Matthew 4

It is a great privilege to bring you the Word of God this evening. I want to invite you to go back to the parable of the mustard seed.

Mark 4, 30-32. Our Savior used parables, which are concrete pictures, to teach abstract ideas and truth.

Parable is a world picture. The mustard seed, as our Lord explains, is a very small seed.

But when it takes roots and begins to grow, it turns into an immense bush.

It is a simple picture, but with deep meaning and significant implications.

The mustard seed in this parable refers to the Kingdom of God in its present manifestation on earth.

The rule and leadership of God first in the hearts of believers, then in our midst as the body of Christ, and ultimately in the world.

Our Lord speaks of the Kingdom of God in three stages, or three manifestations.

First, the Kingdom of God must begin in you. It begins in our hearts.

The Kingdom of God begins in our hearts when the seed of the Gospel takes roots in us.

And we come to the knowledge of the Holy. We come to the knowledge of our Savior.

And the tomb that characterizes the human heart turns into the temple of the living God.

We who were naturally inclined to disobey the Lord and to rebel against the laws of God are now inclined,

also naturally by the Spirit who indwells us to obey and to follow His command and His wishes.

Now the Kingdom of God has come into our hearts.

When a group of people whose hearts the King has come into his heart, into those whose hearts the King has come,

assembled together, then we have the Kingdom of God in our midst this evening.

This is the Kingdom of God.

The Scripture also speaks of a day when the whole earth will be covered by the knowledge of God as the waters cover the face of the sea.

When evil will be covered by the earth and the face of the earth.

This is the Kingdom of God upon the whole earth.

The parable of the mustard seed is an account of the growth and expansion of the Church

from its small beginning in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost until the second coming of Christ.

A modest beginning but a staggering worldwide impact.

The Gospel, the message of our Lord to mankind, is also like a mustard seed.

It is simple, but when it takes roots in a person's heart, it brings about extraordinary transformation and change.

Not only in that person, but through that person in others like that person,

and ultimately transforms human societies and nations.

The Gospel and the body of Christ have impacted the world in incredible ways.

I was going about my life 38 years ago.

For the first time, I heard this message.

It changed my character.

It changed my perspective on life.

It completely changed me.

And changed the direction of my life.

And through my life, the lives of those whose lives were touched by my life,

was changed a ripple effect.

In these years that I have served our Savior,

I have seen the unfolding of this truth many times.

Some more dramatic than others,

but in every instance,

the conversion of a human being

is just as extraordinary and supernatural of an event.

I remember eight years ago,

when I was in Athens, Greece,

and I came in contact with a notorious criminal.

He was involved in drug dealing,

forging documents,

and you name it.

His name was Mohammed.

And he had a nickname called Laser

because of his prowess with his knife.

He would get into fights,

and he was very skilled with his knife,

and hence he had the nickname Mohammed the Laser.

The Lord had brought about a situation where I met him.

And in the course of our conversation,

he said,

since you say that you are a Christian,

I have heard that Christians are given a spirit

that gives them supernatural power.

I would like to have that spirit.

So I explained to him,

the spirit that he was referring to

was the Holy Spirit.

It was the Holy Spirit.

It was not the spirit of mischief.

And that spirit is only given to people

who believe on the Lord Jesus

in order to empower them

to follow him,

to obey him,

and to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord.

He said,

whatever it is,

I like to have it.

I explained to him again

the gospel.

And

the idea of the new birth.

And he said,

man, I am ready to be born again.

I didn't believe it.

But he was very insistent

that he wanted to

receive the Holy Spirit.

And he said,

what do I need to do?

I said, well,

I pray,

and you can follow in what I say

if you believe it.

And he did,

and made a profession of faith.

But there was a big question mark

in the back of my mind

as to the authenticity

and the sincerity

of his faith.

Next time,

and he insisted

that he did not want to have

any water

to be splattered on him.

And he needed,

he wanted to be baptized

in the sea.

So we took him to

the shores of Athens

to the Aegean Sea

and he was baptized.

To make the long story short,

the next time

I was in

Greece,

there was,

six months later,

an unbelievable

transformation

in the life

of Muhammad de Lazer.

When we met,

he said,

brother,

I can't,

with my reputation,

I am not able

to live in Athens

to live in Greece anymore.

Because my life

is in danger.

And I can't

use my knife,

I can't

defend myself.

