In his sermon on the parable of the mustard seed, Robert Bosley explores the growth of the kingdom of God, emphasizing its expansion from small beginnings to a global presence. He draws connections between this parable and the concept of post-millennialism, which suggests that the world will become increasingly influenced by the Gospel before Christ's return. Bosley contrasts this view with pre-millennialism, which anticipates further decline before Christ's return. The sermon highlights how the kingdom of God, beginning with Jesus' ministry, is likened to a mustard seed that grows into a large tree where birds nest, symbolizing the inclusion and protection of diverse nations under Christ's rule. Bosley argues against interpretations that see the birds as symbols of corruption, instead referencing Old Testament imagery to support the idea of a growing, unifying kingdom. He urges believers to actively participate in spreading the Gospel, emphasizing the enduring and unshakeable nature of God's kingdom.

Good afternoon. If you could take out your copy of God's Word and open up to Matthew chapter 13. Matthew chapter 13. As our elder Trent said before the Lord's Supper earlier this morning, it is remarkable how the Lord orchestrates things so that so many elements of the Lord's Day are tied together without our consultation with one another, without our awareness, because it seems today that we have a theme of trees. We are going to continue the series through the parables of the kingdom.

And today we're going to look at one of the parables that our Elder Scott mentioned this morning, the parable of the mustard seed. So we're continuing our tree theme this afternoon. This parable, the parable of the mustard seed, along with the following parable, the parable of the leaven, have a slight change of emphasis from the previous few parables that the Lord preached and that we've looked at. Those previous parables really had a focus, an emphasis on personal salvation and were really in some ways an explanation of the unbelief of those who rejected Christ. These two parables, however, the the mustard seed and the leaven go hand-in-hand and are focused instead on those not on those who reject Christ but on those who receive him.

The emphasis here is on the growth of the kingdom of God throughout history and its effects, the effects of the kingdom in this world. We only have time today to look at the parable of the mustard seed, but we will read both parables So we can see how they go together So Matthew chapter 13 beginning in verse 31 Another parable he put forth to them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds. But when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches. Another parable he spoke to them. The kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.

Let's pray. Father, we come before you and we thank you for this time that we can have in your Word. God, what a treasure it is to have the scriptures available to us and to have such easy ready access to the very word of God. We thank you Lord for this gift. We thank you Lord for these parables.

We thank you Lord for the instruction of your son and we pray that you would send your spirit to teach us now help us to understand these things and Lord in all of this may you be glorified in the name of your son we pray amen now I I want to begin with I don't know that I'd call it a disclaimer, but a little bit of a upfront point about the interpretation that I'm going to present of this parable. What I'm going to present and really argue for, this interpretation lends itself most naturally to a particular eschatological view known as post-millennialism. If that is a new word to you, post-millennialism means that the expectation as we get to the end of the age and the return of Jesus is that the world will become more and more influenced by the gospel, the church will grow in its influence throughout the world so that when Jesus returns after the millennium, after a period of peace and prosperity and rule of the gospel in the world, Jesus returns after that to a world that has been largely made Christian. This is in contrast to the dominant view of our times known as pre-millennialism, that the world will degrade further and further, and Jesus returns before the millennium that we've recently gone through in Revelation.

Now, while I say that this interpretation lends itself most readily to the post-millennial view, I'm not actually going to be arguing explicitly for post-millennialism, although I do actually hold to that view. I'm representing this interpretation because I believe it's true, And because I believe this interpretation is true, that is one reason I hold the post-millennialism is not the other way around. I don't start with my preferred eschatology and read that into the parables of Jesus. What I believe these parables teach is that the kingdom of God is currently and will be ongoing until the end of the age, a growing force in the world, a force which will go and fill all nations and every aspect of society. That would have been the dominant view in our country and in much of Protestant Christianity 200 years ago.

Now, if you look at modern commentators, they would reject that. They would present a view very different, well, somewhat different than what I will be presenting here. We'll talk about that in a minute. But I just wanted to give you that heads up. That's where we are going.

