{"id":19196,"date":"2017-05-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-05-10T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/the-coming-kingdom-016\/"},"modified":"2017-05-10T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-05-10T05:00:00","slug":"the-coming-kingdom-016","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/the-coming-kingdom-016\/","title":{"rendered":"The Coming Kingdom 016"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[85],"series_event":[470],"sermon_service_type":[474],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-19196","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-matthew","series_event-the-coming-kingdom","sermon_service_type-wednesday-evenings","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"The Coming Kingdom 016","sermon_date":"20170510","sermon_month":"5","sermon_year":"2017","sermon_notes":4659,"sermon_slides":4660,"sermon_mp3":4661,"sermon_id":"51017218520","series_or_event":470,"service_type":[474],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":85,"chapter_and_verse":"13:11","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nThe Coming Kingdom\n\n5-10-17\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Matthew 13:11\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lesson 16\n\nIf we could take our Bibles and open them to Matthew chapter 13 and verse11.\u00a0 And I want to thank Jim and J.B. for filling in the last couple of weeks.\u00a0 I trust you all enjoyed their ministries.\u00a0 I\u2019m back from Europe and I\u2019m going to start a new series in my Sunday School class covering the Protestant Reformation; I\u2019m going to try to weave in some stuff from my trip, so if you\u2019re interested in that. \u00a0I don\u2019t think it will be a marathon series like the Soteriology series or the kingdom series, maybe seven, six weeks, something like that.\u00a0 I encourage you to check out our sanctuary Sunday School class, 9:45-10:45 and that\u2019s going to be taped and archived also.\n\nAnd guess what?\u00a0 Next week is our last Bible study of the\u2026 what\u2019s the word I\u2019m looking for, not of the year but of the spring because we take, in this church, a summer recess.\u00a0\u00a0 Did you guys know that we did that?\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t say it in the Bible that we\u2019re supposed to do that but we do it anyway.\u00a0 So we stop meeting in late May and then we reconvene the last Wednesday in August.\u00a0 \u00a0So tonight and next week will be the last two lessons in the kingdom, so I\u2019ll have to leave you in postponement until we get back together in August.\u00a0 We\u2019ll just pick it up right where we left off.\u00a0 That would be tonight, the 10th<\/sup>, next week the 17th<\/sup>, the last lesson in the kingdom.\n\nAnd then the 24th<\/sup>, you don\u2019t want to miss that because that\u2019s where the kids do their musical and my daughter is the voice of God in the musical.\u00a0 She\u2019s been practicing around the house the voice of God. \u00a0\u00a0So that\u2019ll be fun. That really is a neat time actually, just to kind of recap and see what the kids have been doing here on Wednesday nights.\u00a0 They actually come to this church, they don\u2019t just goof around and play games, they actually learn Scripture and the Bible.\u00a0 So this presentation is very well done and it\u2019ll kind of heighten your love for what our Wednesday night workers are doing with our children during adult Bible study.\u00a0 So I\u2019d encourage you to check that out on the 24th<\/sup>.\u00a0 Are you guys clear on the schedule?\n\nLet\u2019s open our Bibles to the book of Matthew, chapter 13 and verse 11.\u00a0 And as you know we\u2019ve been progressing through this study on what does the Bible say about the kingdom.\u00a0 We saw that God\u2019s plan for the kingdom started in Eden to rule over a man, Adam.\u00a0 And God would rule over Adam and Adam would rule over the world for God and that was what was lost in Genesis 3, so the goal of the Bible is how that structure is brought back.\u00a0 And when we move into the time period of Abraham we learn that God has set aside a particular nation, the nation of Israel, through whom His kingdom program will come.\u00a0 And that\u2019s when the Abrahamic Covenant is made and the nation of Israel is given promises of ownership of which three things, anybody remember?\u00a0 Land, seed and blessing.\u00a0 They haven\u2019t materialized yet but we know they are coming.\n\nAnd then we go six hundred years into the future, to the time of Moses.\u00a0 That takes us to Mt. Sinai where there\u2019s the condition issued in what\u2019s called the Mosaic Covenant.\u00a0 You\u2019ll find that if\/then language in Exodus 19:5-6.\u00a0 [Exodus 19:5-6, \u201cNow then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; [6] and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.\u2019 These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.\u201d]\u00a0\u00a0 The Abrahamic Covenant gave ownership but the Mosaic Covenant gives possession or enjoyment.\u00a0 So until Israel is in compliance with the Mosaic Covenant she will always be the owner but not the possessor and the kingdom will be in a state of postponement.\u00a0 Of course the Mosaic Covenant points to who?\u00a0 Christ.\u00a0 So Israel has to enthrone the king of God\u2019s own choosing.\n\nThe kingdom is divided during the time of Solomon and which of the two do we keep our eye on?\u00a0 The north or the south?\u00a0 The south, because the south has a tribe in it called Judah and there\u2019s a promise given concerning Judah in Genesis 49:10, that the king and the kingdom are going to come from Judah.\u00a0 [Genesis 49:10, \u201cThe scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.\u201d]\n\nAnd then that takes us to what we\u2019re covering on Sunday mornings, the times of the Gentiles, where Daniel is raised; we\u2019re studying Daniel 7 on Sunday mornings where Daniel is describing a time period that the nation will go through.\u00a0 It\u2019s a very difficult time period while the kingdom is in post\u00ad\u00adponement and that time period is called the times of the Gentiles.\u00a0 It started with the beginning of the Babylonian captivity and continues right up to the present hour and will reach its climax under the empire of the antichrist.\u00a0 And during that time period Israel will be converted; they will call Christ back to the earth to rescue them and the kingdom will come.\n\nSo while the kingdom is in postponement God raises up Old Testament prophets to give us a sketch; they take on their paint brushes, if you will, and\u2026 I listened to Jim\u2019s message and he covered a lot of that as well.