Verse For Today

[airIam2worship]

Mt 12:38 ¶ Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.

Mt 12:39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:

Mt 12:40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Mt 12:41 The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.

Mt 12:42 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

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Observe here, 1. The request which the Pharisees make to Christ; Master, we would see a sign from thee.  But had not Christ showed them signs enough already?  What were all the miracles wrought in their sight, but convincing signs that he was the true Messias?  But infidelity mixed with obstinacy is never satisfied.
 
Observe, 2. Our Saviour's answer to the Pharisees' request:  he tells them that they should have one sign more, to wit, that of his resurrection from the dead:  For as Jonas lay buried three days in the whale's belly, and was then wonderfully restored, so should (and did) our Saviour continue in the grave again.
 
Observe, 3. How Christ declares the inexcusableness of their state, who would not be convinced by the former miracles he had wrought that he was the true Messiah; nor yet be brought to believe in him by this last sign or miracle of his resurrection.
 
The Ninevites shall condemn the Pharisees, they repented at the preaching of Jonas; but these would not be convinced by the preaching and miracles of Jesus.
 
The queen of Sheba, who also came from the south to hear and admire the wisdom of Solomon, shall rise up in judgment against those that reject Christ, who is the Wisdom of the Father; and the doctrine delivered by him, which was the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
 
Learn, That the sins of infidelity and impenitency are exceedingly heightened, and their guilt aggravated, from the means afforded by God to bring a people to faith and obedience.  The sin of the Pharisees in rejecting Christ's miracles and ministry, was by far greater than that of the Ninevites, had they rejected Jonah's message and ministry sent by God amongst them.

[airIam2worship]

Mt 12:43  When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.

Mt 12:44 Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.

Mt 12:45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.

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The design and scope of this parable is to show that the Pharisees, by rejecting the gospel and refusing to believe in Christ, were in a seven-fold worse condition than if the gospel had never been preached to them, and a Saviour had never come among them; because by our Saviour's ministry satan was in some sort cast out:  but for rejecting Christ and his grace, satan had got a seven-fold stronger possession of them now than before.
 
From this parable, learn, 1. Thatsatan is an unclean spirit; he has lost his original purity, his holy nature, in which he was created, and is become universally filthy and unclean nature.  Nay, he is a perfect enemy to purity and holiness, maligning all that love it, and would promote it.
 
2. That satan is a restless and unquiet spirit; being cast out of heaven, he can rest nowhere; when he is either gone out of a man through policy, or cast out of a man by power, he has no content  or satisfaction, till he returns into a filthy heart, where he delights to be as the swine in miry places.
 
3. That wicked and profane sinners have this unclean spirit dwelling in them:  their hearts are satan's house and habitation; and the lusts of pride and unbelief, malice and revenge, envy and hypocrisy, these are the garnishings of satan's house.  Man's heart was God's house by creation, it is now Satan's by usurpation and judiciary tradition.
 
4.  That satan by the preaching of the gospel may seem to go out of persons, and they become sober and civilized; yet may he return to his old habitation,  and the last end of that man may be worse than the  beginning.

[airIam2worship]

Mt 12:46 ¶ While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.

Mt 12:47 Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.

Mt 12:48 But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?

Mt 12:49 And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!

Mt 12:50 For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

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Observe here, 1. The verity of Christ's human nature; he had affinity and consanguinity with men, persons near in blood to him, called his brethren, that is, his cousin-germans.
 
2. That the holy virgin herself was not wholly free from failings and infirmities; for here she does untimely and unseasonably interrupt our Saviour when preaching to the people, and employed about his Father's business.
 
3. That Christ did not neglect his holy mother, nor disregard his near relations; only showed that he preferred his Father's service before them.
 
Learn, 4. How dear believers are to Jesus Christ; he prefers his spiritual kindred before his natural.  Alliance in faith, and spiritual relation to Christ, is much nearer and dearer than alliance by blood: to bear Christ in the heart is much better than to bear him in the womb.
 
