The Doctrine of the Mystery part 6: 7 parables in Matt 13 give the program for the mystery kingdom Matt 13

Within this present age between the two advents of Christ, God is bringing to fulfillment two distinct programs: that with the church, which will be completed at the rapture of the church, and that with Israel, which will be completed after the rapture at the second advent of Christ.

 

They will and must remain distinct from one another.

 

In Matt 13 we have the first use of the word musterion in the NT and it is used by our Lord. He uses it to describe a kingdom, the mystery kingdom and He reveals what the mystery kingdom is through 7 parables.

 

/The Lord reveals what kingdom He is referring to through the use of parables - 1. The Parable of the Sower and the Soils.\

 

The age will be characterized by the sowing of the gospel and BD. This good sowing will result in unbelievers, believers who are negative towards the word of God and believers who are positive towards the word of God.

 

Mark 4:13 reveals that this parable, with the revelation of the program which it makes, is basic to the understanding of the other parables in the dis­course.

/Mark 4:13

And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable [Sower]? And how will you understand all the parables? \

 

Therefore, the remaining parables deal with the development of the seed-sowing program.

 

/2. The parable of the Wheat and Tares.\

 

Several im­portant facts are revealed through it concerning the course of the age.

 

/(1) The true sowing, mentioned in the first parable, is to be imitated by a false sowing.\

 

Remember, any imitation is only as good as how close is can be to the original. False gospels and false doctrine always bear a resemblance to the true.

 

/(2) There is to be a side-by-side development of that which is good with that which is evil as the result of these two sowings.\

 

This reveals to us that evil will coexist in this age; therefore campaigns against evil are a waste of time. What we bear, as we bear our own crosses and follow Christ, is the unafraid, loud, and clear proclamation of the truth.

 

/(3) There will be a judgment at the end of the age to separate the good from the evil. The good will be received into the millennial kingdom and the evil excluded.\

 

Therefore, the end of the age is the second coming of Christ when He will judge between the believing and unbelieving Jew and Gentile. Believers will enter the Millennial Kingdom with Christ.

 

/(4)   The essential character of each sowing can be determined only by the fruitfulness or fruitlessness of that which was sown, not by outward observation.\

 

This parable is particular to the Tribulation though it still has application to the church.

 

/Yet it is true that the en­tire age is to be characterized by a false sowing in competition with the true.\

 

/3. The parable of the Mustard Seed (Matt. 13:31-32).\

 

Matt 13:31 He presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field;

 

This parable represents the defilement of the church with religion.

 

Matt 13:32 and this is smaller than all other seeds; but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches."

 

As the age progresses several facts are to be observed.

 

/(1) The age is characterized by an abnormal external growth. That which was to be an herb has become a tree—it has developed into a monstrosity.\

 

What has really become monstrous is the religious organizations claiming to hold true Christianity.

 

/(2) This monstrosity has become the resting place for birds. In the first parable the birds represented that which was antagonistic to the program of God and consistency would demand that they be so interpreted here. \

 

Mark 4:13

And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable [Sower]? And how will you understand all the parables?

 

/Thus it is seen that the Lord is teaching that, whereas the opposition at one time was from without, it now has entered into the program itself and is working from within.\

 

The parable teaches that the enlarged sphere of profession has be­come inwardly corrupt. This is the characterization of the age.

The mustard seed refers to the perversion of God’s purpose in this age.

 

The mustard tree is therefore, Roman Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Mormonism, New Age movements, Jehovah’s Witness, perverted Protestantism, Darwinism, etc.

 

Don’t confuse this parable with the Lord describing your faith as a mustard seed.

 

/4. The Leaven Hidden in the Meal (Matt. 13:33).\

 

Matt 13:33 He spoke another parable to them, "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three pecks of meal, until it was all leavened."

 

The prog­ress of the age is marked, according to this parable.

