Sermon #98 Luke
Sermons
Title: “What
is the
Text: Luke 13:18-21
Subject: The
Date: Sunday Evening –
Tape # X-54b
Introduction:
“What is the
(Luke
13:18-21) "Then said he, Unto what is the
Proposition: In the two instructive
parables of the mustard seed and the leaven our Savior shows us what we may
expect to be the result of gospel preaching throughout the ages of time.
I.
First,
I want us to learn The Parable of
The Mustard Seed (vv. 18-19).
(Luke
13:18-19) "Then said he, Unto what is the
Remember, parables are common, familiar
earthly illustrations of spiritual,
heavenly truths. In this case, the parable is drawn from a commonly used proverbial
expression during the days of our Lord’s earthly ministry. What is the message
of this parable? What does our Lord hear teach us?
The old adage, “Bigger is not always better,” is
frequently repeated; but few, very few really think that way. We are all
impressed with big things. We are all terribly prone to look upon small things
as insignificant. We tend to despise that which is small, unnoticed,
unimpressive, and contemptible in the eyes of men. But we do not see things as
God sees them. His thoughts are not our thoughts and his ways are not our ways.
The parable of the grain of mustard seed is designed to teach us never to
despise the day of small things (Zech 4:6-10).
In this passage, Luke records the same parable
recorded by Matthew (
A.
First, the parable of the mustard seed illustrates the
growth of God’s church and kingdom in this world.
The purpose of the parable is, as I said, to teach
us to never despise the day of small things. But it is also intended to assure
us of the certain growth and blessedness of Christ’s church and kingdom in this
world.
Like faith in the heart, the church and
1.
Those who were chosen to be the foundational
apostles of Christ’s kingdom were poor, unlettered fishermen.
2.
He
who is the Lord and Master of this Church, the King of this Kingdom, was a
despised Nazarene, a crucified Jew.
3.
The doctrine proclaimed by this Church, the
doctrine which they preached everywhere, was the doctrine of grace, life, and
eternal salvation by the merit and efficacy of a crucified Substitute.
In the eyes of men, nothing could have been less
likely to be successful, nothing could have been more despicable, nothing could have been more offensive. Yet, this was God’s
work, God’s Church, and God’s Kingdom.
I repeat—God’s thoughts are not our thoughts; and
his ways are not our ways. God almost always does things exactly opposite of
the way we would and of the way we imagine he does. The gospel does not triumph
all at once. The church and
·
The Body of Christ – (John
(John
12:24) "Verily, verily, I say unto
you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and
die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit."
·
The One Hundred and Twenty.
God’s works almost
always begin in obscurity, with what appear to be insignificant things.
·
The Calling of Abram.
·
Joseph’s Coat of Many colors and His
Dreams.
·
Luther’s 95 Thesies!
·
The Work Here!
The
work of the gospel, the spread of
God’s church and kingdom is a gradual,
but consistent thing. Like the grain
of mustard seed sown in the ground, its growth is almost unobservable, but
steady. As the full grown mustard seed is the greatest and largest of all
herbs, so the church and kingdom of God shall, in the end of the world, be
immeasurably great and large – (Ps. 80:8-11).
(Psalms
80:8-11) "Thou hast brought a vine
out of
The number of
God’s elect shall be ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of
thousands. Untold millions and billions of people shall inhabit heaven’s glory
with Christ!
4. Once planted, this Church and Kingdom grew into a
great Kingdom.
Our Lord’s parable here was prophetic. Again, he was
telling his disciples not to despise the day of small things. Though it
appeared a small, despicable thing, like mustard seed, the Lord here prophesied
that his Church would become a great, large Kingdom. He said, “As the mustard
plant grows to be the greatest of all herbs, so shall my church grow to be the
greatest of all kingdoms.”
So it has come to pass. It began to grow on the day
of Pentecost. 3000 were born into his Kingdom on that day. The Church grew so
rapidly that nothing can account for it except the finger of God. A few days
after Pentecost, 5000 were added to the Church at once. Wherever God’s servants
went preaching the gospel, it proved to be the power of God unto salvation.
Romans
1:14-17 "I am debtor both to the
Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. (15) So, as much as in me is, I am
ready to preach the gospel to you that are at
·
Today the
·
It is not done growing yet.
·
God still employs the same means today as he did in the beginning for
the building of his Church.
