The Parable of Mustard Seed (2)

The Parable of Mustard Seed (2)
June 7th, 2016, Kichijouji Bible Study
Gotthold Beck

Mark
4:30 He was also saying, “How can we show what the kingdom of God is like, or what parable can we use to describe it?
4:31 It is like a mustard seed planted in the ground. Although it is the smallest of all the seeds on earth,
4:32 when it is planted it comes up and becomes larger than all the garden plants. It grows such large branches that the birds in the sky can nest in its shade.”
4:33 With many other parables like these, Jesus kept speaking his message to them according to their ability to understand.
4:34 He did not tell them anything without using a parable, though he explained everything to his disciples in private.
[International Standard Version]

In our previous meeting, we discussed two things. Firstly, what is the kingdom of God? Secondly, how is the kingdom of God revealed to us at this present time?

Today, I would like to discuss with you briefly the third point, that is to say, how will the kingdom of God be revealed in the future?


Indeed, the seeds sown in the beginning were few. However, on the day of Pentecost, 3000 people were saved instantly and in a little while after that, more than 500 people were led to salvation. While Jesus was persecuted and believers also suffered from terrible persecution, churches showed the most normal and solid growth.

However, later in history, as so-called Christianity was politically adopted as the state religion in many countries, it began to show unhealthy growth. People began to convert themselves to Christians only because it was necessary to obtain social status. In terms of the number of believers, Christianity has accomplished amazing growth. However, it has completely lost its spiritual power.

For many people, so-called Christianity has become a stone to stumble over that prevents them from reaching true salvation. The reason for this regrettable development of Christianity is the wrong concept that the kingdom of God is built by human hands.

The kingdom of God will absolutely be realized on this earth on the day to come. However, it will never be built by humans. It will be brought by the Second Coming of Jesus into this earth.

What characterizes the kingdom of God? It is that this kingdom is governed by righteousness and peace. This is how the kingdom of God will be ruled, but before it is realized, there will be the judgment of God. A typical example of this judgment can be found in an ancient king called Nebuchadnezzar. The following verses from the Book of Daniel describe how this king was:

Daniel
4:11 “The tree grew large, became strong, and its top reached the sky. It could be seen to the ends of the earth.
4:12 Its foliage was beautiful, its fruit bountiful, and its food sufficient for everyone. The animals of the field found shade under it, the birds of the sky lived in its branches, and every creature was fed from it.”

The Lord God knew how arrogant King Nebuchadnezzar was and He had to judge him.

Just like this, the Lord will judge Christianity as a man-made religion in the day to come. And until this judgment begins, Christianity will continue to grow larger. However, this development is the work of the Devil. Churches that have worldly authority are likened to “the notorious prostitute” in the Book of Revelation.

Revelation
17:1 Then one of the seven angels who held the seven bowls came and told me, “Come, I will show you how the notorious prostitute who sits on many waters will be judged.
17:2 The kings of the earth committed sexual immorality with her, and those living on earth became drunk with the wine of her immorality.”
17:3 Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was controlled by blasphemy. It had seven heads and ten horns.
17:4 The woman wore purple and scarlet clothes and was adorned with gold, gems, and pearls. In her hand she was holding a gold cup filled with detestable things and the impurities of her immorality.
17:5 On her forehead was written a secret name: Babylon the Great, the Mother of Prostitutes and Detestable Things of the Earth.
17:6 I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the witnesses to Jesus. I was very surprised when I saw her.
17:7 “Why are you surprised?” The angel asked me. “I will tell you the secret of the woman and the beast with the seven heads and the ten horns that carries her.”

However, after the judgment, the kingdom of God is to come into reality in this world. Jesus, who died on the cross, was resurrected and raised to heaven, will come back to this earth in order to build His Holy City in Jerusalem.

When this is done, there will be no one left who stands against the Lord God and nothing will continue to develop in an unhealthy way. When this occurs, the Jewish people will be the center of all the people of the world just like one mustard seed. Although Jews are a very small group of people now, who have been despised and abominated by many other people throughout the history, they are destined to bless all nations of the earth according to the Bible.

