Get It? Got It? Good!, Part 2

Today on Insight for Living from Chuck Swindoll. Somewhere in this great world of ours, there are those coming to Christ. You might look back and say, you know, as I picture all of this in my mind, I realize the Lord found me. He found me by His grace.

He came to my rescue. And what an incomparable change has happened as a result. Let's start with a question. What is the kingdom of heaven? Is it an actual place, a destination, or is the kingdom of heaven a state of mind or even a choice we make? Most of us would agree that the kingdom of heaven evokes mystery and intrigue, but we're hard-pressed to define it. Well, today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll points to several references in Matthew's Gospel where Jesus describes the kingdom of heaven. In these moments, we get a glimpse of the glory to come.

Chuck title today's message, Get It, Got It, Good. Bow with me, will you? And as we bow, if you've never trusted in Christ, this is your moment. Right where you're sitting, receive Christ, the gift of God.

Accept Him as your own Savior. Thank you, Father, for your faithful, incessant, consistent leadership. Never leaving us in the place as we shouldn't go, but always where we should go.

Helping us in the process to understand along the way why you were doing that and the things you were teaching us in the process. Some sit in this room today, afraid. And if all we had to go on is the evening news, we all have reason to tremble. Our world has never been more chaotic, our nation awash, adrift, not just spiritually, but culturally. The fences have been removed, the boundaries have changed, the rules, if there are any, are confusing to young and older alike, and yet you were there faithfully, incessantly, consistently leading us. You have led us to this place today to worship and how privileged we are to be in this place, protected from the elements, comfortable, a Bible in our lap, truth placed there for us to understand and apply. May we not waste these privileged moments, Lord, since you led us here. In fact, all the way our Savior leads us, guiding us with your eye upon us. We remember that this day, our Father, and we also remember those who have been led into battle.

The fighting is fierce, it's treacherous, perhaps more brutal than ever, and the enemy is hard to find, often hidden, treacherously deceitful. Protect our men and women in uniform. Calm the hearts of their family members and how we pray for safe return. Finally, Lord, I pray that you will guide us in the giving of our gifts. This ministry cannot continue without the faithful contributions of your people. May we be generous today. May we be unafraid, willing to risk even larger amounts than we have normally given, knowing that you will watch over and care for your own. We worship you today, Lord, and we love you as we love no other. We set our hearts on you as we concentrate on things that matter, and as we give our gifts for the purpose of making your truth known more broadly than it could be known without these gifts. It's in the name of Jesus, who paid it all. We pray. Everyone said, Amen. You're listening to Insight for Living.

To study the book of Matthew with Chuck Swindoll, be sure to download his Searching the Scriptures studies by going to insightworld.org slash studies. And now the message from Chuck that he titled, Get It, Got It, Good. When you get to verse 24, he tells them another story. This one is about wheat and weeds, of all things. They've never heard this story before, though they have seen it through their lives. But he has a story to tell them so that they can understand how right and wrong grow up together, because the weeds would give a poisonous grain, whereas the wheat, a nourishing product. And rather than talking about jerking out the weeds early, he says, Let them grow together. You're curious about that.

Let right and wrong continue. And then what? He doesn't tell them. He doesn't interpret that story until you get to verse 36.

Look at the verse in Matthew 13. We read, Leaving the crowds outside, Jesus went into the house with his disciples. Ah, now he knows everybody in his audience. Earlier, he didn't know most of them. There were many people on that lake shore that he had never met.

They listened. He interpreted them story. But he comes into the house and his 12 are there with him. I can imagine them as they look at him and say, in the verse 36, What in the world were the wheat and weeds about?

What do you mean by that? Jesus doesn't rebuke them. He never shames his audience. He never makes you feel uncomfortable because you don't get it, unless you don't care. If you care and don't get it, he'll help you out. They want to know, really.

You remember the last time we were together? Well, the farmer is the son of man. And the field is the cosmos, the world system. The good seed represents people of righteousness. The bad seed represents the wicked.

The enemy who planted the weeds, none other than the devil. And then there is the harvest, which is the end of the world. And there are the harvesters, the angels who separate the righteous from the unrighteous.

There isn't much dialogue there. Because the story of the unrighteous has a very sad ending. We read in verse 42, the angels throw them into the fiery furnace where there'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth. You see, we read back into the disciples centuries of time. We give them credit for knowing things that I don't believe they had put together yet. I think their jaws often dropped open as he told them what he had to tell them. You see what it says at the end of verse 43? And I say it to every one of you, anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand what wise counsel Jesus now has their attention. They're on the edge of their seat, as it were.

