Behold the Kingdom of God!

(This message was preached at Covenant Reformed Baptist Church on Wed. eve, 8/15/2018)

THESIS: The humble beginnings of the Kingdom of God should not fool us, this kingdom is the greatest of them all!

Introduction

This is the second of two parables specifically on the Kingdom of God. Since January we’ve been exploring what parables are, and we’ve studied two parables on the Word of God. The last time we looked at Mark it was a parable on the amazing nature of the Kingdom. The Kingdom of God does not grow by man’s knowledge, but we have a responsibility in its growth nevertheless. Today we look at what is commonly called the Parable of the mustard seed.

Scripture reading:

³⁰ Then He said, “To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? ³¹ It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; ³² but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade.”

³³ And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. ³⁴ But without a parable He did not speak to them. And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples.” (Mark 4:30-34)

A.   Another Parable to illustrate the Kingdom – The Mustard Seed

a.     Its beginning & growth

 

This final parable of Mark is like the last one we looked at which teaches something of the Kingdom of God. This time we see not the mystery of the growth of the kingdom, but the dramatic way this kingdom grows – in terms of size. The smallness of mustard seed was proverbial (see Matt. 17:20). We’re told it has very humble beginnings but becomes greater than ever expected.  And one final question – This parable is not an isolated account. It sits within the Gospel of Mark, the theme of which is To Disclose or Unveil the Suffering Servant.  How does this parable fulfill Marks’ theme?

 

b.    Comparison to Babylon

                                                             i.     Daniel 4:10–15 – Babylon (see also Ezekiel 17:22-24; 31:3-12)

This kingdom is Babylon and the description is from the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar. We might recall the dream was fulfilled in the King becoming like a beast eating grass in the field for 7 years. But consider this kingdom. The King was boasting in it because of its grandeur. Listen to this bit of history, “The capital by then covered 900 hectares (2,200 acres) of land and boasted some the most imposing and majestic structures in all of Mesopotamia. The architectural list included the completion of the royal palace (supposedly inlaid with ‘bronze, gold, silver, rare and precious stones’), an entire stone bridge that connected the two major parts of the city over Euphrates, the famed blue Ištar Gate, and the possible restoration of Etemenanki – a towering ziggurat dedicated to the Babylonian god Marduk (that has often been likened to the Biblical Tower of Babel). In fact, the fully refurbished Etemenanki would have been one of the tallest man-made structures from the ancient times, with its imposing height reaching around 298 ft…a few ancient authors…also ascribed the construction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon – one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, to Nebuchadnezzar.”[1]

Remember that all this was accomplished about 2600 years ago. Since it is the Kingdom of God which is in view we really should stay in Daniel a bit longer – for this is one of Daniel’s major themes.

c.     A vision of King Nebuchadnezzar (read Daniel 2:31-45)

                                                             i.     Here we have a historical panorama of kingdoms all laid out before us. Note that each kingdom is presented in some form of metal from most valuable to least – and the value of the metal represents God’s valuation of the Kingdom (Dan 2:39). What kingdom stands in the end? The stone cut out of the mountain without hands striking the most inferior of human kingdoms, destroys them all! There is nothing even among the wealthiest of human kingdoms to redeem itself. All are blown away like the chaff.

And what was this kingdom of God likened to? But a mountain which struck the whole earth. And when does God establish his kingdom? The text says, “In the days of those kings” (Dan. 2:44) Folks – there is a very real sense that God has been building his kingdom for a very long time – much longer than we often think…

d.    The Kingdom of God

                                                             i.     It’s scope -

1.    It spans time and space. “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.”  God asks Job. (Job 38:4)

2.    Its glory is unmatched. What is the glory of any Kingdom – except what that Kingdom is known for? (Psalm 145:11–13)

3.    It is unconquerable. The kingdom of God is not of this world only – therefore no earthly kingdom can or ever will touch it! (Hebrews 12:28–29 and Matthew 16:18)

4.    It has no limit to its authoritative realm.

a.     The Stars dance and sing during creation. (Job 38:7)

b.    The storms gather and disperse at God’s command. (Mark 4:35-41)

c.     The great and small fish of the sea do God’s bidding. (Psalm 8:1-9 ; Jonah 1:15-16)

d.    All creation testifies to this Kingdom and its authority!