1
Corinthians 1:21-31
"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. (22) For the Jews
require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: (23) But we preach Christ crucified,
unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; (24) But unto them which are called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. (25) Because the foolishness of God is
wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (26) For ye see your calling, brethren,
how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: (27) 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; (28) And base things of the world, and
things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea,
and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: (29) That no flesh should glory in his
presence. (30) But of him are ye in
Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and
sanctification, and redemption: (31) That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him
glory in the Lord."
Matthew
“In spite of all the predictions of Voltaire and
Payne, in spite of foes without and treachery within, the visible Church
progresses, - the mustard plant still grows!” J.C.
Ryle
5. That which is true of the Church as a whole is true
of each member of it.
The beginnings of grace in the life of a believer
are very small; but where there is life there is growth; and those who are born
of God are grown by God. The more they grow, the smaller they appear in their
own eyes. Yet, when God is finished with us, we shall at last be transformed
into the very likeness of the Son of God!
B. The
second thing that is evident in this parable is this: The church and
Though no one in the world knows it, and few in the
1
Corinthians
As in a home the unbelieving are sanctified by the
believing, in a moral sense, so in the world, the unbelieving are sanctified by
the believing. Read your history books. Education did absolutely nothing to
improve the moral condition of the Greek and Roman worlds. Plato and Aristotle
made absolutely no impact upon society for moral good. That which has improved
every society, every culture, every family, and every relationship under its
influence is the gospel of Christ.
C. Third,
in this parable of the mustard seed, our Lord
reminds us again that the church and
The fowls of the air also represent the mixed multitude
in the visible Church and
There is no such thing as a perfect Church in this
world. Every true Church has within its fold both goats and sheep. It is a
nesting place for birds clean and birds unclean. It is garden enclosed; but a
garden with wheat and tares growing side by side.
What are we to do about this? Nothing! Do not try to
scare off the crows. If you do, you will drive away the red birds. Do not try
to pull up the tares. You will pull up wheat very time. Never try to separate
sheep from goats. We are not equipped for it.
·
Only the Lord himself can distinguish the true from the false.
·
It is his work to do the separating; and he will do it.
II. Now, briefly,
let’s look at the parable of the
leaven (vv. 20-21).
(Luke
13:20-21) "And again he said, Whereunto shall I liken the
This parable is
misinterpreted by many. We are often told that the leaven refers to the
ever-increasing evil of the world. But our Lord is not talking about the world.
He is talking about “the kingdom of heaven.” He is talking about his
church. The parable of the leaven is very much the same in meaning as the
parable of the mustard seed. It teaches us that the gospel prevails by
degrees and works like leaven in the hearts of God’s elect.
A.
A woman took leaven.
The woman, the weaker
vessel, represents gospel preachers who have the treasure of the gospel in
earthen vessels (2 Cor. 4:7).
(2
Corinthians 4:7) "But we have this
treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of
the power may be of God, and not of us."
B.
The leaven was hidden in three measures of meal.
The regenerate heart,
like meal, is soft and pliable. Leaven will never work in corn, but only in
ground meal. So the gospel has no effect upon the stony, unregenerate heart. It
only works upon broken hearts that have been ground by the Holy Spirit in
conviction.
C.
Once the leaven is hidden in the dough, it works.
So the word of God,
hidden in the hearts of chosen, redeemed sinners by God the Holy Spirit, works
and brings forth fruit. The change it works is gradual, but it works (Heb.
(Hebrews
4:12) "For the word of God is quick,
and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the
dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a
discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."
Application:
Someone once wrote, “Throughout
creation the grandest and most complicated ends are obtained by the simplest of
means.”
·
Moss
is a very small plant. But when its seeds fall into a deep, swampy marsh, they
grow and bind the ground together producing a strong bridge across which men
may safely walk.
·
Natural ferns have such
tiny seeds that it was once thought that they had none. They are invisible to
the naked eye. If you could see some of the ferns I’ve seen in
·
Who would ever imagine that the towering oak
sprang from such a tiny acorn?
·
“There was only one boy present, so I
didn’t bother.”
God’s work is like the
growth of the mustard seed and the spread of leaven, so small and gradual in
our eyes that it is almost unobservable. But we must never despise the day of
small things. When he gets done…
(Zechariah
4:6-10) "Then he answered and spake
unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD
unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith
the LORD of hosts. (7) Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he
shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace,
grace unto it. (8) Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
(9) The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the
foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know
that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you. (10) For who hath despised
the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and
shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are
the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth."