RIGHTLY RESPONDING TO OUR APOSTATE ERA

Part I: Rightly Responding To Our Apostate Era's Contrasts To The Ministry Of Scripture

(Matthew 13:1-23)

I. Introduction

A. The great rise in spiritual error in today's world can leave an uninformed believer confused and unsettled about his welfare if he does not understand God's plan for him in this very apostate era.

B. Christ gave important teaching in parable form in Matthew 13:1-52 to inform believers on how they are to think and act so that they can be settled and productive amid such apostasy, so we view it for our edification:

II. Rightly Responding To Our Apostate Era's Contrasts To The Ministry Of Scripture, Matthew 13:1-23:

A. When Jesus gave the Matthew 13 parables, they were set against the spiritual darkness He faced that very day:

1. Israel's religious leaders had earlier that day accused Jesus of performing His Biblically authenticating miracles by Satan's power (Matthew 13:1a with 12:22-24 and 11:2-6 with Isaiah 35:5-6; 61:1), so Jesus had condemned their charge as false (Matthew 12:25-37) and withdrawn from them (Matthew 12:38-45).

2. In addition, even Jesus' relatives had shown up that same day to take custody of Him, errantly thinking He was out of His mind for skipping meals to minister to people, Matthew 12:46 with Mark 3:20-21, 31 ESV.

3. Also, Jesus spoke in parables to the crowd to hide His truth from them due to their sin, Matthew 13:10-15.

B. Jesus that day thus withdrew His Kingdom offer to that generation in Israel, fulfilling Zechariah 11:10-11.

C. However, the godly who live between that day and His Second Coming when He finally installs His Kingdom need to know how to think and act in a productive way in their era of apostasy, what the Matthew 13:1-52 parables reveal. (J. Dwight Pentecost, The Words And Works Of Jesus Christ, 1991, p. 219)

D. Thus, the first parable warns believers to watch that they respond well to Scripture in this era, Matt. 13:1-23:

1. Jesus taught that some hearers, like hard ground to the seed sown, would be influenced by Satan to distrust the Word they heard, thus not retaining its truths, Matthew 13:3-4, 18-19; 1 Peter 5:8-9a. Israel's religious leaders did this: they failed to heed Scripture to see that Jesus' miracles fulfilled Old Testament prophecies about the work of God (cf. Matthew 11:2-6 with Isaiah 35:5-6; 61:1), so they in their blindness to that fact asserted that Jesus was performing His miracles by Satan's power -- a lie! (Matthew 12:24)

2. Jesus taught that other hearers, like seed sown on stony ground, would rely on their own futile strength to face trials, leading them to fail to apply God's Word effectively amid trial and hence leading them to live defeated spiritual lives, Matthew 13:5-6, 20-21. Jesus' family failed in this realm in Mark 3:20-21, 31.

3. Christ explained that other hearers, like ground with weeds that choked out the seed sown, would become distracted from the Word by worldly cares and lusts, failing to see the Word bear fruit in their lives, Matt. 13:7, 22. The crowds did this in John 6:24-26, so Jesus spoke to them in parables, Matthew 13:10-15.

4. However, a final group of hearers would be like good ground that receives the seed of the Word of God sown into it so that God's Word bears fruit, Matthew 13:8, 23a. Thus, depending on the degrees of faith in the Word, reliance on God's power in trials and departure from a preoccupation with worldliness, these people would produce some thirtyfold, some sixtyfold and some a hundredfold in maturity and ministry production, Matthew 13:23b. The disciples of Jesus were in this group as seen in Matthew 12:48-50.

E. Thus, for our orientation and welfare in our apostate era, God directs that we rightly respond to His Word:

1. First, we must be in right relationship with the Lord and heed His Word by faith, trusting it to be true lest Satan remove its invaluable insights from us through unbelief so that we languish in spiritual defeat.

2. Second, we must watch that we address life's trials with dependence on the Lord's power and not our own strength lest we succumb to the effects of these trials and cease heeding God's Word in life and ministry.

3. Third, we must watch that we not become entangled in this world's lusts of the flesh, the eyes and pride of life (1 John 2:15-16) lest we thus get distracted from Scripture truth and so languish in spiritual defeat.

4. Fourth, to the degree we believers heed each of these first three directives above will we be productive in growing and ministering for the Lord by use of God's Word, what will be measurable by observation!

Lesson: In our era of great apostasy, Christ wants us to watch that we respond well as we are exposed to His Word, that we believe it, that we rely on God's power by faith to apply it and that we avoid distractions of the world that detract from Scripture intake, aware that to the degree we succeed in each case will we mature and be productive.

Application: May we take heed how we hear and respond to God's Word, for to the degree that believe His Word, rely on God's power to heed it and avoid worldliness, we will mature and be productive in our spiritual walk.