Sermons
Jesus Teaches in Parables
Sun, May 20, 2018
Teacher: Tom Blackford Series: Sunday Sermons - 2018 Scripture: Luke 15
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Jesus Teaches in Parables
Luke 15
INTRO:
Good morning. In Matthew 13:3 the Bible says “He spoke many things unto them in parables”. I know that I am very much a word-picture person. While I understand that I most easily learn from such devices as word pictures I also understand that I am not particularly adept at using them to teach. Jesus, however, was a master at the use of earthly stories and comparisons which help people understand better the things about the kingdom of heaven, the great spiritual truths. His parables often focus on those things that are so important about the Kingdom of heaven. Yes, there were parables that taught other lessons but often it was about things concerning the kingdom where He would use these wonderful earthly stories.
Often He taught with just a point or two to be learned from them but always with an important point about the kingdom, or the church. He used people, He used events, He used things, to focus attention on these great truths. The title for this lesson is Jesus Teaches in Parables. This morning I would like to focus on this particular theme.
I’m sure that as you have read the Bible and in particular the gospel records, you have decided that there are certain of the parables, certain of the word pictures, which are favorites of yours. It was difficult for me in writing this lesson for giving in a timely way, to select some of these parables, some of these comparisons which are important to me and which have been favorites of mine for a long time.
I did select several and I would like to begin by asking you to turn in your Bibles to the fifteenth chapter of Luke’s gospel. In this chapter there is what I would call “the parables of the lost things”.
I. You will remember it I’m sure and you will remember it well. There is probably no chapter of the New Testament as well known as the fifteenth chapter of Luke’s gospel. In this chapter we begin with an understanding that the things which Jesus is going to say are set against the complaints of the scribes and Pharisees.
A. Let’s look at the first two verses, Luke 15:1-2 – “1. Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. 2. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them.''” Immediately Luke goes on to record; “So He spoke this parable to them”. It is, of course, the parable of the lost sheep.
B. The Pharisees and the scribes were indignant that Jesus would be concerned about and interested in these people who they considered to be the off-scouring of the earth. Sinners, publicans, people who worked for the Roman Empire.
C. Yet, in these two contrasting things there are important lessons for us. Here are these people who are indignant that the Lord would be teaching spiritual truths to sinners. The Lord did not discriminate in that way.
1. He saw, and here is the lesson for us, He knew those people who recognize their need are the ones who we need to be teaching. Those people who are in need, people who are receptive to that which is going to be taught.
2. The scribes and Pharisees believed themselves above sin and were not in need of that which the Great Physician came to bring. The publicans and the sinners were in need.
D. We are introduced to a lost sheep, a lost coin and a lost son. In the 11th verse of this chapter it says; “A certain man had two sons.” There is an interesting transition that takes place at least in the minds of some people as the chapter proceeds. He begins with a lost animal then a lost coin and now begins with “A certain man”.
1. The idea some have proposed here, is that these situations are situations with which the Lord was familiar. Actual life situations with which He was familiar and about which He knew. Whether or not that is the case I just want to call attention to the fact that this transition does take place.
2. We are introduced here, in all of these situations, whether it is an actual life situation or an earthly story, we are introduced in all three of them to something that is lost, something which has value, and it is something which ultimately is found. We see the value of these things, lost though they may be, to the one who has lost them.
E. There are some observations we can make about these three parables or stories. The first is the thing that is lost becomes useless to the one who has lost it. The sheep that was lost is no longer of use because it was lost, it was away somewhere. The coin, lost, no longer could be used, no longer available to be used by the lady who lost it. The lost son who had taken a journey into a far country, separated from a loving father, no longer there to be of service to his father. Lost, useless to the one who has lost them.
F. The second observation we can make is that the things which are lost still have value. Useless, yet not without value. It does not matter that it is lost; it has value to the one who has lost it. In the case of the lost sheep and the lost coin the owner takes great pains to find that which is lost because it still had value and if it could be found again that value would be useful again.
