Turn with me to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 13.
From verse 18:
Hear then ye the parable of the sower.
When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the evil one, and snatcheth away that which hath been sown in his heart. This is he that was sown by the way side.
And he that was sown upon the rocky places, this is he that heareth the word, and straightway with joy receiveth it; yet hath he not root in himself, but endureth for a while. And when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, straightway he stumbleth.
And he that was sown among the thorns, this is he that heareth the word; and the care of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
And he that was sown upon the good ground, this is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; who verily beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
Another parable set He before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man that sowed good seed in his field: but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares also among the wheat, and went away. But when the blade sprang up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
And the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? Whence then hath it tares? And he said unto them, An enemy hath done this. And the servants say unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But He saith, Nay; lest haply while ye gather up the tares, ye root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather up first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn.
Another parable set He before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: which indeed is less than all seeds; but when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the heaven come and lodge in the branches thereof.
Another parable spake He unto them: The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till it was all leavened.
All these things spake Jesus in parables unto the multitudes; and without a parable spake He nothing unto them: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying,
I will open My mouth in parables;
I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world.
Then He left the multitudes, and went into the house: and His disciples came unto Him, saying, Explain unto us the parable of the tares of the field. And He answered and said, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; and the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; and the enemy that sowed them is the devil: and the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are angels.
As therefore the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be in the end of the world. The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and them that do iniquity, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He that hath ears, let him hear.
The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hidden in the field; which a man found, and hid; and in his joy he goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like 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.
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. So shall it be in the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the righteous, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be the weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Have ye understood all these things? They say unto Him, Yea. And He said unto them, Therefore every scribe who hath been made a disciple to the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder, who bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.
Heavenly Father, we just want very simply to commit this time of the ministry of Your Word to You. Lord, we are dependent entirely upon You for that power and grace that we all need—myself in my speaking, and all of us in our hearing—if Your purpose for our time is to be fulfilled.
Grant us, then, dear Lord, that anointing. By faith, we stand under it. And, Lord, we shall give to You all the praise and all the glory, in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
Well, I am sure all of you know that the theme of this conference is The King Is Coming, and I have been given the responsibility of the parables in Matthew 13.
There are seven parables here—some say eight, including this last one of the householder who brought forth out of his treasure things both old and new. But I think they are actually seven. We have an introductory parable, which is foundational to the whole, and then we have two trios.
The trios are quite interesting because they are divided one plus two. Then there is an interpretation of the first; and the second trio is two plus one, with an interpretation of the third—the last. I cannot help but feel that the interpretation our Lord gave to these two trios is the key to our understanding of the trios.
Now, I want to consider this morning, in the time that we have, the little phrase that occurs in the Lord’s explanation of the parable of the tares: “the sons of the kingdom.”
Before we actually look at that particular phrase in Matthew 13:38, I want you to notice a most extraordinary thing. At least, I think it is extraordinary.
I am amazed how many Christians read these parables—they are so used to these sayings of the Lord Jesus—that sometimes they read them without it ever occurring to them what extraordinary language the Lord Jesus used.
Will you note carefully the extraordinary way in which Jesus speaks of the seed that is sown? In two ways He speaks of it as the word of the kingdom, the word that is sown; and almost in the very same breath He says, “He that was sown.”
It is as if the word that is sown becomes so identified with the person that, in the mind of the Lord, the Word of God and the human being are to become one. I say that is a most extraordinary use of language.
Words are normally words, and people are normally people. I mean, you do not normally consider words as being people, as such.
Look at Matthew 13:19:
When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the evil one, and snatcheth away that which hath been sown in his heart. This is he that was sown by the way side.
Then verse 20: “He that was sown upon the rocky places, this is he that heareth the word.” Verse 22: “He that was sown among the thorns, this is he that heareth the word.” And verse 23: “He that was sown upon the good ground, this is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; who verily beareth fruit.”
What does this mean?
Obviously, in verse 23, we have what the Lord wants to happen. The word of the kingdom comes to us by the power of the Holy Spirit. We hear it. We understand it by revelation. Then something happens within us whereby that Word of the Lord and ourselves are united.
It takes root within our being and begins to grow. It bears fruit—some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.
Our Lord must surely be trying to tell us this: whilst the Word of God is defined without us—it is the canon of Scripture, it is the Word of God—it must not remain merely something objective. It has to do something within us.
