Who are the visionaries who can look long into the future? Who can pursue kingdom goals without getting worldly ambitions collide with them?

1. THE
VISIONARIES

2. GRACIOUS JESUS
HIDDEN WISDOM (MATT 13:1-43)
56. The parable of the sower
57. The visionaries
58. Good and Evil co-exist
59. Growth of God’s
Kingdom
60. The parable of the leaven

3. Matt 13:10 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do
You speak to them in parables?” 11 Jesus answered them,
“To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the
kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. 12
For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will
have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what
he has shall be taken away from him. 13 Therefore I speak to
them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and
while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 In
their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which
says,
THE VISIONARIES

4. WHY PARABLES?
Matt 13:14b You will keep on hearing, but will not understand;
You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive;
15 For the heart of this people has become dull,
With their ears they scarcely hear,
And they have closed their eyes,
Otherwise they would see with their eyes,
Hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart and return,
And I would heal them.’
16 But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears,
because they hear. 17 For 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.

5. WHY PARABLES?
PRESENTATION
OVERVIEW
Ref. Matt 13:10-17, 34-35; Mark 4:10-
12;21-25, 33-34; Luke 8:9-10; 16-18;
10:23-24
Introduction
Those who do not have
Those who have
Those who desire to have but could
not have
Christ’s strategy
Christ’s focus
Christ’s investment
Core Truths
Discussion

6. OBJECTIVES
To understand:
What Jesus meant by spiritual
blindness and deafness
What it takes to get rid of it and
get spiritual vision

7. INTRODUCTION
Parable
• a riddle few can solve
• a mystery few can
unravel
• a maze few can pass
through
Why, riddles, mysteries,
mazes – why not clear
and straight path?

8. INTRODUCTION
Centuries before, Isaiah was anointed
to give this message to the hardened
people of Israel.
Isaiah 6:9,10a ‘You will be ever hearing,
but never understanding; / you will be
ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
/ 10 This people’s heart has become
calloused; / they hardly hear with their
ears, / and they have closed their eyes
God goes on to tell him that there
shoud be no stopping of preaching to
the people…“Until the cities lie
ruined” with only the stump of the
“holy seed” left. (Isaiah 6:11-13)

9. INTRODUCTION
Though they were heading straight
to destruction:
• Isaiah was never to stop warning
them
• Jesus did the same
• God is doing the same with us
today.
• He provides adequate multiple
opportunities to repent
• It takes multiple acts of
intentional disobedience to
become callous towards the most
amazing blessings possible.

10. INTRODUCTION
Not all have the privilege of
knowing the secrets of the kingdom
of heaven
Categories
• Those who have
• Those who have not
• Those who desired to have but
could not

11. THOSE WHO HAVE
who are seeking,
have a desire,
hunger, asking,
knocking, thirsting,
mourning, reaching
will get more that
what they are looking
for – far more..

12. THOSE WHO HAVE
CHRIST’S DISCIPLES
Matt 13:11 Jesus answered
them, “To you it has been
granted to know the
mysteries of the
kingdom of heaven, but
to them it has not been granted.
12 For whoever has, to
him more shall be
given, and he will have an
abundance; but whoever does
not have, even what he has shall
be taken away from him

13. THOSE WHO DO NOT
HAVE
Those who are not seeking, have
not desire, no hunger, no
questions, complacent, content
with the world, seeking things of
the world
They are following Jesus with other
motives, not to learn.
To them, Jesus is not going to
bother to even teach the great
truths of the kingdom.
Most dangerously, they think they
have

14. THOSE WHO DO NOT
HAVE
Matt 13:13 Therefore I
speak to them in
parables; because while
seeing they do not see,
and while hearing they
do not hear, nor do they
understand. 14 In their
case the prophecy of
Isaiah is being fulfilled,
which says,

15. THOSE WHO DO NOT
HAVE
Matthew 13:14b “You will indeed
hear but never understand,
and you will indeed see but never
perceive.”
15 For this people's heart has
grown dull,
and with their ears they can
barely hear,
and their eyes they have closed,
lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart
and turn, and I would heal them.’