\u00a0 They explain to us these prophets, what the kingdom is going to be like one day, once it comes.\u00a0 So they function, as Peter says, \u201ca lamp shining in a dark place.\u201d\u00a0 [2 Peter 1:19, \u201cSo we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.\u201d]\u00a0 So you can go through the writings of the Old Testament prophets and start to develop a description of what the kingdom is going to be like.\n\nThen the nation comes back out of captivity under the reign of who?\u00a0 Anybody remember.\u00a0 Well, Babylon is overthrown by Persia, Cyrus and Darius of Persia and through the reign of Persia the Jews are allowed to return to the Promised Land 70 years later.\u00a0 And the books of Ezra and Nehemiah give us the background on that.\n\nSo the nation of Israel is in the land 400 years before Jesus ever shows up, which is a long time.\u00a0 And during the times of the Gentiles, and we studied some of this last Sunday, Persia would be replaced by who?\u00a0 Greece, and Greece would be replaced by who?\u00a0 Rome.\u00a0 And so Rome is in power and lo and behold, Jesus Christ shows up and He offers the nation of Israel an opportunity of multiple generations.\u00a0 He says, \u201cRepent, for the kingdom of God is\u201d what?\u00a0 At hand.\u00a0 So that\u2019s what we call the offer of the kingdom.\u00a0 So had the nation of Israel enthroned Christ, the kingdom, the long awaited kingdom hypothetically could have come, but tragically we know the story, as we\u2019ve studied the gospels, that the nation of Israel turned down the offer of the king and the kingdom.\u00a0 Had the nation of Israel enthroned Christ they would have not just been the owner but the what?\u00a0 Possessor, they would have been in compliance with the Mosaic Covenant and the kingdom would have come.\u00a0 But because they rejected Christ and rejected the offer of the kingdom Israel, right up to the present day is the owner but not the possessor of her blessings.\u00a0 So the kingdom remains in a state of postponement.\n\nSo it\u2019s during this time in Christ\u2019s ministry it\u2019s very apparent they\u2019re going to reject Him.\u00a0 Christ begins to describe an interim period of time and that\u2019s where we come in.\u00a0 It\u2019s an age of time where God is doing something unique that isn\u2019t related to the kingdom but clearly in the present age God is at work.\u00a0 And so we start to get a hint of a time period where God is going to do something, not bring in the kingdom but He\u2019s going to work.\u00a0 And it\u2019s during this time period He\u2019s at work that the kingdom is in a state of postponement.\u00a0 And this interim age, to discover what God is doing, and it\u2019s really important to understand this or you don\u2019t know what God is doing in the present time.\u00a0 This is why so many people today are confused about this subject, because they\u2019ve never really consulted the Bible carefully the way we are and they really have unrealistic expectations of what God is doing.\u00a0 God is clearly working but He\u2019s not bringing in the kingdom presently.\u00a0 That\u2019s where the amillennial system and the postmillennial system, both of which argue for the presence of the kingdom of God now really are in error.\n\nSo God is doing something special, God is doing something unique in this interim age.\u00a0 This interim age has been going on for the last two thousand years; it really started on the Day of Pentecost \u00a0and I don\u2019t know when it will end.\u00a0 I have my suspicions that God is getting ready to wrap things up but I can\u2019t guarantee that.\u00a0 But to discover the plan of God and the program of God during this interim age you have to consult two sections of Scripture.\u00a0 Number 1, you\u2019ve got to consult the Matthew 13 parables which we\u2019re going to get into tonight.\n\nThe second thing you have to consult is God\u2019s plan and program and blueprint for His church.\u00a0 So the Matthew 13 parables, which describe the interadvent age, the work of God in between the two comings of Christ, and specifically Paul\u2019s letters which reveal the church age, which is the age of time we\u2019re in now, those two sections of Scripture tell you exactly what God is doing in the present while the kingdom is in a state of postponement.\n\nSo I am not out there today trying to bring in the kingdom; I am not trying to do kingdom work because I understand that we\u2019re in a time period today where the kingdom is not present, yet God is still working.\u00a0 And if we don\u2019t understand what God is doing now versus what He has done and will do related to the kingdom, we start to lose focus of what we are supposed to be doing presently as God\u2019s people.\n\nSo the interadvent age and the church age run concurrently and simultaneously, they overlap. And those two sections of Scripture become really important to understand what God is doing in the interim age.\n\nNow you\u2019ll recall that we made about five preliminary observations about the interim age.\u00a0 Number 1, it\u2019s a real age of time.\u00a0 Jesus started to explain it in the parable of the minas you remember, where He was going to be gone for a very long time and this is the first time we\u2019ve heard anywhere in the Gospels that Jesus is going to be absent for a season, and He\u2019s entrusting His people with talents.\u00a0 A talent in the Bible was like a monetary sum or a denomination; in the parable of the minas it\u2019s called a mina which is also a monetary sum.\u00a0 He\u2019s entrusting us to be good stewards of what He has given us but one of these days the interim age will be over and He\u2019s going to hold us accountable related to what we did with what He has entrusted to us.\n\nSo this is a real age and a legitimate period of time.\u00a0 It was caused by Israel\u2019s unbelief; it\u2019s a mystery.\u00a0 Anybody remember what a mystery is?\u00a0 It\u2019s something hidden but now revealed.\u00a0 So this mystery age you\u2019re not going to find in the Old Testament.\u00a0 You\u2019re only going to get hints of it in the Gospels.\u00a0 You really have to consult the latter teachings of Christ and Paul\u2019s 13 letters where he describes the church age to describe what God is doing in this mystery age.\u00a0 It\u2019s an age of time that we call a priestly age; Jesus right now is not functioning as king but He is functioning as what?\u00a0 High priest, not on David\u2019s throne on the earth but which throne is He on?\u00a0 On the Father\u2019s throne in\u00a0 heaven.