The Parables
Series
#3
"MUSTAND & LOTS OF DOUGH!"
TEXT: Matthew
13:31-33
INTRO: Have you
ever thought about the importance of small things and their impact in great ways
in our lives?
1. The red blood
cell
2. Intestinal bacteria f. coli aiding
in digestion
3. Termites
4. Grain of sand in an oyster shell
becoming a pearl
5. The spark in your engine for power
in your car
ILLUS: Recently
a movie came out called the “Bee Movie.”
It was a cute film that showed the power and importance of tiny
bees. In the movie the “bees” sued
humanity for stealing their honey and in getting back all their honey from
humans they got lazy and failed to pollinate flowers and make more honey because
they had too much. The result was
nearly disastrous … all life on earth was in danger of dying because all plant
life nearly stopped from lack of pollination. Near the end the bees rallied and found
a few left over flowers and used this pollen to re-pollinate the world’s plants
again and save the earth. While a
little farfetched, the basic concept is true, without the tiny bee all life on
earth would probably cease! Tiny
bees pollinate many of the plants that create the oxygen, food, and other
important ingredients necessary for life as we know it as animals.
Many of things in this life
that have a great impact begin by being tiny!
PROP.
SENT: These parables teach us
that it is God's will for His work to grow both qualitatively and
quantitatively ... and growth does occur in a healthy
environment.
I. SMALL SEEDS Matt.
13:31-32a
A. Small in
Size Matt. 13:32a
1. The mustard seed is hardly
noticeable, one of the smallest plant seeds!
a. Hard to believe it could be
significant by just its size as a seed!
b. Most would ignore
it!
c. Some will reject it because of its
smallness; a seed just doesn't seem that attractive!
2. Too many want just the big tree
stage!
a. Can't wait for its development from
the seed. As proof of this look how
many people avoid buying seeds to plant in their gardens and instead buy full
size plants from nurseries so they don’t have to mess with small
seedlings!
b. Don't want to help cultivate the
seedling into a strong plant.
c. Fail to recognize that God often
works from the small to the large, God works this way
often.
ILLUS: Now
that man has walked on the moon, we easily forget how it all began. After World War II, U.S. Army scientists
were debriefing men like Wernher von Braun, who built the first long-range
ballistic missile. He said, "Why
don't you ask your own rocket pioneer, Dr. Robert Goddard?" Now, the Goddard Space Center is named
for him! On March 16, 1926, on the
farm of his Aunt Effie Ward, Goddard and a couple of friends launched the
world's first successful rocket. It
rose 41 feet in the air, flew for two and one-half seconds, and landed 184 feet
from the launch pad. But it was a
beginning. In the words of
Scripture, despise not "the day of small
things" (Zechariah
4:10). -- Robert C. Shannon, 1000
Windows, (Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Publishing Company,
1997).
(1. Creation
(2. The church in
Acts.
(3. Revelation about Himself -- Old
& New Testaments.
(4. Our spiritual
development.
B. Miracle
of Potential
Matt. 13:32a
1. Within the small, frail seed is the
potential for a great tree!
a. To later build a house
with.
b. To shelter from the heat and
sun.
c. To nest
birds.
d. To heat a home with,
etc.
2. Time is all that is required and
care!
a. The seed knows its destiny --
everything is there in that little compact capsule!
b. It doesn't give up because it is
small and tiny ... it knows it will develop!
c. And it multiplies itself over many
times.
ILLUS: While
in Canada, I visited one believer who operated a large grain farm. His spread included some twenty-five
hundred acres. I asked him how he
planted the seed. He reached in a bin and pulled out an ear of corn. Then he proceeded to pop out the kernels
one by one as he walked along, demonstrating the planting process. Do you
believe that?
No, sir! That's not what he said nor is it what he
did. He showed me a distributor
that was some thirty feet wide. "We take that double tandem truck, fill it
with certified seed, back it up to the distributor, open the slots, and pour in
the seed." He went on to say,
"If you're ever going to be cheap, don't
be cheap with the seed."
One bushel of seed invested yields
thirty bushels of grain harvested in a good year. Thirty to one--not a bad return, if you
are ready to believe and willing to invest. God says, "Believe Me, trust Me, try My plan, prove My
ways, and see the kind of harvest I will give." So Paul guarantees this principle of
truth in the Scripture with the promise, "And
God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all
sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work"
(2
Corinthians 9:8).
All grace, all ways, all
sufficiency, all things! There are four promises in one breath. Knowing it is
one thing, believing it is quite another. -- Jack Exum -- James S. Hewett,
Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988), p.
463.