5.    It has a great King.

a.     The God-Man whose incarnation is the awe of Angels. (1 Peter 1:10-12)

b.    The love of this King for his subjects is unbounded and none other has ever loved more. We only need look at the cross to see such love!

c.     The authority of its King is complete and utter. (John 18:33–37, 19:10-11)

d.    This King is greater than Solomon – He is the son of David – but David was a servant of him! (Psalm 110:1-2; Matthew 22:41–46)

e.     The wisdom of this King surpasses all – He catches the wise in their craftiness. (1 Corinthians 1:18–25)

B.   Parable Wrap-up

a.     In the beginning of this message I asked a question - How does this parable fulfill Marks’ theme? I want to say that as we consider the suffering servant – now as an amazing omnipotent King of kings – whose love is larger than life itself, does not that inform us on Him? Is Christ not unveiled a bit more? Indeed we have seen a side of the savior which should have greatly lifted Him up!

b.    The birds of the air nest in its branches. To what does this reference? Many years ago I was at a men’s Bible study and the leader of the study had us listening to a message on cassette by a preacher that was unknown to me at the time. I listened with perhaps a bit too much of a critical spirit. But in my defense I did not know the preacher. It was Adrian Rogers! He’s a good man folks, perhaps a dispensationalist, but a good conservative man. He characterized the birds of the air as the “dirty birds” of the world. At the time I didn’t buy it. So as I was reviewing commentaries I discovered quite a few other seemed to share his sentiment. But I still do not.

Rather I would characterize these birds as needy people in the world – perhaps lost, and needing a place to nest. In all three of the OT accounts of trees which represent a kingdom, they all included birds nesting. And these are the kingdoms of this world. Consider when Egypt was the great tree and there was a famine in the land. Everyone had to come to Joseph because there was bread in Egypt. Even Josephs’ brothers came, as the birds which nested in its branches.

c.     This message could have been a great deal longer. If I were to recommend something to you there is a very short message by S. M. Lockeridge called “That’s my King” which I considered to include, but omitted. Pastor Lockeridge went to be with the Lord in 2000 and I can’t speak to all he may have preached or spoken in his ministry, but this brief sermonette is well worth the time.

C.   Challenge

a.     Are you part of this Kingdom? Do you claim citizenship in the Kingdom? Have you been adopted by the King? Or are you outside looking in? Do you have any hope outside? Come to Christ – This King is like no other and he invites you to come dine with him. He has already shown his love – in that He has died to take your penalty, if indeed you call upon him!

b.    Are you a brother or sister of the king? Are you weary and heavy laden? Come! Rest in the love of a King and a kingdom of power and authority that can indeed afford true rest! Have you forgotten how great is this kingdom to which you belong? Praise Him for it! Worship this King for He is worthy to be worshiped!

Amen.

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[1] From https://www.realmofhistory.com/2016/03/14/gorgeous-3d-animation-babylon/ accessed Aug 11, 2018.

Name Calling?!

Did Paul do right?

We read in Acts 23:6, “But when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee; concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am being judged!””

The context is that Paul is in custody for no good reason, except for the Jews of Asia stirring up the crowds. (Acts 21:27-29) Yet Paul seems to deliberately stir up the Sanhedrin with his statement. In fact, the Scripture plainly states that this was indeed Paul’s intent.

On the face of it the statement is true. Paul’s crime was because of the hope of the resurrection. But is Paul to be blamed for the disturbance in the council?  Did Paul do right?

Let’s examine the events to see. The original dispute was due to Paul’s arrival in Jerusalem and to the Temple to fulfill a Nazarite vow. It was the first time in years he’d been back to Jerusalem. And true, he had been warned repeatedly not to go, by prophets such as Agabus and others within the church. (Acts 21:10-14) But it was God’s will that he go. In fact, God had plans for Paul which depended upon this arrest! (Acts 23:11)

So Paul’s trip to Jerusalem was by the will of God, and he obeyed this, even though he knew it meant hardship. As for the original rabble rousing by the Asian Jews, this crowd had no good intent or purpose other than to get Paul in trouble. In fact the Scripture testifies that “…some among the multitude cried one thing and some another.” (Acts 21:34a)

Fast forward to the next day, before the assembled Sanhedrin, Paul’s explanation on being a Jew on trial for the hope of the resurrection of the dead – no matter the motive – was right. The division within the Sanhedrin existed prior to Paul’s statement. Did Paul use the division in the Sanhedrin for his advantage? Absolutely. Was this sin? Not at all.

