Open up your Bibles to the book of Mark chapter 4. And this morning we will begin our reading at verse 30. Mark chapter 4 verse 30. We move this morning into the next of the parables in chapter four, and the last of the parables here in chapter four. And it is the parable of the mustard seed. Now, these parables we've been looking at have been giving us glimpses into the kingdom of God. And today's parable, I think, uses a mustard seed's growth into a plant, to a grape plant, or even a great tree, to give insight into how God's kingdom would grow. And so that's our topic for this morning. Let's read our text, Mark chapter four, beginning at verse 30. And he said, whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what comparison shall we compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which when it is sown in the earth is less than all the seeds that be in the earth. But when it is sown, it groweth up and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches, so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it. And with many such parables spake he the word unto them as they were able to hear it. But without a parable spake he not unto them, And when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, O Lord, we are just humbled, Lord, to be able to come into your presence at this hour and, Lord, to be able to worship you together as brothers and sisters in Christ and fellowship with you and with one another. And we thank you for that, Lord. We thank you for all the many things that you do for us, especially the giving of your word and the aid of your Holy Spirit to teach us your word. And I just pray this morning, Lord, that our eyes might be open to your kingdom and what it's about and how it's grown and how majestic it is. And just, Lord, give us more and more here this morning that we can be thankful for and that we can praise you for. I just pray all these things in Jesus' name, amen. All right, let's begin now with the meaning of this parable that we find in verses 30, 31, 32. The Lord begins here by using two rhetorical questions. A rhetorical question is a question you ask not really expecting, you know, an answer to it that you might yourself go forward and answer the question. Oftentimes, I remember my parents doing this and me doing this as a parent. You use a lot of rhetorical questions with children just to try to get them to think about things, right? Why is this mess in the floor? You really don't expect an answer. You're wanting them to think about the mess in the floor, right? and it might be time for some instruction, shall we say. Well, the Lord uses two rhetorical questions here where he says, where into shall we liken the kingdom of God? In other words, what can we, what is there that we can look to that will help us learn something about the kingdom of God? And then the second one, very similar, or with what comparison shall we compare it, what is there out there that we can compare the kingdom of God to that would help us to understand this? And you know, And the Lord's doing this for the same reason I said a while ago that parents often use rhetorical questions with their children. He's using this to draw his hearer's attention to his teaching concerning the kingdom. Do you realize, have you come to see that Jesus talks a lot about the kingdom of God? Doesn't he? Why do you think he talks so much about the kingdom of God? It's because it's very, very important, that's why. It is critical and a considerable part of God's holy plan to redeem his people. And for us as believers, I think we need to understand it's not something that's gonna come someday. It's something that exists now. It was existing when he came and he began to preach about it. He is the king of that kingdom. And so he wants to draw attention to it. It's very, very important, and we need to understand this. I really don't see a lot of talk today in modern times about the kingdom of God. Of course, you know, a lot of sermons that are preached are very man-focused, very human-centered, which is wrong. Sermons ought to always be Christ-centered. And our study and our understanding of the Word of God ought to be Christ-centered. And so there ought to be, I think, more talk about the kingdom of God. So now, here in Mark chapter 4, Jesus has already made reference and used parables that help us understand the kingdom of God, and he seems to be particularly concerned here that they understand what the growth of the kingdom of God would be like, what it would look like. And so in this parable he begins, or he declares, that the kingdom is going to start small, like a mustard seed. He says, in answer to his own rhetorical questions in verse 31, he says, it, the kingdom, the kingdom of God, is like a grain of mustard seed, which when it is sown in the earth is less than all the seeds that be in the earth. Now his hearers would understand exactly what he's talking about. the mustard plant or as it were, grew there and it was one very common to them. And they would all understand that the mustard seed is about as small a seed as you can get. It's smaller than any other seed. And so they would get that and they would understand that. In fact, Jesus would refer to a mustard seed on other occasions talking about faith and how We really don't need a great whole lot of faith. We just need the faith that's as big as a grain of mustard seed. He would refer to it in that way. And so it's something that he would use as a comparison, and certainly something that they were familiar with using as a comparison as well. And so it was something known. And it was known that it was very, very tiny and smaller than any other seed. Yet at the same time, they also understood that it grew into a large plant. And so Jesus here is using this to teach about the kingdom of God and how it would begin as the smallest of all kingdoms on earth and in history. And indeed it did. The kingdom of God begins in the days of Jesus and just before his ministry with the coming of one person to kind of pave the way for the Messiah to come, and that was John the Baptist. And who was John the Baptist? Was he some famous, well-known person? Someone well-educated, someone wealthy, someone connected to the powers that be at that time. He was not any of those things. He had pretty much lived his life out in the wilderness. He was not known for his fashion. In fact, quite the opposite, probably. And here he comes out of the wilderness, a prophet, And