Good Works Multiply The Kingdom of Heaven

Please turn your Bible to Matthew chapter 13, which can be found on page 818 if you're using the Pew Bible. Matthew chapter 13, we'll be looking particularly at verse 28— excuse me, verse 23— which says, When you have that, go ahead and stand for the reading of God's Word.

The Parable of the Sower and the Fruitful Soil

Now we'll read a larger passage for context, beginning in verse 1. Immediately they sprang up since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away.

Other seeds fell among the thorns, and thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear. Then the disciples came and said to him, Why do you speak to them in parables?

And he answered them, To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance.

But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing that they they do not see and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

Indeed, in their case, the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled. It says, you will indeed hear, but never understand. You will indeed see, but never perceive. For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their eyes they can barely hear.

And their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn. And I would heal them. But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear.

For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people long to see what you see and did not see it, and to hear what you hear and did not hear it. Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart.

This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on the rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. Yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while.

And when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word. But the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.

As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. Indeed, bears fruit and yields. In one case, a hundredfold, another 60, and in another 30. Amen.

You may be seated.

Prayer for Fruitful Hearing of God's Word

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you today for your word. We ask that it would guide and direct us. We pray that it would bear much fruit in us as we see here.

The seed is the word.

And it is to bear fruit. We pray that you would bear fruit in us. We pray that we would be those whose eyes can see and ears can hear rather than those whose hearts have grown dull. In Jesus name. Amen.

Good Works as Multiplication in the Kingdom of Heaven

Well, if you remember from some weeks ago, we are in the middle of a long series on motivations for good works. And this is something that will be in and out of for some time. But right here in this segment, we've been consulting passages that speak directly of how good works advance the kingdom of God, how they advance the kingdom of heaven.

And here is one particular passage that speaks of the fruit that we are to bear and how it multiplies the kingdom. That word that comes in that seed, though being one, bears in some cases a hundredfold, in some cases sixty, and another thirty.

Many people do not anticipate there being much fruit from their life. They believe the point of the gospel is salvation in a very narrow sense, meaning forgiveness and addressing their own particular woes, their own particular needs for things.

And they don't imagine that it would be something much more. The salvation that we receive is something much more than merely forgiveness, much more than merely some comfort. Rather, the salvation that we've received is one that stirs up in us a kind of life that would bear much fruit, not just bear some fruit, but much fruit.

If you have that kind of thing in mind, you'll be far less inclined to a sort of kingdom consumerism, where you are not coming to march in the army, but rather to receive of the blessings without getting to participate in the joys of advancing the kingdom.

Many people go about their church life with that mindset, that kind of kingdom consumerism. Often, I've heard when people are looking for a church, they have three different things in mind. They say preaching, the community, and the music.

Those are the three things that just always seem to come up. It seems to be those three things. And those are not bad things to look for. But usually, people mean something in particular by them, something very consumeristic by them.

That the preaching would be something that enlivens me, not necessarily because it's the doctrine that's so true, but because it scratches a particular itch that I have. Or when they talk about the music, they're not speaking of it being God-honoring in a particular kind of way, but it would move my heart to feel the kind of feelings that I want to feel.

And then, when they speak of the community, usually they're not talking about the kind of unity that people would have in Jesus Christ, being united around him by the spirit with sound doctrine, but rather, does it have the particular demographics that make me feel welcome?

And so, people have this consumeristic mindset about the kingdom, because they're not primarily thinking about what the kingdom is doing in them, how it is leading them to bear much fruit. And so, they bear less fruit than they could otherwise.

Now, on one hand, it is guaranteed, it is guaranteed that those who are in the kingdom will bear much fruit. Those whom the word of God is in bears much fruit, yet it bears fruit in different quantities.

In some cases, 100, in another, 60, in another, 30. And so, that legacy that could be enjoyed by all is squandered, so that there's only limited ways that it is enjoyed. I want you to enjoy the fullness of that legacy that you can have through Jesus Christ.

