. Nothing greater than this word. Faith comes by hearing
and hearing by the word. So we don't derive our doctrine
from parables. We get our doctrine from the
plain, clear statements of scripture. And it's compared with the rest
of scripture. Secondly, Parables must never
be overly analyzed as if every element in a parable has some
specific spiritual meaning. And the thing about it is, excuse
me. I think it's hot in here. But the thing about it is, whenever
Christ spoke a parable, he gave the meaning of the parable. He
didn't leave it to us. In other words, you don't read
a parable and you say, well, you know, I look at that and
I say, I see what that means to me, this. That's not what
parables do. And you're going wrong when you
do that. Like, for example, the first parable we're gonna talk
about, we're not gonna talk about until next week, is the parable
of the sower and the soils, or the sower and the seed. And Christ
will tell him, he'll explain the meaning of it. The seed is
the word of God. That's what he's talking about. Sowing the seed, preaching the
word. And the soils, that's the hearts of those who hear it. And there's four kinds of soils
that he gives there. He always gave the meaning. He
explained the meaning of the parable. Some of these kingdom
parables, you say, well, he didn't stop and explain the meaning
of that. He did too, and I'll show you
that when we go through them. Now, he may have spoken maybe
one or two parables together, but he gave the meaning of them,
all right? So understand that, he gives
the meaning. And then number three, parables don't have to
be actual historical events. Again, they teach spiritual truth. So that's one thing you need
to understand. So here we have the kingdom parables,
which the Lord used to define and describe the kingdom of God
and salvation. And the first one of these, as
I said, is the seed and the soils. And he spoke these parables,
he gave their meaning, but as he spoke this, Look at Matthew
13, it says in verse three, behold, a sower went forth to sow, and
when he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, the fowls came
and devoured them up, some fell on stony places where they had
not much earth, and forthwith they sprung up because they had
no deepness or depth of earth, and when the sun was up, they
were scorched, and because they had no root, they withered away,
and some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprung up and choked
them, But others fell into good ground and brought forth fruit,
some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. And then he
spoke the words that he always spoke when he dealt with this. Who hath ears to hear, let him
hear. Do I have ears to hear this?
Well, do I hear it? And we'll talk about that. Now,
before he gave the meaning of this parable to the disciples,
they ask a question, and that's what I wanna deal with today,
all right? Beginning in verse 10. It says
in verse 10, and the disciples came and said unto him, why speakest
thou unto them in parables? Now, it's interesting that they
said, why do you speak to them in parables? Is he not speaking
to the disciples also? Well, he is, but there's a specific
issue here that he gives when he answers that, and look at
verse 11. It says, he answered and said
unto them, because it is given unto you to know the mysteries
of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. Now,
the first thing you wanna notice is this, who's doing this giving?
And who's not giving? Who is this? What's God? Well,
what's he talking about? Well, he's talking about the
sovereignty of God. God's sovereign right to give
or to withhold. Now, that's an unpopular doctrine
today. Look, you remember what he said
back in Matthew 11? At the end of that in verse 27? He says in Matthew 11, 27, all
things are delivered unto me of my father, and no man knoweth
the son but the father, and neither knoweth any man the father save
the son, and he to whomsoever the son will reveal him. Over in Romans chapter nine,
he says it very plainly, very succinctly, you don't have to
wonder about what it means, But you remember what he says
here in Romans 9? It says in verse 15, and when he's establishing
God's sovereignty here, he anticipates the objections that people would
have. Well, that's not fair, you know. God's being unjust. And he says in verse 14, what
shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness or unjustness
with God? God forbid, for he saith to Moses,
This is not a new truth. This was established way back
in Moses' days. Established before then, actually,
because Joseph talked about it, about God's sovereign right.
And he says, for he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom
I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will
have compassion. So then it's, and why is this
so important? What does this establish? It
establishes that it's not of him that willeth, nor of him
that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Salvation's by
the sovereign mercy of God. It's not based upon our wills.