he, too, begins to tell people that the kingdom of God was at hand. So it's first heralded by John the Baptist. And that would then lead the way and open the door for an humble carpenter from Nazareth, of all places, to then begin his ministry. And of course, we speak of Jesus. And in his ministry, Jesus himself would begin to talk about the kingdom of God. And it was something he talked about on many, many occasions. And along the way, people began to understand that he is the king of this kingdom and that he was proclaiming himself to be. Those who could understand understood that he was the Messiah sent from God. Their understanding might have been a bit limited in many ways, but they began to understand that more and more as the ministry of Jesus continued. And when you set out to establish a kingdom, and as you look out across history, those who have established the greatest kingdoms in history were people who were very heroic, and people who came forth, and they won great battles, and they defeated other people, and they were great leaders, and there was much pomp and circumstance about them. But that's not what Jesus did. That's not who he was. That's not the purpose of his first coming. He was much more humble than that, much more lowly than that. And that's because he came to establish a kingdom that was different than all those other kingdoms had been and those that would follow would be. All other kingdoms are very physical in nature. His kingdom is a spiritual kingdom. This king would not begin his kingdom with what would appear to man to be a great victory, though it was. He would begin his kingdom by being humiliated and then executed on a tree, buried in a grave. Very, very unusual compared to the beginnings of other kingdoms. In fact, no other kingdom has ever started that way, but his did. And he started it this way because this is the way of God. I want you to turn to 1 Corinthians 1. We're gonna read several verses there that give us insight into just how God does these things. First Corinthians chapter one, we'll begin reading at verse 18. First Corinthians chapter one, verse 18. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. To them that perish, by the way, everything God is and does is foolishness to them. They have no heart turned to God. They're not looking for God. They're looking to satisfy their own flesh. They may create gods for themselves, but they're not looking for the almighty God on high because he's foolish to them. The very idea and concept of a sovereign God is foolish to those who are perishing. But unto us which are saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness. But unto them which are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Note this, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For you see, your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. And God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. And base things of the world and things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not to bring to naught things that are. And why does God do things this way? Verse 29, that no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, that according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. God started this kingdom small. He started this kingdom different than any other kingdom had ever been started, so that he could manifest his great power and wisdom so that he could show mankind what this is all about, that God is glorious, that he is majestic, that he is sovereign, and so that no man could ever stand before God and say, you know, God, I helped you with that kingdom. That kingdom might not have ever existed if it hadn't been for me and my efforts. Can anyone ever stand before God and say that? Absolutely not. God started this kingdom in a different way than any other kingdom had ever been started. So this kingdom began to grow as a mustard seed grows in the ground. Jesus would gather 12 disciples to be very close to him, and he would teach them and disciple them. Beyond them, there was as many as 120 more who would be added before the death and resurrection of our Savior. Then on the day of Pentecost, there would be 3,000 more added. And soon after that, another 5,000 souls would be added to this kingdom. Just as the mustard seed grows into a great tree, so the kingdom of God began to grow. So it starts small, like a mustard seed. But once it's planted, and once the growing process begins to take place, it grows, and then it grows some more, and then it really begins to grow, and it grows into something much, much bigger than anything, than what it was before. And so it is with the kingdom of God. It began to grow and to grow and to grow. From Jerusalem, it grew out into Judea. From Judea to Samaria. From Samaria into Asia Minor. From there to Europe and Africa and Asia. And as the years and the centuries even would go by, the kingdom of God would spread into North America and South America and to Australia. All across the world, it began to grow and then it's grown big. And there is nothing greater than the kingdom of God that this world has ever seen. Now, we tend to focus on the smallness of things, I think. And we ought to be careful about that. And let me say, there are people who focus on the big things. We have these big, massive, they call them megachurches. Thousands and thousands of people that go to these things. And they call themselves churches, but I question whether they truly are. The human thinking is, oh, it's gotta be, it's so big, look, so many people come, that doesn't mean anything. And so I think we look at that, and sometimes we pride ourselves maybe on being a small church. And listen, I think having a small congregation is good. What I think more than that is, though, that we shouldn't get so caught up into numbers. Okay? We need to be concerned about quality. We need to be concerned about are we being faithful to the word of God? We need to make certain that the doctrines we believe are the doctrines of the scriptures. We need to make certain that the example we're following is that of Jesus Christ and not that of best-selling authors. Some people just want to go to church just for that, for the glamour of it and the notoriety of it and that kind of thing. Well, that's not what church is about. And we get to thinking about these things, and we tend to then focus on the being the remnant. And I think the scriptures teaches that we ought to look for a balance there. Often through