\u00a0 And He is not just an ordinary priest after Aaron\u2019s lineage; He is a priest after the order of who?\u00a0 Melchizedek.\u00a0 And so the book of Hebrews explains the priestly ministry of Christ and the present while Jesus is not reigning as king.\n\nSo Christ has three offices, prophet, priest and king.\u00a0 He was prophet in His first coming; He\u2019ll be king in His second coming.\u00a0 And currently He is not functioning as king or prophet; He\u2019s functioning as priest at the Father\u2019s right hand.\u00a0 And the book of Hebrews develops that for us.\n\nAnd you shouldn\u2019t look at this age as some kind of afterthought of God.\u00a0 It\u2019s an important age.\u00a0 The Book of Ephesians, chapter 3, verse 11 tells us that the age of time that we\u2019re now in is part of the predetermined plan of God.\u00a0 So God always knew that Israel would reject His Son and He knew the time period that we would find ourselves in because of that rejection, and the kingdom\u2019s post\u00adponement.\u00a0 And God had not disclosed that time period in the Old Testament but He knew it would come.\n\nSo the present age of time is part of the plan of God although it hadn\u2019t been revealed yet in detail until you get into the writings of the Apostle Paul.\u00a0 So it\u2019s an authentic age, it\u2019s an age caused by Israel\u2019s unbelief; it\u2019s a mystery age, it\u2019s a priestly age and it\u2019s an important age.\u00a0 So to understand this interim age you\u00a0 have to understand two areas of divine truth: you have to understand the Matthew 13 parables and then you have to understand information about the church.\u00a0 So what we\u2019re going to wade into gently this evening is the Matthew 13 parables.\n\nThe Matthew 13 parables start to fill out what God is doing in the interim advent age.\u00a0 So that\u2019s why I had you open up to Matthew 13:11.\u00a0 Now if we have time we\u2019re going to get into tonight the first of the eight parables, the parable of the sower, but before we get to the parable of the sower what I want to do is I want to make seven preliminary background observations about the Matthew 13 parables and this information is necessary to interpret Matthew 13 correctly.\n\nSo I have seven points to make. The first is this; notice the position of the parables in Matthew\u2019s Gospel.\u00a0 The turning point in Matthew\u2019s Gospel is which chapter.\u00a0 Anybody remember?\u00a0 Matthew 12.\u00a0 Matthew 12 is where it becomes very clear that the religious leaders are hardened against Christ and they\u2019re going to reject the offer of the kingdom.\u00a0 The turning point is in Matthew 12:24 where they attribute Christ\u2019s clear miracles, that He was doing right there in their midst, they attribute that miracle to whose power?\u00a0 Satan\u2019s, and that happens in Matthew 12:24.\u00a0 And the moment that happens it\u2019s a pivot point in Matthew\u2019s Gospel.\u00a0 In Matthew 12:24 it says, \u201cBut when the Pharisees heard this, they said, \u2018This man\u201d that\u2019s Jesus, \u201ccasts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.\u201d\u00a0 And that shifts Christ\u2019s entire ministry.\n\nMatthew 1-12 is part one of Christ\u2019s ministry when He\u2019s offering the kingdom to Israel but Matthew 13-28 is the second part of Christ\u2019s ministry because of the rejection and the hardness of the Jewish leaders.\u00a0 The focus of part 1 is the nation of Israel; the focus of part 2 is the remnant.\u00a0 See, in part 2 He\u2019s not focusing any more on the nation.\u00a0 The nation is going to reject Him; it\u2019s very clear.\u00a0 He\u2019s focusing on a tiny remnant, a minority of people that are believing in Him and He\u2019s trying to build them because they\u2019re going to become the foundation stones of the soon to be birthed church.\u00a0 The purpose of His miracles shift: in the first part of His ministry His miracles are trying to prove to the nation He\u2019s the King.\u00a0 In the second part of His ministry His miracles are aimed at training the remnant, so He\u2019s trying to increase their faith because of the role they\u2019re going to be playing in the book of Acts.\n\nThe first part of His ministry you keep hearing this expression, \u201cRepent for the kingdom of God is at hand.\u201d\u00a0 Once you reach Matthew 12:24 and they attribute His miracles to Satan that expression disappears from Matthew\u2019s Gospel.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t appear again until the Olivet Discourse which is a description of the tribulation period, which involves Israel\u2019s conversion under distress after the church has been removed from the earth.\u00a0 The first part of His ministry He spoke in open discourse form; the second part of His ministry He starts talking in parables, and I\u2019ll explain why that is in just a second.\u00a0 The first part of His ministry He never mentions an interim age.\u00a0 But once you get outside of Matthew 12, into Matthew 13-28 you start to get more clarity on the interim age of time that we\u2019re in now that will exist while the kingdom is in postponement.\n\nHis crucifixion and His resurrection are not mentioned in the first part of His ministry but now that it\u2019s very clear that the nation is going to reject Him He begins to talk openly about His crucifixion and He begins to talk openly about His resurrection and He begins to talk openly about the soon to be birthed church.\u00a0 So Matthew 12:24 is a shift in the whole program of God.\n\nNow Cindy was showing me some chiastic structures in the book of Genesis.\u00a0 This is another chiastic structure, it\u2019s a way to outline all of Matthew\u2019s Gospel.\u00a0 The key point in a chiasm is what\u2019s in the center; the center is the shift.\u00a0 And so you can see from this chiastic structure of the book of Matthew, and you guys, if you\u2019re with us on Sundays you\u2019re familiar with chiasms because Daniel 2-7 is sort of laid out like a chiasm.\u00a0 The shift in this chiasm is Matthew 11 and 12, particularly Matthew 12 where it\u2019s very clear that the Jewish leaders are going to reject the King, leading to the kingdom\u2019s, not cancellation but what?\u00a0 Postponement.\u00a0 And it\u2019s at this point that Jesus gives the Matthew 13 parables.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t just say hey, how about some parables?\u00a0 Do you guys want to hear some parables, this ought to be fun.\u00a0 These are strategically placed in Matthew\u2019s Gospel in Matthew 13 after the key rejection of the offer of the king and the kingdom in Matthew 12.