A Messiah Who Makes a Difference
Text: Matt. 13:31-33
Introduction
1. Illustration: Charles Spurgeon, known as "The Prince of Preachers," said, "The faith which saves is not one single act done and ended on a certain day: it is an act continued and persevered in throughout the entire life of man."
2. It is the most incredible event in a person's life when the give their hearts to Christ, but is that where the story ends? No, that is where the story begins!
3. As we live out a life of faith we need to answer two questions:
a. Is it making a difference in you?
b. Is it making a difference in others?
4. Read Matt. 13:31-33
Proposition: The incredible power of the Gospel ought to make a radical difference in your life and the lives of those around you.
Transition: The first question we need to answer is...
I. Is It Making a Difference in You (31-32)?
A. Becomes the Largest
1. Most of us have probably heard the phrase, "Big things come in small packages." Well Jesus powerfully illustrates the truth of this phrase with His parable of the mustard seed.
2. He says, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field."
a. Our family loves mustard. If you come to our home and look in our refrigerator you will find an entire shelf dedicated to mustard...the Biblical condiment!
b. Mustard has long been a widely-used herb throughout much of the world, and in modern times it has found additional commercial value in the manufacture of film.
c. Amazingly, years ago it was discovered that cows whose feed was supplemented with mustard seed developed bones that had a superior quality for use in making the silver compounds used in photographic film (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew 8-15).
d. But it is not the seed itself, but rather its size that is important to this parable.
e. The mustard seed that Jesus was referring to was about the size of the head of a pin, and was one of the smallest seeds known in Jesus' day (Horton, 277).
3. Jesus emphasizes this point when he says, "It is the smallest of all seeds...”
a. Scholars still dispute what plant is meant by the “mustard seed.”
b. Nevertheless, by no way is it the smallest of all seeds that Jesus’ listeners could have known (the orchid seed is smaller); the point is that it was recognized as very small and yet yielded a large shrub.
c. Around the Sea of Galilee, it can reach a height of ten feet and has sometimes reached fifteen feet (Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary – New Testament).
d. When sperma (seed) is used in the New Testament in reference to plants, it is always used of agricultural plants, those intentionally grown for food.
e. And of those plants, the mustard had seeds that were smaller than all other seeds.
f. Because of its tiny size, the mustard seed was commonly used in the ancient Near East to represent things that were extremely small (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew 8-15).
g. Another thing that is interesting here is that the word seed is singular. it's not "seeds," but "seed."
h. This shows the incredible potential that one singular mustard seed has in what it produces.
4. Jesus goes on to say, "but it becomes the largest of garden plants; it grows into a tree, and birds come and make nests in its branches.”
a. The proverbial smallness of the mustard seed as a metaphor that describes the kingdom of God would have shocked the crowd.
b. Israel always believed that when God’s kingdom was established on the earth, it would be great; they were not prepared for an insignificant beginning.
c. But through this parable Jesus declares that the kingdom is already present, although only as a tiny representation.
d. Such a beginning may cause some among Jesus’ opponents and the crowd to despise this manifestation of the kingdom.
e. But the crowd should not let that contradict the kingdom’s ultimate greatness.
f. "What may not look like much to the world will in fact fulfill all God’s promises (Wilkins, NIV Application Commentary, New Testament: Matthew, 483).
5. What they do not understand is the power of God!
a. In the Bible as well as in ancient Eastern thought, growth is not considered merely from a biological process alone, but requires God's miraculous power.
b. God alone is able to take something that is dead and make it live. From beginning to end God is the driving force of all life (Horton, 277).
c. When we truly give God control of our lives great things are going to happen.
d. Just as the mustard seed starts out as only the size of the head of a pin, it becomes huge in comparison.
e. So it is when the Lord is allowed to work in a persons life. What starts out small explodes into a powerful, radical transformation in that person’s life.
B. Radical Transformation
1. Illustration: I would like to refer again to the words of Charles Spurgeon who said, " If you truly believe in Jesus, it is for life. Saving faith is a life-long act."
2. When it comes to living out a life of faith, it is okay to start small.
a. Zechariah 4:10 (NLT)
Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin...
b. Being born again is just that; we are born again spiritually.
c. Just like a baby we have to learn to walk, talk, and behave in a manner that is age appropriate.
d. Nobody expects a child to act like an adult.
e. Nobody should expect a new Christian to be instantaneously mature.
3. However, when it comes to living out a life of faith, we eventually have to grow up.
a. Hebrews 5:12-13 (NLT)
12 You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food.
13 For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right.
b. A seed that is not growing is one of two things: sick or dead!
c. You cannot stay in one place.
d. You cannot settle for good enough.
e. You cannot struggle with the same old things.
f. You have got to move on!
