The Kingdom of Heaven has multiple meanings. Although we usually think of heaven as being a place we go to after this life, these parables seem to indicate that the Kingdom of Heaven has an earthly form. It can mean the Lord's church. It can also mean the Kingdom of heaven that exists inside the heart of each individual believer. As Luke 17:21 tells us, ''the kingdom of God is within you.''

In this lesson, we'll discuss the different aspects of the Kingdom of Heaven and how it relates to the church and how it relates to individuals.

How it is accepted

The first parable is of the sower who indiscriminately spreads the gospel message (the seeds) by the wayside, on stony places, on thorny ground, and on good ground. At different times, we are the sowers and we are the ground. We learn something from the generosity of the sower. He doesn't decide which ground is best or worst. He just throws the seed everywhere and leaves it up to the ground to decide whether it will bear fruit. We too, should not prejudge other people's ability or willingness to accept the word of God. The four types of ground represent the different types of people and their acceptance or rejection of the word of God.

Those by the wayside reject the gospel immediately. The enemy steals the seed. They reject the word of God and the gospel message without ever taking the time to understand it.

The stony ground represents those who gladly receive the gospel message, but have no root in themselves and thus never let it transform their lives. An example of this is the husband of a friend of mine. He was a physical abusive, alcoholic who periodically ''got saved'' to get her to come back to him when she'd had all she could take. Maybe he was humbled and genuinely interested in following Christ and treating his wife better, but he had no root in himself. The gospel message never took root in his shallow, rocky ground. And soon he was back to his old ways.

The thorny ground represents those who gladly receive the gospel message, but who let the cares of the world choke out their testimony. They worry more about what others think of them than what the Savior thinks of them. So they succumb to temptation and fall away.

The good ground represents those who embrace the word of God and bear fruit in abundance. Our fruitfulness can be measured by our willingness to follow the Savior's commandments and our willingness to share His gospel message. Are we willing to take up the role of the sower and spread more seeds through our righteous example and by letting our influence be felt by those around us? Are we letting our light so shine that others may see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven?

The enemy

The enemy comes into play several times throughout the Parable of the Sower and the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares. The enemy steals the seed from those by the way side. He cons the people on thorny ground into forfeiting their precious testimony for worldly cares. In the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares, he plants weeds (tares) among the good and faithful wheat. Have you ever heard an unbeliever rationalize, ''I don't want to be a Christian. They're all hypocrites. Look at how many bad things have been done in the name of Christianity. If that's what Christianity is, I want no part of it.'' The enemy deceives these people into confusing the tares for the wheat and to use this as an excuse to cheat their own souls.

How it grows

The parables of the mustard seed and the leavened bread both symbolize the growth of the kingdom of God. These two parables in particular have both individual and church-wide applications. The Lord's church starts small as a mustard seed or like a bit of leaven that a woman hid in three measures of meal. Yet, it will grow to be one of the greatest of all herbs which is like a tree or a beautiful loaf of bread that rises to many times it's original size. Individually speaking, our testimonies can be as the tiny mustard seed that grows until the birds lodge under its branches. Both the church and our testimonies can act as protection and a haven of peace for others. Both the church and we can rise like leaven to give life, enlighten, lift and grow.

The Sifting Process

In both the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares and the Parable of the Net, we see a day of reckoning – a day of purging. The wheat and the tares are allowed to grow alongside one another. The gospel net brings in the faithful and the unfaithful. But eventually a day of reckoning comes when the wheat is gathered into the barn and the tares are bundled and burned. The good fish are kept while the bad are discarded. Our willingness to bear good fruit and to grow seems to be a deciding factor in what gets kept and what gets discarded.

Its Worth

The worth of the Kingdom of Heaven is compared to a treasure hid in a field when a man found, went and sold all he had to purchase the field. Or it is like a man searching for precious pearls whom when he found one pearl of great price went and sold all that he had and bought it. Many of us are treasure hunters. We go throughout our lives seeking truth – seeking answers to our questions about life, about God, about why we're here. And when we find the source for the answers to those questions, if we're smart, we'll pay any price for it. The man in the parable of the Pearl of Great Price sold all he had for the one pearl of great price. The gospel message is that precious pearl that is worth any sacrifice and any price.

Let us be as the good ground that bore fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let us be as the good fish that are not cast back into the sea. Let us be the sower who does not prejudge individuals as to the type of ground they are and sows our seeds generously to all. Let us let our testimonies grow as the mustard seed and the leaven to give life, inspiration and shelter to those around us. The Kingdom of Heaven is built one individual at a time.