If the Bible is merely a book and has no effect upon our lives, if it does not get within us and transform us, if it does not unite us to God in Christ, if it does not bring us into all the truth that it proclaims, then it means nothing.
Just because you believe the Bible is the Word of God does not mean anything, actually. I have to tell you something: Satan also believes it. Satan is no believer in liberal theology, because he found it. He knows it is alive.
You can believe in the Word of God as the Word of God, but if it does not do anything in you, what does it mean? What is the value of it? The Word of God has to do something within us. That is the unique character of the Word of God: it is active, it is living, and it is sharper than any two-edged sword. It gets right within us and divides between soul and spirit.
In other words, the Word of God, if you understand what I am trying to say, has got to become flesh and blood. It has to somehow find a place within us where it can grow.
Now, am I saying something extreme, something radical, or is it borne out by the Word of God? Take your Bible. Turn to a few Scriptures, will you?
First of all, turn to Colossians 3:16. Listen to the Apostle Paul, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit:
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.
Now, he does not say, “Let the word of Christ visit you. Let the word of Christ instruct you. Let the word of Christ bless you. Let the word of Christ mould you”—all of which would be right.
He says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you.” Dwelling within you is a little more than blessing you. Dwelling within you is a little more than instructing you. Dwelling in you is a little more than moulding you and forming you.
To dwell in you means that the Word of God makes His home within you. It comes to live within you. And he uses the word richly—not just in some meagre way, but richly. Did he not have this thought in his mind: a hundredfold, sixtyfold, thirtyfold? Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.
Now, is that just one little sentence of the Apostle Paul that we should not build too much on? Let us look at James. People always tell me that James was the legalist, but listen to this: James 1:21-22.
Wherefore putting away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness, receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding your own selves.
What an extraordinary phrase that is: “the implanted word.” “Inborn word,” it says in the margin as an alternative. It is not just a word that comes and tickles your mind, that somehow or other fascinates your brain. It is something that comes within your being. It is implanted. It is inborn.
Then, having received that Word, it begins to grow and do something within you. Look at 2 Corinthians 3:3:
Being made manifest that ye are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in tables that are hearts of flesh.
A letter of Christ. Oh, the Apostle Paul says, this is what we are meant to be. We are meant to be a letter of Christ. We are meant to be, as it were, the Word of Christ, in such a way that men and women see in our character, our living, our life, our conduct, and our behaviour, the Lord Jesus.
It is written not in tables of stone, but in the heart—written by the Spirit of God within.
I used to puzzle, when I was first saved and first began to read the New Testament, about certain phrases in the Book of Acts. I do not know whether any of you have ever puzzled over them, but it all comes within the scope of what we are talking about this morning.
Look at Acts 6:7:
And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem exceedingly.
Now, I find that a very interesting phrase. How, if you are a good evangelical fundamentalist, as I am, does the Word of God increase? Good question. How can the Word of God increase? The Word of God is the Word of God. You do not add to it. It is the Word of God.
Yet it says, “The word of God increased,” as if somehow or other this Book got inside of people and did something. How? What happened? The disciples were multiplied.
Apparently something happened in certain disciples. There were lots and lots of disciples, but within certain lives the Word of God increased. It took root. It began to bear fruit.
Then look at Acts 12:24:
But the word of God grew and multiplied.
How can the Word of God grow, and how does it multiply, unless it gets inside of lives and grows within lives—in understanding, in the transformation of those people, in their being conformed to the image of God’s Son, in the bringing of all God’s truth into their being, and in their union with God in Christ?
Then they become letters of Christ, written by the Spirit of God. Can you imagine what would happen to American or North American society if every one here was a letter of Christ?
If every life here was a life that was a letter of Christ, written by the Spirit of the living God, then people would not only have the Bible; they would have the testimony to its power and authority seen in lives.
It grew and it multiplied. There is yet another Scripture: Acts 19:20.
So mightily grew the word of the Lord and prevailed.
I suggest that Luke, who wrote this Book of Acts, must have had an understanding of the Word of God that many modern Christians have not got. The way he handles it, it is as if he understands that the Word of God has to get into human lives.
So mightily grew the Word of the Lord, and prevailed.
Turn again to Colossians 1:5-6:
Because of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, which is come unto you, even as it is in all the world also bearing fruit and increasing, as it doth in you also, since the day ye heard and knew the grace of God in truth.
