The Mustard Seed and Leaven
In this sermon, we explore the parables of the mustard seed and leaven from Matthew 13, emphasizing the growth and impact of the kingdom of heaven. We begin by recognizing that the kingdom starts in hidden obscurity, much like a mustard seed, which, despite its small beginnings, grows into a large tree that provides shelter for birds. This illustrates how the kingdom can thrive even amidst evil, contrasting the expectations of a conquering Messiah with the reality of a kingdom that flourishes quietly and steadily.
We then delve into the leaven metaphor, which signifies the transformative power of the kingdom. Just as leaven permeates dough, the kingdom of heaven brings about internal change in individuals and communities. We reflect on historical examples, such as the transformation of the Wani tribe in Ecuador, to illustrate how the gospel can radically alter lives and cultures. Ultimately, we are reassured that despite opposition, the kingdom will continue to grow until its ultimate fulfillment, encouraging us to remain faithful and active in spreading the gospel in our communities.
Key Takeaways
- The kingdom of heaven begins in hidden obscurity but grows into visible grandeur, much like a mustard seed that becomes a large tree.
- Evil may coexist with the kingdom of heaven for a time, but it will not hinder the kingdom's growth or impact.
- The leaven metaphor illustrates how the kingdom of heaven brings about internal change and transformation in individuals and communities.
- Historical examples, such as the Wani tribe, demonstrate the profound impact of the gospel on entire cultures.
- We are called to actively share the gospel, turning our neighborhoods upside down with the message of Christ.
Scripture References
Discussion Questions
- What does it mean for the kingdom of heaven to start in hidden obscurity in our lives?
- How can we actively participate in the growth of the kingdom of heaven in our community?
- In what ways have we seen the gospel transform lives or communities around us?
- What are some practical steps we can take to share the gospel without being ashamed?
- How do the parables of the mustard seed and leaven encourage us in times of opposition or difficulty?
Transcript
· Well, hello again.
· Uh, once again, I'm Pastor DJ. Good morning. Welcome to Cross Church Phoenix. And open your Bibles now to Matthew chapter 13.
· Matthew chapter 13. And if you don't have a Bible, there should be one in the seat back uh either in front or near you. And if you don't have a Bible, that is our gift to you. You can take it home, highlight it, mark it up, underline it, use it, bring it back next week. We will gladly replace it. But uh please, please put to use uh the Bible if you do not have one.
· Matthew chapter 13, we'll begin at verse 31.
· When John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness, his words in summary were, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
· When Jesus began his preaching ministry, one of his first public declarations after he was tempted in the wilderness and began his preaching ministry, one of the first things out of his mouth was, "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
· Same message.
· The phrase kingdom of heaven occurs 32 times in Matthew. It's a dominating theme in the Gospel of Matthew and rightfully so. In fact, later on in Matthew chap 24, Jesus says that a sign of the end of the age is this that this gospel of the kingdom has been proclaimed throughout the world as a testimony to all nations.
· Here in Matthew chapter 13, there's an emphasis on the kingdom of heaven.
· That's been our topic the last few weeks and that will continue because that is the topic of the parables.
· And here in Matthew chapter 13 specifically, there's a flow in the giving of the parables that I want you to see. Of course, there are breaks where they ask Jesus, can you explain this to us? than Jesus does. And then he continues on to give more parables.
· This is now our third week in chapter 13. And what we've learned about the kingdom of heaven is that there will be different responses to the gospel, to the word of God based upon the condition of the soil that the word of God falls upon.
· There is rich good soil. Those who respond to the gospel and bear fruit are children of the kingdom. And you may recall that there are three other types of soil. The rocky the hard ground, the rocky ground, and the shallow. None of which produced fruit.
· Only the one that fell on good soil did and is in the kingdom of God.
· However, as we learned last week, the children of the kingdom live in a world mixed with the children of the evil one.
· You say, DJ, you're being mean. That's Jesus words.
· We learned that in the parable of the wheat and the tears or the wheat and the weeds.
· A natural question that arose last week in last week's parable was, "Hey, master, do you want us to pull up the weeds?
· Pull up the children of the evil one that are in your field."
· And Jesus said, as you can as you'll hopefully recall, no, don't pull up the weeds. Why? because you might also pull up the wheat with it. Jesus says, "Leave them the wheat and the weeds or the presence of the children of the kingdom with the children of the evil one in the world.
· Leave them to grow together and they'll be separated in the end."
· So what we've learned is that evil will be allowed to exist for a period of time.
· Remember this is temporary, not permanent. But if evil continues to exist, what impact will that have on the kingdom of heaven?
· Because this kingdom that Jesus is describing is very different than the one that they thought was coming. Those who expected and were waiting for Messiah were looking for a certain kind of Messiah and a certain kind of kingdom.
· First century Jew, Jewish people were looking for the Messiah king to what?
· Swoop in and dominate, even destroy Rome because they're under Roman occupation.
· Oh, we want our Messiah to come in, wipe out Rome, and restore, establish the kingdom back to Israel right now, right away. That's what he's going to do when he comes. That's what he's going to do.
· But that's not the kind of Messiah Jesus came to be.
· Nor was that the kingdom that was being set up. The kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven was not being set up the way that they thought, nor was he doing the things that they wanted him to do.
· So the question is, will this kingdom be smothered by evil? Will it struggle to flourish because of all the weeds? Uh will it be snuffed out? Will it have a low ceiling? Will it be suffocated or suppressed by this evil that is being allowed to stick around?
· And here in our passage this morning, Jesus teaches that not only will the kingdom of heaven grow in the midst of evil, but it will thrive and flourish and will have a good, positive, godly effect in an evil, wicked, and sinful world.
· Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this morning. We thank you for your word. We pray now that you would give us ears to hear what the spirit has to say to the church here at Cross Church Phoenix in Jesus name. Amen. Well, let's stand together as we read God's word.
· And if you're unable to stand, that is fine. You can stand with us in spirit just honoring God's word together. Short passage this morning. It'll be Matthew chapter 13:31 through35.
· And it reads this way. He Jesus presented another parable to them. The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and swed in his field.
· It's the smallest of all the seeds, but when grown, it's taller than the garden plants and becomes a tree so that the birds of the sky come and nest in its branches.
· He told them another parable. The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and mixed into 50 lbs of flour until all of it was leavened.
· Amen. You can be seated. Thank you.
· I forgot to read verses 34 and 35. So I'm going to read them while you're sitting. Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables and he did not tell them anything without a parable so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled. I will open my mouth in parables. I will declare things kept secret from the foundation of the world.
· So if you have a handout, you'll see I'm taking our our heading this morning from verse 35. Verse 35 tells us why Jesus speaks in parables. And he's mentioned why before and he's just saying it again. Jesus speaks in parables number one to fulfill prophecy.
· Old testament prophets prophets said he would and so he came and did to fulfill that. Number two, Jesus also speaks in parables to declare things kept secret or some translations might say declare hidden things from the foundation of the world. So these parables reveal secrets and this morning Jesus is declaring secrets of kingdom growth.
· Declaring secrets of kingdom growth. Now as he always does, Jesus uses common everyday things to illustrate spiritual truth. And in this case he uses a common practice amongst men and a common practice am practice among women. A man swed seed in his field. In those days obviously the men worked the field. They would sew seeds. Common practice. And then a woman took leavenan and made leaven bread. Common household thing that the woman would do.
· These are things that people would know and be familiar with.
· A man swed his seed in a field. A woman took leavenan and made bread. So first Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and swed in his field.
· Mustard seed is small and Jesus' point it starts small. It's just a little seed but when fully grown it's taller than surrounding plants and it becomes he says a tree.
· A mustard seed plant would generally grow into like this large bush or shrub.
· And here Jesus is is emphasizing its size. It's big, tall, growing into a tree. And they could grow up to about 10 to 15 feet high. And it would be big enough for the birds to nest in its branches.
· So I want us to draw out a few truths from each parable this morning. So number one, like a mustard seed, the kingdom of heaven first begins in hidden obscurity.
· Begins in hidden obscurity.
· A mustard seed sown in the field begins in hidden obscurity.
· The sewer knows it's there, but not everyone else would. It's not obvious.
· If you took uh some seeds and plant them in your backyard, you know they're there, but not everyone would.
· It's hidden in the ground waiting to germinate, to sprout, and eventually what? Be seen above ground. And Jesus is saying that the kingdom of heaven is like that.
· It starts small, but also like the mustard seed, the kingdom of heaven, letter, letter B, I almost said number B, right? Letter letter letter one and number B grows into visible grandeur. It starts small hidden obscurity but grows into visible grandeur. And I like the word grandeear so I use it cuz sounds cool. Grandeur, right?
· When Jesus, we see this in the scriptures in the New Testament church when Jesus rose from the grave and bea began appearing to the 11 apostles in Acts 1:3. It says he presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs appearing to them. The 11 appearing to them for during 40 days and what speaking about the kingdom of God.
· Can you imagine how awesome that would have been those 40 days? Hanging out with the risen Jesus just talking about the kingdom of God for 40 days. Be awesome.
· after Jesus ascended. So he hangs out with the disciples, he appears, he ascends into heaven eventually. The apos the apostles then return to Jerusalem and we read that it the the the the kingdom has grown from 11 to 120.
· On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit comes what? Like a mighty rushing wind and it fills the whole place that they're up in, right? And then it starts to also what? fill the people and they're speaking in tongues and the they're surrounding people, right? Because it's Pentecost. It's a celebration. There are people from around different areas of the world coming to Jerusalem. People are starting to hear the word of God, the gospel in their native language.
· Like, how is it that we're hearing all this stuff? We can interpret. We understand what those people are saying.
· Even though it's a language that they don't understand, they're speaking and I can understand it.
· And if you remember, Peter stood up and preached a wonderful sermon and 3,000 people got saved and baptized.
· So, it goes from 11 to 120 to 3,000. And by the time you get to Acts 4, uh, it has grown to 5,000. And in Acts 5:14, it just says, "And more than ever, believers were added to the Lord.
· Multitudes of both men and women." So the thing's just exploding and by the time you get to Acts chapter 17, followers of Jesus Christ are described in this way. It said, it says they've turned the world upside down.
· Isn't that great?
· There's a time in Acts chapter 17 when the unbelieving Jewish people attacked a disciple named Jason.
· They came to Jason's house looking for Paul and Silas and they couldn't find him. So Acts 17 6 and 7 says, "And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some
· of the brothers before the city authorities shouting, "These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them, and they're all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.
· That's because there is another king.
· King Jesus who is king of the kingdom of heaven that continues to grow into visible grandeear today. Revelation 1 reminds believers that Christ what?
· Loved us, freed us from sin by his blood and made us a what? Kingdom.
· The question that I have for us this morning, those who know Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, are we still turning the world upside down with the message that Jesus is king?
· Or have it has it grown a little soft?
· Do we long to see God's kingdom grow until Christ returns?
· And in a lot of ways, the 21st century church, especially the 21st century American church, has lost its impact on the world.
· Why?
· I suggest to you that unlike Paul who said he is not ashamed of the gospel, I think many professing Christians are ashamed of the gospel.
· May that never be so.
· Is Crossurch Phoenix turning the neighborhood upside down with the gospel of 19th and Grovers. You say, "Well, what does that look like?" just getting out and sharing it. And we do evangelism training and we have another season of that coming probably in the fall here.
· And and we train people up to share the gospel. And we've seen beyond that. The training's been done for months and people still go out and do it. It's wonderful.
· But are we ashamed of the gospel?
· God, help us, Cross Church Phoenix and faithful churches around us to turn our neighborhoods upside down with the gospel. Just go out and share it.
· Remember, and we've we've taught about this multiple times that the results are not up to you. What if I share the gospel and they reject it? That's fine.
· Well, I mean, not ultimately, but like it is because you were obedient, right?
· You are obedient in sharing the gospel there. The fruit of that is up to God to give the growth.
· You don't. Pastor DJ doesn't give the growth for anything.
· Remember Paul said, "I planted, Apollos watered, but what?" God gave the growth.
