Opening illustration: A young teenager was walking to church in a blinding snowstorm. He was unable to get to his church, so he turned in to a little Methodist chapel. The storm was so severe that the preacher couldn’t make it in that night, so a layman stood up to throw something together for a tiny group gathered. He spoke on just one verse from Isaiah, “look unto me and be saved, all ends of the earth.” And from that one little mustard seed on a most unlikely occasion, faith was planted in the heart of that teen boy for the first time … his name was Charles Haddon Spurgeon, who later shook England for God, won thousands to Christ, and built a 5,000 seat auditorium in his 20s, and yet it was never big enough to accommodate the crowds! A whole lot can come from just a little mustard seed!
Let us turn to Matthew 13 and catch up to read what the Kingdom of Heaven resembles …
Introduction: Today we have mostly apostate churches ... made up of people who have turned away from the fundamentals of the faith. Constant diligence must be given to keep the church true to the Word of God and its teachings. Just as God’s Word predicts, people in these last days turn away their ears from the truth, and are turned to fables. Did you know that whatever you want to believe, there’s a group in town that will accommodate you?
The historical development of the church of God would be one of humble beginnings. However, this parable contains more than this important truth. Hidden within it is a warning about the perversion of the church's method of growth and of satanic attacks upon it. This parable is an analogy, and as with all analogies, the symbolism is not exact but similar. Therefore, the symbolism of the Kingdom of God being likened to a mustard seed is not identical, yet it explains a particular aspect of the process that the church goes through in preparing for God's Kingdom.
What is the process that the church undergoes in preparing for God's Kingdom?
1. Remarkably Small Beginnings (v. 31)
The mustard seed stands for the progress of the church from small beginnings. Because of its minuteness, the mustard seed came to symbolize small beginnings, denoting the smallest weight or measure, a tiny particle. The parable focuses on this idea of smallness. The mustard seed is something small that does its part to expand in preparation for the Kingdom of God. The seed represents an instrument by which spiritual growth can be advanced, just as a plant grows and reproduces itself through a seed.
In this parable, the small seed is the church, which appeared as the first-fruits of the Word. Just as in the Parable of the Sower, the one who sows the mustard seed is the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, and the field is the world. Jesus Himself had an insignificant entrance into the world by human standards, and the church He founded is likewise a "little flock" (Luke 12:31-32), small and designed by God not to become a physically powerful organization that would make a spectacle of itself.
In Matthew 7:13-14, Christ says the way that leads to eternal life is difficult and narrow, and few find it. He reiterates in Matthew 20:16 that few are chosen. In Luke 10:2, when sending the seventy out, He says the laborers are few. Paul argues in I Corinthians 1:26-29 that God calls the weak and the base of the world to put to shame the mighty and the noble. Jesus is referring to those few who, upon their calling by God, voluntarily submit to God's dominion, the Kingdom of God.
You can see the truth of this parable when you think back over what God has done. King Jesus did not first enter the world in a purple robe on a red carpet surrounded by blaring trumpets, but as fetus in the womb of a young girl in a small town, subhuman by some standards today. His public ministry was not heralded with billboards and commercials and fliers, but with a single-sentence sermon in a rural area. His first followers were not proud and plentiful, but a dozen working class men. The Great Commission did not begin with a fleet of ships with Christian flags waving above, but with eleven stupefied men over a breakfast conversation. The church did not begin with an orchestrated launch, but with 120 people, about the size of Dulin’s Grove, in a prayer meeting.
Kingdom seeds are not big. Kingdom seeds are not small. Kingdom seeds are remarkably small, especially in contrast with how big a result they produce.
Illustration: An idea which may well change civilization begins with one man. In the British Empire it was William Wilberforce who was responsible for the freeing of the slaves. The idea of that liberation came to him when he read an exposure of the slave trade by Thomas Clarkson. He was a close friend of Pitt, the great Prime Minister. One day he was sitting with Pitt and George Grenville in Pitt’s garden at Holwood. It was a scene of beauty with the Vale Keston opening out before them, but the thoughts of Wilberforce were not on the beauty but on the blots of the world. Suddenly Pitt turned to him: “Wilberforce,” he said, “why don’t you give a notice of a motion on the slave-trade?” The idea was sown in the mind of the one man, and the idea changed life for hundreds of thousands of people. An idea must find a man in order that the idea may possess the man; but when an idea finds such a man an unstoppable tide begins to flow. (With thanks to William Barclay for this illustration)
2. Its tremendous growth can belie its humble beginnings (v. 32a)
It often seems like the tiny seeds we are planting are not growing fast enough and we can be tempted to prop up a fake tree—something to look like we are building the kingdom. This is unnecessary because when kingdom seeds take root, they will grow into massive kingdom trees.
For example, our weekly attendance has been waning for a while, which might prompt some to look for an artificial way to boost activity. But rather than looking for branches to stick in the ground, we must patiently seek the kingdom by prayer, responding to God’s word, encouraging one another, serving one another, doing the work of evangelists, remaining faithful, fellowshipping together—and trust God to provide the growth.
God has designed the church to grow to its full design. Just like the mustard seed is designed to reach its full size, so is the church. Every seed has a hidden code inside. We need to wait to seed its full development. The same is true for the church, except here Jesus gives us special insight into God’s amazing plan for the church.
God has great plans for millions to be part of the kingdom of God. Just as the mystery of life causes the growth from a seed to a plant, so the purpose and power of God assures the growth of the church to the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:14-16).
