HOFC Sermon Archive: Gospel of Mark Part 25: Parable of the Mustard Seed

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SERMON TIMELINE

1. Introduction

2. John the Baptist

3. The Baptism of Jesus

4. Temptation of Jesus

5. The Preaching Ministry of Jesus I

6. The Preaching Ministry of Jesus II

7. The First Disciples

8. A Teacher with Authority

9. At the Home of Simon and Andrew

10. Jesus Cleanses the Leper

11. Jesus Heals the Paralytic

12. Jesus and the Tax Collector

13. Jesus Questioned About Fasting

14. Of Wine and Wineskins

15. Jesus, Lord of the Sabbath & Resurrection Sunday 2025

16. Hard Hearts and Hard Thoughts

17. Three Responses to Jesus

18. Jesus Appoints the Apostles

19. The Family of Jesus

20. The Unforgivable Sin

21. The True Family of Jesus

22. Parable of the Four Soils

23. How Well Do You Listen

24. Parable of the Growing Seed

25. Parable of the Mustard Seed

Today is Sunday. July 13^th, 2025

INTRODUCTION

A few weeks ago, we examined Jesus’ parable of the four soils, which illustrates the four types of people’s hearts who hear the gospel message, the seed.

Four types of people hearing the very same message react and respond differently. Three out of the four will never grow spiritually.

Only the one who listens intently to the word, paying attention with a right heart, receives and grows.

Jesus makes it clear that the issue is not the message. The problem is not the one presenting the message. The issue is the listener.

Jesus also tells us that the more we put into the Word, the more we will get out. If there is not enough Godliness in your life, then it is you who is the problem, not the Lord.

Last week, we discussed the parable of the growing seed, or the word of God, which is received and allows the attentive listener to grow spiritually and produce fruit.

Are you moving forward in your growth and becoming closer to God as time passes, or are you stagnant, stuck in your faith, or worse, fallen away?

Perhaps you have even created for yourself an image of what you believe the Christianity is, and follow and worship the idol that you created from your own vain imaginations rather than the God of Scripture?

Let’s look at what Jesus says about how the smallest of seeds can grow into something great, whether speaking of the Word and the Kingdom of God, or faith and your spiritual maturity.

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE

Mark 4:30-32 The Parable of the Mustard Seed

“And He was saying, “How shall we compare the Kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller among the seeds that are upon the soil, 32 yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes largest of all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that the birds of the air can nest under its shade.”

As I have warned many times, when we examine scripture, you must recognize whether it is symbolic or to be taken literally.

Mark 4 uses concrete imagery (mustard seed, soil, plant, birds) to convey abstract and spiritual meaning (the nature and growth of God’s Kingdom from the Word of God planted in listeners).

The message isn’t literal farming advice—it’s a metaphorical lesson, making it symbolic speech.

Keeping that in mind, let’s examine why Jesus chose to use this method, and why He specifically chose the mustard seed, for example.

I. THE MUSTARD SEED

a. The Mustard Plant

i. Widely known for its hot-flavored seeds

ii. Generally, the smallest of the seeds in that region

iii. When it grows, it can reach 10-15 feet in height

iv. William Hendriksen explains in his commentary on Matthew that in the autumn, these trees served as shelter for many types of birds.

b. The Mustard Seed as a Proverb

i. Typically used in speech for describing anything small.

ii. Here, Jesus uses it speaking about growing the Kingdom of God, but He also uses the mustard seed as an example in Matthew 17:20 when describing ones faith (again, metaphorically) “Because of your little faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.”

1. This is symbolic speech. Jesus is not telling us to move literal mountains with literal words; instead, he is saying you can accomplish any task, no matter how seemingly insurmountable in life, with even the smallest amount of faith.

2. It is essential to understand the difference between symbolic and literal speech.

3. Symbolic speech is used in scripture (metaphors, analogies, images, or actions) to represent deeper meanings. It is not meant to be taken literally.

Understanding this about the mustard plants and seeds helps us better understand the symbolic nature of their use, making it easier to understand and appreciate the meaning of the proverb Jesus is telling us.

II. MEANING OF THE PARABLE

a. The Kingdom of God would have a Small Beginning

i. The Old Testament foretold this!