· Pastor DJ, pastor Ly, any other pastor doesn't grow anything. God does. But what are we to do? Plant and water, right? May we do the same. Now, a lot has been said about the birds in this passage, and I don't want to gloss over that, right? Do they represent evil in the kingdom of God? Uh, we know that the kingdom is growing. The children of the kingdom are growing with the children of the evil one.
· Do they represent evil? Because remember they represented the evil one snatching the seed away from the hard soil.
· Remember Jesus said that the seed that fell on hard soil snatched away by the birds. And by the way, that represents the evil one, Satan coming snatching the word of God from a hard heart. Is that what it represents or is it something else? And I don't have a lot of time to go through everything, but I don't believe that the birds represent evil in the kingdom. Now, in the Old Testament, in both Ezekiel uh 31, Ezekiel 17, and Daniel 4, you have descriptions of the vast Assyrian and Babylonian empires.
· And both are described as huge trees that what the birds of the heaven. The birds came and made their nest in the Assyrian and Babylonian empires. Uh if you know your your at least your Old Testament history or just world history were vast major world empires.
· And although even in those passages, so in Ezekiel and Daniel, the birds are not interpreted for us. It's believed and I'm in agreement that they represent subject kingdoms, subject nations coming under them and finding shelter within them. In those days, often times if you surrendered to the empire, you could find refuge and safety in it. If you resisted it, obviously you would probably die. But if you subjected yourself to the vast kingdom, you could find refuge and safety.
· What I believe Jesus to be saying is that the kingdom of heaven will have the same effect on surrounding nations. A keen listener, especially those who knew their Old Testament in those days. If you heard about a big giant tree with birds nesting in it, and if you and if they had read, which many of them would have Ezekiel and Daniel, it might, you know, pick up a clue like is he talking like it's kind of like that.
· Yeah. Because he's talking about a kingdom and the kingdom of Assyria, kingdom of Babylon were massive.
· I believe Jesus is saying that like multiplied people came under the the vast trees of the kingdom of of Assyria, the kingdom of Babylon, multiplied people will come under the vast tree of the kingdom of heaven. But unlike the Assyrians or Babylonians who were temporary kingdoms, God's kingdom will be eternal. And Jesus, I believe, is drawing a contrast between those kingdoms and the kingdom of heaven.
· This kingdom, the kingdom of heaven will be permanent forever, eternal, not like those ones that were also described as huge trees with birds nesting in them. The kingdom of heaven is going to be like that except forever.
· And God is its king.
· So we see the vastness of the kingdom of heaven, how big it grows. Let's move on to the next section. How is the kingdom of heaven like leaven? Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took mixed into 50 lbs of flour.
· Some might say like three sata. Um it's approximately 50 lbs of flour until all of it was leavened.
· How is the kingdom of heaven like leaven? And the first thing that you may come to mind when you think about levan in scripture is that it represents evil.
· But that's not always necessarily true.
· Later in Matthew chapter 16, Jesus warns the disciples to what? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.
· And right there it specifically says he's talking about their teaching and their hypocrisy.
· See, beware of their hypocrisy. Beware of their teaching, disciples. Beware of that levan.
· The warning against this warning was a warning against allowing the Pharisees and the Sadducees teaching to what?
· Permeate and influence them.
· Paul brings up levan again in 1 Corinthians 5 talking about, you may have heard this, that a little levan leavenvens the whole lump, right? And there he's talking about tolerating sin in the church. A a little toleration of sin. Remember the g the the guy was uh sleeping with his mother-in-law. Uh and the Corinthians were proud of it, right?
· We're so accepting and loving that even that's okay.
· They're stupid, right? That's what Paul's basically like that's dumb and you need to get kick him out of the church. But even that was for his good.
· But Paul was saying that tolerating a little bit of sin can negatively affect the whole church.
· So biblically, levan pictures the permeating effects that something small can have on something big.
· It's not just picturing sin. Because if we just say leaven equals sin, if we make a a one for one there, levaven equals sin. Whenever you read about sin in the Bible or whenever you read about leaven in the Bible, it's sin. Well, then we would have to say that Jesus is saying the kingdom of heaven is like sin. And he could be he could be saying the kingdom of heaven is like sin. You know how sin permeates and destroys a bunch of stuff? Well, the kingdom of heaven is going to permeate but do like the opposite. Maybe. Yes. It just didn't set well with me. The kingdom of heaven is like sin and evil. Could possibly be.
· Jesus doesn't interpret this one like he did some of the other ones.
· But before I preach something, my heart needs to be in line with it. And I wasn't convinced that that was what Jesus is saying. I believe Jesus is simply talking about the permeating effects of the kingdom of God and what it that will have in the world. And remember, Matthew 16 comes after Matthew 13. So even the beware of the levan of the teaching and hypocrisy of the Pharisees is after 1 Corinthians 5 is like 30 years after.
· And so we have to think when you do Bible interpretation, you think what what did this mean to them then is the first thing that would have what is the first thing that would have popped into the disciples head sin. Oh, he's talking about sin when he's talking about that that woman making uh dough in the Oh, he talking about sin. Is that what they would have thought?
· And I think that the the pro the um the f the the flow, I'm sorry, the flow is clear that he's talking about the kingdom growing like a big tree and the kingdom growing like leaven affects dough and makes bread.
· So number two in the second part of the handout, like leavenan, the kingdom of heaven affects change internally. This is how levan works. My wife, and I know a few others do too, here at our church, uh, makes her own sourdough bread. It's the best. You can't have any. It's just for me. I'm just kidding. No, I'm kidding. But if you ever come over and we have some made, there's only going to be a little left. You better get it while you can cuz I'm going to eat it.
· But when you make sourdough bread, you have what's called starter. And some of you know probably more about this than I do. Um, but you take a portion of starter, which has what? active yeast or leaven and you mix it with your fresh flour and water. And what is that? The fresh flour and water is food for the yeast. There's a chemical reaction that takes place. It kind of bubbles and stuff like that, right? The active yeast eats the starches and the sugars and the fresh flour which causes the bread to rise.
· So yeast or or leaven, it takes one thing, the the the flour and the water, and it consumes it. The flour takes on the properties of the yeast and it's changed or use a better word transformed.
