Matthew 13

[Dan Johnson]

Matthew 13
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On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea. 
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And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
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Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow. 
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And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. 
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Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. 
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But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. 
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And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. 
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But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 
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He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
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And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”
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He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 
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For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 
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Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 
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And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:    ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,    And seeing you will see and not perceive;
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    For the hearts of this people have grown dull.    Their ears are hard of hearing,    And their eyes they have closed,    Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,    Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,    So that I should heal them.’
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But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; 
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for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
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“Therefore hear the parable of the sower: 
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When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. 
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But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 
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yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. 
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Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. 
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But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”
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Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 
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but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 
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But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 
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So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 
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He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ 
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But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 
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Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”
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Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, 
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which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”
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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.”
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All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them, 
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that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:     “I will open My mouth in parables;    I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world.”
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Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.”
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He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 
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The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. 
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The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. 
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Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. 
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The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, 
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and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 
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Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
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“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.
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“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, 
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who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
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“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, 
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which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. 
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So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, 
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and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
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Jesus said to them, “Have you understood all these things?”They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”
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Then He said to them, “Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”
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Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, that He departed from there. 
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When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? 
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Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? 
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And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?” 
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So they were offended at Him.But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.” 
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Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

[Dwight58]

Matthew 13 ~ REPLY PART FIVE:

Finally Christ in this parable mentions the good soil.

We read in verse 8, "But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit." That soil represents the heart of one that is no longer hard or shallow or preoccupied. Instead his heart is soft and is receptive to the Word of God. This is the heart of one who knows he needs the preaching. He needs it for two reasons. He needs it first of all because he is a spiritual pilgrim and soldier on this earth. As he has lived six days of the week that has just passed he has become weary in that spiritual battle. He therefore comes to church on Sunday as one who is hungering and thirsting for the Word of Christ. He needs nourishment for his soul.

He also needs that Word as it is preached because he knows he is a sinner. He is conscious of his sins and he needs to hear that Christ has forgiven him. He needs to hear of God's grace to him. He is sorrowful for his sins and he knows that he needs the Gospel of grace in Christ, for it is the powerful means to strengthen his faith. And so he wants to hear the Word. He wants to listen to Christ. He is hungry for that spiritual food, because that Word means everything to him. Life could not be lived without the preaching of the Gospel. He could not survive without it.

He is that way, because, as I said before, he is one who has been prepared by the Spirit. That is absolutely necessary. It is the work of God's sovereign grace in us, His children. It is a wonderful work of God, for we cannot prepare our own hearts to hear His Word. By nature we have no desire to hear it - in fact, we have no desire even to be in the house of God. But God does that work. He regenerates our hearts and puts within us that desire to hear His Word. He makes us realize that we are weary pilgrims. He gives us the desire to come to His house and to hear the preaching of the gospel in order to be strengthened in our faith.

On account of God's work, we realize the responsibility that we have toward the preaching, as that is pointed out in this parable. We are called to have a sincere interest in what Christ Himself has to say to us. Not a half-hearted interest - but a true, spiritual, heartfelt interest in the preaching. And, having heard the Word, we are to be spiritually fertile, to bear spiritual fruit.

The good soil does produce fruit. And that means basically this - the preaching makes a difference. One who bears fruit does not leave God's house in the same way as he came. And he is not one who says on Sunday, "Wow, what a powerful sermon that was!" and then by Monday he has forgotten about the sermon and does not think of it again all week. Nor is he one who ignores the Word if he doesn't like it, even if it cuts, or hurts, or offends. He hears it then too. And finally, he does not forsake the Word when he is persecuted and troubled in life. Instead, he is one who is a hearer and a doer of the Word.

And therefore he produces in his life the fruits of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, faith. He is obedient. He walks a sanctified life as a citizen of God's kingdom, for God's Word, the Word of the kingdom, has fed his soul. The Word of the kingdom has set before him the way he must live in thankfulness to God. The Word of the kingdom has given him life.

We all hear with our physical ears the Word that is preached. But how do we really hear the Word, beloved? How do we really listen to the Word? God through his Spirit prepares our hearts. That's a wonderful thing. That's the work of His sovereign grace in saving us. But we are accountable to Him for our hearing.

