If you will open your Bible with
me tonight to Matthew chapter 13. Matthew chapter 13. Let's read
verses 31 through 33. Another parable put he 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 becometh a tree, so that
the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.
Another parable spake he 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. Tonight I want us to look at
two more of these parables which the Lord Jesus Christ spoke to
the great multitude. If you look back in verse one,
verse two, The Lord Jesus Christ spoke all of these parables while
sitting in a ship to a great multitude. The same day when
Jesus out of the house and set by the seaside, great multitudes
were gathered together unto him so that he went into a ship and
sat and the whole multitude stood on the shore. He spoke the first
parable of the sower. We looked at that parable several
weeks ago, which speaks to us of the four types of soil in
which the seed was sown, the gospel is sown. And we saw that
the last type of ground is good ground. And we ask ourselves
this question, what makes ground good? What makes ground good
when the ground represents a heart? And all of us, we know, have
a sinful heart when we come into this world. A heart that Jeremiah
tells us is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. We know that the new heart, the
new ground, is that heart that God gives unto individuals. And when that seed, the good
seed, which is the word of God, the gospel of Jesus Christ, when
it comes into the good ground, it brings forth fruit. There's
degrees of fruit, some 30-fold, some 60-fold, some 100-fold,
but everyone brings forth fruit. We looked at that parable first,
and then we looked at the parable of the wheat and the tares, which
is somewhat different because We're looking at the church in
the world. The field is the world. And we
saw that the wheat, the good seed, is sown by God. The tares are sown by an enemy,
which is Satan. And the wheat and the tares grow
together until the time of harvest, and it's difficult If not impossible,
almost, for men at least, to tell the difference between the
wheat and the tares. But in the day when the Lord
Jesus Christ comes again, he will make the separation. And
the tares will be bundled and bundled, as the scripture said,
and cast into fire, into outer darkness, into separation from
God. The wheat will be gathered into
his barn. Now both of those parables the
Lord explained. Both the parable of the sower
and of the wheat and the tares, the Lord explained those parables. But now between these two parables,
these two parables that we just read about, the parable of the
mustard seed and the parable of the leaven, they're sandwiched
between those parables and the disciples did not ask for an
explanation of these parables. In Mark's gospel we have one
given, that is the parable of the mustard seed, but in Luke's
gospel we have both of them given, the mustard seed and the leaven. Now let us point, let me point
three things out to us tonight as we look at these parables.
First, they both have the same illustration, or they both use
the same illustration. The kingdom of heaven is like
unto. Notice that. Another parable
put he forth unto them, saying the kingdom of heaven is like
to. The kingdom of heaven is like
unto leaven. They both have the same or use
the same illustration, and that is that the kingdom of heaven
is like something that in its beginning is very small, very
small, but yet it increases and becomes very large. The mustard seed, which in Mark's
account of this parable is said to be less than all the seeds
of the earth. I've planted mustard seed before,
and it is very small seed, but the mustard seed that we plant
is different from the mustard seed in this parable because
the mustard seed that we plant grows mustard greens. But this
seed, it grew into a tree. And it was a tree which was so
large it began with something very, very tiny, very small. But yet it grew and increased
to where even the birds could come and find lodging in it. The leaven was hid in three measures
of flour, or wheat, and it permeated all. But the implication, though
our Lord doesn't say this, but we know it's true, the leaven
is something very small. It's just a little bit of leaven
that's placed in the lump of three measures of wheat, but
it permeates and it extends to all. Every part of that wheat
becomes leavened. And I would just say this, as
we think of this illustration or this example of something
that is small, the kingdom of heaven is like unto something
which is small, but then it becomes very large. I would just remind
us of this, that in the Old Testament, God told His people, that is
the nation of Israel, not to despise the day of small things. And that's a message, that's
a lesson for each and every one of us. We should not despise
the day of small things. Because as we say, something
small with God's blessing and God's anointing may become something
very large. When they laid the foundation
for the second temple, after they'd been taken, Israel had
been taken into Babylon for 70 years, and they come back. Now
Solomon had built that beautiful temple, and when they laid the
foundation for that second temple, some of the people who had seen
that first temple, the scripture says they wept. And it was a
very loud weeping. And they wept because to them
it looked so small, so insignificant in comparison to that large,
elaborate, glorious temple that Solomon had built. But what did
God tell them? He said this, the glory, the