G. The last observation is the great joy that is evident in the finding of that which is lost. Jesus reminds us in verse 10 – “Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
H. I’d like to note here as well that in the last of these three stories there is a human being involved as that which is lost. Now we have talked about a sheep and we have talked about a coin. In the last one there is the lost boy, the lost son. I personally can not identify well with a sheep or a coin. I recognize they have value to their owners. I can identify with the loving father who had lost a son. I’m sure all of us can identify with this situation and some of us have actually had this kind of thing happen in our own lives and in our own families. We can appreciate the sorrow the father must feel, the sense of loss at the departing of his child.
I. We can also appreciate the great joy that is manifested by the coming home of this penitent son. That is the kind of joy that is going to be in heaven when one sinner, one sinner, repents. Joy among the angels of heaven.
II. The second set of parables, which I’m drawing attention to this morning, are the parables that involve the value of the Kingdom of Heaven or the church. The treasure that is hidden in the field, the pearl of great price. Each of these is found in the thirteenth chapter of Matthew’s gospel. By the way, the thirteenth chapter of Matthew is full of kingdom parables. One after another these parables these comparisons help us to understand things about the church, the kingdom and ultimately the judgment.
A. Looking at Matthew 13:44 – “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” In this case we see immediately the great value which God places on the Kingdom. Here you have a man who has stumbled on a treasure hidden in a field. He goes and sells everything he’s got so he can purchase the field and become the owner of this great treasure.
1. The first thing I notice here is that if he sold everything he had in order to buy the field it must mean that the treasure in the field was worth much more than the price he paid for the field.
2. That’s the nature of the kingdom of God, folks. It is of incalculable value.
B. Then you have this pearl merchant. Matthew 13:45-46 – “45. "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, 46. "who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”
1. He’s out looking for the perfect pearl and one day he finds it, and no price is too great to pay in order for him to claim it as his.
2. You see the value of the kingdom.
C. Each of these recognizes (this is important) each of them recognizes the value of what he has found. I wonder this morning, do we recognize the value of the church of our Lord Jesus Christ?
1. It’s important that we recognize it. Otherwise we are going to treat it in a ho-hum kind of way.
2. It’s not going to be as important to us whether we are part of it, whether we’re involved with it, whether we’re active—it doesn’t matter to us—unless we see the true value of it as did these two people.
D. The second thing to note here is they were willing to spend everything they had. They’re willing to do anything they could in order to claim their ownership of this thing.
1. What about us folks? Are we willing to give up all that the world offers to claim a place in the Kingdom? I wonder, are there things that turn the church into an inconvenience for us?
2. Are there things that come into our lives that make us say: Well, maybe it’s not that important that I assemble with the Lord’s people at every opportunity?
3. Or perhaps maybe it’s not all that import that I’m faithful and involved as long as I’m there warming a pew. That’s really all that’s important isn’t it?
4. Folks, listen, you cannot read these two little comparative stories and continue to have that kind of attitude and believe for a single moment in time God likes it. God knows the value of the kingdom, the church His Son built and He values it in a way which I’m afraid that many of us do not.
E. These two men would move heaven and earth in order to possess this thing of incalculable worth, of value. Are we that caught up with the Lord’s church? Are we that interested in the things of the kingdom? Are we that committed to making the Lord’s kingdom, the Lord’s church, the central feature of our social and spiritual life? This is the value of the kingdom. This is the value of the church. The question must be to us: do we place the same value on the church as these two men placed on the things that they had found,--or not?
III. In the same chapter there is a third word picture which I would like to draw attention to. It’s the parable of the leaven. It begins in verse 33 of chapter 13 of Matthew. Matthew 13:33 – “Another parable He spoke to them: "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.''”
A. I recognize that this parable has caused among folks who have written and spoken considerable discussion. What exactly does it mean? Often in looking at parables we find that there are two specific lessons which can be drawn. Yet both of them have the emphasis on influence—the influence of the kingdom or the influence of the individual.