16. THOSE WHO DESIRED
BUT COULD NOT HAVE
Matt 13:17 For 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.
They talked to God, experienced
miracles, saw him in various
forms yet, no one saw the full
manifestation of God in human
form living, breathing, an
everyday companion.

17. THOSE WHO DESIRED
BUT COULD NOT HAVE
Not applicable in the New
Testament era.
We are so privileged to be in it.
So are in the reach of
• Those who have
• Or those who do not have
(particularly those who think they
have)

18. CHRIST’S STRATEGY
Given the situation he is in, what option does Jesus pursue:
Become a part – influence the influencers?
Ignore them and focus on disciples?
Teach and Warn them?
Demonstrate his upper hand?
Create new religious organization?

19. CHRIST’S STRATEGY
His primary response is to:
Become a part – influence the influencers
Ignore them and focus on disciples
Teach and Warn them
Demonstrate his upper hand
Create new religious organization

20. CHRIST’S STRATEGY
Jesus has the unique capacity of
engaging multiple audiences at
their level simultaneously. For
example:
• Stories to the crowds
• Old testament references to
the more learned
• Detailed explanations to the
disciples - separately

21. CHRIST’S STRATEGY
While he perseveres to give them a
chance to repent, he doesn’t:
• Waste words
• Hang on to doors that are
shutting in his face
• Completely withdraw from the
hardened people

22. CHRIST’S FOCUS
Is on the truly blessed – his
disciples, the small yet immensely
powerful group that HAVE:
• Eyes that see beyond the world
– Christ Himself
• Ears that hear Christ(God)’s
voice
• Hearts that perceive as Christ
perceives
• Lives that are willing to repent
and be healed

23. THE JACKPOT
Are you waiting for a
multimillionaire to pick
you up and say, he is
ready to put his millions
on you. That you are
rare talent.
Your wait is over
You can have much
more

24. HOW TO KNOW WE
ARE PRODUCTIVE
Our best investments are for Him
• Time
• Talents
• Money
We are always hungry for more
• More souls
• More word
• More fellowship
• More sacrificial service..

25. HOW TO KNOW WE ARE
PRODUCTIVE (CONT’D)
Are we passionate about making
disciples?
Not only being the good soil that
produces returns but searching for
good soil that produces returns?
Even when it costs?
Just as He is?

26. HOW TO KNOW WE ARE
PRODUCTIVE (CONT’D)?
The catch here is we will never know how blind we
are and how much potential blessing we are
missing
Because we are sinners and part of us is already
hardened
We can only tackle the un-surrendered parts of our
lives by His power and with His grace

27. HOW TO FOCUS OUR
HEART?
• By listening with our spiritual ears
(His word)
• By seeing with our spiritual eyes
(His will)
• By understanding with our spiritual
heart (His plans)
That is receiving
• And getting rid of any distraction in
our life
• prioritizing our lives around His
priorities
• Recharging our spiritual batteries
continuously
That is focus

28. THE CORE TRUTHS
1. Everyone gets opportunities, few are
partners with Christ
2. Christ invests into those who are
invested in Him
3. If our heart is in the world, it will
choke or dry out our initiatives for
Christ
4. The more Christ invests into us, the
more we invest into others

29. REFLECTION
• What is our strategy with those
who have not?
• What is our focus with those
who have or have the potential
to have?
• Where is our investment?

30. REMEMBER OUR
BLESSING
Matt 13:16 But blessed are
your eyes, because they
see; and your ears,
because they hear. 17 For
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.

31. DISCUSSION
1. Who specifically fall into the “have nots” in our circle.
How do we give them warnings as Christ did?
2. List our focus people/ groups for discipleship. What are
tangible results in these people/groups
3. In what ways have we invested into Christ? What are
some returns we are enjoying?
4. Investing long term can sometimes be discouraging?
What encouragement have we received in these
endeavors?