1. In The Footsteps Of The Master: The Life and Times of Jesus Christ Parables of the treasure, the pearl, and the net. August 23, 2009 Matthew 13:44-53 www.FootstepsOfTheMaster.info

2. Warning and Weight We can all agree God warns people about how they teach. We are going to read the warning and weight God puts on US as hearers. Read Matthew 13:3-23 The people who knew Jesus the best had no idea what He was talking about.

3. Luke 8:5-8 Parable of the Sower 4 “And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable: "A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold." As he said these things, he called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

4. 100 Fold Jesus was proclaiming that not everybody would accept the gospel message A good crop in Palestine was considered to be ten fold. Jesus' description of the harvest as one hundred, sixty, and thirty fold was bound to shock the listeners. "No way” But for those who did the results would be spectacular in their lives

5. Luke 8:9-10 And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, 10 he said,"To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that 'seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.“ Secrets not revealed until later…… 13This is why I speak to them in parables: "Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. - Matthew 13:13 (Isaiah 6)

6. Difficult Passage When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. He told them, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that," 'they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!“- Mark 4:10-12 His point seems to be that the parables call for careful attention and openness. Do you think the Holy Spirit plays a part in opening people hearts?

7. Jesus Explains Scenario #1 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. – Luke 8:11,12 Gospel goes out and a person says, “Whatever. No thank you.” Either your heart is completely unmoved or it gets snatched away, trampled on by men

8. Gut-Wrenching Scenario # 2 And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away – Luke 8:13 He is talking about men and women who can point back to an event I said the prayer, I walked down the aisle, I heard the message, I said yes.

9. Scenario #2 Continued And from that moment on, have had no objective evidences of regeneration and conversion at all Not growing in their love for Jesus, not growing in their worship of Him. Questions to kids: Do you want to come to heaven with mommy and daddy or do you want to go to hell? I’ll take heaven please….

10. Terrifying Some have been conformed to a moral pattern but have not been transformed by the Holy Spirit of God. No root, completely unwilling to repent, or unwilling to press into the Lord. Some hear the word every week, with no intention of applying any of it, hearing it and agreeing only Little or no relationship with God and no objective growth for decades

11. Scenario #3 And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. - Luke 8:14 A man or woman who hears the gospel and receives it, as they begin to walk, there is an invitation into obedience. “This is what I command...This is what I’m asking of you...This is the step that I want you to take. (Obedience) “No, I’m not going there....I’m not doing that.”

12. Scenario # 3 Think about some of the things that people trade intimacy with Jesus Christ. Some dark sin, a profession, not always sinful things can interfere You can be choked out to where you never bear fruit, that your growth will be stunted. What does Fruit mean to you? The Bible says what happens is life just chokes you, and you never become all that Christ created you to become.

13. Good Soil As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience – Luke 8:15 The Word goes out, whether in church, or in your own Bible study, or on a sermon you hear in the car. When you hear it, with an honest heart, i.e. you don’t start playing games or start the process of justification.

14. Honest Heart = Good Soil You hear it and in an honest heart That’s not where I am. I am sinning in that area of my life. I have not given that over to God. You repent and seek out accountability, help, counsel, Seeking anything that enables you to walk in the fullness of what the word of God commanded you to walk in. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and I will say, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, for I do not know you.’

15. Parable of the Seed Mark 4:26-29 26And He was saying, "The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; 27and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows-how, he himself does not know. 28"The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. 29"But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."

16. Kingdom This parable is usually grouped with the Mustard Seed story. I wanted to come at this from a different angle Jesus is talking about the Kingdom of God and how it grows. Lets see if He knew what He was talking about? A quick little walk through history……..

17. A Few Years After Jesus 42A.D., Mark goes to Egypt. 49A.D., Paul goes to Turkey. 51A.D., Paul heads to Greece. 52A.D., the apostle Thomas heads to India. 54A.D., Paul heads on his third missionary journey. 174A.D., the first Christians are reported in Austria. By 350A.D., 31.7 million people claim Christ as Lord. (53% of the Roman Empire) 432A.D. St. Patrick heads to Ireland. We celebrate this every year by wearing green and pinching one another.

18. Growing and Growing 596A.D., Gregory the Great sends Augustine and a team of missionaries to what is now England to reintroduce the gospel. The missionaries baptize 10,000 people in the first two years. 635A.D., the first Christian missionaries arrived in China. 740A.D., Irish monks reach Iceland. 900A.D., missionaries reach Norway. 1200A.D., the Bible is available in 22 different languages. 1498, the first Christians are reported in Kenya. 1554, there are 1,500 converts to Christ in what’s now called Thailand.

19. In the Middle Do you know how Christianity got here? The Puritans were being persecuted. So they hopped on a boat and came over. Everything is about what God is doing. This is what you’re caught up in. Lets look at the outlook if present trends continue

20. Great Trends By 2025 there will be 633 million Christians in Africa, 640 million Christians in South America 460 million Christians in Asia. These numbers from a believer in Christ. In 1900, there were 558 million Christians on planet Earth; by 2002, there were 2 billion God has been using nations for His plans and His purposes since the beginning of time itself.

21. www.FootstepsOfTheMaster.info 21 Next Week TBD (Pulled from official class website)