Let us bear fruit, my friends, spiritual fruit. Let us take God's Word with us when we leave His house. And let us live and walk as citizens of His kingdom. Then it will be true of us what Christ said, "By their fruits ye shall know them. You will be able to tell that they are My people, for they will live in the good works that I have prepared for them. They will produce fruit in their lives."

May God lead us to do that. And may we always be blessed in that way through the preaching of His Word.

Thank You for your patience in this FIVE part reply, and it is my sincere prayer that in someway it makes sense to you and that you can apply some of this to your own understanding and life.

God Bless,
~Dwight~

[Dwight58]

Matthew 13 ~ REPLY PART FOUR:

Also notice that Christ mentions that some seed falls on stony ground. This is the ground which is just a thin layer of dirt over . Christ explains what that represents in verses 20 and 21. "But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while; for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended."

This is the kind of hearer who has at first a very exciting zeal for the Word he hears. You've heard this kind of response. He praises the preaching. He says, "I've never heard anything like it before. What a wonderful message!" At that point he seems to be one that will produce fruit in his life - perhaps more fruit than many others. He seems so spiritual, so godly, so interested in the Word. But he gives up. He doesn't last. All his zeal and excitement dies. And again he is one who bears no fruit.

The text tells us why he doesn't bear fruit. He gives up because of persecution and because of troubles that come on account of the Word. In other words, he finds it way too difficult to be a Christian. At first he was excited. At first he was one who couldn't wait to talk to others about the preaching and about the Christian life. But soon he is silent about all this. Why? Because he is mocked as a Christian. He is silent because he doesn't like to be cast out by his friends on account of his beliefs. And so eventually he dies. He gives up and produces no fruit.

The persecution that the text mentions is something that is inevitable for the people of God. It is interesting to notice how the text refers to persecution. Literally the word persecution means "to be pressed in on every side." It is as though one is pressed into a corner. He is pursued. He is hunted down by the ungodly. That is what all of God's people will face and do face. They are persecuted. Perhaps we don't lose our lives. In this country we are still free to worship God. But if we live a godly life we will be persecuted. Think, for example, of Sunday observance. If you very really observe the Lord's Day as you ought to, your neighbors will have something to say to you about that. And so will your friends and the people you work with. Especially when you refuse, as you must, to join them for certain Sunday activities that they want you to participate in.

We can also be persecuted for what we believe. Maybe the reason we don't experience that too much is because we don't confess what we believe. We are afraid to confess openly and unashamedly that God is sovereign in our salvation and that man is nothing. We are afraid to confess openly that God has chosen some and rejected others. We are afraid to confess openly that man is totally depraved and of himself can do no good. We are afraid to confess that there is no such thing as a common grace of God. But confess these things and you will be persecuted.

Persecution can also come because of the way we live in our families. It will come because you as mothers see that your God-given calling is to be at home with your children. Others cannot understand why you don't pursue a career. They think you should get out of the home and make something of yourselves in life. If you don't, if you live as God calls you to live, you will be persecuted.

Do we stand up under persecution, when the way gets tough? Or, do we find the Christian life too difficult, too narrow, too restrictive? And do we therefore feel like changing our ways a little so that we are not persecuted? Do we find Christ's Word too black and white, so that we want more grey areas in order to have more freedom? If so, then soon we too will be fruitless with regard to the preaching. We will hear only what we want to. When the Word admonishes us, as it must, and touches us where it hurts, we will say, "I'm not hearing that Word. I don't want to change my life." Then the Word makes no difference. It is as though we heard nothing. We leave church and return to our sinful ways. That's what the stony ground represents. That's not us, is it?

Christ mentions, in the third place, the thorny soil. We read in verse 7, "And some fell among thorns and the thorns sprung up and choked them." This is soil that has weeds in it. The weeds take away all the food for the good seed. The result is that the seed cannot grow and is fruitless.

Christ explains this in verse 22 where He says, "He also that receives seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word, [he hears it, notice! But then] the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful." That represents a hearer who is preoccupied with the things of this life. So preoccupied is he that he does not hear the Word.

Notice what the text calls those things that preoccupy and distract him - they are "weeds." Those weeds are first of all "the cares of this world" - in other words, the anxieties of earthly life. They are the things we worry about. These things distract from hearing the Word. One is preoccupied with thinking about his work, his income, his food, the natural disasters that happen, his crops, his cattle - all of these things, and more, are on his mind. He is really preoccupied with himself, for he is asking himself concerning all these things, "How will I be affected? How will I deal with these things? How will I be able to survive?"