glory of this latter house shall be greater than the former. And it was so because it was
to this house, this second temple, that the Lord Jesus Christ came. And the prophet Haggai went on
to say in that passage, the desire of all nations shall come. Who is the desire of all nations,
the desire of all people, the only Savior of mankind? The Lord Jesus Christ. The desire. There's only one Savior. There's
only one name given unto man. whereby we must be saved. That's
the name of Jesus Christ, the person of Christ. And the Lord
said, yes, this foundation, it's small, but the glory of this
temple will be greater than that glory or the glory of that first
temple. Why? Because the desire, the
Lord Jesus Christ would come to this temple. Suddenly, Malachi
tells us, suddenly he will come to his temple. No one was expecting
him, but he suddenly came. There's a song, or maybe it's
a chorus, I'm not sure, but it says something like this. Little
is much when God is in it. Little is much when God is in
it. Here we have an example of something
that begins little, but it becomes large. And I thought about the
example of that young girl, and I believe it speaks of her as
a little maid who was taken into Syria, who was captive and taken
into Syria. And she's the one, remember,
who told her mistress, her master, there's a God. There's a God
in Israel. who could recover my master of
this leprosy. Just a small girl and just a
small word and yet what an example it is to us in the Word of God
of how Naaman came. Remember he came to Elisha, he
came to the king first of all and the king thought the king
of Syria was picking a fight with him. He said, look, he expects
me to recover this man of his leprosy. I can't do that, neither
can anyone else. And Elisha got word of it, and
he said, send him down to me. Let him come to my house, and
he'll see that there's a God in Israel. And you know the story. Powerful man, this military leader
came to Elisha's house and Elisha sent his servant out to him and
said, go wash in the river garden seven times and you'll come up
clean. And old Naaman went away in a
huff, didn't he? He said, I thought, I thought,
I thought surely he would come out and lay his hand on the place
or strike his hands over me. No, just hear the word and believe
the word. And some of his servants, they
spoke to him. And he went down to Jordan, even
though it was a muddy river, not nearly as clean, not nearly
as clear as the rivers in his own country, he said. He went
down into that muddy river seven times and came up clean, healed
of his leprosy. But that all began with just
a little maid, something small, just a small word. Someone I
was speaking to yesterday told me that he was in a cracker barrel. And this lady asked him a question
about his smile, about his countenance. And he said, lady, he said, I
want you to know. And she knew something about
some trouble he had been through, some sicknesses that he had dealt
with. But he said, Lady, I want you
to know, I have a Savior. I have a Savior, Jesus Christ,
the Lord. You never know something small,
something little, just a few words, how the Lord may use that. Think about that woman I mentioned
in the message Sunday morning about those two mites, remember,
that she cast into the temple treasury. And our Lord said she
gave more than all of the others, even though they were giving
large sums of money. But little is much when God is
in it, when God is in it. Now that's the first thing. They
both have the same illustration. Second, they both speak of the
same kingdom. In Matthew, it is called the
kingdom of heaven. In Mark and in Luke, where the
parables are given, it is called the kingdom of God. I want you
to look at that. You see here in our text, here
in Matthew 13, verse 31, it says, The kingdom of heaven is like
unto a grain of mustard seed. And verse 33, The kingdom of
heaven is like unto leaven. But now look with me, if you
will, in Mark, Mark chapter 4. In verse 29, actually verse 30, Mark chapter
4 and verse 30. And he said, where unto shall
we liken the kingdom of God? Matthew said the kingdom of heaven.
Mark says the kingdom of God. With what comparison shall we
compare it? It is like a grain of mustard
seed, which when it is sown in the earth is less than all the
seeds that be in the earth. But when it is sown, it groweth
up and becometh greater than all the herbs and shooteth out
great branches so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the
shadow of it. And also turn over to Luke chapter
13. Luke chapter 13, verse 18. Then said he, unto what is the
kingdom of God like? And where unto shall I resemble
it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and cast
into his garden. And it grew and waxed a great
tree, and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it.
And again he said, Where unto shall I liken the kingdom of
God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three
measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. Now, I point this
out to us because there have been and there are those who
would teach us that there's a difference between the kingdom of heaven
and the kingdom of God. That's not so. It's very clear
from the passages that we've just looked at, how that Matthew,
the same parable, he says the kingdom of heaven, but both Mark
and Luke, they refer to this as the kingdom of God. And just
to show us tonight that there is no difference between the
kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God, we're talking about the
same kingdom. That's the point I want to make.
