Mark - Parables: Mustard Seed Pt. 26

Amen. All right. Well, this week I get to teach on the mustard seed. I am so excited about this, you can't hardly believe it. So, where we're going to be at today is we're going to be in Mark 4:30–32. Mark 4:30–32. If you got your Bibles, open them up. If you don't have a Bible, there's one in the back of the chairs. If you don't own a Bible, please accept one of these as a gift from us to you.

Mark 4:30–32 says this. It says the parable of the mustard seed. It says again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed which is the smallest of all seeds on the earth. Yet when planted it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants and such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”

One author writes this as a way of introduction. He says Jesus is describing the growth and greatness of his kingdom. You got to hear this. I can't start until you hear this. Jesus is describing the growth and the greatness of his kingdom that is of Christianity. He shows how Christianity begins as the smallest seeds and grows into the greatest of movements.

The message of the parable of the mustard seed is a powerful message to everyone everywhere in our world. Because the seed of faith begins ever so small, but it grows into the greatest of trees known to mankind.

Hear me say this. Some of you are waiting. You're like, “God, where are you? Show up in my life. What is it? I don't hear you. I don't understand you.” Your faith is like a mustard seed. That mustard seed is going to grow into this great big thing that's going to enable you to do exactly what it is that God's will is for you in your life.

So the first thing that I want to talk about is this parable describes how the kingdom works. In verse 30, Jesus asks this. He says, “How can I describe the kingdom of God? What shall we say the kingdom of God is like?” He could have said, “What story shall I use to illustrate this kingdom of God?”

And Jesus describes it very clearly like this in verses 31 and 32. He says, “It is like a tiny mustard seed.” He says, “Though this is one of the smallest of seeds, yet it grows to become one of the largest of plants.”

Which leads us to the second thing, which is the seed sown is the seed that grows.

I have object lessons. Listen, I'm excited to do this. I don't know how it's going to go, but I'm excited to do this. So, listen. Here's the thing. How many of you know what a mustard seed looks like? They're pretty small. Let me show you.

In fact, that little dot is a mustard seed. You're going to pass it around. Just kind of pass it around. There is a seed there. It’s there. Mustard seed is pretty small, right?

You're probably like, “Well, what's that got to do with the kingdom of God?” Listen, if you looked at this mustard seed—and I did this, Merlene was in my office to witness it—if you drop it on the floor, you're probably not going to find it. I'm not going to find it unless I take my glasses off and then I'm probably not going to find it either.

So, a mustard seed's really small. Even though mustard seed is one of the smallest seeds in the world, it's not the smallest, but it's one of the smallest. And when it's planted—now here's a kicker word I want you to hear today—when the mustard seed is sown in the ground, it grows into a plant so large that birds can sit on the branch and even build their nests in the shade. Ain't that a cool picture?

I have read that these tiny seeds can produce a plant as big as 10 feet tall. It's like a bush kind of plant, 10 foot tall out of that little tiny mustard seed.

So what's the point? How is that a picture of the kingdom of God?

Well, when Jesus began his ministry—now pay attention to this—when Jesus began his earthly ministry, he had no followers. Correct? No followers. The Bible tells us that Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. And when he saw two fishermen, he saw Peter and Andrew. They were casting out their nets. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me.” What did they do? What was he doing? Sowing seeds.

He's sowing seeds. So they immediately followed Jesus. As Jesus continued on his way, they saw two brothers, James and John, mending their nets. Jesus called them, sowing seeds, and they immediately left their nets and followed him.

One by one, Jesus called his disciples until there were 12 of them. That's a pretty small beginning, right? But yet, it is a beginning. He started. You got to start somewhere.

Jesus sent out the 12 and they brought others to Jesus, sowing seeds, and the kingdom of God grew. The Bible tells us that Jesus fed 5,000. The book of Acts, there were 2,000 saved and then 3,000 saved. From a very small beginning, the kingdom of God has grown and grown until it has spread over the entire earth. That's why sowing seeds matters. It matters.

Let me use a little bit of an analogy to better understand this story. I'm going to take this apple—and I'm not going to cut it in half because I did it at home and it made an absolute mess—and plus I ate the apple.