So this word of the kingdom is alive. It is powerful. It is to dwell within us. It is to be planted within us. It is to grow within us. It is to bear fruit in our lives.
One wonders why the Lord Jesus used these parables of seed unless it had something to do with this. Why did He speak of a sower going forth with seed, unless He understood that within that little dried seed was life and power that would germinate, take root, grow up, and bear fruit?
My dear friends, for many Christians the Word of God is the Word of God, but, if I may not be irreverent—or almost blasphemous—I think for many Christians the Word of God is dried-up seed. That is all it is: a little seed encased in a hard exterior.
They believe it is the Word of God. They believe it has authority. They believe it is inspired. They believe it is accurate. They even believe it is relevant. But seed was never meant to remain seed.
It has to fall into the fertile soil of our being, of our personality, of our lives. There, in the dampness, as it were, of the soil of our being, it germinates. Roots come out of it. It begins to put its roots down, and it begins—small as it may seem to begin with—to grow and grow and grow, out into more light and more light and more light, until it bears fruit.
My dear child of God, we may be filled with what we have heard about the coming of the Lord and the signs of the times. But the fact remains that unless this Word of God gets into us and takes root within our lives, no amount of prophetic understanding will ever prepare us for the coming of the King.
The only thing that can ever prepare a human being for the coming of the Lord Jesus is when the Word of God gets into them and takes root. It dwells within them, it is an implanted Word, it increases within them, and it grows within them.
The Spirit of the Lord is the Spirit of truth. He never works outside of God’s Word. He always takes God’s Word—even when we do not know it—and He is always making that Word of God a reality in human lives.
Oh, dear brothers and sisters, if only it were true of us personally. If only it were true of every Christian family represented in this place, that the Word of God was within us as families—growing and taking root. If only every so-called church and fellowship represented here were a living letter of the Lord Jesus, written by the Spirit of God, instead of just a collection of bones—dried-up bones into whom the breath of God has never yet been breathed.
How can we be prepared for the coming of the King if the Word of the Lord is not dwelling in us? If the Word of the Lord is not doing something within us? If the Word of the Lord is not, as it were, the vehicle and instrument that the Spirit of the Lord uses to bring the nature and character of the Lord Jesus within us—to educate us, train us, and cause us to be conformed to the image of His Son?
If we needed any further proof of what I am saying this morning, then we have it in the Lord’s interpretation of the parable of the tares. He says, “The good seed are the sons of the kingdom.”
Now He has taken a step from the first parable, which is foundational: the word of the kingdom, hearing the Word, understanding the Word. Now He speaks of this Word as “the sons of the kingdom.”
He tells us the Sower is the Son of Man. He is quite clear in His explanation. I do not think we have to spend any time upon the explanation, because it is our Lord’s explanation of the parable He Himself gave. In that sense, it is perfectly clear.
Let me say it once again: the Lord Jesus spoke of this good seed in the parable of the tares as the sons of the kingdom.
Please listen very carefully. There is a great difference between a baby and a son.
Now, a baby can be a son. But the way the Word of God uses the terms—not in every instance, but in many, many cases in the New Testament—it uses two Greek words: one for children and one for sons.
The Lord Jesus could have so easily used the other word and said, “The good seed are the children of the kingdom.” We would all have rejoiced. We would have said, “That is wonderful—children of the kingdom. That means we are born of God. That means, by the grace of God, we are within His family. That means we have been introduced into the covenant circle of the household of faith. We are children of God.”
Praise God that we are children of God. But He did not use that word. He could have used that one, but He did not use that one. He said, “The good seed are the sons of the kingdom.”
Why does He speak of the sons of the kingdom? Because babies cannot rule or govern. They may be the sweetest things in the world—pure, undefiled, beautiful, lovable, and attractive—and every other wonderful thing we could say about a baby. But there is one thing a baby cannot do: it cannot sit on the throne and rule.
It cannot administer government. It cannot arbitrate in disputes. It cannot carry into fulfilment national policy, or even family policy. A baby is a baby.
The baby may have within it a genetic history that comes from its parents. Surely we all suffered from those great-aunts and great-uncles who said, “Oh, does not he look like Jemima?” or, “Does not he look like Uncle Hubert?” How in the world did this little baby look like Aunt Jemima? How did this little baby look like Great-Uncle Hubert?
Because of genetic history, that is why. That baby—you or me—was born with a genetic history. We have within us all the genes of our parents, our grandparents, our great-grandparents, and our forefathers and ancestors. It is all within us. It is amazing.