We're talking about this parable is speaking about these two parables
are speaking about the same kingdom. Though it's referred to by Matthew
as the kingdom of heaven and by Mark and Luke as the kingdom
of God. Same kingdom. Now look with me
at these two passages. Let's compare this. In Matthew
chapter 4 and Mark chapter 1. Matthew chapter 4 and verse 17. From that time,
Jesus began to preach and to say, repent for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand. Now look in Mark chapter 1, same,
referring to the same time, Mark chapter 1 and verse 14. Now after that John was put in
prison, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom
of God. Matthew said he came preaching,
repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Mark said he preached,
repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. And I want you to
look at this passage in Matthew chapter 19. Especially turn here
if you will. Matthew chapter 19. And this is that passage of Scripture
where that man who is called a rich young ruler came running
to the Lord Jesus Christ and said, good master, what must
I do to inherit eternal life? And of course the man was ignorant
of the law, the spirituality of the law, and he thought that
he had kept the law from his youth up. But notice the part
I want us to see begins in verse 23 of chapter 19. Verse 23. After that man went away, then
the Lord with his disciples. Then said Jesus unto his disciples,
Verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the
kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, it
is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for
a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. Surely no one
would think that our Lord is speaking about two different
kingdoms here in the same breath when He is showing the impossibility. That's what it develops into,
isn't it, when the disciples heard it, they were exceedingly
amazed, saying, who then can be saved? Seeing that it is easier
for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich
man to be saved or to enter into the kingdom of God, who then
can be saved? Well, our Lord said, with men
it's impossible. It's impossible. It's impossible
for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, and it is impossible
for a rich man, poor man, and all in between to enter the kingdom
of God apart from God Almighty working in that person's heart.
Just another indication and reminder that salvation is not a work
that man is able to do. It's not a joint venture between
God and man. No, salvation is of the Lord. With man, it's impossible. But
notice in this passage, these two things. First of all, the
Lord, as I said, in the same breath, speaks of the kingdom
of heaven and the kingdom of God. But I want you to notice
this also. That in the disciple's mind,
to enter into the kingdom of God, to enter into the kingdom
of heaven, is equivalent to being saved. Who then can be saved? You're talking about entering
into the kingdom of God, entering into the kingdom of heaven. Who
then can be saved? The disciples, we see, they understood
that being saved meant that a person enters into the kingdom of God.
You remember what our Lord told Nicodemus. Except a man be born
again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. He does not have spiritual
perception. He's dead in trespasses and sins. Our Lord doesn't say that this
is something that's difficult. I remember years ago reading
some man and he said that what our Lord is teaching here is
that salvation is very difficult. He's not teaching it difficult,
he's teaching it's impossible for man. That salvation is the
work of God. There's no way a camel can go
through the eye of a needle. Don't be fooled by those people
who Say, well, you know, there was a gate there in Jerusalem
that was called the Needle Gate. That's not true from what I've
read. And even if it were, our Lord said it's impossible with
men. Of course, they would tell us
that the Needle Gate was so small that a camel, he had to get everything
off his back, you know, take all the cargo off and he'd get
down on his knees and kind of work his way. And it's very hard. It's very difficult to be saved. You've got to do this and you've
got to do that and get rid of this and get rid of that. No,
that's not what our Lord is saying. He said it's impossible. It's
impossible. But the point is, the disciples,
they understood entering into the kingdom of God as equivalent
to being saved. Now look with me in Colossians
chapter one. And we know that's true. In Colossians
chapter one, Beginning with verse 12, the
apostle says, giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us
meet, that is, he's qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light, who hath delivered us from the power of
darkness. And only God is able to deliver
us from the power of darkness. We're in slavery. "...who hath
delivered us from the power of darkness, and at the same time
hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son, in whom we have
redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, who
is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature,
For by Him were all things created that are in heaven and that are
in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers. All things were created by Him
and for Him. And He is before all things.
By Him all things consist. The Apostle Paul used some long
sentences, didn't he? But the point I wanted to make
is that God He's the one who delivers from the power of darkness
and translates us into the kingdom of his dear son. Christ's kingdom is spiritual. It's a spiritual kingdom. He
told Pilate, he said, my kingdom is not of this world. It's not
of this world. And then he told some Pharisees,
some religious people in Luke chapter 17, the kingdom of God
cometh not with observation. You don't see the kingdom of
God. Most kingdoms come with observation. Men raise armies
and they invade and they conquer and kingdoms come with observation. No, the wind bloweth where it
listeth. And thou hearest the sound thereof,
but canst not tell from whence it cometh, nor where it is going.
