Young People’s Blog

“And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God” (Luke 13:29).

Our verse today has a solemn message that is similar to the one we had yesterday. The Lord Jesus was warning the Jews that many would come from all over the world, and receive the blessing of being in the kingdom of God, while many of those who had the greatest opportunity would not be able to enter in.

It will be the same for many who live in western countries today, and who have had a Christian testimony for hundreds of years. Sadly, there is not much interest in the gospel today in most of these countries. Many people in western Europe and North America have the idea that everyone will eventually go to heaven, and Satan is happy for them to believe this lie. Many in other parts of the world are glad to hear the gospel, and are accepting the Lord Jesus as their Savior.

In His talk to the people in Luke 13:24-30, the Lord Jesus warned the Jews who rejected Him that in a coming day, they themselves would be “thrust out,” while others from among the Gentiles would enjoy the blessing. In the same way, many in western countries will be shocked when they are denied entry to heaven, while others from all over the world are able to enter in. Have you accepted the Lord Jesus as your Savior?

“And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day” (Matthew 11:23).

You may remember that back in the time of Abraham, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were so wicked that God destroyed them with fire and brimstone from heaven. You can read about this in Genesis 19. The only ones who were saved out of that city were Lot, his wife, and their two daughters. But then Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt because she looked back toward Sodom, when the Lord had specifically told them not to do so.

In our verse for today, the Lord Jesus told the Jews that if the mighty works that they had seen Him do had been done in Sodom, they would have repented, and the city would not have been destroyed. This is very solemn, for Capernaum was the city where the Lord Jesus lived, and yet they did not believe. They probably saw more of Him than anyone else, and this made them much more responsible.

Today you and I know all about the Lord Jesus, for the record of what He did when He was in this world is given to us in the Word of God. We have the Bible in our hands in North America, and we can readily get a copy and read it. Yet many are indifferent to God’s claims upon them, and will not come to the Lord Jesus. An awful judgment will fall upon such people, for they have had such a wonderful testimony to God’s grace and love.

“But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, and some thirtyfold” (Matthew 13:8).

Today we will go back to our parable of the seed being sown. None of the first three kinds of soil produced any fruit, but we can be thankful to read that some of the seed fell on good ground. Evidently the soil had been worked up so that the seed settled into it, and with proper rain and sunshine, there was a crop that produced fruit. This is like those who hear the Word of God and believe, and have new life in Christ.

However, all those who believe do not produce the same amount of fruit. The crop considered here is probably wheat, and with what is called dryland farming (that is, without irrigation), a head of wheat with one hundred kernels in it is considered a very good crop. Sixty kernels in a head of wheat is an average crop, while thirty kernels in a head is a rather poor crop.

After we are saved, if we walk with the Lord and serve Him, we produce fruit for Him. Some believers are more diligent in this than others. What kind of soil are you? Are we using our time and energy in living for the Lord, or are we producing only a poor crop?

“And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing” (Revelation 5:11-12).

As I write this in 2023, it is just two weeks ago today (May 6) that King Charles III was formally crowned king of Great Britain. It is seventy years since his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, was crowned queen back in 1953. (I am old enough to remember it quite well.) As you may imagine, the event took place with all the pomp and ceremony that Britain could muster. Thousands of people lined the streets of London to watch the procession, despite the pouring rain. Over two thousand people were invited to attend the coronation inside Westminster Abbey where the kings and queens of Britain have been crowned for centuries.

But everything did not go smoothly, for some protestors on the streets carried placards which said, “Not my king!” One member of the royal family actually had trouble seeing because of the big feather in his aunt’s hat! Some countries in the British Commonwealth are actually considering abolishing the British monarchy as their head of state.

In a coming day, nothing will spoil the time when the Lord Jesus takes His rightful place as King. All will be compelled to own Him as “King of kings and Lord of lords.” All will have to bow before Him. His glory will be seen by all, and His kingdom will be an eternal one. What an event we have to look forward to!

“And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them” (Matthew 13:7).

We will speak today about another kind of soil into which the seed fell. We have already had this kind of soil before us back on January 15, using verse 22 of our chapter, which explains verse 7. Here the soil is good, but thorns sprung up and took all the moisture and goodness from the soil, so that the good seed could not grow.

It is so easy to let the things of this world crowd into our lives, and then it seems that there is no time to think about the things of God. Satan persuades us that we have plenty of time, and that the things of this world are so important that we need to attend to them first. Or, he persuades us that we should enjoy the good things of life down here, and not worry about eternity. In this way the things of this world prevent the Word of God from growing.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: who, when He had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that He had, and bought it” (Matthew 13:45-46).

