Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] All right, we're going to return back to Matthew chapter number 13 and look at the next parable in our series.
[00:00:06] And you know, this morning when we were talking about the parable of the wheat and tares, it's important to make the distinction.
[00:00:16] And I did mention it, but sometimes, you know, when you look at a parable, you have to understand it and interpret it in the way that it was intended to be given.
[00:00:29] And in Matthew 13 and the parable of the tares, the wheat and the tares, this is, as I said at the beginning, this is a broad parable that deals with big matters. It deals with the Lord's work in the kingdom of God, you know, from start to finish.
[00:00:49] He's not necessarily looking at a single individual church or anything like that. I think that's a. That is an important distinction to make.
[00:00:58] So when the Lord says that he will keep the. He'll allow the tares and tolerate the tares with the wheat, he's talking about in the big picture, it is not intended to be understood to mean that evil things in the church are to be permitted to remain.
[00:01:18] That's not what's in view at all, but it's the bigger picture because again, only the Lord knows the identity of the tares in truth. And so what we're going to look at now in verse number 31 is the parable of the mustard seed.
[00:01:33] And this similarly is the Lord is speaking of big issues, big kind of 30,000ft view of his work, you know, at scale, if you want to put it like that, or rather than just a single, like a single church, although we can apply it to that in certain ways, and I hope to in some way tonight apply it. But again, when the Lord's talking about the kingdom of heaven, he's talking about a big thing that he's doing. I mean, it started way back in the Gospels and it continues to this day. It involves millions and millions of people and billions even of people hearing the gospel over the centuries. And it's a big work, is it not? And the Lord has given us a broad kind of overarching panorama, if you will, of what it's like, the nature of the kingdom of God and His work in the earth. Just as a quick reminder, we talked about this before. The kingdom of God is specifically referring to this kingdom where God is the king, and those who submit and yield and make themselves his subject. But this is, of course, by faith, by repentance, and of course, the new birth are part of his kingdom. And so the kingdom of God is, you know, it's a spiritual kingdom. That's what we've seen. And there will be one day that that is merged with a literal physical kingdom as well. And the kingdom of God will be on earth, not just in us, but it'll be. It'll be everywhere. He will be the king, and the whole world will be his dominion in a very real sense. So what we want to look at is verse number 31 and 32. In some way, these verses about the parable of the mustard seed overlap and maybe not restate, but definitely cover some of the same truths of the previous two parables we've looked at, which with the sower and the tares, verse 31 says this. Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all seeds. But when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches that thereof. Now, we're just going to take a quick peek at Mark chapter four and Luke chapter 13, because the parallel passages add to what we're reading here. So if you'll look at Mark chapter four, and we'll read these very quickly, Mark chapter four, Mark four, verse number 30, verse 30 says this. And he said, whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God?
[00:04:44] Or with what comparison shall we compare?
[00:04:47] Is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth.
[00:04:56] But when it is sown, it groweth up and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches, so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it. All right, One more in Luke 13, if you would.
[00:05:22] Luke 13:18, verse 18.
[00:05:32] Then said he unto what is the kingdom of God like?
[00:05:36] And whereunto shall I resemble?
[00:05:39] Is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and cast into his garden. And it grew waxed a great tree, and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches thereof.
[00:05:53] Now note, there is no question it is indisputable that the kingdom of God has grown from its beginnings. Right? There's no question about that. The real question, I think that this parable answers, when the Lord is giving these parables, he's trying to. He's using these parables as a comparison to help us understand the nature of the kingdom of God and how it plays out kind of in the big picture. And that helps us in some way to understand where we fit in that bigger picture and what the goal is and what the priorities are of God's kingdom. But without question, the kingdom of God has grown. And that's what you see here. It has grown from where it started. So let's pray, and then we'll be back in Matthew 13. Our Father, thank you again for the time for your people to meet together. Thank you for your promise to meet with us. You said where two or three are gathered together in your name, there you would be in the midst. O Lord, we believe that you are here. We know that you're here, Lord, you're here in us. But Lord, we desire that you would show yourself in power and in wisdom and grace and mercy to us as we look at your word, that you would guide us in our study not just to understand the scriptures, of course we want to, but we also want to take the things we learn and apply them and use them. That they would equip us, Lord, to be more. To be more faithful servants of yours. So, Lord, give us guidance and wisdom. Help me, Lord, to help your people in Jesus name. Amen.