\u00a0 Do you guys all agree with me that Matthew 13 comes after Matthew 12?\n\nSo Matthew 12 is the shift; Matthew 13 we start hearing these parables.\u00a0 Arthur Pink, whose work on the 13 parables, I have a very high opinion of, he puts it this way.\u00a0 He says, \u201cIn Matthew 12 we are told, \u2018But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out demons, but by Beelzebub the prince of the demons\u2019\u2014there they committed the sin\u201d Pink says, \u201cfor which there was no forgiveness. Following our Lord\u2019s sentence upon the Pharisees for their unpardonable blasphemy, we are next told, \u2018Then certain of the scribes and the Pharisees answered, Master, we would see a sign from Thee\u2019 (verse 38). His response was that the only sign which should be given to that evil and unfaithful generation\u201d speaking of first century Israel, \u201cshould be that of \u2018the sign of the prophet Jonah\u2019\u2014i.e., that after three days in the place of death the Servant of God should come forth and go unto the Gentiles. Following this,\u201d see what Pink is doing here is he\u2019s laying out the chronology.\u00a0 \u201cFollowing this the Lord solemnly pronounced the coming judgment of Heaven upon that wicked generation, so that their last state should be worse than the first (vv. 43\u201345). . . .\u201d\n\nThat\u2019s basically a description of A.D. 70 that\u2019s coming because of Israel\u2019s rejection of her king.\n\nAnd then Pink goes on and he says, \u201cThe parables of this chapter [<\/u><\/strong>Matthew 13] were spoken by Christ \u2018the same day\u2019<\/u> as when the Pharisees had taken council together to destroy Him, as when they had committed the unpardonable sin, as when He had pronounced solemn judgment upon the Nation, and as when He had severed the fleshly ties which united Him to the Jews and had intimated that henceforth there should be a people united to Him by spiritual bonds.\u201d\u00a0 Now watch this very carefully.\u00a0 \u201cThus the relation between Matthew 12 and Matthew 13 is that of cause and effect<\/u>;\u201d do you see that?\u00a0 \u201cin other words, Matthew 12 makes known the cause which led up to Christ\u2019s acting as He did in the thirteenth chapter: that cause was Israel\u2019s rejection of their king and His rejection of them. His action in Matthew 13:1\u201d watch this very carefully, \u201cwas indicative of a great dispensational crisis<\/u>, it was an anticipation of what is found developed at length in the books of Acts\u2014God, temporarily, turning away from the Jews and turning unto the Gentiles.\u201d\n\n[A. W. Pink (2005). The Prophetic Parables of Matthew Thirteen<\/em>. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.]\n\nSo you have what Arthur Pink calls cause and effect; Matthew 12 is the rejection of the nation at Christ, Matthew 13 are the parables.\u00a0 It\u2019s what we would call a dispensational crisis.\u00a0 What we\u2019ve been led to believe up to this point in the Bible is that once the king comes they would embrace the king and the kingdom would manifest itself, and now we\u2019ve got a crisis on our hands because the nation has rejected their King.\u00a0 So what\u2019s God going to do now?\u00a0 Well, God is going to turns lemons into what?\u00a0 Lemonade, and He\u2019s going to use this circumstance to number one, pay the sin debt for the world.\u00a0 And number two, bring something into effect, this new interim age of time, that was always in the mind of God but just had never been revealed.\u00a0 So that becomes the significance of these Matthew 13 parables.\u00a0 You have to begin to understand that these parables aren\u2019t revealed until Matthew 13 for a reason.\u00a0 So we have number one, concerning the background of the Matthew 13 parables, number one, their position in Matthew\u2019s Gospel.\n\nThe second point that needs to be understood is the mystery nature of these parables.\u00a0 So that\u2019s why I had you open to Matthew 13:11 and as Jesus is giving these parables it says this: \u201cJesus answered them, \u2018To you it has been granted to know the\u201d what? \u201cthe mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them\u201d that\u2019s Israel, unbelieving Israel, \u201c it has not been granted.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 So one of the things to understand about these parables is not only are they strategically placed in Matthew\u2019s Gospel for a particular reason, but number 2, they are a mystery.\n\nNow do you all remember what a mystery is?\u00a0 It\u2019s a truth concealed now what? revealed.\u00a0 Before I\u2019ve given you this definition from Vine\u2019s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old Testament and New Testament Words<\/em>, I think we\u2019ve talked about this word before, haven\u2019t we?\u00a0 Basically the word mystery is something new that\u2019s never before been revealed.\u00a0 So Jesus, in Matthew 13:11 applies this word \u201cmystery\u201d to these parables.\u00a0 In other words, He is going to tell them something that has never been revealed before.\u00a0 You can\u2019t find this era of time anywhere in the Old Testament; it\u2019s only at this particular point in Christ\u2019s ministry, given what happened in Matthew 12, that He\u2019s ready to unfold a new period of time which is a mystery, something unknown now revealed.\n\nAnd drop down to Matthew 13:16-17 and he continues to talk this way.\u00a0 He says, \u201cBut blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.\u201d\u00a0 In other words you\u2019re blessed because of the teaching you\u2019re about to get through these parables.\u00a0 [17] \u201cFor truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.\u201d\n\nAnd what He\u2019s saying is Moses and Abraham and Daniel and Isaiah and all of the greats of the Old Testament era would have loved to have the insight that I\u2019m about to give you concerning this new age of time but they couldn\u2019t see it because it was a mystery, it was hidden. \u00a0But now, because of what the nation has done to Me, they\u2019ve rejected Me, leading to a dispensational crisis, leading to postponement of the kingdom, I\u2019m going to give you something brand new, that God always wanted to do and always knew He would do, but it has never before been revealed.\n\nSo it\u2019s really important to understand that these parables are mystery truths.\u00a0 Drop down, if you could, to Matthew 13:35, it says this: \u201cThis was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: \u2018I WILL OPEN MY MOUTH IN PARABLES; I WILL UTTER THINGS\u201d what? \u00a0\u201cHIDDEN SINCE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.