The Kingdom of Heaven Is Like . . .

Intro: A small bottle of urine sat on the desk of Sir Wm Osler, professor of medicine at Oxford University as he lectured to his class on the importance of observing details. He said, “This bottle contains a urine sample for analysis. It’s often possible by testing to determine the disease from which the patient suffers.” He dipped his finger into the bottle and then into his mouth. “Now I am going to pass the bottle around. Each of you please do exactly as I did and perhaps you will learn the importance of this technique and diagnose the case.” --- Each student did it. --- “Ladies and gentlemen, you will now understand what I mean when I speak about details. If you had been observant you would have seen that I put my index finger into the bottle but my middle finger into my mouth. (1001 Great Stories, p. 305) – Just as professor Osler was able to get his students to taste urine because they weren’t paying attention, so we can get into trouble if we don’t pay attention close enough. Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.

I. The kingdom of God was created perfect but, VS. 25 – But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.

A. We must be aware of what is going on in our homes, our communities and our world. Never is our perception so warped as when we look at ourselves.

B. It’s always easier to see the sin in someone else’s life, to know what the other guy needs to do. The truth is most of us do not know ourselves as well as we should or as well as we think we do.

C. Satan’s greatest plans to bring conflict into your life can be thwarted if we will simply pay attention to what is going on in our culture and our personal lives.

II. In 1897 Pearl Wait came up with the idea of mixing flavoring with gelatin. His wife called his concoction Jell-o. After trying to sell this product for a few years, Mr. Wait became impatient with slow sales and sold his rights to his invention for $450. – Today, 1.1 million boxes of Jell-o are sold each day.

A. Vs. 30a – “Let them grow together until the harvest.”

B. The weed sown was probably bearded darnel. It looks like wheat until it is ripe. The servants wanted to pull up the weeds immediately. But the owner knew they needed to wait until the harvest.

C. Like every father, when my children had problems, I wanted to solve the problems for them. ---- but, what will they do when I am gone? --- God has given us Christ Jesus as the supreme example of how to exist within the context of God’s kingdom.

III. Vs. 30b – “First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.”

A. Jesus teaches in this parable that there will be a day of judgment in which the wheat will be separated from the weeds.

B. The darnel is able to pretend to be wheat for only so long before the true identity is revealed. Pretending to be a disciple of Christ Jesus can only be sustained so long.

C. There are no adequate excuses for not serving in God’s kingdom. The “I’m-surrounded by weeds” mentality is no excuse for not growing. --- The kingdom of heaven becomes a reality in each of us as we live amid the weeds of life becoming the most fruitful wheat we can become.

Conclu: READ VS. 37 - 43

Gaither E Bailey

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First Presbyterian Church, Georgetown, Kentucky, is a member of Transylvania Presbytery of the Synod of Living Waters in the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A.