Ezekiel
17:22 This is what the Lord God says, “I’m also going to take a shoot from the top of a cedar and plant it. I’ll pluck off its delicate twigs and transplant it on a high and lofty mountain.
17:23 I’ll transplant it on Israel’s land, and it will grow branches, bear fruit, and become a majestic cedar. All sorts of birds will rest under it, and they’ll settle down in the shade of its branches.
17:24 Then all the trees of the fields will know that I, the Lord, bring down the lofty tree and exalt the lowly tree. I dry up the green tree and cause the dry tree to bud. I the Lord have spoken this, and I will fulfill it.

Zechariah
8:20 “This is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies says: ‘In the future, people will come, including residents of many cities,
8:21 and they will travel from one place to another place and say, “Let’s go quickly to pray in the presence of the Lord and to inquire of the Lord of the Heavenly Armies.’ And I will go, too.
8:22 Many people and powerful nations will come to inquire of the Lord of the Heavenly Armies in Jerusalem, and to pray in the presence of the Lord.”’”
8:23 “This is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies says: ‘In the future, ten men speaking all the languages of the nations will grab hold of one Jewish person by the hem of his garment and say, “Let us go up to Jerusalem with you, because we heard that God is with you.”’

John
4:22 You don’t know what you’re worshiping. We Jews know what we’re worshiping, because salvation comes from the Jews.

Eventually,Jewish people will be the center of this world and Jesus will be ruling all Jews. With Jesus, Jews will be the rulers of the entire world.

Jesus is still disrespected by many people today and so are all of His true believers. However, He will come back to this world before long with absolute authority and power. Then, true believers will begin to rule this world along with Him.

By the way, why did Jesus use parables to explain the truth to the people of those days? It was because otherwise, they would never listen to what He tried to tell them. Try to imagine that Jesus clearly explained to them what He wanted, saying, “I am the good seed that will give up my own life for the people in order to open the way of salvation.” What if He continued to tell them straightly, “I see you as hard trodden ground along the path, who try to look like a faithful people but actually do not truly know my God. Therefore, at the time of the judgment, none of you would be allowed to receive a reward from God.” They would never have wanted to lend their ears to Him for a moment.

They would have been so upset and may have even tried to put Jesus to death. By using parables, He prepared the way for the people to share in His salvation and He gave them an opportunity to repent.

Because people were not willing to lend their ears to the truth, Jesus had to tell them in parables. However, to His disciples, He explained everything explicitly without using parables.

It was because their hearts were open to the truth and they were prepared to repent. In this world today, I suppose that people do not want to have the real churches that the Lord God truly wants to give them. Instead, they desire to see some sort of paradise realized in this world, which is not the intention of God.

True churches have always been discreet little flocks in any generation. Still, they gather people who know Jesus personally and are convinced of their salvation. Jesus has promised, “I will build my congregation.”

To this date, this is still the purpose of the Lord. That is to say, Jesus desires to lead the people to repentance, wants to give them true faith and expects them to follow His guidance obediently. Those who do not understand this purpose of His, are serving the Devil.

Many people do not wish to live according to this purpose of the Lord, instead, they are willing to build the paradise of their own in this world. It is the intention of many politicians, revolutionists, philosophers and all those who believe in Christianity as a man-made religion to build this paradise on their own accord.

Hitler of Germany stated that his Third Reich would continue for one thousand years, but in actuality, it ended after 12 years. Anyone who has such purpose is against the Lord God and works under the Devil.

The purpose of the Lord God is to build true churches on this earth. All those who were reborn through the Holy Spirit and by His Word belong to the true church. Until Jesus comes back, evil doers will continue their evil deeds while the righteous will move forward into an even more righteous way.

Jesus will come back when both the good and evil have reached their perfection. The perfection of the evil is in outward things, such as their power, honour, and wealth, while the perfection of the good is accomplished through the transformation of believers to conform to the image of Jesus.

It is written that its consequence is the church of glory. It is extremely important to consecrate yourself from evil. The Bible clearly tells believers not to have any fellowship with pagan religious leaders, but stay away from them, and not even to greet them.

This was actually how our Christian assemblies were formed. Believers came to realize the difference between what was written in the Scripture and what they were taught in so-called Christian churches. When they desired to live the life strictly according to what was written in the Bible, they had no other choice but to leave their churches.