But notice that those weeds are also referred to in verse 22 as the "deceitfulness of riches." That's a powerful statement, beloved. That's telling us something about riches - riches deceive! How true that is. Wealth says to us, "I'll give you happiness. The more you have the happier you will be." Many are persuaded by that. But it is a big lie. Ask yourself, are rich people happier than the poor?

One who hears the Word in that way is one who is deceived by all these things, deceived by all the worries and concerns of life, and deceived by riches. He is allured by the pleasures of this age. He is overcome by the cares and anxieties of this life. And when those cares and anxieties confront him, he does not turn where he ought to - to Scripture and to God in prayer. At the end of the week he is certainly spiritually weary. But he doesn't look forward to the spiritual rest of the Sabbath and the food that will be provided for his soul there. Instead, when he comes to church he is still preoccupied with all these other things. He cannot let go of his earthly cares, not even for one hour. He is busy planning his next week. He is busy thinking of ways in which to deal with all his riches and all his earthly worries and concerns. He doesn't hear the Word, for his heart is filled with earthly things. There is no room for the Word.

The temptation, of course, is that you and I are caught up in that kind of life. Let us take to heart the warning, beloved. Be careful. Be careful of riches. Yes, it is true that riches are not evil in themselves, but they certainly have the power to deceive. They promise happiness - but they don't give it. And yet our hearts can so easily be filled with those earthly things, and with all the worries and anxieties that come along with those things, that there is no room for the Word of Christ. The preaching goes over our heads. We don't hear anything about ourselves as sinners. We don't hear anything about ourselves as those who need Christ as our Savior. We don't see our need of Him. And the Word bears no fruit in our hearts and lives.

Continued in Reply to Matthew 13 ~ "Part FIVE" ......

[Dwight58]

Matthew 13 ~ REPLY PART THREE:

With regard to bad soil hearers, Christ tells us that there are three types of bad soil, three types of unfruitful hearers.

First of all Christ mentions the seed that falls by the wayside in verse 4. The seed is sown, but the birds come and devour it. Christ explains this in verse 19, "When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one and snatcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which receiveth seed by the wayside." That soil that receives that seed is soil that hasn't been prepared. And so the seed doesn't penetrate into the soil. The seed doesn't grow. There is no receptivity to that seed. No fruit is produced in such soil.

This represents someone who hears the Word of Christ but does not receive it. He hears it only with his ears. He has what Scripture refers to as a hard heart. And such a heart is not simply a heart that is passive to the Word of Christ. It is a heart that is rebellious against the Word of Christ - a heart that is stubborn and that hates the Word. It is a heart that always opposes the preaching - always criticizes it, and purposely, intentionally and actively rejects it.

The text says this is the heart of one that does not "understand" the Word. No doubt that person will claim, "Well the fault isn't with me. The reason I don't understand the Word is because there's a problem with the Word itself. It's unintelligible. It's too difficult for me to follow. It's too deep. It's too doctrinal. The problem is with the preacher." But that is not the problem. The problem is in that heart, that rebellious heart that is not the slightest bit interested in the Word. It is a heart that has no delight in spiritual things.

Sometimes those kind of people are in church. They have many interests in life, but no spiritual interests. They are in church, but they don't really want to be. They don't want to listen. And they don't try to listen. That's way too much work. In their judgment preaching is a foolish thing. The preacher is also foolish, for he is so out of touch with life. "His sermons don't to apply to me," they say.

The reason this kind of person responds that way to the preaching is because he doesn't think he needs it. He doesn't see his sin. He doesn't see his need of Christ. So the devil has an easy prey. The Word is snatched away and bears no fruit. There is no change. He is a fruitless hearer of the Word.

Is that true of everyone? Remember that bad soil does sometimes represent you and me. Is this the kind of listener we are? Do we say that the sermons are too difficult and too deep? Are we basically uninterested in the preaching? We have to consider that!

Continued in Reply to Matthew 13 ~ "Part FOUR" ......

