What is heaven like?
The apostle John, near the end of his life, saw a vision of something that he called "The holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God."
He described that vision in the book of Revelation.
John’s vision gives us some of the popular images of heaven –– pearly gates and streets of gold (Revelation 21:21).
Did John really see gates carved from huge pearls––or streets paved with gold?
Maybe he did.
But more likely he was trying to describe the indescribable.
Stop and think about that for a moment.
How would you describe the color “blue” to a blind person.
That would be pretty hard, wouldn't it!
You could say that blue is a "cool" color and red is a "hot" color, but that wouldn't mean much to a person who had never seen either color.
You could say that the oceans are blue and that fire is red, but that wouldn't mean much either.
Trying to describe heaven to someone who had never seen it is just as difficult.
John probably wrote about gates carved from pearls and streets paved with gold because we know what a pearl looks like –– we know what gold looks like.
But maybe John saw things so different and so wonderful that he had no words to describe them!
Maybe he just talked about pearly gates and streets of gold because those were the best words that he had.
This morning we are looking at some snapshots of the kingdom of Heaven from Matthew 13:
• "The kingdom of heaven is like a MUSTARD SEED." (v.31,32)
• Or YEAST.(v.33)
• Or like A TREASURE hidden in a field.
• Or A MERCHANT in search of fine pearls.
• Or like A NET that was thrown into the sea.
These images/parables are describing the Kingdom of Heaven, There are three great lessons for us to take away this morning.
The FIRST lesson for us comes from the Parable of the Mustard Seed and the Parable of Yeast
31 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. 32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
33 He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”
This is the FIRST great lesson I want us to take away today:
that the kingdom of heaven might seem tiny –– of no consequence
and even start off like that –– but really, it has great power.
The mustard seed is a tiny seed,
but it has the potential to grow into a tree
a tree large enough that "birds of the air come and make nests in its branches" (v. 32).
In the same way, a thimble-full of yeast has the power to transform a lump of dough into something light and airy.
A really small amount of yeast has the power to leaven a whole loaf of bread.
Jesus' point was that the kingdom of heaven might not seem like much at first glance –– but keep your eye on it.
Like an iceberg, the part of the kingdom that you see is just the tip sticking out of the water.
Most of it lies out of sight, beneath the surface.
That is good news for us.
St Mary’s might not seem like much when measured by the world's standards,
Or compared it to other churches around the place,
We don't have lots of money.
We have plenty of empty seats.
We aren't likely to make the front page of the paper.
Or the evening news
But watch out!
When it comes to churches…
What you see is not what you get!
There are things that happen beneath the surface –– things we cannot see,
Even here at St Mary’s God is at work,
God has the power to transform our ordinary church
And our ordinary lives,
into something special.
That is why we have as our motto “Christ, Transforming Lives”.
That is what He does!
We come here week by week to worship and praise God,
To hear His Word read and explained.
Every week we have another opportunity to experience God's grace.
Every week, we grow a little bit in the fellowship that we have with each other –– and with God.
Every week, God directs our pathway a little more clearly.
When I was younger they used to put Porsche engines in Volkswagen Beetles.
They would pull up beside you at a stoplight and rev their engines and challenge you to race off the lights.
What you saw in that Volkswagen bug was definitely not what you got.
Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is like that.
The church is like that.
We, as Jesus' disciples are like that.
We might not look like anything special, but
What you see is definitely not what you get.
We are like a tiny mustard seed, but we are destined to become a great tree.
We are like a teaspoon of yeast.
Over time, by the grace of God, we will leaven our community and our world.
We might seem of no consequence
But that is not true – As Christians and as a church -we have been given great power.
Then Jesus says, "the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field" or a merchant who finds a great pearl.
The person who found a treasure hidden in a field sold everything so he would be able to buy that field.
Jesus said that he did so "in his joy."
Nobody had to persuade him to buy that field.
Nobody had to sell him on the idea.
Once he learned that there was buried treasure there,
a team of horses could not have held him back.
He wanted that field more than anything in the world.
He joyfully sold everything he owned to get the money to buy that field
Wouldn't you like to discover buried treasure!
If you found buried treasure on someone’s land,
wouldn't you want to buy that land!
And buy it joyfully!
In his parable, Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is like that. On the surface, it looks ordinary, but there is treasure buried there.
Here is the SECOND great lesson for today:
Once we learn of that treasure, we will happily sacrifice everything we own to possess it.
And once you have it – do you appreciate what you have?
Do you appreciate the new life that you have in Christ?
Then Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is like "a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when (the net) was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good (fish) into baskets but threw out the bad (fish)" (vv. 47-48).
There were lots of fishermen in Jesus' day,
so people had seen fishermen sorting through their catch of the day,
keeping the good fish and throwing out the bad.
Fishermen today can identify with that as well.
The law requires that we throw back the small fish.
Fishermen also throw back fish that are not good to eat.
It’s a hard thing for me to say, but,
Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven will be like that.
At the "end of the age," the angels will sort out those who are righteous from those who are evil,
and will throw those who are evil into the fiery furnace.
This is a promise that, at the "end of the age," there will be a reckoning.
The factor that will differentiate men from other men,
Women from other women,
Children from children,
Is their relationship to Christ.
This is why I keep saying that people need make a commitment to Christ.
He calls on us to repent and believe the good news,
that He is the saviour of the world.
That is why it is not good enough to be just a church attender.
We need to be a church attender who has committed our life to Christ.
The Apostle Paul tells us that we have all sinned (Romans 3:23).
We don't really need Paul to tell us that –– we already know it.
Paul goes on to say that we
"are now justified by (God's) grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:24).
For those of us who have accepted Christ as their Lord,
when "the end of the age" comes,
we will have a clean slate.
As far as the angels are concerned,
we will look as pure as the driven snow.
We will be among the righteous who are ushered straight into the kingdom –– because Jesus has saved us.
That is the THIRD great lesson for us to take away today:
At the end of the age, there will be a sorting out,
We will be treated by God the way we have treated Him through our life,
If we have spent our life ignoring him, begging Him to be out of our lives,
Then He gives us what we desire.
If we have spent our lives submitting to Him, loving Him, including Him,
Then He will treat us in the same way.
To conclude, Could I please repeat those three great lessons from today,
(1) that the kingdom of heaven might seem tiny –– of no consequence,
but really, it has great power.
(2) Once we learn of what it means to have an eternity with God,
we will happily sacrifice everything we own to possess it.
And once we do have it – do we appreciate what we have?
Do you really, seriously and honestly appreciate the new life that you have been given?
(3) at the end of the age, there will be a sorting out,
Which is based on whether or not,
We have submitted our life to Christ.
What is the Kingdom of Heaven like?
I can tell you this,
(1) It is far better to be in it – than out of it!
(2) What is there to loose? Nothing
(3) What have got to gain? Everything.
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