[00:07:28] Now, this parable, I mentioned this a few weeks ago, but this parable actually last week is an example of a parable like many parables, because they're using object lessons. It is vitally important in this parable in particular to have kind of a cultural understanding of certain things in order to give us the key to understanding the point and to interpret the parable.
[00:07:58] Because this parable in particular is an example of a case in which one small understanding, whether you think it's this or whether you think it's that, totally changes the teaching and the outcome of the parable in big ways, and that then changes what we understand to be what should be our priorities as the people of God and as in the work of God. In other words, you might ask yourself, just like the question that Jesus posed here, what is the kingdom of God like? And we might have. We might ask ourselves that question, maybe not in that terminology, but we would say, what is God's purpose? What is his mission? What is his goal? What is God doing in the world? Right. You might ask it like that in more, you know, modern terminology or whatever. And that's a. That's an important question. What are we supposed to be doing? And of course, we have hard and fast and firm scripture to describe that. But sometimes, you know, sometimes it's important to know what the commander's Intent is what's he shooting at, what's he going for, right?
[00:09:04] And that's what these parables are designed to do. So notice the first thing about this parable in verse 31 and 32 is that the Lord says in verse 32 that the grain of mustard seed, we're talking one to two millimeters in diameter. So very small, very, very small.
[00:09:22] The grain of mustard seed indeed is the least of all seeds. Now we know that this seed is going to become something far greater than a seed. It's going to grow as we read here. But you think of the kingdom of God and how it got started, right? The kingdom of God.
[00:09:42] It is my personal belief that the kingdom of God was inaugurated when the king showed up. That before that you had the saints, you had people that believed Abraham, David, you know, the prophets, et cetera. You have those believers. But as far as the kingdom of God coming, it's when John the Baptist showed up and said, what? Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, right? So when the king showed up, the kingdom came.
[00:10:09] But how did it start? Think about this even before you get to the appearance of the Lord Jesus in his ministry. What do you have? Isaiah 53:1 2. You know these verses. It says this, who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? Notice it says, for he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of a dry ground. I don't know if you've noticed over here we've been trying to grow grass.
[00:10:40] Not very successfully. I said, we, we being. Me, myself and I been trying to grow grass over here. And I, as you have learned, I do not have a green thumb.
[00:10:52] And what I've noticed is some things came up, but when they weren't watered, they. It was a root out of a. Out of a dry, dry ground, and it was a tender plant. So tender, in fact, that it died, right?
[00:11:06] And this is what's being described here. One little shoot, one little green thing out of dry ground. That, you know what that is? That's humble beginnings.
[00:11:16] This is, this is spoken of the, the incarnation of Christ himself. And of course, he shows up and, you know, he announces his ministry and he was, you know, Jesus was not any. Was not any notable person to look at him. And we looked at that before. He was a rather plain man. He was a working class person. He had no, he had no natural charisma, you know, that the world will look at and say this or that or the other. He didn't he wasn't, you know, in any specific features that would draw men to him that are notable. He was just a regular guy. He had calluses on his hands, no doubt from being a carpenter. He was just a regular fellow. In other words, humble, lowly. And this is what the Bible says about the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:12:07] And though many people followed him during his ministry, in the end he died alone.
[00:12:13] In the end he died having been forsaken of his closest disciples, indeed all of his disciples.
[00:12:20] And when they finally repented and returned, there was just a handful. You think of those thousands and hordes and hordes of people that followed the Lord Jesus. And when all was said and done, he had risen from the dead, he had ascended back to heaven.
[00:12:37] They could scrounge up but 120 of all of those thousands of people in the whole world. That was it.
[00:12:50] And you think about the church as we went through the book of Acts in our study.
