The Parables of The King - Part 2

Bryan Chapell: The already as well as the not yet is part of the promise of the harvest. Already we are enjoying the portions of the field that are already ripe, that God is doing something in and through us by assuring us of what is to come. If I believe that, if I understand that God is saying, "I want you to know there is an already reality," that because of my assurances of what I shall accomplish, you can rejoice already in what will come.
Guest (Male): So glad you joined us for today's Unlimited Grace, the audio broadcast ministry of pastor and author Bryan Chapell. In today's lesson, Pastor Bryan continues his message from Matthew 13 and the parable of the sower. As a follower of Christ, this parable provides comfort in acknowledging that while evil will have its day, God will have the final say. You can find this lesson and many others when you visit unlimitedgrace.com. And while you're there, look for Pastor Bryan's book, Unlimited Grace. Dr. Chapell reminds us of the power and mercy of God's grace that motivates and inspires us to serve our Heavenly Father. Let's hear now from Dr. Bryan Chapell as he shares the second half of the lesson, The Parables of the King.
Bryan Chapell: In Matthew 13, Jesus is speaking to disciples who may be struggling to understand what kind of a kingdom is this. This Jesus has come, the long-prophesied Messiah of the line of David, the Davidic king is here. The angels announced him. He has said his kingdom has come. But he's just an obscure rabbi with a bunch of ragtag disciples—fishermen, carpenters. What kind of a kingdom is this? To answer the question in Matthew 13, Jesus begins to tell a series of parables that pull back the veil to say what kind of a kingdom is this. We can't look at all of them, but a key one is in verse 24. Matthew 13 and verse 24, Jesus 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 seeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weed appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, 'Master, did you not sow 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 do you want us to go and gather them?' But he said, 'No, lest in gathering the weeds you 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 and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn."'" What do you take away from the parable of the wheat and the weeds? One easy takeaway is the weeds will not last forever. They are here, that's real. But the weeds will not last forever. Evil may have its day, God will have the final say. He will reap his harvest. Until then, the weeds may threaten to choke, but they will not overcome. The farmer has his harvest, and he will ultimately bring in the sheaves that are the great expression of his own heart. How will that happen? We don't have to guess. John the Apostle in the book of Revelation talks about the harvest. "I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, 'Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.' There will be no night there, or pain, or fears, or crying again." And that's the harvest. And he says what that means. "He who is seated on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new. The one who conquers will have this heritage. I will be his God and he will be my son.' It's not true of everybody. For the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, the murderers, the adulterers, sorcerers, idolaters, liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death." The weeds don't last forever. But neither does the Alzheimer's, nor the hatred, nor the oppression, nor the wheelchairs, nor the leukemia, or the family tension, the struggles we have with one another or with ourselves. The weeds don't last forever. That is the promise. There is a harvest when the world changes and all things are made new for those who've said, "I need something more than this world," and I'm being given an opportunity to turn to the one who makes all things new, including the sin and the wickedness of my own heart. I have the opportunity to turn to him and to know by his precious blood, it can be washed away and not just for the moment, but for eternity. And what that means is not just that the weeds do not last forever, but that ultimately the best is yet to come. This is not the final chapter. This is not the end of the story, as wonderful as the music was. The best is yet to come. Preachers love to tell the story—it's an old story—about the woman who, before her funeral, asked to be buried with a fork in her hand. You know the story. Why do you want to be buried with a fork in your hand? Well, because at all our family meals, when we've had the great meal, we say, "Hold on to your fork because the best is yet to come." And she wanted that witness. But it's a little bit off in some ways because it's just putting the blessing down the road. It's just the pie in the sky, by and by. But the already as well as the not yet is part of the promise of the harvest. That already we are enjoying the portions of the field that are already ripe, that God is doing something in and through us by assuring us of what is to come. If I believe that, if I understand that God is saying, "I want you to know there is an already reality," that because of my assurances of what I shall accomplish, you can rejoice already in what will come. This time of year, a few of us in the room and Kathy and I remember a very different harvest time, when a young woman in our community was doing what a lot of farm kids do, what I did growing up, riding on the fender of the tractor as your dad is involved in the harvest. And she was riding on the fender of the tractor with her dad and the crop was high, so we didn't see the ditch. And when he hit the ditch, he knocked her from the fender and she was killed. After the funeral, as in so many rural parts of the country, we had the carry-in dinner to the family's home and we were eating, adults in one part of the room and