II. SIZABLE TREE! Matt.
13:32b
A. Large in
Size Matt. 13:32b
1. Very
noticeable
a. A thing of beauty -- catches
everyone's eye -- can't be missed!
b. People will be drawn to
it.
c. It could grow in a matter of months
to 10-12 feet in height.
2. Growth can be expected if the seed
is grounded properly and nurtured.
a. It is a natural
process.
b. It just needs the right
environment.
c. Even if growth doesn’t always come
instantly or evenly!
ILLUS: I
believe God wants us to be successful ... and yet success is not always obvious.
The Chinese bamboo tree does
absolutely nothing--or so it seems--for the first four years. Then suddenly,
sometime during the fifth year, it shoots up ninety feet in sixty days. Would you say that bamboo tree grew in
six weeks, or five years? I think
our lives are akin to the Chinese bamboo tree. Sometimes we put forth effort, put forth
effort, and put forth effort ... and nothing seems to happen. But if you do the right things long
enough, you'll receive the rewards of your efforts. -- S. Truett Cathy, Leadership,
Vol. 7, no. 3.
B. Large in
Substance Matt.
13:32b
1. The Mustard plant produced seeds
for many uses:
a. Oil
b. Food
2. It will produce seed as hardy as
itself ... the potential is that so much seed is produced that it could cover
the world!
3. It gave food to the birds that
perched in its branches.
4. The strong branches indicate
support for those who find refuge in its limbs.
5. A place of sanction and protection
for the birds.
6. It was healthy and produced great
fruit!
7. The kingdom of God can grow
anywhere … it is not so much the location, as it is the substance of what
develops.
ILLUS: While
serving as a missionary in Laos, I discovered an illustration of the kingdom of
God. Before the colonialists
imposed national boundaries, the kings of Laos and Vietnam reached an agreement
on taxation in the border areas. Those who ate short-grain rice, built
their houses on stilts, and decorated them with Indian-style serpents were
considered Laotians. On the other
hand, those who ate long-grain rice, built their houses on the ground, and
decorated them with Chinese-style dragons were considered Vietnamese. The exact location of a person's home was
not what determined his or her nationality. Instead, each person belonged to the
kingdom whose cultural values he or she exhibited. So it is with us: we live in the world,
but as part of God's kingdom, we are to live according to his kingdom's
standards and values. -- John Hess-Yoder, Portland,
Oregon. Leadership, Vol. 7, no. 3.
III. SPREADING YEAST Matt.
13:33
A. Unnoticed!
Matt. 13:33a
1. Hidden in the
dough.
2. At first seems
insignificant.
ILLUS: So
many times, you can't see anything happening week to week. Spiritual growth takes place beneath the
surface. -- Stuart Briscoe, Leadership,
Vol. 11, no. 2.
3. Tiny compared to the amount of
dough.
B. Effective!
Matt. 13:33b
1. Spreads until it filled up the
dough!
2. Became a noticeable
thing.
3. Gave a new texture and quality to
the dough. After a while it would
so blend into the dough you could not tell the difference, but the effects of
one had an effect on the other.
ILLUS:
Someone
pointed out to me not too long ago how people who have been married for a long
time get so they look alike. They
start having the same kinds of expressions on their faces. They start actually having the same kinds
of physical characteristics.
I didn't think that was true.
Then I started to look, and it
really is true. Have you ever
considered why that happens? Well,
that's because people have abided with one another, and they begin to be like
one another. It's the same way
abiding with Christ. We become more
Christlike. We begin to take on the
characteristics of Christ as we abide in him. -- Steve Brown, "The Prime
Principle," Preaching Today, Tape No. 107.
4. The yeast made great bread -- gave
life!
5. Same is true of the church in the
world … or in your town!
a. In this case Jesus explains the use
of yeast as an influence, positively showing how the kingdom of God spreads, at
first apparently unnoticed, then influencing the environment around it
powerfully.
b. Yeast was used as an example of
powerful influence in the Bible, both negative and positive … Jesus said to "Be on your
guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees." (Matt. 16:6) … this had to do with their negative
influence.
c. Its nature was that it “influences”
in an almost hidden way at first, then powerfully touches everything around it
visibly. It is small and barely
noticeable at first, but powerfully effective as it works, to the point that
whatever it touches cannot be left without its influence being noticed; such
should be the kingdom of God also.
6. The church cannot simply exist as a
nice corner white steeple building at the edge of town and leave the community
untouched … if it does, it really is NOT the church, it is just a nice little
white steeple building at the corner of town to look
at!
7. Is there really separation of
church and state? Like separating
yeast and dough … hardly! The
church should influence for GOOD the state.
CONCLUSION:
Though the work of God may
begin small and seem unnoticed, it will grow until it impacts the community it
exists in ... this is God's will for His church, growth both in quality and
quantity.