\u201d\u00a0 So you take verse 11, verses 16-17, and verse 35 and you put those verses together and it couldn\u2019t be clearer that Jesus is giving something totally new at this particular point in His ministry.\n\nSo Arthur Pink says, \u201cThe eleventh verse of Matthew 13 supplies yet another key, in the word \u201cmysteries<\/em> of the kingdom of heaven.\u201d In Scripture the term \u201cmystery\u201d signifies a Divine secret<\/em> made known by the Holy Spirit. This is confirmed by what is told us in verse 35, namely, that Christ was here uttering \u201cthings which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.\u201d Thus, in these parables, Christ was making known that which was outside<\/em> the scope of O.\u00a0T. prediction, something which God had not<\/em> made known to Israel through the prophets. This needs to be carefully noted, for it refutes the popular interpretation of these parables.\u201d\u00a0 [A. W. Pink (2005). The Prophetic Parables of Matthew Thirteen<\/em>. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software]\n\nAnd what many people will tell you is well, what these parables represent is the kingdom of God coming to the earth.\u00a0 Well, if that\u2019s true then how could these parables be called a mystery, something new?\u00a0 Isn\u2019t the kingdom well developed in the Old Testament?\u00a0 I mean, haven\u2019t we spent week after week after week building point after point after point after point showing everybody that the kingdom and the kingdom program is well developed in the Old Testament?\u00a0 Well how can these Matthew 13 parables then be a mystery or something new?\u00a0 How could they be the kingdom, rather, when Matthew 13 is very clear that they are something brand new.\n\nSo the definition of mystery itself, if you buy into that, it shows you that what Christ is disclosing here can\u2019t be the kingdom because the kingdom isn\u2019t something new, is it?\u00a0 The kingdom is fully revealed in the Old Testament.\u00a0 You guys with me on this?\n\nSo number 1, notice the position of these parables in Matthew\u2019s Gospel.\u00a0 They are strategically placed.\u00a0 Number 2, notice their mystery nature.\u00a0 Number 3, notice (and we made this point a little earlier) that these parables have nothing to do with the kingdom, or the kingdom of God.\u00a0 They do not represent the kingdom of God.\n\nArthur\u00a0 Pink again says this: \u201cThere are many who regard the parables of Matthew 13 as containing predictions of the ushering in of the Millennium: those of the Mustard-tree and the Leaven are regarded as being parallel with the promise that \u201cthe knowledge of the glory of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.\u201d\u2019\u00a0 So many people talk about the yeast going through the dough in one of the parables and they say that\u2019s the coming forth of the kingdom, that\u2019s the knowledge breaking forth all over the earth, as Isaiah 11:9 predicts.\u00a0 [Isaiah 11:9, \u201cThey will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea.\u201d]\u00a0 But Arthur Pink says, \u201cBut that<\/em> statement is found in Isaiah 11:9: that<\/em> was no \u201csecret\u201d in O.\u00a0T. times! Therefore, none of the parables\u201d let me say that again\u2014therefore none of the parables in Matthew 13 can be treating of the same subject as Isaiah 11:9\u2026.\u201d\n\n[A. W. Pink (2005). The Prophetic Parables of Matthew Thirteen<\/em>. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software]\n\nIf Jesus is coming along and just rehashing Isaiah 11:9 then these parables can\u2019t be a what?\u00a0 They can\u2019t be a mystery, they would just be a restatement of something that\u2019s already been said.\u00a0 But we\u2019re learning here very specifically that these are mystery parables.\u00a0 So this is not a rehash of Old Testament information concerning the kingdom.\u00a0 The word \u201cmystery\u201d denies that understanding.\n\n\u201cTherefore, none of the parables in Matthew 13 can be treating of the same subject as Isaiah 11:9, or what is stated in verse 35\u201d that\u2019s where Jesus says I\u2019m going to give you secrets, not known from the foundation of the earth, \u201cor what is stated in verse 35 would not be true. No; Matthew 13 deals with something nowhere<\/em> revealed in the O.T.; it is an entirely new revelation].\u201d\u00a0 [A. W. Pink (2005). The Prophetic Parables of Matthew Thirteen<\/em>. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software]\n\nSo number one, note the strategic position of these parables in Matthew\u2019s Gospel.\u00a0 Number 2, note their mystery nature.\u00a0 Number 3, note the fact that the teachings that Jesus is giving have nothing to do with the Old Testament revelation we have studied thus far concerning the kingdom of God.\u00a0 That takes us to number four, what do these parables represent?\u00a0 What the parables represent is not the manifestation of the kingdom of God on the earth but the course of the present age while the kingdom is in a state of postponement.\n\nWhat in the world is God doing?\u00a0 What in the world has God been doing for the last 2,000 years while His nation is in unbelief and the\u00a0 kingdom is in a state of postponement?\u00a0 You take these parables and you put them together and you see exactly what God is doing.\u00a0 It\u2019s a different program entirely and it doesn\u2019t concern the kingdom.\n\nNow there are here eight parables:\u00a0 the parable of the sower, the parable of the wheat and the tares, the parable of the mustard seed, the parable of the leaven, the parable of the earthen treasure, the parable of the pearl of great price, the parable of the dragnet, and the parable of the householder.\u00a0 And it\u2019s not until you take all eight and put them together comprehensively that you can begin to understand what God is doing today.\u00a0 And so what I\u2019m going to be doing is going through each of these parables, obviously we won\u2019t finish these tonight, or even next week, we\u2019ll pick it up in August, but I\u2019m going to be showing you specifically what each parable is, what each parable represents; it doesn\u2019t represent the kingdom but it does represent an action of God in the present.\u00a0 So these eight parables strung together, studied comprehensively, reveal the spiritual conditions that will prevail upon the earth until the kingdom comes one day.\n\nSo take a look at Matthew 13:40-41, notice where these parables end.\u00a0 This is the wheat and the tares.