جارٍ تحميل الأرشيف الحي.
Part 21 of 44
Wisdom & Wonder, Season 2, Episode 4
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Good morning. My name is Arik Hayes, and I'm one of the elders here at 2819 Church. I want to welcome our digital disciples—our online community watching live or catching the recording. We love you, we pray for you, and we honor you. I also want to extend a special welcome to those who may not yet believe. You absolutely belong here before you believe, and we preach the gospel intentionally because of that.
Before we dive in, I want to honor our senior pastor, Philip Anthony Mitchell. When I came here in 2015, he married me and my wife on November 7th. We now have four children. I'm keenly aware of the weight that sits on the shoulders of a pastor, a husband, and a father all at once. You don't appreciate that weight until you wear a similar one yourself. I'm grateful for his faithfulness. Please pray for him, his wife, and his children.
We're continuing in season two of a series called Wisdom and Wonder. I have the honor of bringing you the fourth episode, and the title is Power in Hidden Places.
Let me read Matthew 13:31-33 for us:
"He put another parable before them, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sewed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown, it is larger than all the garden plants, and it actually becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches. He told them another parable. He said, "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour till all was leaven."'"
When I hear "grain of mustard seed," it brings to mind Matthew 17:20, where Jesus says to his disciples:
"Because of your little faith, for truly I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you."
Jesus was referencing an actual mountain. He wasn't speaking metaphorically. He said, If you will say to this mountain, go from here to there, it will do it.
That is power. And what we often do is undermine the scriptures by not saying what they say. We try to apply them in ways that are easier for us to digest, but Jesus was not interested in doing that. Faith like a grain of mustard seed is kingdom seed—powerful seed.
Could it be that we're underestimating the power of the things God has already given us? I say yes to that.
The mustard seed was indeed the smallest of the garden seeds known in that world. Though orchid seeds are smaller, they were unknown in that part of the world. Jesus wouldn't have used that example. He used what was in front of them so they could understand it.
The mustard plant grows to a height of 12 to 15 feet—enormous compared to that tiny seed. The smallest of seeds grows into a tree. Jesus did not directly interpret this parable, but we understand its meaning: the sphere of influence of the kingdom and its followers will have a small beginning but will grow rapidly into a large entity.
Many of you answered the call of God at an altar call—whether here or at another church—and it was a small beginning. I want to speak to those who don't necessarily believe you've accepted Christ because your growth isn't going as quickly as you want it to. That's important.
Now, the second parable. Matthew 13:33:
"The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour till all was leaven."
Many of you heard "leaven" and automatically thought something bad. That would make sense, because in all other references, leaven is something negative. In Matthew 16:12, Jesus warns his disciples:
"Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy."
After his conflict with the religious leaders, Jesus used leaven as a metaphor for something corrupt. But in this parable, we're talking about righteous leaven.
We're not talking about something small for one meal. Three measures of flour is about 60 pounds, and about 4 pounds of leaven was needed. When finished, that produced about 150 pounds of bread. We could feed everyone here and more with that! But Jesus used this example because it illustrates his point: the kingdom comes in small increments, but it has the power to affect the whole batch.
Both parables are about the growth of the kingdom and its work in the hearts of men, causing people and even societies to rise. Things are going to get better. But I want to emphasize one crucial point: Even with amazing power, sometimes things in the kingdom take time.
The full expression of the kingdom does not happen overnight. Why do I keep driving that home? Because we often want a miracle—and a miracle is God's power compressed into a short amount of time. Lay hands on the sick and they're healed instantly. Sometimes. Lay hands on a blind man and it happens immediately. That is a miracle. It's the power of God.
But oh, how we often discount the power of God that is stretched over decades. Isn't that what's happening in your life? You're still struggling with something, but you're not struggling with everything at the same intensity over time. The enemy wants to come in and tell you it's not working. But just because you have a thorn in your side doesn't mean you're not moving in sanctification.
I come to encourage you this morning. Even though it is taking time—some of the eldest among us would say for decades—we wanted deliverance to happen faster. We wanted a miracle. Many of us have seen some, but he does not miraculously deliver us from every sin and every circumstance in an instant. We cannot discount that still being the power of God, because you have been sustained in the middle.
When it comes to discipleship, we've emphasized Matthew 28:19, and it's important to note: Some plant, some water, but God brings the increase. I'm going to say that again: Some plant. Some water. But God brings the increase.
In discipleship, we don't make people mature. Wouldn't we have done it already? Wouldn't you have worked that miracle on yourself? You'd already be done. I'd be sitting here with a halo over my head, walking in glory. But I have to wait for my glorified body. It's coming.
I want to take some of the pressure off those of you who are actually preaching the gospel, sharing the scripture with people, and it looks like nothing is happening. I need you to know this: Inherent in the word of God, inherent in the gospel, inherent in the kingdom is power to change the souls of men. And it's always been that way.
Listen to Romans 1:16:
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek."
Let me emphasize this: It is the power of God. The gospel. The message of the gospel.