Blessed be God, this greatest privilege is not denied to us even now: though see Christ we cannot, yet love him we may; his bodily presence cannot be enjoyed by us, but his spiritual presence is not denied us. Though Christ be not ours, in house, in arms, in affinity, in consanguinity, yet in heart, in faith, in love, in service, he is or may be ours.
 
Verily, spiritual regeneration brings men into a more honourable relation to Christ than natural generation ever did.  Whosoever shall do the will of my Father, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.

[airIam2worship]

Mt 13:1 ¶  The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.

Mt 13:2 And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

Mt 13:3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;


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The foregoing chapter gave us an account of an awakening sermon preached by our Saviour to the Pharisees.  In this chapter we are acquainted with the continuance of his preaching to the multitude, where three things are observable,
 
1. Our Lord's assiduity and unwearied diligence in preaching of the gospel; for this sermon was made the same day with that in the former chapter, ver. 1.  The same day went Jesus out, and sat by the sea-side. A good pattern for the preachers of the gospel to follow.  How ashamed may we be to preach once a week, when our Lord preached twice a day!
 
Observe, 2. The place our Lord preached in, a ship, no unmeet place to preach in.  It is not the place that sanctifies the ordinance, but the ordinance that sanctifies the place.
 
Observe, 3. The manner of our Lord's preaching; It was by parables and similitudes; which was an ancient way of instruction among the Jews, and a very convincing way; at once working upon men's minds, memories, and affections; making the mind attentive, the memory retentive, and the auditors inquisitive after the interpretation of the parable.
 
Some are of opinion that our Saviour's parables were suited to his hearers' employments, some of whom being husbandmen, he resembles his doctrine to seed sown in the field; for thus he speaks:
 
  Behold a sower went forth to sow: Mt 13:1-9

[airIam2worship]

Mt 13:4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

Mt 13:5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:

Mt 13:6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

Mt 13:7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

Mt 13:8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

Mt 13:9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.


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The scope of this parable is to shew, that there are four several sorts of hearers of the word, and but one sort only that hear to a saving advantage:  also to shew us the cause of the different success of the word preached.
 
Here observe, 1. The sowers, Christ and his apostles, he the prime and principal sower, they the secondary and subordinate seedsmen.  Christ sows his own field, his ministers sow his field; he sows his own seed, they sow his seed.  Woe unto us, if we sow our own seed and not Christ's.
 
Observe, 2. The seed sown, the word of God.  Fabulous legends, and unwritten traditions, which the seedsmen of the church of Rome sow, these are not seed, but chaff; or their own seed, not Christ's.  Our Lord's field must be sown with his own seed, not with mixed grain.
 
Learn, 1. That the word of God preached is like seed sown in the furrows of the field.  As seed has a fructifying virtue in it, by which it increases and brings forth more of its own kind; so has the word of God a quickening power, to regenerate and make alive dead souls.
 
Learn, 2. That the seed of the word, doth not thrive in all grounds alike, so neither doth the word fructify alike in the hearts of men. There is a difference both from the nature of the soil, and from the influence of the Spirit.
 
Learn, 3. That the cause of the word's unfruitfulness is very different, and not the same in all:  in some it is the policy of Satan, that bird of prey, which follows God's plough, and steals away the precious seed.
 
In others, it is a hard heart of unbelief; in others, the cares of the world, like thorns, choke the word, overgrow the good seed, draw away the moisture of the earth, and the heart of the soul, and hinder the influences of the sun.  The far greater part of hearers are fruitless and unprofitable hearers.
 
Learn, 4. That the best ground doth not bring forth fruit alike; some good ground brings forth more, and some less;  some thirty, some sixty, and some an hundred-fold.
 
In like manner a person may be a profitable hearer of the word, although he doth not bring forth so great a proportion of fruit as others, provided he brings forth as much as he can.

[airIam2worship]

Mt 13:10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?

Mt 13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

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Here we have the disciples' question, and our Saviour's answer.
 
Their question is,  Why speakest thou to the people in parables which they do not understand?  They cannot see the soul of thy meaning, through the body of thy parables.
 
