Kingdom Parables: Big Things Come in Small Packages

When he was only six-years-old, Harland’s father died. That was in 1896. His mother was forced to go to work, and young Harland had to take care of his three-year-old brother, and baby sister. This meant doing much of the family cooking. By the age of seven, he was a master cook.

At age 10, he got his first job working on a nearby farm for $2 a month. At 15, he was a streetcar conductor in New Albany, Ind. At 16 he joined the U.S. Army and served six months in Cuba.

After the Army he was at various times a railroad fireman, studied law by correspondence, was a justice of the peace, sold insurance, operated an Ohio River steamboat ferry, sold tires, and managed service stations. When he was 40, he began cooking for hungry travelers who stopped at his gas station in Corbin, Ky. He didn't have a restaurant then, but served folks on his own dining table in the living quarters of his station.

As more people started coming just for food, he moved across the street to a motel and restaurant that seated 142 people. Over the next nine years, he perfected his secret blend of 11 herbs and spices and the basic cooking technique that is still used today. Harland Sander's fame as a cook began to spread.

In the early 1950s a new interstate highway was planned to bypass the town of Corbin. Foreseeing an end to his business, the Colonel auctioned off his operations. After paying his bills, he was reduced to living on his $105-a-month Social Security check.

Confident of the quality of his fried chicken, Sanders devoted himself to the chicken franchising business that he started in 1952. He traveled across the country by car from restaurant to restaurant, cooking batches of chicken for restaurant owners and their employees. If the reaction was favorable, he entered into a handshake agreement. The deal stipulated a payment to him of a nickel for each chicken the restaurant sold. By 1964, when Colonel Sanders was 74-years-old, he had more than 600 franchised outlets for his chicken in the United States and Canada.

Today there are more than 20,604 KFC outlets in 118 countries. KFC has grown to be one of the largest quick service food companies in the world. And it all began with a 65-year-old gentleman who used his $105 Social Security check to start a business.

Why do I tell you that story? To remind you that big things don’t always start out big. Likewise, God’s Kingdom began small, but has become big. Here then, is the central point

of the Parable of the Mustard Seed: God has caused His Kingdom to grow from a small beginning to a Kingdom that has spread throughout the world. It began small — almost insignificant, but now is a kingdom that encompasses over 2.2 billion adherents around the world. Eventually, it will be the world’s only Kingdom when Jesus comes in power and glory to establish His Father’s rule over all the nations of the Earth. This evening, as we look at this parable, I want to tell you to note three points: Little Beginnings, Big Results, and Sowing the Seed of the Kingdom.

I. LITTLE BEGINNINGS . . . Matthew 13:31-32a

"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; . . ."

1. in this parable of the mustard seed Jesus assures His hearers that small beginnings are not to be despised!

A. CONSIDER THE MUSTARD SEED

1. Jesus uses an illustration His listeners would have been very familiar with

a. He is referring to the Common Black Mustard plant seed

1) it’s a seed about the size of a pin head

2) they were cultivated for their oil as well as their culinary purposes

2. the mustard seed was the smallest seed the people of Israel planted in their gardens

a. it was a small seed, that by the end of the growing season had achieved phenomenal growth

b. the mustard seed was capable of producing a tree like plant that sometimes grew to be ten to twelve feet tall

3. Jesus in referring to the mustard seed is telling His disciples that the seed of the gospel message – like the mustard seed – will produce phenomenal growth

B. CONSIDER THE KINGDOM SEED

1. the kingdom of God would have small beginnings in its King as well as its rule and reign

a. Jesus came not in the fashion of a reigning king but with humble beginnings as a small babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger

1) by the world’s standards, He was small, insignificant, and easy to overlook

2) just another baby born in the dusty backwater of the Roman province of Judah

b. Isaiah likens his beginning as a tender plant

"Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: . . “ (Isaiah 53:1-5, KJV)

ILLUS. R. C. Trench, archbishop of Dublin and professor of divinity at King’s College in the mid-nineteenth century, described our Lord’s humble beginnings: “The Son of Man grew up in a despised province; he did not appear in public until his thirtieth year; then taught for two or three years in the neighboring villages, and occasionally at Jerusalem; made a few converts, chiefly among the poor and unlearned; and then falling into the hands of his enemies, died the shameful death of the cross; such, and so slight, was the commencement of the universal kingdom of God.”