scriptures, we do read about God always has a remnant, okay? I believe that he has a remnant of people that still follow him here in the United States today. I'm concerned that that remnant is shrinking, okay? But I believe that to be true. And we maybe get to focusing on those things. Sometimes we need to step back and we need to see the big picture, though. The big picture is this. God's kingdom has grown and grown and grown. God's kingdom is made up not of territory and boundary lines marked upon the earth. God's kingdom is a spiritual kingdom that consists of souls, consists of people who have been born again, whom he has quickened, and who have become believers on the Lord Jesus Christ. And the numbers of those people, you nor I know what that number is. I'm sure it's much greater than we would think that it is. And I'm sure that when the final day comes and the Lord returns for the second time, and every single elect person has been brought into that kingdom, I'm sure we will be astonished at that number. Because God's kingdom has grown. We look at the world around us, we see the circumstances of sin that are overwhelming our nation right now. And we can get to thinking a little bit negatively about what God is doing. Let me tell you something. Let me tell you, in fact, what God is doing. He is growing His kingdom. He has not stopped that. And we ought to be thankful that He is. His kingdom has grown, and it will continue to grow until the Lord returns in all of His glory. It is the greatest kingdom ever known in this world. And that is because it is a spiritual kingdom and not a physical one. It is an eternal kingdom, not a temporal one. Romans chapter 14, verse 17 says, for the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, physical things, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. His is a spiritual kingdom. And as was noted earlier, you must be born again to see that spiritual kingdom and to be able to appreciate the value of that kingdom. You see, it's a wondrous kingdom. It's a glorious kingdom. It's a kingdom built by the very hands of God. And if you're born again, that means you get to be a part of that kingdom. you get to be a subject in that kingdom. When Christ returns the second time, all the world will come to see the power and the glory and the majesty of his kingdom. They may not see it now, that being those who are lost. They may not see it now, those who are perishing. They may, what they see they may think is foolishness. but there will come a time when they will see that God's kingdom is indeed the greatest kingdom ever. No other kingdom will be comparable, and all shall bow before the King of kings and the Lord of lords, for truly all other nations are his footstool. This is something for us to be in awe of, For it is something for us to celebrate. It is something for us to glorify God for. This is the week where we have a day that we have set aside as a national holiday. And we call it Thanksgiving. And it's a day where we want to be thankful to God for all that he's done for us. We know one of the biggest things we ought to thank him for is the kingdom that he is growing. We ought to thank Him for that, and that we get to be a part of that. All of God's people are a part of this kingdom. And in His wisdom, He has seen fit for us to share in the glory of it. Verse 32. But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches, so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it. There is some disagreement among the scholars concerning the meaning of the fowls of the air lodging under the shadow of the tree. Some say that birds in the scriptures seem to always be associated with Satan and evil. In fact, we've seen that in a previous parable in this chapter where the birds come and take away the seed that was sown. And so there are scriptures that bear that out. So they say that these birds that come and lodge under the shadow of it represent false professors who come into the congregations, much as the tares are sown amongst the wheat in yet another one of the parables. And so some hold to that and think that, and certainly there is room to think that, that we know for a fact there are tares sown among the wheat. But this meaning for birds Is not true for every every passage of scripture. There are some where birds represent the people of the world Who come into a kingdom? It's used this way in Nebuchadnezzar's dream. That's interpreted by Daniel It's also used this way in Ezekiel for instance in Ezekiel chapter 31 verse 3 Behold the Assyrian and this is speaking of the Assyrian kingdom and was a cedar in Lebanon, with fair branches and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature, and his top was among the thick boughs. The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high, with the rivers running around about his plants, and sent out her little rivers into all the trees of the field. Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long because of the multitude of waters when he shot forth. All the fowls of heaven made their nest in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations." Meaning there were people from many other nations that came under that nation of Assyria. They were evil people, okay. But they were a great nation and pleased God for his purposes to raise them up as a powerful nation and a lot of people came in under those branches. So I think that this reference here, Mark, to the fowls of the air refers to saints from all the nations who will come and be a part of this kingdom of God. Revelation 7 chapter 7 verses 9 and 10 says after this I beheld and lo a great multitude which no man could number, of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues, stood before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes and palms in their hands, and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God, which sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb." So we know that the kingdom of God, and this we know for sure because of this verse in another similar passage, tells us that There are gonna be people from every nation, every kindred, every people, every tongue, who will stand before the throne as saints of God. So the kingdom of God will be made up of people from all the nations. Now that's an amazing statement. There's only one person who can guarantee that, and that is God himself. And how can he guarantee it? Because he has ordained it to be so. He has elected believers to come from all these nations and peoples and kindreds and dons. And he will bring that to pass. And so his kingdom will be indeed the greatest kingdom ever seen. Now, I wanna close by looking at verses 33 and 34. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, there are at least 39 parables to be found, and almost all of them concern the kingdom of God. We see here in chapter 4 now, for about the 10th time, I believe, an emphasis being placed on hearing these parables. Verse 33, and with many such parables, so many more about the kingdom of God, spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it. How are they able to hear it? The only way a person can hear, and here that means to understand, hear with understanding, is to be born again, is to be given spiritual life, is to have your ears and your eyes opened up so that you can see and hear these things. And so he says, as they were able to hear it, but without a parable speaking not unto them, And when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples. So he's emphasizing the hearing of these parables. To hear them, again, you must be born again. And they must be explained to you. Jesus explained it to the disciples. You and I have these parables explained to us by the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit of God helps us to understand these parables. Now sometimes this understanding comes slowly. It did for the disciples. And we're not any different. It comes slowly over time with much effort and persistence on our part to understand. We must labor sometimes to understand. But God gives to us what understanding we have. Those who draw close to Jesus, are given understanding about things. Jesus wanted his disciples, just as he wants us today, to understand all we can about what the kingdom of God looks like, how it works, how it grows. God wants us to understand these things. Thus, he has given us these parables in his word. If you're born again, you ought to be thankful that God will give you understanding of these spirits. And you ought to dig into them and try to understand them. And seek what you can learn from them. It's a precious thing. Those who draw close to Jesus are given understanding. Turn to 2 John. So John's second letter. in verse nine. There's only one chapter, so we'll go to verse nine, 2 John 9. And there's a principle here. Draw close to Jesus and you get more of Jesus and the Father. Draw back from Jesus and you'll lose both him and his Father. Second John, verse nine. Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. Now, I wanna just close with this thought. We mentioned earlier megachurches and all that, and they're built on, well, all kinds of things that are pleasing to the flesh, really. And there are amongst these churches, there is a reluctance to commit to doctrine. They want to set doctrine aside because doctrine has a way of offending people. Doctrine has a way of causing people to turn away and go somewhere else. And so they don't want that. They want everybody. They want as many people as they can. And so we'll set doctrine aside And when you set doctrine aside, it's as if you're pushing God aside. You see, he wants to fellowship with us, but it must be his way, and according to thus saith the Lord. And not our way. Our way will attempt to elevate us above God. That brings separation with God. So what do we need to be concerned about? Some people being separated and going away because of doctrine? Or us setting aside doctrine and becoming separated from God? We need to draw up as close to God as we can. And if that's offensive to people, if his doctrine is offensive to people, then we must leave that with God. It is a stumbling block to some, just as it is foolishness to others. And there's not a thing you or I can do to change that. The only thing that's gonna change that is God quickening their soul. And we need to pray for that to happen. And we need to draw close to God, close to Jesus, We need to get up as close as we can. How close to Jesus are you? What is between you and God right now that's preventing you from drawing up close, that's preventing you from learning more about God? What's preventing you from enjoying the fellowship that we have with God? What is preventing you from enjoying the joy of your salvation? Almost always it's some sort of sin. If you have that in your life, you need to confess that to the Lord. And you need to repent. And you need to be cleansed by the washing of his word and the ministering of his Holy Spirit so that you can walk with the Lord. Folks, we get to be in the greatest kingdom ever. You know, I love the United States of America. I love the principles it was founded on. I love much of what is accomplished. I think as far as physical nations go, America is the greatest nation on the earth, but it is nothing compared to the kingdom of God. I love the kingdom of God more. And I want to draw as close to Jesus as I can. Do I always feel that way? Well, no. Because I'm plagued by sin too. Because I'm in the flesh still too. And this old stinking rotten flesh just gets in the way. And I long for those days of glory and eternity when sin will no longer be a problem. And this flesh will be gone forever, replaced by a glorified body. And I long for that time when our fellowship with the Lord will be pure and free. Free from sin, free from the temptations of sin. But there are times right now here where our spirit can and should and must draw close to the Lord. Is that where you're at here this morning? The only thing that can prevent it is you and me. By hanging on to our sin, let go. Let go of sin. Hang on to God. He is our lifesaver. He is the one who has rescued us and is rescuing us from the stormy waters. We need to cling to him as that rescuer and draw close. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, oh Lord, we are so thankful for all that you've done for us. We're thankful for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And We're thankful that he is our rescuer. We're thankful that we get to be a part of this great kingdom. And oh Lord, I just pray. That all eyes will be turned to you and that you would receive the glory as the king of this kingdom. Lord, help us to draw up close to you. Help us to be hungry for your word. Hungry to learn more and more about you and about your kingdom. Help us, Lord, to set aside the temptations and the distractions of this world and this flesh. Help us to be a revived people. I pray this in Jesus' name, amen.