Leaves Of Gold
A Call To
Return To The Teaching Of The Bible
A ministry of Evangelist James A. Nelson
Year III, No. 12 DECEMBER 2009
Master
Outlines Number Forty-seven, taken from "The Christian Life Bible",
Thomas Nelson Publishers, with notes by Porter L. Barrington
Seven Parables of the
The kingdom of heaven is
God's rule during this present age and after. The expression, "kingdom of heaven;'
used over and over by Matthew, comes by implication from Daniel where the
messianic "Son of Man" came in "the clouds of heaven" to
God the Father, "Then to Him was given ... a kingdom"
(Dan. 7:13, 14). A basic theme of the kingdom of heaven parables involves a
king Kiving a marriage feast or taking a journey,
followed by a long period in which some come to the marriage feast or work
diligently for the king; then comes the king's surprise return, his reward of
the faithful, and his punishment of the wicked. Thus these parables show how
Christ will administer the church and the world during this present age, and
how He will judge all upon His return.
A New Testament parable is
an earthly story that parallels a scriptural truth. Why did Christ teach in
parables? He explained part of the answer in Matthew 13:10-17. Parables vividly
communicated from the known (earthly) to the unknown-unseen (spiritual), and
providentially discriminated among the hearers. Those whose ears had been
opened by God would understand (Matt. 13:9) and be blessed (Matt. 13:16, 17),
while the unsaved and uninterested would hear but not comprehend (Matt.
13:13-15; cf. 1 Cor. 2:14). Today these parables slill
help our understanding of what is going on in the world, what God is accomplishing,
how He is working, how different segments of mankind will react to the gospel
message during our age, and what God will do when Christ returns to set up His
earthly kingdom. Each one is a rare beauty capahie of
unending study and admiration.
47-A. The Sower,«Matthew 13:3-9, 18-23)-
This parable is easy to
understand, because the Lord Jesus interpreted it for His apostles (vv. 18-23):
(1) The sower is one who sows the Word
of the kingdom in the world.
(2) The seed is the gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:1-4; cf.
John 3:17, 18,).
(3) The ground onto which the gospel seed is sown is the heart of
man (
There are four different responses to the gospel message-four
different types of groL!f\d
upon which the seed of the gospel falls. Christ did not teach that all the world would be converted during this age (Matt. 7:21-23).
The various reactions are not caused by different qualities of seed-for example,
more thrilling or compelling preaching. Christ placed the responsibility for
faith or unbelief on the soil-the hearer.
(1) The
first response comes from a hard heartjy, v.
4, cf John 12:37-41; Heb. 3:7-13). Wayside soil is
hard and unprepared for seed. The fowls that devour the seed that fell on the
hard ground are Satan and his demons.
(2) The second response
comes from a shallow heart (vv. 5, 6). Such a person has no spiritual
depth, no commitment to God's Word. He holds to his religious decision for a
while; but when tribulation or persecution come, "because of the
word" of God, he is offended and falls away from his profession of faith
(vv. 20, 21; cf. Matt. 7:21-23). .
(3) The third response comes
from a worldly heart (v. 7). A heart that loves this world system is a
heart alienated from God (1 Cor. 3:1-4). The love of money, success, and the
pleasures of this world choke out the influence of the Word of God in the life
of the professing believer so that he becomes unfruitful (v. 22). Many profess
Christ but love the world and the things of the world more than they love God
(1 John 2:15-17).
(4) The fourth response comes from an understanding heart
(vv. 8, 23). Note that only one man understood the Word of God, and
brought forth fruit (Acts 8:26-39).
The parable of the sower will apply to the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ until
the harvest at the end of the present age (John 4:35-39). This parable should
warn unconverted people that they need to receive the "good seed,"
the message of Christ's forgiveness, into their hearts. It also should
encourage Christians to witness boldly, because the seed does produce
fruit. However, the parable also puts to rest the unbiblical expectation that
everyone who "hears" will enter the kingdom. Only those who hear, understand,
and believe will make the true entrance.
See Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43,
for Point 47-B: The Tares.
As He did with
the parable of the sower, our Lord interpreted this
parable for us:
(1) The sower of the good seed is the
Son of Man, the Lord Jesus Christ (vv. 24, 37).
(2) The field is the world
(vv. 24, 38). While here on earth He sowed the good seed in person; but before
ascending into heaven, He commissioned His church to proclaim the gospel to
every person in every nation (Matt. 28:19, 20).
(3) The good seed in this parable is not the gospel, but rather
the children of the kingdom (vv. 24, 38). He began to sow (scatter) the good
seed (the children of God) first in
(4) "The tares are the
sons of the wicked one," Satan (vv. 25, 38). Jesus said to the unsaved
religious leaders of His day, "You are of your father the devil"
(John 8:44). Where Jesus sends His children, Satan also sends his. You will
find in most churches children of God and children of the Devil (Matt.
7:21-23,).
(5) The enemy that sowed the tares is the Devil (vv. 28, 39).
(6) The harvest is the end of
the age (vv. 30, 39). Christ's second coming will conclude this age. He will
send His angels to reap the harvest and separate the wheat from the tares. He
will rapture the "wheat," the children of the kingdom, and burn the
"tares," the children of Satan. Note the contrast: The children of
the Devil will be cast into "the furnace of fire" (hell), while the
children of God "will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their
Father" (vv. 30, 40-43; cf. Rev. 20:15).
47-C. The Mustard Seed (Matthew 13:31, 32)-"The
kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his
field" (v. 31). The mustard seed is one of the smallest of seeds.
(1) The mustard seed is the church in its numerically
insignificant beginning-Christ and the twelve
apostles. On the Day of Pentecost, the small
kingdom began its phenomenal expansion. Like the mustard tree it continued to
grow, branching out into other nations of the known world.
(2) The man who sowed the seed is the God-Man, Christ Jesus.
(3) His field is the world.
(4) The fowls of the air that lodged in the branches are probably
the same as in the parable of the sower-Satan and his
demons (Matt. 13:4, 19,
This mustard tree (the
church), in its early existence, was pure and powerful until Satan's followers
found a way to nest in its branches. Christendom will continue with the true
children of God, as well as the imposters who profess to be God's children.
Just as the wheat and the tares will grow together until the harvest, so the
saved and the unsaved will nest in the mustard tree until Jesus comes to
separate the wheat from the tares, the sheep from the goats, the saved from the
unsaved (Matt. 25:31-34,41,46).
47-D. The leaven (Matthew 13:33)-
(1) The woman is the harlot church (Rev. 17).
(2) The leaven represents
the subtle working of evil, for which the same symbol is used elsewhere in
Scripture (e.g., Ex. 12:15, 19; Matt. 16:6-12,). It is religious hypocrisy
(Luke 12:1). The leaven is the evil doctrine of the apostate church.
(3) The three measures of
meal represent Christendom from its inception through the Tribulation. After
the true church is raptured, Christendom will be
totally corrupt (1 Cor. 5:6-9). The "mystery of lawlessness" (2
Thess. 2:7) has been working as leaven in the church from its early days (Rev.
2:2-15) and will continue to work until the whole of Christendom is evil.
This parable teaches that as the years and centuries roll on, the.
pure Christianity of the early church will become
progressively corrupt until the entire lump (Christendom) is leavened.
.
47-E. The
Hidden Treasure (Matthew 13:44)- This
profound parable is one of the deepest and most misinterpreted of all the
parables. It involves both revelation and mystery (Rom. 16:25, 26; cf. Mark
4:11, 12
(Point 47-£ continued from previous page)
(1) The revelation is that the hidden treasure is the
(3) The treasure is hidden
in the field (the world). When Adam and Eve sinned and were driven from thl' Garden of
Jesus journeyed to
See Matthew 13:45, 46, above, for Point 47-F: The
47-F. The
Again we have the merchant,
representing the God-Man, Christ Jesus, who came into the world "to seek
and to save that which was lost" (luke
19:10, page 1038). The merchant came seeking beautiful pearls, and found one
pearl of exquisite beauty. This speaks of the church, the body of Christ (Col.
1:18, page 1202). It is a beautiful picture of the growth, unity, and purity of
the church.
The seeking Savior comes,
and men, women, and children hear the gospel of how He was pierced,
"wounded for our transgressions" (Is. 53:5, page 693). A pearl is
formed in an oyster-a grain of sand lodged in the oyster's shell causes
irritation, triggering a secretion that surrounds the sand ... and in time a
pearl is formed. Similarly, through the centuries the lord has been adding to
the church those who are being saved (Acts 2:47, page 1090). Thus, all
born-again children of God together are valuable pearls in the eyes of the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, because we were
spiritually shaped by the blood that came from the Savior's pierced side.
This is a great mystery:
that billions of individuals, living and dead, of differing backgrounds,
cultures, customs, and languages, are one body. Tragically, sometimes
differences in doctrine, opinion, and will are so pronounced between believers
that it seems there will never be unity among them. Many refuse to "speak
the same thing" and "be perfectly joined together in the same mind
and in the same judgment" (1 Cor. 1:10, page 1148). Nonetheless they are
all one in "the unity of the Spirit," in "one body" (Eph.
4:3, 4, page 1190). And just as the merchant sold all that he had and bought
the one pearl of great price, so "Christ also loved the church and gave
Himself for her" (Eph. 5:25, page 1192).
This pure, pearl-like unity
of the church may never be visible on this earth, during this age. It will be
realized, though, when the dead in Christ are raised and, with those who are
alive, are caught up to meet Him in the air (1 Thess. 4:16-18, page 1212). Then
we will be perfect in body and mind-"conformed to His glorious body"
(Phil. 3:21, page 1198) and knowing "just as [we] also [are] known"
(1 Cor. 13:12, page 1160). Then we shall be revealed as one body, one bride,
or, as in the parable, "one pearl of great price"-paid for by His
death, burial, and resurrection.
See Matthew 13:47-50, above, for Point 47-G: The Net.
47-G. The Net (Matthew 13:47-50)- This parable depicts the consummation of what the foregoing
parables describe, as the kingdom moves from mystery to open, visible presence.
(1) The kingdom of heaven is a net filled with fish-a catch of all
kinds.
(2) The sea is the nations of the world who will come before the
King to be judged.
(3) The catch is made up of
good and bad. Just as the King allows the tares to grow amid the wheat until He
comes to establi~h His kingdom, so the good and bad
fish will co-exist until the Master Fisherman casts His net and draws them into
His presence at the end of the age (v. 49). The angels will then separate the
good from the bad (Matt. 25:31-46). The good (the saved, who did the will of
God-John 6:40) will be received into God's kingdom. The bad (the lost, who were
disobedient) will be "cast ... into the furnace of fire. There will be
wailing and gnashing of teeth" (v. 50).
These studies will continue..............
Baptist Doctrine, E. C. Gillentine, Bogard Press
1.
CHAPTER TEN
The Necessity of the
This timely address was
given by Dr. Dean before the Premillennial
Association of Southern California,an organization with which is affiliated over one hundred
and fifty (150) evangelical ministers in
Uios Sperma
The Virgin Birth of Christ
was a necessity, for three reasons; first, to fulfill prophecy; second, to give a title to the throne of David; and third,
that He might be a Saviour.
1. TO FULFILL PROPHECY.
Look at the two Greek words above. The word at the left is
pronounced "whyos" and is translated
"son." The word at the right is translated "seed." The
whole story of Christ's meeting all the demands of prophecy and escaping all
the bars of prophecy and thus securing an unmistakable title to the throne of
David is told in the discriminating use of these two words. It would be
absolutely impossible for Him to claim a title to that throne if He had not
been born of a virgin. Now Uios (son) may express
natural, blood relationship, and is often used in this sense. But it may express
merely legal relationship, when there is no kinship by blood at all. This
usage is, common in all languages. Saul called David "my son"
because David was married to Saul's daughter, I Sam. 24:16. One may be a legal
son, or son-in-law, without being a real son by blood.
On the other hand, Sperm a (seed) always expresses blood
relationship, and never merely legal relationship.
Many
homes in this land have sons that are in no wise related by blood to their
foster parents.
This word Sperma (seed) is used in a
prophecy about Christ. He has the unique distinction of being the only person
born in the human race who was "the seed of a woman."
It is evident that if Christ were the seed of David and at the
same time born of a virgin, He mu'st
have gotten this relationship through His mother, sirice
He had not human father. This difficulty is met in the very promise about the
Messiah.
"The Lord God said unto the serpent, And I will put enmity
between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise
thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel," Gen.
3:15.
This prophecy has always been interpreted to refer to Christ, who
would in the end overcome Satan and set up His Kingdom on this earth.
If it were not for this prophecy it would be impossible for us to
claim that Christ was the seed of David, and at the same time born of a
virgin, without a human father, But, according to this promise, there was to be
one unique person that was to be the seed of a woman. This He could not be if
He were the natural seed of Joseph. He would then be the seed of a man.
Christ was the only person ever born that could fulfill this
prophecy. The virgin Mary was a direct descendant by blood from David;
therefore to be the seed of this woman was to be the seed of David.
This harmonizes with the
great prophecy of Isaiah. "Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son,
and shall call his name Immanuel," Isaiah 7:14.
This prophecy, according to Matthew, was fulfilled at the birth of
Jesus Christ, Matt. 1:22. He is Immanuel, which means God with us. So both His
Deity and humanity are declared in this prophecy.
He must be born of a virgin, then, to fulfill these two great
prophecies. But it is equally necessary for Him to be born of a virgin to
escape the bar raised by Jeremiah.
II. HE MUST BE BORN OFA
VIRGIN THAT HE MAY BE ENTITLED TO THE THRONE OF DAVID.
Against Jeconiah (the last King in the
royal succession that ever sat on the Throne of David), Jeremiah pronounced
these words:
"Is this man Coniah a despised,
broken idol? Is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? Wherefore are they cast
out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not? 0 earth,
earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith
the Lord, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his
days; for none of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and
ruling any more in Judah," Jer. 22:28-30.
This does not mean that J econiah would not have children, for we are distinctly told
that he did havil
children, I Chron.
3:17; Matt. 1:2. But it means that none of his descendants would ever sit on
the throne of David.
Now Matthew's genealogy shows that the title
to the throne of David must descend through this very line of Jeconiah and no other. Christ, then, must establish His
legal right through this line, or He could have no right to that throne.
He must be the Vios
(son) of David through this male line of succession, but He must not be the Sperma (seed) of Jeconiah.
Remember the title to the throne of David always descends through the father,
not the mother.
The genealogy was preserved with the greatest
care, although the legal heirs were barred by Jeremiah's prophecy.
Thus Matthew says, "After they were
brought to
Notice the peculiar wording of Matt. 1:16:
"Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is
called Christ." Then follows the e~planation
how Jesus was begotten of the Holy Ghost 'before the marriage of His mother,
and how His mother was married by divine direction before His birth. This made
Him the Dios (son) of Joseph, without being the Sperma
(seed) of Joseph, and therefore the seed of Jeconiah.
Joseph was the only living heir to the throne of David when Christ was born.
There are never two proper heirs to the throne at the same time. Luke says of
Joseph, "He was of the house and lineage of David," Luke 2:4. This
means that Joseph was heir to the throne, notwithstanding he was barred from
reigning by Jeremiah's prophecy.
It was
only by Christ being born of a virgin that He would get over the bar set up by
Jeremiah.
If He were the natural seed of Joseph, He could not be the seed of
a woman, Gen. 3:15. If He were the natural seed of Joseph, He would not have
been born of a virgin, according to the promise of Isaiah 7:14. If He were the
seed of Joseph, "He would then also be the seed of J econiah
and could not rule in
III. THE PROBLEM OF THE TWO GENEALOGIES.
In
perfect harmony with this plan Matthew begins with these words:
"The
book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son (Uios)
of David, the son (Uios) of Abraham."
Is it not strange that Matthew never let his pen slip once and
called Him the seed (Sperma) of David or Abraham, but
always the son (Uios) of David and Abraham?
Matthew gives the genealogy of Joseph. He says, "Jacob begat
Joseph." He could have only one father that begat him. Luke says, "Joseph
was the son of Heli," Luke 3:23. But this may
mean, and certainly does mean here, that he was only the son-in-law. Since he
was married to Mary he had a father-in-law, Le., Mary's father, whose name was HelL
This solves the problem of
these two genealogies. Luke establishes His descent from David through Nathan
which is not the line of succession at all. But still this makes Him the seed
of David in His humanity as was promised, Psalm 89:36. In Matthew, the wise
men ask the question, "Where is he that is born King of the Jews?"
Matt. 2:2. Christ was the only person that was ever born a King. Joseph was
still living when He was born, but, as we have seen, he could not occupy the
throne. But Christ had every right and no bar, so He was· born a king. Nathanael
was right when he said, ",Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the
King of Israel," John 1:49.
Be assured that He could not be the King of Israel if He were not
the Son of God, born of a virgin. When Pilate asked Him, "Art thou the
King of the Jews?" Luke 23:3, He answered, "Thou sayest
it."
Since Luke gives His genealogy from Mary declaring His humanity,
we would expect His introduction to be different, and so it is.
"And 10, the angel said unto them. Fear not; for behold, I
bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you
is born this day in the city of David a Saviour,
which is Christ the Lord," Luke 2:10, 11.
In Matthew, He is pre-eminently the Son of David, and King of the
Jews, and His ministry is to that people. Matthew calls Him "the Son of
David" eight times and it is as Son of David that He says, "I am not
sent but unto the lost sheep of the House of Is-' rael,"
Matt. 15:24. He must first offer Himself to God's chosen people, and this He
does in person and through His disciples, Matt. 10:5, 6.
In Luke, He is the Seed of David, born of the Virgin Mary, and
therefore a Saviour to all people. This is the line
of Paul's ministry. After His complete reception by the nation of
But Paul also again and again proclaims the Deity of Christ arid
preaches the necessity of His virgin birth. Strange that anyone would contend
that Paul never taught the virgin birth, when his whole plan of redemption
requires it and he implies it everywhere.
IV. THE LAST ADAM.
According to Paul's gospel, all
mankind sinned in Adam, Rom. 5:13; I Cor. 15:22. Adam was the federal head of the
race and when he fell the whole race fell with him. Adam was also the natural
head of the race and everyone descending from him by natural generations has
partaken of his sinful nature, Rom. 5:18, 19; Eph. 2:3, etc. Therefore, the
apostle teaches that if we are ever to be saved there must come some one into
our race that, while truly a man, has not descended by natural generation from
Adam, and therefore has not inherited Adam's guilt and sinful nature. To be a
substitute for us, He must be a real man; but to be an adequate substitute He
must be "holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners," Heb.
7:26.
How often does the apostle refer to our Lord in this aspect of His
unique personality.
"The first man Adam was
made a living soul; the last Adam a quickening Spirit. The first man is of the
earth, earthly; the second man is the Lord from heaven," I Cor. 15:45-47.
Does not this teach Deity? How could He be Deity if He were the
natural seed of Joseph?
"What the law could not
do in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the
likeness of sinful flesh, and as an offering for sin, condemned sin in the
flesh," etc., Rom. 8:3.
Does not this teach the
pre-existence of Christ before He came into this world? Does it not also teach
that He did not inherit our sinful nature, since He did not have sinful flesh?
How could this be if He were born like any other man with a human father?
"But when the fulness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a
woman, made under the law tQ redeem them that were
under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons," Gal. 4:4, 5.
Here we have His
pre-existence as the eternal Son and His sinlessness
in His humanity; for how could He be sinless if He were an ordinary man like
ourselves with a human father; or worse than that, according to the opposers of His virgin birth, the illegitimate
child of an impure woman?
"But we see Jesus, who
was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned
with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every
man," Heb. 2:9.
Here we see Him who was
higher than the heavens, made lower than the angels, i.e., He became a man in
order that He might die in our stead and save us, Heb. 2:16, 17; II Cor. 5:21.
Such Scriptures could be greatly multiplied. See Phil. 2:5-8; I Tim.
3:16; Rom. 1:3, etc, etc.
Three things are established
by these Scriptures:
1. That Christ was God the Son from eternity, and apart from His
birth of the virgin Mary.
2. That He was truly (a)
man, without partaking of our sinful nature, and therefore without descending
by natural generation from Adam.
3. That He must have these
qualities in order to save us. If such is not the case, we Christians have no
more of a Saviour than Budhists
or Mohammedans; and all the millions of the saints that have died with the
comforting assurance of being absent from the body and present with "the
Lord that bought them," have been deceived.
Note 1: The word "sprema" is not, of course, the word used in the
original Hebrew of Gen. 3:16 and Jer. 22:30; but it is the word used in the
Septuagint (Greek) translation, and is the only word that gives the Greek
meaning of the Hebrew word.
Note 2: After Jeconiah (or Jehoiachin) was
<:arried to Babylon, Zedekiah, his uncle, was
place on the throne by N ebuchadnezzar and reigned
eleven years, but he was not in the true line of succession and all his
children were slain, so he could have no successors. It is, therefore, correct
to say that J econiah was the last king of
The above article is
reprinted from the King's Business, of August, 1924.-By permission. Reproduced
from "Baptist Doctrine in a Nut Shell" (These studies will continue)
This
page is edited by Evangelist James A. Nelson,
The
Web Master is Pastor Martin R. Gutzmer,
mrgutzmer@gmail.com
The
sponsor is David R. Pickett,