· Changed.
· I believe what Jesus is saying is that the same way leaven changes flour and and water into bread is the same way the kingdom of heaven brings transformation into people's lives.
· Jesus is using the picture of the permeating effects of levan in a positive way.
· Yes, sin can do the same thing and spread in the church. That's why Paul mentions it. It's a great picture of the permeating effects of something small on something big. But the kingdom of heaven can also spread in the world for God's glory and human good.
· Notice Jesus says at the end of verse 33, "Until all of it was leavened, which brings me to our second point, like leaven, the kingdom of heaven affects change comprehensively."
· And by that I mean both in individual people and in communities, there have been entire people groups completely changed by the gospel.
· One of the popular examples, and there's more than this, but I'll turn to it, is the Wani tribe in Ecuador that Jim and Elizabeth Elliott um went into as missionaries. And that you may have heard them called the Ala tribe. And I actually learned that Ala is a pjorative term for them. It's not meant as a compliment. It's the Warani tribe. Okay?
· But this tribe is in in an isolated tribe in Ecuador known for their violence. And so when Jim Elliott and his team, there were others went in to make contact uh with them, they had been trying to exchange some communication, some gifts, and some things were trying to build a rapport. And they wanted to go in and make contact. Well, him and four other men when they went in were attacked by that tribe, and they were speared to death. If you don't know their story, they were martyrs for the gospel.
· You can imagine the pain and the sorrow their families felt, the pain that Elizabeth felt, losing her her husband, losing a loved one to the very people that you're there trying to reach for the kingdom of God, for the gospel.
· But that's not the end of the story.
· Some years later, Elizabeth uh with a few others uh went back to the tribe and lived among and ministered to them. Went back to the same people who killed her husband and others. But she went back to the same people that killed her husband to minister to them.
· And instead of being murdered, they weren't killed that time, they were able to bring the gospel to them. And many of them got saved. And if you read some of the accounts, one gentleman uh was so radically transformed by faith in Christ that he said this quote, "I've killed 12 people with this spear, with my spear, but I did that when my heart was black.
· Now Jesus' blood has washed my heart clean so I don't live like that anymore.
· Isn't that great? Picturing his heart was black when he was a man of violence and murder but that his heart has been washed clean by the blood of Christ.
· The cycle the impact that the gospel had on that community was that a cycle of violence was broken. There was a culture shift in the entire community.
· Today there are many Wani Christians.
· There's even a Wani church and they have the New Testament in their own language.
· And there are similar stories like this around the world. It's not just them.
· This happens in unreached people groups where the gospel comes in for the very first time and it transforms and changes a community. It changes how they treat each other. It changes all kinds of things in the culture.
· When the kingdom penetrates, it brings change to people. When the gospel of the kingdom penetrates, brings change to people and it changes communities.
· And what's interesting is the amount of flour that Jesus mentions, verse 33, about 50 lbs mixed with levan would make enough bread to to feed 100 to 150 people. This is a big old lump. It's a big old thing of bread. It's not like a little loaf of bread that feeds your family of of three or something like this is a huge thing.
· And I and I think what Jesus is saying like leaven, the kingdom of heaven brings change. It permeates, it grows, and it blesses others.
· So, I want to get to our our parabolic truth that I've been doing the past few weeks just to kind of give you a summary statement.
· Through the parables of the mustard seed and levan, Jesus is declaring, and this is on your handout, too, if it's small on there. Jesus is declaring that despite enemy opposition, the kingdom of heaven will not be hindered, but will continue to grow until its ultimate consummation.
· We have to understand this.
· There is and will be enemy opposition to the work of the kingdom of God. Be assured, we will suffer.
· In Acts chapter 14, Paul was almost killed. He was almost martyed.
· And instead of running for his life, he gets back up and he goes back into the city. And it's a great story. You should read it. But Paul, it says he went back and he was strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith and saying, listen, and saying that through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God.
· Last week we kind of talked about the now and not yet of the kingdom. You say like we must enter it. Like though we haven't entered it yet, there's a dynamic there that we can talk about.
· And later in 2 Thessalonians 1 vers5, Paul writes, "This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God." That you, and that you, there is a y'all. We don't have that in English, but it's a y'all.
· All y'alls, that's a that's a a plural you. That you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God for which you are also suffering.
· Paul was so about the kingdom of God that no amount of suffering stopped him.
· No. And and when others when he started to see other churches suffering for the kingdom, he sits down and he writes letters to them saying that this is the righteous judgment of God. You'd be considered worthy worthy worthy of the kingdom of God. suffering worthiness that the that the kingdom of God is worth being beaten and half to death for. Yeah. That the kingdom of God is worth giving your life for as Paul eventually would and uh the rest of the apostles.
· John's exiled onto the island of Patmos. But it's not like that's very fun except getting revelation would be awesome. Um but you know what I mean?
· suffering because the kingdom of God is worth that.
· It's worth it.
· These parables are a reassurance that evil has an expiration date and the kingdom of heaven will prevail.
· And as I think through, you know, applications and stuff like how does this how does this passage apply? You know, I I think whatever you're going through, I I don't know what that is, what what's going on in your personal life, but here's the thing. We can rest assured Christ is king and he reigns in glory and one day we will be with him forever.
· And so until then, be faithful, be watchful, and be ready. There are other parables about what? Being ready for that to come. You don't want to be caught not ready.
· And how do you be caught not ready? It's by denying the gospel and being outside of Christ. That's how you get caught not ready. You say, "How do I get ready? How do I be ready for the kingdom of God?"
· It's called being in Christ when he comes.
· By being a child of the living God. And the only way, the only way is through Jesus Christ. He said, "Well, I am the way, the truth, and life. No one, no one, no one, count it, no one comes to the father except through me. That means if you're trying to find another way to the father, you failed.
· The only way is through Jesus Christ.
· I'm going to invite the worship team back up as we close with our last song and and pray. But if you're here listening to my voice or if you're online, you can message us. I'll follow up that way, too. Uh but if you are here and you say, "I don't know Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior. here. I was dragged here by my family. I'm just visiting. Um, today is the day because none of us are guaranteed tomorrow.