Public discourse is this way. Men and women may be divided or agree on many things. One man’s comments may reveal those divisions to the world, but that does not place guilt upon Paul for that reason.

I do find it interesting that Paul called himself a Pharisee. It’s been years since he was last in Jerusalem – yet he still takes the party name. This is the question I’d like to tackle. Are denominations right?

Names – such as Calvinist, Reformed, Presbyterian, Baptist, etc. are not at all sinful in and of themselves. We divide along such lines in order to better reflect the convictions we have and to allow closer fellowship with those we share more with theologically. And I readily admit that no denomination one chooses to affiliate himself with is of necessity a perfect match to his or her personal convictions. But the affiliation helps us to fellowship with one another is a sweeter and closer manner.

There is wisdom in this.

For example, I am by conviction a Baptist. I strongly believe that Paedo-baptists err, and would feel highly uncomfortable with the message that such a baptism sends to those less theologically driven. I cannot help this – it is my conviction. And it’s right to have convictions. So I just could not bring myself to be a member in a Presbyterian church of any type.

But there are Presbyterians I know and love. So how does our denominational affiliation allow us greater and sweeter fellowship? By drawing the line distinctly. I know I cannot be a member there. But what if I am traveling on vacation? Couldn’t I visit then? I could, and would (and hope they aren’t baptizing that Sunday!). I also would feel perfectly comfortable taking breakfast or lunch with a brother from a different denomination.

Think of it another way, if there were no denominational choices – could I be comfortable taking lunch with another, if I knew we disagreed on baptism like we do, but the line was not distinctly drawn? I think not. I might wonder what other aberrant theological beliefs he held. And even if I didn’t think like that, I might suspect he holds me at arm’s length, since my theological stances are aberrant to him.

But what a joy it is to be able to visit my brothers when we both by conviction stand and respect one another’s position, not by holding it, but by realizing the same Lord who has caused me to end up in Baptist territory also led him to another conclusion. Remember how Agabus and the brethren in Caesarea told Paul not to go to Jerusalem? Yet Paul by the same Spirit was compelled to go! Sometimes the paths our Lord compels us to, are not the same as another, but they can be right and good. This is not to say that all paths are equally right…but rightly understood, denominationalism can be very good.

Spread the Word!

(This message was preached at Covenant Reformed Baptist Church on Wed. eve, 6/13/2018)

THESIS: The Kingdom of God does not grow by man’s knowledge, but we do have a responsibility in its growth nevertheless.

Introduction

It was the weightiest ever grown. This heaviest tomato was grown by Dan Sutherland in Walla Walla, Washington, and weighed 8.61 pounds. He grew this monster in 2016.

It was the longest ever grown. In September 2010 a 78 year old Clare Pearce grew a cucumber 42 inches long. Mrs. Pearce planted the Cucumber Melonie seeds in the greenhouse in the back garden of her home in Whittlesey, England.

And what about the tallest ever to grow? That would be a coastal sequoia which is named Hyperion (the high one) in a hat tip to Greek mythology. It is 379.7 feet tall. It may also be one of the oldest. In the past sequoias have been cut down that appeared to be 3220 years old (by counting the tree rings).

And what about the oldest seeds ever sprouted. In 2002 a Chinese lotus was germinated that was at least 500 years old. In 2008 a date palm seed from Masada near the Dead Sea was germinated. This was from a small cache of seeds dating to about 2000 years ago! In 2012 a Russian flower, the Silene Stenophylla was germinated. This seed may be older than the date palm!

All these things have one commonality, they grew from seeds. But how does this happen? How do things grow?

Scripture reading:

²⁶ And He said, “[In this way] The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, ²⁷ and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. ²⁸ For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. ²⁹ But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” (Mark 4:26-29)

Let’s examine the parable, in the sense of what is being laid down:

A-    The Agricultural example.

 

a.      The man throws the seed.

Where? On the ground. What is this called? Planting.

b.     The seed sprouts, and grows on its own, or automatically. How this happens the man does not know. We are told that the earth itself yields the crop.

c.      The man harvests the crop. The man, seeing the ripened crop gathers it up.