2. and yet this King came preaching and teaching of the kingdom of God

a. as Jesus began His public ministry, His defining theme is “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

b. He began to attract men and women one at a time to become His disciple

c. the world would never be the same

ILLUS. One Solitary Life: He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in still another village, where he worked in a carpenter shop until he was thirty. Then for three years he was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family or owned a house. He didn't go to college. He never visited a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place where he was born. He did none of the things one usually associates with greatness. He had no credentials but himself. He was only thirty-three when the tide of public opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. He was turned over to his enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. While he was dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing, the only property he had on earth. When he was dead, he was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend. Nineteen centuries have come and gone, and today he is the central figure of the human race and the leader of mankind's progress. All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned put together, have not affected the life of man on this earth as much as that One Solitary Life.

3. small beginnings are not to be despised for the seed Jesus planted through His life and word has become and will continue to be a kingdom to be reckoned with now and all eternity

II. BIG RESULTS . . . Matthew 13:32b

" ... 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."

1. the Kingdom of Heaven is like the lowly mustard seed — it began small, was easily overlooked, yet it grew into something great and glorious and hard to ignore

A. CONSIDER THE KINGDOM GROWTH YESTERDAY

1. the early disciples probably could not imagine the growth of God’s Kingdom after twenty centuries, but they would soon see with their eyes the growth Jesus spoke of in this parable

a. 12 apostles chosen ... Luke 6:13

b. 120 believers the morning of the Day of Pentecost ... Acts 1:15

c. 3000 believers on the afternoon of the Day of Pentecost ... Acts 2:41

d. 5000 believers following days after Pentecost ... Acts 4:4

e. multiplying growth in Jerusalem, Judea, Galilee and Samaria is taking place ...

“So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.” (Acts 6:7, NIV84)

“Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord.” (Acts 9:31, NIV84)

f. Myriads (ten thousands ... infinite number) of Jews believe ... Acts 21:20

2. who would have imagined with such small beginnings there would be such phenomenal growth?

a. the beginnings of the Christian Church seemed hopelessly small

1) when the church began, it didn’t even register on Rome’s radar screen of subversive groups

2) but within thirty years after the Lord’s resurrection, the gospel of Jesus Christ had swept around the Mediterranean world from Jerusalem to Rome and within a century it compassed the entire Roman empire

3) within 250 years after Pentecost Christianity had grown from a small Jewish sect to the dominant religion of the Roman Empire

ILLUS. Historians estimate that for the first 300 years of its history, the church was growing at 40% per decade. Researcher David Barrett writes that by the year 300, or nine generations after Christ, the world was 10.4% Christian with 66.4% of believers Non-whites. The scriptures had been translated into ten languages.

b. Jesus said it would happen

B. CONSIDER KINGDOM GROWTH TODAY

1. can anyone imagine the growth that is taking place today?

a. here, there, and all around the world the kingdom of God continues to grow as believers sow the seeds of God's Word

b. unfortunately, in some places where Christianity was the dominant faith for seventeen-hundred years, the faith is dying out

ILLUS. This includes all of Europe. In 1910, two-thirds of the world’s Christians lived in Europe. In the Scandinavian countries of Finland, Sweden, and Denmark less then 5% of the population regularly attends church. In France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg less then 10% regularly attend. Only in Roman Catholic Ireland do a majority of residents regularly attend church. Today, Europe is functionally non-Christian, and in need of re-evangelization.

1) North America is not far behind

c. but in some areas of the world the Church is growing in dramatic fashion

ILLUS. In 1949 when the Communists took over China and kick all western missionaries out of the country there were as estimated one millions Christians in China. Today there are at least 115 million — most of them in Underground House Churches. China — officially an Atheist nation — is on pace to become the world’s most ‘Christian’ nation within 15 years.

