Then again to the Word of God
in the 13th chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew. Matthew
chapter 13 and reading verses 31 and 32. Another parable put
forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to
a grain of mustard seed which a man took, and sowed in his
field which indeed is the least of all seeds but when it is grown
it is the greatest among herbs and become as a tree so that
the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. In Matthew chapter 13 and verses
31 and 32 another parable The chapter of course is full
of parables, many parables are recorded here in Matthew 13. We read in verse 3, He spake
many things unto them in parables. And then again, verse 34, All
these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables. and without a parable spake he
not unto them that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by
the prophet saying I will open my mouth in parables I will utter
things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world
and interestingly there in verse 35 we see something of the truth to
this form of teaching, this parabolic form of teaching. He spoke in
parables, we are told, that it might be fulfilled, which was
spoken by the Prophet. Which Prophet? Well, the reference
is in fact to the words that we just sang in the metrical version
of the song. verse 35 is referring us to those
words at the beginning of psalm 78 and remember what the psalmist
declares right at the beginning of that long psalm, it's a very
long psalm, running through psalm 72 verses the masculine of Asaph,
he says in verse 2, I will open my mouth in a parable I will
utter dark sayings of all things which we have heard and known
and our fathers have told us. In the second verse we have that
parallelism which is a peculiarity of the Hebrew poetry where we
have statements repeated as it were, parallel statements and
so to open the mouth in a parable is equivalent to uttering a dark
saying. Parables are dark sayings. That's the beginning of Psalm
78. What is the content of that psalm? It recounts to us something
of the history of God's ancient covenant people, the children
of Israel. We have some detail concerning
those things that had taken place throughout their history and
God's dealings with them. Verse 12, marvellous things did
he in the sight of their fathers in the land of Egypt, in the
field of Zoan. He divided the sea and caused
them to pass through, and he made the waters to stand as an
heap. In the daytime also he led them
with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire is recounting
their history, their deliverance out of Egypt and their leadings
in the wilderness and then he brings them of course to the
promised land. In verse 54, He brought them
to the border of His sanctuary, even to this mountain which His
right hand had purchased. He cast out the heathen also
before them, and divided them and inheritance by line, and
made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents. Psalm 78 is a Psalm that speaks
of the history of the children of Israel. and we are told it
is a parable it is a dark saying of old why don't we understand
well underneath that history that is recounted there are certain
spiritual truths that we should discern underlying that which
is real history these events actually occur but there is some
spiritual significance in them All these things happened unto
them for example. And they are written for our
learning, upon whom the ends of the world are come. The ends
of the world, that's the gospel day, the gospel dispensation,
and all those things that we read concerning Israel in the
Old Testament, they have some spiritual significance to the
church in this gospel day. Again we can think of the words
of the 107th psalm which is the great psalm dealing with God's
providences and we come to the end of psalm 107 and we are told
that he is wise and will observe these things even they shall
understand the loving kindness of the Lord, God's providences. And it is by his sovereign providence
that he governs all history. God's providence teaches us something
of God's loving kindness. And so too with the parables,
these are stories that the Lord Jesus is telling and the people
might understand the simple story but there is some spiritual significance
underneath the words that the Lord Jesus is speaking to the
people. In verse 10 the disciples came
and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He
answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you
to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them
it is not given. Underneath the story that Christ
is telling in the parables there is some mystery to be discerned,
some spiritual truth. and the Lord is using the parable
in order that that spiritual truth might be concealed from
some whilst at the same time it is being revealed to others. That is the solemn truth that
we have here, is it not? Verse 13, therefore I speak to
them in parables, he says, because they seeing, see not, And hearing
they hear, neither do they understand. They see, they hear, they know
what Christ is speaking of, they are simple stories, but they
have no proper understanding. And in them is fulfilled the
prophecy of Esaias which said, By hearing ye shall hear, and
shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive. For these people's heart is waxed
gross. and their ears are dull of hearing and their eyes they
have closed that at any time they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears and should understand with their
heart and should be converted and I should heal them. Here
is the purpose then, there is a concealing of the truth from
some even whilst there is a revealing of the truth to others. This
then is the context in which we are to understand the words
that I read for our text, this parable of the mustard seed,
in verses 31 and 32, another parable, putting forth unto them
saying, the kingdom of heaven is like, see the comparison that
Christ is making, he is teaching something concerning his kingdom,
the kingdom of heaven, a heavenly kingdom, a spiritual kingdom,
The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which
a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of
all seeds, but when it is grown it is the greatest among herbs,
and become us a tree, so that the birds of the air come and
lodge in the branches thereof. What is the truth that lies at
the root of this parable? Well, it concerns God's kingdom.