The Bible says such a lot about genealogy and pedigree, partly because of this. Genetic history is all bound up with this kind of thing. Whilst that is true physically, spiritually it is wonderful.
Do you realise that you have within you the nature of the Lord Jesus by birth? Do you realise that you have within you the genetic history of the Lord Jesus by your spiritual birth, if you have been born of God?
It would have been absolutely marvellous if He had said, “The good seed are the children of the kingdom.” But the Lord Jesus did not say that. He said, “The good seed are the sons of the kingdom,” because He wanted those babies to become children, and those children to become sons. That is why.
You can be a baby. You can have the family name, and in one sense you can also have the family inheritance. But you cannot run the family business. You have to grow up.
You have got, normally speaking, something like sixteen or seventeen years of growth, training, and education before you, as a baby or child of God, can become what you were inherently in your birth: a son.
It is not that you were not a son when you were a baby. It was all there, but you have got to be trained. You have got to grow. Supposing a baby remains a baby when he is twenty years of age—how can he ever run a business? He is deformed. Something dreadful has happened. Something abnormal has happened. He has not become the son that he was meant to be in his birth.
So, dear people of God, here the Lord Jesus is speaking in this parable, in the light of His coming, about sons of the kingdom. It is as if He is saying, “This life of Mine, this salvation of Mine, which comes to you through the Word of God and by the work of the Holy Spirit, through the finished work of the Lord Jesus—this marvellous salvation of Mine—you have got not just to be saved, not just to be converted, not even just to become born of God.”
“You have got to grow. Your character has got to be trained, matured, and developed. You have got to be disciplined.”
In the old days, particularly in the European world, if you were born into a family that did not have a great calling or destiny, your education was not so important. But if you were born into a noble family, your education was very important—especially if you were the firstborn son.
From the moment you were born, as we used to say, a silver spoon was put in your mouth. That is a strange old saying, but it just means you are different. From the moment you arrived in that family as the firstborn son, your training began.
It is very hard for you in a republic to understand the nature of a kingdom. But in a royal family, the crown prince has a very special education—a discipline that is unbelievable from the moment he becomes conscious. Certainly, from the moment he leaves childhood, the most severe disciplines come to him that come to nobody else, because he is going to be king.
This explains so much within the Word of God. I find it very interesting when we come to the last book of the Bible, Revelation 21.
I used to think this statement of the Lord was strangely flat, if you know what I mean. I thought, “This is not the climax. After all the sixty-six books of the Bible, one would expect the Lord Jesus to say something more wonderful than this.” And this is what He said in Revelation 21:7:
He that overcometh shall inherit these things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son.
I used to think to myself, “Well, that is rather an anticlimax, is it not?” He that overcometh shall inherit all these things—wonderful. Then He says, “I will be his God, and he shall be My son.”
Until I understood this: He did not say, “I will be his God, and he will be My subject.” He did not say, “I will be his God, and he will be My baby.” He said, “I will be his God, and he will be My son.”
Within your spiritual birth is sonship. But that sonship has to be educated. It has to be trained. You have got to grow. Your character has got to be developed. You are going to know special disciplines if you are going to reign with Christ, if you are going to come to the throne of God, if you are going to be one who governs with Him in the ages to come.
I think of the verse that Ernie quoted yesterday in Hebrews 2:10:
For it became Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Author of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
Is that not interesting? He could have said, “Bringing many children to glory,” or “bringing many saints to glory.” But it says, “Bringing many sons to glory.”
The Lord Jesus wants us to become sons so that we can share in the inheritance, so that we can administer the will of God in the ages to come, and so that we can reign with Christ.
In countries that are not kingdoms, reigning has a different idea from countries that are kingdoms. In a republic, the idea of reigning is exhibitionist: a huge crown on the head that wobbles, magnificent robes, a train that requires five or six people to hold it up, and Her Majesty wobbles along.
We think, “Oh, it is wonderful—antique glory, everything to do with the past. Does she not look beautiful? Think of the jewels on her head, the jewels on her hand, the jewels on her garments. Look at the sceptre. Look at the orb. It is reigning.”
We have the idea amongst Christians that reigning is sitting on a throne while the whole world says, “Oh, wonderful.” Now, it is perfectly true that the Lord Jesus is going to be admired in all those who are saved; there is no doubt about that. But that is not what reigning is all about.
