An introduction to the concept of victory in the kingdom of heaven.

Introduction to Victory

Acknowledgment of a guest and explanation of a Yoruba proverb.

Acknowledgment and Proverb

Explanation of the parables of the kingdom and the purpose of speaking in parables.

Parables of the Kingdom

Interpretation and explanation of the parable of the wheat.

Parable of the Wheat

Exploration of the meaning and implications of the parable.

Meaning of the Parable

Exhortation to remain faithful and vigilant, with a warning about the judgment day.

Exhortation and Warning

Discussion of the final separation and ultimate judgment, with a call to readiness.

Final Separation and Ultimate Judgment

Not everyone who says 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven. Surrender your life to Christ.

Entering the Kingdom of Heaven

The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that grows into a large tree, symbolizing people from all nations becoming part of God's family.

Parable of the Mustard Seed

The kingdom of God is for all nations and cultures, spreading across the globe and impacting lives.

The Kingdom of God

Your influence, no matter how small, can make an enormous impact in the kingdom of God. Keep making a positive impact wherever you are.

The Impact of Influence

God's time will come for separation, and the righteous will be rewarded. Keep nourishing the kingdom and making a positive influence.

Flourishing in the Kingdom

- The speaker addresses online worshipers and discusses the kingdom of heaven as the winning side
- He shares a proverb in his native language and its translation in English, French, and Italian
- The speaker urges the audience to listen and act on advice or warnings from the message
- He discusses the parable of the wheat and its interpretation by Jesus Christ
- The speaker explains the reasons why Jesus spoke in parables, including to fulfill prophecy and to reveal truth to those who are receptive

- Jesus explains the parable of the weeds of the field to his disciples
- The good seed represents the sons of the kingdom, while the weeds represent the sons of the evil one
- The harvest represents the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels
- The parable teaches that good and evil will coexist until the end of time, and there will be a separation at the harvest
- It is important to be led by the spirit when dealing with bad people in the church

- The speaker warns Christians to be vigilant and not to be complacent, as they are surrounded by enemies and evil.
- They emphasize the importance of being patient and trusting in God's perfect timing for judgment.
- The ultimate judgment and separation of sinners and righteous will occur at the end of the age, and the speaker urges people to be ready for that day.
- The speaker warns about the consequences of not being prepared for judgment, using the story of Lazarus and the rich man as an example.

- The speaker urges the audience to be ready for judgment day and to surrender their lives to Christ
- He discusses the parable of the mustard seed, emphasizing the growth of the kingdom of heaven and the inclusion of people from all nations
- The speaker also talks about the impact of small beginnings, using examples from his own life and the spread of the gospel
- He concludes with the parable of the yeast, emphasizing the potential for influence and impact in the kingdom of God

- The video emphasizes the importance of making a positive impact and influence in the kingdom of God.
- It encourages individuals to assess the impact they are making and strive to make a positive difference in their community, family, and church.
- The speaker prays for God's help in flourishing in the kingdom and for the righteous to be rewarded in the end.

The speaker discusses the kingdom of heaven and the parables of the wheat, mustard seed, and yeast. He emphasizes the coexistence of good and evil, the importance of being prepared for judgment day, and the potential for positive impact in the kingdom of God. The audience is urged to listen and act on the message, be vigilant, and strive to make a positive difference.

Parables of the Weeds, Mustard Seed and Yeast

Good morning to our online worshipers as well.

The kingdom of heaven is the winning side.

You know what the Bible says in the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 5, 15, right at 57, it says, but thanks to God, who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ that's amazing sorry I'm gonna probably put us in a comfortable position, maybe or maybe not.

I want us to give God almighty a shout, a shout of victory.

However you can shout it, you can shout hallelujah.

I know it might be a bit awkward or strange But let's just give God a shout because what we are victorious because what we are more than conquerors give God a shout a shout hallelujah I can't really feel that right that's okay all right so permit me to acknowledge the presence of my father-in-law all the way from Nigeria.

He's been with us for a couple of weeks now.

Applause He's with his wife from Nigeria, but his wife is not here today.

Hopefully next week she's going to be here with us.

So there is a proverb in my native language.

If I ask my wife to read it, I'm sure she'll probably twist her tongue.

I know that is not in, over there, right?

And some of my Nigerian, probably Nigerians, they'll probably understand that as well.

So there are similar expressions in other languages, in English, in French, in Italian.

I don't know if I've done justice to the meaning, but It's as simple as saying a word to the wise is sufficient.

And in Italy, Italian, did I get it right?