I want you to enjoy the fullness of the gospel, that word working in you, not just for a mere 30, but even for 100. And the more you have your mind set on these truths of what Christ is doing in his people, the more you'll be led not to have that kind of consumeristic mindset that looks for the things that you are looking for, or that looks to examples of excellence as an excuse to not pursue it, because I can never have those sorts of things, God hasn't gifted me for that, but would instead see these things as encouragements towards excellence in yourself, you can have all that and more.

The gospel promises great good, great fruit in the life of a believer. But there will be even greater fruit as you embrace these truths, because what is it that is producing the fruit? Is it not the word of God?

The word of God on the fallow soil, the soil that God himself has made fallow. Let me read this verse again. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case, a hundredfold, in another, 60, in another, 30.

Now there were three kinds of bad soil. There was the pathway where the seed just is taken away and nothing has any kind of root. There was the rocky soil. There was the thorny soil. On the rocky soil, something springs up quickly, but then when any kind of turmoil comes, it washes away.

On thorny soil, the thorns grow up and grab it, drag it down. Well, there are likewise in this verse three kinds of good soil. Now on one hand, there's only one kind of good soil. On the other hand, Jesus tells us that there are three kinds, speaking of hundredfold, 60, and 30.

Now what is this all talking about? Ultimately, it is talking about the kingdom. It says in verse 11, To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. This is speaking of the kingdom of heaven.

Those who would come into the kingdom of heaven, the fruit that would come from their lives, that fruit, of course, being good works. Frequently throughout Scripture, you see that phrase or that term being used to describe righteousness that would come from the heart of the believer.

Good works all throughout. We see that we are instructed to beware of false prophets by looking to the fruit that they would bear. Matthew 3, 8 tells us to bear fruit, keeping with repentance. It's talking about works in particular.

So good works for the good trees, evil works for the false prophets, the evil trees. Most of the parables that Christ gave us, He did not interpret. This is one that He interpreted, and not only interpreted, but interpreted at significant length.

And He explains to us why it is that He has not interpreted it to many. It is because the secrets of the kingdom of heaven are not given to them, but rather, they are given to you. If you are one who is trusted in Jesus Christ, this is a secret that others cannot understand.

Even if they read the words of Jesus, it is still the case that because of the hardness of their heart, they cannot understand these things. They cannot truly embrace them. But He has given that means to you by which you can truly embrace this truth.

You can experience the kind of fruit that it describes. So first, the first thing that we should consider in this passage is that disciples bear fruit in great multitudes. This is not the mere kind of consumeristic, the fruit that I bear is just kind of remaining saved, you know, saying a few good things about Jesus here and there.

The kind of fruit that we see is a great fruit. Great multiples are described. In fact, now I am not an agriculture expert, but I did look up how many grains usually come from a single plant of wheat, and the answer was 20 to 30, which I found interesting that the max amount is the amount that Jesus describes as the minimum amount.

Now, if that, if the information I was looking up is correct, then Jesus is doing something intentional by extenuating this even further, starting with 30 and going all the way to 100. These are great amounts.

You see Him describe this elsewhere when He talks about the mustard seed that grows into the greatest of trees. In Genesis 1 .11, He talks about the nature of fruit, that it be something that brings more seed into the earth.

Okay, a lot of times you think of fruit as being this terminus, but what does the fruit have in it? What does the stalk of grain have in it? It has more seed. So this is a multiplying thing that is happening here.

Genesis 1 .11 says, Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, fruit trees bearing fruit, and which is their seed, each according to its kind on the earth. So do not think of the terminus, the end of a plant, being the fruit itself, but fruit which likewise contains seed in it, that then bears more fruit, etc., etc.

It continues on and on. Isaiah 55 .10 says, Rain brings a harvest, giving seed to the sower. Frequently, this is how the Bible talks about it. It doesn't just talk about the thing that you personally consume at the grocery store.

