Our passage: Matthew 13:31-35 (OT Reading: Ezekiel 17:22-24).
GCW Sermon – Preacher: Ian Bayne, 19/01/2019.
The notes below were taken live during the sermon, and have been adapted for the website; they should not be considered an accurate transcript.
Introduction
These two parables about the kingdom are giving the same truth. The kingdom starts small and becomes large.
From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Matthew 4:17 ESV
We are part of the kingdom.
Explanation
The first parable concerns the outward appearance of the kingdom and the second is about the inward working. The first comes about because of the second.
First parable
He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. [32] It is the smallest of all [other] seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
Matthew 13:31-32 ESV
While the mustard seed is not the smallest of all seeds as some translations say, it is a very small seed and the plant then grows up to 2 or 3 meters providing shade and shelter for birds, making it one of the largest plants in a middle eastern garden at the time.
Christianity started small: Jesus had a small group of disciples for three years, then gave them the Holy Spirit, and then the gospel went out to pretty much the whole known world within 400 years, so much so that Rome, despite initially persecuting Christians, was eventually overtaken by the gospel. Now Christianity is the world’s largest faith group.
The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. [20] Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” [21] Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. [22] You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.
John 4:19-22 ESV
The Jews were given the oracles (scripture; the Word of God), but were not supposed to keep it to themselves. Abraham was to be a blessing to all nations, but in practice the nation of Israel was not the shining light that it was intended to be, so this promise wasn’t ultimately fulfilled until after Jesus’s ministry when God sends for Peter via an angel to preach to Cornelius who was a gentile (Acts 10).
A small seed planted in the ground eventually becomes a place of rest.
Second parable
The second parable is of a woman taking a large quantity of flour and putting leaven (yeast) into it. She hides the yeast into it until it was all leavened (risen).
In the NT yeast isn’t normally associated with good things, for example:
Jesus said to them, “Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
Matthew 16:6 ESV
But here leaven is referring to a good teaching.
Application
1. Don’t despise small beginnings
Insignificant starts in God’s hands always produce spectacular results, such as:
- 70 people went down to Egypt under Joseph’s care. 1 million people returned.
- Elijah was one man who prayed and brought a whole nation to its knees.
- Jesus grants us salvation.
And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Philippians 2:8 ESV
At the time of the Cross, Jesus’s disciples left him and Peter denied him – the kingdom was very small indeed. This started the process of billions of people eventually coming into the kingdom.
Even a little faith can achieve great things.
It’s good to grow in our faith. Faith comes from the Word of God. Just a little faith can transform a life because that faith is in Christ so it will work.
One regret older Christians often have is not serving the Lord more when they were younger. Younger Christians should therefore get going and serve the Lord. As Paul tells Timothy: don’t worry about age.
2. Don’t be discouraged by slow progress
Older Christians often also regret that progress in battle with sin can seem slow. It can be frustrating that the more we grow the more we see how we disappoint God. But we shouldn’t be disappointed: good works take time.
Be warned: sometimes quick turnarounds can be shallow-rooted.
Battling sin takes effort: we’re paddling upstream against our human nature. Good change is hard and must be fought for.
For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. [19] For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.
Romans 7:18-19 ESV
Even the apostle Paul struggled with his own sinfulness. We are in good company.
3) Have confidence that God will complete the work he started
God doesn’t do half a job. He will complete it.
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
Philippians 1:6 ESV
We are protected by His power. We need never be without hope. We should turn defeats into opportunity to praise God and seek his mercy and grace.
Remember that God’s gift of salvation and a relationship with Him is by grace. Grace is unmerited favour – we do not deserve it and cannot deserve what God offers us. Therefore we shouldn’t retreat. God loves us in spite of our sinfulness.
His mercy is great – He takes away the punishment we do deserve through Christ dying for our sins. The righteous died for the unrighteous, paying our penalty on the cross. This demonstrates that He has such a large fountain of forgiveness; His goodness will never end.
We can also praise God for His patience while He works through us and helps us deal with our sin. We each deal with certain sins that are personal to us. We know what pleases God and what doesn’t, and yet we still are tempted to sin.
When things don’t go well, we should remember to give Him praise for his mercy, grace and patience.
To use a baking analogy: He provides individual attention to knead great results into us. Our walk with Him is a relationship. Isn’t it amazing that He cares for us so much that He’s prepared to spend time working on each of us individually?
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