 

/(1) The ministry of the woman. This evidently refers to the work of a false religious system (REV 2:20; 17:1-8). There will be the rise of false religious systems which claim to be in the kingdom.\

 

/(2) The age is marked by the introduction of the leaven. This figure is used in Scripture to portray that which is evil in character and its corruption is introduced into the meal.\

 

Leaven = evil. (Ex. 12:15; LEV 2:11; 6:17; 10:12; Matt. 16:6; Mark 8:15; 1 Cor. 5:6, 8; GAL 5:9).

 

/Meal was used in the Old Testament (LEV 2:1-3) in connection with the sweet-savour offerings and was typical of the person of Christ.\

 

/This parable would reveal that there will rise a religious system that will introduce a corrupting element into the doctrines of the person of Christ.\

 

There is a different emphasis in the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven.

 

/The mustard seed refers to the perversion of God’s purpose in this age, while the leaven refers to a corrup­tion of the divine agency, the Word, through which this perversion is realized.\

 

Therefore, satan’s attack is focused on two objectives: Pervert God’s purpose and corrupt God’s word.

 

This perversion will reach a maximum through the Babylonian Ecumenical worldwide church during the Tribulation.

 

/5. The Hid Treasure (Matt. 13:44).\

 

Matt 13:44 "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field.

 

/The purpose of this par­able is to depict the relationship of Israel to this present age. Al­though set aside by God until this age is completed, yet Israel is not forgotten and this age does have reference to that program.\

 

/We observe (1) that an individual, who is the Lord Jesus Christ, is purchasing a treasure. This purchase was affected at the cross.\

 

/(2) This treasure is hidden away in a field, unseen by men, but known to the purchaser.\

 

/(3) During the age the purchaser does not come into the possession of His purchased treasure, but only into the possession of the place in which the treasure resides.\

 

The parable is showing that Christ has laid the foundation for Israel’s acceptance in this age, even though the age ends without His having appropriated His treasure.

 

The treasure will be unearthed when He comes to establish His kingdom. Israel is now in blindness, but possessed and protected by the Lord.

 

/6. The Pearl (Matt. 13:45-46).\

 

Matt 13:45 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls,

 

Matt 13:46 and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

 

While some relate the pearl to the believing remnant saved at the end of the age, most in­terpreters relate the pearl to the church.

 

Thus the Lord is show­ing that within this present age, in addition to acquiring the treasure, Israel, He will also acquire for His personal possession that which was born through injury, the church.

 

/(1) The church, like the pearl, becomes the possession of the “merchantman,” Christ, by purchase;\

 

Unlike the treasure which is still in the field, the pearl is removed and belongs to Christ and is special to Him. Out of all the rejection that Christ has received from the Garden to the incarnation the delay in the Millennial Kingdom has given rise to a possession that is most precious to the Lord, which is the pearl, which is the Church, which is you.

 

Today, 99% of the pearls sold are cultured pearls, which have only been produced in the last 100 years. In Christ’s day a pearl could only be wild or natural and were extremely rare and a fine pearl was even rarer. “A pearl of great value” means the rarest, but here the emphasis isn’t on rarity, but on uniqueness and value. This speaks to the value that the Lord places on the Church. This is why to the church was given the greatest power and wisdom.

 

/ “One pearl of great value” reveals that the Church is the Lord’s most prized possession.\

 

 

 

I was thinking of a person yesterday that has low self esteem, yet this person is a pearl of great value in the eyes of the Lord. We must all see ourselves through the eyes of Christ and feel accepted and prized unto Him. That understanding will bring spiritual self esteem.

 

/(2) The church, like the pearl, is to be formulated by gradual accretion; \

 

The church began with the small group that was baptized with the Spirit at Pentecost and it grew and grew from there. It was persecuted by the Jews and the Romans, which is analogous to the irritation that causes a secretion that causes a pearl. The more the church was persecuted the more it grew.

 

/(3) The church, like the pearl, can only become His adornment by being lifted out of the place in which it was formed - you sit with Christ at the right hand of God, EPH 2:6.\

 

This is to be relat­ed to the purpose of the present age.

