Instructed
Matthew 13:52, “ Then said he unto them, Therefore every nscribe which is oinstructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things pnew and old." [2]
I. Recorder
A. Write
B. Word
II. Recipient
A. Welcome
B. Worthy
III. Revealer
A. Worship
B. Wonder
Introduction: We have been contemplating what Jesus said about heaven; what heaven is like. Jesus used several parables because heaven is so awesome that there is not enough human language to describe in the few parables which Jesus used to attempt to describe it.
The Bible does not give us every detail about everything. John said in the last of his gospel account that what Jesus did in the time that He was here could not be contained in all the books ever written. The Holy Spirit guides us in making God real to us through the written words of the Bible as we are shown answers in our individual lives.
Nobody else can live your relationship with Jesus for you. That is why we are known as Baptists. The term came from the nickname which was given to us a long time ago. There were those who believed that early Baptists were against baptism, so those who came before us were called anabaptists, which means opposed to baptism. They were opposed to infant baptism which gives parents the task of accepting Jesus for someone who has not reached the age of accountability. WE know that salvation comes to those who have made a conscious decision for Jesus. When a person does accept Jesus as Lord, then they follow Jesus in baptism by immersion.
Jesus’ older cousin John was known as John the Baptist or Baptizer. The majority of people today think that we were called Baptist in commemoration of that man. Truth is, we were not. It was supposed to be a derogatory term and was shortened to Baptist many years later. So be it.
It has also been said that I am against commentators. I am not. I love commentators. Each Christian better be a commentator. The danger to fear is believing in certain commentators over allowing The Holy Spirit His role of giving understanding to the Bible reader. To compare your personal understanding, which you have gleaned from the Bible as a believer, against the understanding of others is good. God gives us the opinions of others to learn from as we compare their experiences to ours. Make sure that you don’t make any other person your Bible translator. For goodness’ sake don’t ever trust your pastor over The Holy Spirit. Depend on God alone.
Today we are hearing Jesus explain the role of a scribe and how that relates to our understanding of heaven. Who are scribes? Scribes read and interpret the Bible and write down their understandings. You might say they are the commentators of their day. There is nothing wrong with being a scribe if you are writing messages from God which begin in the Bible or even translate the Bible into the language that others may read for themselves. Ultimately it is the Holy Spirit who translates.
Are all scribes the bad guys that Jesus talked about lumped in the with Pharisees. Remember when Jesus said, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites? Look a little further in Matthew’s gospel to the twenty-third chapter. We will hear more about that later. Jesus gave the scribes of that day a warning. They were the ones who paraphrased the Old Testament so that others might read it for themselves. There is nothing good about a scribe who is feathering his/her own nest with ill-gotten gain while misinforming those who depend on instruction that is written by them.
He also gave teachers a warning. Pharisees were those charged to be masters in that day. The KJV uses the term master for teacher. Scribes and masters have a huge responsibility. Today we use the term scholar as one who has gained a degree of instruction to teach others. A master, or teacher, of a subject teaches a student about a subject that someone else has written the curriculum for. Be careful that you are not led astray by false teaching and be more careful that you don’t lead others astray by teaching falsehood. You will be held to a higher standard. Today we will hear about scribes.
Scripture: The scripture for this message is Matthew 13:52. Please Stand Under the reading of God’s word.
Prayer: Please be seated.
Message: “aIn the beginning was bthe Word, and the Word was cwith God, and the Word dwas God.” [2]
God communicates with us! It is essential that God’s Word came to us in the form of Jesus His Only Begotten Son. When we fail to communicate with each other we are deliberately deciding to cut ourselves off from those whom God has placed us to be with. For God so loved the world...
It is important that words are not forgotten. People whom God uses to write down the things that others need desperately to remember are gifted for that important task. There are many scribes even today who take the written word of God and present it to others as God has touched them to experience the Bible personally.
When a person reads the Bible and God allows that person to see for themselves the lesson for that person, it becomes a part of that person. When that person writes down the lesson learned so that others might gain a clearer understanding for themselves, that person is a good scribe.
If someone simply reads a thing that they feel someone else needs to learn from and then writes it down, it is good for that person to examine himself/herself to be sure that the message is personal to the one who received it. Otherwise, it is not something that is part of that person because it has not truly been experienced by that person.
I have seen things lately that God allowed me to do in my past that caused detriment to others that I have relationships with. My actions proved to others that my reason for doing was for my own self-attention without regard for the future consequences. These quick decision of mine might have and probably did damage precious relationships forever. Many times I did these things without even knowing I was doing them.