The nation of India has seen exponential growth of Christianity over the last decade — with between 70% to 90% of Christians being in low-caste groups.

Muslims are turning to Christ in astonishing numbers. In 1979 when the Islamic revolution took over Iran, there were as estimated 500 Christian in all of Iran. Today there are right at one million. More Iranians have become Christians in the last 20 years than in the previous 13 centuries put together since Islam came to Iran.

Across sub-Sahara Africa, Latin America, and Asia Christianity has exploded. Christianity is not dying, but it is shifting. One out of four Christians in the world presently is an Africa, and the Pew Research Center estimates that will grow to 40 percent by 2030. The largest percentage of the world’s Pentecostals are not in America, but in Brazil. Right now the “typical Christian” is a woman living in a Nigerian village or in a Brazilian shantytown.

. the growth of the mustard seed rests in the power of God, not in the labor of the one sowing

a. all the Lord has ever asked us to do is plant and water — it is His part of the work to give the increase

1) the growth of the mustard seed rests in the power of God, not in the labor of the farmer

2) while the farmer must plant the seed, he has no power to make it grow

b. when we assume responsibility for the Lord’s part of the work — a thing that we have no control over — we are bound to become discouraged

C. CONSIDER KINGDOM GROWTH TOMORROW

1. the kingdom that resides within us as believers will one day be manifest for all to see and behold

ILLUS. In the Old Testament book of Daniel, there is an amazing passage that predicts the future measure and extent of God’s Kingdom. King Nebuchadnezzar has had a dream. His mind is troubled and he cannot sleep. He summons the court magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers and tells them, “I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means.” Not only does the king want an interpretation of his dream, he wants these cosmic inquirers of his court to actually tell him what he has dreamed! They lament and say, “There is not a man on earth who can do what the king asks . . . “ Enter a young man named Daniel. He prays and God reveals to him the King’s dream as well as the correct interpretation of the dream.

a. listen now to the words of Daniel 2:27-35; 44-45

1) folks, that small stone that strikes the foundation of the world’s kingdoms and causes the nations of the world to crumble and then becomes a mountain that fills the whole earth, that small stone is the Kingdom of God

b. there will be a day when all the nations from all time will gather before the throne of God

1) on that day, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord

2) on that day, all will see the glory of God

3) on that day, all will see the fulness of His everlasting Kingdom

Revelation 21:1-5

2. the best of the kingdom’s growth is yet to happen!

a. we who have heard and believe will one day experience the fullness of the kingdom and all its eternal blessings

b. do not despise small beginnings!

III. SOWING THE SEED OF THE KINGDOM

1. you and I are responsible for sowing the seed of the Gospel

a. this seed, according to 1 Peter 1:23-25, is the Word of God, which lives and abides forever

b. it is a seed that is capable of producing what God intends

2. we simply need to be willing to plant the seed

ILLUS. John G. Paton, was a nineteenth-century Scottish missionary who felt called to go to the South Seas, and preach the Gospel to the Islanders of the New Hebrides—many of which were cannibals. He met opposition from family and friend alike. A well-meaning church member moaned to him, “The cannibals, the cannibals! You will be eaten by the cannibals!”

Without hesitation, Paton replied, “I confess to you that if I can live and die serving my Lord Jesus Christ, it makes no difference to me whether I am eaten by cannibals [while I live] or by worms [after I die]; for in that Great Day of Resurrection, my body will rise as fair as yours in the likeness of our risen Redeemer!”

1) isn’t that the kind of faith each of us needs to have?

Conclusion: He who has ears to hear, let him hear! The truth of the parable is this: Little is much if God is in it. The effectiveness of our work is to be measured not in terms of responses to the gospel, but in terms of how much seed has been sown.

To those who first heard it, this parable was saying, “Have patience, exercise faith, keep on praying, and keep on working. God’s program cannot fail.” It is saying the same thing to those who have come afterward.

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