Get your pencil ready, your pen ready. I'm going to have you mark something that's mentioned four times in the words that follow. 44, the kingdom of heaven is like. 45, the kingdom of heaven is like. Verse 47, again, the kingdom of heaven is like. Though it's not a parable, but a challenge, nevertheless the words appear in verse 52, the kingdom of heaven is like.

Trust me on this. Any time Jesus uses the same phrase again and again and again, be sure it's important. When you write an email and you make it all caps, people say to us, you're screaming. And Jesus repeats. He's screaming.

But he's not lifting his voice loudly. He's just getting your attention by the repetition. Now, let me clarify something. Because I know there are those of you who are eschatological students. You love eschatology. You want me to get into the nuances of the end times. You want me to go into the kingdom of Christ when he sets up his rule on this earth, when he comes and he takes over and there's a 1,000 year reign. Believe me, I know about it.

I believe in it with my whole heart. But that's not where I'm going today. If I were teaching the passage simply to give information, I would certainly spend time on that, but I'm preaching. And when you preach, you're driving for a decision. You desire to have people reimagine their lives and make a decision, a response that will make a difference. And I think in the disciples case, this might very well have been what Jesus had in mind rather than teaching the depths of eschatology. So bear with me.

Look at the story. The kingdom of heaven is like, and when I read this, I'm going to think in terms of salvation. When I think of the kingdom, I'm thinking of kingdom life, the kind of life Jesus offered, life abundantly, life that lived, that is lived in peacefulness with the Holy Spirit residing within, a life of power, a life of definition, a life that has reason to it and a destiny that is filled with hope. Heaven is our home. In the meantime, we have the joy of touching other lives for good, to encourage them and to equip them with information that can help prepare them for death and for life after death.

So I'm suggesting we use these words in that way for the sake of this message. Look at the story. The kingdom of heaven, salvation, the life of Christ is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.

What on earth is he doing that for? You see, here we are with a difference of 20 centuries. In the first century, it had been clearly understood. 21st century, you didn't put treasures in the dirt. But back then, they didn't have banks. They didn't have safe places to deposit their valuables.

So they put them under the ground. That was their bank, if you will. It was a place of treasure. Now, this man in this case stumbles upon something he wasn't looking for.

You read it? He discovers a hidden treasure that's in the field. He realizes it's valuable and so that no one else would come and take it or that he wouldn't lose any part of it.

He buys the whole field, realizing the value of it. You know what that says to me by way of application? There are some of us who weren't looking for an eternal answer to life. We weren't that interested in spiritual things. And we stumbled across an individual who told us about Christ. Or we came across, as one man put it, a Bible that I thought was simply a boring book until I opened it and began to read it. So he stumbled across the treasure of the scriptures. Whatever it may have been, you may be in this first category. You discover a treasure that's been hidden up until now. And you come to know Christ. Look at the next group.

Verse 45, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant. He's on the lookout for choice. He's different. He's not stumbling upon it. He's looking for it. Get it? Remember the name Robert Ballard?

Most of you do. For 14 years, Robert Ballard spent his time in a boat with very expensive gear and things he could send down into the depths as he looked for the Titanic. He was convinced he was near it, but he didn't know exactly where it was. And so finally he came across it some two miles deep in the North Atlantic.

There it was. As he put it, this is something I've waited for half my life. This man is looking for treasure. Not the Titanic, but in this case, choice pearls. Another analogy with salvation. When he discovered the pearl, he's been looking for it and he finds this pearl of great price, great value, sold everything he owned and bought it. He realized that this is worth everything. Just as you realized when you came to know Christ, some of you made a change that was like 180 degrees.

You turned away from a life and lifestyle and you have been led in another direction, the balance of your days, because it was such a transforming moment for you. I thought about the rich young ruler mentioned in Matthew chapter 19. Jesus tells him when he asked about how he might tap into this message of Christ, this eternal kind of life, Jesus told him what it would require and it says he left and wasn't interested. He was addicted to his possessions.

He liked being rich and he'd rather be rich than deal with his soul. How unlike Saul of Tarsus. Let me show you a passage that reveals the difference. Turn to Philippians chapter 3. Love these verses. Philippians 3, Paul the apostle is writing, but he's writing of those days when years earlier he was Saul of Tarsus, lost, religious, not interested in Christ, but in fact an enemy of Christ and those who followed Christ.

He says in Philippians 3, 5, I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel, a member of the tribe of Benjamin, a real Hebrew if there ever was one. I was a member of the Pharisees who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church and as for righteousness I obeyed the law without fault.