That's usually what we're thinking about. But if you're a farmer, you're concerned about producing more seed in order that you can keep growing fields and even having larger fields if you so desire. The end of this, the end of the seed is more seed, which will get more seed, and so on,.

And so on.

The way that this expands exponentially, take the plant that bears a hundredfold. If a generation after that, it bears a hundredfold, and a generation after that, it bears a hundredfold. How long does it take for one seed to become 10 billion seeds?

It's only five generations. It is not long that it takes to grow so much. So you should likewise think about the fruit that you would bear, that it is taking that word of God that was planted in you on that one day, bearing much righteousness in them from that.

Much more righteousness may come from it. You have a wonderful opportunity to bear much fruit. We do not know how long Christ will tarry, but should he choose to tarry for some generations hereafter, then you can know that the fruit that you would bear in this time that God was gracious to place you here in, not at the very end of time, so that you would be able to bear fruit that leads to fruit that leads to fruit.

And there's much that you could point to as descending from you, yourself, that you're both not being in yourself, you're both being in the Lord working through you, the word working through you. Now, I don't know if the Lord should tarry.

I would hope that he would come today. That would be my greatest delight. Yet at the same time, should he choose not to come today, then we can take joy in that as well because of the opportunity it gives us for bearing additional fruit.

This is the way Paul talks about it when he says to die is Christ, to live is gain. What is the gain that he's looking for? This opportunity to bear much fruit. This is a—there are two different ways that this happens, and the first is one that you are probably already thinking of and maybe you are only thinking of, and that is conversion.

Okay, the first is conversion, right? If one disciple hears the word of God, he shares it with several others, they believe the word of God, shares it with several others, and so on. This may be what you're already thinking of, and we've covered that in a previous message that was about how good works lead to conversions.

Matthew 5, 16 says, Let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. So indeed, your good works have an evangelistic effect on others.

It's by your love for one another that people will see that you are truly Christ's disciples, and it is by your good works that many may glorify your Father who is in heaven. So you have an opportunity to lead others into conversions, and indeed it is the case that many people have become Christians over the course of time.

You look at how small the band of disciples was in the time of Jesus and how much it has expanded even at our own time. It is really incredible. Christianity is a—we are a minority compared to the—most people would look at us as the plurality of the greatest religion on the earth.

Perhaps in some countings you could legitimately say that. However, of course, those numbers are inflated because you have so many false versions of Christianity, and we are always going to be the narrow path.

At the same time, despite being the narrow path, God has expanded the footprint of His kingdom to such incredible degrees compared to what it was originally. It has born much and then born much and then born much, etc.

I have heard speculation. Every time I look at these numbers, it is hard to get any kind of real numbers given the sort of inflated things that you see. But it is possible, given both the expanse of the human race as well as the expanse of the kingdom within that human race, that there are as many Christians alive today as are.

Dead.

That is a very real possibility if you were to try to put together the numbers. That kingdom has expanded so much that the number of believers today are similar to the numbers of those who have gone before us.

That is how much the kingdom has expanded. And you can have a hand in that, not just by your direct evangelism, but even by that fruit that comes from your life that others see and cause them to give glory to God in.

Heaven.

But this passage speaks of more than that. The kind of bearing fruit, the kind of kingdom multiplication that is happening is not just in conversions of individuals. The kingdom advances even in the advance of righteousness itself, not just in the advance of people who are righteous, but in those people bearing more righteousness.

It says in Romans 14, 17,. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. So long as righteousness is increasing, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit is increasing, the kingdom is increasing, even if it not be the quantity of individuals in the kingdom.

You know, when I pray for the growth of this church, I do pray for the number of those who would be here, but then I also pray for the maturity of those who would be here, because both of those are part of the growth of the kingdom.

But then listen to this, Isaiah 9, 7, Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.

This, of course, is speaking of the Son, Jesus Christ, talks about his government, there never being an end to its increase. It will be upheld with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.

