It all starts with a Mustard Seed!

Just had an amazing personal bible study on 2 parables from the gospel of Mark. Will be sharing first from the Parable of the Mustard Seed...

Extracted from http://www.ccel.org/contrib/exec_outlines/mark/mk4_30.htm

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

30 Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it?31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. 32 Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”Mark 4:30-32 (New International Version, ©2010)

THE MUSTARD SEED

A. THE PLANT ITSELF...

1. The mustard plant is well known for its hot-flavored seeds

2. Among seeds sown in a garden it was generally the smallest

3. As a plant, it reaches ten, sometimes fifteen feet in height

B. PROVERBIAL USES OF THE MUSTARD SEED...

1. The mustard seed was used frequently to describe anything that is small in its beginning

2. Jesus used it on another occasion to describe one's faith - cf.Mt 17:20

II. THE MEANING OF THE PARABLE

A. THE KINGDOM OF GOD WOULD HAVE A SMALL BEGINNING...

1. Old Testament prophecy foretold this:

a. Concerning the Messiah - cf. Isa 11:1; 53:2-3

b. Concerning the kingdom - cf. Dan 2:35,44 (starting out as a stone, becoming a great mountain)

2. Consider this description of the beginning: "The Son of Man grew up in a despised province; he did not appear in public until his thirtieth year; then taught for two or three years in neighboring villages, and occasionally at Jerusalem; made a few converts, chiefly among the poor and unlearned; and then falling into the hands of his enemies, died the shameful death of the cross; such, and so slight, was the commencement of the universal kingdom of God."

B. ITS TREMENDOUS GROWTH WOULD BELIE ITS HUMBLE BEGINNINGS...

1. Just as the "small stone" of Dan 2:35 "became a great mountain and filled the whole earth"

2. The growth of the church in the 1st A.D. certainly confirmed the truth of Jesus' parable

a. The 120 disciples grew to over 3000 just in one day - Ac 2:41-42

b. It was soon about 5000 - Ac 4:4

c. The number of the disciples continued to "multiply"

1) In Jerusalem - Ac 6:7

2) Throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria - Ac 9:31

3. Today, we see the growth and influence of the kingdom in lives of believers worldwide!

III. THE GROWTH OF THE KINGDOM TODAY

A. THERE IS THE MATHEMATICAL POSSIBILITY...

1. Beginning with just twenty disciples, each converting just one person a year, and their converts doing the same...

2. ...the growth would be like a mustard seed!

a. End of year 1 - 40

b. End of year 5 - 640

c. End of year 10 - 20,480

d. End of year 15 - 655,360

e. End of year 20 - 20,971,520

f. End of year 25 - 1,342,177,280

-- All it takes is for each person to bring one soul to Christ each and every year!

B. THERE IS CERTAINLY THE SPIRITUAL POSSIBILITY...

1. We have the same seed of the kingdom, the Word of God!

a. Which is incorruptible, that lives and abides forever - 1Peter 1:23-25

b. Capable of producing what God intends - cf. Isa 55:10-11

2. While the parable of "The Four Soils" reminds us that not all will accept the Word of God, this parable declares that the kingdom will grow!

-- Do we believe in the power of the Word of God?

C. WHAT IS NEEDED IS PEOPLE...

1. People with vision

a. Who have the vision of Christ, as expressed in His parables

b. Who look not at an apple and count the seeds, but looks at a seed and counts the apples (with their many seeds)!

c. Who look at converting and developing disciples in the same

way

2. People willing to put the kingdom first in their lives

a. The seed of the gospel will produce fruit, but only if it falls on good soil

b. If we allow...

1) The cares of this world

2) The deceitfulness of riches

3) The pleasures of life

...to "choke" us, we cannot bear good fruit

c. Therefore we need to put the kingdom of God first - cf. Mt 6:33

3. People willing to abide in Christ

a. For apart from Christ they can do nothing - Jn 15:4-5

b. For only they are able to bear "much fruit" - Jn 15:5

c. And only they will be able to glorify God and be His true

disciples - Jn 15:8

Are we willing to be such people?

CONCLUSION

1. The potential for the kingdom's amazing growth rests in the Person

who reigns as its King...