\u00a0 \u201cSo just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age.\u00a0 [41] The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness,\u201d so it\u2019s describing a spiritual condition, and when does that condition end?\u00a0 At the end of the age.\u00a0 What\u2019s the end of the age?\u00a0 When the kingdom finally what?\u00a0 Comes.\u00a0 Well, until the kingdom comes what is God doing?\u00a0 This parable explains it.\n\nTake a look at Matthew 13:49-50, \u201cSo it will be at the end of the\u201d what? \u201cthe age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, [50] and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.\u201d\u00a0 What is that talking about?\u00a0 It\u2019s talking about the manifestation of the kingdom, the manifestation of judgment. Well what in the world is God doing until the manifestation of judgment in the kingdom?\u00a0 That parable explains to you the spiritual course of things in the present age, in the interim.\u00a0 That\u2019s the significance of these parables.\u00a0 And most Christians I would say have never actually backed up and looked at this whole list because if you were to back up and you understood what each parable stood for and you took all eight together you would understand exactly what God is doing because He\u2019s revealed Himself in this mystery.\n\nSo number 1, notice their strategic position in the book of Matthew.\u00a0 Number 2, notice their mystery nature.\u00a0 Number 3, notice that they do not represent the kingdom of God; if they represented the kingdom of God then they couldn\u2019t be what?\u00a0 A mystery!\u00a0 Well, if they don\u2019t represent the kingdom of God what do they represent?\n\nNumber 4, they represent the course of the present age while the kingdom is in a state of postponement.\u00a0 This takes us to number 5, the fifth point of observation or background is these parables are describing the experiences of the sons of the kingdom although the kingdom is not here.\u00a0 They\u2019re not talking about the manifestation of the kingdom; they\u2019re talking about the experiences that the sons of the kingdom will experience while the kingdom is not here.\n\nTake a look if you will at Matthew 13:38, \u201cand the field is the world; and as for<\/em> the good seed, these are the\u201d what? \u201csons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one;<\/em>\u201d now what is a son in the Bible, s-o-n, son?\u00a0 Doesn\u2019t Paul say in Galatians 4:7, \u201cIf a son, then\u201d then a what? \u201cthen an heir.\u201d\u00a0 We\u2019re not in the kingdom right now but guess what? I\u2019m going to inherit the kingdom one day.\u00a0 I\u2019m a son of the kingdom?\u00a0 Are you a son of the kingdom or a daughter of the kingdom?\u00a0 If you\u2019re a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ you\u2019re going into the kingdom even though the kingdom is not here.\u00a0 So what does that make your present position?\u00a0 It makes you a son or a daughter or an inheritor of the kingdom.\n\nWell if you\u2019re a son or a daughter and an inheritor of the kingdom don\u2019t you want to know what your life is going to be like in the interim time period until the kingdom comes?\u00a0 We all want to know that, don\u2019t we?\u00a0 Where do we fit in? What is God doing with me?\u00a0 Well, Matthew 13 and the eight parables there are an explanation of it.\u00a0 I like the way Toussaint and Quine, in their BibSac article, that\u2019s Dallas Seminaries academic Journal, explain this.\u00a0 They say this: \u201cWhen Jesus explained in Matthew 13:36\u201343 His parable of the tares among the wheat (vv. 24\u201330), He said \u2018the sons of the kingdom\u2019 and \u2018the sons of the evil one\u2019 are represented by the good seed and the tares, respectively (v. 38). The latter\u201d that would be sons of the evil one, \u201care obviously unbelievers, and the former are sons of the kingdom not\u201d watch this very carefully, \u201cnot in the sense that the kingdom is present but in the sense that as believers they will inherit the millennial kingdom.\u201d\u00a0 [Stanley D. Toussaint and Jay A. Quine, \u201cNo, Not Yet: The Contingency of God\u2019s Promised Kingdom,\u201d Biblioteca Sacra<\/em> 164 (April\u2013June 2007): 140.]\n\nSo that is our current position. We are inheritors of the millennial kingdom, we are kingdom bound but the kingdom is not here now so what does that make me?\u00a0 That makes me a son of the kingdom or a daughter of the kingdom or an inheritor of the kingdom.\u00a0 Matthew 13 is brand new teaching because it\u2019s explaining here\u2019s what the inheritors of the kingdom are going to experience through eight parables while the kingdom is in a state of absence and postponement.\n\nSo again notice the position of these parables in Matthew\u2019s Gospel.\u00a0 Notice their mystery nature.\u00a0 Notice that they do not represent the kingdom itself.\u00a0 Notice that they represent the spiritual course of the present age while the kingdom is in postponement.\u00a0 And notice that they represent the experiences of the kingdom\u2019s sons (or daughters) while the kingdom is not here.\n\nAnd this takes us to number 6, notice very specifically that Jesus revealed these truths, which are brand new, in parabolic form.\u00a0 He deliberately teaches in parables here.\u00a0 Now when you go through Matthew\u2019s Gospel what you\u2019ll discover is that there are five major sermons that Jesus gave.\u00a0 We know that there are five because Matthew gives us a structural clue; it says, \u201cAnd when Jesus had finished saying these things,\u201d so whenever Matthew uses the expression \u201cAnd when Jesus had finished saying these things\u201d you know that he was wrapping up a major discourse.\u00a0 So you\u2019ll find that expression at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, His first major discourse, Matthew 5-7.\u00a0 He uses that identical expression at the end of Matthew 10, after the missions discourse.\u00a0 He uses that same expression in the section that we\u2019re looking at, starting to look at tonight, the kingdom parables, Matthew 13.\u00a0 He uses that same expression at the end of Matthew 18 in what\u2019s called the humility discourse.\u00a0 And then He uses that same expression in His end times discourse at the end called the Olivet Discourse.\n\nNow what I want you to see is He never gave the Sermon on the Mount in parables.\u00a0 He never gave the missions discourse in parables. But here, all of a sudden, out of the blue Jesus starts talking in this unusual teaching form, which is a parable.