His kingdom increases in its righteousness forever. What does that mean? We know from Jesus' own words that in the eternal state there will be no marriage or giving in marriage, but we will be like the angels in heaven.

The kingdom will cease to increase in number at some point. He has in mind to create for himself a kingdom of redeemed people. He is not going to create people in heaven who do not need redemption, who will not know his mercy.

That is what the angels are for. The angels glorify him without ever having experienced his mercy. He is not going to create more people. There will not be marriage or the products of marriage. There will not be children in heaven.

Sorry, in the eternal state is what I'm referring to. And so what does that mean? This kingdom ceases to increase in number on that last day, but we are told that it increases in righteousness forever.

That joy, that peace in the Holy Spirit is something that will increase in each one of.

Us forever.

The righteousness that we bear, the fruit that we are bearing. As the tree bears fruit year by year and doesn't cease until it dies, what would happen to the tree if it never.

Died?

It would just continue bearing fruit every single year forever and ever, just growing and growing and growing. And so likewise, we will bear righteousness forever. You have an opportunity to begin, even in this life, bearing righteousness, growing the kingdom just in righteousness, not to mention the opportunities for conversion.

And just to give you a couple of examples of how this is a multiplying effect, not just in you having heard the word and you as an individual bearing some significant quantity of fruit, but think about how your fruit has an impact on others.

Just consider some of the literature that has been written by the saints of ages past. That's a very good example where you can see how it has a lasting effect on others. For example, Pilgrim's Progress, once again, statistics being unreliable, but many people frequently refer to it as the second bestseller of all time, the first being the Bible.

Many people have read the Pilgrim's Progress. John Bunyan, in an effort for his children, wrote that on one occasion, and it still continues to bear additional fruit today as people read it and are moved to follow God more closely in the Christian life.

Righteousness begetting righteousness. Similarly, for myself, I wrote back in 2014, not long after I joined this church, I wrote a tract for a particular cult known as the Iglesia Ni Cristo, wrote a tract to tell them about the gospel.

And I still get emails maybe once or twice a year from people who tell me it was instrumental.

In their conversion.

That's a very encouraging thing. There's things like that literature. Know also that Pastor Daniel Kearney was here a few weeks ago. He had told us about his orphanage that he needs a little bit more in order to build, and we have excess in our budget for missions.

So I've sent to him what is needed in order to finish building his orphanage. Just know that you and your giving, who knows what that orphanage will do? Who knows how those children will be led to Christ?

Just those small quantities of giving may lead to much fruit for years to come. Way long after you are dead, it may even still be bearing fruit. Now, part of me regrets not having come up with many more examples because maybe they would be impactful on you, but there are so many examples of the ways that your righteousness that you might consider small is something that would bring much fruit.

The believer bears fruit, and that fruit itself has seed that bears much fruit. It may not all be visible to you. In fact, it's almost certain that it will not be visible to you. This is how Christ encourages us to pray, that when we pray, we're supposed to go into our closets.

Not that it's never appropriate to pray with one another, it's what we do here, but that many of your prayers should be in private so that your reward would be from your Father in heaven and not from others.

In other words, God would have it to be that we would not see much of the productivity, much of the fruit that comes ultimately from us bearing righteousness. He would have us to, in faith, trust Him.

Now, if you are not in faith trusting Him that these things are true, you will not bear that fruit because you will not be motivated the way that you want. You will be the kind who bears 30 rather than 100.

You will bear much fruit, but not as much as you could. If you trust what the Lord says, that His intention is to make many of these things only visible on the day of judgment, and you are walking by faith, Lord willing, that will motivate you to even greater works than these.

Now, you have a capacity for much. You should not have a maintenance view of your Christian life where you're just trying to maintain things. You should have a multiplication view. Do not aim for maintenance.