little kids in another part of the room. The kids were watching TV and the adults were in their conversation. At some point, it was the era of the "just say no to drugs" ad campaign and an ad came on the TV. It showed a young woman kind of being drawn into drug life through kind of the seedy experience of the streets. That didn't get our attention. What got our attention was the young woman that was being portrayed in the ad looked almost exactly like the young woman we had just buried. And when everyone saw that, there was a kind of collective gasp across the room. And then the woman, the mother of the young woman, seeing the screen and what was being threatened, all this evil of the world that could come upon that young woman, instead recognized what her promise was. She rose from the table and she shook her finger at the TV screen and she said, "But you can't touch my little girl. She is safe with Jesus." And it was the eternal reality in-roading into the present in the moment of grief and deep pain, saying, "But I will claim the already, even though it's not fully yet my experience. I'm already," says the Apostle Paul, "seated in heavenly places. I'm already resurrected. I'm already united to Christ." There's an assurance of what God has said to his people by the work of his son that you and I could not accomplish, that is so sure, working beyond our limitations and our griefs and our lusts and our sin and our weakness, that nonetheless we are able to live in the heavenly reality even though we're not there yet. And because it is so precious and so affecting of this present world with all of its weeds about us, Jesus tries to help us understand its worth, his kingdom. It's worth even the price of sacrifice because it's so good. The Apostle Paul said, "I consider that our afflictions are not worth comparing with the glory that shall be revealed in us." But Jesus just says it so much more to our experience, as he says in verse 44: "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered it up. Then in his joy, he goes and sells all that he has and buys the field." I don't know what the treasure was, if it was gems or a vein of gold or pirate doubloons. I don't know what a doubloon is, but must be something good. And I don't even know about the ethics of covering it up and selling and going and buying, but I get the point. That when you get just a taste, just a glimpse of how precious is the kingdom of God, you know everything else dims in comparison. You're willing to sacrifice everything for that. The holiday time of year that we're approaching for me growing up, that always meant that we would go to West Tennessee and we would spend Thanksgiving at my grandparents. We would come the night before, which means when you woke up as a kid in the morning in those upper bedrooms, the smell from the kitchen would just be rising up. It was heavenly. But it was also a magnet. You'd get brought down the stairs to see what's cooking.
Guest (Male): Change, real change is hard. In fact, some people would claim that no change is really possible. But the truth is, it is possible. You can be different. You can overcome your struggle with sin or that addiction. But it won't be happening simply by turning over a new leaf or trying a little harder. The real power of change is ignited when we take hold of God's amazing grace. And in the book Unlimited Grace by Pastor Bryan Chapell, he shows you how. Unlimited Grace takes you on a journey to discover how grace not only frees you from the guilt and shame of a sinful life, but also provides the daily fuel needed for joy and strength in your Christian life. Take hold of God's grace and it is the key to finding true life change. Request your copy of Unlimited Grace, that's the title of the book, when you go online to unlimitedgrace.com. And the web address again, unlimitedgrace.com. And now more from Bryan Chapell on today's Unlimited Grace.
Bryan Chapell: "Grandma, can I have some? Can I have some?" "No, you can't. This is for later." But my grandmother would take a little twist of the dough off the breakfast rolls and she would say, "You can have this for now." Oh my, the tangy, cinnamon sweet heaven. And it was so good, just a taste. But it was so good you'd do anything. You'd even take a bath if you had to, to be able to be at the meal. You washed behind your ears, you'd put on your—whatever you had to do, you'd want to get the rest. And here we are being told, if you can get just a taste, just a glimpse of what the heavenly good is like, it's worth anything. And we get the taste in different ways. I'm going to be a little bit obscure here for a reason. A few weeks ago, when my back was bothering me and I told you I wasn't going to go to the back, but I was going to be here with the prayer team. Prayed with people—we love doing that. As the line diminished, there was a man who was just kind of waiting to talk only to me. And sometimes when that happens, I focus on other people because I need to focus with him but finally I kind of looked and at first I didn't recognize and then I did recognize. A man I hadn't seen for years. Looked in many ways quite different, but I did recognize him. He was a man earlier in my career had betrayed me and my family terribly. And I was thinking, he sat in this church through an entire worship service and sermon. And now he's waited in this line to the very end to talk to me. And it was instinctive, I think, that I just threw my arms around him and hugged him. And I'm glad it was instinctive because if I thought about it a little bit, I might've punched him in the nose. And I will tell you, as good as it was to embrace someone who has hurt you so bad and to say, "God, what did you do in me that my heart actually rejoices to do this?" I mean, this is not of me. This is something of the Spirit that I'm tasting, that I know is part of the heavenly kingdom that I don't know yet because I will tell you, later in the