And it clearly concerns the growth of that kingdom, the growth of
the kingdom of God. And so that's what I want us
to consider as we turn to the parable for a little while tonight.
First of all, to consider the inception of this kingdom of
God, the beginnings of this kingdom of God. And we see how the beginning
is small, the beginning is small, clearly so. The Kingdom of Heaven
is like to a grain of mustard seed. Not a mustard seed, says
Christ, but just a grain, a small part of a mustard seed. But what does He say of the mustard
seed, which indeed is the least of all seeds? Oh, it is such
a small seed, and here is just a grain of it. Here is something
that is very small, something which cannot be easily seen or
discerned. He goes on to speak another parable
in verse 33, another parable spake unto them, the kingdom
of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in
three measures of meal, till the whole was leaven, just a
tiny little bit of leaven, And it's so easily hidden in these
three measures of meal. Can hardly discern it, and yet,
how it leavens the whole. From the grave Christ speaks
of beginnings that are very small, insignificant beginnings. First
the blades, then the ear, then the forecourt in the ear. a beginning that is barely discernible
you see with some people when they come to saving faith their
faith initially is such a small faith such a small faith and a faith that is so weak in
the exercise of it and yet you know small faith can be real
faith One of the works of William Huntington is given that title,
The History of Little Faith. The history of little faith and
the exploits of little faith. We're not to despise little faith. It's not great measure of faith
that saves, is it? It's the Lord Jesus Christ who
saves. And however small and insignificant
our faith might be, the Lord Jesus Christ is never anything
less than a great saviour, able to save to the uttermost, we're
told. I'm not saying that we should be satisfied with a small
faith, an insignificant faith, and a faith that is weak in exercise,
but we're not to despise such a faith. We have that word of
promise in Job chapter 8, Though thy beginning was small, yet
thy latter end shall greatly increase. Surely what we should
desire is an increase of faith. To come to the Lord Jesus Christ
with those words, Lord, increase our faith. And if we have not
faith, to ask that the Lord would first grant us faith, though
it be but a little faith, though it be faith like a grain of a
mustard seed. Now that's true then with regards
to the individual and his experience of the grace of God. But when
we look at things more generally, when we think of the Kingdom
of God and the great purpose of God's grace in this fallen
world, Do we not also see the same truth? Where does the work
of the Lord Jesus Christ begin? Well, he makes choice of just
twelve disciples, or twelve apostles. In chapter 10, when he had called
unto him his twelve disciples, He gave them power against unclean
spirits to cast them out and to heal all manner of sickness
and all manner of disease. And then we have the name of
the twelve and in which of these twelve Jesus sent forth and commanded
them saying, into the way of the Gentiles and into any city
of the Samaritans, enter ye not, but go rather to the lost sheep
of the house of Israel, and as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom
of heaven is at hand." Just these twelve. And the Lord sends them
forth to preach, and then at the end, of course, after Christ
has accomplished his great work of redemption, There are not
the twelve when we come to the end of Matthew. The last Judas,
one of the twelve, had gone to his appointed place. It was Judas
who betrayed the Lord and then went and hanged himself. And
so at the end, it's the eleven disciples, the last verses of
Matthew, then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into
a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him,
they worshipped him, but some doubted. For their faith was
not always strong in exercise. Here are the eleven, and they
meet Christ as appointed, they worship Christ, but some of them
are doubtful. And Jesus came and spoke unto
them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever
I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always,
even unto the end of the world. Amen. He gives that commission
to who? To those in heaven. And some
of them were doubting. Oh, what small beginnings to
the Kingdom of God. And we can easily despise small
things. We can easily despise small churches,
small congregations. Who has despised the day of small
things, asks the Prophet. But we need to stop and to take
stock when we think of the Kingdom of Heaven, do we not? For what
call we small things? since all cancelled sum is greater
than all things except things that come, says Joseph, I'd hope
for. These are not small things, this is the great purpose of
God, the kingdom of God and the coming of that kingdom, this
is the work that God is engaged in in this fallen world, this
sinful world is the theatre wherein God is accomplishing his great
purpose and calling out a people And even in our day He is calling
out as many as were ever foreordained to eternal life in this day. We are not to despise the day.
