Let's take our Bibles today and turn to the Gospel according to Matthew chapter 13. Matthew chapter 13. I'd like for us to look and see the truth of a parable that was preached by our Lord. He's been preaching some parables and this parable is a story of a natural or a familiar expression or figure, and it's set forth to illustrate a divine or a spiritual truth. So in this particular parable, like the parables that the Lord's already been preaching, it's to illustrate to us, God's people, how the kingdom of heaven is set forth, how we know it, how we behold it. The kingdom of heaven. This is the Lord's body. It's His church. It's the elect of God. God has a kingdom. And with a kingdom there is a king. And so now in this parable today, it's the parable of the mustard seed. And our Lord is going to teach us how His glorious kingdom has grown. Now, you remember, the kingdom of God has always been, God's always had an elect. He's always had a people that He's everlastingly loved. They always were in the Lord Jesus Christ. Always beheld by the Father as being holy and without blame before Him in love. Because the Spirit of God has revealed that God saved them and then called them out of darkness. But these that have always been His set apart in Christ Jesus. They came into this world and they were... Well, the scripture says that Satan beguiled Eve. He fooled her. He tricked her. But Adam sinned against God with his eyes wide open. And this beloved kingdom fell in Adam. It fell in trespasses and sins. And having fallen in trespasses and sins, they never fell out of the love of God in Christ. They've always been His. But the Lord is gonna teach us a parable about how this kingdom has grown in this world. And now, we're gonna set forth this kingdom, and it's set forth in verses 31, 32, Matthew 13, like a grain of mustard seed. He says in verse 31, 32, another parable put he forth unto them, saying, the kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all seeds, but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof." Now, this parable speaks of God's kingdom to be likened unto. It's a picture. Here's a type. He said it's like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field. Now, Matthew 13, 38 gives us the explanation The field, it says in verse 38, Matthew 30, the field is the world. So we know that the kingdom of heaven, it's likened unto this little bitty seed. There's a little seed that I like to put in my salad. It's called a chia seed. Little bitty thing. little bitty to the point to where you try to stir your salad or something in a chia seed, which is so little, it's just like a dot. And it just spills out and you get a few of them on the cabinet or something like that and you have to look at them and put your finger on it to try to get them up. Little old bitty thing. Now you take a little chia seed. And you go and pick you out a desert. Pick you a desert. And you go out in that desert, thousands and thousands and thousands of acres, and plant a chia seed. And then ask yourself, now what What kind of significance does that have? Out there in the middle of nowhere, little old bitty insignificant seed. The Lord said that his kingdom, kingdom of heaven, is like that little mustard seed, like that little baby chia seed. Man took and put it in his field, sowed it in the world. A mustard seed, mustard seed that didn't appear as though it had any significance whatsoever. Just a little work of obscurity that seemed to have nothing, no bearing to the natural eye. But the Lord's church, His kingdom, though comparatively speaking small in its beginning, set forth as a divine work of God's grace, a work everlastingly purposed by God, a work that is as sure as God's word is sure. And the way that the Lord brought that kingdom about is a work that appeared to be nothing more than foolishness as to man's thinking. Whenever God Almighty created Adam and Eve, they began to have children, and the scripture reveals over in Genesis chapter 6, I mean not long after, comparatively speaking, to the creation of man, the scripture declares that God Almighty looked upon the sons of men that were all now all over. And it said that God saw that every imagination of the thoughts of man's heart was evil continually. And it grieved the Lord. He repented the Lord that He had made man. And God Almighty declared that He was going to destroy man. All. He was going to destroy him. But God revealed the selectiveness of His will and purpose concerning His kingdom. The Spirit of God revealed God's mercy and compassion to show that kindness to whomsoever He would. And the Scripture says that God looked upon a man named Noah, and Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Not deserving it. He didn't deserve it. Grace is not deserved. God's mercy is not deserved. God looked upon Noah in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Looked upon him as a member of his kingdom. God Almighty loved Noah because he chose to love Noah. But Almighty God told Noah to build an ark. gave him the dimensions, and God revealed to him that he was going to destroy the world. And for 120 years, Noah built an ark. He built