So if you have any modern commentators or modern commentaries that you like for the parables or the gospel of Matthew, I may disagree with them on some key points here. Let's look at the parable and you'll see what I mean when this parable is about the spread of the kingdom. Look again at verse 31 and 32. Another parable he put forth to them saying, the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds, but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches." As a powerful image packed into two short verses. Let's start with a reminder of what we have said about the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God.

This is a phrase that Jesus has used multiple times and is really what all the parables are about, some facet or some aspect of the kingdom of heaven. Remember, it is not simply God's sovereign rule over creation. That has been universal and unending, uninterrupted from creation. God rules. God reigns.

We should all readily affirm that. But the kingdom of heaven is something that began with the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. John the Baptist came saying that the kingdom has come near. Jesus came and said, if I cast out demons, you know that the kingdom has come upon you. So there was something new in God's rule that began with the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So rather than the the sovereign rule of God, we should understand the kingdom of heaven to be the rule of God, yes, but through his Son over redeemed sinners who have been brought to obey him and love him. That is the kingdom of heaven as Jesus uses it in these parables. And again, as I said, this kingdom began with the incarnation and the ministry of Jesus and will continue throughout history until it is perfected in eternity. And so Jesus is comparing this this kingdom or this rule of God to a mustard seed which he calls the smallest of all seeds which grows into a large tree. Now as a quick side note I don't know if you've ever seen this but I've encountered numerous people who will say will turn to this and say the Bible's false because the mustard seed is not literally the smallest seed in the world.

That is a really silly argument. Obviously Jesus is speaking to a particular people in a particular time and speakers are allowed to use hyperbole, allowed to use normal figures of speech. Neither does the mustard seed literally turn into a tree with bark and things like that that we think of. These are some of the most ridiculous arguments against the authority of scripture and have no persuasive power at all so please reject those claims. The mustard seed is an extraordinarily small seed.

It is so small it measures only about a sixteenth of an inch in diameter. It is a very small seed, but from such a small seed a plant grows that can be over nine or ten feet tall. So it's no stretch to see why he called it the smallest seeds that grow into a tree. And so Jesus presents this connection, the kingdom of heaven, The rule of God through his son in the world is like this. It starts off incredibly small, so small it can easily fall out of your hands, But it grows into an enormous tree.

It grows steadily, slowly. Seasons of drought, seasons of plenty, but it expands and fills the space that it's been planted so much so that it becomes a home for the creatures. What a great picture this is of the history of the church. If you know anything about the history of the church, if you know your Bible, you know, at the end of Jesus' ministry, when he is crucified and buried and he raises again, at the end, even though there were great multitudes following him throughout parts of his ministry, at the end he has 11 faithful men and a few faithful women. We see on the day of Pentecost when the Spirit is poured out there's only about a hundred and twenty people gathered together.

This is that initial seed, that small seed. What else could you describe it? Against the weight and the power of the synagogue and the Sanhedrin, against the power and military might of the Roman Empire, what is 11 men or what is 120 people? It is the smallest of beginnings. But the church still endures today and it not only endures but it is in many places even today thriving While the Sanhedrin and Rome have vanished from the face of the earth.

The church endures. The Roman Empire did not. The Sanhedrin did not. Today, even though the gospel, the kingdom of heaven, the church, all of this started with this small initial seed, today the gospel has reached and is preached on every continent of the world. And today there are more people who claim to follow Jesus than any other religious leader in all of history.

Now obviously there are many false churches and many false believers. I'm not arguing against that. That is obviously true. But the point remains that that small initial seed has expanded and grown far beyond what the world could have imagined would happen. And now this has been the relatively uncontroversial part of this parable.

