Now let’s continue right on here in Luke 10:9 where He said, “And heal the sick that are therein [where ever city you go into], and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come [near] nigh unto you.” Now this means that you have an opportunity to be part of the coming Kingdom of God now. We are not in the Kingdom of God now, but you can have a part in it. That’s why Jesus said the Kingdom of God is at hand, because the knowledge of how to get there is what He brought.

Now let’s continue on verse 10. “But into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you not, go your ways out into the streets of the same, and say, Even the very dust of your city, which cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against you: notwithstanding be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come [near] nigh unto you” (vs. 10-11). So it’s really quite a thing, the preaching of the Kingdom of God, and the gospel going out to all the world in this way, you see. Now we know, as we’ve already seen, that the gospel of this Kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness, and then the end shall come. So it is amazing. Once you really start getting into these things and understanding the scriptures, why it is just absolutely astounding.

Now let’s come to Luke 12:31. Now here’s another thing concerning the Kingdom of God. “But rather seek ye the kingdom of God;…” Now that ties right in with Matthew 6:33, so you can put that in your margin. “…And all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock;…” Now you see that’s why the Church of God is not some g-r-e-a-t big thing. And look what happened when it got real big. You go back and review the sermon that I did on the stages of apostasy. And you look at your own understanding of what happened. So we are a little flock. “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:31-32). Think on that. That ties right in with inheriting the Kingdom. That ties right in with the reward that God the Father’s going to give. That ties right in with Daniel 2, Daniel 7. And that ties right in with Revelation 19 and 20.

Verse 33, “Sell [all] that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (vs. 33-34). Showing that it is the spiritual treasure and things you need to work for. Now remember the spiritual treasure is going to be, as it is in Malachi 3, that God is going to put the jewels in the crown that He’s going to give us, that He’s going to give those who are resurrected.

Now let’s come to Luke 16:16. This is also fundamentally important in understanding how the things need to be preached today. Now remember as we’ve seen, Jesus said on the Passover night to His disciples, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” So we have love and obedience. But before Christ came the only thing that was there was the authority of Moses. The prophecies were way off. But when Christ came the prophecies were brought near in beginning to be fulfilled. Now then verse 16, “The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached…” Now that means that the authority for the preaching comes, not just from the prophets and the law but from Christ Who is in heaven, and we preach the gospel of the Kingdom, meaning the whole New Testament now becomes the very basis of the preaching that we bring. “…And every man presseth into it.” And it’s a difficult thing to enter into the Kingdom of God. “And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail” (vs. 16-17). So what he’s saying here… Now this is not reducing the law or the prophets. As a matter of fact, it’s actually making them more binding. Just as you find in the commentary in the Harmony Of The Gospels. The full spiritual intent of the law now, is preached through the means of the Gospel of the Kingdom.

Now let’s come back to the book of Matthew and let’s see some interesting things here. Let’s come to Matthew 13. And in Matthew there are many, many parables which say, “The kingdom of heaven is like unto…, The kingdom of heaven is like unto…”. And we’re going to look at a lot of those because it tells us exactly what God is doing. Now Matthew 13, and here’s a very profound thing. We’ll go through a lot of Matthew 13 because it brings us into the understanding and the knowledge of what Christ is teaching. And also we’re going to see that there is a separating point between those in the world and those in the Church, and also those in the Church who do not seriously take the business of attaining to the Kingdom of God and they become lukewarm or dead. Things happen to them. And you will see those things happen to them just as Jesus Christ said.

Now He spoke to them in parables and told them about the sower. Now after giving the one concerning the sower, the first part of it let’s come to Matthew 13:9. And He says, “Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Now this is profound brethren. We need to listen to the words of Christ and of God. This is all the way through the New Testament. And especially from Christ. He says in one place, He told His disciples, “Let these sayings sink deep into your ears.” In other words you are going to learn them, never forget this. Now this is something we are to learn. And He also says this to the seven churches, doesn’t He? “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches.”

Now verse 10, “And the disciples came, and said unto Him, why speakest Thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven…” In other words the secret of the Kingdom of Heaven. What is the secret understanding of the Kingdom of Heaven? How is that revealed? Everybody has the Bible, don’t they? Let’s put it this way…everybody who has a Bible has the Bible. Cause there are many people today who don’t have the Bible or have the wrong Bible. But nevertheless, even in the Bibles, which are not the correct Bibles, it still has Matthew 13 with almost all the substance in it the way that it is here. Now how can it be given to us and not to them?

1)     It’s spiritually understood.

2)     Because we love God.

3)     Because it is God’s desire to reveal it to us.

