In this chapter, the Lord Jesus leaves the house in which He was staying and, seated in a boat by the seashore, He begins to preach a special message to a great crowd of people who had gathered there. He tells them parables (stories which illustrate a point) about the kingdom of heaven.
Sad to say, many of the people who were listening to Jesus with their ears were hardening their hearts against Him. The Lord Jesus likened Himself to a sower who planted good seed and those who heard His words to different kinds of ground that the seed was planted in. Most of the ground was not good and did not allow the seeds to grow and bring forth fruit.
After explaining the parable of the sower to His disciples, the Lord Jesus told more parables. Each of these stories was an example of the kingdom of heaven. He was the true King who should have reigned in the world, but He was rejected and so His kingdom was set up in heaven. Each one who believed by faith in Him was part of that kingdom, but there were those who also were part of it who did not really believe in Him. The time would come when He would set it up in this world and then these false professors would be punished. Until that time, the Lord Jesus carefully explained to His disciples what the kingdom of heaven would be like and how they were to act until He came back.
Let’s rest now in our journey through the Bible while you look for the following verses.
1. The message of Paul to the trembling Philippian jailor was that if he would believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, both he and his ____________ would be saved. Acts 16:___
And
2. Judas, one of the twelve apostles, came with a ____________ (multitude) to take Jesus and deliver Him to be crucified. Luke 22:___
And
3. God has faithfully warned mankind (all people in the world) not to ____________ their hearts against Him — but to believe the gospel and be saved. Hebrews 3:___
While
4. Believers are to ____________ a person (a heretic) who tries to get them to follow him instead of following the Lord Jesus. Titus 3:___
A
5. Those souls who reject the Lord Jesus and pass into eternity are reserved for a coming day of judgment when they will be ____________ . 2 Peter 2:___
The