· What we learn in some of the be ready parables is that the king Jesus will come at a time that you don't know.
· I don't know either. You like, "Pastor DJ, when is it?" I don't know. If I gave you a date and time, you should fire me as your pastor, right? Because I ain't I don't know.
· But God does.
· He knows and you don't know. And now today is the day of salvation. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this morning. Thank you for your word. I pray God that this would fall on rich good soil, Lord. That you would cause growth among your people in and through your people. I pray for soft hearts this morning. I pray for ears that don't just hear the word but listen to it.
· God, I pray that you would um build up those here who do know you who just need the assurance that the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven will prevail, that they need to remain faithful, remain steadfast, and just be strengthened in the Lord as they await for that day. God, I also pray for those who may be here who do not know you.
· that today would be the last day that that is true about them and that they would come come ex to the invitation of knowing Christ in Jesus name we pray.
· Amen. Let's stand and
Part of Series
Parables
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· Well, hello again.
· Uh, once again, I'm Pastor DJ. Good morning. Welcome to Cross Church Phoenix. And open your Bibles now to Matthew chapter 13.
· Matthew chapter 13. And if you don't have a Bible, there should be one in the seat back uh either in front or near you. And if you don't have a Bible, that is our gift to you. You can take it home, highlight it, mark it up, underline it, use it, bring it back next week. We will gladly replace it. But uh please, please put to use uh the Bible if you do not have one.
· Matthew chapter 13, we'll begin at verse 31.
· When John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness, his words in summary were, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
· When Jesus began his preaching ministry, one of his first public declarations after he was tempted in the wilderness and began his preaching ministry, one of the first things out of his mouth was, "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
· Same message.
· The phrase kingdom of heaven occurs 32 times in Matthew. It's a dominating theme in the Gospel of Matthew and rightfully so. In fact, later on in Matthew chap 24, Jesus says that a sign of the end of the age is this that this gospel of the kingdom has been proclaimed throughout the world as a testimony to all nations.
· Here in Matthew chapter 13, there's an emphasis on the kingdom of heaven.
· That's been our topic the last few weeks and that will continue because that is the topic of the parables.
· And here in Matthew chapter 13 specifically, there's a flow in the giving of the parables that I want you to see. Of course, there are breaks where they ask Jesus, can you explain this to us? than Jesus does. And then he continues on to give more parables.
· This is now our third week in chapter 13. And what we've learned about the kingdom of heaven is that there will be different responses to the gospel, to the word of God based upon the condition of the soil that the word of God falls upon.
· There is rich good soil. Those who respond to the gospel and bear fruit are children of the kingdom. And you may recall that there are three other types of soil. The rocky the hard ground, the rocky ground, and the shallow. None of which produced fruit.
· Only the one that fell on good soil did and is in the kingdom of God.
· However, as we learned last week, the children of the kingdom live in a world mixed with the children of the evil one.
· You say, DJ, you're being mean. That's Jesus words.
· We learned that in the parable of the wheat and the tears or the wheat and the weeds.
· A natural question that arose last week in last week's parable was, "Hey, master, do you want us to pull up the weeds?
· Pull up the children of the evil one that are in your field."
· And Jesus said, as you can as you'll hopefully recall, no, don't pull up the weeds. Why? because you might also pull up the wheat with it. Jesus says, "Leave them the wheat and the weeds or the presence of the children of the kingdom with the children of the evil one in the world.
· Leave them to grow together and they'll be separated in the end."
· So what we've learned is that evil will be allowed to exist for a period of time.
· Remember this is temporary, not permanent. But if evil continues to exist, what impact will that have on the kingdom of heaven?
· Because this kingdom that Jesus is describing is very different than the one that they thought was coming. Those who expected and were waiting for Messiah were looking for a certain kind of Messiah and a certain kind of kingdom.
· First century Jew, Jewish people were looking for the Messiah king to what?
· Swoop in and dominate, even destroy Rome because they're under Roman occupation.
· Oh, we want our Messiah to come in, wipe out Rome, and restore, establish the kingdom back to Israel right now, right away. That's what he's going to do when he comes. That's what he's going to do.
· But that's not the kind of Messiah Jesus came to be.
· Nor was that the kingdom that was being set up. The kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven was not being set up the way that they thought, nor was he doing the things that they wanted him to do.
· So the question is, will this kingdom be smothered by evil? Will it struggle to flourish because of all the weeds? Uh will it be snuffed out? Will it have a low ceiling? Will it be suffocated or suppressed by this evil that is being allowed to stick around?
· And here in our passage this morning, Jesus teaches that not only will the kingdom of heaven grow in the midst of evil, but it will thrive and flourish and will have a good, positive, godly effect in an evil, wicked, and sinful world.
· Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this morning. We thank you for your word. We pray now that you would give us ears to hear what the spirit has to say to the church here at Cross Church Phoenix in Jesus name. Amen. Well, let's stand together as we read God's word.
· And if you're unable to stand, that is fine. You can stand with us in spirit just honoring God's word together. Short passage this morning. It'll be Matthew chapter 13:31 through35.
· And it reads this way. He Jesus presented another parable to them. The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and swed in his field.
· It's the smallest of all the seeds, but when grown, it's taller than the garden plants and becomes a tree so that the birds of the sky come and nest in its branches.
· He told them another parable. The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and mixed into 50 lbs of flour until all of it was leavened.
· Amen. You can be seated. Thank you.
· I forgot to read verses 34 and 35. So I'm going to read them while you're sitting. Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables and he did not tell them anything without a parable so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled. I will open my mouth in parables. I will declare things kept secret from the foundation of the world.
· So if you have a handout, you'll see I'm taking our our heading this morning from verse 35. Verse 35 tells us why Jesus speaks in parables. And he's mentioned why before and he's just saying it again. Jesus speaks in parables number one to fulfill prophecy.
· Old testament prophets prophets said he would and so he came and did to fulfill that. Number two, Jesus also speaks in parables to declare things kept secret or some translations might say declare hidden things from the foundation of the world. So these parables reveal secrets and this morning Jesus is declaring secrets of kingdom growth.