it, preaching. He was a preacher of righteousness. And when it pleased God, Almighty God told Noah to take his wife, his three sons, their wives, and the animals of God's choosing. And God Almighty told him, get in the boat. And when he got in the boat, God shut the door. And Almighty God sent judgment. He sent judgment upon this world and only God knows how many people God drowned. He drowned all of them. God killed them. How many? I don't know. Millions. Millions. God Almighty destroyed the whole world by a flood except for eight souls. Everybody in the world except Noah, his wife, his sons, their daughters, those animals died in the flood. And that for one reason, because God had a kingdom and God was going to save His kingdom. And they're just like that little mustard seed. You mean to tell me that Almighty God killed everybody except that family right there? Yeah. That's right. He killed them all. Why? Because He's just. But He's a Savior. God's a Savior. Well, in time, the magnitude of what His kingdom would be was illustrated to a man named Abram. Abram, he was an idol worshiper, a pagan. It was like all men. Here comes the population of the world again. And Almighty God who had promised, promised, I'll never destroy the world again by flood. But men began to populate. And here God Almighty shows mercy to a man Abram called this man out of darkness, saved him by his grace, and told him to leave his country and go to a place that the Lord would reveal to him. Abraham didn't know where he was going. And so he left, believing God. He believed Him. He told him, he said, you go, I'll show you where to go. And he left, left his father, left his family, and he came to a place and God spoke to him. He said, Abram, He said, I am thy shield. And He told him, He said, I'm going to raise up a kingdom. A kingdom of elect, a kingdom of God's love, a kingdom of God's choosing. And He told Abraham, He said, I'm going to tell you about the scope of this kingdom. Scripture says in Genesis 15, five and six, he brought him forth abroad and said, look now toward heaven and tell the stars if thou be able to number them. And he said unto him, so shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord and he counted it to him for righteousness. God told Abraham, he said, this is going to be my kingdom. It's going to be like the stars. So many of the Pharisees later, they looked, saying that they came out of the loins of Abraham and that was a great comfort to them. The Lord told them, He said, God can raise up rocks to be sons of Abraham. But these set forth the elect, God's people, seed of God's choosing. And God told Abraham, he said, this is how the seed, the kingdom, is going to be like the star. You look up. You ever looked up? As a kid, I remember I used to be able to look up and see the Milky Way. And it was just almost like a cloud. The stars were so, you go out on a dark, dark night. No lights. And it's just amazing. You look at the stars and you think. God told him, he said, can you count those stars? No way. He said, that's going to be the seed of God's choosing. And God promised Abraham a son. He said, I'm going to give you a son. And Sarah, his wife, heard that. She laughed in her heart. God asked Abraham, when God was getting ready to send some angels into Sodom, He said, why did Sarah laugh? Sarah said, I didn't laugh. Well, she didn't laugh out loud. But she laughed at her heart. She was an old lady beyond the years of childbearing. And God had promised Abraham a son. And Sarah suggested to Abraham, he said, I'm past the age. I can't do this. I'm too old. I'll give you my handmaid." So she gave Abraham Hagar. And Abraham had a son, Ishmael, by Hagar. But as providence would have it, God revealed to Abraham, He said, that's not the son. It's not going to be a kingdom. It's not going to be by the works of man, by the will of man. He said, I'm going to give you a son this next year, this time. And the scripture declares when Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was about 90, that God gave Abraham a son. You say, how could that be? Is there anything too hard for God? Is not the Lord God Almighty all power? And so God gave Abraham a son. And he said, through this son, He said, the Messiah is going to come. This is going to be through this boy, Isaac. And so Isaac, God's chosen, God's elect, part of God's kingdom. Isaac was the subject of a conversation God told Abraham. He said, I want you to take your son, your only son, take him up and sacrifice him. You know the story. Abraham took him up three days, believed God, said, we're going to go up and worship God. He put him on, tied him down. Isaac asked his daddy, here's the fire, here's the wood. Where's the lamb? Abraham told Isaac, he said, my son, God will provide himself a lamb. And God, you know, delivered Isaac, had a ram as a substitute. It was Isaac, spared by the grace of God, part of that kingdom. And Isaac, the scripture said, had a son, a chosen son, by his wife, Rebekah. He had a boy, he had two boys. One of them was Esau, one was Jacob. But scripture says, Jacob have I loved. And Esau, have I hated. God spared. God spared. Jacob. He's