In the parables we are going to read tonight, Jesus is teaching us about a specific time in the life of the Kingdom.

All parables reveal to us the secrets of the Kingdom.

The specific time these parables apply to are what we call the church age.
The church age is the time between the first coming a Christ and the second coming of Christ.

Matthew 13:24-30 - Parable of the Weeds

Matthew 13:31-33 - Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast

In all three He says, “the Kingdom of heaven is like…”

He was talking to them about how they saw the kingdom. With all the opposition, how could His Kingdom survive?

Jesus doesn’t deny the picture but He uses two parables to promise that the Kingdom was not and is not in danger.

The mustard seed.
The main point of the illustration was that Kingdom of heaven right now is very small, but that one day it would be a large body of believers.

The Kingdom would start small, but it would grow and be a blessing to the world.

Whenever the church lives like the church the community is blessed.

Matthew 13:34-43 Parable of the Weeds explained

He identifies the sower as the Son of Man

• This is a title used by the Jews to refer to the Messiah.
  
  
• This is the title that Jesus used to refer to Himself. 

So the Son of Man is sowing into His own field. What is His field? He owns the whole world.

As one writer put it, “This is a picture of the church in the world, not the world in the church.“

The seed here is the “sons of the kingdom,” that is, believers. 

Jesus plants His seed - the sons of the kingdom throughout the world.

We have been planted right here in our community to be fruitful.

The tares are the sons of the evil one.

The harvest represents the end of the age. What age?
The church age.

Remember the wheat and the tares are identified by their fruit.

The church age is not an age of judgement.

2 Thessalonians 1: 5-9
Matthew 25:41