Basically everyone agrees that this is a picture of growth. The pre-millennials, the post-millennials, and every strange creature between will say, yes, that's what the parable is about, the growth of the kingdom there, from small humble beginnings to a worldwide church. However, the next part is where the real disagreement lies, where it says at the end of verse 32, it becomes a tree so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches. What does that mean? Many modern commentators, often influenced, I believe, by dispensational premillennialism, argue that the birds nesting in the branches of the kingdom of heaven show increasing corruption in the church as time goes on.

That these birds are the same as the birds in the parable of the soils. Remember the parable of the soils were a picture of the activity of Satan coming to snatch the message of the kingdom from the hearts of men. And So they say, yes, the church may grow, but so does its sinfulness and its corruption and degradation. It becomes more powerful, but it also becomes more corrupt. So that when Jesus returns or the rapture happens, there's only a relative handful of true believers left.

That is the common interpretation of this parable. And that's what I was raised in. That's what was taught in the pulpits of the church I was raised in. And so rather than being a picture of the power of God and a view of an optimistic future, this becomes instead a warning and a prophecy about future apostasy. Now I reject that interpretation and I want to show you why.

So unless you have a Bible that has cross references or you perhaps use a New American Standard Bible, which has all Old Testament references and bold typeface, You may not understand, you may not know that the phrase, the birds of the air come and nest in its branches, is actually an allusion to several passages in the Old Testament. And I want to look at a few of those. In Daniel chapter 4, Nebuchadnezzar recounts a dream he had to Daniel and he said, These were the visions of my head while on my bed. I was looking and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great. The tree grew and became strong.

Its height reached to the heavens and it could be seen to the ends of the earth. Its leaves were lovely, its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all. The beasts of the field found shade under it and the birds of the heavens dwelt in its branches, and all flesh was fed from it." Note the parallels of this dream of Nebuchadnezzar with the parable the Lord presents here. A tree of surprising growth has sprung up, and the birds nest in its branches. In Daniel 4, this is a description of the kingdom of Babylon.

A kingdom that had spread over at that point all the known world. It is a kingdom that had unquestioned rule and dominion and at that time had conquered many peoples, many nations, and those peoples were living in that empire and were protected by that overarching kingdom. So this in Daniel 4, this picture of a tree spreading out and the birds coming in and it being a place of shelter and food for the animals is a picture of a powerful king and his kingdom with far reaching power, which Daniel explained, he says, "'The tree that you saw, it is you, O King, who have grown and become strong. For your greatness has grown and reaches to the heavens and your dominion to the ends of the earth. And again, we see the same imagery in Ezekiel chapter 31.

The prophet Ezekiel describes the kingdom of Vesiria by saying, Therefore its height, talking about a tree again, was exalted above all the trees of the field. Its boughs were multiplied and its branches became long because of the abundance of water as it sent them out. All the birds of the heavens made their nest in its boughs. Under its branches all the beasts of the field brought forth their young, and in its shadow all great nations made their home." So similar language used to describe the kingdom of Assyria, a tree that has grown and its branches spread out, and that those animals, the birds, and the beasts coming to take shelter under this tree is a picture, as it says, of all the great nations being made at home in this one overarching kingdom, the kingdom of Assyria. And describing the future state of Israel, after the exile in chapter 17, Ezekiel says, "'On the mountain height of Israel, ' this is God speaking, "'on the mountain height of Israel I will plant it, it being the kingdom, and it will bring forth boughs and bear fruit and will be a majestic cedar.

Under it will dwell birds of every sort, in the shadow of its branches they will dwell." And so this imagery of birds nesting in the branches of a great tree is a picture repeated multiple times throughout the Old Testament. And it is describing a kingdom that grows and conquers and brings many different peoples and people groups and nations into that kingdom. It's a picture of other cultures, other nations being subjugated and brought into a larger empire and protected by it. So far from seeing the birds in this parable that the Lord presents, far from seeing them as a symbol of evil infiltrating and corrupting the church, rather we should interpret it, and I believe we must interpret it, as a promise that many people, many nations will be brought into the kingdom of heaven. It is the gathering of the nations under the lordship of Jesus Christ.

That is what is presented here. And when I say nations, we aren't talking about our modern idea of a geopolitical state. We're not simply talking about England or France or Iraq or China or things like that. We're talking the the ethne, the the people groups. These are groups of people with shared cultures and history and languages and customs.

And just as we heard this morning that the tree of life presented in Revelation 22 provides healing for the nations. The tree of the kingdom of God will grow and its branches are a home for those nations. That healing that we heard about this morning is not only in the eternal state, it's not only in heaven, it's happening now, it's beginning now, there are four tastes of it now as the gospel expands and as the gospel goes forth and the church expands, what happens? The divisions cease. That's the promise of the Old Testament, that the law would go forth, the promise of the Messiah would go forth, and what would happen with the nations?

What would they do? They would beat their swords into plowshares and their spears. They would turn them into pruning hooks. The weapons of war, the weapons of, or the instruments of division would become tools to cultivate. That's a picture of the power of the gospel, the divisions between peoples broken down.

Because when you come to Christ and you're brought into this kingdom, The earthly kingdoms don't matter as much. Those old divisions, they don't matter. What did Paul say to the Galatians? There is no man or woman, free or slave, barbarian or Greek or Scythian or any of these things. We're all one in Christ.

And that's what we should see as the outworking of the gospel. On a personal level, our divisions should be done away with in the church. There should be love and fellowship and a familial love for one another. And even among people groups, those ancient rivalries and divisions are torn down because the gospel brings men together. What started at Babel with the nations being dispersed and thrown into chaos and hatred of one another, the Church is undoing that, bringing men together again.

So that healing we heard about is beginning even now. And this is the expectation that we read about over and over throughout the Old Testament. In Psalm chapter, or Psalm chapter 2, it's Psalm 2, there aren't chapters in the Psalter. In the second psalm, Psalm 2, the father says to the son, ask of me and I will give you the nations as your inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession. The son did not forget to ask the father for his inheritance.

The nations belong to Jesus and the Father has promised to give them to him. And Daniel, chapter 7, Daniel sees the Son of Man ascending on a cloud and going up to the Ancient of Days. When did that happen? Is this something we're looking for in the future? No, for us it's in the past.

Today it was in the future, but for us it's in the past. When did the Son of Man ascend on a cloud? At his ascension, When he left this world to ascend to his throne, he comes up to the Ancient of Days and it says that he was given dominion and glory and kingship, that the people of every nation and language should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. Now every Christian agrees that the nations will all bow before Jesus.

No matter your eschatological view, no matter what you think is going to happen at the end of the age, everyone agrees all people are bowing to King Jesus. The question of, the question is, when will that happen? Some will argue that this is not something that we should expect until the return of Christ at the end of the age. But I don't think that's what this parable is teaching. I think with this imagery of a tree growing, what's the language used?

It says, but when it's grown, this is the idea of a process of time. This is a tree that starts with a small beginning and grows over time into this large tree that the birds nest in. Slowly but certainly it expands and grows and fills the field. And I believe that Jesus' teaching that his kingdom is similar. It isn't a kingdom that merely suffers defeat after defeat through all of history and only succeeds in its mission at the return of the king.

Rather, it will grow slowly and yes with setbacks, with difficulties, but it will have ongoing growth until the end and it will fill the earth. Again, I've gone back to Daniel multiple times, Daniel chapter 2, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and he not only wanted someone to tell him the interpretation, he wanted them to tell him the dream itself. No one could do it except Daniel. And he says, The dream consists of a great statue with a golden head, a silver chest, belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron and feet of iron and clay. And then a stone is cut without human hands and smashes the statue and grows into a mountain that fills the whole earth.

