Understanding the Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven Part II

Understanding the Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven Part II

Last week we looked at the first parable in Matthew Chapter 13, "The Sower." We discovered three basic principles as we read.

1. We discovered God's kingdom will be established by the speaking forth of His word (seed).
2. We discovered as soon as God begins to sow seed, the enemy comes to destroy that seed.
3. And finally, we discovered only a few will understand, endure and refuse to be distracted. This remnant, will experience various degrees of success, some thirty, some sixty and some a hundred fold.

On the surface, this may not sound like the revealing of a mystery however, we must remember, these are mysteries Jesus is sharing with us! Therefore, this is not something we should take for granted for one second. If Jesus said the enemy is going to come and try to steal His seed, we had better listen up and study up! If we fail to do this, we will most likely end up like Peter, who totally under estimated the power of the enemy as he denied Jesus not once, not twice, but three times in one evening.

This week, we are going to look at the second parable,  "The Wheat and Tares." Last week, we saw good seed being sown as the enemy immediately begins to destroy it. This week, we will discover, not only does the enemy attempt to destroy the good seed; he concurrently sows his own corrupt seeds alongside God's good seed. Thus, the mystery deepens. Now, the kingdom of heaven becomes harder to distinguish because these corrupt seeds can look a lot like the good seed. Let's take a quick look at this parable:

"Another parable He put forth to them, saying: 'The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came an sowed tares among the wheat and went his way' " (Mt. 13:24, 25).

Now emerges our next mystery; the good is mingled along with the bad! Pay attention here because this is a prophetic format being established. Notice it is "while men slept" this corrupt seed was sown among the good, pure seed of God. Yes, it is when good men, full of good seed, slept, the church became corrupt. While good men full of good seed slept, the church was lulled to sleep and found herself amidst the dark ages. In the Parable of the Ten Virgins, Jesus gave us some insight concerning this latter-day slumber. Yes, even today, prophetically speaking, the church is asleep and God is raising up the prophetic voice to sound the alarm "...wake up, trim your lamps, the Bridegroom is coming!" 

We are told, once the seeds began to sprout, it was noticed tares also came up. So the servants asked '...how did this happen?" Jesus explains: "an enemy has done this." The servants then ask "..should we go weed out the tares?" and His answer is surprising. He says "No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them." (Mt. 13:26-29). So, here we have another principle; it's not up to us to get rid of these troublesome "tares" in the body of Christ. You and I don't have the ability to look into the heart of man, only God is qualified to do that. Only God is qualified to determine who goes to heaven and who doesn't. All we are to do is keep sowing the good seed and praying that some of the bad seed may be converted as we teach the truth in love!

We are told to "...let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, 'First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.' " (Mt. 13:30).

Any bad seed left over at the end of the age, God will deal with. It's not up to us to do any separating. God's Word (seed) does the separating for us! There have been so many believers "uprooted" by other believers as they attempt to fix things in the flesh, thinking they are doing God's work. We have to come to the place where we understand we can do nothing...apart from Him! (Jn. 15:5). Without Him, all we are doing is getting in the way and making things much worse!

Prophetic Church Ages

Ephesus—The Apostolic Age 40-70 A.D.

Smyrna—The Age of Persecution 70-312 A.D.

Pergamum—The Worldly Church Age 313-600 A.D.

Thyatira—The Dark Ages 600-1517 A.D.

Sardis—The Reformation Age 1517-1750 A.D.

Philadelphia & Laodicea—The End of the Age

1750 A.D.—Present Day

Last week we saw in the first letter to the seven churches in the Book of Revelation, the church at Ephesus had begun to fall out of love with their Jesus. This is the result of the enemy's attempts to destroy what God is sowing/building. Only a small remnant will understand this, and take the time to get deeply rooted in discipleship. Only a select few will refuse to be hindered or distracted by the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches. The rest will fall into this spiritual slumber, which prophetically, leads us to the second phase of church history, the age of persecution. 

These tares began to sprout and as a result, the church leadership was greatly corrupted. As love began to dwindle, tares began to grow and the enemy raged against what God had begun to build...the church. The enemy began to raise up "religious" leaders and governments to persecute the true church! This can be seen in the second letter to the churches.

"And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write, 'These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life: "I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan." ' (Rev. 2:8, 9).

The name "Smyrna" is derived from the word "myrrh" which was a spice used in burial. It's root meaning was "bitterness" which, appropriately implies the horrible persecution that was soon to come upon the church. Notice, the Risen Jesus said to them, He was aware of their "tribulation" and the "blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan."  Yes, the religious leaders who claimed to be Jews but were not are the ones who brought much of the persecution to the church. But once the Roman government began to persecute the church, things went to a whole new level of tribulation. 

The church is told by Jesus, not to "fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and i will give you the crown of life." (Rev. 2:10).

The "ten days" referred to above could be taken as prophetic days descriptive of the ten evil Roman Caesars who bitterly tortured Christians. From Nero to Diocletian, there were ten Caesars who brought the worst persecution known to Christians...ever! This is what I would call the ten prophetic days of persecution. A very accurate prophetic picture indeed. Nothing tests a church like persecution! The church in America has yet to face persecution, but I truly believe we will be "tested" before the great catching away of the church; are you ready for something like that, should it occur?

Soon, the church would become married to the world as this corruption continues to spread. But first, she must be tested via persecution. She must remain faithful, even unto death and then she will be given "the crown of life."

Next week, we will cover the next two parables which Jesus spoke to the multitudes who gathered to hear Him. As we will discover, this same prophetic format will be evident...the good mingled with the bad. What a mystery this is; why would Jesus allow such troublesome, bad seed to be mingled with His good, holy and pure seed? We'll see if we can find the answer to that as we continue to study these mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. Remember, it has been given to you (the hungry, believing disciple) to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven!