THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS LIKENED UNTO

Scripture: Matthew 22

            Several times in the New Testament the Lord told a parable, and prefaced that parable with the statement: “The kingdom of heaven is likened unto” Any time the Lord speaks about the church being likened unto something, I want to know what the church is likened unto. 

THE MARRIAGE FEAST

In Matthew 22 Jesus likened, The Kingdom of heaven unto a certain king who made a marriage feast for his son, and sent forth His servants to call them that were bidden, and they would not come. The Kingdom of heaven on earth is the church. Colossians 1 says that we have been delivered out of darkness, and translated into the kingdom of the Son of His love.

This parable of Jesus foreshadows the great wedding feast in Revelation nineteen. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunders, saying, “Hallelujah: For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigneth. Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad, and let us give the glory unto Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready. And it was given unto her that she should array herself in fine linen, bright and pure: for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. And he said unto me, blessed are they that are bidden to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”

    Here in Matthew 22 those who were bidden to the marriage feast would not come. They could come, but they would not come. It was a defiant answer; “I won’t do it.” That is the answer many give today: “I won’t do it.”

   The King said, “All things are ready.” Evidently the King had done everything He could to make the feast a great success. Is it not true that God has made every effort to make that heavenly marriage of the Lamb a success? He sent His son Jesus to die in our place. In Second Corinthians 5 Paul reminds us: “Him who knew no sin He made to be sin on our behalf; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” That is all God can do as far as His part of our salvation is concerned. If this plan is rejected, there will be no further offer. God bankrupted the salvation bank of heaven when He sent Jesus via the virgin birth to die on the cross for our sins. The second invitation received a different refusal.  They made light of it, and went their way. Some are still making light of the Lord Jesus, and His word today.

Then saith He unto His servants, "The wedding is ready, but they that were bidden are not worthy. Go ye therefore into the partings of the highways, and as many as ye shall find bid to the marriage feast.” And those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all as many as they found both BAD AND GOOD, and the wedding was filled with guests. BAD AND GOOD; sinners come in those two classifications. Some sinners are bad sinners, and some sinners are good sinners. The bad sinner is described in 1st Corinthians 6, “The unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God. Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with men, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God and such were some of you; but you were washed, you were sanctified, ye were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”

THESE ARE THE BAD SINNERS

Good sinners are spoken of in the story of Cornelius this way: "He was a devout man, feared God with all his house, prayed to God always and gave much alms to the people." Yet he was told to send for Peter that he might hear words whereby he might be saved. HE WAS A GOOD SINNER. Whether you are a good sinner, or a bad sinner, there is no hope for either one of you without Jesus.

When the King came in to behold the guests, he saw there a man who had not on a wedding garment. He said, "Friend, how camest thou in hither without a wedding garment?" He was speechless. Galatians 3:27 tells how we put on the wedding garment. “As many of us as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ.”

The wedding garment of Jesus will always be in style as were the garments of the Israelies in the wilderness. Moses in his farewell address reminded the people how their clothes never wore out for about forty years. He said, “Your raiment waxed not old upon you; neither did your feet swell, or did your shoes wear out.” Likewise the wedding garment of Jesus will be in style on the Judgment day, and for all eternity.

And then that statement at the end of the story of the marriage feast, “Many are called but few chosen.” The called are all those who have heard the gospel message; the chosen are those who accept it. Millions have heard the invitation on this program, but few are chosen. The Kingdom of heaven is likened unto.

THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE

There were other times when Jesus said the Kingdom of heaven is likened unto. In Matthew thirteen He said, “Again the Kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man that is a merchant seeking goodly pearls: and having found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

     There are many pearls in life to search for: The pearl of education, the pearl of music, the pearl of sports, the pearl of achievement in various areas, but there is one pearl greater than all, and must be purchased at all costs. All other pearls are like a bucket full of costume jewelry compared to it. The church is the crown jewel of all organizations on earth, and as such should receive our undivided loyalty. The Kingdom of heaven is likened unto.

THE HIDDEN TREASURE

Jesus also said, “The Kingdom of heaven is likened unto a treasure hidden in the field; which a man found, and hid: and in his joy he went and sold all that he hath, and buyeth that field.” According to Jesus the church is this worlds greatest treasure. Evidently many people have not found that out yet.

This man was digging in a field, and found the treasure by accident. Many folk find the Lord by accident. They were not seeking for Him. In Romans 10 Paul quotes Isaiah when he said, “I was found of those who sought Me not.” Maybe someone today can find the Lord in this program, and find the greatest treasure in life, even though you were not looking for it.

   Remember also this man found the Lord by digging. There are some things in the service of the Lord that require a lot of digging. The Kingdom of heaven is likened unto.

THE NET

Again the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: which when it was filled, they drew up on the beach; and they sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but the bad they cast away. 

Jesus says, I will make you fishers of men. After the resurrection some of His disciples were fishing with a net and took nothing. Jesus called to them and said, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat and you shall find. They did and caught 153 big fish. Considering the times we live in, I am not over drawing the picture when I say, “Thank God Jesus is not a liberal; it was the right side of the boat, and not the left.” Always cast your net on the right side of the boat. We always fish from the right side of the boat on this broadcast because it is our conviction that the Bible is in fact the inspired word of God, and Jesus is the virgin born Son of God, risen from the dead.