And Daniel interprets that dream. And I believe this is parallel to the parable of the mustard seed. Daniel says to Nebuchadnezzar, you are the head of gold, but after you there will arise another kingdom inferior to yours next a third kingdom of bronze will who will rule the whole earth finally a fourth kingdom as strong as iron and in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will shatter all kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will stand forever. The kingdom of heaven set up by the God of heaven is a kingdom smashing stone that will fill the earth and become a great kingdom that reaches all people.

That's what Nebuchadnezzar's dream was about. Jesus himself said that the kingdom had come in his day, in his ministry. This is not, we're not waiting for the kingdom to arrive. The kingdom has come and it is growing now. That is what Jesus and the apostles taught.

It has started with his ministry and it is continuing to grow until this great tree, this great mountain fills the whole earth. And so it should be no surprise when we get to the end of Matthew's gospel and we see Jesus telling his disciples that small seed of 11 men go and make disciples of the nations. It should not be a surprise because the nations belong to him. He's sending his disciples out to go gather what is already his. They're not told to just make a handful of disciples and hold on tight till the end.

They're to go out and make disciples of all the nations and baptize and teach them to obey Jesus in everything and obey everything he ever taught. And so this should be our main takeaway from this parable. The nations of this world belong to Christ. The kingdom of heaven will fill the earth. The birds of the air, the people and people groups, individuals and families and nations will be brought in and find rest in its branches.

The kingdom of heaven is growing and filling the earth And so when we see and hear the news that seems to be so dark and we become discouraged and pessimistic, when we become cynical and cold because we see everything seems to be going wrong right now. Turn to the promise that God has given. Don't simply let the news determine your worldview. Let the promises of our King inform how you live. Jesus established a kingdom that will never end.

We have a kingdom that even the writer of Hebrew says cannot be shaken. America can be shaken. America may fall and burn to the ground and be shoved into the ash heap of history with Rome. But the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ will grow forever until the end of this age. And so we serve a King who rules and reigns and he is going out and he is conquering the nations for the glory of his name.

And so our faith, our belief cannot merely be one of a private matter of the heart that we keep to ourselves. That is what our culture tells us. Well, you believe what you want. You do your thing over there. But don't let it affect anything else you do or say or think.

Nonsense. We cannot do such a thing if we believe this message, if we believe this gospel, if we believe we have such a king, our religion is not one of a private heart matter. Our faith is really ultimately one of world dominion. Our goal is to conquer the world in the name of Jesus Christ, not with guns, not with bloodshed, but by his shed blood. We go out preaching the gospel, knowing that Christ will have the reward for his suffering.

We will conquer, not with guns, not with violence, but with preaching and the power of the Holy Spirit and prayer. So go and make disciples of all the nations. Bring the kingdom of heaven into your own homes and to your neighbors and around the world if God leads you so to do because we have a king that will rule all nations and do this until that great day as Psalm 72 says that King Jesus shall have dominion from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. Let's pray. Father we thank you for this amazing passage that you've presented.

We thank you for this incredible promise that you've given that you have set up this kingdom that can never be destroyed, It can never be shaken. It is a kingdom which will grow and become this fruitful and beautiful tree Or we thank you that even we here today. We are part of that. We are the the birds that are nesting in that tree already Or thank you for the kindness that you've shown us. Thank you for your son and giving him to be our Savior, our Redeemer, and our King.

And Lord, may we have the boldness and the courage and the faith to go forth and proclaim this kingdom knowing that you will bring what you have promised to pass knowing that not one of your promises can fail. Lord we thank you that you have brought us in And Lord we pray that you would help us to be means of bringing others to nest in this kingdom, this tree. Lord may you be pleased even in our own life, in our own lifetimes Lord to see the turning of the way things are going now may we see the the influence of the kingdom of heaven spread more maybe more obvious to us but Lord even if it's not may we have faith to know that what you've promised you will accomplish and we thank you that you have brought us in thank you that you've forgiven our sins and we are your children and Lord as we go from here help us to be be zealous to proclaim this message of the Kingdom. Wherever we go, and God may you grant success as we seek to bring everything under the dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In His name we pray, amen.