So Basically this expression usually means that the speaker is about to give some advice or warning and suggest that the listeners do what they should follow.

If I have to give the proverb in Yoruba, if I have to give it a literal English meaning, it's going to sound this way.

A half word to the wise, when conceived, it becomes old.

Yeah, that's what it's gonna mean, literally.

So I urge you today, please listen and act on any advice or warning that may come out from today's message.

And not just today's message, you know, any message that anybody, you know, Comes up here to share with us.

Abororo In my language right for everyone this morning.

All right Thanks for the prayer Louis So I think we're good to go.

Before then, we've already done the paribus that we're dealing with that we're going to be talking about today.

The parables of the wheat, the parables of the mustard seed, and the parables of the yeast.

We're going to start with the first parable.

But as you may be aware, right, this is a series.

And these parables are what they are told by our Lord Jesus Christ to the crowd, to be precise, including his disciples, to the crowd.

So I think it is very important to to highlight again why he spoke in parables.

Josh last week he mentioned it and 2 weeks ago Doug also mentioned it.

But in today's passage, Christ, another reason was mentioned by Matthew, which I'm going to read.

Matthew chapter 13 verse 34 to 35 All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parable Indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable interesting verse 35 this was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet.

I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the word.

Again, remember parables are simple stories with what with profound spiritual truth that's what George said last week the other 2 reasons this is 1 of the reasons to fulfill what what was spoken by the Prophet that was mentioned in today's passage.

The other 2 reasons, the second 1 to reveal truth to those who are receptive and the last reason to conceal truth from those who are not receptive.

So those are the 3 reasons mentioned why, the reason why Christ spoke in parables, right?

And I believe it applies to all the other parables we're going to be hearing as well.

All right, so that's been settled, the reason why Jesus spoke in paribus.

Now let's read today's paribu, the paribu of the wheat.

Let me mention before I go into the reading, right, that this paribu and the paribu of the musta seed, they are closely connected to the parable of the sower that we heard last week, right?

Because the general scenario, the general theme, just like we know, is mainly about farming.

And this is what the audience, the crowds, this is what they are familiar with.

So in the parable of the weeds, Jesus presents a vivid illustration of the kingdom of heaven.

Now let's read from verse 24 of Matthew 13.

He puts another parable before them saying and just to mention This is the first parable where Jesus Christ is going to be starting by saying the kingdom of heaven May be compared right the first parable it didn't start with that Maybe compared to a man who sold good seed in this in his field But while men while his men were sleeping his enemy came and sold The weeds among the wheat wheat and went away So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also.

And the servant of the master of the house came and said to him master you didn't also good seed in your field how then does it have weeds it then said to them an enemy has done this so the servant said to him then do you want us to go and gather them?

But he said, no, let's in gathering the weeds, you root up the wheat along with them.

Let both grow together until the harvest.

And at the harvest time, I will tell the reapers, gather the weeds first and buy them in bundles to be born.

Luckily for us, Jesus Christ gave an interpretation, an explanation of this parable.

So my work is probably pretty simple, right, in terms of interpreting this parable.

And again, The explanation was given just to the disciples because they haxed him.

Then he left the crowds and went into the house and his disciples came to him saying, Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.

He answered, the 1 who sows the good seed is the son of man.

Interestingly, Jesus Christ didn't mention the kingdom of everyone.

The field is the world and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom.

The weeds are the sons of the evil 1 and the enemy who sow them is the devil.

The harvest is the end of the age and the reapers are angels just as the weeds are gathered and burnt with fire so will it be at the end of the age the son of man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all courses of sin and all lawbreakers and throw them into the very furnace in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father.

Who has ears, let him hear." Again that's another Aboror.

So the table, this basically shows us the meaning of the explanation of some of the key objects that we read in the parable and the explanation that Jesus Christ gave.

No explanation for the kingdom of heaven.

But I strongly believe that the kingdom of heaven here refers to the kingdom of God here on earth.

The kingdom that we have, the kingdom is both now and the 1 that is yet to come.

You know we just concluded the series on Salmon on the Mount, right, where we talk about what?

When everything in that kingdom is gonna be made perfect, there'll be nothing like pain, like sorrow, like agony, like affliction, like sickness, like death.

So the kingdom of heaven in this passage is not church.

All right, that's what the kingdom of heaven is.

And Jesus Christ referred to himself as the son of man in, I believe in probably few places in the Bible.

When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, who do men say that I, the son of man, am?

So Jesus Christ is the son of man yeah who is the sower right remember in the first parable this is where the difference is even though they have similar theme the sower in the first parable is who Jesus and anyone who spreads the gospel.

