Vision

 

This website is about the unity of the Church. Specifically said: The unity of the Local Church. The Bible speaks in many ways about the Church. Well known names of the Church are the Bride, Israel and the Body of Christ. Jesus is the Christ. He is Lord. He is the Head of the Church.

 

That's beautiful. He is the Head and we are His Body. The Head and the Body taken together is the full expression of Jesus on earth. His Kingdom.

He preached about it a lot in the Gospels. Matthew 13 has many parables about the Kingdom of heaven. Those parables are like mysteries.

Look at what Jesus said said about them in Matthew 13:10-11 New International Version (NIV). By the way: All Scripture verses on this website are taken from the NIV unless otherwise stated.

 

The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?"

 He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.

 

Many of those parables are cherished by Christians all over the world.

Please take a look at those 7 jewels of little stories. That there are 7 parables in chapter 13 is probably not an accident as 7 is the number of holiness.

 

The Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:3b-9)

 

"A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let him hear."

 

The Parable of the Weeds (Matthew 13:24-30)

 

"The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

 "The owner's servants came to him and said, 'Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?'

 " 'An enemy did this,' he replied.

      "The servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?'

 " 'No,' he answered, 'because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.' "

 

The Parable of the Mustard Seed (Matthew 13:31-32)

 

"The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches."

 

The Parable of the Yeast (Matthew 13:33)

 

"The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough."

 

A jewel of a story in just one verse. How succinct can you be! And below another beautiful oneliner...

 

The Parable of the Hidden Treasure (Matthew 13:44)

 

 "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field."

 

The Parable of the Pearl (Matthew 13:45-46)

 

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it."

 

The Parable of the Net (Matthew 13:47-48)

 

 "Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away."

 

Each of those parables can be summarized by just one word!

The Parable of the Sower: fruitfulness

The Parable of the Weeds: infiltration

The Parable of the Mustard Seed: vision

The Parable of the Yeast: influence

The Parable of the Hidden Treasure: beauty

The Parable of the Pearl: beauty

The Parable of the Net: infiltration

 

Look at what happens when those 7 prime words are brought together in one sentence. You get man's perspective:

 

 

The Lord's perspective you get when you combine the 7 titles of the parables into one sentence:

 

 

Why is it that among the seven prime words the words beauty and infiltration are mentioned twice?

 

Those of us who have experienced fellowship under the headship of our Lord Jesus Christ know. The beauty of it is beyond description.

 

But why is the word infiltration mentioned twice?  Not everybody is part of the Body of Christ. Human beings do however join with the Body of Christ for all sorts of reasons. Some of them will become a actual part of it. Some won't. Who do and who don't is the Lord's business. It's not the responsibility of the Body of Christ to pick and choose who can and who cannot be part of it. Exceptions do exist, but they are not the rule. Those exceptions have to do with situations in which the conduct/convictions of a person has become overtime so unbearable that it threatens to disrupt the fellowship completely of the Local Body of Christ of which the person is part. It is clear from the words overtime and unbearable that such a decision as excommunication isn't taken lightly and is the cause of deep sorrow on the part of everybody involved. This has nothing to do with hatred or contempt for the person who caused it for if the situation later on will turn around for the better, everybody will be relieved and glad to welcome this brother/sister back in the Local Body of Christ. It would be a good reason all in itself to have a celebration because of it. This can be compared with the way the Father treated his lost son when he came back. (The Parable of the Lost Son Luke 15:11-32).

 

"We had to celebrate and be happy because your brother was dead, but now he is alive. He was lost, but now he is found." (New Century Version Luke 15:32).

 

So apart from exceptional situations the Local Body of Christ won't pick and choose who can and who cannot be part of it. Therefore it is entirely possible that there will be infiltration for any length of time by unbelievers  with the Local Body of Christ all the while participating with it but not being an actual part of it. The Parables of the Weeds and the Net talk about this. It won't choke the beauty of the Kingdom of Heaven. The Lord Jesus takes care of it and will deal with them on the day of judgment.

 

Still the question about infiltration although being addressed to indirectly hasn't been clearly answered yet. So why is it mentioned twice?

 

Remember that The Parable of the Yeast had the prime word influence. The reason that the Kingdom of Heaven has so much beauty has a lot to do with being in the world. Although set apart it's at the same time also in the world. The Kingdom of Heaven is fruitful when she suffers from infiltration. That's the answer and the vision talked about in the Parable of the Mustard Seed.