He said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation, neither
shall they say, Lo, hear! for behold, the kingdom of God
is within you. The kingdom of God is within
you. And then Paul in Romans chapter
14 and verse 17, he said, for the kingdom of God is not meat
and drink. Now that would be observation,
a big table spread, feast, sumptuous food, a banquet, something you
can see, and everybody would be interested in coming, you
would think. And that's what the Jews were
looking for at that time. But Paul said, no, the kingdom
of God is not food and drink, but righteousness. Righteousness. Peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. The kingdom of God is within
you. You know, at the Passover, let
me mention this, at the Passover, When they killed the lamb and
caught the blood and sprinkled the blood on the doorpost, then
they took the lamb's body and they roasted it. They could not
boil it in water or anything like that. They roasted it. And
they roasted it complete. Entire. They didn't cut off part
and cook it over here. No. Why? Because they had to eat a whole
lamb. And the point is, when a person
believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, receives Him as our Lord and
Savior, we feast on a whole Christ in all of His offices. We don't just receive Him as
our prophet to teach us about God. And we don't just receive
Him as our priest to reconcile us unto God by His blood. But
we also receive him as our king to rule over us. He sets up his, the kingdom of
God is within you. He sets up his throne in your
heart. Now the third thing. They both speak, both of these
parables, they both speak of the same kingdom in this world
during this dispensation. That is, this last dispensation. You know the word dispensation
is just administration, isn't it? That's all it means. And
God administers the gospel differently in this dispensation. Same gospel. As in the Old Testament, in that
old dispensation, same gospel, there's only one gospel. And
incidentally, those people who would teach us that there's a
difference between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven,
most of them also teach that there's more than one gospel,
which is just not so. There's only one gospel. There's
never been but one. It was the same gospel that Abel
heard and believed and was saved and entered into heaven, trusting
in the promised land as you and I. And until the very last sinner
is saved, we'll be believing the same gospel. Oh yes, administration,
the dispensation is different, but same gospel. And during this
administration, this dispensation, which incidentally is the dispensation
of the fullness of the time. That's what Paul says in Ephesians,
the dispensation of the fullness of the time. In the fullness
of the time, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under
the law, that he might redeem us from the curse of the law. New dispensation of the fullness
of the time. Now, this kingdom is in the world
during this dispensation. And most of the writers agree
that we should look at this in what I'm going to call an outward
and an inward way. Outward, during this dispensation,
the Lord told his disciples, the kingdom of God is like unto
a seed, a mustard seed, a small seed, like unto leaven. And the
gospel church would, at that time, be very small. But it wouldn't
stay small. Our Lord, at that time, He had
12 disciples and one of them was a traitor. We know at one
time He sent out 70 disciples. And then on the day of Pentecost,
when He poured out His Spirit upon His church, We are told
the number was about 120 in that upper room, but then on that
day, 3,000. We've got a little seed, just
a few, couple of hundred people at the most, and then it's 1,000,
3,000. A few days later, 5,000 more. And it has continued throughout
the days, throughout this dispensation as growing. Beginning small,
yes. but not remaining small. And
the leaven, when you think about the leaven, now I don't know
if this is symbolic or not. Three measures of leaven. But I do know this, that all
men in this world, all spring from three men. When Noah came
out of that ark, he had three sons. Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And everyone in this world, we
all, no matter where we live or what our nationality may be,
we all have come from one of those three men. Now this leaven
was hid in three measures and I do know that Christ commanded
the church to go into all the world and preach the gospel to
every creature. Whosoever believeth and is baptized
shall be saved, whosoever believeth not shall be damned. So that's outward. But inward,
there's a signification here, inward. The church of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Yes, it began small. It's increased. Think of the number of languages
in this world today. I don't know how many there are.
There is, rather. But into so many of those languages,
not all, but into so many of them, God's Word has been translated. I think in all the languages,
there's some dialects probably left today in which the Scriptures
have not been translated. Remember Brother Cliff Heller,
one of our missionaries that we love, he was used of God in
translating the scriptures into that language of just that one
tribe there in Papua New Guinea. Large tribe, yes, but it began
small, but it's increased. There's not a country in this
world, I assume, where there's not a professing Christian. in every country in the world.
There's some semblance of Christianity. Now, inwardly, this speaks to
us of the grace of God in a believer's heart. The beginning is small. The beginning is small. In the
parable of the wheat, we were told first there's the blade,
then the ear, then the full corn in the ear. And remember the
Apostle John writes his first letter to some who were little
children, young men, fathers. Began small. The grace of God
in our heart began small. John Gill said that it is a day
of small things when a person is first saved. Faith in Christ
is very weak and low. Spiritual strength, small. Comfort, little. experience in
the doctrines of grace but very obscure and glimmering. And another
commentator, Albert Barnes, he made this comment. Young converts
often suppose they have much religion. It's not so. They are indeed in a new world. Their hearts glow with new affections. They have an elevation, an ecstasy
of emotion, which they may not have afterward, like a blind
man suddenly restored to sight. The sensation is new and especially
vivid, yet little is seen distinctly. His impressions are indeed more
vivid and cheering than those of him who has long seen and
to whom objects are familiar. In a little time, too, the young
convert will see more distinctly, will judge more intelligently,
will love more strongly, though not with so much new emotion,
and will be prepared to make more sacrifices for the cause
of Christ. So this small beginning in our
heart, but it grows. It grows. Just like that small
seed it planted in the ground. And it grows. I think the best
commentary on this part is that proverb which says, the path
of the just is as a shining light, which shineth more and more unto
the perfect day. And I know there's believers
in our congregation who could testify to this truth, many of
us could, that we can see much clearer now than when we began. And that's just so we grow. Small
beginning, but it doesn't stay small. Thank God we grow. Well,
I pray that this would be a blessing to all of us here tonight. We'll
sing a couple of verses before we are dismissed.