Christ answers, "To you, my disciples, and such as you are, who love the truth, and desire to obey it, the Spirit gives you an affective, operative, and experimental knowledge, not barely to know these things, but to believe them, and feel the power of them in and upon your own hearts; but the generality of hearers do satisfy and content themselves with a bare notional knowledge of what they hear; a parable therefore is well enough for them."
 
Learn, 1. That the doctrines of the gospel are mysterious.
 
2. That it is a matchless and invaluable privilege, practically and savingly to understand and know gospel mysteries.
 
3. That this privilege all are not sharers in or partakers of, but only those to whom it is given, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom, but to them it is not given.

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My Thoughts

Jesus is God's gift to the world, the Holy Spirit is God's gift to His children.
All anyone has to do is accept the free gift that God has given to us, by accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior of our life, and God's Holy Spirit will be given to us to guide us and to lead us into all understanding.
Without Jesus, we can not have the Holy Spirit

[airIam2worship]

Mt 13:12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

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That is, whosoever improves the measures of grace received, shall obtain farther measures and degrees of it:   But from him that doth not improve what he has already received, shall be taken away that which to himself or others he seemed to have, his common gifts and moral endowments.
 
Learn, That where there are beginnings of true grace, and a right and wise improvement of it, God will make rich additions or more grace to the present stock which we have received.

[airIam2worship]

Mt 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

Mt 13:14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

Mt 13:15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

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These words of our blessed Saviour, as I conceive, have a peculiar reference and relation to the Pharisees, who attended upon Christ's ministry, not with an honest simplicity of mind, to be instructed by it, but to carp and cavil at it.  Our Saviour tells them, he had formerly spoken things very plainly and clearly to them, and also wrought miracles before them, to convince them of the divinity of his person and of the verity of his doctrine:  but they would not believe either his person or his doctrine to be from God; and therefore he would now speak to them in dark parables, that they may be judicially blinded; they sinfully shut their eyes against the clearest light, and said they would not see; and now Christ closes their eyes judicially, and says they shall not see.
 
Learn hence, To acknowledge the divine justice, which speaks darkly to them that despise the light:  such who see and yet see not, they shall see the shell but not the kernel; they shall hear the parable, but not understand the spiritual sense and meaning of it.  When wilful blindness of mind is added to natural blindness, it is a just and righteous thing with God to superadd judicial blindness, and give them obstinancy of heart, his curse unto them.

[airIam2worship]

Mt 13:16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

Mt 13:17 For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

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Here our Saviour pronounces such of his disciples and followers blessed, who received the truths of the gospel so far as they were already taught them:  he assures them that they shall receive farther light and fuller measures of spiritual illumination:   Blessed are your eyes, for they see.
 
Learn, That such as have received the least measures of spiritual knowledge and saving illumination, and do improve it, are in a happy and blessed condition; for as they are capable of further measures of divine knowledge, so shall they be partakers of them.

[airIam2worship]

Mt 13:18 Therefore hear the parable of the sower.

Mt 13:19 When anyone hears the Word of the kingdom and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and catches away that which was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown by the wayside.

Mt 13:20 But that which was sown on the stony places is this: he who hears the Word and immediately receives it with joy.

Mt 13:21 But he has no root in himself, and is temporary. For when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, he immediately stumbles

Mt 13:22 And that sown into the thorns is this: he who hears the word; and the anxiety of this world, and the deceit of riches, choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.

Mt 13:23 But that sown on the good ground is this: "he who hears the Word and understands; who also bears fruit and produces" one truly a hundredfold; and one sixty; and one thirty.



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As if our Lord has said, "You my disciples, who are not satisfied with a sound of words, I will explain to you the sense and signification of this parable:  the scope of which is, to shew the different effects which the word of God has upon men's hearts, and the reason of that difference.
 
The  seed is the word, the sower is the preacher, the soil is the heart and soul of man."
 
