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Transcript

Matthew 13:18-35 Christianity Appears Healthy, But It Is Actually Failing.

Transcript:

In some ways American Christianity appears to be healthy. There are thousands of Christian radio stations, television channels, book publishers, and internet web sites broadcasting Christian messages. Over the past several decades there has been an explosion of huge mega-churches claiming to be converting massive numbers of people to Christianity. There are many athletes and other famous people who publicly claim Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour.

On the other hand, an honest look at the results of all this effort indicates that American Christianity is failing. 50 years ago most people in our society had a Judeo-Christian ethic. That is no longer the case. Young people are abandoning Christianity in droves, and the percentage of people in our society who claim to be non-religious is growing. Matthew 13 gives us some insight into why, despite all this evangelical effort, the church is actually losing influence.

Matthew 5-7 contains the Sermon on the Mount. The 8th and 9th chapters record many miracles and healings. Chapters 10 through 12 tell us about Jesus’ teachings on a variety of topics such as the cost of following Jesus, the identify of John the Baptist, hardheartedness, the Sabbath, and blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Beginning at chapter 13, we see that Jesus began speaking in parables. His first parable was about a sower sowing seeds. Beginning in verse 18 Jesus explained His parable.

Matt. 13:18 ¶ “Hear then the parable of the sower.

Matt. 13:19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road.

Just as birds eat seed that falls on the road and is not covered with dirt, so too the evil one snatches the word away from many people. Mass media outlets such as radio, television, movies, and the internet broadcast their Christian messages to the masses in an impersonal way. Many people simply don’t pay attention. Since it is impersonal, it is easy to dismiss the message. Much of the effort of Christian mass media disappears into thin air and achieves nothing.

Matt. 13:20 And the one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;

Matt. 13:21 yet he has no root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away.

When seed falls among rocks, there is not enough soil to sustain growth. Throughout the course of my life, as the result of corporate and personal evangelism, I have seen many people supposedly become Christians and start attending church enthusiastically. However, after a short time they stop attending church, go back to their previous lifestyle, and after that brief skirmish with Christianity they are right back where they started.

The reason they fall away so quickly is because evangelicalism is not doing a good job of discipling people into maturity. Mega-churches in particular are notorious for being a mile wide and an inch deep. Massive numbers of the people who are supposedly being saved never develop the deep convictions they need to become productive, faithful Christians.

Matt. 13:22 And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the one who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

If weeds and thorns grow quicker than the seed, then the seed never gets enough sun or nourishment to grow. One of the big problems we have in American evangelicalism is that many so-called Christians spend so much time consuming entertainment and secular mass media that they put forth very little time learning the Bible. The end result is that our churches are full of people who are Biblically illiterate. Many of our pastors and Bible college professors are also Biblically illiterate.

Matt. 13:23 And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.”

Seed that is sown in good soil produces good crops. Likewise, Christians who invest the time necessary to learn the Bible can produce good children and disciples. Unfortunately, the number of true Christians in evangelicalism who do that is very small.

Matt. 13:24 ¶ He presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.

Matt. 13:25 But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away.

Matt. 13:26 But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also.

Matt. 13:27 The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’

Matt. 13:28 And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’

Matt. 13:29 But he said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them.

Matt. 13:30 Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

Jesus also explained this parable to His disciples. I will read and discuss that explanation tomorrow. At this point, suffice it to say that at first glance it appears the field is the church, but Jesus explained the field is actually the world.

Matt. 13:31 ¶ He presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field;

Matt. 13:32 and this is the smallest of all seeds, but when it is fully grown, it is the largest of the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that THE BIRDS OF THE AIR come and NEST IN ITS BRANCHES.”

Jesus was only one person. His disciples only numbered 12. That was a small number of people compared to all the people on earth at that time. Out of that small beginning, Jesus planted the church, which grew to be millions of people. Over the centuries, churches grew large enough to start many institutions such as schools, hospitals, and orphanages.

Matt. 13:33 ¶ He spoke another parable to them, “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three sata of flour until it was all leavened.”

If you put a small amount of yeast in flour, the yeast will multiply and spread throughout the flour. Likewise, the church started in Israel, but throughout church history, Christianity has been spreading to every corner of the globe.

Matt. 13:34 ¶ All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He was not speaking to them without a parable

Matt. 13:35 so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying,

“I WILL OPEN MY MOUTH IN PARABLES;

I WILL UTTER THINGS HIDDEN SINCE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.”

Some people think that the word fulfilled means that a prediction contained in the Old Testament came true. However, the word fulfilled does not always mean that. Sometimes it means that history was repeating itself. That is the meaning in this case.

Matthew quoted Psalm 72. Psalm 72 was written by Asaph. Asaph announced in his Psalm that he was going to speak in parables. There is nothing in the Psalm to indicate that Jesus would come and speak in parables several centuries later.

When Matthew wrote that Jesus speaking in parables fulfilled Psalm 72, he meant that just as Asaph spoke in parables in the Old Testament time period, so too Jesus spoke in parables in the first century AD.

American Christianity appears to be healthy. There are huge churches all over America, and we have massive numbers of Christian mass media outlets that broadcast Bible content around the clock. However, Christianity is actually declining and losing influence in our culture, so all that effort is not producing good results.

The problem is churches engage in a lot of activity that is activity simply for the sake of doing something. Evangelicalism is not effective in developing disciples who have correct Bible knowledge and deep convictions they are willing to die for. Without knowledge and convictions, church-goers fall away when life gets challenging and the worries and values of the world claim their attention and loyalty.

If we want American Christianity to be truly healthy, we need to develop disciples who have deep Bible knowledge and convictions they are willing to die for.

Thanks for visiting Bible Mountain. Tomorrow I will start reading at Matthew 13:36 and explain why churches should preach about hell. That post is for paid subscribers only, so if you are not a paid subscriber, please subscribe now. In order to subscribe, go to Bible Mountain dotcom and click on Subscribe. Once again, thanks for visiting Bible Mountain.

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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”