We are the sower in the first parable, right?

I remember we are mandated to spread the gospel.

Every time you have told someone about Jesus and the gospel, what have you done?

You've planted a seed in their heart however not everything you plant will bear fruit that's not a message for today we had that last week but just to let you know that there is a similarity then the field it belongs to the sower and what's the sower here in today's passage is Jesus Christ and he made it clear and the good seed this represents the people of the kingdom those who are saved those who have surrendered their life to Jesus Christ.

Right, these are the people of the kingdom.

However, in the first parable, the seed is what?

In the first parable, the parable of the sower, the seed is the message of the kingdom that yeah the good see is the people of the kingdom you and I now the weeds this represent the people of the evil world.

Anyone who does evil, the workers of iniquity, those who engage in wrongful act and perpetuate wickedness, the false prophets, just like we read in the book of Matthew chapter 7, the wolves in sheepskin, the first Christ, the children of Satan, the least gozun, right?

The devil has put evil principles in them and this makes them to be qualified as the sons or the children of the evil 1 unfortunately we have them everywhere even in the church who is the enemy the devil is the enemy.

Or what can we take up from this parable?

Number 1, the parable teaches us that there will be what coexistence of good and evil just like we read in that story the sons of the kingdom and the sons of the evil we coexist in the world in that kingdom in this present kingdom, until the end of time.

And it's not always easy to distinguish between those who are part of the kingdom and those who are not.

Can you easily identify who is evil and who is not?

So the weed, just like we read, actually the weed is known as Darnell, D-A-R-N-E-L in Greek.

And they look exactly like weeds, especially at the development stage.

So the distinction is not noticeable until when the average time is almost there.

When it's nearing the average time, That's when you notice the distinction.

More reason why the master said to the servant, no, do not uproot.

So keep them together, let them grow together until they harvest.

At the moment, currently, the weeds and the weeds what?

They grow together on this planet, in this kingdom.

When Jesus returns, the kingdom will come in all its fullness.

You can say, Bola G, or however you pronounce my name, Bola G.

Are we supposed to coexist with them in the church?

If they've ignored multiple warnings, right?

And if they can cause irreparable damage, perhaps they have to let them go.

But most importantly, when making decision on the matter or situation like this, we need to be led by the spirit.

So this is my first warning for us, right?

But before then, before I give the first warning, Think about it.

The weed was sown, the weed rather, the weed was sown by woe.

When people are sleeping, when men slept, when the workers are sleeping, are sleeping, when everyone was asleep, that's when a what?

And this is my warning, Christians, brothers, sisters, Fathers, mothers, wake up.

We are surrounded by enemies, by evil ones.

I'm not talking about inside the church now, you know, in the kingdom right in the world do not sleep do not slumber when you should be awake where you should be a lot do not be too complicit be a lot be watchful be vigilant This is what the Bible says in the Book of 1 Peter chapter 5, verse 8.

Be sober and be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

Beloved brethren, the devil, he attack when he's praying or when he's victim.

Maybe when you're supposed to be praying, you let down your guard, you are doing something else.

And the devil has his agents all over the world, even in the church, right?

So that's why we need to be on our guard constantly.

Unfortunately, I said, it's not easy to distinguish.

We should be rest assured that God's judgment will come at the right time, at the appointed time.

It's not for you, it's not for me to rush this process.

You may have wondered, why do we get prosper?

Why we have so much evils in the world how our church members not free from bad members have you ever questioned God that why did they permit certain evil to happen have you ever Do you wonder why it seems that injustice is growing?

Pete was telling me this morning that God is so compassionate, is so loving, is so caring, and he allowed the coexistence, which I completely agree with.

Perhaps somebody might cross to the good side.

That's the compassionate God I wish I perhaps.

So my advice to us this morning, we must what?

We must be patient and trust in God's perfect timing timing of separation is going to come all your worries all your concerns all your questions you know they will get answered God has a process in place we cannot rush it.

However a day of judgment is coming, a day of reckoning, a day of separation, Jesus will come like a teal in the night.

That takes me to my next point, the final separation and the ultimate judgment.

This is actually the most important part for me today.

From verse 40 it says, just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age.

The Son of Man will send his angels, and what will they do?