We often long that we might live in a better day, that we might
see far greater success and more fruit from the ministry of the
Word. And it's right and proper that we should desire to see
those signs following the preaching. Oh, but let us not despise the
day. though it be a day of small things
here then we have the inception of this kingdom and it is so
small the kingdom of heaven like to a grain of mustard seed which
is the least of all seeds But not
only small beginnings, but also contemptible beginnings. It's interesting to compare the
synoptic Gospels, or the four Gospels even, because there are
those events that are recorded not only in Matthew, Mark and
Luke the Synoptic Gospels as we call them but also in John's
Gospel which is somewhat different to the other three and we find
events recorded in all the Gospels and it is profitable to see how
each of these evangelists as we call them relate the history
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now if we turn to Luke's Gospel
and in many ways Luke sets forth the events of the life of the
Lord Jesus more chronologically than the others do. As he says
in that little preamble, he sets them forth in order, the things
that Jesus began both to teach and to do. In Luke's account,
what do we see? Looking at the context, Luke
chapter 15 and Luke chapter 13 and verse 18. Then said he, Unto
what is the kingdom of God like, and whereunto shall I resemble
it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and cast
into his garden, and he grew and waxed a great tree, and the
fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it. And then at verse
22 we are told, And he went through the cities and villages, teaching
and journeying toward Jerusalem. Here is the Lord, he is now making
his final journey from Galilee to Jerusalem. He knew that the time was come.
Previously in chapter 9 of Luke and verse 51, it came to pass
when the time was come that he should be received up, he steadfastly
set his face to go to Jerusalem and sent messengers before his
face. He is making his final journey to Jerusalem. He knows that the time has come
when he is to be received up, when he is to be crucified when
he is to die, that cruel death of the cross, and as he makes
the journey he speaks of the inception of the Kingdom of God. What is the context telling us
then? It is, of course, by means of that bloody death upon the
cross that we will have the real inception of that Kingdom. It
is by his death upon the cross that the Lord Jesus Christ is
going to procure that great salvation that the disciples are to preach. And what do we see in the crucifixion?
We are told he was crucified through weakness. Oh, there is
much that is contemptible here. the weakness of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Strange, strange statement out in 2 Corinthians 13. He was
crucified through weakness. Behold, from what's beginning
small, our great salvation rose. The strength of God is owned
by all, but who his weakness knows. All the weakness, the
death that the Lord Jesus Christ died upon the cross, there we
see him He speaks, does he not, in the Psalms, in Psalm 22, that
Messianic Psalm, he says, I am a worm, a no-man, reproach of
men and despise of the people. Yet this is the beginning of
the Kingdom. This is the beginning of the Kingdom. Christ has redeemed
us from the curse of the Lord, being made a curse for us. For
it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. It's
had a cursed death. that is the beginning of his
kingdom. It's something self-intensible. Such an awful, horrible death
that Christ has to die. Except a corn of wheat, fall
into the ground and die. It abides us alone. But if it
dies, says Christ, it brings us forth much through. Here then we see something that
is contemptible, not just small, but really we might say in a
sense below notice. And yet this is the Kingdom of
Heaven, like to a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed
in his field, which indeed is the least of all seeds. The least of all seeds. So contemptible. Were not the
apostles, as they went about preaching this message, contemptible? Were they not treated as the
off-scouring of all things? Were they not the multitude rejecting
the message? It's never been the sign, you
see. It's never been the sign. The Lord Jesus, when he comes,
he comes unto his own, his own receiving Lord. He's rejected
of men. The man of sorrows. Oh, we are not to be surprised,
this is a situation that has ever pertained with regards to
this kingdom, the beginnings of it, so small, so contemptible. But let us turn in the second
place to the increase. Oh, there is increase. But, we read in verse 32, When
it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree,
so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches
thereof. Here is the increase. And here,
friends, is the sure and certain success of the Gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. God does not work in vain. He says in Isaiah 66, shall I
bring to the birth and not cause to bring forth, saith the Lord. Shall I cause to bring forth
and shut up the womb, saith thy God. God does never abort His
works. He always accomplishes that that
He has begun. And this is the comfort this
is not though we might look to ourselves and feel sometimes
as we reflect upon our experience that our beginning was so small
compared with others who had such remarkable experience in
their call by grace and sometimes we can read of these things you
could think of a man like Bunyan as he describes God's grace coming
to him there in grace abounding or Huntington as he describes
his experience in the Kingdom of Heaven taken by prayer. Remarkable