Aim for multiplication. Aim for bearing much fruit. Similarly, a very good analogy for this is the population that you see right now. Population growth has decreased incredibly in many countries because most people are mostly thinking about it in terms of maintaining population.

That's what they think is best, if you just maintain the population. So people aim to have just the right number of kids to maintain the population. Now, what happens regardless is because God has blessed it and said, be fruitful and multiply, He's blessed the human race.

It's still the case that the human race is multiplying. It's just not multiplying as much as it could. We're not as fruitful and as prosperous as we could be if there were far more to labor alongside of us.

Same thing is true with the kingdom of heaven. It will still grow. They will still bear thirtyfold. Yet, would it not be better if we had a multiplication mindset rather than a maintenance mindset and we bared a hundredfold?

Would it not be far better? And so that's the next thing that's important to see here. So the disciples bear fruit in various multiples. Okay, first, there's great multiples, but it is various multiples.

Jesus says one hundred, sixty, and another thirty. This is the opposite quantities that Mark speaks of. In Mark, he records Jesus' words as being thirty and another sixty and another a hundred. So in Mark, it's functioning as a great optimistic hope, right?

It could be as many as a hundred. Here in Matthew, it's functioning more like a warning. It starts off at a hundred and goes to sixty, and then it could be as little as thirty. Now, that's still a great quantity, but may it not be a small quantity for you.

May it be much, much greater. There are various quantities here, just as there were the three bad soils. So within that one good soil, there are three kinds of that one good soil. Some bearing thirty, some sixty, some one hundred, or in reverse rather here, Matthew.

John Gill says the following. He says, the fruits of grace and believers are of the same quality, yet not of the same quantity. The same quality. Now, you might think to yourself, aren't some good works better than others?

What Scripture is telling us is they're all moved by the Spirit. They're all something of quality, yet when you see two different works where one seems greater than the other, you should think in terms of this passage, not of differing qualities, but rather of differing quantities.

Now, what would be the things that make this differ? Well, first there is gifting. Naturally, the Holy Spirit is going to gift some people for good works more than others. That is not something that you can particularly help.

Apart from, you can pray to the Spirit for greater gifts. God tells us to pray for Spirit. In fact, at the ending of the Lord's Prayer in Luke, He tells us that all those who pray for the Spirit will receive.

So, you can pray for greater gifts. Yet, it is God's choice how He would bestow those gifts. So, the other half of the equation is stewardship of the gifts that you have received. You have received various gifts.

You should use them to the fullest capacity that you can use them. Consider what that especially means for the time that you have available on this earth. You have some limited number of days. Many of those who have burned very bright, who have done a lot, have had their days cut short.

Edwards, Calvin, they both lived to 54 years. That is not an especially long life. Luther lived to 62. That is also not as long as a life could be. Of course, still, Charlie Kirk is fresh in the memory.

He was only 31 when he died. People who end up doing a lot for the sake of the kingdom often do not have very long to do it. Now, the takeaway from that is not bear as little fruit as possible so that God gives you much time.

It's take advantage of the time you have. You may not have very much time. In fact, you may have very short time. Perhaps you were saved later on in your life, and you were not given all the years that others have, and you feel like you're playing catch-up.

I understand. I've talked to many people about what that's like. It can feel very difficult, yet at the same time, God has blessed you in a particular way in order that you would be able to use the opportunities you have.

When I think about those who had very little time in their lives to bear fruit, the one who comes chief in mind is the criminal on the cross. How much time did he have to bear fruit? A few hours. And yet his words are recorded and have been an encouragement for people for centuries, for millennia.

You may not have much time remaining, but you should take advantage of every last bit of time that you have. The days are evil. Redeem the time. And consider what God has given you. If he has given you special giftings in different kinds of ways, whether it be your resources and your time and money, whether it be your special skills that you have that you can serve others with, whether it be your understanding of something in the Bible that you could explain God's word to others.

These are all ways that you can take advantage of what God has given you so that you would not be one who is bearing only 30-fold, which is still much, but you could be one who is bearing 100-fold. Now, how does this take place?

