Kingdom Parables Mustard Seed And Leaven

1. As Such the Power and Influence of the KOG is Inconceivable!

*Illust – I know some of you are wondering if I am going to quote from Vizzini in “The Princess Bride”. But alas I won’t. “Inconceivable!” In the passage, the Savior says that the mustard seed grows to be a “Tree” – 10-12 feet tall (You may say “That’s not a tree!” I would ask you, “Have you ever been to the Texas Hill Country? Mesquite! In the heat of summer you see the birds in the branches and the cattle taking refuge in the shade! Jesus says here that the birds take refuge. Contrast with beginnings. Where it would take a packet of mustard seed to fill the belly of a sparrow!

2. Look at the leaven in the parable. The amount the woman is baking would feed 100 people! How little leaven she throughs into the dough. (We are not to live separately but mix in the world.) Imagine the power in that leaven! The KOG is Inconceivable in its Ability to Change the World. Friend, you want to be a part of a world changing body? Go to Church! Join the Church! Be the Church!

3. The birds nesting in the branches are not Satan’s messengers as some Postmill. and radical Dispensationals would claim. They are Gentiles participating in the Kingdom of God. It is the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham that through his seed all the nations would be blessed. Hosea 14:7 talks about Israel as a tree with others being blessed by living in its shadows. Is this not what it says in Dan. 4:12? Of course it is.

B. The Message of the KOG is Inconceivable in its Ability to Change a Life.

1.What is the Scope of the KOG?

a. Does the KOG change cultures? Yes! Does it convert nations? Yes! Is there anything inherently evil in Christian nations acting….God forbid…Christian? No! Muslim countries and Buddhist countries and Hindu countries all act the way their religion dictates and NO ONE apologizes for that. The growth of the Church worldwide has been incredible. And in spite of what revisionist historians and cultural Marxist want to say, the Church has been the most powerful source for good history has even known.

b. Although the KOG should affect and influence the macro aspects of society, it only happens because the micro of society has been changed. What do I mean? The message of the KOG is the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The message of the Gospel is a message of salvation, of forgiveness of sin, of removal of guilt, of a judicial decree of righteousness, and of an indwelling of a Supernatural Agent (The Holy Spirit) to change your and my life from the inside out so as to radically change our orientation and our affections so as to no longer please ourselves and to rather, please our Savior!

2. Will You Let it Change Your Life?

a. Illust – Tom Bodel was born in Belfast and grew up during The Troubles. Although was an entrepreneur with a white-collar job, he had a secret, shadowy side to his life. Became involved in the underworld of Protestant Paramilitary violence in the 1970’s. Tom’s hatred and bitterness with Irish Republican violence led him to drink as life spiraled out of control in the early 80’s in the harsh grasp of alcoholism. Affected work, and his marriage and family. One evening after work Tom went into the notorious Crescent Bar in South Belfast to really tie one on in an attempt to anesthetize the effects of his hatred. What took place next was astounding. After a couple of hours drinking, as though by an unseen hand, Tom was compelled to go out into the cold and dark air of a Belfast Tuesday evening. He had walked a few blocks when heard singing coming from inside the walls of the Crescent Church. That evening he heard the words of one of Ulster’s most famous preachers, Derick Bingham preaching to hundreds of university students. His life was changed by an encounter with the living Christ! By the time I went to Ireland in 1989, Tom had begun studies to go into the ministry, and although older, was like me a student. Tom would serve the Church until his death in 2007.