1. As I look then at these two particular lessons that come out of this parable, first and probably the most common is the influence of the kingdom or the church as it begins to spread abroad. That influence cannot be stopped. It’s like when you put leaven into the measures of meal, once you put it there you cannot stop its influence. The kingdom is going to spread. It may spread imperceptibly slowly, but it is inevitable that it will spread.
2. The other lesson that is often mentioned may be the more accurate of the two lessons or ideas. If we remember in scripture, leaven is usually the symbol of evil and corruption, then the whole parable takes on a different meaning, doesn’t it? What it would mean would be that if we place into the body of Christ, if we place into the kingdom that which is corrupt, that which is evil and tolerate its being there it will inevitably and ultimately be harmful to the whole. It is going to spread. It’s going to influence other people.
3. There is an example of this very thing in I Corinthians chapter 5. I’m going to start reading in verse one because I want you to see exactly what is going on here and notice the reference to leaven down at verse six. I’ll begin at verse one to read and remember we’re talking about the church at Corinth. We’re talking about something that was taking place within the church at Corinth, within the kingdom.
4. I Corinthians 5:1-6 – “1. It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles that a man has his father's wife! 2. And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you. 3. For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged, as though I were present, concerning him who has so done this deed. 4. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5. deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 6. Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?” He goes on to say: Purge out therefore the old leaven that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened.
B. To permit this sin to continue in the church in Corinth was going to ruin the body of Christ there. These people were tolerating it and the language is so strong. It goes back to the parable of the leaven in Matthew 13. Look what leaven can do. The leaven here uses the symbolism of corruption, the evil that is being tolerated within the church.
C. We need to consider this question for all of us: What about us? What is our influence in the body of Christ? Is our influence for good or does it have a corrupt nature to it? It’s an important question. It comes right out of the idea of the parable of the leaven.
IV. I think all of us have enjoyed reading what is often called the Parable of the Talents over in Matthew chapter 25. We know it fairly well. We know its details. You’ll notice that this is not a parable in the classic sense because it does not begin: He spoke a parable unto them. Yet, it is a comparison that Jesus is making to help us understand some things about the kingdom.
A. Matthew 25:14-30 – “14. "For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. 15. "And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. 16. "Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. 17. "And likewise he who had received two gained two more also.18. "But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord's money. 19. "After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20. "So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, 'Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.' 21. "His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.' 22. "He also who had received two talents came and said, 'Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.' 23. "His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.' 24. "Then he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25. 'And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.' 26. "But his lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. 27. 'Therefore you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. 28. 'Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. 29. 'For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 30. 'And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'”
B. I suppose it is what you could call a simile because it is comparing the kingdom of heaven to a man in verse 14. What are the great lessons that are here? I will go over this quickly today, probably too briefly because there are many lessons to be found.
1. Number One: The lesson here in the parable of the talents is first that God entrusts the well-being of His church, His kingdom to human beings. Do we see that? Verse 14: For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.
2. God entrusts the well-being of His kingdom to you and me. How careful are we about that which He has entrusted to us?
3. Number Two: is the lesson and perhaps for all of us who are fairly ordinary folks may be the most important one. He entrusts the well-being of the kingdom to us in keeping with our own abilities. Verse 15 says: unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.
C. We talk about five talents and two talents and one talent and say he’s a one talent man or he’s a five talent man. I don’t know how many abilities say Mark has. I don’t know what kind of accountably Dale has, or the abilities that God has given him. I just know that he is accountable to God for his abilities. How many he has I don’t know. I do know him well enough to know he’s got lots.
D. I know that each of us is going to be accountable to God based not on the talents that Ray has, or that Gary has, or that Mark has, or that Juanita has, or whomever. We are going to be accountable to God for the talent, the ability that we have and what we have done with our abilities before God. Each of us must give an account for the use of our abilities.
E. Look at verse 19: After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. In other words, each of them as each of us is going to be accountable to God for how we have taken care of His church, His kingdom, His possessions on this earth.
F. Here’s another wonderful lesson already implied in the things that I’ve said. God will expect no more or no less of us than we are able to do. I wonder though when I say that how many of us use that kind of thinking as our excuse for doing very little. Oh, I’m just a one talent man. I’ll tell you, folks, I don’t know of many people who I would consider to be one-talent people.