\u00a0 Why in the world is Jesus now speaking in parables when He never gave His prior discourses in parabolic form?\u00a0 There is a twofold answer to that.\u00a0 Number 1, it\u2019s to fulfill prophecy.\u00a0 Drop down to Matthew 13:34-35. If you drop down to Matthew 13:34-35 it says this: \u201cthis was<\/em> to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:\u201d now the prophet He\u2019s quoting from is the Psalms, He\u2019s quoting Psalm 78:2, \u201cthis was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet, \u201cI WILL OPEN MY MOUTH IN PARABLES; I WILL UTTER THINGS HIDDEN SINCE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.\u201d\n\nSo the first reason Jesus spoke in parables at this point was to fulfill Old Testament prophecy.\u00a0 However, there is a second reason that Jesus spoke in parables.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t just pick this teaching style because it was in vogue, He picked it deliberately.\u00a0 What is a parable?\u00a0 A parable is designed to do two things; number one, conceal truth, and number two, to reveal truth.\u00a0 He started speaking in parables to conceal and also to reveal.\n\nIf you look at Matthew 13:16-17, it says, \u201cBut blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.\u00a0 [17] For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it,<\/em> and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.<\/em>\u201d] Question\u2014who is He concealing truth from and who is He revealing it to?\u00a0 The first group He\u2019s concealing truth from is this crowd here, the Pharisees, the leadership of the nation of Israel and the bulk of the nation in unbelief that\u2019s blindly following their leaders.\u00a0 He is not revealing new truth to them, in fact, He\u2019s hiding it from them.\u00a0 You say well how could He do that?\u00a0 Well, He didn\u2019t hide it from them in the first twelve chapters; He was trying to get them to receive the kingdom, which they rejected.\u00a0 But now it\u2019s clear they\u2019re not going to reject Him so He takes truth and puts it below the radar screen where they can\u2019t get at it.\n\nSo He\u2019s concealing truth from the Pharisees because there\u2019s been a shift in His ministry from public to private.\u00a0 Jesus concealed truth from the Pharisees out of compassion.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 \u201cBecause to whom much is given much is\u201d what? \u201crequired.\u201d\u00a0 [Luke 12:48]\u00a0 The more truth a person has the greater their degree of accountability on the day of judgment.\n\nMatthew 11:20-24 which happened just a couple chapters earlier, Jesus said this: \u201cThen He began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent. [21] \u201cWoe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. [22] \u201cNevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable\u201d see that, \u201cfor Tyre and Sidon in the<\/em> day of judgment than for you.[23] And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom\u201d that was a pretty wicked city, wasn\u2019t it? \u201chad occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. [24] Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the<\/em> day of judgment, than for you.\u201d\n\nAnd what He\u2019s saying is here\u2019s a whole bunch of Old Testament cities, Sodom and Gomorrah being of them, Tyre an Sidon being another group, that are going off into judgment and here\u2019s some New Testament cities, Capernaum, Chorazin and Bethsaida.\u00a0 The Old Testament cities are going off into judgment, the New Testament cities are going off into judgment but the judgment is going to fall harder on which group?\u00a0 The New Testament.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Because the New Testament cities saw something the Old Testament cities never saw.\u00a0 What did they see?\u00a0 The incarnate Son of God in their presence teaching and performing miracles.\n\nSo all of these cities are going to be judged but the ones with the higher revelation are going to be judged more severely.\u00a0 So, \u201cTo whom much is given much is\u201d what? \u201crequired.\u201d\u00a0 This is why Jesus stops publicly teaching to the nation at this point because He already knows what they\u2019re going to do, they\u2019re going to reject Him.\u00a0 That\u2019s a done deal. So if He just gave them more truth what would that do?\u00a0 It wouldn\u2019t help them, it would just increase the wrath of God upon them in the day of judgment.\n\nSo that\u2019s why Jesus is speaking in parables at this point.\u00a0 He\u2019s deliberately concealing truth from the nation but who is He revealing it to?\u00a0 The remnant, that\u2019s why Jesus says to the remnant, [Matthew 13:16] \u201cBut blessed are your eyes,\u201d who\u2019s \u201cyou\u201d?\u00a0 Or \u201cyour\u201d?\u00a0 That\u2019s the tiny remnant of believers. \u201c\u2026blessed are your eyes because they see; and your ears because they hear.\u00a0 [17] For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desire to see what you see and do not see it, and to hear what you hear and did not hear it<\/em>.\u201d\n\nChrist has His eyes, at this point, on the apostles because the apostles are going to become the what?\u00a0 The foundation of the church.\u00a0 So these parables are not designed for the nation as a whole; these parables are designed for the babes in Christ, this tiny group that\u2019s following Him, among whom are the twelve apostles, because we know from Paul\u2019s teaching, Ephesians 2:20, that the church itself is going to be built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [Ephesians 2:20, \u201chaving been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,\u201d]\n\nAnd this is why Jesus is speaking in parables.\u00a0 See, many people are confused as to why Jesus is speaking in parables at all; is He just\u2026 I don\u2019t know, winging it?\u00a0 Is He just trying something new?\u00a0 Is He just trying something in vogue?\u00a0 No, when you understand the flow of Matthew\u2019s Gospel you see that He chose this method of discourse or communication intentionally to conceal truth from one group and reveal truth to another group.\u00a0 Are you guys with me on this?\n\nSo number one, notice their position in Matthew\u2019s Gospel.\u00a0 Notice their mystery nature.\u00a0 Notice that they don\u2019t represent the kingdom.\u00a0 Notice that they represent the course of the present age.\u00a0 Notice that they represent the experiences of the kingdom\u2019s sons.\u00a0 Notice why Jesus taught in parables.\u00a0 Finally number 7, and with this we\u2019ll close: notice that the parables, eight of them, are divided into two.