Now come back here to Matthew 11. We’ll come back here to Matthew 13, but I just want to show you something, brethren, how important this is. And once God has given it, woe be to those who give it up and throw it away. Now there may be some who will loose it for a while, but they can be redeemed as long as they are still alive. As I’ve said many times, as long as there is life there’s hope, because there can be repentance.

Let’s pick it up here, Matthew 11:25. “At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.” Isn’t that amazing? Now, babes means that we have the attitude of little children. We’ll talk about that a little bit later. “Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in Thy sight. All things are delivered unto Me of My Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and He to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him” (Matt. 11:25-27). So brethren, you have revealed knowledge. The knowledge of the secret of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Now let’s come back to Matthew 13:11. “He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.” See, God is the one Who does the calling. “For whosoever hath…” Now He’s talking about the Jews at that time. Did they have the word of God? Yes. Did they have the law and the prophets? Yes. Did they understand them? No, because they didn’t love God and they didn’t serve God. Oh, they had the books just like in the world today. There are more Bibles than there are people, almost literally, but how many really believe it? Very few.

Now He says, “For whosoever hath, to him shall be given…” And this is why it’s so important that you continue in growing in grace and knowledge and studying and applying yourselves that you have abundance, because God will give you more. And when you understand the true humility that comes from that then you begin to see the greatness of what God is. And you realize that everything you have comes from God. Everything physical. Everything spiritual. And if you always keep that perspective God will give you more, and give you more, and give you more. And if we get exalted in our own self-importance and think how great we are, or what great things that we have done then God is going to take it away. And He will take it away until there is nothing left. We’ve seen that within the Church of God, and we’re going to see that in all the churches of the world that profess Christianity.

“…And he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not [that is the knowledge and understanding of the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven], from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: for this people’s heart is waxed gross…” There is no love of God in their hearts. They are filled with their own sins. They’re filled with their own pleasures. They’re filled with their own doings. That’s why this is the most dangerous age to live in, because you have circuses and you have food. That is you have entertainment, you have sports, you have things to do. You have hobbies, you have different things. You have your work. You have the whole entertainment world. The whole world can come in to you just by the pushing of a button. An amazing thing. And by doing so, when you cut off God you lose all understanding. If you don’t love God with all your heart, and all your mind, all your soul, all your being, then your heart’s going to wax gross just like with these people. “…And their eyes they have closed;…” (vs. 12-15), because they no longer want to be bothered. See, so blindness comes the first step of it by those who choose to be blind and close their eyes.

Now, “…lest at any time…”, then they’re given over. And this also has to do with what? This has to do with the meaning of the Last Great Day. Now you can only understand this verse in the light of understanding the Last Great Day because if God closed their eyes and if He took things away from them so that they would not be converted, that means that He did not give them an opportunity for salvation. Now then, if you don’t understand about the second resurrection and the Last Great Day you won’t understand that these people still have hope, but a different hope at a different time. That their eternal life is going to come in the second resurrection. Now we’ll talk about that when we get to day seven and eight. You stop and think about this now.

“…Lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them” (vs. 15). Now you would think, and of course this is contrary to Protestant preaching because they think they have to go out and get everybody saved right now. No, now is a day of salvation for those that God is calling. Those that God is not calling, their day of salvation comes at the Last Great Day, not now. But they still do have a part in not receiving salvation by turning their backs on it. And that’s the whole thing that we will see in understanding about the Kingdom of Heaven as defined by the sower here.       

Now let’s go on. Verse 16, “But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.” And let’s ask the question brethren: Do we really see, and do we really hear? Like some said some time ago, “Do you really get it?” Now, yes, we will, if we love God, keep His commandments, keep the holy days and Sabbath we will get it, and we will be more and more converted as time goes by.

Now then verse 17. “For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them, and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.” No, even Peter talked about this. Hold your place here. We’ll come back.

But come to 1 Peter. Even the prophets that gave the prophecies didn’t understand it. Daniel said right at the end of it in Daniel 12, he said, “When will these things be, and how long will this be?” And the message came to Daniel saying, “Go your way Daniel, for it’s sealed and closed till the time of the end.” We’re at the time of the end. And it says, “And at the time of the end the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.” So brethren, with the feast days of God we have an understanding that only comes from the wisdom of God. And here that’s all right in the Bible. This is truly amazing.

Now let’s pick it up here in 1 Peter 1:10. “Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy [Spirit] Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into” (1 Peter 1:10-12). Can you imagine that brethren? That God has given us knowledge that angels desire to understand? That’s something.

