"Therefore having gone, disciple all the nations
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit."5
This word for having gone is poreuomai, (from poros, "passageway") – properly, to transport, moving something from one destination to another, (figuratively) to go forth, depart, walk. Having been moved, passageway, continue the journey by moving others.6 Now, if I just go and plant some seed then leave, even if the birds do not snatch it away and the weeds do not choke it out, what does the seed I plant look like in a few years? and if everyone is just sowing seed what will the Church of Christ look like? Having moved from one place to another, now go and move others, be a mover of the Kingdom.
"I say to this one go and he goes..." Jesus marveled over the faith of this soldier. Such a position of authority is earned, he is dedicated to moving, training his soldiers, he knows that for the kingdom to succeed he must train them well, as soldiers fight like they train. He knows the bond of brotherhood as he is among it, in the trenches with them, and when He says go kingdoms are moved. Such is the authority of the "go" in discipleship, such is of great faith and obedience. Jesus said, Go! be movers of the Kingdom.
Jesus said the Kingdom of heaven is like wheat among tare, good fish among bad ones, flour among yeast, and of little mustard seeds. All of these speak to what? surely of violence within the Kingdom, of birds that snatch away seed, of yeast spreading throughout the whole, of little seeds that grow into great trees that the birds nest or rest in, of weeds that choke out seedlings. Such speaks of obstacles in the kingdom, of light not being manifested but hidden, and Luke even puts hypocrisy among them. Persistence is needed to overcome, such is not optional in the Kingdom.
I heard the mustard plant is often considered a weed, because it can spread so quick and far and because its seed is tiny it often goes unnoticed. Now if it wasn't for this and the mention of birds in the parable I would have thought positively about the mustard. In context we see seeds, weeds and birds and these trees seem to be havens for birds. Jesus said earlier the birds snatch away the good seed. Now, a farmer sowing seed puts up scare crows, he doesn't want a haven for birds around. But for those mustard seed lovers, such speaks to exponential growth of discipleship from a small beginning. In this passage I see the need for persistence in the kingdom, and the need for discipleship for growth.
"And I say to you, ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."6
"Give me bread." I was for a time on an insight committee for NASA. These were gray beards I was told, so I grew my beard out, it had a little gray I thought. Of course gray beards speak of wisdom and prudence, these great men built the space program, they were movers and shakers. They had learned great principles, but teach few. I learned persistence was not optional among them because many do not teach but condemn. NASA has learned many of these subject matter experts have left without mentoring, such has shifted the culture of NASA with emphasis on mentoring.
I have always been a persistent person, but I found myself discouraged, and as a new believer my persistence has often been rewarded with accusations and condemnation. But I do not fault these, the the fruit of a generation that knew not how to teach, only to condemn. They are my brothers, so I pray only that we are movers of the Kingdom, that we manifest the truth in the Light, and that we never exalt ourselves in lofty places, above God nor man. Maybe it has always been so but certainly today, persistence is essential in the Kingdom. It is persistence in the truth that brings down strongholds, like lofty emotions created by fear and condemnation.
The enemy seeks to destroy us by our thinking, by putting stumbling blocks, obstacles, in our way. Our hearts can be hardened and our thinking corrupted by past experiences and by those who abuse authority, those who distort ideas of truth. These are lofty trees that the devil launches his attacks from. They are among us, the roots are intermingled, we can become discouraged and a timid people, but we are not, we are overcomers. Yes, we Stand firm as we learn the truth in who we are in Christ, we put on the belt of truth, the armor of God. Our battle is not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers in the spiritual realm. We move forward the Kingdom of God.
We are overcomers, persistent people, those who tear down lofty things. Jesus talks about the kingdom of God being like a man who finds hidden treasure, he sells all he has and buys the field in which it was buried. Seeking, asking, knocking is of the kingdom. Searching, I heard of treasure. Buying, I found it and sold all I had to buy it. Persistence, now I am digging up the treasure. Such is the treasure hidden in the Kingdom but once it is found we weight it to be very valuable. And this will be how we measure all other things.
Do we devalued the treasure when we create environments where weeds and birds thrive? and by such hurt the kingdom? Where our treasure is so is our heart. The treasure is always being revealed, new and old. Those in the Kingdom must be new, you don't patch an old garment with new cloth, neither do you put new wine in an old bag. It must be new but it must continually be renewed, if it gets old it can't contain the new, like salt loosing its seasoning it is no longer of value, an old wine bag will burst from the new. New treasure is measured, added to us, so the bag must contain both the new with the old treasure.