 

And now let’s examine the parable, in the sense of what it is being compared, and this is the work of the interpreter. The lesson is a spiritual one.

B-     The Spiritual reality taught.

 

a.     God’s Word is spread – by people who preach and share their faith.

                                                    i.     We are commanded to witness.

It is our work to do the planting, the sowing. We are the preachers and the teachers. Christ gave us this injunction in the Great Commission, Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” God gives us the responsibility to spread the word just as a farmer needs to sow the seed if he is to expect a harvest. And this is a faith making work. By that I mean to say that apart from God you can have no expectation of a harvest. Consider the risk a farmer could take, in planting and getting no increase for all the labor! How much faith do you have? In Genesis 13 we read of a dispute Lot’s men had with Abraham’s men. This dispute caused the two to separate. Lot chose the well-watered fertile plain of the Jordan.  Lot had some faith, but Abraham had more. And remember the great commission – it is a command!

Paul speaks of this in almost the same metaphor as Christ in 1 Corinthians 3:5-9, “Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? ⁶ I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.

                                                       ii.     It is to be done indiscriminately.

 

Notice verse 26, The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. This scattering is like throwing indiscriminately. The sense of the Greek word behind scatter is to throw. And we only need look up to the prior parable of the soils to see it was indeed indiscriminate. Thrown on the trodden down pathway, and among stones – how did this farmer ever expect to harvest anything! The secret is the Kingdom of God. He didn’t concern himself with all the particulars of farming. This is where the analogy breaks down folks. We do have our methods and means to make things grow. Some among us can be said to be ‘green thumbs’ but according to the Spiritual application, we cannot manipulate the outcome. Indeed we are only to be faithful in the witness, to whomever crosses our path.

 

 

                                                     iii.     How beautiful are the feet of those who do!

In another place Paul gives the reasoning for this. Turn to Romans, we’ll be reading Romans 10:14-15,  In verses 9 – 13 we read of the spreading of the gospel by means that God creates new Spiritual life in a person. Thus follows Paul’s question,

¹⁴ How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? ¹⁵ And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!”

Don’t think of these questions as hypothetical, or even rhetorical. They may be, but brothers and sisters, they point the finger to us. We are the ones responsible to bear the good news. That there is a spiritual gift of evangelism there is no doubt. Paul tells us explicitly in Ephesians 4:11. And we find within Scripture such men as Philip the evangelist, the apostles Peter and Paul. But the call to evangelize is not for those with the Spiritual gift only. The great Commission is a command to all believers everywhere.

And the blessing of beautiful feet! What is this anyway? If you think about it, in the analogy of the church to a body in 1 Corinthians 12:15-26 Paul uses the foot in respect of an individual within the body.  Verse 15 reads, “If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body?” Why does he use this strange logic? To snap people out of their jealous and envious ways. They thought that some who had certain gifts were more important. But he uses the foot because it is indeed one of the lesser members of the body! Some people have downright ugly feet!

And yet how are the feet of those who bring the good news called beautiful? Because even the lowest servant who frees a man from slavery is accorded dignity. Paul’s analogy in 1 Corinthians concludes in verse 26, “And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

 

b.     God’s Word grows in hearts, quite apart from the efforts of men, or their knowledge.

                                                    i.     Example in Ephesians 2,

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, ² in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, ³ among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), ⁶ and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Eph. 2:1-7)

Jesus tells us in the parable that the man scattering seed does not know how the seed grows. Yet here in Ephesians we see the agent of change, the Lord God. We see the reason also, mercy and love caused him to raise up dead men and women. We may not know the mechanics, but we do know the source of power, the Lord God Strong and Mighty! Just as Christ raised up the daughter of Jairus (Luke 8:41-55) and later Lazarus (John 11:1-44) – So God today takes men dead in sins and gives them new life.

                                                  ii.     Example in Isaiah 55,

In Isaiah God is appealing to sinners, ‘Come to the waters’ he cries aloud. And in this appeal he tells them in verse 3 Incline your ear and come to me; Hear that your soul may live. The ever living One actually stoops to reason with his creatures! As amazing as this is, he does it, knowing these same ones will not grasp the thing to which he calls them. God tells us plainly that we cannot understand these matters, though we can recognize them when they occur. So when Christ tells us the man does not know how things grow, it is because of our limited grasp of all things Spiritual.