[00:12:54] The church, which has its origin there, had extremely humble beginnings. Did the church, did anybody in the church have any great political power?
[00:13:06] Any great like place in society?
[00:13:10] Any great wealth? No, none of that.
[00:13:13] None of it.
[00:13:15] Just a little mustard seed.
[00:13:17] Humble.
[00:13:20] There was nothing that the church or the church or the people in it in Jerusalem at the first church could boast of or brag. They didn't know Herod, they didn't know Pilate. They didn't have any connections with any of the movers and shearers of their time. No. No, it was just them and God.
[00:13:38] I wonder if we're okay with just having just God.
[00:13:42] Are we okay with that choice Hills Baptist Church? Are we okay with just us and the Lord? Is that okay with us?
[00:13:49] This reminds us of our Sunday school class, you know, it's that desire, you know, when we talk about the Southern Baptist Convention and why we're not part of it and those kinds of questions. Do we need that for validation?
[00:14:04] Do we need a big organization to put their stamp of approval and say, alright, you are sanctioned, or is the Lord enough?
[00:14:14] Just a little mustard seed.
[00:14:16] But we, here's the thing. We recognize that we're just a little. We're just a little nothing as individuals and as a church.
[00:14:26] But really even the kingdom of God, which is not little, was just a little thing, a little lowly mustard seed in this parable, you know, that we haven't had any. You look at, you look at the scripture. There have been no famous people.
[00:14:44] Be very, I'll just say be very. Be very leery of famous people, of stars and such that claim to embrace Christianity.
[00:14:57] Be very leery of those types of.
[00:15:00] I think of one some of you might have heard of. Kanye west got saved. No, he didn't.
[00:15:06] How many of you know what I'm talking about when I say Kanye West? How many of you care about Kanye? Okay, I mean, maybe his soul, but that's it. Kanye west is a wicked man. He is a wicked man. Same thing with Justin Bieber, who's got a tattoo of Jesus on his leg.
[00:15:23] We don't need stardom for validation, right? Be leery of that.
[00:15:29] The church has never sought to be validated by influential people like that.
[00:15:38] Humble beginnings, that's where it started. We're like little mustard seeds.
[00:15:43] No great financial means, no great wealthy people, no backing of some great international denominations to validate our mission.
[00:15:57] And then we read in acts, the churches sent preachers, just regular old guys had to work while they preached, just to live regular old guys to different areas to start other little tiny little places. Little mustard seeds here and there.
[00:16:14] Lowly small congregations, no doubt, in many cases.
[00:16:19] And yet we know that that grew into the kingdom of God as we know it, which is literally churches all over the globe.
[00:16:33] Now, each one of those churches might be a humble, small congregation, and that's okay. We ought not despise the day of small things. Right now, I think it's Nehemiah that says that. Is it Nehemiah?
[00:16:45] We ought not despise the day of small things.
[00:16:47] This is.
[00:16:49] That's the Lord's intention. And he has done something great in this world over these past 2000 years with what started as something very, very small. In fact, we would say these millions of believers that exist in the world, they still exist in little churches, little lowly churches.
[00:17:11] I get a great deal of satisfaction because you know what? That makes me feel kind of important, right? That makes me feel kind of like this is really worthwhile, right?
[00:17:23] God's eye is upon us, no matter how little or big.
[00:17:29] It's not because some group validates us. It's because the Lord God Almighty has his eye upon us. And that's all. All that matters. That's all that matters.
[00:17:40] So that's the least of all the seeds, how it starts.
[00:17:45] And we can see what the Lord has done. Notice something else here?
[00:17:49] Verse 32.
[00:17:53] So he took a seed, a mustard seed, and the Bible says it's the least of seeds, but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs and becometh a tree.
[00:18:10] Now it's easy again. If we're not super familiar with these things, it's easy to look at this and let this and kind of miss the point kind of miss the point of what we're talking about here.
[00:18:22] So I want to just explain this a little bit.
[00:18:28] A mustard plant.