The scribes in that day were charged with telling others how the scriptures changed them. Instead, they were using the scriptures to make others conform to the pattern of themselves. We were created in the pattern of Jesus. When we attempt to use scripture to force others to conform to us, we are those scribes that Jesus warned against. Jesus is the One and only One who can tell us how we are supposed to be. After all these years He is still teaching me. The question is, have I understood…
In context starting at verse fifty-one, “51 Jesus saith unto them, mmHave ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord. 52 Then said he unto them, Therefore every nscribe which is oinstructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things pnew and old.” [3]
A scribe is a recorder of thoughts and messages from God. He/she writes words. In the old days when Walter Cronkite reported the news, there were news writers who wrote down the things they had learned from what was going on at the time. Someone else recorded and Walter read the news.
Today we have people who witness events. That has not changed. The need to inform people has not changed. The reason has changed. Today the scribes of the news are attempting to transform the thoughts of those who hear and see the news. Once it was so that others might hear and learn and make up their own minds about what was reported. Today it seems that it is more to change public opinion and spread gossip so that everyone thinks the same about what others have heard and seen.
What does this sound like? These are Jesus’ words from Matthew 23:13, “But swoe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! tfor ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.” [4]
So, what is it that the preacher and teacher need to learn from this. I need to be careful! We are hearing from Jesus what heaven will be like. For many, they know what heaven is like. They are not waiting. I don’t like to wait. Do you? Let us be sure to tell others what Jesus said and record that as He makes it a personal experience to us.
Every scribe which is instructed… That does not include everybody who feels like writing what they feel to write. Jesus says that this is to the scribe who has been instructed by God. Have I received this from God?
You will know if the message is intended for you or not. You will know whether you are the intended recipient or not. We get mail that seems to be to us. We are the householder but maybe not the intended recipient. The mail doesn’t apply to us at our house. Someone delivered it but it is unnecessary to us, so we discard it.
Jesus said here that when the right things come to the right householder, it is welcomed because it is worthy. This that Jesus is telling us about heaven should make us welcome the wonderful news. There is nothing more worthy of our attention than to hear what Jesus is telling us about His home, our eternal home. All the scares and fear tactics that we hear in this place about this place right now don’t have to be attended to by us if we give full attention to what Jesus says about the place, we have with Him. Turn off the noise and hear the joy. He is Risen indeed. Messiah… Emmanuel…
When the scribe whom God ordained to record the truth received the message from God, he brought forth His message. That scribe became the revealer of truth. God gifts us with that which we reveal to others when we finally realize that our highest calling, is to love Him and others. Everything else pales in comparison. We worship in the wonder of it because there are not enough words to describe it. We become speechless and then we only want to hear more from Jesus.
Jesus went on to say that it is not only the new things that are to be worshipped with wonder but the old things as well. I think about the Old Testament which was given to instruct us just how much we cannot redeem ourselves because of our decision to always be right without God. We were given the law to realize that though it is imperative for us to keep the law, we are not able to because of our own self-righteousness.
I think about the New Testament that was given to instruct us how Jesus loved us so much that He gave up heaven and earth for our redemption. How in the world can we show Him our appreciation? We cannot in this world. But because of a loving God we will be able to tell Him for all eternity in that place not made with hands, eternal. Heaven.
Prayer:
Invitation: Today is Christmas Eve. Many will be with family this evening remembering the old times and giving praise for the new times. Tomorrow we will remember many things and we will be thankful for having received the greatest gift ever given.
Let the joy that we feel be told through our lives as others witness the wonder of Jesus through us. Let that be our gift to the world that was so graciously given to us. Merry Christmas!
n ch. 23:34.
o See ch. 28:19 marg.
p Cant. 7:13.
[1] The Holy Bible: King James Version (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Mt 13:52). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
a Gen. 1:1. 1 John 1:1. So ch. 17:5. Col. 1:17. Comp. Job 28:20–28. Prov. 8:12, 22–30. Wisdom 9:4, 9. Ecclus. 1:1, 4, 5. & 24:9.
b ver. 14. ch. 17:22. 1 John 5:7? Rev. 19:13.
c 1 John 1:2.
d Phil. 2:6.
[2] Ibid., Jn 1:1). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
mm Comp. John 10:6.
n ch. 23:34.
o See ch. 28:19 marg.
p Cant. 7:13.
[3] Ibid., Mt 13:51–52). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
s So ver. 14, 15, 16, 23, 25, 27, 29.
t So Luke 11:52.
[4] Ibid., Mt 23:13). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
