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You're listening to Heed the Word with our pastor and teacher, Ken Davis. Pastor Ken is the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Southwest Metro in Burleson, Texas. Please join us as we study the Gospel of Luke, verse by verse.

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We live in a fallen world, and the kingdom of God, being a spiritual kingdom, is still a kingdom for which we must do battle. We have to understand the fact that it is spiritual in nature and that we are engaged, friends, in spiritual warfare on behalf of the kingdom of God. We, particularly in the American Church, have adopted a form of religion that is, sadly, weak and often false.

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The Gospel of Luke is the third account in the Gospels of the life and teachings of our Savior, Jesus Christ. As believers, there are few studies that will benefit us more spiritually than studying the life and teachings of the Master. As believers, we are supposed to have a heart that is submitted to the Word of God. We are to desire to walk as Jesus walked. Sadly, over time we have come up with our own man-made religion. We've adopted our own way of doing things. Christian, this is not how we're to live. We're to lay aside our own understanding and walk according to his ways. Don't forget to stay with us after today's message to hear more information about He the Word, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. But for now, please open your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 13, verse 19, as we join Pastor Ken.

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The short 33-year lifespan of one individual who never attained any of the things that we mark as greatness in his life has affected this world more than any other force. Each one of you is sitting here this morning because of that very fact. This building is here because of that. This building exists this morning because of the man who lived 2,000 years ago. The church, as we see it and as we know it, exists because of him. How many hospitals, how many orphanages, how many lives have been affected or exist because of Jesus? And this is just looking at it from a temporal sense. And so the kingdom of heaven, which began with this life of Jesus, this kingdom, though it was small and insignificant in its beginnings, has become the largest and the most influential of all the garden plants, if you will. And that's kind of the view I wanted to take of this entire parable. Kind of nice, isn't it? Feels real good, doesn't it? And while it's true in and of itself, there's another aspect to this parable which I found troubling, and which I still find troubling, but which is very true. You see, not only did Jesus say that it was like the mustard seed which a man took and put in his garden, and it grew and became a large tree, but also he says that the birds of the air nested in its branches. Now, when I first read this, I thought that that was simply a way to explain the fact that it was very large, right? It was so large that the birds of the air could nest in its branches, an example, if you will, of the size to which it grew. And yet there's something more here. I need to introduce you to a principle called the principle of expositional constancy. Anyone ever hear of that principle? It's an important principle when studying scripture. And uh let me just share this quote with you. In interpreting a parable, you must remember that everyone and everything in the story is symbolic of something else. The key that unlocks the symbolism is found either within the context or elsewhere in Scripture. One nice thing about the Bible is that things used symbolically in one place are generally used in the same way throughout. Leaven or yeast always symbolizes sin. Adultery and fornication always symbolize the worship of other gods, a spiritual unfaithfulness. Theologians call this the principle of expositional constancy, and observing these guidelines will help you correctly interpret parables and increase your overall knowledge of scripture at the same time. I share that with you because the key that unlocks this parable is the birds. Flocks of birds, typically in Scripture, represent evil. They represent forces of evil, even demonic spirits. Do you remember the parable of the sower who went out and sowed, and some of the seed fell here and some of the seed fell there? And you remember the seed that fell on the good path, the birds of the air came and took it away? Who was it that Jesus said the birds of the air were in that parable? Satan, right? Satan and his minions. And so if we go by the principle of scriptural constancy, if we look at that principle, then we have to recognize that the birds of the air that are nesting in the branches of God's kingdom are evil. And I was troubled by this because I think to myself, he's describing the kingdom of God. How could there be anything evil in God's kingdom? Well, we have to understand that just as God had a kingdom, God had a creation. And evil entered into God's creation in the same way, evil is going to attempt to enter into and infiltrate God's kingdom. You don't think it's so? Let's turn to Matthew chapter 13. In Matthew chapter 13, Jesus spends a great deal of time talking about the kingdom and what it was like. Matthew 13, starting in verse 24. Another parable he put forth to them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares? He said to them, An enemy has done this. The servants said to him, Do you want us then to go and gather them up? But he said, No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. And at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, First, gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn. Further on he explains the parable. Let's look at verse thirty-six. Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house, and his disciples came to him, saying, Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said to them, He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. That is Jesus. The field is the world. The good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore, as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be in the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness. And he will cast them into the furnace of fire, there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. So we have this principle and this understanding that alongside the wheat, which is all of us, you see, those who believe in Jesus Christ and who are called by his name, alongside the wheat, in that same field is planted the tares. The tares like to hang out near the wheat. And as they grow up, they're growing up next to the wheat, and it's almost indistinguishable sometimes which is which, because if you were to pull out one, you might damage the other. In the same way that there were tares in God's field, in the same way there will be birds in that tree, which is God's kingdom. You don't have to look very far to recognize the fact that there are a lot of strange birds that are hanging out in the church today, aren't there? I was talking to a pastor the other day and he was sharing with me a man that he knew who had been the pastor of a very large church. And this man who had been the pastor of this large church did not believe in the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. He did not believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And yet, even though he didn't believe or have any faith in these key doctrines, he called himself a Christian and would preach that salvation was through faith in Jesus. You see, he was hanging out in the tree of God's kingdom, but he wasn't a part of that kingdom. I mean, it's just unbelievable about the things that are going on, and it shocks me. It shocks me, and it should shock all of us. But we need to remember the fact that Jesus warned us about these things. He warned us about these things. And what does he go on to say here in Luke? Luke chapter 13, verse 20. And again he said, To what shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened. Now, a popular interpretation of this passage would say that the meal is the world, and that the leaven is the gospel, and that when that leaven is hid in the in the meal, when that gospel is hidden in the world, that it would grow until it permeated the entire lump, and that all the world would be saved, would be transformed through the gospel message as the result of that teaching. The problem with that parable, as wonderful as that sounds is, is that we know that that's not the end result. The scripture tells us that the world is not going to be transformed just because of the gospel message being preached, but that a division is going to come as a result of the gospel message. That there would be a division, even as we read with the wheat and the tares. The whole world, friends, is not going to be converted. In fact, in the last days, there's going to be a great falling away. And so, as wonderful as that interpretation of this parable might seem, it's inconsistent with the rest of what Scripture teaches. Leaven representing sin says this that meal is the church. It's the kingdom of God. And if we allow leaven to be introduced into God's kingdom, if we allow sin to exist in our own lives without bringing it under judgment before God, then that little bit of sin will permeate the entire body. Didn't we see that happening in the dark ages when sin entered into the church and the entire church was corrupted as a result of it? And then came the reformation. And yet, even though there's this continuing renewal, there's always this remnant that the Lord preserves, even then, as the remnant grows and becomes a movement so often that leaven creeps in and there's a corruption that occurs, and then there has to be another renewal, and so on and so on. We live in a fallen world, and the kingdom of God, being a spiritual kingdom, is still a kingdom for which we must do battle. We have to understand the fact that it is spiritual in nature and that we are engaged, friends, in spiritual warfare on behalf of the kingdom of God. We, particularly in the American church, have adopted a form of religion that is sadly weak and often false. The scripture tells us that if we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, we shall be saved, right? Well, what has happened is we've gotten to the point where we think that if we just say this little prayer, that everything's gonna be okay. We're confessing with our mouths, perhaps, but we're not coming to that point where we really believe in our hearts. What is it we're confessing? Jesus Christ is my Savior? No, that's not what we're confessing. Jesus Christ is Lord, that's what we're confessing. The word Lord is curios, and it means master and owner. So I may profess with my mouth that Jesus Christ is my master and is my owner. But if I profess with my mouth that Jesus Christ is my master and my owner, and yet I continue in sin willfully against him, if I say that he is my master and my owner, and yet I decide I'm gonna continue to live with my girlfriend, or cheat on my spouse, or partake in that which is clearly sinful, if I say that he is my Lord, and yet I continue willfully to disobey him, then what I'm revealing is that I do not believe in my heart that he is Lord, you see. And the scripture does not say that it is by confession alone that we're saved, it's by believing and then confessing that belief. To believe in him is to put our hope and our faith and our trust and all that we are in his care and under his command. And far too often we have allowed the leaven of compromise into our lives to the point that though we profess faith in Christ, we do not live out that faith in any meaningful or tangible way. I am not saying that salvation is by works, okay? I'm not saying that. Salvation is by faith, but if we are truly saved, then there will be a transformation that occurs in our lives. There will be a change that takes place. We will be a different people because of our citizenship in God's kingdom, and our loyalty should be to Him, not to ourselves, not to our own selfish desires, not to the false gods that we served in our ignorance. You say, Well, I never served any false gods. Guys, anything that takes the place of Christ in your life, anything that has preeminence over your loyalty to Jesus and to God is a false God. We live in one of the most idolatrous cultures that has ever existed, and we don't even know it. I am grieved today by the fact that the church is so weak. There's a quote here from a leader in the Chinese house church movement, and he is asking you for something. This house church leader says this to America stop praying for persecution in China to end. We in fact are