experiences, great experiences. But these men were called to
fulfill a particular work and we might look to ourselves and
fear that our beginning was so small. All friends, I say again
the important thing is this, is it a real beginning? That's
what we need to know, we have a real beginning. And if God
has begun with us, that work will not be aborted. Being confident
of this very thing, Paul says, that he which hath begun a good
work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. This is why we assert the importance
of that great doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. Are
you persevering? Are you pressing on toward the
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, enduring. He that shall endure to the end,
the same shall be said. But here you see we read of the
blessed increase of that kingdom and this, first of all, is the
word of the Lord Jesus Christ, is it not? These are the words
of Christ that we are considering. And he says quite clearly But
when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree,
so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches
thereof. Now Christ says concerning his
kingdom that it is not a temporal kingdom. The kingdom of our Lord
Jesus Christ is a spiritual kingdom. My kingdom is not of this world,
he says to Pontius Pilate. If my kingdom were of this world
then would my servants fight. The kingdom of the Lord Jesus
Christ is not temporal. It doesn't belong to the kingdoms
of the world. It is a spiritual kingdom. And again, listen to the words
of the Lord Jesus, In Luke chapter 17 he says, the kingdom of God
cometh not with observation. The kingdom of God cometh not
with observation, Luke 17 verse 20. And the margin gives an alternative
reading, it says, the kingdom of God cometh not with outward
show. Not with outward show. It's not
something that is special. It's an inward kingdom, is it
not? It's that work that is taking
place in the souls of men. It's spiritual in nature. He
goes on to say there in Luke 17, Behold, the kingdom of God
is within you. It's the spirit of God coming
into the soul of a man. and effecting such a glorious
work that that man though in his very nature, dead in trespass
and sins, is quickened. There's life brought into the
soul. The sinner must be born again.
How fine is the teaching of the Lord Jesus in John chapter 3. He tells Nicodemus he must be
born again. Such is the condition of our
souls by nature that we are dead. And that deadness permeates every
part of our lives. And that fallen nature is in
a condition of enmity with God. Remember the words of Paul in
Romans 8 concerning the carnal mind, that's the fleshy mind,
the natural mind that we're born with. The carnal mind is enmity
against God. He says it's not subject to the
Lord of God, neither indeed can be. It's not that our natural
mind is an enemy of God. It's worse than that. If our
natural mind were an enemy, by enemy An enemy could be reconciled. An enemy might become a friend.
But no, says Paul, the carnal mind is enmity. Enmity cannot
be changed. Enmity is enmity. And so it's
not subject to God's law. Neither indeed can be, says Paul. There's no possibility. That
that is born of the flesh is flesh. That that is born of the
spirit is spirit. And now these are contrary one
to the other, the flesh lusting against the spirit, the spirit
against the flesh, and he cannot do the thing that he wants. That's
the experience of the child of God, he's born again, he has
an old nature, he's born again, he's the partaker of the divine
nature. But now there's that conflict.
And all of this is that kingdom of God that is coming into the
soul of a man. This is how God works. He works
in the heart. He works secretly. He works sovereignly. Why Christ
speaks of that new birth, does he not, in terms of the wind
blowing where it listeth, and thou hearest a sound thereof
that canst not tell whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth?
All those circuits of the wind are mysterious, So is everyone
that is born of the Spirit. And here you see in verse 33,
the kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven which a woman took
and hid in three measures of milk till the whole was leaven.
How the leaven works so secretly. And this is how God, I say, works
in the hearts of his people. It's the word of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And we are wise if we take heed of what Christ himself
is saying. Again, in Mark chapter 4 and verse 26 he said, So is the kingdom
of God as if a man should cast seed into the ground and should
sleep. and rise night and day and the
seed should spring and grow up he knoweth not how for the earth
bringeth forth fruit of herself first the blade then the ear
after that the full corn in the ear it's God's work all the mystery
of the ways and the works of God it is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but of
God, that shows mercy. It's God's kingdom. He is the King who works. And
where the word of a king is, what power there is. They are
born, not of blood, nor of the will of man, nor of the will
of the flesh. They are born of God. That is
the word of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what does Christ remind us
of then? He reminds us of the great power of God or the power
that God puts forth when his kingdom comes when his kingdom
comes into the soul of a man look at what Christ says here
at the end of verse 32 he speaks of it grown as the greatest among
herbs He becomes a tree, he says, so
that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. The birds of the air come and
lodge in the branches thereof. The birds of the air, the fowl.
What are we to make of them? Well, as I said in this chapter,
Christ speaks many parables, and of course, I suppose the
most famous of the parables is that of the sower. At the beginning of the chapter
we have the parable and then later the Lord does explain and
interpret that parable to his disciples. What does he say there
at the beginning of the chapter concerning this sower? Behold
a sower went forth to sow and when he sowed some seeds fell
by the wayside and the fowls came and he bowed them up. the seed that fell by the wayside
on the ground that was unprepared, uncultivated. The fowls came,
the birds of the air came, and devoured it. And then, when the
Lord explains it, this is what he says in verses 18 and 19 here,
therefore the parable of the sower, When anyone heareth the
word of the kingdom and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked
one, and catches away that which was sown in his heart, this is
he which received the seed by the wayside." So, the fowls of
the air in the parable are now in the explanation, the interpretation,
explained in terms of the wicked one. It's the wicked one, that's
Satan, who comes and catches away that which was sown in the
man's heart. because he only received the
seed by the wayside, he didn't receive it truly. Now coming
back to our particular parable, we read of the birds of the air
coming and lodging in the branches of this great tree that has grown
out of the grain of the mustard seed. What does it remind us of? Or
do we not learn that those who were the very subjects of Satan
are the ones who are brought to the Lord Jesus Christ? Those
who were the slaves of Satan are the ones who are brought
to lodge in the branches of this great tree. Through Timothy chapter 2 and that they may recover themselves out of the
snare of the devil who were taken captive by him at his will they
recovered out of the snare of the devil who were taken captive
by him at his will those who were the very slaves of satan
those who were in bondage to him and in bondage to their wicked,
sinful natures. Remember what Paul says to the
Corinthians. He reminds them what they were
and what they were made by the grace of God. Know ye not, he says in 1 Corinthians
6, know ye not, that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom
of God. Be not deceived. And then we
have the awful catalogue. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters,
nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with
mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers,
nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such
were some of you, but you are washed but you are sanctified,
but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by
the Spirit of our God, all the fowls of the air. These are the
ones who come and lodge, they make their lodging, their dwelling
place in the branches of this great tree. Here is that great
salvation then. Who is it for? It's for sinners. And these are the ones who become
the very subjects of that spiritual kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is in Christ the Saviour of sinners. And so sinners are the
ones who are converted to Him. He speaks here then of the mustard
seed, the grain of mustard seed. the inception of the kingdom
and yet the glorious increase, the power of God that is put
forth in the salvation of sinners. Now again concerning mustard
seed, look at what is recorded in Luke chapter 17. Verse 5, we have the disciples
making that request to the Lord, increase our faith. As I said
at the outset, we are not to despise small faith, little faith. We are not to despise such faith
as that, but we are not to be satisfied with our little faith.
The Apostle said unto the Lord, increase our faith. But what
does Christ say? If he has faith, he says, as
a grain of mustard seed, He even compares faith, you see, to a
grain, a little grain of mustard seed. He might say unto this
sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the roots, and be thou
planted in the soil, and it should obey thee. As I said, friends,
it is not the greatness of our faith that is our Saviour, it
is Christ who is the Saviour. And ought to have that sort of
faith, though it be small, but that faith that is centering
only in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Savior and He is the
one that we have to come to and look to and trust in. Looking unto Jesus, remember,
the author and finisher of our faith. He is the only one who
can increase our faith. He is the author of faith. He
is the giver of faith. He is the one who works faith
in our hearts. We have to look to him constantly
and look only to him. We have that question that is
put twice in Amos chapter 7. By whom shall Jacob arise for
his war? When we look to ourselves and
thinking they are not so much of ourselves as individuals and
our own personal experience but when we think of the church Or
do we not sometimes feel our fewness, our smallness? And this
vast city, the multitudes, the thousands that are round about
us, who are we, what are we, by whom shall Jacob now arise? Is there not the him that's based
on on that text from Amos 1047 and the last two verses ask the
question and then the answer is given. By whom shall Jacob
never rise? Can any tell by whom? Say, shall
this branch that withered lies again revive and bloom? Lord,
thou canst tell. The work is thine, the help of
man is thine. I'm Jacob, now arise and shine
and he shall live again. O God grant that we might have
such a faith then that he is truly centred in Christ and looking
to him and pleading with him. There is to be that blessed increase.
Even in that patterned prayer Christ teaches us as his disciples
to pray, thy kingdom come, thy will be done. in earth as it
is in heaven. And then we have that blessed
assurance at the end, thine is the kingdom, thine is the power,
thine is the glory. All these things then are clearly
possible with God. Oh God grant that we might have
then such a faith so it be nothing more than a grain of mustard
seed and that the Lord himself would come and grant an increase
to your faith and to my faith. Amen.