Even in the physical world there are things we cannot explain. Such as how the first seeds came to be. Apart from God’s special creation, we as men have no answer. The question becomes as absurd as, “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” We answer that it is the chicken – but only because it has been revealed to us in Genesis 1 and 2. It is not as though we know how He created this world. How do things live?

In Isaiah 55:9-11 we read –

For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.

⁹“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways,

And My thoughts than your thoughts.

¹⁰“For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,

And do not return there, but water the earth,

And make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower

And bread to the eater,

¹¹So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;

It shall not return to Me void,

But it shall accomplish what I please,

And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. (Isa. 55:8-11)

Using the same agricultural language God the Almighty tells us his Word is like the rain which waters the earth. Plants need water to grow, and God supplies this water quite apart from any power or understanding we have. Yet the sower does have to sow. The seeds won’t grow while in the bag. They need the earth and the rain and the sunshine.

 

c.      God brings in the harvest.

 

Now I realize that my outline says that God brings in the harvest, yet the parable says the man does so. The man sees the ripening crop and gathers the harvest. But let me ask you, how does the man know the crop is ready for harvest? He examines it. He judges whether it is mature enough. He judges whether the full ears are come. He determines if there is time left in the season for the crop to stand. He makes the call. And this ought to naturally cause us to think about judgment. Farmers make continual judgments upon the crops on their fields, and just like the farmer, so God makes the call. Is it time to harvest?

There is an aspect to the Kingdom of God, where the examination begins. Listen to Peter tell us about judgment, “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:17) This is not the only parable to speak to the issue of judgment. In my preparation I did an analysis of all the parables pertaining to the kingdom. There are thirteen such parables. Many of them speak to the issue of judgment! Tares in the wheat is a familiar one (Matt. 13:24) and also the Dragnet, sorting the good and the bad fish (Matt. 13:47). Another is the wise and foolish virgins.  The harvest motif itself is found throughout Holy Writ as a metaphor to judgment.

There was one commentator whose insight was a great encouragement to me. He said, “Jesus by telling the story—and Mark by recording it—encouraged disciples who were experiencing rejection of their message and frustration at their lack of understanding of God’s mysterious purposes that God’s kingdom would surely come.”^[1] Remember how nearly everyone at the time of Christ thought the Kingdom would come? They thought that a King would rise up to reign, almost like David and Solomon had, over the known world. But God’s kingdom is a greater one than that of David or even Solomon’s. Christ said to Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36) This world could never contain the King of the universe. Nor could such a Kingdom be properly represented in any form except the throne room of the King.

 

C-    What is our responsibility?

So how do we participate in the Kingdom? We cannot make it grow. We don’t even know how it grows. How can we be responsible for things like this when we don’t even have the power within our grasp to make it happen?

First of all, let me tell you these are the questions of a madman. Only a fool questions the living God like this. We ought to be more like the lepers we read of in 2 Kings. The situation was that the Syrians had prepared for battle outside the city of Jerusalem and these lepers, were starving. The city was in a great famine, so bad that they were resorting to cannibalism. These 4 lepers reasoned that they were to die unless somehow they could find grace with the Syrians. So they went to surrender – and they found the camp deserted! It is here that I want to read verses 9-10, “Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we remain silent. If we wait until morning light, some punishment will come upon us. Now therefore, come, let us go and tell the king’s household.” (2 Kings 7:9–10)

Using the same phrase we use for the gospel they realized they would be held accountable if they did not share what they now had responsibility in. And we are in the same place folks. We have the good news – not of a famine ending but of the forgiveness of sins. And just as the sower scatters seed indiscriminately so we need to spread the word. This is how the Kingdom of God is spread. This is the mechanism God had ordained that men should here and believe.

Earlier I mentioned about Christ raising the daughter of Jairus, and the amazing account of Lazarus. Both these people were physically dead. But don’t think that God only works such miracles through His Son only. Peter raised up Tabitha (aka Dorcas) and Paul, Eutychus. And while we shouldn’t expect such physical miracles, we should indeed expect that our feeble effort might really result in spiritually dead people being made alive in Christ! These people are the reward you get for planting the seed. God is responsible for bringing new life, but we are the planters! Let’s get out there and sow the Word! He has guaranteed it not to fail for all His purposes!!!

Amen.

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^[1] James A. Brooks, Mark, vol. 23, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1991), 85.