· Declaring secrets of kingdom growth. Now as he always does, Jesus uses common everyday things to illustrate spiritual truth. And in this case he uses a common practice amongst men and a common practice am practice among women. A man swed seed in his field. In those days obviously the men worked the field. They would sew seeds. Common practice. And then a woman took leavenan and made leaven bread. Common household thing that the woman would do.
· These are things that people would know and be familiar with.
· A man swed his seed in a field. A woman took leavenan and made bread. So first Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and swed in his field.
· Mustard seed is small and Jesus' point it starts small. It's just a little seed but when fully grown it's taller than surrounding plants and it becomes he says a tree.
· A mustard seed plant would generally grow into like this large bush or shrub.
· And here Jesus is is emphasizing its size. It's big, tall, growing into a tree. And they could grow up to about 10 to 15 feet high. And it would be big enough for the birds to nest in its branches.
· So I want us to draw out a few truths from each parable this morning. So number one, like a mustard seed, the kingdom of heaven first begins in hidden obscurity.
· Begins in hidden obscurity.
· A mustard seed sown in the field begins in hidden obscurity.
· The sewer knows it's there, but not everyone else would. It's not obvious.
· If you took uh some seeds and plant them in your backyard, you know they're there, but not everyone would.
· It's hidden in the ground waiting to germinate, to sprout, and eventually what? Be seen above ground. And Jesus is saying that the kingdom of heaven is like that.
· It starts small, but also like the mustard seed, the kingdom of heaven, letter, letter B, I almost said number B, right? Letter letter letter one and number B grows into visible grandeur. It starts small hidden obscurity but grows into visible grandeur. And I like the word grandeear so I use it cuz sounds cool. Grandeur, right?
· When Jesus, we see this in the scriptures in the New Testament church when Jesus rose from the grave and bea began appearing to the 11 apostles in Acts 1:3. It says he presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs appearing to them. The 11 appearing to them for during 40 days and what speaking about the kingdom of God.
· Can you imagine how awesome that would have been those 40 days? Hanging out with the risen Jesus just talking about the kingdom of God for 40 days. Be awesome.
· after Jesus ascended. So he hangs out with the disciples, he appears, he ascends into heaven eventually. The apos the apostles then return to Jerusalem and we read that it the the the the kingdom has grown from 11 to 120.
· On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit comes what? Like a mighty rushing wind and it fills the whole place that they're up in, right? And then it starts to also what? fill the people and they're speaking in tongues and the they're surrounding people, right? Because it's Pentecost. It's a celebration. There are people from around different areas of the world coming to Jerusalem. People are starting to hear the word of God, the gospel in their native language.
· Like, how is it that we're hearing all this stuff? We can interpret. We understand what those people are saying.
· Even though it's a language that they don't understand, they're speaking and I can understand it.
· And if you remember, Peter stood up and preached a wonderful sermon and 3,000 people got saved and baptized.
· So, it goes from 11 to 120 to 3,000. And by the time you get to Acts 4, uh, it has grown to 5,000. And in Acts 5:14, it just says, "And more than ever, believers were added to the Lord.
· Multitudes of both men and women." So the thing's just exploding and by the time you get to Acts chapter 17, followers of Jesus Christ are described in this way. It said, it says they've turned the world upside down.
· Isn't that great?
· There's a time in Acts chapter 17 when the unbelieving Jewish people attacked a disciple named Jason.
· They came to Jason's house looking for Paul and Silas and they couldn't find him. So Acts 17 6 and 7 says, "And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some
· of the brothers before the city authorities shouting, "These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them, and they're all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.
· That's because there is another king.
· King Jesus who is king of the kingdom of heaven that continues to grow into visible grandeear today. Revelation 1 reminds believers that Christ what?
· Loved us, freed us from sin by his blood and made us a what? Kingdom.
· The question that I have for us this morning, those who know Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, are we still turning the world upside down with the message that Jesus is king?
· Or have it has it grown a little soft?
· Do we long to see God's kingdom grow until Christ returns?
· And in a lot of ways, the 21st century church, especially the 21st century American church, has lost its impact on the world.
· Why?
· I suggest to you that unlike Paul who said he is not ashamed of the gospel, I think many professing Christians are ashamed of the gospel.
· May that never be so.
· Is Crossurch Phoenix turning the neighborhood upside down with the gospel of 19th and Grovers. You say, "Well, what does that look like?" just getting out and sharing it. And we do evangelism training and we have another season of that coming probably in the fall here.
· And and we train people up to share the gospel. And we've seen beyond that. The training's been done for months and people still go out and do it. It's wonderful.
· But are we ashamed of the gospel?
· God, help us, Cross Church Phoenix and faithful churches around us to turn our neighborhoods upside down with the gospel. Just go out and share it.
· Remember, and we've we've taught about this multiple times that the results are not up to you. What if I share the gospel and they reject it? That's fine.
· Well, I mean, not ultimately, but like it is because you were obedient, right?
· You are obedient in sharing the gospel there. The fruit of that is up to God to give the growth.
· You don't. Pastor DJ doesn't give the growth for anything.
· Remember Paul said, "I planted, Apollos watered, but what?" God gave the growth.
· Pastor DJ, pastor Ly, any other pastor doesn't grow anything. God does. But what are we to do? Plant and water, right? May we do the same. Now, a lot has been said about the birds in this passage, and I don't want to gloss over that, right? Do they represent evil in the kingdom of God? Uh, we know that the kingdom is growing. The children of the kingdom are growing with the children of the evil one.
· Do they represent evil? Because remember they represented the evil one snatching the seed away from the hard soil.
· Remember Jesus said that the seed that fell on hard soil snatched away by the birds. And by the way, that represents the evil one, Satan coming snatching the word of God from a hard heart. Is that what it represents or is it something else? And I don't have a lot of time to go through everything, but I don't believe that the birds represent evil in the kingdom. Now, in the Old Testament, in both Ezekiel uh 31, Ezekiel 17, and Daniel 4, you have descriptions of the vast Assyrian and Babylonian empires.
· And both are described as huge trees that what the birds of the heaven. The birds came and made their nest in the Assyrian and Babylonian empires. Uh if you know your your at least your Old Testament history or just world history were vast major world empires.