They will gather out of his kingdom this kingdom that we're talking about the kingdom of heaven on earth all courses of sin and all lawbreakers and do what what will happen to them throw them into the fairy furnace in that place there will be what we pin and gnashing of teeth you can say if I don't have teeth by then what's gonna happen maybe you gnashing of gums but this is what we have the righteous will shine hallelujah like the son in the kingdom of their father it will have his letting here the final separation will occur but it will not occur until the formation of the earthly kingdom is complete and this is the average time and of course after this ultimate judgment I think I I grew up with an apostolic church back in Nigeria and I recall clearly a song that the senior pastor is late now, used to sing in my native language it captures this point perfectly well and it summarizes it to be honest so I don't need to do so much on it please go on to the next slide I will try my best to sing it.

There is a great day coming, a great day coming, there is a great day coming by and by.

When the saints and the sinners shall be parted right and left, Are you ready for the day to come?

There is a bright day coming, a bright day coming, there's a bright day coming by hand by, but its brightness shall only come to them that love the Lord.

Are you ready for the judgment day are you ready are you ready are you ready for the judgment day there's a sad day coming a sad day coming there's a sad day coming by and by when the sinner shahir is doomed the path I know you know are you ready for that day to come are you ready are you ready Are you ready for the judgment day?

Brothers, are you ready for the judgment day?

You can read about the judgment day, the whiteness of judgment in the book of Revelation chapter 20.

I think just like I said the song captures it perfectly well.

But my warning for you again, my abo-a-oro.

You remember the story of Lazarus and the rich man?

There's also another Illustration in my native language I will say it in my native language Adoromoto don't wait until you get to eternity eternity 2 parts eternal life or eternal damnation until you believe or accept the truth it might be too late then.

It was when he got to aid, He was begging Father Abraham, please let me send Lazarus to my brothers back home to go and warn them that this is real.

I'm not here to scare anybody please today, but this is what the Bible says and it's real.

It may sound horrible that we do we really have a merciful God why would God allow this to happen by judgment they will come that's the truth nothing but the truth we read it in the story of Lazarus and the rich man I remember nothing impure that's what the Bible says again in Revelation chapter 21 nothing impure we ever enter its kingdom that's to be formed.

That is already there, the kingdom that will be finalized that we're talking about, right?

Nothing impure, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.

Remember, Les told us 2 weeks ago when he when he preached but what probably 3 weeks ago not everyone who says to me Lord Lord will enter into this kingdom of heaven The only the ones who does the will of is the will of my father.

That's what the Bible says who is in heaven.

Many will say to me on that day, Lord Lord did you not prophesy in your name?

We drive out demons in your name we perform miracles in your name it's not all about that we say to them I know you not you if you do us so brother sisters again are you ready don't wait until you get to eternity whichever side you are before you believe so if you are listening to me today and you have not given your life to Christ I'm not trying to scare you please by this an opportunity for you to surrender your life.

The parable of the mustard seed and the yeast.

Let me start with parable of the mustard seed.

I'm gonna wrap up Verse 31 to verse 33 of Matthew chapter 13 This is what he says he put another parable before them saying the kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.

It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown, it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.

In this passage, basically we could see the image of birds mentioned in this passage that the kingdom of Earth is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.

Beds of the hair come and make nests in its branches.

That's, it's, that same illustration, we could find it in the, in the, in the book of Ezekiel, right?

Where the image of beds in branches right Ezekiel chapter I think I've made references to them I'm not going to read them but what's the key point right here so the the branches of the tree symbolizes people from all nations becoming part of God's family.

And again this is what the kingdom of everyone is all about.

This is a perfect representation of what the kingdom of everyone is.

I was born in Ibadan, in Nigeria, a place called Okeado.

That's the symbol that we've got in that passage and that's what the kingdom of God is all about.

All nations becoming part of God's family.

We are part of the same family of God interestingly so Jesus was reminding his listeners that the kingdom of God is not just was not just for what 1 nation, bad for the whole world, for you, for me.

I love this family of God so closely, me turn into 1.

Imagine how the church movement started in the book of Acts with the apostles, right?

Verse 8 of Acts chapter 1 says but you will receive power when the holy spray comes on you you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth and look at that's where it started in Jerusalem remember Peter's first message at 3000 people came to the Lord and from there the gospel began to spread across the globe people from different regions culture by grand People from different regions, culture, background, different races.

That's what the kingdom of everyone is all about.

This is not a movement that anybody can stop.

It's not a man-made system or man-made movement.

If it's not of God, definitely it could have died long time ago.

Of course, there are many different types of planting, right?

What is planted is often quite small, like a muster seed, but when planted it grows.

A couple of weeks back I had a walk with Nick in the neighborhood and we went down on Rosemont Boulevard and he showed me where our business started from, from a small place.

A child that started from a very small place.

See all Rosemount Bible Church Sermons transcripts on Applepodcasts

Parables of Jesus