Now our Saviour assures us, that both the hearts of some hearers are like highway ground; in which the seed is not covered with the harrow of meditation; others are like stony ground, in which the word has no root; no root in their understandings, memories, conscience, will, or affections:  but they are offended, either at the depth and profoundness of the word, or at the sanctity and strictness of it, or at the plainness and simplicity of it.
 
Again, some hearers our Lord compares to the thorny ground.  Thorns are covetous desires, which choke the good seed, shadow the blade when sprung up, keep off the influences of the sun and draw away the fatness of the soil from the seed.  All these effects have thorns in and among the seed; and the like effects have worldly affections and covetous desires in the heart of man, rendering the word unfruitful and unprofitable.
 
But the good Christian hears the word attentively, keeps it retentively, believes it stedfastly, applies it particularly, practises it universally, and brings forth fruit with patience and perseverance; fruit that will redound to his account, in the great day of account.
 
Learn, 1. That no hearers are in Christ's account good hearers of the word, but such as bring forth the fruits of an holy, humble, and peaceable conversation.
 
2. That a person may be a good hearer of the word, if he brings forth the best fruit he can, though it be not in so great a proportion as others do:  as some ground brings forth thirty, some sixty, and some an hundred-fold:  in like manner do all the sincere hearers of the word, they all bring forth fruit, though not all alike; all in sincerity and reality, though not all to the same degree, and none to perfection.
 
Observe lastly, Satan is here compared to the fowls of the air, which pick up the seed before it takes any root in the earth.  The devil is very jealous of the success of the word, and therefore labours all he can to destroy the word before it comes to operate upon the heart; which he doth sometimes by the cares of the world, sometimes by vain companions, who prove mere quench-coals unto early convictions; if he can steal away the word or choke it, he has his desire and design.

[airIam2worship]

Mt 13:24 He put out another parable to them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.

Mt 13:25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed darnel among the wheat and went his way.

Mt 13:26 But when the blade had sprung up and had produced fruit, then the darnel also appeared.

Mt 13:27 So the servants of the householder came and said to him, Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Then where have the darnel come from?

Mt 13:28 He said to them, An enemy has done this. The servants said to him, Then do you want us to go and gather them up?

Mt 13:29 But he said, No, lest while you gather up the darnel you also root up the wheat with them.

Mt 13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest. And in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, First gather together the darnel and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my granary.



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The design and scope of this parable is, to shew that there is no expectation of universal purity in the church of God in this life; but as the tares and the wheat grow together in the same field, so hypocrites and sincere Christians are and will be intermixed in the same church, and can hardly be discerned one from the other.
 
St. Jerome observes, That in the eastern countries, the tares and the wheat were so like one another, whilst they were in the blade, that there was no knowing them asunder.
 
Learn, 1. That in the outward and visible church, there ever has been and will be a mixture of good and bad, of saints and sinners, of hypocrites, and sincere Christians,  until the day of judgment.
 
2.  That in that day Christ will make a thorough and perfect separation, and divide the tares from the wheat; that is, the righteous from the wicked.
 
3. That in the meantime none ought to be so offended at this mixture in the church, as to separate from church communication on that account: until the harvest, it is not to be expected that the tares and the wheat should be perfectly separated.
 
Yet observe, 4. That though the tares are forbidden to be plucked up when sown, yet it is the church's duty, all she can, to hinder their sowing.  Though we must not root the wicked up, yet we must prevent the rooting of wickedness all we can. Our Saviour, that forbad to pluck up the cares, did not forbid to hinder their sowing.
 
Note here, How vain is the collection of the Erastians from hence, that the wicked are not to be cut of by excommunication from the communion of the church; nor doth this text prove that the magistrates may not cut off evil doers; seeing this was not spoken to them, but to the ministers of the church.

[airIam2worship]

Mt 13:31 He put out another parable to them, saying, The kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field;

Mt 13:32 which indeed is the least of all seeds, but when it is grown it is the greatest among herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in its branches.

Mt 13:33 He spoke another parable to them: The kingdom of Heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened.