I've been spending more time with our leaders, and I asked them out of the blue, "Who can explain the gospel?" Some got a little nervous. But here's what troubles me: We treat the gospel as powerful as long as Pastor Phil is preaching it. We think and act as though the power of God and the gospel is powerful depending on who says it.
This is why the average plan—even if unspoken—of the average churchgoer across the US is, "Hey, come to church with me so that when we sit next to each other, the man of God is going to say something that changes your life." But that is not the design of God. He saved you. He's cleaning you. And he's sending you out there with the power in your soul called the gospel to change the lives of men and women.
It's not powerful because an elder says it. It's powerful because the word of God is true and Jesus died to give it power. We've got to stop this superstar nonsense, beloved. When you put all the pressure on one person, that's part of the weight felt up here. The design of the kingdom is to have thousands of preachers. You only have to perfect one sermon. Just one sermon.
Let me take you through the gospel. God was with man in the garden, walking with him in the cool of the day. There was a breach. Sin came. Man fell away from God. All throughout the Old Testament, God made covenants and we broke them. He reached out and we slapped his hand away. But God had a plan of salvation. He sent the Son of God down through 42 generations, born of the Virgin Mary, raised as a man in the likeness of sinful flesh—not sinful flesh—with a miraculous ministry between ages 30 and 33.
The Holy Spirit came and rested on him. God said, "This is my son. I am well pleased." He did miracles, signs, and wonders. When it was time to fulfill his assignment, he went to the cross.
But don't skip over what happened before the cross. Before he got there, he was taken to the whipping post. The cat-o'-nine-tails was laid over his back. By his stripes, we were healed. That doesn't take place on the cross. That's the whipping post. Don't skip over the sacrifice at the whipping post.
Jesus then carried a cross—a cross that weighed about 165 pounds. After you've been beaten, carrying that is beyond difficult. He went to the cross, was nailed there, buried in a tomb. On the third day, the stone was rolled away. Thank you, Lord. He was in his glorified body, appeared to over 500 people, talked to the disciples, ascended to glory. Now he sits at the right hand of the Father, and those who believe in him are now seated in him and have everlasting life.
How many of you can memorize that, stumble through it, or open your Bible and read it? And let me say something: This is what I love about the kingdom. There's power in it, and it does something for your spirit, even though you're already saved. The kingdom is still getting more real estate in the souls of men.
Who sits and watches a tree grow? No one. But if you come back after some years, you see another ring, and another ring, and another ring. It grows and grows and grows. That's why we preach discipleship, not Christianity. Because if you continue to come and hear the word of God, apply it, worship him, and let his Spirit work inside of you, you—like the tree of the kingdom—will grow. Just because it's slow doesn't mean the power of God is not at work.
Consider Isaiah 9:7:
"Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end. On the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore."
Forevermore. That means it's still growing from hundreds of years before Jesus showed up, and thousands of years after he died. It shall know no end. Don't you ever think that God isn't working. I don't care how dark it looks.
I'm not trying to get into politics, but some of you don't want a certain presidential candidate to win because you think it's all going to fall apart. No. The government does not rest on any political candidate's shoulders. It rests on the shoulders of Christ himself.
Look at Acts 17:6. Paul and Silas were in Thessalonica, and the Jews were jealous. They dragged Jason and some brothers before the city authorities, shouting:
"These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also."
The world was already turned upside down because of the gospel and the kingdom. But God was not just interested in one generation. I'm so glad about it.
Christianity gets a bad rap, but we are still permeating the whole globe. We support ministries in Madagascar. There are people in Russia. There are people in Islamic countries underground. It won't make the headlines, but our kingdom doesn't rest on the headlines. It's still building right now by the power of the Holy Ghost and the obedience of disciples.
The body of Christ is moving. What I call "churched" Christianity—just coming and sitting in church with a semblance of Christianity but no real power—that's not it. But Christ put glory in our hearts. Think about what your heart looked like before the Holy Spirit started to influence it. Think about how dark, wicked, and selfish it was. Think about how you think about people more now. How you pray more. How you're attracted to things of the Spirit. Yes, the kingdom and the gospel are still moving.
Let me close with Philippians 1:3-6:
"I thank God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."
I want to land on verse six: "And I am sure of this. That he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion."
Some of you know that Jesus began a work, but you're really depending on yourself to complete it. It gives you angst. It gives you worry. You lay down in condemnation. Some of you may even want to give up on the gospel. But Paul says, I am sure of this: He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion.
If you had to depend on yourself, you'd have good reason to worry, good reason to have angst and stress. But the same one who holds the government on his shoulders—that was prophesied in Isaiah—the same one who spoke these parables in Matthew 13—is the same one who orchestrated the plan that Paul is talking about in that verse. He's going to bring it to pass.
Salvation was not your idea. You didn't come up with the plan. So why do you feel like you have to come up with the plan to finish it? This is why our worship of God and honoring the Father through the Son is so serious. He is the cornerstone upon which we build all of our godly activities, because he is the one that will bring it to pass.