Reigning is service.
That lady under that crown, holding that orb and sceptre, would probably far rather not be having them on her head or in her hands. She might be much happier back in Buckingham Palace with her feet up somewhere, reading a comic. But instead, she has service. She has been trained from childhood for service.
Reigning is service. It is not that people glory in you, worship you, and give you adulation. Rather, the whole meaning of coming to the throne is that you might use all your energies, all your talents, all your time, and your whole life for others.
That is why the Lord is training sons. That is why He is bringing many sons unto glory.
Now let us look at Hebrews 12, another chapter that Ernie looked at last night. We will read from verse 5:
And ye have forgotten the exhortation which reasoneth with you as with sons,
My son, regard not lightly the chastening of the Lord,
Nor faint when thou art reproved of Him;
For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth,
And scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.
Most of us think that means, instead of reasoning with us as sinners, or as those delivered from the power of darkness, He reasons with us as children. But no: instead of reasoning with you as babies, He reasons with you as sons.
Think of what I have said about training in royalty. “My son, regard not lightly the chastening of the Lord.” It goes on to explain that it all has an end in view: holiness.
What a shame that holiness has, for so many of us, a negative connotation—as if holiness is being miserable, dark, introverted, anaemic, and spun out. Holiness is wholeness.
That is why the Lord wants to train us. I always remember Mr. Sparks. He hated to use the word chastening, and he always used the literal English translation of the Greek: child-training.
He used to say, “My son, regard not lightly the child-training of the Lord. For whom the Lord loveth, He trains up as a child.”
If once you are prepared to go on with the Lord, and prepared for whatever the cost is, I want to tell you: once the Lord takes you on as a candidate for eternal service and government, for the throne, from that moment another set of rules applies to you.
Your education will be far more severe than that of the ordinary child of God. The way the Lord deals with you, the situations He brings you into, the circumstances He allows to develop, the crises that He brings you into—if you really say, “I am going to go the whole way with the Lord,” you will find before long that you are there.
It is exactly Hebrews 12. And, my dear friend, just in case someone says, “Oh, then I would rather be just an ordinary child of God, thank you very much. I much prefer coming to these conferences, sitting here, singing, listening to things, and learning a few things. But I do not want crises. I do not want emergencies. I do not want difficult circumstances.”
My dear friend, I am telling you: you will be one of those from whom the Lord will have to wipe away tears. You will be so sorry.
This one little life is a pinprick compared with eternity. This one short, brief life, in which the Lord will do so much for us, will mean an eternal and exceeding weight of glory. And you are going to throw it away? Wake up!
Do you realise that inherent within your birth is sonship? That if you remain a child, you are contradicting your very calling and destiny? Do you not see it? Can you not see how the enemy blinds us with propaganda?
“Do not go that way. You do not want to be a radical. You do not want to be an extremist. There are, of course, those who go to those Christian family conferences who are radicals and extremists. They are weird. Let them get on with it. You be a nice, ordinary child of God.”
Then there will come a day when you will discover that you have contradicted the very calling that was given to you when God saved you.
Mr. Sparks spoke quite a lot about this matter of sonship. As some of you know, this was one of the points around which the controversy over his ministry centred.
I remember the pamphlets and booklets that were written on this subject, violently condemning and denouncing him. They said it was against the grace of God, and I do not know what else.
But I must say, I am so thankful that I saw this little difference. I remember Mr. Sparks on one occasion talking about adoption as sons. Of course, for me it was very interesting—I have to tell you that—so I have a vested interest in it.
He said, “I just cannot accept that Paul is borrowing a Gentile illustration from the Gentile world, as if we are not really sons but have been adopted.”
It was very common in the Gentile world to adopt sons. In the Jewish world there was no such thing, because if a person lost their parents, their uncle or grandparents took them over, and they became almost like their son. But in the Gentile world it was very common, even for slaves, to be adopted as sons by their masters.
He said, “I think that this word”—and I am not saying this is where all the controversy centred—“can be translated ‘a placing as sons.’” He always used that phrase: the placing of sons.
He said, “In the Jewish world, it was the bar mitzvah. After you were born, thirteen years later you were placed as a son. Then the whole family recognised that you had become a son. Now you could take your place in the house of Israel.”
Well, I do not know. When I look at Ephesians 1:5, it seems to me that you have this illustration of bar mitzvah. But when you look at Galatians 4:5, it seems as if it is the Gentile idea. I do not know, so I have an open mind.