[Dwight58]

Matthew 13 ~ REPLY PART TWO:

The other main element in the parable is the soil. The soil here represents the hearts of those who hear the preaching. There are different kinds of soils representing different hearers of the Word of God. There are many who hear the word - they hear it in church, they hear it on the mission field, they hear it wherever that Word is truthfully proclaimed. They know what is said. They understand the words that are spoken. They hear the preaching.

But this parable focuses our attention especially on the way in which one hears the Word. Christ makes that very clear in His explanation of the parable in verses 18 and following. He points out that every different kind of soil represents a different kind of hearer.

The emphasis in the parable is on how well one hears the preaching. It is true that sometimes there are deficiencies in the preaching of the Gospel. Sometimes there is error and heresy. In fact, that happens a lot today. Many depart from the truth and proclaim the lie. When that happens, you don't have to believe that Christ preaches there, for He doesn't. Christ is only present where His truth is preached. But even though that happens, that is not an factor in this parable. That's not what Christ is speaking of. He is saying in this parable that the truth is proclaimed. And the question is, "How do you respond to that true preaching of the gospel?"

Really there are only two kinds of hearers in the church. What sets them apart is their fruit. There are some that bear fruit when they hear the preaching. There are others that do not.

We must understand, that the fact that one hears the Word and bears fruit is only because of a work of God's grace in his heart. Only those whose hearts have been prepared actually hear the Word and produce fruit. The parable makes that clear. It speaks of the soil that has been prepared, the good soil. Why is it good soil? Why is it receptive to the seed? Why does it bear fruit? Because it has been prepared; prepared by Christ.

The prepared soil represents us as good hearers whose hearts have been prepared to receive the preached Word. That preparation, you understand, is the work of the Spirit in our hearts, the Spirit Who regenerates our hearts and makes us receptive to the Word. Without that we are dead - dead in trespasses and sins, and unable to respond to the Word of Christ. A dead man cannot hear that Word. It doesn't matter how powerful or how persuasive the preaching might be, a man who is spiritually dead doesn't hear it. The Holy Spirit must raise us to life. The Spirit must bring us from darkness to light. The Spirit must give us ears to hear, hearts to believe, and a willing desire to obey the Word that is preached.

While that is true, that preparation by the Spirit is not the main point of the parable. As I said before, the emphasis is on the responsibility that you and I have in hearing the preaching. God is sovereign. He prepares our hearts. But at the same time you and I are accountable before Him. We are accountable for all that we do, for God deals with us as rational, moral creatures. He created us as those who are able to think and to hear and to know and to decide. Therefore every one of us is accountable to God for what we do. Specifically, as taught in this parable, we are accountable to God for how we hear the preaching of the Gospel.

Christ will ask us concerning that on the Judgment Day. He will say to you and to me, "What did you do with My Word? How did you listen to the preaching?" It's certainly a great privilege that we have to hear the truth preached. But we bear a great responsibility before God. We must give an account to Him as to how we heard His Word.

As we now consider the different kinds of hearers spoken of in the parable, there's something else we must realize, and that is that even we as believers are sometimes those bad hearers. There are of course those that are always bad hearers. They never hear the Word, they have no interest in the preaching of the Gospel, and thus they never produce fruit. And yet, those weaknesses can sometimes be found in us too. We can be guilty of those same sins. We hear the preaching, but it makes no difference. It goes in one ear, and out the other.

That's why we need to hear the warning of Christ here. We have to learn what to avoid with regard to hearing His Word. And we have to learn how properly to listen. Preaching is the chief means of grace for us as God's people. We need it. Christ uses it to save us. It is the Word that powerfully saves us and gives us the enjoyment of eternal life. That's why it is important for us to hear that Word, and to hear it well. Christ says, "Who hath ears to hear let him hear."

Continued in Reply to Matthew 13 ~ "Part THREE" ......

[Dwight58]

PLEASE NOTE: There are several points I would like to make regarding Matthew 13, and in order to keep my points from becoming too lengthy all at one time, I am going to post this in a series of FIVE parts. I pray that in doing so it will make for easier reading.

Matthew 13 ~ REPLY PART ONE:

First, Christ tells us in the parable that a man went out into his field to sow seed.