It's not based upon our works. It's based upon the blood and
the righteousness of Christ. And here's the way we ought to
think about that and say, well, you know, somebody says, well,
then it doesn't matter what I do. If I'm not one of his elect,
you know, you heard that stuff. No, God has mercy on somebody. Doesn't he? And it says he delights
to show that mercy. How many times you see that in
Psalms? God delights to show mercy. And here's how we ought
to think. I'm a sinner. I need mercy and
I want mercy. Where is that mercy? Well, it's
in the mercy seat. It's in Christ. Seek ye the Lord. I tell people all the time, you
know, when they object to these things, I say, well, let me ask
you a question. Are you interested at all in finding out the truth? Or are you just gonna just dismiss it out of hand because
it just doesn't seem fair to you? Because God's not coming
down on your level and debating with you. Who are you to debate
with God? That's what Paul says later on in Romans 9. But here's what the scripture
says that, for by grace are you saved through faith, that's not
of yourselves, it's the gift of God. So look back at that
in verse 11, because it is given unto you. Is it given to me? Is it given to you? To do what? To know the mysteries of the
kingdom of heaven. What is that? That's how God
saves sinners. By His grace, and it's all grace. That's what I tell people today
who, as far as I know of them, of their testimony, or even where
they go to church. And I know people don't like
to hear this, but here's the thing. Are you really hearing
salvation by grace? Is it real, all of grace? Is it conditioned on Christ and
Him alone who fulfilled those conditions? by his obedience
unto death as our surety, our substitute, our redeemer, and
secured the salvation of all for whom he died? Because that's
what the gospel is. If you don't have the security
of salvation by the grace of God based upon the righteousness
of Christ imputed, you don't have the gospel. If it's conditioned
on you, it's unbiblical. If you measure righteousness
on a sliding scale, it's unbiblical. What does the gospel tell me?
That I'm such a sinner that if God ever gave me what I deserve
and what I earn, it would be damnation. That I need a righteousness
I cannot produce, not even by my best efforts to be a good
person in any way, no matter how sincere. It's all of grace. Is that what you're hearing?
When you're going to church, what you believe, is that what
you are involved in? And he tells his disciples, the
reason I'm speaking in parables is to those to whom it is not
given, it's a veiled message. Why would he do that? Well, we
know that man by nature will not receive the things of the
Spirit of God. The Bible tells us that. Man
left to himself will not believe. And why is that? It's because
of the deadness of his heart, the self-righteousness. That's
why. And he says to them, it is not
given. God withholds it. You say, well, why does God do
that? It seems good in his sight, is what Christ said in Matthew
11. And he told Moses that that was his glory, his right to do
so. You remember when he said to
Moses, I'll have mercy on whom I will? What was he answering?
A question. Moses said, show me your glory.
Well, here it is. He's the potter, we're the clay.
And so understand that. But now I'm just a human being,
sinful human being, walking around on this earth, naturally blind,
naturally dead, seeking a way to get by, to get through, and
wondering that when I draw my last breath, where am I gonna
be? Now that's our situation. Well, am I going to go to the
word of God? to find out answers to my questions,
or am I gonna go to the word of men and women? That's the
issue. And so look at verse 12. For
whosoever hath, to him shall be given. If God gives you any
light, and it is a gift, because you didn't earn it and you didn't
deserve it, just like everything else, and he shall have more
of mine, he'll give you more light. Are you interested? Are you interested in what God
says about himself and how he saves sinners? He says, but whosoever
hath not, that's the ones to whom God has withheld it, not
given it, him shall be taken away even that he hath. Think about the light that the
Pharisees had. Now you remember Christ told
them the light that's in you is darkness. But they had the
word of God, they had the prophets, they had the Psalms, they had
the law, they had the tabernacle, they had those prophets who told
them the truth, Isaiah told them the truth. And what'd they do?
They hated him for it. You say, well, I would have done
the same thing if God had not singled me out. before the foundation
of the world and gave it to him. And we're going to be talking
about in the next hour about those whose names are written in the
Lamb's Book of Life. That's what makes the difference.
And I want to know this, was my name written there? I know
I couldn't write it there. And it's not like that false
preacher on TV said, you know, that when you're born, God writes
your name, and then when you first sin, he erases it out,
and then when you accept Jesus, he puts it back in. That's not
biblical. That's human rationalization
that arises from self-righteousness. That's what that is. But people
sit there by the hundreds and say, amen, you know. I would have done it too, I did
do it, until God gave me the gift of knowledge, of light,
of revelation. And that's what he's saying.
It's given unto you, he told his disciples. And whosoever
hath, to him shall it be given, and he shall have more abundance.
But whosoever hath not from him shall be taken away even that
he hath. And there he's referring to those who received Providentially, much truth, but
kept on rejecting it. I don't wanna hear that. I've
heard people say, you know, that bugs me more than anything else.
Somebody says, I don't wanna hear that. Well, why don't you
wanna hear it? Are you afraid? I've always felt this way, even
when I was lost. If what I believe can stand the
test, then that means it's truth. So don't, you know, somebody
says, well, I don't wanna hear what you have to say. Well, if
what you have to say is valid, then I wanna hear it. But I can
make that judgment. Now I know, again, man left to
himself will always judge wrong. Always. Again, the natural man
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. So one of the
things that we see in his speaking in parables is this. that if
we have that gift of light to the point where he's given us
the gift of faith to believe, do we realize how blessed we
are? That's something. How blessed we are to know the
truth. Don't ever get over that. Don't
ever take it for granted. Well, look at verse 13. He says,
therefore speak I to them in parables because they seeing
see not, hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. They
don't see, they don't hear, they don't understand. Having spoken
the plain truth to them, the Lord conceals the truth in parables. And do you know what it is? It's
a judgment. against those who continually,
stubbornly, self-righteously refuse to believe. That's why
he spoke in parables. It's a judgment against them.