"On account of this every learned disciple into kingdom of heaven is similar to a man, master of a house, who puts forth the treasure of him new and old."4
We must labor in the mind, as Jesus said. While believing is the Work of God the mind is important in the battle for truth. We must measure the truth against what we believe to be the truth, what we have developed in the mind, old and new treasure. Often treasure is hidden, so without a sound mind that can discern where to find it, O wretched man I am. It is difficult for faith, divine persuasion, to be birth, as the birds snatch it away. But the treasure you do find, it is measured to you or what you continue to believe is added up to you, truth is a daily adding up of the truth into a whole. Such is also a persistent daily taking up of the cross, renewing of the wine bag. But such is the Kingdom of God. Jesus said to the people, "Have you understood all these things?” But honestly how can anyone among such weeds and birds? look see!
"And he said, look see! what you hear is among what you measure, how you measure will be measured to you and added up to you."5
This "look see," is often translated take heed, blepó, but properly it means to see, be observant (watchful). We are to be watchful in what we hear as what we hear we use to measure in our thinking. This word for measure, is to measure something by a standard, as gold is measured by a weight standard. Such speaks to how we weight things in our minds, the basis for determining what is good and acceptable. Its starts with faith which is divine persuasion, the heart is being prepared by the Spirit, good soil for the Word, Jesus is the sower. We see that God has done His part, now comes the Look see!
"On account of this every learned disciple into kingdom of heaven." On account of what? all the previous statements of the kingdom, the obstacles, the schemes of the devil... the obstacles now how to overcome. Jesus modeled the way, here is how to move the Kingdom. The kingdom of God is violent because of the weeds and birds... on account of this "every learned disciple into kingdom." Who is "into" the kingdom? learned disciples. Jesus taught them, so they are to do what Jesus modeled. Now the disciples spent years with Jesus, four hours a week this would take me fifty four years, comparable with three years with Jesus. After Paul met Jesus he spent about sixteen years as a learned disciple into kingdom. O Lord let us not seek earthly treasure, but heavenly.
Jesus, the Word is essential for transformation. Such a learned disciple is girded in truth and puts forth the treasure of the kingdom. Old and new speaks of continual growth, new added to old treasure. How does one do such? a learned disciple, disciples others. God has chosen to reveal the mystery of the gospel through the Church, his people become learned disciples into kingdom. This is the only way to preserve the treasure of the kingdom, not giving pearls to pigs, and it is the only way the seedling will grow to be fully developed in truth.
The Kingdom is like seed being sown in good soil and it is like seedling growing into fruit bearing trees, among the weeds and the birds, such a Kingdom needs movers of the Kingdom.
This word for having gone is poreuomai, (from poros, "passageway") – properly, to transport, moving something from one destination to another, (figuratively) to go forth, depart, walk. Having been moved, passageway, continue the journey by moving others.6 Now, if I just go and plant some seed then leave, even if the birds do not snatch it away and the weeds do not choke it out, what does the seed I plant look like in a few years? and if everyone is just sowing seed what will the Church of Christ look like? Having moved from one place to another, now go and move others, be a mover of the Kingdom.
"I say to this one go and he goes..." Jesus marveled over the faith of this soldier. Such a position of authority is earned, he is dedicated to moving, training his soldiers, he knows that for the kingdom to succeed he must train them well, as soldiers fight like they train. He knows the bond of brotherhood as he is among it, in the trenches with them, and when He says go kingdoms are moved. Such is the authority of the "go" in discipleship, such is of great faith and obedience. Jesus said, Go! be movers of the Kingdom.
Jesus said the Kingdom of heaven is like wheat among tare, good fish among bad ones, flour among yeast, and of little mustard seeds. All of these speak to what? surely of violence within the Kingdom, of birds that snatch away seed, of yeast spreading throughout the whole, of little seeds that grow into great trees that the birds nest or rest in, of weeds that choke out seedlings. Such speaks of obstacles in the kingdom, of light not being manifested but hidden, and Luke even puts hypocrisy among them. Persistence is needed to overcome, such is not optional in the Kingdom.
I heard the mustard plant is often considered a weed, because it can spread so quick and far and because its seed is tiny it often goes unnoticed. Now if it wasn't for this and the mention of birds in the parable I would have thought positively about the mustard. In context we see seeds, weeds and birds and these trees seem to be havens for birds. Jesus said earlier the birds snatch away the good seed. Now, a farmer sowing seed puts up scare crows, he doesn't want a haven for birds around. But for those mustard seed lovers, such speaks to exponential growth of discipleship from a small beginning. In this passage I see the need for persistence in the kingdom, and the need for discipleship for growth.
"And I say to you, ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."6
"Give me bread." I was for a time on an insight committee for NASA. These were gray beards I was told, so I grew my beard out, it had a little gray I thought. Of course gray beards speak of wisdom and prudence, these great men built the space program, they were movers and shakers. They had learned great principles, but teach few. I learned persistence was not optional among them because many do not teach but condemn. NASA has learned many of these subject matter experts have left without mentoring, such has shifted the culture of NASA with emphasis on mentoring.