This man did not do this as farmers do today, with machinery. Everything was done manually. This farmer owned some land which was made up of very small fields. Between each of these small fields there was a pathway that provided access to his fields. And now he sows seed in his field. He takes a bag of seeds and hangs it over his shoulder. He puts his hand in that bag and he scatters the seed across the field as he walks back and forth in that field. The result of that kind of sowing is that seeds fall in many different places, both in and around that field.

The parable makes that clear to us. Some seed falls on the hard soil - the hard-packed soil of the pathway that surrounds the field. Some seed falls on stony soil within the field - soil that is very thin because it has below it a layer of stone. Some seed falls among thorns and thistles - soil with weeds in it - quite likely the soil in the corners and along the edges of the field. And finally some seed falls in good ground - soil that has been well prepared and in which the seed grows and bears fruit.

This parable, as Christ told His disciples, is an earthly picture of the preaching of the Gospel.

There are various important elements in the parable. First of all, THE SEED. We must understand that the seed is the Word of God. Jesus says so in verse 19 when He makes reference to hearing the "Word of the kingdom." That's what the seed is, the Word of the kingdom, the Word of God.

But that seed is not simply the Bible. We are talking now about the seed of God's Word as that seed is scattered and sown. That seed is therefore the Word of the kingdom as it is preached. The seed represents the proclamation of the truths of Scripture. The seed is the preaching of the "Gospel" - of the good news of salvation. It is the spiritual food for the people of God.

The preaching feeds our souls. It does so because it confronts us with our sins, shows us the great need we have for the Lord Jesus Christ, and directs us to Christ. This includes the fact that the preaching admonishes us as God's people. It is a Word that says to us, "You must repent of sin and flee from sin. Daily you must hate the ways of sin and love the ways of righteousness. You must love God and your neighbor. You must obey God. You must live a life of good works."

The seed in the parable, as it is scattered, represents all of this. It is the preaching that every one of us hears from Lord's day to Lord's day - the Word which is a lamp unto our feet and a guide for us in every area of life.

We also must take note of the sower in the parable. That sower, you understand, is Christ. He is the One Who scatters the seed of His Word. Christ preaches to you. It is true that Christ uses men to do that. He appoints men to represent Him in the church. And He teaches and He preaches through those whom He calls to be ministers of the Gospel. But you must understand, that Christ Himself preaches through those men. He proclaims the Gospel through them. As Christ Himself said to us, "My sheep hear My voice." He does not say, "My sheep simply hear about Me," but He says that His sheep hear Him. They hear His voice in the preaching.

This is also taught in Luke 4:18-19, where Christ said, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord."

It is important for us to remember that Christ is the Sower. There is much opposition to that truth today. People will say, "You mean to tell me that when a minister preaches it isn't really just a man preaching - it is Christ preaching? I don't believe it. That's nonsense."

The reason many oppose this truth is because they want to have the option of either taking or leaving what the minister says. There are certain things they don't like in the preaching. So they are looking for a way to avoid having to heed what the Word of God says to them. What is their excuse? "Well, he's just a man isn't he? He makes mistakes, the minister does. He makes errors in the things that He says from the pulpit. So how can you say that Christ preaches? It's just a man giving his opinions. If we don't like what he says, we don't have to listen to him."

Now it is true, that ministers make errors. But when we say that Christ preaches through a minister of the Gospel, we are not saying that every single word that every minister says is Christ's Word. It is only when the truth is preached that Christ speaks through the minister of the Gospel. And that is why every one of you has the calling to be like the Bereans, to study and know the Word of God so you can know whether what the minister says is the truth. You may not simply sit there and think you have to believe every single word that the minister says. Be Bereans! Study to be sure that what you hear is the truth. When it is, Christ Himself speaks to you through the preaching.

It is crucial that we confess that Christ preaches. If we don't, that takes away from the power of the preaching. That is serious. The preaching is a power to save God's people exactly because it is Christ who preaches. A man hasn't got that power. No minister of the gospel is able to save through the power of his preaching. It is the power of Christ that saves through the preaching, for Christ preaches. Without that, the Word would be worthless and useless. It would do you and me no good.

And so we confess, Christ preaches! He determines where the Word is preached. He determines what is preached. He determines by whom that Word is preached. And then Christ makes that word powerful and effectual to save His people. Then the Word preached is the power of God unto salvation.

Continued in Reply to Matthew 13 ~ "Part TWO" ......