got Abraham. Abraham had Isaac. Isaac had Jacob. And then Jacob was blessed of the Lord. He had 12 sons. And out of those sons, there was one boy. Out of those sons. His name was Joseph. That son, Joseph, he was betrayed by his brothers. He went out, they were jealous of him. He had a coat of many colors and they took him and they were going to kill him, you know, but they spared him because of one of the brothers that interceded for him. And they said, don't kill him, let's just sell him to this traveling band. And so they sold him to this caravan going to Egypt. And they sold him into bondage. and took his coat of many colors, killed an animal, put some blood, went back and told their daddy, you know, Isaac said an animal got him. And here that dad grieved for all these years. But God blessed that boy Joseph and put him in second command. And when there was a great famine in the land and Joseph, by the wisdom of God, he raised him up and he was over the distribution of the corn. And as Providence would have it, his family had heard that there was some corn in Egypt. And they went over and they started approaching Joseph. They didn't know who he was. But here was his brother. Joseph knew them. They didn't know him. And Joseph kept telling them back and forth. He was wanting to know how his dad was and his brothers were. and everything, and he kept back and forth, back and forth, and finally, whenever it pleased God to reveal to his brethren, you know, the mercy of God. He was going to show God's mercy to him. And after he took him, Isaac being his dad, and he came and he told him, he said, I want to tell you something. He said, I'm your brother. that you sold into bondage and broke their hearts. And he revealed to him, Joseph said, you meant it for evil. God meant it for good. God's got a kingdom and He's going to save His king, going to save His people. He raised me up. He said, right here in Egypt, He said to be the one that would preserve you. So here was the preservation. Abraham and Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, And now they find themselves. You know, he tells them, he said, go back and get my dad, Jacob. I may have said Isaac or whatever, but Jacob. And he said, go back and get him. He said, bring him here to me. And so here they are now 200 years after God had promised Abraham You look at the stars and see how many, how many stars, count them if you can. That's how many, that's how many. They're innumerable, innumerable by man, but not by God. And he said, you look and see, and he said, there's going to be that many. 200 years after God made that promise to Abraham. And now they're coming in, they're coming in to Egypt. And here they are, 70. 70. 70 people. After 200 years. And the scripture declares that over the next 430 years, all Israel is in Egypt. And they're there now. Now they're in bondage. And they're a picture, they're a type of of God's kingdom, a picture in the bondage of sin. And the scripture declares that they've now grown to a mighty, mighty nation in Egypt to the point that now even the Egyptians are starting to be concerned about them. And they're putting more and more restrictions on them. But God raises up a man named Moses and his brother Aaron. And God sent Moses and Aaron into Egypt to tell Pharaoh, you let my people go. And there's a picture, glorious picture in time. He sends plagues and God delivers them out of Egypt, a picture of being delivered out of the bondage of sin. They walk in the wilderness, a picture of us walking in the wilderness of this world. Going to Canaan, going to a picture of heaven. and the struggles that they had. And then the scripture says that in time, I'll just fast forward, the king of this kingdom. Here they are. They're all over. And the king now of this kingdom comes into this world. He comes as a child born, but a son. The Messiah had been promised by the prophets. God kept sending them prophets and telling them, He's coming, He's coming. God's going to send His Son. And in time, He was born in a stable. Born to just poor parents. Had to be born in Bethlehem. God providentially ordered it. They were going to have to, all the world, that kingdom there had to be taxed. They were going to have to have A roll call, a census is what it was. They were going to have to be counted. And so Mary, the virgin Mary chosen of God to bear the son of the living God, that holy thing, the scripture says, that was in her womb. They come back to Bethlehem. That's what the scripture says. Bethlehem. They were going to have to be there. But that child that was born, that was the son of the living God. That was the Lord Jesus Christ made flesh, made of a woman, made under the law to redeem them that were under the law. And it was the Son who, according to God's everlasting covenant of grace, agreed agreed to be the surety for this kingdom that God had everlastingly loved and that He knew all of them, all of His elect. He knows them. He said, I know my sheep. And the Lord God of heaven, Jehovah, according to that covenant of grace, had entrusted the totality of His kingdom into His hands and all power was given unto the Son that He should give