I have always been a persistent person, but I found myself discouraged, and as a new believer my persistence has often been rewarded with accusations and condemnation. But I do not fault these, the the fruit of a generation that knew not how to teach, only to condemn. They are my brothers, so I pray only that we are movers of the Kingdom, that we manifest the truth in the Light, and that we never exalt ourselves in lofty places, above God nor man. Maybe it has always been so but certainly today, persistence is essential in the Kingdom. It is persistence in the truth that brings down strongholds, like lofty emotions created by fear and condemnation.
The enemy seeks to destroy us by our thinking, by putting stumbling blocks, obstacles, in our way. Our hearts can be hardened and our thinking corrupted by past experiences and by those who abuse authority, those who distort ideas of truth. These are lofty trees that the devil launches his attacks from. They are among us, the roots are intermingled, we can become discouraged and a timid people, but we are not, we are overcomers. Yes, we Stand firm as we learn the truth in who we are in Christ, we put on the belt of truth, the armor of God. Our battle is not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers in the spiritual realm. We move forward the Kingdom of God.
We are overcomers, persistent people, those who tear down lofty things. Jesus talks about the kingdom of God being like a man who finds hidden treasure, he sells all he has and buys the field in which it was buried. Seeking, asking, knocking is of the kingdom. Searching, I heard of treasure. Buying, I found it and sold all I had to buy it. Persistence, now I am digging up the treasure. Such is the treasure hidden in the Kingdom but once it is found we weight it to be very valuable. And this will be how we measure all other things.
Do we devalued the treasure when we create environments where weeds and birds thrive? and by such hurt the kingdom? Where our treasure is so is our heart. The treasure is always being revealed, new and old. Those in the Kingdom must be new, you don't patch an old garment with new cloth, neither do you put new wine in an old bag. It must be new but it must continually be renewed, if it gets old it can't contain the new, like salt loosing its seasoning it is no longer of value, an old wine bag will burst from the new. New treasure is measured, added to us, so the bag must contain both the new with the old treasure.
"On account of this every learned disciple into kingdom of heaven is similar to a man, master of a house, who puts forth the treasure of him new and old."4
We must labor in the mind, as Jesus said. While believing is the Work of God the mind is important in the battle for truth. We must measure the truth against what we believe to be the truth, what we have developed in the mind, old and new treasure. Often treasure is hidden, so without a sound mind that can discern where to find it, O wretched man I am. It is difficult for faith, divine persuasion, to be birth, as the birds snatch it away. But the treasure you do find, it is measured to you or what you continue to believe is added up to you, truth is a daily adding up of the truth into a whole. Such is also a persistent daily taking up of the cross, renewing of the wine bag. But such is the Kingdom of God. Jesus said to the people, "Have you understood all these things?” But honestly how can anyone among such weeds and birds? look see!
"And he said, look see! what you hear is among what you measure, how you measure will be measured to you and added up to you."5
This "look see," is often translated take heed, blepó, but properly it means to see, be observant (watchful). We are to be watchful in what we hear as what we hear we use to measure in our thinking. This word for measure, is to measure something by a standard, as gold is measured by a weight standard. Such speaks to how we weight things in our minds, the basis for determining what is good and acceptable. Its starts with faith which is divine persuasion, the heart is being prepared by the Spirit, good soil for the Word, Jesus is the sower. We see that God has done His part, now comes the Look see!
"On account of this every learned disciple into kingdom of heaven." On account of what? all the previous statements of the kingdom, the obstacles, the schemes of the devil... the obstacles now how to overcome. Jesus modeled the way, here is how to move the Kingdom. The kingdom of God is violent because of the weeds and birds... on account of this "every learned disciple into kingdom." Who is "into" the kingdom? learned disciples. Jesus taught them, so they are to do what Jesus modeled. Now the disciples spent years with Jesus, four hours a week this would take me fifty four years, comparable with three years with Jesus. After Paul met Jesus he spent about sixteen years as a learned disciple into kingdom. O Lord let us not seek earthly treasure, but heavenly.
Jesus, the Word is essential for transformation. Such a learned disciple is girded in truth and puts forth the treasure of the kingdom. Old and new speaks of continual growth, new added to old treasure. How does one do such? a learned disciple, disciples others. God has chosen to reveal the mystery of the gospel through the Church, his people become learned disciples into kingdom. This is the only way to preserve the treasure of the kingdom, not giving pearls to pigs, and it is the only way the seedling will grow to be fully developed in truth.
The Kingdom is like seed being sown in good soil and it is like seedling growing into fruit bearing trees, among the weeds and the birds, such a Kingdom needs movers of the Kingdom.