[00:18:31] It is impossible to categorize a mustard plant as a tree.
[00:18:37] There is not a mustard plant in existence that could ever be categorized as a tree because it has no wood, it has no bark, it looks nothing like a tree. It's certainly not large.
[00:18:51] And in fact, the Lord Jesus himself, what does he say in verse 32? He says it is the greatest. Among what herbs. Now, an herb is an herb. It's a plant. And a tree is a tree, which is also a plant. But an herb and a tree are distinct kinds of plants.
[00:19:10] But you read in verse 32 that this mustard seed, which is an herb, I mean, we're talking.
[00:19:16] I was doing some research, black mustard, which is common in the Middle east, which is probably what the Lord is referring to here. There is one tree they call a mustard tree. It has nothing to do with mustard. But when you're talking about the spice, you're talking about black mustard or white mustard, something like that. I love myself some mustard. I've never had mustard I don't like. I'll eat it by itself. But that's just Sidebar.
[00:19:41] But a mustard tree at its tallest, a mustard plant at its tallest, in the greatest extremity might end up being 10ft tall.
[00:19:54] But again, no wood. Doesn't look like a tree, doesn't have big branches. It has no bark, nothing.
[00:20:01] It looks like a big shrub.
[00:20:03] And usually it's not even that tall. Usually we're talking three foot and below, generally.
[00:20:10] So we're talking in your flower bed is where it would go.
[00:20:14] So first thing I want you to see in verse 32, this seed, it is a mustard seed. It is an herb, Jesus calls it. But the Bible says, He says it becometh a tree. So how does something that is by nature not a tree. Why does Jesus say that it becomes a tree? Why is he calling something that is not a tree a tree?
[00:20:36] The second thing I want you to see about this is, is that in Mark chapter four, we won't go back there. But we already read it together.
[00:20:50] The lord in Mark 4:32 describes this plant as having great branches, great branches.
[00:21:00] Now, you might have a large mustard plant, but there doesn't exist a mustard plant that has great branches.
[00:21:09] You're talking maybe, maybe a great branch might be that big around. I would say that's kind of small. Great means Big. So this big. This big, right? Great branch is going to be able to hold some weight, right? Like you would find in a large tree, like an oak tree. Not only that, but the Bible says here in Luke 13:19, which we already read, the Lord says. He describes it, this plant as a great tree. Tree.
[00:21:35] So we already saw tree in this passage. In Luke, it says great tree.
[00:21:40] Now, some of you might have a great tree on your property. We're talking like an oak that's dozens of feet tall, large trunk. That's a great tree.
[00:21:49] In your wildest imagination, you cannot call a mustard plant a great tree. And you can't say it has great branches. I'm going somewhere with this. But there's one more.
[00:22:00] At such a small size, it's very unlikely that birds would build a nest in a shrub, a weak shrub, especially because it's weak. It doesn't have the branches. Although this says it has great branches because it would offer little shadow to the birds. Luke 4:32 speaks of the shadow that the birds lodge under. So you. You have all of these things combined.
[00:22:30] Something's amiss in this.
[00:22:34] Why is the Lord describing this plant, which is an herb, as a tree?
[00:22:39] That's what we're getting into. Here's the standard or one of the standard interpretations of this parable.
[00:22:46] The standard or one of the standard interpretations describes the kingdom of God as the growth that the kingdom of God starts as a mustard seed, and it grows and grows and grows into this enormous tree.
[00:23:05] And so you have these birds, which are the nations or the people of God. There are different ways to interpret, but you have these people that come and lodge under the branches of this large global church that fills the whole earth.
[00:23:21] Some of you might be familiar with the term post millennialism, which teaches that the Gospel will increase and increase and increase and increase until finally it will fill the earth. And when it finally fills the earth, then Jesus will return after the gospel has filled the earth. And this is one of the primary passages they use. See it. It starts small and it gets bigger and bigger and bigger until it's a tree that fills the whole earth. And all the people find refuge in the church.
[00:23:53] And then Jesus returns.
[00:23:57] The problem with that is that there's no way that an herb can become a tree.