1. I know enough about this church family to know that we are a congregation of people with many abilities and so many talents that it would make some congregations jealous to know what we have here among ourselves as the abilities that God has entrusted us to use. We need to be careful of this excuse: Oh, He’s going to only expect what I’m able to do and I’m able to do a little.
2. God is going to judge justly, folks. God knows how much ability you have to serve Him and His church, His kingdom.
G. Now look at verses 26 and 27 and here is another one of those lessons. The Lord will not accept slothfulness in matters relating to His church.
1. Look again at Matthew 25:26-27: His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: 27 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.
2. What did the man do? Nothing. Woops! He didn’t do a thing. God will not countenance slothfulness in the business of the Lord’s church. There’s a serious lesson we all need to learn and take to heart. This is not a ho-hum endeavor, folks.
3. We’re talking here about heaven and hell and whether or not we’re going to be in heaven or hell. Our being there is going to be decided on what we have done with the abilities God has given us in His service and how well we’ve done these things—not lazily, not sloppily, not slothfully, but carefully.
H. Another of the great lessons, spiritual lessons, we can be lost through slothfulness. I read from verse 28: Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. 29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. 30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. That’s hell, folks, and we must recognize that is what is being described here.
1. The man who possessed spiritual blessings, one talent to have been used in the service of his master, from him is taken away what he has.
2. Look again at verses 19-21: After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. 20 And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. 21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
3. Folks, the reward of a life of service and righteousness to the Lord God is the eternal joy of His presence. The reward for failure to do this is the reward of the man goes to the place where there’s weeping and gnashing of teeth.
CONCLUSION:
The word pictures of our Lord need to be appreciated and they need to be studied carefully. I came across a book on-line called The Sower written by R.C. Trench in the latter part of the 1890’s. I enjoyed it and found out this author published a book about the Parables, some of which is available on-line. It is worth taking a look at.
Because of that book I have from time to time looked at other books that were written about the parables, and I began to realize that there is no seeming end to the books that have been written about the parables of Jesus.
Not because they’re so interesting, but because they are so important—these wonderful earthly stories with heavenly meanings.
I want to go back to leave you with one last thought.
In the 13th chapter of the book of Matthew, let me read it beginning at verse 47: Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: 48 Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. 49 So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, 50 And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
There is much to look at where Jesus describes the kingdom, the church, in parables. Much of this information is important in our walk here on this earth.
In this parable the fishermen cast their net down into the sea. They have no control as to what comes into the net. They haul in the net when it’s full. They take it to shore and notice there’s a separation that takes place. This is information about the end of time—the judgment. There’s a separation that takes place—separating the good from the bad. The bad He says are cast away. Folks, we will be in the net.
The question is: are you going to be one of those whom the angels are going to sever and cast away in the judgment? The parables are not just nice little stories. They are stories with heavenly and heavy meanings. Where will you spend eternity?
We are going to be led in the invitation song that was announced and as we think particularly of these last two word pictures we’ve mentioned—the people with the talents or the net that is let down into the sea—there needs to be some questioning of ourselves.
This eternal prospect: am I fulfilling the responsibilities that are mine based both on the responsibilities that God has given us and my abilities?
Am I using those abilities as I should for Him?
I may be using them to earn a living and that’s important, but am I using them for the Lord? You can’t use your talents for the Lord if you are not in the Lord.
This last little parable is troublesome to me because I realize that many of us may feel very secure in the net.
That security is going to be lost in the judgment as the angels of God separate the good from the bad.
If you’re not in the kingdom, my friend, you need to be.
You need to be buried with Christ by baptism and in doing so entering into the kingdom—translated out of the world into the kingdom of God’s dear Son.
Just as important, and perhaps for some of us more important, what are we doing in the kingdom?
As one person said: What on earth are we doing for Jesus’ sake?
If there’s a need for repentance, for obedience, for change we invite you to come and let us know it this morning as we stand together and sing the song.
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Reference Sermon
Cecil A. Hutson
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