afternoon when I remembered a few more things, I just got mad again. But this is what I know. Jesus will not get mad again. His embrace is eternal. And what was instinctive in me is his nature, and it is eternal promise. As we get taste of that heavenly reality here, we begin to say, "I don't fully understand, I don't fully grasp," but listen, it's better than anything else this world has to offer. And so we want that reality. And that's what's being promised. And ultimately we are being told that means this thing that Jesus is offering, it's more precious than anything. And Jesus just says it so clearly, verse 45: "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 that he had and bought it." Jesus' kingdom is ripening. It's not all ripe yet. But when we get just a taste, just a little bit of it, we say, "It is so good. I want more of that. I want to secure that." And the way in which it is being secured is not by the work of our hands but by the work of the one who seated the harvest. And we trust him. And we even endure the weeds, knowing that our roots are being so intertwined with theirs, that what God has brought to us by the knowledge of his son and the beauties of heaven that are not yet but already being experienced to some degree, that what we are experiencing in people's lives intertwined with ours, they get to begin to experience too. So God is not pulling us up too soon or them up too soon, so that we grow in the reality of the kingdom of God. Couple of weeks ago, I came home from one of my travels on a Saturday night, having to preach the next morning. And I was kind of buoyed up because I got off the plane and walked down the concourse. As I came out, there was this huge crowd waiting with signs, "Welcome Home," and lights, and bands, and bagpipes. And it was fantastic. And it wasn't for me at all. It was one of the honor flights coming back from Washington D.C. with veterans. And I watched the veterans, most of the Vietnam era vets, kind of go through the gauntlet of cheering people, many in wheelchairs high-fiving people as they were wheeled down. And I just joined the crowd—it was so good. And when I got home, it was on the news. And one of the commentators said, "These are veterans receiving the welcome now that they did not get the first time they came home." And I thought, maybe true for my heart's sake to remember. That I will in the already say, "Oh, it's not all the cheers I want. It's not all the goodness that I want. It's not everything that I want." But there will be a day when 10,000 times 10,000 angels will hail the savior for the redemption of my soul. And as I'm basking in the glory of the one who's redeemed me and my body and my loved ones forever, something's going to happen. And I'm going to look across the crowd and I'm going to see others being cheered. I'm going to look down at the one coming in the wheelchair and limping along and saying, "That was my neighbor. Look, there's my brother. There's my sister. There's the boss I was so mad at. There's the people who treated me so badly, but somehow my roots were being tangled up with theirs in such a way that God was not just growing the wheat, he was changing the weeds into wheat in his time and his way and by the witness of people that we had no idea." And the angels were cheering. Let me tell you something, you're going to turn around and you're going to cheer too. Praise God that he is working his will in his time and his way. And we praise God that he is the God of the harvest. And it's achievable because he is the king.
Bryan Chapell: Hello friends, this is Pastor Bryan. Thank you so much for listening today. I know that right now there are many within the sound of my voice who may be suffering under serious trials. Maybe your trial is a physical illness or maybe it's a mental or emotional trial from loss or fear or anger that afflicts you with depression or anxiety. Whatever it is, God sees, God hears, and God knows. So right now I'm going to pray for you. And we're going to trust God to do a work in your mind, your heart, and your body by the power of his Holy Spirit. Heavenly Father, when your son was on this earth, he pointed to the flowers of the field and said that you make them beautiful even when they do not last very long. He reminded us that you care for the birds of the air even though they cannot care for themselves, and that you love us far more than they. And the greatest evidence of your wisdom, power, and love is that you sent Jesus to live and die for each of us. Father, if you care so much for the flowers of the field, the birds of the air, and the eternity of our souls, please let us rest in the assurance of your holy, wise, and powerful will for what is best in our lives. We know the will of God will never take us where the grace of God will not keep us. So heal, strengthen, and forgive as you know is best. Then we will be truly blessed and find the rest of mind, body, and heart that you promise for all who love you. We pray this in Jesus' name, Amen.
Guest (Male): That's Pastor Bryan Chapell, and you've been listening to Unlimited Grace. If you've been blessed by this message and would like to hear more from Dr. Chapell, I would encourage you to visit unlimitedgrace.com. In addition to messages from Pastor Bryan, you can explore the many sermons, podcast, seminars, and more available to you. Also, be sure to request a copy of the book from Dr. Bryan Chapell called Unlimited Grace. We'll send you a copy right away as our way of saying thank you for your most generous financial support. Once again, go to unlimitedgrace.com or you can give by calling 844-41-GRACE. That's 844-414-7223. Please be sure to join us next time as once again we endeavor to put Christ at the center of our efforts so that lives might be transformed by his unlimited grace. This ministry is brought to you by Unlimited Grace Media and continues to be made possible with your generous financial support.