· And although even in those passages, so in Ezekiel and Daniel, the birds are not interpreted for us. It's believed and I'm in agreement that they represent subject kingdoms, subject nations coming under them and finding shelter within them. In those days, often times if you surrendered to the empire, you could find refuge and safety in it. If you resisted it, obviously you would probably die. But if you subjected yourself to the vast kingdom, you could find refuge and safety.
· What I believe Jesus to be saying is that the kingdom of heaven will have the same effect on surrounding nations. A keen listener, especially those who knew their Old Testament in those days. If you heard about a big giant tree with birds nesting in it, and if you and if they had read, which many of them would have Ezekiel and Daniel, it might, you know, pick up a clue like is he talking like it's kind of like that.
· Yeah. Because he's talking about a kingdom and the kingdom of Assyria, kingdom of Babylon were massive.
· I believe Jesus is saying that like multiplied people came under the the vast trees of the kingdom of of Assyria, the kingdom of Babylon, multiplied people will come under the vast tree of the kingdom of heaven. But unlike the Assyrians or Babylonians who were temporary kingdoms, God's kingdom will be eternal. And Jesus, I believe, is drawing a contrast between those kingdoms and the kingdom of heaven.
· This kingdom, the kingdom of heaven will be permanent forever, eternal, not like those ones that were also described as huge trees with birds nesting in them. The kingdom of heaven is going to be like that except forever.
· And God is its king.
· So we see the vastness of the kingdom of heaven, how big it grows. Let's move on to the next section. How is the kingdom of heaven like leaven? Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took mixed into 50 lbs of flour.
· Some might say like three sata. Um it's approximately 50 lbs of flour until all of it was leavened.
· How is the kingdom of heaven like leaven? And the first thing that you may come to mind when you think about levan in scripture is that it represents evil.
· But that's not always necessarily true.
· Later in Matthew chapter 16, Jesus warns the disciples to what? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.
· And right there it specifically says he's talking about their teaching and their hypocrisy.
· See, beware of their hypocrisy. Beware of their teaching, disciples. Beware of that levan.
· The warning against this warning was a warning against allowing the Pharisees and the Sadducees teaching to what?
· Permeate and influence them.
· Paul brings up levan again in 1 Corinthians 5 talking about, you may have heard this, that a little levan leavenvens the whole lump, right? And there he's talking about tolerating sin in the church. A a little toleration of sin. Remember the g the the guy was uh sleeping with his mother-in-law. Uh and the Corinthians were proud of it, right?
· We're so accepting and loving that even that's okay.
· They're stupid, right? That's what Paul's basically like that's dumb and you need to get kick him out of the church. But even that was for his good.
· But Paul was saying that tolerating a little bit of sin can negatively affect the whole church.
· So biblically, levan pictures the permeating effects that something small can have on something big.
· It's not just picturing sin. Because if we just say leaven equals sin, if we make a a one for one there, levaven equals sin. Whenever you read about sin in the Bible or whenever you read about leaven in the Bible, it's sin. Well, then we would have to say that Jesus is saying the kingdom of heaven is like sin. And he could be he could be saying the kingdom of heaven is like sin. You know how sin permeates and destroys a bunch of stuff? Well, the kingdom of heaven is going to permeate but do like the opposite. Maybe. Yes. It just didn't set well with me. The kingdom of heaven is like sin and evil. Could possibly be.
· Jesus doesn't interpret this one like he did some of the other ones.
· But before I preach something, my heart needs to be in line with it. And I wasn't convinced that that was what Jesus is saying. I believe Jesus is simply talking about the permeating effects of the kingdom of God and what it that will have in the world. And remember, Matthew 16 comes after Matthew 13. So even the beware of the levan of the teaching and hypocrisy of the Pharisees is after 1 Corinthians 5 is like 30 years after.
· And so we have to think when you do Bible interpretation, you think what what did this mean to them then is the first thing that would have what is the first thing that would have popped into the disciples head sin. Oh, he's talking about sin when he's talking about that that woman making uh dough in the Oh, he talking about sin. Is that what they would have thought?
· And I think that the the pro the um the f the the flow, I'm sorry, the flow is clear that he's talking about the kingdom growing like a big tree and the kingdom growing like leaven affects dough and makes bread.
· So number two in the second part of the handout, like leavenan, the kingdom of heaven affects change internally. This is how levan works. My wife, and I know a few others do too, here at our church, uh, makes her own sourdough bread. It's the best. You can't have any. It's just for me. I'm just kidding. No, I'm kidding. But if you ever come over and we have some made, there's only going to be a little left. You better get it while you can cuz I'm going to eat it.
· But when you make sourdough bread, you have what's called starter. And some of you know probably more about this than I do. Um, but you take a portion of starter, which has what? active yeast or leaven and you mix it with your fresh flour and water. And what is that? The fresh flour and water is food for the yeast. There's a chemical reaction that takes place. It kind of bubbles and stuff like that, right? The active yeast eats the starches and the sugars and the fresh flour which causes the bread to rise.
· So yeast or or leaven, it takes one thing, the the the flour and the water, and it consumes it. The flour takes on the properties of the yeast and it's changed or use a better word transformed.
· Changed.
· I believe what Jesus is saying is that the same way leaven changes flour and and water into bread is the same way the kingdom of heaven brings transformation into people's lives.
· Jesus is using the picture of the permeating effects of levan in a positive way.
· Yes, sin can do the same thing and spread in the church. That's why Paul mentions it. It's a great picture of the permeating effects of something small on something big. But the kingdom of heaven can also spread in the world for God's glory and human good.
· Notice Jesus says at the end of verse 33, "Until all of it was leavened, which brings me to our second point, like leaven, the kingdom of heaven affects change comprehensively."
· And by that I mean both in individual people and in communities, there have been entire people groups completely changed by the gospel.
· One of the popular examples, and there's more than this, but I'll turn to it, is the Wani tribe in Ecuador that Jim and Elizabeth Elliott um went into as missionaries. And that you may have heard them called the Ala tribe. And I actually learned that Ala is a pjorative term for them. It's not meant as a compliment. It's the Warani tribe. Okay?