praying that the American church might taste the same persecution so that revival would come there like we have seen it in China. You see, in China, to be a true believer in Jesus Christ is going to cost you something. There's a story that I once heard of the former Soviet Union. There was a house church meeting and there was a prayer service going on, and all of a sudden the door swung open, and these Russian soldiers came in with their AK-47s cocked and ready to fire, and they said, Any of you in this room who do not believe in Jesus Christ, this is your opportunity to leave. The rest of you are going to die. I paraphrased, but that was the gist of what he said. Several people, a number of them, got up and ran out of the house, but the rest stayed because they refused to deny Christ. Once those who were going to leave had left, the soldiers put down their guns and said, Okay, now that all the phonies are gone, let's pray. What would happen in our country if we experienced that kind of persecution? Would the birds all fly off the tree? Oh, I think they might. When it costs you something to be a Christian, then you are going to decide at that moment if being a Christian is really worth what it's going to cost you. And if it isn't worth everything, then you don't really understand what it is. The Bible tells us that it is the goodness of God that leads men to repentance. And I want you to understand just how good God is, and just how much He loves you. So as we are considering the kingdom of God, I want us to look at one or two other things that Jesus said to describe that kingdom. Go back, if you will, to Matthew chapter 13, verse 44. In verse 44, Jesus said, Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid, and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Now, I used to think that what that meant was that when we are wandering through this life, we find Jesus Christ in the middle of this field, and that what we are to do is go and sell all that we have to purchase that field. In essence, that we are to give up everything for Jesus. And as wonderful and as nice as that sounds, I really don't believe anymore that that's what this passage is saying at all. Because the fact of the matter is, is salvation is not for sale. And all that I have, though I were to sell it, could never purchase the field that contains the treasure of God's grace. You cannot buy salvation. So what then does it mean? The fact of the matter is, I was looking at it backwards. You see, as we read again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. Well, the field, friends, is the world. The field is the world, and the treasure that is hidden in that field is you. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Again, whether it's the whole world, the field, and the treasure that's therein, or if it's that one pearl, that one individual, you, he was willing to let go of all his glory and his position of authority in heaven, and to put on flesh and become a man and come to this earth and to die for you. For you. That's why he's the king. That's why we belong to his kingdom. I want to tie all this together for you. Every oyster, every oyster has the potential to contain a pearl, doesn't it? Every one of them. But most of them don't. You could sit there with a hundred oysters and open them one after another after another and never find that pearl. Though each oyster had the potential to contain one. In order for that oyster to produce a pearl, something had to happen. A little grain of sand had to get inside that oyster. And that sand was an irritant. And as a result of the irritation from that sand, that oyster formed that pearl. In the same way, each of us has the potential to be a child of God, to be that wheat that is growing in the field. But in order for us to produce that pearl or to be that pearl, we first have to receive that little grain of sand, that little mustard seed called faith. And when we do, when we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and the Holy Spirit comes to live within us, he is an irritant. That sounds strange for me to refer to him as that. But Jesus said that he would send the Holy Spirit to convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. And though he is our helper and our comforter, he also irritates us. He moves against our flesh and he makes us uncomfortable when we sin. And when we respond to that conviction of the Holy Spirit in our lives, then a pearl is formed. And that pearl is precious to the Lord. And he gave everything that he owned that he might purchase you. So if you are a member of or a citizen of that heavenly kingdom, then understand that we owe him our allegiance. We owe him our loyalty. We owe him our devotion. We can never pay back what Jesus did, but we can be a part of it.

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Unfortunately, that's all the time we have for today. You've been listening to Heed the Word, the teaching ministry of Pastor Ken Davis at Calvary Chapel in Burleson, Texas. We are currently making our way through the Gospel of Luke here on Heat the Word. The Gospel of Luke is packed full of insights about Jesus, our Savior. So we encourage you to join us again, same time, same place, for the next study through Luke with Pastor Ken. As we mentioned at the beginning of today's broadcast, this teaching, as well as many others, are available from the Heat the Word Media Player. You can listen to today's teaching, download today's teaching, subscribe to the Heed the Word podcast, or even get a copy on your mobile phone. Everything's right there. There's even a Bible available for you to follow along in the scriptures as Pastor Ken teaches. So log on to HeedTheWord.org and continue studying with us today. If today's teaching has blessed you, perhaps you'd like to visit us for worship. Calvary Chapel Southwest Metro meets each Sunday morning at 10.30am and Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. We'd love to have you stop by and join us. For more information and driving directions, log on to www.heedtheword.org. This has been another edition of Heathe Word, the verse by verse, chapter by chapter, and book by book teaching ministry of Ken Davis, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel, Southwest Metro. Place a marker in your Bibles and join us next time for our continuing study through the Gospel of Luke, right here on Heed the Word.