So,

I think I'm

going to go to Germany.

Do you know

anyone in Germany?

And I had a friend

in Hamburg

and I contacted

my friend

and eventually

Muhammad ended up

to go

to Hamburg.

again,

to make the very

long story short,

he has become

quite an evangelist

for the Lord.

And his testimony

is very simple.

It is the transformation,

supernatural

transformation

that God

has brought

in the life

of this man.

He has led,

I don't know if he even

has a high school diploma,

but he has led

a very distinguished

biologist

in University of Hamburg

to the Lord

who looks up to him

as he is a spiritual

mentor

and a spiritual

guide.

I can tell you

tens of these stories

remarkable

supernatural

transformation

brought about

as a result

of the

gospel

and the power

of this

life-giving

message,

this little

mustard seed.

you never know

the consequences

of that

step

of faith

you took

to speak

to an

unbelieving

friend

or person,

that 30-second

encounter,

planting of the

seed of the

gospel

in a person's

heart,

where it would

lead.

the man

who gave me

the Bible

38 years ago

would have

never imagined

the consequences,

the ripple

effect

of that

stepping out

of his

comfort zone,

that 30-minute

encounter

with that

foreign student

on a university

campus in

Chicago.

A couple

of years ago,

I was in

one of our

house fellowships

in Middle East,

underground fellowships.

We are not

permitted to

worship.

Muslim

converts

to the

Christian faith

are not

permitted to

assemble together

publicly,

and if we

assemble

privately,

that is also

illegal.

If you are

caught,

your goose

is cooked.

You are going

to run into

great

difficulty.

But in

one of

these

house

groups,

I met

a man

who was

a Muslim

cleric.

He was

an imam

of a

mosque.

The story

of his

conversion

was that

he was

on his

way

to go

to the

local

mosque

to lead

the evening

communal

prayer

where they

all line

up behind

a person,

the imam.

and then

afterward

to deliver

the evening

sermon

and then

go home.

He got a

taxi

and the

taxi driver

as he

dropped him

off in

front of

the mosque

as he

opened the

door

to get

off,

this brave

taxi driver

turned around

and handed

him a book

and said to

him,

Sir,

if you

are truly

seeking

God,

you will

find him

in this

book.

Read it

and ask

God to

open your

eyes.

A

30,

25

second,

30 second

encounter.

He takes

the book,

puts it

in his

pocket,

goes off,

does his

reading of

the communal

prayer and

delivers the

sermon that

evening when

he goes to

his home

and pulls

out the

book that

he was

handed,

the taxi

driver had

handed to

him.

It says

the gospel

of Jesus

Christ and

he began

to read

the book

and what

happened to

him was

exactly what

happened to

me 38

years earlier.

He said

he recognized

all of his

training and

all that he

had done was

a complete

waste in

the eyes

of God.

And so

he took

his turban

and his

gown and

he burned

it and

moved from

where he was

to another

city and

he came in

contact with

the underground

church and

because of

his past

training,

he's very

articulate and

now he

has the

responsibility

of three of

these underground

fellowships.

And if

he's ever

caught,

they would

relish

chopping up

such a person

into a

thousand

piece.

But these

are just

sinful

examples of

the truth

of what

our Savior

is speaking

of.

A little

mustard seed

with profound

impact and

effect.

in the

gospel of

Matthew,

the parable

of the

mustard seed

is followed

by another

parable which

speaks of the

impact of the

church in

our world.

In Matthew,

we are told,

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.

Matthew 13,

33.

No

religion,

no idea,

no philosophy

in the

history of

humankind

has had

such an

expansive,

significant,

positive,

and beneficial

influence in

the world.

I will be

standing here

until next

week,

reading the

list of

hospitals,

schools,

universities,

orphanages,

humanitarian

organizations,

humanitarian

undertakings

throughout the

world,

which all

have been

the byproducts

of the

gospel

and

Christian

church.

just

imagine

hundreds

of

thousands

if not

millions

of

missionaries

who have

taken the

light of

the gospel

into some

of the

darkest

corners

of the

world

and in

the process

some of

them have

given their

lives

for

betterment

of

others.

There are

people

who came

into

our world

and

they

brought

with

their

poisonous

ideas

misery

after

misery

to

humanity

and we

think

what a

better

world

we would

have

had

if

such

people

would

have

never

been

born.