But what does it matter? The fact remains that whether we understand this as adoption in the Gentile sense, or as confirmation in the Jewish sense—recognition as a full-grown son—the fact remains that inherent within our spiritual birth is sonship.
If you and I are not prepared for the discipline and not prepared for the education, then, my dear friends, we will never be able to exercise sonship. We shall forever be babies. We shall forever be children.
It is absolutely necessary to be born of the Spirit, but more than that is required for a baby to become a full-grown son. You may even have royal blood in your birth. If you are a child of God, you have royalty. But it is not enough. You have got to grow.
Here are four things that I believe are necessary:
You can have all the character in the world, but if you do not have experience, how are you going to run the family business?
God is looking amongst His babies for those who will govern with His Son in the kingdom. That is why He speaks of the sons of the kingdom.
I would like to say a little about the training of the sons of the kingdom. We will need a certain amount of this, probably until we talk about disciples of the kingdom. I just want to mention two or three things, and we will take them up again.
In the training of sons of the kingdom, the implanted Word—the indwelling Word—is all-important.
To make that Word flesh and blood in you requires situations, circumstances, crises, and experiences. Is that not true?
Think for a moment. Even if you are very young in the Lord, think for a moment: how did you discover the meaning of some Word of God that means so much to you now? Was it not in a very difficult circumstance—pressed beyond measure, perhaps at your wits’ end—that you did not know what to do or where to turn, and then the Word of the Lord came to you?
Shall I tell you something? That Word that came to you will never be taken away. That Word has become flesh and blood in you. It is yours.
I remember that I stayed with an aristocratic lady of very great spiritual character. I noticed that in her drawing room and in her private study there was a beautiful piece of unhewn wood, and on it were written the words, “My peace I give unto you.”
That word did not mean a lot to me at the time. I thought, “How interesting.” I am always interested in people’s mottos; they tell you a lot about a person.
We got talking one day, and I said, “I noticed that you have, in at least two places, the text, ‘My peace I give unto you.’” “Oh,” she said, “that is mine.” Then she told me this story.
She said, “When my husband died, and I was only twenty-three, I did not know what to do. Nobody could help me. I could not turn anywhere. Because I was of a certain class in the old days in Britain, I could not just go to anybody.”
“I was like a lost soul—a child of God, but I did not know what to do. I wept and wept and wept, and thought I would die. Into my heart came this Word:”
Peace I leave with you; My peace I give unto you.
She thought, “Well, Lord, what does that mean?” The Lord revealed to her that “Peace I leave with you” is different from “My peace I give unto you.”
The peace He leaves with us is the peace of sins forgiven. He did not need that; He had never sinned. He could not say, “My peace I leave.” He said, “Peace I leave.” It is your heritage, your birthright. If you are a believer, it is yours.
But then He said, on an altogether different level, in a greater dimension, “My peace I give unto you.” Then she said, “I understood. It was the peace He had when He came into this world at Bethlehem to live in reduced circumstances. It was the peace He had when He endured the gainsaying of sinners. It was the peace He had in Gethsemane, when He said, ‘Not My will, but Thine.’ It was the peace He had on the cross in the end, when He said, ‘Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit.’”
She said, “I suddenly realised He could give me the very peace He Himself had won in those experiences.” Then she said, “I understood this: He leaves the peace of sins forgiven with me as a legacy, but His peace He gives.”
You have to come to a certain point in a crisis, a certain point in a situation, where suddenly His peace is given. That transformed my understanding years later, when I was in a terrible storm and did not know what to do.
Suddenly I found myself sailing through that storm. The storm continued, but I was different. His peace had come into my heart.
When God reveals something like that to an ordinary human being born of the Spirit of God, it becomes theirs. It becomes flesh and blood. It can never be taken away from you again. It does not matter if a thousand theologians rant and rave about the wrong interpretation. The fact is, it is yours. You have received something from God.
I remember in my own experience a time when I was in great trouble, and there was no changing of the circumstances of my trouble. I could not see any way out of it. Into my heart came the words:
O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted,
Behold, I will set thy stones in fair colours.
The storm went on, but I was different. It had become mine. To this day, that Scripture is mine. Every time I read it, something happens in my heart—some kind of excitement within me. I know it was God’s Word to me.