The power of God that makes the growth sure is God. There will not be a question as to if the fantastic growth of the church will take place, but when. The parable speaks of the growth of the whole church of God from the beginning. The plant has grown and now seeds off the plant are taken and planted all over the world. This is a beautiful picture of what missions is all about. Wherever the seed of the Gospel is planted, God assures that growth will take place.
Illustration: In the 4th Century there was a Christian called Telemachus who decided that the only way to protect himself from the corruption of the world and to serve God was to become a hermit and live in the desert. One day as he rose from his knees, it dawned on him that if he wanted to serve God, he must serve people. By staying in the desert he was not serving God, and the cities were full of people who needed help. So he set out for Rome - the greatest city in the world.
By this time the terrible persecutions of the first 3 centuries were over. Christianity was the official religion of the Roman Empire. The Emperor was a Christian, and so were most of the people. At least, in name they were Christians, if not in fact. As strange as it sounds, calling yourself a Christian in 4th century Rome was the politically correct thing to do, if you wanted to be in favor with the Emperor!
Anyway, Telemachus arrived in Rome at a time when Stilicho, the Roman general, had gained a mighty victory over the Goths. So to Stilicho there was granted a Roman "triumph" with processions and celebrations and games in the Coliseum, with the young Emperor Honorius by his side.
Remember, Rome was supposedly a Christian city, but one thing still lingered from its terrible past. There were still the bloody games in the Coliseum. Nowadays Christians were no longer thrown to the lions; but still those captured in war had to fight and kill each other in front of the Roman citizens who roared with blood-lust as the gladiators fought.
Telemachus went to the Coliseum. 80,000 people were there. The chariot races were ending. There was tension in the crowd as the gladiators prepared to fight. Into the arena they came with their greeting, "Hail, Caesar! We who are about to die salute you!" The fight was on and Telemachus was appalled. Men for whom Christ had died were killing each other to amuse a supposedly Christian population. He leaped down into the arena and stepped between the gladiators, and for a moment they stopped fighting.
"Let the games go on," roared the crowd. The gladiators pushed the old man in the hermit’s robe aside. Again he came between them. The crowd began to hurl stones at him. They urged the gladiators to kill him and get him out of the way, and the commander of the games gave an order. A gladiator’s sword fell, and Telemachus lay dead. Suddenly the crowd was silent--shocked that a holy man should have been killed in such a way. Quite suddenly, there was a mass realization of what the killing really was.
Historians tell us that the games in Rome ended abruptly that day--never to begin again. Telemachus, by dying, had ended them. It takes just one man to begin something great and to end something atrocious. (With thanks to William Barclay for this illustration)
3. Fear of Outgrowing its intended Size (v. 32b)
Did Jesus have this in mind with his parable? That the kingdom of heaven not only starts small and grows and spreads, but also, if done right, attracts those who would otherwise be unwanted?
The largest of mustard plants, even under ideal conditions, can grow only to a height of about 15 feet. Luke 13:19 describes it as "a large tree," yet the natural mustard plant is not "a large tree" by any stretch of the imagination. All varieties of the mustard family, which are herbs, have thin, pulpy—not woody—stems and branches. It is nothing like a tree. When we give it artificial food (fertilizer) it grows beyond the intended size of the plant.
This mustard plant did something abnormal by growing beyond its design parameters; it became larger than what God designed as normal. What is this large mustard tree in which, apparently, birds (demons) are welcome? As the church grew from a tiny seed into a small mustard bush, it was as God designed it, but over time, it mutated into a large tree, something never intended by God. Who wants birds perching and nestling on this tree? They would come and practically destroy the plants by eating its flowers, fruit and mutilate the plant. That is why there are scarecrows placed all over the field where mustard grows. The farmer doesn’t want pests coming and destroying the harvest.
(Note: Birds are naturally attracted to the taste of the mustard seed. Matthew identifies the birds of the air as "the wicked one" (Matthew 13:4, 19). Mark connects them with "Satan" (Mark 4:4, 15), and Luke links them to "the devil" (Luke 8:5, 12). In Genesis 15:11, fowls swoop down on Abraham's sacrifices, and he has to drive them away. In the parable, Jesus predicts the birds of the air would lodge in the branches. These "birds," demons led by "the prince of the power of the air" (Ephesians 2:2), have continually tried to infiltrate the church. Upon the unsuspecting early church, Satan moved quickly to implant his agents in it to teach false doctrine while appearing to be true Christians. Just as God permitted Satan to tempt Job intensely (Job 1:12; 2:6) and to sift Peter as wheat (Luke 22:31), He has allowed antichrists to lodge within His church (I Corinthians 11:18-19).
This plant ceased to be God's church when it perverted its doctrines and objectives, moving beyond God's intended limits. It became a counterfeit of the true church. What became of the true church? When the mustard plant mutated from its original form, God replanted His true church in another corner of the field, beginning the process anew. It is a consistent characteristic of God's true church to remain as a small herb, spiritually feeding the few who are chosen to become regenerated children of the Kingdom of God.
Application:
1. The potential for the kingdom's amazing growth rests in the Person who reigns as its King …
• Those who will abide in Christ can be used by Him to produce the remarkable growth in the kingdom illustrated by this parable.
• As Paul wrote to the Philippians: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" - Phi 4:13.
2. Brethren, allow "The Parable Of The Mustard Seed" to serve as ...
• An encouragement - The kingdom of heaven is destined for great things, though its beginning was small.
• A reminder - That if we are going to be useful to the Master in this ever growing kingdom, we must "abide in Him" so we can "bear much fruit."
• It takes just one man to begin something great and to end something atrocious.