[00:24:04] There's no way that an herb can become a tree. By nature, they are two different things.
[00:24:09] So here's what I'm proposing to you, and I'll give you one other evidence for this view of it is this, that what the Lord is actually Describing here is something that he started with one intention, but it became abnormally something different.
[00:24:37] What he planted as a mustard seed, as he intended it small, and. And indeed he intended it to grow, and it grew. But now it has grown into something that it never was by nature intended to be. And I'm gonna show you why I think that in just a minute. But there's one other aspect, which is in verse 32, and it says, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.
[00:25:04] Now, if you look in the immediate, just think in your mind Matthew, chapter 13.
[00:25:09] Where else have you seen birds?
[00:25:13] Yes, ma'. Am.
[00:25:19] Exactly.
[00:25:20] Okay, so in Bible interpretation, whenever you're trying to understand, because we're talking about a parable, so these elements have meaning, the first thing you look at is the immediate context, right? You start close, and then you work your way out.
[00:25:36] Well, in the immediate context, you do see, in fact, in the same conversation, the Lord Jesus mentions birds. And certainly in that context of the parable of the Sower, it is not a good thing. In fact, in verse number 19 of this chapter, he says, when anyone heareth the word of the kingdom and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. So the bird in the parable of the Sower refers to the devil.
[00:26:06] And literally two parables later in the same conversation, the Lord mentions bird again in a kind of an unusual context that I've been describing here.
[00:26:19] And so by interpretation, the bird has to be kind of a negative thing, especially considering that the only reason the bird is there is is because this thing is no longer an herb, but it is now a tree with big branches.
[00:26:36] If it remained an herb, there would not be birds, because they're not hanging out in places that won't support their weight and their nests.
[00:26:44] But it has become something else.
[00:26:47] It has become something else.
[00:26:50] So by interpretation, and this is. The commentators say things. I looked at two different.
[00:26:55] Two different sources, and one of them interprets the birds as referring to nations and peoples that come and lodge under the shadow of the church. Another one refers to the birds as God's people. But the problem with that is there is no reason in this context to say that. It's that you're just pulling it out of thin air.
[00:27:16] But there is a reason to say that the bird is related to satanic activity, because Jesus said it within a few verses of this.
[00:27:29] So because this herb has become a tree, the largeness of it and its great branches have allowed These birds to have a place to rest and live. And from that place where now they have a nest, they will fly out. You know what they'll do to mix the parables?
[00:27:52] They'll fly out and snatch the seed of the Word of God from the hearts of people by the wayside, from their nest in this tree that the Lord originally intended to be an herb, but now it's a tree again.
[00:28:10] The Lord is just describing how this thing plays out, right?
[00:28:17] He's just describing how this thing plays out. So here's what I'm putting forth to you as what this parable is talking about.
[00:28:25] That the Lord planted the seed. He started and inaugurated the kingdom of God. And it was lowly and he intended it to grow. And it has grown, but it has grown into something that the Lord did not intend, that the Lord that was not in its nature to be.
[00:28:47] Just ask yourself. We've already studied. We already had the background study. We've already studied Acts, We've studied different parts of Matthew.
[00:28:56] Is Christianity as you see it today?
[00:29:02] Is it consistent with what Jesus said?
[00:29:08] Is it?
[00:29:12] No.
[00:29:13] You have these large international denominations funneling gazillions and gazillions of dollars to do whatever they do. You have them, you know, building hospitals and international aid organizations, and you have these global ministries, and you have all of these big, huge things that are going on and also in.
[00:29:40] And that's just in the kind of the Protestant group.
[00:29:44] But you think of like Roman Catholicism, all of that which is under the banner of Christianity.
[00:29:51] And think about the satanic birds that have lodged, that have built nests, permanent houses and mansions, even in the branches of what was supposed to be the kingdom of God in its simple, humble form, right?
[00:30:11] Mariolatry, purgatory, indulgences, holy water, candles, the priesthood.
[00:30:23] You have iconography.
[00:30:27] We could go on and on and on. Where are these. These things are coming out of religion.