These aren't children's stories. These aren't things to simplify
the gospel. Again, the gospel's a simple
message. Therein is the righteousness
of God revealed. What is that righteousness? Why
do we need that righteousness? That's a simple message. And
a children's story is not gonna simplify that for us. That's
not what these are. These are judgments against those
who continued stubbornly, self-righteously to refuse to believe. Neither do they understand. And
then look at verse 14. 14 and 15 both. And in them is
fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which saith, And this is from
Isaiah chapter six. Remember when God converted Isaiah
and then gave him the gift of preaching and told him to go
out and preach and he said, they're not gonna hear you. They're not
gonna believe what you say. By hearing you shall hear and
shall not understand and seeing you shall see and shall not perceive.
Now look at verse 15, this is important. For this people's
heart is waxed gross. What does that mean? It means
grown harder. Our hearts by nature are desperately wicked, hard-hearted,
against the gospel now. And when hearing the gospel,
if God does not melt our, I've got in here the same sun that
melts wax, hardens clay. If God doesn't melt us, give
us a new heart, it'll grow harder. And their ears are dull of hearing.
They've heard it, but they don't want to hear it anymore. And
their eyes, they've closed. They shut their eyes to that.
Don't want to hear that. Don't want to see that. Here's
the key, look at it. Lest at any time they should
see with their eyes and hear with their ears and should understand
with their heart and should be converted. And I should heal
them. They don't want to be converted.
Why don't they want to be converted? Turn to Philippians chapter three. You know where I'm going with
this. This is where the Apostle Paul relates his conversion experience. What does conversion involve? Well, most people would tell
you today in religion, it involves somebody who's a scoundrel, who's
immoral, who is leading an immoral life, turning over a new leaf. Quit smoking, quit drinking,
quit doing this, quit doing that, join the church, walk the aisle,
get baptized. That's not conversion. Conversion has to do with God
the Holy Spirit under the preaching of the gospel, bringing us, revealing
the knowledge of God in Christ to us, bringing us to faith in
Christ, and bringing us to repent. Of what? Our dead works. Our best efforts. Our religious experiences. Our
dreams and visions, huh? Look at it, Philippians chapter
three, verse seven. Here's conversion. But what things
were gained to me. What do you mean gained? What
did they gain you, Paul? Well, they gained me a right
relationship with God. They gained me a place in heaven.
They gave me rewards and blessings and salvation itself. What were
those things? Well, all my religion, all my
efforts, all my do-gooding, those I counted loss for Christ. That's what the Pharisees didn't
want and that's what people today don't want. You mean to tell
me that all my religious life before hearing and believing
this gospel was loss? I used to put it in the profit
column, Paul says, now put it in the loss column. Oh, but it
goes further than that. Look, verse eight, yea, doubtless
I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I've suffered the loss of
all things and do count them but dung that I may win Christ. That's pretty strong language.
and be found in him not having mine own righteousness which
is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ,
the righteousness which is of God by faith. That's conversion. You see, go back to Matthew 13
now. When Christ brings a sinner into
the kingdom spiritually by the power of the Holy Spirit, he
brings you in naked. without any hope, without any
righteousness of your own. And he gives you all things,
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus as a gift
that you didn't earn and didn't deserve. He won't allow you to
bring your former religious experiences, your former good works or anything
like that. It's a narrow way. And so Look
at verse 16 and 17. He tells his disciples, but blessed
are your eyes for they see and your ears for they hear. For
verily I say in you that many prophets and righteous men have
desired to see those things which you see and have not seen them
and to hear those things which you hear and have not heard them.
He's speaking comparatively there of the saints in the Old Testament. They saw the glory and the majesty
of the truth of Christ. They saw that. Isaiah saw it. All the Old Testament saints
saw. Read Hebrews 11. But what they didn't see is the
actual advent of Christ on this earth as he came in person and
spoke to them like these disciples have. And what he's telling these
disciples, he said, you need to realize how blessed you are
to be in the presence of the physical Christ, the God-man. And many of the prophets in the,
what he says, in the righteous, that's justified. Even in the,
they desired to see that, but they had to look at it afar off
in the future. They believed, they had faith
that the Messiah would come. And they believed it by promise.
But they did believe it. But here, Christ is standing
before these disciples, speaking to them. And he's saying, comparatively,
what a blessing that is. And he says, you have a privilege
that they didn't have. But they did see the salvation.
They believed the gospel. OK.