· But this tribe is in in an isolated tribe in Ecuador known for their violence. And so when Jim Elliott and his team, there were others went in to make contact uh with them, they had been trying to exchange some communication, some gifts, and some things were trying to build a rapport. And they wanted to go in and make contact. Well, him and four other men when they went in were attacked by that tribe, and they were speared to death. If you don't know their story, they were martyrs for the gospel.
· You can imagine the pain and the sorrow their families felt, the pain that Elizabeth felt, losing her her husband, losing a loved one to the very people that you're there trying to reach for the kingdom of God, for the gospel.
· But that's not the end of the story.
· Some years later, Elizabeth uh with a few others uh went back to the tribe and lived among and ministered to them. Went back to the same people who killed her husband and others. But she went back to the same people that killed her husband to minister to them.
· And instead of being murdered, they weren't killed that time, they were able to bring the gospel to them. And many of them got saved. And if you read some of the accounts, one gentleman uh was so radically transformed by faith in Christ that he said this quote, "I've killed 12 people with this spear, with my spear, but I did that when my heart was black.
· Now Jesus' blood has washed my heart clean so I don't live like that anymore.
· Isn't that great? Picturing his heart was black when he was a man of violence and murder but that his heart has been washed clean by the blood of Christ.
· The cycle the impact that the gospel had on that community was that a cycle of violence was broken. There was a culture shift in the entire community.
· Today there are many Wani Christians.
· There's even a Wani church and they have the New Testament in their own language.
· And there are similar stories like this around the world. It's not just them.
· This happens in unreached people groups where the gospel comes in for the very first time and it transforms and changes a community. It changes how they treat each other. It changes all kinds of things in the culture.
· When the kingdom penetrates, it brings change to people. When the gospel of the kingdom penetrates, brings change to people and it changes communities.
· And what's interesting is the amount of flour that Jesus mentions, verse 33, about 50 lbs mixed with levan would make enough bread to to feed 100 to 150 people. This is a big old lump. It's a big old thing of bread. It's not like a little loaf of bread that feeds your family of of three or something like this is a huge thing.
· And I and I think what Jesus is saying like leaven, the kingdom of heaven brings change. It permeates, it grows, and it blesses others.
· So, I want to get to our our parabolic truth that I've been doing the past few weeks just to kind of give you a summary statement.
· Through the parables of the mustard seed and levan, Jesus is declaring, and this is on your handout, too, if it's small on there. Jesus is declaring that despite enemy opposition, the kingdom of heaven will not be hindered, but will continue to grow until its ultimate consummation.
· We have to understand this.
· There is and will be enemy opposition to the work of the kingdom of God. Be assured, we will suffer.
· In Acts chapter 14, Paul was almost killed. He was almost martyed.
· And instead of running for his life, he gets back up and he goes back into the city. And it's a great story. You should read it. But Paul, it says he went back and he was strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith and saying, listen, and saying that through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God.
· Last week we kind of talked about the now and not yet of the kingdom. You say like we must enter it. Like though we haven't entered it yet, there's a dynamic there that we can talk about.
· And later in 2 Thessalonians 1 vers5, Paul writes, "This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God." That you, and that you, there is a y'all. We don't have that in English, but it's a y'all.
· All y'alls, that's a that's a a plural you. That you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God for which you are also suffering.
· Paul was so about the kingdom of God that no amount of suffering stopped him.
· No. And and when others when he started to see other churches suffering for the kingdom, he sits down and he writes letters to them saying that this is the righteous judgment of God. You'd be considered worthy worthy worthy of the kingdom of God. suffering worthiness that the that the kingdom of God is worth being beaten and half to death for. Yeah. That the kingdom of God is worth giving your life for as Paul eventually would and uh the rest of the apostles.
· John's exiled onto the island of Patmos. But it's not like that's very fun except getting revelation would be awesome. Um but you know what I mean?
· suffering because the kingdom of God is worth that.
· It's worth it.
· These parables are a reassurance that evil has an expiration date and the kingdom of heaven will prevail.
· And as I think through, you know, applications and stuff like how does this how does this passage apply? You know, I I think whatever you're going through, I I don't know what that is, what what's going on in your personal life, but here's the thing. We can rest assured Christ is king and he reigns in glory and one day we will be with him forever.
· And so until then, be faithful, be watchful, and be ready. There are other parables about what? Being ready for that to come. You don't want to be caught not ready.
· And how do you be caught not ready? It's by denying the gospel and being outside of Christ. That's how you get caught not ready. You say, "How do I get ready? How do I be ready for the kingdom of God?"
· It's called being in Christ when he comes.
· By being a child of the living God. And the only way, the only way is through Jesus Christ. He said, "Well, I am the way, the truth, and life. No one, no one, no one, count it, no one comes to the father except through me. That means if you're trying to find another way to the father, you failed.
· The only way is through Jesus Christ.
· I'm going to invite the worship team back up as we close with our last song and and pray. But if you're here listening to my voice or if you're online, you can message us. I'll follow up that way, too. Uh but if you are here and you say, "I don't know Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior. here. I was dragged here by my family. I'm just visiting. Um, today is the day because none of us are guaranteed tomorrow.
· What we learn in some of the be ready parables is that the king Jesus will come at a time that you don't know.
· I don't know either. You like, "Pastor DJ, when is it?" I don't know. If I gave you a date and time, you should fire me as your pastor, right? Because I ain't I don't know.
· But God does.
· He knows and you don't know. And now today is the day of salvation. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this morning. Thank you for your word. I pray God that this would fall on rich good soil, Lord. That you would cause growth among your people in and through your people. I pray for soft hearts this morning. I pray for ears that don't just hear the word but listen to it.
· God, I pray that you would um build up those here who do know you who just need the assurance that the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven will prevail, that they need to remain faithful, remain steadfast, and just be strengthened in the Lord as they await for that day. God, I also pray for those who may be here who do not know you.
· that today would be the last day that that is true about them and that they would come come ex to the invitation of knowing Christ in Jesus name we pray.
· Amen. Let's stand and
Parables