I want you to just think and meditate on, during some quiet time either tonight or tomorrow morning or if you’re going out on a walk, or for those of you who are down on the beach or something like that or down by the riverside, or down by a lakeside. Just go out there and look at the vastness of the ocean, standing on the beach and just think what a marvelous thing that God has done. That He has revealed these things to us. That we can understand them. That God has called us. That He’s given us His Spirit. What an amazing and just absolutely marvelous thing it is. That’s why you’ve got to take the Spirit of God, the love of God, and the knowledge of God and hold it close to you and grow in it.

Now let’s come back to Matthew 13. Now you know all about the parable, and so forth. I won’t go through and explain that. So He put forth another parable, let’s come down to verse 31. “Another parable put He forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:” Now a grain or mustard seed is really a small thing. I’ve got in my hand a little sack of some mustard seed that one of the brethren gave me years and years ago. There it is, see how small those little seeds are. Does God need big things, and great things to do His work? Does He really? No. He can take the smallest, the littlest and He can create out of it the greatest and the largest. That’s amazing, isn’t it?

Now let’s come back here to Matthew 13. “…Like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field; which indeed is the least of all seeds [yes it is, it’s a small one]: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof” (Matt. 13:31-32). So you see, God can take the smallest and make it the greatest.

Let’s look at another one, verse 33. “Another parable spake He unto them; the kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.” And this is showing in a sense…now we know during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, leaven is a type of sin, but there is a good use to leaven outside the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And this is like the action of the Holy Spirit, and when you put leaven into bread, as we learned on the Feast of Pentecost, and then you let it rise and you bake it, you permanently change the form of that dough. So that’s talking about eternal life.

Now let’s come down here to another one, verse 44. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.” In other words he finds a treasure but immediately covers it up, let’s no one know, and he sells everything that he has to buy the field. Now just put in your margin there Luke 14:26, that you have to give up everything that you have to follow Christ.

Ok, let’s look here, verse 45. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it” (vs. 45-46). Now you see how all these parables tie in. This shows us the way, the means, the attitude of attaining the kingdom of God.

Verse 47, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:…” This is a type of the net going into the sea and gathering of every kind, this is like going into all the world and preaching the gospel to every creature. This is something brethren. We are blessed and with that blessing comes responsibility. And with that blessing comes obligation. And with that because we have the blessing that so many people have wanted to have down through the ages to understand these things, to know these things, to have the peace and security and the means to do it. Therefore we really need to take hold and apply ourselves and yield to God, and love God, and love each other. I can’t emphasize that enough because the day is going to come when that won’t be. And then you’re going to say in that day, “Oh I wish that I would have paid attention. I wish that I would have done thus and such.” But then it’s too late. Now is the time. That’s why it says, “Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your heart.”

So here’s a net, “...cast into the sea and gathered of every kind, which when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.” Now this is a type of the bad going into the lake of fire, not qualifying, you see. “So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just [which is talking about our age, right now, isn’t it?], and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (vs. 47-50). Boy I tell ya, it’s really something, isn’t it?

Ok, let’s come here to Matthew 18. When you study the gospels this way, and you study them with the holy days in mind, it just opens up your understanding so much more. And that’s why brethren, it’s important that we go through these things during the Feast of Tabernacles because the Feast of Tabernacles pictures the fulfillment of so many of these parables and prophecies that Jesus gave.

Now verse 1, “At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Now you see, most of us were in a Church who made the mistake of saying, “Who’s the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And even had one man to go around and all he did was preach about “this man would have this reward, and this man would have this reward, and this one would be in this office and that one would be doing this, etc., etc., etc., when Christ says, “You’re not going to do it that way.” It’s amazing, isn’t it? Isn’t it amazing how we deceive ourselves and can think that we’re doing something great for God when we’re doing the opposite of what Jesus said.

“And Jesus called a little child unto Him, and set him in the midst of them.” Just stood him up in the middle of them. “And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children [that is, in mind and heart and attitude in loving God and serving Him and accepting His way and doing His will], ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18:1-3). There you have it, see. Showing us how. That’s part of the secret of the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Verse 4. “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” And I’m convinced brethren, of this, that whatever God gives us to do, we will be so happy, we will be so thrilled, we will be so satisfied, we will be, as a modern term is, fulfilled. No doubt. We don’t have to worry who’s going to be the greatest. God the Father is always the greatest, and Christ is under Him.

Now, Matthew 19:13-14, we have it again here, same thing. “Then were there brought unto Him little children, that He should put His hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them.” After all, kids aren’t important, see. “But Jesus said, [Allow] Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto Me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” That’s why we have to be the children of our Father Who’s in heaven.

Matthew 20:1, “For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard.” So there are some who have been called early. There are some who have been called late. And he went out and even down to the eleventh hour and there were still men out there.

