Why parables?

New Blog - New post.  Have you ever wondered why so much of The Bible is written in the form of parables?  The intent of this lesson is to help us understand what parables are and to get some insight as to why Jesus so often taught in parables.

Matt 13: 1 The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.
2 And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

Jesus spoke to a very broad type of crowd – this multitude did not consist of only the educated – and neither did it consist of only the ignorant . . . so Jesus had to choose His words wisely so as not to over-whelm those who were hearing the gospel for the first time . . . and the other side of

the coin – was not to discourage those who were more learned in the scriptures with the boredom of teaching “the same things” over and over again.  In the following scripture - we see where Paul says that they should go on to perfection (or to gain spiritual maturity and a greater understanding of the scriptures) by avoiding ONLY teaching and studying about the doctrine of salvation and baptism . . .


Heb 6: 1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
3 And this will we do, if God permit.

The foundation of repentance from dead works refers to the basic doctrine of salvation by grace through faith, not of works lest any man should boast.  The doctrine of baptisms refers to the New Testament church ordinance of scriptural baptism that is taught in our churches.  The laying on of hands makes reference to the special gifts that were present in the church during the age of the apostles.


The point Paul makes here is that all of these things are most definitely the foundation of a "Christian life", but once the foundation "is laid" it is time to work on building that will rest upon it. 

After we have been saved, after we understand the significance of baptism and have submitted to the proper authority in obedience to God's commandment to symbolize our walk in newness of life through the pictorial ordinance of baptism it is time to start working on "the life" that we plan to build upon our saving faith and upon our obedience to God's commandments of New Testament worship.

3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

So the idea of speaking in parables - is an effective way to teach the lost about their need for salvation while at the same time teaching the child of God that his need is to properly build upon the foundation of faith that has already been laid in his life.

“And he spake many things unto them IN PARABLES” . . . The word parable means to compare “different things together” – it means to form a parallel or a similarity between things that are different . . . for instance we see in Matt 7 a wise builder and a foolish builder – these builders {and

their choice of a solid or a sandy foundation} – is what is compared to the choice that men make
regarding whether or not to “build” their lives upon the strength of God’s Word – or to build their lives upon the shifting sands of the world.

24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them (or applies my Word to their lives) I will liken (or I will compare) him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell NOT: for it was founded (or built) upon a rock.

26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not (or the man who does NOT apply my Words to his life - he) shall be likened (or he will be compared) unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:     And the RESULT of building on the sand is that

27 . . . the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

This parable compares {building a house on a solid foundation} with the man who lived his life paying attention to The Word by APPLYING that word to his life. The analogy (or the parallel) between these two things is that a house that is built upon a solid foundation can endure a storm
without being destroyed in the same way that a life which is patterned after The Word can endure “the storms of life” without being destroyed.

The similarity (or the parallel continues) with how the life of those who hear The Word but will not APPLY that Word to their life will BE LIKE a house that has been built upon the sand – (the comparison between them) is that both (the house and the life) will be a total loss after a storm.

This is how Jesus preaches THE SAME gospel to those who have never heard it – and also to those who have heard it before without laying again the previous foundations of salvation and baptism that as mentioned in Heb 6 . . . On the one hand – when the lost man hears this parable –

he is able to connect the dots and see the comparison of heaven or hell – based upon accepting Jesus as savior . . . and this is a perfectly good interpretation of what we read here as the foolish man is the parallel of the lost man who rejects The Word and suffers loss in “the storm” of God’s judgment.

And the wise man is similar to the saved man who accepts The Word and is “spared” in the day of judgment. But not everyone who Jesus speaks to with a parable is lost . . . there are other applications which are just as valid as the comparison that we just made between being saved and lost and heaven and hell –

When those who are saved read this parable – they can learn something more than simply being reminded how they were saved . . . they can grow in understanding as they are able to see a comparison between an obedient child of God and a disobedient child of God.

The disobedient child of God falls in love with the world and even though he does not lose his soul – his life is counted for loss – because he fails every test that God sends to him for the purpose of making his reliance upon God stronger . . . and then in the life of those who properly fear God we    

can see the obedient child being spared many of the trials that come upon those who are being punished for their disobedience . . . when "the faithful" face “the storms” of life – they are totally dependent upon God – and this is how they are able to “come through” the storm without a damaged life.

So the very same parable – the very same message teaches very different lessons – depending upon the need in the lives of those who hear it taught.

“But this is not all” that we find in this parable . . . there are churches which God sees as being foolish.  A church can be considered foolish because of how they have left their first love like the church of Ephesus did . . . Churches are not immune to the “storms of life” any more so than the individuals within them are . . .

When a church is faced with adversity – with trials – with persecutions . . . the type of ground upon which she stands (how firm her foundation is) will be the difference between moving toward maturity by drawing closer to God OR a lack of spiritual understanding as she moves closer to the world . . .
 
So we have ONE story from God’s Word and we have at least Three completely different applications . . . the lost man who rejects God’s Word is like a foolish builder who puts his entire fortune into a house built upon “the world” which falls apart when tested by a storm . . . and the opposite of

this true for the wise man who put his trust in Jesus.  The man who puts the hope of his eternal life on anything except Jesus – will be disappointed when he walks through the doorway of death and
wakes up in hell . . .

The child of God who is at home in the world – so that he makes no attempt to please the God of his salvation – he will also be disappointed in judgment – when he suffers loss and understands that he is saved – yet so as by fire . . .

And the New Testament Church who puts religion before Christianity is a church that will be disappointed when they stand beside the church of Ephesus and lose the candlestick of church authority because they loved "other things" more than they loved Jesus . . .

So how does this parable apply to us – are we lost and does this parable of the foolish and wise builder convict our heart of heaven and hell . . .

Re 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

As a child of God – does the parable of the foolish builder and the wise builder convict our heart of the obedience that IS NOT present in our heart?

Nu 32:23 But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.

As a church – as the spiritual body of Christ whose responsibility until Jesus returns - is to both teach and to preserve the gospel . . . is our heart convicted as a church because we are guilty of trying to love the world while also trying to love God and His Truth – which means that like the

church at Ephesus – we have left our first love and stand in danger of (not losing our salvation, but) losing our candlestick of church authority?

Rev 2: 5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.




It is my hope that this lesson has at least to some degree fulfilled the intent of Heb 6: 1 ¶ Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
 2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.



Salvation is without a doubt the greatest gift that God has ever given to mankind.  But lest those of us who have been saved forget . . . "The knowledge" of how to serve - "The knowledge" of how to worship - "The knowledge" of how to please the God that saved us is worth any sacrifice in this present life to not only pursue this knowledge - but once it is gained - to never let go of it.


It is a good thing if we are glad we have been saved . . . but it is also a good thing (after salvation) to spend our lives in pursuit of how to please our savior and not to lay again the foundation of repentance from dead works . . .




God bless until the next post.