If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with met to Matthew chapter 13 beginning in the 44th verse.  As we have studied Matthew 13 in these kingdom parables, we have noted that there are seven parables of the Lord Jesus in this passage, and that all of them contain descriptions of the way the Lord Jesus' kingdom is.  And the reason each of these parables describe different aspects of the kingdom is because the disciples had certain expectations about the kingdom that were different from the reality of the kingdom.  And so by the parables, the Lord Jesus is explaining to His followers what it is to be in the kingdom, what the kingdom is like, and specific aspects of the nature of the kingdom.  So far we've looked at four of the parables.  The very first parable in…