This all takes place by the word of God. Jesus explains the nature of the parable in verse 18. Here, then, the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches it away.

Okay, so what's he talking about? The seed is the word of the kingdom of heaven. This all takes place by the word. If you want to bear fruit, then you must go to the word. I've pointed out before how Jesus says in John that you must abide in the vine, and ultimately abiding in the vine is attending to the means of grace, those things that he has given in order that you would have more and more of him, including his word which speaks of him.

It is through the word of the kingdom of heaven that you would bear much fruit. Go to the word of the kingdom of heaven. Spend time in it. A lot of people wonder why they don't have the peace in their life that they think they should have, and yet they're spending no time in his word.

Of course, there would not be great joy and peace if you do not have the means by which God would give it to you. Of course, it is going to be through this. And then, moreover, you may be going to his word in a way that is very hardened.

You see the three soils. These three soils describe that word being unprofitable to particular people. There are some who never hear it. Of course, it is not profitable to them. There are some who are like the rocky soil.

They are too cowardly, so they are taken away by other things when trials come upon them so that they would not hold fast to the faith. There are those who thorns and thistles grow up and strangle the plant.

These are those who are excited about the riches of this world, more excited about those things. So the difference with the rocky soil was the rocky soil was not the pleasures of the world, but the difficulties of the world drive them from the faith.

The thorns was the pleasures of the world drive them from the faith. These are two different kinds of apostasies, right? There's the kind of Peter where he was afraid. He's able to be restored. There was Judas where he loved wealth, and there was no restoration from him.

Hebrews 6, likewise, uses this image of the thorny soil to describe someone that would be taken away and reject the faith, never to return. We must hold on to the faith in a way that loves the Word of God truly, that is not hardened to it, that doesn't allow other things to compete with it.

You might think that you have enough of the Word of God in your life, but if you have all kinds of other pleasures in your life, not that we aren't to enjoy some of the good things of this world, but if you let yourself be taken away by those things that would entrap you and hinder you, like it describes in Hebrews 12, the sin and the weight of all those things that would ensnare us.

Yes, there should be no sin, but let there be no weights either. Let there be no pleasures that are competing with your love for the Word. Go to God submissively to His Word. It is good even to pray before and after you read His Word in order that your heart would be truly fallow, that it would be ready to be receptive to God's Word.

So many people already think they know what God's Word said. This is a particular temptation that you are under as one who has sat under His Word many times before, if this describes you, and you will not be ready to receive the new things it says.

So you must pray that you will be receptive to it, that you will be looking to it for answers and not just gliding right over it. Paul says in Philemon 21 to Philemon, This is an interesting phrase, that he is confident that as he has spoken to Philemon, Philemon will receive that Word and do even more than Paul says, because Paul trusts the Word of God as spoken by an apostle to Philemon to accomplish its purposes, to bear much fruit, not just little fruit, but much fruit.

It is the Word that accomplishes this. And notice also what happens here in this pericope. In verse 11, he answered them. Let me start at verse 10. Then the disciples came and said to him, Why do you speak to them in parables?

And he answered them, To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. How is it that these disciples will understand this parable in a way that the Word of God will have its desired effect in them?

It is through Christ's explanation to them. Likewise for us, the only way that we would be able to receive God's Word is through Christ himself teaching it to us by his Spirit in order that it would produce the right results.

The Word of God Multiplies Righteousness

Second Corinthians 9 .10 says, He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. How is it that this will take place?

Is it by your own work, by your own oomph, by your own making sure that it's a hundred or sixty instead of thirty? No, ultimately it is the work of God in you. He is the one who multiplies the seed for sowing.

He is the one who makes sure that you're bearing a hundredfold rather than some lesser amount. But it is through trusting in him, it is through abiding in this vine that you would have that life. This life is not of yourself, but it is of Jesus Christ.