I followed it to the very extent and extremes of my life. I once thought these things were valuable. Notice the difference. But now, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value.

Sounds like the pearl of greatest price. The infinite value of knowing Christ, Jesus my Lord, for his sake I've discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. Beautiful testimony.

Back to Matthew 13. Some of you have known that kind of salvation experience. You were seeking for peace. You were longing for an answer. There was a hole in your heart that you couldn't fill with anything else. And someone with the grace of God made you aware of the good news of Jesus.

And it's changed you completely. But there's yet another part of the story that you need to see. Verse 47, again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet or a fishing net. If you were to call it by the name we would use here in Texas down at the bay areas of south Texas, it would be a seine, a net. The kingdom of heaven is like a fishing net that was thrown into the water, caught fish of every kind. Look at this.

When the net was full, they dragged it up onto the shore, set down and sorted the good fish into crates and threw the bad ones away. This is about God's sovereign sweep in life. For he reaches people of all kinds. At this moment, somewhere in this great world of ours, there are those coming to Christ. You might look back and say, you know, as I picture all of this in my mind, I realize the Lord found me. He found me by his grace. He came to my rescue.

And what an incomparable change has happened as a result. Chuck Squindoll is helping us understand how people submit their lives to Jesus, coming from all walks of life. He is teaching from the Gospel according to Matthew chapter 13. This is Insight for Living. To learn more about this ministry, please visit us online at insightworld.org. Let me offer some context for our current teaching series. For the entire year of 2021, Chuck is guiding us through a verse-by-verse study through Matthew. This is the very first time he's shared this series on Insight for Living. It's called The King of Kings.

Keep in mind, if you've missed any portion of this presentation, you can catch up with previous programs by going to insight.org slash listen. In addition, you might be surprised to learn Chuck wrote a biography on the life of Jesus. And if you're looking to get better acquainted with the real Jesus, the one that writers like Matthew described, then we highly recommend adding this book to your personal collection. It's called Jesus, the Greatest Life of All.

To purchase a copy right now, go to insight.org slash offer. Well Chuck, the Gospel writer Matthew spent a lot of time describing a group of first-century religious leaders who, in many respects, were like spiritual villains, stealing joy from those who followed Jesus. The Pharisees were spiritual outlaws.

They were bandits, like bank robbers. They had a way of ripping off the treasury of joy. These religious thugs made up all sorts of untenable rules and tight regulations that were impossible to follow.

And then they looked down their noses with pride and disgust when people failed to keep those rules and regulations. Legalism, their first love, is an exhausting lifestyle. Plus, it sucks the joy right out of anyone who aspires to a grace-filled life. Well, in Matthew chapter 11, Jesus specifically targeted an audience of battle-weary warriors who found the legalistic lifestyle impossible to sustain and exhausting when they tried. Jesus opened his arms and said to them, come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and you will find rest for your souls. The rest that Jesus offered that day and still offers to you and me today is different than you might think. He's not talking about wiping sweat from your brow after your morning jog. He's not offering a vacation or a good night's sleep.

It's far more than that. Jesus pinpointed your soul. You see, his invitation penetrates your inner self, that mysterious, all-important place within us that represents the spiritual core of our being. This is the focal point of everything we do at Insight for Living Ministries. Our goal is to teach the Word of God so that the Spirit of God can accomplish what no one else can do. We want to see Jesus liberate all who listen to Insight for Living, liberate from the tyranny of religious legalism. And so today, I'm appealing to your shared vision to bring men and women around the world to this same place of freedom and grace in Jesus that you and I enjoy. You've heard us mention the importance of June 30.

Well, it's far more than an accounting deadline. God could use your generous donation to deliver his message right into the heart and soul of individuals right now. And I can assure you, everything you give will allow us to share the good news of Jesus, who said, Come to me, all you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and you will find rest for your souls. Well, June 30 is right around the corner, so let me explain how you can respond to Chuck Swindoll right away. The quickest way to give is to go directly to insight.org.

Many prefer using our convenient mobile app, where the process is quite simple. You can speak with one of our ministry representatives by calling us. If you're listening in the United States, dial 1-800-772-8888. The phone number, once again, 1-800-772-8888. Or to give a contribution today online, go to insight.org. I'm Dave Spiker. Hear Chuck Swindoll explain how Jesus brought his listeners to a point of decision. More on that Wednesday on Insight for Living. The preceding message, Get It, Got It, Good, was copyrighted in 2016 and 2021, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2021 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.