\u00a0 A great many commentators miss this point but if you look at Matthew 13:1-2 this is what it says.\u00a0 \u201cThat day Jesus went out of the house\u201d so He\u2019s in public, right? He\u2019s not speaking to the nation but He\u2019s speaking to a fairly large remnant that\u2019s following Him.\u00a0 \u201cThat day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea. [2] And large crowds gathered to Him,\u201d not the religious leaders, they have already rejected Him, but seekers.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026large crowds gathered to Him so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach.\u201d\n\nSo in public, in this sense He gives the first four parables.\u00a0 There\u2019s eight parables total.\u00a0 He gives four.\u00a0 And then if you drop down to Matthew 13:36 it says this: \u201cThen He left the crowds and went into the house.\u201d\u00a0 See the first four parables He comes out of the house, He\u2019s sort of\u2026 the way I envision it He\u2019s sort of floating on a boat near the bank of the Sea of Galilee because of the masses and He\u2019s addressing them.\u00a0 But then you go to verse\u2026 and that\u2019s where He gives four parables about the interim age, then you go to verse 36 \u00a0and it says \u201cThen He left the crowds and went into the house.\u00a0 And His disciples came to Him\u201d that would be privately, Jesus come here, private conversation, private meeting, \u201cAnd His disciples came to Him\u201d in the house \u201cand said, \u2018Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.\u201d\u2019\u00a0 In the house he gives four more parables.\n\nSo what I want you to see is Matthew\u2019s chapter divides the eight parables into two equal groups of four; four public parables outside of the house, four private parables inside of the house.\u00a0 Now the big question is why does Matthew intentionally divide the chapters this way.\u00a0 Why does Matthew bring this two-fold division to our attention?\u00a0 The answer is we don\u2019t know because Matthew doesn\u2019t tell us why, but I\u2019m prepared to offer you my theory on it.\n\nMy theory on it is this: when Christ got finished with the first four parables the disciples were totally dejected because in those first four parables, sower, wheat and tares, mustard seed and leaven it is very clear that the kingdom is not coming immediately.\u00a0 Not only is that clear but the age of time that is coming while the kingdom is not here is a terrible age of deception and apostasy and drifting away from truth.\u00a0 That\u2019s what\u00a0 you get from the sower, the wheat and tares, the mustard seed and the leaven, as\u00a0 I\u2019ll be explaining in this series.\n\nSo if\u00a0 you were a Jew who was following Christ Luke 19:11 says they expected the kingdom to come any minute.\u00a0 [Luke 19:11, \u201cWhile they were listening to these things, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because He was near Jerusalem, and they supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately.\u201d]\u00a0 And Christ unloads this teaching on you with four parables and tells you, number 1, not only is the kingdom not going to come but the age of time that it\u2019s coming is a terrible age of deception and apostasy and drifting away from truth.\u00a0 You could see how that would depress them, can\u2019t you?\n\nSo therefore He gathers them in private, beginning in verse 36, and He says this:\u00a0 But God is still working.\u00a0 And that\u2019s where He unloads the earthen treasure, the pearl of great price, the dragnet and the householder.\u00a0\u00a0 So what He\u2019s saying is Satan is at work in this age, the first four parables are very clear about that, Satan is doing everything he can and many, many people are drifting away from truth during this new age of time that you\u2019re entering, parables 1-4.\n\nBut in parables 5-8 guys, in private, don\u2019t be dejected, don\u2019t be down because the devil is working but who else is working?\u00a0 God\u2019s working.\u00a0 There\u2019s a simultaneous work happening, God is sowing, Satan is doing his counterfeit sowing; Satan is sowing, God is doing His true sowing.\u00a0 See that?\n\nSo therefore if the current age is the program of God where evil and good are working concurrently side by side can this age be the kingdom?\u00a0 It can\u2019t be the kingdom because in the kingdom where is Satan?\u00a0 Satan is bound; there is no competition going on.\u00a0 So He\u2019s revealing this new period of time where you have the co-existence of good and evil.\n\nParables 1-4 are really the work of the devil but parables 5-8 is the work of God.\u00a0 Parables 1-4 would have depressed the daylights out of these guys who thought the kingdom was going to come.\u00a0 Here they learned it\u2019s not going to come and this age is going to deteriorate and it\u2019s not going to get better until the return of Christ.\u00a0 Man, these guys are down, so He gets them together privately in the house and He says don\u2019t be too dejected guys, God is still doing a work.\n\nSo that is the background to these Matthew 13 parables.\u00a0 Number 1, note their position in Matthew\u2019s Gospel.\u00a0 Number 2, note their mystery nature.\u00a0 Number 3 note that they do not represent the kingdom.\u00a0 Number 4, note that they do represent the course of the present age, the coexistence of good and evil; the devil is at work and God is at work.\u00a0 Number 5, note that they are the natural and normal experiences of the inheritors of the kingdom until the kingdom comes.\u00a0 Number 6, note specifically why Christ taught these things in parables.\u00a0 He\u2019s concealing this truth from the nation as a whole and instead of revealing it to the remnant.\u00a0 And number 7, note the two-fold division of these parables, why He taught four in open and four more in private.\u00a0 The first four are the progress of evil, the latter four are the progress of God.\n\nSo your homework for next week is to read chapter\u2026what chapter are we in in that book?\u00a0 I think it\u2019s chapter 10 isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 So read chapter 10 in my book but more importantly read God\u2019s book and read the first four parables; read the sower, read the wheat and tares, read the mustard seed, read the leaven now that you have this background and see what Jesus is talking about.\n\nSo anyway I\u2019m going to stop talking at this point, 8:04 and folks that need to collect their young ones and dismiss themselves are free to do that and we can open it up for Q&A.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t