eternal life to as many as the Father had given Him. And this man, Christ Jesus the Lord, who humbled Himself and made Himself of no reputation, He was born into this world in obscurity. There were some angels that came that night and heralded His birth, told some shepherds, You know, glory to God in the highest. You know, peace unto this world. You know, the holy Son of God born in a manger. But He grew up. He grew up as we do. And the Scripture declares He grew. He grew in wisdom, stature, and in favor with God and man. That amazes me, but he humbled himself as a man. God and man, he who is omniscient, who knows everything, grew in wisdom. Grew before God. And we saw no beauty in him to desire him. This is the king of the kingdom? Yeah, this is him. And He who is the servant of Jehovah, the angel of the covenant of God's grace, He came into this world to save His people from their sins. And Almighty God set His servant before Him, ever viewing Him. He declared from heaven, this is my beloved Son, in whom I'm well pleased. You hear Him. And this glorious Savior. He chose twelve men. He chose twelve apostles and one of them was the devil and he taught them the gospel. He took twelve men and taught them the gospel. One of them never heard it, not in his heart. He heard it, but never knew it in his heart. He would betray the Lord, but the Lord taught those that He everlastingly loved, taught them personally, and commissioned them personally to go before, into all the world, before He went into heaven, sent it into heaven, He said, you go into all the world and you preach the gospel to every creature. Why? Because God's heaven has an elect. And they're scattered. throughout every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue, and people that He's surely going to save. And the Scripture says they went out and started preaching the Gospel. And God blessed it. God blessed the Word. And it was reported and confessed of them that they turned the world upside down, preaching the glorious Gospel of the Kingdom. And it was concerning these elect. Back in our passage, Matthew 31. Like that seed man took, sowed in his field, which is indeed the least of all seeds. But when it's grown, it's become the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. It says it's this little seed humble beginning that God blessed and it comes forth and shall be shown to be in that day when the Lord comes back to receive His own. God's still calling His elect out today. He's calling them out. And we have assemblies like this one here where the gospel is preached and declaring what God has declared and what He shall do and what He is doing for His people. And He said, this little bitty seed is going to be like a mighty tree that the birds of the air, birds from everywhere, Jews and Gentiles is what it's set for. Pictures of His elect throughout all the world who were brought into the visible kingdom. Always been there, but God brings them out. And what are they? They lodge in the branches there. Here's this mighty tree made up of assemblies. They're all over. And the birds come. They lodge in it. They find security in it. They rest in it. Birds come and they find rest at night. And here we are in the darkness. We see through a glass darkly now. But these birds, like us. I'm not from here. I'm originally from another state. But here the Lord has called me to come here, called me out of darkness. And you, brethren that are here, different places, but all the other assemblies, all over the world, the gospel is being preached. And when the Lord shall come and receive His own unto Himself, every chosen vessel of His mercy that He's regenerated and saved, when all the saints of glory, appraising the Lord who's redeemed them to God by His shed blood, are going to have this one song that they sing, one anthem out of their heart. They're going to be as the scripture declares in Revelation 5, 11 and 12. John, the apostle who was exiled to the isle of Patmos, he said, I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the beast, and the elders, and the number of them was 10,000 times 10,000, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, worthy is the Lamb, that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. The church of the Lord Jesus Christ is alive today. It's alive in Christ, for the life of the Lord Jesus Christ is her life. He said, I'm the way, I'm the truth, I'm the life. He said, no man comes to the Father but by Me. Oh, the blessing of beholding the truth concerning His Kingdom. He said, this is the way the Kingdom of God is. He said, it's like a grain of mustard seed which a man took, sowed in his field. Just a little insignificant appearing to be insignificant seed. Which indeed is the least of all seeds. Oh, but when it's grown, It is the greatest among herbs and becometh a tree, a tree of life, a tree of His keeping, a tree of His making, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. I pray that the Lord bless these words to our heart and give us some understanding of how Almighty God is calling His church out and how it appears to be as it truly is in this world today for His glory and our good.