MATTHEW 5:13 _The Beatitudes are followed by a summary statement of the basic character of the Christian's life as salt and light. YE ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH. Again the phrase "ye are" indicates that only the genuinely born-again person is salt and can help meet the needs of the world. Salt adds flavoring, acts as a preservative, melts coldness, and heals wounds. Thus it is a very appropriate description of the believer in his relationship to the world in which he lives.
MATTHEW 5:14__17 _YE ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD describes the essential mission of the Christian to the world. He is the condition (salt) to meet the world's needs and he has a mission (light) to the world. His light is to clearly shine forth into the darkness of human depravity. He is to set his light upon a candlestick, not hide it UNDER A BUSHEL, that is, a basket. Darkness is the absence of light; and darkness alone cannot dispel the light, but the smallest light can dispel the greatest darkness.
MARK 4:21__22 _If a lamp doesn't help people see, it is useless. Does your life show other people how to find God and how to live for him? if not, ask what "bushels" have shut out your light. Complacency, resentment, stubbornness of heart, or disobedience could keep God's light from shining through you to others.
The light of Jesus truth is revealed to us, not hidden. But we may not be able to see or to use all of that truth right now. Only as we put God's teachings into practice will we understand and see more of the truth.
(Read MARK 4:21__22)
LUKE 8:16__17 _When the light of truth about Jesus illuminates us, it is our duty to shine that light to help others. Our witness for Christ should be public, not hidden. We should pass the benefits on to others. In order to be helpful, we need to be well placed. Seek opportunities to be there when believers need help.
(Read LUKE 8:16__17)
LUKE 11:33__36 _The light is Christ; the eye repersents spiritual understanding and insight. Evil desires make this eye less sensitive and blot out the light of Christ's presence. If you have a hard time seeing God at work, check your vision. Are any sinful desires blinding you to Christ? (Read LUKE 11:33__36 _ KJV - 1611)
A WISE MAN BUILDS ON ROCK AND A FOOLISH MAN BUILDS ON SAND !!!!!!!
MATTHEW 7:24 __27 _In drawing His concluding illustration of the two foundations, Jesus begins with the word THEREFORE. On the basis of all that He has taught and illustrated, He concluded that all who both hear and do His saying shall be saved. As a great Master Counselor, Jesus reminded His listener that hearing this message alone will not change his life. He must both hear and dowhat Jesus had said. The elements of the closing illustration are drawn from the simplicity of nature itself, the ROCK, the RAIN, and the WINDS. The man whose house collapsed was at fault, not because he failed to LABOR, but because he did not lay the proper foundation. The shifting sand represents human opinion and doctrines of men as opposed to "these sayings" (verse 28).
LUKE 6:47__49 _Obeying God is like building a house on a strong foundation that stands firm when storms come. When life is calm, our foundation don't seem to matter. But when crises come, our foundations are tested. Be sure your life is built on the solid foundation of knowing and trusting Jesus Christ.
UNSHRUNK (NEW) CLOTH ON AN OLD GARMENT !!!!!!
MATTHEW 9:16 _No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse.
The principle expressed here is that the Lord Jesus Christ has come to bring in a whole new dispensation, which cannot to be fitted into the forms of the old Jewish economy. The principle taught here by illustration is that the rule of the law must be replaced by that of grace, which will now have free reign in the hearts of all believers. NEW CLOTH means unbleached cloth. Bottles (skins) were frequently used in the ancient East as liquid containers. The strength of fermentation of the new wine would be too much for the partly worn, old, or inelastic skins and would cause them to break. (See MARK 2:22 for interpretation)
MARK 2:21 _No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece4 that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse.
LUKE 5:36 _"Bottles" were goatskins sewed together at the edges to form watertight bags. New wine expands as it ages, so it had to be put in new, pliable wineskins. A used skin, more rigid, would burst and spill the wine. Like old wineskins, the Pharisees were too rigid to accept Jesus, who could not be contained in their traditions or rulers. Christianity required new approaches, new traditions, new structures. Our church programs and ministries should not be so structured that they have no room for a fresh touch of the Spirit, a new method, or a new idea. We, too, must be careful that our heart does not become to rigid that it prevents us from accepting the new ways of thinking that Christ brings. We need to keep our heart pliable so we can accept Jesus life-changing message.
NEW WINE IN OLD WINESKINS (BOTTLE)
MATTHEW 9:17 _In Bible times, wine was not kept in glass bottles but in goatskins sewn around the edges to form waterright bags. New wine expanded as it fermented, stretching its wineskins. After the wine had aged, the stretched skin would burst if more new wine was poured into it. New wine, therefore, was always put into new wineskins.
(Read MATTHEW 9:17 _ KJV - 1611)
MARK 2:22 _And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be married: but new wine must be put into new bottles.
LUKE 5:37 _BOTTLES are winskins. They could be used but once for NEW WINE, which fermented and built up pressure in the container. If new wine was placed in an old skin, whose elasticity was gone, the skin would break and the wine would spill. For the meaning of this analogy, See MARK 2:21__22.
THE SOWER !!!!!!!
MATTHEW 13:3__23 _This section introduces a new subject, a new approach, and a new method of teaching by parables. HE SPAKE . . . IN PARABLES, a common method of teaching in the Near East, used to convey spiritual truth through a series of earthly comparisons.
13:3__10 _The first parable is set in an agricultural context.
A SOWER WENT FORTH refers to the ancient seed sower, planting a crop. Jesus later interpreted this parable Himself. The seed depicts the Word of God (Verse 19) and thus the sower is the gospel evangelist. The WAY SIDE is the path trampled through the field. It was packed hard and the seed found no root, thus the FOWLS (demons? Verse 19, wicked one [s] snatched it away. Here there was no response at all to the gospel. The second category is called STONY PLACES or the rocky ledge beneath a thin, shallow layer of soil. This thin crust wpould warm quickly casuing the seed to sprout instantly but without adequate rootage or moisture. Thus, the SUN . . . SCORCHED the crop and it WITHERED AWAY. The third group of seeds fell AMONG THORNS that had not been plowed. The thorns (wild growth) choked out the crop. The GOOD GROUND represents well-plowed and prepared soil capable of producing a large crop. The statement WHO HATH EARS TO HEAR goes beyond physical hearing and implies an inner spiritual reception of truth. This prompted the disciples to ask way He had spoken to them in parables. Whereas before, He had used parables to illustrate His message, now they formed the basis of the message.
MARK 4:2__20 _Seed was sowed by hand. As the farmer walked across the field, he threw handful of seed onto the ground from a large bag slung across his shoulders. The plants did not grow in neat rows as with today's machine planting. No matter how skillful, no farmer could keep some of his seed from falling by the way-side, from being scattered among rocks and thorns, or from being carried off by the wind. So the farmer would throw the seed liberally, and enough would fall on good ground to ensure the harvest.
LUKE 8:4__15 _Jesus often communicated spiritual thruth through parables__short stories or descriptions that take a familiar object or situation and give it a startling new twist. By linking the known with the hidden and forcing listeners to think, parables can point to spiritual truths. A parables compels listerners to discover the thruth for themselves, and it conceals the truth from those, too lazy or prejudicted to look for it. In reading Jesus parables, we nust be careful not to read too much into them. Most have only one point and one meaning.
THE TARES (WEEDS) !!!!!!!
MATTHEW 13:24__30 _The young tares and the young blades of wheat look the same and can't be distinguished until they are grown and ready for harvest. Tares (unbelievers) and God allows unbelievers to remain for a while just as a farmer allows tares to remain in his field so the surrounding wheat isn't uprooted with them. At the harvest, however, the weeds will be uprooted and thrown away. God's harvest (judgment) of all mankind is coming. We are to make oueselves ready by making sure our faith is sincere.
THE MUSTARD SEED !!!!!!!!
MATTHEW 13:31__32 _The MUSTARD SEED is unusually small and yet grows to a great size. The idea seems to be that the tiny beginning of the church will eventually culminate in great growth. HERBS (Greek lachanon) are garden plants or vegetables. However, such numerical growth will come to harbor the BIRDS (evil one). The parable accordingly foreshadows the growth of the church into a world power. However, outward growth is not always a true picture of spiritual depths.
MARK 4:30__32 _Jesus used this parable to explain that although Christianity had very small beginning, it would grow into a worldwide community of believers. When you feel alone in your stand for Christ, realize that God is buiding a worldwide Kingdom. He has faithful followers in every part of the world, and your faith, no matter how small, can join with that of others to accomplish great things.
LUKE 13:18__19 _The general expectation among Jesus hearers was that the Messiah would come as a great king and leader, freeing the nation from Rome and restoring Israel's former glory. But Jesus said his Kingdom was beginning small and quietly. Like the tiny mustard seed that grows into an enormous bush or the spoonful of leaven that makes the bread dough double, the Kingdom of God would eventually push outward until the whole world was changed.
THE LEAVEN !!!!!!
MATTHEW 13:33 _KINGDOM OF HEAVEN is the spiritual form of the kingdom in the church. LEAVEN is a lump of old dough in a state of fermentation, which makes the bread dough rise. It is virtually always used as a symbol of evil (MATTHEW 16:6__12; MARK 8:15; GALATIANS 5:9). THREE MEASURES OF MEAL, a common baking quantity (GENESIS 18:6), equivalent to one-and-a-half gallons (Greek saton; Hebrew seah). The leaven is not just false profession of unsaved church members but false doctrine that they will attempt to bring into the church.
LUKE 13:20__21 _Like the tiny mustard seed that grows into an enormous bush or the spoonful of leaven that makes the bread dough double, the Kingdom of God would eventually push outward until the whole world was changed
THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE.
MATTHEW 13:47__50 _The parable of the fishing net has the same meaning as the parable of the wheat and tares. We are to obey God and tell others about his grace and goodness, but we are not to dictate who is part of the Kingdom of heaven and who is not. This sorting will be done at the last judgment by those infinitely more qualified than we.
THE HIDDEN TREASURE
MATTHEW 13:44 _The MERCHANT MAN is Christ, who comes to purchase, through His atonement, sinners who shall become GOODLY PEARLS. The ONE PEARL OF GRACE PRICE is the church for whom Christ gave His life, that is, ALL THAT HE HAD. If the pearl is Christ or the kingdom, for whom a man must give all in order to obtain, then no one has ever yet given all that he has for Christ. While we recive Him as Savior, we also progressively continue surrendering areas of ourselves to Him as we come to know better His will for our lives.
MARK 5:25 _This woman had an incurable condition causing her to bleed constantly. This may have been a menstrual or uterine disorder which would have made her ritually unclean (LEVITICUS 15:25__27) and excluded her from most social contact. She desperately wanted Jesus to heal her, but she knew that her bleeding would cause Jesus to be unclean under Jewish law if she touched him. Still, she reached out by faith and was healed. Sometimes we feel our problems will keep us from God. But he is always ready to help, and we should never allow our fear to keep us from appoaching him.
