•A Sermon by Dr Bob Griffin, Pastor/Teaching Elder at Sovereign Grace Church
I. PARABLE OF THE MUSTARD SEED
Matthew 13:31-32 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all [garden] seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
A. UNDERSTANDING THE PARABLE
1. Basic Message
2. Two Interpretations
Growth/Dominance of the Church, the kingdom community
Description of corruption in the kingdom community
B. UNRAVELING THE MYSTERY OF THE KINGDOM
1. Picture of the Age – Kingdom will NOT triumph in this age
2. Growth of Evil Today
The church today has compromised with THEOLOGICAL ERROR and though it is “large”, it is CORRUPT
II. PARABLE OF LEAVEN
Matthew 13:33 He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”
A. UNDERSTANDING THE PARABLE
1. There would be a certain shock in hearing the Kingdom of God compared to leaven
2. Many want to think of this as a beautiful picture of the kingdom of God working its way through the whole world.
B. UNRAVELING THE MYSTERY OF THE KINGDOM
1. Yeast is a universal symbol for Evil Matthew 16:6 And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
2. New Agenda of the World – INFILTRATE THE CHURCH
Martin Marty said “By 2000, evangelicals will be the most worldly people in America”
Confusion in the Church in money, size, and structure with spiritual fruit
Trying to do God’s work by man’s method
New Program
Ignore true message – exposing sin, leaving man uncomfortable, crying out for a Savior
Replace it with – false gospel of social justice, ecology, hunger, racism, peace, prosperity (health/wealth)
Conclusion: “Let us be left in peace with sufficient prosperity to enjoy our leisure” (Boice)
What we MUST do to stop the leaven – I Cor 5:7-8 “Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast–as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.
The church today has been permeated by the WORLD and its sins, and lost most distinctiveness for Christ.
III. PARABLE OF THE HIDDEN TREASURE
Matthew 13:44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a workman found and re-covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has in order to buy that field.”
A. UNDERSTANDING THE PARABLE
1. Finding Treasure Accidentally
2. Ethics – Under rabbinic law if a workman came on a treasure in a field and lifted it out, it would belong to his master, the field’s owner
B. UNRAVELING THE MYSTERY OF THE KINGDOM
1. Picture of Christ and the Church?
2. Picture of many who Find the Gospel and Respond
Isaiah 65:1-2a “I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’ All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people.”
Not particularly anxious to find Christ; not even very religious
Three kinds of lost people
Reprobate sinners wallowing in outward sin
Rational sinners, thinking it all through
Religious sinners
The church today has many in it who did not even know they were lost, but the treasure of the Gospel of the Kingdom was exposed and they responded wisely.
IV. PARABLE OF THE PEARL
Matt 13:45-46 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”
A. UNDERSTANDING THE PARABLE
1. Diligent Seeker = Lifetime Effort Searching. Lifetime Commitment to purchase
2. Great Reward
Recognized the value of what they found
Determined to possess it
Sacrificed everything
Acquired the treasure
B. UNRAVELING THE MYSTERY OF THE KINGDOM
1. Picture of Christ and His love for Us
2. But this is also a Picture of ME
“I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew
He moved my soul to seek Him, seeking me;
It was not I that found, O Savior true;
No – I was found of Thee.”
The church today has members who have spent a lifetime seeking truth and God revealed it to them. What a pearl of great price!