Bigger than You Think

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This sermon is the fourth one in a series of messages on the Kingdom of God. This message speaks about the growth and expansion of God's Kingdom around the world.

Written Excerpts:

Mark 4:26-29 ^(NKJV) And He said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."

Matthew 13:31-33 ^(NKJV) Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches." Another parable He spoke to them: "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened."

Introduction:

We’ve been looking at various Scriptures that relate to the kingdom of God. We have been talking about some of the different ways the kingdom is described and what that means for us as we try to bring our lives into harmony with kingdom principles.

Today we continue by looking at three brief parables that describe the advancement of God’s kingdom.

Have you ever been amazed by the phenomenal growth of something that seemingly had very humble beginnings?

I did a casual search on the internet recently looking for large corporations that had very small starts. It shouldn’t have surprised me, but it seems like most, if not all, major companies in our economy today had very small and insignificant beginnings. I can’t tell you how many different corporations got started in someone’s garage!

In some cases, the small start-up companies were predicted to fail, or at least stay much smaller. For example, Thomas Watson, Chairman of the Board of IBM in 1943 said, “I think there is a world market for about five computers.”

In the lessons that we’re going to look at today, Jesus seems to be telling us that the Kingdom of God is much the same way – small beginnings, but very large ending with phenomenal results.

I would like to take a little time to review each parable, then analyze them together to gain some insight and inspiration for our spiritual benefit.

I.    Reviewing the Parables

There are a few things I want to point out in these stories that are of special interest.

A. Parable of the Growing Seed

There are a few comparisons between this parable and the parable of the sower which is recorded at the beginning of the chapter, although they are not to be understand as the same thing. In the “parable of the sower” the main point is the condition of the soil. Perhaps it could even be called “the parable of the soils.” In this story, the main point is what the seed does in the soil.

In both stories, the seed is the Word of God. The word, “earth” in this parable corresponds to the “good soil” in the earlier parable.

Lenski New Testament Commentary - In the [earlier] parable the sower is Christ, and we may take it that in this parable "a man" who casts seed on the earth is again Christ. But some feel a difficulty in thinking that Christ sleeps and rises night and day and does not know how the seed grows. [But the difficulty is removed if we understand that] … Jesus … is … compar[ing] himself to “a man” who scatters his seed and trusts that seed to grow of its own power. Of course, the fact that he commissions the sickle, namely in the judgment, seems quite in order [with Christ’s authority and role].

Once the seed gets into the “good soil” then it does what seeds were designed to do. It grows, and grows, and changes and produces…

Is. 55:11 ^(NKJV) So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

A single seed becomes a plant then the plant produces fruit. The seed sown in the field becomes a field of grain. It grows and produces until time for the harvest (the end of time.)

Tyndale Commentaries - … it illustrates the nature of the reign of God in the human heart: it suggests the Christian doctrine of ‘growth in grace’ (2 Pet. 3:18); and it inculcates a continued trust in God, who will give a harvest in due time (Gal. 6:9 and Phil. 1:6).

Philippians 1:6 ^(NKJV) being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

B. Parable of the Mustard Seed

One writer (Tyndale Commentary) explains that the growth of the kingdom was still difficult for the disciples to grasp, but they were all familiar with the mustard seed.

Lenski New Testament Commentary - In this parable we again have a seed, not of wheat or barley as [implied] in the preceding parables, but of the mustard plant... The kingdom is like a kernel of mustard because, like it, the rule of Christ's grace among men has a phenomenal growth from the tiniest beginning….

This parable pictures the kingdom in its visible growth. A number of thoughts are directly involved and necessarily implied. The entire power of this kingdom is divine. It is a living organism, and its life and its power are undying—all other growths of earth have the germs of decay and death in them

This particular plant starts out as one of the smallest seeds and grows into a rather large bush/small tree. But it is big enough for the birds of the air to find shelter and rest.

God’s kingdom on earth starts out very small and insignificant – a single baby born in Bethlehem, visited by despised shepherds; grows into adulthood and gathers a small band of followers from different backgrounds; but has grown literally around the entire world – impacting people of all nations and all kinds of socio-economic status and political power.

C. Parable of the Leaven

I remember when I was very young I used to read this parable or hear it read and think that it was talking about a person trying to hide something but it becomes visible or known anyway. No, it is about the baker intentionally putting leaven or yeast into the meal so that it will permeate the whole batch and cause a reaction to take place that will ultimately change the whole batch.

Lenski New Testament Commentary - Leaven or yeast … is used extensively in an evil sense to portray something that corrupts. Jesus uses it thus in Luke 12:1…. It is impossible to use leaven in this sense when picturing the kingdom. This time leaven pictures the good power of Christ's rule of grace which secretly yet effectively produces its beneficent results.

Just like yeast changes the composition of the meal so that it expands and can be baked into delicious bread, so the kingdom of God expands and permeates the world and changes its composition.

Lenski New Testament Commentary - Here again ye see divine power; again it is wholly spiritual, and, while it operates altogether invisibly, produces any number of tangible effects, every one of them being wholesome. The gospel cannot but succeed, and the one work of the church is to preach, teach, and spread it in the world. The parable teaches faith, patience, hope, and joy.

II.  Analyzing the Parables

Traits about all three of the parables.

A. Paltry Beginning

In all three of these parables, the beginning is small. A small seed(s) in two of them and small amount of leaven or yeast in the third one.

None of these, in themselves, seems very significant.

B. Phenomenal Growth

In all three stories, there is incredible growth.

Seed, plant, ear, harvest (implied whole field ready to harvest).

Seed, growth into tree.

Leaven, penetrates, permeates and profoundly affects the whole.

Sometimes we fall back on Jesus’ teaching about the narrow road and the broad road to reinforce our idea that the kingdom of God will not be that big. (Strait is the gate and narrow is the way… and few there be… wide is the gate and broad is the way… and many there be…) The number is few in comparison to broad way vs. many in comparison to the narrow way, but consider these verses about the numbers in heaven:

Rev. 5:11 ^(NKJV) Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands,

Daniel 7:9-10 ^(NKJV)  "I watched till thrones were put in place, And the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, And the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, Its wheels a burning fire; A fiery stream issued And came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, And the books were opened.

C. Praiseworthy Result

Whole field of ripened grain ready to harvest for the good of many, many people.

Large bush/tree for the benefit of man and birds.

Large batch of dough ready to provide food for the hungry.

III. Applying the Parables

A. Do not despise the little things. Planting of the seed (God’s Word) is simply that. There are a lot of little things we can do to plant a little seed. (The seed is truly planted by the Lord, but He uses us (His people) to spread the seed (Word)).

 Sometimes I have found myself neglecting the little things I can do just because I’m convinced that what I can do won’t really matter.

B. Learn to trust God for the development and growth of the seed that has been planted.

1.  This doesn’t remove our responsibility to pray for the development and pray for success, etc.

2. It doesn’t eliminate our responsibility to counsel, teach, disciple, etc. But it does relieve us of the responsibility of effectiveness.

3.  It doesn’t mean we can be shoddy and half-hearted in our effort, but we only do what we can do.

4. It does relieve us of any anxiety about how my efforts to plant the seed and spread the Word will work out. It’s not my responsibility.

5.  Illustrated by ways that God uses the most unlikely things to ultimately increase the kingdom. God is working in ways we would never imagine.

C. Give God the glory for the triumph of His kingdom wherever it spreads, which is all through the world.

Conclusion:

The Kingdom of God is WAY bigger than we think!

Let’s close the service by singing the hymn:   Little Is Much When God Is in It