In our verse today, the Lord Jesus is compared to a merchant man, who is looking for good pearls. Evidently the merchant man was in the habit of finding good pearls, but then He comes upon a pearl so costly that in order to have it, He must sell all that He has. But He is glad to do so, and willingly sells everything in order to have that one pearl.

This is what the Lord Jesus has done for us—His church. He loved us so much, and wanted to have us so badly, that He was willing to give up everything for us. Not only did the Lord Jesus give up His heavenly glory to come down to this world as a man, but He went to Calvary’s cross, to suffer and die, so that He could have us as His pearl.

The price He paid for us was unable to be known; it was a price that only God could estimate. Yet the Lord Jesus gladly paid it, so that you and I could be with Him for all eternity.

“Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: and when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away” (Matthew 13:5-6).

Here we have another kind of soil—rocky soil. The soil on top looked good, but underneath that soil were rocks, so that the soil was very shallow. That kind of soil warms up quickly, and the plants grow right away. But with no depth of earth, the root cannot form properly. Then, when the sun gets hot, the plant withers and dies, because it has no real root.

This kind of soil is like those who hear the Word of God, and think that it sounds good. They happily believe, but only in their heads, not in their hearts. Then, when trouble, persecution, or other difficulties come along in their life, they give it all up and go back into the world. They were never really saved. The proof that people are really saved is when they continue to live for the Lord, and go on steadily in a Christian pathway.

“Behold a sower went forth to sow; and when He sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up” (Matthew 13:3-4).

A few days ago, we talked about Israel as a sheep fold, where the sheep were kept inside a stone wall. In this time of God’s grace, the Lord Jesus has now gone out of the fold of Israel, and is sowing His seed everywhere. The seed is the gospel of God’s grace, from the Word of God. Of course, the seed is always good. However, the soil can vary, and there are four kinds of soil mentioned in the Bible.

Here the first kind of soil is the way side, or a hard path on the edge of the field. It would be very hard ground, having been pounded down by the many people who had walked on it. Needless to say, the seed would not grow there, and soon the birds would come and eat up the seed that fell there.

Those birds are like Satan, who comes and snatches away the good seed from the hearts of those who hear it, so that it never grows and produces fruit. If our hearts are hardened against God, the seed will not grow, and Satan is quick to take it away, and give us something else to think about.

“Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11).

We have a bird feeder just outside one of our windows, and we can watch the birds who feed at it while we are eating our own meals. This spring we have noticed quite a few cowbirds on the feeder. Cowbirds are somewhat unusual, for they do not build their own nests. Rather, they look around for the unguarded nest of some other small bird, and then lay their egg in that nest. Sometimes the other bird recognizes a strange egg and either pushes it out of the nest, breaks it, or even builds another nest on top of it. But most of the time they just sit on the cowbird’s egg, along with their own eggs, and hatch the cowbird chick too. But usually the cowbird chick is bigger and stronger than the other nestlings, and thus gets more than its fair share of the food the mother bird brings. Then the real chicks of the mother bird get weaker, and sometimes die.

This is like what Satan does in our lives. He brings bad things into our lives, and often we do not recognize what he is doing. We do not realize how harmful that evil thing can be, until it is too late. As our verse says, we need to be on guard, in order to prevent this kind of thing from happening. If the mother bird saw the cowbird approaching her nest, she would drive it away, but it is when she is away from the nest that the cowbird comes. Let us all be on guard for what Satan may be doing.

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not” (Matthew 23:37).

The Lord Jesus loved the nation of Israel, and would gladly have comforted and protected them, yet they would not accept Him. We have a similar problem today in this world, on a wider scale, and involving many people. At the time of my writing this in 2023, it is estimated that there are 30 million refugees in this world, and half of them are under eighteen. Life is almost intolerable in their home countries, sometimes because of civil war, sometimes because of bad governments, and sometimes because of mismanagement of their natural resources.

They all want a better life, and often risk their lives to get to European countries, or into Canada and the United States, in order to get this. But the way to get into these other countries is usually illegal, and they face tremendous hardships and dangers along the way. Many of them drown trying to cross large bodies of water in makeshift boats, or are robbed and ill-treated by those they meet along the way. They are often like those in Jerusalem, for they have no one to look after them.

But the Lord Jesus loves every one of them, and is reaching out to save them, comfort them, and give them hope beyond this world. Sadly, many do not want to hear about the Lord Jesus, and like the Jewish nation, will not come to Him for help and comfort.