There are several parables regarding the Kingdom of Heaven is like. Each one has a common theme to the parable. Jesus told His disciples that the mysteries of the Kingdom would be revealed to them, but not the rest of the world. The Kingdom of God is something you search for, and when you find it, you will sell all the you have to have the Kingdom.
Mark 4:10 But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable. 11 And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, 12 so that ‘Seeing they may see and not perceive,
And hearing they may hear and not understand;
Lest they should turn,
And their sins be forgiven them.’ ”
There are seven parables regarding the Kingdom in Matthew 13, Mark 4 and Luke 13. I want to show you the common theme in all these parables. The first on we will look at is the hidden treasure.
The Parable of the Hidden Treasure
Matthew 13:44 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
What you will see in a common theme is the Kingdom of heaven is in the spirit. When you find the spirit in you, you will not live from your flesh. You will give up everything to live in the spirit. If this sounds foolishness to you, then you haven’t found the Kingdom of heaven. You aren’t’ living from the spirit.
John 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.
Romans 8:1 Therefore there is now no condemnation at all for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.
The Parable of the Pearl of Great Price
Matthew 13:45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, 46 who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
Like I said before, once you find the Kingdom of heaven you will sell everything to have it. The Kingdom is in you.
Luke 17:20 Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; 21 nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”
1 Corinthians 3:16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
The Household Treasures
Matthew 13:52 Then He said to them, “Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”
Everyone who has been trained in the Kingdom of heaven knows how to operate in the spirit. This is why those who are trained can bring from out of their heart the treasures of heaven from the spirit.
John 7:38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.
Luke 6:40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher.
The Parable of the Leaven
Matthew 13:33 Another parable He spoke to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.”
The Kingdom of heaven isn’t something small. It starts as a seed, but when it’s full grown it is through your entire body. It grows so much that it just comes out of you.
Luke 8:43 Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, 44 came from behind and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped. 45 And Jesus said, “Who touched Me?” When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, “Master, the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’ ” 46 But Jesus said, “Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me.” 47 Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately. 48 And He said to her, “Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”
Psalm 23:5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
Matthew 13:31 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, 32 which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”
The Word of God, which is spirit, is small when it enters you. Like leaven, it grows in you until it consumes you. One thing that many people don’t understand about the mustard seed is that it will grow in desert like conditions. It only needs 8 inches of water a year to survive.
The Parable of the Growing Seed
Mark 4:26 And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, 27 and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. 28 For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. 29 But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
Remember, you are created from the dust of the earth, the ground. When you have received the Holy Spirit, He guides you in the Kingdom..
John 3:34 For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.
2 Timothy 1:14 That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.
Romans 14:17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
The Parable of the Dragnet
Matthew 13:47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, 48 which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, 50 and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
This parable discuss whether you have the spirit or not. like a dragnet that brings in all kinds of different fish, so it will be in the end of the age. Those who have the spirit, will enter the Kingdom, and those who don’t, will not.
John 5:29 and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.
Matthew 23:13 But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.