In an apple, there are like five, six, seven seeds in it. So, we all know that we occasionally have eaten one of those apple seeds. Now imagine that we planted these seeds, and now we're going to use five seeds per apple for simple math.

Now imagine that we planted these seeds and each grew into an apple tree. How many apples do you think each tree might produce? 50, 100, 200? I read that an apple tree can produce anywhere from 150 to 300 apples each year and that an apple tree will produce apples for about 50 years.

So, if my math is correct, that's 15,000 apples from one seed. Think how many apples that is. That's a lot of apples from one seed.

Now, it's important to mention that the farmer or the sower of that seed has to have a commitment in his heart, a commitment in his mind, and a commitment in his body to do this work. All three are essential. Without any one of these commitments, the sowing does not get done or it is done half-heartedly.

So we must have commitment of heart for motivation, commitment of mind for planning, and commitment of body for planting.

While we're talking about sowing seeds, we're not really talking about apples anymore. What we're talking about is sowing the gospel of Jesus Christ to believers and non-believers.

We need a commitment of heart—we have to love people enough. We need commitment of mind—we have to know the truth of the gospel. And we need commitment of body—you got to do something.

You can't just sit in here and go, “Yay, kingdom of God grow.” That's not how it works. Each time we tell somebody about Jesus Christ, we are helping to grow the kingdom of God.

Jesus started growing the kingdom with a handful of disciples. You walk by people every day who need to hear you say, “Come with me. Let me share Jesus with you.”

Every follower of Jesus is part of the kingdom of God. That means you and I are part of God's mission of grace to this world.

We don't hit people over the head with a Bible. We lovingly tell them about Jesus Christ. There are people who are anxious, people who are angry, people who need hope. That’s what we do when we sow seeds.

Each time we tell someone about Jesus, we're sowing seeds.

Some of your sown seeds are here with you today. And if some of your seeds aren't here, maybe you just need to check on them.

Second Timothy 4:2 says, “Preach the word. Be prepared in season and out of season. Correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and careful instruction.”

God works in mysterious ways. Not everybody gets the full gospel, and we need to teach it rightly. People should see the gospel not just in your words but in your life.

If you're saying you follow Jesus, your life should reflect that. And if it doesn't—change it.

I love motorcycles. But I had a moment this week where I felt like the Lord said, “Bill, you hold some things higher than me.” And I had to deal with that.

A lot of times we focus on obvious sins, but sometimes it's the things we love too much that get in the way. If there's something in your life you're loving more than Jesus, you need to think about that.

Faith of a mustard seed doesn't take much. If God is calling you to something, you’re not going to fail.

If you're going to preach the gospel, if you're going to stand with Jesus, then you need to live a life that honors Him.

Yes, Jesus did it all on the cross—but there is still a responsibility to live a life that is pleasing to Him.

Things are hard. They just are. But the seed of the gospel, though small, is enormously powerful.

No matter how small you feel, you need to sow the gospel. Whatever is getting in the way, you need to get rid of it.

We are called to follow Jesus closely—like the dust of the rabbi. Following so closely that His dust gets on us.

Matthew 28 says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples.”

He has all the authority. You just need to step out. And when you do, He is with you always.

The growth of a tree from a small seed is nothing compared to the growth of a person who truly comes to know Christ.

We don’t get it right all the time, but we want to represent Jesus.

What if everyone here brought five people? Not about filling seats—but about doing what Jesus commanded.

And when people come, how do we treat them? Do we welcome them? Serve them?

We have a responsibility. Sowing seeds is one of the most important things we will ever do.

I don’t want to stand before God and say I only told you half the truth. Some of the things Jesus calls us to say are hard—but we need to say them.

You know what we get to take to heaven? Each other.

If things are distracting you from Jesus, get rid of them.

Let’s pray.

So Lord, we thank you for this day. Give us courage. Give us obedience. Help us remember we have one thing to do in life—to follow Jesus.

We give you the praise and glory in Jesus’ name. Amen.

All right, you are free to go.