1. Isaiah 11:1

2. Isaiah 53:2-3

3. Daniel 2:25, 44

ii. In R. C. Trench’s Notes on the Parables of our Lord, consider the description of the beginning of the Kingdom of God.

“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.”

1. The smallest and most humble beginning to what will one day grow into the ONLY Kingdom in the universe.

b. From Humble Beginnings to Tremendous Growth

Just as the “small stone” (the corner stone) of Daniel 2:35 “But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.”

i. The growth of the church in the 1^st century confirmed the truth of Jesus’ parable

1. The 120 disciples grew in one day to 3000 in Acts 2:41-42

2. To 5000 in Acts 4:4

3. The numbers continued to multiply

a. In Jerusalem in Acts 6:7

b. Throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria in Acts 9:31

4. Years later, there were multitudes of believers in Jerusalem alone in Acts 21:20

c. Its Growth would be Beneficial to the world

i. Jesus spoke about birds coming and nesting in the tree branches

ii. The Kingdom of God is a refuge to those who seek it

Romans 14:17 “for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

1. To those who seek rest for their weary souls, the King offers His invitation to come to Him and enter His Kingdom of rest (Matthew 11:28-30)

With this simple parable, Jesus offers encouragement to that small band of disciples following Him. They would be a part of something that would grow and bless the world immensely!

What about today? The Kingdom of heaven continues to grow and spread out its branches to those who will accept it. But can we ever expect similar growth to that witnessed in the first century?

III. GROWTH OF THE KINGDOM TODAY

a. Mathematically Speaking…Yes

i. Beginning with just 20 disciples, each leading one person to Christ a year, then those converts doing the same

1. The growth of a mustard seed

a. 40 at the end of year 1

b. 640 at the end of year 5

c. 20,480 at the end of year 10

d. By the end of year 25… 1,342,177,280

ii. All of this from each person leading one person to Christ each year.

b. Spiritually Speaking…Yes

i. We have the very same seed Jesus used to grow the Kingdom of God, the Word!

1. Which is incorruptible and lives and abides forever! (1 Peter 1:23-25)

2. Capable of producing what God intends (Isaiah 55:10-11)

ii. We must remember, though, the parable Jesus told us of the four soils reminds us that not everyone will accept the Word of God.

c. Is the Kingdom of God Still Growing Today?

i. If you look at the number of those who profess Christianity since 1925, we have grown from 600 million to 2.4 billion.

1. If you look at the percentage of the world population, Christians have fallen from 35% to 31% in the last 100 years.

ii. We must also take into consideration how many are false converts who call themselves Christians. However, they are not, or believe they are, but belong to a cult or denomination that denies the foundational truths of true Christianity.

iii. Jesus says;

(There is a narrow path) Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

(Jesus says, there are true and false prophets) Matthew 7:15-16a “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them.”

(Jesus says, there are true and false converts) Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

(Jesus also tells us, there are wise and foolish builders) Matthew 7:24-27 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

CONCLUSION

As we near Judgment Day, the end times, we will see a falling away from true Christianity.

2 Timothy 4:3-4 “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”

2 Timothy 3:1-5 “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of Godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.”

This rebellion is “the great falling away” spoken of in 2 Thessalonians, and will come just before the end, when the antichrist will be revealed to the world.

2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 “Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of sin is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.”

Jesus says in those days, “At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” Matthew 24:10-13

· As we near the end, we will see a great falling away from the church and the rejection of sound doctrine.

· We will see the rise of many false teachers.

· People will turn away from faith.

Look around right now in the world, and open your eyes. It is time for those of us on the narrow path to stand and proclaim, “Repent, and put your trust in the Gospel of God! For the end is near!”

It is time for people who claim Christ to live what they claim. Be willing to put Christ and the Kingdom of God FIRST in their lives!

The seed of God’s word will never grow in us if we continue to be burdened by the cares of this world, deceived by desires for riches, and allow the pleasures of life to choke us to the point where we cannot bear any good fruit.

Matthew 6:33 “But continually seek first the kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you.”

The ONLY ones who can glorify God and be His true disciples (John 15:8) are those who do all things in Christ (John 15:4-5) and thus, bear much fruit! (John 15:5) because apart from Him, we can do nothing.

NEXT WEEK: “Part 26: Private Teaching and Its Benefits”

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Saturday, July 19, 2025

Gospel of Mark Part 25: Parable of the Mustard Seed

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