Today, these kinds of Christian assemblies have spread all over the world. In these assemblies, the Bible is considered as the only foundation of their belief.

Furthermore, people who belong to these kinds of assemblies refuse professional clergies and membership systems; they even refuse to have an organized connection between assemblies. The true Christians who took this attitude have always been there since the time the Acts of the Apostles was written until today.

Christians who took this attitude were always fiercely persecuted throughout history. They were always persecuted by organized Christianity and so-called established churches.

The time between Pentecost and the rapture at which all believers will be taken up to heaven or the Second Coming in the air is called the time of the Holy Spirit, in which the churches as the body of the Lord Jesus are built. By having the Holy Spirit dwelling in their hearts, the gathering of such people becomes the Christian’s assembly.

And needless to say, when Christian assemblies that are the body of the Lord Jesus are taken up to heaven, they are taken up with the Holy Spirit Himself. When the Holy Spirit is raised to heaven, evil spirits are left in this world and they will be able to exercise their power at will.

This will be a very difficult time of tribulation for the Jewish people. During this period, the world will be ruled by false prophets and the false messiah. However, this period won't last long; it will end in as short as seven years.

When this period is over, and Jesus comes back to this world, all other people and nations who persecuted the Jews will have to face the judgment. Then, the kingdom of God begins. This kingdom of God will continue for one thousand years, which will be governed in peace and harmony. In this kingdom of God, there will be no weapons to fight wars.

Isaiah
2:4 “He will judge between the nations, and will render verdicts for the benefit of many. ‘They will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nations will not raise swords against nations, and they will not learn warfare anymore.’”

Furthermore, this kingdom of God is characterized by righteousness, peace, and joy.

Romans
14:17 “For God’s kingdom does not consist of food and drink, but of righteousness, peace, and joy produced by the Holy Spirit.”

We can realize from this very verse that, the kingdom of God is not necessarily something to come in the future, but it has already been brought into this world. Those who have accepted Jesus have experienced the kingdom of God in their faith. In the fellowship between the newly reborn people, the kingdom of God has been already realized. That is to say, those who were born from above, have righteousness, peace, and true joy.

Luke
17:20 “Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come. He answered them, ‘The kingdom of God is not coming with a visible display.
17:21 People won’t be saying, “Look! Here it is!” or “There it is!” because now the kingdom of God is among you.’”

By the Holy Spirit, the kingdom of God resides in the heart of each believer.

Luke
12:31 “Instead, be concerned about his kingdom, and these things will be provided for you as well.
12:32 Stop being afraid, little flock, because your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.”

In the latter verse, an expression, “little flock” is used. Little flock refers to the group of true believers who were born again through the Holy Spirit. In such flocks, the kingdom of God has already been realized. This was what the believers in Ephesus experienced.

Ephesians
2:1 You used to be dead because of your offenses and sins
2:2 that you once practiced as you lived according to the ways of this present world and according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now active in those who are disobedient.
2:3 Indeed, all of us once behaved like them in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of our flesh and senses. By nature we were destined for wrath, just like everyone else.
2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love for us
2:5 even when we were dead because of our offenses, made us alive together with the Messiah (by grace you have been saved),
2:6 raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavenly realm in the Messiah Jesus.

Colossians
1:12 ...and might thank the Father, who has enabled us to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light.
1:13 God has rescued us from the power of darkness and has brought us into the kingdom of the Son whom he loves,
1:14 through whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Now, have we experienced these things by ourselves indeed? Have we been rescued from the power of darkness and brought into the control of the Son?

All humans are either under the control of the Devil or under the control of Jesus. Those who have admitted their sins, those who are determined to accept Jesus as their Saviour and obey Him throughout their lives have already experienced the kingdom of God.

Jesus is coming back soon to take up all those who belong to Him. When this world will be facing the hardest tribulations ever—in heaven, the wedding ceremony between Jesus the Lamb and all believers as the bride will be in progress.

Jesus sincerely desires to give the conviction of their salvation today to those who are not certain yet. Jesus has promised that He would never forsake anyone who comes to Him. Why don't we come to Jesus to share in this truth that is promised to us?


End


からし種のたとえ(2)
2016年6月7日、吉祥寺学び会
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