Of course the Lord reminds us we do not always know what we are catching. In the net you will find  porpoises. These are they who pray, study the word of God, attend all the meetings, on porpose. Also there are many flounders who have a great talent to merely flounder around. Watch out for the pariahs; Paul speaks of them when he referred to those who bite and devour one another, and of course you will always find a few crabs, and crawdads in the church net. But praise God also there are great whales in the net like Peter and Paul, and a lot of sardines like me.

The interpretation Jesus gave to this parable was the angels shall come at the end of the world and sever the wicked from among the righteous, and shall cast them into the fire: there shall be the weeping and gnashing of teeth. On that day of separation there will be no mix up, Paul told Timothy, “The Lord knoweth them that are His.” The Kingdom of heaven is likened unto.

THE HOUSEHOLDER

Then the Kingdom of heaven is likened unto a householder who bringeth forth out of his treaure things new and old. The Lord Jesus is a perfect example  of the householder.

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus brought forth something old when He said, “Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment.” Now that was something old. But then He said, “But I say unto you, that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment, and whosoever shall say to his brother, ‘thou fool’ shall be in danger of the hell of fire.” That was something new He brought out of His treasure.

In the Old Testament there is the account of the passover when the blood of a lamb was placed on the two sides of the door and over the top, in all the homes of Israel. The Lord said He would passover the land at midnight, and every first born in Egypt would be slain, but when I see the blood, I will pass over you.  When we read that in Exodus 12 we know that was something old. But in the New Testament he brought out something new in First Corinthians 5:7 “For our Passover also hath been sacrificed, even Christ: wherefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven...but with the unleavened of sincerity and truth,” The Kingdom of heaven is likened unto.

THE LABORERS IN THE VINEYARD

And then Jesus also said in Matthew 20, “The Kingdom of God is likened unto a man that was a householder who went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard.” Those who agreed to work were to be paid a penny a day. He went out again at the third hour of the day, and bargained with them for the same amount. Then again at the sixth hour, and then the ninth hour. Then finally he went out at the eleventh hour, and found others standing in the marketplace idle. He said unto them, “Why stand ye hear all the day idle?” They said, “Because no man has hired us.” He said, “Go ye also into the vineyard.”

At the end of the day the householder told the steward to call the laborers, and pay them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first, and they received every man a penny. When the first saw it they supposed they would receive more, but they likewise received every man a penny.

There was a genral uproar over this. They complained to the house holder and said, “These last have received the same for one hour as we received for working all day, bearing the burden and the scorching heat.” The householder said, “Did you not agree to work for a penny a day? Take up that which is thine and go thy way; it is my will to give unto these last, even as unto thee.”

Remember the Lord said, “The Kingdom of heaven is like this.” Those who came in the early hour, and then at the third hour were the fortunate ones when we think of them as laborers in the Lord’s vineyard. We who have come into the vinyard at the early hours have had the privledge of bearing the burden of the day and the scorching heat.

Think of the burden of carrying on this broadcast for more than forty years, and the scorching heat. We do not sell anything, work no miracles, or send out any prayer cloth. Think also of the ministers of the local churches at whatever area, and all the frustrations, and all the problems in church work. I have seen fights in the large churches, small churchws, and  Bible Colleges. Fights among those with grade school education, and fights among those with advanced degrees.  Think of the failures, the perplexities, the problems, the disapoitments; how else can you sum it up aside from referring to it as the burden of the day and the scorching heat.

Now isn’t that wonderful? What’s wonderful about it? It is wonderfull because we have had the privlege of fighting the Lord’s battles. Better to be embattled in the Lord’s work than to fight the battles of life in the service of the Devil. Actually there are problems in every endeavor of life, no one can escape the frustrations of life.

Those who came in the eleventh hour received the penny, but missed out on the oppurtunity to render  service in the Lord’s vinyard. We do not earn eternal life by our service, but we have the opportunity to serve in the work of the One who gave His life a ransom for us.

Those who came early, and late received eternal life. It is never too late in the grace of God to enter the vinyard of the Lord at any hour. When I had begun to labor in the vineyard of the Lord early in the morning of life’s short day, a very large man came through our town, registered at the local hotel, and then sent for me. He said he wanted to become a Christian since he had promised his mother he would do so before he died. He was now well into his eighties, and in a wheel chair. It took three of us to get him in the baptistery where he was buried into Christ for the remission of his sins. Several months later he came back in a box, and we buried him again, this time in his grave. That second burial did not mean a thing, because he had already been buried with his Lord in baptism. He came to the Lord in the eleventh hour, and at his funeral I said, “If all was as it seemed to be; even though he came to the Lord in the eleventh hour of his life, he shall receive his penny.” For many years I have bourne the burden of the day, and the scorching heat, but it will not earn for me eternal life. We are saved by our obedience to the plan of salvation through the grace of God, in the blood of Christ. We are not saved by our service, but we are saved to serve. The Kingdom of heaven is likened unto.