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Our Saviour's design in this parable is, to shew how the gospel, from small and little, from unlikely and contemptible beginnings, shall spread and increase, fructify and grow up; like a mustard seed, one of the smallest grains, grows up to a considerable tallness; and as a little leaven turns a great heap of meal into its own nature; so the gospel shall spread and increase, nations and countries becoming Christians.
 
Learn, That how small beginning soever the gospel had in its first plantation, yet, by the fructifying blessing of God, it has had and shall have a wonderful increase.

[airIam2worship]

Mt 13:34 Jesus spoke all these things to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them without a parable,

Mt 13:35 so that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, "I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world."

Poole


 Ver. 34,35. Christ spake all the aforementioned things to the multitude, and also to his disciples, in parables, dark sayings, covering Divine and spiritual truths with fit and proper similitudes; and at this time he delivered himself wholly in this manner to them, though at other times he spake more plainly. He gave us the reason before; and by this way of speaking also he made his own disciples more diligent to attend to what they heard, and more inquisitive after the true sense and meaning of it. And thus, saith the evangelist, that which was spoken by the prophet, Ps 78:2, was also fulfilled in Christ: not that the psalmist, whether David or Asaph, did there prophesy concerning Christ, for plainly the psalmist intended to relate the history of God's dealing with the Jews, and their behaviour toward him. Nor was it fulfilled as the type in the antitype, but as a thing of the same nature was done. The prophet delivered himself in dark sayings, so did Christ, but instead of I will utter dark sayings of old, the evangelist hath, which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world; he means the great and mysterious things of the gospel, hid from ages and generations, Col 1:26; 1Co 2:7; Ro 16:25, where it is called the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began. As the psalmist opened his mouth in grave discourses, tending to the good of the people to whom he spake; so Christ taught the people, by revealing the mysteries of the gospel, hid in God from the beginning of the world, as Paul speaks to the Ephesians, Eph 3:9.

[airIam2worship]

Mt 13:36 Then sending the crowds away, Jesus went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, Explain to us the parable of the darnel of the field.

Mt 13:37 He answered and said to them, He who sows the good seed is the Son of man;

Mt 13:38 the field is the world; the good seed are the sons of the kingdom; but the darnel are the sons of the evil one.

Mt 13:39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.

Mt 13:40 Therefore as the darnel are gathered and burned in the fire, so it shall be in the end of this world.

Mt 13:41 The Son of man shall send out His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who do iniquity,

Mt 13:42 and shall cast them into a furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Mt 13:43 Then the righteous shall shine out like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

WBN

The parable of the tares of the field, Christ is pleased to explain to his disciples after this manner.  The person sowing good seed was himself,  The Son of man; who first planted the gospel:  the field in which the seed was sown was the world; that is, the church in the world:  the good seed, called, The children of the kingdom, are sincere Christians:  the tares called, The children of the wicked one, are profane sinners, and unsound hypocrites:  the enemy is the devil, the harvest is the end of the world, and the angels are the reapers.
 
Learn, 1. That the mixture of the tares and the wheat, of the righteous and the wicked must and shall remain in the church unto the end of the world.
 
2. That in the end of the world the angels shall perform the work of separations, gathering the righteous from among the wicked:  when everyone's harvest shall be according to his fruit; The righteous shining in the kingdom of their Father, the wicked cast into a furnace of fire.

[airIam2worship]

Mt 13:44 Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which when a man has found it, he hides it, and for the joy of it goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field.

Mt 13:45 Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls;

Mt 13:46 who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

WBN

By the treasure hid in the field, and the pearl of great price, are understood, Christ, the grace of the gospel, and the way to life and salvation therin discovered; he that is thoroughly convinced of the worth and excellency of Christ's grace, will part with all that he has to purchase and obtain it.
 
Learn, That the sinner who will have interest in Christ, and a part in gospel grace, must part with all that he has to purchase and obtain them, even with his goods and lands with his wife and children; for Christ and his grace are a real good, a substantial good, a durable good; he outbids all the offers the world can make, and therefore it is our wisdom to part with all for him, and especially our sins, dearer to us than all the rest.