Let’s pick it up in verse 8. “So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a [coin] penny.” And that’s what was given to those that were hired at the first hour. So here at the eleventh hour they get the same thing. “But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny [or a coin]. And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day” (vs. 8-12). Now you see, here’s a lesson. God is going to give to those that He has called according to His own judgment. So it doesn’t matter if a person was called early, or called late. It doesn’t matter if you have worked all your life, or worked just a few years, you see.

“But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen” (vs. 13-16). And likewise with the plan of God. Shall the thing that is made say to the maker, “what are you making?” Same principle here. “Well, why is he going to get this reward?” {spoken with whiney voice} You know, just like little kids. “He got a sucker, I want a sucker.” {whiney voice and laughter} “He got a bicycle, I want a bicycle.” Ok, now those are carnal little kids, you see. God is going to do what He is going to do. And so this is to say, look, we need to get our hearts and our minds in the right place in doing what we need to do and not worry about anything else.

Then we come over here to Matthew 25. Now there are three things in here about the Kingdom of Heaven. First one is about the ten virgins, five wise, five foolish. This is a lesson in overcoming. This is a lesson in persevering with the Holy Spirit of God. Now I’m not going to go through the whole thing of the ten virgins because we’re going to run out of time if I do. But the moral of the story is this, verse 13, “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.”

Now 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. And 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.” And then you know what happened. The one who received five went out and traded, went out and worked. Increased it by five. So you see that shows what we are to do. We are never to be satisfied with what we have at any point. We are always to reach out and go forward and do more, and keep active, and keep busy, and in this case keep trading. Ok, same way with the one with the two.

The one who received the one talent, now this shows the lazy Christian. What does he do? He accuses God. Now why does he accuse God? Because he went and buried it and God could not bless him. And when God didn’t bless him he began to accuse God. So you see, that shows you can never be static and stay where you are, otherwise you will end up like the servant who received the one talent.

Now let’s look at the reward which happened to the five who gained five. Notice, verse 21. “His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things…”, and he made him ruler over many things. Now it’s says in another place, rulers over cities. Here it’s rulers over things. So then here’s administrating without rulers over cities. “…Enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” So you’re going to be happy regardless of what you do or how much you end up accomplishing. You’ll enter into the joy of the Lord. Same way with the one who received the two talents. Gained two. “…Thou hast been faithful over a few things…enter into the joy of thy lord” (vs. 21-23).

So he came to the one which had the one talent. There are going to be a lot of people in this category, because they were just satisfied with what they have. They went and buried it. Now notice the attitude. So when he came to the one which had received the one talent he said, “…Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown…” After all if you don’t go out and sow, what do you expect me to do? Go get the seed and plant, silly. “…And gathering where thou hast not strawed: and I was afraid…” See, he didn’t love God because perfect love casts out fear, and he had fear. He wasn’t loving God. And so when you’re not loving God and you expect God to do it all for you, you end up what? Accusing God. So that’s what happened here. “And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. 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...” You see, you don’t know what God is going to do. So you can’t be accusing Him. You’ve got to walk in faith. You have to live in truth. You have to have the love of God. You have to be active and be doing so that you can enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. So he said, “You didn’t even do the minimum. You didn’t even put my money out so I could receive usury from the bankers when I return. “Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. 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. And [you] cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (vs. 24-30).

Then he also has the next one here. Son of man comes in His glory. There are going to be the sheep and the goats. And this gets down to do you love the brethren, even the least of them? That’s the whole moral of the story of this parable. Because remember, the ones who did the serving and the loving said, “Lord, when did we see you in prison? When did we feed you when you were hungry? When did we clothe you when you were naked?” And He said, Because you’ve done this to the least of these My brethren, you have done them unto Me. Enter in to the joy of the Lord.” But those on the left hand didn’t do it and they said, “Well, we didn’t see you there Lord.” See, they didn’t love the brethren. They didn’t serve the brethren the way that God wanted them to. So they are cast into the lake of fire which is prepared for Satan and his demons. (vs. 31-46, paraphrased).

So all of these parables. You see how all the parables then are tied up concerning the Kingdom of God, which show various aspects of how we attain to the Kingdom of God, what we do to grow, to change, to overcome. And to be worthy of it. And to be worthy of it is Christ in us because all worthiness comes from Him, not from ourselves, because we can’t earn it and we can’t make it on our own. But there we have it. Here the gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven is preaching all about the things concerning the Feast of Tabernacles.

So you all come back tomorrow, begin the second half, and we’ll find out more about the Feast of Tabernacles fulfillment in the New Testament.