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.