4. When it comes to living out a life of faith, we need to be moving towards radical transformation.
a. Romans 12:2 (NLT)
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
b. What the Bible says here is very clear: we must be radically changed in our very nature, essence, personality, and inner being.
c. We cannot stay the same.
d. We cannot stay where we are.
e. We've got move towards becoming mature in our faith.
f. This comes by prayer, reading the Word, being faithful to attend church, and making our spiritual lives our number one priority.
Transition: The next question we need to ask is...
II. Is It Making a Difference In Others (33)?
A. Permeated Every Part
1. The next parable that Jesus tells has to do with the effect our faith has on other people.
2. Jesus begins this parable with “The Kingdom of Heaven is like the yeast a woman used in making bread."
a. As always, Jesus constructed the parable out of the common experiences of His hearers.
b. Roman cities had bakeries, but the image here is that of a rural Galilean woman.
c. In every household the woman responsible for baking would save a piece of leavened dough from a risen batch just before it was baked (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew 8-15).
d. Yeast is any number of different forms of fungi that multiply rapidly because of fermentation.
e. Bread required a bakers’ yeast to cause it to rise (or "leaven").
f. Thus, a small piece of fermenting, acidic dough, set aside from an earlier baking, was "mixed" or "hidden" in the flour and kneaded.
g. Scripture uses leaven almost exclusively as a negative metaphor, probably because fermentation implied disintegration and corruption.
h. But Jesus uses yeast to symbolize the positive, hidden permeation of the kingdom of heaven in this world (Wilkins, 483).
3. Jesus said, "Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough.”
a. Jewish writers used yeast in a variety of symbolic ways, but Jesus stresses here the factor all had in common: its ultimately pervasive character.
b. One leavens unleavened meal until the finished product is thoroughly leavened.
c. The amount of flour involved here represents roughly fifty pounds, providing enough bread for over one hundred people.
d. A housewife would not normally fix so much meal and could not knead more than this.
e. The unnatural magnitude of the illustration probably suggests that the kingdom far exceeds daily examples to which it may be compared.
4. So what is the point that Jesus is trying to make here?
a. It is simply this, even though we may be small in number, with God's power we can, and should, make a big difference in our community.
b. The yeast is unlike the mustard seed in that it's own growth that is remarkable, but the effect it has on the new dough.
c. In other words, the Kingdom of heaven has a dramatic effect on human society.
d. The point it that a little yeast has a big impact.
e. This is emphasized by the amount of flour used; it basically amounts to sixty pounds of flour, which could make enough bread to feed an entire village (France, 528)!
B. Influence
1. Illustration: A.B. Simpson says in his book "A Larger than Christian life" and I quote: “It is all connected with a living person. We are not filled with an influence; we are not filled with a sensation; we are not filled with a set of ideas and truths; we are not filled with a blessing, but we are filled with a person. This is very strange and striking. It is wholly different from all other teaching. Human systems of philosophy and religion all deal mainly with intellectual truths, moral conditions or external acts. Greek philosophy was a system of ideas; Confucianism is a system of morals; Judaism is a system of laws and ceremonies; Christianity all centers in a living person, and its very essence is the indwelling life of Christ himself.”
2. When we live out a life of faith we will effect those around us.
a. 2 Corinthians 5:20 (NLT)
So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”
b. Jesus has chosen to use us to bring His message to the world.
c. Jesus has called us to be His representatives to the world.
d. Jesus commissioned us to influence this world.
3. When we live out a life of faith God's power in us effects those around us.
a. Acts 1:8 (NLT)
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
b. The reason He empowers us with the Holy Spirit is to make a difference.
c. The reason He empowers us with the Holy Spirit is so that others will see Him in us.
d. The reason that He empowers us with the Holy Spirit is so that we can have a radical impact on our community.
e. It doesn't say we should be His witnesses.
f. It doesn't say we ought to be His witnesses.
g. It says "you will be my witnesses!"
4. When we live out a life of faith we illuminate the darkness.
a. Philippians 2:14-15 (NLT)
14 Do everything without complaining and arguing,
15 so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.
b. We live in a world filled with darkness.
c. We live in a world where people are grouping around in darkness.
d. We need to be the light that Jesus has called us to be.
e. We need to shine the light of Jesus so that people can see.
f. We need to shine the light of Jesus so that people will know there is hope.
Transition: There is a song that says, "I've got to shine this light like I'm the only thing burning on a silent night. I've got shine this light.
Conclusion
1. Are you saved? So what?
a. Is it making a difference in your life?
b. Is it making a difference in the lives of others?
2. If the answer to that question is no, what are you going to do about it?