[00:30:32] These things are coming out of religion.
[00:30:35] Here's the question I have to ask. Where is simple, primitive, biblical Christianity?
[00:30:45] I'll tell you where you often where. You don't find it. You don't find it in these global organizations.
[00:30:53] You just don't find it there.
[00:30:56] In other words, you compare what the Book of Acts describes. You compare what the Lord Jesus said, as in the Sermon on the Mount. You compare these just basic truths that we accept and we know as characteristic of Bible Christianity. And you see it played out in practice in the Book of Acts.
[00:31:14] What you see is simplicity.
[00:31:16] You see simplicity.
[00:31:20] You see lowliness. You see humility.
[00:31:22] You don't see what Christianity has become basically enormous, you know, I don't know, like fundraising entities with, you know, hierarchy. You don't see any of that.
[00:31:37] You see simplicity.
[00:31:41] So the question is, did the Lord intend to have all of these denominational groups and all of these things?
[00:31:49] I don't think he did.
[00:31:52] I think he intended it on being an herb, not a tree. Because when it became a tree, when it became something that he didn't intend, all of a sudden you had all these demonic fowls finding a place to rest and build their nest and do their work, instead of in the simplicity of the gospel and the simplicity of New Testament Christianity, which is what you read in the Book of Acts, should we not strive to just be biblical, simple New Testament Christians, should not this church strive to do that? That doesn't mean we can't do ministries and things like that. But we have to ask ourselves, what's the goal here?
[00:32:37] Now, for those that have interpreted this passage to mean that, you know, the Gospel is going to grow and grow and grow into finally, it's going to cover the whole world. That's what they think this herb refers to.
[00:32:51] Listen to these verses.
[00:32:54] First Timothy 4:1 says this. Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils.
[00:33:09] 2nd Timothy 3:1 13. Say this. This. Know also that in the last days perilous times shall come.
[00:33:20] Verse 13 says, but evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
[00:33:28] Second Peter 3:3 says this, knowing this verse, that there shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts.
[00:33:39] First John 2:18.
[00:33:40] Little children, it is the last time. And as ye have heard, that the Antichrist shall come, even now are there many Antichrists, whereby by the Antichrists we know that it is the last time.
[00:33:59] Finally, in Jude 18 says this. We read it this morning how they told you that there should be mockers in the last time who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. So in these five or six verses, let me ask you a question. As we approach the last time, the final days, the latter end right as we approach the coming of the Lord. Does Scripture describe Christianity growing and growing and growing and finally bringing in the kingdom of God?
[00:34:29] Or does the Lord describe a world that is going to get progressively worse and more evil and more false doctrine? Which one does it describe? It very clearly describes the latter, not the former, which is in direct contradiction to the doctrine of post millennialism.
[00:34:48] And see, and the way that sometimes people that believe in that post millennialism, they say, well, you guys, you pre trib people, you just want to go hide in your bunker, wait on Jesus to come.
[00:35:00] No, it's not that at all. In fact, I think that's a good argument to go out and preach the gospel. In fact, that's exactly what Second Peter tells us to do, Right?
[00:35:09] But it's not that at all. It's just that this is what God said is going to happen as we approach the coming of the Lord. He says it's not going to get better, but worse.
[00:35:24] This is part of the reason why when you look at this parable, it's not that the gospel is getting bigger and bigger and bigger and covering the world.
[00:35:32] It's that it's busted out of its original intention, God's original intention, and it's become something the Lord didn't intend. And it's provided opportunity for the doctrines of devils to get a foothold in the churches.
[00:35:46] In the churches, which is what the Lord's describing here.
[00:35:55] So in conclusion, I'll say this.
[00:35:58] It is the nature of the kingdom of God to start small and remain relatively humble.
[00:36:07] God has made it his habit to do his mighty work by means of humble things, has he not?
[00:36:18] So for our church, for Choice Hills Baptist Church, we should seek to stay close to simple New Testament Christianity.
[00:36:28] Right?
[00:36:29] That's what it's about.
