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Chapter Eight
The Growth of the Kingdom on Earth
In the Kingdom Parables Mathew 13, we are given a detailed
description of the growth of the Kingdom of God on the earth. There
are seven parables which Jesus proclaimed as those which contain the
process.
Mat
13:11
And he answered them, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of
the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.”
1. The Parable of the sower
The first parable describes the dispersion of the mission and the
proclamation of the gospel to all parts of the earth. The principal
sowers of the seed were indeed the apostles who were with Jesus along
with the elect apostle Paul. They went to all the world and
proclaimed the gospel. Here is the list
1. Peter:
Jerusalem, died in
Rome.
2. Andrew:
modern day
Greece,
Balkans,
Russia
and possibly parts of
Poland
3. James, son of Zebedee:
Samaria
and Judea and traveled as far as the shores of Spain.
4. John:
Asia Minor,
Greece and continued his brother's work in Samaria
5. Philip:
Asian Minor and Upper Asian regions
6. Bartholomew:
regions of
Mesopotamia,
the
Black sea
area,
Egypt and Northern India.
7. Matthew:
Parthia (northern
Iran)
and Ethopia
8. Thomas:
preached in
Parthia and came to
India
in AD 52. He preached throughout India
9. James, son of Alphaeus:
first Christian bishop of
Jerusalem
10. Simon the Zealot: throughout Africa especially
Mauritania,
Persia, Samaria and then further into
Europe
as far as
Britain.
11. Judas (not Iscariot):
modern day
Iran
and Syria along with Apostle Simon
12. Matthias:
replaced Judas Iscariot subsequent to his suicide: preached close to
30 years in Ethiopia, Egypt, Cappadocia (Turkey) and Judea
13. Paul: the Architect and the Builder of the Church: Greek and
Roman Empire.
2.The
Parable of the Tares (The rise of heresy)
Soon
after the sowing of the gospel of the Kingdom, heresies began to
appear as a result of syncretism with philosophies and religions of
each country. Gnostics of Syria were the main cause of these heretic
movements which tried to remove Jesus as Incarnate God and Redeemer.
In India this appeared as Hinduism.
3.
The Parable of the Mustard Seed that became a tree. (Institutional
Churches)
 
The churches in all the places grew up into institutions of large
sizes where selfish people began to take control of them. However
within these Institutional Churches, the faithful remained loyal under
the shade of the Church. Even though Church is the body of believers,
this institutionalization led to an understanding that Church is the
institution and its rituals and symbolisms. This confusion remains
even today as more are more institutional churches are being formed.
4. The Parable of the Leaven
The rise of various leavens within the gospel is being introduced.
5. The Parable of the Treasure Hidden in the Field
In spite of the wrong doctrines and emphasis on rituals and practices,
the believers find the hidden treasure.
6. The Parable of the pearl of great price.
Those who find the incarnate Jesus, the Son of God who believes in
heart that Jesus is Lord and confess Jesus with their mouth are saved.
7. The Parable of the Dragnet (Filtering process - Rapture)
The last parable of the Kingdom ends abruptly with impeding separation
of the believing and the unbelieving as the step into the Kingdom.
Those who are transformed are joined together into the body of Christ
and are united with him.
The parables do not give any further insight into the ultimate process
of redemption. This is only because the gospel is for now and here.
This is the day of Grace. You are required to decide now. You don’t
need to know the whole plan of God.
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