But

for a

moment

imagine

a world

in which

the Lord

Jesus

would have

not

come.

a world

without

the Church

of Jesus

Christ

in spite

of

all

its

imperfections.

There are

people who

say

the Church

has lost

its voice.

It has

no place

in the

modern world.

It is

obsolete.

I disagree.

This

message

this

mustard seed

this

Church

has not

lost

its potency.

It is

timeless.

It is

the most

beautiful

message

ever.

It is

as

needful

as

oxygen

to a

living

organism.

The

Gospel

and the

Church

are as

irrelevant

today

as they

were

2,000

years ago.

Look

at our

world.

Look

at the

violence,

the

decadence,

fraud,

deception,

corruption,

lawlessness,

injustice,

hopelessness,

confusion which

characterizes it.

All

results of

either

ignorance

and

spiritual

darkness

or those

who have

turned their

back

upon the

light of

the world.

If the

restraining

power of

the Holy

Spirit

who dwells

in the

hearts

of God's

people,

these

temples

of the

living

God

were to

be removed,

men

will

completely

destroy

life

on this

planet.

Look at

those

nations,

societies,

which are

without

Christ

and benefit

of his

Church,

and then

compare those

societies

with those

in which the

Gospel

and the

people of

God

have been

a dominant

force.

What a

gift

Christ

and his

Church

are to

a society.

The

body of

Christ

is the

anchor

which holds

this Babylon,

the city

of man,

from judgment

and ruin.

This

seed is

not just

a seed,

it is

a treasure,

it is

the most

valuable

gift.

It is

important that

we understand

this truth.

People think

they do

God's

favor

when they

come to

Church

or when

they make

a profession

of faith,

when in

fact,

those of

us who

know the

Lord

and have

been the

recipient

of the

greatest

favor

and the

greatest

gift.

Let me

read to

you these

verses.

Paul,

reminding

Corinthians

of this

great

gift,

writes,

but we

have this

treasure

in earthen

vessels,

in jars

of clay,

to show

that the

surpassing

power

belongs

to God

and not

to us.

2 Corinthians

4, 7

Treasure.

Our

Savior

himself,

speaking,

says,

The kingdom

of heaven

is like

treasure

hidden in

a field,

which a

man found

and covered

up.

Then in

his joy

he goes

and sells

all that

he has

and buys

that field.

Matthew

13, 44.

The man

goes and

sells

everything

he has.

What this

action implies

in this

story,

is how

valuable

this treasure

is.

It is in

view of

this truth

that the

Apostle Paul

says,

But whatever

gain I

had,

I counted

as loss

for the

sake of

Christ.

Indeed,

I count

everything

as loss

because of

the surpassing

worth of

knowing Christ

Jesus,

my Lord.

for his

sake I

have suffered

the loss

of all

things and

count them

as rubbish

in order

that I

may gain

Christ

and be

found in

him.

What a

tremendous

gift has

been extended

to us,

has been

given to

us,

who believe.

Again,

our Lord is

speaking,

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.

In his

prayer in

John 17,

our Savior

says,

And this

is eternal

life,

the greatest

gift,

that they

may know

you,

the only

true God,

and Jesus

Christ,

whom you

have sent.

This seed

of life

planted in

each of our

hearts,

we call the

gospel,

the knowledge

of God,

through Jesus

Christ,

our Lord.

This organism

that we call

the body of

Christ,

are the most

cherished

gift given

to any

person,

to any

society.

And we

must not

forget that

it is a

gift,

it is an

unimaginable

blessing.

It is like

a gift of

sight to a

blind man.

It is like

saying to

an Afghan,

do you want

to live in

New York

or in

London?

It is

incomparable

gift.

This message

we call the

gospel of our

Lord Jesus

Christ

is timelessly

relevant.

It is the

most beautiful

message

message of

life in a

world obsessed

with death.

A message

of love in

a world filled

with hatefulness.

A message of

forgiveness in

a world where

men are

determined to

exact revenge.

A message of

hope in a

world drowning

in despair.

A message of

peace in a

world in

grips of

violence,

turmoil,

and destruction.

A message of

truth in a

world filled

with falsehood

and superstition.

A message of

freedom from

the bondage

and addiction

to sin.

The most

beautiful,

life-giving

message that

has been given

to all of us

as a gift

and has

brought the

transformation

and change

that it

has.

May I pray.