[00:36:32] We should seek to keep the work of the Lord as close as we can to its original beginnings, the mustard seed, that little herb that was given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:36:43] And this is the description of the work of God's work in the earth as spoken by the Lord Jesus and exemplified in primitive Christianity. Isn't it funny they call it primitive? By primitive they mean it had not developed all these entrappings of modern Christendom that we find everywhere.
[00:37:01] All these cathedrals and all, all these fancy clothes you have to wear and all these holidays and all this stuff that you don't find anywhere in the Bible. And you might. Have you ever scratched your head and said, where did they get that?
[00:37:14] It ain't there.
[00:37:15] It's all these extra things that the Lord didn't create.
[00:37:21] You see, Think about how far from the biblical design the church of God has strayed. And I say church, even be careful of that term church. You know, the church this, the church that. What they're usually referring to is they're referring to Christendom, they're referring to this tree that all that goes into it. And all the while, we who are trying to follow New Testament, simple New Testament Christianity are over here like, hey, we're over here trying to live for God.
[00:37:55] Like, well, the church. I remember one time I was trying to do something in Cambodia. I was trying to get permission, print a Cambodian concordance.
[00:38:03] And so I went to the Bible Society, one of those. This is one of those tree things, right?
[00:38:10] This Bible Society, which ruled over the Bible in Cambodia, right? Interdenominational. So they were kind of a notch up above everybody else. You know, they wielded some influence.
[00:38:24] And I was trying. I was talking to them about the project, and the man kind of said a little bit smugly, he said, well, we want to make sure that we get behind projects that are for the church at large.
[00:38:40] What does that even mean, the church at large?
[00:38:46] You know what that is? That's tree talk.
[00:38:49] That's tree talk. That's not herb talk. That's tree talk.
[00:38:58] Now, sometimes.
[00:39:05] And listen, this is a historical truth as well.
[00:39:09] In the Roman times, when Christianity was finally. In the three hundreds, when Christianity was finally legalized by Constantine, indeed it became a tree, right, when Christianity became legalized.
[00:39:21] And all of a sudden the preachers had political influence and power, right?
[00:39:31] And one thing they sought to do is Christianize society.
[00:39:34] When the Lord commanded us to preach the gospel and to disciple those who believe, that's what he commanded us to do.
[00:39:43] You think, well, that's. Well, that's not big enough, right?
[00:39:47] But that's what he commanded.
[00:39:49] That's what he commanded.
[00:39:52] And you know what?
[00:39:54] Incidentally, when we preach the gospel faithfully, it does have an effect on society, does it not?
[00:40:00] It should. I hope it does.
[00:40:05] It has. It can have an effect on institutions and structures, but. But it's secondary to our core purpose that was stated by the Lord, which is simple biblical Christianity.
[00:40:20] Because even in a Christianized society, which at one point our nation was that, I would say it's probably not so much that now in a Christianized society, you can have a society that's Christianized but full of unregenerate heathen who still perish without Jesus, but they're thoroughly Christianized.
[00:40:45] So we stick to the basic fundamental purpose that the Lord gave us, and we let whatever effects of that happen. That's what we're glad to see happen.
[00:41:00] So in closing, do we want the Lord, the work of God to remain as the Lord founded it, or do we desire to become a tree?
[00:41:10] Do we measure our success based upon obedience to the Lord's? Commands? Or do we measure our success based upon how much influence we leverage on the powers that be?
[00:41:21] Do we need somebody to legitimize what we're doing? To have their approval or sanction by the influential people of the world?
[00:41:29] Stretch out those bowels?
[00:41:34] You know, there have been many times in history where Christians long for that.
[00:41:38] They really did.
[00:41:40] They longed for influence and power, but when they got it, the purpose of the church was lost.
[00:41:48] It's just a fact of history. It's sad.
[00:41:52] I think that if anything, this parable reminds us that we should try to stick with the simplicity of the gospel, the simplicity of God's design for us, and to look to him for the approval. Look to him for ultimate sanction for what we do. Let's pray.