 

/7. The Dragnet (Matt. 13:47-50).\

 

Matt 13:47 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind;

 

Matt 13:48 and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down, and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away.

 

Matt 13:49 "So it will be at the end of the age; the angels shall come forth, and take out the wicked from among the righteous,

 

Matt 13:50 and will cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

 

/This parable indicates that the age is to end in a judgment, principally upon Gentile nations, since the net is to be cast into the sea. \

 

/This is in contrast to the judgment on Israel depicted in the second parable. The unsaved will be excluded from the kingdom that is to be established, as previously taught in the parables, and the righteous taken into it.\

 

It is to be observed that there is a parallel between the “mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” of Matthew 13 and the mysteries referred to by Paul.

 

/The mystery of the sower closely parallels the mystery of godliness of 1 Timothy 3:16. \

 

 

 

1 Tim 3:16

And by common confession great is the mystery of godliness:

He who was revealed in the flesh,
Was vindicated in the Spirit,
Beheld by angels,
Proclaimed among the nations,
Believed on in the world,
Taken up in glory.

 

This succinctly reveals God’s purpose for this age. This is the sowing of the Gospel and the Word.

 

/The parable of the wheat and tares and the parable of the mustard seed parallel the mystery of lawlessness of 2 Thessalonians 2:7, which depicts the individual who is the head of a system. \

 

2 Thess 2:1 Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him,

 

2 Thess 2:2 that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.

 

2 Thess 2:3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,

 

2 Thess 2:4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.

 

2 Thess 2:5 Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?

 

2 Thess 2:6 And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he may be revealed.

 

2 Thess 2:7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.

 

2 Thess 2:8 And then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming;

 

2 Thess 2:9 that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders,

 

2 Thess 2:10 and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.

 

2 Thess 2:11 And for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false,

 

2 Thess 2:12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.

 

/The parable of the leaven parallels the mystery Babylon of Revelation 17:1-7. \

 

REV 17:1 And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, "Come here, I shall show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters,

 

REV 17:2 with whom the kings of the earth committed acts of immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality."

 

REV 17:3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns.

 

REV 17:4 And the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality,

 

REV 17:5 and upon her forehead a name was written, a mystery, "BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH."

 

REV 17:6 And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered greatly.

 

REV 17:7 And the angel said to me, "Why do you wonder? I shall tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.

 

/The parable of the hid treasure parallels the mystery of Israel’s blindness of Romans 11:25. \

 

/ROM 11:25-26

For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery, lest you be wise in your own estimation, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and thus all Israel will be saved;\

 

/The parable of the pearl parallels the mystery applicable to the church mentioned in Ephesians 3:3-9; Colossians 1:26-27; Romans 16:25.\

 

EPH 3:1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles — 

 

EPH 3:2 if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace which was given to me for you;

 

EPH 3:3 that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief.

 

EPH 3:4 And by referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ [this is included in the mystery of the kingdom, but they are not the same terms],

 

EPH 3:5 which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit;

 

EPH 3:6 to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel,

 

EPH 3:7 of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God's grace which was given to me according to the working of His power.

 

EPH 3:8 To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ [value of the pearl of great value],

 

EPH 3:9 and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things;

 

EPH 3:10in order that the manifold [multifaceted] wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.

 

EPH 3:11This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord,

 

EPH 3:12in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him.

 

 

COL 1:25 Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God,

 

COL 1:26that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations; but has now been manifested to His saints,

 

COL 1:27to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

 

/ROM 16:25

Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, \

 

 

We may summarize the teaching as to the course of the age by saying: (1) there will be a sowing of the Word throughout the age, which (2) will be imitated by a false counter sowing; (3) the kingdom will assume huge outer proportions, but (4) be marked by inner doctrinal corruption; yet, the Lord will gain for Himself (5) a peculiar treasure from among Israel, and (6) from the church; (7) the age will end in judgment with the unrighteous excluded from the kingdom to be inaugurated and the righteous taken in to enjoy the blessing of Messiah’s reign.