When our beloved brother John Anastasius was in such trouble, and had lost everything, it seemed so dark and melancholy, as if he was forsaken by God. I cannot tell you the number of brethren who went to him. He had so many hands laid on him, so many things said to him, so many letters written to him.
I was in meetings where people came up and said, “Brother, this is the root of your trouble.” I felt so sorry for him. Finally, I went to him and said, “I have a word for you”:
O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted,
Behold, I will set thy stones in fair colours.
I said to him, “This is God in your life. You will have to go a long way with this, but in one moment God will bring you out.” God did.
He said to me only a few months ago, “You know, that word you gave me? That was the only thing I could hang on to.” You see, it had become mine, and I could pass it on. Do you understand? It was mine. I was not just giving him a trite little Scripture. It had become mine.
He was in the same place, and I was able to give him something that God had given me: implanted Word, indwelling Word.
I wish I could talk about so many other things. I want to talk about the Word dividing between soul and spirit. Oh, brothers and sisters, what a problem we have with this dividing between soul and spirit. How little there is of it. How much soul there is mixed up with the things of God.
Of course, the soul has a right place. But somehow the soul is substituted for the spirit, and we have so much problem. Yet this Word of God is the only thing that can divide between soul and spirit. I may talk a little more about that when we speak about disciples of the kingdom.
I want to talk about producing treasure and pearl. How is it produced? This treasure—I believe it was the Lord Jesus who found this treasure. He hid it in the field. He bought the whole field to get the treasure.
Yet, in my estimation, that treasure is also Him in me. Do you understand? That treasure is not me in my fleshly state. That treasure is me in Christ, and Christ in me.
I think of that pearl. He sold everything He had to get that one great pearl, and yet, in another way, that pearl is you and me. It is the Lord Jesus in us.
How does treasure get into us, and how does pearl get into us, unless it is by the Word of God, by the work of the Spirit of the Lord in our lives—circumstances and situations doing something, bringing us to an end of ourselves—until suddenly something happens within us?
My dear friends, Jesus gave a parable in connection with this. He said, “The kingdom of God is like a net,” bringing all kinds of things: jellyfish, old bottles, rubbish, dead fish, bad fish, and good fish.
Now, my dear friend, do you want to just be a good fish, or do you want to be treasure and pearl? Think about it. Think about it.
What is the point of good fish? I do not want to be irreverent, but what is the point of good fish? These fish that they were getting in the net were not being put in aquariums and admired. They were for eating.
Fish are no good unless you eat them. They are so transient; they go bad within a very short time. In those days there was no refrigeration.
Do you want to just be a good fish? There are plenty of them in the church—just good fish. Oh, there are so many good fish everywhere. The Lord has fished them and put them in vessels. Do you want to be just a good fish?
That bride, that city, is not made out of fish. It is made out of treasure and pearl. It is made out of treasure and pearl.
Oh, how many children of God are satisfied with just being good fish, caught by the net of God’s good grace and gospel. But there is another dimension: treasure, pearl, sons of the kingdom. Sons of the kingdom are treasure and pearl.
Do you not want to be in there?
Then another area that we will have a little look at is leaven and birds of the air, because it seems to me that sons of God are trained very much through purging out the old leaven, and getting rid of birds.
Of course, it is much easier to get rid of birds from a tree than it is to get rid of leaven in a lump. But it is the way God trains sons in their attitude to what is not right—in fact, what is wrong.
It is one of the greatest areas of God’s education: how we relate to evil and how we deal with it.
Oh, may the Lord count us. There is not a person in this place born of the Spirit of God who does not have sonship within him. The Spirit of sonship, of adoption, has been shed abroad in our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father.” It is there, if you are born of God.
But, oh, we want to go on to become sons of the kingdom.
Shall we pray together?
Dear Lord, we want together to ask that You, in Your grace and mercy, will realise that sonship which is within our spiritual birth in all of us.
Lord, open our eyes to see that we have a calling, we have a destiny. Then, Lord, challenge us deep within our hearts to respond to You.
Lord, You never push us, and You never manipulate us. This matter of sonship is left to us—to appropriate Your grace and Your power, and go the whole way with You.
Dear Lord, will You write this lesson of the sons of the kingdom on all our hearts? We do not know how long we have, Lord, before You come; but, oh Lord, speed up the process in all of us.
Really, Lord, get sons out of us, we pray. Lord, just make us realise our opportunities and potentialities, and Your grace and Your power, all-sufficient.
And we ask it in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.